Starting in E-Commerce: What Works and What Didn'taaronmontgomery.info

Starting in E-Commerce: What Works and What Didn't

Oxford Dictionary - eCommerce = commercial transactions conducted electronically on the Internet.

● Potential Customer Sitting in their PJs at 11:45 PM = Still can make a sale● Their purchasing decision process is much different than a more traditional

customer○ More Fickle / Sets own Expectations○ Order Taking Process is shifted and you are open 24/7

_____________Meaning that your potential customer can be sitting there in their PJ’s at 11:45 PM in front of a screen looking at your offering and decided to purchase or not. That purchase decision is made much differently than interacting via email, phone or in person to gain that level of trust. It's a challenge as the e-commerce buyer is much more fickle and sets their own expectations based on what they can tell from your website. But it is awesome in the fact that you put the order taking process into your customers hands so they hold themselves more responsible and your are open for business 24 hours a day 7 days a week. So lets cover some tips to eCommerce that I learned the hard way to save you some headaches.

HELLO!

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I’m Aaron Montgomery

Blog - aaronmontgomery.info/aaronmontgomery.info - Facebook

● I want this to be interactive - Jump in / Be an active participant - You get what you give.

● Who here has met me before, been through a seminar? Help others with my dry sense of humor and lack of smile. I am a happy guy.

○ Mission/Why = To Raise the Tide of My Community by Facilitating Better Education so that Scholars that take 100% Responsibility for themselves can trust in, have access to more and feel part of a community of learning.

Need to learn more about you:● Is a Full Fledge Business with Website, Employees and most importantly

CUSTOMERS? ● Has a Business Plan? ● Has Customers and are working on the rest right now? ● Ready to launch your business? ● Just here for the seating?

What brought you to this class? ● Has some online presence like a Facebook Page and Ready for the Next

Step? ● Has a information website and ready to sell online?

● Has the next viral product idea and need to sell it? ● Has an ecommerce store already?

What is the #1 thing you hope to learn in this class? REMINDER - We have 90 minutes.

PLANNING

FINE DETAILS

TRAFFICaaronmontgomery.info 3

Breaking down into 3 segment and 3 tips for each segment. Then #10 will be the #1 key to success.

● In the handouts are several videos I have done with expanded details all part of my free weekly live video program called Small Business Saturday’s

#1: CLEARLY Define your IDEAL Customer.

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Defining your niche. This is not a way to limit your business as every time I say you have to have a niche I get the comment “I need all the business I can get”. By all means please take all the business that is right for you regardless of your niche. There are between 12M to 24M e-commerce sites in the world. Facebook in Q1 2019 reported 2.4 billion monthly active users. Unless you have an unlimited budget of both time and money, you must target a niche market that you have a passion for, interest in and can speak their language and swim in their circles.

Also, you need to define your ideal customer so you can make sure you look and feel will attract those customers. I hear all the time people say, I keep getting customers that want me to do X, but I do Y. It is what your message is telling the outside world because it is either vague and general, trying to be all things to all people or just plain not thought out. Don’t short change yourself and not put the effort into this part. The more you do here, the faster you will have success with the rest of the stuff we are going to talk about.

Videos:How to Find Your Niche https://www.facebook.com/AaronMontgomery.info/videos/2220958198193228/Profile of Ideal Customer https://www.facebook.com/AaronMontgomery.info/videos/370159577114581/Attracting the Right Customers https://www.facebook.com/AaronMontgomery.info/videos/2087908224658774/

#2: DOCUMENT the 30,000 Foot View

● What is the ultimate goal for creating an e-commerce site (What problem does it solve?)

● What features do your customers need?● What is the look and feel you want to convey?● What are the business values you want to

stand out when someone comes to your site?

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Pick a Word!

5

Business Values: Fast (Shipping/Production), Reliable, Quality Product, FriendlyPICK A WORD: Clean, Inviting, Exciting, Happy, Comfortable, Innovative

Also, think about your product mix, pricing strategy and more. I would typically make a spreadsheet with the details as you can then upload those details to most platforms and move your products from one platform to the next.

Define Categories you will sell, keywords that are important to your business. What will people search if they are looking for what you offer?

Features Blog Links - https://www.searchenginejournal.com/ecommerce-guide/must-have-website-features/#close

#3: PLAN YOUR Calls to Action

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● Make it stand out (Draws their Eye to it) - Use Hotjar.com to get heatmaps and record users actions.

● Give them multiple ways to get there○ Also, could be something different than Buy Now - Email Sign-up,

Facebook Community, Request a Quote, Call Me● Use Hero Images (Images that stand out/white background)● Use Scarcity (Limited Time Offer - Countdown Clock, Limited Stock -

Hotel.com Example)● Use Social Proof - Added to Cart, Recently bought● Keep it above the fold.

Going to show you some examples but don't make them yet at this point, just plan them out and think about what you want to ask your customers to do and why. Buy Now, Share a Smile Save Big, Join the Community.

https://www.shopify.com/blog/17156160-7-inspiring-ecommerce-call-to-action-examples-and-why-they-work

The top part of the site is your most expensive real estate, Park Place!

Hotjar.com

#4: Picking a Platform

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From the planning, make sure the platform has the features you need. Here are 3 of the most popular...-Skip GoDaddy and other free ones if you can. Several reason (Stand out like sore thumb, slow to load, Google doesn’t like them)-Etsy Discussion - Building on rented land, changed shipping algorithm and lots of people’s sales went in the tank.Other “deal” site that might be worth looking into. Just make sure you try to get those customers to your site for future orders. Jane.com, PickYourPlum.com, Groopdealz.com

-Send a handwritten thank you note after the fact, Put a stuffer in the shipment with “gift” if they sign up for your email list.

Video: Essential Tips for Starting an E-commerce Website https://www.facebook.com/AaronMontgomery.info/videos/2692455137456076/

#5: PHOTOGRAPHYAnd Mock-ups

93%aaronmontgomery.info 9

The biggest pain point of online shoppers is the lack of ability to see and touch products in person before purchasing them. 93% of consumers report product images to be essential to their purchasing decisions. People form their first impression within a mere 50 milliseconds. That’s less than half a glance! The reason photography is so important is primarily because people are generally not very good at describing things they see.

Use Fiverr, Snappa, Canva, social groups (trade product for photos) - https://www.facebook.com/groups/1696332110667914/

Pictures the same size in collections, so you have a uniform look. Also, size them correctly so your page loads quickly but the quality of the images are still good. Ask your platform and use a tool like https://gtmetrix.com/ to test.

#6: There is an App forTHAT!

● Email Collection● Chat Tools● CRM● Personalization

Options

● Shipping● Scarcity

Creators● Social Proof● Up Sell / Bundle

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Don’t be afraid to pay some money for them. Think Return on Investment, Not the cost

#7: INFLUENCERS

Leave enough margin to offer discounts and commissions.

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Not the Kardashians...

Not Kardasians - Not about how big the following is, Can they SELL?

Set-up Program that Pays them when you make salesMatch your Brand to theirs, not just because they have a lot of followers. Make it a partnership

#8: Blogging FOR SEO

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SEO in general is important and I recommend an expert (Best SEO Guy I know - https://redcanoemedia.com/)

http://www.seowebpageanalyzer.com/

Video SEO in 2019https://www.facebook.com/AaronMontgomery.info/videos/325727641364986/

#9:MARKETING STRATEGY

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Email Marketing Live VideoSocial Media

Google Ads Live EventsPaid Social Media Ads

Direct Mail ContestsWOM Radio/TV Ads SMS

Have a plan and keep working it. Success is a long term strategy and the more you do and the more consistent you are the faster it will grow.

Video: What are the Best Ways to Market a Small Business? https://www.facebook.com/AaronMontgomery.info/videos/927561277583535/Anatomy of a Great Email Campaignhttps://www.facebook.com/AaronMontgomery.info/videos/1191816567663366/What are Transactional Emails? https://www.facebook.com/AaronMontgomery.info/videos/2265840090333638/Developing a Marketing Funnel https://www.facebook.com/AaronMontgomery.info/videos/1275853609222265/Email Marketinghttps://www.facebook.com/AaronMontgomery.info/videos/526293421104486/Social Mediahttps://www.facebook.com/AaronMontgomery.info/videos/513657795701382/Digital Marketinghttps://www.facebook.com/AaronMontgomery.info/videos/509613202772508/Foundations of Advertisinghttps://www.facebook.com/AaronMontgomery.info/videos/1989669157797963/

#10:CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

aaronmontgomery.info 14Your Customer

More than anything you do, your e-commerce site needs to focus on the user experience. Policies, procedures and FAQ should always be focused on the user experience and why you do that for your customer's sake, not yours. Remember, that you need to talk to your customer, not just any old person so if you don't have a niche this will be hard.

Videos:Customer Centric = Being More Profitable REVISITEDhttps://www.facebook.com/AaronMontgomery.info/videos/615941995552943/Customer Centric vs. Company Centric Metricshttps://www.facebook.com/AaronMontgomery.info/videos/258100675098708/Customer Experience, What does that mean?https://www.facebook.com/AaronMontgomery.info/videos/324675031598510/Attracting the Right Customershttps://www.facebook.com/AaronMontgomery.info/videos/2087908224658774/

QUESTIONS?

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Blog - aaronmontgomery.infoAaronM_STL

Links to some blogs I like on the eCommerce topics we discussed today to dig deeper:

● https://ecommerce-platforms.com/articles/50-unbeatable-ecommerce-marketing-tips

● https://www.oberlo.com/blog/25-ecommerce-tips● https://www.shopify.com/blog/207109257-ecommerce-website-design● https://www.quicksprout.com/best-practices-for-running-a-successful-ecommer

ce-website/● https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/246223 (9 Tips to Make Your Ecommerce

Business Wildly Successful)● https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/284175 (12 Steps to Building a

Successful Ecommerce Site in 12 Months)● https://smallbiztrends.com/2015/08/checklist-starting-an-ecommerce-business.

html● https://www.shopify.com/blog/ecommerce-business-blueprint● https://www.inc.com/candice-galek/8-tips-on-how-to-start-an-e-commerce-busi

ness-today.html● https://www.hongkiat.com/blog/ecommerce-website-tips/● https://www.lyfemarketing.com/blog/product-photography-for-ecommerce/● https://ithemes.com/ecommerce-product-photography/● https://linedup.co.uk/2017/05/30/the-importance-of-good-product-photography-

● shopify-ecommerce/● https://www.shopify.com/guides/product-photography/importance● https://www.lifehack.org/515066/6-ways-product-photography-important-comm

erce● https://99firms.com/blog/ecommerce-statistics/● https://www.searchenginejournal.com/ecommerce-guide/must-have-website-fe

atures/#close● https://www.webalive.com.au/ecommerce-website-features/● https://www.outerboxdesign.com/web-design-articles/ecommerce_features