EBizInsider

Archive for 2008

“2009 is a Glass Half Full”

Have you ever noticed that reports on the economy are always “better than expected” or “worse than expected” but rarely “on target” or “as expected”? With the media telling me every day that I should hold onto my money and not spend it, it’s no wonder we all fear a bad holiday season.

But I refuse to subscribe to all of the doomsday news. I’m not oblivious to the fact that there’s real news out there that isn’t positive. However, I believe one thing you can never underestimate is the need for people to spend money, and I mean “need”. We are a society that loves to buy things; it’s in our blood and yes, we may not spend as much as we did last year, but there’s an eternal flame burning a hole in our pockets.

For months, I’ve advised our customers that working smarter this year is the key to a successful holiday season. If there are fewer dollars being spent this year, be sure you’re grabbing as much share as possible. My hope is that you’re head is spinning from a “better than expected” holiday season and you’re looking for more ideas to maximize your post-holiday sales.

To help with this article I asked some of my fellow e-commerce experts about what they believe are the key things store owners need to do to start their 2009 off on the right foot. After reviewing their feedback, I realized that in large part these are things that you should already be doing and if you’re not, you may be paying a heavy price.

Analyze Your Traffic:

The old adage rings true that “if you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you always got”.

Now is the time to take a good look at your analytics to see how your site performed. Look at the bounce rates of your web pages and take a look at your cart abandonment rate. Most experts would say the 50-60% range is an average cart abandonment rate. If you’re seeing a much higher rate, be concerned because this means your customers found something wrong once they decided to check out. Maybe your shipping rates are too expensive, maybe they were confused by a less-streamlined checkout process, maybe they lost confidence in the security of your store once you asked for a credit card. The cause may be difficult to pinpoint, but the results could potentially be detrimental, so REVIEW YOUR ANALYTICS and start figuring out positive changes.

Evaluate Your Site Objectively:

Asking a friend, co-worker or relative what they think of your site is not effective if you’re looking for productive changes that could increase your traffic or conversions. Have your website evaluated by a professional Conversion Analyst that understands best practices in e-commerce and can offer you valuable tips on what you’re doing right or what you need to do to better optimize your sales. This includes evaluating the aesthetics of your site from header to footer, reviewing your checkout process and evaluating the friendliness of your search engine content.

Segment Your Heroes and Zeros:

Look at what products sold best and worst and create special sections on your site to highlight each in a way that will give them better selling potential. The Heroes that made your holidays a better year should be on your homepage or in a “Hot Items” section that is easy to find. Conversely, create a “Clearance” or “Specials” section for the Zero’s on your site.

BLOG! BLOG! BLOG!

Really, it works. Blogging is such an easy way to build a community with your customers, and by the way, it doesn’t hurt your Search Engine Optimization. Launch a free Wordpress blog and brand it to look like your store, then, just write, write and write.

Most “Blogiphobes” tell me “I don’t know what I’d write about” and then proceed to tell me all about their business, how they got started or what products they love. Sometimes, I’ll stop them to point out “you’re blogging right now” and they begin to understand just how easy it can be. Blogging is not about determining if you’re Mark Twain or Emily Dickinson in your writing style, it’s about talking about yourself, your family, your products, your store, or anything about which you’re passionate. SELL ME and do it by engaging me in a dialogue that I’m interested in, which should be you or your products!!

Determine Your Marketing Efforts

What marketing efforts did you not participate in that you regret? Did you keep up your pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns? Are you still not convinced about e-mail marketing? Are you blogging? Are you maximizing your Search Engine Optimization?

1. Ramp up your PPC campaign to focus on your post-holiday deals and keep attracting new customers.
2. E-mail Marketing, if managed properly, is very effective for informing all those new customers about continued deals at your site. Remember those “Hot Item and Clearance” sections you created? Get the message out to your customers to come back for post-holiday deals.
3. Blog – okay, I’ll shut up about it now.
4. You still need to attract new customers, so make improvements to your SEO by revising your content to be more keyword-rich.

You can take these as post-holiday tips but they’re really tips you should continually make for your e-business to stay successful. Don’t accept a struggling economy as a reason for less than desirable sales; be the exception in a struggling economy by working smarter than you did last year. 2009 will be a great year for you if you understand that a large part of the results are attributed to what you’re doing to improve your business strategy. When the economy is truly great again, you’ll be much further ahead in the game. eBiz

Good or bad, we’re a society obsessed with spending; we’d rather shop for a piggy bank than use one.

Solid Cactus, Inc. has designed or redesigned more than 3,000 e-commerce sites. Solid Cactus is an Inc. 500 company and was named one of the "Best Places to Work in Pennsylvania" in 2006 and 2007.

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Marketing to the Hispanic Market

Corporate America has paid a lot of attention to Hispanic-targeted online marketing lately. Most of the articles I’ve read are about the Hispanic market being an overlooked niche market with tremendous growth potential. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the Hispanic community in the U.S. will reach 47.8 million by 2010, accounting for 15% of the total United States population. And this growth is happening fast, at a rate nearly three times that of the rest of the population. More important than population growth, though, is growth in earning - and therefore spending power. Estimated at $860 billion in 2007, Hispanic spending power is expected to reach $1 trillion by 2010.

Some online merchants may feel that they are not prepared to develop marketing efforts directed at the Hispanic community because they lack cultural understanding, don’t know enough about Hispanic consumer behavior or simply because they do not speak the language. Keep in mind that marketing to Hispanics in the United States is different than marketing to Hispanics abroad. Around 60% of Hispanic citizens are born in the U.S. and, while they may indeed speak Spanish at home and enjoy a different cuisine or music than your typical Anglo-American (or, Gringo, some might say), it is likely that they speak English, went to American schools and grew up around American pop culture. Like all other Americans, Hispanic Americans shop…many of them online. Hispanics are known to be heavy users of digital media and are very accepting of new technology.

So what should you do if you believe the Hispanic population might be part of your target market? There are several strategies you can implement into your existing online advertising campaigns. For example, detailed geographic information on Hispanics in the U.S. is made available to the public by the Census Bureau. This information could be used to develop a geo-targeted pay-per-click (PPC) campaign. Since your target market probably speaks English, you don’t have to rewrite your ads in Spanish. Instead, translate some of your current keywords into Spanish so your ads will appear when someone searches for your product in Spanish.

Let’s say that you have a store that sells dresses for formal occasions. Your primary market might consist of bridesmaids and high school girls shopping for the prom. Another segment of your potential market might be fifteen-year-old girls of Mexican origin. In Mexican culture, a girl’s fifteenth birthday represents her transition into womanhood and this rite of passage is usually celebrated with an elaborate party for which the birthday girl (or, quinceanera, as she is called in Spanish) needs - you guessed it - a fancy dress. To test this theory, add keywords to your PPC campaigns such as “vestidos para quinceaneras” (quinceanera dresses). If you see that these keywords are generating a lot of clicks, then you may want to consider writing ads in Spanish and possibly developing new Spanish-language landing pages. The market will be more likely to develop a loyalty to your store if they feel that they can trust you. Part of establishing that trust can include sharing a common language in the form of a bilingual site. It’s even possible that your success at home could open up doors to international expansion. The possibilities are endless. So, come on and give it a shot! Or, as you would say in Spanish: Venga, inténtalo!

Solid Cactus, Inc. has designed or redesigned more than 3,000 e-commerce sites. Solid Cactus is an Inc. 500 company and was named one of the "Best Places to Work in Pennsylvania" in 2006 and 2007.

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Tech Corner: Dummies’ Guide to Domain Names

Manager, Marketing Operations & Solid Cactus Cares

All posts by John Dawe | E-Mail the author

Before you hire… Do You and Your Applicants Measure Up?

We all hope that when we hire someone they will turn out to be productive and honest, but the real world of business teaches us differently. You must have procedures and paperwork in place for those times when a good hire turns into bad news. As your business grows, you can protect yourself (and your employees) with these processes and policies.

The Application

Does your company use an attorney-approved application? Resumes are not always complete or even true. Attorney-approved applications require the applicant to sign a document stating that everything contained on their application is true and accurate. Further, if there are falsehoods, employment can be terminated immediately with the proper evidence.

A.) Include language conveying company policy for revealing felony and misdemeanor convictions and pending cases.

B.) Include a release for references and other background checks.

C.) If your state is an “At Will” State it is always recommended to have the At Will explanation in your application statement be sure that each applicant signs off on it.

In reviewing applications, what are some obvious red flags?

• Applicant signature at the end?

• Applicant chooses not to allow previous employers to be contacted.

• Applicant leaves criminal questions blank.

• Applicant fails to explain why he or she left past employment.

• Applicant does not explain employment gaps or the reason for leaving the previous job is questionable.

• Excessive cross-outs and changes.

• Applicant fails to give complete information.

The Interview

When conducting the interview, don’t be afraid to ask some tough questions and monitor applicant response. Some examples include:

• Suppose your supervisor asked you to get information that you know is confidential and he/she should not be trying to access. What would you do?

• We require background checks on everyone we offer a position with our company. Do you have any concerns with that?

• We’re going to be contacting your past employers for references.

• Ask questions about any unexplained employment gaps.

Checking References

Does your company check references? If the answer is no, start now.

Any sound hiring procedure includes checking applicant references. Many times this part of the hiring process is de-emphasized or forgotten altogether. Make it a distinct step in your hiring sequence. Be sure to ask for at least 2 professional and 2 personal references. Family members don’t count.

Many states are on the employer’s side and have loosened regulations regarding references. In many cases you can learn more about a prospect’s past than the typical, “Start date and end date” response. Consult an employment attorney in your state to find out what you can and cannot ask of a fellow employer as well as what you may or may not disclose to other employers.

Background Check

Background Checking can be outsourced, but you must disclose this information to the applicant on the application and during the interview before conducting a check. Keep in mind not every position needs to be screened at the same level (or at all) depending on your industry or position. Be sure to have a policy in place for this process.

Employment Policies

Do you have documented policies and procedures that show zero tolerance for Company theft, dishonesty, and misconduct?

Some important policies to have in place are your specific positions on:

• Confidential Information and Company Property

• Theft

• Use of Third Party Confidential Information

• Work Ethics Policy

• Whistle-blower Policy - offer an award for employees that identify co-worker’s engaging in illegal or dishonest conduct while on the clock.

In a perfect world, every employee turns out to be as great as they look on paper. In the real world, smart e-commerce operators protect themselves. If you have the above policies implemented, you’re in good shape! If you don’t, then adding these processes should be at the top of your “must-do” list.

All posts by Ed Stanchak | E-Mail the author

We have essentially outsourced several important divisions of our little company to Solid Cactus.
In turning over customer service, call center services and PPC marketing, our little company
now looks very big.

—Paul Roth, StyloFinePens.com

StyloFinePens.com is an example of how passion leads to ambition. After working with pens for years as a manager of a local pen shop, Paul Roth finally decided to take his passion to the next level and founded Stylo Fine Pens in 2006 making him owner and CEO of his own specialty writing instruments store. Seeing the obvious, nine months after opening the San Francisco-based store, StyloFinePens.com was finished. “The online component of the business really helped things sky rocket,” Roth admits. “Now we’re not dependent on any specific location.”

That expansion came with its own problems. Stylo Fine Pens, as the name suggests, sells a limited range of generally high-end writing instruments. When the calls started coming in from the website, Paul realized he was losing out. “Every time the phone would ring, there would be a customer in front of us…the calls were just dropping. Every time we would serve someone in the store we would also get this kind of a pang that we were losing a sale.” Call Center Services were an obvious option for StyloFinePens.com.

“Call Center completely changed our business and without a doubt was the very best business decision we’ve made,” says Paul. “Now if the phone rings more than three times, we hear it drop-off and we know it drops to a friendly place.” Adding Call Center Services was the first move in a triple play which Paul Roth says completely changed his business.

The second move was adding live chat. Solid Cactus partnered with LivePerson offering Managed Live Chat to Call Center clients. With Managed Live Chat, online visitors simply click an icon and a chat window appears with an agent waiting on the other end to answer any questions the customer may have.

Paul was part of the process from the beginning. Solid Cactus Managed Live Chat subscribers are encouraged to take part in the training of agents in order to ensure customers receive appropriate treatment and accurate information. Clients fill out an in-depth questionnaire depicting how they want their customers to be handled, as well as providing information on products they carry. In addition, clients are asked for text and copy that relate to products, and culture specifications for the brands they sell.

Live Chat agents find pride in selling specialty products such as Stylo’s pens. “I wondered myself, ‘how intricate could it be?’” Paul says. “But it is. People want to know why they should buy a $600 pen when they can buy one for $30. The staff really caught on to that.”

Ironically, the final move piece in the transformation of StyloFinePens.com occurred to Paul Roth while reading an issue of eBiz (we’re so proud!). “I struggled with PPC advertising like everyone else,” he recalls. “Then I read about a guy who’d turned his business over to Solid Cactus and let them handle his search engine marketing.” I decided they probably knew considerably more about pay-per-click than I did, so I let them handle it.”

This is where eBiz Insider and our parent Solid Cactus look really good. “Three big things happened,” says Paul. “First, our calls decreased. Second, our clicks decreased. Third and most important though, our sales stayed the same! That means we were able to cut our pay-per-click spending by two thirds. That’s huge!”

Bottom line, Paul Roth will be the first to tell you that Stylo Fine Pens is a 1400 square foot dot in San Francisco. “But we have a sophisticated website,” Paul says. “When customers call we have call center and we answer e-mail inquiries with live chat. We are professional from top to bottom. No one can tell how big—or small–we really are.”

Solid Cactus, Inc. has designed or redesigned more than 3,000 e-commerce sites. Solid Cactus is an Inc. 500 company and was named one of the "Best Places to Work in Pennsylvania" in 2006 and 2007.

All posts by Solid Cactus | E-Mail the author