You will have several important questions to address honestly here.

Does the web make sense for your business? The web has an immense power to transform a business. With that said, sometimes a product just doesn’t seem to lend itself to online sales — at least at first glance. Businesses like amusement parks, bowling alleys and utility companies either require the customer to be on-site or offer a product that is largely intangible.

But even for those types of businesses, customers have come to expect an online presence. A company can sell tickets or offer discounts through its website, show images and videos of its facilities, set up online games that relate to and increase demand for its offerings, or enable customers to make payments over the internet.

What are other companies doing? Just as with their brick-and-mortar stores, online entrepreneurs must understand the competition if they hope to survive. A competitive analysis will help equip online business owners with the information needed to promote and differentiate their online businesses.

The leap for entrepreneurs who open their doors on the internet, however, is learning not just what other competitors in their physical geography are doing to spark sales, but also what the competitors who share their cyberspace are offering. Say you want to sell beauty products online.

A keyword search for “lipstick” in Google, eBay and online shopping portals offers a glimpse at which competitors come up most often and highest on the list. Then, a look at those competitors’ product selections, pricing structures, promotional offers and target audiences can help shape your own storefront to stand out from the gaggle of competitors.

This can be a time-consuming process, but it’s invaluable research that costs hours rather than dollars. In this instance, time is money that will be returned many times over.

If there are already businesses in this space, it’s important to differentiate. Perhaps offer a more comprehensive set of products or services. Maybe the business will have a customer service or technology advantage, or consider tailoring the product to a niche market?

What It Takes to Go Online

There are two resounding traits that help entrepreneurs overcome the challenges of starting a business and reaping the rewards of their labor. Just like opening a physical store, setting up shop online takes passion and demands a high level of optimism. The passion is the desire on the part of the entrepreneur to find something he or she loves to do and make a career out of it.

Positive thinking allows a person to stay focused in the face of cynicism from banks, peers and competitors. A “yes, I can” attitude quickly translates to “Wow, it’s working” as an online business opens its doors to the world.

Moving a business online doesn’t have to be an arduous process. To set up an online business, entrepreneurs should apply their passion and positive thinking to three key areas:

1. The planning process. Everything an entrepreneur needs to know, consider and decide before starting an e-commerce site.
2. Developing a marketing strategy. Determining how to get the word out and how to maintain good relationships with customers.
3. Understanding technology needs. The tricks and tools that make it all happen.

First and foremost, every small-business owner needs a well-thought plan. The internet is the best place to find information, learn from peers and effectively manage resources to formulate a plan that is perfect for a particular business and its owner.

The plan should look at every aspect of the proposed online business with a critical eye.

As with any business move or expansion, considering an online presence can raise a sometimes dizzying list of questions for an entrepreneur. Exactly what must be put in place to make it happen? How does an online presence change the market for the business? What are competitors doing? How will people shop? What kind of security is required? How will customers pay online?

Why Go Online?

The most amazing aspect of e-commerce is its ability to impact sales and marketing efforts immediately. By going online, suddenly a neighborhood bakery or a home based consulting service expands its reach to a national, or even international base of potential customers. Web-based sales know no international boundaries.

Forrester Research, which analyzes online trends and statistics, projects the online retail market for U.S. businesses to be $230 billion by the end of 2008. That’s a full 10 percent of anticipated total U.S. retail sales.

Not only is the internet increasing the number of potential customers that a company can reach, but it’s also driving profitability, according to research from IPSOS, commissioned by PayPal. The survey discovered that, far from being an extra “expense,” internet operations boosted businesses’ bottom lines. Of small businesses that sell online,:

• 64 percent said the internet has increased their revenues or sales
• 48 percent felt the internet helped to expand their geographic reach in the United States
• 73 percent saved money by decreasing administrative costs

Cash flow is of significant importance to a new business–online or brick and mortar. The study found that small business owners who conduct business online feel it allows them to receive payments faster and conduct business easier.

When entrepreneurs move online, they establish themselves on a level playing field with larger competitors. On the internet, even the smallest online retailer can be as attractive and as functional as the largest big box store–without the need to have a physical presence on every street corner. Often, small shops project a “boutique” feel that attracts shoppers, who perceive smaller businesses as more distinctive than larger stores.

Turning Shoppers into Buyers

Online shoppers are finicky. Those who aren’t experienced customers–who haven’t yet discovered the convenience of two-day delivery or easy returns–tend to be skittish during the entire shopping experience. A well-planned, secure shopping cart should make the checkout process easy, clear and flexible for the shopper.

Jupiter Research found that 54 percent of internet shoppers have stopped buying from certain online stores in the middle of a transaction because they have concerns about service, delivery, shipping or handling. Other estimates range as high as 60 to 90 percent abandonment of shopping carts on some e-commerce sites.

Sometimes it’s because of confusion; other times, frustration over the process or lack of information. Some shoppers just use the cart as a place to hold items they’re considering and, in the end, never buy.

When setting up an online shopping cart for a business, consider the following tips:

• Don’t force the shopper to go through a lengthy process of logging in, creating passwords and filling out voluminous forms. Privacy issues and complexity of the process can lead the buyer to end the process before even registering.
• Include a link to a page detailing customer service policies, such as warranties, delivery guarantees, return policy, and shipping fee structure.
• Provide “help” tips, a frequently-asked-questions (FAQs) page and a toll-free phone number for consumers to use if they have problems or questions relating to checkout.
• Offer assurance that credit card information is protected through encryption and a highly secure online transmission process.
• Allow customers to call up information about the items being purchased without having to leave the checkout page, with links to windows that contain the product information page.
• Make it easy for buyers to add or remove items, change quantities, or select different models and styles of a product once they are on the checkout page.
• Indicate the progress buyers are making during the checkout process, revealing the number of steps involved, showing which step they are on at any given time and allowing them to return to earlier steps to make changes.
• Show the shipping costs at the front end of the checkout process. For some products, these costs determine whether the shopper will buy online and the quantity they will buy.
• Clearly indicate a button or link to move on to the next checkout step and make it more prominent than other links on the page.
• Provide multiple options for payment, including credit cards, checks or an online payment service.

Cash flow can make or break a company, especially in its early stages. That’s why many online businesses often encourage credit card payments, although it’s also helpful to give buyers alternative opportunities to pay with checks and money orders. Offering a variety of methods for shoppers to pay online increases the opportunity for these buyers to pay in the method they prefer.

Accepting payments online increases revenue and cash flow because money goes into the account immediately. Even more compelling is that there are more than 1.2 billion consumer credit cards worldwide. Credit card payments aren’t returned for non-sufficient funds–and credit card holders tend to do more impulse buying than those who write personal checks.

Businesses have several options when setting up an e-commerce function and accepting payments online, which include:

Processing payments through a merchant account. To accept credit cards online, a small-business owner must first apply for a bank merchant account and then find a way to process transactions. At a brick-and-mortar store, the processing takes place when a card is swiped through the card reader. At an online store, the processing is done when a shopper types in the credit card information, which is then verified by a merchant account processor.

During most online checkout flows, a shopper is asked which method of payment is preferred. If the shopper selects a form of credit card payment, he or she will be redirected to a secure page within the store to enter the credit card information. After the shopper selects “submit,” the credit card information will be sent to the correct merchant account, where it will be verified and either accepted or denied by the merchant account service provider.

Merchant accounts may have drawbacks for some small-business owners, however. Most charge set-up, monthly and per-transaction fees. Additional fees may also be involved if a business owner has a pre-existing account for a physical store, and wants to convert that account to accept payments online. Moreover, some banks won’t approve small online businesses for merchant accounts, considering them high-risk operations.

It may take 30 days or more for a merchant account to be approved and the integration process can be burdensome for business owners to do it themselves. Fortunately, the growth of online sales has given rise to an entire industry of merchant service bureaus that will grant a merchant account and everything else needed to accept online payments.

Integrating an online payment service. If a business doesn’t have access to a merchant account or the fees are just too high, one solution is an online payment service, like PayPal. PayPal allows businesses to accept credit-card transactions and payments safely and conveniently. It also allows buyers to send payments directly from a bank account.

When a buyer indicates the desire to use PayPal during checkout, that person will be directed to sign into or sign up for a PayPal account to then complete the transaction.

For merchants there may be benefits for offering PayPal. There are no setup charges, monthly charges, minimums or gateway fees. PayPal charges a per-transaction fee, which ranges from 1.9 percent to 2.9 percent plus 30 cents per transaction. PayPal also actively fights chargebacks on behalf of online merchants. If a transaction meets all of the requirements of PayPal’s Seller Protection Policy, then the merchant will not be liable to for the chargeback by the customer.

Ensuring Transaction Security

Online entrepreneurs have a responsibility to do all they can to ensure their websites offer a safe shopping experience. But they don’t need to be information technology security experts to have a secure site–the techies already have developed security measures that any online small business can adopt.

There are services in this space that bring together all the security measures that an online small business needs to have in place. PayPal enables businesses to set up a website that accepts credit cards without seeing or having to store the account numbers of its customers.

This makes buyers feel even safer because they don’t have to share their personal or financial information online. Gateway services like Authorizenet.com, CyberSource or Chase Paymentech Solutions will also handle credit card and electronic check payments securely.

Developing a Privacy Policy

Consumers’ fears of identity theft and the aggravation over spam make privacy policies essential for online businesses. Customers expect merchants to boldly exhibit their privacy policies on their stores’ sites, with links from the catalog pages and the shopping cart.

A privacy policy should describe how data, such as the customer’s personal contact information and financial details, is collected and used. Consumers should be given the opportunity to opt out of having their information sold or distributed and of receiving e-mail newsletters or other company communications.

An online business must post its privacy policy–and stick to it! This type of policy shows that the business takes customer privacy seriously and will use information it obtains in a responsible way.

Businesses can obtain a “seal of approval” for their privacy policies through a company called TRUSTe. For an annual fee, this California-based organization awards use of its seal to e-commerce sites that adhere to its privacy principles and comply with its verification and dispute-resolution processes. If a business doesn’t have a privacy policy, TRUSTe offers models that can be adapted and even a privacy policy writing “wizard” to help with the process.

Starting an online store may seem like a daunting challenge, but the reality is it’s never been easier. Today, many of the processes of moving a business online have become standardized and even automated. Business owners discover an entirely new meaning in their business lives when–through the process of building an online store–they realize they’ve optimized their new-found markets and won the trust of internet consumers.

The Internet, in fact, can work for any entrepreneurial personality. If an entrepreneur thinks life is just a bowl of cherries, we’ll find him selling cherry bowls. Never have entrepreneurs had such a clear, easy and relatively inexpensive opportunity to reach a global marketplace for so many products and services. It’s amazing how a business can thrive when its customers only need to lift a finger.

10 Steps to Move a Business Online

1. Competitor landscape review. Look at competitors online and decide how you will differentiate yourself from them.
2. URL. Register a domain name.
3. Web development. Hire a web site developer or buy web development software, then determine site design and navigation.
4. Technology. Buy a server or find an outsourced Internet service provider.
5. Payment. Find a secure online order solution, including shopping cart and payment service.
6. Protection. Fight viruses and protect the site and computers with anti-virus software.
7. Marketing. Develop a marketing plan, which includes determining and publishing customer service policies.
8. Contracts. Establish alliances with crucial partners, such as product suppliers, search engine optimizers, fulfillment services, shippers, web technicians, marketing or public relations firms.
9. Product. Create an online catalog or listings.
10. Maintenance. Keep inventory, catalogs and listings up to date for your customers.

When you only have a few employees and a few customers, it’s easy to stay on top of things. As you add more customers and and employees, it gets quite a bit harder. You actually create the potential for growth at the same time you’re creating the potential for disaster.

Creating a customer service policy and sticking to it can make it easier on you.

Take these steps to help you ensure that your clients receive excellent service every step of the way.

1. Put your customer service policy in writing. These principles should come from you, but every employee should know what the rules are and be ready to live up to them. This doesn’t have to be elaborate. In fact, keep it as simple as you possibly can.>
2. Establish support systems that give employees clear instructions for gaining and maintaining service superiority. These systems will help you outservice any competitor by giving more to customers and anticipating problems before they arise.
3. Develop a measurement of superb customer service. Don’t forget to reward employees who practice it consistently.
4. Be certain that your passion for customer service runs rampant throughout your company. Employees should see how good service relates to your profits and to their futures with the company.
5. Be genuinely committed to providing more customer service excellence than anyone else in your industry. This commitment must be so powerful that every one of your customers can sense it.
6. Share information with people on the front lines. Meet with your employees regularly to talk about improving service. Solicit ideas from employees-they are the ones who are dealing with customers most often.
7. Act on the knowledge that what customers value most are attention, dependability, promptness and competence. They love being treated as individuals and being referred to by name.

Phrases That’ll Make Your Customers Happy

Principles of customer service are all very well, but you need to put those principles into action with everything you do and say. There are certain “magic words” customers want to hear from you and your staff. Make sure all your employees understand the importance of these key phrases:

• “How can I help?” Customers want the opportunity to explain in detail what they want and need. Too often, business owners feel the desire or the obligation to guess what customers need rather than carefully listening first. By asking how you can help, you begin the dialogue on a positive note (you are “helping,” not “selling”). And by using an open-ended question, you invite discussion.
• “I can solve that problem.” Most customers, especially business-to-business customers, are looking to buy solutions. They appreciate direct answers in a language they can understand.
• “I don’t know, but I’ll find out.” When confronted with a truly difficult question that requires research on your part, admit that you don’t know the answer. Few things ruin your credibility faster than trying to answer a question when you are unsure of all the facts. Savvy buyers may test you with a question they know you can’t answer and then just sit quietly while you struggle to fake an intelligent reply. An honest answer enhances your integrity.
• “I will take responsibility.” Tell your customer you realize it’s your responsibility to ensure a satisfactory outcome to the transaction. Assure the customer you know what he or she expects and will deliver the product or service at the agreed-upon price. There will be no unexpected changes or expenses required to solve the problem.
• “I will keep you updated.” Even if your business is a cash-and-carry operation, it probably requires scheduling and coordinating numerous events. Assure your customers they will be advised of the status of these events. The longer your lead time, the more important this is. The vendors customers trust the most are those that keep them apprised of the situation, whether the news is good or bad.
• “I will deliver on time.” A due date that has been agreed upon is a promise that must be kept. “Close” doesn’t count.
• “Monday means Monday.” The first week in July means the first week in July, even though it contains a national holiday. Your clients are waiting to hear you say “I deliver on time.” The supplier who consistently does so is a rarity and will be remembered.
• “It’ll be just what you ordered.” It will not be “similar to,” and it will not be “better than” what was ordered. It will be exactly what was ordered. Even if you believe a substitute would be in the client’s best interests, that’s a topic for discussion, not something you decide on your own. Your customer may not know (or be at liberty to explain) all the ramifications of the purchase.
• “The job will be complete.” Assure the customer there will be no waiting for a final piece or a last document. Never say you are finished “except for….”
• “I appreciate your business.” This means more than a simple “Thanks for the order.” Genuine appreciation involves follow-up calls, offering to answer questions, making sure everything is performing satisfactorily, and ascertaining that the original problem has been solved.

Neglecting any of these steps conveys the impression that you were interested in the person only until the sale was made. This leaves the buyer feeling deceived and used, and creates ill will and negative advertising for your company. Sincerely proving you care about your customers leads to recommendations and repeat sales.

Never Let Your Customers Forget You

One important tool for generating repeat business is following up. Effective follow-up begins immediately after the sale when you call the customer to say “thank you” and find out if he or she is pleased with your product or service. Beyond this, there are several effective ways to follow up that ensure your business is always in the customer’s mind.

• Let customers know what you are doing for them. This can be in the form of a newsletter mailed to existing customers, or it can be more informal, such as a phone call. Whatever method you use, the key is to dramatically point out to customers the excellent service you are giving them. If you never mention all the things you are doing for them, customers may not notice.
• Write old customers personal, handwritten notes frequently. “I was just sitting at my desk and your name popped into my head. Are you still having a great time flying all over the country? Let me know if you need another set of luggage. I can stop by with our latest models any time.” Or if you run into an old customer at an event, follow up with a note: “It was great seeing you at the CDC Christmas party. I’ll call you early in the New Year to schedule a lunch.”
• Keep it personal. Voice mail and e-mail make it easy to communicate, but the personal touch is often lost. If you’re having trouble getting through to someone whose problem requires that personal touch, leave a voice-mail message that you want to talk to the person directly or will stop by his or her office at a designated time.
• Remember special occasions. Send regular customers birthday cards, anniversary cards, holiday cards…you name it. Gifts are excellent follow-up tools, too. You don’t have to spend a fortune to show you care; use your creativity to come up with interesting gift ideas that tie into your business, the customer’s business or his or her recent purchase.
• Pass on information. If you read an article, see a new book, or hear about an organization a customer might be interested in, drop a note or make a quick call to let them know.
• Consider follow-up calls as business development calls. When you talk to or visit old clients or customers, you’ll often find they have referrals to give you, which can lead to new business.

With all your existing customers can do for you, there’s simply no reason not to stay in regular contact with them. Use your imagination, and you’ll think of plenty of other ideas that can help you develop a lasting relationship.

Dealing With Unsatisfied Customers

Studies show that the vast majority of unsatisfied customers will never come right out and tell you they’re unsatisfied. They simply leave quietly, later telling everyone they know not to do business with you.

So when a customer complains, don’t think of it as a nuisance-think of it as a golden opportunity to change that customer’s mind and retain his or her business.

Even the best product or service receives complaints now and then. Here’s how to handle them for positive results:

• Let customers vent their feelings. Encourage them to get their frustrations out in the open.
• Never argue with a customer.
• Never tell a customer “You do not have a problem.” Those are fighting words.
• Share your point of view as politely as you can.
• Take responsibility for the problem. Don’t make excuses. If an employee was sick or a supplier let you down, that’s not the customer’s concern.
• Immediately take action to remedy the situation. Promising a solution and then delaying it only makes matters worse.
• Empower your front-line employees to be flexible in resolving complaints. Give employees some leeway in deciding when to bend the rules. If you don’t feel comfortable doing this, make sure they have you or another manager handle the situation.

Getting the media to notice can be tough. Reporters are inundated by the minute with breaking news from different sources, all clamoring for attention. One way to cut through the noise is to offer a different type of article–one that speaks to a topic that’s of interest to a target audience but isn’t dependent on being newsworthy right at the moment it’s sent. That type of article is called a feature.

A feature is an in-depth look at a topic, product or industry–it’s a complex story designed to be read at a leisurely pace. And a feature can benefit your company by linking your brand or product to a larger trend or industry focus while also showcasing you, the entrepreneur, as a thought-leader in your field.

While a news release is designed to entice the reporter into finding out more information themselves, a feature is designed to be used as is, or merely edited to fit the space available.

Topics such as health, home improvement, travel and technology all lend themselves well to features since they can be used in special sections of newspapers–such as lifestyle, home, arts or technology–or in the weekend magazines. Trade publications also publish feature articles, usually in the form of special supplements.

Because a feature should be written from a journalistic perspective, you should emphasize information over outright promotion. Ideally, a feature editor won,t change the story at all and will use it when it,s needed as part of a theme or to fill space.

Papers like to have quality articles on hand, so come up with your feature-worthy concept, then use the following guidelines to help you write a great article.

Headlines

The headline is the most vital part of your feature. Treat the headline as if it were a summary of the article. Ask yourself, Why is this story important? What about it will it grab readers’ interest? A good headline answers those questions by telling the reader something new, different or useful–in 20 words or less. A few examples I’ve seen recently include:

• Plug-In Devices Help Save Money on Your Utility Bill
• Reinventing the “Mommy Tack”: More Women Choose Business Ownership to Gain Control, Flexibility and Family Time
• The Sleep Expert’s Advice on Creating the Right Sleep Environment for Students

To come up with a good headline, pretend you’re telling a friend what the article’s about, explaining the most interesting aspects of your story. Keep the wording simple, and avoid superlatives and emotive language. Also, avoid using a brand or client name in the headline unless it’s very well known. Instead, focus on what’s most interesting about your topic.

Leads

A strong lead paragraph offers intrigue from the start. Editors don’t have time to read through the entire article to reach your key point, and neither do your readers. Think of the lead as an extended version of the headline, even using some of the same words.

When writing a lead, try to keep the paragraph short–two to three short sentences at the most. In total, your feature should be close to 400 words. Don’t worry about your brand at this point–just introduce the interesting aspects of the story. If your lead reads like an ad, it’ll be discarded immediately.

The Second Paragraph

The second paragraph serves to support and expand on the ideas set out in the lead. It’s also a good place to let people know who’s behind the feature so there’s no confusion about who provided the copy. Also, if the article has to be shortened due to space limitations, having the name of the company or spokesperson and your web address near the beginning will be vitally important.

If written well, the first two paragraphs can serve as a brief column item or filler if a newspaper or magazine has only limited space.

Using Quotes

A quote can lend authority to an article, introduce an expert and further advance the story. Most important, quotes can introduce personal feelings, comments and opinion, so this is where you want to use superlatives and emotive language (without sounding false!).

Be sure quotes are in a conversational style, and don’t merely cite facts or figures–no real person speaks only in data. Also avoid repeating information or using jargon; speak as if you were explaining your product or service to your grandmother.

Ideally, the person you quote should be someone who’d be available for interviews should a journalist want to ask additional questions. So he or she should be knowledgeable on the topic and open to working with the media. Use your strongest quote first, and be sure to provide information on the speaker and his or her relation to the company in a contact section at the end of your article.

Getting Into Detail

After the third paragraph, any information you add should develop the story further and hold the interest of the reader. Now’s the time to go into detail about the benefits of a product, or the mechanisms of how it works. However, for ease of reading, use bullet points or top tips if you’re listing information.

Another thing to remember–and one way a feature differs from a news release–is that a feature story will almost never include corporate identity or forward-looking statements.

When to Send a Feature

Generally, newspaper feature sections are planned at least three weeks in advance, so you’ll need to plan ahead. E-mail the features editor to determine their interest before you start writing–just a simple outline will do. If you’re trying to get into a trade publication, do your research and check the deadlines–they could be working as much as three months in advance.

Most news wires offer feature services and media databases, and they’ll often offer a feature calendar that corresponds with publications’ due dates. Consider distributing your feature via news wire and, if possible, choose one that has a list of when and where your feature could be placed and advises on crafting your feature for the different audiences.

Also, don’t forget your web audience. Search engines are used millions of times each day by people looking for how-to, where-to and when-to articles. Your news wire can help you reach these audiences by providing search engine optimization to help get your story placed highly in searches.

Images and Multimedia

A photo can often mean difference between your feature being chosen for publication vs. them choosing your competitor’s. A photo helps explain the story and can draw the eye of those scanning the page. It also gives editors more options when filling space.

Make sure your photos are high-quality: Always provide digital photos in high resolution (300 dpi) and, if possible, have them shot by a professional. A bad photo will reflect on the quality of your feature.

Other multimedia options include a video or audio version of your story, or additional expert quotes and interviews. A feature podcast or multimedia news release can include all these assets to transform your story into an online experience for your audience, complete with links and reference materials to let them experience more for themselves.

Finally

When sending your feature to reporters for editorial consideration, don’t be afraid to call them to offer more information; however, don’t call to check that the article has arrived. Reporters are busy and don’t like being called without good reason. And be patient–since your feature isn’t breaking news, the reporter may file it for use next week, next month or during the next holiday season.

Once your feature’s been accepted, look out for follow-up opportunities: Keep tabs on industry trends, or consider doing a “What happened a year later” story or a biography of someone quoted in the article. With luck, your feature could be the next topic of discussion around the water cooler.