Why Using A Professional Shopping Cart Is Important For Your Business?

If you think that running a business is easy, you probably have not experience many of the heartaches that new merchants or sellers have experienced. Most people have the mentality that if it's free, then go for it. However, at times, certain things will require you to pay a certain price so that you do not end up regretting later. Here are just some of them.

Free Versus Quality

While there are many online shopping cart software providers out there offering their product for free, you would really need to try out their software to see what it actually comes with. Because when you talk about free stuff, chances are there's a lot of stuff that is probably not included or the ecommerce solution could be a very simple product by itself. If you're just starting out, it would be good to try these solutions and then check out the free trial periods offered by professional shopping cart providers to see the difference. You will definitely be able to spot the difference in quality and what is being offered.

Your Business Needs To Look Good

No one is going to really buy from your site if your online store looks really cheap littered with advertisements every where. In order for customers to take you seriously and to even hang around long enough in your site, they would need to be captivated and interested in what you have to offer. That way, you stand a chance for them to consider buying from you. And you can't get good looking templates from cheap service providers. You need to pick a really good, reliable hosted shopping cart. Best would be to utilize the free trial periods that they offer to have a look at what are the templates that you can use for your business before deciding.

You Need The Right Tools

You won't be able to build anything much if you do not have access to the right tools and the right information. And besides, it will end up being a very frustrating experience and a complete waste of time if you discovered that whatever you've been building just isn't going to cut it. So stop wasting time and use a professional shopping cart. At least you can get in touch quickly with their customer service to ask all the questions for free.

Summary

So please don't take the easy way out. Choose your hosted shopping cart wisely. You will be glad that you did.

Harry Goldberg is a retired ecommerce entrepreneur who has built and sold over 100 online stores. He shares how important a professional shopping cart is to new merchants and sellers as he would not want them to waste time using a cheap solution that is not going to get them anywhere. He advises that it is better to choose a reliable hosted shopping cart after checking out what they have to offer during their free trial periods.

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Writing an eBook - The 5 Most Important Tips for Newbies

So you've decided you want to have a book. Good for you. Books and eBooks are amongst the best tools for marketing. Whether you are intending to sell them to make money, or giving them away to gain customers. Books and eBooks are amongst the best tools that you can get to build your business around.

But then comes the problem.

How do you write an eBook?

There are a number of different methods for writing an eBook or writing a book. Or more correctly for getting a book. Some are good. Some are not so good. However, for this article I'm going to focus on actually writing an eBook yourself.

Writing an eBook or any long work can be difficult. And working one's way through all of the advice out there can be just as difficult. So in this article, I'm going to give the newbie writer a hand up with five of the most important tips.

1. Always start with the end in mind

Yes, I know I've just quoted Stephen Covey. But the advice applies even more to writing a book or eBook. The effort you are about to undertake will vary considerably depending on the nature of the product. Many traditional eBooks were only 20 pages in length. Or even less. And people do continue to create report-sized eBooks despite the influx of longer Book-length versions. What you are going to use the book for will greatly affect the size and style of the book or eBook. It also affects how much, if anything, you are going to charge. Which in turn also has an effect on the size. Even the format (print or electronic) will be affected by what you are going to do with the book.

2. Always write with a system

Writing is a process. And like any other process, there are two major ways to do it. The successful way and the unsuccessful way. Writing a book length piece -- regardless of its form -- is not a trivial exercise. It's not like writing an essay or writing an article like this one. You need to follow a system based on the type of book you are writing. An attempt to just sit down and write will almost inevitably lead to failure.

3. Know your reader

Writing a book without a reader is like taking a trip without a destination. It can lead to some glorious surprises -- but more likely to a sad conclusion. There is no point in writing an eBook that no one will read. But to be read, a book needs to interest the reader. It needs to draw them into it. To accomplish that, a writer must know before they start what will interest the reader. And then they must write that book. Not the one they started to write.

4. Have a writer's hole.

Every writer has a set of conditions that help him create. Every writer has a set of conditions that prevent her creating. Most writers have multiple sets depending on the task. You need to have a place for each of the tasks in the process. It's easiest if they are all the same place, but they key is that you need to be able to start immediately without any inherent delays.

5. Have a set schedule

Motivation is probably the biggest issue that a writer has. With motivation, they will overcome anything in their quest of writing an eBook. However, it is a great deal easier if you have a specific chunk of time allocated for writing. Be firm. No interruptions. No disturbances. No intrusions. This is your writing time and you need to produce.

Do you want to learn how to write a book in 24 hours? Take my brand new free course here: http://www.learningcreators.com/

Do you want to read more free information like this? Go to my blog: http://www.learningcreators.com/blog/

Glen Ford is an accomplished consultant, trainer and writer. He has far too many years experience as a trainer and facilitator to willingly admit.

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Why Planning The Market You Want To Sell To Is So Important When Starting A Business Online

In our experience in the online or e-commerce business sector, we have spoken to many people who want to begin to trade online. One of the biggest failings of people wanting to succeed in this area is their failure to work out a detailed plan of how to go about it. Any planning must start with a clear understanding of the market to target.

The first thing to do must always be to start with the market that you wish to target and then "work back" in terms of what needs to be done to put in place the necessary machine to make it work. By machine we mean the means of bringing whatever it is you eventually decide t sell to the means of putting it in front of your potential customers.

What market should you decide to prospect in?

The best advice here is to remember the credo of many big companies in the marketplace. That is to "follow the money" Look for the areas where people are spending money especially in difficult economic times. This does not mean looking only in those areas where people are shopping only for bargains. In reality this can be very counterproductive as these areas are populated by customers who are very price sensitive.

Instead look for areas where people spend their money to make themselves better in recessionary times. Look for areas where people follow a passion or very strong interest. When times are hard, people want to be relieved from the day to day gloom. People will still spend money on their pets. In fact there is a growing trend to own pets in both the U.S. And the U.K. Recent statistics show that people still want to get married. Many people who are unemployed will still pursue their hobbies. A useful exercise is to actually walk down any high street on a Saturday and see what types of shop are busy.

Whilst there, take a look at any shop selling magazines or periodicals. As many people will initially buy a magazine on a topic that interests them or a new hobby they are thinking of taking up. What types of magazine are these shops devoting expensive shelf space to. Ask your local newsagent what types of magazine are popular at the moment. Talk to friends and neighbours and ask them how they have changed their shopping habits. This and other types of research is worth its weight in gold - quite literally.

Peter Robson is an accountant with over 30 years experience in the small company sector. With his business partner, Debbie Crossley he runs a company helping people set up and run e-commerce businesses. For more information go to http://www.yournichebusiness.co.uk/

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