Workshops Workshop Resources
E-commerce22 April 2009
 Getting started...
If you are not online you are losing money.. People use the Internet just like they used to use the Yellow pages, your business needs to be there. You can bet your competitors are online! ******
Here are some statistics/graphs of the number of Internet users around the world - these statistics are up to date as of March 2009
*** Over 875 Million consumers world wide have shopped online - Jan 2008 Nielsen *** 7.23 million subscribers to the Internet in Australia - June quarter 2008 ABS *** 169,716 new domain names registered in the last 24 hours (13th November 2008) - http://www.domaintools.com/internet-statistics/ *** In USA in 2007, $127,690 Billion was spent online and its been climbing ever since - http://www.access-ecom.info/article.cfm?id=85&xid=MN ******
The Internet means - NO BOARDERS.. That's right you can trade all over the world and have your very own international business.. Worried about freight or is your business a service?? No problem, why not create a digital product you can deliver online, 24/7 with no postage.. This could just be a side line or even a give away to boost your brand.. ******
Who is your customer? This is the most important thing to understand and keep in your mind when you are in ANY business (on or off line). The best tip I can give you is to sit down and imagine what you average customer looks like, then give him or her a name (Jane, Fred etc.) and find a photo - online or in a magazine - then pin this photo near your desk.. Now write out lots of details about this person - where do they live? what kind of car do they drive? are they married? do they have kids? Any hobbies? Do they like animals? what kind of work do they do? How much do they earn? You get the idea.. The more you can describe this person the better able to serve him or her in the future.. Keep this picture of your "average customer - Jane" near you when ever you are thinking about marketing or product creation, it will help you more than you can imagine! ******
Now you know who your average customer is, lets do a little more research into the market you are in :-) OFFLINE: Go to the bookstore - are there books in your market? I hope so.. Now the newsagent - are there magazines in your market? Magazines mean that there are advertisers selling things to that market - ALL good.. Are there clubs and associations in your market? i.e. people who are obsessed by it? ONLINE: Are there forums/blogs ? - search google like this:- "insert market name" and forum or blog - i.e "dog showing forum" OR "dog showing blog". Using the " " will give you an exact match :-) If there are forums and blog then there are people online who are interested in your market! So what are people looking up to find information online? After all the web is all about information.. And the biggest search engine is GOOGLE :-) So lets go straight to them and ask what people are searching for ... https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal# - this is a tool provided by google for you to research - it will tell you what people are looking up (keywords and key phrases) AND how many searches for each keyword or phrase.. This is very powerful information - its a bit like sitting outside a store and counting how many people go inside.. You can tell quite quickly which keywords get the most searches.. This is VERY IMPORTANT to take note of! Competitors - You can also use the Google keyword tool to spy on your competitors.. This is how we do it:- Find some of the higher searched for keywords and phrases and do a normal google search.. Take note of the sites that come up in the top 4 - 5, especially if they are selling something like you. Paste their URL into the Google tool in the Content section and you can see what keywords Google thinks they rank for :-) A bit sneaky, I know.. Another site you can do some similar competitor spying on is http://spyfu.com/ You can learn a lot from your competitors.. Why waist your money when some one else has already tested the water for you.. HINT: When you do a Google search the listings on the right hand side are PAID listings.. Every time some one clicks on them the advertiser has to pay (its called Pay Per Click). If you see an advertisement there that catches your eye, why not run their URL through the spy test, after all they are paying to get it right... ******
The main purpose of the above research was to come up with a list of key word and phrases that are relevant to your market AND searched for by your customers.. It is important that your website reflect these words..
Why ? Because Googles job in this world is to serve up the MOST relevant information to its customers (the searchers).. Google is very keen for the searcher to get what he or she is looking for..
With that said you need to include the relevant keywords in your new website.. The important place to include them are: in the URL (domain name), Headings on the site, image names and in bolded/emphasized writing.. i.e. Your site needs to look like it is full of information about your market.. But be careful if you over do it Google gets grumpy and thinks you are trying to trick it!
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Try a blog. This is a simple online diary like site - but you can easily turn it into your face to the world.. You can get a free blog and hosting at Blogger (owned by Google) :- https://www.blogger.com/start , or from Wordpress:- http://wordpress.com/ There are plenty of tutorials for both of these sites. If you are just after a glorified business card - a web presence for your site - then these are prefect. Have a bit of fun.. ******
The more complex version has you searching for and buying your own domain name and hosting AND then creating a site - it can be rather time consuming and a steep learning curve, BUT a lot of fun!!.. In these suggestions all you need pay for is the domain name (an annual fee) and the hosting (monthly or annual), the actual sites are free - but they do take time to create! Here are a few suggestions: Domain names: This is the name of your site - the URL - what you see at the top of the browser http://www.pcnames.com/ - I use this to research domain name.. http://www.crazydomains.com.au/ - a cheap place to pick up .com's and .com.au's Again, use Google - type in "cheap domain names" and see what comes up :-) Hosting: This is where your hosting "lives".. Many hosts sell hosting and domain names - this can be a good simple option. http://www.hostgator.com/ - This is who we recommend and use ourselves :-) Once you have a domain name and a host for it, all you need is a site to put there.. Here's a few options:- Search in Google for: "free website templates", "free ecommerce sites" etc. Create a wordpress blog from scratch (you host this one yourself), this version has loads for options and templates available and plenty of help/tutorials to set it up: http://wordpress.org/ Then there is ZEN Cart, we have not used this but have heard some good things from others. It is an ecommerce site and again there are plenty of tutorials and help to get you started: http://www.zen-cart.com/ There are loads of option out there - if you have time and don't mind learning a new skill - GO FOR IT - its very rewarding to create your own site! ******
Get some one else to do it.. There are many people in the business of creating websites and there quality and price vary widely. The most expensive is not necessarily the best! Again do a Google search.. Michon International has recently formed a new partnership with Art To Imagine, in order to provide beautiful innovative websites. The new business is called "SMiK Web Design" and will be up and running very soon. If you are interested in our new service you can send an email by This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and we will let you know when we are open for business.. ******
Whether to choose a .com or a .com.au or any other extension for that matter, depends upon your particular business.. A .com.au says you are an Australian business, that may be good for your business or it may not. The other restriction with .com.au's is that you need to have a business name that is similar to the URL or some other reason to use it that is closely related to you.. A .com just says you are a commercial site and you are selling stuff.. The advantage of .com's is that people remember .com's. Some one else could have your exact URL but with a different extension, but if you have the .com, more people will remember it. If you are selling worldwide and the product isn't "Australian", it is better to be a .com. com's are also cheaper. You can have both and redirect one :-) ******
This is a processes that most people never put them selves through! But it is vital.. Again you need to be your average customer, really try and think like him or her.. Now get out a piece of paper and a pen (that's right get away from the computer). Write down exactly how your customer is going to find you (the words they will see in Google)?, What will he/she see on your site (your offer)?, How will they give you money? Work through these things then start to actually work on the wording of your website (sales page) - don't forget those keyword. What is going to compel your customer to hit the order button? HINT: Be the solution to your customers problems! HINT 2: Do a Google search for a copy writting course - will always come in handy.. Once you have a website up and running it is a great idea to regularly put on the customer at and "experience" your website and sales process - is it compelling? would you buy from you? Is it hard to get around? Is it too noisy? Can you tell what the purpose of the site is within a few seconds? (that is all you have - a few short seconds to hold a customers attention).. ******
You Tube:- http://www.youtube.com/ .. That's right video - go get yourself an account and start creating movies - all you need is a little digital camera. You don't need to be a movie star, just provide some useful content and point the viewers to your website for more detail.. Include your Keywords in the video description. This will send you customers - don't over look it! And of course, it is owned by Google ;-)  |
