6 obstacles to e-commerce and possible solutions

1. Not everyone speaks English
Well, duh! We all know that! But did you know that aside from the official language(s) in each country, there are also many different regional dialects? How do we reach such a diversity of cultures and languages when the only language we speak is English?

The best advice I can offer is to try to express yourself as plainly and clearly as possible, and proofread what you are writing to make sure there are no spelling mistakes or grammatical errors.

Use Google Translator to translate the text into the desired language and send both the original and translated versions to your client. The translation won't be perfect, but it should help you bridge the language gap.

Finally, make sure you avoid using slang words or local jargon that will inevitably get lost in translation and leave your interlocutor more baffled than enlightened.

2. Not everyone conducts business the same way
Some people have a straightforward, no-nonsense approach to conducting business. I call it the "Wham Bam, Thank You Ma'am" business approach (in and out of a meeting so fast, it makes your head spin). It may be the most practical and time-saving way to do business, but that is not the way it is done in many parts of the world.

If you really want to go global, don't expect your customers to always adapt to your way of doing things. On the contrary, learn how they do business and adopt some of their practices. You will open many more doors this way, and your clients will be much more receptive to what you have to offer. I guarantee it!

3. Limited payment options for international customers
In America, the ability to buy a product online is something we take for granted. We don't think twice about tossing the product we want into a virtual shopping cart, and paying for it from a variety of payment options. It's something we do every day without a second thought. Not so in other parts of the world.

Some countries have strict regulations and/or major restrictions when it comes to paying for products acquired from abroad. Many people have debit or credit cards that can only be used to pay for purchases within their own borders. Despite the growing popularity of e-commerce in these countries, their payment options for global purchases are still very limited.

If you want people from these countries to buy your products, it's up to you to find a solution. Once you know what their limitations are and how they can be resolved, let them know which specific payment options or methods will work for them. The easier you make their lives, the happier they will make you and your bottom line.

4. Distrust of the Internet
There is still an enormous amount of distrust when it comes to buying online. Many people are afraid their credit card information or their identities will get stolen or sold to third parties. They may also have doubts about whether the product they buy can really be delivered to them on time and in one piece.

Others are unwilling to buy online because they worry that the product won't live up to their expectations. Will it look the same as it does in the picture? Will it fit? Will it work? What if it is damaged during shipping?

The thought of having to pay for shipping costs to return a product that was unsatisfactory, and the real possibility that they may not get a full refund if the seller decides it is unwarranted, makes many people think twice about buying online.

How do you overcome these obstacles? Make sure you have a clear and fair return policy and always be available to answer any questions or doubts your customers may have. Bear in mind that things can go wrong, and many times it won't be your customer's fault.

By building a good rapport with your clients and providing top-notch customer service, they will be delighted to tell their friends and families how safe and easy it is to buy from you online. Word of mouth is still a very powerful marketing tool, so try to always get rave reviews.

5. Duties, taxes and banned products
It's important to know which of your products are banned in certain countries, which ones need a special import permit and whether any of them will have to pay a duty or tax. Many people aren't aware of their country's laws and restrictions and could end up blaming you if their product is detained in customs.

Be well-informed about all the restrictions, taxes and/or duties for all of the products your customers wish to buy, and let them know about the risks and additional costs they may have to face before they place their order. A well-advised customer is a happy customer.

6. Shipping costs
Most times, shipping costs can be equal to or more expensive than the product itself, depending of course on the product. if you plan to ship products overseas, be prepared to do some fancy footwork and legwork.

First, find which shipping method is the right one for each circumstance and destination: air freight, sea freight, international courier, etc. Your choice will depend on whether your customers are prepared to wait longer for their purchase if it means lower shipping costs, or whether they need it sooner, despite the extra cost.

Second, I suggest you try to negotiate the best deal you can with your shipper of choice. If he is unwilling to give you a lower tariff, shop around. There is so much competition nowadays, that you will surely find a company that is willing to give you a slightly better price, especially if you plan to use their service often enough.

Another solution could be to get one of your customers to buy in bulk and resell to others, so that he can prorate the shipping costs and perhaps even make a profit. This should work if it is a popular item and easy to sell in their particular country.

If all else fails, crunch your numbers and see if you can absorb some of the shipping costs while still maintaining a reasonable profit margin. If you can do this, you will earn your customer's undying gratitude and loyalty.

These six examples are just a few of the obstacles we face since the Internet became such a huge commodity. Although it has allowed us to 'virtually' cross borders and navigate freely to every corner of the earth, we still have much to learn about the customs, traditions, perceptions and misgivings of this diverse population when it comes to conducting business online.

I would love to hear what other obstacles you have encountered while doing business online with people from other nations.

Thanks for your feed-back and have a great week!

Good News vs Bad News

This week has been a real roller coaster ride. Not one minute of boredom. As the title says, I have good news and bad news, so let's get to the good stuff first.

Great news! I won my third auction yesterday and it was the best, most exhilarating win yet. I won a 300 TCredit Pack. TCredits are the currency we use at TripleClicks to buy products, list our second-hand stuff on our TConnect page, download music, bid in auctions or play Eager Zebra games.

I never thought I would ever win one of these auctions because everyone –and I mean everyone– wants to win TCredits. They are really valuable, so there is always a lot of competition. I'm thinking that my win was due more to dumb luck than brilliant strategy, but who cares… I won!!!

More good news: In the past seven days I've won five –yes FIVE– T-Time contests at TripleClicks. Winning this many in one week has never happened to me before. For those of you who aren't members of TripleClicks, the T-Time contest awards free TCredits every hour and since it doesn't cost anything, I usually try to enter as many times as I can each day.

Another piece of really good news: I won 10 CSAs (Co-Sponsored Affiliates) in last Monday's SFI Daily Grand drawing. That's 10 more members on my team. Yesssss! After so many years of rarely winning anything, not even coin tosses, these past few months at SFI have changed my luck completely. Life is good!

Now, to the not so good news: Facebook has restricted me from doing certain actions for a whole week for having the audacity to try and share the good news about my auction win. I say "try to share" because they never did let me, even when I protested that it was indeed a legitimate post. 

The notification says: "Some your activity is limited because it looks like your computer may be affected by Malware", which is total bollocks! I'm not too happy with them at the moment. I'm already a paying customer, so I'm thinking they really shouldn't bite the hand that feeds them… the same hand that would slap them silly, given half a chance. Just kidding! In real life I am a peace-loving pussy cat, but in my fertile imagination I am "Moira, the Warrior Princess". Hear me roar!

Anyway, after weighing the good against the bad, I am happy to report that good still comes out on top! I can survive a whole week without these 'restricted' Facebook actions –no idea exactly what they are yet. It will take about that long for the glow from my amazing auction win to fade, so Facebook… eat yer heart out!

Have a stupendous week!
PS If you think you know the answer to "What country will win the 2014 World Cup and how many total goals will be scored?", visit my website for a free Gift Card to enter 6 predictions in the Eager Zebra Time Machine game. The Jackpot is getting juicier by the minute. Offer valid only for non-members of TripleClicks and SFI.

3 Steps Towards Creating A Profitable Daily Work Routine

There are a number of benefits to be gained from creating a daily work routine. Most importantly, you will know how to use your time more efficiently as well as more profitably. A lot of people who run home-based businesses don't normally think about the value of their time in terms of dollars, because their profit usually comes from completing projects or making sales.

If you had an infinite amount of time, you could complete thousands of projects or make thousands of sales. Sadly, you don't. Time is the only constant that you cannot alter. Here is a closer look at how you can create a daily work ritual that provides you with the maximum amount of income per hour spent working.

1 Create a Baseline

The first step is to create a baseline. The easiest way to do this is by tracking how you spend your average work week and tracking every task that relates to your business. This includes actions which may not be directly profitable, such as checking your email, time spent on Facebook or other social and business networks, and returning phone calls.

Once you have a baseline, you will learn how you are actually spending your time. A lot of people who work from home will say that they are working 8 hours a day, when they are really only working four or five hours. This is because they end up losing time by glancing at the television or tending to in-house concerns not related to work, such as getting the kids ready for school, making lunch, etc. When tracking how you spend your time, it is important to be as detailed as possible.

To make things easier, you should keep a manual log where you write down when you begin and end every task, regardless of what it is. Also track how long you spend running any particular application and how long you spend on every website you visit. You might be surprised at how much time you are spending on doing things that have nothing to do with improving your business.

2 Re-Prioritize and Create a Plan

Once you acquire a baseline understanding of how much time you waste when you lack a specific routine, you can start prioritizing your time better. The problem with a lot of people is that they have a hard time deciding what is profitable and what isn't. The best place to start is by cutting everything that isn't work-related.

When you are running a home based business, it can be difficult to separate your work from your personal life. However, this is the time to do it. Anything that is remotely personal, cut out of your daily schedule. In most cases, an efficient 5 hour work routine can be much more profitable than an unscheduled 8 hour work day.

Simply add an hour to the beginning or end of your “shift” to take care of all of the personal tasks for the day. Once all of the personal tasks are cut out, take a look at how long you are spending on your work-related tasks and try to get them done more efficiently.

3 Don't forget to Update

It is important to remember that this isn't something you can do once and then forget about it completely. You should review your ritual every month and try to find changes that will further enhance your profitability and productivity. This will not only boost your profits, but help you identify what really matters and what doesn't.

Have a great week!

20 reasons why I love SFI - The Movie

Today, instead of writing my usual blog, I decided to make a little movie. It's of course about my favorite subject, SFI, but I created some colorful graphics to go with the usual blah, blah, blah, so I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed making it.

The song you'll hear is "Blue Monday" as recorded by Renato López and Naftalina. The words and music are by Domino/Bartholomew.

Have a great week!
PS Don't forget to check out my website

For a better quality video, please click on this link: http://youtu.be/d4hlYWw1KXc 

Has the Internet overtaken our lives?

Over the years, technological advances have revolutionized our lives and none more so than the Internet. Nowadays, it's so easy to access the Internet, type whatever information we need into a search engine, and presto! We are connected to the world wide web, and in a matter of seconds we find what we are looking for. It's such a normal thing to do that we've even gone so far as to turn the name of a search engine into a verb: any time we want to find an answer to anything, we simply "google it".

This is what we've come to expect now that we are deeper into the 21st Century: instant global communication and instant gratification. There's no avoiding the fact that the Internet has certainly made my work easier and I'm sure everyone else's, which is why we depend on it so much and why, over time, we've come to take it for granted. It's only when we don't have it that we realize what a huge role it plays in our lives.

Well, today I am not taking the Internet for granted. In fact, I've been trying to log on all day but the service is intermittent at best. That means 30 seconds of Internet and a frustrating 20 minutes or more of waiting for it to come back. Why? Because it's raining, and when it rains here in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, it pours. And when it pours, flooding occurs and then certain things stop working altogether, like traffic lights and yes, you've guessed it, the Internet.

Luckily, the electricity didn't conk out on me. I still have my phone service, cable TV and my computer, so I'm by no means isolated from the world, although it seems that way without the Internet. It feels weird not to be able to go and check my social networks or log in to SFI and send my weekly newsletter to my team which, by the way, I was about to do before this happened. It's like a big chunk of my daily life has suddenly been reduced to a fraction of what I usually do.

I was also about to finish a translation I'm working on when it happened, so I am literally left 'at a loss for words'. Without the Internet I am unable to consult any online dictionaries, and can't find what I need in my trusty old printed dictionary because it is totally obsolete. Yes, I still have it, but it will have to go back to its place on the bookshelf, and I'll have to finish my translation later. It's not as if I can send it anyway. No email!

Not having much else to do, I started walking aimlessly around my apartment. At some point, my mind started to wander and then I began to wonder: When did my whole life start revolving around the Internet? When did surfing the Internet become more entertaining than curling up with a good book? How did I go from playing cards with friends to online solitaire? How did I become so dependent on the Internet? What would I do without it? Not a pretty thought, I assure you, since at the moment my livelihood depends on it.

Now, as I sit at my desk finishing this blog post and watching the tropical rain beat against my window, my question is this: have we become so dependent on the Internet that our lives come to a grinding halt whenever it is taken away from us? In my case, you bet! At least for today. What about you? Let me know how you cope when your internet service dies on you, and what you would do if there were no more Internet… perish the thought!

Have a great week!

PS If you are reading this, it means my internet came back… well, duh! I bet you've already figured that out, lol!