A Tip for Businesspeople (and Everyone): “Embrace Rejection”
January 7th, 2012
Dean Pettit, the proprietor of Space Coast Outdoors, was able to explore his passion only after having been laid off from his aerospace industry job. One of his top tips for people who want to do business online is one everyone (including me) can benefit from: Embrace Rejection. Here’s what he says.
“You have no choice its going to happen, a lot. Rejection is like that brother in law you can’t stand but always hangs around. People don’t like being sold to unless they are in a store. In fact your ‘best friends’ are the ones that tell you ‘no thank you’ right up front. That way you don’t waste any additional time on them and can move on. Very Important! Be cordial and accept it with grace. Their tone may change with time, especially if they happen to later go to the site for some reason other than doing business with you and see their competition advertising on it. I got an account from a local golf resort ONLY after another one signed up.”
When you reach out, you’re bound to be rejected. Learn from the experience and move on: I know, it’s easier said than done. But rejections can be flipped around into positives.
The Rise of Volusion
January 5th, 2012
Has anyone else noticed how Volusion is popping up in ads and on Google? By coincidence (I think) someone I reviewed for an e-book I am working on talked up Volusion as their e-commerce host. The site does have a good e-commerce blog that points to the strong growth in e-commerce and mobile commerce in 2011.
Mobile Commerce: The Place to Start Shopping
January 4th, 2012
In a recent interview with Igor Faletsky, CEO of Mobify, he pointed out the following trend:
“The big additional behavior we see on mobile is cross-device shopping– consumers researching and shopping on their mobile then completing the transaction later on their desktop. This is a key pattern, especially for any purchase that requires consultation like travel, electronics and gifts.”
What does this mean for those with online storefronts? Don’t skimp on your mobile presence. Make a new year’s resolution to upgrade the mobile version of your site. Expand your product catalog: include a single image called a “hero shot,” a call to action (a Buy button), and product details. And have your shopping cart ready for when shoppers complete transactions on their laptop or desktop computers.
Coffee and E-Commerce
January 2nd, 2012
Over the holidays, I did some obsessive shopping for an espresso machine. Back in the day, I could find used machines on eBay. No more. Where have all the bargains gone? Craigslist, Bonanza, eCrater–couldn’t find anything. But it turns out there is a specialty site for nearly every niche market. In this case I trolled the forums on CoffeeGeek.com and found a good one. Niche sites are the place to buy and sell specialty items, not general marketplaces, in my opinion.
E-Commerce Success Story: DIY Sales
December 14th, 2011
A “platform” is a devoted following of people who know you and want to find out more about you. You build a platform through email, your website, by handing out your business card, social media, blogging–anything that gets you before the eyes of potential readers or customers.
Here’s a recent example. Popular comedian Louis C.K. makes his own comedy video, sells it on his website (only his website) for $5, and makes his $200,000 investment back quickly, then turns a profit. How did he do it? He already had a platform through his television show and his comedy performances. It’s true, not everyone has the “platform” to be able to go completely independent, avoiding publishers or producers or even conventional distribution channels like Amazon or retail stores. But with a modest platform you, too, can have success selling online. Read about it here.
Fulfillment By Amazon
July 19th, 2011
Fulfillment By Amazon (FBA) is a bigger program than I ever expected. In this program, a seller ships his or her inventory to Amazon.com’s warehouse. You pay a UPS shipping fee, and a storage fee. But when you sell something, you notify Amazon, and they do the shipping for you. You don’t have to box, label, or haul to the post office. And shipping takes place 24/7. These are not the best things about the program. The biggest benefits are:
1. Items stored in the FBA program are eligible for Free Super Saver Shipping, Amazon Prime, or other discounted shipping rates. Thus, people are more likely to choose them. And, items with discounted shipping go to the top in search results when they are tied with competing products that aren’t FBA.
2. Because of the free shipping, you can raise your price to match your competition. Even if you have the same price as someone who is not using FBA, you get at the top of the search results. And when you sell, your profit is dramatically higher.
3. You can use FBA with marketplaces other than Amazon.com. It’s a multi-channel selling tool.
E-commerce is about margin, not volume. If you make $3 on 10 sales you’re doing better than someone who makes $1 margin on 25 sales. FBA not only has a big convenience factor but it raises sellers’ margin considerably.
I just wrote an article for ECommerceBytes about FBA and talked to Chris Green about FBAPower, his FBA software site. The next few posts will be about this subject.
How a Google+ Presence Might Look
July 12th, 2011
My article for AuctionBytes on Business Implications of Google+ has just gone online. Now I can mention it on my blog, I can tweet about it, I can post on Facebook, and of course, I could mention Google+. Wow, I need something like HootSuite to help me do all this at once.
Google+–A Facebook Killer?
July 11th, 2011
Google has a lot of cards in its hand, if it decides to put them altogether, the company’s social networking service Google+ can make substantial inroads in Facebook’s market share. Suppose Google+ enables businesses to set up profile pages. Suppose content posted on Google+ is included in the algorithms and data used to present search results. Suppose Picasa can be turned into a sort of visual sales catalog linked to Google Checkout and Google Product Search. (A PC World article speculates that many of these services could be interlinked in the near future.) Suddenly, all those SMBs knocking themselves out to get into Google’s search results have an inside track. And it’s all free. If Google can seize this opportunity, they can provide serious competition for Facebook, which is a seriously good thing.
What’s Next for E-Commerce?
July 2nd, 2011
Digital goods: That’s the opinion of Scott Silverman, former executive with Shop.org and now a co-founder of Ifeelgoods.com, a company that functions as a “digital incentives provider.” Ifeelgoods.com is currently focusing on Facebook Credits, the virtual unit of currency on Facebook. But they are also testing the use of Skype credits as incentives to make discount purchases, sign up for newsletters, download apps, or other activities. All of these things connect potential customers with businesses and increase the chances that they’ll eventually be converted into purchasers.
“For me, personally, I had been with Shop.org for 11 years, and gave me a vantage point shere I saw lot of trends developing like search and social media,” he commented in a recent interview. What gets me so excited every day about this opportunity and compelled me to leave a job that I loved was how large a market digital goods is right now and how little activity there has been to date on the part of marketers and brands taking advantage of this as a marketing vehicle.” he cites the example of Zynga the company that developed Farmville. Most people haven’t heard of Zynga. But their IPO is expected to bring in as much as 1 billion “When you actually play these games, you see how powerful they really are,” he says.
Find out more in my article about Ifeelgoods on AuctionBytes.
Domain Names for the Rich
June 20th, 2011
I’ve often wondered how systems that start out being relatively democratic and equal turn out to be oriented toward corporations and moneyed elites. Here is an example of how it is done. ICANN, the body that (supposedly) regulates domain names, has just approved a system whereby anyone can make up a domain name, provided they can pay $185,000. The first ones to jump on this will be corporations looking to protect their brands. People like me won’t be able to create greg.holden or these sorts of domain names. Nor would I want to. Read more here.
