New E-commerce Business? Think about eValue!

There was a time when it was pretty easy to infiltrate the e-commerce market because it was a new phenomenon that had still not been adapted by many businesses. Nowadays, attempting to market your product or service online has become a necessity. Competition has increased and with the introduction of Web 2.0 technologies, the consumer has the ability to become much more involved with the whole buying process and what results from their purchase. This all started gaining popularity a very short time ago, so coming up with an e-business model is not an easy task. The article posted on the Professor's latest blog highlights some excellent success factors and since they only broke it down into four general categories, it keeps it simple and easy to understand.

The main thing that I am going to stress the importance of for anyone that is pursuing an e-commerce model - Content! Lets repeat that one more time - Content! Everyone has something to say on the web, especially with the latest trend of social networking. You have to build a reputation as being an "expert" in whatever product or service you are selling and you can't do that by just having a website with a fancy design and a checkout page. The way to build your reputation online is to release unique content. This can be anything of relevance to your product such as articles, pictures, videos, podcasts, blog entries and much more. The key here is to be creative!

If you are a small business owner that has just started a website selling car parts, you can do a weekly video journal showing step-by-step car maintenance and repair tips. This will help you build a following and will also help your website get its page ranking up which will increase traffic in the long run. Search engines generate large amounts of traffic and if they don't see that your site is constantly being updated with new, unique content, it will hurt your overall ranking and number of visitors. It is important that your site is easy to navigate and integrated with other websites that make sharing easy, such as Youtube, Facebook and Twitter.

Since I am interested in small business, I came across an article which highlights some success factors for a small e-commerce site. It is always going to be harder for a small business to compete with a big company and this is no exception on the web. The article says for a small business owner, instead of trying to battle it out with the big players in the industry, "develop your personalized message and emphasize the human touch that you provide."  This is the right mindset to have because it will show that you are someone who visitors and potential customers can relate to.

For the area of relationship building, the article suggests focusing "on taking small steps to develop your website as a social hub." It is important to ask your customers for feedback, offer them incentives and listen to their suggestions.

To sum things up, do your research when developing your e-business model! It will definitely pay off when your site is up and running.

-Max P

A Small Icon which has Potential for a Huge Impact!

This new little icon has a lot of potential to attract new buyers to the online marketplace. After browsing through the link that was posted on the Professor's blog, it seems like this is a legitimate program and it is developed with the consumer's privacy as a priority. It is a smart move for online marketers because if the government steps in, there is no telling what type of legislation they will enact.  However, they must be careful not to overload potential buyers with information. Too much information and the buyer may get frustrated and forget why he or she even logged on in the first place.


Well-known organizations such as the Better Business Bureau are supporting and helping develop the Self-Regulatory program which is important for getting exposure and having a good reputation. Now, the question is will consumers catch on? At first, I think a lot of people will have no clue as to what the icon means and I think a large portion won't care. There are many websites that use behavioral advertising which we basically depend on. Think about Google and Facebook. These websites have both implemented their own type of behavioral advertising programs and have done it in way that has become accepted for massive numbers of online users.

I searched on Google and found that there was already a lot of discussion going on about the Advertising Option Icon. This article http://adage.com/digital/article?article_id=146240 explains that the coalition aims to make this icon an industry standard. Apparently, the annual license fee is $5,000 for an e-commerce site to use the icon and $10,000 for a third-party company like an ad network. Pricing is also supposed to be a bit more flexible for small businesses.  This still seems like it could be a little expensive to start but ultimately it should serve "as a universal symbol for opting out." However, some companies may be drawn away until it catches on.

From the way this icon has been presented so far, it seems like the participating organizations will actually monitor the company's compliance with these rules. It would certainly justify the high cost of the annual license fee. In my opinion, behavioral marketing has come a long way and there are certain times where the advertisements which are presented to me are relevant and I end up clicking them. Personally, I am not too concerned with the privacy issue. Facebook and Google are two huge companies which have built ad systems that are very important to internet marketing, so lets see if and when they adopt this new icon.

Hands down, this icon definitely has the potential to become the next big online "seal of approval." A consumer who is concerned with privacy and online advertisements may opt-out and it may lead to them becoming more comfortable with the online marketplace, which in turn may make them more comfortable with behavioral advertising and what it has to offer. To sum up, like Mr. Miyazaki said, "only time will tell."

Want to be a rent-a-cop that stays at home?

I must say I enjoyed reading this week's post. This is a very interesting concept and there is no doubt that it is controversial. However, I see a lot of potential in this business and think it could be something that could be very profitable and have an established business model. I guess privacy issues are a factor but you have to pay a subscription fee and all you'll be doing is watching store security cameras.

I'm assuming that there is potential for this to turn into a social network for the top "online security guards." The site has a point system and there is a reward of 1000 pounds, which is around $1600, every month for the top achiever. For someone that has nothing else to do and is willing to dedicate the hours into viewing security cameras, you can build yourself a nice track record and it will all be available for others to see if you want.

Of course, this is a very new concept, so who knows what the future may hold for this job. This was an interesting article that I found and it had a few different points of view. Check it out here: http://theweek.com/article/index/207916/weird-new-job-stay-at-home-rent-a-cop. "I don't have an issue with this from a privacy standpoint," says Matthew Humphries at Geek.com.

A monthly subscription would cost just below 4 dollars. I'm wondering if there's anything like this in the states yet?


-Max P