I’m not abandoning my stores or anything like that, but honestly I don’t really do much for them anymore. I have partners, employees, and freelancers doing 99% of the work so all I’m doing is handing that last 1% to my partners.

So what am I going to do to fill my time? I’m getting into SEO.

I’ve been doing SEO for my own sites since I started them but now I’m doing SEO for other people’s / business’s sites. And, I’m totally digging it.

Getting down and dirty with new sets of keywords and new markets is just the spark I’ve been looking for to rejuvenate my love of business. I’m working with a variety of clients, some in small markets others in massively competitive markets.

So what does this mean for you?

I want to talk to you about your SEO. From my long experience, many eCommerce store owners don’t know how to effectively do SEO for their stores. You know I’m a big proponent of small business and always want to see small companies succeed – I can help you get your eCom site to the top, no matter what market you’re in.

If you’re struggling with rankings or only getting traffic from your paid advertising, we should talk.

I’ll do a complete SEO work-up for your site and write up a proposal for getting you where you need to be. From there we can decide if working together is a good fit.

I’m only looking to take on about 10 more clients so taking the time to see what we can do together is absolutely necessary. But even if we don’t end up moving forward, you’ll still have the SEO work-up and plan that you can put into practice yourself or hire out.

No matter the outcome, you’ll end up on top (pun intended).

Go here to sign up for your SEO work-up and proposal. I look forward to getting your site better rankings and tons more traffic.

No related posts.

With chat your customers don’t have to pick up the phone and they can still get instant answers to their questions. Chat can be a big factor in your holiday sales success.

Can you afford to wait until after the holidays?
•    Chat converts up to 8x more than your website today
•    Most implementations are up and running within a week – many in minutes
•    1 in 5 online shoppers prefers live chat above all other communication methods

It’s convenient for them and convenient for you if you use the right software.

I use BoldChat for all my online stores. It’s inexpensive and flexible.

BoldChat is more than just live chat software
•    Detailed website visitor monitoring
•    Instant and searchable chat history
•    Fully customizable chat windows
•    Unlimited/searchable canned messages
•    Invitation capability

Simple to Operate
Powerful features in a simple, flexible, and intuitive interface. This simplicity translates to immediate bottom line benefits in the form of increased sales and lowered support costs. Features include:
•    Customizable chat windows
•    Chat canned messages
•    Push page capability
•    Active Co-Browsing w/Form Filling

Intelligent Connections
Proprietary research shows that Internet Shoppers who engage in live chat buy more, spend more, and buy more frequently. BoldChat will help you convert more of your visitors into customers while simultaneously increasing average order value and decreasing cart abandonment.
•    Sale Recovery™ Technology
•    Rules driven proactive chat
•    Detailed real-time visitor analytics
•    Robust reporting

Unparalleled Flexibility
The power of BoldChat puts you in complete control.
•    Deploy on multiple websites
•    Create unlimited rules and invites
•    Create different chat buttons and windows
•    Alter proactive rules instantly

It’s effective, easy, and perfect for eCommerce.

I’d love to see Live Chat on every website. Anything that helps your customers will also help you.

I’m happy to answer any questions you might have about the software. I’ve been using it for 5 years and couldn’t be happier.

Check out BoldChat here: http://www.shareasale.com/r.cfm?B=13485&U=552781&M=4011&urllink=

Related posts:

1. eCommerce Conversion with Audrey Kerwood
2. 259.2% Increase In Your Backlinks
3. Take Advantage of Holidays

Now is the time to optimize not just your sales and promotions
but the overall flow of your site so all your hard earned traffic
won’t go to waste.

I can help you make your site easier for customers to use so
you’ll get more sales this holiday season.

I’ll go through your entire site starting at the home page and
working 
all the way through your checkout process to see where
your site can 
be improved for your customer usability and overall
conversion.

Book Your Site Review Here: http://www.ecomsitereview.com

The holiday rush will be in full swing in the next month, don’t wait
to optimize until its too late. Find out how to improve your site
now and watch your sales number soar over last year.

“Audrey’s ideas helped us double our conversion rate…
and sell
FOUR TIMES the number of items compared to a year earlier…”

“Our web site was struggling with low conversion rates, and we
knew it 
was not well optimized. Through her site analysis and
suggestions for 
improvement Audrey’s ideas helped us double
our conversion rate for 
the month of December. We emphasized
a particular product line 
and ended up selling FOUR TIMES the
number of items we had when 
compared to a year earlier…”

Sylvia Seamands
Retired M.D.,
Online Store Owner

My conversion site reviews are normally $200, but for a limited
time you can 
get your personal site review for only $97.

Book Your Site Review Here: http://www.ecomsitereview.com

I have 50 slots available so you want to book your site review now.

“Audrey – 
I’d really like to send you a huge THANK YOU! 
Your website
review was awesome. It’s got us moving on all that stuff that needed
to get done. We are completely focused on prepping for the big
holiday season. That was such a thorough review and then delivered
via video – I was completely impressed with the presentation!”
Lew Sabbag

“WOW! Audrey, Thank you for the information you provided in my
website audit. Even though I have been in the ecommerce business
for nearly 10 it is easy to miss things that are (or are not) happening
on your own site.  I really appreciate the insight. I have already
started making changes and will be monitoring the improvements.
Thank you for the audit – it was well worth my time and investment!”
Michelle Chance-Sangthong

Related posts:

1. Setting Up eShop For The 2010 Holiday Season
2. Anatomy of a High-Converting Store Book
3. Another Round of Site Reviews

• 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.

No related posts.

How would you like to start a 2nd (or 3rd or 4th) revenue
stream that will not only bring in additional cash but also
boost your eCommerce store at the same time?

Sounds darn good right?

Well the guys at Daily Deal Builder have created a killer
app that will allow you to do just that.

We all know the Daily Deal model is huge – some are
calling it the new way to shop online – and getting in
now is key to capitalizing on this growing trend.

The problem is most of us don’t know how… that is not
a problem anymore. Check out this video to see how
the Daily Deal Builder makes getting into this model
easy as pie.

http://snempire.com/go.php?4_A1014647_112

The best part of this for eCommerce store owners is
that you can integrate your store products into the
Daily Deals. So you’re not only making money from
your new venture, you’re also boosting your existing
business.

This is a total win-win for store owners and the most
exciting thing I’ve seen so far this year.

Watch the video and email me with any questions.

Related posts:

1. Anatomy of a High-Converting Store Book
2. Ramp Up Your Store for the Holiday Season!

…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.

No related posts.

Do you have questions relating to your eCommerce business but no one who you can ask?

I totally understand. I was in that position when I started selling online. I didn’t need one on one coaching or hand-holding, but it would have been helpful to be able to talk to someone who had “been there” when I had questions…

Well, I am here for you.

My eCom Catalyst program puts you in direct contact with me, Audrey Kerwood, each and every month.

Check it out here: http://www.ecomcatalyst.net

It consists of 3 monthly calls – the first is a training and Q & A call where I share my experience on the topic of the month and then answer your questions.

The second is a guest expert call where I interview an expert on the topic of the month and then allow you to ask them your questions live. Some previous guest experts have included: 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, Mike Wesely – Social Media Expert – Formerly ranked #1 in the World on Twitter, Sherman Hu – Video, Blogging, and New Media Expert… and that’s just naming a few.

The third is an open Q & A call where you can ask me anything and everything about eCommerce. These calls go on as long as there are questions, I will always answer everyone’s questions every time.

Plus you have 24/7 access to the eCom Catalyst online forum where all members can interact and ask questions whenever they come up. I’m in there personally everyday answering questions and offering resources that will benefit your eCommerce business.

You also get access to the last 14 months of the recorded calls. All those experts that you missed, you get to learn from. All the training and Q & A sessions are yours to listen to at your convenience.

Each and everyone of the eCom Catalyst members has seen an increase in their business since joining the group. This is a winning team you want to be part of.

And… it only costs $37 per month. You can’t beat that, I dare you to try…

Ramp up your eCommerce success today: http://www.ecomcatalyst.net

Related posts:

1. Jumpstart Your eCommerce Business

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/

Related posts:

1. Diversifying Your eCommerce Business
2. Less than $450 per year?
3. Setting Up eShop For The 2010 Holiday Season

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

No related posts.

“I am so close to my business that I don’t always see the obvious right in front of me until it is pointed out by someone OUTSIDE my box. I recently had my site reviewed by Audrey and couldn’t be happier with the suggestions she made. Every single suggestion made complete sense and I have no doubt they will all improve my conversions. I don’t ride on the “guruships” that travel around the internet and really value real world advice from someone making a real world living on the internet. Thank you, Audrey!”
Sean Woodruff

“WOW! Audrey, Thank you for the information you provided in my website audit. Even though I have been in the ecommerce business for nearly 10 it is easy to miss things that are (or are not) happening on your own site.  I really appreciate the insight. I have already started making changes and will be monitoring the improvements.  Thank you for the audit – it was well worth my time and investment!”
Michelle Chance-Sangthong

Another round of site reviews.

The feedback for my personal site reviews has been incredible and 
I’ve been inundated by requests from people who weren’t able to get in 
on my last round since I limited the number of slots to 50.

Well, I love doing these site reviews so I’m offering another 50 slots
 so you the opportunity to get your own personal site review.

I’ll go through your entire site starting at the home page and working 
all the way through your checkout process to see where your site can 
be improved for your customer usability and overall conversion.

Book Your Site Review Here: http://www.ecomsitereview.com

“Audrey’s ideas helped us double our conversion rate…
and sell FOUR TIMES the number of items compared to a year earlier…”

“Our web site was struggling with low conversion rates, and we knew it 
was not well optimized. Through her site analysis and suggestions for 
improvement Audrey’s ideas helped us double our conversion rate for 
the month of December 2009. We emphasized a particular product line 
and ended up selling FOUR TIMES the number of items we had when 
compared to a year earlier…”

Sylvia Seamands
Retired M.D.,
Online Store Owner

I normally charge $200 per site review, but for a limited time you can 
get your personal site review for only $97.

Book Your Site Review Here: http://www.ecomsitereview.com

I have 50 slots available so you want to book your site review now.

Don’t worry if you’re still building your site and aren’t quite ready to have it
 reviewed. Book your slot now and you can let me know when you want me
 to review your site. It can be anytime from now until June 1st 2011.

These 50 slots are going to go fast, so be sure to book your site review now.

I look forward to working with you to make your site irresistible to your 
customers and making you the money your store is worth.

Related posts:

1. Get Your Site Reviewed By Audrey
2. Ramp Up Your Store for the Holiday Season!
3. Anatomy of a High-Converting Store Book