Throughout the month of November we will be running our “SMB blog series.” While SMB traditionally refers to “Small/Medium Business,” here at Volusion it has come to mean something else: “Small Made Big.” This month we will be sharing resources, tips, stats, and inspirations to help you turn your small ecommerce endeavor into something greater- something BIG!

Wine entrepreneur, Gary Vaynerchuk, did an interview with BusinessWeek to discuss ideas on how to start a successful ecommerce business from his recent book “Crush It! Why Now Is the Time to Cash in On Your Passion.” I suggest you watch the interview for yourself, but if you’re pressed for time here are the key takeaways:

• Follow your passion
  “It’s insane to me to ask anybody to be what they’re not… Do what you know the best, love the most. That’s always going to be the answer to the thing that you have the best shot at winning at… Without the passion you’re not going to put in the 18 hours a day it costs to build a real business.”
• There’s a market for everything
  “I think there’s a market for everything… The debate that there’s not a business around it isn’t true because if you start really understanding how niche passions become, you can get down to very minute things.” (more…)
  
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Brands are a part of our lives and social networks are where we express our lives online; therefore, it’s logical to conclude that these spaces are hungry for brand conversations. Consider the following facts:

• 19% of young adults have added branded content to their social network profiles and 24% have recently added advertising clips*
• 60% of social media users interact with a company more than once per week*
• 93% of social media users think a company should have social media presence*
• 20% of tweets provide product or brand information**

Why Should You Care?

It was once assumed that there was no room for businesses in social media- that users would become disinterested in social networks if brands barged in, pandering to consumers like they do in other forms of media. While this may be true in some instances, the above statistics are evidence of the extent to which brand conversations are being adopted into social media spaces.

Social media users these days are starving for brand conversations- they want to compare brands and products, they want to share their stories, and they expect brands to be engaging them as well. With this in mind, there are a few things you should remember:

1. If social media users aren’t already talking about you, they will be soon!
   Social networks have made it easy to generate online buzz about any brand- big or small. If your brand isn’t being talked about yet online, give it time- it will be.
2. You’ll need to get comfortable seeing your name online.
   When your brand first starts appearing online in conversations, it can be easy to let it distract you. This sort of distraction can also happen if all of the feedback about your brand has been generally positive and all of a sudden you are seeing negative press spreading. Whether the opinions being expressed are positive or negative, keep one thing in mind: that is just a small subset of opinions. Only the most extreme ends of the spectrum are the ones that are going to be talking about you. No one is going to take the time to say something neutral like “Just received my order from Company.com It was fine- just as expected.” (more…)
   
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Throughout the month of November we will be running our “SMB blog series.” While SMB traditionally refers to “Small/Medium Business,” here at Volusion it has come to mean something else: “Small Made Big.” This month we will be sharing resources, tips, stats, and inspirations to help you turn your small ecommerce endeavor into something greater- something BIG!

It’s important for all business owners to stay on top of industry information, but as a small business owner, it’s even more important to understand the business landscape! Running a small business, you have less room for error so you’ll want to make sure you have as much information as possible when making decisions that will affect the future of your business.

Blogs are an excellent way to get the essential news, tips, resources, and advice you need to run your small online business! Here are some great business blogs to follow on a regular basis:

• Duct Tape Marketing
  Duct tape is an absolute essential, and so is this blog. Just look at the Duct Tape Marketing blog’s  extensive left-hand navigation of blog topics and you’ll know why it’s a must-read for small business owners.
• All Business- The Small Business Blog
  Small Business expert Reiva Lesonsky updates The Small Business Blog weekly with straightforward and passionate entrepreneur insight.
• Small Business Trends
  Like their name would imply, Small Business Trends keeps tabs on all of the breaking trends that impact every aspect of your business. They also maintain an extensive list of ongoing business events. (more…)
  
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In keeping with holiday traditions Shop.Org published the results of their holiday shopping survey. This year, many retailers and industry experts were hedging their bets that the slow economy would necessitate that retailers use extensive promotional offers to bring in customers and drive sales. What they found, however, was that savings didn’t top the list of what would drive purchase decisions this year.

Survey respondents were asked, “When choosing to make holiday purchases from a given online retailer, what is most important to you?” Their top five answers were as follows:

1. Being able to see the shopping cart total before checkout
   Surprisingly enough, consumers reported that the number one thing that would determine if they purchased from an online store or went elsewhere was whether or not they could see the total of their order before beginning to checkout.
   The ability for consumers to place items in their cart, and view their total after any additional fees (such as taxes and shipping and handling) before entering their personal information topped the list of factors that would make or break their purchase decision. This sentiment is likely due to the fact that being able to get an order total without having to enter any personal information makes comparison shopping faster and more secure for customers.
   Tip: If you’re requiring that customers sign up for an email list or register as a user before purchasing, you’ll definitely want to consider restructuring your checkout process before the holidays!
   
2. Clear product descriptions
   During the holidays consumers do not want to have to guess about the products they are browsing because they’re on a time schedule. They need to find which products will fit their specific gift-giving needs, order them, and get them in time for the holidays. If a product may not be exactly what they are looking for, they will not take a chance and order it anyway; they will go elsewhere and find a store that reassures them that they are getting exactly what they need.
   Tip: Try to include as many product specs as you can to influence customers that are looking for something in particular. Remember, product specs are not just limited to things like size dimensions and weight; they can also include things like age ratings for toys, size suggestions for apparel, type of accessories included, etc. (more…)
   
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Throughout the month of November we will be running our “SMB blog series.” While SMB traditionally refers to “Small/Medium Business,” here at Volusion it has come to mean something else: “Small Made Big.” This month we will be sharing resources, tips, stats, and inspirations to help you turn your small ecommerce endeavor into something greater- something BIG!

The business heads at AllBusiness remind us that marketing is essential for even the smallest businesses:

“Owners of home-based businesses sometimes view marketing as an unnecessary expense, but nothing could be further from the truth. Because a home-based business doesn’t have a storefront for passers-by to notice, with no opportunity to generate walk-in business, home-based businesses need marketing more than other types of businesses, not less. To not market your home-based business will almost certainly doom it to failure.”

Here are 8 simple tools to effectively market your small business:

1. Voicemail- Set-up your voicemail in a way that promotes your products and emphasizes your customer service.
2. Brochures- A brochure will help you promote your business to interested parties if you attend trade-shows or conferences.
3. Press Releases- If your business does something new or interesting, write a press release to let people know. Then utilize free PR sites to distribute your company’s press releases.
   Get Ideas from Volusion Press Releases
4. Case Studies (if appropriate)- In a case study, explain how your product works and what benefits it offers. Offer the case study free on your website to potential buyers to help establish yourself as a leading source of information in your industry. (more…)
   
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