Gain new customers and a profit upfront.

Here is an easy way to gain new customers and collect profits upfront with a simple upgrade to your existing web site.

I have many clients who have a web site for a business that offers services. Some of my clients also have web sites for simply providing information. Both of these examples do not typically use E-commerce on their web sites compared to the other type of product-based clients who always sell online.

I feel that just about any business should implement E-commerce to take advantage of the traffic on the site. If you do not dangle anything on the hook no one will take a bite. So the comment I get most often is, "I do not have anything to sell online".

If you are in business you must receive income from something, right? The most obvious way to use E-commerce is to accept payments on your site. You can offer an alternative to your customers and have the ability to break up the payment into multiple installments or as a one-time payment. The great thing about this is that the E-commerce platform I offer will automatically send out confirming emails of the transactions and make it easy to send follow-up emails to remind everyone of the next payment due. As an added benefit, this customer is now part of your "contacts" so you will be able to send any other emails you might use (promotions, sales, quarterly or monthly newsletters, etc.).

The other way to use E-commerce is to either offer a "gift card" someone can give to anyone to redeem or use himself or herself. You can see why someone might purchase a gift card to give to someone else but why would they get one for themselves and pay upfront ahead of time? The answer is to provide something extra that only comes with the gift card. This "extra" can be a minor add-on service that compliments the main service and gives them a taste of other work or services you offer. The "extra" could be an extension of time. Maybe you offer an extra ten minutes free with the use of a gift card.


Freddy Uson is the Creative Director and owner of Uson Consulting, llc. Visit usonconsulting.com. A Web Design & Creative Marketing business that offers web design, development, e-commerce, SEO and site optimization, marketing and all print collateral. Based in the Central New Jersey, Princeton, NJ area and serving all of NY/NJ. Contact us at (551) 265-8762 or email info@usonconsulting.com