Posts tagged as:

online sales

Build a better blog: 7 tips from top marketers (Small Business E-commerce Link Digest – January 13, 2012)

by Tim on January 13, 2012

in Blogging, E-commerce, Marketing, Social Media, del.icio.us links

Getting customers to care about your business often depends upon the quality of your content. And I know of few better ways to build a committed community of customers than with a great blog. In fact, my guide on how to build your small business blog remains one of the most popular parts of this site.

But what if you want more? What if you’re ready to move past the basics? Over the coming weeks, I’m going to look at building a better blog in more detail. But to get you started, check out these 7 tips for improving your content—and improving your marketing:

Leading off, HubSpot shows 11 ways to use content to build your authority online.
Writing can be hard. Thankfully, ProBlogger suggests 10 David Ogilvy quotes to inspire your blogging.
OpenForum has a great piece on 5 simple ways to get more traffic to your website. Spoiler alert: great content factors into heavily in the mix.
Mashable offers 5 steps for creating “magnetic” content.
CopyBlogger looks into the 2nd most important element in your writing.
Getting people to read your content is only half the battle. Which is why I love this ProBlogger piece on what motivates readers to share.
And, finally, Social Media Examiner has a terrific video that explains how to use content marketing to increase your sales.

Enjoy the list, Big Thinkers. And look forward to more in the coming days.

Are you getting enough value out of your small business website? Want to make sure your business makes the most of the local, mobile, social web? thinks helps you understand how to grow your business via the web, every day. Get more than just news. Get understanding. Add thinks to your feed reader today.

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Tim Peter & Associates helps companies from startups to the Fortune 500 use the web to reach more customers, more effectively every day. Take a look and see how we can help you.

Technorati Tags: blogging, blogs, content, content marketing, content strategy, integrated marketing, internet marketing, marketing, marketing best practices, online brand building, online marketing

Tagged as: blog, blog writing, bloggers, blogs, content, content creation, content marketing, integrated marketing, interactive marketing, Marketing, marketing 101, online marketing, online sales

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Are Daily Deals Sites Really a Good Deal for Your Business?

by Tim on November 28, 2011

in E-commerce

Are daily deals sites a good bargain for your business Everyone loves a great deal, don’t they? Which helps explain the popularity of daily deals sites among consumers—and among investors. But merchants increasingly find daily deals sites troubling, often resulting in failing promotions, frustrating customer interactions, and falling profits.

But is it necessarily true that daily deals don’t work? I certainly don’t think so. Savvy merchants make the most of daily deals through four key tactics, which is the focus of my latest post at Mike Moran’s Biznology blog, “Are Daily Deals Sites a Good Deal for Your Business?”

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Tim Peter & Associates helps companies from startups to the Fortune 500 use the web to reach more customers, more effectively every day. Take a look and see how we can help you.

Technorati Tags: Biznology, e-commerce, e-commerce satisfaction, e-marketing, Groupon, integrated marketing, internet marketing, marketing best practices, mike moran, online brand building, online marketing, daily deals, coupon, coupons

Tagged as: e-commerce sales, e-commerce strategy, e-commerce technology, e-commerce technology investment, ecommerce, ecommerce merchandising, ecommerce metrics, ecommerce strategy, online business, online marketing, online marketing strategy, online merchandising, online sales, online strategy, Strategy

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Should you care about your competition’s conversion rate?

by Tim on June 21, 2011

in E-commerce, Marketing, Strategy, analytics

Competing over conversion rate Just a quick follow up to my post last week about “industry average” conversion rates. Another question people ask me all the time is how their conversion rate compares with their competition. It’s sort of the same question as “what’s my industry’s average conversion rate”, but asked in a different way. And, I’d argue that the answer to this question just isn’t that important.

Here’s why.

Let’s say you found out that your competition converts half as well as you do (ignoring, for the moment, why it’s almost impossible to compare conversion rates). What would you do different if you knew your competition’s conversion rate? Are you going to change your strategy? Slow down? Take the rest of the summer off?

Probably not.

What if their conversion rate is twice as high as yours? Are you going to give up? Fold your tents and go home? Beg them to take the rest of the summer off? Again, probably not.

Data is valuable when it helps you make decisions or causes you to change your behavior. When it doesn’t, it might be interesting, but, not much else. Better to spend your time focused on whether your conversion rate is moving in the right direction (which, believe it or not, isn’t always up).

Does any of this mean that I’m not in favor of competitive data? Not at all. For instance, understanding market share is incredibly valuable. So is regularly conducting competitive analyses. But data like your competitor’s conversion rate in isolation, in most cases, simply isn’t useful to your business.

What do you think? Am I missing something? If so, I’d love to hear from you in the comments.

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Tim Peter & Associates helps companies from startups to the Fortune 500 use the web to reach more customers, more effectively every day. Take a look and see how we can help you.

Technorati Tags:
analytics, Avinash Kaushik, Brian Clifton, continuous improvement, conversion, conversion rate, conversion rate optimization, E-commerce, e-commerce, e-marketing, ecommerce, Google Analytics, internet business, internet marketing, marketing, marketing best practices, measurement, metrics, Rimm-Kaufmann, competitive research, competition