Do you have an idea that keeps popping up, nagging at you to do something towards it but you keep pushing it off? Maybe your big idea keeps getting pushed to the back burner because you’re “too busy”. Or perhaps you aren’t getting around to taking action on your dream because of self-doubt, negative thinking or fear. [Read more…]

I used to be proud of a very popular post on my site about how easy it is to set up a Woo Commerce store. Now it makes me cringe because of how naïve I was when I wrote it. Today people who want an ecommerce site can be pretty naïve too. If you’re thinking about setting up an ecommerce site, keep reading to learn what I’ve found out since that first post. What I have to tell you will serve you well.

Note that Woo Commerce remains the best e-commerce solution for WordPress and powers over 40% of all online stores. It is easy to install and set up, but operating an ecommerce site is easy only for straightforward transactions. You will quickly run into complex issues around sales tax, shipping, credit card merchant accounts and security.

Once you have those things ironed out, don’t expect to relax. It’s not uncommon for ecommerce sites to have conversion rates of 1-2%. The median is 2.35%, and only the top 25% of accounts have more than 5.31. “Build it and they will come” worked for a mystical baseball field, but your ecommerce site is not a green patch in Iowa. You need a strategy that will generate decent revenue. You need my ABC approach to ecommerce success.

Arrange Your Ecommerce Website for Business

Build and Implement a Marketing Plan to Increase Traffic

Correct Your Sales Processes to Increase Your Conversion Rate

Take a close look at these steps before you undertake an Ecommerce for WordPress, and they will serve you well. [Read more…]

One of my former C-suite clients was hesitating getting her site completed to launch and I didn’t really know why until she told me she feared that she would get so may calls that she might need to hire an assistant first. I hated to tell her that unless she was Bono, her fear about being deluged with business unfortunately wasn’t realistic.

Putting yourself and your business out there online brings up people’s stuff. What will people think? is one of the most common reactions, we all have it. But it is what you do in the face of it that matters. The more someone is not comfortable with who they are or what they have accomplished in life, the bigger mistakes they may make when confronted with how people may judge them. [Read more…]

One of the things I love about websites is that they can help you make money. Even blogs that did not start out as businesses can use their sites to make money. But if you have a business, it is even more important to use it as more than a pretty advertisement and actually put it to work. Here I offer you three ways to make money from your website and would like to hear from you about additional methods you employ to make money from your site.

Sell your Services

If you have a blog or a website then I am presuming you have some expertise in your topic.

[Read more…]

Even if a website makes your business look good, it won’t necessarily work to convert your visitors into clients. Which is why I always tell my clients it is important to have more than a pretty website. If you want your website to work better than a glorified business card, you need a way to attract people to your site, a mechanism to capture leads and a system for nurturing those leads until a percentage of them are ready to buy from you. That is called a sales funnel.  I know it sounds complicated so I’m going to give you an example of the steps involved in building a simple online sales funnel. This is the same technique I’ve used to build my business at New Tricks.

What Exactly is a Sales Funnel?

A Sales Funnel is a [Read more…]

Let’s start with the supposition that you have a skill or expertise of some kind that you are passionate about and enjoy sharing with others. If you can connect with a significant number of people who share your interests or need your services and would be willing to pay for them, then as they say, “You are in Business!”.  And you’re in a position to get paid to do what you love.

If this sounds like you, here are five steps for you to take to get paid to do what you love.

• Create a website. This is the hub of your business and marketing, where people who need your expertise connect to you, your services or goods.
• Design your website. The point of the design needs to set you up as an expert and someone that they would like and trust.
• Outline your services. Offering specific services at various price points make it easy for people to see how to work with you and easy for you to handle those money conversations.
• Generate and nurture leads. Engage with people and and keep them connected until they are ready to buy.
• Let people know. Get the word out about your website/business. You can’t rely on, “Build it and they will come”.

[Read more…]

You’ve launched your business website. You like how it looks, your home page messaging seems on target and then crickets……

“Build it and they will come” is a nice idea but I’m afraid it’s going to take a bit more work than that.

Seems silly to say, but I’m going to say it anyway, to grow your business online, you’re going to need to do some marketing. The good thing is that these days, it takes time rather than money. You will need to figure out what actions you need to take that are right for your business, then do those things – consistently. When you begin to take the right kinds of actions you will start to see the magic.

So what exactly will you need to do?

First, you will need [Read more…]