The desire to make money is not enough to build a successful online business.  While obtaining a space to house your online store is simpler than finding a physical space to open a brick and mortar store, there aren’t any shortcuts to implementing an online business.  You build an online business in the same fashion that you build an offline business.  Provided below are eleven decisions you should make BEFORE  you begin an e-commerce project.

1.   What are you selling?

You will need to be able to clearly describe your product line(s).  While you may have plans to expand the business in the future, you will need to focus on the products you will sell in the immediate future.  It is tempting to spend a great deal of time pondering the “big picture”, however you don’t want to expand your project budget or timeline to focus on things are not currently relevant.

2.   Who are your customers?

You should be able to clearly define your target customer.  “The world” is not enough.  If you can’t define your target audience, your marketing efforts will be ineffective.  You may decide to define your target audience by location, industry, economic class, people affected by a specific problem or supporters of a specific cause or social movement.  However you decide to define your customers, be sure that you can.

3.   Do you have the appropriate copyrights, trademarks and patents in place to protect your products, brand and/or inventions?

To a certain extent, everyone in business risks dealing with imitators. However, you should at least understand the issues that are protected by copyright and trademark law before launching your online store.  Depending on your business, it may be necessary to consult a reputable attorney and take further steps to protect your business.

4.  Who are your competitors?

While I’m sure your business model is unique, fresh and altogether different, it’s safe to assume that you have competitors.  Spend some time learning more about them and what, if anything, gives them a competitive advantage.

5.    What forms of payment will you accept and will you need to process international payments?

This will help you in determining the best shopping carts and payment gateways to use in your online store.  Also, this information is helpful in determining your pricing model.

6.     What is your returns and exchanges policy?

While you desire that all of your customers to be pleased with their purchases, you will still need to consider your policy for responding to a refund or exchange request.  Outline your policy so that it’s easy for anyone to understand.  Also, be sure that you have identified your process for issuing refunds and accepting exchanges.

7.    What methods of shipping will you offer?

You will need to decide how you plan to ship purchases to customers.   This is an important step, as underestimating shipping and handling costs can greatly reduce your profit margin.  Included in this step is determining how the shipments will be packaged and the costs associated with that.  If you are shipping goods digitally, you will determine your method of delivery and licensing requirements (if applicable).

8.   What is your pricing model?

It probably not a good idea to randomly decide on your pricing.  Don’t simply go with what “feels right”.   In determining your pricing, you will want to research the average pricing used by your competitors, as well as consider your own operating expenses and costs.   You should have a clear sense of how much revenue you need to earn to make a profit or break even.  Your business should follow a pricing model that is based in fact and attempts to support a healthy business.

9.   How will you offer customer service?

At some point a customer may have a question or issue that requires your input.  You will need to determine how you will deliver customer service.  Be specific in terms of your available business hours and methods of contact.  Your ability to effectively deliver customer service could become your competitive edge.

10.  How will you measure the success of your online store?

You should identify your business objectives and goals and define the data that you will need to collect to ensure that you can monitor the success of your online business.

11. How will you manage and maintain your online store?

What are your staffing requirements for ensuring that you can update your inventory, ship product goods, provide customer service etc.? If you will handle these tasks, ensure that you understand how you will scale it when it becomes too much for you to handle.

Your answers to the questions above can be used in determining the most effective customer interface and marketing strategy for your online business.  Having carefully thought about the questions noted will greatly improve the success of your ecommerce project.
 

Kishau Rogers

Kishau Rogers is the President and Founder of Websmith Group, a web application development company. Her mission is to connect businesses with the information and technologies necessary to meet their goals EFFECTIVELY. Kishau Rogers holds a Computer Science Degree from Virginia Commonwealth University and has over sixteen years of experience, which includes web, application and database development. Kishau also speaks, blogs, and writes articles to educate organizations and entrepreneurs on resources and best practices for ensuring effective, dynamic and innovation web solutions.

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WhoIsHostingThis.com is a tool that will indicate the hosting provider for any website. They claim to provide more accurate results than similar sites such as DomainTools. It’s one of the more straight-forward tools available. Simply type the desired domain name in the text box on the home page, then click ‘Find Host’. The data provided is a very simple display of the name of the hosting provider (as opposed to vague nameservers or IP Addresses).

Why is this important

1. Learn where popular websites are hosted. Although the tool doesn’t provide the hosting plan (shared vs. dedicated) used by the site owner, it does provide some insight on the hosting provider and their capability for hosting large/popular sites.
2. Report malicious activity such as Denial of Service attackers and website thieves.
3. Learn additional data on your competitors.
4. Perform research on popular hosting providers before transferring your hosting service.

Kishau Rogers

Kishau Rogers is the President and Founder of Websmith Group, a web application development company. Her mission is to connect businesses with the information and technologies necessary to meet their goals EFFECTIVELY. Kishau Rogers holds a Computer Science Degree from Virginia Commonwealth University and has over sixteen years of experience, which includes web, application and database development. Kishau also speaks, blogs, and writes articles to educate organizations and entrepreneurs on resources and best practices for ensuring effective, dynamic and innovation web solutions.

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If you plan to use social media tools to promote your business and connect with your target audience, you may be interested in knowing the most popular social media tools used by businesses. Equations Research has published their “2009 Marketing Industry Trends Report” which provides valuable information regarding social media usage for businesses. Their research findings include the top social media tools by company size.

Top 5 Social Media Tools for Businesses with less than 50 employees

1. Facebook Page – 89%
2. Online Videos – 68%
3. Facebook Group – 58%
4. Twitter – 53%
5. Blogs – 53%

TABLE: Social Media Tools Used By Company Size (Brands)

Top 5 Social Media Tools for Businesses with 50 to 500 employees

1. Facebook Page – 60%
2. Twitter – 56%
3. Online Video – 52%
4. Facebook Group – 44%
5. Blogs – 36%

Top 5 Social Media Tools for Businesses with more than 500 employees

1. Twitter – 73%
2. Facebook Page – 67%
3. Online Video – 65%
4. Blogs – 65%
5. Facebook Group – 56%

The study found than companies were actively using an average of 5 to 7 social media tools.

So, How should I Interpret this?

• If you have not considered using social media tools to enhance your marketing efforts, you should note that over two-thirds of businesses are. Therefore, it is a strategy that at least should be considered.
• Also, it is interesting to note that the top 5 tools are the same for small, mid size and large companies: Facebook, Twitter, Online Video and Blogs. This should not determine the tool that you choose to use, but the popular distribution channels are worth noting.
• You will need to consider your target audience prior to selecting a tool. It would be ineffective to use Facebook as a distribution channel if most of your target audience prefers Twitter.
• In creating a social media strategy, reference the data available in research findings and case studies. Use this information to create a social media strategy that goes beyond experimentation.

Note:   The study referenced in this article is only one of many credible research studies available.  The sample size and study methodology is provided in the full report.  If you’re interested in downloading the complete study, visit http://www.equationresearch.com/, then click on the 2009 Marketing Industry Trends Report image located in the right sidebar.

Kishau Rogers

Kishau Rogers is the President and Founder of Websmith Group, a web application development company. Her mission is to connect businesses with the information and technologies necessary to meet their goals EFFECTIVELY. Kishau Rogers holds a Computer Science Degree from Virginia Commonwealth University and has over sixteen years of experience, which includes web, application and database development. Kishau also speaks, blogs, and writes articles to educate organizations and entrepreneurs on resources and best practices for ensuring effective, dynamic and innovation web solutions.

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EPISODE SUMMARY

One of the causes of an unsuccessful business website is lack of planning and research.   In this show I will be identifying tips for researching your competitors.  This is an activity that you should perform prior to implementing a new website or new website enhancement.  This will ensure that your website remains competitive and among the top in your industry.

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Kishau Rogers

Kishau Rogers is the President and Founder of Websmith Group, a web application development company. Her mission is to connect businesses with the information and technologies necessary to meet their goals EFFECTIVELY. Kishau Rogers holds a Computer Science Degree from Virginia Commonwealth University and has over sixteen years of experience, which includes web, application and database development. Kishau also speaks, blogs, and writes articles to educate organizations and entrepreneurs on resources and best practices for ensuring effective, dynamic and innovation web solutions.

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