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Okay, we get it. The economy is in recession and we’re all being squeezed. Not only are gas prices skyrocketing, they’re bringing the cost of every other consumer good up with them. Combine that with a falling housing market which is dragging down the stock market and scaring investors across the fruited plain and you’ve got a less than encouraging business climate.

So, obviously I’m not going to spend valuable column space trying to convince you to invest in a redesign. Instead, let’s take a step back and see what we can do to change Browsers into Buyers. Below is a “hit list” of 8 ways to increase your income without increasing your outgo:

1. Product/Price. Do your numbers and your product line work for your customers? Take stock, compare yourself with the competition and make sure you’re still the best bargain out there. Go a step further and consider cutting your price on some of your more profitable items. Don’t turn winners into loss leaders, but make them more affordable and take quantity over margin.

2. Promos/Discounts. Dress the old deals up in new clothes. Sweeten the bargain with free shipping, 10% or other offers that work in your industry.

3. Shipping Cost. Is there a place where you can cut into your margin on shipping? Talk with your favored shippers and see if there is any room to trim. Every nickel counts with you and your customers. Find them!

4. Site Search. Is your search box working? Come to your site as a customer, navigate and shop. If there are any glitches in the process, fix them.

5. Ease of Finding Products. This is similar to #4, but narrows the examination to the tools your customers use to get around your site. Is the navigation clear? Do people understand it? Use a friend as a mock shopper for the best answers.

6. Ease of Ordering. Is ordering quick? Is it easy, or do you have to jump through hoops? The easier you make it, more of your browsers will make it to buyers.

7. Ease of Checkout. This is where too many shoppers jump ship. Common reasons for cart abandonment include forcing customers to register and log in before buying, including more than 6 steps in the checkout and restrictive payment options. Make it easy for them to buy, make it easy for them to pay and make sure you have a variety of payment options including PayPal, Visa, Mastercard, checks—whatever it takes to keep customers heading toward purchase.

8. Customer Reviews. Are your customers helping you sell? Make sure they can by providing product reviews and making sure they’re current.

No single suggestion above is going to solve all your cash problems. But taken together, they can generate some extra buyers who once were only shoppers. Turn enough of them and you’ll survive this tight economic period nicely, thank you…

It’s Spring Cleaning time, but frankly we’re not big on cleaning. We like to go deeper than mere cleaning. So here at eBiz Insider we just wrapped up a complete redesign of the magazine’s website. We’ve turned it into an online community for e-commerce professionals like you. The idea of this magazine is to tackle common e-commerce problems and provide solutions. The new site allows us to take the conversation to the next level and get you—and us—more involved. eBiz Insider is moving in the right direction.

In addition to full length articles from each issue, now we have forums where e-commerce store owners from around the world gather to discuss common problems and ask and answer questions on a variety of topics. The forums are moderated by the experts at Solid Cactus. We want professional advice to be just a mouse click away.

In the few short weeks since we launched, hundreds of new members have signed up, participated in the forums and given and received advice to help them better run their business. The next time you’re online take a moment to visit ebizinsider.com and have a peek around.

Boot Camp Update
I wrote last month about Solid Cactus Boot Camp @ HQ. Well, time is running out if you want to attend! This three day event kicks off May 21st here in Shavertown, PA and reservations are filling up quickly. If you’ve been thinking about attending, now is the time to make your reservation. Please visit http://bootcamp.solidcactus.com to sign up.

We’re IN!
Work has finally concluded at the Solid Cactus Technology Center, our new corporate headquarters in Shavertown, PA. Over the past 8 months we converted a former elementary school into a high-tech campus for the Solid Cactus team. Over 30 tradesmen labored long, hard hours doing demolition and reconstruction (and putting up with me every day…!) to meet our move-in deadline of April 1st. It turned out great. The former Westmoreland Elementary School is our new home. The Tech Center is three floors which hold more than 27 miles of copper and fiber-optic cable for data. We have nearly 200 workstations, two break rooms, two conference rooms, five executive offices, a full gymnasium with basketball courts, locker rooms and showers and a company-operated cafeteria.

Our growth has outpaced even our new work space. While 200+ Solid Cactus workers have moved to Shavertown, our original Wilkes-Barre facility will remain as the home to our Call Center and more than 100 customer service reps.

I can finally hang up the hard hat, put the blue prints into storage and begin to enjoy our beautiful new facility. If you’re attending Boot Camp in May, you’ll get to tour our new digs!

My fatigues are in the wash and my cammo tux is at the dry cleaners. No, I’m not journeying to a foreign land to entertain the troops USO style, I’m getting ready for another e-commerce Boot Camp which is being held May 21 – 23 in Wilkes-Barre, PA. It’s time for my occasional sales pitch in this space. I make no apology for it—these Boot Camps have paid dividends beyond what we ever expected!

We do these several times a year and like a fine wine, they get better with age. Our May Boot Camp will feature sessions on TRUST-commerce, Value Selling, Social and Viral Marketing, Web Personalization, Search Marketing and sessions on new features, site deconstruction and more. The Solid Cactus staff of experts will be on hand to present and some of our partners will be showing off what they can do to help improve your business.

The sessions are designed to teach—that’s fine. However, the most valuable part of Boot Camp is the networking and interaction that occurs between the dozens of e-commerce store owners who attend each session. Pam Macharola from BlairCandy.com attended two of our Boot Camps and recently shared her thoughts on a popular e-commerce forum.

“Solid Cactus Boot Camp is made up of people from everywhere. Some have big stores, some have little stores, and some are just thinking about having a store. You basically are with them all day and night sharing your stories both good and bad, and have the opportunity to learn a lot of things up close and personal. You can’t put a price tag on this event!”

In addition to all the learning, we have plenty of fun…. and we eat plenty of food. As Pam put it, “they feed you morning noon and night so you also could gain weight at this event.” There’s plenty of time for you to schedule one-on-one time with any Solid Cactus staffer. We also provide the opportunity to tour the “Solid Cactus Technology Center.” We’ll be moving into our new headquarters in late March.

Take a moment to go to http://bootcamp.solidcactus.com and check out the session schedule, evening activities and rate information. If you have any questions about Boot Camp, drop me an email at scott.sanfilippo@solidcactus.com, otherwise, I hope to see you in May!

Think about websites you’ve discovered that made you say “wow!” Was it the design, layout, functionality— what? Here are my fundamentals.

Design - A visually appealing website is paramount. The site design needs to be functional and non-distracting. Keep flash, animation, and unnecessary elements to a minimum. Avoid using elements that require installation on your front page and any landing pages.

Navigation - Make it easy to buy. Keep sections and subsections to a minimum so the customer does not get confused or lost. Keep nav bars quick-loading by using text instead of graphics.

Page Layout - Put the “add to cart” button in a prominent location that commands attention. Make it stand out visually. Also, keep pricing simple. Don’t clutter up the price area with hard to read tables or formulas.

Product Photography - Don’t sacrifice quality when it comes to product pictures. Customers need photographs to convey texture, color, finish, etc. Invest in a good digital camera and lightbox for product photography or send your products out to a professional photographer. NEVER put items on your site without a photo!

Copywriting - Good copy sells. Unique copy gets you better search engine placement. Descriptions provided by manufacturers will turn up on other sites selling the same item and that’s not good. If you aren’t a good writer, hire a copywriter. It’s an investment that will pay off.

Checkout - Keep your site design consistent through the checkout process and don’t clutter the checkout with unnecessary information. Customer service policies can be put at the top of a checkout page, but links should be given to the entire policy in your About Us section. The goal is to get the customer to checkout, not bail.

Those are my fundamentals of a good website. To share your own, drop me an e-mail.

By Scott Sanfilippo,
Editor in Chief
scotts@ebizinsider.com

I can’t believe it’s almost over! As they say in television, “there’s another one in the can.”

In just a few short days 2007 will just be a memory. Still, here we are getting ready for the biggest shopping season of the year and I feel as if I’m still recovering from the 4th of July! I know the days got shorter, but do they suddenly have fewer hours as well?

I hope that by the time you read this, you will already be proclaiming what a great holiday season your e-commerce store had. I ignore the talking heads who say “consumer spending is down.” If you have a good business you’re doing well. Everyone is telling me their sales are up and by the looks of parking lots at the local malls, lots of traditional shoppers are out there spending money. Let me be the first to offer hearty congratulations for a holiday season well done (oh, yeah, don’t forget to thank your customers for shopping at your cyber-shop!).

2007 has been a great year for me. In May we rolled out this wonderful little monthly magazine called eBiz Insider. This was an ambitious undertaking and I am delighted to hear that so many of you have already put eBiz on your “must read” list. Month after month our subscriber base has increased and we’ve added several pages since the first issue. We’ve reached out to the most knowledgeable people we know in e-commerce. We have asked them to put pen to paper each month to bring you what I hope you agree is a fantastic resource for running your e-business.

Please help my staff and me to continue to make eBiz Insider YOUR magazine and tailor content to YOUR needs. Please take a moment to fill out our reader survey by clicking here. Your comments, suggestions and candid responses will ensure that we continue to deliver a magazine that you look forward to receiving each month. This survey is extremely important to the success of eBiz Insider so please take a moment to respond. We want to give you what you want in this magazine. So be sure to tell us!

Finally, I would be remiss if I didn’t take this opportunity to thank the entire eBiz Insider staff for the excellent job they all have done. This was our first shot at a magazine and if I may say so, so far I think we’ve hit a home run. Thanks to you for reading eBiz and for supporting our advertisers who make this whole thing possible.

Happy New Year!