Virtual Shops: Start Profiting in 24 Hours!

Site: www.oxatis.co.ukBlog: http://en.marcschillaci.com

The blah blah, the gurus … and you!

•Everyone says: - That their shops are better - That their shops are easier to build - That they’ve revolutionized the way to create an online shop

• You’ve heard plenty of Gurus! - Who’ve talked to you about Web 2.0 - Who’ve tried to convince you that “Full Flash” sites are the latest trend - Who are the kings of “you need to” and “all you have to do is”

• So, what if we talked about you? - What are your real needs? - What are your real challenges? - What real obstacles are you facing? - What are the real risks?

Use Common Sense and Avoid Getting Lost in the Mix• I don’t want to - Tell you what you’ve already heard 100 times - Tell you that we’ve just come out with X or Y technology - Try to convince you that without Web 2.0 you won’t sell anything - Try to make you believe we’re the best

• None of that is going to help you

Let’s take a look at how to easily get an E-Commerce site up and running in 24 hours.

About...

• Oxatis

- European leader in E-Commerce sites for small and

medium

sized businesses• In the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Italy and now Canada

- Over 6,500 e-merchants use our services

- Over 400 new sites created every month

- Over 200 Oxatis Certified Solution Centers in Europe

- 2 E-Commerce Product Lines:• Start&Go for start-ups, merchants, craftsmen and entrepreneurs

• Open Enterprise for SMBs

Oxatis Values• No roadblocks to getting started - Affordable prices - No long-term obligations - No start-up fees• Uncompromising when it comes to functionalities - You have access to the same functionalities as the bigger players...and why not better?• Impeccable hosting - You have access to the same level of reliability as the bigger players...and why not better? - You never have to worry about server capacity

Oxatis Values• Monthly updates - New functionalities to keep up with the latest trends on the Net - You’re always a step ahead of the competition• Unrivaled customer service - Extremely responsive online technical support - Expanded support hours (evenings, weekends, holidays) - Online training and coaching

Understanding the Offers on the Market

Oxatis Advantages

A single provider for all your needs!

Guaranteed to be treated equally whether a small or large customer. “If one customer has a problem, all customers have the problem”

Provider’s objective interest to correct its errors.

Shared resources: No server sizing problems (nearly a million orders go through Oxatis servers every year).

Policy of free access to system updates. The provider is obligated to continue developing their tool to convince new prospects and keep current customers who are growing.

Putting an End to the Myths

The E-Merchant Profile

Study run in January 2009 on 2,500 Oxatis e-merchants

Myth No.1

• You have to have technical skills to create your site on your own

FALSE

• 85 % of Oxatis customers certify that they have created their site on their own

• 70% claim to have done so with no difficulty

Myth No.2

• With a full time job and a full schedule, there’s no time left to build and manage an E-Commerce site

FALSE

• A lot of our customers started out that way

• With Oxatis, you can build and manage a website from any computer, at any time of the day or night.

• 20% of customers take less than 15 days to publish their site• 48% take less than a month• 70% take less than 2 months

Myth No.3

• You have to be young to build and manage your own E-Commerce site

FALSE

• There is no ageism when it comes to E-Commerce. Professional maturity is what counts.

• Nearly 60% of Oxatis e-merchants are between 40 and 50 years old (and older)!

Secrets to Success

• What works • What doesn’t work

Secrets to Success

• What works on the Internet?

- Hard work - Patience - Perseverance - Determination

• Basically, exactly the same thing as any other kind of commerce!

Secrets to Success

• What doesn’t work on the Internet?

- Copying what E-Commerce giants are doing - Being completely unoriginal - Thinking you’re the only one that had this good idea - Thinking that the hardest part is over once the site is built - Having ambitions beyond your means - Thinking that others could do the work for you “cheaply”

• Basically, exactly the same thing as any other kind of commerce!

Stating the Obvious

What are your needs?

Stating the Obvious

No Webmaster will ever know your profession as well as you do.

You’ll never be a professional Webmaster.

Commerce is your specialty!

Fight with a merchant’s

weapons, and not a Webmaster’s!

Stating the Obvious

Make concessions, but not too many!

Be demanding when it comes to the tool, because…• You have to manage sizes, colors, options,• You sell heavy, light, or fragile products, which has an

impact on shipping,• You have to different prices for different types of

customers, • You want to send out professional newsletters rapidly

and on a regular basis, set up RSS feeds,• You want to be updated daily with Google, Kelkoo,

Pangora, Shopping.com, Shopzilla, etc.• You want secure, highly functional payment methods

(PayPal, PayPal Express, MoneyBookers, etc.),• You require advanced search engine optimization

techniques, • You want online order tracking, • etc…

Stating the Obvious

Choose a complete tool, because you wouldn’t switch horses in the middle of a race:• It will be too late• It will be complicated• It will be costly• Who will help you?

So, write off any “basic”, incomplete solutions

THE TOOLS

Let’s take a look at all of the necessary tools for creating an E-Commerce site

Taking Inventory - 1

A web host (for your secure space including pages, programs and data)

A domain name (to access this space on the net) and email addresses

Software to create the static part of your site (Front Page, Dreamweaver, etc.)

Software to create the dynamic part of your site (such as, Os Commerce)• Products, • Stock, • Shipping, • Discounts, • Payment methods, online order tracking,

etc., etc., etc.

Taking Inventory - 2

You’ll also need: • A content management system• Secure payment solutions• Systems for exporting your products to

major directories (Shopping.com, Shopzilla, Kelkoo, Google SiteMaps)

• Technical skills so that all of this works together, 24/7

A server farm is like a plane. It’s only when problems

arise that start to question the

seriousness of the company and its

pilots.

Taking Inventory – 3 … Phew! • Become informed about the state and art of

Internet technology • Understand the chain of necessary components

(text, graphic design, HTML, database, applications, search engine optimization, etc.)

• Find out which software and technology is the best choice for each of these points

• Compare their performance, cost effectiveness• Decide on and buy the software or pick up the

technology (hoping that you won’t regret it in a year)

• Invest dozens of hours training yourself

And maybe one day…Have a professional Internet site

Or… use a provider offering the

infrastructure for your online shop

Let’s Get to Work!

It may seem impossible, but you can do it…simple step by simple step

Prerequisites

You’ve spent a significant amount of time thinking about:• What you want to sell• How you want to sell it• Who you want to sell it to • Your job description• The organization of your product catalog • You have text and photos.

All of this is essential, no matter what

technical solution you’re

considering

4 Step Rule

1. Bring together the technological tools and get them up and running,

2. Manage your site’s content, go live, and keep your site alive and up-to-date,

3. Market your site,4. Take good care of your customers.

You’ll be able to invest all of the time you save in steps 1 and 2 into step 3!

The more time you pass in step 3, the more time you’ll need for step 4, and the less you’ll have for steps 1 and 2.

Depending on the technical solution you choose, the

cycle can be vicious or virtuous!

1 Day to Build Your Site

9.00hrs – 9.15 hrs• Open your Oxatis account

9.15hrs – 9.30hrs• Choose a domain name

9.30hrs – 11.00hrs• Set up main elements, choose a graphic

charter, create home page (3 messages, 1 image), basic organization

11.00hrs – 13.00hrs• Create a dozen products (10 minutes per

product, that’s plenty to include text, 2 images, prices, weight, quantity in stock)

13.00hrs – 14.00hrs• Lunch break!

1 Day to Build Your Site

14.00hrs – 14.30hrs• Organize accepted payment methods:

Checks, COD, PayPal14.30hrs – 15.00hrs• Create and configure a PayPal account

15.00hrs – 15.30hrs• Organize your shipping system: Choice

of calculation formulas, free shipping, cash on delivery

15.30hrs – 16.00hrs• Organize online order tracking system

1 Day to Build Your Site

16.00hrs – 17.00hrs• Finish up menus, highlight some recent

news and FAQ. General terms of sale. About us. Contact.

17.30hrs – 17.45hrs• Define exports to price comparison

services.17.15hrs – 18.00hrs• Prepare and submit Sitemap file (Google,

Yahoo!, MSN)18.00hrs – 19.00hrs• Go live with site and run order validation

tests.

And Now the Real Work Begins!

It’s possible to create your site in a day.

However, the real work begins the day after, and you should always remember the sayings on the Web:

•A finished website is a dead website!

•Your site is born. It’s up to you to help it

grow!•A website is never

finished, it’s a constant work in

progress!

But That’s Another Story...

Virtual Shops: Start Profiting in 24 Hours!

Site: www.oxatis.co.ukBlog: http://en.marcschillaci.com