Choose How to Set Up Your Website As outlined in the previous article about Website basics, your choices to set up a website often come down to using professional web development software or a content management system (CMS). The main alternatives include: 1. Use Professional Web Development Software Over the years I’ve met brilliant designers […]
Once you’ve decided how to set up your website, it’s a good idea to follow a few basic legal rules to help keep your business trouble-free. Most of these rules are based on common sense and good ethics – and there can be big financial reasons to follow these guidelines, too. The list below is by […]
Your shopping cart is software that allows visitors to select the items they want to purchase, calculates shipping and tax, and communicates the costs to your payment gateway so that customers are charged the correct fees. The shopping cart also provides reports to help you manage your inventory, keep your financial books, and perform other important tasks. […]
After you’ve decided on a shopping cart, you’ll need to choose a payment gateway (sometimes called a payment provider) that securely authorizes and charges customers’ payment cards, temporarily holds the funds in a merchant account that’s part of the service, and sends you the payments less transaction fees. Examples of payment gateways include PayPal, Authorize.net, Chase Paymentech, and Sage […]
If you search online for the phrase “PayPal sucks” you’ll find discussion board comments and even entire websites with bad things to say about PayPal. Many of the complaints seem to suggest that PayPal freezes funds and even shuts down the accounts of honest merchants for completely unfair and arbitrary reasons. Reading between the lines, I […]
If you sell physical products online (as opposed to electronic downloads), the choice of shipping options presented to your customers and the way that shipping fees are calculated will both be determined by your shopping cart. Very basic shopping carts (like PayPal Standard) usually calculate shipping fees based on weights that you configure and order quantities, in […]
Now that you’re ready to start selling online, it’s time to make your website visible to search engines like Google, Bing and the others. You can make your website visible through a combination of basic setup steps that announce your presence to the search engines, and search engine optimization (SEO) practices to follow each time […]
As discussed in the article about making your website visible, there are important reasons to buy online advertising from Google* and others. The benefits of online advertising can include jump-starting traffic to your website, and keeping you focused on the key terms you’ll need to emphasize on your web pages and in your ads so that […]
As our business grew, we made a real effort to measure each marketing program to find out how much of a return it provided. We carefully monitored our online campaigns, and used incentives like coupons to test the effectiveness of print ads. Because we measured the return on every dollar spent on marketing, we learned […]
Steve’s Marketing Rule, discussed in the previous story, is really just a corollary to a general rule that I’ve always found to be true. While this general rule doesn’t have much to do with selling online, I think it’s worth sharing. Steve’s First Rule of Money: Never trust anyone who tries to sell you anything with a […]
Keys to Starting an Online Business
If you’re thinking about starting an online business, here are some fundamental ideas to help you stay focused and grow. 1. Learn by Helping Others An easy way to learn about online marketing is to help a friend, family member, or organization set up a website to promote their product or service. As explained in […]
Part 1: Find Your Product Idea Contrary to what you might think, it’s usually not difficult to come up with a great product idea for your new company. Start by keeping notes about the products and services you’ve encountered in everyday life that really stink. Are you frustrated because your car mechanic ripped you off? […]
Choosing the right company name, in the form of a web address (or root domain, as it’s often called) is essential for your online business. Your choice of web address should determine the legal company name that you register with your government, and not the other way around. Just as important as choosing the right […]
If you’re going to own a web store, you’ll need a web address (often called a “root domain“) that will appear online in visitors’ search results, or when they type the name into their browser address bar. As discussed in my article about getting the right company name, your choice of web address is critical […]
Website Basics When starting your first online store, it’s usually best to start simple and keep your costs low. It makes little sense to hire an expensive web designer – or to sign up for an eCommerce service with high monthly costs – until you’ve proven that you can sell your first products and keep […]
As discussed in the article about making your website visible, there are important reasons to buy online advertising from Google* and others. The benefits of online advertising can include jump-starting traffic to your website, and keeping you focused on the key terms you’ll need to emphasize on your web pages and in your ads so that […]
For your business to succeed, you’ll need to build your online reputation like it’s your most valued asset. Achieving positive word of mouth requires you to respect customers’ money and time, and allows for very few mistakes. Dealing with a constant flow of questions, feedback and criticism isn’t for everyone. Among other things, giving good […]
It can be a challenge to start an online business while you keep your day job. At times the process could feel like a juggling act; you’ll need a lot of energy and determination. The general rules for starting a company while you keep your day job might seem like common sense, but some of […]
Once you start to sell online and prove your product idea, you can help your business grow by following some simple advice from a really smart CEO at a company where I once worked. This CEO is unusual because he shares so much information about running a company with his workers. It’s no coincidence that so many […]
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