How to Build Your Ecommerce Name - Step 4 Should You Spam?

Spamming brings to my mind an ex-business colleague that I met last year. He began his business entirely by spamming. Asked whether he felt guilty of it, he said no. He used major auction and free advertising sites to solicit clients. His ecommerce strategy is to let people know what products and services he is selling while exerting only the minimum effort.

Could this be the perfect model for succeeding in ecommerce? I doubt it. This ecommerce strategy does look efficient -- it saves time and money and does work. People do check their spam folders and sometimes get attracted to deals that merchants offer. But in the long run, if you have built a name for your business online, spamming may become a stigma to your online business.

Imagine getting unwanted e-mails from companies you never heard of. Sure, you may find their product offers great and their services timely. But if you go check out their websites, what do you see? Do you even find a decent "About Us" description or an office address? Do you know the person behind the spam e-mail? My ex-business colleague, despite getting clients, eventually saw the effects of his "smart" ecommerce strategy. Word spread that he was spamming, not fulfilling the agreed services, and hiring semi-skilled employees. Before he got out of the trouble he made, everyone already had the impression that his business was a scam. Don't let it happen to you!


Other articles:

How to Build Your Ecommerce Name - Step 1 Domain Name
How to Build Your Ecommerce Name - Step 2 Web Hosting

WEB OPPORTUNITY 3 - Can you Provide Information?

The part that I like best about ecommerce is that it levels the ground between the haves and the have-nots. People who don't have much capital but have expertise in a certain subject can easily create informational materials such as e-books that they can sell online. They can set up their own ecommerce store that focuses solely on these digital files or they may also advertise their product on various public auction sites or merchant malls such as eBay.

I must agree with Scott Lindsay that this is a low-key way of making money online, knowing how little capital is being invested (financially). However many online merchants have made considerable profit off selling e-books, webinars, and other downloadable digital files. In fact, most people who don't have much time to go to brick and mortar bookstores need only browse an ecommerce store such as Amazon to shop for books and have them shipped.

Despite the boom of e-book selling, merchants should also be aware that download security is an issue among e-book sellers. Unless they put up or advertise in a secure ecommerce store where they can send the file to the buyer without being defrauded, hackers are likely to steal the files. One of the best ways to protect merchants from download fraud or identity theft is to send only the link to the file via email as soon as the buyer has paid for the product.

ECOMMERCE WEB SITE SUCCESS TIP 4 - Web Metrics are the Necessary Evil

Google has created net addicts in all of us. Having to comply to SEO standards that result in your ecommerce site being part of top 10 in the first page of Google's search results has become an obsession for many merchants and online analysts. Some think Google is unfair, but others think the giant search engine is only doing its best to see all websites equally.

But these metrics we employ in order to track the online success of our ecommerce site are crucial. Think: without Google Analytics or other software that show details on visitor number, page clicks, or other essential technicalities, no one will figure out whether the business is taking off and whether it has a potential to do so.

The little things are the big things in the web. Your ecommerce site isn't built to merely sell products. The more you know about how it is running, the better you can create solutions to improve it. Eventually, the more likely your sales will increase.

ECOMMERCE WEB SITE SUCCESS TIP 1 - Three Rules of Thumb
ECOMMERCE WEB SITE SUCCESS TIP 2 - Build networks, Build Backlinks
ECOMMERCE WEB SITE SUCCESS TIP 3 - Use Your Backend Design to Your Advantage