I like to be brief; I hope to be thought provoking? The very best is truly yet to come! In medicine, science, travel, exploration, communications, and in almost any field of endeavor one wishes to name, we are still only on the doorstep of innovation. It is as though Johann Goethe’s (1749-1832) couplet is upon everybody’s home page: “Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.”

For those of you who have ‘bet it all’ on ecommerce or online marketing in one form or another, I say as did Victor Kiam (CEO Remington), “Entrepreneurs are simply those who understand that there is little difference between obstacle and opportunity and are able to turn both to their advantage.”

The most creative and innovative ideas you will have about your business are still to come. IF you will give twenty two minutes of each day to creative thinking, to writing down those ideas that will come from focusing upon just one critical aspect of your venture, an aspect that CAN LEVERAGE YOUR PERFORMANCE, then for you and your business, the very best is still to come.

For example, ask yourself this question: “What is IT, which if I (we) could achieve it, would revolutionize this business?” Of course creative thinking is only part of the solution, you will need to act decisively and face the calculated risk. Stepping forward with confidence into the unknown is reserved for those whose can reach beyond their fears. It really is just like your old baseball, or softball coach said: “You can’t steal second with your foot still on first.”

For a change of topic, and I will conclude on this. As you try to stay informed you will become punch drunk with statistics. We are drowning in a sea of data; an unavoidable legacy of the very industry we wish to exploit for the advantage of our customers and ourselves. For example, 23% of internet searches end in failure. 85% of purchases are latent. 40% of people buy online because of ‘no sales pressure’. Credit card security is still the number one concern of current and potential online buyers. 76% of searches are generic, which means that 24% are branded.

Now here is one that I really like and I want to believe it. 75% of experienced shoppers are willing to try a new merchant, and to finish with, prospects are aggressively looking for a ‘good deal’. That these survey results are accurate today, I cannot say, but the following I can espouse with absolute certainty. The more you know about YOUR specific marketplace, and the more you creatively act upon that information, the more ecommerce/online business you are bound to do.

If the following applies to your marketing profile, will you allocate twenty two minutes today to creatively thinking (alone or with others) about how you could do it better?

• Is it likely that there are prospects who will buy your product if the deal is too good to pass up, even if they do not particularly need that product right now?
• Are prospects in your marketplace actively seeking the ‘better mousetrap’?
• Are prospects in your marketplace actively seeking a solution that will (i) solve a problem, and/or, (ii) create new opportunities for them?

“Doubt is the thief that often makes us fear to tread where we might have won.”
William Shakespeare

• Why People Buy (Your product solves a problem) – By Leo Talbot
• Why people buy – The lifestyle factor – By Leo Talbot
• Analyzing your competition – By Leo Talbot

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 24th, 2005 at 7:36 pm and is filed under Ecommerce. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.