Even with the ongoing recession, building a business online remains a viable approach for any new start-up. Why? Well, while even online retailers are feeling the pinch of a tight economy, they are also expected to pick up market share at the expense of traditional retailers during this downturn. So, an online approach is both more sustainable during a slowdown and a way to get more out of the next economic recovery.
According to a recent study of 151 online retailers, most expect growth to slow over the next year, and most are seeing the recession impact their bottom lines. However, 80 percent of the survey respondents see online retailing as better equipped than traditional retailing for countering the effects of the recession. This is why online retailers should continue to take market share from more traditional competitors.
However, that does not mean that all online businesses will succeed. There are some fundamental steps that will help an online business get off the ground more smoothly.
1. Research Online Demand For Your Products and Services. Online Research should help you determine several quantitative facts about your potential market, including overall size, demographic makeup, growth rate, and income level. These facts can serve as an initial reality check on your business plan, as well as help you make initial projections about the scope of your business. Beyond the quantitative benefits though, some fundamental market research should help you form a mental picture of your typical customer. This mental picture can subsequently inform a variety of other business choices, from web site design and development elements, to where to promote your site, to what range of related products or services to offer.
2. Understand Who Is Your Competition. Your market may look attractive in isolation, but next you need to assess the competition. Who are the market leaders, and what are their strengths and vulnerabilities? Who are the new entrants into the market, and which ones are picking up market share? Knowing your competition will help you determine where you fit into the marketplace, and this in turn will influence your product, promotion, and pricing strategies.
3. Back-Office Infrastructure Payment Processing. For one thing, an online business relies on a technology infrastructure that is affordable and yet will stand up to spikes in volume due to seasonality or successful promotions. Then there are key details such as credit card processing -and a merchant account– things that make the buying process as seamless as possible. For most start-up businesses, basic infrastructure issues such as the technology platform and credit card processing are outside their primary areas of expertise, so outsourcing solutions should be considered. Always compare credit card processing prices and merchant account prices before you select the one that best fits your business needs.
4. Attractive Website Design to Increase Traffic and Conversions. Now you can think about setting up shop. That’s precisely how you want to think about web site design–it is your place of business. The look and navigation of that Web site help you project an image to your customers. Are you hip, or are you traditional? Are you complex, or easy to access? Different positioning calls for different images, but there are two universal rules to website design: don’t look amateurish, and don’t make it difficult for visitors to make a purchase. This is another area where outside, specialized help can make a big difference, as opposed to spending time on something beyond your reason for being in business.Compare Web Site Design Prices to select the one that best meets your needs.
5. Use Internet Marketing and SEO to Promote Products On Your Web Site. An online business should focus its promotional strategies on capturing an online audience. This means some non-traditional promotional strategies, such as search engine optimization (SEO) and internet marketing. SEO helps associate your product or service with Internet searches on related topics. Internet Marketing allows you to pay for Internet advertising according to the amount of activity it generates, and to monitor the results of that activity. Because the Internet is still a relatively new business medium, promotional techniques and consumer behaviors are changing rapidly. Fortunately, there are internet marketing specialists who can help you stay abreast of evolving strategies in Internet marketing. Use an online service to find and compare SEO prices and internet marketing price quotes.
Summary
Overall, there are two important principles to apply when starting an online business:
1. Your business plan should represent a combination of traditional business methods and techniques specific to the online medium
2. You should identify the tasks where your organization can add value, and outsource functions outside your primary expertise.
Applying these principles using the steps described above, should help you get your online business off to a successful start.
Tag: internet marketing
Driving traffic to your website is only one side of the coin; once you’ve got visitors there you then need to get them onto your list! Having a sign-up box on your website detailing your ‘free taste’ in exchange for their name/email address is one way that you can do this, but deciding WHERE to place your all-important sign-up box for maximum impact is also just as important.
Depending on whether your page is a sales page, an information page, or some other type of web page will determine the strategy you use for enticing your web site visitors to sign up to your list.
I’d like to share three different, but very effective, sign-up page strategies with you.
1. At The Top Of Every Web Page
Your sign-up box should appear at the top of every single webpage on your website – the top right-hand corner has been researched to be the most effective place to put this.
Why?
Because you never know where someone will enter your website from. As your site grows and more pages get added, it will be getting picked up by the search engines for different terms or key phrases – and they might be phrases that aren’t on your home page, but on one of your other pages instead.
Someone could enter your website and leave via the same page (in other words they don’t stop to look around), and if you haven’t got a sign-up box on that page, you’ve got no chance of getting their name and email address – and they won’t know you offer a ‘free taste’.
2. Using Exit Grabber Software
Another sign-up strategy that I’m currently using is Exit Grabber software. This is a clever piece of software that knows when a visitor is about to leave my website and only pops up just before they leave.
The popup box reminds a visitor not to leave without first grabbing their free report.
3. Adding A PS To A Sales Page
Internet marketers have done their research and the conclusion is that a lot of visitors to your sales page are going to scroll straight down to the bottom of your sales page first to read your PS’s!
So, if the first two strategies aren’t suitable for a particular page on your website or one of your sales pages, be sure to include a PS that tells your visitor what your ‘free taste’ is. And rather than include the sign-up box in the PS, provide a hyperlink that takes them to your sign-up page.
All three sign-up page strategies offer something slightly different, depending on your particular web page, and are very effective for getting your web site visitors to sign up to your list.
So once you’ve got traffic coming to your website ensure that you’re capturing your visitor’s information by implementing at least one of the three different strategies I’ve shared with you today.
You know that having a double opt-in* process for your newsletter/ezine list is a “best practice” in permission based email marketing. Several reasons:
- less chance of being called a spammer by someone who doesn’t remember filling in the form (or because someone else filled out the form with their email address);
- fewer bad email addresses in your list;
- some mailing list delivery services require it!
BUT–sometimes your subscribers don’t click that link they receive from you in the confirmation email. And so you lose 10, 20, even 50% of your “subscribers”. Arghh!
How can you improve your opt-in rates?
Generally, the more compelling and relevant your “offer” is to folks, and the easier it is for them to complete the process, the better opt-in rate you will enjoy.
- Have some really strong copy that describes your ezine and the benefits they will receive.
- Provide an incentive for folks to subscribe. A free ebook, ecourse, etc.
- Remind folks that they must confirm (click the link in the confirmation email) to receive the incentive. You can do this on the signup or thank you page.
- Help them make sure they receive the confirmation email, by offering a page explaining how to add your ezine to their whitelist.
- Show them how to confirm. A snapshot of the confirmation email, with the confirmation link circled, is one way to make it crystal-clear.
- Make sure your confirmation email matches the description of your ezine. Use the same wording, etc. Nothing will reduce your confirmation rates like using the generic confirmation email text!
Get more marketing and small business tips for Solo Entrepreneurs
*Double opt-in defined:
- new subscriber fills out a form on your site
- your list management software sends a confirmation email with a special coded link
- new subscriber clicks the link
- subscriber is added to your list
Single opt-in eliminates steps 2 and 3.
Using Your (small) Size as a Competitive Advantage
Are you ever frustrated or hesitant when you talk to prospective customers because you can’t readily explain why they should come to you rather than go to your competitors? Sure, you might have your 30-second elevator speech, but then they ask you that dreaded question, “So what makes you different?” Then, all those self-doubts creep in, and you just aren’t sure what to say. Differentiation can boost confidence–yours in yourself and that prospective customer’s confidence in you!
Dif-fer-en-ti-ate v. tr. To perceive or show the difference in or between; discriminate.
In business terms, to differentiate means to create a benefit that customers perceive as being of greater value to them than what they can get elsewhere. It’s not enough for you to be different–a potential customer has to take note of the difference and must feel that the difference somehow fits their need better. (Other words that mean virtually the same thing: Competitive Advantage; Unique Selling Proposition; or Value Proposition.)
As you are building your business, you can use differentiation to attract more customers. Once you have momentum, differentiation allows you to charge a higher price because you are delivering more value to your customers. Make a point to evaluate and adjust your differentiation methods at least annually.
The various methods of differentiating your businesses fall into four general categories:
Price Differentiation
Focus Differentiation
Product/Service Differentiation
Customer Service Differentiation
Price Differentiation
Differentiating on price is probably the most common and easily understood method. HOWEVER, for Solo Entrepreneurs, caution is in order. On the one hand, potential customers might expect a lower price from you than from your larger competition because they perceive you as having less overhead, etc. On the other hand, cheaper prices can evoke perceptions of lower quality, a less-stable business, etc. And if you compete on price against competitors with deeper pockets, you can price yourself right into bankruptcy. Be creative with this differentiator by competing on something other than straight price. For example, you might offer:
- More value–offer more products or services for the same price.
- Freebies –accessories, companion products, free upgrades, and coupons for future purchases.
- Free shipping, etc.–convenience sells, especially when it is free!
- Discounts–includes offering regular sales, coupons, etc. (see cautions above)
Focus Differentiation
For Solo Entrepreneurs, this is the most important method of differentiation, and in many ways, the easiest. Why? Because as a Solo Entrepreneur, you simply can’t be everything to everybody, so you must pick a specific way to focus your business. Once you have done that, you have an automatic advantage over larger companies because you can become more of an expert in that one field –and you can build close relationships with key customers that will be hard to duplicate. For example, you might differentiate yourself through:
- Location–take advantage your closeness to prospective customers.
- Customer specialization–be very specific about what characteristics your customers will have – for example, racing bicycle enthusiasts or companies with a spiritual conscience.
- Customer relationships–know customers really well, form partnerships with them, and get them to speak for you!
- Affinity relationships–associate your product/service with a well-known person or organization.
- One-stop shopping–offer everything your target market needs, in your area of expertise.
- Wide selection (within your niche) – although this one may seem to be the opposite of focus–the key is to be very specific in one dimension and very broad in another.
Product/Service Offering Differentiation
How much you are able to differentiate your product or service offering will vary based on what type of business you are in. For instance, if you are in a highly regulated business, your options may be limited. Explore a totally new market or type of product or service, however, and the possibilities abound. The key to successful differentiation in this category, again, is to know your customers, really, really well. Talk to them often, and you will know what they need most and be able to offer it, long before your competitors know what is happening. For example, your product or service could stand out in one of these ways:
- Quality–create a product or service that is exceptional in one or more ways.
- Lasts longer
- Better features
- Easier to use
- Safer
- New/First–be the first one to offer something in your location/field.
- Features/Options–offer lots of choices, unusual combinations, or solve a problem for a customer in a way no one else does.
- Customization–as a Solo Entrepreneur, you may be able to more easily handle special orders than big, mass-market competitors.
Customer Service Differentiation
Have you noticed how customer service seems to be out of vogue these days? This situation makes excellent customer service a great opportunity for differentiation and another natural advantage for Solo Entrepreneurs that already know what’s important to their customers. Build your reputation on making customers feel really good about doing business with you. Works great with referral marketing, too. Examples:
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Deliver Fast–next day, or one-hour–make it faster than customers think possible.
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Unique channel–offer a service over the phone or Internet instead of in person or in their office rather than yours.
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Service-delight customers!–it may seem expensive to offer exceptional service–but it pays off in word-of-mouth advertising.
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Before/during/after-sales support–provide technical or other support to customers using your product. You might use joint ventures to provide that support–but customers will perceive it as being from you!
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Guarantee/warranty–offer 100% money-back, or free replacement parts.
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YOU–offer yourself, your unique blend of talents and skills, to attract customers. Make sure they get access to you, too!
Keys to Successful Differentiation:
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Know your customers, really, really well.
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Pick a blend of differentiation methods that, in the eyes of your customers, truly sets you apart.
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Talk about your differentiation in terms of customer benefits.
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Tell everyone about what differentiates you–often.
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Keep your differentiation fresh by listening for changing customer needs.