Selling Services Via the Web

Selling products via the web has become very common, and most of us have made one or more purchases on line. Taking a service-oriented business to the World Wide Web is not as easy as it may seem. For the first two decades of the global web service businesses used “brochure” websites where interested parties could find information on the company and services.

Brochure sites, though still common, are slowly evolving into a much better marketing tool, as general acceptance of the web is spreading, and it has become a vast research tool for finding just about anything you care to investigate. Making your services website a tool that really works for you can be done, but there are some important reasons selling services via the web is such a challenge.

One of the primary difficulties is that you are selling yourself. You are the product that you have to sell, and you have only so much of you that can be sold. You can only provide as many services as your time allows. And, time is something you can’t expand. There is a fixed amount of it that you can offer. Assuming you plan to work 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, 50 weeks a year, you have 2000 hours of your time to sell.

This problem of time is a very important part of your business planning, and you must plan how much you are going to work, and much time you are going to reserve for your family and community obligations, and what level of quality of life you want. This requires a lot of thought, and usually means that you have to analyze each opportunity that comes your way for a good fit. You are likely going to have to turn some projects down, in order to maintain quality for you and your customers.

Just as in any presentation you make, prospects want to see proof that you’ve delivered great results for other clients. And, they also want to know how your experience in previous projects relates to their needs. They have to be able to understand how your services can help them overcome the challenges before them. This is much easier to do in a conference room presentation than it is on the web, because you can speak directly to the need when you are one on one. On the web, you have to talk to a much broader audience, and still attract attention.

Your web presence must be designed to provide examples of completed projects that represent the scope of services you offer, while not disclosing confidential client information. A good way to do this is through Case Studies, which give an interested party an insight to the project, the actions taken, and the results. Case studies are usually less than a typewritten page in length, and are designed to help the reader visualize how your skills can fit their needs. 

When you sell your services, you’re selling the possibility of a mutually rewarding relationship between yourself and your client. This means that your website has to do more than one selling products; it has to establish your credibility and develop a level of communication with your visitors that helps them visualize how you can help them. You need to not only establish the benefits of the service you’re offering but also establish the value of having you provide this service.

Design your website so all your services can be seen on the homepage. If you bury services several pages into your site, you’re unlikely to get the exposure you need to generate sales. Look at the screenshot of my home page, to see the number of links to specific topics on the website. This site is designed to be pleasing to the eye through use of warm colors and white space to separate each group of topics. This site is easy to navigate, since you can get right into the area of interest from a link on the homepage.

You need to include a listing of your credentials, of course, but if you have a large number of services you provide, remember that the links themselves are sales tools that demonstrate the breath of your services. You need to be very specific about what you have to offer to help your visitors understand how your services can meet their needs.

Too often, website owners fail to provide their visitors with enough information, presuming that the topic header or link will be clear to everyone. Not so. Each service you offer deserves a page of its own with sales copy that creates interest and motivates the visitor to take action. One of the most effective tools you can include on each of these pages is a testimonial from a satisfied customer. Whether included in the copy itself, or set out in a special box of its own, the comments of those satisfied with your previous work will be one of the strongest sales tools you can use.

The real key to selling a service, rather than a product, is understanding that every aspect of your design must work together to project the desired business persona. The look, the feel, and ease of use are important elements to creating a services website that draws visitors in, encourages action, and brings them back again.

Online Credit Card Payments

Getting your e-tail website on the Internet is a big step to becoming an on line merchant. But, if you’re a first time merchant, how do you get merchant status so you can accept credit card payments? The first place to start your search for merchant status is your own bank. Most banks issue credit cards, and if you have a long-term relationship, you may be able to arrange for a credit card in your business name.

If that fails, try other banks in your community to see if you can be eligible for a merchant account (you may be required to move your other banking to that institution as part of the deal). Purchasing a webhosting account from web host companies like Sirius International, which specializes in e-tail and e-commerce accounts may automatically make you eligible for merchant status. If this still doesn’t pan out for you can do a search on the Internet for “credit card processing.” A search on Google returned nearly 4,000,000 sites referring to the topic, including companies, large and small, that are on the prowl for start-ups seeking merchant accounts.

Shop around for your best deal, but also be aware of hidden costs in many of these merchant accounts. Credit card processing from any source isn’t cheap, however, at least not for a start-up. A typical fee schedule for a small-volume account (fewer than 1,000 transactions monthly) would include start-up fees amounting from two hundred to five hundred dollars and monthly processing fees of around $20-35.

What about security? Where do you get it? How can you assure security to your clients? These are all very good questions, and contrary to reports of rising fraud rates, online credit card payments remain one of the safest payment methods available. Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) technology allows credit card processing in real time, encrypting all confidential information during the transmission and authorization of transactions.

Another fraud-prevention tool called the Address Verification Service (AVS), makes online credit card acceptance even safer. This service compares the numerical information in your customers’ addresses to records stored by card-issuing banks. You can also elect to protect yourself further by using the card validation code systems of MasterCard and Visa. These verification services use the three-digit codes printed on the user’s card to help you determine whether your customer possesses a legitimate card.

The one “absolutely must-have” for online credit card processing is a secure, encrypted connection for your transactions. This is what you experience when you go to virtually any major e-tailer and initiate a purchase. As soon as you click on the “purchase” button you are taken to a “secure server” environment, where transaction data is scrambled to provide a measure of safety against hackers. Whatever vendor sells you credit card processing should also, as part of the package, provide a secure transaction environment. If they don’t offer it, look elsewhere.

Be sure to ask prospective credit card processors about the costs of storefront solutions that you must have to effectively operate your website. You may need shopping carts, payment gateways, virtual terminals, virtual checks, databases for order fulfillment, customer tracking, tax calculation and shipping charge tables. Some of these services may be provided by your web host, in which case you won’t need them from your credit card processor, but knowing what the processor can provide, and at what cost, can aid you in selecting the web host that is right for you.

For comparison purposes, check out the services provided by web hosting company Sirius International , as its e-Commerce Accounts provide the most services and the largest capacity. This Hostware™ account is for the business that wants to maximize its abilities on the Web.

There is a $100 Sign-up fee for this 350 MB e-commerce account that also includes 200 e-mail addresses, at a monthly fee of only $49.95 a month. This account type was specifically developed for businesses that plan on selling products online, and allows you to construct the site yourself, using their online toolset including catalog and shopping cart programs.

You can securely take orders online using a shopping cart or an order form. Orders can be processed manually with your own equipment or you can choose to have the funds automatically processed in real time. To compete in the Internet and mobile commerce world, businesses need to process transactions quickly and securely. The Sirius International e-Commerce account provides a gateway to Authorize.Net’sglobal payment solutions to ensure both speed and security, offering:

   1. Unlimited transactions from nearly anywhere in the world.
   2. Scalability to grow with your business.
   3. Unrestricted number of users with one account.
   4. Experienced technical support.

Shop around for the credit card processor that best suits your needs. Talk to several different processors and don’t be afraid to ask questions. Find out about their:

   · Transaction fee: A flat rate charged for each transaction processed.
   · The discount rate: An additional percentage of each transaction paid to the merchant account provider if your monthly charges are less      than a certain volume.
   · Monthly minimum fees: Minimum fees collected each month if your discount rate and transaction fees don’t add up to the monthly      minimum specified on the original merchant application. It is usually about $25 per month.
   · Equipment: Virtual terminals, point-of-sale terminals, printers and peripherals. Also find out about any installation costs.
   · Reserve fees: You may be required by some providers to set up a reserve account, which protects the processor from any future losses.      The reserve account is calculated as a percentage of your sales.
   · Chargeback fees: These are the costs charged by a processor to cover disputed charges.

Also be aware that some merchant account providers lump e-businesses in with other high-risk businesses, like telemarketers, travel and cruise industries and Internet auctions. This can mean that it may be more challenging to get a merchant account established. Merchant account providers, just like banks, will also consider how long you’ve been in business, your credit history and any previous merchant accounts you’ve held with other processors.

Your business experience is important because merchant account providers want assurance that you understand the business environment in which you are going to operate, can identify the potential risks of business, know how to reduce fraud, and understand how to manage credit card acceptance. Risk aside, this kind of knowledge comes only with first-hand business experience.

To increase your merchant account eligibility, prepare a thorough Business Plan, Marketing Plan and Operating Plan that identify and address all these risks, clearly defines the procedures to handle each situation, and the protections you have, or will, put in place to ensure success.

Unravelling the Webhosting Mystery

Once you have your website authored, you’ll need a place on the Internet for it to reside so visitors can access it. There are literally hundreds of choices ranging from large webhosting companies to someone’s server sitting in their home office. Many of these hosts are free, and few cost more than $20 per month in this new century. You could even set up your own host; a dedicated computer that’s permanently wired into the Internet, and has its own address. This, however, is time-consuming and expensive and, for most small businesses, not a good idea. It is better to outsource webhosting to folks who specialize in it.

You could also use the free space that comes with your ISP account. All providers offer users a certain amount of space to create their own homepage as part of the basic package of services. This space, however, is rarely suited to running a business, and business use is usually prohibited. Servers providing this type web space are slow during peak traffic hours and accessing your website can be very frustrating. This space may be sufficient for putting up finished pages and testing a site before you are ready to go live, but when you want to go to market, you need a dedicated host.

Picking a webhosting company can be tricky, however. Thousands of these companies draw you in with promises of ultra-low services charge, and then charge countless fees to “bolt-on” additional services, at additional cost, as you grow. Actually, a good policy is to quietly set up an account and test the host before announcing your presence to the world. Better to know your host is operating smoothly before inviting guests to the party.

Herbert W. Watchinski, CEO of Sirius International, Inc, a leading webhosting company for entrepreneurs and e-tail storefronts, states that you should analyze your potential hosting company to look for several proven performance ratings and key e-commerce-friendly features. He recommends that when reliability is key to your business, and it is for most websites, avoid a web host that doesn’t provide a written guarantee of nearly 100% uptime. 

“What we have learned from being in the business since the world-wide-web truly became world wide, was that we had a lot of issues to resolve to ensure integrity of our services, Watchinski said. “As we grew into the main stream of webhosting service providers, we built additional redundancy and security into our system. Our model architecture is now one of the outstanding systems available for e-commerce.”

“This architecture has given us a reliability rating that exceeds 99.9% for several years, and a connectivity speed of 50 and 100 milliseconds,” Watchinski said. He defined several key factors that should be considered when selecting a web host. And, he mentioned, this is a very important decision, so don’t make it lightly. It can cost you a great deal in lost revenues when you client can’t log into your site, or make that purchase transaction when a buying decision has been made.

1. Connectivity & Speed- An ideal host has, at least, T3 lines connected directly to the Internet, not through someone else’s network operations center, says Watchinski. “We became a leader in this area recently,” Watchinski relates, “when we connected our system to the Internet backbone through an expandable Fiber Optic System connected to a SONET ring” (which provides redundancy). The average response time for a typical webpage hosted on the Sirius International system is between 50 and 100 milliseconds while the industry standard response time for a typical webpage is 200 milliseconds (the lower the number the better).

2. Reliability – A server that is off line, or experiences frequent problems is simply not a good choice. Surveys show website reliability is e-businesses’ main concern. Look for at least a 99 percent uptime guarantee, and find out what the guarantee means. Watchinski advises that his company’s 99.9% uptime guarantee is possible because they place each website on a backup server with automatic switching in case of server problems, and multiple power backup systems. “In fact,” he offered, “during the recent partial U.S. & Canada power outage, our system was still generating sales for our customers’ clients in the areas not affected by the outage.”

3. Security – Passwords should always be required to control access to the host whether you are managing or modifying your site. All files should be backed up daily. Always look for a host that offers secure transactions, and utilize the latest firewall technologies to protect the hosted companies’ environment. For total security, Watchinski says, Sirius International employs an advanced processing method called, 3-WayEncryption™, which protects sensitive information through each step of the online transaction. Order transactions should use SSL encryption routines which are the most secure on the market today.

4. e-Tail Friendly Services - A full e-Commerce host will provide you with all the tools you need to run your storefront as a part of your account features. Look for services such as Automated Transaction Processing (ATP) or Manual Transaction Processing (MTP). Both processing methods have advantages and disadvantages, and you need the option to select the system best for you. “Every e-business is different,” Watchinski states, “so we provide both systems for flexibility. Merchants should also have the option to choose Online Ordering software, Catalog software or both for their customer’s convenience.”

5. Support – “Plain and simply put, we support our system,” Watchinski said. “We provide live customer support, online support, and volumes of help text to assist our users with their technical questions. Look for 24/7 phone support available from a live person. Then check it. Call or e-mail the tech support line at 9 p.m. on a Sunday night and expect it to be answered by someone who can actually help you resolve your issue. You just can’t expect less from your provider if you are serious about doing business on the Internet.”

6. Affordability – How much should you pay for your e-Commerce hosting? Shop around. Check out a number of web hosts. But, be careful that you are getting the functionalities you need today as well as when you begin to grow. “You have to make sure the baseline service, dependability and security is there,” according to Watchinski. “With all of the features of our cutting edge technology and support, you might expect to pay a premium for a Sirius International account, but that just isn’t the case. For about the same cost as a typical hosting solution, you can get much more with one of our accounts, including access to over one hundred web design and promotion tools. We feel that you should be able to expect this level of quality and service from any provider you choose. It’s available, so why settle for less?”

Advertising that Targets Your Audience

One of the most effective secrets of sales and marketing is well known to professional copywriters, who use the techniques to turn a prospect into a buyer. It is a standardized process for reaching into the subconscious of the reader and stimulating the impulse to buy at the emotional level of the mind. I discussed this process in another article called E-Mail Marketing Techniques, because it is a key to successfully writing copy for every sales medium from print to broadcast, and yes, the web, too.

The standard advertising process uses the “AIEDA” formula; Attract Attention, Create Interest, Educate (Features), Demonstrate (Benefits), Call to Action. Well-written copy is capable of doing all of these. It will get the reader’s attention, attract them to your product or service, communicate features, demonstrate benefits, and call the reader to taking action to make the purchase. Have you ever watched a food commercial and suddenly been hungry? Sure! This is the power of suggestion. And, it applies to writing all types of advertising, just as “Who, What, When, Where and How” applies to every line of questioning.

This principle is well worth taking the time to understand because you will need to use its elements throughout the successful development and operation of your e-tail business. There are many ways to capture attention on a website, from well-designed photographs, animated graphics, colors, even blinking text. The key to effective design is how well these elements work together. You already know this, because you recognize when a site is so poorly designed you don’t care to spend any time there. Now it’s time to understand how to use this subconscious understanding you already have.

Copy is everywhere on your web page. Even the links, subscription offers and navigation menus are important pieces of copy, and require careful consideration in the design of your e-tail website. Think about a link that says, “click here” or “buy now.” These are calls to action, and can be some of the most powerful copy on your pages. This same principle applies to your banners, promotion headers, and subscription offers. This copy urges visitors to take action. That action is vital to your business: request more information, subscribe to your newsletter, download your e-Book, click through, buy the product. That’s why even these small pieces of copy deserve real focus and your undivided attention when completing your website design.

And, of course, we consumers are always looking for the latest and greatest, or the newest and most improved. So, these words still work in copy just as they did in the first printed ads long ago. This why graphics or animation coupled with the correct copywriting and page positioning can be so effective in web advertising. Notice how the “New” graphic at the top of this page adds power to the title.

Since all of your copy has to be effective as possible, it needs to be clear, concise and compelling. Every button on your menu, every banner, every link must coerce the visitor to take action or you will lose potential sales. Because there is so little space on a web page, every piece of real estate on the screen is a prime piece of property you must jealously guard each parcel to make it as powerful and productive as possible.

The emphasis on the website sales page has to be on benefits, not features. Notice the animated word “NEW” on the graphic element at the top of this text. Is “NEW” a feature or a benefit? The answer is that it is both. It is a feature that can be used as a benefit. The best of both worlds! Your copy, or graphic element used as a key element of the copy, has to focus on how the product or service will benefit the customer by providing a solution to a real or perceived need. Often, this is simply a matter of semantics. For example, “hair spray that keeps you looking morning fresh all day long,” appeals more to the emotions than “hair spray with extra holding power.” And, of course, everyone wants to be update!

Failing to emphasize benefits is the number-one, and most overlooked rule of copywriting for the web. This lack of emphasis is the primary reason much of the e-tailing advertising has failed. And, it’s an all too easy trap to fall into! This perspective can be cultivated whether you want to want to write your own copy, or just be effective in critiquing and approving new pages for deployment on your site. Always ask yourself “where’s the motivation?” when considering the deployment of a new element on your page.

Because of the requirement for clear and concise copy on e-tail web pages, designers have modified the AIEDA formula somewhat; actually broken it into segments. The design technique for copywriting on the website sales page has become “AIDA,” and the E (Educate the reader on features) is moved to its own, separate page. The prime real estate on the sales page is used to draw in the visitor, coerce them to the features page about the product they have an interest in, and use the real estate on that page to make the sale, and present the call to action.

I’m always impressed when I happen upon an e-tail site that has gone the extra step to incorporate copy that integrates the power of these advertising principles into the overall design on the web page. Those sites stand out from the rest. You’ve seen them. Amazon is an excellent example of how clear and concise copy has become a highly developed art form, moving visitors along the path toward making a purchase.

The Amazon site demonstrates how the skill of page design and the art of copywriting come together to generate outstanding success. The site has evolved over the years, and has gone through a number of changes to explore new techniques, and has become a leader in developing the most powerful designs. What they’ve learned has helped the web-based advertising medium to become an important powerhouse that generates millions of dollars in sales each year. This reflects an important change in how advertising is structured for the web.

If you saw a box ad on a web page that stated, “New and Used Books. Hundreds of titles. Shipping via UPS or U.S. Mail,” would you be drawn in? Most likely not. The e-tailer would probably be disappointed in the response, wouldn’t you agree? The ad is brief and to the point, but it lacks a motivator for the reader. There’s a reference to “convenience” in that you can ship to your home or office, but it can be revised to attract attention and create interest. Now, you can add the call to action, “Click Here,” and you’re much more likely to get a response.

This is a powerful concept, and is often overlooked by e-tailers, particularly those who are just starting out in their business. By being aware of this concept you’ll have a much better chance to be successful with your e-tail store. Understanding that good copywriting is important to your site’s success will help you continuously evaluate the patterns of traffic to your site and keep you focused on what works well and what could work better. As an e-tailer, you have to analyze the effectiveness of every element of your web page design to ensure every element is working for you as effectively as possible.

With this awareness in your toolkit, you’ll be way ahead of most e-tail storefronts currently on the web.

Copywriting for the Web

One of the most effective secrets of sales and marketing is well known to professional copywriters, who use the techniques to turn a prospect into a buyer. It is a standardized process for reaching into the subconscious of the reader and stimulating the impulse to buy at the emotional level of the mind. I discussed this process in another article called E-Mail Marketing Techniques, because it is a key to successfully writing copy for every sales medium from print to broadcast, and yes, the web, too.

The standard advertising process uses the “AIEDA” formula; Attract Attention, Create Interest, Educate (Features), Demonstrate (Benefits), Call to Action. Well-written copy is capable of doing all of these. It will get the reader’s attention, attract them to your product or service, communicate features, demonstrate benefits, and call the reader to taking action to make the purchase. Have you ever watched a food commercial and suddenly been hungry? Sure! This is the power of suggestion. And, it applies to writing all types of advertising, just as “Who, What, When, Where and How” applies to every line of questioning.

This principle is well worth taking the time to understand because you will need to use its elements throughout the successful development and operation of your e-tail business. There are many ways to capture attention on a website, from well-designed photographs, animated graphics, colors, even blinking text. The key to effective design is how well these elements work together. You already know this, because you recognize when a site is so poorly designed you don’t care to spend any time there. Now it’s time to understand how to use this subconscious understanding you already have.

Copy is everywhere on your web page. Even the links, subscription offers and navigation menus are important pieces of copy, and require careful consideration in the design of your e-tail website. Think about a link that says, “click here” or “buy now.” These are calls to action, and can be some of the most powerful copy on your pages. This same principle applies to your banners, promotion headers, and subscription offers. This copy urges visitors to take action. That action is vital to your business: request more information, subscribe to your newsletter, download your e-Book, click through, buy the product. That’s why even these small pieces of copy deserve real focus and your undivided attention when completing your website design.

And, of course, we consumers are always looking for the latest and greatest, or the newest and most improved. So, these words still work in copy just as they did in the first printed ads long ago. This why graphics or animation coupled with the correct copywriting and page positioning can be so effective in web advertising. Notice how the “New” graphic at the top of this page adds power to the title.

Since all of your copy has to be effective as possible, it needs to be clear, concise and compelling. Every button on your menu, every banner, every link must coerce the visitor to take action or you will lose potential sales. Because there is so little space on a web page, every piece of real estate on the screen is a prime piece of property you must jealously guard each parcel to make it as powerful and productive as possible.

The emphasis on the website sales page has to be on benefits, not features. Notice the animated word “NEW” on the graphic element at the top of this text. Is “NEW” a feature or a benefit? The answer is that it is both. It is a feature that can be used as a benefit. The best of both worlds! Your copy, or graphic element used as a key element of the copy, has to focus on how the product or service will benefit the customer by providing a solution to a real or perceived need. Often, this is simply a matter of semantics. For example, “hair spray that keeps you looking morning fresh all day long,” appeals more to the emotions than “hair spray with extra holding power.” And, of course, everyone wants to be update!

Failing to emphasize benefits is the number-one, and most overlooked rule of copywriting for the web. This lack of emphasis is the primary reason much of the e-tailing advertising has failed. And, it’s an all too easy trap to fall into! This perspective can be cultivated whether you want to want to write your own copy, or just be effective in critiquing and approving new pages for deployment on your site. Always ask yourself “where’s the motivation?” when considering the deployment of a new element on your page.

Because of the requirement for clear and concise copy on e-tail web pages, designers have modified the AIEDA formula somewhat; actually broken it into segments. The design technique for copywriting on the website sales page has become “AIDA,” and the E (Educate the reader on features) is moved to its own, separate page. The prime real estate on the sales page is used to draw in the visitor, coerce them to the features page about the product they have an interest in, and use the real estate on that page to make the sale, and present the call to action.

I’m always impressed when I happen upon an e-tail site that has gone the extra step to incorporate copy that integrates the power of these advertising principles into the overall design on the web page. Those sites stand out from the rest. You’ve seen them. Amazon is an excellent example of how clear and concise copy has become a highly developed art form, moving visitors along the path toward making a purchase.

The Amazon site demonstrates how the skill of page design and the art of copywriting come together to generate outstanding success. The site has evolved over the years, and has gone through a number of changes to explore new techniques, and has become a leader in developing the most powerful designs. What they’ve learned has helped the web-based advertising medium to become an important powerhouse that generates millions of dollars in sales each year. This reflects an important change in how advertising is structured for the web. Take a look at the following example. If you saw a box ad on a web page that stated, “New and Used Books. Hundreds of titles. Shipping via UPS or U.S. Mail,” would you be drawn in? Most likely not. The e-tailer would probably be disappointed in the response, wouldn’t you agree? The ad is brief and to the point, but it lacks a motivator for the reader. There’s a reference to “convenience” in that you can ship to your home or office, but it can be rewritten to attract attention, and create interest.

Look at this example of how you could restructure this same information:

See how this approach presents the benefits? Convenience, and the books the visitor wants at less cost really catch the attention of the reader and stimulate interest. Now, you can add the call to action, “Click Here,” and you’re much more likely to get a response.

This is a powerful concept, and is often overlooked by e-tailers, particularly those who are just starting out in their business. By being aware of this concept you’ll have a much better chance to be successful with your e-tail store. Understanding that good copywriting is important to your site’s success will help you continuously evaluate the patterns of traffic to your site and keep you focused on what works well and what could work better. As an e-tailer, you have to analyze the effectiveness of every element of your web page design to ensure every element is working for you as effectively as possible.

With this awareness in your toolkit, you’ll be way ahead of most e-tail storefronts currently on the web.

Unsolicited Commercial eMail (SPAM)

When you use e-mail as a tool to promote your business, product or service, it’s crucial that you clearly understand the difference between opt-in e-mail and spam. Spam is a huge problem for all of us today. Forrester Research estimates that e-mail users get about 110 unwanted messages weekly. For some of us who use the Internet regularly for business purposes, it seems like we get that many every day. There are reports that state 41 percent of all e-mail is spam, up from only 8 percent in 2001. And because many people access their e-mail primarily at work, estimates are that spam will cost U.S. businesses $9-10 billion this year alone!

As a result, Internet service providers and webhosting companies are working closely with anti-spam organizations to filter all incoming e-mail for spam by automatically blocking messages that contain particular words or phrases like “for free,” “MLM” or “XXX.” They are also actively shutting out all e-mail from the domains and IP addresses of known spammers. For your e-mail marketing this means if you’re labeled a spammer, for whatever reason, the majority of your e-mail and newsletters may be “filtered” and never reach your subscribers.

When your e-mail is blocked by ISPs, it can take up to several weeks to resolve the issue. In some cases, if you really mess up, even accidentally, you may never be able to send e-mail from your domain or IP address ever again. I recently had my e-mail account “black listed” because I have several e-mail addresses for various businesses, and they are all forwarded to a single account. ATT.net, which transports the messages to the server where I retrieve my aggregated e-mail, saw all this “forwarded” traffic and presumed it was spam. All of a sudden, without notice, I was no longer receiving any e-mail!

After telephone conversations with technical support regarding the e-mail server company I use for aggregating all my e-mail it was determined that the account was functioning properly. Tests of e-mail sent directly to that server verified that it was fully functional. That meant tracing the problem backward to other providers that collect e-mail and forward it to my aggregate server. Telephone calls confirmed that each of those accounts was functioning properly, and that the e-mails were being forwarded to the proper account.

It was only after I got a forwarded copy of one of my rejected e-mails did I understand what had happened. My account had been black listed, and everything was being bounced back to the sender with an “undeliverable” notation. After determining where the problem was, it turned out to be a fairly simple process to get my account cleared from the black list, but it still took about 24 hours to get the system activated and receive the hundreds of e-mails in my in box. That’s Anti-Spam at work, and it is getting very sophisticated!

So what is the difference between opt-in e-mail marketing and spam? Simply put, PERMISSION. “Opt-in e-mail” is e-mail sent to people who have given you permission to contact them via e-mail on a particular subject. This is why opt-in e-mail is sometimes referred to as “permission-based” e-mail marketing, and it’s the most critical element to take into consideration when considering using this powerful tool for marketing your products or services.

Do you have permission? Even so, sales don’t always come rolling in immediately. Training for professional sales people proffers an old sales principle that you have to get seven rejections in order to reach the sale. That holds pretty true today just as it has for centuries past. E-mail marketing, however, has been enjoying a little better acceptance rate. Studies show that you will need to contact most people between four and seven times to make a sale through this medium. If you provide your customers with valuable information like newsletters or updates through e-mail marketing regularly, they will start to recognize your name in their inboxes, and your messages will be opened and read.

Spam is essentially unwanted e-mail that’s been sent by a company with whom the recipient has had no prior assocation. Spammers send out millions of offensive e-mails hoping to make a few one-time sales. If you’ve been on the Internet for any length of time, you know just how annoying (and offensive) it can be, particularly if you have young-ones using your computer. In an effort to maintain that cycle of four-to-seven contacts to generate sales, you could run the risk of being identified as a spammer if there are complaints against you.

How can you be sure you’re not spamming? Here is an excellent list of considerations from entrepreneur.com that says it all:
· If your message is being sent to people you have no relationship with, it’s spam.
· If your offer is fraudulent, or promotes fraudulent activities, it’s spam.
· If you’re using deceptive subject lines to trick people into opening your message, it’s spam.
· If you’re using a phony or non-existent “From” e-mail address or name, it’s spam.
· If you are forging the headers on your message, so that it looks like it came from somewhere or someone else, it’s spam.
· If you do not include an easy way for recipients to unsubscribe from your list, it’s spam.

More than 80 percent of people feel passionately negative about spam but want to receive e-mail from their favorite online merchants. This is why you need to know the difference between spam and opt-in e-mail. If you’re accused of spamming, or if your messages get caught in spam filters (like my forwarded messages did), you’ll suffer lost revenue, inaccurate campaign measurement. You could have your e-mail account shut down or blocked, and you could even lose your website, to say nothing of the damage to your reputation.

If you think all this sounds a bit extreme, just think about the situation from an AOL’s point of view. In early March, AOL reported that they’d blocked more than 1 billion spam messages in a single day! That costs them a LOT of money! And, on the consumer side, AOL users use the “report spam” feature up to 5.5 million times every single day! That costs MORE money!

There are some steps you can take to ensure that you don’t end up on a “black list” with your domain shut down because of being perceived as a spammer. The first is to keep excellent records of how and when people were added to your opt-in list, and when those who “opted-out were removed from the list. If you’re ever accused of spamming, these records will be vital to clearing your name and getting back into business. If nothing else, this should wave a big ole’ yellow flag in your face when you consider renting a third party e-mail list!

The easiest way to know for sure that you’re not spamming with your e-mail marketing is to determine, absolutely, that everyone on your list has granted permission to make that follow up contact. Still, your marketing message must be relevant to their area of interest and the interest area in which they gave you permission to contact them. They will not be happy if you send them offers for discount travel or adult websites if your online business specializes in sporting goods. They won’t understand why you’re sending them offers that have nothing to do with the relationship you’ve established with them, and your messages may be considered spam!

The Opt-In Dialogue

Even though you are prepared to manage your opt-in mail lists, and have your sign-up box ready to go, it doesn’t mean people will automatically provide you with their e-mail addresses. You’ve got to give them something in order to get something. This is one of the biggest barriers many people foresee when considering this very valuable marketing tool.

People value their privacy and their personal information in light of today’s increasing attention to protection again invasion of privacy and theft identity. You will have to offer them something compelling in return for their information. Perhaps a newsletter aimed at their interests, or an e-book on a subject they’ve told you they’re interested in. Let’s assume you’re already offering something valuable in exchange for their e-mail addresses. If you’re still not getting many sign-ups, it’s likely your incentive that needs polishing.

To convert more of your visitors to subscribers, you’ll need to write a really compelling subscription offer. This is much like the marketing strategy I discuss in E-Mail Marketing Techniques. You first have to attract their attention, create interest, educate, demonstrate, and provide a call to action. So how do you persuade them that your newsletter is worth signing up for? You have to promote it!

If your site sells sporting goods, you need to provide a newsletter that has an obvious relationship to your field. Here’s an example of some copy that’s sure to get a great opt-in response: “The Hoop and Cup is a weekly newsletter jam-packed with all the week’s hottest sports news, stats and stories. It also features interviews with your favorite players, an inside look at next week’s competition, plus a chance to win an autographed photo of the competitor of your choice. Click here to subscribe now!” That’s a little more compelling than just “Subscribe Now,” isn’t it? And the best part is that it takes just minutes to pump up the copy! Here are some other powerful ways to boost your opt-in rate:

Sell benefits instead of features.

If your copy states: “Download our FREE e-book, written by a certified career counselor,” you’d be advertising a feature; telling your visitors a fact about your free newsletter, rather than demonstrating what they would get out of it. Let’s try this: “Certified career counselor John Smith reveals the 10 things you must look for when doing company research, to avoid wasting time pursuing the wrong opportunity. Click here to read this FREE e-book!” That’s a dramatic difference! You’ve educated your visitors and demonstrated how they’ll benefit by signing up for your offer by helping them avoid a delay in finding their next opportunity.

Prominently display your Opt-in Option.

Devote a significant position on your homepage to promoting your free offer. That’s the only way you’ll draw in subscribers. So what’s the best location? Website designers will tell you that the “prime real estate” on each of your web pages is “above the fold,” in the first section that’s visible without scrolling. People’s eyes are generally drawn to the top left-hand part of a page first, so the top or left is the obvious position for your opt-in box. But, what if it doesn’t fit your overall design, or just doesn’t look good there? This is not a question of where your opt-in form looks best. It’s all about where it works best. Test a few different locations. Maybe a new location with each of your regular site redesigns or updates. Whichever position pulls the most opt-ins is the best place for your box.

Display your privacy policy.

Devote a significant position on your homepage to promoting your free offer. That’s the only way you’ll draw in subscribers. So what’s the best location? Website designers will tell you that the “prime real estate” on each of your web pages is “above the fold,” in the first section that’s visible without scrolling. People’s eyes are generally drawn to the top left-hand part of a page first, so the top or left is the obvious position for your opt-in box. But, what if it doesn’t fit your overall design, or just doesn’t look good there? This is not a question of where your opt-in form looks best. It’s all about where it works best. Test a few different locations. Maybe a new location with each of your regular site redesigns or updates. Whichever position pulls the most opt-ins is the best place for your box.

Display your privacy policy. Include a small link to a page that contains your privacy policy when you ask visitors for information. This lets people know that you’re committed to protecting their privacy and makes them feel safe leaving their e-mail address with you. It may seem like a small thing, but is very important to visitors who are skittish about their privacy or identity theft.

A number of large successful websites utilize a powerful third option, pop-up windows. As I have stated in other articles, I don’t believe this is a good option for most websites, particularly those just getting started in building their business. Most anti-virus programs and some browsers provide pop-up window protection. If a visitor uses one of these programs, your pop-up window won’t appear on their screen, and you’ll lose a potential subscriber.

Promotional Options.

Remember, there is always more than one way to achieve the same result when marketing your e-tail website. And, it may be prudent for you to occasionally change the method you use to make sure you cover all the bases. For example, you could make your initial newsletter marketing test an offer to your existing customers for a free subscription to your newsletter. This is a quick way to expand your subscription list very quickly.

If you’ve offered a free subscription to your customers but received a poor response, consider making things a little more interesting by offering them a “special gift” like a free article when they subscribe. This extra incentive should dramatically boost the number of new subscriptions you receive. If your first test doesn’t deliver the volume of subscriptions you had hoped for, try the example of the sporting goods store above, which offered a more attractive incentive, “chance to win an autographed photo of the competitor of your choice.”

Just as promoting your website to search engines is important, so is promoting your newsletter. You can do this by using the informal setting of newsgroups, discussion groups and forums that relate directly to your industry. Simply post a brief description of your newsletter and a link to your subscription page. This is a great way to connect to others who have an interest in your industry and are searching for timely information.

There is another option that you need to go into with your eyes wide open. That is having your newsletter distributed to a third party mailing list. This is called “Renting e-mail addresses.” It is an option some marketers use because they’re given quick, one time, access to a list of thousands of people who have “opted-in” to receive e-mail on topics that interest them, usually at a cost of less than twenty-five cents per deliverable message.

If you choose to use a service like this, it’s essential that you determine that the e-mail addresses have been collected ethically and responsibly. There are a growing number of shady operators who have mined e-mail addresses illegally, and this means you are not going to get the solid quality addresses of people who are directly interested in your product, industry or field of expertise. Furthermore, they probably have not given their permission and “opted-in” to the list. If you distribute your subscription invitation via a list illegally harvested from resume posting boards, newsgroups, and other similar sources, you’ll be accused of spamming! These people have not given you permission to contact them, and you can get into a lot of trouble this way. I can’t overemphasize the importance of making sure the e-mail addresses you rent have been collected ethically and responsibly! I recommend browsing the sites of E-Target, Focalex , Postmaster Direct, YesMail, Targ-it and TargitMail to get a feel for how this lists are developed by ethical third party providers, just so you’ll be more aware of these considerations when considering renting a list for your business.

Transitioning into Entrepreneurship

In the job market of the early 21st Century, when job engagements tend to last an average of less than four years, the likelihood of serving a single employer until retirement is in swift decline. The global business model, enhanced by rapidly developing technological advancement, has fueled a dramatic shift in how employers market their products and services today.

This dynamic in job morphing leads many former corporate professionals to consider starting their own business, where they can better control their own job security, financial success and quality of life. This shift to self-reliant entrepreneurship has created a burgeoning service-oriented industry, and inspires thousands each year to consider taking the big step.

There are many benefits enjoyed by the self-employed in terms of a stable income, sense of accomplishment, partnering with a spouse, and often creating a family business legacy, by including children or grandchildren. The range of business opportunities is truly unlimited. Consulting in your field of expertise or interest, purchasing a franchise, starting a new business, or buying an existing business, can lead to great satisfaction and personal achievement.

The United States today is home to nearly twenty five million small businesses. Most are in the service sector, and the proportion of women-owned small businesses in approaching fifty percent. We think of America as a country of huge corporations, when actually only one percent of U.S. businesses have more than five hundred employees and the Fortune 500 companies account for less than 5% of the workforce. Micro-businesses, with one to four employees, are the largest job creators today, and were far less impacted by the most recent recession by readily redeploying workers rather than jettisoning them altogether.

When considering whether to start your own business, there are two recommended initial steps to determine whether self-employment is right for you. The first step is to assess your values and beliefs in the work place, and how those transfer into operating your own business. DBM clients have access to the Self Employment Profile, which will help you understand how you could fit into the world of entrepreneurism. Whether you use this tool, or another, it is essential that you gather data about yourself to help you understand your transferable strengths, and perhaps more importantly, where you need support.

The second key step to making this transition is to have an understanding of the time it will take to research, evaluate, research, and then research the market as broadly and as inclusively as you can, identify your niche. Research the market with target of ten or less opportunities. Narrow your search to the three that look most promising, and research those until you identify the one opportunity you choose to pursue. According to the Small Business Administration, successful small businesses spend six to ten months planning their business before taking it to the marketplace. Startups that plan for four months or less usually fail within the first two years.

A thorough understanding of risk associated with your business is an essential part of the planning process, and will help you decide which kind of legal entity your new business needs to be. Sole proprietorship, partnership, Limited Liability Corporation, or Full Corporation are all possibilities. Perhaps it will make sense to start your business as one form of legal entity and then, at some milestone, move it into another form determined by your milestone, which might be volume of business or increasing risk associated with your growth.

The factors to consider in making the decision on the proper legal entity for you business are many, but most of us focus on two key elements; taxes, and liability. Taxation as a sole proprietor, and in most cases a partnership, are fairly simple. At the end of your business year, usually the calendar year, you simply determine your annualized profit or loss and report it on your federal and state tax return where you pay tax on your profits.

As a corporation, your business will have more stringent tax reporting schedules, and for a profitable small business, can result in paying taxes twice on your earnings; once as the corporation, and then again on what you take out of the business as salary. In my own experience, I have learned that the best way to make a Subchapter S Corporation to work for me is to have someone else, an accountant, handle all the tax reporting requirements, which frees me up to focus on the task of growing my business and delivering good service quality.

A corporate structure traditionally has expressed limited liability protection for the owner-officers, often referred to as the Corporate Veil of Protection. However, when the courts find “fuzziness” between corporate assets and owner assets, the Veil of Protection is pierced and owner assets are “attached” to the corporate liability, often resulting in the owner-officer exposing and losing all private assets as well.

The Limited Liability Corporation (LLC) is a relatively new addition to the type of business entities recognized by the U.S. government. The LLC is not available in every state, as some states are still struggling with how to structure this type business entity. The attraction of the LLC is that it provides more protection for the operators of the business from liability than a sole proprietorship or partnership, but doesn’t have the strict taxation rules of the full corporation. It is important, however, to investigate what limitations of liability are in your state’s definition of the LLC, and also how the rules of business have been defined.

Because corporations protect the officers’ personal assets in a litigable action against the company, if the officers have acted in good faith, it is only the assets of the corporation that are at risk in a legal action. This isn’t true in a sole proprietorship or partnership, as the assets of the individuals operating the business will be at risk.

Determining what your present and future risks are going to be in your business will help you make decisions about the type of legal structure you need for your business, and the steps you must take to ensure you are personally protected in case of legal action. This is a good time to make use of other resources to help you make these decisions. Look in your area for a Small Business Development Center sponsored by the U.S. Small Business Administration (Canada Business Service Centre in Canada). You’ll find these located in proximity to universities, and offer detailed advice and research resources to help you understand more about your options.

If you haven’t explored one of these SMDC (or CBSC) resources to date, you will be delighted with the information they have available to you, including, in many locations, SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives). Most services are free at these locations, and those that have a fee attached are usually much less than you would expect to pay a consultant. You can find the location of the Business Center or Service Center near you by going these organizations’ websites: Small Business Administration is www.sba.gov and Canada’s Business Centres Network is http://www.cbsc.org.

According to the Small Business Administration, one of the common characteristics of a successful small business is that they use outside advisors to help identify all the dynamics that need to be part of the planning process. These outside advisors may come from a number of business sectors, such as a commercial banker, a business broker, a franchise broker, a small business attorney, CPA, commercial insurance agent, and other successful business owners. The benefit is that you will get feedback on your ideas to help guide your decisions in those critical startup years.

Another key element to success in your start up business is networking. Yes, networking! Getting out in the business community to expand that circle of folks who know you and your business. Face to face meetings are best, of course, closely followed by memberships in chambers of commerce, business associations and professional networking groups.

One of the reasons you will spend six to ten months planning your business is that it will take that long to do your market research. It is essential that your thoroughly understand the demographics and make up of your potential customer base. Much of this information can be obtained through resources like SBA, libraries, the Internet, associations, interviews with prospective clients, and business networking. The goal is to understand your target market as well as possible.

Our search page for entrepreneurs provides excellent tools to help you begin this process of investigating going into business for yourself. Ranging from links to Self Employment Assessments to Entrepreneurial websites, you have the resources at your fingertips to begin successful business planning. To expand your knowledge and comfort level further, you should plan to spend a day at a Small Business Administration “Small Business Development Center,” or Canada Business Service Centre, to explore the myriad services available to small business and entrepreneurs.

Processing Customer Returns

Customer returns can often be time and cost-intensive, since you’ll have to process a refund and restock the product once you’ve received it. Further, getting the product back isn’t always so simple, requiring numerous contacts by phone or e-mail. This is a part of the business of selling on line that needs to function extremely well to insure customer satisfaction. On average, about ten percent of all products sold on line are returned for myriad reasons.

Planning for this piece of the business to run smoothly should be a very important piece of your business plan. Make sure a key element of your company’s website is a clear Return Policy so customers are aware of your willingness to handle their return in a business like manner. This will reduce the number of phone calls on your end, decrease customer anxiety, and help your customers feel more confident about making that all important first purchase.

There are a number of proactive options for handling returns today. One popular way for small businesses is to provide customers with return labels in the merchandise package that can be used to ship the package back. Another is to allow customers to print their own labels. Most major shipping companies such as the U.S. Postal Service, FedEx, Roadway and UPS offer these services to their business customer base, providing technology and services for the online e-tailer to make the process of handling returns nearly painless. Your customers can easily print return labels straight from their own PCs and have the product scheduled for pick up.

The U.S. Postal Service introduced the first service of this kind when they launched Returns@ease in November of 1999, which is still in use today. The USPS system allows customers who want to return an item to print return labels via the web so they could return the packages by mail. There’s a minimum charge to merchants of about 30 cents per return, plus postage and any fees for special services such as shipping insurance and delivery confirmation.

The USPS service is free to your customers and doesn’t require them to own a PC or additional hardware or software, which makes it particularly attractive to businesses with volumes of deliveries going to segments of the market that may not yet be web enabled. To use Returns@ease, you must first obtain a Merchandise Return Permit from the USPS and set up an account at your local post office. The registration application, programming codes and applicable guidelines for using the service can be found online at USPSPriorityMail.com.

United Parcel Service also has an e-Returns Service that provides consumers with a label they can print from their PCs. But the UPS system has additional functions. For example, if your customer returns a product because it doesn’t meet expectations, the UPS system can ship it back to you for restocking. However, if the product is returned because your customer indicates it was damaged, the system knows immediately to route the package to the manufacturer, rather than to you. This eliminates the need for you to make an additional shipment to return it under warranty..

One of the ways the UPS system has gone that extra step to please the customer is to provide the ability to track packages during shipment. In fact, you and your customers can keep track of the status of those packages directly from your web site or via the UPS website, depending on which option you select for your business. Depending on how you establish your return policy, you’ll be charged a transaction fee and various transportation charges, which are billed either to you, or your customer, after you receive the returned package.

FEDEX also has an automated web solution called FedEx Return Manager, an automated system that enables you to transmit a return shipping label to your customers via e-mail, or electronically dispatch a driver for shipment pickup at your customer’s location on the same or next business day. FedEx will even provide a return label and a receipt for your customers at the time of pickup. It’s very simple for you and your customers, and allows you to check the status of the shipment as it’s being returned to you.

Returns Management Solutions Companies

Many e-tail entrepreneurs elect not to handle the return process themselves, but rather, use the services of Returns Management Solutions (RMS) companies. RMS organizations, like Roadway, handle all aspects of returns management for you, including shipping labels and return authorizations that contain vital information about why customers are returning the products. Some of the companies in this growing field also handle the physical handling and disposition of those returns. They may even have returns facilities, where employees scan, open, verify and assess the condition of the returned products.

Many of these returns management solutions companies can integrate their systems with yours, so your order management, credit processing, shipping, returns authorization generation and customer service systems are all interconnected. This greatly reduces the time demands on you, and allows you to track the status and condition of returned products. Further, each returned item can easily be routed to the locations you designate.

Some of the more full-featured companies also allow your customers to return products to USPS offices or other carriers’ offices, where they’re shipped back to you. These systems can also give your customers instant credit for returns. But, all this comes at a price. RMS companies usually charge system integration and installation fee starting at around $10,000. Then there’s an on-going transaction fee for each returned package ranging from 50 cents to four dollars, depending on the level of service offered and type products you sell.

The rapidly growing e-tail industry has created another need for multi-channel RMS companies such as Escalate. This returns solution manages the entire returns process for items bought through an on line business, even if the item is returned to a store. The Returns solution centralizes order and returns information so it can be accessed from any location. The solution speeds returned items to inventory, reduces fraud rates and improves customer service. While the cost of implementing an RMS system may seem pricey when starting and operating your small business, consider the benefits that may accrue to your e-tail operation. There may be dramatic offsetting savings for you from not having to employ labor and warehousing to handle this process yourself. These systems also reduce or eliminate unauthorized product returns, all of which cost you money. You also become much more responsive to your customers since the better companies provide customized web enabled information tracking tools that give you a real time view of your returns operation.

Regardless how you decide to handle the Customer Returns Processing piece of your business, don’t forget that satisfied customers are the only ones who will return to your website to shop in the future. And, you rely on the satisfaction of your customers for your livelihood. Whether you decide to process returns yourself, or hand the responsibility over to an outside firm, always be mindful of the importance of planning and monitoring the performance of this key element of your business.

Mention of the carriers and providers above should not be construed as my personal endorsement or recommendation of these providers as opposed to others. The examples given here are to help you begin to understand your options, and to inspire you to begin the due diligence process to determine the best provider and system to get you to your best solution.

Attracting Business Through Search Engines

It can be very frustrating to conduct a search for your website name on the Internet when you have opened the doors on your online business, and you’re ready for the first customers to begin placing their orders. The results of your search show hundreds, thousands, or even millions of listings, and yours is nowhere to be found! The reason you can’t find your site listed there may be that there hasn’t been enough time for the search engines to spider your site to give it a ranking. Usually, however, it is the failure of the website owner to get his site rated on an ongoing basis.

A key factor in positioning your website so it will be ranked appropriately is to begin with search-conscious design of each page. You will need to decide what the keywords for your business are going to be, and then use those words strategically in the hidden header of your pages. This hidden area of your page contains information that tells those search engine spiders about your page. This information is called metadata, and contains metatag descriptions, such as this information from the header of larryvaughn.com:

META name=”Subject” content=”Business Consulting Services”

One of the earliest exercises I have my clients go through is compiling a list of keywords associated with their business and should be analyzed by the search engines. Some times this list may contain hundreds of words and other times only ten or twenty, determined by the type business. After determining the number of topics to be represented by individual pages on the website, the work begins to determine which keywords need to be associated with each of those pages. For example, look at the keyword listing for one of my high-tech recruiting clients, whose keyword list is an entire page long!

You’ll notice as you read through the keyword listing above that there are several slightly different listings for several of the topics. This is because you must make every effort to identify how someone might search for you product(s) or service(s). For example, your family sedan can be referred to as a car, an automobile, a vehicle, etc. A consultant might be referred to as an independent contractor, advisor, counselor or provider, etc. We have a lot of different ways of identifying things, and we must strive to include those descriptions in the metadata.

If you are designing your own website, here’s another key element professional programmers know: make your page titles work for you. The title of each of your site’s pages appears at the top address bar in the browser as it is being viewed. For example when you view the website design page on my website, your address bar will show http://www.larryvaughn.com/designdoc.shtml, and at the top of the page you will see the words “Vaughn Consulting Group eCommerce & Website Design”. That title helps describe the topic of the page and can be used for subliminal promotion of your goods and services. The title of the page should always be descriptive and focused on key business aspects as reflected in your keywords.

For instance, the title for one of my favorite sites, entrepreneur.com is “Entrepreneur.com: Start, Grow, and Manage Your Small Business.” Within the title for Entrepreneur.com, there are five different keywords represented: entrepreneur, start, grow, manage and small business. These keywords also form combinations: start your small business, grow your small business, and manage your small business.

The next step in designing each of your site’s pages is to determine the wording for the meta description, which is the information about your site that is displayed under your name when a search engine includes your site in search results. The site description should be explanatory, it should be no more than 30 words, and it should include as many of the top 10 keywords that will fit. Here’s an example from my home page:
META name=”Description” content=”Business & Human Resources Consulting group specializing in career coaching services, Internet consulting, website development, multimedia design/writing and production to marketing material development, and task training design/administration.

Notice in the example above you’ll see the primary keywords from the title in the description as well as some new keywords such as “multimedia design/writing,” “marketing material development,” “career coaching” and “task training.” Include all primary keywords and derivatives in the keyword metatag, separating each keyword using a comma to establish important keyword phrases. The description now serves to reinforce the title of the page, and gives the site a much better chance of attracting new visitors.

And, just a couple of thoughts on optimizing your web page; the text within the body of your page is very influential in search engine positioning. If your website’s navigation system is consistent with the primary keywords, it will reinforce those keywords when indexed by a search engine. Even the headlines, subheads, links to other documents and the text within paragraphs on your page will influence search engines. Try to keep each of these elements consistent with your primary keywords, and you should get results like the search below for Vaughn Consulting Group

While many people can already write decent copy, they have a problem when it comes to writing great search engine copy. (Two VERY different things!) They either shove far too many keywords in – making the copy sound like a broken record – or they don’t use enough because of fear of sounding foolish. You can get more information on using metadata copy effectively by clicking here.

eMail Marketing Techniques

If you want your website to be robust enough to generate sales you must consider the option of collecting e-mail addresses of your visitors and using those e-mails to stay in touch. One of the most common practices is to mail monthly newsletters to subscribers, But what about e-mailing standalone product promotions to your subscribers. When used properly this practice can be a useful tool for your visitors.

The fourth of DoubleClick’s annual consumer e-mail studies points to an increasing sophistication of consumer usage of e-mail functionality and a corresponding complexity of purchasing behavior. The study found that 78 percent of people surveyed said they wanted to receive e-mail from their favorite online merchants. And, eMarketer, which monitors more than 1,500 sources daily, found that 67 percent of U.S. consumers liked companies who did a good job with opt-in e-mail marketing.

So, it is still a good practice, even in this day of seemingly endless spam, to use e-mail marketing if you follow a few simple guidelines. To make sure your e-mail promotion is successful make sure it looks professional. A key here is to proofread your e-mail at least three times before sending it to your mailing list. It is difficult for many of us to see errors in our own material, so adopt the practice of having a friend or co-worker check it out as well. If you send an e-mail full of spelling or grammatical errors, it will cost you sales and could permanently damage your credibility.

You also must be certain the information you are sending out has some relevancy to your recipients. Is the offer something they are likely to be interested in, or will it be considered just another superfluous mailing? You must not assume that your subscribers will automatically understand why your e-mail promotion is of interest to them. You need to spell it out. Copywriting 101 teaches that you must explain in detail how your product can help them and why now is the time to buy. Advertisers use the principle of stating “features” and “benefits.” You have to describe the features, certainly, but it may be even more important to focus on the benefits to the consumer. There’s an old axiom in the advertising business that results in a methodology for making a sale. It’s called AIEDA, and represents the following steps in the sales process:

1. Attract Attention
2. Create Interest
3. Educate (features)
4. Demonstrate (benefits)
5. Call to Action (Buy Now!)

The second part of using basic marketing strategy is to make your offer exclusive. You can tailor your promotion just for the subscribers to your mailing list, for a limited time, and then give them a strong reason to buy, such as “introductory prices” or a favorable price for only a “limited time.” This “call to action” from the sales methodology above has been around for ages and is still the most effective design element in your promotional planning process.

When you first enter the e-mail promotion arena, you need to feature one of your most popular products, or one that is in popular demand from other sources. Feature something current, and fashionable, so you can get a good feel for how effective this medium can be in building your business. This is no time to unload dated inventory! If you design your e-mail to give people a good reason to buy one of your best-selling products, you can guarantee yourself a terrific response!

Before you distribute your e-mail to your client base you need to conduct an e-mail evaluation. Send a test version of the message to yourself at your regular e-mail account and auxiliary accounts. Take advantage of free e-mail accounts with Yahoo! and Hotmail, and include these accounts in your test mailing to yourself. The point here is to review your e-mail before you distribute it to clients to catch any formatting errors caused by the way different e-mail programs handle HTML documents. If you have an associate or “beta tester” with an AOL account, send them a copy, too. You’ll be surprised how dramatically your e-mail will change in appearance from one to the other! After going through this trail and error process for a few months you’ll begin to understand the safe practices that work best for general e-mailing.

Your e-mail should have no more than two or three paragraphs. Total length should be less than 250 words. The body should support your introduction using features and benefits, then close with a call to action.

The well-written message uses the active voice and has short, concise sentences, because about half of your recipients will read just the first couple of sentences before deciding to continue. If writing isn’t your strong suit, consider hiring a copywriter. Using the AIEDA formula discussed earlier, here are some tips for copywriting your message.

1. ATTENTION: Carefully craft an interest catching subject line. We are all so wary of subject lines with “Hi” or “Hello” or other meaningless topics that we often filter them before they even get to the e-mail box. Make sure your subject line clearly and concisely embodies your offer. Your e-mail should have only one subject. Don’t fall into the trap of offering multiple products, which can confuse your reader and dilute the effectiveness of your message.

2. INTEREST: The first sentence or two must contain the information that creates interest on the part of your reader, and is the central message of your mailing. It should be clear and intriguing. Be sure it focuses on the benefits they’ll receive, not on what you’re offering.

3. EDUCATE: Briefly explain to the reader the features of the product you are offering. You can provide a link in the copy to another page of information that contains more detailed information on the features and benefits. Some marketing messages fall short of being effective because they fail to include all the information customers need. Be sure to include details such as pricing and deadlines. It’s a mistake to expect customers to browse through your site to get the information they need, so make sure there are links to get them to this data effortlessly.

4. DEMONSTRATE: Now it’s time to demonstrate how this product can be a smart purchase for your customer. Include a graphic that shows the product in use by a happy consumer, or a professional quality photograph of the product or packaging. The subliminal message sent by pictures can have tremendous value, and when selected correctly, can communicate more than you can convey in a thousand words!

5. ACTION: Tell readers what you want them to do. Make it easy for them to follow the path to the “purchase” button. If the purchase can be made from your online store’s website, make sure they can get right to that purchase page without having to navigate through your site, getting confused or losing interest.

eMail Marketing List

There’s a simple truth about running an e-tail business: If your site isn’t collecting opt-in e-mail addresses from your visitors, you’re losing customers, which means you’re losing sales! It’s surprising how many of these businesses don’t collect e-mail addresses from their visitors, which is an essential marketing strategy!

Since you work so hard to get visitors to your website, it is smart marketing to capture their name, e-mail address and interests when ever possible. When you include an “Opt-in” e-mail database on your website you can easily collect this critical information. Visitors can be solicited to enter their name and e-mail address to receive promotional information. Those who are interested can enter their own name into the database which gives you permission to e-mail information to them without it being considered SPAM (unwanted junk e-mail). This is a powerful method to drive business through your website.

Adding this functionality to your website needn’t be complicated. In fact, many webhosting companies such as Sirius International offer this feature as a standard part of your toolkit. Getting set up is quick and easy on most of these hosting companies servers. You don’t have to be a programmer to do it, and your opt-in list can quickly become your most valuable tool for generating future sales. It really looks professional when you allow visitors to fill in information right to your page rather than using the passé “mailto:” command.

Once you implement the marketing strategy to collect opt-in e-mail addresses, the process of managing them becomes the next task. It can be overwhelming if you don’t know what you’re doing. The best way to approach the job of managing your lists is to learn from someone who’s been designing and using the technique successfully for a while. Getting started is much easier than you might think, and once it’s up and running, the process of collecting opt-ins will become automatic.

Here are a few simple tips and techniques to keep your opt-in list under control. These techniques can easily be applied to any business, so even if you’re already collecting e-mail addresses, I think you’ll find the following discussion highly valuable.

The first thing you need to do is put a form on your site so you can collect e-mail addresses from your visitors. The form simply provides a place for your visitors to enter their name, e-mail address and any other information you want. The form contains a script that will automatically send you an e-mail every time someone enters their information and submits to your list, telling you their name, e-mail address and any other information you requested.

The form contains a number of fields that accept input from the keyboard. There are methods to Common Gateway Interfaces, databases, or other data collection devises from within your form. You can easily design a simple form using any HTML editing program, like FrontPage, Dreamweaver, or the more advanced Homesite and others. If you need an online resource to help you understand the process, visit HTMLGoodies. Of course, if you don’t feel like creating the form yourself, a web designer will be able to assist you.

Once you’ve started collecting opt-in email addresses, there are a few things you’ll need to know to effectively manage them and guarantee the highest possible response from any mailing you send. Decide early in your planning process how you want to store, manage and use this information. For purposes of this discussion we will presume the lowest common denominator, and that is that you’ll receive each new registration notification via your e-mail. Many people simply copy the information from the e-mail and create lists in a spreadsheet or text file, which can work well. There are also some great programs available to help you manage this information easily, and some web hosts also include this capability with their online toolset.

Here are three primary strategies to help you decide your approach to managing your opt-in mail lists and help you get time effective in short order.

1. Store and mange your subscriber data correctly.As your list grows, it will become more important to ensure that you’re storing your subscriber data in a format that’s simple and convenient. The biggest problem that people run into when they start trying to manage their opt-in lists is that they quickly find themselves with lots of small lists instead of one big one. List “A” might contain people who’ve bought five or more of your, List “B” might contain people who’ve not made a purchase within the past 90 days, while List “C” might contain people who’ve downloaded free material but haven’t made a purchase.

While this means that you’re able to easily identify target segments of your customer base, it also means you can continuously spend hours preparing your various lists for each promotion you are preparing. And you always have to be conscious of what the subscriber opted-in for, and that they don’t get misplaced in the wrong promotion list.

Luckily, there are some pretty powerful products out there designed to help e-mail marketers develop, manage and segment their lists easily, from one user-friendly interface. The right software can literally save you hundreds of hours of frustration. We’re going to be talking about some of these products in future features.

2. Be diligent about opt-ins and unsubscribes.One of the most important things you can do to keep your reputation as a valued resource is make sure you manage adding subscribers in a timely manner, and perhaps even more critical, and making absolutely every “unsubscribe” request is handled with due diligence.

Requests to unsubscribe from your list should always be taken very seriously. If someone asks to be removed from your list and you continue to send them e-mail, your messages are clearly at that point spam, and nothing will get you in hot water faster than a few spam complaints. You’ll find yourself wasting hours of time explaining yourself to the “spam police,” and your hosting company or internet service provider might even terminate your account!

Of course, it’s just as important to ensure that the people who ask to be added to your list are added immediately. If you aren’t ensuring that your mailing is being delivered to each and every person who signed up, and that it arrives in a readable format, you’re literally throwing money away. For more on the formatting of marketing e-mails see E-Mail Marketing Techniques.

3. Keep Your List Clean.Keeping your list clean means more than just removing unsubscribes. It also means sifting through the messages that “bounce back” to you after a mailing as “undeliverable.” Now you have to decide which ones should be removed from your list altogether and which ones you might want to try mailing again. If there’s no obvious problem with the subscriber’s e-mail address, then this usually means they entered it incorrectly when they opted-in to your list or that it’s no longer in use, and the address will have no future use to you.

By the way, are you subscribed to your competitors’ mailing lists? You should be! A big part of keeping tabs on your competitors is monitoring what products or services they’re actively promoting and how much they are selling them for. If your competitors are smart, I can just about guarantee that they’re subscribed to your mailing list, too.

Selecting Your Website Name

Have you ever searched for a product on the Internet and found just the right item only to discover when you click on the purchase button that the seller has only a virtual store hosted by an online mega-company? These sites often look like “www.myveryownstore/wahoo.com”. This address tells you immediately that this is not a very well established business, and often makes you hesitant to make a purchase from them. That’s why it is so important to obtain your own company website name.

The initial step in selecting a name is to determine what you’d like it to be, and then do a search for availability of the name. Obviously it is still best to try to register the name of your business with a .com at the end. Unfortunately, this isn’t as easy as it sounds. Most of the good names have been in use, or reserved for future use , for a number of years, and the name you prefer will most likely be owned someone else. Start your name search by using one of the domain name registrars such as Network Solutions, the original provider of this service.

At sites like this one you can search for your hoped-for name very quickly to see if it is available. If the name is in use, or reserved for future use, the results of the search will give you suggestions for similar names that are still available. For example, a search for larryvaughn.com returns a report that the name is in use, or reserved, and suggests alternative website names of larry-vaughn.com, larryvaughn with extensions of .net, .org, .biz, .info, .us, .cc, .bz, elarryvaughn.com, and others.

These are very useful suggestions, and can lead you to selection of an excellent domain name for your business. But, what if nothing suits you but the name you first selected, which is already in use, or reserved, by someone else? It’s time to contact the owner of your desired domain to see if the name is for sale. If the .com version of your name is gone and you can’t convince the owner to sell it, or you can’t afford the asking price, consider the other suggestions offered in your search. Be aware, however, that once you contact the owner of your preferred domain name, they may be enterprising enough to get out there and purchase the alternative names too, in hopes of selling one of them to you at a handsome profit.

There is still an option for you, however. Even if all those names you would seriously consider are already taken, you can register your name with one of the more than 100 non-U.S. registrars. These registrars have extensions like .cc, .da and .nu, which are often interpreted as “foreign country” websites. These don’t have the universal recognition of established businesses with a .com at the end of the name. So, it may be time for you to get creative. You may be able to get a reasonable facsimile of your most desired name by adding prefixes and suffixes like “e,” “online,” “web,” “the,” or using hyphens. The Network Solutions website not only gives you suggestions like those above for alternative larryvaughn.com names, but you can also use their brainstorming tools on their Domain Name page. Simply enter keywords appropriate for your business, and you’ll get even more possibilities that are available for registration. Find a name that suits you and immediately register it for the number of years that makes sense for your enterprise.

When you are choosing the name for your business try to be forward thinking about how your business might grow. Would the name you select to represent your business today correctly reflect services or products you may grow in to in coming years? Many years ago, when the World Wide Web was just beginning to bud, I registered the name larryvaughn.com, because as an independent contractor and consultant, the success of my business depends on name recognition. Even though I provide a number of services under various business names, such as the Vaughn Consulting Group, it is still my own name that opens doors to new opportunities.

Trademark Your Domain

Since your domain name will be a big part of your e-commerce business, you may want to protect the name through registration of a trademark. A trademark is a word or symbol used to identify the source of goods or services to consumers. You may apply for registration of a trademark or service mark, word, phrase or image after you use the mark to identify a product sold or service performed “in commerce,” which means that you’ve used it for advertising and/or sale to customers.

Your online business name can be a service for trademark purposes if it provides any kind of service to consumers such as access to information or commercial uses. If your site sells products you manufacture, then your product names would be goods for trademark registration purposes. Trademark rights arise upon use in commerce, with or without national registration, of the name of the product or service. National registration expands and protects your trademark rights, giving your company a presumption of first use of the mark in association with particular goods or services.

The trademark office, however, will not register a domain name that does not also meet the requirements of being a trademark. For example, a domain name by itself is considered merely an address. Having trademark rights allows you to protect your domain name against other companies who might feel that it infringes on their trademark and try to have it legally taken from you. Registration also allows you to enforce your trademark rights against others who use similar domain names to try to divert your customers.

Getting On Line

When you have made your decision about whether you want to create your website yourself, or hire a designer to produce it for you, there are a number of decisions you must make, and some guidelines you should build into your website maintenance plans. You will need to address issues of promotional techniques for your business, sales techniques to be employed, search engine rankings of your website, taking online orders, preparing for returns, and other considerations that can make or break your business. An important decision is deciding which webhosting provider has the tools and the support you need to make your site fully functional, scaleable to your growth, and backup and security measures to let you work your business professionally.

After you select your webhosting provider, and created your site, it’s time to let the world know where to find your online business. The host will assign your domain name permanent locations on their Internet Servers. Each location is designated by numbers and is the actual location visitors are whisked to when they enter your website address. You should receive two addresses-primary and secondary. If the primary server misses an inquiry for any reason the secondary will pick it up. As soon as your webhosting company activates your domain the specific location of your website information is broadcast to global Domain Name Servers on the Internet that do the actual routing of traffic. Within about 24 hours after activation, servers around the world know where to send the visitors requesting your website. Voila! You’re in business!

Welcome

Welcome to the virtual home of Austin, Texas based Vaughn Consulting Group, LLC, led by Larry E Vaughn, a member of the prestigious International Executive Guild, the American Society of Technical Communicators, and the National Career Development Association.

A DBM certified Career Counselor and eLearning Coach, Larry is a nationally recognized Entrepreneurial Business Consultant,  and in 2004 was named a Melvin Jones Fellow by Lions Clubs International for his humanitarian work. With certifications in various fields within the Life Coaching industry, Larry is experienced in delivering training and counseling at line, management and executive levels.

With experience in intranet/extranet development, training design and facilitation, technical communications, website design, and sales and marketing collateral development, Vaughn Consulting Group LLC also has expertise in multimedia production, radio and television, instructional design, training, and eBusiness.

This website provides an opportunity to explore career services and resources available through Vaughn Consulting Group LLC, and also details eLearning and other technical communications available for the enterprise. Larry is available for personal or enterprise wide consulting and speaking engagements. For more information, click here.