e-Business For DummiesWritten by Shahnaz Rauf
A business is a business is a business. Here bottom line is if you don’t sell anything, you don’t make any money.Whatever you sell does not really matter, but how you sell it does. Such cliches as selling `snow to Eskimo` or `sand to Arab nomad` are very true. You can sell absolutely anything if you do it right way. The trick is to create a value in your customers mind and... Do it in right way. There are only 4 steps you need to follow: 1. Get right tools - you must have right tools and you must use them innovatively. Every trade has its tools... you cannot cook in kitchen without right pots, pans and spoons. You need an oven to bake, stove to cook, grill to... The rest is all a recipe. You need right tools to make it work. Similarly to operate Successfully on internet you need following tools. Here it pays not to cut corners. - You need your own domain name and web-hosting for whatever you are selling... Whatever your product, company websites are simply no go as any successful e-preneur will tell you. Be sure your web-hosting service enables sufficient bandwidth and raw statistics. - You need a mailing list solution - this is an absolute necessity to develop your business. - You need an ad tracking solution... hey don’t be turned off, some days I get up to a 1000 visitors to my site with not one sale, at other times I get 5 or 6 sales with just 100 visitors. Then because I am tracking my ads I know where to continue advertising. Believe me it pays for itself. - You need a credit card payment option... - And most important of all you need a multi-series auto-responder system. Without it you may not be able to compete in survival of fittest. 2. Get A product – Though it is best to have your own product but until this happens, you can get products with resell rights, or any of those amazing affiliate programs out there. I am sure you have heard that in gold rush era, it was not gold miners who made a bundle, it was spade (service) providers. So find a need and fill it. You can always ride high on waves of change.
| | And Then The Sales Started Pouring In...Written by Shahnaz Rauf
Hey buddy, lets go shopping to internet mall. This shop looks cool c`mon lets step in. Goodness... why is door so tight is shop crowded? Cool... look at that gaudy interior. Yuks! those blinkers... It`s driving me crazy.What are they selling? C`mon let`s get out before I have a seizure. This joint here looks more promising... Whew that`s better! Hey...What the... "Can we have your email address sir?" But why... we have just come in, let us at least look around first? "Well sir... It`s company policy that our customers first sign up to our mailing list before they can explore shop" No... thank you then ...You see it`s my privacy... "Sorry Sir, Company Policy". Great... On to next one then. Wow look at that widget... Just what I need... And price is right too. Oh but you need to get Ma to select color... Come to think of it, better wait for next paycheck. Uh- Oh... then let’s take business card, we will come back again. What... No business card! Heck is this a business or what? Goodness man! A business is a business is a business whether you do it offline or online there are certain codes of conduct to follow for sure fire success. What happens when a potential customer steps in to your realm? Consider How would you feel say: - If you entered a shop and immediately felt uncomfortable, dizzy, lost in chaos... - If you just stepped in to a shop and you are asked for your email address without being given chance to look around first – I for one value my privacy and will rather step out then reveal my personal info. [The concept of mailing list/newsletter works well with information products but if you are selling other goods you need to do better] - If you entered a shop and saw a cool gadget but do not know why/ how to use it / where to use it / advantages etc. Will you buy it without a demo? - If you like shop, you like merchandise, but you are not ready to buy just yet, maybe you want to compare prices or you are waiting for your paycheck or you want your wife/husband/partner to approve of your choice... (any no of thousand and one reasons), so what do you do... you pick a business card and leave unobtrusively with option to return later. - You like shop, you like gadget, but you do not need it, and you know your best friend is searching for it , so you are itching to tell him/ her about this rare find... - Or you like shop, product and buy it on spot, but you would like further information about upgrades, customer service etc.
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