The branding begins with the domain purchase and naming of the store. If you can find a domain that clearly marks your store’s product territory they you are on the right track. A site with the name af84goods.com probably won’t cut it. There’s two ways to go with this. One way focuses on SEO and requires you to lock down a domain with a specific keyword in the title, like beachtoweloutlet.com. The other approach focuses more on the brand, than the product, like Balamba.com. The ultimate way to go would be to mesh the two methods and to secure a domain that features both the branding and the keyword, just as Snorg has done - Balambabeach.com or Balambabeachtowels.com.

Logo for the Site

Once you’ve chosen a domain name, then you also need to consider your site’s logo. Your store’s logo should be prominent, but not obtrusive, memorable, and well designed. It’s best to consult professionals for this. Even though I know my way around Photoshop, I’m no logo design expert. I also don’t work in Illustrator and I like to have logos as vectorized images so I can resize them to cover the wall of my office building someday — (you know, Boom HQ).

The web has turned the logo market upside down. While it used to be rather expensive to have a quality logo designed, you can actually find logos for fairly cheap. This doesn’t mean the results are cheap looking — they can actually be quite nice. The Jason Boom logo is a prime example. Get your own today!

Once you have a sleek new logo, you can begin buying up large amounts of ad space. Well, not necessarily. Of course, advertising will come into play. It’s a necessity. First though, a new business should brand its internal materials. This means creating emails off the domain, setting up letterheads with the company logo, and adding a signature to all outgoing emails. The point of all this would be to keep your sites name in people’s faces.

Head On Apply Directly to the Head

The commercial for Head On pain reliever has quickly become annoying and supplanted in my head. While I steer clear of annoying tag lines, I do realize the benefit of a catchy one. When considering your site’s tag line, there’s a lot to think about. For the most part, the tagline should embody the business purpose. Why not do an exercise to capture the perfect tag line?

On a sheet of paper write ten verbs that embody your business. If you’re a web designer then you would have verbs like copy, paste, crop, sheer, resize, etc. Now on the other side of the paper write down ten adjectives you believe a customer would like from your business. For instance a customer would want quality, timeliness, trustworthiness, honesty, integrity, etc. Now that you have two lists — take one word from the left side and write a tag line using an adjective from the right side. You may come up with some interesting variations. The best you can run by your trusted associates. Never make a decision about a tag line on your own!

Branding as an Expressive Outlet

We can have fun with branding. We might have a unique ad we place on websites or we may find a way to cleverly represent our brand in the real world. Most of all we should be proud of our brand, confident in our approach, and more than just satisfied with the images the brand brings to mind. Choose something powerful, imaginative and catchy. The rest will come in time.

In the world of online marketing, the main goal should be to convert visitors to customers. Traffic definitely bodes well, but conversions tell the tale. So let’s start with step one, building the site so they will come.

Choosing an E-Commerce Solution

An e-commerce solution wasn’t as readily available or trustworthy in 2000 when I first looked into them. The consumer opinion on buying online was just starting to change. Ebay was moving at great strides and consumers started to turn to the internet for shopping. Quite rapidly its become a global sensation, with many e-commerce solutions presenting themselves. One of the first, and my favorite project is the osCommerce solution. There are others, but I’ve mainly focused on the one, as it can be daunting to the learn the code behind each and every cart solution.

There are others out there. Joomla has various extensions you can use to facilitate a sale online. ZenCart is also a viable solution.  SquirrelCart, digiShop, Interspire, among hundreds of others. Each one probably has its difficulties. While deciding on a cart to base your site, consider how well the solution does the following.

1. How easy is the template to use?

2. Does it have a healthy support forum?

3. Does it provide a solution for your merchant account?

4. Does it support SEO friendly URLs?

5. Does the community offer addons for the cart to do specialized things?

There’s a lot of planning to be done. Selling something online may mean tailoring the site to do specialized things, like calculating quantity via attributes, offering digital downloads, or adding fields for custom text imprints. The product dictates how the cart will function. Once you’ve found a cart that will work for the product you’re selling, then it’s time to develop the design.

Designing the e-Commerce Store

I use the osCommerce solution, so my first steps in designing a new store are to write out all the contributions the store will require. I make a list and prioritize them. If I have developed a similar store, recently (meaning with any updates, etc.) then I may copy over the base of the store and start at least a few hours into the coding. If not, then I get to work adding functionality like the STS template system, which makes designing the store so much easier. Then I add contributions that affect many pages, like the QTPro contribution, which makes it possible to calculate quantity by attribute. I also beef up the site’s SEO functionality, using various contributions.

At this point in the process, you may need help or you might do it yourself. Either way, you should be on your way to creating a store. In my experience, a store evolves over time. After creating the base, the design takes shape and you begin to hammer out details like payment modules, template tweaks, and filling pages with products.

e-Commerce Products

We want to sell our products. It’s why we made a store. So we need to showcase those products in a very favorable light. This doesn’t mean we wax poetic about the product, but we do need to describe it in detail. This even goes for shampoo we might sell. Everything should have some sort of description, preferably between 100-200 words, depending on the product of course. If there’s not much to say about your product, like if it’s a beach towel, then you can create a bullet list describing its qualities.

• Cotton
• Imported
• Measures 33×66″
• Two ply front
• Vibrant colors

You get the idea. Think about the qualities of your product, identify them in a unique way, and do it uniformly for each product. Your presentation means a lot to buyers. Having a mish-mash of descriptions, buttons, or functionality can lead to confusion and buyers retreating to other sites.

SEOizing Our Product Descriptions

Is SEO dead? I don’t think so, but I think for the most part a proper description of an item will net the best results. We could emphasize certain keywords, like beach towel over and over, but keyword density aside, it takes away from the user experience. We’re not selling to search engines, but to people.

The best thing to do would be to create bold informative titles on a product page, have healthy descriptions that do not stray from focusing on the product, and high quality photos of our product. Don’t ever underestimate the power of a good photo. I know I have seen some photos that make a good product look second-rate. The photos should also have the product information in alt tags. Who knows — your beach towel may be listed high in the Google Image Search.

Conclusion

If you’ve got this far on your e-commerce store, then you’re prepared for the grueling work of marketing said store. I’m still learning the ropes of marketing an e-commerce store, but I hope you’ll all join me in the journey. I’ll be writing the second parts of the Marketing an e-Commerce store story over the next month. Feel free to let me know what software you’ve used, how you describe your products, and of course how you market your e-commerce store. It’s a win-win, right? Unless you’re selling beach towels too. Then we’re in trouble.

I’ve been dropping Entrecards this week, trying to softly launch a new website I started. I’m going to showcase the site later on this week, but I’m a little nervous. Here’s why. I thought of the site idea last February. The premise was to help bloggers gauge what’s wrong with their site. [site’s trademark secrets removed] Alas, I’m too much of a newb with PHP and MySql to make the site work without spending thousands of dollars I don’t have. I went the more economical route.

I changed the idea, for now. The site is a Yahoo! Answers type site. It’s specifically setup for bloggers. You can ask questions, answer other peoples questions and earn points for doing it. The site is very infantile right now, but it is ready to use. To bootstrap its use, I’m offering 50 EC credits to the users who write the first 50 questions on the site. There’s a limit of five questions a day.

Visit RSS Cop.com - The Blogging Answer’s Site

So my question to you, readers. Do you like the site? What could be improved? Do you think you would use the site? Is it a waste of time? Let me know what you think in the comments section.

It’s not the only thing that matters though. As I’m thinking about ways to increase this store’s visibility on the web, I’m noticing a few stark differences between this store and a blog.

• An e-commerce store doesn’t have regularly updated content, and thus can’t take advantage of search services like Google’s blog search. There’s no pinging.
• Tailoring the content on each product description page should net the best return when it comes to SEO.
• Obtaining linkbacks for a product site remains a difficult challenge, whereas a blog tends to receive linkbacks organically.

So the differences set this project apart from my normal marketing of a blog. I’m in the habit of building traffic to blogs utilizing blog community sites. I also venture into forums, using my site as a signature, and also answer questions on Yahoo! Answers with links to my site. So this project has me looking at marketing a site in a completely different way. Social networks will all but disappear with this site. There’s not going to be any Digg traffic or Stumble visitors to it. So how do I build traffic to it?

Think Outside the Box

There doesn’t seem to be a hard and fast rule. The Yahoo directory, DMOZ and others would be essential. The e-commerce site would need authority though. We need quality links from well ranked sites. One possibility could be wiki’s, AboutUs.org, WikiPedia (if the content was non-commercial), and others. I could still utilize Yahoo! Answers, but might have to branch out in the field of the e-commerce store to post comments on blogs and create connections with site owners.

I do own quite a few high PRs websites that have been around since the late 1990s. I’m fairly certain a link from one of these sites should benefit the site in the long run. I’m trying to stay positive, as the product niche for this store is saturated with big players and independent powerhouses.

I’m thinking of turning this SEO adventure into a series on this blog. Would this be something my readers would be interested in reading about?

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post’s poll.

Why do you blog? Take a minute to think about it. I’ll wait.

Many may blog to vent, provide information, sell a product, advertise an idea, or simply to expound on hot topics in their particular niche. Now tell me – what does a succesful blog look like? Does it have high subscriber numbers? Does it have a sleek appearance? Does it nail down content on a regular basis? (What?)

 A blog’s success depends on our own definition of our blog. One blogger may be comfortable with a blog’s few readers, while the next blogger wants a thousand and one people to open their RSS feed daily. The difference is in perspective.

Do you look at your blog as a business?
If you do, for a moment consider it a brick and mortar store. The more customers that walk through the door, then the more potential sales you’ll make. Stores do things for a rhyme and a reason too. Don’t think the 80’s music softly pedaling you through the store aisles isn’t by design. It is. Grocery stores have an entire science behind placement of products on shelves, location, and all. They want you to find this, so you then realize you need something else across the store.

The same principles apply to a good blog. A person may come in looking for SEO tips, and realize they’ve found a goldmine and explore further into the store. The repeat customer is the RSS subscriber, so the RSS feed count does make a difference, when considering the success of a blog as a business. It doesn’t mean as much as constant traffic, but you need folks coming through the doors, right?

A blog as a personal outlet
This type of blog derives success from far different metrics. The personal outlet blog frees a person up to spout political rants, to editorialize on current events, to gossip, mudsling, parlay, and otherwise vent in a secure place. These blogs do become vastly popular. They sometimes even morph into blogs as a business. Once the traffic comes into the site, their ad space revenue starts to add up. These blogs take a liking to it, and often times the blogger will kick down cubicle walls to be at home. They have a pioneer spirit.  As soon as that happens, they rely on the business aspect, and the walls of a personal blog’s success crumble away as well.

In the beginning though, a personal blog’s metrics lies with the quality of writing. Like me, many of you have probably experienced the exuberance over RSS numbers, but the real challenge, and the real joy comes from the writing and the process. Blogging becomes a lifestyle. It’s success everyday when we interact, engage, and entertain strangers through an online medium. We are writers, poets, pranksters, and socialites. That’s the success of the personal blog. It’s a unifier and a societal lens.

So to gauge your blog’s success you should first consider your blog’s purpose. If you want to make money, then success may have to wait for dollars and readers to sign up. A personal blog finds success when it reaches a true voice, when the author finds themselves laying in bed with an idea too good to lose to sleep. They stretch, find a pad or laptop and jot it down for its birth on the web the next day.

A blogger typically has to be unique to receive any sort of Blogo street cred. Blogs that provide fresh insight receive backlinks, subscribers, and usually receive the stumble, Digg or other social media traffic they deserve. The blogger that regurgitates others ideas as their own usually experiences limited success. They may find some who haven’t heard what they’re saying on another blog, and view them as an inspiration, but most will see their site as the trapping of the unenchanted.

A comedian has to be funny, albeit funny with their own material. They may even poke jabs at another comedians’ bits, but usually they have their own material, a persona, and a delivery.

We’ve all seen comedians we enjoy. I’m sure if we looked at that comedian we’d see one thing. They have a perspective on life that stands apart from the norm. They see things differently and express their vision with style. Let’s take a look at a few examples.

Ever see a list of the richest black people in the country? Oprah’s on there. Cosby. Michael Jordon. Magic Johnson. Tiger Woods. Movie Stars. But you can’t get past number eight without running across a brother who just hit the Lotto jackpot last week. — Chris Rock

A recent survey stated that the average person’s greatest fear is having to give a speech in public. Somehow this ranked even higher than death which was third on the list. So, you’re telling me that at a funeral, most people would rather be the guy in the coffin than have to stand up and give a eulogy. — Jerry Seinfeld

New Blogging Perspective

We may not be looking for the funny in our blog posts, but we most certainly need to entertain or inform in a unique way. To create some truly creative content, we only need to look at the minutae.

The small details unravel a thread we can use to spin a nice article. For instance, look at the sports world. If I were writing about baseball right now, I would first look at the strangeness surrounding all the controversial homerun calls within the last ten days. I could be funny about it and call it a conspiracy, even though we all know no one could hit the top of the fence, nail the side of a foul pole, or some yellow steps on command.

Perspective gives our readers a unique way to see old ideas. We can still talk about the same blogging tools, websites, or methods, but this time do it with pizazz. Think of it as a lens we put on our eyes. The lens doesn’t have to be rose colored. It can be anything we want it to be.

We all hear the advice regarding blogging longevity: stay excited about blogging, remember why you started, read other blogs, and eat peanut butter without jelly. They all work! They work because they focus on changing perspective. So lighten up. Step up on that stage and take your tomatoes like a man. We’re waiting with stained hands and shirts here.

I’m excited about blogging too. This week saw my resurgence, or my return from hibernation. I provided everyone with a look at a great upcoming blog and also discussed my Pagerank of 4. I have also seen my subscriber numbers increase from my previous highs. At one point this week, I crested the 100 subscriber mark.

Going Round the Track

I’ve had a minor dilemna recently. I seem to want to write about what I’ve already written. I come up with ideas and think, well I did that with this or that article. The experience has caused me to start writing three blog posts and then stop. It seems my ideas have come full circle. So I’ve decided to buckle up for the ride to see where my topics take me. Why not put a new spin on an old idea, right?

Upcoming Explosions

One of the three posts I’ve started will be called Blogging and Stand Up Comedy. Stay tuned for that this week. We’ll also get you all a chance to win some bucks for May, even though it’s late. I’ll post the contest tomorrow.

I’m looking for guest post opportunities as well. I need to up my traffic numbers. If you want to know how to lose traffic, just simply leave blogging for five weeks. The results won’t be what you want. I have a lot of work to do to get back where I was. Consistency is the key. I’ll keep you all updated on my progress. Until next time…

I sat on the fat zero for about three months. Of course, I’ve been preoccupied these past weeks, so maybe this Pagerank update went into effect while I was hibernating. I don’t know for sure. I think it’s a recent development. Either way, it’s good news for the Jason Boom dot com site.

From what I understand of Pagerank, it helps have your pages rank higher in search engines. It represents the number of quality links back to your site’s content. As the name implies, each page on my site has a different rank. Some of the pages don’t register, while others hold a 3 or 2. I’m curious if anyone has written a definitive guide of Pagerank. I would love to read it.

Building Content and Links

Many bloggers will tell you that content reigns supreme. It’s true. Relevant content has a long shelf life. I just recently experienced a stumble rush from the 100 Why Not Activities for Bloggers. It was featured on Lorelle’s site and touched off a mini-camp of link passing and traffic blitzes. I can’t argue with that. I can only imagine what will happen with the blog as the years go by. Some stories may come alive again, while others may die cold and alone in the archives.

The content I’ve created so far has received a good amount of links. I would say the results have caused me to have the Pagerank of 4, rather than a 3 or a 2.

It probably didn’t hurt that I kiss my computer before I write each post, blow on my keyboard, and bury two fingers in my temples when I’m fishing for explosive content. We all have our routines, right?

SFBM owner, Fabien, wrote a dazzling review of the Jason Boom.com site a while back. Damien’s blog takes him to many different topics, discussing money making strategies, blog writing, web design, and more.

“Entrepeneurship, Writing, Blogging, and Web Design” is his tag line. He writes in-depth reviews of utilities and blogging methods for the everyday user. Oh, and did I mention he’s 16? That’s right. A pup in the eyes of the world, but a big dog when it comes to blogging.

A Taste of SFBM

Fabien has written some top notch material over his blogs lifespan. He captured my attention with his post titled 5 1/2 Writing Tips on Good Writing. I’m not sure how you get half a tip, but the fundamentals resounded. He’s a quality writer, with content to back it up.

If you want money making content, he shows you some sites to make money writing articles, divulges information on pay per click providers, and also info on pay per action services.

The Design

The design fits the SFBM site. You would expect a site about fish to be a sea blue color. The sketched logo also fits well. The large header of the site pulls the readers attention to important parts of the site, like the RSS subscription and the free eBook. You only need to sign up to receive your free copy.

I love seeing free ebooks on sites, as I know it takes quite a bit of time and energy to build this kind of content. It shows dedication. The Terrific Traffic ebook features some useful information for newbies and online professionals. Fabien talks about resources that can help build your site’s traffic, and also features content focused on public relations. It’s a good read, and best of all it’s free. What’s not to like about that?

Conclusion

Fabien puts a lot of energy into his content. He’s always providing useful information for internet marketers, bloggers, and professionals. What’s not to like? The kid has a bright future. Help him out by visiting his site and subscribing to his feed.

So what stole my time away? My freelance writing and travel. OK, and maybe some GTA action. I have it under control — really I do.

I can’t say things will be 100% better, but I plan on writing at least a few posts a week. I’ve got a few topics in mind. I want to write posts on writing better, to bring the blog back to life with a review, and to stimulate your senses with some lists style posts. I’m pumped. I will also post the May contest. So what have you all been up to? Leave me a comment, send a link, but, please, no more blackmailing.