2013 Rising Mobile Security Threats

After my last blog I started to brainstorm about the level and what type of security risks M-Commerce and Social Commerce need to mitigate or assure. Given the rise of sales in Smartphones and Tablets and the immense volume of downloadable applications and increasing volume of apps being developed, (personal) data and the protection of it will be key for any business to succeed. 

In this blog I will provide a bit more background on the type of security issues M-Commerce & M-Users are exposed.
Furthermore I will try to provide some information on who are what creates those threats and what the key drivers are. To finalize a current overview of the business practices and which security gaps need to be closed fast.

M-Commerce & Social Commerce: The New Frontier?

In my last blog I went into the Rise of M-Commerce and the huge potential it has. To support my believe, the below graphs support it and detail it!

5 Criteria to Determine Which Free Website Template To Use.

When I started this blog in January 2013 I really was and probably I am still a newby to E-Commerce and the Mobile Device & Platforms, having said so, a few months down the line and having digested about 6000 online blogs and articles and in addition publishing this little blog I think I can say that I get the basics. 
One of the first things I did two months ago was buy a domain name and use the offered template based website builder... That turned out to be a little bit of a drama as the templates were not meeting my needs, nor were they in anyway user friendly. Frustrated I contacted Customer Services, who oddly enough admitted the PageBuilder was indeed pretty useless and suggested alternatives (basically competitors) so I started trying various different online templates with different providers.  Some worked, some didn't, some partly. All-in-All I had the feeling I was running around like a headless chicken!
My best advice is not to do what I did: buy a domain and just take it as it comes, but to ask yourself 5 basic questions and really think what you want to do and achieve! That is all the advice I can give you. I just realised I sound just like my Grand Dad...

The below video (courtesy of Volusion) will walk you through those 5 steps!  Enjoy it!

The basics require more then just ideas!

It has been some time since my last post due to the fact that I have become a father, our daughter has priority over a blog that I like writing, as I am sure you can understand

Having said so in my last blog I referred to SEO which I have went into but have to read and try again before I can say or summarize anything useful about it.

Going over the ecommercefuel blog a couple of times, playing with Google Keyword & Google Analytics, reading various different articles and blogs I have learned a few things but more importantly it has made me think and guess what! I am going to share those thoughts.

I have become pretty much convinced that starting your own internet based business requires a bit more thinking, planning, execution and determination than your average in the street store. Why is that?

First of all you need to find a product that you are willing to sell that carries enough revenue potential and has a relatively high yield.
Secondly once you found your product you need to have a web domain which is uniquely registered to your business ensuring you do not use an already registered domain name. For this you will have to go via ICANN as this is (as far as I have been able to determine) and internationally recognized organization.

After the above you have to start generating traffic to your website, targeted marketing campaigns just to get noticed, you haven't sold anything just yet.
Once you got those basics started you will still need to be able to attract customers and increase your customer base. I think the way forward is to offer various products for specific target groups using various types of social media. That part is still under construction in my head. I did read an excellent article that provides a "behind the screens" view of ecommerce (in this case somebody trying to buy a webstore).

Last week I bumped into an old acquaintance who is a CEO for a SME production company, we started talking and touched on the subject I am currently investigating and trying to get my head around. His company is active in a dying market, revenue numbers are dropping (globally) for the last 10 years. He employs over 500 people and his main worry is that sooner or later he has to lay off parts of his staff.

We surfed to his website and to demonstrate my case I went to Google Keyword + Google PageRank and entered a few criteria. What we both discovered that we ended up in an internet arctic land. Very low statistics for his company and his competitors (A Brands globally known) both domestic and international. Basically nobody knows about it or nobody has an interest in it. Probably a bit of both.
That could be the niche I am looking for. Some of you will be saying: Leave it! It is dying! Probably true, but it doesn't mean you can't make money out it :) Remember the introduction of the quartz powered digital watches in the 80's? Back then everybody was convinced convention watches would be extinct in a few years...

After showing him an article arguing the "Next Big Thing" aka Social Commerce we suddenly found ourselves talking about strategy, targeted markets etc etc.
We agreed on the fact that niche + internet arctic land + SOE + marketing campaigns + social commerce could actually very well work for the products we have in mind. Remember the best products are prices between $100 - $ 200 with good margins. I will keep you posted on this one!

In the mean time my small little bulk purchases have arrived from China, so it is time to start testing the market again and see if I can make those products work for me

I will hopefully be able to blog a bit more frequently!


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Things to do and a look into the future (WTF!)

I wrote this blog whilst in the background "Inner-City Big Fun 1988" playing, I suggest you read it whilst enjoy some 25 year old dance hit and follow up with some nice "90's hip hop":.

My first lessons learned, now it is time to start organizing my thoughts on things I discovered. I can tell you that in my head things are chaotic, unorganized, not structured, basically the same as the Mayor Of London, Mr Boris Johnson's hair style.

First things first; I have to start somewhere and most likely with the basics:

- establish my own company whether I want to start as a Sole Trader or Ltd. is something I have to discuss with a Tax Attorney or somebody who is experienced and is willing to provide guidance

- become not only familiar but really understand the working of Data Statistics (Google Keyword, Adsense, SEO etc etc), traffic generation and use it to my advantage

- find a niche product

Once I have a clear understanding of those I can start applying it too my own business

I have started to go over "The Beginners Guide to SOE" if you are interested download it at no cost at all.

After having spend quite a bit of time on really getting to obtain a sense of direction I can say that slowly but surely I am starting to grasp some of the before mystifying, last but not least due to ecommercefuel.com whose website has provided me with a sense of direction, which a lot of beginners like my self obviously lack. Please download the free guide if you want to know what I am talking about!

Having spend a bit of time reading it I have a theory or maybe even a philosophy on the creating, building and expanding any ecommerce store (front). I am a buyer on some of these sites, since my wife got pregnant we discovered that buying online was much cheaper then the conventional store, so we placed a few orders:
- Baby pram
- Baby room
- tons of other stuff.

I will share you our customer experience:
- Tons of other stuff: Delivered on time and in full within lead time 
- Baby Pram: after having placed the order (and paid $1000) on October 29th we received the order confirmation, followed by 3 weeks radio silence. We contacted the store who informed us that the color we ordered was not in stock we could choose some other color. We didn't agree to that and inquired about the lead time for that pram. Well it was only 8 weeks.. So we demanded a refund. Two weeks later, after threatening to fail a complaint for fraud, we finally received our money back. No excuses, nothing from the Seller..
- Baby Room: Ordered on December 28th (holiday season we realized). We place the order and paid in full. We immediately received a phone call that the order would be delayed for one week, if that was ok, if not refund. We agreed to the week notice as it is makes sense. We are still waiting for it to arrive and my patience is running low. Credit to the store, they do inform us, however the expected delivery date is expected (not confirmed) the first week of February... problem, our child is due then. Refund is an option but who tells me other stores can deliver in before the 24th of January...

Conclusion:
- Apparently both sides are drop shippers and the kind that does not have an interface to the suppliers inventory.
- "Keeping your customer happy" is not in their interest, not fulfilling your delivery promise is one thing, but not reimbursing, whilst customers have to threaten with Police intervention is next to Criminal!

Now my little theory comes to light:
If I run an  internet store (or drop shipper) what would I at all cost need to retain:
a. Spotless reputation
b. 100% Customer Orientated
c. Provide Quality Products in my store
d. Keep my "inventory" up-to-date
e. Create a 100% delivery promise (On Time in Full), if not see point b, see point c, see point d
f. 100% Happy RETURNING Customer

*The above does not include the relationship you have to build with your various suppliers in order to commit to the above

If I take into account the developing Mobile Technologies, Social Networking, Global Mass (product) Sourcing, Fast changing global Trends; I have come to the belief that in the current ecommerce landscape everything is about offering competitive pricing combined with an INDIVIDUAL customer approach. Additionally as a business you need to retain the flexibility to adapt too dynamic trends in consumer trends.
Since you normally are not limited by geographical location (the conventional store is) the possibilities and opportunities are endless, but it is not just coming your way, as a business it is my belief you need to keep up to date with the latest technological developments and apply those to keep your customers happy.

A good example is how to generate a customer base is Andrew Youderian;s free Ecommerce book. Today I received an email from him where he offers to take things to the next level, offering a 4 month course to make sure you realize and establish a working and successful ecommerce store at a modest cost of $49,99 and it comes with a 30 day money back "no questions asked"...

Do I mind paying that? No absolutely not! Why not? Well he provided the introduction for free (c.Quality Product) and it was extremely useful to me (b. 100% Customer Orientation). So I am a happy customer and eager to learn more (f. 100% Happy RETURNING CUSTOMER) and if I am not satisfied I get my money back without questions asked (e Create a 100% delivery promise). I take his business serious and it has delivered (a. Spotless Reputation)
Is the above rocket science?? No not really! A lot of sites offer these types of services, but charge a fee (although nominal) which stops people like me from even trying it, since I only was orientating myself. That makes me realize that if you want to lure your customers you need to provide something that keeps them coming

This was it for today, I hope you enjoyed the music provided in the hyperlinks :)

Thank you for reading the blog! Add this blog to your favorites, subscribe and please people COMMENT with any feedback!

Till next time

First Leassons Learned! Part I

I have been of the blogger for a short time, not because I was fed up with it all, nope, just because the research I was involved in took a lot of time. Searching and browsing takes more time than reading a book I found out but I did progress in trying to understand what E-commerce is all about.

As I blogged before I listed my first item on ebay.com  an occasion to celebrate? No don't be silly, millions do it everyday! It had it listed for a term of 7 days and chose to spend some advertising money on it (about $2). After days of carefully monitoring my object I only acquired 9 views and nobody even took the bother of "watching" it (option in ebay). What a disappointment! Then again a reality check is never a bad thing.
I asked myself a few questions:
- Is my product to expensive?
- Is my product visible enough?
- Is my product to expensive?
- Are my shipping terms a problem?
- Is my product attractive enough for anybody?

Well all the above caused me to start searching Google like an idiot for people or companies with similar problems. After some frustrating searches and some surprising results I learned there is such a profession as profit engineer. Very interesting but not what I was looking for. My jackpot came when I stumbled upon E-commerce Fuel. This was exactly what I was hoping to find! I suddenly realized that Andrew Youderian has basically written a blog about his life and route to building a successful e-commerce business. He even went as far to publish an e-book you can download for free. A bit sceptical I downloaded it and it took me by surprise. A nicely written and summarized guide. A lot of stuff in there that I never even heard was brought to my attention. Ever hear of the following:
- Measuring Online Demand
- SEO
- Match Types
- Page Ranking

This is just a quick summary of all the things that Andrew Youderian has been so kind to share, but it has been educational and really opens up a window of opportunity once I fully understand the working and linkage of it all.

Anyways back to my attempts "to make money out of the internet by the bootstraps"! Well what have a learned when I project it to my one product online: It is was to highly priced, the product has no name reputation and it will never have, it was not visible enough. So I relisted it again against a lower price, more visible but it still doesn't change the fact that it is simply not popular enough. So Andrew is right; find a niche with a product that sells to a target audience

That is where i am going to spend some time on now!

Update you soon!

Any questions or remarks let me know!

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