Relationship Building

Building relationships is an important part of being a successful business owner that a lot of people overlook or don’t fully understand. Here is how and why you want to build these connections:

• Vendors
• Competitors
• Bloggers
• Freelancers
• Employees
• Partners

Vendors

Since it is the most obvious I’ll start with building vendor relationships. Getting to know the people behind the warehouse is extremely important. They can be so much more to your business than just where you source your products. You can work with them to learn more about your market, more about your competitors, and more about the direction you should be taking your business in.

A good way to start building this relationship is by helping them sell more. Doing that will get them to take notice of you and begin to think of you as someone they want to work more closely with. Apart from normal sales, you can contact them about anything they have excessive stock on (now is a good time of the year to do that) and tell them you’d like to run a special sale on that item (or line of items) to help them move it quickly. They may give you a special discount to run the sale.

If you do that well and help them move that product, you’ll have leverage and history that will allow you to ask for more discounts in the future and eventually possibly even a larger discount overall.

That is exactly how I started building relationships with my vendors. Today I don’t pay dropship fees; I get higher discounts than other sellers, and work directly with my vendors when it comes to ordering and business planning.

As a side note, it’s best to do all of your vendor contacting via the phone. You can send an email to let your contact know that you’ll be calling to discuss a strategy with them or that you have an idea you want to work with them on but when it comes to the actual talking / planning / connecting do it over the phone, it’s more personal and will help you build that bond more quickly and will likely make it stronger in the long run.

Competitors

I know the idea of building relationships with your competitors may seem foreign and even wrong when you first hear it, it certainly did to me, but it’s quite the opposite. It can be one of the best things you do for your position in the market place.

Let me give you an example of what I mean by this: My friend Dan owns a hot tub store. He noticed that he was selling a lot of a certain size tub but not many of the smaller size of the same model. There were only a handful of other stores selling that model and only one other that he considered to be competition. So he got on the phone and called his competitor. He introduced himself and said he noticed he was really only selling one size of the tub and was assuming that the competitor was selling more of the smaller size.

This turned out to be the case and so Dan suggested they stop competing. He took the smaller size off his site and his competitor took the larger size off his site. Whenever Dan got a question about the smaller size tub he responded with a link to competitor and his competitor did the same for Dan regarding the larger size.

The conversion for each of their pages went up when they started doing this. They were helping position each other and strengthening each other’s stores by cooperating.

Not all of your competitors will be open for doing something like this. But it really can’t hurt you to call them up and propose an idea as long as it is mutually beneficial. If they are not open to working with you be polite about it and thank them for their time – you don’t want to start a war – if they are fantastic, you’ve just made a positive step for your business and you’ll likely be able to get more out of that relationship as time goes by.

Competitors don’t have to be the enemy. Approached right they can be a huge asset to your business.

Bloggers

This is another group that can at first be difficult to approach. What I mean by bloggers is not “all bloggers everywhere”, but bloggers that are relevant to your market.

They are great to have as “friends” when you’re looking to do guest blog spots or just have your articles and other content picked up and reposted.

Getting in with a blogger is not as hard as many thing at first. Really the best thing to do is be active on their blog or blogs – by this I mean read their posts, make helpful and/or interesting comments, and repost some of their materials on your own blogs.

Then approach them with some high-quality, unique content written specifically for them and let them know you’re interested in being a guest blogger. You might want to have a few different content samples for them to look at. They may like your style but not want to post the content you have sent them, if this is the case write something different that is to their specifications (as long as it’s not going to take too much of your time).

Getting in with those who are content leaders in your market is a great way to get more exposure for your store – their audience is likely very large and different from yours – it’s also a good way to get high-quality links for your site. Traffic and SEO together is worthy of a bit of writing effort.

Freelancers

When you find a good one, let them know they are important to you. Building a relationship with people who do solid work for you is incredibly important. Just because they are a freelancer and not a regular employee does not mean you don’t have to pay attention to them and reward them.

I like to think about my good freelancers as employees. I send them bonuses, gifts at the holidays, and try to get to know a little bit about them personally. If you don’t, they could simply leave you anytime without thinking twice about it. That can sting if they are good and you have trouble finding someone else to fill their shoes.

Again, phone contact is key. Talking to someone is the most natural way to create that bond. Email is too impersonal. As I mentioned before, it’s perfectly fine to let someone know via email that you’re going to be calling, it may actually be helpful to the person you’re contacting. Give them a chance to prepare; especially if they are working for you in some capacity, giving them a heads up might be appreciated.

But when it comes to the actual connecting part of relationship building, real communication is going to best electronic conversation every time. Here is an example of how I might start with a freelancer.

I call them up and tell them I’m thrilled with the content they wrote for me and I’d like to have them do more. I order the same amount and let them know that if they can deliver as good as the first time I’ll throw in a bonus with the payment because what they are creating is of great benefit to my business.

The next time I call, I may ask about their particular interests to see if there is a way to work them into the work I’m having the person do. Taking an interest in them is a reward and trying to work into their work so that what they are getting paid for is more fun or interesting to them is an even greater reward. All this stuff goes toward building loyalty that will keep the person around longer and keep the work they do for you at peak quality.

Partners

Now I want to talk about partners a bit. There are a lot of different types of partners you can have for your eCom business. They could be people who have a share in your store, they could be affiliates, they could be your vendors, or anyone else who is part of or helps in your business.

I consider my employee Meghan (you may remember her from the customer service interview) to be more of a partner than an employee most of the time. The reason is because we strategize together. She is like my right hand and would be very difficult to replace. I make sure that I treat her with the respect and gratitude someone that important deserves.

And that’s what you want to make sure you do with your partners. No matter who they are.

If you have affiliates for your stores that are producing income for you, get to know them. Write them or, better yet, call them up and ask them what you can do to help them make even more sales. Let them know they are important to you, that the effort they are putting into selling your goods is important to you. It’s amazing what showing appreciation and a desire to help can do to bolster their efforts and make more money for the both of you.

If you have actual business partners, be sure they know they are being heard. There is little that is more frustrating in business than feeling ignored. Be sure to listen to their ideas and include them in business planning and decision-making. You don’t want to suddenly find yourself splitting your business because your partner is unhappy and has decided to strike out on their own or simply withdrawal financial support because you’re not giving them the respect they feel entitled to.

Appreciate and build relationships with your employees as well. I’m not saying you have to be buddies with them or go beyond a typical boos / employee relationship in any way, but showing them that you care will go a long way in terms of their performance and how long they continue working for you.

High employee turn-around is a time-consuming pain in the neck, so knowing your employees names, listening to any issues they have and doing your best to rectify them, giving bonuses for good work, and other things like that can make your life much easier and really doesn’t take a lot of effort.

Another thing to do, is look for partners. You never know who is going to be an aide to your business or how they might be. Go to seminars, trade shows, local auctions, anywhere you can meet other sellers and make some friends. Even if you never directly work with anyone your meet, just talking shop with others who do it can yield amazing ideas and strategies you wouldn’t come up with on your own. Having friends in “the business” is beneficial and a good release for many of us who don’t really have a lot of people to talk business with.

So to sum this all up – build relationships with anyone and everyone who contributes to your business. The more and stronger these relationships the more solid your business foundation and the more support you have at any given time.

Personal eCommerce Coaching

Successful eCommerce entrepreneurs understand
that a profitable online store is not a mystery
or something that happens by accident…

…it’s a PLAN in action!

 

That plan starts with consistently focusing on the RIGHT THINGS and not getting bogged down worrying about the WRONG things…

See… when you know the tricks of the trade, ecommerce isn’t frustrating or intimidating at all – it’s FUN!

That’s my philosophy when it comes to my personal coaching program – together we will come up with a plan for your business and I will help you through it step by step.

It’s all about you and your business. If I don’t have the answer, I will go out and find it. If I need to spend time helping you with a task I will take that time. What it boils down to: I’m here for you.

I’ve been running my own eCommerce stores since 2001 and I’ve been teaching eCommerce (through my two bestselling eBooks Yahoo Store Profits and Online Store Profits and as a faculty member at StomperNet) since 2002. Let my experience – successes and mistakes – help guide you to eCommerce success.

I show ecommerce entrepreneurs how to create their own personal “Freedom Formula” ensuring that they’re always moving in the right direction with their online business.

Having a “Freedom Formula” gives you a clear roadmap to follow… your own game plan that you execute play by play, and day by day…

What you wind up with is YOUR DREAM ECOMMERCE BUSINESS…

You’ve got 3 options for getting my one on one coaching:
1 Hour per month, Bi-weekly sessions, or 1 Hour each week

Get your spot now:

Coaching Sessions

1 Per Month : $300.00USD – monthly Bi-Weekly : $600.00USD – monthly Every Week : $1,200.00USD – monthly

 

Contact me with any questions at audrey@ecomincubator.com.

I only have 20 coaching slots open so be sure to get yours now before they fill up.

Jumpstart Your eCommerce Business

Do you find yourself getting stuck when it comes to deciding what you should be focusing on in your store?

Are you having trouble figuring out what is keeping your store from being the profit-maker you know it should be?

Would direct access to a seasoned eCommerce Expert help you increase the bottom line of your online store?

Find out how you can get unstuck and add rocket fuel to your online business.

Find Out More => http://ecomcatalyst.net/

You will gain direct access to me, Audrey Kerwood, on live calls and through a 24/7 online forum.

You will also have direct access to a new expert each and every month. Here is a taste of the caliber of experts you will be in contact with:

•    Leslie Rohde – SEO Expert
•    Chris Malta – eCommerce Expert, Owner of Worldwide Brands
•    Linda Bustos – eCommerce Trend Expert, owner of ElasticPath.com
•    Vin Montello – The Godfather of Copywriting
•    Ross Goldberg – Web Traffic & SEO Expert
•    Shirley Tan – eCommerce Expert, founder of American Bridal
•    Mike Wesely – Social Media Expert, Formerly ranked #1 in the World on Twitter
•    Eric Stafford – Conversion Expert
•    Sherman Hu – Video, Blogging, and New Media Expert
•    Plus many more

Find Out More => http://ecomcatalyst.net/

Conversations with Female Millionaires

Jason Oman, best selling author of the renowned book Conversations with Millionaires has co-authored another best seller called Conversations with Female Millionaires.

You might understand why I want to promote this book

Though it’s not just because I’m a woman and like hearing about other womens’ successes… it’s also because Conversations with Millionaires was a great book that helped a lot of people jump start their own success and I believe this one will have the same effect while offering a different perspective.

Here are some of the women millionaires Jason and Rachel interviewed for the book:

• World Renowned Wealth-Attraction Coach and TV personality, Lee Milteer
• eWomenNetwork CEO and founder, Sandra Yancey
• 3rd Season Winner of ‘The Apprentice’ with Donald Trump, Kendra Todd
• “Rich Woman” Author, businesswoman, and financial coach, Kim Kiyosaki
• Successful business coach and former Mayflower Madam, Sydney Biddle Barrows!
• Creator of Ali! Magazine and multi-millionaire, Ali Brown
• Business Wealth Guru, Terri Levine
• Best Selling Author and The Lawyer You Love, Alexis Martin Neely
• And more!

I’m sure you recognize more than one name on that list…

Learning how successful people got to where they are is one of the best ways to make your own business goals and dreams a reality. New ideas flow from intellectual stimulation and this kind of focused and frank talk from highly successful people will spark creativity you may not even know you have.

For women and men alike, surrounding yourself with successful people is the way to get successful yourself. And you can broaden your reach with these interviews and expand your business success without having to track down these women yourself.

Buy the book here and get your success mindset tuned up: http://www.conversationswithfemalemillionaires.com?AFFID=57352

JV Alert Live Orlando

Starting February 17th and going through the 22nd, Ken McArthur is putting on JV Alert in Orlando.

All the JV Alerts have been great events… networking and learning has never been more easy or fun. Experts and business owners from all over the world come to JV Alert Live to share their ideas and make connections that change people’s lives.

Ken’s seminars are not your typical pitch fests. The experts he brings in to speak actually provide valuable content and actionable ideas that will help you take your business to new levels. There is also a wonderful sense of “family” at the JV Alert seminars that you won’t find anywhere else. Everyone there is friendly and looking to meet and network. It’s a lot of fun and you’ll have access to experts you wouldn’t normally be able to talk with.

Here is a list of some of the more than 65 experts you’ll have the opportunity to meet in Orlando:

Ken McArthur, Gary Ambrose, Jason Anderson, Michael Angier, Phil Basten, Alan Bechtold, Nashlah Boyayan, Shahar Boyayan, Hollis Carter, Joe Clayton, Lee Collins, Paul Counts, Willie Crawford, Glenn Dietzel, Ron Dilbert, Andy Duncan, Brian T. Edmondson, Ray Edwards, Mike Evans, Stephanie Frank, Carl Galletti, Edie Galley, Michael Glaspie, Ross Goldberg, John Halpin, Mark Hendricks, Eric Holmlund, Shel Horowitz, Michael Humphreys, Bob Jenkins, Audrey Kerwood, Sohail Khan, Tony Ladig, Walt Laurel, Simon Leung, Skye Mangrum, Jane Mark, PJ McClure, Deb Micek, Daven Michaels, Melanie Milletics, Joey Montez, Chris Moos, Cori Padgett, Scott Paton, David Perdew, Daniel Perry, Susan Preston, David Preston, Laura Roman Lopez, Marlon Sanders, Thom Scott, Brad Semp, Felicia Slattery, Joey Smith, Frank Sousa, Erik Stafford, Howard Tiano, Jeff Wellman, Mike Wesely, Jess Kennedy Williams, Bob Yeager and more, more, more!

Pretty darn amazing list huh?

The networking that goes on at these events is worth the trip alone (multi-million dollar deals are made on a daily basis at these events) but you’ll also get to learn from those experts who have mastered their areas of business. And I haven’t even mentioned the hot seats or expert panel yet…

Get yourself down to Orlando in a couple weeks to this event, your business will thank you

http://jvAlertLive.com/?id=2852

I’ll be there from start to end so if you’re coming drop me a line at audrey (at) audreykerwoodblog (dot) com and we can plan to meet-up and talk about your eCommerce business.

Get Rich and Happy Online

That’s where we all want to get to, right? Being rich AND happy? It is possible, that’s what the Get Rich and Happy Event is all about.

I am one of the featured speakers at the event which is in Philadelphia Nov 5, 6, 7. The event is going to feature 14 amazing speakers in all – Jim Britt – Jason Oman – Ken McArthur – Jim Donovan – just to name a few.

I’m really excited to be speaking at the event. I’m going to be speaking about eCommerce and Online Marketing in general and welcome as many questions as attendees can throw at me all weekend.

Get Rich and Happy is going to be a killer seminar. The breadth of experience and perspectives from the speakers is massive. With so many different approaches and types of businesses you will learn how to take your business to the next level… the way YOU want to.

The cost for this event is almost ridiculous it’s so low. For all 3 days with 14 amazing speakers, the cost is only $97.

http://getrichandhappyevent.com/?id=audreykerwood

I’ll be on a webinar for the event this coming Thursday, August 19th at 8pm Eastern. If you want a taste of what the seminar will be like or what I’m like in person, join us on the call here: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/707770489

Larry Steinhouse and I will be talking about eCommerce and online marketing and I’ll be taking questions afterward. I’d love to hear from you.

The webinar is totally free, it’s part of the Get Rich and Happy Event series Larry has been doing with the seminar speakers. It’s going to be a great call and an even better event. Hope to see you at both!

Setting Up eShop For The 2010 Holiday Season

Want to make the most out your online store this holiday season?

You need to start planning NOW… and have the best Christmas season your store has ever experienced.

On this webinar, I will be taking you step-by-step through my own personal eCommerce holiday preparation process. I’ll not only show you WHAT I do, I’ll explain WHY and HOW it helps bring in more sales each year.

Sunday, August 1st at 7pm Eastern – Register here: http://eComIncubator.com

Each step from the end of August right up through the New Year will be covered. You can see exactly what an online store needs to do to raise it’s holiday presence and profits.

There will be live Q & A with Audrey following the presentation and 2 special BONUS GIFTS for attendees.

This is a totally free event, I hope to see you there!

http://eComIncubator.com

Whoops, I forgot about Mother’s Day…

It happens. We are all prone to forgetfulness at times, especially when we’ve got multiple plates spinning.

So yeah, I’ve been caught up with the new eCommerce Catayst Community, the eCom iPhone App I’m helping develop, two major site redesigns, plus a few other projects… and I forgot about Mother’s Day.

I’m not saying I forgot and the date has passed – as this writing Mother’s Day is still 5 days away – what I forgot was the marketing I should have done for my stores. Now there is not enough time to guarantee shipment in time for the holiday.

Suck.

Well, if you’re in the same boat or find you’ve missed a holiday marketing opportunity there is a way to salvage some of those lost profits. You’ll likely not make as much but some cash is better than no cash. So what is the answer?

Gift Certificates.

I know there is a certain stigma around gift certificates; they lack the thought that is said to be the real GIFT part of the gift. There are ways around that thinking. Here’s how I positioned my gift certificates for Mother’s Day.

~

Tapestries, whether they be wall hanging, pillow covers, table runners, or any other style make great gifts Mom will be surprised and excited to receive.

But it can be difficult to decide which style you think she would like the best. So instead of making a guess, why not give Mom a gift certificate so she can choose the style she likes best for her home decor.

What’s nice about a Tapestry Standard gift certificate is that it’s not some generic money voucher, it’s very specific and so shows the thought you put into deciding to give the gift of her choice of tapestry. It’s a fantastic way to show you care and give Mom the freedom to choose for herself.

~

I’m providing the “thought” and adding the benefit of Mom getting to choose. You can see the store blog post here: Wall Tapestries For Mother’s Day

So don’t fret if you find yourself behind at the approach of a holiday, salvage what you can and then set up a calendar alert so it doesn’t happen again

What’s spiking my traffic Yesterday and Today!

In dozens of surveys conducted over the past few years, the core problem every online store owner has…

#1 problem is figuring out traffic in some way, shape, or form.

What if there was a simple solution that was based on what Google has done to change the way they provide search results?

There is.
https://immortal.infusionsoft.com/go/tmv/eStoreOp

I’ve been beta-testing this new software for article submission for the past two weeks. Two weeks of results is too small of a time to measure with confidence. My initial results are fantastic!

What I have seen is new traffic and more sales. Yesterday my tapestry store took in my first $1k+ order since Christmas.

This is anecdotal data. Bigger amounts of time will be required for me to make the formal case-study that I’m likely to start presenting at Live Seminars.

Let’s talk about traffic to Your Store…

Here’s what I know to be real. I started using Ross Goldberg’s new software two weeks ago and I’m getting more traffic and seeing more sales. Will this sustain? I sure hope so!

In less than 2-weeks I’ve already made dozens of times what Ross is asking for this software… $37.

You have to try this to believe it.

I’m sure you’ve heard it all before, but this one is 100% true to my tests so far.

See what I’m doing by watching this video:

https://immortal.infusionsoft.com/go/tmv/eStoreOp

Thanks,

Audrey

P.S. This video is shorter than most of the ones you’ve seen before => https://immortal.infusionsoft.com/go/tmv/eStoreOp

Think Like An eCommerce Marketer

Remember when Dr. Pepper TV commercials starred Dr. Pepper Models singing and dancing about what it feels like to “be a Pepper.”

Well, being my own boss makes ME feel all peppery…

I think like a marketer and I’m proud.
I used to feel alone in a crowd.
Now if you look around these days…

There seems to be an “I’m a marketer” craze!

Oh… I’m a marketer, He’s a marketer, She’s a marketer…

We’re all marketers.

Wouldn’t you like to be a marketer too!

Hear me sing that => http://AWAKENDmarketing.COM

What’s the “How to Think Like an eCommerce Marketer” teleseminar really all about? In a word, magic. Marketers have the ability to make something out of nothing. How you use your magical skills is really up to you.

WARNING: This call is only for Awakened Marketers.

Have you noticed that any marketer pushing harder than you is an A$$HOLE while any marketer not making as much money as you is an idiot? George Carlin explained this phenomeon in terms of driving… “Ever notice how on the freeway anybody driving faster than you is an a**hole and EVERYBODY going slower is an idiot?!”

The key is to drive at the speed you feel most comfortable…

Sunday Secrets => http://AWAKENDmarketing.COM

How is this a catalyst to your eCommerce store?

Have you ever noticed the difference in MINDSET between a successful eCommerce Marketer versus most Internet Marketers? Most people who call themselves “Internet Marketers” appear to me as rushing from marketing event to event. Sure they make brief spurts of profitability, but what they do one day often actually undermines their future profits!

What works for me is going slowly, making incremental improvements that build on each other to create a long-term, sustainable business.

Join me Sunday => http://AWAKENDmarketing.COM

Listen to Ben Mack and I discuss Mindset: eCommerce vs. Internet Marketing… Listen now by clicking the player below=> Come absorb how I think like a marketer today…

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