Why a web presence is essential to the growth and success of ANY business

1. Consumers demand dynamic content!
   Some of your prospects may already have a website, but it’s more of an online brochure than an active online presence. Their site needs to be dynamic to be truly successful! According to TMCnet’s 30 Top Online Shopping Trends, the “most successful sites” out there allow customer engagement by offering interactive features like product reviews! “These features encourage shoppers to linger longer on a merchant’s site,” TMC explains, adding that “More than half of the top websites post videos to help sell products or services, or to enrich the user’s experience.” (We’ll dig deeper into the benefits of videos in a moment.) Our web solution provides all of the tools a business needs to add compelling content like embedded media, customer wishlists, product reviews and more!
2. E-mail campaigns beat traditional marketing methods!
   There’s no better way for your prospects to reach out to important contacts! Entrepreneur.com’s Gail Goodman calls e-mail marketing “the King of Relationship-Building,” and the results speak for themselves! “When it comes to ROI, e-mail kicks butt,” Goodman writes. “The Direct Marketing Association recently reported that ‘commercial e-mail returned a whopping $43.62 for every dollar spent on it in 2009′.” This is definitely something to take note of  if you’re concerned about a return on investment with your web solution. Not only can you easily and quickly send e-mail marketing campaigns; you”ll reap immediate benefits!
3. A Web site is the best customer service representative!
   As we’ve mentioned in the past, a website can be used to answer common questions from customers. This will help small- and mid-sized businesses reduce the time and resources devoted to processing returns or fielding customer service issues. For instance, your prospects can easily add an FAQ page to their site. The writers at businessknowhow.com also advise adding an online video demonstration to enhance customer service! “If you’re spending a lot of time on the phone giving directions on how to use your product, a video demonstration could save time. And because nothing beats a visual demonstration, an online video will be more helpful to your customers than a phone conversation with you.”
4. Online Sales will continue to rise!
   eMarketer is forecasting that online retail sales will grow 7.5% next year, totaling $141.3 billion! And the numbers will go up again in 2011 and 2012, according to the research firm. In fact, by 2013, online retail sales are expected to reach over $189 billion! With numbers like this, it’s clear that the opportunity to boost profits is available on the web!
5. The competition’s already online!
   Whether you’re competing with a larger business or  trying to gain an advantage over local establishments, a top-quality web presence will not only level the playing field…it will help you get ahead! The experts at BigClick tell entrepreneurs, “Chances are that your competitors are already online. If they’re not, it’s a fantastic opportunity for you to seize market share.”

Why SweetOnionCity.com’s Cashback succeeds where others don’t

Earlier this month, Microsoft announced that it would discontinue its Bing Cashback program. Launched in 2008 under the name Live Search Cashback (an ode to the computing giant’s redesigned search engine), the program allowed users to search for products from multiple vendors and find their prices and offering money back for purchases made through the site.

In a statement announcing the discontinuation of Bing Cashback, Yusuf Mehdi, a Microsoft vice president, explained cashback’s demise:

In lots of ways, this was a great feature – we had over a thousand merchant partners delivering great offers to customers and seeing great ROI on their campaigns, and we were taking some of the advertising revenue and giving it back to customers. But after a couple of years of trying, we did not see the broad adoption that we had hoped for.

When first introduced, the move was both lauded and panned by search experts, with TechCrunch calling it both “desperate and brilliant”:

Desperate because Microsoft is giving away most of the search revenue to get market share gains. Brilliant because they have such a small share of search revenue today that they have little to lose, and they are hitting Google hard in their core business.

One of the major tenants of online shopping is that it is driven through referrals, not search engines. Online shopping has always been and (as we see it) will always be driven by word of mouth.

This is one of the major reasons SweetOnionCity.com, a Market America web portal, and maCashback thrives today. Market America has always prided itself on the “Built on Product, Powered by People®” mantra. Our people are recommending and sharing products to others, building personal relationships that are the foundation of good online shopping experiences.

With more than 3,000 Partner Stores – many of which take part in the maCashback program – and the newly-enhanced increased cashback program, SweetOnionCity.com, a Market America web portal, continues to give the user what they want.

Using social marketing to build relationships

As you may have heard, we’ve recently enhanced our web solution with some fantastic new social media features! These tools will help small businesses integrate social network and Blogger accounts with their Web site to create a powerful, multichannel digital presence!

This week we’re bringing you some advice about social marketing, which Armando Roggio at PracticalEcommerce defines as “the concept of engaging with customers and potential customers in authentic, human-to-human-like relationships, which may or may not be directly aimed at the sale or promotion of a product.”

Roggio writes that “Social marketing is one of the most important new trends in online retail promotion. It is effective, builds customer relationships, and offers a better return on investment than some other marketing techniques.”

Relationship-building – the primary goal of these channels – is the best!  way to gain and retain customers…that’s why we urge you to consider incorporating some of these ideas into your own Web site business!

Remember: It’s all connected!
As VerticalResponse’s Liz Johannesen tells PracticalEcommerce readers to “establish a virtuous social marketing cycle wherein content could be created for an email newsletter or blog post, sent out via email…tweeted…and posted on Facebook.”
That’s a trick that will work in any industry! Give your prospects some ideas to get them started – exclusive online discounts, upcoming store events, local media coverage…just about any relevant topic can be used to cross multiple marketing channels! And – of course – mention that it’s completely effortless to do this with your Web solution!

…And don’t forget about e-mail!
According to Roggio, e-mail is a valuable marketing tool because it “can speak directly to customers and prospects, and even using a first name or user name.”

Even better: e-mails can be targeted to suit the interests of specific recipients! Plus, Roggio explains, “The frequency can be controlled so that data arrives at intervals that recipients appreciate.”
Once again, we’ve included these capabilities in your Web solution…it’s easy, quick and fun!

Keep it personal & targeted.
Odds are you and your potential partners already use one or more of the social media channels we’ve described. If so, it’s easy to expand this usage to meet certain marketing goals! According to Johannesen, “If you have ever sent a URL to someone via email or if you’ve ever commented on a blog post, you are already a social marketer!”

Web expert Manish Rathi echoes this thought. He tells readers to segment their e-mails to customers based on previous purchases. “Build virtual relationships with your customers based on their buying behavior and preferences.” Obviously, any potential buyer is going to pay greater attention to content that pertains to their particular goals! He sums it up by explaining that “The stronger your customers feel a brand affinity with your company, the more likely they are to do repeat business with you!“

SweetOnionCity.com / Market America Most Improved Internet Retailer

SweetOnionCity.com, a Market America web portal ranked #54 up from #66 in 2009 as one of Internet retailer’s Top 100 sites. One interesting observation to note was that Internet retailer also released their most improved sites. Market America placed 1st! Over the past year, Market America has made a number of notable enhancements to the web portal, most recently launching the ma Cashback program. Not only does this make Market America the place to go to for all of your Internet shopping needs, but now with with added ability to earn cash back on your purchases, who would want to go anywhere else!

Congratulations, Tina Campbell!

We are pleased to congratulate Tina Campbell of Southern Enterprises on winning our thousand-dollar website giveaway!  She will receive a complete 5-page custom business website with all of the following features:

Web Site Features & Benefits

Why are our Web sites better?

• • We Can Get Your Business Online, Fast
  • Most Web developers keep you waiting for weeks before you can even look at your new site, but with our powerful Web site construction technology, we can have your new, feature-rich site up and running in no time! You’ll have access to all of the cutting-edge tools in our dynamic software so that you can make an informed decision about establishing your online presence.
• • Professional Layout and Design
  • Our Web designers and marketing experts have spent countless hours researching successful sites on the Internet in order to develop the most effective, professional Web site layouts and designs possible. If you ever want to change the look or feel of your site, you can quickly and easily make changes to your site. Our team of technical support professionals will even help.
• • 10 Gigabytes of Storage Space
  • Each one of our Web sites boasts a massive 10GB of disk space – more than enough space to hold thousands of images and volumes of text. Most Web sites only use 20-30MB of space, so chances are you’ll never need to use even a fraction of the storage space you have. But as your business grows and becomes more successful, you can be confident that your Web site will be able to adapt to meet your changing needs.
• • Unlimited Site Modifications
  • With our Web site management platform, you control every aspect of your online presence – without learning a programming language or relying on an expensive Web professional. Our user-friendly software gives you the power to easily modify all of the text, images, colors, backgrounds, and components on your Web site as often as you want.
• • No Lengthy Contract Commitment
  • Unlike other solutions that make you commit to a lengthy Web site contract (with steep cancellation penalties), we give you the freedom to cancel at any time without any hidden fees. We’re so confident that you’ll be impressed with our Web site management platform and our excellent customer service that we are willing to earn your business month after month.
• • Automatic Software Upgrades
  • Our team of software developers is constantly adding new tools and features to our unique Web site building platform! As one of our Web site customers, you will always be one of the first on the Internet to access these powerful, cutting-edge tools at no additional cost.

What other features do we have?

• • Email Accounts
    • Unlimited Number of 1 Gigabyte mailboxes
    • Add attachments up to 25 MB in size
    • Rich HTML text formatting and editing tools
    • Plain text composition option
    • Account customization tools
    • Address book
    • Search tool for browsing through email
    • Spam Assassin filtering to minimize unsolicited email
• • POP3 Email Access
  • Talk about useful! Access your email accounts directly through such favored POP3 email clients as Outlook, Thunderbird and Eudora. With this tool you will have more extensive email capabilities, as well as easier access to your messages.
• • Webmail Email Access
  • The sleek, user-friendly interface features many extra tools that you will not find with most standard email accounts.
• • Domain Name Registration
  • Securing your domain name is one of the most important steps in setting up your online business, and with our domain name tool, the registration process is quick and easy. Our system allows you to check on the availability of multiple .com, .net and other domain names at the same time, and if you already have an existing domain name, you can transfer it to point to your site.
• • Site Promotion Tool
  • No matter how impressive your Web site is, it’s not doing you any good if customers can’t find you online. With the Site Promotion Tool, we’ll help you increase your visibility on the World Wide Web by guiding you through the entire optimization and submission process-from setting meta-tags, choosing keywords and descriptions, to submitting your site to several of the major search engines. We also provide you with tips on optimizing your site to improve your chances of ranking well with search engines.
• • Contact Management Tool
  • This useful feature allows you to organize and manage contact information for all of your customers, suppliers, and business associates. Once you have built up your customer database, you will be able to create and send e-mail newsletters announcing new product releases, upcoming sales, or any other special events and promotions.
• • Web site Usage Statistics
  • As a business owner, it is important to evaluate how well your sales and marketing promotions are working, and we understand that your online business is no different. Inside the administrative section of your Web site, you’ll be able to access a variety of statistical tracking reports, such as: which search engines are generating the most traffic for your site, which keywords are resulting in the greatest number of hits, how many hits your site has received, where most of your hits are coming from, and which pages visitors looked at while on your site. Without usage data like this, you’ll have a difficult time making informed decisions about the effectiveness of your online sales and marketing efforts.
• • Integrated Map and Driving Directions
  • Whenever a new local customer finds your business online, one of the first things they’ll want to know is “Where are you located?” Now your customers will be able to use the integrated map feature on your Web site to view a map displaying your exact location, or if they’re unfamiliar with the area, your customers can enter their address and receive detailed instructions that will guide them right to your business.

What about E-Commerce?

• • E-Commerce Tools
  • Your new Web site provides you with access to all of the components necessary to help you start making money online: merchant account access, a fully customizable product catalog, a virtual shopping cart, advanced pricing features, shipping, handling and tax rules, payment options, and order processing features.
• • Customizable Product Catalog
  • Every site includes tools that give you the ability to create an extensive online catalog capable of displaying thousands products. More than just a listing of products, your online catalog offers a wide range of extra features: multi-image support, product categories and descriptions, price rules and discounts, tax rules and more.
• • Multiple Billing Options
  • Our versatile e-commerce system is designed to give you a variety of options for processing online orders. You can process credit cards online in real time, and have orders automatically sent to you by e-mail. Regardless of which payment and billing options you enable on your Web site, you can be confident that all of your transactions are safe and secure on our SSL-encrypted network.

What type of Editing Tools do we have?

• • Rich Text Editor
  • Easily update, edit and add text to your Web site without losing your formatting. You can also easily change text size, color and font style.
• • WYSIWYG Web site Editing Tools
  • The WYSIWYG Editor is a powerful interface tool that allows you to edit your Web site on screen in a view that closely resembles what the published page will look like on the site. The WYSIWYG Editor uses a simple point-and-click system: click on any section of the Web page to access menus for inserting, deleting, or editing text, images, or any other component on your site.

What about Hosting and Support?

• • Ultra-Secure Server Facility
    • Your Web site will be hosted on our tiered, high-performance Dell PowerEdge servers powered by Intel Xeon processing technology. Our servers are located at special, secure facilities that protect them from fires, floods, earthquakes, power outages, and any other types of disasters. The secure facility boasts the following:
      • Remotely-monitored video surveillance safeguards our data center and its perimeter 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
      • Hand scanning sensors authorize our data center’s clearance by means of biometric recognition.
      • Our server racks are reinforced against seismic anomalies with scientifically exact bracing that adjoins both the server racks and the caging environment to a below-floor channel.
      • Our data center runs on clean power conditioned by an Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS). The UPS provides immunity to energy spikes and surges experienced by the public sector. Backup generators guarantee an alternate power source, providing indefinite hours of additional uptime in the event of a system failure.
      • Multiple HVAC units supplement principal cooling systems for consistent temperature control and maximum airflow.
      • A preferred alternative to conventional fire suppression methods, together with intelligent early detection and backup suppression methods, prevents unnecessary equipment damage and incidental loss of uptime.
      • Internet operations are simultaneously monitored 24 x 7.
      • Our data centers security monitoring and incident management are controlled by on-premises security officers 24 x 7.
      • Alarms are monitored 24 x 7 for rapid incident resolution.
      • Electronic motion sensors detect and react to movement around the perimeter of the data centers and within its interior.
• • Dual-Layer Firewall Protection
  • Our network is protected by a dual-layer firewall security system utilizing Cisco PIX Firewalls, making it virtually impossible for hackers or unauthorized users to compromise the integrity of your Web site.
• • Unlimited Traffic
  • As your online business grows and becomes more successful, your Web site needs to be able to handle the increased traffic-without increasing your monthly hosting costs. Many hosting providers set limits on the number of hits your site is able to receive, but with our hosting service, you can be confident that your site can handle all of the increased traffic, no matter how popular your Web site becomes!
• • Live Technical Support
  • If you ever have any questions about using any of the tools or features in you new Web site, our professional, courteous Customer Care representatives will be ready and waiting to assist you! Contact us as often as you want-it’s all part of the value-added service included with your monthly hosting/service fee.
• • Live Remote Access Support
  • This amazing tool gives our Customer Care representatives the ability to remotely share your mouse and keyboard for quick and easy service. The Remote Access feature creates a direct link between your computer and a Customer Care representative’s computer in our support center so that you can watch them perform each step on your screen in real time. Even though our Customer Care reps will be able to control your computer from a remote location, you will always have the power to override the rep and resume control of your computer at any time simply by moving your mouse or pausing the session.

$1000 Website Giveaway June 1st!

Sweet Onion City Websites in Vidalia, GA is holding a drawing on June 1^st for a free custom business website valued at $1000.  Enter to win by filling out the Free Demo form on our website, www.SOCWebsites.com.  (Link to exact page is http://w.mawebcenters.com/SOCW/build.html )  Monthly hosting not included – Some limitations apply – Call 912.386.4813 for more information or fill out the form at http://w.mawebcenters.com/SOCW/build.html .  Good luck to everyone!

Cheap web design and hosting just doesn’t cut it!

By now, most operators of small and mid-sized companies understand that the Web plays an important role in their growth and profitability. The problem is that these businesses don’t understand the importance of investing in a high-quality, professional site!

Matthew Toren, a blogger at YoungEntrepreneur.com, explains, “While many businesses concede that a website is necessary, they attempt to get an online presence for the least amount possible. This mistake often costs a business more money and lost business in the long run!”

“Online business is a different animal than traditional advertising,” Toren writes. Consumers have come to expect a certain level of quality and performance from the Web sites they visit and shop from. In order to keep customers coming back, sites need to be interactive and up-to-date!

Toren warns that “Neglecting your website alienates this important consumer audience…Today’s businesses need an online presence that is professional, tailored for online consumer shopping habits, and crafted to be search engine and user friendly.”

If you’re interested in an affordable, professional website for your business, please call Sweet Onion City Websites at 912.386.4813 or visit us online at www.SOCWebsites.com