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With all the resources available to draw traffic to an ecommerce website, it is hard to determine where to put the most effort. The obvious answer is to choose the resources that result in the most website traffic and that have high conversion rates, but, which resources are those? Monetate did some research and provided data about where ecommerce traffic comes from and how it is converted. The data was gathered during the first quarter of 2013. The full report can be downloaded here . When it comes to direct ecommerce traffic, the report states that: • 31.43% landed on an ecommerce website from a search engine • 2.82% from an email and • 1.55% from social media. When this information is compared to the first quarter of 2012, note that traffic from email has decreased from 3.72% in 2012 and so has social media traffic, which was 2.36% in 2012. This does not mean that social media is irrelevant for ecommerce. While social media may not bring a lot of traffic to a website, it still dr

A vegan food truck is hitting the streets to serve up vegan sliders, shakes and fries. Shimmy Shack’s official launch will be Aug. 3 at the Farmington Farmers & Artisans Market. While other food trucks in the area offer vegetarian options, this truck offers a 100-percent vegan menu. Also, everything on the menu is gluten-free or has a gluten-free option. Shimmy Shack’s menu includes three cooked sliders – black bean and rice burger with guacamole, a falafel burger with garlic sauce and a classic American cheese (lentil) burger – as well as a raw vegan Rueben, a delicious walnut burger on onion bread with thousand island dressing and sauerkraut. The truck also will serve up regular and sweet potato fries with special sauces and three types of vegan shakes – chocolate, strawberry and the Shimmy Original. The eye-catching truck and the menu aren’t the only “green” things about Shimmy Shack. The truck also can be run on biodiesel fuel created from the used fryer oil. For m

As of July 24, the federal minimum wage has not seen an increase in four years, since it was set at $7.25 an hour in 2009. The last time Michigan raised its minimum wage of $7.40 an hour was in 2008, which is higher than the federal minimum. Business for a Fair Minimum Wage supported the last increase in the federal minimum wage and is pushing for another. The Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2013 would gradually raise the minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 over three years and then provide for annual adjustments for inflation. If the minimum wage had kept pace with the cost of living since reaching its highest value in 1968, it would be an inflation-adjusted $10.74 today. Business for a Fair Minimum Wage will be launching a sign-on statement July 24 for business people supporting an increase in the federal minimum wage. Business for a Fair Minimum Wage is a national network of business owners and executives who believe a fair minimum wage makes good business sense. For more informa

One of the biggest elements of an ecommerce website is the checkout page. This is where conversions are finalized. So, what are some things that can be done to avoid shopping cart abandonment and to increase conversions? An infographic created by  Fifth Gear highlights some reasons why online shoppers bail on their purchases. The infographic can be viewed  here . To highlight a few points:   44 % thought shipping costs were too high. 27 % wanted to shop around. 14 % did not want to create an account with the merchant. 11 % thought the checkout process was too complex. 7 % said their preferred method of payment was not available. Taking these points into consideration, there are three key elements that you should consider when it comes to your checkout page and shopping cart abandonment. First, always offer the option of guest checkout. Consumers view creating an account as an obstacle, which may lead them to bail on their purchase. Guest checkout also makes the process of making a pu

WATERFORD TWP. — The Oakland County Business Center offers workshops for business owners and entrepreneurs at the Oakland County Executive Office Building Conference Center, 2100 Pontiac Lake Road in Waterford Township. For registration, visit www.AdvantageOakland.com/expand or call 248-858-0783. Legal & Financial Basics for Small Business is 9 a.m. to noon July 30. This workshop is free, registration is required. Marketing Your Business is 6 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 7. The cost is $40 per person. This course presents practical applications of marketing concepts designed to help small businesses grow. Team SBA Financing Roundtable is 9:30 a.m. to noon, Thursday, Aug. 8. It is a free loan orientation conducted by a business banker, a business consultant from the SBAs network of Small Business Development Centers, and an SBA representative. CEED Microloan Orientation is 9 to 11 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 14. The workshop is free. Starting a Business workshop is 6 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, Aug

New apps are being developed every single day. It is almost impossible to keep track of what is available in the android and iOS markets. As the same apps are available for tablets and smaller devices, it is often difficult to know what applications will have the best resolution; features and work better on larger tablet surfaces. With some advice, it is easy to make the most of your gadget and get the best apps for you. As more people opt for smartphone, android and iOS devices, it is essential to take care of them with relevant gadget insurance and utilise them with the best apps on the market. Here are some of the best iPad and tablet apps of the year. Solar Walk Solar Walk is an impressive app that shows off the amazing visual capabilities of the iPad. It boasts a beautiful 3D model of our solar system and when used with Retina display, it really is a pleasure to the eye. It is the first app in the app store that supports 3D TV. Even when zoomed out, detail on the planets is visib

It is widely accepted that WordPress is currently the most popular blogging platform with features and capabilities very few content management system software packages can match. Most internet marketers love WordPress for the SEO value it adds to their e-commerce website although a good part of the population is more inclined to channeling traffic to websites or blogs they built using the CMS software. To keep you followers interested, below are six things you need to emphasize on if you are one of those who believe in the power of WordPress. 1. Always update your blog content One of the reasons why most people's blogging efforts fail is reluctance to update their posts. It is understandable that some posts might only be valuable for a short period of time but this does not necessarily mean that you should overlook the essence of updating as it would cost you in the long run. For instance, if you have a post whose title is "Must have gadgets for 2013" it would be necessa

July 23 -Take business to next level NOVI — Farmington Hills-based MI Biz Forward, LLC will host a workshop session with a panel of experts to provide entrepreneurs with education and assistance to support and take their business to the next level. The seminar will be held at On The Border Mexican Restaurant, 21091 Haggerty Road in Novi at 6 p.m. Tuesday July 23. The cost for this session is $30 and includes a meal, Q & A session, and two open networking opportunities. “With the Michigan Biz Forward Workshop series, our presenting panel of experts will offer practical advice and assistance to support the entrepreneur’s needs to take their business to the next level, whether it is a start up or a five-year operation,” said Andrea Lee, Ph.D., C.C., one of the founders of MI Biz Forward and founder of Authentic Integrity Coaching. To register, call 248-880-8336 or visit www.mibizforward.net . July 25 - Speed networking

The good thing with new mobile devices today, like iPhones, is that you can use amazing applications with them that will make life very convenient for you. One particular area that can be made much easier is taking dictations and transcribing them into text. There will always be a need to take important notes to prevent forgetting vital information that is related to your job or assignment, whether at school or at work. Taking notes manually is difficult because there is a chance to miss important parts of the lecture or interview. Now, with the help of software applications for iPhones, you can use your device to record important audios, which gives you the option to transcribe them later on your own or with the help of  dictation companies . If you are planning to download an application, you can choose from the following top ten dictation applications. 1. Dragon Dictation This is a voice recognition application, which means that whatever you dictate will be automatically converted i

Any SEO practitioner worth their salt knows that black hat tactics should be avoided. While such activities may boost your rankings in the short term, they will ultimately have a negative impact on your website, and it takes a lot of work to rectify the problems that will occur. Rather than ignoring black hat SEO completely though, the best approach is to educate yourself in the area. Here’s why. It gives you a broader understanding of how search works SEO is a complicated field, and if you want to get it right, it’s wise to know about the potential pitfalls that you could hit along the way. It’s only through gathering as much knowledge as possible that you can do this. A good tactic here is to review your site whenever you learn about a new black hat process. Checking that you haven’t accidentally broken any rules will help to protect your site. The rules are always changing Some SEO practices that were commonplace in the past are now widely accepted as being black hat, so it’s import

I laughed at the title of this book, "Make Difficult People Disappear," by Monica Wofford. I thought it might have a literal solution, but that was not the case. It is a story told from a manager's perspective and how she came to realize that she was part of the reason she encountered so many difficult people. Sometimes it's all about perspective and being able to understand where the other person is "coming from" and what their needs are. Not all employees are motivated by the same things and they don't approach their jobs in the same way. The book is a sales spiel for the CORE Multidimensional Awareness Profile and the CORE Snapshot, registered trademarks of NaviCore International. The author, Monica Wofford is a facilitator and coach for the program. The book is based on group coaching sessions at a fictional company. It discusses the CORE principal and how people are dominant in one of four personality categories: Commander, Organizer, Relater or Ent

Social media is one of many digital marketing tools available to businesses. Further, many know that listing their business on these social sites and posting to them regularly is important; but, are you measuring your success rates to know if your efforts are worth it? A survey conducted by Vision Critical provided some statistics on how customers use Pintrest, Facebook and Twitter and how likely these customers were to make purchases either online or in-store. Some of the key points are highlighted below. For the full report, follow this link . The survey included almost 6,000 respondents. When you look at usage of these three social networks, you will find that 15 percent of the population uses Pintrest, 73 percent uses Facebook and 24 percent users Twitter. Of those people, 29 percent of Pintrest users made a purchase after sharing or liking an item, 38 percent of Facebook users did that same and then last were 22 percent of Twitter users. Taking those statistics into consideration,

Performance and profitable eCommerce website development is the sole purpose of existence of an eCommerce store. To overcome the competition, there are various aspects to be applied while developing an eCommerce website and one of the most important parts of it is to have attractive, professional and high quality product images which can help buyers to get realistic product understanding and tempt them to place an order. Traditional offline stores owners always have an advantage of engaging customer with physically available products but for online stores product images is the only way they can show their potential buyers  virtually available product images. It’s worth investing in getting products professionally photographed possibly from maximum possible angles which can be displayed on eCommerce store and help buyers have almost realistic product buying experience. Good images give confidence in buyers to go ahead and place orders.  Here are few things which can be done to put up i

Ecommerce development has emerged as one of the profitable and money making business model. It is quite evident that buying and selling online is a huge business opportunity. Almost every potential investor would be willing to contribute in an online business due to huge profits and a potential for business growth.  ECommerce development has opened doors to a large community of talented designers and developers to come up with outstanding websites offering user friendly front end navigation and easily manageable back end admin. If you have potential and a passion to become a finest ecommerce website developer, there are few things must know without ignoring. When it comes to ecommerce development, it is must that you should focus on how to create an attractive and efficient store aligning perfectly to the business requirements. The industry of eCommerce and Website development is not more about hard selling but it’s more about proving the capability to deliver services efficiently, pr

Troy-based Creative Breakthroughs, Inc., an industry leader in network security and IT advisory services with a nationwide reach, has experienced significant growth in recent months and is looking to hire 50 new employees in 2013, which will nearly double the size of the company. To help address several immediate needs, CBI is hosting a two-day open interview career fair at their headquarters in Troy for a variety of positions, including sales, administration, project management, IT consulting and engineering. Interviews will take place in 30-minute increments from 8:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. on Tuesday, July 16 and Thursday, July 18 at the company, 2075 W. Big Beaver Road, Suite 700 in Troy. To register, visit cbihome.com/careers/fair .

Our monthly webinars are next week. If you are interested in learning more about ecommerce, payment processing or online bill pay for Dynamics GP, be sure to sign up and attend! Register for webinars by following the links provided below. Integrated ECommerce for Microsoft Dynamics GP Tuesday, July 15 1:00 - 1:30 p.m. EST Having an ecommerce website built on Microsoft Dynamics GP allows you to reach the global market and provides customers with the ability to shop any time, anywhere. Our solution features advanced search capabilities to help consumers find what they are looking for with ease. It also offers real time pricing and inventory information, a shipping calculator, one-page guest checkout and more. Attend this webinar to view a live demo of our solution in action. Secure Credit Card Processing in Microsoft Dynamics GP Wednesday, July 16 1:00 - 1:30 p.m. EST No web store is complete without the ability to processing payments. Azox Credit Card Extension is a PA-DSS Certified sol

Inventors’ Council of Mid-Michigan Monthly Meeting is 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday, July 11 at Walli’s, 1341 S. Center Road, Burton. This monthly meeting to help inventors pursue their dreams of bringing new and innovative products to market includes networking time, guest speaker and time for members to showcase new products. For information, visit www.inventorscouncil.org/.

As an ecommerce business, what tools are you using that have helped you successfully obtain and keep customers? Custora did some research and created a report highlighting the most popular channels used to acquire customers along with which ones offer the best customer lifetime value, which is described in the report as “the future profit a company expects to earn from a customer throughout his or her relationship with the business.” The survey included 72 million customers from 86 U.S. retailers in 14 different industries and can be read in its entirety here . The survey results show that the top channels used for acquiring new customers online are organic search, CPC (Cost Per Click), email marketing and referrals. It may be surprising to see email marketing at the top of the list given that so many of us receive and delete such messages on a daily basis, but according to survey results, since 2009, the amount of customers that ecommerce businesses have acquired using this tool has q

Facebook and Twitter are the top two social networks that any small business must use. Google Plus is also becoming a significant social media force, and depending on your industry, Pinterest, LinkedIn, YouTube and Foursquare can also be vitally important. There are dozens more social media sites that you could also be a part of! You do not need to be on all of them, but you definitely should be on more than one. That means finding or creating content, deciding whether it should go on all the sites, or which ones it should go on and how often, and scheduling and publishing that content. It can be a lot of work. Social media management tools can help tame the social media beast – but they cannot do it alone. Organization and preparation are still important. Choose the Right Social Media Management Tools There are several social media management tools to choose from. However, they vary greatly, based on the sites they manage, cost, number of social profiles they manage, mobile apps and n

Don Zavis Sales Training, in partnership with Northwood University will present the "Pro Series," a collection of interactive workshops discussing sales negotiation skills. A workshop is planned, 8 to 9:30 a.m. Friday, July 19 at Northwood University, 1500 West Big Beaver, Suite 103, Troy. Topics covered include the difference between influence and persuasion, the principles of influence, how to be prepared for any issue, the top five best probing questions and how to create a win-win situation. Admission is $25 at the door, cash or check. For more information, visit www.donzavis.com. Call 248-497-5869 or email donzavis@donzavis.com to register.

It goes without question that consumers are using mobile devices more frequently for online activities. New data released by eMarketer shows that online shopping activities are conducted almost equally across computers, mobile phones and tablets. The survey conducted included 180,000 web users in 31 countries. Results are reflective of the first quarter of 2013. Of those surveyed, 93 percent said to have been using a computer, either a desktop or laptop, during the last couple years. Further, 60 percent said that they used their mobile phone to access the Internet and 66 percent said they used a tablet to access the Internet. When it comes to online shopping activities, the data showed that 68 percent of those using a computer used the Internet to search for a product or service to buy. Likewise, 61 percent of mobile users and then 60 percent of those using a tablet did the same. Of these consumers, 61 percent using a computer made a purchase online while 52 percent of mobile phone use

Introduction Online Press Releases and Social Media Marketing combined are abundantly capable of increasing your revenue and engagement. Please allow me to go through some tips in a strategic planning takeaway for you to utilize at a later date. Here I’d like to assist and help implement your ideal strategy using user-generated content. This includes monitoring positive and negative brand perception through tools such as Facebook, Twitter and G+, as well as increasing brand engagement all-round. Working at The Genuine Gemstone Company, I experience the online marketing tools and channels for PR as part of our online strategy. My tips here will improve your brand placement online, even without necessarily over stretching the budget.  Online marketing takeaway Press Releases Online press releasing activities include influencing media, communities and online specific audiences; you need to be making a sound through online channels.  You can achieve this via social networks, news search, d