Hi this is Kate Wilber “The Marketing Momma” with Tip # 5 in the “5 Tips To Starting An Online Store” series here at the Work At Home Success Blog. This is my last day here of my week long visit and I just wanted to Thank Leslie for having me here all week.

I have loved sharing my tips to starting an online store and hopefully this info has helped you with your entrepreneur dreams in some small way.

If you missed tips # 1, 2, 3, and 4 you can go here to check them out.

Tip # 5 Make Your First Impression Count

It is important to remember that your potential customers will come to your online store and make their decision to shop with you within only a few seconds of being at your store. This means you have to stand out, you have to draw the customers in and you have to ensure you keep them at your site until they find what they are looking for.  There are thousands of other online stores selling products to your target customer so you need to give them a reason to choose to shop with you.

So, first things first, you should make sure that your overall design is appealing to your customer. Don’t let your website have a dated look to it. Also, having too much text can be distracting and confusing for the reader. Simplicity is key, and be sure to make the pages look as professional as possible. Take a look at my home page at my online store Barefoot Bella to get an idea of what I am talking about.

You also want to keep things up-to-date on your website. What I mean by this is that you want the most recent products, the most recent article links, and the most recent testimonials to show. If it is 2009 and your lead testimonial is from 2003, it will mean nothing to your potential customer.

They want to know the quality of your business now, not six years ago. They also want to be sure that the e-commerce site they are doing business with is still operating and new products can help show them you are indeed still in business. Another way to get their attention is to offer a special deal on your home page whether it be Free Shipping or a discount to your store.  Give them a reason to want to learn more about you and your business.

So that’s Tip #5.  Remember to check out my free report “Top Ten Things To Know About Stating An Ecommerce Store” for more great tips!!

If you know someone who would benefit from these tips to start an online store please send them to this post.

For more step by step guidance to building a successful online store

visit www.startanonlinestore.com

To Your Success!

Kate Wilber

The Marketing Momma

Hi this is Kate Wilber “The Marketing Momma” with Tip # 4 in the

“5 Tips To Starting An Online Store” series here at the Work At Home Success Blog.

This is day 4 of my week long visit.  If you missed tips # 1, 2, and 3 you can go here to check them out.

Today I wanted to talk about Customer Reviews and Testimonials

Tip # 4 Allow Reviews!

One of the most important things to remember when you are building a business online is that you need to build a relationship with your customers. The internet is a huge place and it is very easy to get lost in the crowd–so that being said you need to find a way to set yourself and your business brand apart from the others.

The best way to do this is by showing your customers what you are all about and building a good relationship with them. One of the best ways to do this is to use your existing happy customers to build your reputation for you.

Think about it—have you ever had a great experience somewhere or come across a place that you absolutely love. You wanted to share that with people right??  People love to share what they are excited about and if a customer becomes your raving fan–make sure you can leverage that by having them tell the world about it. That’s what your reviews should be all about.

Customers want to feel safe online and they want to know that other people have had a good experience with your e-commerce store. So it is very important that you allow your customers to see reviews and testimonials from previous customers. This helps create trust with your customers and it can help you build a reputable business online.

People want to know that they are not alone in something, and if they can see how someone else liked your product, they can make a better decision about whether or not they want to purchase it.

The more information they have, the more confident they will feel about buying a product from you.

So give your customers a great shopping experience and then let them share their experience with others.

If you know someone who would benefit from these tips to start an online store please send them to this post.

For more step by step guidance to building a successful online store

visit www.startanonlinestore.com

To Your Success!

Kate Wilber

The Marketing Momma