Electronic Commerce (E-Commerce)

Electronic commerce (or E-commerce) means the buying or selling of products or services over the Internet. The amount of successful E-commerce transactions have grown exponentially since the widespread use of the Internet.

Electronic commerce has changed dramatically over the last 30 years. Originally, the term “electronic commerce” was coined to mean the “facilitation of commercial transactions electronically”. Technology like “Electronic Funds Transfer” (EFT) was introduced in the late 1970s to enable businesses to send commercial documents like purchase orders electronically. Credit cards and ATMs (introduced and accepted in the 1980s) were also forms of e-commerce.

Many economic experts forecasted that E-commerce would become a major economic sector when the Internet became widespread in the early 1990s. During the “Dot com” era, E-commerce came to encompass the purchase of goods and services via the Internet, usually with secure connections and electronic payment services such as credit card payment authorizations.

Almost all purely E-commerce companies collapsed during the “dot-com” bubble-burst in 2000 and 2001. But many “brick-and-mortar” retailers began to add e-commerce capabilities to their Web sites. For example, a traditional supermarket chain, Safeway, started e-commerce subsidiaries through which consumers could order groceries online.

The emergence of E-commerce also significantly increased the opportunities in the selling of many types of goods; many small home-based businesses are able to use the Internet to sell their goods or services. Wish to buy something? Visit eBay.com (an online auction site that provides a platform for selling or buying merchandise). Wish to announce a garage sale? Visit Ablewise.com (a popular online classifieds site that provides services for both free and paid advertising) and place an advertisement with them. With the E-commerce scene as it is today, there is almost nothing that you are not able to find and buy/sell over the Internet.

Tips For Making Trading Card Game

In my first article, “How to make a trading card game” I have written about how simple it is to make trading card game without much expenses than just buying a couple of stuff. But I believe that tips are needed to create better looking cards such that your friends can enjoy the games. So here are some tips which I hope that can help you in enhancing your trading card making skills.o Get good quality paper. It adds to the presentation and sturdiness of the cards.o Get your friends to help make the cards. Its not easy to create great cards alone.o Have a background story. That will make the cards more colorful.o You are able to buy 4000 index cards for just under $25. If you cut it into half, it will be 8000 cards. Even if you don’t 4000 is still a lot of cards.o If you cut the cards in half, they will be slightly flimsy; to remedy this you can cover the card with clear packaging tape and then cut off all the excess tape. This way, it reinforce the card and make it shinny.o Do not make 50 cards at once. Start with a few cards and see how it goes. If the initial cards are successful, then you can continue with the rest of the cards.o Don’t use all of your best ideas for cards at once. If you make all of the awesome cards first, you might not have any more good ideas for later cards.o If you really like your card game, try making a game mat where you can put your cards or even make a manual explaining how your game is played. You never know where you might end up.o If your card game is just for friends, don’t add advertisements.Finally, you have it. These are just tips or suggestions to improve your trading card making skills. Be ready to get your hands dirty.

How To Become An Email Marketing Expert

One of the best things that you can ever do for your online business is becoming an email marketing expert. By learning how to master email marketing, you give yourself an advantage that others only wish that they could have. As an email marketing expert, you give yourself the chance to achieve predictable results. You’ll be able to rely on your numbers and estimate how much money you’re going to make each month.Some people tend to believe that email marketing is on the decline but I TOTALLY disagree. I believe this because I practice email marketing everyday, and believe that I am an email marketing expert myself. The first thing on my marketing task list everyday is to implement an email marketing strategy that will boost my conversions, boost my click through rates, and boost my leads to sales ratio. This is how I’m able to scale in my business each month.So what kinds of things should you be doing and know how to do to propel your email marketing results right away? I want to give you a few tips on what you should be doing so that your overall online marketing efforts are balanced by the results that your email strategy is doing. Because once you master the email side of things, everything else in your business becomes a lot easier. Here’s one thing you can start doing to become an email marketing expert in a short period of time:1) Track your link clicksIn most email autoresponder programs (such as Aweber, GetResponse, Constant Contact, Mail Chimp, etc), you will have the opportunity to view how many people on your list clicked on the link(s) in your emails. All you have to do is simply make the decision to turn this option on or off. It’s that simple. And you want to do this because it makes a huge difference in email sequencing.You don’t want to send out emails blindly without knowing what kinds of results you’re getting. Let’s say for instance that you’re getting 100 leads per day onto your mailing list, and it takes you an average of 10 emails to get a sale – when they’re spaced out 3 days apart. Here’s what you want to recognize, because it could alter the amount of profits that you make exponentially.Regardless of how far apart you’re spacing each email out, if in the 5th email you send you realize from the numbers that 4% of your 100 new leads are unsubscribing in that email, but in all of the rest of the emails you’re getting click through rates such as 30% and you’re getting sales… this should be a clear indication that the email needs to be revised – or totally removed altogether.By changing or removing that 1 single email, you could save yourself 4 leads – that could continue to stay on your list and even purchase from you in the future. And depending on your product price, and your cost per lead, this could be the difference between a lot of revenue for you – or mediocre to NO revenue for you at all. So as an email marketing expert, this is one of the things that you need to spot and take notice of so that you can make as much money as possible. Here’s another way to become an email expert in no time at all:2) Only mail to good and qualified leadsSome people believe that all leads are good. You will find that some people generate leads in any way that they can so that they can feel good about themselves, and post pictures of their large lists in forums and Facebook groups. This is not a good idea. Only generate and put people on your email list who are interested in what you have to offer – or who have purchased something that is really close to what you have to offer.I know some people who love the idea of solo ads. Solo ad marketing is when someone has an email list, and they allow people to mail to their list for a fixed price. Then once the mailing is over, they allow somebody else to mail to their deadbeat list in all in attempts to con them on the idea that their list is golden and supreme. This is not at all true. You should never attempt solo ad marketing.As an email marketing expert, the best kinds of leads to mail to are leads that you generate yourself. You typically do this via some form of display or pay per click (PPC) advertising, joint venture, viral marketing, or referral marketing campaign that you implement. But with solo ad marketing, how do you know how the leads where generated? Are you going by what the list owner has told you?You don’t know this person. They could have bought a 100,000 email lead database from some bulk lead company for $10, and are charging you $80 for every 100 leads that they send your message to. Not only do they scam you and you get no results in the form of income, but you could also get your website blacklisted. An email marketing expert would know this and would stay away from this form of marketing – because they know it’s a waste of time and money.To truly succeed online email marketing is essential, so becoming an expert is a necessity. Never rely on list brokers or buy email lists from someone. Generate leads from people who have sought YOU out, and know your conversion rates. When you have leads coming in from paid advertising and free marketing, you’ll lower your cost to get each lead, and you’ll be in control of what happens in your business.Which would you rather have? An unpredictable email campaign or a predictable one? This simple factor alone will save you 5-10 years of heartache and waste of time. This is something that you truly need to consider. If you want the most success in your business as possible, become an email marketing expert starting today.