Mystic Liquid

We here at MysticLiquid are often approached by small business owners wanting to know how they can grow their business through establishing a web presence. Some keep their ambitions small, looking to increase their sales in a certain local region, while others like to think big and show the world what they can offer and that’s their intended market. Now, how they plan on doing that and how they go about it is a whole different question.

From the start, if you’re looking to establish a presence online, you first need to get online. You need a website. Once you have that you can start making money. Think about it. Most people use websites to make money in one way shape or form. Some people use their site to sell products and then there are those who write a daily blog with AdSense ads all over it.

So as you can see there are countless ways to make a buck just from owning a website. Don’t believe me? Here are at least five different sites we have built for a few local Scranton small businesses:

· Sell your products – This is easily the most popular reason why small businesses must develop an e-commerce website of their own. You are free to sell your own products, while also controlling how much of a profit you make with every sale. A small business sees the biggest profit margins through choosing this route. Your customers appreciate good value and love low costs. Cutting out the middleman is a great way to provide them competitive prices while getting them back as repeat business. All you need is the products, pages developed to display it and a shopping cart to order it. You now have an e-commerce site selling whatever you want.

· Sell your services – No, I know not all small businesses sell products but offer services instead. So they are left wondering how their business can be helped through a web presence. While most of the technical stuff is vastly different, the overall theme and message of your site would still remain the same as one selling products. The only drawback with selling services through your website is the fact your potential for revenue is limited to the amount of time you can provide to a set number of service jobs.

· One of the main ingredients in building a website that sells service instead of product is the fact that since you are selling a relationship between a customer and yourself, you need to spend more time and effort establishes credibility. We do this on sites like this through developing rapport with the website’s visitors and then trying to show them the benefits of the service you’re offering them.

· Drop ship products – Maybe you love the idea of selling product but don’t have space to store it or the funds to set up a system of inventory tracking. I would recommend a drop-shipment website. These websites allow you to sell whatever type of product you want, even brand names too, with the ease of a few clicks from the customer. These business ventures are often profitable to a business since they require so little work to be done to it. Some companies run such a smooth drop shipping service that it nearly automated. You place the products on your site and the order is then filled and shipped from a third party warehouse.

· Recommend affiliate products – One great way to make money through a website is through an affiliate program. These are no-risk partnerships in which through your website, you promote another company’s products. Afterwards, depending on the amount of traffic and sales you directed, you earn a percentage of their sales. It works much like you receiving a commission for the sale you helped make. These are commonly done through ads such as banners or links on your site directing a customer to their site. You can actually make a lot of money if you market yourself wisely through affiliate site.

· Sell ad space – This one you really can’t do unless you already have an established and high traffic website. If you can show advertisers that your website can reach a large number of their target audience, they will be willing to buy ad space on your website. Don’t plan on making this your fulltime job because it really doesn’t pay that well. It works great as a second source of income but don’t expect it to be your business’s only source of income. You won’t be keeping your doors open for long.

As you can see there is a lot of potential out there for businesses to make money online. All it takes is the right idea combined with determination to make it work. The good news is that we possess both when it comes to working with and for you. Send us an email to see how we can help you with your website goals and aspirations. We’ll be glad to help.

All website designers have the problem of coming up with new and creative designs all the time, even the ones here at MysticLiquid. It’s perfectly natural to face a little bit of creative block once and awhile. It happens to me and happens to people a lot smarter than me. So you can imagine, that coming up with exciting designs for small business websites in Scranton and its surrounding communities can be difficult at time. Luckily, we know a few tricks to overcome those troublesome mental blocks.

What do you do when you need to jump start that part of your brain which handles creativity? I do know sitting, staring at your computer screen doesn’t work. I figured that one out the hard way after trying it for several weeks. I only ended with dry eyes and a project barely completely on time.

But like I said earlier, there are a lot of people smarter than me who’ve found themselves in the same situations. From those same smart people, here are a bunch of different tactics for getting over those annoying creativity blocks that I find to be extremely helpful:

· Do anything else – It happens to all of us once and awhile. We find ourselves doing the same thing over and over since it’s always worked for us. I suggest taking a break and go do something, anything else not related to design. Get your mind off things for awhile and come back with a clearer head.

· Try something outside your comfort zone – I knew a designer who would get in a rut once and awhile. When it happened, he would always go and try something new that he’s never done before. He said it gave him a rush of excitement and new ideas always to him when he felt like this. Now this exact same feeling may not happen for you but who’s to say it won’t. Go out and try something you’ve never been exposed to before. It doesn’t need to be skydiving or running with the bulls. Something as simple as listening to new music can awaken your creativity. The point is to try and feel all the different sounds, colors, styles, forms, features, elements of design, smells, etc. Take in these new experiences and be open to letting them influence you.

· Surround yourself with design – Every day you should try to surround yourself in design and make a habit of doing so. Have fun and enjoy yourself in a world of designer and other creative people just like yourself. My suggestion is to read other website designer blogs or join a bunch of graphic and web design communities and forums. Start up some conversations on the different subject and areas of design or just simply let them know your opinion. Start reading books and magazines on the subjects of design, colors, typography, or design software. You can only learn more and grow as a designer by doing so. The idea is to try and take advantage of all these outlets to find new ways to design.

· Let colors inspire you – Nothing breaks down the walls of a creative block like playing around with colors. Put down that elements of designs textbook and pick up your color palette. Play around with a bunch of different shades of colors and color variations.

· Write in a journal once a day, every day – This little hint works for those content writers as well. At the end of the day our brain is filled up with a lot of nonsense and clutter we don’t need. One way to flush all that out is to just start writing in a journal. It can be creative or it can just be your thoughts, whatever you think will stimulate your brain. Early morning has been shown to be the best time to work on this step since you are thinking and working on a near subconscious level and will free creative blocks.

As a matter of fact with it being Friday and I’m about empty on creative ideas for writing this post, I used one or two of these to get myself going. Let me know if you have any other tips of this kind that you use to get those juices flowing.

As one of the top website design companies in Scranton, we have built some pretty nice looking websites and fixed a few not so nice looking websites. One of the main complaints we hear from clients and business owners is bounce rate of customers after they reach their shopping cart. The customers want to buy what their selling but their shopping cart is so bad they would rather go somewhere else.

First off let’s review exactly what I’m going over talking about shopping cart abandonment. The short version of it is when a customer begins the check out process but leaves before completing it. It’s not the end of the world, but it still isn’t good business wise. It looks like a loss of orders and to your business. If your site suffers from a higher abandon rate, that number suggests you have a lower conversion rate, only forcing you to work harder in order to achieve those business goals.

Now, we know no two sites are the same. Each has its own advantages, disadvantages, and issues but they all share the same goal – SALES. With that goal in mind, we put together a small list of what we find keeps customers in the shopping cart and increases conversions.

· It should be obvious what to click next – How many customers do you think you lose on average because they are not sure what to do next? Even if your answer is one, that is one to many to lose. Even if you think your shopping cart directions are clear and easy, don’t automatically assume someone else will. Make it obvious where your customer needs to go next by using buttons like “Next Step” or “Continue Checkout” on each of the checkout pages. The button a customer needs to click to take them to the next step needs to be the most obvious part of the page. You don’t want a customer searching where to check out or becoming confused during the process. You’ll find they immediately will abandon your site.

· Use a progress indicator on each checkout page – Your customer needs to know where they are in the checkout process. It makes them feel more comfortable with their shopping experience. Even if your shopping cart is only two or three pages long, let them know that they are on page two or three. Your steps should be numbered and labeled correctly. You should also have a button that brings them back to review what they did in previous steps. Don’t forget about that button bringing them back to their original page.

· Make changing the shopping cart simple - The process of changing the quantities or options, or simply deleting an item from the shopping cart must be an easy and quick process. By making it difficult for a customer to alter their purchases, your site then appears to be either designed poorly or you are trying to deceive them. The last thing you want is the reputation for being shady and untrustworthy. You’ll be surprised how quickly negative opinions can spread of the internet. You don’t want to find out how. Also, design a simple way of changing or selecting a size or color from the shopping cart if the product is available in multiple variations.

· Give shipping costs early in the checkout process – Customers want to know how much their transaction is going to cost them as early possible in the checkout process. If it’s at all possible, try to give them an estimated cost as they browse selected items. Nothing bad can happen if you answer your customer’s questions early in the shopping process and their total cost is one of those big questions they want answered. They want to buy but want the answers to all their questions when they want them.

· Provide contact info for any questions – There will be times when a customer can get confused during their checkout. It’s happened to all of us. Give them a place to voice their concerns or ask questions to a real person. People feel more comfortable dealing with a real company with living, breathing employees.

· Use item pictures inside the basket – The final piece to the puzzle is to include a thumbnail image of the product in the shopping cart. A recent e-commerce study showed that images like this can increase conversions by nearly 10 percent.

You’ve spent a lot of time, money, and hard work building a website to increase sales and generally make your life easier. Don’t fall short so close to your goal of making a sale due to a confusing and ineffective shopping cart on your site. Give us the chance to fix it for you or contact us with any other questions you may have for increasing your web presence.