Finding People As your business grows, so does your need
for support staff. Whether that's professional project
management, accounting, call center or distribution
support, these new employees should align with your core
business values and objectives.
Before you recruit employees, define your business vision
and mission. Identify your ideal business culture. Do you
support an open-door policy or a more formal structure? Do
you want a casual atmosphere or conservative team? Are you
looking for progressive or diversified employees? Hire
right the first time to ensure long-term loyalty and
minimal turn-over.
When you're first starting out, it's more financially
feasible to outsource work. For instance web and graphic
design, programming and IT, copy writing, legal and
accounting/CPA/payroll are common services businesses
outsource both at the outset and into establishment.
Outsourcing eliminates payroll, annual salary increase,
unemployment, insurance and retirement benefit, equipment
and space expenses while offering improved experience and
expertise. You gain the advantage of using services without
a costly long-term commitment should your business slow.
Other alternatives include temporary staffing centers or
employee leasing. Cash-strapped start-ups can even hiring
paid or unpaid interns. Temporary staffing gives you
immediate access, experienced personnel, lower training
requirements and overtime fees plus reduced turnover. When
your needs extend beyond six months, hire your new temp as
a permanent employee, or recruit a long-term, permanent
candidate.
When its in your best interest to expand your team, talk
with friends, professional associates, customers, vendors,
colleagues and others in your personal and professional
network to get recommendations. You can also contact
college, trade, vocational or high school placement offices
and the local employment agency to find candidates. Trade
or industry publications offer targeted advertising, while
online job websites and newspaper advertisements are a more
traditional and broad-reaching option.
Once you have a loyal and established employee base, save
money on recruiting by implementing an employee referral
program. These programs give employees cash bonuses for
referrals resulting in a hire. You should also establish a
competitive employee retention plan to sustain qualified
workers, keep your recruiting expenses low and productivity
high.
Planning and Building Your Online Storefront
Organization is key to making sales and offering a pleasant
shopping experience. Your customer is busy and wants to
accomplish tasks quickly with minimal frustration. They
also want to find a clean and pleasing atmosphere, layout
and design. Once you intrigue your visitor with your main
landing page, your goal is to keep them there with simple
navigation and fast check-out.
Jacob Nielsen, Ph.D., a leading website usability
authority, User Advocate and principal of the Nielsen
Group, explains: "The first law of e-commerce is that if
users cannot find the product, they cannot buy it either."
Your website is basically just an electronic catalog with a
bit more technology. Use design, copy, multimedia and
photographs that inform your visitor and help them buy your
products. In studies, researchers found that nearly half of
all sales are lost because visitors simply cannot use the
site. Multiply this by the repeat business lost from the
same customers and your numbers grow exponentially.
While many businesses strive to be unique, websites should
use the standard navigation structure and labels of major
brands. Pioneering Internet firms like Amazon have set the
standard in customers' minds, making it intuitive to visit
links like:
- Your Account
- Shopping Cart
- About Us
- Contact Us
- Help
- Search
- Press
- Careers
Before contacting a website designer, analyze your products
and audience carefully. Outline your navigation structure
ensuring it takes few clicks to reach your intended
objective - a sale. Know the expectations and experience
level of your user. For instance, teenagers will be more
fluent with computers and the Internet in general, though
they may also be less sophisticated in reading or research
strategies and have a lower patience threshold. They'll
further need clever graphics and innovations to keep their
interest.
Jacob Nielsen offers ten important website usability
guidelines. These are:
Make the Site's Purpose Clear: Explain Who You Are and What
You Do
1. Include a One-Sentence Tagline
2. Write a Window Title with Good Visibility in Search
Engines and Bookmark Lists
3. Group all Corporate Information in One Distinct Area
Help Users Find What They Need
4. Emphasize the Site's Top High-Priority Tasks
5. Include a Search Input Box
Reveal Site Content
6. Show Examples of Real Site Content
7. Begin Link Names with the Most Important Keyword
8. Offer Easy Access to Recent Homepage Features
Use Visual Design to Enhance, not Define, Interaction Design
9. Don't Over-Format Critical Content, Such as Navigation
Areas
10. Use Meaningful Graphics
Send your planned navigation outline to your website
designer. Then, once your website's developed, gather a
test group of about 10 people. Let each person run through
various tasks on your website without offering help or
guidance. Take notes on areas of confusion and make
adjustments. If you have heavy traffic, phase in changes
gradually to minimize confusion. We've all gone to the
grocery store right after a reorganization, only to become
even more frustrated when we can't locate the Lays or light
bulbs. People get used to the way things are, good or bad.
----------------------------------------------------
Clinton Douglas IV, writes E-Business articles for people
who want to achieve more online success. Learn Today, "How
to Start an Online Business in less than 30 Days starting
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