A Little Wisdom Goes A Long Way

Whether you're a novice or an expert in internet marketing, you will enjoy reading Marketing Sherpa's 2006 Wisdom Report: 110 Real Life Marketing Stories (http://wisdom.marketingsherpa.com/) sponsored by a grant from Omniture. Inside this guide are 110 real case studies of companies big and small, and their lessons & tips for marketing on the web.

She-Tech was one of the companies selected to be included in this guide. Our case study focused on the success we've had with blog advertising, which has ultimately changed the way we market on the internet.

American Red Cross, CompUSA, Cox Communications, Deloitte & Touche, Palo Alto Software, and The Motley Fool were among the larger marketers who contributed to this report. Topics include:

- Email campaign segmentation test results
- Search marketing lessons (especially combining PPC and SEO)
- Offline advertising and marketing lessons
- Web site design and landing page lessons
- Business-to-Business marketing campaign lessons
- Office politics and job searching tips for a successful marketing career

Our New Face is in Progress

Recently I met with our graphic designer, Lyn, of Auntie Momo Designs (www.auntiemomo.com). We agreed to meet at a nearby Panera Bread Company to discuss the site redesign. I was really excited about this initial consultation; it was the most important step for our site makeover.

It was important for me and Lyn to be on the same page in terms of the look for the new site. We both agreed that the new design should be very clean and sophisticated.

Lyn is a very talented graphic artist. She has a wonderful eye for design, and her portfolio truly represents her success and accomplishments. She has done design work for one of today's great jazz artist, Boney James; and actress Lily Mariye, of NBC Television series ER. As a small business person, I'm happy to have found someone like Lyn, who is dedicated to creating (and redesigning) cost-effective and distinctive websites for small businesses and nonprofit organizations.

Now that we've chosen our new ecommerce solution and design for the new site, we're well on our way to completing our Site Makeover.

We're getting a Makeover!

Well, with the new year comes reflection and the need to change. With growing a business, it's no different. We've made the decision that it's time for She-Tech to get a makeover. Therefore, we've taken our website offline to prepare for our redesign. In the meantime, we're redirecting users to our blog; where we will continue to post information about our latest products and all the happenings for 2006.

Our decision for a makeover was based on our desire to offer shoppers a more enjoyable shopping experience. The new website will be very dynamic and offer more features such as: wish lists, customer reviews, gift certificates, and will allow customers to manage their own accounts. We hope the new redesign and our excellent customer service will encourage shoppers to continue to shop with She-Tech.com!

After the Love is Gone!

After a 2-year long relationship with Yahoo, the love affair is coming to an end. Not that Yahoo wasn't a wonderful partner; it truly had been, but I need more from my web host provider.

I'd been thinking for sometime to change hosting services, but had grown quite comfortable with Yahoo. It provided me all the features and security that a beginning E-preneur needs when starting out online. In my 2-year relationship with Yahoo, I've never encountered any security breaches or down-time. They've always kept me up and running. I would definitely recommend Yahoo to anyone just starting a business online. Their Merchant Starter service is excellent for anyone selling 25 products or less. It is very user-friendly and easy to manage for non-technical users.

I was in the early years of my web development career when I started She-Tech. It was important for me to find a hosting service that was easy to manage, but had enough flexibility to allow me to develop my web skills.

After a brief relationship with another hosting service, I decided to go with Yahoo. It was here that I learned the lessons of Ecommerce. Since Yahoo is a search engine, its primary goal is to assist shoppers in finding products. This is where Yahoo excels. They provide their merchant stores with extensive information to assist them in becoming successful online retailers. I consistently applied Yahoo's ecommerce principles to my store, and within a short period of time, She-Tech had achieved Yahoo's 5-star customer rating. Once a merchant store achieves a 5-star rating, their customers are protected from fraudulent practices through Yahoo's Buyer Protection program. Building customer confidence and security is the key to success online.

Now that She-Tech has a solid ecommerce foundation, it is important to build upon that foundation and take our online presence to a higher level of ecommerce. That level is providing customers with services and features that will give them a wonderful shopping experience. Although we could have achieved that level of ecommerce with Yahoo, we could not have achieved it without a higher price tag.

I was in constant struggle with myself, as to how to provide customers with more features and services, but at the same time keeping overhead costs at a minimum. I soon realized that I would have to leave Yahoo, but vowed that I would take with me all the ecommerce lessons I learned to build She-Tech into a better online retailer.