Can I Make Money on the Web?
The short answer is
YES -
The
bottom profit line is always made in two ways - one reduction of selling expenses and the
other way is by generation
of sales to a wider customer base. The best way is to do both at the same
time and using the
Internet as one of your tools to do this is a good strategy.
Yes, people are selling things (B2B and B2C) on the Web
and Yes, using the Web as your primary communications tool can reduce expenses.
The latest surveys show that just over 40 % of people on
line are using the Web to buy goods and services and businesses are connecting to the web to reduce
expenses. They are cutting back on traditional media buying and using e-Mail as their
primary communications tool with the customers and suppliers.
Surprisingly, tdc has been told recently by a consumer
that if a company's product information is not available on the Web ~~~ it does not have
creditability.
About 45 per cent of Canadian Internet users purchased goods and services while
online at home, more than triple reported two years ago.- 2003 Study
Direct Sales Catalogues
Sales of durables are beginning to happen and surprisingly enough apparel
is one of the top sellers on line despite what the fortune tellers said that
it could not be done because people wanted to touch things before they buy
it.. There is a very impressive L.L. Bean Web site that mirrors their direct
sales catalogue. We expect that it and others will be successful as time as
consumers find that buying on-line saves money and the now important
motivator "time savings".
The second example of a catalogue type enterprise on the Web is Amazon.com Books . This book seller has
limited warehouse space and limited inventory; yet purports to have 2,000,000 titles.
Amazon.com Books also has an associate bookseller program whereby persons who have Web
sites can list and recommend books and videotapes. If there is a sale, Amazon will pay a
commission on the sale up to 15%. tdc participates in Amazon's program through their tdc's Bookstore.
For those interested in how Web catalogue merchandising is done it is well worth a visit.
The Virtual Store with lots of Items for Sale
Although corporate sites make up the bulk of online marketing, there are many
"virtual" stores now online. These stores are not extensions of companies with
physical locations. Instead, they operate exclusively online. One such
store is Wine.com says that they have
access to 14,000 different wines, cheeses, accessories to compliment wine,
and gift baskets that can be shipped via UPS, FedEx and DHL based on
state and have it to your door in 2 - 5 days. They do about anything
that a normal retail store does. They not only can list your products
in various ways, but can send out newsletters to customers, can put special
promotions on goods and services for sale at different times, provide
invoices, inventory control, charge appropriate sales tax, shipping charges
and process orders using credit cards.
This is all done on-line using "shopping cart" software that can now mimic
everything that a brinks and mortar store can do without the infrastructure
problems these stores have - all with more control on the inventory and less
expenses for customer liability insurance because no real customers come to
physically shop at these stores.
The upside of using this technology is that there are lots and lots of
"shopping cart" software solutions most of which has been modeled from
Amazon.com. The downside is finding the right kind that will fit your
particular situation. As far as cost of this software.... it could be
a low as no cost to as high as as much as you want to pay.
The present challenge with using this approach is with some "shopping
cart" software there is no way to attract search engine inquires to specific
pages and if you are located in someplace outside the United States,
purchases taxes and shipping charges integrated into the software might be a
problem. Another challenge is that some 'shopping cart' software runs uses
.asp files and others .php files and you have to find servers that are
compatible to the software that you are using.
Yes, many shopping carts say that they can get you up and running within
a few hours.. but I doubt it unless you thoroughly understand the
software and the logic of the person who designed it.
If you want us to help you find the right shopping cart solution for you
just
e-Mail.
Virtual Store with only one or a few
Items for Sale
There is many opportunities to sell only a few specialized items on the net
with great success. In fact one such case is "Hockey
Made Easy" which is a single book that has been sold all over the planet
in print, e-Book and CD format.
When we designed the "Hockey Made
Easy" site we attempted to provide as much free information as possible
so that the purchaser would make an informed decision based upon as much
free information about hockey instruction as possible.
In doing so, we provided descriptions of the book, table of contents,
links to hockey organization, images of the front cover, images and a
history of the author, sections of the book, what persons have said about
the book, and of course order pages where a person had choices to purchase
the print or e-Book versions.
By concentrating on a single item like this over a number of pages,
we were able to attract search engines to find
Hockey Made Easy on many pages
making this hockey instruction book the most successful in the world.
Other tdc designed 'one or a few items' are
Kool Pine Cottages,
Step Into Your Power,
The Art of Charles Spratt,
Eric Webster Furniture,
Step Into Your Power and
Heart and Home Gift Creations.
If you have only a few items or services and want us to help you find the right web
site solution for you
just
e-Mail.
Destination Web Sites
One of the most satisfying and challenging
things I do is to design a site for a destination where you want the viewer
to personally visit. To do this, one has to have a very good understanding
of the destination and the motivations that will motivate people to visit.
This is a huge challenge and involves a close relationship between the
client and the designer discussing the type and how the information should
be presented. The site has to present as much information as possible to
answer all questions on what the place is, why should one visit there, how
to get there, when is the best time to come, and where it is. This
type of site requires an highly sophisticated navigation linking system,
background music to add to the impression one is trying to provide on a
page, images, slide shows, text and backgrounds that mirror the culture of the place, and lots
and lots of information.
tdc has designed three successful
destination web sites that have motivated people to visit the properties and
we would love to do more.
These are:
Chisasibi Mandow Agency and the
Brockville Farmers' Market.
If you have a destination and want us to help you find the right web
site solution for you just
e-Mail.
e-Magazines
tdc's FarmGate is an "e-Magazine linking urban residents with the people
in the rural communities in and around the Region of Ottawa Canada" is a
massive site with lots of pages providing information that we think has
interest for both the urban and rural communities in Eastern Ontario. The
site provides a weather report, web cam image of the Parliament Buildings,
articles written by submission, notices of public meetings, winter driving
tips, gardening tips, information on saving gas, restaurant reviews, a map
of the area, a photo gallery of interesting places in the area, and
much, more....
This type of information is used as a substrate for selling goods and
services to people interested in the information that is offered in
tdc's FarmGate. Examples
of the types of goods and services that are sold are
Maple Syrup,
Tree Care,
How to Build a Greenhouse with
Style,
Hockey Made Easy
for minor league coaches, players and parents,
Dried and Habanero Peppers,
and Eric Webster's Home Made
Furniture... It works with the site annually been seen by about 380,000
viewers from around the world and sales being generated by all sale pages in
the tdc's FarmGate family. Clients of tdc who sell products are services are
advertised in the General Store
which is part of tdc's FarmGate.
If you have products or services that you want us to be
included in the tdc's FarmGate family just
e-Mail.
Future Expectations
Just five years ago e-Marketers were worried about whether or not the number
of females would increase using the Internet and shop on line. No more....
they and even the seniors numbers are increasing all over the earth
with the biggest increases coming from Europe and China. Now, there are over
a billion people who have access to the Internet and the number of sites
into the millions.
Who would imagine that the downloading of music, the
purchasing of airline tickets, and the selling of personal treasures on eBay
to most countries in the world would ellipse the profits of General Motors?
But it is happening.
Who would imagine that Kodak would shut down their film
processing unit in favour of a strategy involving digital cameras that can
send pictures via e-Mail to anyone with an Internet connection.
The future is being driven by the new devices that can
access the Internet. IPods, cell phones, PC's, Laptops, Blackberries, PDA's and
whatever new portable communications device they all will all have Internet
access.
So if you are thinking about designing or updating your web site....
why not?
If you think I can help you just
e-Mail.
Basic Marketing Principles
There are a couple of basic principles in selling on the WEB. That is the WEB provides a
means to eliminate the middle person whether this is wholesaler or broker.
It is a media that provides a direct interactive link
between buyers and producers .
The media provides the sender to become the receiver and the receiver to become the
sender.
The WEB is the great leveler. Now and in the future there is no need for expensive
showcase retail outlets, no need to purchase shopper liability insurance, no need to pay
exorbitant rents and taxes for commercial retail space and lastly no need to carry the
salaries of salespersons and sales distribution personnel.
What will be needed is people knowledgeable in marketing to update the
web site, write the newsletter, create and execute on-line sales and
marketing strategies, process orders and prepare items for shipment.
Besides the WEB can be accessed interactively 24 hours a day and 7 days a week from
anywhere in the world at an affordable price. (present access is about $11.99
or less per month for
a local Internet Provider)
This is why WEB site pricing for manufactured goods should be considerably less than that
found in retail outlets. The public perceives this is true.
Sites that do price their goods and services using the traditional bricks and
mortar approach might be surviving now but in the long run they will not survive.
Presently, retail outlets have countered these arguments with the provision of personal
service, creation of an sales ambiance and not having to pay for delivery charges.
It is expected that direct-to-consumer delivery organizations, recognizing the
growing Web commerce - will have to be competitive with lower prices than
they presently have, simply because the consumer perceives that the cost to
sell products is less than the traditional bricks and mortar approach.
Right now the big bugaboo for costs is the cost of transporting the item
which in some cases more than the item itself.
If you think I can help you with pricing and marketing on line just
e-Mail.
Marketing Costs
There is another aspect of the Web that needs to be addressed under the subject of costs.
The Web has the real potential to provide an efficient channel for advertising, marketing
and even direct distribution of certain goods and information services. It has been
suggested that it may be nearly one quarter less costly to
perform direct marketing through the Internet than through conventional media channels.
Some examples of these cost savings are: Reported by IBM that on line catalogs on the
Internet can save firms up to 25% in processing costs and reduce
cycle time by up to 62% . These increases in efficiency suggests that there may be
more financial benefits than just increased exposure for products and services than
previously perceived.
One vendor estimated that his marketing efforts on the Web resulted in "10 times as many units [sold] with 1/10 the advertising budget "
(Potter 1994)
Note: Right now, it is possible to maintain a domain name and have 1
gigabit of data on a net server for less than $200.00 per year Cdn funds.
( about $172.00 US funds )
If you think I can help you with understanding marketing on-line costs just
e-Mail.
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It may be easier to understand if I describe the process first and then the definitions
in context:
If I click on a link in a web browser, I am sending a request to a web server for an HTML
file. The web server logs that request along with some information about who requested the
file. Your web browser reads the file,
and discovers it needs a bunch of images and other embedded objects like Flash files, or
Java Applets (where applicable). It (your web browser) automatically sends out new
requests for those files to the web server too.
The web server logs each request for each file, whether it is an image, multimedia file or
Java Applet, and duly sends the file out. Your web browser inserts these files into the
correct place of the page as it receives it.
At the end of this process, you are looking at a complete page, and the web server has a
list of files requested written to a log file, which is basically raw data. We want to see
who has been visiting our site, so we
get some software to analyze this data (WebTrends, HitList, Analog are some examples). The
software analyzes the raw log files and collates the data in a more readable format,
telling us how many files total, including images
etc. were requested in a given time period (Hits), how many files a given visitor
requested in during a session (a session is defined as someone continuously requesting
files, with no more than a reasonable delay between
requests, like 20-30 minutes or so) and so on.
Hits - how many files total, including images, multimedia, Java Applets,
were requested in a given time period.
Files - usually considered the same thing as Hits, except certain types
of requests are excluded, like people pinging the server, running trace routes, port
scans, etc.
Pages - usually only includes HTML files - for one page there could be as
many as 30 or 40 hits, including images, but only one page view. This is usually the
number used to measure the traffic to a site.
Visits - number of user sessions, as defined above: someone continuously
requesting files, with no more than a reasonable delay between requests, like 20-30
minutes or so. This time delay is usually something you can
adjust in your log analysis settings.
Sites - this is not clear, but may be referring sites. This is the page
that the visitor clicked on in order to get to your site. The page could be on your site,
or it could be on another website. It could also refer to the ISP's that are most commonly
used by your site visitors. For example 50 people came from AOL, 20 from Interlog, etc.
KBytes - the total bandwidth used by your website for a given time
period, including sending and receiving all files and requests.
This article was written by Kevin A. Jackson, Webmaster
http://www.canadaone.com/
CanadaOne (TM)
The premier site for business Canada
Kevin can be reached at mailto:kevin@biz-zone.com
For tdc Web designed sites - upon concurrence with the client
we provide web statistics for your web site
free of charge - Check out...
StatCounter.com which is an excellent Web Tracker service.
What About Web Security ?
Let's face it, there has been a lot of hype by the traditional print media over the fact that
there is no security on the WEB when it comes to purchases.
The fact is a waiter or waitress at a restaurant has more
ease of access to your credit card that does some computer hacker.
All of the major companies ( Visa, MasterCard, Discovery Card and American Express
) know the potential value of the WEB for their products and are working
hard to formulate a strategy with the apparent winners to be Visa and
MasterCard as the only two credit card organizations who have won the
preferences of the designers on the net.
You can enter your credit card number on a secure (https) form (look for the
little lock image at the bottom right hand corner of the screen) and
transmit the form over the Internet to a secure server without risk of an intermediary
obtaining your credit card information. The security features offered by technology protects commercial transactions, as well as all other
communications, from misappropriation and fraud that could otherwise occur as information
passes through Internet computers.
Secure communications does not eliminate all of an Internet user's concerns. For example,
you must be willing to trust the server administrator with your credit card number before
you enter into a commercial transaction. Security technology secures the routes of
Internet communication; security technology does not protect you from disreputable or
careless people with whom you might choose to do business.
The situation is analogous to telling someone your credit card number over the telephone.
You may be secure in knowing that no one has overheard your conversation (privacy) and
that the person on the line works for the company you wish to buy from (authentication),
but you must also be willing to trust the person and the company.
Secure technology could become less expensive to maintain properly. Recently
Tucows signed an agreement with Entrust that would provide resellers of 128 bit Secure
Certificates for as little as $99.00 US per year. This would significantly put market
pressure on Verisign who now holds 95 % of the Internet security market and charges
considerably more.
One way that is currently is used is to ask the purchaser to send their credit card
information in two parts. One the 16 digit code and then send on a separate e-mail
the expirary date and the amount of the transaction. Hackers use software to track
down 16 digit numbers from e-mails and server computers. By breaking the three major
pieces of information into two transmissions, it is virtually impossible to track and
capture the information.
Another method used is to have a 1-800 toll free number that persons wishing to order
the item can call when they wish to order an item or be provided with information about a
product or service. It is found that toll free numbers are not abused by the general
public. People still like a live person to talk to and such a service should be provided
to provide assurance to potential customers.
Recent in house studies on the use of 1-800 toll free numbers to order
items as compared to using unsecured internet form submission showed that
North Americans preferred to order via the Net more often than using free 1
800 numbers.
A third method that was originally done, was to request the buyer to send a cheque to
an address listed on a sellers web page. This is still one of the most used techniques
however it is dying a quick death because of the time it takes to send the check via snail
mail and then to process the order.
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Why Out Source Web Design?
Yes, it can be done by anyone having a lot of time to
learn HTML. In fact if one simply "liberates" a page, copies it
into a word document then alters it a bit before sending it back to the browsers - they
could have their own Web Page.
tdc recently read about a web designer/customer negotiation that relates to the Out
Sourcing question.
"Sales for us have been booming, lately, and one of the
contracts I signed last week is for a Florist. At one point in the negotiations, the
client said, "Gee, your price is kinda steep. My cousin says that his son can make a
web site for me, a lot cheaper. He also said that I could get a book, and make my own web
site. Is that true?"
Without blinking an eye, I responded with, "Absolutely. And I can do my own flower
arranging, too. Of course, it would take ten times as long for me to do it, would cost
twice as much for materials, and look as though an amateur had done it. But why would I
want to do that, when I could pay you to do it the right way?"
To do it right you must keep up with the current and emerging software and hardware
technologies (java, JavaScript, DMHL, unix, Flash, windows, active x, streaming audio and video) ;
aware of the characteristics and viewer usage of the various browsers;
understand the effect of color and backgrounds to set the mood of the viewer; know how the
page layout and design can increase the receptiveness the viewer; have knowledge of the
various methods of image generation (gifs, jpgs, animated gifs.), have a sound
understanding of image copyright protection;
know when and how sound files ( MP3, .wav, .au or MIDI) can be used; understand how to use
client side mapping so that viewers can 'click' on image spaces to take them to requested
information, and a sound understanding of memory allocation. Add an web statistical access
report like that supplied by HitBox. Know how to interpret the results and take action to
refocus on the objectives of a client takes web marketing knowledge. These are just some
of the various technological and marketing knowledge needed to design a successful Web
site.
All of the above, as well as to keep track of the new technologies that will influence how
and when advanced design such as VRML and 3 D will be accepted by users.
In short, knowledge to market in Hypermedia Computer-Mediated Environments.
It all takes time and experience to learn.
Designing Web sites is not too difficult - designing Web sites that are effective and meet
the objectives of a client takes much more skill and experience.
If you do not have time to do this properly, get someone who
has
the experience and time to do it for you.
NOTE: After reading this, if you or your company still
wishes to design their own site, tdc will provide consultation for this purpose.
Another question that is related to outsourcing Web site design and maintenance is
about telecommuting.
Telecommuting is a cost savings to a client. What it means is that the designer
does not have to come to your office in order to design or upgrade the site nor does the
client have to provide computer hardware and software.
What occurs is the designer usually works from his or her own design studio and
FTP's (file transfer protocol) the files into a client's server. This server can be
anywhere in the world.
The savings occurs because most designers like to use their own computers and software.
There is virtually no learning cost involved when a designer
telecommutes from his own office to design a client's site.
As reported in a recent Nua Survey's Report
"Jan 23 1998: A majority (51 percent) of North American
companies now permit employees to telecommute through pilot and on-going programs, with 74
percent expecting their use of telecommuting to increase next year.
Telecommuting is also being used as the hot new recruitment incentive, with companies
reaching a far wider market, including home-bound disabled individuals, senior citizens
and others who would otherwise be eliminated from the work force because they can't travel
to an office location.
Telecommuting is most prevalent among high tech firms (82 percent), followed by insurance
companies (67 percent), then services and retail/wholesale firms (62 percent). Among
utilities and transportation companies, 71 percent report telecommuting programs, rising
dramatically from last year's 40 percent."
This is the upside. The downside is that the client must be able to adequately
communicate with the designer to provide direction (approval, disapproval, and
information) on the site during the design phase. tdc Marketing is presently
telecommuting to design sites for several clients. Communications are mostly via
e-Mail and site approval and direction is provided either by this medium or via telephone.
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Typical Design Costs ?
At tdc, design services include:
- Client Consultation to Develop Site Objectives, Strategies and Cost
Estimate - FREE
- To proceed, the client must pay 1/2 of the estimated costs
- Competitive Market Research
- Preliminary Site and Template Design with Text and Images
- Testing of the Site on the Web on our Internet Service Provider so
the client can see the design and progress of the designer
- Client Approval of the Beta Template Design
- Completion of the Site
- Client Approval
- Site is transferred to Hosting Server
- Access Report and META Tag Codes Insertion
- Client Approval once the site can be shown world wide... (this can take
up
to about 2 days after site submission to a hosting server.
- Final Site Approval by the client
- The client pays the remaining costs
- Your site will be promoted by listed on some of tdc's Designed Web Sites in their
Web
Friends Pages
- Minor text up dates as required are free... as long as they do take
longer than 2 minutes to complete
Presently tdc Web Design and Maintenance Pricing policies are under review
Basically, the price of a Web site design is based upon the number of hours that tdc has
to devote.
The more complex the site... the greater time needed!
Site maintenance is priced on a hourly basis and an agreement between the client and tdc.
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What about Joint Ventures?
tdc will consider joint ventures with businesses that are
considering opening
‘shopping sites’ or other forms of revenue generation on the
Web.
One venture is that tdc will design and host a site on their own domain and
the client will pay an annual fee for that services.
Another type of venture is that tdc will design and host a site on their
own domain and process any orders. In exchange they will take a
percentage of the sale with the client maintaining an inventory and shipping
the product to clients.
Each venture must be looked at on an individual basis with consideration for the
partnership’s entrepreneurial experience, product or services offered and whether or
not it fits into tdc's strategic business plan.
Companies or individuals wishing to enter into joint venture agreements with tdc Marketing
and Management Consultation should be prepared to present their business plan including
the financial analysis and the nature of the joint venture to Joe Lor - President of
tdc.
Page Index
How do I get a Web Site Designed ?
e-Mail tdc and provide your Name, Name of your Business/Organization and nature of
product or service, e-mail address, telephone number and the time you can be reached by
phone.
What we also require is the objective of the web site. This means whether the
purpose is simply for exposure or to selling a product or service.
Joe Lor will call you to confirm your intentions and suggest that a meeting will be
arranged. This can be in person or by telephone.
At the meeting, the topics that need to be discussed are: the objectives of the site and
whether or not these can be accomplished using present technology.
Mr. Lor will give you an indication at the meeting of the estimated price and time it will
take to complete the project.
If agreeable, a proposal will be sent to your company via e-mail for approval on the terms
and conditions agreed upon.
A Request for Proposal form
is now available for those companies who wish to be
provided with a proposal from tdc Web Site Design.
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