Posts Tagged ‘online shopping’

My Favorite iPhone Apps: Business Related (generally)

I won’t get into the Smart Phone wars…Google vs. Sprint vs. Apple.  I own an iPhone.  The phone aspect is truly horrible…unless you enjoy the excitement of wondering whether you’ll get through an entire conversation without have the call drop on you.  But the Apps on the iPhone are great.  As I was on a business trip, I was noticing how often I used certain Apps to get through the day. 

There are plenty of other reviews of Apps for business uses.  A good one is the one done by Inc. — they list out 10 very good business Apps, inlcuding Jott (which transcribes your notes that you verbally take).  Thought there are other lists, that shouldn’t stop me from sharing.  And as you’ll see, mine include some fun ones (as all business and now play make Jack…wealthy, but really no fun).  Here we go.  My favorite (mostly business related) Apps:

1.  WSJ/CNBC — This is a bit of a cop-out…having a tie on the first choice.  But there is a reason.  The Wall Street Journal is a great App, but you have to be a subscriber to access it.  So if you don’t subscribe, CNBC’s App is a great alternative.  Of course, they both keep you up on the latest business news.

2.  WordPress:  A great App for mobile blogging.  I don’t mobile blog as much as I should, but I’ve done it a few times on this App and it is really slick.

3.  Touchlytics:  This App lets you track your site traffic/visits…just ties into your Google analytics account.  They have a good lite version of this App.

4.  iVideoCamera:  I was going to buy a iPhone 3GS — mainly for the video capability.  But then the new iPhone comes out later this year…what to do?  I found this App and for $.99, I have video capability and can instantly share it on our blog, YouTube and Twitter.

5.  AroundMe:  I have the Chipotle, Starbucks, and Target Apps, but if you need to find other stores (it’s hard to imagine that you would need to) you can find it easily on AroundMe.  You can also find a Chipotle on AroundMe.

6.  RingCentral:  Once you have a RingCentral account, you can manage your calls and call out from your RingCentral 800 number. 

7.  TweetDeck:  There are a lot of Twitter Apps, but this one, in my opinion, is the best.

8.  TextsFromLastNight:  Not a lot of business function, but it makes any meeting very tolerable.

Send us your favorite and we’ll reconsider this list.

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Posts Tagged ‘online shopping’

What Sparks a Small Business Venture?

When starting a small business, what drives and motivates you? Is it passion for a cause or the imminent proof that there is a vacancy for a certain need? In talking with a variety of small business owners for our KikScore blog, the desires and drive to start their own venture vary as much as the different products and services they offer such as KKBB and SimplyAstro

If I were to have followed true passion in where I could be doing the daily equivalent of a comforting and true cause past time, I would have opened a No-Kill Cat shelter… however, this was a very difficult venture to get past my husband Lou, who has more of a passion for golfthan rescuing cats. Add the fact that neither of us has the building space or other means to house so many furry friends. Plus the overhead of running a shelter can be very costly and you need to ensure you have ample vet care on site and plenty of other key resources.

The general thought is you will find happiness doing what you love, it takes the ‘work’ out of ‘work’.   So what you need to find is a viable product, service, or solution that people need — or something that you can convince the general populous they can’t live without.

So how did my KikScore business partners and I end up here?

Another key element in launching a successful start up is to tap into the inner expertise of yourself to uncover a passion that had been slighted due to mundane day job activities, or inability (not to mention lack of desire) to climb the corporate ladder.   All of us at KikScore have vastly different backgrounds, yet a strong desire to not only be our own bosses eventually, but also to provide a product that is cutting edge.

Technology became a strong passion of mine, having launched my career shortly after college working for one of the most accredited entrepreneurs out there, Bob Parsons at Parsons Technology.  As technology and the Internet have migrated over time, running in stride and identifying the gaps are what caused KikScore to come to fruition.

How do I feed that need to own a cat shelter someday? Well… we do have multipe cats running about our home which reminds me I’ve saved some great lives. I frequently volunteer at the local shelter to share the warmth and experience some excess purring.

Back to the original question, when starting a small business, what drives and motivates you? Share your stories and ideas with us. We’d love to showcase your small business story for the next KikScore blog!

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Posts Tagged ‘online shopping’

Diary of a Start-Up: Is this Business Making Me Fat?

Most of us on the KikScore team work day-time jobs. Working on nights and weekends is very reminiscent of grad school — your days are filled up and then you do your homework at night. Not a big deal. We are all thankful for our jobs as well as having a growing side business.

But this weekend, after watching Brett Favre put a hurt on the Dallas Cowboys, I thought about working out. Now mind you, I’m not a fitness buff (Raj, please stop laughing). It doesn’t take much to convince me to put off a work out — I just thought about some KikScore business that needed attention and that was that. It did get me to think about other small business owners, however, who have an erratic schedule. Does owning your own business make you fat(ter)?

Take my Dad…please. No, I’m kidding. He’s a great guy and has owned his own businesses for 30 years. But exercise came after raising a family and bulding a business. So, in other words, he could drop some pounds. Of course, there are plenty of examples of successful small owners who are in terrific shape. But are they the except to the rule? Most Americans are heavy by definition. But controlling for other factors, are small business owners in worse shape than most? After spending some time Googling some rather offensive search queries (‘are small business owners fat’, ‘are entrepreneurs in worse shape?’) I still can’t find a good answer. I did see that most small business owners are against the latest health care bill — but that has to do with the fatness of their wallets, not waistline.

So, any anectodal information or actual research on this would be appreciated. My wife is particularly interested in any information you may have.

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Posts Tagged ‘online shopping’

Small Business Interview with Sitemakers's Geoff Jackson

Geoff Jackson is the Social Media Strategist & Web Marketer for the UK based ecommerce solutions provider, Sitemakers.  We came across Geoff and Sitemakers on Twitter in mid-December.  Geoff and Sitemakers can bring small businesses and the Kikscore community a unique and more global perspective on ecommerce and online business trends.

1. Tell us about Sitemakers and who it focuses on serving?

Sitemakers is a UK based company specializing in ecommerce services. We work with independent retailers to help them to become successful online retailers. We have our own ecommerce platform, LiquidShop, and we provide our clients with a full service including the software they need to run their website, a full design service, ongoing support and marketing services.

2. Where will Sitemakers focus most of its energy in 2010?

We will be dividing our energy between making sure our existing clients continue to grow their businesses and seeking out new clients who can benefit from our services. Existing website owners who move to LiquidShop invariably see an increase in their online sales and we want to help more retailers enjoy this growth during these difficult trading conditions.

3. If you had one key lesson learned from your online selling experience that you could pass on to others, what is that?

Something we notice regularly is that it is existing retailers who often do best when they branch out into selling online. They know their business, they know their market and have existing relationships with suppliers. We bring the technical knowledge and the specific retailing knowledge that relates to the internet and it is this partnership that lead to a successful online shop.

4.  As the new decade begins, what do you see as main new trend in 2010?

New technology that has really caught consumers’ imagination is the smartphone. Led by the iPhone, and now followed by Google’s own Nexus, these devices have changed the way that users think of the internet and their relationship with it. An easy-to-use device with intuitive applications, large clear screen and instant on-all-the-time internet connection all lead to the expectation that information is available whenever and wherever you want it. Barcode scanning apps such as Shop Savvy mean that consumers can do their price comparison in-store just by scanning a barcode and looking up competitive prices there and then. The number of people who have bought something using these devices has started to grow, and it is expected that more than half of users will have bought something using their smartphone by the end of this year. It’s been dubbed ‘m-commerce’ – but whatever it’s called it’s coming fast in 2010.

5. Do you have any parting thoughts?

Yes. Retailers who don’t have an online strategy in place are being left behind. Christmas sales show again that it is the multichannel retailers who did best. All retailers need to adopt a strategy that lets consumers decide when, how and where they will do business with them. This may mean starting a transaction in-store and completing online, or researching online and buying instore or even on the phone. Give consumers the options they want and they will stay loyal to you.

Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below on this interview.

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Posts Tagged ‘online shopping’

Do You Protect Your Business Brand From Your Personal Brand?

Small and start-up businesses need to build an identity in the marketplace.  With or without using our KikScore service, a newer or lesser-known business needs to establish a brand that is recognized and trusted.  But newer and smaller businesses are often just the reflection of the individual owners, so what do you do as a business owner so as to not offend a possible customer or partner?

As most bloggers, I have a personal example to share.  Of the KikScore team, I think I’m the only one to have voted for McCain…I know how to pick a winner (I hated Palin, but would have loved to see Johnny Mac in the White House).  But when we officially launched KikScore, as I was putting on the business bumper sticker, I removed the “John McCain 2008”.  Why?  Because as an entrepreneur, I don’t want to offend a potential customer and I don’t want to link the KikScore brand with my personal ideology.  In other words, I’d rather have a successful business than let the world know my political leanings.  But does it matter?  Maybe it could help your business, as your personal beliefs could align your business with customers with similar positions. 

Right or wrong, the marketplace assigns values to businesses that may or may not be intended by the owners.  Think about Walmart and Costco. Each provide a bulk/warehouse shopping experience, located in the suburbs.  But Walmart is deemed to be “Republican” and Costco is “Democrat”.  I seriously doubt either business wants to cater only to half of voting public, but some people will only shop at the bulk warehouse that is more in line with their political affiliation.

The question now remains is do you tone down your personal activities to avoid turning off your customers, continue as-is, or assign you personal affiliations to business in an effort to win business?

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Posts Tagged ‘online shopping’

What to Think About When Your Business Starts to Think Globally

Ecommerce…by definition it’s easily accessible by almost anyone.  With no geographic boundaries that restrict a shopper’s interest your product or service, once you start selling online, you technically have an international business.  But what should you keep in mind when you do start actively reaching out to international customers?  First, you must be able to speak with an outrageous french accent.  No wait, that’s if you’re searching for the Holy Grail.  Here are a list of some things to think about:

1.  Will you sell to any potential buyer, no matter the destination?  Sounds like an odd question, but there are a list of countries that have a significantly higher  rate of shopper fraud.  In a not-so-recent article from PraticalEcommerce, a few online sellers were featured and they decided not to sell or ship to any orders from Venezuela, Indonesia or Nigeria due to the increased risk of fraud.  Also, if you’re a U.S. based business, don’t forget about the list of countries identified by the Treasury Department that U.S. businesses are prohibited from doing business with (e.g. Cuba and Iran).

2.  How will you deal with language issues?  I’ve heard that not everyone speaks and reads English fluently.  If this is correct, you’re likely going to have to have your marketing site (and application) translated into different languages.  In addition, if you offer customer service, you’ll need to have the ability to handl non-English support calls.

3.  Are you selling technology?  If you’re offering a service, like encryption software, and you’re a U.S. based business, you’ll also need to be aware of limitations placed on U.S. exports…as Uncle Sam doesn’t like providing certain technologies to companies or individuals outside of the U.S.  It seems like a lot of regulation, but the Small Business Administration provides many export centers to give small and medium sized businesses free counsel.  Here’s a link to find a center near you.

4.  How about your trademark and/or brand name?  What works in your home country may not work in others.  You may want to make sure that your business or product names don’t infringe someone else’s trademark in the other country(ies) that you’re focusing on.  You’ll also want to make sure your product or brand name makes sense.  A famous example of this is the Chevy Nova.  Great product name for the U.S., not so great when they marketed that car in Mexico — as “No va” means “no go” in Spanish.

Got some other advice on selling internationally?  Please feel free to share.

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Posts Tagged ‘online shopping’

Solicit and Listen – Customer Feedback is critical to business success

Social media was the craze of 2009 and will only continue to gain ground in 2010. Blogging about your product and/or service is an incredible way to promote your business or product. While customers and passersby can comment on blog entries or Tweet their favorites, how do you convert the blog commenter into a devoted and loyal customer for future success?

As a business owner, you need to provide easy to use feedback tools to ensure that you are in touch with your customers (and would-be customers) and frequently and consistently responding to their needs. This entails listening to comments and being able to categorize them and REACT. There are a variety of tools available (some such asCrowdsound, RatePoint, Yelp) but do these sites bring traffic back to your site? Some do, but some are a link off with minimal options to react to comments. In a previouspost by DojoMike:  customers are sometimes reluctant to provide feedback (positive or negative).

To maintain an open dialog with customers and encourage feedback, the comment avenue needs to be easy to use and promote responses from the merchant/business owner. As a business owner, you also need to be able to solicit feedback and react to it, professionally. If a negative comment comes through, don’t ignore it, you need to respond and make changes that address the issue. At a minimum, sending an email to a customer who recently bought an item from your online store is an easy avenue to inquire if the ordering process was seamless and also to ask for website suggested changes or product improvements. The more you ask a customer for their input, the more likely they will become a repeat customer AND tell their friends about your site and excellent customer service.

At KikScore, we have created a feedback tool within the KikScore seal itself. Comments that are posted here are sent directly to merchants to review and respond. These comments are also available for all to see that are reviewing that site’s KikScore Seal.

How do you solicit feedback from customers? What do you do with the feedback you get? Do you have any feedback/suggestions for KikScore? Please share with us!

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Posts Tagged ‘online shopping’

Happy Holiday? Do You Take Time Off From Your Business?

This week, my parents are doing something that they never do…travel to my house for the holidays. As far as I can recall, I have always traveled back home (balmy Minnesota) to see them. This has been true for the past 15 years. This year, we convinced them to come out.

Why the drought of visits. Is it because they don’t like me? Of course not. Why? Did you hear something? No the real reason is because 25 years ago, my Dad quit his corporate job to start his own business. He doesn’t have a lot of help running the business, so almost every holiday season, he didn’t have time to get away. As he would say, “the longer I’m away, the more work I have waiting for me when I return.”  The Wall Street Journal just touched on the same issue, giving a guide to small business owners on “How to Take a Vacation“. The advice is solid (the best has to be “Accept the Fact that You’ll Lose Money”).

Since we all have day jobs, and our nights and weekends are dedicated to KikScore, I’m getting a sense that it may be quite sometime before I start doing a lot of personal travel during the holiday season.  Just as sure as I’m going bald like my Dad, I’m inheriting his work schedule.  And I’m not alone (with regard to the work schedule…I mean I’m also not alone on being bald).  Simply searching “Small Business Vacation 2009” reveals a wide variety of blog postings about small business owners talking about the difficulty in taking time off.  Here’s a good one from Newsweek.

So, are you taking time off this holiday?  Any plans for a 2010 get-away?  Can I go with you?

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Posts Tagged ‘online shopping’

A Small Business Discussion with Oregon Seafoods' Rick Shoop

KikScore likes to profile small businesses from around the world so that our readers can learn from other small businesses.  In this post we interview Rick Shoop the owner of Oregon Seafood.  Rick is a passionate small businessperson who has a wide range of interests and a number of small business endeavors in action right now.  This interview came out of Kikscore coming across Oregon Seafoods on Twitter which within about 15 minutes led to a great 30 minute Sunday afternoon conversation.

1. Tell us about Oregon Seafood and who you focuses on serving? ~

Oregon Seafood is a retail seafood market in Hillsboro Oregon. We almost went out of business a few months ago. I had to do something. I turned to the internet to educate myself. I learned the real world is indeed in the toilet. See this video as an example of how the recession has impacted employment by county.  As you can see the decline of our Nation. It is very scary. However, I also learned there are people making money online hand over fist. So I spent the next 3 months in study. I learned just how to locally target my market and as of today my Seafood Market is doing very well. To see just how I did this, I am creating a series of videos explaining the process. I have the first two drafts here for review. More to come. Part 1 is here and Part 2 is here.

2. Where will Oregon Seafood focus most of its energy in 2010?

Local marketing and adding global marketing type products to seel off the website.

3. If you had 2 lessons learned from your business that you could pass on to others about selling online, what are those?

Be willing to change.  Always look at your business in a new way.

4. As 2009 closes, what do you see as 2 new trends in your business this year?

I think it’s a world wide trend. People are buying online more now than ever. We need to monitize this trend.

5. If your business/store could be any movie or movie character, what movie would it be and why?

Dare Devil. Instead of following most small business into the OUT OF BUSINESS trend. We Dared to change our antiquated methods and adapt to the future.

6. If you could buy a potential customer a drink, what drink would it be?

Cup of Coffee so we can be friends.

7. While having that drink with the potential customer, what would you like to talk about with them?

What makes them unique as a business and a person.

8. Do you have any parting thoughts?

Eat Healthy, Eat Seafood. Visit some of my other sites. I build WordPress Blogs and also am a Graphic Artist. Here are some of my other sites.  I encourage everyone to please check them out.

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Posts Tagged ‘online shopping’

7 Steps to Increase Trust for More Online Sales

Nearly all small businesses face a common challenge.  This challenge is demonstrating to potential customers that your small business is credible, trustworthy and has a track record of success and delivering products and services.  This challenge is typically derived from the fact that when someone gets to a small business website, they often do not have any indication whether they can trust that small business if the shopper wants to buy from that business.

Further complicating matters for small businesses online, is the constant threat of fraud and misuse of personal and financial information that weighs heavily on online users minds.  This fear of shoppers online is real and tangible.  In fact, a  Javelin Strategy & Research study found that the fear of identify theft and online shopping in general cost retailers over $21 billion in lost sales in 2008.

A June 2009 McAfee’s study showed that 92 percent of consumers are concerned about their security when shopping on new or unknown websites. Further, that study found that 63% of shoppers will not purchase from a web site that does not display a  security policy or other indications of trustworthiness.  A 2009 Verisign Security Report also found that nearly 50% of internet users avoid buying online due to concerns that their financial information will be stolen. The report also found that 83% of internet users want assurances that their information will be secure.

These concerns are getting the attention of all types of businesses, including industry giants like Microsoft.  Scott Charney, Microsoft’s Corporate Vice President of Trustworthy Computing, said at the 2009 RSA Security Conference that  “When [shoppers] visit Web sites, they don’t know if that Web site is to be trusted or not. For all of these reasons we need End-to-End Trust.”

Steps for Small Business to Demonstrate Trust

Shoppers concerns with buying online are well documented and the data supports those concerns. The good news is that there are some simple steps that all small businesses can take to demonstrate trust on their website to shoppers:

1. Management/Owner Information:  Be transparent to your shoppers. Prominently display under a Management tab the names of the owners of your business.   Make sure you add some background information on that manager/owner.  You can even include  it in story form.   This information gives shoppers comfort that there is a real person behind your business and makes it more personal.

2. Use Online Video to Virtually Introduce Yourself: A hot new trend is using online videos, through a YouTube clip, that introduces the management of your small business to shoppers and potential customers.  Here are some good tips in this prior post on using videos to build trust and credibility for your small business on your website.

3. Contact Information: Another way to build trust is to clearly and prominently display contact information including phone number and email addresses for customer service and management contacts.  By showing shoppers that they can contact you in case there are any product or service issues, you give them comfort that your business is accessible.

4. Return, Shipping, Customer Service & Data Policies: It is important that you clearly provide a list of your return, shipping, customer service and data protection policies.  It is important enough that small businesses should consider devoting a whole tab or area of their website where shoppers can visit and see what are the policies for your business.  Again the goal here should be the more information about these policies the better.

5. Trust and Validation Marks/Seals:  The 2009 Verisign Security Report found that 86% of online shoppers feel more confident about entering personal and financial information with sites that have some type of security indicators, such as trustmarks.   A few seals provides much of the information that is covered in this post through just one seal that resides on an online store’s website. Look for those seals.

6. Customer Feedback: Show that you can be trusted and also let people know your track record with customers by publishing comments about your product, service and business.

7. Actively Engage Customers: Use social media sites and tools like Twitter, Facebook and a blog to profile your business, create a tangible brand and personality and also engage customers.  These conversations with your customer and the community give shoppers a more complete, in-depth and intimate look into your business.  These conversations and having them like we have covered in previously posts via Twitter and your blog only make your business more credible.

Also one of our favorites, Inc Magazine has a good article on this same topic of online trust and you should check that out too.

If you start using these tips, your business and your website will go a long way to clearly demonstrating trust to shoppers and thereby helping you increase sales.

Please tell us in the comments section below what you look for before you buy online.

*Image from Bill Mullins Blog.

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