I know my customers very well, I know that most of them are not computer geeks. I know that sometimes they just want to talk to a real person. I’ve gone beyond just listing our ecommerce phone number, it’s part of our title.
People will get used to seeing your phone number in the upper left hand corner of the screen. If they ever have a question, they know they can pick up the phone and call. However, the real reason is a little more brilliant.
When someone searches for one of my terms, I’m not always in the #1 spot where I’d like to be. However, the phone number in my search engine listings makes me stand apart from everyone else. Searchers immediately know they can give us a call and get the answers that they need.
How Do I Add My Number To My Title?
All you have to do is edit your “title” tags. I have included a snapshot of my the first bit of my source. Depending on how your site is built, it can be done in different ways. Some store software has ways to edit the title within the program, others you will have to do it manually.
Warning: Don’t do this if you are not prepared to provide phone support…you will get calls.
Later,
JBSlife
Many forums make the mistake of not properly welcoming their members. Having a top level “Introductions” forum is very important to the success of any forum. Stick to these basic rules and you will have more active members.
Make Sure Your “Introductions” Forum Is A Top Level Forum
Here is a snapshot of my first two forums. As you can see, the “introductions” forum is the second forum at my site. I have also titled this block of forums “Start Here…” to help guide new members to the right area. Make sure your “Introductions” forum is visible above the fold of your forum home page. There should also be a little discription (ie. “Tell us a little about yourself”).
Guide Them To The “Introductions” Forum After They Join
Many members join and fail to post because they think they have nothing to contribute. Don’t let them think like this. Once they join, have a welcome message that guides them to the “Introductions” forum. Something like: Meet new friends right away…tell us a little about yourself in the “Introductions” forum. Make sure the “Introductions” is linked straight to the forum were they can post. Most forums send out a welcome email or PM. This is also a great place to encourage them to post in the “Introductions” forum.
Personally Welcome Everyone
You and your moderators should all personally welcome everyone that posts in the “Introductions” forum. This can get tough once your forum starts taking off, but it is worth it. Getting a quick reply to a post really encourages new members to post again. Also, encourage all of your members to welcome all the new members. This will help develope a sense of community at your site.
Cheesy…
I thought this was a cheesy idea at first. However, I can’t argue with results. It works, give it a shot on your forum.
Later,
JBSlife
Most internet junkies find themselves unable to stop at just one website (especially if the first one is not very successful). I have created several sites, somewhere in the range of 25-30. It’s an addiction. The only problem is that I now have a successful ecommerce site, but I want another one.
If I put all of my efforts into my first ecommerce site, it would grow even faster than it is right now. My first store is making real money and putting more work into it could mean $10K to $20K in increased sales. It seems like a no brainer, forget about the new site and work on the successful one. However, I am a risk taker.
Why Start Another eCommerce Site?
- Shipping Policy - Keeping your shipping policy simple is something that encourages sales. Offering FREE shipping encourages orders even more. Offering free shipping on some products and not on others is rough on everyone. Why not have one store that sells only the lighter items (the FREE shipping store) and another store that carries all those items plus heavier items (no FREE shipping on any product)?
- Store Theme - Marketing has great power. I sell many men’s products on a teal and pink website. I could gear the second store to men or at least a little more unisex than teal and pink. Would a different theme draw in a different crowd…YES.
- Different Product Line - If you have more than one hobbie or your wife has a hobbie, you may want to sell two completely different product lines. Starting a second store for this reason makes perfect sense, just make sure your first store is well established first. Starting a second site for a whole new product is like starting a whole new business. Be careful, this can be a lot of work.
Will I Start Another Site?
Probably, but not yet. Web stores are usually not built by a great idea and luck. They are real businesses that are built by real blood, sweat, and tears.
Later,
JBSlife
Moving the physical location of your ecommerce store is tough. I did it today and I will do it again in a couple of months. This was just a short move (about 20 miles), so there was no downtime. The only real problem was trying to find a place to store everything.
Why is it hard to find a place for everything? For the first time, the headquarters of Leotard Crazy will be in my home. Moving a business from a dedicated location to your house provides many benefits, but also few problems.
Benefits
- Closer to family
- No travel time
- Work the hours you wish
- Wear what you want
- Whatever your idea of an “at home” job is, you can create it
Problems
- Space (inventory is stored all over the house)
- Personal and work time blur together if you’re not careful
- Residential shipping rates are more expensive
- Must purchase a P.O. Box or something similar unless you want your home address exposed
- No physical retail space (usually only a problem if you started as a physical retail shop first)
For me, the concept of being closer to family is the main focus. Leotard Crazy doesn’t have too many products and all of them are small. The Leotard Crazy inventory, computer, and shipping supplies will easily fit into one bedroom. This made the decision to move the business to the house very easy.
Towards the end of May Leotard Crazy will move from California to Wisconsin, a much bigger move. While downtime could turn out to be a problem, I am looking forward to this move. My family’s new home will be picked out with the intent of having an in home business. In other words, it will be bigger. Being in the center of the US is a great place to be in terms of shipping, more people can get their orders quicker. Once the move is complete, I will post some pictures.
I have decided to remove the “nofollow” tags from my links in the comment area. Why?…it just makes sense. I read a few posts from around the net:
Multiple Reasons Why I Loathe Top Commenters Plugins
Ultimate List of DoFollow Plugins - Banish Nofollow From Comments and Trackbacks
13 Reasons Why Nofollow Tags Suck
After reading these posts I realized that everything I was doing was to emulate other people. I was building a blog that someone else already built. That’s it, no more. This is my blog…my posts…my opinion…MY LIFE! I will draw people here by doing what I believe in. I believe that “nofollow” tags suck!
I think I will reactivate the “Top Commentators” plugin, but not until I figure out a way to have it only on the homepage. I do want to reward people that visit and participate my site often, but I also want to reward those that comment on an article they stumbled accross. This should accomplish just that. If you know how I can add my “Top Commentators” widget to ONLY the homepage, let me know in the comment area.
I have decided to change my theme to be more in the style of “J.B.Slife”. I’ll get all the bugs worked out of it over the next couple of days.
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