Selling products or services online, usually referred to as e-commerce, has become the way to go for many small businesses. It can turn a small local enterprise into a global, world leading brand although this obviously takes a lot of time and effort but it also reduces overheads, minimises workload, and offers you greater potential to access new and potentially profitable sources of customers. So, what’s needed to sell your products or services online?
A Plan
The planning stage of e-commerce is the most important. You first need to outline your goal by setting up online. Will the Internet be your sole source of sales? Will you be using the web to promote your physical stores or shops? You need to be able to answer these questions before you even consider contacting a developer, although a good developer will certainly be able to help you work through many of the steps and answer a lot of your questions.
The Website
Whether you’re intending to manage a simple brochure page that gives details of how to find your physical store or you will be managing hundreds of different products in your own e-commerce store you’re going to need a website. There are tools to help you build your own but if you don’t have any experience in design, development, and to a degree, marketing, then it is best left to the professionals. A poorly designed site can instantly turn visitors away and, worse still, send them to your direct competitors as a result.
Shopping Cart
If you intend to sell products directly on your website then you will need some form of shopping cart software. This software enables you to add and display products, categorise them, and add price and postage details. More advanced options can include cross product promotion, gallery pictures, and even detailed sales and traffic reports. There are many shopping cart options available to you and your best option is to discuss your needs and wants with your developer, because they will be responsible for installing the software.
Payment Processor
To sell items online you need to be able to accept payments online. Service providers may be able to get away with requesting bank transfers or BACS payments to a large degree but offering the option of credit and debit card payments will almost certainly enable you to reap greater rewards. Services like PayPal, Moneybookers, and NoChex can be integrated into your website without the need for a merchant account.
Traffic
The best designed site with the most intuitive interface, the most competitive prices, and the most appealing products will still not yield results until you generate traffic for your website. The Internet is literally awash with methods to promote a site and help you sell your products or services.
Working from home is becoming more and more common. With e-mail, social networking sites and online collaboration systems, its never been so easy to work from home but what can you do to make working from home more productive?
Here are some of my tips for working from home… something which I have done for many years now…
Workspace
Its important to have a separate workspace. You need somewhere where you can setup your business, ideally in a spare room. To me, this is one of the most important things! I have two small children and being able to close the door to block out the noise and distractions is very handy!
Try and make your workspace inspirational; somewhere where you want to work. Put up artwork or posters that you like. You will be spending a lot of time in your new office so you need to like your surroundings.
Plants are a worthy introduction too! Try and get something quite hardy as, if your like me, you will forget to water it!
Take a look at some of the images below for some inspiration workspaces:
The benefits and use of Skype are certainly no secret to the majority of businesses. It offers an incredibly cheap alternative to standard call charges and has even been proven to improve calling efficiency and productivity. As such, Skype’s uses transfer ideally over to cold calling so if you regularly undertake any cold calling and you still use a standard land line or, and we find it unlikely but you never know, a mobile phone then you should consider the following.
Skype can work out considerably cheaper than standard call costs with any telephone carrier. Calls to other Skype numbers are free and you can get some incredibly priced packages that put BT, Sky, TalkTalk, and other service providers firmly in the shade. As cold calling is usually done en masse it can mean ringing hundreds, or even thousands of numbers, so the savings can prove to be incredible.
As well as cost efficiency, Skype cold calling has the advantage of being more productive too. Some figures estimate that you would be able to make 50% more calls in the same amount of time when using Skype. Browser plug ins, and even plug ins for Excel and other office software exist that enable single click dialling. Using these tools you will be able to quickly and efficiently work through lists of telephone leads from any source giving the best possible results.
Skype numbers can be registered with the TPS, or Telephone Preference Service, in the same way as standard numbers can. What’s more, it is vital that you check any number you have details of has not registered with the TPS because if you call a number that is part of the Telephone Preference Service then you or your business can face thousands of pounds of fines. No cold call is worth that kind of money.
Used properly, Skype can prove to be a highly effective and inexpensive business tool. As a cold calling tool, it can be used to greatly increase efficiency while also greatly reducing the call costs associated with your direct marketing.
KISS, or Keep It Simple Stupid, is a term that is applied often in business and for a number of different reasons. In terms of website design and development it generally refers to the usability of your online presence. By ensuring that a website is easy to use for all of your potential visitors you will be less likely to endure a high bounce rate on your website pages. …read more
It’s written all over the Internet so it must be true. Tired tag lines aside, though, compelling website content is absolutely essential to the prolonged success of your website and for a number of different reasons, but first you need to know what makes good copy good. …read more
The benefits and use of Skype are certainly no secret to the majority of businesses. It offers an incredibly cheap alternative to standard call charges and has even been proven to improve calling efficiency and productivity. As such, Skype’s uses transfer ideally over to cold calling so if you regularly undertake any cold calling and you still use a standard land line or, and we find it unlikely but you never know, a mobile phone then you should consider the following.