Contact iFULL Enterprises for ePayments Consulting and Education, Internet Marketing and Website Development, or Writing and Communications. Let us know how we may be of assistance. Article Index: Internet Focus Shifting Toward Women by
Debra L.
Malmos, President Women are becoming a force on the Internet and, in fact, are now driving the growth of the Internet in the US. According to a report from the Strategis Group, "The number of wired women in the US has tripled in the past 30 months to 49 percent. And, women accounted for 58 percent of the orders from first-time buyers in 1999 (USD)." As a result of this trend, women's needs are becoming a critical consideration for successful Internet marketing. Women are using the Internet with a practical eye and are using their computers to get more things done. Last minute birthday gifts, new socks for the kids, and even groceries are errands that no longer require piling everyone into the car and racing to get to the store before it closes. Women are less attracted to flashy graphics and slow loading images that don't serve their objectives. From my own perspective, if I am on the Internet looking for a white blouse, please don't make me wait for images of high-fashion models in trendy clothes to load… just send me to the white blouse. Show me where it is and I WILL wait for that image to load. Streamlined functionality, clean uncluttered color schemes and roomy layouts will also appeal to women in a hurry to find what they want. And, while women appreciate strong content, they don't want to wade through a commercial. Retailers seeking to attract the women's market share should make product information easily accessible by hyperlink, but avoid loading pages down with enormous amounts of sales-pitch text. Again, women are online to save time and don't want to waste it by reading an infomercial for something they're already trying to purchase. One of the biggest mistakes that can be made in designing websites that attract female audiences is to assume that because women are notorious for browsing endlessly in stores that this is what they want to do online. Nothing could be farther from the truth. When women shop online they tend to know precisely what they want. If they don't see an obvious link to their desired product or category right away they are more than likely to hop to a different site rather than hunt for what they're after. Having a search feature on your website may be one of the most valuable features you can offer. Women users also use the Internet to research the products and services that they intend to buy at local retail outlets. According to forecasts from Jupiter Communications, US online consumers will spend in excess of $632 billion in off-line channels as a direct result of research that they conduct on the Web; the amount dwarfs that of the $199 billion that consumers will actually spend on the Internet. Retailers could capitalize on this by adding a searchable database of in-store inventories. As the Internet's focus continues its shift toward female audiences it is exciting, as a woman, to consider how this shift will surely expand the opportunities for women on the Internet. After all, who better to understand our needs and help us by serving them, than other women on the Internet? [Published in the Everett (WA) Herald Business Journal] Internet Marketing Influencing In-Store Sales by
Debra L.
Malmos, President Companies that have no intention of selling their products online will be missing retail sales opportunities in their bricks-and-mortar establishments if they don't take advantage of the Internet marketing channel. US online consumers will spend in excess of $632 billion in off-line channels as a direct result of research that they conduct on the Web; the amount dwarfs that of the $199 billion that consumers will spend on the Internet, according to new forecasts from Jupiter Communications, Inc. Businesses must take a broad view of what constitutes success online and focus on building an integrated Web presence in order to capture or influence transactions generated online, as well as those generated off-line. Almost 2 in 3 Americans over the age of 12 have access to the Internet and half of those go online every day, according to ACNielsen. Regular users are likely to spend at least an hour online at a time. Evidently, users that aren't buying online are researching the products and services that they intend to buy elsewhere. Jupiter reports that US online users will account for 75 percent of all expected US retail spending (both online and off-line) in 2005, up from 43 percent in 1999. The truth is that Americans are still tech pessimists, who will rely on the sense of security they relate to buying, from local retailers and established brands. Businesses that rely solely on in-store retail sales can use the Web to provide more outlets to buying or researching products. Searchable databases of products with more complete product descriptions and pricing information will serve as a valuable marketing tool. And, providing information about in-store inventory may be just as important as providing information about the products you sell online. Businesses can also benefit by comparing online and in-store venues and capitalizing on the differences. For example, traditional retail stores close. The Internet stays open. A valuable benefit to in-store customers is using the Internet to expand customer service. If a consumer felt they could attain 24-hour customer service through a website, their buying decision could certainly be influenced. Consider what information your customer may want to find out after regular store hours and make it available on the Internet. Or consider what information you can provide via the Internet that serves the consumer after the sale. An excellent example of Internet-based post-sale customer service is UPS's online tracking service. Competitive pricing has become more important, especially for large ticket items and price sensitive products like CDs. People are using the web to take control as informed customers to avoid what they perceive as price gouging. They may be quick to formulate opinions regarding your pricing practices, and be very unforgiving. While many businesses see their online and off-line efforts as separate and distinct from their traditional channels, online consumers appear to be far more fluid, choosing to do business with a given company across its multiple channels. A recent Jupiter/NFO Consumer Survey found that more than 68 percent of online buyers said they researched products online and then purchased them at a physical store; 47 percent of respondents said they then bought via phone. Businesses will need to track their customers across all channels. The retailer that does not understand the impact of the Internet on its store and catalog channels is likely to under-invest in the Internet, missing opportunities to capture incremental sales in all channels. [Published in the Everett (WA) Herald Business Journal] Emerging E-payment Options Can Benefit E-marketers by
Debra L.
Malmos, President If you've made the leap to Internet marketing with an e-commerce website, your decisions about e-payment alternatives were probably limited to various credit card processing options. According to payment industry experts, you can expect the viable payment options to expand with ongoing innovations in technology. Electronic payment professionals from across the nation met on April 10th at "Payments 2000", a national conference hosted by the National Automated Clearing House Association (NACHA), to discuss the changes that are taking place in our retail payments system. NACHA announced that it will develop operating rules and best practices for Internet transactions that use the Automated Clearing House (ACH) Network. The initiative could lead to the greater use of the ACH Network as a payment method for Internet transactions. If you are not familiar with the ACH Network, you may be surprised to learn that a surprisingly large number (43.2%) of U.S. households currently receive payments via the ACH Network at least once a year. This electronic payment network processed 6,247 million payments in 1999 exchanging a total of $19.5 trillion between businesses, government entities and consumers. ACH payments represent deposits or withdrawals from checking or savings accounts. Existing applications include Federal Government Direct Deposit of Social Security benefits or IRS tax refunds. 2.5 million companies use the ACH Network for applications such as Direct Deposit, Direct Payment (automated bill payments), returned check collection as well as numerous business-to-business payment applications. ACH Internet payments may provide substantial savings over credit card payments. The incremental cost of processing credit card transactions is based on the value of the transactions (i.e., about 3% of the sale), while costs of processing ACH payments are typically based on volume (i.e., about $.10 per transaction). ACH payments may also benefit e-marketers by expanding their markets to consumers who have checking account balances but may not have credit cards (or available credit). "As e-commerce matures, consumers and businesses will expect to have payment choices, just as they do in the bricks and mortar world," said Kevin O'Brien, Chairman of NACHA and Executive Vice President of Chase Bank of Texas. "Our goal is to ensure that the ACH Network is prepared for the future by serving as a safe and reliable method for consumers and businesses to make payments over the Internet." Ultimately, consumers are going to play a pivotal role of acceptance. Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan told the group, ``It took many generations for people to feel comfortable accepting paper in lieu of gold or silver. It is taking almost as long to convince them that holding money and making payments in ephemeral electronic form is as secure as using paper.'' [Published in the Everett (WA) Herald Business Journal] Online Sources: Greenspan's Speech - http://www.federalreserve.gov/boarddocs/speeches/2000/20000410.htm Debra L. Malmos, Accredited ACH Professional (AAP) is President & CEO of iFULL Enterprises, an Internet Services Provider for access, hosting, website development and Internet marketing and professional ACH trainer to the financial industry. What E-commerce Is and What it Can Do for Your Business! by
Debra L.
Malmos, President You may overlook the e-commerce opportunities waiting for your business if you limit your definition of e-commerce to the process of collecting payments on the Internet. Used as a general term, "e-commerce" simply means the process of doing business electronically. Forrester Research (March, 2000) projects, "Over the next five years, businesses active in pursuing e-commerce applications will capture more than 50% of online business trade in the US, redefining the nature of business-to-business relationships in the process" (www.nua.ie/surveys). Businesses can also expect more profits through substantially reduced operating costs. Following are some ways you can painlessly "dive in" and put e-commerce to work for your business. Information Delivery Your website offers a valuable opportunity to make materials and information available to people outside of your office. If you have employees that need up-to-the-minute information outside regular office hours, the Internet provides a solution. You can store documents and files on your ISP's web server where it is always available. It could be your current price sheet, catalog or product flyer… or presentation materials (i.e., Word file or PowerPoint file) your traveling staff could download to quickly deliver a customized sales presentation. File transfer software (FTP) can be used to upload files to your web server. Most any file format can be uploaded to allow users to "click to download" files. (CuteFTP is and inexpensive FTP upload software you can purchase online at www.cuteftp.com.) Extending Customer Services Your customers will perceive greater quality in your customer service when they see your website as a focal point for information and for getting in touch with you. Online resources are also said to foster customer loyalty. Simple applications such as discussion boards and Frequently Asked Question (FAQ) pages are useful for making information available and for shifting workload from the office to your website. Emerging customer service applications include Internet technologies that allow representatives at e-commerce firms to talk to shoppers in real time. eFusion, Inc. (www.efusion.com) and E-Talk, Inc. (www.teknekron.com) have introduced services that incorporate a "Push-to-Talk" button on your website. If the customer has a PC with speakers and a microphone, the call is placed to the customer service department. (The web page the customer is viewing is displayed on the service representative's screen.) If the customer's PC is not set up for a direct voice call on the Internet, the customer is prompted to choose a regular telephone call or to have an interactive chat. E-mail Communication The more we look for new ways to make use of e-commerce, the more unlimited the potential applications seems to be. As we continue to move toward using e-commerce, we can expect a profound transformation in the way we do business. [Published in the Everett (WA) Herald Business Journal] How secure is your online business? by
Debra L.
Malmos, President Recent Internet attacks targeting high-profile websites such as Amazon, Yahoo and E-Bay, have brought the issue of Internet security to the forefront. While security was formerly tied to national security and used primarily by government defense agencies, these recent events have led many to wonder just how vulnerable their online business may be and what can be done to protect their online enterprises. What tops the list of precautionary steps you should take to protect your online business?
Strong Internet Service Provider (ISP) Support The selection of the ISP that hosts your website will be the most important decision you make to insure overall security. Adequate security will hinge upon the hosting server software and use of adequate firewalls that protect the server's operating system by filtering both inbound and outbound Internet traffic. When considering an ISP to host your website, stick to well established providers and ask about their processing environment, the security utilities they incorporate, back-up procedures and the experience and qualifications of their technical staff. With the broad availability of server processing software (such as Microsoft NT) it is not at all uncommon for less-than-qualified ISP start-ups to offer hosting services from a home computer located in the spare bedroom or garage. (I could share a war story or two of my own as well as a few more I've heard from clients who have experienced this first hand.) Secure Socket Layer (SSL) Website Security Utilities SSL provides a secure connection between two parties (e.g., your visitor's browser and the web server). You know you are visiting the secure area of a site when the URL begins with "https://...". Secure Socket Layer allows you to mask sensitive data entered by visitors on your website through the use of authentication, encryption and data integrity.
Third-party providers issue the digital certificates that facilitate Secure Socket Layer processing after conducting a background check on your business. Verisign (www.verisign.com), one of the most widely used digital certificate issuers, requires a copy of your business license and charges $249 per year to maintain your digital certificate. Your hosting ISP should assist you in obtaining your digital certificate and install the public/private key onto their server. Secure Web Applications The actual launch of SSL website security depends on the HTML code written by your website developer or utilized by installed web application software (like shopping-cart software or database program applications). Your website developer should be able to advise you of secure processing options and recommend software or custom programming that may be called for, specific to your web's functionality. Internal Processing Controls Controls should be aimed at restricting access to internal private information and securing sensitive e-mail communications (i.e., delivery of online order information). This is particularly important if your website content is driven by internal databases. The growing number of direct connections to the Internet (i.e., DSL, direct T-line access or ISDN) warrant additional security. These direct connections can leave your computer wide open to attacks from today's industrious cyberstalkers.
As e-commerce enterprises continue to flourish, the security challenges abound. Your best plan of defense will be the ISP and development partners you rely on to keep up-to-date about the latest Internet security issues and the steps you can take to adequately protect your online ventures. Additional resources on Internet security: Microsoft Security Advisor http://www.microsoft.com/security, Sun Microsystems http://www.sun.com/security, Netscape Security Center http://www.netscape.com/security [Published in the Everett (WA) Herald Business Journal] Making Use of Internet Technologies to Promote Your OnLine Business by
Debra L.
Malmos, President One of the most fascinating elements of the Internet is the opportunity it offers to automate business processes and marketing promotion. If your business has had a presence online for very long, hopefully you've had an opportunity to take some of your labor intensive and repetitive business processes and find ways to transfer some of the load to your website. One of the opportunities that has seemed to go overlooked for some reason, is the marketing process. When I mention marketing online, most people think about banners, search engine registrations or reciprocal links... but how about press release promotion? If you are anything like me, you probably jump at opportunities to get free advertising or press exposure. Two of my favorite ways to do this are through writing industry articles and press releases to announce new aspects of my business services. It occurred to me after a round of tracking down news editors, stuffing envelopes and faxing promotions that this would all be easier, faster and more efficient for everyone if I used electronic media, since everything I had was already in electronic format anyway. So, I started researching news websites and low and behold, there were plenty of online resources. In fact I found an entire directory of newspaper links that covered the United States, the world, trade papers and broadcast media as well. With a little time and digging through these websites I emerged with a list of editor e-mail addresses and I was well on my way to electronic press-release promotion. I went a step further and created a group of e-mails in my address book so that I could contact them all with one e-mail.
I've since come across some articles on the Net on this very topic that indicate that some news editors are trashing press-releases (particularly the ones promoting websites) when they get them on paper or fax. Here's why...
The benefits for you... more free advertising, no printing, stuffing, envelopes, postage and faster delivery for time-critical information. iFULL has expanded it's services to provide electronic press-release distribution. Let us do it for you, or do it yourself... just check out one of our resources http://www.newspapers.com/ and see how you can expand your marketing reach with this online marketing technique! [Published in the Everett (WA) Herald Business Journal] Success on the Web Depends on a Balance of Resources by
Debra L.
Malmos, President The growing competition on the Internet has changed the playing field and some suspect that the formula for success has become a mystery. The truth is that success on the Internet is not a matter of chance, but a balancing act between the investment in website development and website promotion. The primary strategy of the most successful Internet businesses today is based on "getting you there…" (promotion) and "keeping you there…" (website functionality). Successful Internet marketing relies on the effective allocation of your financial resources. If you spend all your money to create a site that's looks better than your competition's and spare little for promotion, the odds are great that few of your customers will ever see it. The most effective strategies account for spending one-third to one-half of your Internet budget on website promotion, and the rest on website features that effectively serve the needs of your visitors. Effective website promotion requires staying in touch with the latest Internet marketing techniques. You will have to learn about (and incorporate) some new Internet Marketing tricks, if you want to be found on the Internet. Here are some to consider: Old Trick: Register with the Top Ten search engines and wait for something to happen. New Trick: Register with the Top Ten search engines and 1,550 more search engines, watch it like a hawk, and perhaps re-registering the Top Ten, until you see results. Old Trick: Use meta-tag script to code your pages with descriptions and keywords New Trick: Research your keywords carefully, then use meta-tag script to code your pages with strategic descriptions and keywords Old Trick: Register your home page and your top-level category pages New Trick: Register pages created specifically for search engine registration that lead to your home page and top-level category pages The Oldest Trick in the World: Rely only on Internet-based advertising to bring traffic to your site. Critical New Trick: Balance your on-line and off-line promotions using traditional marketing methods and print media promotion. Remember, mysteries are meant to be solved and your business can compete on the Internet. You can take your place among today's businesses succeeding on the Internet, if you allocate the necessary resources for website promotion. In the end, your success will not be based on mystery or chance, but on your ability to keep your balance and implement effective Internet marketing strategies. Debra L. Malmos AAP is President & CEO of iFULL Enterprises, Inc., an Internet service provider and web site development business. Debra has been involved in web site development and Internet marketing since 1995. She launched iFULL Enterprises, Inc. in 1997. Debra is an accredited payment industry expert with over 20 years of experience in the financial industry. Ms. Malmos served for 11 years as Director of Education and Training for Mid-America Payment Exchange, one of the largest regional banking associations in the nation. Debra has spent 18 years as a professional trainer with over 2,700 hours of public speaking experience. In addition, Ms. Malmos is a published author of nationally distributed payment industry publications and articles and has experience as a producer and scriptwriter for industrial videos. The scope of her background includes marketing, data processing services and financial operations with emphasis in accounting, audit and cash management.
|
NEW...
PinPay Point of Sale Network