Success in On-Line Business

Here is a story of four traders who each started with a website built by us, retailing the same products Australia-wide from different cities. It's hard to compare businesses with different products in different markets, but these four businesses had all those factors in common.

Start-up:

• Trader A started with a website and a spare room at home, and became so successful that he needed to open a shop.

• Trader B (in another city) liked Trader A's website, so he also started with a website and a spare room at home, and became so successful that he also needed to open a shop.

• Trader C bought Trader A's website, shop lease and business and employed someone to run it for him.

• Trader D (in a third city) liked Trader C's website so started with a website and a spare room at home.

• Trader A, after a break, started a new website and a shop with the same products (but a different part of the city). He now has two retail stores plus he is starting a wholesale division.

• Trader B is very successful and happy with one shop.

• Trader C has closed down.

• Trader D is still struggling.

Observations:

Service: - Traders A and B are always available to give personal service and advice by phone or email on their products. They each told us that this was as well as their having full information on their websites and FAQ pages answering most questions. Trader C's employee was often out of the shop and left customer enquiries unanswered. Trader D was working elsewhere during the day, and relied on potential customers either placing orders on-line or leaving messages on an answering machine.

Range: - Traders A and B carried a full range of inventory. C advertised a full range but was often out of stock. D carried only a limited range.

Competition: - The same products were all stocked by large chain stores and other on-line traders, so the fact that Traders A and B prospered indicates that their personal service was able to attract customers away from the impersonal chain stores and other on-line traders.

In our own business of developing websites, even though large projects can and are carried out using email only, a number of clients have made contact with us by telephone in the early stages, even from 4,000 kilometres away. We have a lot of information on our website, but perhaps people need reassurance that there is another human, not a robot, at the other end. Different products have different issues. But the above story shows traders with a full range of products, who know their products and can offer personal service are ahead of others.

More information for small businesses is found at platypus websites - www.platywebs.com.au.

Ken McKay designed his first website in 1997 and, through Platypus Websites, has been building commercial websites since 1999.

Add to these social bookmarking sites:

Blizzard Internet Marketing hires Eric Fullerton Vail Daily News GLENWOOD SPRINGS — Blizzard Internet Marketing, Inc., a leading provider of professional online marketing solutions, modern Web design and vacation rental booking solutions, announces the addition of Eric Fullerton to their Glenwood Springs-based ... and more »

Los Angeles Internet Marketing Company, Avital Web, Provides Online ... Sacramento Bee LOS ANGELES, June 18, 2013 -- /PRNewswire/ -- Dentists have unique marketing needs, but many busy dentists simply do not know where to turn when it comes to building and optimizing their websites. Avital Web, Internet Marketing company ... and more »

Internet Marketing Pioneer Ben Bradshaw Named Among The Most Dynamic ... PR Web (press release) Internet Marketing Pioneer Ben Bradshaw Named Among The Most Dynamic Business Leaders in Australia in 2013. Founder of Australia's fastest growing search marketing company, Ben Bradshaw, has been named a finalist in the 2013 Australian Ernst ... and more »

School of Internet Marketing Instructor on The Marketplace Fairness Act Newsday Jonathan Goodman, Professor of School of Internet Marketing and President of Halyard Consulting, discussed the act, what it is and its history on his weekly podcast to help listeners understand how the bill would affect them. “Amazon is for it ...

Numero Uno Web Solutions, a Leading Toronto Internet Marketing Company ... Watch List News (press release) Numero Uno Web Solutions (NumeroUnoWeb.com), a fast-growing global Internet marketing firm that caters to small- and mid-size business-to-consumer companies, is releasing an expert opinion on a recent survey showing the increased use of ...

Netmark Resets Internet Marketing Conventions With New Market Research Daily Markets Netmark is poised to change the landscape of internet marketing this month with the release of a land mark study. This study used proprietary software that Netmark developed and was released in March of this year, to gather information on thousands of ... and more »

Clix Internet Marketing Firm in St. Louis Welcomes New Client Strategist STLtoday.com The premier St. Louis-based Internet marketing firm Clix welcomed a new team member, Alexis Milford. As a Client Services Assistant, Milford will work with businesses from a range of different areas in the United States including Missouri, California ...

Dive Deep! Attend an Internet Marketing Workshop @ SMX East Search Engine Land International Search Summit: Extend your international reach with tactics from a stellar global panel of internet marketing experts. Attendees will leave with real, actionable solutions to their most burning questions on international SEO, PPC and ... and more »

Marketing Success Leads to the Formation of a New Internet Marketing Company PR Web (press release) Marketing Success Leads to the Formation of a New Internet Marketing Company. The success of Josh Caldwell's real estate ventures, Caldwell Holdings and his successful marketing of the Western PA Real Estate Investors Association, have evolved into a ... and more »

Internet Marketing to Account for More Than 50% of Creston Sales Wall Street Journal LONDON--Advertising and public relations group Creston PLC (CRE.LN) said Wednesday Internet-based activities will account for more than half of revenue in the current financial year, after strong digital growth helped it post a slight rise in pretax ...