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The 7 Mistakes I Made
by Robert Abrom
More Business Skills Articles
Published on this site: July 24th, 2007 - See
more articles from this month
Yes I can admit when I am wrong and make boneheaded mistakes,
and I made plenty of them. I am writing this as a reference for
anyone else that is considering diving into the wonderful world
of eCommerce, feel free to learn from my mistakes.
Not Testing the Real Market
Well I did, but how I went about it was all wrong. I simply
took surveys on price and interest in each product. I received
nothing but excellent feedback only to sell two products in the
first 4 months. Alaskan Salmon sounds good in theory but gaining
the consumers trust is a completely different step. If I were to
start all over I would put my products on EBay just to gauge the
response to the product, this would allow me to plan for any
unforeseen issues and adjust my service accordingly.
Extremely High Overhead
And the sad thing is I started this business with low overhead
in mind. There are CMS (Content Management Systems) out there
that will do all of the dirty work for you. For some bonehead
reason I felt my site needed a custom system from scratch which
ended up costing me around $12,000. Now I am implementing a more
functional and user friendly system that is free! Yes free! My
cost has only been $800 to implement and the addition of this
blog on my site is a part of that. Needless to say I feel like a
big, BIG dummy.
Check References!
Another mistake I overlooked, I found my first two web
designers on car forums that I frequent. That would be the
equivalent of looking for a home builder at a car dealership.
Between these two alone I lost $5,750 and ended up with nothing.
A portfolio does not tell the full story, talk to the people
that have hired the company you are considering, and ask tons of
questions. Use an intermediary like eLance (www.elance.com) and
it does not hurt to use your credit card, if you get messed over
by a vendor and dispute with the credit card company they will
investigate and most likely get your money back.
Offline Marketing for an Online Business
There is a local publication here in Douglas County Georgia
that caters to the community. I read that offline marketing
generally does not convert to online sales but I am the type
that has to touch the iron to know its really hot. (I actually
did that as a youngster) The publication hits 30,000 homes in
the area and I just knew at least 10% of those would visit my
site. I ended up with 10 visitors and no sales, just another one
of those hard lessons.
Content is King!
For an eCommerce site content is tough, other than product
descriptions and store policies there is not a great deal to
say. This is why a business blog is so valuable, search engines
love content and what better way to present it? It also allows
better communication between the business and customer. I
finally understand this and that is why I have added this blog.
Patience
I still struggle with this one but I have learned that while we
would like to have an overnight success it does not always
happen that way. Some eCommerce sites take off immediately,
others it may take years but I have learned that you work just
as hard today as you did yesterday.
Discounting the Importance of Search Engine Optimization
Search engines hate ugly Url's, for example:
http://www.aksfinest.com/category_product.php?CatID=10
Is an ugly non SEO friendly URL
http://aksfinest.com/blog
Is simple and beautiful! And that is what search engines like,
but SEO (Search Engine Optimization) goes so much further than
just URL's. Build links, minimize flash, there are a ton of tips
but that is a totally different blog.
Extra Tip
Be flexible, and I'm sure this holds true with any business out
there. You can plan every aspect of the business but over time
things will change and you have to embrace that. I had no
intentions on carrying Cheesecakes or Gift Baskets but saw an
opportunity to give my customers options have not regretted that
decision since then.
Robert Abrom: Is the CEO of Alaska's Finest
Seafoods, follow the Journey from his day job to full web
entrepreneur at http://www.aksfinest.com
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