Live Chat Software

articles: Getting Started In Ecommerce

Choosing the Right Logo for Your Online Store

logo design ecommerce

Your logo seems like such a small part of your online store. After all, your customers are looking at your products, right? A logo is an afterthought.

Your company’s logo is the most prominent form of branding your store will have. A logo can go on a receipt, a letterhead, a t-shirt, banner, as well as every page of your online store. It is also typically in one of the more prominent places website users look according to eye-tracking studies. It’s how your customers identify you.

What should you consider when choosing a logo?

  • Simplicity: It is important to stand out when creating a logo. However, if standing out means creating something that can’t be replicated across multiple mediums, you could be stuck with something that limits your marketing efforts. Be sure to use a logo that does not involve a photograph, intense drop shadows, and does not overwhelm the overall look and feel of your site. Such detail looks nice on a full scale, but tends to get blurred when an image is shrunken down.
  • Color Selection: Less can be more when it comes to color. Be sure to keep the colors to a minimum. One or two colors is ideal. People have cognitive and emotional responses to colors, so four or five can make for confusing branding. If you are having a hard time choosing, take a look at this article on the different emotional responses to colors in Entrepreneur. Remember also that your logo should look good in black and white as well, since this is how it would appear on a letterhead or a receipt.
  • Longevity: How long do you plan to keep this store? If you understand that what you sell will probably just be a passing fad, then creating a logo that is in line with current trends is okay. If you are wanting to keep your store long term, be sure to choose a somewhat classic style to ensure your branding has some staying power.

    • Your customers can’t see if you choose to wear a suit or t-shirt, cargo pants, and Birkenstocks. They don’t know if you or your employees are country or city dwellers. They see your site. Ensuring your logo matches what you are all about will set the cornerstone for creating a solid brand people will be able to trust.

    If you are a Volusion customer, you can purchase a logo design for $495.

    Michelle Greer, Marketing Specialist
    michelle_greer(at)volusion.com
    http://www.volusion.com

     

    April 21st, 2008

    Want to Get More Done for Your Business? Start Project, Finish Project, then Repeat

    small business multitasking Apparently if you can finish reading this blog article start to finish, you will get more done in the day.According to a study done by the American Psychological Association, the often heralded act of multi-tasking actually ends up costing us time instead of saving it.

    David Meyer, a researcher at the University of Michigan, explains how this process works. “Whether people toggle between browsing the Web and using other computer programs, talk on cell phones while driving, pilot jumbo jets or monitor air traffic, they’re using their ‘executive control’ processes — the mental CEO — found to be associated with the brain’s prefrontal cortex and other key neural regions such as the parietal cortex. These interrelated cognitive processes establish priorities among tasks and allocate the mind’s resources to them. For each aspect of human performance — perceiving, thinking and acting — people have specific mental resources whose effective use requires supervision through executive mental control,” says Meyer.

    Meyer did a study with Joshua Rubinstein of the Federal Aviation Administration and Jeffery Evans of the University of Michigan to monitor how the brain performs when multi-tasking. According to the study, “subjects lost time when they had to switch from one task to another, and time costs increased with the complexity of the tasks, so it took significantly longer to switch between more complex tasks. Time costs also were greater when subjects switched to tasks that were relatively unfamiliar. They got ‘up to speed’ faster when they switched to tasks they knew better, an observation that may lead to interfaces designed to help overcome people’s innate cognitive limitations.”

    Do you answer emails, chat with suppliers, track your profits on Quickbooks, and watch the news all at the same time? Give your brain a break by tuning into one project at a time. You’ll find you will have accomplished a lot more at the end of your workday.

    Michelle Greer, Marketing Specialist
    michelle_greer(at)volusion.com
    http://www.volusion.com

    Technorati Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

     

    April 10th, 2008

    Photoshop Unleashes Free, Web-Based Program for Editing Photos

    Have you wanted the photo editing tools of Photoshop but aren’t interested in investing in software you may or may not use? Adobe just launched Photoshop Express in beta. Photoshop Express will allow you to crop, rotate, tweak, and twirl your photos for free. Adobe even gives you 2 gigabytes of hosting space for your photos. You will not have to download anything, since Photoshop Express is web-based. If you decide you want more features, Photoshop Elements is the next step up and runs around $100. Here is a picture of the Photoshop Express interface:
    Photoshop Express Screenshot

    Michelle Greer, Marketing Specialist
    michelle_greer(at)volusion.com
    http://www.volusion.com

    Technorati Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

     

    March 27th, 2008

    Free Tools to Make Your Store’s Graphics Look Legit

    pug pic If you go to a site, and it doesn’t look right, you will probably go somewhere else. After all, if someone doesn’t care to make their website look good, what will their product be like?

    It’s not always a correct assumption, but it is one that we make.

    One way to give your website legitimacy is to make sure that all of the photos are the size they should be given the space available. If you focus on selling and are not a Photoshop master, don’t worry. There are tools out there that make this process easy.

    Resizr allows you to upload a photo and then choose the size and format you want it to be, rotate it, crop it, or make it black and white. If you don’t want to spend $100 for Photoshop Elements, Resizr is a good alternative for basic tasks such as these.

    Are you wanting to color correct one photo and take out red eye from another? If you only need to make a few changes, an alternative to Photoshop is Gimpshop. Although Gimpshop is not quite as user friendly as Photoshop, it does have a very similar feature set and should do most of the basic tasks needed to fix your graphics.

    Use the tools available to you to make your graphics legit. It’s crucial in closing the sale.

    Michelle Greer, Marketing Specialist
    http://www.volusion.com

    Technorati Tags: , , , , , , ,

     

    February 21st, 2008

    Ecommerce Trial: Quick Tips and Hints for Getting Started

    Hints for Your Ecommerce Trial:
    First and foremost, watch the training videos. While watching, make sure to take down notes and re-watch anything that you may be confused about. Also, our software is extremely feature-rich, with many different areas that affect the functionality of your ecommerce store. Don’t overwhelm yourself by opening too many windows in the administrative panel. This can cause unnecessary confusion & frustration. Take it one step at a time, doing only the basic and necessary steps in the beginning. You can learn about the other features found in our software after the most important steps are completed (setting up products, adding photos, etc.) It is best to first set up your categories & subcategories. After those are setup, you can then set up your products & attach them to the applicable categories and/or subcategories that you’ve already created.

    Quick Tip for Your Ecommerce Trial:
    Many clients find it beneficial to have two internet windows open at the same time when working with our software. Usually one window is used for your administrative area, while the other window can display your storefront. You can toggle between the two windows as you work. When you implement changes in your administrative panel, always hit the “Save Changes” button at the bottom of your screen after each and every change you make. After the change is made, you can then go to the window that displays your storefront. Hit the “Refresh” button in your web browser to refresh the screen, and then you can see how the new changes affect your storefront.

    Remember, anything done to your Free 14 Day Ecommerce Trial can be brought over once you go live. Here are a few things to remember once your site is online and ready to go:
    –Always make sure your contact info is accurate and up to date.
    –Quality product pictures make a huge difference, as well as accurate product descriptions. Make sure your site has both.
    –Adding Homepage Graphics and Category Graphics are a nice and easy way to jazz up your web site.
    –Allowing & displaying Customer Reviews can go a long way towards helping your potential customers feel confident when purchasing from your store. Enabling that feature will help give them the assurance they need to complete the purchase.

    And remember, our sales staff is always here to help answer any questions you may have during the process of setting up your trial. Best of luck to you and your online business!

    -Your Friendly Volusion eCommerce Consultant

    Get your Free 14-Day Ecommerce Trial now.

    Toll Free Number: 1-800-646-3517 ext. 2
    Sales E-Mail: sales@volusion.com

    Technorati Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

     

    July 17th, 2007

    Previous Posts