Small Business Toolbox

A library of business management info


Online Commerce

  • Retail vs. Online Sales: Which Area Needs More Attention?
    04/23/2008
    Like many of today's entrepreneurs, you may be trying to divide your attention between a physical storefront and an online presence. As you only have so many hours in a day, you may feel torn as to where to spend the bulk of your energies.
  • Is Online Marketing Right for You?
    02/27/2008
    Though it's possible to somewhat target your audience through traditional media outlets, one of the Internet's advantages is its ability to reach specialty customers. So think about the market you serve. Do your products and services appeal to a wide range of people or do you need the business of a special few?
  • Responding When Your Company Is Criticized Online
    08/01/2007
    Before blogs and online forums began proliferating the Web, a company could quietly take care of its product quality and customer-service problems. But today, everything from manufacturing snafus to controversial statements by executives is potential fodder for a debate in cyberspace. And not only on blogs and traditional forums. Critiques and praise about products and companies are multiplying on MySpace.com, Facebook.com and other social networking Web sites.
  • Beefing Up Your Web Site Content
    07/26/2007
    On the Web, content is king--or it should be. If you want people to visit, stick around and come back to your small business' Web site, give them substance.
  • Two Words That Go a Long Way: "I'm Sorry"
    06/07/2007
    As a small-business owner, you do everything you can to make your customer and client experience a great one. But what if you fall short? What if the meal was cold or a popular item was sold out, or there was a stain on a shirt? You don't make excuses. You make it right. You say "I'm sorry."
  • Getting Your Site Found Through Web Searches
    04/27/2007
    If a tree falls in a forest, and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound? This old riddle might be updated for the Information Age: If you create a Web site, and no one sees it, have you done anything?
  • Integrating E-Commerce Into Your Enterprise
    03/12/2007
    The old mantra of waiting for product information, a quote or a seasonal catalogue is a distant memory. These days the average consumer or corporate buyer believes in self-service and thinks nothing of "Googling" to find their next purchase. From low-end office products to high-end technology purchases, the average person will, without a doubt, surf the Internet to locate the goods and services they require.
  • Web Site Magic: Eleven Ways You Can Engage Visitors
    07/13/2006
    No question about it: the World Wide Web has become a powerful marketing arsenal, responsible for an ever-growing volume of profit in virtually every industry. Whatever the trends show, at the end of the day what matters is your own Web site. Does your content have what it takes to fully engage visitors and motivate them to buy? If you're not able to answer this question, you might be missing sales volume and profit.
  • What To Do About Internet Hoaxes
    06/23/2006
    If you've been on the Internet for any period of time, you've no doubt received alarming e-mails from well-meaning friends and relatives about some dire threat or another to your health or safety. You've probably seen similar warnings on blogs and in online discussion groups and chat rooms.
  • Creating a Company Web Site
    06/02/2006
    By now, most people realize that to be competitive in today's fast-paced business environment, having a Web site is an absolute necessity. Making the decision to get a Web site up and running is simple. The hard part is deciding whether to pay a professional Web designer to do it or to do it yourself.
  • Five Ways to Make Your Web Site Stand Out
    02/13/2006
    Excerpts from Web Site Cookbook, the following are five ways to make visiting your Web site a meaningful experience for your customers.
  • The ABCs of E-Commerce
    06/06/2005
    Between Web sites, e-mail, pay-per-click, e-zines and much, much more, e-marketing can seem daunting, mystifying even – but it doesn’t need to be. Once the elements of e-marketing are broken down into their various functions, it is easy to see how they fit together and combine to help you create more business.
  • Taking Your Business Online
    05/18/2005
    I want to take my business online, but I can't afford the entire inventory I would need to get started. Should I wait to receive orders before buying the stock?
  • Business Ethics in a Global Marketplace
    05/16/2005
    When it comes to business, the world is shrinking – the global marketplace is becoming more accessible with each day and every transaction. Although business has brought people together, culture has kept us different.
  • Get Your Site Noticed Without Spamming
    05/11/2005
    If you have a Web site, you want people to find it. If it's a business site, used to promote or sell products or services, the life of your business may depend on whether or not your site shows up in the first screen or two when people conduct Web searches through Google and other search sites.
  • "Making a Living from Your eBay Business" Excerpt
    03/29/2005
    Our April/May issue featured a story on how the Internet has changed small business over the last decade. One way featured was the online auction site, eBay. No longer a place for just for collectors, eBay is the home to more than 181,000 eBay stores. In 2003 alone, there were more than 971 million items listed on the eBay auction site, accounting for $24 billion worth of merchandise sales.
  • Holding Your First Sale: What to Know, What to Do
    02/16/2005
    Q: How would we go about having a sale? I am fairly new to this business stuff.
  • The Benefits and Fears of Cookie Technology
    01/13/2005
    You wouldn't think a computer tool with as innocuous-sounding name as a cookie would create the fear that it does. But these tiny Web browser helpers are an example of how the useful can get tossed in with the dangerous through the near-hysteria brought about by the real threats of computer viruses, hacking, spyware, spam and phishing.
  • Economical Ways to Get Traffic to Your Site
    01/07/2005
    A great way to encourage people to visit your Web site is to put your Web site address on everything: business cards, menus, signs, ads and postcards -- even printed receipts and invoices. A better idea is to give people a specific reason to visit your Web site: to sign up for your e-mail list or to find out about new products and offers.
  • Why You Should Worry About Your Web Site’s Usability
    08/10/2004
    Over the last ten years the Internet has become an essential part of the way companies do business. These days, it’s as important to have a Web site as it is to have a phonebook listing. Unfortunately, many Web sites are riddled with perplexing navigation and unclear priorities that leave many users confused and frustrated.
  • Creating Web Sites for Web Surfers
    06/15/2004
    If you build it, will they come? This is one of the fundamental questions anybody creating a Web site has to confront, whether you're a businessperson, a Web professional or a home user.
  • Avoid Surprising Your Online Customers
    05/03/2004
    Tell people in advance what you'll be charging, and what the terms of the purchase are. Today's Workshop applies this principle to online shopping.
  • Sink or Swim: Small Business and E-Commerce
    01/28/2004
    Our Feb./March 2004 issue showed readers how e-commerce is growing among the country's smallest companies.
  • Should Your Business Go Online?
    11/26/2003
    You need to decide if having an Internet presence complements your company's goals and objects.
  • My Business Manual: eBay Business the Smart Way
    11/26/2003
    The following excerpt from Joseph T. Sinclair's eBay Business the Smart Way explains how to be an online consumer.
  • Improve Your Search Engine Rankings
    11/03/2003
    How your site shows up on a search engine page depends on some things you can easily control, like your site's title and description.
  • Start Small When Launching a Web Site
    10/16/2003
    A simple yet well-conceived site that focuses on content meets the needs of most small businesses.
  • Three Options for Online Payment Systems
    08/26/2003
    Here are three options for providing secure electronic payment systems for your customers.
  • Save Money by Putting Your Catalog on the Internet
    07/07/2003
    With lower costs for the creation and maintanence of a Web site than for a printed catalog, the advantages of placing your catalog online are many.
  • Should You Go Online?
    12/26/2002
    Ask the right questions before creating a Web site for your business.
  • Six Tests for Web Site Functionality
    12/19/2002
    Your Web site may be the first contact that potential customers have with your business. It's up to you to make sure that it's easy to read and use.
  • Redesigning Your Web Site
    12/05/2002
    With a new year right around the corner, now is a good time to take a critical look at your Web site.
  • Getting Online for the Holidays
    11/07/2002
    The holiday shopping season is a great time to reach customers who are looking for that unique or hard-to-find gift.
  • Taking Your Business Online
    10/11/2002
    Make sure you consider the following before you begin selling on the Web.
  • Just Ask
    10/08/2002
    Use email to start a conversation with online buyers.
  • Getting Your Domain Name
    10/01/2002
    As some companies and individuals have found out the hard way, there are plenty of so-called cybersquatters who will buy up preferred and popular names, and then sell them to others at highly inflated price.
  • You Have Online Orders, Now What?
    10/01/2002
    Naturally, ecommerce involves far more than simply throwing up a Web site and making sure you can accept credit cards.
  • How to View Ecommerce in Your Business
    10/01/2002
    Billions of dollars were lost, and thousands of people ultimately lost their jobs because of the irrational exuberance surrounding ecommerce.
  • Go Fetch More Money!
    06/12/2002
    Learning the new trick of selling online was worth it for booksellers Larry and Charlene Woodward, who have saved thousands since launching their Web site.
  • Beyond Sales
    06/12/2002
    Other ways Web sites can help your bottom line.
  • Domain Names
    06/06/2002
    If you're thinking about placing your business on the Internet, you need a Web address, also called a domain name.
  • Understanding Privacy: How Small Businesses Can Protect Their Customers
    05/31/2002
    As a small business owner, you may wonder what responsibility you bear in protecting your customers.
  • Protecting Against Email Contamination
    04/15/2002
    It's a sad fact today that some individuals go out of their way to create computer viruses and inflict them on unsuspecting users.
  • Focusing On a Niche Brought Online Success
    04/15/2002
    The two biggest mistakes small business owners make when entering e-commerce: thinking the Net requires a completely different business strategy, or assuming it's no different from traditional business operations.
  • Getting Started Online for Free
    04/15/2002
    You don't have to spend thousands to put up an e-commerce site.
  • Sweet Growth Plan
    04/15/2002
    A seller of chocolate-covered strawberries is leading the way in the next stage of e-commerce: online franchises.
  • Free Ecommerce
    04/15/2002
    The most popular free e-commerce services for small businesses
  • Web-based Email Gives True Universal Connectivity
    04/15/2002
    Have you ever been on the road, either for business or vacation, and had to check your e-mail by calling your Internet Service Provider's access number long distance? This can be a hassle and will ring up long-distance charges.
  • Netiquette: Business Do's and Don'ts in Cyberspace
    04/15/2002
    As with every form of media, there are specific etiquette do's and don'ts for business users of the Internet.
  • How to Speed Up Your Internet Connection
    04/15/2002
    If you're starting to understand why the World Wide Web is sometimes called the "World-Wide Wait," you might want to try various techniques for speeding up your connection.
  • Keeping Track of E-tickets
    04/15/2002
    The "e" in e-ticket becomes "e" for elusive as we simply forget it and the associated monetary loss.
  • In the Electronic Age, What Constitutes a Legal Signature?
    04/15/2002
    Today's Workshop discusses traditional methods of signature transfer, as well as recent legislation that adds a new dimension to conducting business in the electronic age.
  • The Age of Technology
    04/15/2002
    In today's Workshop, Edith Helmich discusses how to effectively incorporate technology into your business while keeping with the changing times.
  • The Eight Most Important Pages of Your E-store, Part II
    04/15/2002
    When designing an e-store for your company, you'll need to go through extensive analysis to make sure that the site effectively puts your products before viewers -- and makes the products "irresistible."
  • When You're E-inventing Your Company, Use Customer Service as the Foundation
    04/15/2002
    If you're in the process of vamping up your company's E-commerce business, or if your Web site is already in place, you're probably involved in almost constant planning for future growth.
  • The Eight Most Important Pages of Your E-store, Part I
    04/15/2002
    When designing an e-store for your company, you'll need to go through extensive analysis to make sure that the site effectively puts your products before viewers -- and makes the products "irresistible."
  • Don't Let Email Make You Forget Face-mail
    04/15/2002
    Have you ever seen an ad picturing a company as nothing more than row after row of employees all staring mindlessly into a computer monitor? Often, such caricatures are not far from reality.
  • Encourage Customers to Contact You by Email
    04/15/2002
    Have you noticed that most large companies have a "contact us" link on their corporate Web site, enabling Web visitors to simply click and E-mail? This is more than a mere convenience, as described by Jeffrey Moses in this Workshop.
  • Simple Solutions to a Common Web Site Problem, Part II
    04/15/2002
    Concluding last week's Workshop, we show why your customers might receive a Server Error 404 - File Not Found message and give direct steps for fixing the problem, even if you're not an expert programmer.
  • Simple Solutions to a Common Web Site Problem, Part I
    04/15/2002
    Think of how frustrating it is to see "Server Error 404 - File Not Found" when you're trying to find a Web site. If you're like most people, you probably jump off the site, never to return again.
  • The Vast Scope of E-commerce, Part II
    04/15/2002
    Today's Workshop continues the topic of how understanding the vast possibilities of E-commerce can help your business expand, while cutting costs and increasing profitability.
  • Clued In
    04/15/2002
    Internet guru Christopher Locke explains how small business is poised to win online.
  • The Vast Scope of E-commerce, Part I
    04/15/2002
    Today's and next week's Workshops show how understanding the varied aspects and numerous benefits of E-commerce can help your business expand.
  • Customer Loyalty Programs for Your E-commerce Web Site
    04/15/2002
    Airlines have them. Car rental and hotel chains have them. And many large retailers have them. We're talking about customer loyalty programs -- one of the best ways to reward your steady customers and keep them coming back.
  • Bidding for Business
    04/15/2002
    Partners Michael O'Harro and Charles Shoup don't have a storefront, a Web site or even an advertising campaign. What they do have is a tremendously profitable small business called Champions Stuff.
  • Web Sites Are Your Link to Increased Earnings
    04/15/2002
    A Web site promises to be more economical and efficient than the traditional alphabetical structure offered by the massive books of yellow page advertising.
  • How to Coordinate Your E-store and Store Front to Avoid Customer Runaround
    04/15/2002
    Customer runaround can be avoided easily. Today's Workshop shows how.
  • E-shopper Profile
    04/15/2002
    In today's Workshop, Jeffrey Moses discusses some fundamental eShopper demographics.
  • How Your Web Site's "About Us" Page Can Help Your Business
    04/15/2002
    Add an "About Us" page to your Web site to market yourself to customers, vendors and other Web site visitors.
  • How to Make the Most of Your Web Site
    04/15/2002
    CNN's Financial Network states that more than half of all small businesses use the Internet in some way, and that more than two-million have a Web site.
  • Banner or Bummer? Part I
    04/15/2002
    Banner ads are an indispensable part of an overall marketing plan to promote your Web site, but if not designed and used properly, they can eat up your marketing budget with little practical result.
  • Find a Web Site Pro to Fit Your Budget, Part II
    04/15/2002
    It's a common experience that when small businesses decide to develop their online presence, they try to do everything themselves initially.
  • Banner or Bummer? Part II
    04/15/2002
    Banner ads are an indispensable part of an overall marketing plan to promote your Web site, but if not designed and used properly, they can eat up your marketing budget.
  • Find a Web Site Pro to Fit Your Budget, Part I
    04/15/2002
    It's a common experience that when small businesses decide to develop their online presence, they try to do everything themselves initially.
  • 5 Ways To Avoid Failing Online
    04/01/2002
    5 steps to coming out on top
  • Free Online Storage
    03/28/2002
    The Internet is starting to offer unique capabilities that can make a computer user's life much more streamlined.
  • Spamming and Virus Messages Waste Valuable Computer Time
    03/28/2002
    Nothing eats up work time like spams filled with useless information about stuff that you'd never consider and messages from "friends" about impending doom in the form of a virus.
  • Email Collection Can Become Enormous If You Aren't Taking Care of Business
    03/28/2002
    The ease of e-mail is great -- just get on-line, peck a note and send it away. But now that everyone is doing it, managing the ever-increasing stack of e-mails being sent your way can be an overwhelming task unless you get into a routine.
  • Benefits of Online Services to Independent Business
    03/28/2002
    Everyone talks about how the Internet is going to change the way business is run, but for my money, that time has already arrived.
  • Secondary Benefits of an Online Presence
    03/28/2002
    Many times when a company sets up its Web site, goals are listed only in terms of the number of visits (for ad sales purpose) or in actual dollar sales.
  • Technology Advances Put Small Business in the Fast Lane
    03/28/2002
    We may not have been the first on our block to have cutting-edge technology, but now we can't imagine living without our fax, our computers, our pagers.
  • Clicks and Bricks
    03/28/2002
    A recent Reuter's analysis, says that "a presence on the Net is becoming a must for retailers of every sort." In today's Workshop, Jeffrey Moses critiques this analysis.
  • Better Business Bureau Online
    03/28/2002
    Consumers feel more confident doing business with a company that is a member of the local Better Business Bureau.
  • Technology and Good Manners
    03/28/2002
    The definition of good manners in today's technological world may be blurred.
  • Managing Your Email for Company and Personal Security
    03/28/2002
    In the ongoing Justice Department antitrust case against Microsoft, an interesting fact has emerged that impacts small businesses and self-employed individuals.
  • Don't Lose Your Web Site Address
    03/28/2002
    Today's Workshop offers valuable pointers that show how you can avoid an incident that could be a tragedy for your business.
  • Why Small Business Will Win on the 'Net
    03/28/2002
    Niche focus gives small business the advantage online.
  • Got Email?
    03/28/2002
    You need an e-policy.
  • A Power Shopper's Guide to Buying Office Equipment
    03/28/2002
    Be a power shopper. All you need is a computer connected to the Web and these tools of the trade:
  • Backup Plans Light the Way
    03/28/2002
    Whether you've just put up a Web page or have long been doing e-commerce, you need backup plans.
  • Should Your Web Site Contain Languages Other Than English?
    03/27/2002
    Today's Workshop offers suggestions that may help you determine if your site should offer optional additional languages and which languages you should consider.
  • Jazz Up Your Web Site
    03/27/2002
    Does your Web site merely contain a description of your company, along with address, phone, fax, and information about products or services offered?