What
can I say to a client who thinks that the minute their web site
is published, the orders will start rolling in? I think this
idea is perpetuated by the TV advertisement that showed young
business entrepreneurs gathered around a computer monitor
looking cheerful and happy when the ticker showed 5 orders, but
increasingly more dismayed as the ticker buzzed up to 500,000
orders. Sorry, that is an advertisement - it just doesn't
happen that way in real life.
While it is fairly easy to set up an on-line store nowadays, there is no guarantee it will be successful.
Here are 5 rules for
helping e-commerce along on your web site:
Rule 1: Give them a reason to come
"If you build it, they will come" does not work on the internet. The coolest, best, most beautiful site in the world is wasted unless people stop by to admire and purchase.
Create compelling content. Don't just give some company info and a picture of the president. What compelling content can you put on your site to give people a reason to return?
Rule 2: Give away something free, then try to sell
A simple strategy is to attract people to your site by giving away lots of free information. Then let people know about your products and services.
You've seen this scenario played out in countless brick-and-mortar stores. "Free wool scarves to the first 50 people who visit our store for our annual One-Day Ski Sale on December 1." Give them something free, then try to sell them something.
Rule 3: Trust is the essential lubricant of Web business;
without trust, business grinds to a halt. Assuming your products or services are priced competitively and are of good quality, your most significant sales barrier is trust.
You can build trust in multiple ways. First,
give a full address and phone number. If you have an office or brick-and-mortar store, show a photograph. Better yet, show photos of yourself or your staff. Now your customers view you as real people rather than some faceless entity who-knows-where.
You build trust by
- selling well-known brand name products,
- displaying clear shipping and return policies,
- joining nationally-respected organizations,
- by offering guarantees
- customer-friendly navigation system and intuitive interface,
- and an SSL
- secure server for credit card transactions
- having a professionally designed site, rather than something your teenage son cooked up on the weekends.
Rule 4: Pull people to your site by your attractive content, then push quality information to them regularly via e-mail.
A website tries to attract you by pulling you in with the promise of content, while e-mail pushes its message into your previous visitors' mailboxes. Most businesses can't survive on one-time sales only. They need to draw satisfied customers back again and again for repeat sales.
Develop a monthly newsletter or if you're not a writer, you can send out monthly specials, or news blurbs.
Rule 5: Small businesses succeed by finding niches. Big businesses like Amazon.com and Wal-Mart have the money and clout to "own" whole segments of the marketplace.
I was recently approached by a small business owner who wanted a web site. They sold gifts, CDs and new and used vinyl recordings. They cannot hope to compete with Amazon.com in the gifts and CDs area, but they might find a very lucrative market in new, used and rare vinyl recordings. Both selling and locating them for collectors.
This is a great example of finding a specialized niche market
that big businesses cannot compete with.
Call
or click on Pouncy
Designs
for quality web site assistance at 253-847-0231. If you already
have a web site, call for a FREE evaluation!
Remember, my
subscribers are very special to me and I would never rent or
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