Today we’re hearing from Kirsty Keane and her sister, Sarah Tate, the Australian businesswomen who founded successful travel accessories shopping website Ciao Bella Travel in November 2006.

Their website is a great example of success through fulfilling a market need supported by excellent customer service.

Another thing to look at is the branding of their self made products. Presenting your products and brand in a professional, attractive and consistent manner builds trust and confidence – and that is vital for making a sale on the Internet.

As a very special offer for my readers only, Ciao Bella Travel are offering you a 10% discount, valid until the end of this month. To redeem the discount use the promotion code Online Bella at checkout.

What was your personal motivation behind starting Ciao Bella Travel?

We had both always wanted to start our own business and were always on the look out for business ideas and opportunities.

The idea for Ciao Bella Travel was born in a Hong Kong Hotel room when Kirsty, on a quick business trip, didn’t have the luggage space to pack her full size skin and hair care products, but did not want to use the hotel’s poor quality products either.

We thought ‘there has to be a simple way to provide high quality, single serves of shampoo, conditioner, cleanser, toner & moisturiser’.

This thought lead to the development of our Ciao Bella Travel Single Shots range. In the process we discovered that there was not one, easy place for girls to shop from a wide range of gorgeous travel accessories so we created www.ciaobellatravel.com.au

When did you launch Ciao Bella Travel?

December 2006. The night we switched the site on we sat at the computer with a bottle of champagne waiting to see what would happen. Bless our family and friends who were our first customers!!!

What’s the number one piece of advice you could give other women thinking of starting an online business?

Take the time to research your market thoroughly before you make the commitment.

What was the toughest part about getting your website online?

Probably the time involved, it took six months to bring our site online which was two months more than we first expected.

Do you have any advice about how to get visitors to your website?

We have found the highest contributors to our site traffic are:

• SEO
• Editorial and
• SEM

The best thing about SEO and editorial is they are free if you do them inhouse.

What are the three most important factors to running a successful online business?

• Excellent customer service
• Continuously working on ways to increase (qualified) site traffic and
• High SEO rankings

What is the wildest success story you can imagine for Ciao Bella Travel’s future?

We want Ciao Bella Travel to be the number one destination for all female travelers to shop for travel accessories.

We aim to achieve this by delivering our customers an exceptional buying experience through excellent customer service, a fantastic product range and additional complimentary services (such as our Travel Planner, Travel Tips, Remind Me Before I Fly service & Gift Wrapping service) to enhance their experience and their trip.

We also have plans to take our brand and business model overseas when the time is right.

Visit Ciao Bella Travel and use your 10% off voucher to buy yourself something special!

Related posts:

1. Alicia Rozenblum Founder of Alegorie Boutique
2. Ann Nolan, Founder of babysitterdirectory.com.au
3. Kate Morris – Founder of Adore Beauty
4. Kath Purkis Founder of Le Black Book
5. Bianca Kristallis – Pamper Hamper Gifts

Filed under: Inspiration, Interviews, Tips