Have you ever launched your own website before and received no traffic or any visitors to it in the first few weeks? I know I have, and it was disappointing. I want to share with you some simple steps to avoid the same mistakes I made when I first started. Also these steps are not hard to implement and does require a bit of effort on your part. I know once you have tried these proven methods you will never launch a website without this.
What Is A Pre-launch?
A lot of famous marketers like Jeff Walker, Mike Filsaime, Russell Brunson preach what they practice about the pre-launch phase. It is one of the most important phases to launching a website. A lot of people overlook this and don’t focus enough on it, usually skipping straight to launching their website. What the pre-launch does is it creates a buzz and anticipation for your website. You want to get the message out to world that your website is launching soon and what you are offering is going to be fantastic. Mike Filsaime coins the pre-launch as the “yeast” in the recipe.
Just a few days ago I received a cheque in the post from Hostmonster for referring people to their hosting services. I was very happy to see my first affiliate cheque this month and hopefully there will be more coming in soon. As I start to grow this blog, I will begin to start sharing some of my insights, so keep coming back to have a look!
If you want to find out more and start receiving cheques like this from Hostmonster, they have an affiliate program that is very easy to join and setup. Anyway here is a photo of me holding the cheque:
Lately I’ve been reading through some e-commerce forums and I have noticed a lot of beginners asking the same questions. Just like myself, I once was a beginner in starting an e-commerce business and with time and experience I have gained a greater understanding of what is involved. In many ways I wish I had someone there who could show me a simple “how to” setup a successful e-commerce business, which would have saved a lot of the countless hours. Luckily for you, you won’t need to spend more time trying to search the information as I am going to give you a step by step guide on how to setup your own e-commerce website over a course spanning a few weeks. I will link everything back to this post when this course is finished.
Firstly, the assumption I am going to make is that you are looking to install an open source software. The one I recommend is Magento Commerce, which is an extremely powerful platform to use for any e-commerce business. If you want to see why I recommend this software, please read my review: Magento Commerce Review.
Configure Magento Commerce with SEO optimization add-on
Which pages to include on your e-commerce website – about us, contact us, privacy policies, shipping and returns policy, etc.
Uploading your products images and descriptions to appeal to your customers
Launching your e-commerce website
By the end of this course you will be able to setup your own e-commerce website and start to see profits. If there is anything that I may not have covered, please leave your comments below and I’ll add it to this course. Any feedback is appreciated.
At the beginning of April I posted a contest for anyone interested in getting a new blog design. I would like to congratulate the winner of this contest: Helen who currently has a food blog at http://grabyourfork.blogspot.com/. I have sent her an email to congratulate her and I am very excited to work with her in designing a new blog.
How Can I Help Your E-commerce Business?
I have been very encouraged to see thousands of visitors come to read Internet Business Path in the recent months and this blog is continually growing with new articles and reviews about E-commerce.
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Nicolas, who provides SEO help on his blog at Nicolas Prudhon dot com came to my attention a couple of weeks ago.
I asked Nicolas to do an interview with me because I saw that he had attracted a huge readership in a short period of time. After three months of starting his blog he already had 100,000 viewers and I wanted to find out how he did it.
There has been a lot of publicity surrounding Magento and if you have not heard of this software, then you must of been lost on an island. Since their launch back in the Summer of 2007 (31st March), this software has improved and evolved over the last couple of years taking in the tremendous amount of feedback from users. The company behind this project is Verian who are leaders within the open source industry. They have created a shopping cart that is feature rich out of the box and Magento Commerce has become a leading shopping cart for open source e-commerce platforms. I recently reviewed Zen Cart writing about the Pros and Cons, and if you haven’t read the review, I would suggest taking a look at it to use it as a comparison.
An Overview Of Magento Commerce
As of the date of writing this review, I have tested Magento Commerce version 1.3.1. It is one of the latest and most powerful open-source e-commerce solutions that I have come across. These are some of the features you will find within the box:
Marketing Promotions and Tools
Analytics and Reporting
Search Engine Optimization
Site Management
Catalog Management
Catalog Browsing
Product Browsing
Mobile Commerce
International Support
Checkout
Shipping
Payment
Customer Service
Customer Accounts
Order Management
Rather than give rewrite the benefits of Magento Commerce has about their software, you can read more and try out their demo on their website at: Magento Commerce.
Wouldn’t it be great to rise up to be the next Internet Superstar? It is actually not as difficult as you think and it has many benefits for your Internet business. Watch my video to find out how:
Over the last four years of running my Internet business I have been very fortunate to use a very robust and reliable system called Zen Cart. All of my transactions are processed electronically through this platform and my business has been streamlined because of this. This is a biased review, and the only system I continue to use today. Though I will be upfront and say that Zen Cart is not perfect and I am always on the look out to find better systems such as Magento Commerce. I will be reviewing that shortly as well, so stay tuned. Also if you would like to see a couple of the websites I have developed using Zencart visit DBV.com.au and AsianGroceryShop.com.
An Overview Of Zen Cart
Zen Cart is an online software designed solely for e-commerce businesses. It uses PHP, MySQL and is an open source project that was developed by a community of shop owners, programmers, designers, and consultants who just wanted a simple e-commerce solution. Being open source like WordPress, the software is free for anyone to use and it allows anyone to modify, develop and distribute. If you would like more information and details about Zen Cart, visit their tutorial section and read their about FAQ.
As of the date I write this review I am basing my experience on version 1.38a of Zen Cart. There was an announcement made in December 2008 for the release of version 2.0 and if you would like to know more about what is happening in the upcoming version, please read the Coming Soon: Zencart 2.0. For now, you can continue below to read my review on the Zen Cart system.
Installation Of Zen Cart
Most hosting companies offer Simple Scripts or Fantastico, which are application installers to help install Zen Cart. I would recommend using them as it saves time and also the hassle of setting up databases yourself. Zen Cart is one of the standard shopping carts available for installation so it should be a breeze to install. If you decide to go through and install Zen Cart yourself then you will need to read the instructions provided and it will take some time to get through. I would only recommend this route if you have a strong knowledge in PHP and MySQL as it will require you to edit some files and utilise FTP tools. You can download Zen Cart here
The Pros Of Zen Cart
Zen Cart Is A Free Bundled With Addons Available
Zen Cart is a great online software and best of all it is free. Since it’s inception over 5 years ago many developers have created numerous add-ons which can be downloaded and installed onto the Zen Cart system at any time. They are publicly available on the Zen Cart website and gives your e-commerce software extra functionality. You can download add-ons ranging from administrative tools anywhere to adding extra languages.
A Great Product Management System
The key to running any successful e-commerce business is how well you can manage your products. With Zen Cart, you are provided with a wide range of product options such as:
Allows you to sort your products in categories and sub-categories
Manage and control your stock levels
Create attributes for your products, such as colours, sizes, and much more
The ability to create products in bulk using the Easy Populate add-on
Create specials and featured products
Write reviews for each product
Each option can be activated when you need it or turned off. Zen Cart’s product management system is by far the most comprehensive system I have used to date and everything is at your finger tips as it is all linked to your orders and customers.
A Wide Range Of Free And Paid Templates Available
Most Internet businesses usually want a customised website and want different features to show their customers, which is why Zen Cart has a wide range of free and paid templates. You will find free basic templates available on the Zen Cart website that can be easily installed changing the colours and layout of your website. If you want more customisation, try some paid templates which start from about $50 and upwards. Here are two sites I recommend: Algozone and Template Monster.
Forum And Community Support Is Good
Unfortunately there is no formal support from Zen Cart or a team hired to handle customer service being a free product. Though there is a strong forum and community that does support and try their best to help. I have posted on their forum many times and got a response quite fast. Most of the answers are found by running a quick search and most of the time they will have a step by step process to fix the problem. I have to admit though it does get a bit technical and if you lack PHP knowledge then I would agree it can be quite frustrating to find a solution.
There is also some documentation available laid out in a Wiki section and FAQ on the Zen Cart website. If you are looking for a detailed manual there is one solely for administrators and it can be downloaded from a PDF file.
If all else fails, then try to find a Zen Cart experienced programmer and pay them to help fix your problem. They won’t cost too much and are very reasonable at what they do. I used a programmer to do some modifications to my website previously and I found them in the forum as well. Simply place a post asking for a programmer and specify what you want done. I am sure you will get people to reply if you pay them.
Export To Major Accounting Softwares Are Available
Currently Zen Cart supports both QuickBooks and MYOB accounting. Though, one module is free and the other does cost. So if you are looking to implement Zen Cart into your Internet business you will want to consider which accounting package to use. Currently there is a free QuickBooks export module that you can download and install available in the Zen Cart Downloads section. Alternatively if you are using MYOB, check out the company that has this export available at Zencart2MYOB.
The Cons Of Zen Cart
Originally when I first started using Zen Cart I was not very impressed by the not so appealing website after the installation. You will you see why:
Not Cosmetically Appealing
As with most of the open source “out of the box solutions”, I knew there were going to be somewhat a lot of customising to be done. What I found at first was the default skin that Zen Cart provided had a lot of “stuff” that were not needed and it made the whole store look a bit cluttered for my liking. Furthermore it was extra work to turn off all the banner advertisements and also to rearrange the boxes to have a simplistic look. I believe there has to be some element of visual appeal for any new user wanting to use Zen Cart as their e-commerce system.
Very Basic Reporting
Most of the basic reports are available which include products viewed, products purchased and customers orders. It lacks more sophisticated reports such as sales by products, profit on each product, profit margins made and so forth. There are additional addons which can be installed but are still not up to scratch. Basically I would not expect in depth analysis of sales, customers and products going through the door. You will need to generate these reports from your accounting software.
Upgrades And Add-On Integrations Are Difficult
This is the big downside of Zen Cart. Once you have installed Zen Cart and made modifications to the software, don’t expect to upgrade for a very long time. In my past experience if you decide to upgrade to the next version, you will basically have to start from the beginning again. The system has not been designed to upgrade without overwriting all your addons and customisations. So if you did any modifications like I have on my websites, I would be very cautious to stick to the existing version. Unlike WordPress for example, if there are major upgrades or upgrades for add-ons it is a simple click of a mouse and the rest of the system will do the upgrade for you.
I am not saying it is not possible to upgrade, it is just extremely time consuming and a very tedious process. I have upgraded my Zen Cart websites twice from the previous versions of 1.1 to 1.2 and to 1.38a. Each time I have had to do a clean install and migrate all the data to the new version over a very long tedious process. Hopefully when the new version comes out it will eliminate a lot of these issues.
Newsletter And Email Autoresponder Is Not Reliable
I have noticed once your database begins to hit the 1000 customer mark, the email newsletter system and autoresponder facilities begin to show a slower response time. As most hosting companies do not allow for more than 50 emails to be sent out per hour via their mail servers, a majority of the emails do not get sent or are blocked by other mail providers. This begs the question to use other email service providers that will send your emails and guarantee at least a 99% delivery rate. One provider I use and talk about a lot is Aweber and I currently use this to manage my customer email database to send my updates and newsletter through. Unfortunately Zen Cart does not have any addons that are sufficient enough to automatically register a new customer to an email autoresponder and add it to the database. This is a major marketing tool that is missing in Zen Cart that can help Internet businesses grow their online customer database.
Overall Rating On Zen Cart
After using Zen Cart for a few years now I have seen the development and growth of this project. When I first started using Zen Cart it was very basic and I had to do a lot tweaking and personally add code to make it function the way I wanted. This is not ideal if you want a plug and play solution, which is what most e-commerce businesses need. Over time Zen Cart has improved this issue, but has not completely created a plug and play solution just like WordPress has. I expect the new version of Zen Cart 2.0 will have this ability, as most open source projects begin to migrate to automatic updates rather than manually installing the plugins ourselves.
My rating for Zen Cart is a 7 out of 10 and I would recommend it as a solution to start off with for any small to medium business owners.
Many Internet businesses have sometimes overlooked the obvious profit strategies within their business. I know I have and only the other day was I reminded by Brendan Nichols to include up sells on my website before a customer finalises their order. If you want to increase your profits without having to look for new customers add this one strategy correctly and I can guarantee you that you will have more money in your bank at the end of the month.
I Don’t Know What Up Selling Is..
To define what up selling is, lets have a look at the definition from Wikipedia:
Up-selling usually involves marketing more profitable services or products, but up-selling can also be simply exposing the customer to other options he or she may not have considered previously. Up-selling can imply selling something additional, or selling something that is more profitable or otherwise preferable for the seller instead of the original sale.
In the context of an Internet business we can apply up selling on your website just before a customer finalises an order or at any thank you page. It is quite simple to do and sometimes very easy to overlook and it provides the opportunity to increase your profits with minimal or almost no effort.
How To Use An Upsell In Your Business?
Let’s start with an example to understand where up selling can fit into your Internet business. I am sure you have heard of McDonalds? Next time you buy a burger from them pay attention to how the 15 year old asks you for an up sell. Here is what happens. You order a Big Mac, French Fries and a drink, and it gets processed, then the cashier asks you, “Would you like to upgrade your drink and French Fries to a large for an extra fifty cents?”. You don’t hesitate and answer yes, since it’s only an extra fifty cents and you get more of what you wanted. Bargain isn’t it? Well, McDonalds already had the sale and by adding one little thing into their marketing they immediately increase their profits. This is up selling at McDonalds.
How can we apply up selling to your Internet business and increase your profits? Try it on your order pages or thank you pages. For example, “Buy this product, and get one year free technical support. Check this box to get lifetime support for an additional $29.95.” This allows you the opportunity to make almost an extra $30 from each sale. It is very easy to add to your processes and can make a huge difference on your profits. It is even easier once it is automated which is made possible from an Internet business.
Another way to increase your profits with up selling is to include sales sheets with the packaging of your physical products. Include an offer for free bonuses, which will drive traffic back to your website to take up the offer. Once they are on your website you can offer them one-time offers or repeat the up sell process again on other items. See how easy it is to include this simple strategy?
It’s Easy Cash, Why Don’t More Internet Businesses Use It?
The reason is that most business owners are either not aware of this strategy or have put it off and chased after other opportunities to look for new customers. If you have a database of customers who are not currently purchasing from you at least once a year, then you have an excellent opportunity to up sell your products and services. Take action and don’t let procrastination overtake you. This one strategy can can be your most profitable marketing tool for your business.
On the flip side if you already have implemented this into your Internet business, I commend you! If you want to read other strategies available check out my series on Spreading The Word: Turbocharge Your Traffic.
Have you ever launched your own website before and received no traffic or any visitors to it in the first few weeks? I know I have, and it was disappointing. I want to share with you some simple steps to avoid the same mistakes I made when I first started. Also these steps are not hard to implement and does require a bit of effort on your part. I know once you have tried these proven methods you will never launch a website without this.
My name is Tyrone Shum and I'm on a journey to outsource and automate my business to allow me to work only 12 hours a week. On this website I share with you my outsourcing strategies to achieve this goal and I have a passion to teach others about what I do. Read more 