Jan 20, 2010
Posted by admin on Jan 20, 2010 in E-commerce | 0 comments
As a long time web designer I’ve dealt with any number of eCommerce options over the years. In general you’ve always had two major options:
1) You build and code from scratch. This required a great deal of knowledge in various coding languages in addition to the ability to design an attractive interface which will work within the construct of the website’s structure.
2) You pay a company with pre-built systems. This was not only extremely expensive but rarely allowed you freedom to create any sort of pleasing design as it would have to conform to their limited header/footer customization.
Well, I’ve seen the light now! The future is here and (unfortunately for people in “the business” like me) it’s unbelievably easy to do.
These free solutions are Open Source based online shop e-commerce solutions that are available under the GNU General Public License. They all contain a rich set of out-of-the-box online shopping cart functionalities that allows store owners to setup, run, and maintain their online stores with minimum effort and with no costs, fees, or limitations involved. Most of these Open Source solutions provide an e-commerce platform, which include the powerful PHP web scripting language and the fast MySQL database server. With no special requirements, they are able to run on any PHP 4.1+ enabled web server running on Linux, Solaris, BSD, Mac OS X, and Microsoft Windows environments.
Unbelievable right? Well,, it’s true and I’m loving it.
In addition to the obvious advantages of these open source stores, there are many less obvious benefits such as.
- Active user forums where you can get answers to most any question without dealing with charges or “canned responses” from a profit company.
- The ability to change the design of your store nearly instantly by simply selecting a new “template” from within your administration panel
- Countless free “add-ons” and “modules” which add all types of additional features to your store.
- As the projects continue to grow and the stores improve you can upgrade, and of course the upgrades are free also.
In my opinion once of the greatest of the above features is the ability to change the design and/or appearance of your site with the ease of a few uploads and button clicks (ONCE YOU HAVE A DESIGN DEVELOPED). The most common complaint I found from OS users was the same one I’ve heard about other e-commerce packages. People weren’t aware of how much work would be involved in getting an original design put together. They would get to a certain point, hit an unexpected bottleneck, and be unable to keep going. The majority of the work involved in getting your store up and running was getting a design to function within the limits and restrictions of the store’s code. Every implementation will run into these problems, and everything takes longer and costs more than you plan for it, whether it’s proprietary or open source. There are now; however, easy solutions for this issue which will prevent you from getting overwhelmed. Many businesses on the web (example: http://www.bg-website-templates.com & http://www.bluegelmedia.com.com ) who focus on web template development have entered a whole new era in template design. They have begun development of stunning designs for Open Source eCommerce solutions such as OScommerce, ZenCart, and CRE Loaded (the most popular of these Open Source eCommerce solutions). This allows you to easily implement a perfect store design within minutes. While these design templates are not free like the eCommerce solution, they are worth the mere $50 average price, saving you weeks of frustrating design.
You can find more information on these Open Source eCommerce Solutions at their hub sites. Just type in the OS solution name you wish to research into your search engine and their home pages will show up. The most popular solutions are ZenCart, OScommerce & CRE Loaded. But there are many other ones out there to choose from; however these three have proven themselves over time and have such large user bases and support groups that I would recommend trying one of them first before attempting to delve into lesser known solutions.
To sum this all up. While large companies will always need a custom built solution for their online stores, the average small business no longer needs to spend five or ten thousand dollars to have a quality store developed. The use of a free OS solution along with an inexpensive design template will have you selling online for pennies on the dollar compared with a custom built store. Even if you don’t feel you have the skill set to work with the OS solutions, you can hire any competent developer to implement it for you. Sure you’ll be charged, but the price will be a small percentage of what you would have paid.
Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)
Jan 17, 2010
Posted by admin on Jan 17, 2010 in business | 0 comments
Most moms are looking to stay at home to spend more time with their family and enjoy a less stressful life. It used to be that only a small percentage was actually working from home, because of the fear factor. It is much more popular now, because they see their friends being successful working at home and have a burning desire to do the same.
Recently my daughter went away on a planned moms only week end trip, met some work at home ladies and immediately called me when she got back wanting to know what program I thought she could do. She wants to have a Home Based Business like many of the other ladies she met. I always encourage this arena for moms, because I don’t think anyone can do a better job raising their children then their parents. The more time a mom spends with her children will usually pay big dividends later on in life.
The popularity of moms looking to work from home can be easily seen by looking at just a few of the keywords that are searched for on the major search engines daily. They are phrases like work for stay at home moms, stay at home moms work from home, work at home for stay home moms, work at home jobs for stay at home moms, work from home jobs for stay at home moms, online work for stay at home moms and stay home moms returning to work. This is just a few of the hundreds of searched made on an hourly basis.
As a work at home website owner, I like many others, have created a specific page just for work at home women.
There are many good choices on the Internet such as Online Paid Surveys, Data Entry, Type at Home, Telephone Answering, Home Based Business just to mention a few. There are also many programs available just for moms that have a desire to work from home.
One of the first decision you will need to make is do you want to own an online business, create some additional income or both. Finding a program that meets you goals is very important to your success.
My suggestion is to either use a web site like mine, but not necessarily mine, that has done some research so that it will save you time and money. There are many companies out there that will take your time and money and give you nothing in return. You either need to use a website that has researched these or be prepared to spend hours researching them yourself. It can be done either way.
If you are reading this article you more than likely have the necessary tools to work at home. You will need a computer, printer, access to the Internet, some free time and a minimal amount of money to get started. While not mandatory I always suggest setting up a separate email address for you work at home information.
You can usually get started in a matter of minutes if you use a website that has filtered out the choices for you. All you need to do is find the programs you want to try, join, read the information that you have access to and begin working at home.
When doing my research I for companies that have a good product, track record of payments, customer support and step-by-step guidance on how to be successful working at home.
Please feel free to read more of this article by visiting my link in the resource box below. I always enjoy getting emails pertaining to my articles or my site. Your feedback is important to me.
Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)
Jan 14, 2010
Posted by admin on Jan 14, 2010 in Affiliate Marketing | 0 comments
Every affiliate marketer is always looking for the successful market that gives the biggest paycheck. Sometimes they think it is a magic formula that is readily available for them. Actually, it is more complicated than that. It is just good marketing practices that have been proven over years of hard work and dedication.
There are tactics that have worked before with online marketing and is continuing to work in the online affiliate marketing world of today. With these top three marketing tips, you will be able to able to increase your sales and survive in the affiliate marketing online.
What are these three tactics?
1. Using unique web pages to promote each separate product you are marketing. Do not lump all of it together just to save some money on web hosting. It is best to have a site focusing on each and every product and nothing more.
Always include product reviews on the website so visitors will have an initial understanding on what the product can do to those who buys them. Also include testimonials from users who have already tried the product. Be sure that these customers are more than willing to allow you to use their names and photos on the site of the specific product you are marketing.
You can also write articles highlighting the uses of the product and include them on the website as an additional page. Make the pages attractive compelling and include calls to act on the information. Each headline should attract the readers to try and read more, even contact you. Highlight your special points. This will help your readers to learn what the page is about and will want to find out more.
2. Offer free reports to your readers. If possible position them at the very top side of your page so it they simply cannot be missed. Try to create autoresponder messages that will be mailed to those who input their personal information into your sign up box. According to research, a sale is closed usually on the seventh contact with a prospect.
Only two things can possibly happen with the web page alone: closed sale or the prospect leaving the page and never return again. By placing useful information into their inboxes at certain specified period, you will remind them of the product they thought they want later and will find out that the sale is closed. Be sure that the content is directed toward specific reasons to buy the product. Do not make it sound like a sales pitch.
Focus on important points like how your product can make life and things easier and more enjoyable. Include compelling subject lines in the email. As much as possible, avoid using the word “free” because there are still older spam filters that dumps those kind of contents into the junk before even anyone reading them first. Convince those who signed up for your free reports that they will be missing something big if they do not avail of your products and services.
3. Get the kind of traffic that is targeted to your product. Just think, if the person who visited your website has no interest whatsoever in what you are offering, they will be among those who move on and never come back. Write articles for publication in e-zines and e-reports. This way you can locate publications that is focusing on your target customers and what you have put up might just grab their interest.
Try to write a minimum of 2 articles per week, with at least 300-600 words in length. By continuously writing and maintaining these articles you can generate as many as 100 targeted readers to your site in a day.
Always remember that only 1 out of 100 people are likely to buy your product or get your services. If you can generate as much as 1,000 targeted hits for your website in a day, that means you can made 10 sales based on the average statistic.
The tactics given above does not really sound very difficult to do, if you think about it. It just requires a little time and an action plan on your part.
Try to use these tips for several affiliate marketing programs. You can end maintaining a good source of income and surviving in this business that not all marketers can do.
Besides, think of the huge paychecks you will be receiving…
Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)
Jan 13, 2010
Posted by admin on Jan 13, 2010 in Affiliate Marketing | 0 comments
Today, many of us want to pack up our jobs and be our own bosses. The idea of working for you attracts many. However, the reality of making it happen soon stops most. In fact the vast majority of us cannot get a business off the ground due to 2 main factors; the first being money and the second being risk.
Starting even a small business takes a fair amount of money. You need to buy or rent premises, purchase your stock and equipment and pay staff if you have them. You will also have other outside expenses such as advertising.
Risk is the factor that kills most businesses off. Even if you’re lucky enough to get the capital to start, nearly 90% of all small businesses fail in the first year. If yours is one of the lucky ones, you have to keep reinvesting your time and money to build up the businesses reputation. It could be anywhere from 5-7 years before any significant profit is seen. Most of us cannot wait that long which is what makes affiliate marketing such an attractive offer.
Affiliate marketing involves you, working as an affiliate for a merchant or company. You sell either goods or services and you’re paid on how much you produce. There are no costs and no risk. You put in what you choose and are rewarded accordingly.
Running an affiliate marketing business is challenging. You’ll have to work very hard to build it up. However, you’ll be rewarded for your hard work not someone else. Getting an affiliate marketing program going may seem difficult. The truth is it is down to you and how much you want to put in. There is no sure fire way to success but there are some good tips that you can follow to make you affiliate marketing scheme as successful as possible.
There are literally thousands of programs for you to choose from. However, to get started you may want to choose something that you are familiar with. This product or service may not be the hottest thing on the current market or make you a millionaire, but you will come off more confident and sincere with something you know and believe in.
This will also help when it comes to creating your site. Something familiar will allow you to be personal and creative. Trying to create a site around something you know little about will soon become boring and tedious.
Working with something familiar will also give you the some experience in the program. You can always expand at a latter time when you are more familiar with how things work.
Another good piece of advice is to watch the number of banners that you put up. A site full of banners will make the site look ugly and put off potential buyers. Carefully place your banners and use them to accent your site. Stuffing it full will not help.
Remember, in the world of affiliate marketing there is no such thing as the perfect program. Any particular program will be stuffed full of varying testimonials. Some will be great will others will have not done so well. You need to decide for yourself and not be put of by a few bad experiences. In the end it is down to you and how much you want to put in.
Affiliate marketing is a great way to make money and work for you. The risk to you is minimal and there is no start up cost. There are many great affiliate marketing programs out there and choosing the right one may seem like a daunting task. When you first start out remember to stick to what you know. Find something you know about and have an interest in. Make your site attractive to others and resist the urge to fill it with banners. This may end up having the opposite of your desired effect. Finally remember, there is no perfect program. Some will have success where others have failed. It is all down to you. Don’t give up.
Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)
Jan 13, 2010
Posted by admin on Jan 13, 2010 in Uncategorized | 0 comments
6AFY9S7HCFTP
eppermaster Blog
