Category: Blog

Here at the Internet Business School, we’re always looking out for great new ways that small businesses get the edge over their competitors. Learning from previous mistakes has always been a huge part of developing highly successful online stores. Luckily for you, some of the largest businesses have already made these mistakes, so all you have to do is sit back and learn! Here’s our top ten lessons to keep in mind when running a shop online.

Lesson One: Reduce Your Customer’s Risk.

 

Customers are scared of getting ripped off, especially when it comes to buying products online. If they’re too afraid to enter their details into your website, they’re never going to buy anything. You need to reassure them to get them spending. Putting a price promise or a data safety logo on your site can make your site seem more trustworthy. However don’t paste these logos or promises on every page or image. Over-repeating the fact you are trustworthy will only make you seem dubious and desperate. Customers need the most reassurance when they’re committing to spend money, so add these promises when they get to their shopping cart or checkout.

 

Lesson Two: Make Sure the Customer Can See Their Cart At Any Time.

 

Big retailers have found that customers are less likely to abandon their shopping carts if they can click and see it at any time. By allowing your customer to hover their mouse over an icon that then displays their shopping allows them both to keep track of their spending and remind them of their intention to buy.  Visible shopping carts can also impart a sense of urgency in your customers. If a buyer can see that there is only one product left, or that other people are viewing the same item, they are more likely to quickly make the sale.

 

Lesson Three: Offer Free or Flat Rate Shipping

 

Though not possible for every business, free shipping is a magnet for customers. The next best option is shipping at a flat rate. Studies have found that nearly 50% of customers abandon their shopping carts because shipping costs are too high. So if you offer free or flat rate shipping, make sure to advertise that fact as early and often as possible, especially on your site’s homepage. Many business now mention their free shipping at every stage of checkout to impress on the customer the fact they have saved, the same goes for offers on shipping (flat costs if the customer spends X amount.)

 

Lesson Four: Pick the Best Payment Options for Your Audience

 

There are many ways to pay online, people are moving away from entering their bank details into sites and are choosing payment platforms such as Paypal, Google Wallet, Apple Pay. When setting up your online sales, research what are the common forms of payment for your target audience. For example, the Dutch use a payment system called IDEAL, however UK customers are more likely to use methods such as Paypal. If you are hoping to sell to the Dutch, it makes no sense not to accept payment through IDEAL, but this won’t work for the UK market.

 

Lesson Five: Don’t Force Them To Create An Account

 

Customers are naturally distrustful of handing data over online. Allowing them to make purchases as a guest negates this fear whilst still making sure they make a purchase. Include guest checkout whenever possible, present the option to sign up after the purchase is made, however allow the customer the freedom to choose.

 

Lesson Six: Provide Many Interactive Product Images

 

One photo of your product is not enough. Customers want to see a product from every angle, they want to zoom in on details and see every colour, size and other option the product comes in.  When selling online, these pictures are often all the customer has seen of your product. Online retailers now offer 360 degree product shots with hovering zoom features. Videos are also used to show the product in action. Seeing the product used in ‘real life’ encourages customers to buy.

 

Lesson Seven: Product Images Must Update With Customisation Options.

 

Customers don’t want to guess what something will end up looking like. If you offer a single product in several colours, add images of each product in each colour. These also include size options and personalisation choices. If there is the choice to personalise a product, the customers wants to see their creation before they part with their money.

 

Lesson Eight – Use Grid Style Category Pages

 

Tests have shown that the more items you see in a single row on a page, the better a page performs when it comes to sales. This means that presenting your products in a grid rather than a single-product column yields better results. This approach is best used on desktop rather than mobile due to the size of the screen.

 

Lesson Nine – Avoid Perpetual Scrolling

 

Once incredibly popular, perpetual scrolling now only adds confusion to the customer experience. Many customers use the footer of your site as a form of navigation. If you keep the page scrolling, they’ll never find it. Finding products is also made harder by constant scrolling. It’s much easier for a customer to remember a good pair of shoes on page two than a good pair of shoes somewhere vaguely above their current position.

 

Lesson Ten – Offer Order Tracking

 

This is a quick and easy way to both to add customer trust and keep your customers visiting your site. People will visit your site to see where their order currently is. This gives you an excellent opportunity to generate further sales by showing them new offers every time they come back.

 

Do you want to create your own online store? Starting up a brand new online business can be daunting. That’s why we’ve created our fun and easy online course, with everything you need to create a store packed into only a few hours. Create your own online business with our Create a Web Shop Fast training course. Visit the course page to find out more!

Here at the Internet Business School we’re always keeping an eye on the best ways for interpreneurs and their small businesses to get ahead of their competitors and reach greater success. Knowing your customer base is absolutely key to growing your business and your profits. That’s why if you want to fast track your business to success, you’re going to need to do some market research. So what common mistakes should you be looking out for when you start your research? Here are our top ten:

1) Overspending – If you’ve got the know-how, market research doesn’t require you to break the bank. Yet in their haste for data, many business owners pay out a lot to get all the information as fast as possible. Take some time to shop around, or research other methods, to avoid overspending.

2) Not knowing what you’re looking for – Don’t do market research in the hopes of just discovering anything about your customers. You should know what information you need before you start. Have questions ready for what you need to know.

3) Poor choice of sources – The internet is a great place to start your research but you must consider the source of the information you’re getting. This is especially a problem on the internet, where sites can included dated or biased material. Research your research materials and make sure they are reliable.

4) Not knowing enough about the competition – Get as much information about your competition as you can. The more you know about their business, their pricing, and their strengths and weaknesses, the more effectively you can combat the competition.

5) Not researching price information – Your market research should tell you what customers expect to spend and how high they will go to buy a product or services like yours.

6) Researching the wrong group of people – You need to know your targeted demographic before you start your research. Make sure you know exactly who you want your customer base to be before you start on any focus groups or surveys. Many business make the mistake of gathering data that turns out to be useless for their needs.

7) Having non-specific surveys – It pays to take time and make sure your survey is getting exactly the sort of information you need. Irrelevant information is time and money wasted so make sure you are asking the right sort of questions to get useful answers.

8) Not being aggressive enough with your research – No one is going to give you the information you need if you’re not aggressive enough with asking for it. Give your customers an incentive to fill out your survey. Put it in as many places as possible for them to see. Answers are crucial and without them surveys have little point.

9) Relying on one set of data – One set of information is rarely enough to get a complete overview of any group of customers. Use different sources of data, your own surveys, information from online research, and any other relevant industry sources to find primary and secondary resources of information.

10) Not using your results – What’s worse than bad market research? Ignoring the research you’ve already done. Just because your results aren’t what you want to see doesn’t mean the information is useless. Learn from what you’ve got and if it shows you’ve made a mistake, own up to it. That’s how your business will grow.

Want to get researching but don’t know where to start? Our online market research course is exactly what you need. Visit our course page to find out more and discover this essential tool to business success with the Internet Business School.

Here at the Internet Business School, we’re constantly on the lookout for new internet marketing opportunities. That’s why a recent article by Mark Zuckerburg caught our attention. The article was about the concepts behind Facebook Groups and how communities are being built online. Many people are already part of a Facebook Group, but so few understand their potential for marketing.

So what are Facebook Groups? Facebook Groups are separate areas of Facebook aside from your Facebook feed. These can be public but a more often or not Groups are member-only, managed by moderators.  Groups centre around a unified topic and become closer to a forum than regular Facebook communication.

 

Out of the 1.7 billion people who use Facebook every month, over 1 billion are active in one or more Facebook Groups. This huge audience, gathered into groups by share interests, is a perfect business tool for marketing online. Those who set up Facebook Groups can often benefit from the community they build. For instance, if you run a series of horticultural and garden shows and wish to advertise them, creating a group for gardners is a perfect way to engage with your target audience. Creating a successful group also grants you expertise and authority as a pillar of this community

 

Due to the fact you’ve gathered your target audience into one place, the organic reach of your brand is often much better due to to the focused nature of the group. This can save you money on Facebook advertising as you don’t need to use the targeting nature of Facebook Ads.

 

Want to brush up on your Facebook skills so you can make the most of Facebook Groups? Visit https://internetbusinessschool.co.uk/for our range of Facebook courses covering everything from the basics, to marketing and ads.

Being willing to learn new skills to get the edge over your competitors is a key part of being an Interpreneur. We understand that at the Internet Business School and try to give our students as many opportunities to pick up essential internet marketing techniques as we can. Lately we’ve found our students love the ease and convenience of webinars.

So what is a webinar?

 

A webinar or ‘web seminar’ is an online conference-style presentation you can watch on your own computer. They are usually made up of live video, a slideshow presentation, desktop sharing or a combination of those three. The audio accompanying the presentation is live and streamed to you using web-conferencing software. Webinars can include interactive components including chat rooms, instant messaging, polls, social media integration and sometimes chances to ask questions via audio or video.

 

What are the advantages of webinars?

 

With webinars, there’s no need to leave the house. Going to ‘traditional’ conferences requires a lot of travel, which comes with its own host of expenses. Attending a webinar doesn’t require you to shell out for plane tickets, train fare, accommodation or eating out. Webinars are not only the wallet-friendly option but also saves you the stress involved with travelling.

 

It’s also easier to leave a bad webinar than a bad conference. If the presentation isn’t for you, it’s much simpler just to close the tab in your internet browser rather than leave a conference room or convention centre. When you leave a webinar, you’re still in your own home. When you leave a conference, you still have to deal with your travel back.

 

Unlike conferences, many webinars are archived. This means you can rewatch them later in case you feel like you missed something in your notes, or if you didn’t write something down as clearly as you’d like.

 

Webinars often have opportunities for interaction that traditional presentations and conferences do not. As mentioned, webinar platforms often include chat rooms, instant messaging and ways to interact via social media. This means you can talk with your fellow attendees or give feedback to the presenters. This opens up new options to learn from both the experts in attendance and your peers.

 

Want to start learning from webinars? Visit www.internetbusinessschool.co.uk for webinar opportunities and great online courses you can study without leaving the house.

The Great British Business Show is the fastest growing  business show in Europe. After seventeen years of successful events, the business show is back again with an exciting range of expert speakers, interactive features and industry leading suppliers. The show attracts over 25,000 businesses from a cross-section of industries, who attend with the aim of improving and expanding their business. The exhibition is completely free to attend meaning it’s the perfect opportunity to find the advice and information essential for business growth. It’s no surprise that due to their enthusiasm, the business show keeps on growing.

 

So what should you expect at  The Great British Business Show?

 

Speakers

 

The Show features seminars from top industry experts. These include famous faces in business such as past, present and current Dragons from the hit TV show Dragon’s Den. Other experts include Bill Collison, founder of Bill’s Restaurant, Steve Parish co-owner of Crystal Palace F.C. and Mark Wright, Winner of ‘The Apprentice’.

 

Find a full list of speakers here.

 

Exhibitors

 

Many businesses are exhibiting with stands at the Business Show. There are businesses from a vast range of industries, from big name households brands such as Costco and Fujitsu to business improvement experts such as ActionCoach and the Internet Business School.

 

Discover what businesses you can see here.

 

Masterclasses

 

Throughout the show, big businesses are offering masterclasses for business owners. These include lessons on stock markets, branding, managing cashflow, digital marketing, card payments (with Mastercard,) and much more.

 

Click here to explore what you could be learning at the Business Show.

 

Features

 

There are business opportunities aplenty at the Business Show, with networking events, meetings and business advice. There’s even a chance to get your business idea funded at the Angels’ Den. More details can be found on the official website

 

Check out the list of features here.

 

The Internet Business School team will be heading off to the Business Show  twice a year. Come find us at our stand or visit us at one of our many feature talks. We have many talks throughout the event for beginners and for experienced marketers. To see our feature timetable,click here.  We look forward to seeing you there!

Here at the Internet Business School,  we know the importance of great advertising. That’s why we teach our students how to use the best platforms to get their products and services seen. Facebook is a platform we use every day for social interaction, but did you know that internet marketing experts are crazy for promoting businesses through Facebook? Here’s why!

1. Facebook is the second most visited website on the Internet. With 1.28 billion active users per month, that huge audience means plenty of exposure for your ad campaigns.
2. Facebook fan pages increase customer loyalty. By creating a fan page your customers can interact directly with your business, building up loyalty and brand image.
3. Fan pages can be used to offer special promotions. It can also be used to promote new products, or launch ad campaigns. Frequent updates keep your customers well informed and up to date.
4. Targeting advertising is one of the main attractions to advertising on Facebook. Facebook ads can be targeted at specific people by age, location, personal interests and more. It can also place ads only on certain pages that feature a chosen keyword.
5. Facebook ads are more flexible than Google Adwords. Facebook offers longer ad descriptions and the ability to have image based ads increases engagement as people are more likely to look at pictures.
6. Facebook is a platform built around user engagement, users not only look at information but also share and talk about it. This results in higher visibility and greater exposure.
7. Your ad has a greater chance being seen multiple times because Facebook allows for multiple ad views. Many users visit Facebook multiple times a day and each time they can see your ad.
8. When advertising on Facebook you can choose between CPC and CPM pay structures. Facebook allows advertise to purchase ads on a click based or impression based fee structure. This allows you to tailor your campaign based on budget and other factors.
9. Placing ads on Facebook can be the inexpensive option. Due to the targeted nature of their advertising, you can reach your target market at affordable prices. There are also a range of packages allowing you to remain within your budget.
10. By using Facebook you’re guaranteed to reach smartphone users. Millions use Facebook on their smartphones every day. With Facebook, your ads will reach both computer and smartphone users

So why aren’t you using Facebook for your business? Need to know where to start? Our Facebook Ads course has everything you need to know about using Facebook to promote your business. Visit the course page to find out more!

As a provider of top quality internet marketing courses, here at the Internet Business School we know the benefits of getting back in the classroom. Though the idea of studying may bring back bad memories of school days and revising for exams, the classroom is still the ideal place for obtaining new skills. Here’s why:

1. Experts are always on hand to give on the spot practical advice and answer any questions you may have.
2. There are opportunities to learn about subjects from a new angle, or go further in depth using the teacher’s expertise. You also get the opportunity to ask questions outside the dictated subject matter.
3. Help and answers come immediately as opposed to getting them via email or Google search.
4. You can network with people learning the same subject, allowing you to share your experiences and form a social group.
5. Lessons contain hands on use of tools and techniques for your subject area.
6. Expert trainers and teachers make the learning experience more engaging, interesting and enjoyable.
7. The teaching style can be adapted to the needs of the learners.
8. Being in the classroom can give you a quiet dedicated learning time away from the busy nature of your daily routine.
9. Being in an environment dedicated to learning can help you focus better than if you were at home.
10. You can receive valuable feedback from your teacher and others in your class.

Want to learn new skills that can turn your life around? Visit us at www.internetbusinessschool.co.uk to see our wide range of courses that can set you off on a new career, give you the skills to promote your business or even make extra money from the comfort of your own home. We look forward to seeing you soon!

Here at the Internet Business School, we’re committed to making sure small businesses have the best start possible. That’s why we make sure to inform you on the best methods to make the most of the entrepreneur life and ensure personal success. Just because you’ve created a business by yourself, doesn’t mean you have to keep everything to yourself. This is why you should be networking.

1) Going it Alone Doesn’t Have To Be Lonely.

 

While you can’t measure this benefit in financial profit, do not overlook the benefits of having people by your side when you run your own business.  Having friends in the business means there will always be someone to have your back. Saving you from the loneliness of just having your computer screen for company, friends in the industry provide you with motivation or simply someone there to improve your mood. It also helps to have someone there to listen when you have ideas or when you simply want to moan. Organising a meetup or conversation each week can give you something to look forward to.

 

2) More People Provide More Opportunities

 

Arguably the most significant benefit from networking are the opportunities meeting up with others can bring. From joint venture and business partnerships to being invited to speaking and writing gigs, the best opportunities after often shared in person. People are more likely to invite people they know and trust to their events over those they don’t. Some people will even prefer to buy and sell their assets with familiar faces. This means  networking can be one of the most profitable means for your business.

 

3) Find Good Sources of Free Advice

 

Sometimes Google doesn’t have all the answers you need, or sometimes you’re not sure if the advice you find even works. Sometimes you don’t want to spend all your hard earned cast on paying consultants. Your network can be an infinitely useful for advice as long as you provide your own expertise in response. Don’t demand too much without giving in return. The better your network, the better advice you can obtain so make sure to keep networking so you can continue to find people with common goals and values to exchange advice.

 

4) Friends Help Out Friends

 

Mutual help is an essential part of networking. Here are some ways that you and your network can help each other out.

• Promotions – By promoting each other businesses, you and your network can boost each other’s’ traffic, reputation and sales.
• Links – Building up links boosts the strength of your SEO, putting links on each others’ pages can also help share news and information.
• Introductions – Your connections can help you make further connections with new people they think would be good additions to your network.
• Assistance – Sometimes you just need another pair of hands to fix a double code, give you a head up or have your back when someone attacks your business.

 

5) You Can Learn from the Examples Around You

 

Those you associate with will end up having an influence on you. If you surround yourself with the right people, then their attitudes, habits, views and associations will rub off on you and have a positive influence. Modelling yourself on successful people is often a way to improve your own performance, so if you surround yourself with good influences you should improve your own practices.

 
Do you have questions about networking? Visit www.internetbusinessschool.co.uk to see our extensive range of internet marketing courses, where you’ll find everything you need for online sales success. If you have any further questions, why not contact us at [email protected]. We’ll be happy to hear from you.

The Internet Business School has always provided a hub of knowledge and skill to aspiring and experienced interpreneurs alike. When we notice that our students are missing out on a key area of internet marketing, we have to step in to keep them informed.  For over a decade, WordPress has been key for new businesses to get a presence online, but so many don’t use it. What should you know about WordPress?

Searching for WordPress in Google will give you an amazing 1.6 billion results. This makes WordPress the most popular website building and customer management tool out there.

 

Founded in May 2003, WordPress is older than some of the most popular internet marketing and social media platforms out there, including Facebook and Twitter.

 

As of May 2017, there are 17 million websites powered by WordPress in existence.  Wordpress users write around 70 million news posts each month which means 542 million words are written on WordPress blogs every single day. That’s equal to the whole Harry Potter series written over five hundred times a day.

 

WordPress is growing fast. In 2013, there were 11.2 billion pageviews on WordPress blogs. In 2014 there were 15.8 billion. Last year (2016) WordPress blogs were accessed 22.2 billion times, showing WordPress has yet to stop expanding!

 

The latest edition of WordPress, WordPress 4.6 has been downloaded 3.8 million times since when it was released in the summer 2016.

 

WordPress keeps its users by being one of the most easily customisable CMS tools out there. WordPress offers 4,081 free themes and 46,291 free plugins, available to everyone to customise their website.

 

Premium WordPress themes are extremely profitable for their makers on the online theme marketplace – ThemeForest. Half of all premium WordPress themes make at least $1000 a month, whilst a quarter make $2,500. Five percent of all themes on ThemeForest make an amazing $10,000. A great business opportunity if you’re talented at building themes!

 

WordPress boasts a user base ranging from complete novices to expert designers and developers. Global brands also love to use WordPress. The following major brands all have WordPress-powered sites: Coca Cola, Samsung, Star Wars, Mercedes-Benz, Sony and Playstation.

 

Some of the most-read websites, those attracting readership of millions, make use of WordPress. These include The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes magazine, Reuters and Harvard Business Review. Technology blogs such as Mashable, Bigg, Tech Crunch and IGN are also WordPress clients.

 

WordPress is also popular amongst celebrities hoping to promote their brand. Famous WordPress users include rapper Jay-Z, singer Sir Tom Jones, and action star Sylvester Stallone.

 

So why aren’t you using WordPress?  Need a leg up to get you started? The Internet Business School now runs professional WordPress course for both beginners and experienced WordPress users. Discover everything you need to know about the world’s most popular at www.internetbusinessschool.co.uk or visit our course pages for Beginners, or Advanced users by clicking on the option relevant to you.

Here at the Internet Business School, we’re constantly keeping an eye out for the most effective ways to get small businesses growing. That’s why we produce our range of great internet marketing courses, the latest of which is a guide to an increasingly popular way of starting up a business – Crowdfunding.  Crowdfunding, raising money for a project from online backers, is a way of funding built on communication and trust between business and customers. While crowdfunding can lead to great success, online backers are wary of scams and false promises. Legitimate businesses can fail to crowdfund due to gaining a bad reputation, often due to lack of trust-building communication. Here are the five best practices to making sure your crowdfunding projects are successful.

Do Your Research
Your crowdfunding campaign won’t get anywhere if you don’t understand your target audience and community you see your idea or product fitting into. Before you even start your crowdfunding campaign, you need to stop and visualise where your product or service will fit and what its audience will be. Imagine your intended audience, their interests, look at the sort of campaigns they already follow and what social media they use, then use all this information to advertise your own ideas.

 

Communication is Key.

Don’t assume that because you put your product out there that people are naturally going to find it. Even before you’ve completed your product you need to work out the demand for it and start communicating with your audience. Communication with your audience must be consistent and it’s important to remain on top of it throughout your campaign. Every channel possible should be used, be it email, social media or a website. Online crowdfunding platforms often have news feeds and comment sections, these too should be used to approach your audience and answer any queries they may have. Backers will only feel confidence in you if you maintain a good relationship with them and that requires quick, easy and up to date communication.

 

Be Transparent with your Business

Throughout your campaign and your crowdfunding platform, all the main parts of your business and product should be very clearly explained. This builds up trust and if you omit any of the details this will raise questions about whether they wish to invest in your product. The quality of your website and advertising also factors into whether people trust you. They don’t have to be completely perfect, but customers trust companies that look like they have spent time and effort on their advertising materials. If you’re hesitant to show your website or advertisement to someone, this is a good indication that you need to put more time into it.

 

Market from All Angles.

It goes without saying that you need all the attention you can get to raise funds. This means you’ll need to take a mixed approach to marketing with both digital and physical promotion. In addition to websites, videos and other internet based approaches, you should seek more traditional ways of advertising. Show up and gather attention at conventions, interest-group get-together and even at competitors’ events to approach your audience directly. You can also collaborate with other people and their campaigns. Such collaborations could involve including another company’s information or pictures in a campaign update whilst they do the same. Make sure these other companies are credible otherwise your business will look untrustworthy for partnering with them.

 

Maintain Your Reputation.

Even after you’ve launched a product or service off the back of crowdfunding, it’s important to keep up public relations. Having a good start is key but so is continuing the successes of your business. Keep up with your communication with a steady flow of updates so backers continue to trust you to deliver what you’ve promised. As soon as you’ve made progress with a product or service, be it sourcing components, making a partnership or having a trial run, update your backers on this fact. This transparency maintains your reputation and gives customers confidence in your business.

 

Want to find out how you can make the most of crowdfunding? Discover everything you need to know to fund your projects with our online Crowdfunding Masterclass. Visit the course page to find out more.