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Friday, March 11, 2011
Getting Started - The “Easy” Plan
Getting Started - The “Easy” Plan
by. Jon Hardwick
So you want to sell your products online? First and foremost, you need to have a plan. Don’t fly by the seat of your pants, this may work initially but without proper planning and no clue on what you are trying to accomplish this is only asking for trouble in the long run. Take the time, even if it is as little as an hour and plan your new venture. Sitting down for just an hour is enough to at least brainstorm an outline. Having this very basic framework in place will provide you with a foundation to build on and revise as your new venture takes off. I also want to stress that your “plan” needs to remain dynamic, having a flexible plan will allow you to roll with it and adapt to any situation your business is presented with.
The minimum amount of information your plan should contain is as followed:
We will discuss each of these topics in much greater detail in future postings. But for now, I will provide a brief description on each of the questions above.
How do you want to sell your products?
This will take some very careful consideration. If you are in the business of selling used products, or own an antique store you would want to consider selling on an auction site such as EBay. This is basically a hosted e-Commerce solution providing you with a platform that is very easy to use and allows you to put your products in front of prospective customers in very little time and with very basic technical know how. However, if you were looking to sell new products, EBay is not the place to do it. You will want to either offer the products through a web store like a Yahoo or Amazon store. (Both hosted solutions) Or, through your own website utilizing your own shopping cart.
Who do I want to compete with?
Research, research, research! If you are going to sell a product online where the marketplace is completely saturated, you need to figure out a way to distinguish yourself from your competitors. The only way to do this is to find out who is successfully selling the same products and find a way to make your site more appealing. Remember, the playing field is leveled online. You can advertise your business right next to the largest companies in the world. You may not be able to do it as often, but you can do it. Creativity is key here. Let your mind flow with ideas on how to compete and think outside the box.
How do you want to get paid?
Selling online means you should get paid online. There are a number of way’s to get paid, PayPal and Google Checkout being two free and very popular ways of getting paid. However, I am going to be frank, only use these two payment methods as convenience methods for customers with trust issues. Get yourself a real merchant account. This will establish your business as a real e-Commerce site. Personally, I have come across a number of sites that only accept payments through PayPal and all I can think about is that they either couldn’t qualify for a merchant account, or, they were just starting out and wouldn’t be around very long. Not a place I would buy from. Get a merchant account, they are easy to get now days and will provide your business with a better image online.
How will you market your product/site?
ATTENTION: This is the key to success or failure. The more time you spend marketing and promoting your site the greater chance of success. If I had to estimate an ROI on marketing spend I would say that for each dollar you spend on the search engine you will get 10-15. Of course there are a number of variables here and I will be spending a whole lot of time on this subject. Anyhow, briefly, the most popular forms of advertising online is pay per click (PPC) through Google Adwords, and Microsoft Adcenter. However, from the looks of it, social media is gaining speed and will most likely overtake PPC advertising in the next couple of years as the most popular form of advertising and promotion.
How will you keep track of orders, inventory, etc?
There are only two ways to do this. Host your own order management database, or, have another company host for you. If you are starting out, a hosted solution like Yahoo stores is ideal as it requires minimal investment. However, at some point you will want to invest in some good order and customer management software.
How will you deliver your products to the customer?
I am a strong advocate for carrying inventory and controlling the entire process from receiving the order to shipping the order. Reason being, I want to be the one to blame if something goes wrong and be able to improve on the process. If you are relying on drop shipping your products from the manufacturer you lose control of the process sooner. Instead of losing control at the point the shipping company takes possession of the order, you lose control when the vendor gets the order who then has their own processes to go through therefore increasing the likelihood that a problem will occur. For the most part, if vendors offer this solution to you, they offer it to all of their customers. More control means less probability that mistakes will be made equating to higher customer satisfaction and repeat business.
How will you provide superior customer service?
Customer service is key to sustained business growth online. Without great customer service and a way to communicate (800 number, e-mail, chat, etc) you might as well shut down shop and head home. Customer service is the proverbial keystone in a business. Without it, your business will fall.
Don’t forget to follow this blog and feel free to comment. Thanks for reading!
by. Jon Hardwick
So you want to sell your products online? First and foremost, you need to have a plan. Don’t fly by the seat of your pants, this may work initially but without proper planning and no clue on what you are trying to accomplish this is only asking for trouble in the long run. Take the time, even if it is as little as an hour and plan your new venture. Sitting down for just an hour is enough to at least brainstorm an outline. Having this very basic framework in place will provide you with a foundation to build on and revise as your new venture takes off. I also want to stress that your “plan” needs to remain dynamic, having a flexible plan will allow you to roll with it and adapt to any situation your business is presented with.
The minimum amount of information your plan should contain is as followed:
- How do you want to sell your products? Auction (Ebay), Website, Yahoo Store, Amazon...
- Who do I want to compete with?
- How do you want to get paid? Merchant Account, Paypal, Google Checkout...
- How will you market your products/site? Bing (Microsoft AdCenter), Google (Adwords), Social Media (Facebook, Twitter, Etc.)...
- How will you keep track of orders, inventory, costs, etc?
- How will you deliver the products or services? Drop ship, etc.
- Most importantly, how will you maintain superior customer service?
We will discuss each of these topics in much greater detail in future postings. But for now, I will provide a brief description on each of the questions above.
How do you want to sell your products?
This will take some very careful consideration. If you are in the business of selling used products, or own an antique store you would want to consider selling on an auction site such as EBay. This is basically a hosted e-Commerce solution providing you with a platform that is very easy to use and allows you to put your products in front of prospective customers in very little time and with very basic technical know how. However, if you were looking to sell new products, EBay is not the place to do it. You will want to either offer the products through a web store like a Yahoo or Amazon store. (Both hosted solutions) Or, through your own website utilizing your own shopping cart.
Who do I want to compete with?
Research, research, research! If you are going to sell a product online where the marketplace is completely saturated, you need to figure out a way to distinguish yourself from your competitors. The only way to do this is to find out who is successfully selling the same products and find a way to make your site more appealing. Remember, the playing field is leveled online. You can advertise your business right next to the largest companies in the world. You may not be able to do it as often, but you can do it. Creativity is key here. Let your mind flow with ideas on how to compete and think outside the box.
How do you want to get paid?
Selling online means you should get paid online. There are a number of way’s to get paid, PayPal and Google Checkout being two free and very popular ways of getting paid. However, I am going to be frank, only use these two payment methods as convenience methods for customers with trust issues. Get yourself a real merchant account. This will establish your business as a real e-Commerce site. Personally, I have come across a number of sites that only accept payments through PayPal and all I can think about is that they either couldn’t qualify for a merchant account, or, they were just starting out and wouldn’t be around very long. Not a place I would buy from. Get a merchant account, they are easy to get now days and will provide your business with a better image online.
How will you market your product/site?
ATTENTION: This is the key to success or failure. The more time you spend marketing and promoting your site the greater chance of success. If I had to estimate an ROI on marketing spend I would say that for each dollar you spend on the search engine you will get 10-15. Of course there are a number of variables here and I will be spending a whole lot of time on this subject. Anyhow, briefly, the most popular forms of advertising online is pay per click (PPC) through Google Adwords, and Microsoft Adcenter. However, from the looks of it, social media is gaining speed and will most likely overtake PPC advertising in the next couple of years as the most popular form of advertising and promotion.
How will you keep track of orders, inventory, etc?
There are only two ways to do this. Host your own order management database, or, have another company host for you. If you are starting out, a hosted solution like Yahoo stores is ideal as it requires minimal investment. However, at some point you will want to invest in some good order and customer management software.
How will you deliver your products to the customer?
I am a strong advocate for carrying inventory and controlling the entire process from receiving the order to shipping the order. Reason being, I want to be the one to blame if something goes wrong and be able to improve on the process. If you are relying on drop shipping your products from the manufacturer you lose control of the process sooner. Instead of losing control at the point the shipping company takes possession of the order, you lose control when the vendor gets the order who then has their own processes to go through therefore increasing the likelihood that a problem will occur. For the most part, if vendors offer this solution to you, they offer it to all of their customers. More control means less probability that mistakes will be made equating to higher customer satisfaction and repeat business.
How will you provide superior customer service?
Customer service is key to sustained business growth online. Without great customer service and a way to communicate (800 number, e-mail, chat, etc) you might as well shut down shop and head home. Customer service is the proverbial keystone in a business. Without it, your business will fall.
Don’t forget to follow this blog and feel free to comment. Thanks for reading!
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Why not having a website is killing your business.
Why not having a website is killing your business.
by Jon Hardwick
If you do not have a website you need to get one and fast. Consumers search the Internet for every service and product imaginable. Not having a web presence is potentially costing you thousands of dollars. In fact, not having a website could potentially mean the difference between thriving and failing.
I am a strong advocate for websites for all businesses. It is just not enough to have your business listed in a directory such as the phonebook. I mean really, who uses a phone book anymore. My Android smart phone has just about replaced my laptop. Think about that for just a moment. With smart phones becoming increasingly more popular and providing consumers (myself included) with the means to search the Internet anytime and anywhere why invest in primitive marketing techniques, I digress.
Without a website you cannot showcase your product or service offering and will lose potential customers to the businesses that have invested the time to design (or have paid someone to design) a website. Let’s take a look at a real world scenario.
Mark just moved into a new city and is looking to find a hair stylist. However, he is very particular about finding a stylist close to his office as he prefers not to travel far on his lunch breaks. Upon conducting a Google search for hair stylist he is provided with 10 results for hair stylists within a one mile radius around his office. Just for the sake of conversation, only two of the 10 stylists have websites. One website has basic contact information and a picture of the outside of their shop. The second stylist’s website looks very professional and gives photo examples of her work and provides testimonies from repeat clients. Mark, impressed by the information on stylist number 2’s website calls and sets up an appointment and stylist 2 gains yet another customer.
So with the above scenario the process Mark used for selecting a hair stylist went like this:
Google Search “Hair Stylist” (Note: Google is smart enough to provide local results based on IP information. )
10 local results appear
8 results have no website and provide just a phone number.
2 results provide website and phone number.
First website Mark clicks is very basic and provides very little information. Yes, the company had a website but provided no information on happy customers, etc.
Second website provided pictures, testimonies, payment information, hours, etc.
Mark reads, likes, calls, and most importantly buys the service. In e-Commerce terms this is know as a conversion.
This process basically represents what all customers are faced with when searching for a product or service online. First, just about every business located in the white pages will have their name and number show up on Google. It appears just as it does in the phone book. A website URL provided with these results invites the potential customer to click and find out more about what your company is offering. Referring back to the scenario above I would like to point out a couple of things. Just having a website for the sake of having a website and throwing together a poorly designed website will represent your company poorly and do nothing for you. In fact, it could hurt you. Next, just a little secret, content is key, you could be the world’s greatest stylist, or have the next snuggie but without examples of your work, product descriptions, testimonies from your customers, pictures of your products/location you’re doing yourself no favors in creating a positive first time impression. A website should be for the most part information. You want your customer to know that he/she has come to the right place and that they will learn something by spending some time on your website. Design is very important as well. If you have no clue about designing a website, leave it to the professionals. Website costs have come down considerably in the last decade. You can search a website like Craigslist and find web designers for hire for less than minimum wage that can design one heck of a website.
Don’t try to cut corners on cost here, think of your website as a digital building. Customers will be spending some time here. If you are building a website primarily for a service business you can do it for less than a tenth the cost of yellow page advertising. The average cost for a ½ page ad for one year in the yellow pages is $17,000 dollars. Wow! Can you believe that? If most people now use the Internet to conduct searches for products and services than why pay for advertising that people use for nothing more than a child’s booster seat.
Step One, do yourself a favor and get a website. If you don’t know how to build a website (it is much harder than it looks), hire a pro. And lastly, keep reading this blog. We’ll get you noticed online in no time. Thanks for reading and don’t forget to subscribe.
by Jon Hardwick
If you do not have a website you need to get one and fast. Consumers search the Internet for every service and product imaginable. Not having a web presence is potentially costing you thousands of dollars. In fact, not having a website could potentially mean the difference between thriving and failing.
I am a strong advocate for websites for all businesses. It is just not enough to have your business listed in a directory such as the phonebook. I mean really, who uses a phone book anymore. My Android smart phone has just about replaced my laptop. Think about that for just a moment. With smart phones becoming increasingly more popular and providing consumers (myself included) with the means to search the Internet anytime and anywhere why invest in primitive marketing techniques, I digress.
Without a website you cannot showcase your product or service offering and will lose potential customers to the businesses that have invested the time to design (or have paid someone to design) a website. Let’s take a look at a real world scenario.
Mark just moved into a new city and is looking to find a hair stylist. However, he is very particular about finding a stylist close to his office as he prefers not to travel far on his lunch breaks. Upon conducting a Google search for hair stylist he is provided with 10 results for hair stylists within a one mile radius around his office. Just for the sake of conversation, only two of the 10 stylists have websites. One website has basic contact information and a picture of the outside of their shop. The second stylist’s website looks very professional and gives photo examples of her work and provides testimonies from repeat clients. Mark, impressed by the information on stylist number 2’s website calls and sets up an appointment and stylist 2 gains yet another customer.
So with the above scenario the process Mark used for selecting a hair stylist went like this:
Google Search “Hair Stylist” (Note: Google is smart enough to provide local results based on IP information. )
10 local results appear
8 results have no website and provide just a phone number.
2 results provide website and phone number.
First website Mark clicks is very basic and provides very little information. Yes, the company had a website but provided no information on happy customers, etc.
Second website provided pictures, testimonies, payment information, hours, etc.
Mark reads, likes, calls, and most importantly buys the service. In e-Commerce terms this is know as a conversion.
This process basically represents what all customers are faced with when searching for a product or service online. First, just about every business located in the white pages will have their name and number show up on Google. It appears just as it does in the phone book. A website URL provided with these results invites the potential customer to click and find out more about what your company is offering. Referring back to the scenario above I would like to point out a couple of things. Just having a website for the sake of having a website and throwing together a poorly designed website will represent your company poorly and do nothing for you. In fact, it could hurt you. Next, just a little secret, content is key, you could be the world’s greatest stylist, or have the next snuggie but without examples of your work, product descriptions, testimonies from your customers, pictures of your products/location you’re doing yourself no favors in creating a positive first time impression. A website should be for the most part information. You want your customer to know that he/she has come to the right place and that they will learn something by spending some time on your website. Design is very important as well. If you have no clue about designing a website, leave it to the professionals. Website costs have come down considerably in the last decade. You can search a website like Craigslist and find web designers for hire for less than minimum wage that can design one heck of a website.
Don’t try to cut corners on cost here, think of your website as a digital building. Customers will be spending some time here. If you are building a website primarily for a service business you can do it for less than a tenth the cost of yellow page advertising. The average cost for a ½ page ad for one year in the yellow pages is $17,000 dollars. Wow! Can you believe that? If most people now use the Internet to conduct searches for products and services than why pay for advertising that people use for nothing more than a child’s booster seat.
Step One, do yourself a favor and get a website. If you don’t know how to build a website (it is much harder than it looks), hire a pro. And lastly, keep reading this blog. We’ll get you noticed online in no time. Thanks for reading and don’t forget to subscribe.
Welcome to my e-Commerce blog
Welcome to my e-Commerce blog.
By. Jon Hardwick
Business owners, did you know you don’t have to rely on the local economy to weather this horrible recession. In fact, by expanding into the digital marketplace aka “the Internet” you can, if implemented correctly, increase sales ten fold. So ask yourself, what could you do with ten times more profit? I am assuming you’re saying to yourself “A whole lot!”.
So let me introduce myself. My name is Jon Hardwick and I have been working as an e-Commerce executive for about eight years. In these eight years I have seen and experienced so much rapid change that anyone without a technical degree and a whole lot of time has basically been left in the dust. Fortunately, for me, I have been paid to keep up with the technology and stay ahead of the curve. Additionally, I genuinely enjoy learning about e-Commerce and new business technologies and digital strategy. For the past couple of years I have seen and heard many business owners shut their doors because sales fell through the floor as this recession grew worse and worse. I strongly believe that if given the opportunity, I could increase sales in any business just by implementing some very simple ideas. And believe it or not, most of them cost no more than a few bucks a month to nothing at all.
I invite you to sign up for the RSS feeds and follow my blog. This will be the most profitable journey your business has ever been on. I will shoot straight from the hip and explain in simple terms how to make it online and compete with the big boys. Believe it or not, you, the “Mom & Pop” brick and mortar stores can compete just by offering better service than the big box stores. For example, let’s assume your selling radios, the customer is shopping between your site and a site like great buy(name changed). The customer decides that they want to purchase but have some questions. They contact the big chain and get someone who has no clue they even sell such a product. So they call your store (because online you can advertise right next to them) and they don’t even have to go through a phone tree. The customer service rep answers their question without hesitation. Your price is $20 bucks more than the big competitor. You get the sale. So let’s analyze this for just a moment. The bigger store has more resources, buys in greater quantities, and offers lower pricing and makes higher margins. How could you possibly compete with them based on these variables. Well, you represented a greater value to the customer. They paid you for your service and product, not just the product. Most customers do not shop on price alone. In fact, research shows that Internet shoppers conduct more research than any other consumer group and that most prefer the better value over price.
Great customer service beats price any day of the week. I have experienced this first hand. You can do it, and I will tell you how.
Feel free to comment and I look forward to helping you grow and prosper in this exciting new digital economy. Thanks for reading.
By. Jon Hardwick
Business owners, did you know you don’t have to rely on the local economy to weather this horrible recession. In fact, by expanding into the digital marketplace aka “the Internet” you can, if implemented correctly, increase sales ten fold. So ask yourself, what could you do with ten times more profit? I am assuming you’re saying to yourself “A whole lot!”.
So let me introduce myself. My name is Jon Hardwick and I have been working as an e-Commerce executive for about eight years. In these eight years I have seen and experienced so much rapid change that anyone without a technical degree and a whole lot of time has basically been left in the dust. Fortunately, for me, I have been paid to keep up with the technology and stay ahead of the curve. Additionally, I genuinely enjoy learning about e-Commerce and new business technologies and digital strategy. For the past couple of years I have seen and heard many business owners shut their doors because sales fell through the floor as this recession grew worse and worse. I strongly believe that if given the opportunity, I could increase sales in any business just by implementing some very simple ideas. And believe it or not, most of them cost no more than a few bucks a month to nothing at all.
I invite you to sign up for the RSS feeds and follow my blog. This will be the most profitable journey your business has ever been on. I will shoot straight from the hip and explain in simple terms how to make it online and compete with the big boys. Believe it or not, you, the “Mom & Pop” brick and mortar stores can compete just by offering better service than the big box stores. For example, let’s assume your selling radios, the customer is shopping between your site and a site like great buy(name changed). The customer decides that they want to purchase but have some questions. They contact the big chain and get someone who has no clue they even sell such a product. So they call your store (because online you can advertise right next to them) and they don’t even have to go through a phone tree. The customer service rep answers their question without hesitation. Your price is $20 bucks more than the big competitor. You get the sale. So let’s analyze this for just a moment. The bigger store has more resources, buys in greater quantities, and offers lower pricing and makes higher margins. How could you possibly compete with them based on these variables. Well, you represented a greater value to the customer. They paid you for your service and product, not just the product. Most customers do not shop on price alone. In fact, research shows that Internet shoppers conduct more research than any other consumer group and that most prefer the better value over price.
Great customer service beats price any day of the week. I have experienced this first hand. You can do it, and I will tell you how.
Feel free to comment and I look forward to helping you grow and prosper in this exciting new digital economy. Thanks for reading.
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