Business Outlook

Brands like LV, Ferrari etc, portrays itself as a luxury brand with high end products while most other brands that we can easily find around us are considered an normal and average brand which caters to the majority of middle income earners.

There really is a need to establish a brand or business outlook that you want and that is suitable to your product, your knowledge and your vision for the business. For example, if you are selling your service as a website builder, would you want to cater to small businesses or big businesses or maybe both? But it would be hard and unfair to cater to both with the same and identical product but with different prices. Or if you want to sell watches, what kind of watches? Sporty, cheap and affordable, luxury, exclusive? I doubt putting all those kind of watches in one platform would be good as it gives mix messages and outlook about your product and business. Therefore, in creating a suitable business outlook, there is a few things that you need to consider.

1. Audience
Knowing who your target audience and target consumer is essential in any business. If you don't, it is just like walking in a pitch dark room trying to find your way. The first online business that I started was targeted to 2 groups of audience, teenagers and working adults. I price discriminate by providing 2 similar but different quality product at 2 price option, $10 and $50. This is done with the intention that the $10 one would attract teenagers and also working adults who don't want to spend so much and $50 for the working adults or teenagers who are willing to spend. My recent online business, which is the apparel shop, is catered more towards women, those aged between 25 onward. And within this age group I provide different level of apparels, those price from $10-$20 and some prices at $50 and above. Again, this is with the intention to cater to the different income group and different needs or wants of people.

You can set for yourself the gender, age group, income group of your target audience in relation to your product. With the target audience in mind, it will automatically set you thinking on the prices that you want to offer. However, when thinking about your target audience, do not decide on one that is too wide. For instance, saying that your service is for 'everyone of all ages' or 'anyone can buy it'. Think about it, if your products are toys for babies, it is true that anyone can buy it for their child, or their friend's child or their neighbor, but the main or major target audience should be for working parents. If you are not sure of your target audience, then ask around about your product or service, whether it is suitable for them and whether they would need or want it.

2. Product/Service Display
Yes, even for an online business, how you portray or display your product and service is important!
When providing a service for website building, you must ensure that your own website must look good. Or if you are selling a product online, do categorize it nicely with suitable caption and description. Your words are very powerful and it might make people want to buy or not want to buy your product/service. Give a good idea of what your service/product is and relevant information for people. It could be the types of services that you offer, the measurement and material of the products and so on. Having clear and enough information shows that you are aware of what you are selling and people are aware of what they are buying. This would also avoid confusion in the future after they have purchase it.
Other than words, the visual aspect need to be looked into too. Even though you might be using Facebook, Ebay or any other third party website where you can't change the colors and layout of the site, you can still control the quality of the things that you sell. Use good photographs and not blur photo when promoting your service/product. For my apparel shop, I ensure that each album have an 'Album Cover' and that each photo has my logo in it. This help consumer identify the product as yours and help build your business reputation in the long run.

3. Activities
Be sure to keep your product or service page updated with new activities. Keep posting something new to show that your business is still alive and moving forward. It does not necessarily have to be new product or new service. You can simply re-iterate some information about your service or product. Or update on how many quantities are left for the product and your experiences in doing the service. If you are using social networking site as a platform, then updating and sharing the things that you share is a great way to remind people of your service/products when they see it at the Home page.
Other than that, you can even have a section for 'your say' to let customers post comments their thoughts or upload yourself some comments or feedback that was given by your previous customers. It makes your page more alive too.


 4. Customer Service

With scams going around and people being more wary of being cheated online, there is a need for you to display yourself as a genuine seller. This can be done by providing contact information like your email address or phone numbers if you want. It does not just end there, make sure you cater to your every customers queries and doubts. You want them to feel secure and trust you. With trust, people are more willing to pay. Trust also comes with good customer service. This includes being polite etc. I'm sure you know what I mean.

With these four things in mind, it might help in your showcasing your online shop in a better light. There might be other things that I missed here. But fret not, you will learn along the way as you start doing your own online business. That's how I learnt too. Hope this helps and do take a look at how to promote your online shop. Cheers.