|
Developing a Successful E-Commerce Website
Copyright © 2003, Bill Platt thePhantomWriters.com
GOLD DISCOVERED IN CALIFORNIA!
On January 24, 1848 James Marshall discovered gold at Sutter's Mill, touching off the
California gold rush.
"Thus began one of the largest human migrations in history as a half-million people
from around the world descended upon California in search of instant wealth."
THE E-COMMERCE EXPLOSION OF 1993
1993 was the year that Netscape developed the first commercial graphical Internet
browser. This signaled the creation of the Internet, as we know it today.
Within a few years of the release of Mosaic, people began to rush into the Internet
space, many of them looking for their instant Internet wealth.
During the late 1990's, Initial Public Offerings were made by hundreds of Internet
companies, making some Dot Com owners and employees overnight millionaires. By March
of 2000, the red ink was on the wall, and the Dot Com's began to implode. Hundreds of
millions in venture dollars were lost.
Just like in California in 1848, not everyone made his or her fortunes. Most people
who participated in the California gold rush worked long hard days with very little to
show for their time and effort. The same fate met many on the road to Internet wealth.
LEAP FROG TO 2003
Over the last ten years, millions of people have poured into the web community, many
with e-commerce dreams. Most of those e-commerce dreams have been shattered -- in
some cases, so much so that the individuals have left the web community forever.
The Basic Lessons of the New Economy
In the early days of the Internet, self-proclaimed guru's promised that this medium was
the "New Economy" which operated by a different set of rules than regular offline businesses.
The early e-commerce guru's are now frowned upon as clowns who sold out investors.
Let us get one thing straight right now. Your online business must be operated in the
same fashion as an offline business. The same rules DO apply.
There are really only two facets of online business that are different from real world
business. One, your overhead may not be as high since you do not usually have a brick-and-mortar
storefront to maintain. Secondly, you may promote exclusively in the online environment.
To succeed in e-commerce, the following eleven steps are those that every business owner
should tackle when developing their new online business:
The Basic Online Business Development Checklist
1. Determine your products or services - Know what products and services you will be
offering and define the common thread that will tie all of your products and services together.
2. Research your products and services marketplace - Find out who your competitors are
and the differences in the product offerings they deliver to their customers. Find out
your competitors price points and value offerings. Find out who your customers are.
Find out how many customers exist in your market and how you can reach them.
3. Establish your site goals - Determine how you are going to use your website in the
quest to develop your customer base. Are you going to use it as a billboard on the
Internet Super Highway? Or, are you going to use your site to develop long-term
relationships with your customers? Or, do you intend that your site should provide
everything necessary for an immediate, one-time transaction?
| 
Free Downloads
RSS Feed