Ecommerce Beginnings - Part XIII

Welcome to this weeks' Ecommerce Beginnings article.

If you remember, in my posting two weeks ago I discussed some upcoming changes that I am working on to improve the “Original New England Enterprises” website and also announced that we are working on a new website “Best New England Made” that will showcase the “Made in New England” Wholesale Product Theme that will provide a free, comprehensive database of New England manufacturers. The goal is to be able to provide a complete set of services on our sites that will allow one to:

• build a complete ecommerce business
• have access to a unique, focused and in-demand product supply
• have the complete tools required to effectively market this business online
• allow a person to be one of the top 1% of the people who know how to sell online

Well, our plans have changed somewhat from what was originally stated. You know how people always refer to Spring as a time of rebirth, for new things, etc. Well, we decided to get some outside opinions and to personally re-review the entire content of and the message that was being sent by each of our online entities. We are asking ourselves if they make sense, how we can improve the message, the overall design, the content, etc. to help our customers to become successful with their online business. The good thing, while this review is still underway, is that we have decided on some major changes. The one unfortunate part is that the expected release of the new “Best New England Made” site has been pushed back. Our present goal, if all goes according to plan, is to release our revamped business websites at one time (May 1^st is our goal!)

We’re really excited about all of these changes. We’ll keep you updated with the progress of these changes during the next few weeks as the target release date of May 1^st approaches.

As always, I wish you the best in your success!
We hope you found this weeks' article helpful. Make sure you stop back each week for our latest installment. Take care and have a great week!
Mark@original-new-england-enterprises.com

Ecommerce Beginnings - Part XII

Welcome to this weeks' Ecommerce Beginnings article. Most people who use the internet are aware of the explosion of the popularity of online video and audio, i.e. YouTube, Facebook, itunes, etc.

Well, as I suspect most online business owners do, I am constantly looking for ways to improve the marketing of my website. I did this by investigating the different options that are available for video and audio. I quickly dismissed the idea of a video for now. I just didn’t think that I would be able to make something that would pass for a professional marketing vehicle for my site. Instead I decided to record an audio file that would review and explain all of the key features that are offered on my website.

Step I – Develop a Script
This initially took me a couple of hours. I let it sit for a day and went back to review it. I ended up making multiple edits and then left it for one more day.

Step II – How to record the Script?
I really had no idea how to accomplish the recording of this script. So, I did what a lot of people must do and I did a Google search for information. I would need a program to record the script and a microphone to hook up to my computer. I was able to locate and borrow a microphone from a friend. Based on my research this saved me between $16 and $29. They are available at places like Best Buy, Staples, etc. and it seems the most popular ones are by Logitech. My friend told me there was a recording program that was standard on MS Windows. I found it in programs – accessories – entertainment – sound recorder. The only problem was that it only recorded for 60 seconds. My script was way to long for that. This prompted me to do another Google search for: "free music recording software". There were what seemed like hundreds of results. I really don’t know how I decided on the one that I did, but I am glad I did. I located a freeware program named Neosound v1.2.4 at the following website: http://audacity.sourceforge.net There was one small problem with this software. It doesn’t allow you to save a file as an mp3. In order to do this the program actually displayed a message that told me that I needed to download a file named: Lame 3.97. Back to Google for another search. After doing this I was now able to save my recording as an mp3 file. I was making progress!

Step III – Placing the mp3 file on my Website
I found an inexpensive program named: "Skinnable Big Button Welcome Message" for this that is offered through a company named Allwebco. Allwebco offers hosting services, full featured web templates and many free and/or inexpensive website add-ons. Their website link is: http://www.allwebco.com. All you have to do is pay $12, download the file to your desktop and install it. Then follow the instructions to install the files into your website. That’s it and, in addition, they give you around 12 different sets of skins to use if you don’t like the stock set. (see the notes below from allwebco’s site)

Skinnable Big Button - Hook a microphone to your computer. Record any message. Convert this to an mp3 file (help included) and easily add this to any website or template.Add a Flash sound message or mp3 music file to any website or template. Compatible in all newer web browsers this download includes: One message button, 24 different skins, all PSD files and step by step instructions to add this to any website. Includes help with converting .wav files. Flash software is not required to change skins.

Step IV – FTP your new files onto your Server
All that is left now is to upload your new files and you’ll be all set. Even I, the non-technical person that I am, was able to accomplish these tasks. All it took was a little bit of research and a lot of patience when I was recording the script (my phone rang in the middle, the dogs barked, the doorbell rang, etc. – no kidding). I finally waited until real late one night when everything was quiet to do this.

As always, I wish you the best in your success!
We hope you found this weeks' article helpful. Make sure you stop back each week for our latest installment. Take care and have a great week!
Mark@original-new-england-enterprises.com

Ecommerce Beginnings - Part XI

Welcome to this weeks' Ecommerce Beginnings article. I must admit that I have been playing a little bit of hooky lately. I guess I just needed a little bit of "mental" as well as "physical" rest. To do this I escaped to the wilds of New Hampshire during the past week to do some skiing. I brought one of my daughters along to make it a father/daughter trip also. The conditions and the company were excellent. As they say: "Just what the doctor ordered".

The point behind this story is that I believe most of us can relate to the fact that our lives are much more fast paced, no hyper-paced, than they used to be! The reasons for this are varied, but the fact remains that they are. Many of us are overworked and stressed out with what seems like a million things to do and not enough time to do them in. Can you relate to this? Does this describe your life? Unfortunately, it seems like this is the norm for us. One area that highlights this frenetic, fast paced life is the in-box of your email account. This is the new home (vs. the nightly dinnertime phone calls) where we are constantly bombarded with all sorts of solicited (non-spam) and unsolicited (spam) information.

If you are like me, most of the time you probably don't bother to open and/or read the majority of these emails. You quickly reach for the delete key and poof - they are instantly gone!

My advice to you, as hard as it may be to take with the limited time we all seem to have, is to take a couple of extra minutes to screen these emails. The reason I am recommending this to you is that buried amongst the majority of plain old garbage can be some real gems. Just like the old-time miners sifting through tons of dirt to get to the small bit of gold. I have discovered a few of these gems that contain excellent, quality information, in just this manner, when I wasn't looking for them.

Below are a couple of the ecommerce advice gems that I have come across in the past few months, by following my own advice, that may be of interest to you:

Practical Ecommerce

Practical eCommerce magazine was launched in July 2005 by Kerry and Joy Murdock in Grand Junction, Colorado, USA. Its mission from the start has been to provide down-to-earth articles and advice to help smaller businesses succeed online. This editorial content was originally delivered primarily through a monthly, printed magazine, but it now (2007) includes this website, podcasts, and an email newsletter (EcommerceNotes), as well as the printed magazine, which is now bi-monthly.

Real folks are behind this company. We are a small business ourselves, and we take seriously the notion of helping other small businesses decipher the complexities of migrating online or improving their online operations.

Web Marketing Today

Dr. Ralph Wilson formed Wilson Internet Services at the very beginning of the commercial Internet in 1995 to help small to medium businesses and organizations learn how to use the Internet effectively.

As always, I wish you the best in your success!

We hope you found this weeks' article helpful. Make sure you stop back each week for our latest installment. Take care and have a great week!

Mark@original-new-england-enterprises.com