Online shopping carts, those wonderful little programs that every successful website that sells something needs. However, if the program is insufficient then it may result in decrease in a website’s productivity. Customers want to deal with programs that are easy and time saving. This most certainly includes online shopping carts.
When a customer goes shopping they want to have a shopping cart that is easily accessible. When a customer views a product the option to buy it is right there no turning the page. It is extremely easy. Also the ability to view what is in the shopping cart at any given time is always a plus with customers. A program that can give them an estimated total that includes shipping helps them gauge how much more to spend on a website. Easy access into the online shopping cart program will make a customer happy and to make a customer happy means more money for the business.
Another more innovative addition to the online shopping cart programs is the one click purchase option. With this a customer can just click on an item and it is purchased and on it’s. way to their doorstep. Making their lives so much easier.
Don’t forget to add in the last minute marketing pitch. Just before a customer is ready to check out be sure to advertise other products. The most effective way to do this is to say something to the effect of “other customers who purchased this product also purchased…” Having a list of other products by the customer’s newly chosen product may help them with that last minute impulse buy. Much like the last minute impulse buys at check out lines that include candy or magazines.
To keep customers happy there should be a way that they can correct any mistakes that they had made in their online shopping cart. Even after they have placed an order there should be a way that they can easily correct their mistakes to update the order. This can include adding an item, removing an item or changing their shipping option.
Not all items purchased go directly to the customer placing the order. Many times online shoppers prefer to do their last minute gift shopping online and may also find it easier to order a present for a loved family member vi an online website. Having an option in the online shopping cart that allows for an order to be sent to another person with out the customer having to change their home address on the website. To even take it a step further some successful online shopping cart programs offer to keep a database of people a customer has shipped to in the past. This way when they need to ship to them again it is as easy as a click of the mouse.
Thursday, December 07, 2006
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
Advantages Of Drop Shipping
Drop shipping is ‘a type of retailing where the retailer does not keep goods in stock, but instead passes the customer's order and shipment details to the wholesaler, who then dispatches the goods to the customer directly.’ [Source: Wikipedia] The retailer then keeps the difference between the wholesale price and the retail price. If you’re planning to start an online retail business, drop shipping may be just the option for you.
Let’s review the process of drop shipping, and analyze the advantages that the drop shipping business model has over the others.
No Upfront Payment
First of all, you do not need to pay upfront for a stock of products before you can start selling. With drop shipping, you can simply get into business by displaying the products you want to sell on your website, before you’ve actually purchased any of the goods. After you’ve received your order via the internet, you can then forward the order to the drop shipper, usually through email, who will then deliver the products to your customer(s).
In essence, this is the reverse process of normal retailers. You actually ‘sell high’ first before ‘buying low’. Since you’re not making a huge upfront down-payment for your products, you’re not bearing any risk at all. There isn’t a risk of purchasing thousands of units of a product, and realizing that you’re not able to sell them because the consumer demand is insufficient.
Thus, by not needing to make an upfront payment to stock products, you’re benefiting in two ways. One, the drop shipper bears all the risk for you. If the products are not in-demand, it’s the drop shipper who is potentially making a loss, not you. Second, your startup costs are extremely low. All you need to invest in your drop shipping business is an initial deposit or down-payment, to demonstrate your commitment to the drop shipper, and also ongoing web hosting fees and advertising fees. This is a huge difference from retailers who have to invest on a fortune to purchase huge stocks of goods to get into business.
Product Delivery Taken Care Of
The second feature of drop shippers is that they take care of the products delivery and shipment for you. This is highly advantageous if you’re just starting out in business because you can focus all your time and efforts on marketing your business, instead of worrying about order fulfillment or delivery.
Order fulfillment can be a very tedious and time-consuming process if your monthly orders number in the hundreds or thousands. You need to spend tremendous amounts of time keeping track of your inventory, packaging the products and shipping them to your customers individually. On the other hand, if a drop shipper takes care of product fulfillment for you, you’re automating the process of shipping the products, and you can focus on your core competency – marketing your business to bring in more customers. This is another great advantage of using drop shipping as your business model.
No Need For Warehousing
Since you do not need to purchase a huge inventory of stocks from the drop shipper, there’s no need for warehousing costs as well.
This is highly advantageous if you consider this opposite scenario: If you rely on the usual wholesaling business model instead of drop shipping, you need a location to store your products after purchasing your initial stock. Depending on the space you need, your monthly warehouse rental costs can cut into your profit margin significantly. You may even be operating your business at a loss. Why not let the drop shipper stock the products at their warehouse until your customer makes a purchase instead?
Flexibility Of Product Catalogue
With drop shipping, you have the choice of promoting any number of products you want on your website catalogue. Since you do not need to make upfront capital investments, you have the flexibility of promoting as many products as you want, as long as the products are all related to the category of products you sell.
However, it’s essential to strike a balance between the range of products you have, and the ‘product focus’ of your business. Your business should focus on a single category of products – you cannot be a supplier of everything to everyone, like Wal-Mart. Be sure to include only the products you think are related to your core ‘product focus’, and avoid promoting too many unrelated products on your web catalogue.
No Minimum Quantity Restriction
The last advantage of drop shipping is that most drop shippers do not impose a minimum quantity order. When your customers place orders at your website, you can forward your orders to your drop shipper one-by-one. Most drop shippers do not have a problem with that. Thus, drop shipping is very beneficial for your business because it offers the greatest flexibility.
In conclusion, drop shipping is definitely an option you want to consider if you’re planning to start an online retail business without all the hassles of inventory and product delivery. If you evaluate the above advantages carefully, you’ll realize that drop shipping is undoubtedly a viable option for the small-business retailer. Large retailers, on the other hand, will have enough resources like capital to use the wholesaling model for their business.
Let’s review the process of drop shipping, and analyze the advantages that the drop shipping business model has over the others.
No Upfront Payment
First of all, you do not need to pay upfront for a stock of products before you can start selling. With drop shipping, you can simply get into business by displaying the products you want to sell on your website, before you’ve actually purchased any of the goods. After you’ve received your order via the internet, you can then forward the order to the drop shipper, usually through email, who will then deliver the products to your customer(s).
In essence, this is the reverse process of normal retailers. You actually ‘sell high’ first before ‘buying low’. Since you’re not making a huge upfront down-payment for your products, you’re not bearing any risk at all. There isn’t a risk of purchasing thousands of units of a product, and realizing that you’re not able to sell them because the consumer demand is insufficient.
Thus, by not needing to make an upfront payment to stock products, you’re benefiting in two ways. One, the drop shipper bears all the risk for you. If the products are not in-demand, it’s the drop shipper who is potentially making a loss, not you. Second, your startup costs are extremely low. All you need to invest in your drop shipping business is an initial deposit or down-payment, to demonstrate your commitment to the drop shipper, and also ongoing web hosting fees and advertising fees. This is a huge difference from retailers who have to invest on a fortune to purchase huge stocks of goods to get into business.
Product Delivery Taken Care Of
The second feature of drop shippers is that they take care of the products delivery and shipment for you. This is highly advantageous if you’re just starting out in business because you can focus all your time and efforts on marketing your business, instead of worrying about order fulfillment or delivery.
Order fulfillment can be a very tedious and time-consuming process if your monthly orders number in the hundreds or thousands. You need to spend tremendous amounts of time keeping track of your inventory, packaging the products and shipping them to your customers individually. On the other hand, if a drop shipper takes care of product fulfillment for you, you’re automating the process of shipping the products, and you can focus on your core competency – marketing your business to bring in more customers. This is another great advantage of using drop shipping as your business model.
No Need For Warehousing
Since you do not need to purchase a huge inventory of stocks from the drop shipper, there’s no need for warehousing costs as well.
This is highly advantageous if you consider this opposite scenario: If you rely on the usual wholesaling business model instead of drop shipping, you need a location to store your products after purchasing your initial stock. Depending on the space you need, your monthly warehouse rental costs can cut into your profit margin significantly. You may even be operating your business at a loss. Why not let the drop shipper stock the products at their warehouse until your customer makes a purchase instead?
Flexibility Of Product Catalogue
With drop shipping, you have the choice of promoting any number of products you want on your website catalogue. Since you do not need to make upfront capital investments, you have the flexibility of promoting as many products as you want, as long as the products are all related to the category of products you sell.
However, it’s essential to strike a balance between the range of products you have, and the ‘product focus’ of your business. Your business should focus on a single category of products – you cannot be a supplier of everything to everyone, like Wal-Mart. Be sure to include only the products you think are related to your core ‘product focus’, and avoid promoting too many unrelated products on your web catalogue.
No Minimum Quantity Restriction
The last advantage of drop shipping is that most drop shippers do not impose a minimum quantity order. When your customers place orders at your website, you can forward your orders to your drop shipper one-by-one. Most drop shippers do not have a problem with that. Thus, drop shipping is very beneficial for your business because it offers the greatest flexibility.
In conclusion, drop shipping is definitely an option you want to consider if you’re planning to start an online retail business without all the hassles of inventory and product delivery. If you evaluate the above advantages carefully, you’ll realize that drop shipping is undoubtedly a viable option for the small-business retailer. Large retailers, on the other hand, will have enough resources like capital to use the wholesaling model for their business.
Important Considerations For Drop Shipping
When selecting your drop shipper, there are also several important considerations you need to pay attention to. Such issues can determine the success of your business in the long term.
Wholesale Prices
The first issue to consider is the wholesale prices of the products. Ideally, the drop shipper should offer prices low enough that you can make a substantial profit when selling at the retail price.
Although the pricing points would not vary a lot for drop shippers of similar products, some drop shippers do offer a slightly lower wholesale price than other suppliers for the same product quality. Your business can benefit tremendously if you first scout around for wholesalers offering lower prices, as you can make a bigger profit margin for each sale.
Alternatively, you can also negotiate the pricing points with several of the drop shippers first, as some of them allow greater room for negotiation than others. If your drop shipping business can sell larger quantities of products, you should be able to secure a lower price for the products, similar to the discount given for bulk purchases.
Shipping Costs
The next issue you need to consider is the shipping costs. If your drop shipper is based in the same country of your target market, then you only need to pay for local delivery services. On the other hand, if your target market is located in a different country from your drop shipper, you may incur high shipping costs because of international shipping. It is thus better to select a drop shipper located in the same country as your customer base.
Having a drop shipper in the same country as your market also eliminates the hassles of international shipping, like security checks and slow delivery time. A lower shipping cost also encourages more purchases from your customers, increasing your profits.
Some drop shippers may also charge an additional handling fee for delivering the products to your customers. You should pay close attention to additional costs like this, as they may cut into your profit margin. Be sure to settle on a particular drop shipper after you’ve carefully analyzed all the costs.
Credit And Billing
The next issue you need to consider is credit and billing. Before starting your business, you need to clarify your method of payment. Does the drop shipper send you a monthly bill for all the products for each month? Or can they automatically deduct from your credit card each time a purchase is made?
This is very important for the cash-flow situation of your drop shipping business – the longer you can keep ‘liquid’ credit with your business, the healthier your cash-flow situation. Some businesses have inevitably collapsed due to poor cash-flow management.
Product Returns
Also, you need to take into account whether your drop shipper entertains product refunds and returns. Of course, a drop shipper that has product refund offers is beneficial. In the case that your customer receives a defective or unsatisfactory product, the customer can then return the product to the drop shipper for a new one, giving your business a much better reputation of satisfying the customer’s needs.
Usually, the drop shipper sends your products labeled with your company name, logo and address. Hence, if your customer contacts you for a product return, you should then provide them with the address of the drop shipper.
Credibility
The last point you need to consider when choosing your drop shipper is the credibility. Always choose a drop shipper that has a better reputation and that has been around for a longer period of time. Also consider the customer service of the drop shipper. If the drop shipper does not respond to your information requests professionally, then you should be wary of doing business with them.
Wholesale Prices
The first issue to consider is the wholesale prices of the products. Ideally, the drop shipper should offer prices low enough that you can make a substantial profit when selling at the retail price.
Although the pricing points would not vary a lot for drop shippers of similar products, some drop shippers do offer a slightly lower wholesale price than other suppliers for the same product quality. Your business can benefit tremendously if you first scout around for wholesalers offering lower prices, as you can make a bigger profit margin for each sale.
Alternatively, you can also negotiate the pricing points with several of the drop shippers first, as some of them allow greater room for negotiation than others. If your drop shipping business can sell larger quantities of products, you should be able to secure a lower price for the products, similar to the discount given for bulk purchases.
Shipping Costs
The next issue you need to consider is the shipping costs. If your drop shipper is based in the same country of your target market, then you only need to pay for local delivery services. On the other hand, if your target market is located in a different country from your drop shipper, you may incur high shipping costs because of international shipping. It is thus better to select a drop shipper located in the same country as your customer base.
Having a drop shipper in the same country as your market also eliminates the hassles of international shipping, like security checks and slow delivery time. A lower shipping cost also encourages more purchases from your customers, increasing your profits.
Some drop shippers may also charge an additional handling fee for delivering the products to your customers. You should pay close attention to additional costs like this, as they may cut into your profit margin. Be sure to settle on a particular drop shipper after you’ve carefully analyzed all the costs.
Credit And Billing
The next issue you need to consider is credit and billing. Before starting your business, you need to clarify your method of payment. Does the drop shipper send you a monthly bill for all the products for each month? Or can they automatically deduct from your credit card each time a purchase is made?
This is very important for the cash-flow situation of your drop shipping business – the longer you can keep ‘liquid’ credit with your business, the healthier your cash-flow situation. Some businesses have inevitably collapsed due to poor cash-flow management.
Product Returns
Also, you need to take into account whether your drop shipper entertains product refunds and returns. Of course, a drop shipper that has product refund offers is beneficial. In the case that your customer receives a defective or unsatisfactory product, the customer can then return the product to the drop shipper for a new one, giving your business a much better reputation of satisfying the customer’s needs.
Usually, the drop shipper sends your products labeled with your company name, logo and address. Hence, if your customer contacts you for a product return, you should then provide them with the address of the drop shipper.
Credibility
The last point you need to consider when choosing your drop shipper is the credibility. Always choose a drop shipper that has a better reputation and that has been around for a longer period of time. Also consider the customer service of the drop shipper. If the drop shipper does not respond to your information requests professionally, then you should be wary of doing business with them.
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
Real DropShipping Secrets and How to Avoid Getting Scammed by DropShippers
What is DropShipping?
First of all dropshipping is a very easy way to earn extra money without having to spend a lot of time working at it. With dropshipping, people can sell products online with their website or most popular on eBay without having to carry any inventory or ship any products. Dropshipping allows people to simply place ads and pictures copied from the dropshipper on their website or ebay and collect money from the buyer before they purchase the product from the dropshipper. There's nothing to hassle with carrying the inventory, packing the product, or shipping anything.
How to Make Money with DropShipping
Since dropshipping is so easy, it has grown to be a big business over the last couple of years. However, this opens the door for more people to be scammed by fake dropshippers or middlemen. The only way to make a profit on the products are to buy them at wholesale and sell them for retail. This requires you to purchase them directly from a true wholesaler that will dropship for you. There are many people that claim to be dropshippers when they are really middlemen buying from the wholesaler and turning around and selling directly to you for more, thus decreasing your profit.
Beware of Middlemen
As mentioned above, there are many people claiming to be dropshippers, but they simply buy directly from the wholesaler that may not dropship their products, but the middleman will purchase them in bulk and then dropship for you. So how can you tell if someone is a middleman? It may be difficult to figure this out, but most true dropshippers will not advertise themselves on the Internet. The true wholesalers don't need to advertise anywhere because they already have an established business with many big and repeat customers that they rely on. The dropshippers or sites that you see advertised on the Internet are most likely the middlemen trying to get you to purchase products at inflated wholesale prices.
DropShipping Secrets & How to Find Real Sources
This can be a challenging task of trying to find legitimate wholesale dropshippers and once you find a good one, you won't want to share this with anyone. That's why so many people who make money with dropshipping succeed, because the sources don't advertise and they will not give their information to anyone. The secrets to dropshipping are that most true wholesalers will dropship their products, but may add an extra service fee to do so. This fee is usually minimal of anywhere from 50 cents to 2 dollars, but is worth the money to not have to worry about carrying the inventory or shipping the product yourself. Usually wholesalers are very big companies and have thousands and thousands of products so they will most likely be able to dropship their products for you. Stay away from dropshippers that only have less than 100 products as these are either start up companies that probably don't have purchasing power to give you good prices or are simply middlemen buying certain products from wholesalers.
The key to finding the real sources is by doing research on and offline. It can take you weeks or even months to find some good sources, however once you obtain them, the profits will be rewarding. A real good source at finding some sources and if they are legit is by going to dropshipping forums and interact with other individuals that may have tips on good dropshippers and ones to avoid. There are also services that have spent all the time and money for you in finding quality wholesale dropshippers. Finally, going to trade shows can hook you up with some real suppliers that offer wholesale pricing. The downside is that many may not dropship for you.
First of all dropshipping is a very easy way to earn extra money without having to spend a lot of time working at it. With dropshipping, people can sell products online with their website or most popular on eBay without having to carry any inventory or ship any products. Dropshipping allows people to simply place ads and pictures copied from the dropshipper on their website or ebay and collect money from the buyer before they purchase the product from the dropshipper. There's nothing to hassle with carrying the inventory, packing the product, or shipping anything.
How to Make Money with DropShipping
Since dropshipping is so easy, it has grown to be a big business over the last couple of years. However, this opens the door for more people to be scammed by fake dropshippers or middlemen. The only way to make a profit on the products are to buy them at wholesale and sell them for retail. This requires you to purchase them directly from a true wholesaler that will dropship for you. There are many people that claim to be dropshippers when they are really middlemen buying from the wholesaler and turning around and selling directly to you for more, thus decreasing your profit.
Beware of Middlemen
As mentioned above, there are many people claiming to be dropshippers, but they simply buy directly from the wholesaler that may not dropship their products, but the middleman will purchase them in bulk and then dropship for you. So how can you tell if someone is a middleman? It may be difficult to figure this out, but most true dropshippers will not advertise themselves on the Internet. The true wholesalers don't need to advertise anywhere because they already have an established business with many big and repeat customers that they rely on. The dropshippers or sites that you see advertised on the Internet are most likely the middlemen trying to get you to purchase products at inflated wholesale prices.
DropShipping Secrets & How to Find Real Sources
This can be a challenging task of trying to find legitimate wholesale dropshippers and once you find a good one, you won't want to share this with anyone. That's why so many people who make money with dropshipping succeed, because the sources don't advertise and they will not give their information to anyone. The secrets to dropshipping are that most true wholesalers will dropship their products, but may add an extra service fee to do so. This fee is usually minimal of anywhere from 50 cents to 2 dollars, but is worth the money to not have to worry about carrying the inventory or shipping the product yourself. Usually wholesalers are very big companies and have thousands and thousands of products so they will most likely be able to dropship their products for you. Stay away from dropshippers that only have less than 100 products as these are either start up companies that probably don't have purchasing power to give you good prices or are simply middlemen buying certain products from wholesalers.
The key to finding the real sources is by doing research on and offline. It can take you weeks or even months to find some good sources, however once you obtain them, the profits will be rewarding. A real good source at finding some sources and if they are legit is by going to dropshipping forums and interact with other individuals that may have tips on good dropshippers and ones to avoid. There are also services that have spent all the time and money for you in finding quality wholesale dropshippers. Finally, going to trade shows can hook you up with some real suppliers that offer wholesale pricing. The downside is that many may not dropship for you.
Ecommerce - Safe and Secure?
One of the most attractive aspects of ecommerce from a buyer’s perspective is that of convenience; total armchair shopping with little or no stress involved and the majority of online payment transactions processed quickly, efficiently and generally trouble free. The phenomenal growth rate of online purchasing has seen website shopping carts become as familiar to buyers as their favourite pair of old slippers.
However, there is a universally recognised rule that for every pro there is usually a con, and the world of ecommerce is not exempt from that rule. Any type of online process or system that is capable of taking payment via credit card is open to abuse by the more unscrupulous and devious elements that haunt the Internet. It is also important to remember that it’s not only credit card transactions that are under threat. Hacking into programmes that hold personal information such as bank account numbers, names and addresses etc, is another area that has a vast income potential for those who would use the information illegally.
Ecommerce security is more a case of prevention rather than cure, and to this end designers are constantly developing new and innovative anti-intrusion solutions into their ecommerce programmes. The use of highly sophisticated encryption software and secure servers are just a couple of the numerous methods employed to keep the uninvited out. And although it’s true to say that at present no system can be guaranteed to be one hundred percent secure or fool proof, today’s rapid advances in software and technology certainly seems to be heading in the right direction.
Despite the occasional horror story about Internet scams and deceptions, online transactions generally remain quite safe, and with many credit card suppliers and major banks now offering to underwrite any financial losses suffered by a buyer as a result of online fraud, an enormous boost of confidence has spread through the ecommerce sector because of what businesses and buyers now see as a win-win situation. However, it shouldn’t mean that the issue of online security has suddenly become a lower priority, and both groups should be very careful of becoming complacent.
Ecommerce is here to stay, and for many it’s already second nature when it comes to shopping. Others may need some more convincing that their money and personal details will remain safe should they ever decide to buy something online. It’s a reasonable and understandable fear, and because of the business world’s ever growing demand for shopping cart capabilities, it’s perhaps the designers themselves that more than most are aware that if their systems instil user-confidence, ecommerce will continue to grow successfully and safely.
However, there is a universally recognised rule that for every pro there is usually a con, and the world of ecommerce is not exempt from that rule. Any type of online process or system that is capable of taking payment via credit card is open to abuse by the more unscrupulous and devious elements that haunt the Internet. It is also important to remember that it’s not only credit card transactions that are under threat. Hacking into programmes that hold personal information such as bank account numbers, names and addresses etc, is another area that has a vast income potential for those who would use the information illegally.
Ecommerce security is more a case of prevention rather than cure, and to this end designers are constantly developing new and innovative anti-intrusion solutions into their ecommerce programmes. The use of highly sophisticated encryption software and secure servers are just a couple of the numerous methods employed to keep the uninvited out. And although it’s true to say that at present no system can be guaranteed to be one hundred percent secure or fool proof, today’s rapid advances in software and technology certainly seems to be heading in the right direction.
Despite the occasional horror story about Internet scams and deceptions, online transactions generally remain quite safe, and with many credit card suppliers and major banks now offering to underwrite any financial losses suffered by a buyer as a result of online fraud, an enormous boost of confidence has spread through the ecommerce sector because of what businesses and buyers now see as a win-win situation. However, it shouldn’t mean that the issue of online security has suddenly become a lower priority, and both groups should be very careful of becoming complacent.
Ecommerce is here to stay, and for many it’s already second nature when it comes to shopping. Others may need some more convincing that their money and personal details will remain safe should they ever decide to buy something online. It’s a reasonable and understandable fear, and because of the business world’s ever growing demand for shopping cart capabilities, it’s perhaps the designers themselves that more than most are aware that if their systems instil user-confidence, ecommerce will continue to grow successfully and safely.
Monday, December 04, 2006
Three Top Resources To Keep Your Web Knowledge Present
You're never going to be a total success at what you do until you make a commitment to become excellent at it.
Although I've tried to include as much relevant information in my e-book as possible, I might have missed out something really important! Even if I haven't at the time of writing, things move on so quickly in the Internet world that unless you keep up-to-date with the latest happenings, search engine optimization news and technological developments on a weekly basis, you'll be aiming an old product at an old audience. It'll only take you twenty minutes a week, but it may arm you with the knowledge and awareness to amend a significant part of your business strategy.
Three of the top resources that I regularly refer to are:
WebmasterWorld.com
Webmaster World is dedicated to helping website administrators do business on the Internet. It's basically a massive forum for members to share and gain knowledge of operating and promoting a website. The great thing about the site is that it's maintained by voluntary subscription and not advertising. This means that it's completely independent. Posters aren't even allowed to discuss specific URL's (which doesn't make it as difficult as you may think once you get used to it). Webmaster World describes itself as 'part of your extended site development and process team'.
SiteProNews.com
Site Pro News is en excellent RSS feed, email newsletter and resource site aimed at webmasters. In their own words: 'We are dedicated to meeting the needs of novice and professional webmasters by providing the best collection of software tools, general resources and expert articles available on the Web today. Our mission is to make SPN a one-stop repository of practical information and useful applications for webmasters who are looking to enhance their web sites and/or their understanding of Web business trends.'
WebmasterRadio.fm
Webmaster Radio does exactly as the domain name suggests... brings the Webmaster business community together through an interactive, Internet based radio network. As well as offering streaming audio aimed at website business developers, they are putting together an excellent archive of previous shows. Regular shows streamed and available for download include 'Affiliate Marketing Today' by Commission Junction and 'Power Source' hosted by Yahoo Search.
The importance of keeping your ear to the ground
In addition you need to keep your ear to the ground to become aware of any other new essential sources of cutting edge web news. Be prepared to continually reconsider your business model and test new methods on a regular basis. You may have to invest in cutting edge products like Adsense Videos by Michael Cheney and the Insider Internet Marketing Secrets by Derek Gehl to stay ahead of the rest of the pack.
David Bain is founder of the independent business articles resource, http://www.BuildYourOwnBusiness.biz. BuildYourOwnBusiness offers the latest business news & management advice on how best to build your own business - business articles on Strategy, eBusiness, Change Management & much, much more.
Although I've tried to include as much relevant information in my e-book as possible, I might have missed out something really important! Even if I haven't at the time of writing, things move on so quickly in the Internet world that unless you keep up-to-date with the latest happenings, search engine optimization news and technological developments on a weekly basis, you'll be aiming an old product at an old audience. It'll only take you twenty minutes a week, but it may arm you with the knowledge and awareness to amend a significant part of your business strategy.
Three of the top resources that I regularly refer to are:
WebmasterWorld.com
Webmaster World is dedicated to helping website administrators do business on the Internet. It's basically a massive forum for members to share and gain knowledge of operating and promoting a website. The great thing about the site is that it's maintained by voluntary subscription and not advertising. This means that it's completely independent. Posters aren't even allowed to discuss specific URL's (which doesn't make it as difficult as you may think once you get used to it). Webmaster World describes itself as 'part of your extended site development and process team'.
SiteProNews.com
Site Pro News is en excellent RSS feed, email newsletter and resource site aimed at webmasters. In their own words: 'We are dedicated to meeting the needs of novice and professional webmasters by providing the best collection of software tools, general resources and expert articles available on the Web today. Our mission is to make SPN a one-stop repository of practical information and useful applications for webmasters who are looking to enhance their web sites and/or their understanding of Web business trends.'
WebmasterRadio.fm
Webmaster Radio does exactly as the domain name suggests... brings the Webmaster business community together through an interactive, Internet based radio network. As well as offering streaming audio aimed at website business developers, they are putting together an excellent archive of previous shows. Regular shows streamed and available for download include 'Affiliate Marketing Today' by Commission Junction and 'Power Source' hosted by Yahoo Search.
The importance of keeping your ear to the ground
In addition you need to keep your ear to the ground to become aware of any other new essential sources of cutting edge web news. Be prepared to continually reconsider your business model and test new methods on a regular basis. You may have to invest in cutting edge products like Adsense Videos by Michael Cheney and the Insider Internet Marketing Secrets by Derek Gehl to stay ahead of the rest of the pack.
David Bain is founder of the independent business articles resource, http://www.BuildYourOwnBusiness.biz. BuildYourOwnBusiness offers the latest business news & management advice on how best to build your own business - business articles on Strategy, eBusiness, Change Management & much, much more.
Ecommerce Stores
The Internet opens up so many opportunities for a company to exist and to expand their operations worldwide. It opens up a global marketplace in which people from all over the world can buy and sell goods and services from the comforts of their own homes. The Internet opens up so much opportunity that more and more conventional stores are becoming e-tailors. Everyday more and more ecommerce stores are appearing on the Internet in all countries. If everyone is doing it, then why aren’t you?
Discount Domains is well known in the field of domains and web hosting and we now offer discount web design services. We offer services for static ecommerce stores as well as the dynamic ones. Ecommerce is the process of shopping for what you want to buy and paying for it on the Internet and an ecommerce store allows customers to do just that. An ecommerce store costs less then the average person might think it would, it can run as little as ₤1k to get up and running depending upon the features that are needed. It reduces the cost of operations in many ways.
First off, it reduces some paperwork because the customer enters everything themselves. Instead of an employee writing down or typing the customer’s basic information, the customer enters all of the details themselves. Secondly, it saves on time. An ecommerce store provides convenience for the company and the customer. It can provide a customer with everything they need in front of them to shop around and to make the purchase including whether or not the item they want is in stock. A customer can do this anytime of the day without needing an employee to show them around the store. Thirdly, an ecommerce store could save on overhead. If a company has an ecommerce store instead of an actual physical location then the company can save on things such as rent, inventory costs, some telephone services, electric, and heating services. The company can manage their store from anywhere in the world.
Most people today are using the Internet and having an ecommerce store will take your products and services right into their homes and businesses. An ecommerce store will save many expenses. This savings can be put towards other things that your company needs. Your store will also act as advertisement for new products and services that you want to offer in the future. Based upon the orders that you receive on your ecommerce store, you can decide which products and services to discontinue based upon sales or lack of sales. Your store will help you process orders using credit cards, pay pal, and other payment methods. Your ecommerce store will also bring you new customers you may not have reached with your traditional physical store. The possibilities with an ecommerce store are endless.
We want everyone to find your store so we will design it with this in mind. Discount Domains understands search engines and we build sites that are search engine friendly. We have many designs to choose from and your store will be an original design. We build sites and ecommerce stores that are user friendly as well. Your store will be easy to navigate so that your customers will keep coming back to buy more products and services. We want your customers to go through your store with little or no problems. We will design you a professional ecommerce store according to your wants and needs. Your customers will be able to find you when they need to find you at anytime of the day or night because you will be open 24 hours a day. Your store will never sleep
Discount Domains is well known in the field of domains and web hosting and we now offer discount web design services. We offer services for static ecommerce stores as well as the dynamic ones. Ecommerce is the process of shopping for what you want to buy and paying for it on the Internet and an ecommerce store allows customers to do just that. An ecommerce store costs less then the average person might think it would, it can run as little as ₤1k to get up and running depending upon the features that are needed. It reduces the cost of operations in many ways.
First off, it reduces some paperwork because the customer enters everything themselves. Instead of an employee writing down or typing the customer’s basic information, the customer enters all of the details themselves. Secondly, it saves on time. An ecommerce store provides convenience for the company and the customer. It can provide a customer with everything they need in front of them to shop around and to make the purchase including whether or not the item they want is in stock. A customer can do this anytime of the day without needing an employee to show them around the store. Thirdly, an ecommerce store could save on overhead. If a company has an ecommerce store instead of an actual physical location then the company can save on things such as rent, inventory costs, some telephone services, electric, and heating services. The company can manage their store from anywhere in the world.
Most people today are using the Internet and having an ecommerce store will take your products and services right into their homes and businesses. An ecommerce store will save many expenses. This savings can be put towards other things that your company needs. Your store will also act as advertisement for new products and services that you want to offer in the future. Based upon the orders that you receive on your ecommerce store, you can decide which products and services to discontinue based upon sales or lack of sales. Your store will help you process orders using credit cards, pay pal, and other payment methods. Your ecommerce store will also bring you new customers you may not have reached with your traditional physical store. The possibilities with an ecommerce store are endless.
We want everyone to find your store so we will design it with this in mind. Discount Domains understands search engines and we build sites that are search engine friendly. We have many designs to choose from and your store will be an original design. We build sites and ecommerce stores that are user friendly as well. Your store will be easy to navigate so that your customers will keep coming back to buy more products and services. We want your customers to go through your store with little or no problems. We will design you a professional ecommerce store according to your wants and needs. Your customers will be able to find you when they need to find you at anytime of the day or night because you will be open 24 hours a day. Your store will never sleep
Sunday, December 03, 2006
eCommerce for Import Export Companies
This year, according to eMarketer, one billion people worldwide will have Internet access and nearly 250 million households will have broadband. Although, Asia accounts for 56 percent of world population, but only 10 percent has access to the Internet at present. With the rapid economic development of Asian countries this figure will increase dramatically in the coming years. This ubiquitous presence of the Internet is forcing companies to embrace the Internet as a marketing and sales channel aggressively. Many companies have adopted Internet based technologies to streamline their crucial business processes and benefiting enormously from it.
Import Export companies are no difference! Most export import companies are using the Internet to augment customer base, tap into new markets, research competitors, find new products and evaluate country opportunities. However, many of these same companies are still slow in implementing eBusiness features in their daily business activities and, as a result, fail to garner true value from the use of the Internet. Trading companies – those which are still not doing online business transactions – should follow the examples of their retail counterparts and adopt eCommerce strategies.
According to a recent study conducted by Forrester Research, retail sales are expected to rise 20 percent to US$ 211.4 billion – a two fold increase from only three years ago. Whether you are in exporting or importing business it does not make any difference, by using eCommerce and adding some of the basic eBusiness functions to your website you can also profit from this trend.
Electronic commerce is the process of selling products through the Internet. There are two distinct segments of eCommerce – Business to Business and Business to Consumers. Retailers are mostly involved in B2C and import export traders are often more in the B2B sector. That’s why you need to realize that the components of eCommerce you may need in your website will be based on your business specifics. In general, all eCommerce sites are a combination of some of the following business functionalities:
* An eCatalog so that buyers can browse through the products you have to offer
* Product specification that gives detailed technical and delivery information
* A feature that allows sending request for quote online (RFQ)
* A product order placing system – normally a shopping cart
* Ability to view order status
* Sending a notification if a new product added to the catalogue which was requested by a prospective buyer
* At least one payment method. For small orders you should have a merchant account.
* Purchase order sending ability. Buyers should be able to send PO for the products readily available or the contracts already negotiated with you.
* Billing system should generate invoices automatically
Once you implemented these features there is virtually no geographic restriction on where you can sell your products. If you are an export company you may consider translating your eCommerce site to the language of your targeted market.
This gives you an extra ability to leverage your sales endeavour.
Benefits of eCommerce
Increase revenue: By implementing eCommerce you are opening a new sales channel.
Study shows, a well prepared eCommerce strategy can increase sales from mere 10 percent to several times within the first six month of implementation. There is a possibility that order size per customer will also increase thanks to some eCommerce functionalities like advanced eCatalog, Notification service, order status viewing system and ability to offer related products.
Expand client base: Depending on the exposure of your site, you can acquire customers from every corner of the world. You are no longer confined to any geographic area.
Reach niche market segments: You can market your eCommerce site by pin pointing a specific market segment with the help of the Internet.
Lower operating costs: Your eCommerce site will eliminate or reduce workloads of sales and support force. Marketing on the Internet is significantly cheaper than in offline world. You will also benefit from lower telecommunication costs, losses incurred from document errors, inventory and sales management costs. This will have direct impact on your company bottom line.
Better customer service: The ability to provide decisive information, real time interaction with customers and customer relationship management functionalities allow you to serve your customers better and help increase customer retention.
Enhance your company image: A well-managed, robust and user-friendly eCommerce site enhances positive image of a company.
Are you ready for eCommerce?
Before you implement an eCommerce plan, you need to figure out as an exporter or importer how viable it is for you right now? Are you going to receive the benefits mentioned above? Will the customers from different geographical locations benefit from your new service channel? How critical is a well-described product specification for your customers?
Any company how small or big it is from an eCommerce site no doubt it will benefit immensely. But the question is, are you ready to commit enough time and money to make your new venture successful?
Developing your eCommerce site
Depending on the type of eCommerce site you are planning to build it might take somewhere from three months to over a year.
There are several ways of starting an eCommerce site.
Building in house: You should consider developing your eCommerce site in house only if you have significant experience in this field. In order to build a successful eCommerce site you will need a team of experts in programming, designing, copy writing, and, most importantly, a project manager with the knowledge of your business model, enough technical proficiency and experience so that the system gets developed on time with expected business functionalities.
Outsourcing: There is no doubt that outsourcing is more cost effective and less time consuming for most of the companies. The only thing is you have to choose the organization which will build your site carefully and professionally.
Using web stores: If you are constrained by time or would like to take advantage of eCommerce immediately you can also get eCommerce site from online service providers. These web stores have all the needed functionalities for a true eCommerce site. Some of them are also capable of providing supply chain management and other key business automation abilities. Check out sites like Rusbiz.com
While implementing eCommerce strategy you need to remember that eCommerce just enhances and complements your present business model but the fundamentals of your business remain the same. However, eCommerce with it’s innate flexible nature may open new business horizons for you with all the risk and reward implications
Import Export companies are no difference! Most export import companies are using the Internet to augment customer base, tap into new markets, research competitors, find new products and evaluate country opportunities. However, many of these same companies are still slow in implementing eBusiness features in their daily business activities and, as a result, fail to garner true value from the use of the Internet. Trading companies – those which are still not doing online business transactions – should follow the examples of their retail counterparts and adopt eCommerce strategies.
According to a recent study conducted by Forrester Research, retail sales are expected to rise 20 percent to US$ 211.4 billion – a two fold increase from only three years ago. Whether you are in exporting or importing business it does not make any difference, by using eCommerce and adding some of the basic eBusiness functions to your website you can also profit from this trend.
Electronic commerce is the process of selling products through the Internet. There are two distinct segments of eCommerce – Business to Business and Business to Consumers. Retailers are mostly involved in B2C and import export traders are often more in the B2B sector. That’s why you need to realize that the components of eCommerce you may need in your website will be based on your business specifics. In general, all eCommerce sites are a combination of some of the following business functionalities:
* An eCatalog so that buyers can browse through the products you have to offer
* Product specification that gives detailed technical and delivery information
* A feature that allows sending request for quote online (RFQ)
* A product order placing system – normally a shopping cart
* Ability to view order status
* Sending a notification if a new product added to the catalogue which was requested by a prospective buyer
* At least one payment method. For small orders you should have a merchant account.
* Purchase order sending ability. Buyers should be able to send PO for the products readily available or the contracts already negotiated with you.
* Billing system should generate invoices automatically
Once you implemented these features there is virtually no geographic restriction on where you can sell your products. If you are an export company you may consider translating your eCommerce site to the language of your targeted market.
This gives you an extra ability to leverage your sales endeavour.
Benefits of eCommerce
Increase revenue: By implementing eCommerce you are opening a new sales channel.
Study shows, a well prepared eCommerce strategy can increase sales from mere 10 percent to several times within the first six month of implementation. There is a possibility that order size per customer will also increase thanks to some eCommerce functionalities like advanced eCatalog, Notification service, order status viewing system and ability to offer related products.
Expand client base: Depending on the exposure of your site, you can acquire customers from every corner of the world. You are no longer confined to any geographic area.
Reach niche market segments: You can market your eCommerce site by pin pointing a specific market segment with the help of the Internet.
Lower operating costs: Your eCommerce site will eliminate or reduce workloads of sales and support force. Marketing on the Internet is significantly cheaper than in offline world. You will also benefit from lower telecommunication costs, losses incurred from document errors, inventory and sales management costs. This will have direct impact on your company bottom line.
Better customer service: The ability to provide decisive information, real time interaction with customers and customer relationship management functionalities allow you to serve your customers better and help increase customer retention.
Enhance your company image: A well-managed, robust and user-friendly eCommerce site enhances positive image of a company.
Are you ready for eCommerce?
Before you implement an eCommerce plan, you need to figure out as an exporter or importer how viable it is for you right now? Are you going to receive the benefits mentioned above? Will the customers from different geographical locations benefit from your new service channel? How critical is a well-described product specification for your customers?
Any company how small or big it is from an eCommerce site no doubt it will benefit immensely. But the question is, are you ready to commit enough time and money to make your new venture successful?
Developing your eCommerce site
Depending on the type of eCommerce site you are planning to build it might take somewhere from three months to over a year.
There are several ways of starting an eCommerce site.
Building in house: You should consider developing your eCommerce site in house only if you have significant experience in this field. In order to build a successful eCommerce site you will need a team of experts in programming, designing, copy writing, and, most importantly, a project manager with the knowledge of your business model, enough technical proficiency and experience so that the system gets developed on time with expected business functionalities.
Outsourcing: There is no doubt that outsourcing is more cost effective and less time consuming for most of the companies. The only thing is you have to choose the organization which will build your site carefully and professionally.
Using web stores: If you are constrained by time or would like to take advantage of eCommerce immediately you can also get eCommerce site from online service providers. These web stores have all the needed functionalities for a true eCommerce site. Some of them are also capable of providing supply chain management and other key business automation abilities. Check out sites like Rusbiz.com
While implementing eCommerce strategy you need to remember that eCommerce just enhances and complements your present business model but the fundamentals of your business remain the same. However, eCommerce with it’s innate flexible nature may open new business horizons for you with all the risk and reward implications
Creating Your Brand Online
A few years ago, ecommerce and the apparel industry may not have seemed like a great match. How could an industry so dependent on the look and feel of its products be profitable selling online? Turns out, the majority of analysts who predicted slow consumer adoption to online apparel shopping were entirely wrong.
In 2005, online apparel sales growth rates exceeded 40 percent according to ZD Net Research, and the industry is arguably the hottest in ecommerce. By executing various tactics in interactive marketing, apparel executives are growing their online stores with more tenacity than ever.
Remember the days when the online portion of your apparel enterprise was an afterthought? That was before businesses realized the importance of the Internet within the apparel purchase process, and prior to the inception of today’s sophisticated ecommerce destinations.
Internet a “must have” advertising vehicle
In just three years, things have changed dramatically. Many of the fastest growing ecommerce businesses are based in the apparel industry, and apparel leaders are gaining customers through innovation and customer interactivity.
Because mainstream apparel consumers are immersed in electronic media on a daily basis, the Internet has established itself as a “must have” from an advertising standpoint, and the statistics show no slowdown in web spending anytime soon.
As such, the “Annual Ad Spending Study: Where and Why Advertisers are Moving Online,” released by Outsell Inc., reported that 80 percent of advertisers include the Internet in their marketing mix. This percentage is expected to increase to 90 percent by 2008.
This year, online marketing spending is expected to increase by 19 percent, which is eight times the 2.4 percent increase expected in TV and radio advertising, and six times that of print adverstising’s expected 3.3 percent increase.
Safa Rashtchy, a senior research analyst at Piper Jaffray, also sees blue skies ahead for brand spending online, and says he believes that online media currently receives about 5 percent of total marketing spending, which is up from three percent two years ago. However, he says that online media spending is on its way to a 10 percent share much faster than anticipated.
Rashtchy estimates that online advertising will exceed $55 billion globally by 2010, equaling a 27 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR).
Reeling in online consumers
So where do you market online to reach the widest mainstream apparel audience? The most logical place to start is with search engines. Aim to rank well for bothbrand and product type searches in both natural listings (free traffic achieved by search engine optimization) or paid listings (Google AdWords).
In optimizing your site for natural search, make sure to include descriptive words within static URL strings, for example, www.yoursite.com/mens/blazer/blue/girgino-234.html, as this helps better index your site pages in Google or Yahoo. When sites are better indexed, they typically rank higher in consumer searches. To improve your site, talk to your IT team about changing title tags on pages, including ‘Alt’ tags on images, and raising your keyword density to levels of 7 percent to 12 percent.
It is also important to add new content as frequently as possible, such as seasonal buyers’ guides. By adding new keyword-rich content to your ecommerce store, search engines “see” you as offering a higher level of content quality, and their algorithms will reward you with higher rankings.
Mastering paid search also is a critical aspect of success. Your online marketing team needs to cast a wider net through extensive keyword research. By bidding on terms that consumers are searching for, but on which your competitors are not bidding, your company establishes a competitive advantage.
Also, because the majority of consumers type keyword phrases of three to five words to search for products, it is just as important to bid on “casual blue business sportcoat” as it is to bid on “blue sportcoat.” Executing this strategy will lower your overall cost-per-click averages, and increase the amount of targeted traffic to your ecommerce store.
Tailor and test for optimum results
The level of persuasion and messaging contained within the initial page visited from a paid search listing is a crucial component of the effectiveness of your paid search campaign. These pages are called “landing pages” and need to be constructed with compelling promotions and clear calls to action for the consumer.
The number of poor landing pages that exist in search engines today is astounding. Apparel retailers sometimes pay upwards of 50 cents per click to send someone to a company homepage after someone has searched for, say, “snake skin boots.” Sending a customer to the surface when he or she is drilling down is counterproductive — and a missed merchandising opportunity.
The goal is to make Internet shopping easier for the customer. Construct a landing page to take a consumer to the exact product listing or category page for which he or she searched. If you want to be really aggressive, take them straight to your online shopping cart, pre-populated with the product, complete with pictures, descriptions and related up- and cross-sell items. Test different promotions within different campaigns, and try alternating your advertising copy to gauge which versions provide better CTRs (click-through rates).
To get the most useable feedback from your data, closely monitor your web analytics packages and identify which words are converting more and less frequently and which terms are producing great returns on advertising spend (ROAS). Also, observe your interactive marketing campaigns to determine how they are impacting consumer interaction. By observing trends and behavior, your business can better optimize marketing spending within channels that make better economic sense.
Your online marketing campaigns and your ecommerce store should be vital components of your overall branding and marketing strategy. With a targeted effort to improve both of these areas, not only will your online store generate more sales, but the overall enterprise will benefit by facilitating multi-channel consumer interactions.
In 2005, online apparel sales growth rates exceeded 40 percent according to ZD Net Research, and the industry is arguably the hottest in ecommerce. By executing various tactics in interactive marketing, apparel executives are growing their online stores with more tenacity than ever.
Remember the days when the online portion of your apparel enterprise was an afterthought? That was before businesses realized the importance of the Internet within the apparel purchase process, and prior to the inception of today’s sophisticated ecommerce destinations.
Internet a “must have” advertising vehicle
In just three years, things have changed dramatically. Many of the fastest growing ecommerce businesses are based in the apparel industry, and apparel leaders are gaining customers through innovation and customer interactivity.
Because mainstream apparel consumers are immersed in electronic media on a daily basis, the Internet has established itself as a “must have” from an advertising standpoint, and the statistics show no slowdown in web spending anytime soon.
As such, the “Annual Ad Spending Study: Where and Why Advertisers are Moving Online,” released by Outsell Inc., reported that 80 percent of advertisers include the Internet in their marketing mix. This percentage is expected to increase to 90 percent by 2008.
This year, online marketing spending is expected to increase by 19 percent, which is eight times the 2.4 percent increase expected in TV and radio advertising, and six times that of print adverstising’s expected 3.3 percent increase.
Safa Rashtchy, a senior research analyst at Piper Jaffray, also sees blue skies ahead for brand spending online, and says he believes that online media currently receives about 5 percent of total marketing spending, which is up from three percent two years ago. However, he says that online media spending is on its way to a 10 percent share much faster than anticipated.
Rashtchy estimates that online advertising will exceed $55 billion globally by 2010, equaling a 27 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR).
Reeling in online consumers
So where do you market online to reach the widest mainstream apparel audience? The most logical place to start is with search engines. Aim to rank well for bothbrand and product type searches in both natural listings (free traffic achieved by search engine optimization) or paid listings (Google AdWords).
In optimizing your site for natural search, make sure to include descriptive words within static URL strings, for example, www.yoursite.com/mens/blazer/blue/girgino-234.html, as this helps better index your site pages in Google or Yahoo. When sites are better indexed, they typically rank higher in consumer searches. To improve your site, talk to your IT team about changing title tags on pages, including ‘Alt’ tags on images, and raising your keyword density to levels of 7 percent to 12 percent.
It is also important to add new content as frequently as possible, such as seasonal buyers’ guides. By adding new keyword-rich content to your ecommerce store, search engines “see” you as offering a higher level of content quality, and their algorithms will reward you with higher rankings.
Mastering paid search also is a critical aspect of success. Your online marketing team needs to cast a wider net through extensive keyword research. By bidding on terms that consumers are searching for, but on which your competitors are not bidding, your company establishes a competitive advantage.
Also, because the majority of consumers type keyword phrases of three to five words to search for products, it is just as important to bid on “casual blue business sportcoat” as it is to bid on “blue sportcoat.” Executing this strategy will lower your overall cost-per-click averages, and increase the amount of targeted traffic to your ecommerce store.
Tailor and test for optimum results
The level of persuasion and messaging contained within the initial page visited from a paid search listing is a crucial component of the effectiveness of your paid search campaign. These pages are called “landing pages” and need to be constructed with compelling promotions and clear calls to action for the consumer.
The number of poor landing pages that exist in search engines today is astounding. Apparel retailers sometimes pay upwards of 50 cents per click to send someone to a company homepage after someone has searched for, say, “snake skin boots.” Sending a customer to the surface when he or she is drilling down is counterproductive — and a missed merchandising opportunity.
The goal is to make Internet shopping easier for the customer. Construct a landing page to take a consumer to the exact product listing or category page for which he or she searched. If you want to be really aggressive, take them straight to your online shopping cart, pre-populated with the product, complete with pictures, descriptions and related up- and cross-sell items. Test different promotions within different campaigns, and try alternating your advertising copy to gauge which versions provide better CTRs (click-through rates).
To get the most useable feedback from your data, closely monitor your web analytics packages and identify which words are converting more and less frequently and which terms are producing great returns on advertising spend (ROAS). Also, observe your interactive marketing campaigns to determine how they are impacting consumer interaction. By observing trends and behavior, your business can better optimize marketing spending within channels that make better economic sense.
Your online marketing campaigns and your ecommerce store should be vital components of your overall branding and marketing strategy. With a targeted effort to improve both of these areas, not only will your online store generate more sales, but the overall enterprise will benefit by facilitating multi-channel consumer interactions.
Saturday, December 02, 2006
Create a Catalog to Supplement Your eCommerce Business
Multi-channel marketing is the tactic of reinforcing your brand message by utilizing numerous channels to sell to customers. Not just for large retailers, small to medium eCommerce businesses can reap the benefits of multi-channel marketing and should examine strategies to do so.
As Multi-channel marketing has become “par for the course” in online retail, retailers need to serve customers in multiple channels to stay competitive. Due to rising customer expectations, retailers must provide a consistent experience that allows customers to shop via the method that they feel most comfortable. Whether the method is over the phone, by mail, online, or at a brick and mortar storefront – retailers that facilitate customers to shop via multiple channels typically get a higher level of customer value.
The numbers speak for themselves. In a cross-channel study by JC Penney, the company found that internet only shoppers spent $121 per year, retail only spent $194 per year, catalog only spent $242 per year - while a customer who shopped all three spent over $1000 per year (source: ebusinessiq.com).
In a separate study of over 500 retail and enterprise businesses, consulting firm The Aberdeen Group found that 38.4% of respondents classified “multi-channel customers” as significantly more profitable.
So where to start?
So multi-channel consumer behavior generates incremental profits - but where do you begin if you are a small online retailer? How do you progress your online business towards this new opportunity and take advantage of these developing trends?
The first step for an online retailer would be to evaluate the creation and distribution of a print catalog. A print catalog and an online store work extremely well with each other, as the strengths in each channel complement the other’s weaknesses. Consumers typically browse the catalog as they shop for products and then frequently go online to purchase them.
The tangible nature of a print catalog makes it great for product browsing, as it is readily available and visible for weeks on end. Another plus is that competitive offerings are limited when merchandising via a catalog, making the catalog even more valuable in niche markets.
Small to medium online retailers should examine the costs for development, including: list management, creative design and layout, distribution processes, and postage fees. Conversion rates in catalogs frequently trail their eCommerce store counterparts however, so utilize conservative conversion metrics when developing your ROI model.
Within the first page of the catalog, consider outlining your unique value proposition (Why would a consumer shop at your store?) and provide details to your cross-channel policies (how orders can be placed and returned etc). Make sure to include your URL (ex. http://www.yourstore.com) in bold writing on every page in the catalog and include catalog “quick shop” numbers (usually 5 digits) so shoppers can quickly locate exact products viewed in the catalog on your website.
Unique strengths within each channel
Now although catalogs can be great selling tools, they are sometimes limited in their ability to provide deep levels of customer interactivity. Product content and imagery may be limited by catalog page space constraints, leaving the shopper with unanswered questions. In businesses with large assortments, not all products can make it into to the catalog. This can also create consumers being unaware of products that may meet their needs.
It is for these reasons why the web works so well with a catalog. The eCommerce store can tailor the user experience to meet the scenario needs of a visitor, while offering a complete selection of all products. The eCommerce store is able to reduce purchase hesitation by educating the customer through enhanced content, while simultaneously generating action through time sensitive promotions. Online components such as buying guides, comparison charts, or visualization tools, instill confidence on core product benefits – while cross/up sell functionality increase the average order value (AOV) of the sale.
Similar to how the catalog promoted the eCommerce business, it is important that the site promote the catalog as well. Online stores should provide the “quick shop” search capabilities mentioned earlier, provide the capability for a consumer to request a print catalog online, and also have a rich media version of the catalog online that can be emailed to a friend or family member.
When utilized together, an eCommerce store and a catalog can be a powerful way to drive incremental product demand. To maximize the potential of your online business, consider a multi-channel approach to meet the expectations and build the overall loyalty of your customer base.
As Multi-channel marketing has become “par for the course” in online retail, retailers need to serve customers in multiple channels to stay competitive. Due to rising customer expectations, retailers must provide a consistent experience that allows customers to shop via the method that they feel most comfortable. Whether the method is over the phone, by mail, online, or at a brick and mortar storefront – retailers that facilitate customers to shop via multiple channels typically get a higher level of customer value.
The numbers speak for themselves. In a cross-channel study by JC Penney, the company found that internet only shoppers spent $121 per year, retail only spent $194 per year, catalog only spent $242 per year - while a customer who shopped all three spent over $1000 per year (source: ebusinessiq.com).
In a separate study of over 500 retail and enterprise businesses, consulting firm The Aberdeen Group found that 38.4% of respondents classified “multi-channel customers” as significantly more profitable.
So where to start?
So multi-channel consumer behavior generates incremental profits - but where do you begin if you are a small online retailer? How do you progress your online business towards this new opportunity and take advantage of these developing trends?
The first step for an online retailer would be to evaluate the creation and distribution of a print catalog. A print catalog and an online store work extremely well with each other, as the strengths in each channel complement the other’s weaknesses. Consumers typically browse the catalog as they shop for products and then frequently go online to purchase them.
The tangible nature of a print catalog makes it great for product browsing, as it is readily available and visible for weeks on end. Another plus is that competitive offerings are limited when merchandising via a catalog, making the catalog even more valuable in niche markets.
Small to medium online retailers should examine the costs for development, including: list management, creative design and layout, distribution processes, and postage fees. Conversion rates in catalogs frequently trail their eCommerce store counterparts however, so utilize conservative conversion metrics when developing your ROI model.
Within the first page of the catalog, consider outlining your unique value proposition (Why would a consumer shop at your store?) and provide details to your cross-channel policies (how orders can be placed and returned etc). Make sure to include your URL (ex. http://www.yourstore.com) in bold writing on every page in the catalog and include catalog “quick shop” numbers (usually 5 digits) so shoppers can quickly locate exact products viewed in the catalog on your website.
Unique strengths within each channel
Now although catalogs can be great selling tools, they are sometimes limited in their ability to provide deep levels of customer interactivity. Product content and imagery may be limited by catalog page space constraints, leaving the shopper with unanswered questions. In businesses with large assortments, not all products can make it into to the catalog. This can also create consumers being unaware of products that may meet their needs.
It is for these reasons why the web works so well with a catalog. The eCommerce store can tailor the user experience to meet the scenario needs of a visitor, while offering a complete selection of all products. The eCommerce store is able to reduce purchase hesitation by educating the customer through enhanced content, while simultaneously generating action through time sensitive promotions. Online components such as buying guides, comparison charts, or visualization tools, instill confidence on core product benefits – while cross/up sell functionality increase the average order value (AOV) of the sale.
Similar to how the catalog promoted the eCommerce business, it is important that the site promote the catalog as well. Online stores should provide the “quick shop” search capabilities mentioned earlier, provide the capability for a consumer to request a print catalog online, and also have a rich media version of the catalog online that can be emailed to a friend or family member.
When utilized together, an eCommerce store and a catalog can be a powerful way to drive incremental product demand. To maximize the potential of your online business, consider a multi-channel approach to meet the expectations and build the overall loyalty of your customer base.
Integrating Bricks and Mortar with eCommerce
Today’s shopper expects convenience. Brands that integrate sales channels for consumer research and purchasing will increase repeat purchase rates and achieve higher levels of customer satisfaction.
In any multi-channel retail consumer interaction, traffic or sales are being driven from one channel to the other. In these “web-to-store” or “store-to-web” situations, the limitations of one channel are mitigated by the strengths of the other.
In-store Pickup
In-store pickup is a process that allows your customers to order online and pickup in your physical store. During the process, communication with the customer primarily happens via email and instructs the shopper of the steps necessary to complete the transaction. In most cases, the order is fulfilled at the “brick and mortar” store the same business day the order is placed online, with best practices showing most orders filled within a 2 hour period.
The primary value to consumers is that they receive their items almost immediately after purchasing. By using in-store pickup, consumers pick up their merchandise at a special designated area, thereby avoiding heavy crowds at the checkout counter. This is a core reason why in-store pickup is so popular during the holiday season, when last-minute ordering is often done online.
The consumer also benefits from not having to pay shipping costs. Sometimes the $6 to $10 dollars associated with shipping a product can be a critical factor to cart abandonment, and in-store pickup reduces this risk.
The retail business also benefits from the incremental purchases that are made when a customer goes to the physical store to pick up online purchases. In an internal study, multi-channel retailer REI reports that 1/3 of all customers who buy online and pickup at the store make another purchase while there, with a spend average of $90.00 (Puget Sound Business Journal).
From a technology perspective, in-store pickup needs to have some level of inventory integration to work effectively. The integration of data is critical in being able to display to the consumer the availability of products at their closest geographic store.
After a user selects the “in-store pickup” option, and enters their zip code, the system needs to cross-reference available store-level inventory data to ensure that the product is available within an acceptable distance. This inventory accuracy is crucial to deliver a great shopping experience.
Integration does not have to work in real time, but needs to execute multiple data checks throughout the day. Work your in-store pickup product availability based upon thresholds. For example, once an inventory level reaches 3 in a store location, do not display as available for in-store pickup. In-store pickup should not be executed for all products. Focus on products with high shipping costs and products that a consumer would typically want immediately.
In-Store Returns
Returning a product purchased online can be an extremely frustrating experience. Between figuring out if the retailer will pay for the shipping, waiting in line at the post office, and finally playing the waiting game for a product refund, the returns process is known for giving consumers headaches.
Accepting online product returns in a physical store is a tactic to make the returns experience pleasant and easier for the customer. By messaging an in-store returns option within the homepage, product page, and potentially within the shopping cart, a retailer reduces consumer purchase hesitation and will likely drive conversion improvement. Again, the transaction is immediate with no waiting involved.
Similar to in-store pickup, in-store returns generate incremental in-store purchases. After receiving their refund, consumers frequently shop for and purchase additional items while in the store. These actions can lead to order values that are actually greater than the initial online purchase, and drive higher lifetime consumer value.
The key to executing in-store returns is to have order management from the web and the physical stores driven from the same database. By providing the in-store associate the ability to look up information based upon order numbers on the packing slip, the process can be verified and the transaction can be closed by the associate.
Emailed In-Store Coupons and Promotions
Email is predominantly used as a mechanism to drive webstore promotions. Recently however, multi-channel businesses are realizing the value of emailing “in-store” or hybrid type promotions to their house lists.
“In-store” email promotions allow the consumer to print an email promotion (say $25.00 off a $150.00 purchase) and have it accepted at the retail store. For businesses that want to further track multi-channel purchasing, consider generating unique barcodes for each email that provide added levels of insight and security.
Hybrid emails allow promotions to be leveraged in-store and online via a purchase code. Again, by giving the consumer the ability to choose how they want to utilize the promotion, a retailer builds a stronger service connection with the shopper.
Store Locator
Now standard among eCommerce stores, a store locator function must be able to find the closest stores based upon zip code, while providing door to door directions online. If you have a physical store network but do not provide store locator functionality, you are dramatically behind the innovation curve.
All of these initiatives are geared toward achieving one objective – communicating and service of customers in the manner for which the customer chooses.
In any multi-channel retail consumer interaction, traffic or sales are being driven from one channel to the other. In these “web-to-store” or “store-to-web” situations, the limitations of one channel are mitigated by the strengths of the other.
In-store Pickup
In-store pickup is a process that allows your customers to order online and pickup in your physical store. During the process, communication with the customer primarily happens via email and instructs the shopper of the steps necessary to complete the transaction. In most cases, the order is fulfilled at the “brick and mortar” store the same business day the order is placed online, with best practices showing most orders filled within a 2 hour period.
The primary value to consumers is that they receive their items almost immediately after purchasing. By using in-store pickup, consumers pick up their merchandise at a special designated area, thereby avoiding heavy crowds at the checkout counter. This is a core reason why in-store pickup is so popular during the holiday season, when last-minute ordering is often done online.
The consumer also benefits from not having to pay shipping costs. Sometimes the $6 to $10 dollars associated with shipping a product can be a critical factor to cart abandonment, and in-store pickup reduces this risk.
The retail business also benefits from the incremental purchases that are made when a customer goes to the physical store to pick up online purchases. In an internal study, multi-channel retailer REI reports that 1/3 of all customers who buy online and pickup at the store make another purchase while there, with a spend average of $90.00 (Puget Sound Business Journal).
From a technology perspective, in-store pickup needs to have some level of inventory integration to work effectively. The integration of data is critical in being able to display to the consumer the availability of products at their closest geographic store.
After a user selects the “in-store pickup” option, and enters their zip code, the system needs to cross-reference available store-level inventory data to ensure that the product is available within an acceptable distance. This inventory accuracy is crucial to deliver a great shopping experience.
Integration does not have to work in real time, but needs to execute multiple data checks throughout the day. Work your in-store pickup product availability based upon thresholds. For example, once an inventory level reaches 3 in a store location, do not display as available for in-store pickup. In-store pickup should not be executed for all products. Focus on products with high shipping costs and products that a consumer would typically want immediately.
In-Store Returns
Returning a product purchased online can be an extremely frustrating experience. Between figuring out if the retailer will pay for the shipping, waiting in line at the post office, and finally playing the waiting game for a product refund, the returns process is known for giving consumers headaches.
Accepting online product returns in a physical store is a tactic to make the returns experience pleasant and easier for the customer. By messaging an in-store returns option within the homepage, product page, and potentially within the shopping cart, a retailer reduces consumer purchase hesitation and will likely drive conversion improvement. Again, the transaction is immediate with no waiting involved.
Similar to in-store pickup, in-store returns generate incremental in-store purchases. After receiving their refund, consumers frequently shop for and purchase additional items while in the store. These actions can lead to order values that are actually greater than the initial online purchase, and drive higher lifetime consumer value.
The key to executing in-store returns is to have order management from the web and the physical stores driven from the same database. By providing the in-store associate the ability to look up information based upon order numbers on the packing slip, the process can be verified and the transaction can be closed by the associate.
Emailed In-Store Coupons and Promotions
Email is predominantly used as a mechanism to drive webstore promotions. Recently however, multi-channel businesses are realizing the value of emailing “in-store” or hybrid type promotions to their house lists.
“In-store” email promotions allow the consumer to print an email promotion (say $25.00 off a $150.00 purchase) and have it accepted at the retail store. For businesses that want to further track multi-channel purchasing, consider generating unique barcodes for each email that provide added levels of insight and security.
Hybrid emails allow promotions to be leveraged in-store and online via a purchase code. Again, by giving the consumer the ability to choose how they want to utilize the promotion, a retailer builds a stronger service connection with the shopper.
Store Locator
Now standard among eCommerce stores, a store locator function must be able to find the closest stores based upon zip code, while providing door to door directions online. If you have a physical store network but do not provide store locator functionality, you are dramatically behind the innovation curve.
All of these initiatives are geared toward achieving one objective – communicating and service of customers in the manner for which the customer chooses.
Friday, December 01, 2006
Light Bulk Wholesalers
Recently, a new concept called ‘Light Bulk Wholesale’ has emerged with the increasing popularity of online retail stores. This concept was formed by WorldWideBrands, Inc, and refers to working with ‘real wholesalers who agree to sell small bulk quantities of products to home-based internet business owners.’
Before exploring the concept of ‘Light Bulk Wholesale’, it’s better if you have an understanding of the ecommerce industry and how this concept of ‘Light Bulk Wholesale’ came about.
Several years back, it is the goal of many people to start online retail stores, since the entire process is automatic and ‘hands-free.’ The startup costs are also much lower than a real ‘brick-and-mortar’ store, thus online stores are very economical alternatives for the small business owner.
With such a huge number of entrepreneurs aspiring to start online stores, the demand for wholesalers of all products has increased as well. The recent and emergent concept of ‘drop shipping’ removes the need for home-based internet business owners to ship products to customers on their own, satisfying the needs of many online business owners.
However, even though drop shippers offer competitive wholesale prices, the prices that drop shippers offer are still slightly higher than that of other wholesalers or manufacturers. This is due to the fact that drop shippers have to charge an additional handling fee to account for the labor of delivering the products.
Most large and established wholesalers, on the other hand, are not willing to work with small, home-based internet businesses. This is due to the fact that small business owners do not place huge transactions with them each time, like thousands of dollars of products. Large wholesalers do not consider it worth their time to process such small transactions, since their profitability is proportional to the volume of sales – the higher the sales, the greater their profitability. Small business owners thus have a difficult time establishing business relationships with these large wholesalers.
The concept of ‘Light Bulk Wholesale’ from WorldWideBrands, Inc solves this problem elegantly. Since ‘Light Bulk Wholesalers’ can sell products in smaller quantities each time to the online retailer, there is no need for huge upfront capital investments. Most ‘Light Bulk Wholesalers’ can accept $500 or lower minimum orders while still charging the retailer competitive wholesale prices.
If you’re planning to start an online retail business, apart from drop shippers, you may also want to consider using ‘Light Bulk Wholesalers.’ You do not need to make huge upfront capital investments for stocks of goods, similar to drop shipping. This helps to decrease your risk in the business because the investment you can potentially lose is much lower.
Let’s understand the concept of ‘Light Bulk Wholesale’ in greater detail here.
The process of establishing a business relationship with the wholesaler is pretty much similar to other wholesalers. You can either give them a phone call and meet face-to-face to discuss issues like pricing points and billing, or you can communicate with the wholesaler through email if it is based in a different country from where you live.
After negotiating the issues like pricing and billing, and starting an account with the ‘Light Bulk Wholesaler’, you can start purchasing small quantities of products from the wholesaler, usually less than $500 in value.
The wholesaler will ship to you several cases of products that you can store in your own home. After soliciting product images and descriptions from the wholesaler, you can then proceed to design your ecommerce website, complete with shopping cart, product catalogue, and also credit-card-processing functions.
The rest of the process is the same as in any ecommerce store – customers place orders at your website, and you package and deliver the products to the customer yourself. The profitability of your business depends on your internet marketing skills – how well you can drive targeted traffic to your website, and how well you can convert them into paying customers.
To conclude, ‘Light Bulk Wholesale’ is a very viable concept for the small business owner aspiring to start an online store. Although drop shipping also has its advantages, like no need for shipping and delivery, ‘Light Bulk Wholesalers’ can offer slightly more competitive prices. Thus, you need to determine whether working with drop shippers or ‘Light Bulk Wholesalers’ is more profitable for your business.
Before exploring the concept of ‘Light Bulk Wholesale’, it’s better if you have an understanding of the ecommerce industry and how this concept of ‘Light Bulk Wholesale’ came about.
Several years back, it is the goal of many people to start online retail stores, since the entire process is automatic and ‘hands-free.’ The startup costs are also much lower than a real ‘brick-and-mortar’ store, thus online stores are very economical alternatives for the small business owner.
With such a huge number of entrepreneurs aspiring to start online stores, the demand for wholesalers of all products has increased as well. The recent and emergent concept of ‘drop shipping’ removes the need for home-based internet business owners to ship products to customers on their own, satisfying the needs of many online business owners.
However, even though drop shippers offer competitive wholesale prices, the prices that drop shippers offer are still slightly higher than that of other wholesalers or manufacturers. This is due to the fact that drop shippers have to charge an additional handling fee to account for the labor of delivering the products.
Most large and established wholesalers, on the other hand, are not willing to work with small, home-based internet businesses. This is due to the fact that small business owners do not place huge transactions with them each time, like thousands of dollars of products. Large wholesalers do not consider it worth their time to process such small transactions, since their profitability is proportional to the volume of sales – the higher the sales, the greater their profitability. Small business owners thus have a difficult time establishing business relationships with these large wholesalers.
The concept of ‘Light Bulk Wholesale’ from WorldWideBrands, Inc solves this problem elegantly. Since ‘Light Bulk Wholesalers’ can sell products in smaller quantities each time to the online retailer, there is no need for huge upfront capital investments. Most ‘Light Bulk Wholesalers’ can accept $500 or lower minimum orders while still charging the retailer competitive wholesale prices.
If you’re planning to start an online retail business, apart from drop shippers, you may also want to consider using ‘Light Bulk Wholesalers.’ You do not need to make huge upfront capital investments for stocks of goods, similar to drop shipping. This helps to decrease your risk in the business because the investment you can potentially lose is much lower.
Let’s understand the concept of ‘Light Bulk Wholesale’ in greater detail here.
The process of establishing a business relationship with the wholesaler is pretty much similar to other wholesalers. You can either give them a phone call and meet face-to-face to discuss issues like pricing points and billing, or you can communicate with the wholesaler through email if it is based in a different country from where you live.
After negotiating the issues like pricing and billing, and starting an account with the ‘Light Bulk Wholesaler’, you can start purchasing small quantities of products from the wholesaler, usually less than $500 in value.
The wholesaler will ship to you several cases of products that you can store in your own home. After soliciting product images and descriptions from the wholesaler, you can then proceed to design your ecommerce website, complete with shopping cart, product catalogue, and also credit-card-processing functions.
The rest of the process is the same as in any ecommerce store – customers place orders at your website, and you package and deliver the products to the customer yourself. The profitability of your business depends on your internet marketing skills – how well you can drive targeted traffic to your website, and how well you can convert them into paying customers.
To conclude, ‘Light Bulk Wholesale’ is a very viable concept for the small business owner aspiring to start an online store. Although drop shipping also has its advantages, like no need for shipping and delivery, ‘Light Bulk Wholesalers’ can offer slightly more competitive prices. Thus, you need to determine whether working with drop shippers or ‘Light Bulk Wholesalers’ is more profitable for your business.
All About eBay
eBay is currently the most popular and widely accessed online shopping destination for online shoppers around the world.
As a start up company founded in September 1995, eBay has started the trend of creating and organizing auctions for basically anything tradeable. The catch is, everything is done electronically or through the Internet.
To date eBay sells about 55 million hot items under up to 50,000 trade categories. This Internet-based marketplace is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, no holidays. A person can shop for desired items anywhere he or she may be.
According to the company and other experts’ projections, there are currently about 157 million unique users to eBay’s services around the globe.
With so many people online, large number of items for sale, eBay assures that each user or client is accorded the fair and friendly treatment a generous shopper deserves.
Background
EBay is a major company listed in the United States under the small-capital index Nasdaq Stock Market.
As a company, eBay adheres to its own mission-vision statement, that is, “to provide a platform globally where online users can practically buy or sell anything, at any given price. Deals should be done or transacted online.
A few years ago, the company used to allow online sellers to post their contact numbers through eBay’s Web site, so potential buyers can directly haggle the pricing.
But due to reported anomalous transactions and fraudulent activities arising from such arrangements, eBay recently implemented its own ruling that buyers and sellers will have to course everything online.
Buyers and sellers on eBay not can not arrange personal meetings. This way, identities and interests of both parties are protected and upheld.
Local sites
Because demand for eBay’s service has grown so rapidly over the years and around the world, eBay decided to put up local sites.
As of today, eBay has local Web sites operating in huge and lucrative markets in Austria, Australia, Canada, China, Belgium, Germany, France, India, Ireland, Italy, Hong Kong, the Netherlands, Malaysia, Poland, the Philippines, Singapore, New Zealand, South Korea, Switzerland, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Taiwan and of course, its base, the United States.
eBay also owns the Latin auctioneer site MercadoLibre.com, which is specifically designed and operated for Latin American users.
Added offerings
Today, eBay not only offers its current services of online auctioneering. The site has evolved significantly to currently offer broader variety of added features, educational tools and services that empowers online users to transact through the Web site safely, conveniently and quickly.
Not only that, eBay has also evolved rapidly as an online community for responsible and good online users, which can be called eBay citizens in their own rights.
A strong spirit and essence of camaraderie is exhibited every time eBay users help each other through the site. eBay being an online small community is based on the concept and idealization that the site will provide encouragement to users for honest and open communication.
The concept of eBay community is an outline of the community values eBay advocates in. They are: that basically people are good-natured; all people can contribute something individually for the benefit of all; the best in people will be extracted through open and honest dealings; recognition and respect for everybody; and application of the golden rule: treat others the way you want others to treat you.
Thursday, November 30, 2006
Making Money Online All About Supply And Demand
If you want to make money online you cannot just set up a website and assume that people will visit it, you have to promote the website. Even if you promote there is a great chance you still will not make any money. The reason behind that could be supply in the demand. With so many people turning the internet for income you have to make sure that you focus on the opportunities that can make you the most money.
The best opportunity to make money online right now is to find niche markets. Niche markets are areas that consider of in demand product but they are products that everyone does not need. For example DVD movies cannot be considered a niche because almost everyone has DVD movies and DVD players. In contrast, wheelchairs can be considered a niche because they are something that are only used by a small percentage of the population. Niche markets are also very profitable because prices can be maintained at suggested retail price because of lack of competition, whereas, people selling more common products have to reduce prices and offer more specials to keep existing customers and get new ones.
The best opportunity to make money online right now is to find niche markets. Niche markets are areas that consider of in demand product but they are products that everyone does not need. For example DVD movies cannot be considered a niche because almost everyone has DVD movies and DVD players. In contrast, wheelchairs can be considered a niche because they are something that are only used by a small percentage of the population. Niche markets are also very profitable because prices can be maintained at suggested retail price because of lack of competition, whereas, people selling more common products have to reduce prices and offer more specials to keep existing customers and get new ones.
Redirect Web Visitors By Country Using ASP and COM Technology
There are times when it is useful to redirect a visitor to different default web page based on the visitor's country of origin. One practical usage is to redirect visitor to web page with the language recognized by the visitor. This article shows you how using ASP and ActiveX component this can be done.
Let us take a simple case study. Company XYZ is multi-national company with major customers from United States and Japan. The company official website is developed in both English and Japanese languages. The default page is in English language and visitor can switch to Japanese by changing the default language option. There exists a potential problem when a Japanese visitor does not understand English and it could not navigate the web site. So let us developed a simple solution to help Company XYZ redirecting all Internet traffic from country Japan to the Japanese language site. Meanwhile it drives the rest traffic to English site.
Let us take a simple case study. Company XYZ is multi-national company with major customers from United States and Japan. The company official website is developed in both English and Japanese languages. The default page is in English language and visitor can switch to Japanese by changing the default language option. There exists a potential problem when a Japanese visitor does not understand English and it could not navigate the web site. So let us developed a simple solution to help Company XYZ redirecting all Internet traffic from country Japan to the Japanese language site. Meanwhile it drives the rest traffic to English site.
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
Ecommerce Web Site Design for Today's Global Market
The global marketplace has become the modern way of doing business. And being successful requires a well implemented ecommerce web site design. Completing that task is highly technical and complex, to say the least. However, specialty ecommerce software can help even a non-technical entrepreneur develop and implement a viable ecommerce solution.
Why Ecommerce Web Sites are so Complex
There are many aspects involved to any type design ecommerce web site, including the ability to routinely update and change all forms of content, including text, images, inventories, meta tags, statistics and reports, and security issues. This represents a challenge, especially for non-technical persons.
Some companies utilize long-term multi-million dollar programs to address these special aspects of successfully conducting ecommerce. Many have an entire staff of highly trained programming specialists to keep their ecommerce web site design finely tuned and running smoothly, to update database security and permissions, or maintain flash presentations.
Let’s face it, the multitude of smaller companies now seeking web site development ecommerce solutions just don’t have that kind of financial resource.
Finding a Solution
A popular solution for this obstacle is the growing availability of specially designed software that allows non-technical persons to complete on-going tasks. Software that generates necessary programming codes such as HTML, SQL, PHP, and PERL.
These programs will automatically integrate the necessary code for the desired solution, and installs it on the web site. Once installed, the program keeps the supplier, carrier, shipping department, and billing department up to date on each transaction.
Specially designed ecommerce software solutions are available at a fraction of the cost required to maintain a highly trained technical staff to accomplish the same tasks.
Why Ecommerce Web Sites are so Complex
There are many aspects involved to any type design ecommerce web site, including the ability to routinely update and change all forms of content, including text, images, inventories, meta tags, statistics and reports, and security issues. This represents a challenge, especially for non-technical persons.
Some companies utilize long-term multi-million dollar programs to address these special aspects of successfully conducting ecommerce. Many have an entire staff of highly trained programming specialists to keep their ecommerce web site design finely tuned and running smoothly, to update database security and permissions, or maintain flash presentations.
Let’s face it, the multitude of smaller companies now seeking web site development ecommerce solutions just don’t have that kind of financial resource.
Finding a Solution
A popular solution for this obstacle is the growing availability of specially designed software that allows non-technical persons to complete on-going tasks. Software that generates necessary programming codes such as HTML, SQL, PHP, and PERL.
These programs will automatically integrate the necessary code for the desired solution, and installs it on the web site. Once installed, the program keeps the supplier, carrier, shipping department, and billing department up to date on each transaction.
Specially designed ecommerce software solutions are available at a fraction of the cost required to maintain a highly trained technical staff to accomplish the same tasks.
Save Time & Money Shopping for Electronic Items Online
When it's time to find that special gift for a loved one or the birthday boy, do you head out to the shops in the hopes of stumbling across the perfect little electronic gadget? Even if you use the advertising circulars as a guide, that can often lead to a frustrating treasure hunt that burns you out while wasting your time and your money - and sends you home with a gift that's not quite what you wanted in the first place. You'd think there'd be a better way. Well - there is. Whether you're shopping for a cheap computer, an MP3 player, a digital TV or even a DVD movie, the smartest place to shop is sitting right in front of your computer.
It shouldn't come as any surprise that it's easy to find bargains on electronics online. Electronics and cheap computer parts and accessories were among the first merchandise to be sold regularly in online marketplaces and they continue to be the most popular type of items bought at online stores. The popularity of online shopping continues to grow, with total sales reaching into the tens of billions. Why would someone choose to purchase electronic items online rather than going out to the shops? The reasons are simple.
1. Shopping online is convenient. There's no need to stop around to a dozen different merchants to find the best deal on a cheap computer. All you have to do is a simple search. You don't even have to strain your mouse finger to visit a dozen websites anymore. There are some fantastic shopper services that make it easy to find the best price on that cheap computer or MP3 player all in one place.
2. There's no traffic hassles, no crowded shops, no need to fill up the fuel tank on your auto. You can shop the entire world for the best possible price on whatever you want, whether it's a digital TV or a DVD movie right from the ease of your favourite chair.
3. The internet is a very very big place. That means that you're not bound into paying the prices you can find at your local stores. You can find great deals on cheap computer accessories (how about that neon glow in the dark mouse pad?), the best prices on the computer that you want, or the perfect DVD player from every corner of the world.
4. The internet is never out of stock. Looking for that DVD movie you've been dying to see, but the local shop is sold out? You're sure to find it online - and with next day shipping, you can be watching it tomorrow evening instead of waiting two weeks for your local merchant to restock it.
5. You can find the latest models of everything from hard drives to flash drives, from DVD players to digital TVs, from cheap computer parts to completely kitted out superstar gaming computers. Most manufacturers announce their latest releases online first - and you can often order online weeks before the newest game console or digital toy is in the local shops.
When you shop online you can enjoy the convenience of shopping without ever leaving your home, save time, save money - and get the best quality electronic merchandise at the best prices in the world.
Auther Daily (not the Peckham market trader) is the owner of "http://www.howcheapisthat.co.uk". The site was launched to help surfers find the cheapest prices online for cheap computers, DVD movies, MP3 players & Digital TV. Save time & money shopping for electronic items online.
It shouldn't come as any surprise that it's easy to find bargains on electronics online. Electronics and cheap computer parts and accessories were among the first merchandise to be sold regularly in online marketplaces and they continue to be the most popular type of items bought at online stores. The popularity of online shopping continues to grow, with total sales reaching into the tens of billions. Why would someone choose to purchase electronic items online rather than going out to the shops? The reasons are simple.
1. Shopping online is convenient. There's no need to stop around to a dozen different merchants to find the best deal on a cheap computer. All you have to do is a simple search. You don't even have to strain your mouse finger to visit a dozen websites anymore. There are some fantastic shopper services that make it easy to find the best price on that cheap computer or MP3 player all in one place.
2. There's no traffic hassles, no crowded shops, no need to fill up the fuel tank on your auto. You can shop the entire world for the best possible price on whatever you want, whether it's a digital TV or a DVD movie right from the ease of your favourite chair.
3. The internet is a very very big place. That means that you're not bound into paying the prices you can find at your local stores. You can find great deals on cheap computer accessories (how about that neon glow in the dark mouse pad?), the best prices on the computer that you want, or the perfect DVD player from every corner of the world.
4. The internet is never out of stock. Looking for that DVD movie you've been dying to see, but the local shop is sold out? You're sure to find it online - and with next day shipping, you can be watching it tomorrow evening instead of waiting two weeks for your local merchant to restock it.
5. You can find the latest models of everything from hard drives to flash drives, from DVD players to digital TVs, from cheap computer parts to completely kitted out superstar gaming computers. Most manufacturers announce their latest releases online first - and you can often order online weeks before the newest game console or digital toy is in the local shops.
When you shop online you can enjoy the convenience of shopping without ever leaving your home, save time, save money - and get the best quality electronic merchandise at the best prices in the world.
Auther Daily (not the Peckham market trader) is the owner of "http://www.howcheapisthat.co.uk". The site was launched to help surfers find the cheapest prices online for cheap computers, DVD movies, MP3 players & Digital TV. Save time & money shopping for electronic items online.
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
E-Junkie Makes Selling Downloadable Games and Other Electronic Media Easy and Affordable
I had looked around for some time for an easy, inexpensive, secure, and reliable way to sell our company's low-priced printable games. Many online service providers that allow you to sell and track downloadable media such as your own e-Books, music, games, and phone cards charge a hefty set-up fee, a high monthly maintenance fee, and often a substantial commission on your product sales on top of that! So we were delighted to stumble across E-junkie.com.
Initially, we thought there had to be some catch, but we decided to take advantage of their free trial to test the system, and our experience has been wonderful! Not only was E-junkie.com significantly less expensive than its competitors, starting at $5 a month with no additional costs, especially if you are selling a limited number of products, but the features were on par with the more expensive companies, the staff is technically competent and knowledgeable, the system has worked flawlessly for us so far, it was easy to set up, and they are very willing to help with your setup and even customize the particular features you need to run your unique business.
E-junkie's service works seamlessly with PayPal, you can track conversions from Google Adwords and other programs, customers download the products instantly and securely without your having to send them an e-mail, you can bundle products, offer discounts, accept credit cards, and download your customer data log into Excel. Also, the product download links are temporarily generated to prevent theft, there is no transaction limit, and they promote your products for you on Froogle and other sites.
There are many other useful features depending on your business requirements, and E-junkie.com keeps improving their service and adding new capabilities, so if you are looking for a simple and affordable way to sell your electronic media, compare E-junkie's offerings with their nearest competitors at and we think you'll be pleasantly surprised.
Treasure-Adventure.com is a designer of unique print 'n' play interactive treasure hunt party games with fun and challenging custom clues for kids of all ages. Visit Treasure-Adventure.com at download games using E-junkie, access free kids activities and treasure hunting tools and tips, read about legends of lost treasure, and purchase party supplies online.
Initially, we thought there had to be some catch, but we decided to take advantage of their free trial to test the system, and our experience has been wonderful! Not only was E-junkie.com significantly less expensive than its competitors, starting at $5 a month with no additional costs, especially if you are selling a limited number of products, but the features were on par with the more expensive companies, the staff is technically competent and knowledgeable, the system has worked flawlessly for us so far, it was easy to set up, and they are very willing to help with your setup and even customize the particular features you need to run your unique business.
E-junkie's service works seamlessly with PayPal, you can track conversions from Google Adwords and other programs, customers download the products instantly and securely without your having to send them an e-mail, you can bundle products, offer discounts, accept credit cards, and download your customer data log into Excel. Also, the product download links are temporarily generated to prevent theft, there is no transaction limit, and they promote your products for you on Froogle and other sites.
There are many other useful features depending on your business requirements, and E-junkie.com keeps improving their service and adding new capabilities, so if you are looking for a simple and affordable way to sell your electronic media, compare E-junkie's offerings with their nearest competitors at and we think you'll be pleasantly surprised.
Treasure-Adventure.com is a designer of unique print 'n' play interactive treasure hunt party games with fun and challenging custom clues for kids of all ages. Visit Treasure-Adventure.com at download games using E-junkie, access free kids activities and treasure hunting tools and tips, read about legends of lost treasure, and purchase party supplies online.
Advantages of Discount Coupons
Discount coupons are not a new concept; shoppers across the world have always been enthusiastic about discount coupons offered by restaurants, hotels, tour and travel companies, groceries, etc, which helped them incur substantial savings on their budget. In the past, coupons used to be distributed on the shops, through newspapers, magazines, etc from which customers required to clip the coupon out before presenting them.
Of late, online discount coupons are gaining rapid importance. Today, most of the e-commerce portals have ongoing discounts going at their sites, and apart from these there are sites exclusively meant for distribution of online discount coupons. Online discount coupons have a number of advantages over coupons available in newspapers, etc. First of all, unlike newspapers or magazines, where you can use a coupon only for one time, online coupons can be downloaded and used whenever you need. Real savings are incurred only when you can continually use discount coupons for every day use items, and only online discount coupons offer these facilities.
Acquiring discount coupons over the Internet is much cheaper. Here you can make a search for discount coupons on your desired items. In case of newspapers or magazines, you have to rely only on those coupons that are offered. For extra coupons you would have to buy more magazines or newspapers.
Truly speaking, in today’s competitive market, each and every store is absolutely serious about getting that extra mileage over its competitors by attracting more and more customers. Startup companies, desiring to create a substantial impact are also prone to offer exotic promotional offers. Whatever be the reason, it’s us, the customers, who are always at the gainers end. Whether you are planning to go to your favorite restaurant, or to a trip to your favorite destination, or simply planning to go to the local supermarket, be sure to check out the websites of the restaurant, your hotel, the travel company, and the supermarket—you will definitely come across some pretty good discount offers.
Of late, online discount coupons are gaining rapid importance. Today, most of the e-commerce portals have ongoing discounts going at their sites, and apart from these there are sites exclusively meant for distribution of online discount coupons. Online discount coupons have a number of advantages over coupons available in newspapers, etc. First of all, unlike newspapers or magazines, where you can use a coupon only for one time, online coupons can be downloaded and used whenever you need. Real savings are incurred only when you can continually use discount coupons for every day use items, and only online discount coupons offer these facilities.
Acquiring discount coupons over the Internet is much cheaper. Here you can make a search for discount coupons on your desired items. In case of newspapers or magazines, you have to rely only on those coupons that are offered. For extra coupons you would have to buy more magazines or newspapers.
Truly speaking, in today’s competitive market, each and every store is absolutely serious about getting that extra mileage over its competitors by attracting more and more customers. Startup companies, desiring to create a substantial impact are also prone to offer exotic promotional offers. Whatever be the reason, it’s us, the customers, who are always at the gainers end. Whether you are planning to go to your favorite restaurant, or to a trip to your favorite destination, or simply planning to go to the local supermarket, be sure to check out the websites of the restaurant, your hotel, the travel company, and the supermarket—you will definitely come across some pretty good discount offers.
Monday, November 27, 2006
The Importance of the "Human Touch" in the Virtual Marketplace
A computer once beat me at chess, but it was no match for me at kick boxing.” –Emo Philips
For those of us who have moved our businesses into the virtual world, it’s sometimes easy to forget that our customers are real, live breathing human beings. Some of us may even have moved into this area to avoid all the human interactions. However, it is imperative that we don’t forget the importance of the human component of sales, even online.
It’s easy for us to just see our clients as a number or an e-mail address because we don’t actually see them on a daily basis or in some cases, ever. But, it is important to realize that the majority of people are still not one hundred percent comfortable doing business with a faceless entity over a DSL line. It can be very hard for a client to put their trust and more importantly their money into someone or something they can’t see.
This is where communication comes into play. We all know that in business communication is key. However, in the virtual world, it is all-powerful. No matter what your product or service, if you expect to make a living in an online venture, you must be accessible to your existing clients and potential customers.
It is crucial that you offer as many avenues of reaching you as possible. You must give them e-mail addresses, physical addresses, phone numbers, fax numbers and as many different instant messenger options as you have. They must feel that just because you’re not in their office or around the corner, you’re just as available to them.
Now this may sound obvious, but just having all of those communication tools isn’t enough. You must make it priority number one to be accessible. None of those handy devices are any good if they don’t help get you on the line for that customer. You must always put answering messages, replying to e-mails and simply checking in from time to time at the top of your priority list!
Making the decision to hire online companies can be a major step to business owners who have never ventured into this new world, and it is your job to make sure they have a positive experience.
There is no question that computers have made all of lives easier and are growing the global economy at an astonishing rate, but let us never forget the importance of the “human touch!”
Accept Credit Card Online
Accept credit card on line payments when people owe you money. When you accept credit card online payments, you are showing flexibility as a business owner and willingness for technological changes. Since we are living in a world that does everything electronically, you are keeping up with the times when you accept credit card on line payments. For example, maybe you own a sports equipment website. People are able to shop from the comforts of home and buy needed items from your store. When they go to checkout, they have the option to make payments over the Internet. You then can say if you reject or accept credit card online payments. Most of the time, you will accept credit card on line payments-as long as the customer provides and meets the criteria you ask for. The type of criteria you choose to accept credit card on line payments might include the person's full name and address, phone number, as well as credit card information. You might even have a default device that can tell when you accept credit card on line payments whether the credit card was stolen or not. There are many things you can do when you accept credit card online payments; you just need to know where to look for ways to make it successful.
If you are thinking of incorporating ways to accept credit card online payments, which can you talk to get more information? You can look online and see if there are programs available that can teach you the basics on how to accept credit card on line payments. There might even be software that teaches you how to accept credit card online payments. Seminars might even exits for businesses wanting to get up to par with the technological age of business. These seminars might teach that when you accept credit card online payments, you are opening yourself up to a world of possibilities and ways to get more clientele for your business.
Look online for ways to accept credit card online payments. When you do find something regarding how to accept credit card online payments, write it down. If there are phone numbers that tell you who to contact regarding how to accept credit card online payments, don't hesitate to call. Get educated about the possibilities you have waiting to be discovered regarding how to accept credit card on line payments today. Get your business going in the right direction. Learn all there is to know about how to accept credit card online payments and see your business grow.
If you are thinking of incorporating ways to accept credit card online payments, which can you talk to get more information? You can look online and see if there are programs available that can teach you the basics on how to accept credit card on line payments. There might even be software that teaches you how to accept credit card online payments. Seminars might even exits for businesses wanting to get up to par with the technological age of business. These seminars might teach that when you accept credit card online payments, you are opening yourself up to a world of possibilities and ways to get more clientele for your business.
Look online for ways to accept credit card online payments. When you do find something regarding how to accept credit card online payments, write it down. If there are phone numbers that tell you who to contact regarding how to accept credit card online payments, don't hesitate to call. Get educated about the possibilities you have waiting to be discovered regarding how to accept credit card on line payments today. Get your business going in the right direction. Learn all there is to know about how to accept credit card online payments and see your business grow.
Sunday, November 26, 2006
The Catch-22 with Accepting Credit Cards
The Internet is a unique beast when it comes to payment transactions. You need to accept credit cards on your site, but there is a problem given the nature of credit card protection.
The Catch-22 with Accepting Credit Cards
The number one method of payment in transactions on the net is credit card payment. You must accept credit cards or you will get nowhere with your site. While this sounds like an obvious statement, accepting credit cards raises a host of issues.
The first issue to consider with credit cards is security. Unless you have been living under a rock, you know identity theft is a major problem. Your potential clients or customers know this as well, which means you have a problem. You must convince them that they are not risking anything by paying you with a credit card. To do this, you must use secure transaction systems or a well known online payment source that has credibility. You should also offer alternative payment methods such as mail in orders and placement of orders over the phone.
An even bigger problem is the protection given by credit card companies to consumers. You have probably seen the television commercials wherein credit card companies promise zero risk transactions. This process allows consumers to dispute a charge from your site. To win the dispute, they barely have to do anything. The burden is on you to show that they received what they ordered in a timely manner. If you can’t show it, the charges will be canceled, known as a “chargeback.” You will learn to hate this term because not only do you lose the sale, but you also often have to pay a fine! This is simply the cost of doing business if you accept credit cards.
Saturday, November 25, 2006
Free Offshore Merchant Accounts
A free offshore merchant account may seem like a dream but yes it does exist in reality. Such a merchant account provides high security business account processing without any hassles or exorbitant fees. It can give your business its new wings of flight, catapulting it to a new success dais.
Free offshore merchant accounts can give you advantages that you can’t imagine with a domestic merchant account. They can be the backbone to your e-commerce activities. A free offshore merchant account requires no application fees and has an approval rate of 99.9%. All business types are approved even if they involve high-risk activities such as casinos and other types of gambling, adult-themed businesses, MLMs etc. The banks offering offshore merchant account do not carry out credit history checks, so even if you have a bad credit history and do not qualify for a merchant account in US, you are sure to qualify for a free merchant account offshore. You do not have to pay any set-up fee or a deposit. Even the high-risk merchant need not pay a security deposit. A free payment gateway becomes functional within a few seconds of account activation.
A free offshore merchant account requires no statement fees. There are no monthly or annual charges tagged with this type of account. It has a fully automated payment process, which involves real time processing. So what if you’re a high-risk merchant? Even your company can get an offshore business checking account. A free offshore merchant account can cost you anywhere around 0.50% per transaction for regular merchants and up to 3% for high-risk merchants. You can maintain offshore privacy of your company with a prepaid Internet MasterCard for online shopping or avail the no-name MasterCard or Cirrus Cards. No, you do not need to be a programming pro to have a free offshore merchant account. It gives you an SSL 128-bit secured environment.
With your free offshore account you can also send or receive money from Western Union, E-Gold, NetPay, MoneyBookers, SWIFT Wire Transfer, MoneyGram, and more. It also allows you to receive checks (such as AMEX checks), international money orders, and other types of money exchange processes.
A free offshore merchant account is truly a boon for an e-business. It requires no initial deposit or account balance. All you need to do is just signup for an account
Free offshore merchant accounts can give you advantages that you can’t imagine with a domestic merchant account. They can be the backbone to your e-commerce activities. A free offshore merchant account requires no application fees and has an approval rate of 99.9%. All business types are approved even if they involve high-risk activities such as casinos and other types of gambling, adult-themed businesses, MLMs etc. The banks offering offshore merchant account do not carry out credit history checks, so even if you have a bad credit history and do not qualify for a merchant account in US, you are sure to qualify for a free merchant account offshore. You do not have to pay any set-up fee or a deposit. Even the high-risk merchant need not pay a security deposit. A free payment gateway becomes functional within a few seconds of account activation.
A free offshore merchant account requires no statement fees. There are no monthly or annual charges tagged with this type of account. It has a fully automated payment process, which involves real time processing. So what if you’re a high-risk merchant? Even your company can get an offshore business checking account. A free offshore merchant account can cost you anywhere around 0.50% per transaction for regular merchants and up to 3% for high-risk merchants. You can maintain offshore privacy of your company with a prepaid Internet MasterCard for online shopping or avail the no-name MasterCard or Cirrus Cards. No, you do not need to be a programming pro to have a free offshore merchant account. It gives you an SSL 128-bit secured environment.
With your free offshore account you can also send or receive money from Western Union, E-Gold, NetPay, MoneyBookers, SWIFT Wire Transfer, MoneyGram, and more. It also allows you to receive checks (such as AMEX checks), international money orders, and other types of money exchange processes.
A free offshore merchant account is truly a boon for an e-business. It requires no initial deposit or account balance. All you need to do is just signup for an account
Friday, November 24, 2006
How to Develop Your Own $2,000 a Week Internet Strategy
In most of the articles on the web, probably 97% - 99%, you will read about the technical aspects of building a profitable business online. Most of the information I cover deals with that arena...but what most people forget to mention to you is that the technical aspects are ONLY half of the equation to your success on the internet.
When you really get down to the nitty-gritty of making money online, it all starts with your strategy. Even if you know exactly how to achieve top positions on the search engines or know exactly how a link campaign should be done, it still won't let you achieve the level of success you want if you don't know how to develop the strategy for your site.
To put it simply, tactics are your day to day actions in building your website. A strategy is your overall plan and goal for exactly what you would like to have your website and business accomplish for your customers.
The Random House College Dictionary defines strategy and tactics this way... "In military usage, a distinction is made between STRATEGY AND TACTICS. STRATEGY is the utilization of all of a nation's forces, through large-scale, long-range planning and development, to ensure security or victory. TACTICS deals with the use and deployment of troops in combat."
Have you ever stopped the day to day battle of trying to achieve top positions on search engines (And believe me...This is a battle) long enough to develop your long-term strategy? What is your overall vision for your site? In the Bible, Proverbs 29:18 states, "Where there is no vision, the people perish..."
I know some people who are brilliant strategists about online marketing who have achieved amazing success even though their actual tactical skills are only so-so. They hire out the web site design, the search engine registrations, the linking campaigns, and the copywriting. As a matter of fact, one of these brilliant minds once mentioned to me that "The Concept is Greater than The Copy."
In other words, the right marketing strategy can overcome slight problems in the copywriting or even the carrying out of the plans. Even the best copywriting on the planet won't make a success out of a poor business strategy or concept.
No contractor would ever consider starting work on a project without having a detailed blueprint already done and in their hands. It also doesn't matter how good they are at following the blueprints if the blueprints are all wrong. For many people, their internet businesses are in this exact state. They have many of the internet tactics ready, but they have yet to develop a powerful strategy to empower the whole process.
So exactly how do you choose the strategy for your Internet Marketing Empire? Below you will find a three step process in helping you develop your overall strategy. I don't want to over-complicate the process by any means, but I do want to help you create ideas through this. Your actual day to day internet marketing tactics will then flow out of your overall marketing strategy.
STEP ONE: Create Your Overall Theme to Your Online Business
You can't develop a business around a single product. Even if you are promoting a single product upfront, it is not the product that people want. They want the BENEFITS they receive out of the product. When designing your site, think about an "Ultimate Benefit" to build your site around.
I first heard the phrase "The Ultimate Benefit" through Dr. Jeffrey Lant and it has stuck with me ever since. It is that ever abiding "WANT" or "GOALS" that your prospects have with them continually. Ultimate Benefits are things such as: more money, weight loss, online success, being sexually attractive, self-defense, etc.
Ultimate benefits are what your prospects are really seeking after. So, don't base your business just on products. Base your business on this Ultimate Benefit. This will be the theme that binds everything else you do at your site together. It is what you want your site to become known for. It is why people will return to your site over and over again forever.
What is it that your prospects ultimately want?
More Money
Better Health
Weight Loss
etc.
Once you have defined your "Ultimate Benefit," that's where the products can come in. You will want to provide multiple products that all fall under the same Ultimate Benefit. This will help you to create "Multiple Streams of Income" all generated from one web site.
What mail order or internet company do you know of that only has one product? There aren't any really successful ones. Even the sites which seem only to have one main product still have dozens of different profitstreams which all come out of the backend of that product. Your mission online is to help people reach their ultimate goals, and that cannot be done with just one product. It takes a variety of products to accomplish this goal.
One warning I do want to mention here though is that your site will be more successful if you have one LEAD product. By testing both multiple product sites and sites which focus on one lead product, I have found that the lead product sites will outsell the multiple product sites by a long shot in most cases.
So, the absolute best set-up is to focus on a main product, and then have many different backends or supporting products which will help your customers to further their goals. This type of system is often referred to as a marketing funnel. You may be selling a book about Ad Copy on your site, but you will also have consultations, seminars, audio tapes, and ad writing services which all support your theme.
If you are selling web sites as a primary lead product, you could also sell books on internet marketing, web design services, CGI programming, etc. If your theme is weight loss, your primary product may be a nutritional product. You could also sell weight loss and exercise books. A newsletter could be started. You could also do personal one-on-one consultations for specific individuals.
You also don't need to come up with all of these products yourself. Many of them can be found through Joint Venturing with other companies which have products you know your customers want.
STEP TWO: Develop A Unique Aspect to Your Business...Your USP
Your business cannot just be a me-too business online. You need to develop some type of uniqueness to it...something that sets you apart from all of the rest of your competition online. You need to create a "Unique Selling Position" which makes you stand out from the crowd online...
For example, everyone is selling books online. How did Amazon.com becomes the most well known bookstore on the Internet. They developed a USP which basically states "The World's Largest Bookstore" which is exactly what they are. They have stated in one phrase exactly what makes them unique from the rest of the bookstores in the world.
How can you develop your own USP? You probably aren't going to own the largest selection of anything in your business since most of us have started out bootstrapping at home or in our small business. Let me give you a simple little formula you can use which will help you immensely in the creation of a USP for your business.
To find your USP, pull out a blank sheet of paper. At the top of the paper, write "You know how most __________..." Then, halfway down the page, write "Well, What I do is..."
I want you to write how most of the businesses in your market are in the first section. Then, I want you to write what sets you apart from them. Avoid using words such as quality or better service, because those types of things don't really mean anything UNLESS you are more specific in your description. This may take you a while to do.
You probably will have to study your competition online for a while. Give yourself a few days to think it over. Then, write it down.
Next, I want you to boil down that entire sheet of paper to a single phrase or sentence. This takes some work. Write it out in a sentence or phrase as many times as you need to until you get just the right words. Again, if this takes you a few days, let it. Think about it when you are driving, eating, etc. Mull it over. Then, once you have just the right wording, that is your NEW USP which you will use to separate you from all of the competition.
Use it on your signature file online...Use it on your website...Use it in your ad copy. Let it become a guiding force to your online business that sets you apart and defines you as the person to deal with in this area.
STEP THREE: Concentrate on Building Relationships with Your Prospects
To fully develop an online business, you need to maximize your relationships with people. Although your goal in your Internet business may be to set it up on auto-pilot, you have to remember at all times that you are dealing with real people. Credibility online is a major issue because there are many fly-by-night get-rich-quick operators on the internet.
To help you develop this credibility with your prospects, your overall strategy has to include such tools as ezines, message boards, chats, conference calls, dealer programs, etc. Many people keep asking exactly why does it seem ezines are popping up everywhere...It is simply because they work. They help you to develop the relationships you need with your prospects. You are able to contact your prospects over and over again providing them with good useful information.
The same thing is true of the message boards. Once you have worked them up to a certain level of traffic, the same people will keep coming back day after day learning from you and the other experts you may have brought to your board.
Use your imagination and develop other free services such as these to help you develop your website and relationships online. How about doing JVs with other businesses? How about running a monthly conference call on your subject? Your business online is only limited by your imagination!
Get Started Today In Developing Your Online Strategy...
Don't let this report just sit there in your email box. Print it out. Start today in putting these strategy building tips to work for you. It is a proven fact that if you put this off for more than 24 hours, you will probably never come back to it.
Developing Your Internet Strategy can be the most important key to creating the internet business you dream of. Take action today and at least start thinking and working on it.
When you really get down to the nitty-gritty of making money online, it all starts with your strategy. Even if you know exactly how to achieve top positions on the search engines or know exactly how a link campaign should be done, it still won't let you achieve the level of success you want if you don't know how to develop the strategy for your site.
To put it simply, tactics are your day to day actions in building your website. A strategy is your overall plan and goal for exactly what you would like to have your website and business accomplish for your customers.
The Random House College Dictionary defines strategy and tactics this way... "In military usage, a distinction is made between STRATEGY AND TACTICS. STRATEGY is the utilization of all of a nation's forces, through large-scale, long-range planning and development, to ensure security or victory. TACTICS deals with the use and deployment of troops in combat."
Have you ever stopped the day to day battle of trying to achieve top positions on search engines (And believe me...This is a battle) long enough to develop your long-term strategy? What is your overall vision for your site? In the Bible, Proverbs 29:18 states, "Where there is no vision, the people perish..."
I know some people who are brilliant strategists about online marketing who have achieved amazing success even though their actual tactical skills are only so-so. They hire out the web site design, the search engine registrations, the linking campaigns, and the copywriting. As a matter of fact, one of these brilliant minds once mentioned to me that "The Concept is Greater than The Copy."
In other words, the right marketing strategy can overcome slight problems in the copywriting or even the carrying out of the plans. Even the best copywriting on the planet won't make a success out of a poor business strategy or concept.
No contractor would ever consider starting work on a project without having a detailed blueprint already done and in their hands. It also doesn't matter how good they are at following the blueprints if the blueprints are all wrong. For many people, their internet businesses are in this exact state. They have many of the internet tactics ready, but they have yet to develop a powerful strategy to empower the whole process.
So exactly how do you choose the strategy for your Internet Marketing Empire? Below you will find a three step process in helping you develop your overall strategy. I don't want to over-complicate the process by any means, but I do want to help you create ideas through this. Your actual day to day internet marketing tactics will then flow out of your overall marketing strategy.
STEP ONE: Create Your Overall Theme to Your Online Business
You can't develop a business around a single product. Even if you are promoting a single product upfront, it is not the product that people want. They want the BENEFITS they receive out of the product. When designing your site, think about an "Ultimate Benefit" to build your site around.
I first heard the phrase "The Ultimate Benefit" through Dr. Jeffrey Lant and it has stuck with me ever since. It is that ever abiding "WANT" or "GOALS" that your prospects have with them continually. Ultimate Benefits are things such as: more money, weight loss, online success, being sexually attractive, self-defense, etc.
Ultimate benefits are what your prospects are really seeking after. So, don't base your business just on products. Base your business on this Ultimate Benefit. This will be the theme that binds everything else you do at your site together. It is what you want your site to become known for. It is why people will return to your site over and over again forever.
What is it that your prospects ultimately want?
More Money
Better Health
Weight Loss
etc.
Once you have defined your "Ultimate Benefit," that's where the products can come in. You will want to provide multiple products that all fall under the same Ultimate Benefit. This will help you to create "Multiple Streams of Income" all generated from one web site.
What mail order or internet company do you know of that only has one product? There aren't any really successful ones. Even the sites which seem only to have one main product still have dozens of different profitstreams which all come out of the backend of that product. Your mission online is to help people reach their ultimate goals, and that cannot be done with just one product. It takes a variety of products to accomplish this goal.
One warning I do want to mention here though is that your site will be more successful if you have one LEAD product. By testing both multiple product sites and sites which focus on one lead product, I have found that the lead product sites will outsell the multiple product sites by a long shot in most cases.
So, the absolute best set-up is to focus on a main product, and then have many different backends or supporting products which will help your customers to further their goals. This type of system is often referred to as a marketing funnel. You may be selling a book about Ad Copy on your site, but you will also have consultations, seminars, audio tapes, and ad writing services which all support your theme.
If you are selling web sites as a primary lead product, you could also sell books on internet marketing, web design services, CGI programming, etc. If your theme is weight loss, your primary product may be a nutritional product. You could also sell weight loss and exercise books. A newsletter could be started. You could also do personal one-on-one consultations for specific individuals.
You also don't need to come up with all of these products yourself. Many of them can be found through Joint Venturing with other companies which have products you know your customers want.
STEP TWO: Develop A Unique Aspect to Your Business...Your USP
Your business cannot just be a me-too business online. You need to develop some type of uniqueness to it...something that sets you apart from all of the rest of your competition online. You need to create a "Unique Selling Position" which makes you stand out from the crowd online...
For example, everyone is selling books online. How did Amazon.com becomes the most well known bookstore on the Internet. They developed a USP which basically states "The World's Largest Bookstore" which is exactly what they are. They have stated in one phrase exactly what makes them unique from the rest of the bookstores in the world.
How can you develop your own USP? You probably aren't going to own the largest selection of anything in your business since most of us have started out bootstrapping at home or in our small business. Let me give you a simple little formula you can use which will help you immensely in the creation of a USP for your business.
To find your USP, pull out a blank sheet of paper. At the top of the paper, write "You know how most __________..." Then, halfway down the page, write "Well, What I do is..."
I want you to write how most of the businesses in your market are in the first section. Then, I want you to write what sets you apart from them. Avoid using words such as quality or better service, because those types of things don't really mean anything UNLESS you are more specific in your description. This may take you a while to do.
You probably will have to study your competition online for a while. Give yourself a few days to think it over. Then, write it down.
Next, I want you to boil down that entire sheet of paper to a single phrase or sentence. This takes some work. Write it out in a sentence or phrase as many times as you need to until you get just the right words. Again, if this takes you a few days, let it. Think about it when you are driving, eating, etc. Mull it over. Then, once you have just the right wording, that is your NEW USP which you will use to separate you from all of the competition.
Use it on your signature file online...Use it on your website...Use it in your ad copy. Let it become a guiding force to your online business that sets you apart and defines you as the person to deal with in this area.
STEP THREE: Concentrate on Building Relationships with Your Prospects
To fully develop an online business, you need to maximize your relationships with people. Although your goal in your Internet business may be to set it up on auto-pilot, you have to remember at all times that you are dealing with real people. Credibility online is a major issue because there are many fly-by-night get-rich-quick operators on the internet.
To help you develop this credibility with your prospects, your overall strategy has to include such tools as ezines, message boards, chats, conference calls, dealer programs, etc. Many people keep asking exactly why does it seem ezines are popping up everywhere...It is simply because they work. They help you to develop the relationships you need with your prospects. You are able to contact your prospects over and over again providing them with good useful information.
The same thing is true of the message boards. Once you have worked them up to a certain level of traffic, the same people will keep coming back day after day learning from you and the other experts you may have brought to your board.
Use your imagination and develop other free services such as these to help you develop your website and relationships online. How about doing JVs with other businesses? How about running a monthly conference call on your subject? Your business online is only limited by your imagination!
Get Started Today In Developing Your Online Strategy...
Don't let this report just sit there in your email box. Print it out. Start today in putting these strategy building tips to work for you. It is a proven fact that if you put this off for more than 24 hours, you will probably never come back to it.
Developing Your Internet Strategy can be the most important key to creating the internet business you dream of. Take action today and at least start thinking and working on it.
Ecommerce Web Hosting Packages
E-commerce websites have different requirements than a personal website or standard product or business information site. On e-commerce sites you need the capability to display your products for online sales, as well as a few customized features. That is why companies offer separate e-commerce web hosting packages.
Let’s say you have a selection of products you would like to sell over the Internet. Your website will need to display the product and a description. Users will need to be able to select the product to add to their shopping cart. Your site will need a way to store customer information and accept credit cards. Specialized e-commerce web hosting packages will make all these tasks simpler and easier to manage.
Prices between the different e-commerce hosting companies can vary, as can their services and features. Take a while to shop around and research the different options. Try to locate current customers who are willing to answer your questions. You can probably find them on business forums or web development forums. Most people are generally willing to help out and answer some questions.
You may also need to find an e-commerce web hosting package that will also include the design. Getting the two tasks finished at once can save you a lot of time and money. You may also want a company to manage your new web site. That is where research is essential. It may be more cost effective to have one web hosting company perform all these tasks, but you may not be paying for the best quality.
So, in order to get the most out of your online presence, you may need to consider different e-commerce web hosting packages to find one that best fits your needs and budget. Prices, fees and services vary from one company to the other but the research will be well worth it.
Thursday, November 23, 2006
Ecommerce Merchant Accounts
Ecommerce or electronic commerce at first meant the facilitation of commercial transactions like sending purchase orders, sales invoices and other documents electronically. Through time, it began to include other activities such as the selling and buying of goods and services through the Internet, and it became known as “web commerce.”
If you are a businessman wanting to develop your enterprise into a higher level, you may be thinking of selling through the web. Ecommerce enables you to put up a site where you can display what you’ll be selling, with all the marketing strategies, and compete with huge companies nation and worldwide. Selling on the Internet makes your store accessible 24 hours a day, not to ignore the customers’ speed and convenience of shopping at home.
Your customers will pay you through your merchant account, your online payment processor that can also be opened in banks. The primary requirements in opening a merchant account are a business checking account, a physical street address and a corporation name statement from a local county courthouse.
A merchant account will process the payment from your customers to your own bank account. It will also enable you to accept credit cards, debit cards, gift cards, and other forms of electronic payment. In the processing, the transactions are entered into electronic networks that facilitate the transfer of funds from the customers’ to your account. You will be charged a discount rate that varies and depends on the amount and method of transaction and business type. There is also an additional charge called a transaction fee. After three to twelve months of processing with less than one percent in charge back issues, the merchant may apply for an increase to his monthly maximum limit of $10,000.
Having a merchant account that enables you to receive any kind of payment is vital to any online business. In this regard, you need to carefully choose where to open and entrust your money. Bear in mind that it should be fast, easy, secure and affordable, has the lowest rates, no hidden fees, accepts payments in any currency and has best customer service and support.
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
The Importance of the "Human Touch" in the Virtual Marketplace
"A computer once beat me at chess, but it was no match for me at kick boxing.” –Emo Philips
For those of us who have moved our businesses into the virtual world, it’s sometimes easy to forget that our customers are real, live breathing human beings. Some of us may even have moved into this area to avoid all the human interactions. However, it is imperative that we don’t forget the importance of the human component of sales, even online.
It’s easy for us to just see our clients as a number or an e-mail address because we don’t actually see them on a daily basis or in some cases, ever. But, it is important to realize that the majority of people are still not one hundred percent comfortable doing business with a faceless entity over a DSL line. It can be very hard for a client to put their trust and more importantly their money into someone or something they can’t see.
This is where communication comes into play. We all know that in business communication is key. However, in the virtual world, it is all-powerful. No matter what your product or service, if you expect to make a living in an online venture, you must be accessible to your existing clients and potential customers.
It is crucial that you offer as many avenues of reaching you as possible. You must give them e-mail addresses, physical addresses, phone numbers, fax numbers and as many different instant messenger options as you have. They must feel that just because you’re not in their office or around the corner, you’re just as available to them.
Now this may sound obvious, but just having all of those communication tools isn’t enough. You must make it priority number one to be accessible. None of those handy devices are any good if they don’t help get you on the line for that customer. You must always put answering messages, replying to e-mails and simply checking in from time to time at the top of your priority list!
Making the decision to hire online companies can be a major step to business owners who have never ventured into this new world, and it is your job to make sure they have a positive experience.
There is no question that computers have made all of lives easier and are growing the global economy at an astonishing rate, but let us never forget the importance of the “human touch!”
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Web Hosting Ecommerce Merchant Accounts
Ecommerce is doing business online, the buying and selling of services and products over the web. It allows you to promote your goods or services, advertise promos, and tap into your sales targets in an easier way. Your clients will make their orders by browsing on your web site and send their payments through your merchant account, which in turn, transfers these payments to your bank account.
Thus, a permanent connection of your web site to the Internet is a basic requirement. This is what web hosting merchant accounts offer. They provide this complete and continuous link by allowing your site to occupy a space on their own web server, where all the information about your site is stored. Being connected to this server will enable you to acquire the all-time web accessibility, for it stays on for 24 hours a day and 7 days a week.
These web hosting merchant accounts will save you the cost of owning and maintaining the needed server. You just have to pay for their service. In looking for a web host, you need to consider their reliability and reputation history, the disk or storage space of their web server, and its capability of accommodating simultaneous access to your web site. Make sure there is a database server and scripting software, operating and web content management systems, and web interface.
And most significantly, make sure your web host offers payment processing capabilities such as SSL or Secure Sockets Layer, a communications protocol that provides security. This is very important since there are sensitive information, such as credit card numbers, that need to be encrypted to ensure that the information passes securely between you and your client, so as to prevent opportunity for fraud.
A web hosting ecommerce merchant account offers you the ability to accept all modes of payment in a faster, safer and more accessible means. It ensures you that all your payment transactions can be continuously processed anytime, may it be day or night, and that no piece of information in the communication and payment transaction process will be missed since your web site is online all the timeMonday, November 20, 2006
Offshore Credit Card Processing
Doing business online is like treading a razor sharp road. There is very little difference between a good and bad business situation. However, a secured, cost-effective and reliable method of payment collection through offshore credit card processing can make all the difference to the way you do business online. It can help you hold all information privacy, avail zero taxation and have protection from currency fluctuations
Offshore credit card processing enables you to effectively accept payments for the goods and services you sell online. You can accept payments in multiple currencies. Offshore credit card processing service can process various types of credit cards, be they Visa, MasterCard, Amex, JCB, Diners or Discover.
The order and payments processing procedure gets streamlined with an offshore credit card processing account. Your customers can make easy and quick purchases online through a secured server. Your card processing system is directly linked to your offshore merchant account. Therefore, you get excellent tax-reduction benefits.
Your business remains up 24/7. The transactions are authorized within a few seconds. Automated receipts are sent to you (the merchant) and the customers, instantly. The credit reserve is as low as 10%. Most of the offshore credit card processing services involve no hidden costs.
An offshore credit card processing service can reduce your charge back with active customer fraud screening and address verification systems (AVS). The transaction processing rates are 5% and upwards depending on the type and volume of your business. Add to it a small 0.75% transaction fee and 10% rolling reserve. However, with most of the offshore credit card processing accounts you do not have to pay gateway fees. There are no card processing dollar limits.
Offshore credit card processing provides comprehensive online credit card processing, rapid order processing, online merchant center, fraud and risk management and 24 hour dedicated support. Offshore credit card processing gives a turnkey payment processing solution. Such an account provides instantaneous online credit card processing. This helps in maximizing sales opportunities and customer satisfactionSunday, November 19, 2006
Offshore Merchant Accounts
Does your business have anything to do with adult gaming, telemarketing, travel, online pharmacy, subscription/membership services, tickets, multilevel marketing or telecom? Then it may lie in the high-risk classification of the banks. Moreover, if your business involves online credit card payments then it is almost vital to have a merchant account. A merchant account will allow you to carry out credit card transactions. However, if for any reason you do not want to conduct your banking or credit card processing or want to get some taxation benefits, then an offshore merchant account can be the best option for you. It also proves beneficial if you are starting with a new business.
An offshore merchant account can prove to be a financial lifesaver if the US banks and processors find you unsuitable. An offshore merchant account works in a similar fashion as a merchant account would in the US. It has the same method of processing credit card transactions as done by your domestic bank. The only difference is of certain internal bank policies.
Offshore accounts normally have higher processing costs or longer hold back periods but this is in lieu of a deposit requirement. This higher than normal processing charge is a by-product of the fact that the offshore bank assumes higher risk with your offshore merchant account.
Under the usual circumstances you would not have problems getting an offshore merchant account unless you deviate from having ethical sales or business practices. The offshore banks do not really care about your type of business or products. This is unlike the US banks that may at times go much farther than simple due diligence or looking at potential client banks.
Having an offshore merchant account can prove quite beneficial if you have a small business and the cash flow is low, since the account would not require a large up front security deposit. However, you must take into account the fact that the bank may hold back some of the proceeds as a reserve against possible charge backs.
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