Drop Shipping: An Entrepreneur’s Best Friend?
The sign of a smart entrepreneur is to implement strategies that generate maximum profit within minimum resources. Albeit running an online store is a great deal easier than running a physical store, it comes with its own set of obstacle. If these obstacles are not tackled with tact and efficiency, you could be facing loss instead of profit.
If you are selling merchandise online, then maintaining a warehouse can take a toll on your resources. Moreover, you stand the chance of loss if that product suddenly stops selling in the market. One of the most effective means you can use, as an entrepreneur is to integrate drop shipping in your business plans. Doing so will help you focus and invest time in running an up to date and online store with the right online store builder software. Here are few of the many benefits of drop shipping!
Streamlined Access to the Market
Drop shipping allows you to access products and deliver them to the market in a streamlined and fast manner. Waiting for a shipment to arrive and maintaining the right inventory takes time and you face a small chance of leaving customers dissatisfied due to fluctuating delivery times, etc. With drop shipping, all you have to do is forward the order to the manufacturer or supplier and they will send out the products to the customers instantly.
Smart Investments
The investments involved in maintaining an inventory can take a toll on the resources of a small to medium sized business. Most of your businesses resources will dry up in organizing, protecting and renting costs of the warehouse. Drop shipping releases you from these responsibilities in a highly effective and profitable manner and eventually, you will end up with enough capital to invest in other aspects of your business, such as, marketing, etc.
Growth and Productivity
In the long run, drop shipping allows entrepreneurs to grow and develop their online stores in a highly productive manner. If one needs to expand their product and services line, he/she will not have to worry about the major logistics involved in setting up the store, as the manufacturer or supplier will manage the physical responsibilities of the products.
How Earth Skater can Help
If you are hoping to collaborate with an effective team that helps you stand out from the competition, look no further than Earth Skater! We not only provide the best online store software in the market, but our team gives special importance to customer service. Whatever your requirements are, we are here to help with web design layouts, customer support systems, and affiliate tracking program among other services. Get started on standing out from the competition today! Feel free to contact us to set up a meeting or if you have any questions, we will be happy to respond!
Leave your Competition in the Dust
So, what do you think will be your biggest challenge when you launch your online store? If you think is setting up and promoting you web store, then you are wrong because we already have you covered on both of these aspects. We provide the best online store hosting service, web design service, and both content marketing and PayPerClick advertising services that will help you easily launch and promote your online store.
If you answered your competitors, then you are absolutely right. Other web stores in niche marketing will be your biggest challenge, because your store will be competing with them for the attention of potential customers. With the help of the right marketing campaign, which we can develop for your online store, and the following tips, you will leave your competition in the dust:
Develop your USP
Your USP (unique selling proposition) will give your customers a reason to purchase products from you rather than your competitors. You have to search for a USP that will allow you to stand apart from other online stores in your niche. It could be anything, the way the products are manufactured or delivered, a personal story, etc.
Establish Product Quality
Online buyers are looking for a bargain, yes, but they also want quality, and that is how you can distinguish your store from others. Offer a personal warranty period, expert opinion, or an endorsement so people are assured about the quality of the product you are selling.
Quirky Branding
This can be extremely risky, but if your products are fun and unique, you can brand them a bit differently. You can use sarcasm or satirical content to brand the product and turn it into a selling point.
Customer Experience
If you are unable to perform any of the tasks mentioned above, then customize the shopping experience that customers can have on your site. From a creative thank you message to the box your product is shipped in, you can create a myriad of ways that will help you create a unique identity for your online store.
As you have probably gleaned from the information above, the key is to be yourself, unique and somehow different from everyone else. And with our custom web design service, you put your best foot forward and begin your journey of creating a unique and successful online store.
5 Key Strategies for eCommerce Growth
E-Commerce Growth StrategiesIf you expect to achieve sustained growth with your eCommerce business you will need the website, marketing plan, advertising plan, and budget to get there. Growing a profitable Web Business is a strategic process that requires long range commitment, careful planning, and on-going execution and patience. It’s vital that you know exactly what you want to accomplish and that you have done your research to understand what it will take to get there. Of course you need to have a website that is optimized and tested to convert traffic (sales funnels for your website and landing pages for your advertisements), and then you need to devote time to developing and executing short-term and long-term promotional strategies. These strategies must stand on their own as well as work together to get you the best results. Here are five key strategies you can use to advance your business and improve your profit margin: #1. Always Look For Opportunities to Increase SalesThe hunt for new customers should be phase one of an ongoing (as in monthly) three-phase marketing approach that every online business owner should embrace. Phase two is to follow up with these new customers from time to time, and introduce them to additional offers. The objective of this second phase is to get them to buy from you more often. The final phase is to offer expensive items, or bundle multiple items into higher-priced packages. This will give your customers more opportunities to make larger purchases. #2. Find the Best Use for Your Marketing BudgetAfter you have identified your market demographic (USA, Canada, all countries, just your state, just your county, tri-county, etc), fixed your goals and decide on a promotional strategy (something catchy) for reaching potential customers, then the next step is to figure out how to maximize your budget and get the job done without blowing your budget. DID YOU KNOW: Studies show that the average consumer will see a promotion about five to seven times before taking action on the offer. You want to expose your product or service, as often as possible, to consumers who will derive the most benefit from it. So instead of blowing your budget on a single opportunity to reach your select group, it is much wiser to get everyone’s attention with repeated promotions (monthly on-going advertising). Use as many different forms of advertising as you can afford and squeeze the most out of your marketing dollars. * Earth Skater Online Store Solutions include real time analytics to track website visitors and search engine traffic and sales in real-time. The value of knowing where visitors arrive from and on what page and where they go on your site will help you to optimize and improve your website and landing pages over time. Using both your general website statistics and Earth Traffic will be the key to understanding how your online business works and ways you can increase traffic. #3. Invest in a Virtual AssistantThis is an opportunity to outsource various redundant tasks to someone who is capable, reliable and trustworthy. The big advantage to you is you’ll have more time to devote to activities that generate income and help you grow your business. A virtual assistant works from his or her office as an independent contractor and is responsible for whatever administrative or operational responsibilities you assign. Compensation can be agreed upon at an hourly rate, per assignment or by retainer. If you are not yet at the stage where you can afford to pay a virtual assistant, you can consider a suitable barter arrangement with a subscriber or a customer. You can also ask a family member or a friend for help. You can’t do it all yourself and you shouldn’t even consider that option for the long-term. * Earth Skater provides expert service to off load your work burden. Whether it’s updating website products and content, managing and/or providing your marketing and advertising campaigns, or just providing consultation to your business; Earth Skater provides service second to none in both expertise and affordability. #4. Use the Power of Email to Convert Visitors Into CustomersEmail marketing is one of the most economical and reliable ways to build a relationship with visitors and eventually convert them into buyers. It is an effective tool for staying in touch and developing the level of comfort and trust that is necessary before they will agree to do business with you. You can use email to convince your subscribers of your expertise in your niche. The more they come to accept you as an authority, the greater your credibility will become and the easier it will be for you to make sales. Plus, email is a very handy tool for keeping customers abreast of new products, special promotions and the latest announcements about your business. * Earth Skater recommends iContact, read more about Earth Skater Professional newsletter marketing here. #5. Develop a System for Everything You DoMake sure to design methods and procedures that simplify and expedite important aspects of your business operation. Very often these systems will evolve from trial and error, but when they have been perfected they should become standard procedure. The most efficient systems are those that get you to your objective as quickly as possible, for as little money as possible and with the least possible effort. * Earth Skater eCommerce is #1 the system for small merchants to manage their online stores and affiliate programs. Consult with an
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13 Tips To Create Professional Looking Newsletters
1. Design Scannable NewslettersAccording to studies by usability expert, Jakob Nielsen, about 50 percent of readers skimmed or partly read the newsletters. Only 23 percent of readers read the newsletters all the way through. The remaining 27 percent were never opened. Make the text easy to scan by:
2. Insert Line BreaksImprove the readability of your newsletter by formatting it with hard line breaks at 60/65/70 characters per line. 3. Include Newsletter Title In The Subject FieldInclude your newsletter title at the beginning of the subject field. This will help the reader differentiate your newsletter from junk emails. It will also allow them to filter your newsletter into a separate folder with the use of filters. 4. Make Your Subject Field Sell!Advertise the most enticing story of each issue in the subject field. You literally have seconds to grab the readers attention, so make it count. 5. Include A Table Of ContentIf the newsletter is long, include a table of contents at the top. This will allow readers to scan the topics to see if anything in the newsletter catches their interest. 6. Fix Long LinksLong hyperlinks may be broken when you format text emails, you may want to ensure you use short links or use a redirect to avoid potential issues. 7. Avoid Spam Filters That Flag The Certain WordsDo not use words that you think may cause an issue with spam filters. Use alternative wording instead. 8. Avoid Spam Filters That Flag Chain LettersSome spam filters are flagging emails that asks readers to forward the newsletter on as chain letters. Avoid using the word “forward” and any of the following words in the same sentence, “all, anyone, every, friends, many, others, people.” Instead of “forward,” try using “pass,” “share,” or “send.” 9. Reduce Remove Request EmailsThere are two methods to reducing the number of remove email requests from your subscribers:
10. Design User-Friendly HTML NewslettersFormat your newsletter to mobile friendly or at least readable on small screens. 11. Create HTML Friendly NewslettersGmail, AOL, etc, protect users by eliminating potential security hazards. Avoid these tags in your newsletter HTML:
In addition, the following HTML tags are the only ones supported by AOL email clients:
12. Include Text Version of HTML EmailInclude a link to a text version of your newsletter hosted on your website or newsletter systems site. 13. Spell Check Your ContentAll modern editors include spell check so this should not be an issue, however, grammer is a whole ‘nother topic. BONUS:FREE TRIAL iContact Newsletter SystemCall 877-627-2492 to discuss your marketing plan today. |
Author: Michael Wong is the editor of GoDefy.com – the world’s first internet marketing comparison shopping search engine and Mike’s Marketing Tools. Michael is also the author of the leading SEO book and numerous marketing tips. Visit his web sites at http://www.goDefy.com & http://www.Mikes-Marketing-Tools.com
Edited by Earth Skater 2/5/15
10 Controversial Search Engine Optimization Techniques
10 Controversial Search Engine Optimization Techniques
Ten controversial search engine optimization techniques that should be used with caution, or even avoided altogether.
1. Duplicate Pages
In general, search engines ignore duplicate pages. In extreme cases, they may ban a site.
2. Invisible Text
Search engines consider the use of text that is the same color as the background color as spam. So stay clear of using invisible text.
3. Keywords In Comment Tags
Hardly any, if any, of the major search engines index comment tags, so don’t waste time adding them for optimization purposes.
4. Keywords In Hidden Value Tags
Keywords in hidden value tags are considered spam by all of the major search engines, so don’t waste time with this practice.
5. Keywords In Style Tags
Very few search engines index the content of <style%26gt; tags, so do not waste anytime on this technique.
6. Link Farms And Link Exchange Programs
Search engines consider link farms and link exchange programs as spam, as they have only one purpose – to artificially inflate a site’s link popularity, by exchanging links with other participants.
Do not confuse link farms and link exchange programs with reciprocal linking. Reciprocal linking is the exchange of links with individual sites, and certainly an accepted technique for improving your site’s link popularity.
7. Links Only Pages
I recommend adding text descriptions to link pages and site maps. Some search engines have been known to kick out links only pages.
8. Meta Refresh Tags
In general, meta refresh tags set for under 30 seconds are considered as spam by search engines. As such, most search engine optimizers 301 search engine friendly redirect methods to redirect a URL.
9. Small Font Size Keywords Text
Many of the major search engines consider tiny text (i.e. font size 1) as spam. Some use of tiny text is fine. Search engines don’t like web pages that use a lot of tiny text. The reason is because some webmasters have used it to fool search engines by “hiding” dozens of keywords in a web page.
10. Cloaking
Cloaking is the practice of serving search engine optimized pages to search engine spiders, while at the same time serving un-optimized pages to site visitors.
Cloaking is one of the most controversial strategies in search engine optimization. Major search engines publicly state that they consider all cloaking to be spam. However, many professional search engine optimizers have been using cloaking for years, with much success.
Until there is conclusive proof that search engines do indeed ban sites that use cloaking, I suggest you take care if you decide to use cloaking.
Conclusion
There are many controversial search engine optimization techniques. There are people who despise the use of certain techniques, such as cloaking. But the fact of the matter is that there are no right or wrong ways to optimize a web page.
What might be considered as spam by one search engine may be accepted by another. What works today may be banned tomorrow.
The art and science of marketing is about testing to see what works and what doesn’t. I recommend taking the same approach with search engine optimization. After all, it is just another form of marketing.
Call 877-627-2492 to discuss your marketing plan today.
Keyword Density and Search Engine Rank
Keyword Density, Frequency, Prominence And Proximity Affect Search Engine RankThe difference between keyword density, frequency, prominence and proximity, and how they affect search engine rankings. Keyword DensityKeyword density refers to the ratio (percentage) of keywords contained within the total number of indexable words within a web page. The preferred keyword density ratio varies from search engine to search engine. In general, I recommend using a keyword density ratio in the range of 2-8%. Keyword FrequencyKeyword frequency refers to the number of times a keyword or keyword phrase appears within a web page. The theory is that the more times a keyword or keyword phrase appears within a web page, the more relevance a search engine is likely to give the page for a search with those keywords. In general, I recommend that you ensure that the most important keyword or keyword phrase is the most frequently use keywords in a web page. But be careful not to abuse the system by repeating the same keyword or keyword phrases over and over again. Keyword ProminenceKeyword prominence refers to how prominent keywords are within a web page. The general recommendation is to place important keywords at, or near, the start of a web page, sentence, TITLE or META tag. Keyword ProximityKeyword proximity refers to the closeness between two or more keywords. In general, the closer the keywords are, the better. For example:
Using the example above, if someone searched for “search engine rankings,” a web page containing the first sentence is more likely to rank higher than the second. The reason is because the keywords are placed closer together. This is assuming that everything else is equal, of course. Call 877-627-2492 to discuss your marketing plan today.
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Author: Michael Wong is the editor of GoDefy.com – the world’s first internet marketing comparison shopping search engine and Mike’s Marketing Tools. Michael is also the author of the leading SEO book and numerous marketing tips. Visit his web sites at http://www.goDefy.com & http://www.Mikes-Marketing-Tools.com
Top 5 Affiliate Program Mistakes
Affiliate Managers: Your Top 5 Affiliate Program Mistakes
1. Competing With Your Affiliates
This is by far the worst mistake made by companies that offer affiliate programs. I often see companies for products I am trying to promote compete with me in the search engine rankings and pay per click advertising programs.
Why companies invest money and resources in competing with their affiliates is beyond me. By competing with me, you’re trying to put me out of business. Have marketing directors ever thought of it in that way? Because if you succeed, you will no longer have an affiliate network to speak of.
The money would be better spent on supporting your affiliate network by creating a better product, providing more referral statistics, higher commission payouts, faster support, and more, fresh promotional creative.
2. Not Providing Your Affiliates With Useful, Real-Time Statistics
All marketers rely on statistics to measure the effectiveness of any marketing campaign. Yet most affiliate programs only provide their affiliates with basic statistics such as number of visitors sent, number of sales, and commission earned. These statistics aren’t much help to affiliates who want to measure the effectiveness of a particular pay per click campaign.
Affiliate managers – please consider providing these useful statistics so that I can market your products effectively:
- Archive of daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and yearly statistics and by date range.
- Commission earned, broken down by product or service, and how the customer was referred to the site.
- Daily email update of all affiliate statistics.
- Instant email notification of a new affiliate.
- Instant email notification of a new free trial sign up.
- Instant email notification of a new sale and all relevant statistics. I love getting new sales notification emails!
- Number of free trial downloads or subscriptions.
- Number of returns and all relevant statistics.
- Affiliate links with trackable IDs, so that affiliates can tell exactly which site, or ad campaign is sending the referrals and sales.
- Unique clicks – which refers to the unique number of visitors referred – in addition to raw clicks – which refers to the total number of click throughs.
- A list of top performing affiliate statistics, so that affiliates can compare how they’re doing and which areas they can improve on.
- Include the most important statistics at the top of the email and subject line. There’s nothing worse than having to scroll down to see what the referral purchased or how much commission I have made.
The following only apply if the affiliate program offers more than one level of commissions.
- Commission earned as a result of referrals sent by 2nd-tier affiliates.
- Commission earned, broken down by commission level.
- Number of 2nd-tier affiliates referred.
3. Not Compensating Your Affiliates Fairly For Their Hard Work
The #1 incentive for any affiliate is cold hard cash. So tell your marketing director to fire the search engine optimization firm and advertising department, and redirect the resources to paying your affiliates a higher commission rate.
4. Not Providing Enough Fresh Promotional Creative.
Most affiliate managers seem to give their promotional creative little thought. All they offer is a handful of 468×60 banners, buttons and text links. What happens is that affiliates end up using the same ads on hundreds, even thousands of web sites.
Affiliate managers – what about these promotional creatives?
- Articles and tips with embedded affiliate links
- Classified ads
- Customer testimonials
- Direct email ads
- Email signatures
- Newsletter ads
- pay per click ads
- Pop-up/under ads
- Product photographs
- Product reviews
- Product screenshots
- Rich-media ads
- Skyscrapers
- Staff interviews
Different ads perform better on different sites. And ads generally have a life span of a carton of milk. So offer your affiliates a greater variety of ads, more often.
5. Not Providing Fast, Quality Support For Your Affiliates.
Don’t make your affiliates wait longer for an email reply than it takes to send a letter by snail-mail post.
Don’t outsource your affiliate support work if you can afford not to. If you have to outsource, then you must take your time and concentration to train your support staff so that they understand the ins and outs of your products and affiliate program. Do this with outlined bullet point processes. I’m often dumbfounded by affiliate support staff who can’t give me answers to simple questions.
Earth Skater’s real time affiliate tracking GETS WORK DONE!
Call 877-627-2492 to discuss your affiliate marketing plan today.
Link Exchanging How To
Finding Link Exchange Partner Sites To Improve Your Link Popularity
Link popularity is considered by most search engines to be one of, if not, the most important factor that determines a site’s ranking in the search engines.
Let’s say we have two identical sites. One has thousands of targeted sites linking to it. The other only has a few incoming links. It’s virtually guaranteed that the site with thousands of incoming links will rank higher than the other site.
So how do you find reciprocal link partners?
First, you need to work out what type of web sites would link to your site. Here are some examples of sites and the types of sites that would link to them.
| Your Site: | Links From: | ||
| Pet store | Pet lovers’ sites | ||
| Web design service | Webmaster sites, how to sites | ||
| Travel site | Local guides, local tourism | ||
| PC store | Software/hardware review sites | ||
| Music store | Music fan sites |
So how do you find these sites?
In the following examples, we’ll use “pet lovers'” sites as the type of sites we’re looking for.
1. Find targeted sites in the web directories, such as Yahoo.com or Dmoz.org.
Go to a directory’s home page and search with the keywords, “pet lover.” Then click on the category the top listings belong to. The sites listed in these and related categories are the types of sites you need to contact.
If the category has a resources or directories sub-category, then try the sites in those categories first. Resources typically offer links to sites on the same subject.
2. Use search engines to find sites that link to your competitors’ web sites.
Using the search engines is probably a more efficient method of find reciprocal link partners, than searching the directories.
Now make a list of the sites. Then create a links or resources page and carefully craft your pitch to solicit your link to be included on each one of those sites.
Some sites, such as web directories, will not require a reciprocal link. So simply submit your link.
Only exchange links with targeted sites. Linking to poor-quality or spam sites may affect and typically will affect your search engine rankings.
WARNING
Under no circumstances should you link to, or add links from, link farms. Link farms are considered as spam sites in the eyes of the search engines.
Call 877-627-2492 to discuss your marketing plan today.
Submitting To Directories
Selecting The Best Category When Submitting To Web Directories
Selecting the best categories when submitting to a web directory, to give your site every chance of achieving top rankings for the keywords you want to target.
Selecting the right category when submitting to a web directory can mean the difference between achieving top rankings and being lost in oblivion.
Don’t think that by paying for your submission, it guarantees top rankings. It doesn’t! The only guarantee you will get is for a review within a certain time limit. If you don’t select the right category, you might as well just be throwing your money out the window.
Here’s how you should find the best category to submit to, in order to give your site every chance of achieving top rankings for the keywords you want to target.
Go to the web directory’s home page and enter in the exact keyword phrase you’re targeting in the search box.
Let’s use the Yahoo! directory as an example. A search for, “cheap Web hosting” returns this page of results:
Take a look at the category link directly underneath the #1 listing, where it says:
“More sites about: Web Site Hosting > Directories”
The majority of the top listings are placed under this category. This tells you that Yahoo! considers this particular category as the most relevant for the keyword phrase we searched for.
Click on the “Web Site Hosting > Directories” category link. This will take you to the sub-category in the Yahoo! directory.
On the next page, take a look at the border at the top of the page that stretches across the screen, directly underneath the banner. It’s in yellow. This indicates that the category is classified as commercial. Non-commercial categories are in blue.
You will also find the listing that you clicked on located somewhere down the page.
There you have it. That’s how you select the best category when submitting to a web directory. You can use a similar technique when submitting to other web directories.
