In the April issue, I discussed the beginning steps toward
doing business on the web, because several people have asked about starting a web
business. If you have determined what your business is, visited the Internet to see what
your competitors have done, know what products and/or services you will sell, you are
ready to look at the “nuts and bolts” of e-commerce (see April issue or
Archives/April 99 on Internet for Part I, Steps 1-5).
Step 6: Service-oriented business. E-commerce can be
beneficial to service-oriented businesses. For example, if you are a doctor or dentist, or
offer any other kind of service that requires an appointment, you can set up your web site
to show when appointments are available, and for what type of service. Then, you can,
through on-line credit card access, allow your clients to schedule appointments and pay
for them on-line.
Step 7: Product-oriented business - What you can get from e-commerce is a
way to allow customers to choose products, put them in a shopping cart, take them to the
“cash register,” total them up, and pay for them with a credit card. This
procedure sounds relatively simple on the consumer end, because all they should have to do
is fill out a simple form, supply the right information, and expect their product to
arrive at their door in a few days.
Step 8: Make it so - To operate this system, you
will need the following: set-up to accept credit cards, an Internet-type merchant account,
and an internet service provider who has on-line credit card facilities. Each one of these
services require a monthly fee, a transaction fee, or both. Once you have the on-line
credit card service, you must also consider how you will get your product to your
customer. For example, UPS has an excellent tracking system, and your customer gets an
e-mail that tracks the entire shipment process.
Step 9: Alternatives to On-line Commerce - If this sounds too complicated
and expensive, you can set up on-line commerce more simply, but there are drawbacks. First
of all, have descriptions of your products available, and an order form to download or
print out. The customer can print out the order form and mail it to you with a check or
with a credit card number and expiration date. Another avenue is to have customers e-mail
you what they want with their credit card number enclosed. You will still have to have a
credit card acceptance account set up to process this, but it is quicker, and the customer
is more likely to follow through.
Step 10: Advertising is more critical than you think - You have perfected
a great web site, made it very convenient for your customers to purchase an item on-line.
But, if you do not advertise through the search engines, spend some money to make sure
that your on-line business gets top recognition, your website will not be visited by
customers.
To back up your web ads, prepare brochures, business cards with your web address, and make
sure that you advertise in as many related publications as possible. Use television if you
can afford it. Also, do on-line searches for related products. For instance, if you are a
dentist, search for “dental hygiene, fillings, crowns, braces, bridges” in the
search engine key word area. This may pull up indices of dentists (or any other
business). If you find one, you can add your business to the service index, for a
fee or sometimes for free.
Sites to visit: www.successmagazine.com, www.guthy-renker.com, www.neip.com/, or type e-commerce in any of the search
engines. May your web business adventures all be prosperous!
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