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e-commerce explained

webgarden — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 20:22:12 +0000

I have been working with a client who wants to be able to sell her products online and in order to do so, I have done a bunch of research which I thought I would share with you.
Her main criteria is that when her customers make a purchase from her website, she does not want them to “leave” her site. An example of this is using paypal. When you select your item to purchase, you are then re-directed to the store’s paypal account, where you need to either submit your cc info or login to your paypal account directly.
So in order to set up her store so that her customers don’t leave her site, we need to find an alternative to the standard paypal account. There are many other solutions available for example: authorize.net, paypal proflow, eWay, iDeal, First Data ect… However, I soon learned that although these solutions offer a payment GATEWAY, you still need a merchant account.
A payment Gateway is the secure method in which a buyers credit card is processed. The Merchant Account is where the funds from credit card are delivered. Because you will have to set up an online merchant account (likely with your bank), each sale that you make is reduced by the fees from the gateway and the merchant account (bank account)
In order to reduce these double fees I have determined that Paypal’s s Website Payments Pro is the best solution for my client. She will be paying $0 set up fee (other fees I have been quoted are $100- $250)
She will be paying a $30/month flat fee (other’s are anywhere between $25-$59) and a low transaction fee of 1.9%-2.9% (other transaction fees I have been quoted range from $.10 – $.25)
The only downfall of using Payment’s Pro is if she needs to transfer funds from her paypal account directly into her bank account. There is usually a transfer fee. If however, she is able to use her paypal income to purchase supplies, shipping or materials then she will not need to transfer funds into her bank account, she can make those payments directly thru her paypal account and not incur a fee.
I hope this gives a bit more insight on how e-commerce works and would love to hear your comments… What gateway do you use? What are some of the fees your bank charges for your merchant account?

Networking for web designers

webgarden — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 16:53:29 +0000

As a fairly new business person, I get pretty nervous when taking in networking events. Networking events are all about “schmoozing” with people and bragging about your self (and your company). What I find so difficult is it is my nature to be humble. I am uncomfortable with tooting my own horn, because as a designer, I don’t expect EVERYONE to love my work. Design (like art) is relative. Maybe you hate my style – that’s ok – as long as I am proud to put my name on it, and my client is happy and receives positive feedback from his peers – that is really all that matters. You can not possibly please everybody all the time.

When I am in networking events, I wish I could just bring samples of my web site designs and have potential clients look at my work to decide if they want to hire me. Unfortunately, the way networking events seem to work, is that if you can talk about yourself highly enough, people will start to believe you, and you will get hired based on your confidence alone.

People who are modest (like myself) tend to have a hard time with this. I think it is especially difficult for women… at an early age we are taught to “fit in and make friends” – we are not taught to boast about our achievements because doing so is a quick way to lose friends (mostly due to jealousy, I suppose) Men on the other hand, are taught to “achieve and show-off, and try to be the “leader of the pack” At an early age, men are given rights to brag about all their achievements.

Bragging Rights is a skill that I am learning. It is hard to do, when it goes against your genetic grain. I know it is possible because I meet many business women who are very successful, and not afraid to show it or talk about it – I really admire them, and hope that with a couple more years of business under my belt, I will have the same confidence.

Customer Service

webgarden — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 14:11:48 +0000

Would you spend $25 to make a customer happy? Or would you spend $25 in order to make a thousand dollars? Most of us would answer yes to the second question but unfortunately not many of us would be willing to spend $25 to make a customer happy… I would.

The way I see it, is that both questions are the same. By spending $25 to ensure my customer’s happiness and satisfaction, I have just ensured that I am going to have this customer for a very long time – perhaps a lifetime, and it is very likely they will spend more than $1000 over their lifetime.

Let me tell you what happened to me yesterday. I had purchased some makeup – eyeshadow to be exact, three days ago. Along with the eyeshadow I purchased some lipstick, moisturizer ect. My bill was $120. I have made many purchases at this spa over the last 2 years, and the amount of money I have spent there is likely around two thousand dollars. That is $1000 per year.

After trying the eyeshadow on the second day, I realized it’s not for me, and brought it back to EXCHANGE it for a different color. In fact, in the exchange that I hoped to make, I was going to spend MORE money for a better eyeshadow (money money = more profit for the company, doesn’t it?)

I was told that they would not let me do an exchange because I had used the shadow. (I used it once – remember I am trying to return it only 3 days later!) I was so angry! If it had been me, I would have weighed what a customer is likely to spend in a year ($1000 in my case) and the cost of keeping that yearly sale coming in (approximately $25) and would have eaten the cost of the makeup. I’ll tell you, I will NEVER go back to this spa – because in my opinion, they are not willing to keep their customers happy.

So what does this mean for the spa? Well I am 31 years old, so if I live until I am 81, that is a potential revenue of $50,000 (or more!) that the spa has missed out on. Wow-that’s a lot of dough!

Talk about short sited on their part! This is a detrimental business mistake. Business is about LONG TERM profits. Although the spa is up $25 in their sales for the month, they are down $1000 for the year, and $50,000 (or more) for the next 50 years.

Wouldn’t it have been a better investment to “eat” the $25 in order to earn $50,000?

How to Increase Your Website’s Rankings

webgarden — Wed, 14 May 2008 02:51:28 +0000

How can I get more visitors to my site?
How can my site get listed on the first page of search engines?

These are the most common questions a website developer hears, and funny enough, it really is not that hard to get more visitors to your site and get your site ranking on the first page of search results – but you have to be willing to work at it!

Search Engines (especially Google) like people love content and information – especially new, original and interesting content. If you want to increase visitors to your site, and improve your site’s position in most major search engines then all you have to do is create new and interesting content – as often as possible.

How often? A minimum of once a week.
Begin by creating a brand new page weekly to encourage your customers to come back and read more about your company, and to encourage Google to come back and track more information about your site.

How do I do this? Create a blog.
A blog is an easy and affordable way to let your customers know about recent industry news and achievements, upcoming specials and events, opinions on new products – and anything else you would like to write about!

There are 2 ways to create a blog:

1)Yourself: You can create your own blog by using wordpress and installing it using fantastico in your web host’s admin panel. There are plenty of templates to choose from – and if you are familiar with css you can add your own logo and customize your blog to match your website.

2)Webgarden: We can create and install a blog for you, to match your site’s design, which includes your logo, banner, images and overall “look”. Our prices are very competitive and much less expensive than a traditional website.

If you want more information about blog design, call us now at 778.858.7037 or send us an email cathy@webgarden.ca to arrange for your free consultation!