E-Commerce for All

There are many great companies worldwide with continental and even global reach and recognition. Most everyone of these highly successful businesses started out in their local market. Certainly, the Internet has opened many doors for businesses to approach the global market in substantially earlier stages of development…. However, that does not mean business owners should ignore local opportunities. Not much is as effective a marketing tool as a great local fan base in your own home town…. Roots!

Business contacts and customers alike worldwide will respect that your community uses your services and products. As a matter of fact… It generates a trust and security factor for your business that is nearly impossible to top. Sure, you can go after those global sales.. But build a local fan club too.

Some very good techniques exist for establishing a local reputation and presence that will generate leads, sales, trust and credibility on a large scale for you. Join your local chamber of commerce….. This is a very hot spot for local sales and networking leads.  Become the authority for your niche in your local market.

Sponsor a youth baseball team and put your web address on their shirts…. Its not very expensive and everybody loves a business that is involved locally. People really do look up to businesses who sponsor teams and events for kids and groups. Consider sponsoring events at the Special Olympics, your local DARE program or a breast cancer walk. Local public exposure is the easiest thing you will ever do, and its priceless. <– And deductible!

Market your business with referrals, reward customers who bring in more customers. Phone the local radio station and donate a gift certificate or a free gift for their contests. Find local clubs and hobbyists related to your business niche and get a booth at their shows or auctions… Or donate a sponsorship or gifts for their raffles.

Marketing fliers are nice, and yes with coupons and discounts they can work… However, business cards work better. People are far more likely to throw away or lose a flier due to its size and related inconvenience. Business cards are more likely make it to the purse or the wallet… They get stuffed in to the desk drawer, tossed on the dresser top or in the car’s glove box. People remember them when a need arises and search them out… Many time before the phone book. Carry business cards with you… Always. Make them personal and professional, do a coupon or a FREE offer on the back.

Become that local business person… “Hey isn’t he the guy from _____”.  Local recognition will build a strong foundation for your business to grow on.

Donate some books to your local school library.. They will happilly tag them with your business name to demonstrate their gratitude. Get involved in your community, be social and be friendly…. Then when you are a trusted local brand… be ready to be a global brand.

Everyone has an passionate opinion on this one, and honestly most theories are in general correct as there are many very effective schools of thought regarding domain registrations. The most important thing, in my opinion, is to register a domain that will do what you need it to do. Makes sense?

You most easily accomplish this by starting with an honest marketing and business model first. You must answer some tough questions like:

1. What types of services or products will you be selling with your online store? (Now and in the future as you grow)
2. What is your targeted area/region or customer base age, gender…? (Demographics)
3. What other companies will you form relationships with? (Distribution, etc.)
4. What kind of budget does your store development project have? (A real budget… Never over extend)
5. What is your plan for marketing and information distribution? (PPC, local marketing etc..)
6. Is your brand or company name well known or rich enough to include in your domain effectively? (Probably not)
7. What is the potential traffic for your store’s products/services? (What are others in the same niche doing?)
8. How much or deep is the competition? (Who’s on top and what do you have to do to beat them?)
9. Are you serious about making a successful commerce store… or have you big dreams and little execution?

There are a really host of things to consider in your domain name selection… some you can control and some you really cannot. Obviously, domain availability is one that is generally out of your control. If the name you “must have” is already registered, you might attempt to purchase it for a substantially higher investment. I strongly suggest you have a qualified SEO check it out first as there a many tricks and issues which can spoil the deal… and get a domain broker to handle the purchase for you… Would you sell your house using a car salesman?. Then, realize for certain, this is going to cost a great deal more than 10 bucks… So set your budget and stick to it.  Secondly, there are certain rules and restrictions regarding domain name registration.

• Domain names over 26 characters are supported in most web browsers, but many email, programs, and form fields will not be able to handle them. For reasons beyond my comprehension, however, in most extensions you can register up to 63 characters long.

• Domain names cannot begin or end with a hyphen.

• Names can only include English letters, numbers, and hyphens. For most TLD extensions the name must be 3 letters or longer.

Generally speaking, if you plan to target your home country (or another) you will benefit from registering a country level/coded domain and hosting physically residing in that country as well. If you are seeking a global market, then I suggest .com for a business or .net if you have to. If you are an organization or group, then .org would be perfect. In the United States, there is the .us, which I am personally against registering your business with this as it’s main url..

There are so many marketing opportunities available to shop owners, but none are as dependable and residual as your own local market. Have you even checked out the potential sales in your back yard? There is little doubt that the Internet provides a incomparable mass marketing opportunity, but these shoppers are rarely loyal to your site consistently. You see the mass shoppers on the Internet have so many choices, they are easily swayed from your shop’s search results over pennies. What value does a strong local marketing campaign offer your Internet business?

Referral sales convert higher and are more consistent than any other sales technique. Additionally, the local sales market is far more likely to deliver dependable residual sales. I am certainly not saying you should concentrate solely on your local market, but neglecting it is passing up a valuable sales opportunity.

What do you have to offer the local market? How about no shipping costs as they can pick their item. Pride is a big one, believe it or not many Americans would much rather do business with a local merchant over a larger faceless business. Many times shoppers will even pay more to shop locally.

There are some very specific optimization techniques to help your store better attract a local market as well as your www mass market. Very simply put, you can optimize your site for both, very easily.

1. Always display a toll free and a local phone number.
2. Use your address in your template pages.
3. Register your business with Yahoo Local Directory, Google Local Business Directory, and other local offerings. Most are free.
4. Offer local free pickup of purchases, or even deliver them yourself!
5. Link out to local attractions and community sites.
6. Advertise on local sites.
7. Offer a price break or coupons for local shoppers exclusively.

These are just a few great ways to better get your store noticed in web search by your local market. Do be afraid to think outside the box, the ONLY bad marketing idea is the one you don’t try. Some of the greatest marketing success stories of all time were expected to fail.

Local hands on type marketing can be very labor intensive, but I have some easy ways to get your name out there for little or no cost and very little work!

1. Get business cards, and not home printed card either. Put your picture and location on these cards, and spend the extra 5 bucks to include a local coupon or special deal on the back.
2. Ask businesses you normally patronize to display your cards… Hell, give then a link in return as it also benefits you. Do this right, buy some cardholders for .50c a piece and display your business in a professional light.
3. Leave a couple of cards on the hand dryer in the bathrooms you visit. Okay, I know this sounds crazy, but folks who find them assume you put them down to wash your hands and forgot them. Hmmmm, they were valuable enough for you to pick up, so they are given the impression that the cards were important to you…