Starting An E-Commerce Business: Baby Steps

Starting your own e-commerce business can be quite the adventure. There is nothing wrong with falling head over heels in love with your ideas and plans and becoming overly excited, but always remember, feet first. Creating a business from scratch is like a child learning to walk. You need to grab on to something solid, feel around, get a sense of balance, and take baby steps.

Risky Business

Before running full speed ahead with your brilliant business brainchild, proper planning is required. Being an entrepreneur is risky business, however you can improve your chances of success with preparation and development.

First, you need to research your target market, product and services, competitors, the demographic of your potential customers, popular key words associated with your business and the probable cost involved. After compiling all this information, you need to ask yourself, 'is it worth it? If the answer is yes, then carry on.

Step 1: It's All In the Name

You have you business idea, you've conducted your market research, preparation is complete, and now you are beginning to get butterflies in your stomach from all the excitement that comes with starting your own business. So what's next? The Name.

You should start considering names for your company in the beginning stages of your business's development. Use a serious name for a serious company and a fun name for creative company or a company that markets towards children. But keep in mind that the name of your business must earn the attention and trust of your potential customers.

While selecting your company's name, bear in mind the qualities you would like your company to portray. If you want to represent a very aggressive, high tech, corporate, and cutting-edge company, you should not come up with the name like 'Sloopy' or 'Scroochy'.

Important Points To Consider In Name Selection:

? Shorter is better. It is easier to remember names like Nike opposed to 'Kransferst Bayer Colombo Association of Michigan' . ? Make sure the name is easily pronounced. It's very hard to pronounce 'Shmakhtnik', 'Kchichkus' or 'Xsassassas'.

? It may be helpful to have the name associated with your company's philosophy. For example, a strong solid company should use a strong, bold name such as 'Bamm', 'CastleDom', 'Gong'. A high-tech company could use a more creative name such as 'Ampex', 'Freebee', 'Ciriu'. Design companies can use even more creative names such as 'Venturius', 'BlueFrog', 'BlackInc'.

? Try to relate the name to the field of business. For example, a food company - 'Bacon House', an office supplier - 'BluePin', a construction company - 'GoldenBrick'.

? Create a recognizable image. Come up with a meaningful name like an object name or a word that has a meaning like: 'Penguin Solution', 'Flying Frog', 'Walking House', or 'Yellow Pot'.

? Do not forget your business's target market. Home insurance companies target a more mature market. It would be absurd to use a name like 'HipHop BangBang Solutions'.

? A good way to test out your company name is to tell it to your friends and ask them if they remember it in a week.

Step 2: Website Design

Marketing should start immediately after the company is created and a name has been chosen and officially registered. You want people to remember your company in a positive way. You need to make an outstanding first impression. So, the first thing you have to work on is your name and your face. In the e-commerce world your website is the name and face of the company.

The website is the most important marketing tool for an e-commerce business. The website needs to look legitimate and provoke a sense of trust. It needs to be appealing, simple to use, eye-catching, competitive and unique. Therefore, it is worth it to spend a good amount of time and money on your website design. If you are not savvy with website design and development, then invest in a talented website design company or independent designer.

Step 3: Website Marketing

A. Search Engine Optimization

Search engines use algorithms (mathematical formulas) to rank website listings in response to a particular keyword query. In order to protect themselves from webmasters and search engine optimizers manipulating the search engine results to their advantage, search engines do not reveal their ranking criteria. However, there are many factors that are speculated to be important influences in determining the position of a website on search engine result pages.

For example:

? Build a content rich website: Search engine spiders and bots like websites filled with informative and relevant text and content.

? Incoming links: Build up incoming links from relevant or complimentary sites. The more relevant and authoritative the incoming sites, the better your site will be in the eyes of the spiders and bots.

? Keywords: Try to place as many keywords in the content of your home page as possible without losing the sense and aesthetics of the page.

? Meta Tags: Meta tags are html text containing information about the website that is not seen by human viewers. Meta tags include title, description, and keyword tags. Considering that a title tag is the text that appears, representing your site, on a search engine result page, it is very important to choose a title tag that emphasizes keywords on that page.

? Header tags: Header tags (H1, H2, H3, H4, H5?) are used to designate headers and titles. H1 tags should be used to represent the first and most important header, H2 as the second and so on. Search engines give importance to text that differs from the text on the rest of the page. Bold, italics, underlines, and various font sizes are useful as well.

? Make the site simple, easy to surf and navigate, and eye-catching.

? Keep your website updated with fresh content, new pages and information.

B. Free Advertising

Search Engines
As a business owner, your first priority should be to get your website listed in the major search engines such as Google, Yahoo, MSN and Alta Vista. This can be done simply by submitting your website to various search engines.

Directories
You can also submit your site to web directories, which are databases of categorized listings of websites. Focus on directories that are popular and specialize on your industry.

Link Building
Considering that the World Wide Web was created with the concept of discovering new websites and web pages by following links between documents, link building is an important factor in optimizing your website for search engines. Effective link building consists of exchanging links with authoritative and information websites that relate to and/or compliment your e-commerce business.

Specifically Google, but other search engines included, believe that when web page A links to web page B, web page A is casting a vote for web page B. The more votes web page B has, the more important that page is perceived to be by search engines. The value of the web page linking to the web page B also determines how important that vote is. Google determines the importance of a web page by associating it with a Page Rank (PR). Page Rank is another factor that plays a significant role in determining the position of a website on the search engine result page. To view the Page Rank of websites, you can download the Google toolbar at http://toolbar.google.com.

Building links is not difficult, however, the challenge is to develop links that are relevant and complimentary to your business. You can join link exchange websites which are a venue for webmasters interested in building valuable links. Don't exchange links with just any site though, relevancy is very important. Try to exchange links with sites that can be associated with your industry or that compliment your business. And stay away from sketchy sites such as online gambling sites and pornography sites. These will only cause you trouble. As well, you can do a web search for relevant businesses and simply contact them and suggest a link exchange (some sites may have a section with information pertaining to link exchanges). Check out the backward links (inbound links) of your top competitors. Find out what sites are linking to them, and then contact the valuable sites to participate in link exchanges.

Articles
If you are quite knowledgeable on your business' industry, then publishing articles online is a good start to building a reputation for your site. You can submit articles to free submit directories (where others can download your article as content for their own sites, giving you full credit), online magazines, ezines, and websites relevant to your business.

C. Paid Advertising

Pay-Per-Advertising
a. Pay-Per-Click: Pay-per-click advertising consists of a search engine or directory that places your website in their database, and charges you a specified amount every time your website comes up in a search and is clicked on, thereby, generating traffic to your site. The amount of the fee is usually determined by bidding on keywords and ranking.

b. Pay-Per-Impression: Similar to the concept of pay-per-click advertising, advertisers pay the affiliate based on the number of consumers that view their promotion or ad.

c. Pay-Per-Sale: The advertisers pay the affiliate based on the number of consumers that make a purchase based on the direct result of the promotion.

d. Pay-Per-Lead: Advertiser pays for each sales lead generated from the direct result of a promotion. Leads include a viewer filling out a survey, form, downloading a demo, software, etc...

e. Pay-Per-E-mail: Similar to pay-per-lead advertising, pay-per-e-mail affiliates receive a commission for each consumer's e-mail address they refer to a mailing list or newsletter.

Paid Directories
Some directories charge a fee, increased visibility is associated with a higher cost. If you choose to place your site in a paid directory listing, consider the offer carefully. Compare the price with other effective methods of advertising. Make sure you get the biggest bang for your buck.

Banners
A more popular marketing mechanism consists of banners (large strips) of advertisements that are specifically positioned on a web page in order to promote your website. Costs vary according to the placement of the ad on the web page and size of the banner. Try to advertise on websites that contain relevant content, receive a significant amount of traffic and have fair banner advertisement rates.

Ezines
Ezines (electronic magazines/newsletters published online or sent via e-mail) have been experiencing explosive growth in the past few years. There are thousands of ezines covering a vast number of topics. Considering that ezines cater to readers sincerely interested in the topic covered, you should get a higher response rate to your ads. For a new business, publishing your own ezine right away may be too overwhelming, therefore paying for exposure of your website in online magazines and through ezine ads may be your best bet. Ezines can provide you with valuable traffic at a smaller investment than banner ads. Ezine advertising is more likely to attract a significant response because the readers trust the editors and therefore trust the ads.

Step 4: Monitoring Your Site

Almost all server providers have counters and tools to monitor all the traffic your website attracts. You can find out where the traffic is coming from and the regions from which the visitors are originating, how many visitors have entered your site on a given day, how they entered, and how long they stayed to browse. You can learn about the demographics of your viewers and track trends and patterns. By gaining a better understanding of the popular pages on your site and your site's overall performance, you can plan future development, and focus on specific aspects of your site. Depending on how precisely you wish to track your site's success, you can also purchase software programs that do this as well.

The first few years of the birth of an e-commerce company are usually the make or break period. Revenues may be stagnant and expenses may seem overwhelming. It takes time, patience and determination. Sometimes you just need to take baby steps, then wait and pray.

Bio: Colleen Ryan is the Art Director of Logobee Inc., a logo design firm that designs high quality logos and corporate identity design for businesses worldwide. Logobee Inc. was founded in 2000 and since then the company has grown at an exponential rate. http://www.logobee.com

Alexis limo rentals ..
In The News:

A Google DeepMind team has developed an artificial intelligence system that can play video games like a human and take native language commands from players.
Four of the largest school boards in Ontario, Canada have launched lawsuits against TikTok, Meta, and Snapchat, claiming that they have impacted students' thinking and behavior.
Finalists for the inaugural Women’s Prize for Nonfiction, aimed at addressing the gender imbalance in nonfiction publishing, were unveiled on Wednesday.
Tech guru Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson breaks down whether the government is watching citizens and what they can do to protect online privacy.
A benchmarking group for artificial intelligence has released new results evaluating the speed of hardware in running AI applications and responding to users.
Sierra Space’s Dream Chaser spaceplane provides a glimpse into the future of space travel. Traveling to space may become a part of everyday life.
The new European Hyperloop Center in the Netherlands aims bring in a new era of transportation. The center will use a steel tube as a proving ground for testing the new vehicle.
Stay up to date on the latest AI technology advancements and learn about the challenges and opportunities AI presents now and for the future.
While it may be incredibly tempting to have a “go with the flow" mindset like the rest of your vacation, your technology definitely should not be compromised while traveling.
Have you ever accidentally deleted an app from your iPhone that you’ve already paid for? Don't worry. We’ve got a trick that will help you get it back without having to buy it again.
Apple's new Journal app has raised privacy concerns among Apple's userbase. Tech expert Kim Komando examines social media rumors and explains what steps to take to protect yourself.
Although Facebook has denied that our phones listen to us, they do have other ways of finding out what we are talking about, listening to and searching for.
With the integration of OpenAI technology, Figure 01 has taken a significant leap forward, showcasing the potential of robots to understand and interact with us on a personal level.
Port Ellen, newly reopened whisky distillery in Scotland, is using SmokeDNAi technology to understand mouth-feel and flavors during the whisky maturation process.
Telly, a smart TV firm, is promising to give out their 4K 55-inch TV for free. What must you give in return? The innovative, yet potentially unsettling, answer might shock you.
The moment a spam invite hits your calendar, it’s like an uninvited guest at a party. So, what do you do? Show it the door.
Identity thieves are now targeting children and are making large sums of money by exploiting children's identities, possibly hurting their financial future.
There's a clever way to change the notification sounds on your Android without having to look at your screen. Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson explains.
If your bank accounted has been hacked, there are a number of steps you can take to prevent it from happening again. Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson explains.
Stay up to date on the latest AI technology advancements and learn about the challenges and opportunities AI presents now and for the future.
The Wave House, a data center in Heidelberg, Germany, is the the largest 3D-printed building in Europe. Its walls were built in about 140 hours.
Some government agencies around the world are struggling to meet their staffing goals when it comes to hiring artificial intelligence experts.
Google Maps' recent upgrades have introduced real-time ETA and turn-by-turn directions to your phone's lock screen while you are traveling.
Kat Cammack says AI could disrupt the 2024 election. A report says shared AI image tools generate election disinformation in 41% of cases and voting disinformation in 59% of cases.
Deepfakes have become commonplace, and the technology is only getting better, but there are certain elements that might give away the fact that an image is AI-generated.

Keep TRACK of your Business Relationships and Gain Profits

How do you know when an alliance needs to be... Read More

Going Public: Now that You Have Successfully Made the Transition, What Do You Do?

Ok, you have successfully accomplished your dream of being the... Read More

Small Business Pricing Strategies

TACTIC #1 -- Never simply slash your prices, unless you're... Read More

Small Business CRM Is Here To Stay

If you ask most small business owners what priority CRM... Read More

Using Holidays to Put Some Extra Cheer in Your Cash Box

No matter your age or station in life, we all... Read More

Small Business and Branding ? Why and How?

When we speak of branding most of the time people... Read More

How to Get Maximum Results With Minimum Effort

Get maximum results with minimum effort. Sounds great doesn't it?... Read More

Reduce Stress, Increase Profits By Incorporating Strategic Systems In Your Small Business Success

Whether you are an Entrepreneur or Business Professional there are... Read More

Why Does a Business Fail and What Can You Do to Stop It?

I believe the number one reason why a business will... Read More

Your Small Business Suggestion Box

A suggestion box is a really good idea for your... Read More

Mattress Cleaning Business: How To Manual

A Mattress Cleaning Business might be just for you if... Read More

Outsourcing ? A Positive Approach For Small Businesses

Outsourcing is the strategic use of outside resources to perform... Read More

A Key to Success: Be Consistent

Over the years I heard the best way to learn... Read More

A Look at Incorporating a Business in Florida

As you may know, there are many ways to incorporate... Read More

Motorizing for Profit - The Craftsmen Have Left the Building

In the summer, I can't drive two blocks without seeing... Read More

Small Business Owners - Form a Relationship with Your Bank Manager

It's just like a marriageTo expect a bank manager or... Read More

Taking Stock

Back when I owned an inventory-based business, one of my... Read More

11 Things Small Business Owners Can Learn From Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer

1. Everyone Makes A Difference ? Despite not letting him... Read More

Small Business Success Secret: Focus on Your Genius Work?

Do you know what your genius work is? It's the... Read More

Starting is the Hardest Part

You can't imagine how many people ask me how I... Read More

Sample; Territory Reduction Policy for a Franchise Company

I propose this thought on the subject of Franchisee territory... Read More

Quality Controls for Franchising Companies Sample Outline

Quality control in franchising companies is paramount and all franchising... Read More

Why Do Franchisors have Exclusive Territories

The reason we Franchisors call it an exclusive territory is... Read More

Drivng Home the Point - An Outsourcing Story in China

A few years ago, I visited Beijing for the first... Read More

Home Based Franchise Case Study

Here is an interesting case study of a company, which... Read More

car service from Midway Alsip ..