When I interviewed James Tuckerman I was so impressed with what he said that I’ve been keeping an eye on his opinions ever since.

This is probably the best summary I’ve seen yet about where media is heading and how individuals can take advantage of it.

Related posts:

1. Globalisation and the Information Age We are living in a hyper connected world where the...
2. The Beauty of Email Marketing For Your Online Business I’ve got Google Alerts set up on my favourite subjects...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Are all the pages included or just the homepage?

The first thing your SEO consultant will check when reviewing your website is search engine accessibility.

Here’s why – search engine robots need to be able to crawl through your website before it can start reading your optimised web pages to increase your rankings.

Did you know it’s easy for you to find out if your website is included in Google?

You can do it right now – go on.

Go to www.google.com and type in site:yourwebsite.com.au – for example I would type in site:clarelancaster.com.au

Click search and hey presto – the results you see are the pages that are included in Google.

You can quickly see how many pages Google knows about by looking at the “Results” in the bar at the top right hand side.

Related posts:

1. Google Australia Launch “10 Steps to Promote Your Business Online” Google Australia have launched a new small business initiative “10...
2. Want to know how Google works? There are a few essential things to understand when working...
3. Google to launch customised search – how it will affect your website Plenty of Google News at the moment. Google is set...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Ideas that spread win.

Free ideas spread better then paid ideas.

The way you monetize it is by selling souvenirs.

If you haven’t got time to watch the whole thing – the good stuff starts around 15 mins in.

Key points

• Give people an incentive to talk about your idea – you do this – I’ll do that.
• Permission is the asset you should be working to create online – through blog readers, email list, followers, fans – anything opt-in.
• Don’t find readers for your words – create words for your readers.
• Make people care about you – by giving them what they want.

Links mentioned

• http://www.permission.com
• http://www.ideavirus.com
• http://www.bigredfez.com
• http://www.zoometry.com

Related posts:

1. 36 Must Read Website Marketing Articles I’ve just come across this website called Copyblogger. He’s compiled...
2. What is a referrer? I mentioned earlier how I am in love with Google...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Let’s assume you’ve got a product to sell. You might have a physical shop – or not. You don’t need a shopfront to sell a psychical product through your website. You will need a good dose of customer service attitude.

Here’s what you’ll need

1. A domain name
2. Website hosting and an email address
3. A website with eCommerce functionality

1. A domain name

Your domain name is your unique website address. For example, if you want to visit Google you go to www.google.com.au. The google.com.au part is their domain name.

You will need to register a domain name with an accredited domain registrar. You can search through Google to find one (stick to the first couple of pages of results). Melbourne IT and Net Registry are a few of the big ones. It can cost from around $40 for 2 years to register, it does pay to shop around for specials though.

When you register your domain make sure you file the details (including username and passwords) for easy access later. You may have to give these details to your website designer/developer later.

Tips

• Register a .com.au domain name if you’re selling to an Australian audience
• Register a .com if you’re selling to an international audience
• Ensure your domain name is easy to spell and communicates the message of what your eCommerce website is about

2. Website hosting and an email address

Just like you need a domain so that people can find your website, you need hosting so that your website is viewable on the Internet.

Likewise, if you want to create email addresses using your domain name – i.e. hello@clarelancaster.com.au you will need hosting.

Most domain registrars will offer hosting plans, unless you have a specific host in mind I recommend also purchasing hosting through the same company that you register your domain with.

If you decide to purchase hosting separately search Google for “website hosting package” or ask around to find reputable website host. Most website hosting companies will offer different levels of service or packages.

Generally, if you’re a small business I recommend starting off with the smallest/cheapest package unless you’re looking to use lots of rich media on your website (i.e. video) or attract lots of visitors very quickly then you may need a more robust package.

Otherwise, you can usually start small and upgrade later if you need it (always check with your host though).

Hosting pricing can start from as little as $12.95 per month.

When you purchase hosting, make sure you file the details with your domain name files. You will need them later.

3. A website with eCommerce functionality

There are a couple of ways that you can setup your website to sell products online.

You can choose a solution where all transactions occur within your website – from browsing through to purchasing.

Or you can choose a solution where the purchase transaction is handled by a third party.

Before we get into that let’s break down exactly what your eCommerce website will need to work.

• A catalogue of products
• Individual product details
• Shopping cart
• Payment processing

A catalogue of products

A catalogue of products will group your products into logical groups for your customers to browse through. For example, if you sell dive equipment you would group your products into wetsuits, fins, snorkels, masks etc.

Individual product details

It’s incredibly important to provide as much detail about your products as possible.

High quality photography showing the product from as many angles as possible, close up images showing any important details, thorough descriptions, dimensions, weight, price are all vital.

Consider giving customers the chance to review products or add comments about products. Doing this can help you increase your social proof and encourage trust from new customers.

What’s the point of all this detail? If a customer has never purchased from you before you have a number of barriers to making a sale. Providing all the information they need and anticipating any questions or concerns they may have will help remove these barriers.

Shopping cart

Your shopping cart provides the functionality for customers to add products to an order, checkout and complete the transaction.

Payment processing

As I mentioned earlier there are a couple of way to handle the payment processing.

The first example I’ll take you through is when the customer completes the transaction without leaving your website. This is known as a seamless payment solution.

When your customer initiates checkout – the process of completing their order – they need to purchase the products. To do this you need to have a payment gateway enabled.

There are two steps involved with setting up your payment gateway.

1. You need a merchant account from a major bank
2. You need a payment gateway to securely handle the transaction and connect with your shopping cart

Some popular payment gateway providers are eWay or Securepay.

Alternative payment processing solution

If you don’t want the costs involved with seamless processing (e.g. higher Merchant account fees) you can choose to go with a third party provider like PayPal.

PayPal offer shopping carts and payment processing for a fee on each transaction. This option is worth considering if you are just starting out, testing the waters and don’t want to commit to a full development just yet.

Read more info about their business services.

eCommerce Best Practices

• Keep your website design as uncomplicated as possible – the purpose of your website is to showcase your products and encourage your customers to purchase
• Make your “Add to cart” button unmissable and use a contrasting colour to the rest of your design to help it stand out
• Always use “breadcrumbs” to help the customer identify where they are on the site
• Keep your checkout process as brief as possible
• Write a list of frequently asked questions and answers and have them accessible to your shoppers on every page throughout the website
• Be upfront about delivery costs, product inventory, shipping expectations

What are your experiences setting up an eCommerce website? Thinking of setting up shop but still not sure? Leave your questions and comments below.

Related posts:

1. 10 Common Shopping Cart Mistakes Just read an interesting article by Jonathan Crossfield over at...
2. Website Basics – What You Need to Get Your Business Online For people starting up an online business or wanting to...
3. How to Boost Your Online Sales in a Downturn I’ve just finished listening to the latest Smart Company Webinar....

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

This presentation was put together by Jonathan Crossfield – the super talented Marketing Manager of Net Registry and regular contributor to my favourite Nett Magazine.

Related posts:

1. Social Media is just the Internet – Now I got introduced yesterday as Clare, who works in Social...
2. 10 Common Shopping Cart Mistakes Just read an interesting article by Jonathan Crossfield over at...
3. Want to know why you should use Social Media and Internet networking? A few quick thoughts about why businesses/entrepreneurs should get involved...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

I’m a true believer that to build trust and reputation for long term business growth online you need to be honest, authentic and offer real value.

Checkout his post now for 18 steps that you can put into place simply and easily.

Related posts:

1. How to Boost Your Online Sales in a Downturn I’ve just finished listening to the latest Smart Company Webinar....
2. Social Media is just the Internet – Now I got introduced yesterday as Clare, who works in Social...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Aside from general good practice rules like not sending your emails too often and keeping to a regular schedule – are you 100% confident that your email marketing abides by Australia’s spam laws?

• Did each person on your mailing list opt-in to receive email communication from you?
• Is your business name, address and contact details listed on each email you send?
• Is there unsubscribe details on each email?
• When people unsubscribe do you have procedures to ensure they are not re-added to the list?

Here’s a practical guide put together by the Australian Government (I know! Crazy!) that explains what you need to do to stay on the right side of the law when it comes to Australia’s Spam Act 2003.

It’s a simple to understand guide and I recommend you take a look if you use email marketing within Australia.

And now, for some jargon.

When I’m dealing with email marketing I always make sure my opt-in process is doubled for extra protection.

“Double opt-in” describes the process of signing up to a mailing list, then confirming your decision to subscribe to that list usually by clicking on link sent through a confirmation email. Most reputable email marketing services handle this automatically.

Related posts:

1. The Beauty of Email Marketing For Your Online Business I’ve got Google Alerts set up on my favourite subjects...
2. How to sell physical products through your website This is a step by step guide for beginners who...
3. Want to know how Google works? There are a few essential things to understand when working...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

If you’ve got the goods – something people want and like – you’ve got a good chance.

If you deliver it with personality – from a person – talking to people – you’ll kill it.

What do you think?

Related posts:

1. Business Success is Defined By You The quote below sums up perfectly where I am right...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

I just got a new Twitter follow.

My notification email said that authorj was following 782 people and had 162 people following him. From past experience this usually indicates a spambot. Anyway, I’ve just finished a big job, I’m feeling nice and relaxed and have a bit of time so I went to check out what he was about.

The first post in his stream has authorj wondering how to get people to join his site without looking like a SPAM bot then a link to his site. I followed the link and had a quick look at his site.

Ok authorj here’s some thoughts.

1. Stop following people so quickly.
2. In fact, I would unfollow at least half of your network right now.
3. Start linking out to something other than your website
4. Have a conversation with someone. Have a look through your network and @ someone who has said something you want to reply to
5. Go from there. Grow slowly. You’re wasting your time if you keep the same approach.
6. Locking all the content on your site is a bad idea. I can’t even find out more about you – if I have no connection to you I’ve already pressed the back button.
7. The Kingdom book trailer is interesting but I’m so frustrated that I can’t find out more about you or the book that I’ve stopped watching at 28 seconds
8. I’m persevering here and clicked on the “Join now” link. I reach the signup page and I’m completely confused and still not sure why I would want to join this community. Maybe you’ve already got a thriving reader community but if you’re trying to reach new readers you’ve lost me.
9. Moral of the story – give people who have never heard of you a bit more content to get to know you before they decide if they will signup to your community or not. And have a conversation on Twitter to make connections to new people.
10. Good luck authorj.

Related posts:

1. A peek behind the scenes of twitterguide.com.au & the Twitter for Business E-book I thought that some people might find it interesting to...
2. Twitter for Business E-book Review The first review of my e-book has just come through!...
3. Gary Vaynerchuck on how Businesses should be using Twitter In his latest video Gary Vaynerchuck (@garyvee) talks about how...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

I thought – hang on, I work online but not exclusively in social media – then I thought to myself – aren’t they the same thing?

Social media really just describes the way that people use and behave on the internet now.

If there’s anything “new” about it it’s that the term Social Media signifies that there has been a shift in behaviour and the technology developed to facilitate that behaviour.

So what does this mean for business? The way you interact and use the internet needs to be examined – for business growth and to keep up with expectations of users.

The most significant change for most businesses includes the fundamental shift in thinking about marketing using Social Media/the internet in it’s current state – that is to realise that Social Media has given people a voice that is more immediate and far reaching then ever before.

Your brand is not so much “your” brand as it is your audience’s brand to do with it what they will.

Be prepared.

Related posts:

1. Want to know why you should use Social Media and Internet networking? A few quick thoughts about why businesses/entrepreneurs should get involved...
2. Social Media Case Study – Cinderella Wine Cinderella Wine is the latest business venture for the Wine...
3. Does Cotton On know about its Social Media failure? If it does – it’s not handling it right. It’s...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.