October 22nd, 2010 by typhonvision

E commerce was supposed to change the world.  In the infant days of the DOT.COM Revolution(early 2000s) Brick and Mortar stores were said to be a thing of the past.  Whereas E commerce stores were thought to be more efficient with lower overhead cost.

And we all know what happened to the DOT.COM bubble when it burst.  As a result the E commerce revolution didn’t occur as quickly as originally anticipated.  The main reason for the delay in consumer adoption to E commerce shopping was the lack of familiarity and comfort.  As the general consumer still had anticipations about issues regarding credit card security and reliability with the delivery of products.

Moving in 2010, E commerce has advanced considerably.  Which larger players like Amazon and Ebay have helped spread the general consensus that E commerce shopping can be safe, fast and easy.  As a result, year over year E commerce shopping has increased.

While the traditional ways of doing business still exist for most.  Lending a portion (Even a small amount) of your business to a E commerce component on your website can drastically increase your efficiency.

Who should use E Commerce solutions?

E commerce solutions are thought to be of benefit to those only focused on selling products.  As most companies providing services are limited by their Geographical region (Usually to their local area of service such as Toronto, Ontario).  However, there are some applications which E commerce can be effectively used for Services.  Furthermore, the traditional geographical limitations in providing services can now be faced with the myriad of the free technology available to us.  This includes tools such as Sykpe (Long distance calling), Youtube and Social media(Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn).  Particularly if your business involves consulting as opposed to a physical service.

E commerce solutions for selling Products

The beauty of E commerce utilized for the sale of products is that your store can be everywhere and serve at any time.  Which exceeds the typical limitations of Brick and Mortar store.  Here are some broad categores of where E commerce for products can be used effectively:

Electronic Media - These include e-books, videos, audio and any form of Electronic media.  Special consideration should be given to e-books which in todays age is rising in usage.  This was confirmed when Jeff Bezos CEO of Amazon has claimed currently(Oct 2010) that 35% of sales from Amazon come from E-books(See Article here).  As E-books are a great way to distinguish yourself as a credible expert in your field.  And have a lower cost of production than hard copy books.  There are a variety of ways Electronic Media can be sold through an E commerce platform.  Which either the material can be downloaded within a limited timeframe (ie. 3 to 30 days window of opportunity to download).  Or can be downloaded multiple times indefinitely for a flat fee.  As with any electronic media, the susceptibilityto piracy is always factor and a threat in having downloaders redistribute the product for free.

Deliverable Products – This includes physical tangible objects which can be delivered by mail such as gift items, CDs, Videos and Promotional products etc.  Which virtually any product can be sold on-line.  However, consumers may be reluctant to buy from your website with the fear of receiving damaged goods upon delivery.  This can be challenged by outlining a solid customer satisfaction and return policy.  And describing your measures for effective packaging.  Consumers also might be reluctant to buy from your website since they may not be able to see, touch or feel the product.  Effectively integrating Video on your website for each of your key products can reduce reluctance.  Which the Video can display the product from all angles and its useful applications.  Consumers often feel enticed to buy a product based on a TV Commercial alone.  Done properly, Web Video can work in a similar manner to invite the consumers to buy.

Customized Products - This can be either a subset of a deliverable product or an electronic media item.  And can marketed in a manner that is similar.  However often the challenge with Customized products sold online is the variable pricing.  Which price can be determined by different factors (size, colour, accessories).  A strong identification of all the factors that make up the price of the item in a logical system can resolve this issue.  Where the different factors to scale the price can be programmed into the system.

E commerce for Services

Using E commerce for the sale of your services can be used in a variety of manners.  Included below is a brief example :

Events - This includes Seminars, Parties, Network events and Social events.  Whereas pre-registration is often required for many events to get an accurate estimation of the number of people in attendance.  Receiving a deposit for the event on-line can help to ensure more committed attendees show up.  Events can be promoted on your own website as well as third party websites such as meetup.com

Payment to Vendors – E commerce cannot only be used to get paid by your customers, but it can also help to pay your Vendors and respective partners.  This can be particularly useful if your vendors are overseas.  As platforms like Paypal can make it easy to transfer money

Services with a Variable price - This can include services which may vary in the price per item such as consulting services or donations (If you are not for profit).  However, depending on your E commerce setup ,it can be designed to handle a variable price specified by yourself or the consumer on each transaction.

What platform to use for E commerce component on your website

There are a variety of options which to house your e commerce platform.  Which is all dependant on your unique needs.  However, if you have under 20 items to sell on your website.  A dedicated platform may not be necessary at all.  As items can be sold with Paypal buttons extended onto your website.  Which is relatively easy and inexpensive to setup.

For a greater quantity of items.  A dedicated platform maybe required.  Which would also provide additional benefits such as advanced reporting tools (Showing most popular items), ability to enter stock quantity and expecting time of arrival.  In choosing a E commerce platform, open source software is often recommended.

Open source software is free software which a collective community of programmers continue to improve upon the functionality of the system.  Which yields regular and free upgrades in security, plug-ins and features.  In the past, it used to be the case that open source software was inferior to commercial grade packages.  However in 2010, often Open source packages can be more powerful.  Since the strength of hundreds of thousands of contributers can be greater than a single development team for a commercial package.

Stand alone open source E commerce packages like OS commerce and Zen cart have proven to be popular choices.  Which offer relatively easy installation and expandability.  However, if you already have a website and have taken the painstaking time to have it developed, there are options to extend upon your original site.  Such as if you have a WordPress (A popular content management system) site, there are various E commerce plug ins such as Welcart which can expand upon your current website without having to revamp your website design.

What E commerce can mean to you

Utilizing E-commerce on your website is not as daunting as it seems.  Its true in the past by majority E commerce was considered cumbersome and impractical.  However, the Internet has and never will be in a fixed state.  And technologies have greatly matured since its early days.  With the number of shoppers going on-line growing year over year, it’s becoming more important for businesses to not neglect this route.  As a effective E commerce plan can save you time and money while increasing your sales.

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May 29th, 2010 by typhonvision

Presented at Toronto Marketing Power Networking meeting May 2010

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD PRESENTATION SLIDES

After 23 consecutive appearances, Pepsi Cola opted out of the 2010 Superbowl and instead invested its ad budget in Social Media Marketing. This is yet another sign that internet promotion has, and will continue to overtake traditional Marketing channels. Topics such as Internet Advertising and Search Engine Optimization are higher on the priority lists of entrepreneurs and business managers than ever. But what do these terms really mean? And how can you apply these tactics without breaking the bank?  In a no nonsense, plain English approach, a logical and intelligent approach to the Internet Marketing will be demystified.

In this presentation the following topics will be discussed :

1) The strengths and weakness of the two major Internet Marketing Methods: Pay per Click and Search Engine Optimization

2) How Pay Per click and Search Engine Optimization work.

3) How you can engage in Pay Per Click and Search Engine Optimization through your own efforts.

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March 28th, 2010 by typhonvision

Content creation for websites can be a challenge task.  In the Internet world, a number of considerations need to be made when deciding upon the writing style for your website.  One of the biggest challenges today is addressing web writing from an SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and Marketing perspective.  As the two are often classed separately as “SEO Writing” and “Marketing writing”.

One may ask, exactly what are the differences between the two styles of writing?

SEO Writing is meant for the purpose of attracting the attention of popular Search Engines like Google, Bing and Yahoo.  And utilizing the tricks of the trade in the writing style to gain favorable ranking.  One of the most important factors of SEO writing is the proper use of KEYWORD DENSITY.  This concept will be explained further in the article.

Marketing writing is made for purpose of enticing the reader to take the next step in the sales cycle.  Whether that be making a phone call or filling out an inquiry form.  This is often referred to as the “CALL TO ACTION”. (And is related to the term “conversion” referred to in other articles)

In the early days of the Web, of the two writing styles, Marketing writing held greater popularity.  Mainly because websites of the past we’re considered on-line brochures.  And often mirrored the writing style used in traditional media.  As Search Engine Optimization writing was not considered as strongly, since Search Engines we’re still refining their formula.  And a fair amount of traffic could still be derived through the manipulation of Metatags and Banner ads.

Marketing writing is often written in a style which is conversational.  And special attention is paid to the rhythm and flow of words.  While utilizing certain “hot button” words which act hypnotically on the reader.  Making it suggestive for them to proceed to the call to action.  Also, the greater variance in the wording lends itself better to Brand Quality.  Maintaining a level of sophistication in the writing.

So the question remains as to which style should be used for your website?  The answer is BOTH!  As they both have their strengths and weaknesses.  A prudent strategy includes having content for both purposes.  With the most visible pages of your website populated with traditional marketing writing.  And the less obvious sections of your website to have SEO Content which helps to attract the attention of Search Engines.

Now the differences between the two styles has been established, the main factor for SEO writing will be outlined.  Since it is another article in itself to elaborate further on the principals of marketing writing.

As mentioned previously, one of the important aspects of SEO writing is the use of your selected keywords in high repetition.  For instance, if the objective was to rank well on the keyword term “widgets toronto”;  It would be ideal to have a page written in high frequency with that given keyword “widgets toronto”.  The given example may look something like this :

“XYZ Company is the number one company of Widgets in Toronto.  We have been supplying the best Widgets in the Greater Toronto Area for over 20 years.  All we do is specialize is in Widgets in Toronto.  Not many people in Toronto know what a Widget is.  But if ask anybody in Toronto on who is the best widget supplier, and they’ll direct you to XYZ company”

Now the above example is an over exaggerated example, utilizing keyword density shamelessly.  But taken with a grain of salt, the basic example provides a framework on how popular search engines such as Google, Yahoo and Bing think.  As you can see the given text has a high frequency of the keyword “Widgets” and “Toronto”.  Having a high keyword density helps search engines to determine the overall subject matter of the page.

However, the provided example merely serves to outline the basic principals of keyword density.  Since a search engine like Google is sophisticated enough to detect if the overall percentage of the keyword density is overdone.  If the overall percentage of keyword density is TOO HIGH, it is placed in the Google Sandbox.  In the Google Sandbox, the given page is investigated for manipulation of aggressive Search Engine Optimization which are not ethical.  (Which many adult sites have been guilty of utilizing keyword-stuffing techniques).  Having said that, the goal of SEO writing is to include keyword density in an INTELLIGENT manner.  Which doesn’t sound contrived or manipulative.  As the given text does not sound articulate (Unless you are a caveman).

This style of writing of using keywords in a high frequency can often be in opposition to SEO writing.  Since SEO writing focuses on distributing a high keyword frequency and repetition throughout the page.  Whereas Marketing writing in order to sound more articulate, often the goal is to not re-use words in high frequency.

As mentioned previously, Marketing writing should be placed in the most visible areas of the website;  Such as the Main Menu navigation.  And SEO writing should be placed in the less obvious sections of your website.  As the main purpose is to attract the Search Engines attention and have the user to delve deeper into your website.  So the question may be asked where can one utilize these less visible sections of your website?

The best placement for your SEO pages is in the area known as the sitemap.  A sitemap acts as an visible(or invisible) index of all the given pages on your website.  Similar to an index in the back of book to quickly reference specific subjects.  Sitemaps are mainly used for the purpose of allowing Search engine to capture the information on your website more effectively.  Often sitemaps are placed away from the obvious navigation of your website that a user is unlikely to read that given page.  However by having your SEO pages linked from your sitemap, they technically exist and open up opportunities to be found by Search Engines.  However, once they have landed on your website, the viewer is more likely to read your Marketing writing pages.

With the many faucets to consider, SEO and Marketing writing need to be used in conjunction.  Even though the styles of writing are in dichotomy, they address different functions of Marketing.  SEO Writing helps to drive traffic and brings window shoppers in the door.  While Marketing writing helps to convert the casual browsers into customers.  Planning for implementation of both writing styles increases your chances of success!

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February 23rd, 2010 by admin

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