How to Generate Maximum Sales When Launching New Products

Who doesn’t like new things in life? Well, I assume the majority of us do and eCommerce sites are no exception.

Online merchants have to add new products frequently to engage their customers and make them loyal towards their products and services. This can be as simple as adding a new handbag to the women’s section on the site or putting a new electronic in the automotive category.

There can be thousands of reasons to market specific products in a big way. However, you need to ensure that the products you are launching reach your consumers. Most importantly, potential customers need to know where to buy the products they need.

If you are introducing a new product on your site, below are a few important actions that can help.

Great Product Pages Often Do Wonders

There are a few things to look into besides providing impressive product pages. When you plan to launch a new item, be certain to include compelling photography and catchy product descriptions.

Follow best practices for building your eCommerce products pages. There should be several high-resolution photographs of the products that allow shoppers to zoom in and see every tiny detail. Detailed product descriptions are helpful to give your customers information about the size, fit, look, benefits and other specifications of the product.

Develop a Unique Selling Proposition (USP)

USP is a brief thought-out statement that shows why your customers should purchase their products from you and not from your competitors. Your site should contain a tagline that contains a part of your USP or positioning statement.

For instance, M&Ms has, “Melts in your mouth, not in your hand.” Wonder Bread has, “Helps Build Strong Bodies 12 Ways.”  To ensure a profitable business, the USP should be compelling, promising and specific. It can be about your product, services, stores or other capabilities.

Take Help of Email Support

For driving your new product sales, email marketing remains an effective option. As soon as you plan to launch your product or have already launched a new one, send the announcement to your email subscribers at least once per week for minimum two weeks.

If it is feasible, you can also include some special offers for your premier customers. If you are planning to conduct a contest before the launch of your new product, email can be used to make the announcement.

Content Marketing is the Best Strategy

Product publicity is incomplete without content strategy. Through blog posts, videos, podcasts and articles you can get the word out about your new product. Content marketing requires constant research and creation of valuable content topics, optimization, sharing and continuous networking for links and shares.

Remember, content marketing only works if it can entertain people with useful and impressive content.

Gather Testimonials and Reviews

Testimonials are one of the best ways to build hype for your new item as shoppers tend to rely on other shoppers. Send a free product to your top five customers and ask them to review it. If these five customers actually like your product, use their reviews in content marketing, promotional videos or even on the product detail pages.

Customer testimonials discover what does and doesn’t work with your products and what should be the solution to satisfy your valuable customers.

Utilize Every Mode of Promotion

Once your product is launched, it’s time to educate prospects about it and drive sales. In addition to social media networks including Facebook and Twitter, opt for paid promotions such as banner ads, streaming video, pay-per click campaigns, streaming audio ads, radio, print publications or television ads that support new product launches.

Once you understand how to successfully launch your new product, getting it to the doorstep of your customers becomes much easier.

Sales Photo via Shutterstock

Twitter Followers Can Lead Directly To Sales. Here’s How.

If one Twitter follower and some smart engagement can lead to one sale, imagine what 279 Twitter followers (or however many you have today) and lots of smart engagement can do to your sales.

You can check out how this could look here http://visual.ly/twitter-follower/

In this scenario Joe heads to a local shop to get something to eat. It’s next door to a Surf Shop he follows on Twitter.

TIP ONE: Use offline engagement (like a sign in a store) to encourage customers and online looks to follow you.

While out for a coffee break Joe checks out the Surf Shop’s time line and sees a Tweet offering him a discount on a product.

Joe reTweets the deal to his surfing buddies.

TIP TWO: 70% of small businesses reTweet because they like your content. Make your content interesting.

A few days later Joe asks the Surf shop for advice.

TIP THREE: Stop looking to make a quick buck. First look to offer value.

Overall you can see from this story how one follower and engagement led to a sale, and more followers for the Surf shop. Social media works, if you work it.

Apple Doing Just Fine in the Post Jobs Era, Per Mobile Stats

When Steve Jobs passed away in 2011 after a battle with cancer, it didn’t take long for people to predict Apple’s decline.  For instance, Larry Ellison, founder of Oracle, suggested that Apple would slip into a period of long-term decline.

But two and a half years later, one might question that.  While Apple’s stock price has had its ups and downs, it is higher now than during the Jobs era.  Company sales have grown, too, although net profits have come under some pressure.

Judging from the latest comScore statistics, the Apple platform is picking up market share, both in terms of subscribers and as a mobile platform.

Apple smartphone subscribers now count for 41.8% of the market, as of December 2013.  Back in June when we reported the numbers, Apple had just 39% of subscribers in the United States.  Those numbers had grown from the earlier quarter, also.  In other words, Apple is still growing.

By contrast, Motorola’s phone share declined a bit.  Only Samsung showed growth among the big five manufacturers â€" Apple, Motorola, Samsung, HTC and LG.

Those numbers measure subscribers by smartphone maker.  In other words, out of the 156 million people in the U.S. who owned smartphones, nearly 42% or roughly 65 million of those were Apple devices.

When you look at the operating platform, the picture’s a bit different.  Google’s Android platform (spread out among different manufacturers) is still number one. It has 51.3% of the market, but showed a slight decline of 0.3%.  Clearly, Google owning Motorola didn’t do much to grow Android in the near term.  What will happen to Motorola now that Google has spun it off to Lenovo, is still a question, however.

Blackberry, once the darling of entrepreneurs and small businesses everywhere, continued its sad slide.  Its market share has been halved in the past year, and now stands at around 3.4%.

Apple, despite predictions of its decline, appears to be doing fine under CEO Tim Cook.  So if your company needs to invest in new mobile devices or make platform choices, it seems like Apple is still a strong growing platform.

Image: Wikipedia

Three Ways To Get Online Content for Your Web Site and Social Media Networks - Content Marketing in Action

Online content is a MUST to do content marketing effectively. Without content it’s almost impossible for your customers and potential customers to find you online.

Most people still do their searches through a search engine.

If you have no content, a search engine can’t find you.

Why do you want people to find you? Because when they find your web site, blog, Twitter posts or etc - they’ll buy from you and/or at least be warmed up to engage you more to buy from you later one.

So that’s content 101 for you. There’s three types of content:

educational (making someone a better shopper - like a guide to how to buy hand bags or guide to home paint buying)

entertaining (does your audience want to laugh - should you do a series of funny office videos?)

utility (like how to do something, in a step by step guide)

Now, how to get the content you need?

1. The best option is to create great content yourself. Take photos and post to Instagram, Tweet on a regular basis and establish a blog of useful content - noting my guidelines above. Gary Vaynerchuk’s book “Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook” is a good read. You should also check out “Content Rules“. You can interview your customers, excerpt other content (use full attribution and back links) - all of this provides valuable content for your content marketing.

2. Second option is to hire someone to write and publish the content for you. There are MANY people who can write content for you. The better ones take the time to interview you and get to know your business and act as reporters for you. My friend Vick’s service PhoneBlogger.net does this very well. You can also find writers on Elance, Contently and other similar web sites.

3. Third option is to use a more automated service that can provide content to you for your blog or other wherever else you want it. AtContent has a service to help you find and easily use other people’s content on your web site.

Doorman Startup Allows You to Arrange for On-Demand Delivery

Great business models often solve a simple problem. Logistics startup Doorman aims to solve the problem of packages arriving when you’re not at home. The startup has a smartphone app downloadable for iPhone and Android.

If you’re expecting a package delivery and know you won’t be home when it arrives, you can use Doorman to arrange for a special delivery later that day. Doorman gives its users an address where they can direct packages. That address is a local depot operated by the company. Once a package is received at the depot, users can arrange a convenient time for home delivery.

CEO Zander Adelle told Fox Business Network recently that for many residents living in apartment buildings with no doorman, the service fills a vital need. FedEx and UPS are likely to leave a sticker telling these residents to arrange for another delivery time anyway. Usually, the only other available times are when recipients are at work.

Adelle said one solution open to many recipients is to have packages delivered at the office. But this means they have to lug the packages home with them in the evening.

Doorman charges $7 per package delivery. It makes deliveries between 6 p.m. and midnight. That’s a time when the major carriers are done for the day. Users currently can earn a free delivery from Doorman if they post a positive review of the company on Facebook or Twitter. Doorman will even sign for packages that require it, the company’s website says.

Doorman is currently only operating in San Francisco but has plans to expand to other metropolitan areas in the future. The company notes on its site that it works with all the major shipping carriers, including the U.S. Postal Service, UPS and FedEx.

Image: Doorman

Smart Retailers Are Using Tablets and Internet Driven Point of Sales (POS) to Boost Sales

I remember shopping in Sears, JC Penny’s and other big retailers many years ago and being amazed at the huge, beige Point of Sales systems used by these retailing giants. For smaller retailers they would use this big clunky machines as well. If the didn’t they’d often have the plastic cash registers that looked like children’s toys.

Today, visit any modern coffee shop in Brooklyn or Austin, visit any new retail store in your local town and I bet they’re shunning these big cash registers in place of sleeker and smarter point of sale systems.

In fact many of these systems are online and using computers or tablets.

I asked Justin Hotard, VP and GM of NCR Small Business about this shift. To its credit NCR is one of  the leading provider of these “old school” cash registers it’s morphed and provides leaner and intelligent iOS based point of sale systems as well.

Why have retailers switched to online POS systems?

The power of the cloud allows retailers to capture customer data, store it and build a database filled with information and insights to drive customer interactions. Online access to inventory and sales reports keep small business owners in the know anytime and anywhere.  For example, NCR Silver customers have found mobile POS to be affordable and offer more than a traditional PC register setup. The more powerful iPad POS systems, combine many features on one platform -  integrated customer marketing, real-time reports, time clock functionality, and even multisite capability.  A small business can centrally manage all their stores, view reports at a company level or drill down for store details.

Those retailers who have not switched, why do you think they have not?

This generally stems from an awareness issue. iPads are everywhere, but some customers are still learning this is an option. They may have a cash drawer and credit card reader and think that’s all they need. They don’t realize how much more they could be doing and how much time and money they save with a mobile POS system. They also may be unaware how easy, affordable and powerful a product like this can be. It truly saves small businesses time - allowing them to focus on important things like processing transactions, managing inventory and tracking sales. It also makes it easier to do the things they want to do, like attract customers, or bring back existing ones. Features such as integrated customer marketing make sending automated e-mails a breeze, and business owners can easily add offers or discounts, and track their campaigns to see what’s working and what’s not. Once a business owner understands all that is available right now, making the switch becomes a no brainer.

What are some specific benefits retailers realize when they use cloud-based POS systems?

When a customer buys a mobile POS system, they get more than technology; they get a partner that is watching out for their business. For companies such as NCR, that means offering the best customer service with 7-day live support. In today’s socially connected world, we’ve created a community portal where customers can chat with each other, or our support staff, access training videos, and access the knowledge base to learn how to use all the features available to our customers. This level of customer service also simplifies the move to a cloud-based POS system.

Accessibility is a key benefit too, because everything is stored in the cloud and owners can access real-time reports from anywhere, online or using the mobile dashboard when they are away from their store. This helps business owners better enjoy their time outside of work, and these types of mobile platforms offer a lot of flexibility for managing and running a business. We believe small business owners should do what they love and use technology to simplify the rest.

Is there a big difference between “cloud based POS” systems - “iPad based” and computer based systems?

A cloud-based solution, like Silver, is very different than a POS application running on a PC or laptop. With the cloud you’re always on and always connected so you get the benefits of real-time updates. Of course, these iPad-based platforms also work in offline mode. as well. As we release updates, customers can access features as soon as they become available. It is as simple as downloading the app once the update is posted to the app store. Most small business owners are smart phone users and are already familiar with downloading an update to an app. The challenge with the PC application is it requires the owner to buy the next version to get all the new features. It may even require a hardware update with each release. The iPad is more versatile, they can put it on a stand or take it with them to do queue busting or sell on the go.

East European cyber criminals \'protected from prosecution\'

February 04, 2014

Respected security researcher Nart Villeneuve has controversially declared that Eastern European cyber criminal gangs - responsible for the recent attacks on Target and other major retailers - are relatively safe from arrest and prosecution.

His view has been backed by former Met Police Computer Crime Unit detective Adrian Culley, now a global security consultant with Damballa, who says the industry is rife with rumours that Russian organised crime groups have been offered immunity from prosecution by the Russian authorities, as long as they do not attack Russian citizens.

In a 3 February blog post, FireEye's Villeneuve said that the Target breach, which involved the theft of up to 40 million customer payment card details, has been tracked to an individual (known as ‘ree4') believed to be operating from Ukraine. The stolen card data, he adds, is already being sold on underground Russian-language forums.

Villeneuve stressed that Eastern Europe “is clearly a trouble spot” and revealed that cyber crime gangs are even joining together in networks known as ‘Partnerkas', with “little risk of prosecution”.

These Partnerkas use underground forums to link developers who create malware and exploits, the distributors who carry out spamming and black-hat search engine optimisation, and service providers who operate ‘bulletproof' hosting and botnets, said the FireEye exec.

“The ability to operate servers safe from law enforcement - known as bulletproof hosting - is essential for most botnet operators,” he said.

Adrian Culley at Damballa went further, telling SCMagazineUK.com: “It has long been rumoured in the security Industry that various Russian organised crime groups have been offered immunity from prosecution by Russian authorities and intelligence agencies as long as they do not attack Russian citizens or interests. Many botnets and organised crime groups continue to operate from Russia and Eastern Europe.”

Charlie McMurdie, ex-head of the Met Police Central e-Crime Unit (PCeU) and now a senior cyber crime adviser at PricewaterhouseCoopers, concurred with Culley and told SCMagazineUK.com that corruption has now spread to the cyber security world.

“I've heard those rumours as well. I don't know where they originate from but I think, putting cyber crime to one side, corruption is a significant issue and there are certain countries where corruption is more rife than others.”

She continued that such corruption, coupled with difficulties in working with foreign investigators to attribute and investigate attacks, can make “life far harder to actually investigate and prosecute these cases”.

Damballa's Culley said the cyber crime gangs are often “as structured, effective and efficient as legitimate business” and work across national borders. He highlighted the success of pan-European police agency Europol, and its cyber crime unit EC3, in helping national police forces overcome the “multi-jurisdictional nature of many of these criminal activities”. But damningly he added: “I am not aware of any direct dialogue between Europol and the Russian authorities regarding cyber crime matters. It would be very encouraging were this to take place in a meaningful way.”

Villeneuve said the Partnerka networks carry out crimes ranging from spam, fake anti-virus, click fraud and ransomware to operating rogue pharmacies and supporting extreme adult porn sites. He said: “In this model, development and distribution are shared among multiple actors. The partnerka supplies the product â€" whether malware binaries or pharmaceuticals â€" and the affiliate members distribute them,” he said.

The forums also serve those criminals selling “the spoils of their activities, such as stolen credit cards, banking information and credentials”. “This ecosystem is in full swing in the wake of the Target breach,” said Villeneuve.

The FireEye security researcher acknowledged that there have been police successes against East European cyber criminals, including the arrest of the co-founder of the notorious Chronopay payment service and last year's arrest of the Carberp gang and Paunch, the author of the widely used BlackHole exploit kit.

Furthermore, SCMagazineUK.com last month reported a major breakthrough against cyber crime when the details of more than 18,000 members of the ‘Verified' Eastern European cyber crime forum were leaked by a rival gang. EC3 helped Polish police arrest five Bulgarians accused of electronic payment card fraud targeting mainly UK citizens last month, while the agency worked with Microsoft and the FBI to disrupt the criminals behind the ZeroAccess botnet, thought to have infected over two million computers worldwide, the month before.

Despite this, Villeneuve cast doubt on whether current cyber criminals will be caught.

“With the recent news of breaches at additional retailers, researchers are investigating any possible connections to the Target breach. If they do, the bigger question is whether law enforcement can find and stop those responsible.”

PwC's McMurdie also pointed out that organisations themselves could and should be doing more to prevent these malware attacks.

“The malware isn't particularly sophisticated, and if the appropriate security systems process was actually embedded into organisations, then even with these types of major compromises, we should be doing far more to prevent these taking place in the first place,” she told SCMagazineUK.com. “We keep talking about the issues and the frustrations of investigating - but prevention's always better.”

SCMagazineUK.com contacted Europol and EC3 for their views but no-one was available at the time of writing.

4 Ways to Encourage Online Reviews

Have you ever been in the mood for a certain type of food and hopped on Yelp to look for a new restaurant to try?

If so, then you know that online ratings and reviews from customers are key to driving new customers to your business and growing your sales. The more reviews you have, the more trustworthy your business will appear to be.

But too many small business owners aren’t doing all they can to encourage online reviews and get customers to post them. As a result, they have few or no reviews and get passed over in favor of businesses with more feedback.

How can you encourage customers to leave reviews?

Encourage is the key word here, because actively soliciting or requesting reviews is frowned on by review sites and providing incentives such as discounts or freebies in exchange for reviews can get you in trouble. Try these steps below instead

Give Them a Sign

Posting signage in your store, restaurant or office is a simple and subtle way to remind customers that your business is on review sites and that you’d love a review.

For example, Yelp has downloadable “Find us on Yelp” banners you can print out as signage for your store window or point-of-sale counter.

Provide Postsale Reminders

Your store receipts or restaurant checks could say, “Like us? Review us on [list the review sites where you have a presence].”

An eCommerce company can send follow-up emails after the sale to make sure the customer was satisfied and include a reminder that your business is on review sites to further encourage online reviews.

Spread the Word

Put icons for the review sites where you have a presence in your print marketing materials, on your website (you can use the downloadable Yelp banners there), in your email signature and anywhere else you can think of.

Make it Easy

Everyone’s more inclined to write a review if it’s not a big hassle. So if your site says, “Like us? Review us on Yelp,” make sure there’s a clickable link so they can do so in a minute.

Whatever you do to encourage online reviews, there’s one big “don’t.” Don’t fake them or have friends and family write them because you’re worried you don’t have enough. Use the tips above to grow your online review status organically.

This article, provided by Nextiva, is republished through a content distribution agreement. The original can be found here.

Feedback Photo via Shutterstock

Local Retail Businesses Must Be Listed In Online Local Directories. GoDaddy’s New Service Makes It Easy.

Local businesses surely must marketing in their local neighborhoods to get local customers.

This local marketing includes local radio advertising, mailing flyers, handing out postcards, store signage and more.

It also must include a strategy to ensure your local business is listed in the dozens of online directories where millions of local businesses are looked for each day. This includes Yelp, Google Local, Facebook, Foursquare, YP.com, Bing, Yahoo and others.

It can be very challenging to manage these listing individually.

GoDaddy released a tool (from an acquisition in 2013) that can help do this - GoDaddy Get Found.

GoDaddy’s press release reads “When consumers search for businesses and see inaccurate or conflicting information, they often go elsewhere. When a business signs up for Get Found and provides their business location, services, contact information, etc., the correct information is automatically pushed everywhere. Business owners are then also able to track where their business is showing up online and verify the correct material is displayed.”

Other local marketing services to consider include Yodle and LocalVox