The busy season hit hard this year, almost overwhelming really. There was a tsunami of orders and we are now just able to breathe again. March was a record month, and we usually don't peak until June, so more record months are ahead. It has been both rewarding and frustrating as unplanned business stretches resources, while you think it should just pad the bank account. Not to mention poor tax and retirement planning, and preparing to launch our most expensive product yet, has made the extra cash flow barely enough.
There were times when the reality of obtaining my goals, which once seemed like a pipe dream, now left me feeling beat up, like when I was a corporate clone. I remember the line in Broadcast News when William Hurt says' What do you do when your real life exceeds your dreams?' The answer 'keep it to yourself.'
The problem with the onslaught of business is, it takes me away from working on the website, creating new features, or promotions, that have never been done before. And creating is really what I like best. Packing, shipping, ordering, all feels like work to me, while it pays the rent, creating builds the house.
In other words creating is really what sets your business apart. That is why I never got excited about cookie cutter online businesses that drop ship products, with pre-designed websites. I want to stand apart, even if it means I won't ever get the 'four hour workweel', or 'Rich Dad' bank accounts. Boredom is the enemy of life, and creation is source of it. What does one do for the other hours of the day if everything is on auto-pilot? For me e-commerce is a game, and if you just build a system that can always win it, then where is the fun? You are done.
Drop ship schemes, have replaced Amway and Shaklee, or at the least provided another get rich quick scheme. The pitches always sound romantic, thousands of people are making thousands of dollars working from their home in their spare time. And I am sure there are people doing just that. I knew one successful Shaklee distributor and she was a very nice and sincere person.
But stamping something with your own personal thumb print is the draw that gets me out of bed every morning. I have more than doubled my income, and I could easily take off more time, and I plan to some day. But do the idle rich really seem that happy? Isn't there really more to life then planning your next vacation, or soaking up your next Mai-Tai, it is fun for a week, but an unending supply of that?
One day I am sure, I will pass off much of the responsibility of my successful venture, but am equally as sure I will have something there to replace it. Something else to build, to create, to put on it a stamp of my own.
So if you are finding your online business a drag, take time out to create anew. A new product line, a new sales page, new copy, new info pages. Try a different marketing tact. Put a personal stake into your business, you will find those juices that brought you to this game refreshed and ready to take you further down the road of online success.
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Ecommerce Can Changed Our Lives
It just seems like we never lived without the internet, and as young as a lot of our readers are, some of us never have. On a daily basis our lives are intertwined with wireless devices and voiceless communication; while we curse it at times, it's here to stay and has had the most profound impact on planet earth that we'll probably see in our lifetimes. In addition to the many useful ways the internet has brought us all together, one facet of it has more than we actually realize at times, and that's how E-commerce has changed economies and broadened the horizons of some cultures, and both at once.
Do you remember the first time you bought something over the internet? I think I do; it was some fake sunglasses I bought online from a vendor that swore that they were authentic. I guess I'd have to agree; they were authentic sunglasses, in the broad sense. But that was a long time ago and for many of us, our reluctance to trust an online vendor has diminished. Take stock quickly. What types of merchandise do you look for and buy online? Do you find yourself getting excited about products that come from other countries? Do you seek out exotic products because they are from other countries. I guess, that's the greatest thing about E-commerce that has come about in the last three to five years. We're acquiring goods from other places that we couldn't get before, and may not have even known existed; and vice-versa, domestic products are finding their way into the mainstream in other countries that maybe were unattainable not too long ago. All of this trade is great and it does get better. As the marketplace gets bigger, competition gets tougher, and competition is always a good thing for the consumer. We like it because we have more companies competing for our business. Businesses like it because it brings mass awareness to their industry, brand and companies.
With all this trade, the banking industry hasn't been left in the dust. In fact they're stepping up their game in ways that make merchants and consumers lives easier. Today, merchants have a lot more options when it comes to their money, customers and the banks which fall in the middle. Something interesting has been happening in the banking industry over the last couple years and it's affecting the global economy every bit as much as the internet changed the hard goods marketplace. Today, consumers are statistically safer making online transactions versus in-person purchases locally. Why is this? It's simple, there's little paper trail and your personal card information is trusted by professionals that are either bonded, work for reputable banks own or are affiliated with processing or merchant service companies.
Merchants don't have or need to choose a domestic bank anymore. Whether your business is based in Columbia or the District of Columbia, you can choose a bank anywhere in the world to handle your online credit card transactions; and it's just like shopping for a handbag made in Peru that can be obtained easier, cheaper and with better services many times. And that's how the internet has helped to change the banking industry. A major factor in this is that domestic (or US) banks generally leer at E-commerce or internet based businesses as fleeting and high risk. In turn, they assess high rates and stricter guidelines to these businesses, many of which cannot be met, due solely to the type of business that the operator is running. Many of these merchants have looked internationally to banks that can offer them the services they needed and with less hassles. Long gone are the days of the scoffed upon off-shore banking industry. In fact, today when it comes to many of the products you buy online; that merchant is being funded by a non-domestic or off-shore bank. And there's nothing wrong with it. It's almost seems as though the US hasn't kept up with the times, but that will have to change if we want to be competitive. International banks specialize in multi-currency processing and reside in countries that need and benefit from an influx of money and goods are aggressive and have a lot less restrictions on the types of businesses they process for. In a way, the internet has revolutionized the banking industry in the same ways it impacted retail and wholesale, for that matter. If you're an online merchant, it probably wouldn't be a bad idea to check out online merchant service providers to see how they can make your business more efficient and profitable.
Do you remember the first time you bought something over the internet? I think I do; it was some fake sunglasses I bought online from a vendor that swore that they were authentic. I guess I'd have to agree; they were authentic sunglasses, in the broad sense. But that was a long time ago and for many of us, our reluctance to trust an online vendor has diminished. Take stock quickly. What types of merchandise do you look for and buy online? Do you find yourself getting excited about products that come from other countries? Do you seek out exotic products because they are from other countries. I guess, that's the greatest thing about E-commerce that has come about in the last three to five years. We're acquiring goods from other places that we couldn't get before, and may not have even known existed; and vice-versa, domestic products are finding their way into the mainstream in other countries that maybe were unattainable not too long ago. All of this trade is great and it does get better. As the marketplace gets bigger, competition gets tougher, and competition is always a good thing for the consumer. We like it because we have more companies competing for our business. Businesses like it because it brings mass awareness to their industry, brand and companies.
With all this trade, the banking industry hasn't been left in the dust. In fact they're stepping up their game in ways that make merchants and consumers lives easier. Today, merchants have a lot more options when it comes to their money, customers and the banks which fall in the middle. Something interesting has been happening in the banking industry over the last couple years and it's affecting the global economy every bit as much as the internet changed the hard goods marketplace. Today, consumers are statistically safer making online transactions versus in-person purchases locally. Why is this? It's simple, there's little paper trail and your personal card information is trusted by professionals that are either bonded, work for reputable banks own or are affiliated with processing or merchant service companies.
Merchants don't have or need to choose a domestic bank anymore. Whether your business is based in Columbia or the District of Columbia, you can choose a bank anywhere in the world to handle your online credit card transactions; and it's just like shopping for a handbag made in Peru that can be obtained easier, cheaper and with better services many times. And that's how the internet has helped to change the banking industry. A major factor in this is that domestic (or US) banks generally leer at E-commerce or internet based businesses as fleeting and high risk. In turn, they assess high rates and stricter guidelines to these businesses, many of which cannot be met, due solely to the type of business that the operator is running. Many of these merchants have looked internationally to banks that can offer them the services they needed and with less hassles. Long gone are the days of the scoffed upon off-shore banking industry. In fact, today when it comes to many of the products you buy online; that merchant is being funded by a non-domestic or off-shore bank. And there's nothing wrong with it. It's almost seems as though the US hasn't kept up with the times, but that will have to change if we want to be competitive. International banks specialize in multi-currency processing and reside in countries that need and benefit from an influx of money and goods are aggressive and have a lot less restrictions on the types of businesses they process for. In a way, the internet has revolutionized the banking industry in the same ways it impacted retail and wholesale, for that matter. If you're an online merchant, it probably wouldn't be a bad idea to check out online merchant service providers to see how they can make your business more efficient and profitable.
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