This is a short follow up post to my article on Are Coupon Code Searches Costing Our Online Store Money?. I got a lot of good responses and just wanted to summarize some of the main points. Ultimately, I decided to make a small change to our store based on one particular reader’s input and I wanted to talk about the effect this change had after just 2 days of operation. Usually, two days of testing means absolutely nothing but in this case, it firmly cemented in my head what I needed to do.

From the comments, pretty much everyone agreed that as a customer, seeing a coupon code field and not actually having a coupon code carries a negative psychological effect on the whole shopping experience.

For one thing, most of you that responded stated that seeing an empty coupon field is an instant signal to go off …

Every couple of months, I take an in depth look at the search keywords that people use to arrive at our online store. In addition, I also use keyword tools to see whether people are doing searches for our business directly.

Photo By MissMessie

Much to my surprise, I found that some amount of searches were for the term “Bumblebee Linens coupons” or “hanky coupons bumblebee” etc… I guess it’s only natural that shoppers search for coupons.

But the truth is that we rarely give out coupons yet we prominently display a coupon code field during checkout. The fact that customers are looking for coupons makes me wonder whether they are prematurely exiting the checkout process in search for nonexistant discounts.
Why We Don’t Issue Coupons Very Often
There are different schools of thought when it comes to coupons. Some companies always have coupon codes outstanding as a way to entice customers …

Adwords, like any tool, is a double edged sword. If used improperly, it can flush your money down the drain. But used correctly, it can be a very powerful driver of sales to your online store. The main problem however, is that most new users fall into the money wasting category.

One of the biggest mistakes that newbie Adwords users make is to misuse broad matching keywords with their campaigns. To illustrate my point, I’d like to tell you about some of the boneheaded mistakes that I made early on with our Adwords campaigns.

As I mentioned in some of my previous articles on How To Use Adwords The Right Way With Your Online Store and The Realities Of Using Adwords Effectively, finding the right keywords to use is an iterative process that requires patience and the right tools. And the only way to refine your campaigns properly …

Many personal finance and “get out of debt” blogs often advise their readers to avoid the use of credit cards at all costs. For some people, it’s all too tempting to buy more than you need and waste money on frivolous items when all you have to do is hand over a piece of plastic. By paying for everything in cash, you force yourself to correlate the cost of the items that you buy with actual dollar values which in theory helps curb your spending.

Photo By Andres Rueda

While these mind games work for the average individual, when it comes to running a small business, credit cards are an absolute must. My personal opinion is that if you lack the self control to watch your spending, then you have no business becoming an entrepreneur either. When running a small business, it’s important to watch what you …

It has been a while since I’ve done a competitive analysis of the various shipping carriers so I thought I’d do a quick update. With the United States Postal Service jacking up their rates every 4-6 months, what used to be the most economical shipping method is now priced inline or even more expensive than some of the more reliable carriers like UPS or FedEx.

Photo By Atibens

Because there are so many different shipping variables and options to choose from, it’s difficult to make an apples to apples comparison without locking down some of the basic parameters. For the purposes of this article, I am going to assume the following.

A 14in X 12in X 3in package is being shipped cross country from California to a residence on the east coast. Incidentally, this is the same size as a USPS Medium Priority Mail Flat Rate Box.
Out of the …

Every 2 or 3 months, I set aside a couple of hours to analyze the competitive landscape for our online wedding linens store and to see what our competitors are up to. And in most cases, it’s business as usual. Sometimes a new competitor pops up and a new one goes under. Sometimes I find some new products that I feel that our store should carry. But for the most part, things are pretty calm.

Photo by the Justified Sinner

This past week however, I noticed that one of our old competitors completely revamped their website and started slashing prices on similar products. When I told my wife about this, she seemed very concerned. After all, how could our little online store possibly compete against a store with such low prices? Unless they were purchasing their products at a much lower cost (unlikely), …

I was discussing the merits of using Adwords the other day with a few buddies of mine when I couldn’t help but notice the skeptical looks on their faces. In fact, both of my friends were quite shocked when I told them how much we were paying Google every month to use their Adwords service.

I must say that I was a bit surprised by their reaction. Even after explaining to them that our return on investment for Adwords was quite high, they still didn’t see the value. After all, they had both dabbled with Adwords in the past and felt as though it was a complete money pit.

So I dug a little deeper and asked to look at one of their accounts and soon everything became clear. There were several things that they were not doing correctly and they were optimizing for the wrong metrics.
A …

Embrace disaster. When things go wrong and your customer is angry, take advantage of the situation and make things right. Don’t make excuses and take responsibility! After all, the reputation of your online business is defined by how you deal with adversity and unfortunate circumstances rather than how you handle day to day operations.

Photo by Alan Clark Design

Take our online store as an example. 90% of our customers complete their purchase from our online wedding linens store without ever contacting us. And whenever this happens, it’s difficult to make a strong impression. We have not personally interacted with the customer in any way and the point of sale is just another sale. Sure, the customer might like our products and they might mention our business to a few of their friends. But most likely, their purchasing experience just blends in …

While our online wedding linens store doesn’t get a ton of inquiries, we do receive our fair share of customer calls throughout the day. And after you’ve answered the phone long enough, you begin to develop a certain sixth sense about the type of customer you’re dealing with.

My wife and I have only been running our business for 3 years but I would say that I can get a pretty accurate read of the customer within the first 30 seconds of the conversation. And within that 30 seconds, I can usually tell whether the customer will make a purchase and whether the order size will be decent.

Photo by KrystalChu

You Can’t Always Listen To The Customer!
What’s funny is that I’ve always been told that the number one rule of customer service is to always listen to the customer. But the reality is that sometimes the …

This is part 6 of a 7 part guide on how to start a small business.

This is part 5 of a 7 part guide on how to start a small business.

Given enough time and hard work, your business will eventually take off and you’ll find yourself needing additional help in order to expand. If you are looking to hire your own workforce, there are many things you need to consider. For starters, there are 2 basic types of help that you can hire, employees and contractors. And ultimately, the type of workers you choose to hire can have far reaching implications for your small business.

Small Business Startup Guide

Introduction
Part 1: Deciding On A Corporate Structure
Part 2: Small Business Trademark Issues
Part 3: Small Business Regulations and Permits
Part 4: Small Business Taxes
Part 5: Small Business Hiring
Part 6: Small Business Bookkeeping
Part 7: Small Business Resources

Hiring Help Is Not That Straightforward.
This portion of the guide will help to define the difference between contractors and employees along with the …

I was helping my mom update the computers in her office the other day when I noticed how inefficiently she was storing and backing up her computer files. On her shelf were a plethora of external USB hard drives all hooked up to a single computer. Whenever she created an important file that required a backup, she would manually copy the file across several of the hard drives so that she had multiple redundant copies. Whenever she needed to use a different computer, she would manually unplug the desired external hard drive and hook it up to the new computer. Finally once she was done, she would then return the drive back to her main computer where she would perform her manual backup procedures again.

Does this sound tedious to you? This system of managing and backing up files is all fine and good as long …

Most small business startup books recommend that you obtain a 1800 number for your business, especially if you are running an eCommerce store.

But these days, long distance calling is mostly free or extremely cheap. In today’s age of cell phones and free unlimited long distance calling, is having a 1800 number really a necessity anymore? Should encouraging more customers to contact your business via phone rather than going online to make a purchase be one of your goals?
Do The Benefits Still Apply?
So what is so compelling about having a 1800 number? I’ve compiled a list of the commonly perceived benefits of having a 1800 number below. The real question is whether they all apply to your business. Only you can be the judge.

Increased Sales – According to the books (and common sense), if a customer is given a choice between dialing a 1800 …

One of the downsides of running our online wedding linens business is that we have to carry inventory and manage product shipping and storage. It is unfortunate, but there’s no way around it because we need to have our products on hand and ready to ship in order to fulfill orders in a timely manner.

My wife and I had thought about outsourcing our shipment and fulfillment operations for quite a long time but the personalization and customization portion of our business prevents us from doing so. In any case, before we came to this conclusion, we did a good amount of research in this area and thought that it might be beneficial to pass along some of our findings to other would be shop owners.
Can You Outsource Your Inventory And Fulfillment?
The answer is a resounding yes, but only if your business fits within the following parameters.
For example, …

I like to perform a thorough price comparison and competitive analysis before I buy most things. Especially when shopping online, I tend to browse many online stores before finally choosing where to make my purchase.

Sometimes in the middle of shopping, I get sidetracked by my daughter. Sometimes I have to do some chores or run a quick errand. Sometimes, I get last minute jitters and abandon my shopping cart even after I’ve entered in all of my information.
How This One Store Got My Business
The other day, I spent over an hour online shopping for baby shoes not realizing how daunting of a task it was and how expensive these tiny kids shoes could be. Some of these little miniature baby shoes cost as much as my adult shoes!

Anyways over the course of my shopping experience, I must have hit at least 10 online stores, …

Sometimes a seemingly insignificant change to your website or online strategy can pay huge dividends. And in many cases, the answer to improving sales requires very little effort to implement.

In this article, I’m going to discuss the slight tweaks and minute changes that we made to our website that had a dramatic impact on our business.

Before I get into the guts of what we did, I just want to stress the importance of obtaining quality metrics for your website. It is especially vital that you accurately track the way a customer navigates through your online store. Do they leave your website from a particular page? Are they having problems finding a particular product?

Photo by Gare and Kitty

As long as you periodically evaluate how your customer interacts with your products and website, you can usually spot and make changes to allow them to find your products …

Once your business is up and running smoothly, it is surprising how easy it is to become complacent and allow your business to stagnate. Especially if you are already in the green and making a decent amount of profit, human nature inclines us to sit back, relax and just watch the money roll in.

On the flip side, your business can also stagnate even though you are working your butt off. One of the easiest traps to fall into when your business is extremely young is to work yourself to death just maintaining the business that you have no time to expand.

Our Story

Photo By Raindog

My wife and I fell into both of these traps in the course of running our online wedding linens business. Early on with our small business, my wife and I spent so much time trying to keep up with order fulfillment that …

I must admit that customer service does not come naturally to me. When it comes to dealing with customers, I always feel like I have to become someone that I’m not, someone who is infinitely patient, helpful and cheerful all at the same time.

For me, the hardest part of customer service is remaining polite and keeping my big mouth shut even though the customer might be a complete jerk.

The good news is that I think I’ve gotten much better over time. Since I’ve been answering phone calls for our online store for quite a while now, I think I’ve finally gotten the hang of it. I’ve learned what to say and what not to say when dealing with certain customers. I’ve learned to control my emotions in the presence of irate customers. I’ve learned how to avoid getting myself into sticky situations.

Photo By …

Every entrepreneur has gone through it at least once. It’s not pleasant. It’s not fun. But things will go wrong and you will feel like quitting.

Especially early on when your business is fragile, it doesn’t take much to get yourself into a rut. It could be something as simple as dealing with an irate customer or losing a big deal or contract with a large account. Maybe the lack of profitability and frustration has finally caught up to you. Whatever it is, you are going to want to throw in the towel and you’ll have to dig deep to snap yourself out of it.
Our Story

Photo By oOOJasonOOo

With our online business, my wife and I fell into a deep rut a month after the launch of our business when no one was visiting our online store. We had the merchandise ready. The …

One of the many worries of starting your own business is getting stomped on by large hulking competitors in your market space. Large companies have more money, more manpower and more resources so how could a small business possibly compete?

First of all, if you are trying to go head on against a large company, you are probably going to lose. Ever watch the movie 300? You can’t just charge in head first against your larger brethren and hope to succeed. You need to take advantage of your small, agile size and use guerrilla tactics to make your business stand out.

Every small business has many advantages over its larger competitors. Here are some things that you can do with your small business to give yourself an edge.

Photo By Kimberley

Give Personalized Service
Large businesses will always have issues providing personalized service to their customers. With fleets and …