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Creating Websites Like E-Commerce Sites

You might want to create a website of your own, with a common example being a business or e-commerce website. E-commerce stands for electronic commerce, and refers to Internet sites that buy or sell products or services directly, including both physical products and services and virtual products and services. Exchanging financial data is also an important part of e-commerce in the context of online payments. E-mail and mobile phones are also often involved with e-commerce.

Aspects of E-commerce

E-commerce is made possible via electronic funds transfer, online transaction processing, electronic data interchange, automated data collection systems, inventory management systems, supply chain management and Internet marketing. Most commercial entities are at least somewhat involved in e-commerce today.

E-commerce Applications

E-commerce transactions tend to be either business to business or business to consumer. There are many common e-commerce applications. These include supply chain and logistics document automation, enterprise content management, group or collective buying, domestic and international payment systems, instant messaging, newsgroups and automated online assistants.

More on E-commerce

Other aspects of e-commerce include online banking, online shopping, online order tracking, online office suites, teleconferencing, online tickets and shopping cart software. Some aspects of e-commerce tend to be regulated by governments. These often include online advertising, commercial e-mails and consumer privacy.

E-commerce Distribution

Some e-commerce practitioners exist only over the Internet, with an e-commerce website and perhaps other websites but not physical storefront or location. There are also more traditional commercial entities with storefronts or physical locations that also have a web presence that include an e-commerce website both for direct sales and for drawing more business to physical storefronts.

Making E-commerce Websites

Professional web designers can create e-commerce sites, but amateurs and laymen can use such applications as website builder tools, website design software and e-commerce software to do so as well. The best e-commerce sites are often simple and efficient in design, and it is generally not difficult to plan, build, launch and maintain an e-commerce website given the appropriate tools.

E-commerce and E-business

E-commerce is a subset of e-business, which is business conducted more efficiently with the use of information technologies. Internally within a business this can mean customer relationship management, human resources management, content management, enterprise resource planning, document management systems and communications systems such as digital audio, voice mail, e-mail, web conferencing and digital work flows.

Examples of E-commerce Products and Services

Software, electronic books and streaming media are some examples of online goods and services. E-commerce retail services can include travel, banking, food ordering, online pharmacy, online flower delivery and DVD-by-mail. Examples of mobile commerce include banking, ticketing and payment services. Some e-commerce marketplace services include advertising, auctions, online wallets, trading communities, price comparison services and social commerce.

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5 Ways MYOB Improves Your Business Productivity

MYOB is a powerful and versatile software package that will assist any business to improve its business productivity. There are a variety of MYOB courses available that will show you how you can not only set up your records properly, but also how to get the best out of them. Using the reports facility is one simple way you can keep on top of your business by creating a snapshot of your business as it currently stands.The more advanced features of many MYOB modules give businesses even greater capacity to maximise profit opportunities by giving accountants some powerful tools to assist their clients in planning for a profitable future.Let’s take a look at some of the things you can do with MYOB to make your business more productive and more profitable.Make Better Decisions. By utilising the information that can be generated within MYOB, business owners can discover methods of streamlining and improving their business. You can look at things like tax liabilities, projected financial data and other important performance measures to predict the effect of any business decision.
Cash Flow Projections. MYOB allows your accountant to create a scorecard of your business which is easy to read and understand. You can use this to determine emerging cash flow issues as well as profit performance. Having this information on hand at the press of a button means that you will always be on top of vital data that best describes your business.
Adding Value. You can utilise a ‘what if’ scenario query to examine the effects on cash flow or profits of any decision you are thinking of implementing. This is a great way to establish a clear picture of the impact on the overall business before a decision is actually made. This data is also vital in supporting the loan applications as many banks will be able to use the data to assess any finance application.
Meaningful Numbers. MYOB has a sophisticated analytical system in place which converts raw data into something which is easily understood by the non accountants. This places business owners into a much more powerful position by giving them a hands on knowledge of financial data that they can use much more easily and sensibly. These numbers can then be used to develop specific strategies to improve business.
Anticipate Changes. Imagine being able to predict the effect on your business in the event of a potential interest rate rise. In today’s business environment borrowings are a critical aspect of the business which need to be constantly monitored, and in an environment of rising interest rates being able to anticipate the changes well in advance can make planning a much more straightforward proposition.In a nutshell, MYOB provides you with the capacity to analyse in depth any aspect of your business. This analysis can then be further developed by strategising and exploring possibilities and make them easily understood by producing simple flowcharts of key results. Your MYOB Certified Consultant can show you how to utilise the tools contained in this extremely powerful software package.

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Best Way to Start a Photography Business

So you have a digital camera and you are thinking of turning your photography hobby into a successful business. But where do you start? From a logo, to a website, blogsite, domain name, email account, business card, camera equipment, lighting equipment, accounting software — you are feeling a little overwhelmed. The question is, what should you do first?Identify the one action that will make the biggest impactWhen starting any new business, you will have many things to do. The hardest part is knowing what to do first. Although, several things may be important, think to yourself, “what is the one thing that will make the biggest impact in launching my business?” For example, hiring a great accountant is important, but without any clients or income, this step will have very little impact in launching your business.Biggest impact for photography businessesGet a website! Getting a website will have the single greatest impact on starting a photography business. Certainly, word-of-mouth and referrals will bring you business as well. But, for example, if someone refers a business to you, what is the first thing you do? You go online and check out their website! Times have changed, getting a professional looking website is not difficult or expensive. There are many beautiful template photography website companies out there. You simply upload your own photos and content. You can even change the look of the website without any graphic design skills. Best of all, many of these companies help you set up your domain name and email accounts. These companies charge anywhere from $6 – $50/month on average. (Once your business is more established you may wish to hire a professional to design your website/blogsite – see branding below).What content should be on the website?Make sure to include your business name and location. So often I see photographers have forgotten to give their location! Don’t have a studio or a physical address? That’s okay. It is just important that you include the city and state/province that you work in. This is important for Google. You want your website to show up when someone searches for photography services in your city! For example, a potential client may type “Windsor Wedding Photographer” into a Google search. You want to make sure that you have mentioned on your website that you are a Wedding Photographer in Windsor!Also, be sure to give your contact information – email and telephone number. It is ideal to have this on your “contact” page, and at the bottom of every page on your website. You want to make it as easy as possible for people to contact you!Finally, write a little bit about yourself and what type of photography you do. People can’t hire you if they don’t know what you do!What images should I put on my website?Many new photographers worry that they don’t have enough photos for a portfolio page. Don’t worry! Less is often more. If you are starting a wedding photography business, put up some wedding related photos. Don’t have very many wedding photos? Try this: go to your local florist and buy a beautiful bouquet. Then take some beautiful detail photos of it. Ask a friend if you can take some detail photos of her engagement ring and wedding band. Slowly, as you get more clients your portfolio will grow and you can add more photos. If you are starting a kids portrait photography business and you don’t have a lot of photos of children – ask a friend if you can photograph her toddler for the website.I am by no means suggesting that you lie to clients about your level of experience. These are just some ideas on how to get supporting images for your website. Also, getting out there and taking more photographs is a great exercise in photography!Unsure of your company’s identity? What about branding?You always hear about people who haven’t started their photography businesses yet because everything behind the scenes, (branding, logo, studio, etc), isn’t perfect yet. They are afraid to start until everything is perfect. Chances are they will never be perfect – and they will never start. Your style and your company’s identity will become clearer to you the more you photograph. For example, you may decide that would like to photograph newborns only to discover, from experience, that you don’t have the patience. And you later realize that you really excel in the fast pace world of wedding photography.Things to think aboutThere are many simple/plain website templates out there that you can choose from, if you are still discovering your style and brand. You can refine the your website’s style later. Look at established companies – they are always updating their website’s style! Don’t wait until everything is perfect behind the scenes to start your photography company. You might just be waiting forever! Get your website up, because it is the one action you can take that will have the biggest impact on propelling your photography business forward. Good luck!

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