Archive for October, 2009
Product Sourcing For Online Business
Posted on Oct 23, 2009 06:01:01 AM
Product sourcing is one of the most exciting aspects of business but it’s not without challenges. Think of it as treasure hunting. Sourcing includes some of the most important facets of business such as research, relationship building, negotiation, quality control, and more. Having a great idea is not enough to succeed in business. Your idea is the starting point for finding the source for your product.
You have several options. You could build the product yourself or hire a manufacturer to build large quantities for your; you could buy it from a wholesale company, or have a drop shipper ship it for you, you could import it from overseas. There are many possibilities, and your goal is to find the right solution for you.
The real power in sourcing is buying smart. Your customers expect to get a good deal buying from you and so should you when sourcing for your business. One of the most important strategic decisions you make has to be about buying low. If you overpay for your products, you’ll price yourself out of the market. Nothing will hurt you sales more than a high price.
People shopping online will seldom purchase on the first site they visit. Expect them to shop around before making a purchase. If you are more expensive than your competitors, your sales will suffer. Just like your customers, research before you buy. Find out how much similar products sell for online. Don’t compare apples to oranges, and study online pricing rather than brick-and-mortar pricing. A product that sells for a couple of dollars online could easily sell for $9.95 in a mall shop.
Before you make your buying decision, be sure to determine what margins you need to succeed. Once you have done your homework, you can begin sourcing your products.
Practical Example: If you plan to start your business from your home, look for small products. The less space you need for storing your inventory, the more money you save on warehousing. There is nothing wrong with storing your inventory in your home until you can afford to rent a warehouse.
How the Right Shopping Cart Will Increase Productivity & Stop Your Online Business From Stalling
Posted on Oct 2, 2009 10:45:55 AM
Is your online business or home-based business stalling because you are drowning in administration details?
You’re not the only one!
Many small businesses are one step away from phenomenal success, if only they could increase their productivity AND reduce repetitive tasks and paperwork.
After all, any time spent dealing with writing down orders or sending out emails one-by-one is time that you can’t spend selling to your prospects.
I’ve found that having a full-features shopping cart, like MyEasyOnlineStore.com can save me as much as two hours a day!
Here’s How to Choose an Online Shopping Cart That Will Increase Productivity & Save Time and Money Guaranteed
1. Make sure your online shopping cart has an easy-to-follow ordering system. For example, people can order my products and services directly from the shopping cart. They don’t have to call me on the phone to take down the details. Don’t get me wrong, I love taking orders, but it is time consuming and it takes me away from other tasks. And if a prospect calls when I’m on the phone, or away from my desk, then they get an answering machine and we begin that long task of phone tag. If you have an easy way for people to order online, you can take orders at any time of the day or night. Who staffs theirs phones at 2 a.m.?
2. A good shopping cart will automate such functions as sending receipts. Don’t you hate it when clients ask for a receipt? You can’t blame them. They need a receipt for their taxes and their accountants. But making a receipt by hand will take you at least 5-10 minutes even if you have a template and a system in place. Everything takes time! But a good shopping cart will automatically send a receipt to the new client – and to you, so you have one for your files.
3. If you send personalize messages to new clients, such as greetings, or training materials, you can automate this process with a good shopping cart. Thanks to the wonders of mail-merge, each message can print the person’s first name. If you want to get fancy, you can even automate other variables such as city, state and product purchased. It’s a great time saver and people will think your messages are truly personal.
4. A good shopping cart can create sales reports by any variable you can think of, such as total sales, daily sales, weekly sales, sales in a given period, as well as sales by product. You don’t have to depend on your part-time bookkeeper to create these reports for you any longer! You can get reports when you need them, not when the part-timer shows up for work.
5. A good shopping cart does NOT just take orders. It can send newsletters and other types of information you’d like to broadcast – such as invitations to teleseminars or special events. A good shopping cart can manage most client communications, so you save time and money by dealing with one vendor instead of two or three. Plus you will be working off of one database and not have to update two other databases hosted by a company that sends out newsletters or autoresponders. Why duplicate your efforts?
6. Make sure your shopping cart offers clients control of some aspect of their accounts. For example, if a client doesn’t want to get your newsletter any longer, they can unsubscribe by themselves without having to contact you by email. This way you don’t have to do the work yourself. Good shopping carts have information on how to unsubscribe contained in each message for your convenience.
If you use a good shopping cart, you can save yourself time and money if you know the hidden truth behind automating your business online. Luckily, I’m giving you the keys to the Mint with a free special report about how to select a shopping cart located only at www.prleads.com/meos.