Using the Internet Effectively for Business Discussion Session #79 Jen Alexander

Business/Commerce The buying and selling of goods, especially on a large scale, as between cities or nations. E-Commerce Commerce that is transacted electronically, as over the Internet.

The Internet as Your Avenue How can you make it work for you? Where would you begin? What is important in using the internet for business?

Step #1 -- Identify Your Objectives Where do you fit in? What are your objectives ?

Step #2 -- Work with experienced Ecommerce specialists Once you have identified your Ecommerce business model, you need to find specialists Three most important Ecommerce vendors you will work with are: – your Web developer – your Web hosting provider – your Web site promotion or media agency. Sometimes you may be able to get a full service organization in one-stop but more often than not, you will want to assemble your own team.

Step #3 -- Create A Budget Creating a budget, and measuring its effectiveness, is one of the most important steps in developing a successful Ecommerce site. How much will your Ecommerce site cost? And how will you know it was worth the investment?

Step #4 -- Identify your online prospects and customers Look realistically at your market and determine who your online buyers will be!

Step #5 -- Promoting Your Site Direct potential users to your Ecommerce site through your current marketing materials. Feature your website address prominently on your letterhead, business cards, catalogs, brochures, advertising, etc. There are many other things to think about when promoting your site!

E-Commerce To win in e-commerce you must promote. Your visitors won't hear about you unless you tell them about you. Test as many promotion methods as you can.

E-Commerce: Seven Promotion Methods Seven of the best ways of promotion for small to medium sites:

Public Relations PR is about getting magazines, newspapers, and e-zines to tell their readers about your site, and it’s not always easy! REMEMBER: The editors demand interesting stories. To get ink, you need a twist.

If you think you might make a good read, work hard on the PR. Ink is gold. What are some ways of getting PR? Good vs. Bad PR; does it matter?

Referrals If you have a great site, your visitors will want to tell their friends about it. Make it easy for them and provide incentives to do so. Make it easy for them to send to invite their friends to your site.

Print Ads Your potential customer reads magazines, so utilize them! Run small ads in publications carefully targeted at your customer. Keep the message minimal - just tell us what you sell and list your URL.

Banner Ads Create a nice banner, then watch the orders roll in. Simple, right? Not always!! Find out if banners work for you.

What You Need! Create or purchase high quality banners. Run the banners on several well- targeted sites! How can you target the sites to run your banners on?

Affiliate Programs You should get other sites to send their visitors to your site. But how? Give them something. Provide a reciprocal link or give them a cut of the revenues generated from their referrals.

Contests Hold a drawing! You need a compelling prize, a recurring drawing, a database, and most importantly, a well-crafted campaign as an adjunct to the contest. Manufacturers of unique and interesting items have the best chance of winning with a contest promotion, but it can work well for many different types of businesses!

Search Engines All web businesses must implement an effective search engine strategy. Follow the basics – –submit to search engines – insert meta tags –use well-crafted titles – don't obsess.

Very few businesses thrive from search engine traffic alone! It is only one of the seven promotional methods you should try.

Step #6 -- Creating a well-designed Ecommerce site Hire a professional if you can if you’re doing it yourself concentrate on: –BRAND –Effective navigation –Fulfillment –Design –Up-to-date technology –Seals of approval from security-guaranteeing firms such as VeriSign, BBB Online, TRUSTe and other Web-based encryption and security providers. VeriSignBBB OnlineTRUSTe

Step #7 -- Take The Order And Collect Payment Implement a secure, efficient payment processing system. Payment Options –The types of payment options that are most suitable for your business depend on a number of facts such as: The type of product or service you're selling How your product is delivered The security needs of your customers The size of your business and your payment processing capabilities.

Common Types of Payment Options Offered Offline - The consumer views your product online, but orders by phone, fax or mail. Online secure - The consumer orders online, and you process their credit card information using a secure server Online secure with real-time processing - When the consumer orders online through your secure server, you can offer online confirmations and credit card approvals within 10 to 15 seconds

Step # 8 -- Deliver The Order Fulfillment - the industry term for "delivering the order" - can mean the difference between success and failure for any Ecommerce site. Consumers today, who are accustomed to receiving catalog orders by Fedx and UPS or 2nd day mail, expect similar turnarounds for their online orders.

Step # 9 -- Provide Responsive Customer Service According to a study by Harvard Business Review, 68% of customers defect to other online providers due to poor service, but only 12% left due to an inferior product.

Step #10 -- Keep Evaluating & Improving Your Site Your Ecommerce site will be a continual "work in progress." You will need to keep evaluating it to make sure –that your customers find it convenient and easy to use –that you're making the most of your selling opportunities –and whether you're encouraging customer loyalty –you will also need to keep up with the latest technology and what other sites are doing.

As your Ecommerce business expands, you will need to fine-tune or even completely redesign your site!

Evaluation Questions Use: A.Strongly agree B.Agree C.Disagree D.Strongly disagree E.Don’t know 1.I found the presentation of material easy to understand. 2.This Advantage session increased my knowledge on the subject presented. 3.I will be able to use some of the information from this Advantage session in the future. 4.The presenter was well prepared for this Advantage session. 5.This presentation should be repeated in future semesters.