New Adventure

We have been working hard on our newest project, eCraft Classes.

http://www.ecraftclasses.com/ is pleased to announce of the launch of the new interactive website dedicated to online craft classes.

The classes are in a very easy format which make learning easy and fun. Each class has step by step photos and instructions. Many also include the pattern template for you to download. You can also contact the teacher if you have questions right from within the class.

If you've always wanted to create your own online craft classes your in for a treat. With eCraft Classes easy interface you can have your class uploaded in no time. You can also use the link codes provided for each of your classes, to place your class information on your own website, blog, email, newsletter and even a forum just like the one below. It doesn't get much easier than that!



Free Simple Pinwheel
Class Code: #10042
Make paper or fabric pinwheels
Price: FREE!


For more details visit http://www.ecraftclasses.com/ While your there be sure and check out the free class to get an idea of the layout of the classes and how easy they are to attend.

Be Flexible When Implementing New Things

In your business, your always going to try new things because if your not then likely your not growing. But it's important to remember that not everything you try will work or be beneficial to your business.

These new things can be small changes or even large ones and some will be successful and some won't. The important thing is to research as much as you before implementing them. Sometimes the idea on paper will work, but once implemented live will prove it needs more tweaking.

Recently, I decided to implement automating the way new items are added to our weekly newsletter that I send out to subscribers. Since I have a large membership base on one of my business sites, I thought it may be beneficial not only to my clients but for me to automate the way their new items are listed on the newsletter. This way avoiding the extra work of them sending me weekly e-mails with their new items each week. Instead the system would search for all the new items added to our site within the last 7 days and add them automatically. By concept this would be a nice little time saver for everyone.

This past Monday was the first test we did in trying out this new beta system. It didn't go off without any hitches unfortunately. But that's ok. It's new and I anticipated I would have to tweak it a time or two before getting it just right. Thankfully, I have understanding clients who trust my judgement and they know I will always do my best to make sure all of their new items get featured even if it means I add them manually again. That's what I mean by remaining flexible when implementing new things. In my particular situation, it could very well turn out that this new automation may not work to suite everyone's needs.

I remain flexible however and will see how it goes over the next newsletter mailing and if it proves it just won't do the job I need it to do efficiently, I'll go back to doing it manually.

Don't be afraid to try new things though. If you have clients like I do, they expect you to continue to improve the services you provide them and likely they will be patient while you try things to do just that. Every improvement you make to your service is beneficial to them as well.

Just remember that in the end, if something does not work to be flexible and be content with the fact that you may have to go back to what was working.

Your Friend and Fellow E-preneur,

Kelle Arvay

Miracle Money

I wanted to share with you a post that I did on one of my other blogs as I feel this could be helpful for any type of business.

The term "Miracle Money" is one I coined for any money I receive that I wasn't counting on, thus making it miracle money. I consider it a unexpected blessing from God. So what does miracle money have to do with being an artist or crafting? Well, I'm sure many of you that are reading my blog may craft as a business. It could be that you are a single parent and crafting is your livelihood. Or maybe you sell your crafts in order to supplement your families income.

Either way, this is where the topic of miracle money comes in. This isn't meant to offend anyone, but I speak from my heart and my faith is part of that. Plus I think this information can be beneficial to all crafters, regardless of their faith.

I know all of us have goals for ourselves. Either on a personal level or business level. We all want to see ourselves in a position of financial security for the future. The first step I believe in doing this is trusting in God. God never gives us more than we can handle and he wants to see us financially secure. That security lies within him.

"Consider the crows. They don't plant or harvest. They don't even have a storeroom or a barn. Yet, God feeds them. You are worth much more than birds." -- Luke 12:24

I've shared with you what my definition of miracle money is, now just what do I consider the form of miracle money to come in? For each of us this will be different. It could be a unexpected check in the mail, a gift from someone, a surprise savings you received on a product you bought at a store, etc. It can really vary. Any miracle money we receive serves two purposes. The first is to give back to God in the form of tithes, sponsoring through programs like http://www.teenchallenge.com/ , and putting the remaining money into savings for the purpose of financing the children's future college expenses, retirement, etc.

My husband and I also started savings account at the beginning of 2007. We sort of made a game out of it and we decided who ever had the most in their savings account by the end of the year gets a dinner and a movie. But truly, the reward is that each of us (with Gods help) will be reaching our goals of saving for the future. Also that night out will be a blessing as we'll be able to spend precious time with one another.

There is a wonderful christian based program that I feel so blessed to have found out about and it's called Crown Financial. I listen to their radio program almost daily and they offer so much sound christian based advice on their program called money matters. They also have a "money map" that you can get that teaches you the steps of obtaining financial freedom from debts, such as mortgages, car payments, student loans, and more. I highly recommend the resources they offer.

As christian artist and crafters (or business owners), it's really important to have a good solid foundation for the financial side of it based on biblical principles as our guide.

Your Friend and Fellow E-preneur,

Kelle Arvay

10 Ways to Keep Customers Buying

It's one thing to get customers to purchase your products and another to have customers continue to buy from you. This article is going share with you the top 10 ways to keep your customers coming back for more.

1. Offer a freebie with each purchase.
Offering something free with each purchase is a great marketing technique and customers love it. It doesn't have to be something expensive either. It could simply be a small token showing your appreciation for them being a valued patron. Depending on the product you offer it's important to keep the free item somewhat related to what you sell in general. It could also be something with your website name on it such as; a pen, small notepad, calendar, key chain, fridge magnet, etc.

2. Quality is essential.
Offering quality products is truly the only way to go. Regardless whether you buy products wholesale or make your own products such as crafts, it's important that they be of high quality. Offering products that are not of high quality may earn you a first sale from a customer but rarely a second. Customers will return and purchase more products from you if they can tell they are high quality items.

3. Value Quality and value go hand in hand.
Every customer is looking to purchase products that are a good value to them. This doesn't mean they have to be dirt cheap by any means. But it does mean that you need to be competitive and offer them a quality product at a reasonable price. Let's say you sell e-books. An e-book of course is a product that consists of no overhead for you and can be resold an infinite number of times. So instead of pricing that e-book at $39.99, offer the e-book for $9.99. Your jaw may have dropped at this point but let me explain why. It makes much more sense to sell 50 e-books at $9.99 and be ahead with $499.50 verses selling only 3 of the same e-books for $39.99 and only being ahead with $119.97.4. Uniqueness You probably wouldn't be too happy if you went to a trade show only to realize that half of the vendors sold the exact products you also sell. Customers feel the same way. They want something that is unique. This could simply be a variation on an existing product. For example you sell handmade pet garments. Since there are a large amount of pet garments for potential customers choose from, what is it about yours that make them unique? Perhaps you make yours with a certain type of fabric or make them in a unique style. Be creative and don't be a carbon copy of the next guy.

5. Customer testimonials.
If your not utilizing past customer testimonials you are really missing out on a powerful selling tool. Everyone wants to know the product they are thinking about buying is going to be a high quality product. Testimonials from past customers can ease their minds and give them that extra nudge to go from thinking about buying your product to actually buying it.

6. Money back guarantee.
Consider offering a money back guarantee if your customers are not satisfied with your product. Like customer testimonials, having a money back guarantee can give your potential customers confidence in the quality of your product and perhaps that little nudge they need to go ahead and purchase it. If you offer a money back guarantee and a customer is not satisfied you must be prompt and return their money.

7. Sales and time sensitive offers.
If you utilize a mailing list, announce to your list when you have a sale. Another thing to do is to offer a time sensitive offer. For example tell your list members that they can purchase a certain item at a discounted price until a certain date and/or time. The sense of urgency helps to create impulse buying. Or you can even offer a discount on a product to the first 10 customers that purchase it.

8. Refer a friend campaign.
A creative way to offer your customers an extra bonus is to set up a refer a friend campaign. You can do this by setting up an affiliate type program where each participating customer would receive an affiliate code which would have your website URL and their affiliate code at the end. Or if you prefer you could simply issue the participating customers an affiliate number. If they have a friend that purchases a product from you, they would simply input that code number into a referrer box upon checkout. The customer participating in the refer a friend campaign would receive the point for the referral. You could set it up where when they reach a certain number of points they get a certain percentage off their order. This could be graduating for example; 10 refer a friend points would equal 10% off their entire order. 20 refer a friend points would equal 20% off their entire purchase and so on.

9. Coupons with purchases.
When your customers order from you consider adding a coupon to their order that they can use on their next purchase. For tangible products, the coupon could be placed in the package of their order or attached to their receipt. For non-tangible products like e-goods you can set up an autoresponder that will send out an automatic email to the customer after their purchase and contain the coupon. This non-tangible coupon could be a code containing letters and numbers. They would redeem their coupons during the checkout process of their next purchase through your website.

10. Customer loyalty programs.
Customers love to be rewarded so why not reward them for their loyalty? This can be done by rewarding them with something extra after so many purchases they make. This can work for both tangible and non-tangible purchases. For tangible product purchases you would include the loyalty reward item in with their package. For non-tangible items it could be in the form of sending them an email offering them 20-30% off their next purchase as a part of your customer loyalty rewards program.

© 2007 Kelle Arvay. Kelle Arvay is an artist, writer and business owner. She has developed several of her own marketing techniques and strives to provide the best services possible to her clients. Additionally she is the founder and Co-publisher of a online craft magazine.

Resourceswww.PatternMart.com - Thousands of downloadable craft patterns.www.CreativeTimesMagazine.com - Free bi-monthly craft magazine.

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You have permission to publish this article electronically, in print, in your ebook or on your web site, free of charge, as long as you include the author byline and resource links above. Copy and Paste the article including authors byline to use this article.

Your Friend and Fellow E-preneur,

Kelle Arvay

How to Deliver the Best Customer Service

It seems in this day and age of exploding online business start ups on the Internet, a lot of effort goes into creating the perfect online presence. Including website design, SEO optimizing, marketing and promoting. But so often, one of the biggest things that can make or break your business is having great customer service. Sure you can have a fantastic website, great products and mass marketing campaigns going on. But if your customers feel your customer service is awful then your business will surely suffer for it.

You have to look at it this way. If you walked into a store you would surely expect the owner or sales person to be courteous and helpful right? Well, so do your customers online. When I say "customers", I'm also referring to businesses that offer intangible services and have clients also. Without customers and clients where would your business be? They are your greatest asset and you should treat them as such. So now that we've established why customer service is so important, what are the techniques for implementing the greatest customer service possible?

Let me offer you an outline to help the bigger picture come together for you.

1. The Golden Rule Method.
We all need to remember the golden rule of "Treat others as you would want to be treated". This definitely applies when it comes to customer service. Give your customers the same treatment and attention that you would expect from a business. A good business that is.

2. The Customer Is Always Right.
NEVER argue with a customer or client, even if they are wrong. Instead respond to their question or complaint in a polite and non-threatening manner. Do your best to explain yourself and offer answers to whatever issue they are having. For example if a customer purchases a product from your website and complains that they thought it would be bigger and are not happy with it. The best thing to do is to in this case would be to respond and tell them that you are sorry they are not happy with the item and offer A). They can return the item for a refund or B). Depending on your policies, offer them a website credit. Both examples of course are based on whatever policies you have in place. If you have a policy that says no refunds or exchanges. Instead, offer them an online voucher of so much off their next purchase if that is all you can give. But don't not do something for this customer or you might as well wave good-bye to them for any possibility that they will order from you again. Not only that but you probably won't gain any of their friends or family as customers either. Of course there are customers out there that can be dishonest and take advantage of situations so you have to use your judgment per individual situations. But for the most part it's always wise to err on the side that the customer is always right and offer what you can to rectify the situation in hopes that they will continue to purchase from you and tell others what a great company your company is.

3. Remember it's email.
While email is a great communication tool, it doesn't have the ability to convey verbal expression. Unlike communicating on the phone where people can hear the expression in your voice. So always be aware of this when sending your responses to your customers and try to write them in such a way that expresses their importance to you and your concern for whatever issue they have.

4. Be Accessible.
There's nothing worse than feeling like the customer service of a business is not very accessible. Always have an area on your website for customer service inquiries. Don't let your customers feel like they can't come ask you a question at anytime. A good idea is to add at the end of your response to your customers something like "If I can answer any more questions or assist you in any way, please don't hesitate to contact me again". This will let them know that they can come ask you anything, anytime. Some customers and clients can tend to not want to "bother" you. But you want them to know they are not bothering you with questions, concerns or comments they may have. Being accessible not only keeps the communication lines open but it builds that so important trust you want your customers and clients to have for you and your company.

5. Don't Make Them Wait.
No one likes to wait for a response from a business. I'm sure many of you have sat on hold while calling a company and it feels like forever. Customers get frustrated with this. Unless your company has a huge customer service response team it may be unrealistic for you to respond to customer service inquiries immediately. But you can at least let them know that you received their customer service inquiry by implementing an autoresponder through your email client. This would be a email they would receive right after contacting customer service telling them that you have received their email, letting them know how important they are to you and giving them a time line as to when they can expect a response from you. For example a autoresponse email might say "Thank you for contacting "Your Company Name Here". Your inquiry is very important to us and we wanted to let you know that we will respond to your inquiry promptly within the next 24 hours. Thank you and we look forward to speaking with you shortly." -Signed by Your name and Your Company.

6. Follow Up.
A nice customer service touch is to follow up with the customer. Say for example you have a customer that has a problem ordering or issue from a client that subscribes to your service. A simple email a day or so later asking them if they've experienced any further difficulty will be very appreciated and allow for an open door that you initiated in case they indeed are having more difficulties. Don't overdue it of course. Just the one follow up is sufficient. Some customers/clients may not respond and that's ok as no response usually means all is well. I hope the previous has been helpful and you all will go out now and perfect your customer service.

Remember customer service is one of the most important aspects of your business. It is one of the big reasons that your customers will keep coming back to your company.

© 2007 Kelle Arvay. Kelle Arvay is an artist, writer and business owner. She has developed several of her own marketing techniques and strives to provide the best services possible to her clients. Additionally she is the founder and Co-publisher of a online craft magazine.

Resources
www.PatternMart.com - Thousands of downloadable craft patterns.
www.CreativeTimesMagazine.com - Free bi-monthly craft magazine.

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You have permission to publish this article electronically, in print, in your ebook or on your web site, free of charge, as long as you include the author byline and resource links above. Copy and Paste the article including authors byline to use this article.

Your Friend and Fellow E-preneur,

Kelle Arvay