SMART Ecommerce News – September 2009


	In this Issue: Promotions to Boost Holiday Sales Maximize your PPC Campaigns for the Holidays Increase Customer Confidence (and Profits) with Holiday Shipping Customer Spotlight: ThemeBath.com

Promotions to Boost Holiday Sales

It is never too early for online retailers to begin thinking about the promotions they will want to offer their customers throughout the upcoming holiday shopping season. You must be ready to launch your promotions by Black Friday, the Friday after Thanksgiving or Cyber Monday, which means that detailing your plan in August and September is ideal.

Read the full article >>

	Maximize your PPC Campaigns for the Holidays
	There are several things you can do to properly maximize your PPC campaigns for the holiday season. Don’t assume that what has worked well for you during the rest of the year, will work the same during the holidays. By making a few tweaks now, you can capitalize on that huge increase in holiday traffic.
	Read the full article >>

Increase Customer Confidence (and Profits) with Holiday Shipping

Now on the back end of the year, it’s time to start optimizing your site for the holidays. Since it can take three to six months to rank for certain keywords, we thought we’d revisit some SEO basics to make sure your site is prepared. This article highlights fundamental steps you need to take to get your products and brand ranked #1 on Google™.

Read the full article >>

Inside Track

In our ongoing efforts to provide best in class services, we sometimes find it necessary to cease maintenance and support for older versions of software. In August, a letter was mailed to version 4.x customers notifying them that the End of Life date of ecommerce version 4.x is December 31, 2009. To learn more, visit the FAQs.

We encourage version 4.x customers to upgrade
at no additional cost to our ecommerce version 7.x
– providing a more stable platform and an enhanced feature-set, while retaining much of the same functionality in version 4.x. As you may be aware,
we continually provide updates for our version 7.x software.

To view a feature comparison between version 4.x and version 7.x platforms, go here.

We are committed to helping you through the upgrade process. Please go to http://softwareupgrade.networksolutions.com to schedule your upgrade and get more information about the upgrade process, including FAQs, manuals, and links to our support site.

	Customer Spotlight
Keller Hawthorne is a talented Web designer and marketer who, at the age of 22, decided to open an online business. But when Keller dipped her toe in the ecommerce pool in 2005, she realized she really didn’t know what she was doing. Keller admits, "I thought all I had to do was open a store or sign up with eBay and I would instantly make tons of money." After pausing to research and learn more about Internet marketing, Keller made a huge splash with her second launch, Theme Kitchen, in 2006. Visit ThemeKitchen.com . As is the case with most small business owners, Keller’s biggest challenge is lack of time. "There are only 24 hours in a day to execute all of your tasks and achieve your goals," she says.

Read the full article >> Not only is Keller a successful online retailer, she’s also a well spoken blogger. Check out her article: How I Got Google PageRank within 3 Weeks of Launching My Website Fresh eVenture.

Holiday Countdown

FREE Whitepaper

Is Your Business Ready
For the Holidays?
We recommend you follow these seven steps to get your online business
ready for the holiday shopping season.

Download Your FREE Whitepaper Now

In the News

Ten Great Ecommerce Ideas for September 2009
practical eCommerce | Read the story

68% of Online Shoppers Hunt for Value in Coupons and Promotions, Study Says
Internet Retailer | Read the story

Walmart.com Adds Nearly One Million New Items With the Launch of Walmart Marketplace
Yahoo! Finance | Read the story

Events

WEBINAR: Holiday Promotions That Will Increase Your Traffic
Infopia & Vertical Response | Register
September 17 | 5pm EST / 2pm PST

WEBINAR: Ecommerce Holiday Playbook – 13 Ways to Maximize Revenue and Beat the Downturn
Marketing Experiments | View Now
Archived

PODCAST: 5 Mistakes Internet Business Owners Make When Choosing a Niche
Fresh eVentures | Listen

	Don’t miss the first ever GrowSmartBiz Conference, Sept 29, 2009. Learn cost-effective ways to market your businesses, actionable ideas for social media, and more. Join us for this one-day educational conference and networking event in Washington, D.C. featuring
	renowned small business leaders and well-known industry experts from across the U.S.