[Jewelry making - Article 00390] - Re: [Orchid] Web based business

[Vivek Shah]

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Hello,

    I have been reading the posts on Web based Business, I am from India
    and we have been exporting Sterling Silver Jewelry to several
    countries,We have several websites with more than 500 products , for
    us Internet is the main life line though it is very important its not
    complete, I would like to share and respond to a few views:

>     I thought people wouldn't want to spend a lot of money if they
>     couldn't touch and smell the piece, also not having the security of
>     taking the piece back to the shop the next day. The kind of work
>     that you do really changed my opnion.

    That is true, Internet does have the limitation, it works out the
    best for promoting our jewelry, a website cannot overdrive the touch
    and feel aspect or the security of returning back, however it could
    reach to the farest corners of the Earth! 

    We receive inquiries from countries like Tibet, Cyprus etc. it would
    be difficult to assume to go to a trade fair where buyers from these
    countries come to buy! But they surely ask for samples before placing
    an order with a company whom them they have never met or dealt with,
    at this point the Trade shows steal the glamour! As sending samples
    for free to everyone is not possible.

>     did you have an established customer base before you started
>     selling fro the web? Do you happen to know how people that buy from
>     your website find out about you?

    Very true! It works our wonderfuly if we have an established
    clientele and use our website as a visiting card! Else it is a long
    process to establish ourselves like a new start up. 

>     I wonder what percentage find you trough google search.

    True! Internet is so competitive there is no point in having a good
    designed website if it is not "promoted" in the search Engines! All
    major Search Engines: yahoo google msn etc. change their optmisation
    algorithms regularly, such as metatags, importance of keywords, Link
    Exchanges, etc. So it is extremely important to promote one's
    website. 

    The easy way is to link up or subscribe with a Trade portal or if in
    retail with Ebay to get initial attention! 

>     I am in the process of having a website done and was wondering how
>     those of you doing the majority of your business online handle
>     marketing? Exactly how do you get customers to find and come to your
>     site?

    Please make sure that the website is not only designed but well Coded
    by a professional so that it is SEarch Engine freindly like Google,
    yahoo etc.! and also make necessary changes as per the change in
    their Algorithms! There are lakhs of websites and to get lost in a
    sea is of them is very common!! But surely we have had a great good
    expereince! we have established a lot of customer base in countries
    like Sweden Australia where we have yet not met our clients! 

>     few years ago a computer friend of mine told me that for the same
>     cost of doing a high end craft show I could be opened 24 hr 7 days a
>     week all over the world..

    Yeah but still for High End Jewelry - both for direct customer
    selling and Business to Business Selling the Trade shows steal the
    game! The reason being higher amounts involved and so the risk.
    However the website, as you said is more like a prop :) 

    For all those who are coming up with a website make sure you have: 

    (1) Right Click disabled! - so that copy cats dont copy your website
    (thought there are several ways they could do so) 

    (2) Not putting all the designs on the site - only a selected few. 

    (3) Have good photographs ! (not scanned images they dont leave a
    good impression) 

    (4) KEYWORDS! During the coding of the website the keywords and meta
    tags have to be completely accurate they fetch the most of the
    attention!! 

    (5) Advertising with the right business portals - online magazines,
    these days people even write Blogs! Ebay, yahoo shopping, Amazon,
    Aliababa.com (for international business) etc. 

    In short try to use a well established platform, going solo would
    take a while! 

    (6) Quick replies! It is a norm in International Busines that a reply
    should be given in 24 hours! it leaves a good impression :) 

    (7) Correct Address and a good language! A lot of overseas customers
    expect a polite and simple language! Though the emails or inquries
    come in a sentence or two we should write a complete email! 

    (8) Add a Signature while replying to the emails: Please end the
    email with your name, company name, email address and telephone
    number! so that the cleint gets handy information of you again! and
    donot have to travel to the "contact us" page of your website!!! 

    (9) Do not have larger than life pages on your website!!! That kills
    the look have smaller pages maximum double or one and half size of
    the screen so that the user doesnot have to scroll up and down!! 

    (10) Have simple Tables of all product classifications 

    (11) As mentioned in (2) donot put all your designs but a larger
    variety is always good. 

    (12) Most important : Update your website regularly!!! 

    (13) Dont use different Font styles - try to have a rythm in the
    layout script and Design, also donot use a complete bucket of
    colours! try to maintian a common theme! your Visiting Card,
    Store/Site Logo and website along with Envelopes all should have a
    same color and design theme! 

    (14) If you target your website for overseas audiences and have well
    promoted website, if you want to have a map from where the
    hits/clicks audience comes from 

    Hope this helps to everyone!! 

Thanks
Vivek
from India
info at jewelsnbeads dot com
www dot jewelsnbeads dot com


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