eSeller News – Page 5

YOU!

80% of Top UK Brands at Risk from Online Trolls

Martina Mercer

July13/ 2015

Thousands of controversial .sucks domains emerged from their sunrise period on Sunday 21 June and became available to the general public. But just 20 per cent of the UK’s top brands have snapped them up, leaving the rest in danger from online trolls, according to domain name registrar 34SP.com.

80 per cent of the leading 100 UK brands are yet to register the top level domains (TLDs) that pose a huge reputational threat. Dove, Cadbury, Kitkat, and BBC .sucks domains are just a handful still up for grabs to anyone that wants to buy them.

Vodafone, Barclays, ASDA, and ASOS are some of the more cautious UK brands to purchase the controversial domains released by Canadian domain registrar, Vox Populi, before they fell into the wrong hands. Vodafone, Barclays, Lloyds, and Nationwide have gone as far as to splash out on .sucks domains under a variety of versions of their brand terms or well-known phrases; with Nationwide even registering nationwideisonyourside.sucks.

US brands were vocal when preregistering the domains whilst they were in their sunrise period and only available to trademarked holders, with Taylor Swift, Kevin Spacey, and Microsoft all saying they’d bought them. And a similar response was anticipated by 34SP.com for UK brands once the TLDs were available to the general public.

Daniel Foster, co-founder and technical director at 34SP.com said: “It’s fairly obvious that brands should do everything in their power to avoid the vulnerability posed by the torment of online trolls – especially household names that might be more susceptible.

“We’ve been surprised by the low number of UK brands that have registered these domains, however. Although the term ‘sucks’ might not resonate with the UK audience, a lot of these brands are known internationally, so the domains really shouldn’t be ignored.

“Though this does all sound like bad news, the .sucks domains can be used in a positive way. Cancer.sucks, for example, has been registered which offers a brilliant opportunity for a marketing campaign for a cancer charity.

“Our advice to businesses generally is to seriously consider registering .sucks domains before someone else does. Paying the annual cost could be pennies of what a company might need to fork out if the domain is registered by someone else; and the business has a crisis management issue on its hands if controversial content is hosed under its name.”

For more information, please visit www.34SP.com

Entrepeneurs, YOU!

Why Entrepreneurs Don’t Need Business Plans

Martina Mercer

June25/ 2015

Many successful entrepreneurs started their business on a hunch, finding a gap in the market, their renowned impatience sees them setting up businesses in minutes, offering a product or service moments from the initial conception of the idea.

Although Sir Alan Sugar now favours business plans when choosing an Apprentice, when starting out on a market stall, all he needed was a little cash in his pocket and a penchant for early mornings.

Richard Branson began with a love for music and an available shop where he could sell records, whereas a controversial entrepreneur, Katie Price merely began in front of the camera before expanding into fashion, books and presenting.

Online Business

It seems that it’s even easier to test the waters now with online businesses popping up every day. If you think you have a good idea for a business you can simply set up a service in seconds. Buying a domain name and filling the site with good copy is a start, and then with a sprinkling of web design and SEO from an affordable company and some good marketing from a freelance marketer you can compete with big brands. Unlike twenty years ago you no longer have to rely on the size of your shop front as every business no matter how large or small has the same sized front page (within reason) which allows the corner shop to compete with Tesco as long as they know how to build traffic.

Everyone’s an Entrepreneur

The internet has made most people think they can cut it as an entrepreneur, whether they sell their services on freelancer sites or flog their finds on eBay, the majority know how to make money online. Because of this it’s no surprise that these small ventures start without a business plan, as although some fail; many also thrive taking the business owner by surprise. As most of the population own a PC too no longer does an entrepreneur have to give up steady work as they test the waters of their new career, instead they can enjoy a regular income from full time employment, pursuing their dream from the comfort of home after dark.

Why Do I Need a Business Plan?

This may make you wonder why you ever need a business plan at all, but there are many benefits to making sure you have everything on paper. Without a business plan you’ll be hard pushed to find investment from the outset, and hard pushed to expand with investment once you’re up and running. Not only is a business plan a great tool for highlighting your projections it also makes for an essential document to look back on, as you can gauge your success measuring your profit and loss which motivates you to succeed.

If in the first few years of trading you seek outside investment, loan companies and banks will want to measure your current status against your original forecasts from your business plan. It shows them that you’re serious about handling money and reassures them that their cash is safe in your hands.

However, there’s nothing stopping you starting now with a website, some SEO, good persuasive copy and a few clever marketing techniques, you can always go back later and write the business plan when you need it!

Marketing

Social media and your online marketplace store

Adrien Nussenbaum

June17/ 2015

The past few years has seen a major trend for smaller retailers to sell their products via an online marketplace. An online marketplace is a place where buyers and sellers can interact and that fit seamlessly with a retailer’s existing brand. Amazon Marketplace is the biggest and best known, but many high street retailers now operate their own marketplace and two of the biggest e-commerce success stories in recent years are etsy and notonthehighstreet, both of which have a pure marketplace model.

Marketplaces offer a wonderful opportunity to reach a new audience, but the individual seller still needs to promote their marketplace store, just as they would if they had a physical store. Social media is perhaps the most effective way of doing this, but it’s not something that everyone is comfortable with. These is the best way of using social media to promote a store in an oline marketplace.

Don’t be scared

The first step is to put aside any trepidation you have and learn to embrace social media.The key is to simply be yourself and for your social media presence to reflect your store and the products you sell.

Select the social platforms that you think will work best for you – most likely Twitter or Facebook – and do a little background reading on each one first. Once you are ready to start, make sure you commit to regular updates, otherwise it is hard to communicate and engage. You shouldn’t be overly-promotional, just be welcoming, friendly and have fun.

Social content is your best friend

Shopping remains one of the most social activities, even online. People love to discuss purchases and get opinions from people they trust. The rise of social media has heralded a new era of social shopping, transposed from physical stores to online.

It’s something smaller retailers can deploy when promoting their marketplace stores, and at its heart is content. Do encourage customers to share photos, comments and more, extending the shopping experience by making it more collaborative and community-based.

SEO rules still apply

Most retailers are aware of at least the basic principles of Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and those principals also apply to listing products on an online marketplace, and the promotion of those via social media.

For the marketplace listing, a seller should ask their marketplace account manager what would be an efficient title for SEO on their particular product category. For example, if looking for clothes a consumer would generally search by brand, so including that brand in the product title would be advantageous in getting picked up in searches. If you are tweeting or updating on Facebook or Instagram about a product, do the same.

Tie-in with the main retailer’s social media

If a retailer is serious about its marketplace it will offer on-going to all its sellers to help ensure their mutual on-going success. This includes via social media. But a smart seller will go beyond this and capitalise on any promotions that the retailer is doing. So in a rare UK heatwave, the retailer may do a social media push on beach accessories. When this happens, the seller should retweet and share updates, adding their own brief message. The retailer may well retweet that message, ensuring the seller reaches a much larger audience than just its own followers. Tagging the retailer’s social accounts in a seller’s own updates is also effective for generating retweets and new followers.

Social media is an effective and straight forward way of raising awareness of a marketplace store, and should be the first method of doing so, driving traffic and increasing sales.

Digital Marketing, Entrepeneurs, Sole Traders, YOU!

How to Get Testimonials

Martina Mercer

June16/ 2015

Testimonials are the luxury currency of the freelancer, the more you have the more a client will be willing to take you on. Some freelancing sites encourage clients to leave testimonials, such as People per hour and freelancer.com.

Each one serves as its own little reference leaving your client in doubt that you will be reliable, professional and most of all good at what you do, however when starting out just how do you secure testimonials without asking family or friends to fake a sentence or two?

Here are a few tips on how to get testimonials.

Start Small

The beauty of testimonials is no matter how small the job you can still receive a glowing reference. Unlike in the 9-5 employed world, you don’t have to work three years with no sick days to be awarded with a few words of complementary gold dust. Taking on a couple of tiny jobs will ensure you build up your glowing portfolio quickly whilst receiving the testimonials that will set you apart from the rest.

Go Beyond the Book

When working for a firm unless it’s the time of year that you’re hoping for a promotion, many of us will do exactly what is expected and nothing more. As the big hand reaches 12 like sheep out of a cinema we’ll already have our coats on half off our seats ready to launch into our free time. Freelancing is different. This is your own reputation on the line, and the harder you work, the more you’ll profit. Assess each job individually, go beyond the book, either deliver work early or offer free advice or give a little extra for free. This will not only make every client feel as though they are receiving special treatment it will also ensure a glowing reference too.

Ask and you will Receive

Before a project comes to an end it’s a good idea to ask for feedback on your services. As you submit the final work, a little line of, “I’d just like to make sure you were happy with my work and as I value feedback was there anything I could have done better?” This will not only help you with future jobs it will also give you an idea of the type of feedback they will leave. Making sure your service is absolutely faultless will give you five stars across the board.

Then once an invoice is paid you can get in touch again, ask them how their new design is working for them and subtly request a few words of a testimonial that you can use. This can be done via email where you can copy and paste onto your own website, through LinkedIn, or through a freelancer website building your rankings and making your profile stand out above all others.

Analysis, CRM, Customer Care, Discussion, Engage, eSeller Guides, Facts & Figures, Latest News, More, Technology

How to Measure Your Performance

Martina Mercer

June02/ 2015

This is a guest post brought to you by Martina Mercer for BrandStreet. Brandstreet, along with many other features, measures performance of retailers in order for you to ensure you reach maximum potential and receive a great return on any investment. You can sign up for Brand Street, the APP that everyone’s talking about, as a retailer, by contacting Martina directly.

There are many methods to increasing sales online, from social media to marketing, to copywriting and PR, each one promising to increase your sales and conversions over time.
There’s no denying that when experts like us (we’re honest, not humble!) get our hands on your campaigns, we can convert customers new and old, target your entire demographic and boost your profits considerably.
However, recently with new clients, we’ve been quite stunned to learn that through previous online marketing endeavours many haven’t measured their success. This means that they have no way of telling if the tactics they employed actually worked or which strategies worked the best.
Now, it may be because we’re brilliant but we like to show off a little, by giving you reports and showing you real data of how we’ve improved your bottom line. We’re always as clear as crystal and ensure you are kept in the loop so you have the tools to drive growth not just now but in the future. Here’s how to measure your performance outside of Brand Street.
Why is It Essential to Track What You Do?
It’s rare when deciding on a marketing campaign or sales project that just one tactic will be used as the best results are gained from interlinking campaigns to give blanket coverage and to ensure your entire audience is targeted.
For instance, even a blog about special offers may not generate visitors directly from your website. It could have been shared on a social network, tweeted, or even picked up by another blogger and your source derives from that.
Knowledge is Power
Knowing exactly where your sales come from is the key to repeating success. It could simply be coincidence that you’ve launched a marketing campaign, just as a customer has reviewed a product favourably giving your business a boost. Not only this but when visitors reach your website you need to know why their convinced to buy or contact but more importantly you need to discover the reasons behind the ones that clicked and left in seconds.
Your sources could come from anywhere especially if you’ve actively promoted your business as you will have links all over the web, the majority you’ll know about but some you will not. They could come from a guest blog, through a variety of search engines, social media sites, review sites or others personal blogs but until you know you have no way of realising if half your efforts are in vein.
This is why we offer bespoke solutions that measure sales every step of the way, as we believe you not only need to experience the results you need to see them too. By thoroughly analysing trends, traffic and conversions derived from campaigns we can quickly adjust your strategy to ensure we maximise the potential while saving money on methods that are proven not to work for you.
Every business is different, email marketing may work for one business whereas social media campaigns may work for another or a combination of the two, but without analysing the results you’ll never be any the wiser and you’ll always be gambling with the future of your business.

eSeller Guides, Global, Grow, social media management

Going Global on Facebook – Should You or Shouldn’t You?

Martina Mercer

May18/ 2015

Facebook launched its global pages for businesses, public figures and brands consolidating all analytical information into one stream, allowing you to target the entire world from one designated Facebook URL.

There has been a lot of discussion regarding this move as many brands weigh up the pros and cons, trying to decide if embracing this shift would be right for driving growth and likes. At Locowise, we’re not overly concerned with the Facebook analytics, as our platform exceeds it and allows you to view data you can act on through a variety of ways. For example even if you did go global with one worldwide page, we can still separate your stats so you can see where your target audience are coming from, and more importantly in what time zone. We can also make sure you do increase your exposure and likes, no matter what country you target.

So putting the analytics aside what else does going global on Facebook mean for your page?

Would it be easier and more sensible to appeal to everyone at once or could this blanket approach damage the national reputation you’ve worked hard to build?

What are Global Pages?

Global pages allow you to use just one URL for your brand. On the face of it, it seems like a single page to cover the entire world but delve deeper and you’ll see it’s much more than this. The global pages have subpages for localised areas, so your fans and customers can choose to communicate locally or globally. The aim is for the content to be consistent across all subsequent pages, allowing the country specific managers to maintain control of their pages but bringing it together to deliver a seamless experience to the user.

Here are the pros and cons to consider:

Pro: Global Coverage with a Localised Theme

One central place for all of your global endeavours is appealing and it can streamline your approach to marketing while ensuring you keep it local too.

Con: A Huge Commitment

The global pages will only be effective if utilised to their full potential. This means giving your social media manager a lot more work, building content strategies to attract target audiences for numerous destinations and keeping on top of every page so one country never feels left behind.

Pro: Massive Marketing at Its Best

If done right, once set up and a great content strategy is in place along with good analytics that enable you to grow your popularity as you market your brand, the marketing potential is massive. Suddenly you have the ability to reach billions of people all through one URL.

Con: Massive Overheads

There’s a reason Global pages have so far only been offered to huge companies such as Dove. This is because Facebook recognises that to succeed, a brand must have already decided to fork out substantial amounts on their Facebook campaigns – and be open to increasing the budget. Global pages take time, resources, and are not for those who may have trouble managing more than one page. To capitalize on this development, it has to be done right.

You have time to think about this, as it’s not yet available to everyone. In the meantime, make sure you’re happy with your current campaign so you’re ready for the extra work when it arrives.

eSeller Guides, Facts & Figures, Grow

An Introduction to Google AdWords

Martina Mercer

May18/ 2015

Google is more than just a search engine; they’re an example of how to make enormous amounts of money by giving the customer what they want. Starting out as a simple portal to find anything you needed on the web, Google now offer an enormous range of business tools that allow anyone to succeed as long as they’re analysed right.

For example, although Google frowns on SEO (search Engine Optimization where websites stuff in keywords to beat the Google bots and so achieve a higher ranking on Google), they know they cannot defeat it so regularly change their algorithms so companies have to keep up. Now to ensure you reach the top spot in Google, you can’t just add keywords to copy, you need to constantly update content, have an engaging site and be present elsewhere on the web.

If you meet all of these criteria, you have the potential to be on the first page of Google when someone searches for your products or services. This can be a licence to print money as already the consumer is 90% sure they are going to buy/hire what they find. The extra ten per cent is up to you to draw them in and convert them through brilliant copy!

Here’s a quick introduction to Google Adwords and Google itself.

Can You Buy your Way to the Top?

One way of bypassing SEO completely is using Google Adwords. Google are very proud that they don’t accept money to propel people to the top of the search pages as they prefer an even playing field where any company can compete no matter how big or small. However, they couldn’t miss out on the profit potential and so launched Google Adwords instead.

Adwords that can be purchased appear on the left hand side of the page or sometimes above search results. You can tailor your ad to your budget, and basically buy a top spot, however it is not immune to the efforts of SEO either.

A social media expert will be able to minimise your spend while maximising your exposure, ensuring your ad reaches the top spots without breaking the bank. Google Adwords can provide social media success for professionals as it places your company at the ideal point in time of a buyers journey.

It can be controversial as every buyer is different; this is why analytics and observing your own buyer’s behaviour is critical. For example those in the know will actually ignore these ads completely preferring to take the organic results rather than those that have been bought.

This doesn’t mean it doesn’t work though, as many have achieved incredible ROIs simply by creating an ad.

Entrepeneurs, Outsourcing, Sole Traders, YOU!

How to Outsource Effectively

Martina Mercer

May15/ 2015

We bring you tips on how to outsource effectively as a freelancer.

There are many reasons why you may find a need to outsource. In the working life of a freelancer some days can be oh so quiet whereas others see your inbox flooded with requests for work. Also, clients who’ve used you and are happy with your services will trust your judgement when choosing other freelancers for their websites, such as bloggers, copywriters or SEO experts.

Choose Carefully

When advertising a job you may be surprised at the amount of applications you receive, however, although it sounds cynical only 10% of these will actually live up to their promises. There are thousands of hopefuls trying to secure a freelance career as they believe it to be the ultimate way of life, yet many have no experience or qualifications and at the end of the day their expertise is your downfall.

Request a Test

All applicants will be happy to provide you with a free test. Whether it’s 100 words on the subject matter or a quick critique of a website design, bone fide qualified professionals will be willing to showcase their skills in a bid to win the job. This can also be beneficial as you can forward the test to the client to see if they approve of the freelancers style of writing or web design before committing to hiring.

Be Honest

The responsibility of the quality of work from outsourcing ultimately lies on your shoulders, however resist the urge to pass off their work as your own. When a client gets in touch, if you know you will be employing the use of others, be honest, tell them of your intentions and ask them if they mind. Some may prefer for you to do the work yourself however most will be happy with the arrangement as long as you supervise all work. This also acts as a little buffer, as although the client will blame you if the work isn’t up to par at least your professional reputation won’t suffer as they’ll understand others were employed to do the work.

Allocate Time

You may think that outsourcing saves you a lot of time and effort, and in the most part you’d be right. However, it is your responsibility to check and edit all work before submitting to clients. Make sure you allocate time to do this as this can eat into deadlines and if you rush the editing process you may miss a fatal mistake.

You will also have to spare time to send information to freelancers, answer any queries and chase them up when a deadline looms. Although eventually you will probably create a wonderful working team, initially you will realise that some people don’t rush when it’s not their own head on the chopping block.

Decide on Payment Terms

When outsourcing you must consider how you will pay the freelancers. Sending them direct to the client cuts corners however it leaves you no space to take a little for the time you’ve spent managing the project. Paying invoices on an ad hoc basis is a great way to outsource but be sure to check Inland Revenue rules and obligations as although paying tax and national insurance is their responsibility, there are nuances when working above an average amount of hours each week.

Look After the Good Ones

Some days it may seem like you’ll never find freelancers with your commitment and determination, however when you do stumble upon one that you can rely on and that produces faultless work, make sure you let them know. This will not only boost their professional ego but will also ensure you can use them again and again. They’ll appreciate having a client that is a pleasure to work for.

Grow, Marketing, Sole Traders, YOU!

How to Find New Clients

Martina Mercer

May15/ 2015

We bring you top tips on how to find new clients in our article for entrepreneurs and freelancers

Securing clients can seem like the largest mountain to overcome when starting out as a freelancer and some unsavoury steps may be needed in order to make yourself a name in the freelancing world.

If you’ve just taking the step to become self employed full time, hopefully you will have followed advice and made sure you have enough money to live on for the first three months of your career. What this advice doesn’t tell you is that this isn’t just in case you don’t get work, it’s so you can offer your services that little bit cheaper in order to build up a fantastic portfolio.

Your Competition

No matter how busy or successful you become your competition should always be at the forefront of your mind. When starting out you are competing with freelancers that have oodles of experience along with a showcase of live websites they can tempt the client with. You need to research your competition and see what they offer, you need to assess their rates and quite slyly, undercut them.

This may seem devious however, you have your three month buffer, and they don’t. Clients will be unwilling to take you on if you haven’t got a full portfolio to show or your references are lacking. However ever client will speak in monetary terms and will be willing to give you a shot if you can show at least one piece of work, (even your own website) along with cheaper rates of pay.

Remember this isn’t forever, once you have secured this client, you will receive testimonials as well as live content on the web you can showcase on your next application.

Your Time

Another advantage new freelancers have is time. With an empty diary you can offer quicker turnaround times than anyone else. Producing quality work ahead of a deadline will appeal to many clients, as most would like to see results yesterday. Established freelancers don’t have this luxury and have to slot new work around other commitments. You can dedicate full working days until the project is finished which will not only boost your reputation but will give you stunning feedback too.

In the first few months it’s also worth adding a little extra time to your day, using that initial enthusiasm you can be sure to succeed if you work around the clock.

Decide on your Market

Initially you can decide to work locally. This gives you a wealth of opportunity as you can target local businesses almost for free. Just a quick Google will show those who require some work to their websites, and by offering affordable services via email, or even dropping into the shop or office you can build up a good local client base. Most businesses know they need web designers, however few understand how to go about it, by bringing the service to them they

will appreciate the local flavour and also be surprised at how affordable it really is.

Use Forums

There are so many freelancing websites out there that when starting out it’s a good idea to put a day or two aside to join each one. Making sure you have a full profile with an easily accessible portfolio will not only make you available to clients it will give you an excellent web presence too. Some freelancing sites are better than others for gaining clients, however the more you become involved, the more chance you have of securing those all-important first clients.

Digital Marketing, Entrepeneurs, research, Sole Traders, Your Store

How to Research Your Target Market as an Entrepeneur

Martina Mercer

May13/ 2015

We bring you top tips on how to research your target market when starting out as a freelancer. If you want to be a freelance copywriter or a freelance anything for that matter, robust market research is vital. Conducting a thorough investigation of the marketplace will not only form the basis of your business plan, it will help to design an attractive package that will make your service stand out from the rest.

Begin your research by taking to the Internet. Google, Twitter and freelance websites such as Elance, Peopleperhour and Webprojobs will provide a wealth of information on the competition, the services they offer and how they position themselves within the market. And don’t forget industry magazines, forums, events and speaking to people in the field, whether client or competitor.

What you need to find out:

Is there room in the market for my services?

Arguably, there’s always room for a new service if it offers something a customer wants at a competitive price and great quality. However, in the more saturated markets consider how you can add value to your service to make it more attractive. Sometimes the more unusual the better, comparethemarket.com rose above its myriad competitors simply because of its comparethemeerkat campaign. Love it or loathe it, it sticks out.

What’s the competition doing?

Make a list of the competitors you find on freelance sites and then look closely at their professional websites. Find out what services they offer, how much they charge and who their clients are. Review how they present themselves, what added value they provide and their level of expertise. This can form the basis of a later analysis: what your target clients want which your competitors don’t provide e.g. award-winning, high profile web designers will charge more and may not want to handle smaller firms – perhaps that’s where you can step in offering advice and budget packages.

In order to be competitive aim to emulate the competitor’s best bits (which are relevant to you) while distinguishing yourself from them.

What do clients want?

You want a client who wants your services and is willing to pay for them. Much energy is wasted chasing potential clients who don’t need, or aren’t aware that they need, a service or product. If you focus on clients who use these services, your only task will be to convince them that you’re the best person for the job.

Have on online presence. Be on Twitter and forums, subscribe to blogs and newsletters. Take note of client issues and consider how you can address them. Naturally this will be an ongoing exercise to be continued after the initial market research.

Following your research come back to your business strategy and ask:

What are my key skills?
Where do I fit within the marker/where should I position myself?
How can I provide added value?
Who might want my services and be willing to pay my fees?

Armed with this information, you will be able to offer relevant, competitive services – an excellent start for any business.