Category: Online Business

Technology has taken center stage in almost all spheres of life. Business is one of the disciplines affected by technology. Gone are the days when business was only done through pen and paper. The internet has provided unlimited opportunities for business owners to explore.

Web sites are one of those perks brought by the internet for the benefit of business owners. Over time, it has become almost mandatory for each business to own a website. The question is, why is it so important for a business to have a website, and what features should a good website have? Now, before you go out there looking at website building articles for insight and information on what you need, here are the fundamentals.

Extend Your Business Online

A website acts an extension of your business. It is what represents your company in the digital world. A company website is like an online brochure about the company that can be accessed at any time by potential clients. The website can be updated at any time to represent the current image of the company. Websites linked from search engines display company information to the online world from products, services, location and sometimes others offer the opportunity to transact business.

With most people and organizations on the internet, it is expected that each company has a digital platform. Information about almost everything is currently on the internet and customers expect reputable companies to be found on the internet. Without an online presence, some clients think less of your business or never get to know that you exist. Websites provide an online platform for the company to meet clients and transact online. It adds to the physical appearance of the company.

The Immense Potential of Search Engines

Websites provide business owners with the ability to reach more people than ever before. Google reports that it processes more than 63,000 searches every second. For a business, this means more traffic and reach. Having a website provides the company an opportunity to reach clients beyond it physical offices. Nowadays, it is common for people to transact without getting to meet clients. Websites offer convenience where distance is an issue.

 

Every business man will always want to cut down costs and improve income while maintaining quality. Websites provide a cheaper marketing platform to carrying out online promotions. Websites reach larger population while at the same time representing the company. The fact that websites are available 24 hours a day means that a company will be able to show off its products all the time. Who would not want a business that serves clients always? Using the internet has become popular due to its providence in reduced costs. It is way cheaper to post an ad on your website than printing it and distributing it. Websites are cheaper and reach more people faster.

Final Word

Choose wisely when deciding to open that website. In as much as websites provide these endless opportunities, remember it will represent your business. It is important to choose stable and quality hosting platforms. Look for platforms that provide speed, customer service and handle complaints well just to mention but a few. Have your website integrate social media links for better reach.

If you’re in the retail business or if you are just thinking about becoming a business owner for the first time, you might be hoping to utilize the World Wide Web as a means of boosting sales. Selling things online can be highly beneficial for your business; it can be a great way to reach a much larger audience, for example, and it can help you cut down on the time and cost of renting a store. However, you could be concerned that you will have trouble making a lot of sales online. Luckily, if you follow a few tips, you can help ensure that you can sell your products well on the World Wide Web, regardless of what those products might be.

Make Sure the Site is Secure

First of all, you should know that many consumers take security and privacy very seriously when they’re online. This is a good thing, since there are a ton of scams out there. However, because of this concern, it’s important for you to make sure that your site is as secure as possible so that potential customers will feel comfortable buying with you. Make sure that you use a secure shopping cart server, and consider working with a website developer who can assist you in taking steps to make your site more secure.

Add Lots of Photos

When shopping online, many people like to see as many photos as possible. After all, since they aren’t buying in a more traditional environment and can’t actually see the item that they are thinking about buying in person, they often want the next best thing. Investing in a decent camera and practicing your photography skills can help you get good at taking pictures for your website. Some people also find that it’s worth it to hire a professional photographer to assist with this, although this does add to your company’s operating expenses.

Consider Adding a Video

Just as people often like to see a lot of pictures when they are thinking about buying online, many people also like to see a video. Nowadays, many digital cameras have videoing capabilities, so this might be easier for you to pull off than you think.

Provide Good Customer Support

There might be time when your customers will have questions, such as if they want to know more about the products that you sell or if they want to inquire about shipping or billing concerns. If you do not get back with your customers quickly or if you do not make it easy for them to contact you in the first place, it could make potential customers become uneasy and could cause them to go elsewhere to buy whatever it is that they’re looking at. Therefore, making an effort to add a live chat option and to make email contact easy is important. Many people also feel more comfortable if there is a phone number that they can call for support as well.

Charge Reasonable Prices

Comparison shopping and finding good deals online is very easy, so your customers probably aren’t going to want to pay inflated prices. Whether you’re selling vape mod batteries or teddy bears, make sure that you do your homework and that you’re charging reasonable prices. Of course, it’s important to make a profit for yourself, but keeping things reasonable can help you make a lot more sales and can actually boost your profits overall. You might also find that offering coupon codes and other discounts periodically can be a good way to bring in business.

Selling things online can be a lot easier than many people think, but it does take some effort. Luckily, following these tips can help you be as successful as possible at selling items and running your retail business online. In time, you might find that your new business becomes more successful than you ever thought it would be.

It’s no secret that people are accessing websites on their mobile phones in ever-increasing numbers. Website designers initially responded by optimizing websites for reading on mobile and rearranging the existing elements of the page. The problem with this approach is that it doesn’t address the way in which people view pages on their smartphones. Each page felt like it was shoehorned into the limited screen space of a smartphone. Now, designers are focusing on creating smartphone-friendly websites for viewing on both the desktop and phone. Following are some of the ways this approach is changing website design.

APIs That Speed Up Checkout Processes

API, or application program interface, tells software components how they should work with one another. They’re also used in the programming of graphical user interface components such as buttons you click on. Mobile sites rely heavily on APIs instead of links to pages. It’s far easier to click on a button than it is to zoom in on a tiny hyperlink and try to get it to respond on the first tap. This is true even when using a larger smartphone such as the LG G6 on T-Mobile’s reliable high-speed network. Phone size can’t easily overcome tiny text and hyperlinks, and APIs save the day by making it easier to move from page to page.

Responsive Design

Websites with responsive design deliver a stripped-down version of the main website to the mobile user. The site has programming to detect when the user is accessing the page from a smartphone and sends out only the most vital elements of the page for viewing. If the user feels that they need more of the page, they can click a link to use the desktop version instead. The only downside to this is that the desktop version may not be easily viewed on the smartphone.

This type of website design requires the site owner to decide what information gets delivered and what’s left off. Prioritizing information may not always be advantageous, as people looking at the site may not dig deeper for more information.

Fewer Elements on a Page

Websites used to trend toward having multiple, feature-rich design elements on their landing pages. The thought process was to make a site as interesting as possible to keep the user involved and not leave the page. That line of thinking has largely disappeared as mobile browsing has taken over how people interface with websites. Designers now think of the mobile user first and how they can deliver targeted information with rapid loading times.

One of the issues that site designers face is the fact that not everyone is using the latest and greatest smartphone with the fastest processor. A graphic-heavy site takes longer to load on a slower phone and is more likely to cause the user to leave the page. Designers are now stripping down websites to the necessities. Fewer images to load and easily digested content in chunks have become the norm. The sites still fill up the browser on a smartphone, but load quickly and present relevant information up front.

Graceful Degradation

Similar to responsive design, graceful degradation is an approach that involves taking the original desktop design and purposefully reshaping it to fit different mobile devices. How is this possible? When a mobile user accesses a website, the phone browser sends out a notification to the website that it’s being accessed from a mobile device. The website has programming to recognize this notification and respond appropriately. Instead of replying with the desktop version of the site, it will deploy the mobile version instead. The user has little clue that they’re receiving a website that’s designed specifically for their phone unless they notice the “m.” in front of the URL that denotes the mobile version of the site.

These are some of the ways mobile-first is changing how designers lay out websites. While it is a response to how people access the internet through their smartphones, it’s also a new stage in the evolution of how people look at websites in general.

There’s no doubt about it, people love to buy things on the web.

In fact, 96% of US citizens have made at least one online purchase in their lifetime – and 80% have in the last month alone. What’s more, a recent study also shows that 20% of Americans have bought something while in their bathroom – a clear indication of the prevalence of mobile shopping.

Digital technologies have evolved at an incredible rate and in today’s world, consumers have the choice of making buying decisions, transactions and purchases anytime, anywhere.

What does that mean? Well, in a nutshell, it means that if you want to sell something or launch an online store, it has never been simpler. But as you may well know, with accessibility, comes saturation.

There may be competition knocking at the door, but if you know which platforms to leverage and how to use them, you stand a great chance of setting up a successful online shopping empire.

Among all of the great tools, apps, platforms and methods out there, perhaps the most powerful is a little thing called dropshipping.

Enterdropshipping

So, what is Dropshipping? It’s a branch of eCommerce that gives you the power to trade in goods without having to stock them in a physical sense.

For example, if you’re looking to set up an online store selling comedy chimp t-shirts and you don’t have massive amounts of space or startup funds, you won’t have to wade around your lounge up to your neck in XXL tees, stressing about shifting them all. Instead, dropshipping allows your primate loving online fans to buy the t-shirt of their dreams through your online store, but a third party will supply and deliver it on your behalf.

Dropshipping is a magic formula, and it works…

By using innovative platform Oberlo, Irwin Dominguez, a first-time user made a fortune of $1 million in a mere eight months. By taking advantage of the online marketing skills he gained from his original career as a local marketing consultant (a job he says he doesn’t miss at all) and harnessing the capabilities of Oberlo.com, Irwin became a huge online selling success, seemingly overnight.

Speaking to Oberlo about his empire, Irwin gave his main piece of advice for budding entrepreneurs…

“If I started eCommerce all over again, I would do it sooner.”

More than a dropshipping tool alone, Oberlo is a bustling marketplace for entrepreneurs to search for and find products to sell to their target audience. It’s a user-friendly platform that connects merchants and suppliers in a matter of moments, and its success has recently sparked its integration with Shopify. If you’re hungry to start a booming eCommerce business, Oberlo is particularly effective as it’s intuitive and helps you scale your business according to the size of its success.

Top Tips for creating your eCommerce business

For simplicity, let’s go back to our comedy chimp t-shirt selling business for a moment. Here are the steps you should take to get it off the ground and make it a fully-fledged success:

• Set up an online store or basic webpage through Shopify or an accessible website building CMS like WordPress. Platforms like this will not only allow you to customize your site with ease, but they will make sure it is automatically optimized for mobile shopping.
• Use SEO practices to make sure your online store or website performs well for the right search terms in search engines and start a blog so you can publish fresh chimp-based comedy content with your followers.
• Think about the sort of products you want to offer. Do you want to sell t-shirts alone or do you want to provide sweatshirts, vests and waistcoats too? What about novelty car dashboard figurines? The more niche you are, the better (this way, you’ll cut through the crowd and gain an all-important competitive edge).
• Once you’re all set and ready to start selling, use Oberlo to import items of stock to your store, activate automatic order fulfilment, automate inventory and pricing updates and tailor your product descriptions.
• Enjoy growing your eCommerce empire and embrace your new life as andropshipping genius!

The world of eCommerce is as challenging as it is cutthroat but follow these tips and your business will be flying in no time. Every good business has a strong network. Find out how to do so with our tips on how to build a valuable social chain.

Article Contributed by Robin Behrstock

It’s true! You can build an ecommerce business that can be run from anywhere, at anytime. Here are a few tips to help you get started.

Determine your product or product line

You may already have an idea for a terrific product. If so, great! However, most successful businesses have a full line of products, so think about how you might expand and offer a variety of product options. If you need help finding a product to sell, you can sign up for programs like JungleScout.com. This service shows you which products are selling quickly on Amazon. If that product has little competition, it’s likely a good option. Thoroughly research the competition… Are there many other sellers or ecommerce websites with the same products? Do you have a unique selling proposition that offers a higher value?

Arrange manufacturing process

Will you create the products yourself? Your sales capacity is limited if your production capacity is limited, so I encourage you to find a manufacturing solution that allows for growth. You can find a factory that makes similar products and hire them to make yours. Or import products from another country by working with a factory or trading company. You can get in touch with many factories around the world at Alibaba.com. If importing, you’ll need to hire a shipping company and customs broker who will help you get the products across borders and determine the import duties you’ll be required to pay.

Warehousing and Fulfillment

If you’re making the products yourself or just getting started, your sales volume is likely low, so you can warehouse the products yourself and ship each order. However, if you’re dealing with larger quantities, you should look into a 3PL (Third Party Logistics) warehouse. Stick to what you’re good at, and let the experts handle the warehousing and fulfillment logistics. Before sending your products to a warehouse, you’ll need to assign some identifiers to each product.  Each item should have a product name and SKU (stock keeping unit – a product identification code).  If you plan to sell your products via distributors or resellers, you’ll also need a UPC code. UPC codes may be purchased from GS1, or from a UPC reseller like upccode.net or simplybarcodes.net. If you want to sell your products on Amazon, Amazon will assign an ASIN number and barcodes that need to be applied to each item. Amazon has its own network of warehouses and can handle your warehousing and fulfillment at a low cost. If you use Amazon’s warehouses, your products will be eligible for “Prime” shipping and will have better sales results versus products that are fulfilled by you, the seller.

Build your sales channels

Now that you have products, warehousing and fulfillment set up, it’s time to sell! You can sell on an existing platform, like Amazon, Etsy, Jet, etc, or you can create your own ecommerce website. I recommend selling on several different platforms. Some people think building an ecommerce website is something only tech people can do, but nowadays it’s easy. If you are able to create a PowerPoint presentation, you can build a website. Companies like www.Shopify.com make it easy with templates and step-by-step instructions to get your products displayed, accept credit card payments, and even integrate with shipping software. You can also diversify your business with offline sales channels like selling to a distributor, selling via a rep group, and building a network of wholesale customers who will resell your products in brick-and-mortar stores. You’ll need to price your products with the appropriate margins if selling to distributors and resellers.

Accounting

Don’t underestimate the importance of accounting and taxes. Unless you have an accounting background, I recommend hiring an accountant to help with this. Tax rules are always changing, and it’s best to get your books organized sooner rather than later, before things get complicated. Keep your accounting books in the cloud using programs like xero.com or Quickbooks Online. This way, you and your accountant can access the same files without being in the same place.

Customer Service

Customer service is extremely important. Since there’s no face-to-face interaction like there is at your local gift shop, emails are everything. You need to answer customer emails quickly and effectively. Set up standard procedures for returns. Products can be returned to your 3PL warehouse, or to a different location where they can be evaluated and possibly resold as an “imperfect” item. Start doing customer service yourself, but eventually you should outsource this job to a virtual employee and focus on bigger picture aspects of your business. You can keep customer service requests well organized with programs like Zendesk.com.

Marketing

After your products are available for sale online, you need to help people find them. First, determine your target keywords for each product and incorporate those words as many times possible in the product name, description and metatags. If you’re selling on a platform like Amazon or Etsy, that company will introduce you to marketing opportunities. If you’re marketing your own ecommerce store, you should get started with Google Adwords and retargeting ads. You can try to set it up yourself and learn from online tutorials, or hire an independent Search Engine Marketing Consultant to help. Incoming links are often free and help improve search engine visibility, so get your website’s link published on as many other websites as possible. You can sign up for different directories, or write blog posts for other publications that direct readers to your website. Social media is also a great way to get incoming links, and more importantly, to engage with customers. Create a Facebook page, Twitter, and Instagram account and build your audience by posting useful and entertaining content. Follow users who follow similar companies and they will likely be interested in your products as well. Use popular and relevant hashtags to help increase the reach of your posts. Lastly, collect email addresses and build an email marketing list. Sign up for an email marketing program like Mailchimp and send out emails to your database with exciting news like new products and sales.

Expand and Improve

For any successful product and business, competition is inevitable. Continue improving and growing your business by expanding the product line, sales channels and marketing efforts. Listen to your customers and create new products based on what you hear from them. Work on improving your operating procedures so business runs smoothly and you can outsource as much as possible.

 

Embrace the Freedom

All of these aspects of building and growing an ecommerce business can be done anywhere! So feel free to hit the road and work from coffee shops or wherever you find reliable wifi. Work hard, be nice, and enjoy life!

About Author

Robin Behrstock, author of ADVENTURES OF WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS: Stories That Inspire, started Alchemade, a copper mug business, just as they became a popular trend. In less than three years, she grew the business to annual sales of $3 million. Behrstock is currently a partner in Radius Partnership, a consulting firm focused on working with small businesses.

For more information please visit www.AWEbook.com.