Posts Tagged ‘positive’
Friday, May 22nd, 2009
By Robert Lockard
Happy Memorial Day on Monday!
This is a different kind of eHarbor Blog entry. To help celebrate this holiday, I’d like to share some interesting facts about Memorial Day, its origins and what it celebrates. Enjoy!
- Memorial Day was first called Decoration Day.
- The first Memorial Day celebration is believed to have occurred in Waterloo, N.Y. on May 5, 1866. Every business was closed and flags were lowered to half-mast that day to honor the Union soldiers who died in the Civil War.
- May 30 was designated the official date of Memorial Day for many years because no Civil War battle was fought that day. Organizers wanted to honor soldiers who fought in all battles.
- Many Southern states, including Tennessee, the Carolinas and Virginia, celebrate Confederate Memorial Day in addition to Memorial Day.
- Memorial Day didn’t become an official federal holiday until 1971. The celebration date was changed from May 30 to the last Monday of May.
- Memorial Day weekend is the unofficial start of the summer movie season, although that has changed in the past several years.
We’ll return to ecommerce topics soon. Have a great three-day weekend! The photo of the U.S. flags is from Flickr, and it is the copyright of Bart Fields.
Tags: eHarbor, event, flag, Fun, history, holiday, origin, past, positive, United States
Posted in Fun | No Comments »
Monday, May 18th, 2009
By Robert Lockard
A large number of consumers need more than promises of good deals to get them to shop online. According to a report by the Office of Fair Trading, a third of Internet users don’t trust websites enough to buy products on them.
I read this in a BBC News article, entitled “Fear holding back online shopping,” which gave empirical evidence of a fact I had suspected. Twenty percent of potential online consumers said they don’t use shop online because they might put themselves at risk for identity theft or other dangers. Another 15 percent said they don’t trust online retailers enough to do business with them.
This topic goes right along with my eHarbor Blog entry on the disadvantages of ecommerce, such as consumers’ inability to touch products they see online like they can at shopping centers.
Just because technology has improved our ability to market to consumers doesn’t mean we will always reach them. Identity theft has become quite sophisticated and prevalent in our digital age, putting smart consumers on the lookout and retailers on the defensive.
We must earn our customers’ trust. How do we do this? Here are six suggestions:
- Include testimonials of satisfied customers who can vouch for your products and services. You might be surprised how willing happy customers are to speak highly of you on your website.
- Provide secure payment methods, using credible sources. I’m not going to advertise any here, but do a Google search and you’ll find a number of good ones.
- Tell customers the actions you take to preserve their security. Don’t assume they know all the trouble you go through to make sure they’re not improperly charged. You can include a prominent link to this section on the billing page.
- Make sure your customer service is top-notch. If your service staff is readily available, knowledgeable and helpful, you’ll be able to resolve problems and help customers develop confidence that you have their best interests at heart.
- Put a face on your website. People tend to feel more comfortable doing business with a person rather than a faceless organization. If you can put yourself or a spokesman out front to build credibility, you might be able to win over more customers.
- Keep your promises. If you make bold claims, make sure you can back them up with impressive actions. Words are good, but they must be built on the truth to foster trust.
Those are my suggestions on how to build trust. Don’t be afraid to take a chance and do something inventive to earn your customers’ confidence and, thus, their business. Consumers are holding back a lot of their money as they weather the recession, so you’ll need to be creative and forthright to win them over.
By the way, some good news from the BBC news article is that the amount of online shoppers who feel just as comfortable shopping online as at a store increased from 26 percent in 2006 to 54 percent in 2009. This is a welcome trend.
The photo of a credit card in a computer is from Flickr, and it is the copyright of garethjmsaunders.
Tags: article, BBC, customer service, Ecommerce, eHarbor, growth, internet, marketing, news, online, positive, study, trust, web
Posted in Ecommerce | 3 Comments »
Thursday, May 14th, 2009
By Robert Lockard
After winning by a 15-point margin in its third game, eHarbor, Inc.’s softball team set a new record by winning its next two games to maintain a perfect record this season.
eHarbor played its fourth game on May 6, 2009 and its fifth game a week later on May 13, 2009. The scores of the two games were 16-5 in the fourth game, and 27-17 in the fifth.
Highlights of the fourth game:
- Five players batted 1.000.
- One player went 4 for 4 with an in-the-park home run.
Highlights of the fifth game:
- One player hit a ball out of the park for a home run.
- Two players batted 1.000.
- In its first inning at bat, eHarbor went through its batting order 1.5 times.
- This is the fourth game eHarbor has won by 10 points or more this season.
As I mentioned in one of my first blog entries, eHarbor’s slogan for 2009 is “Swinging for the fence.” Our softball team is doing just that. Our success on the baseball field is symbolic of our success in the field of online marketing and ecommerce.
Our next game will be on Wednesday, May 20, 2009 in Provo, Utah. The photo of an eHarbor player hitting the ball is from the fifth game.
Tags: baseball, company, eHarbor, event, Fun, positive, provo, slogan, sport, success, utah
Posted in Fun, eHarbor | 3 Comments »
Friday, May 8th, 2009
By Robert Lockard
Let’s face it, consumers have cut back tremendously on their spending. Profits are down for many companies, and it doesn’t look like things are improving swiftly.
Unemployment is expected to keep increasing, even after the overall economy improves. We shouldn’t expect people to make a whole lot of purchases when they’re not sure if they’ll have enough income to pay for them.
Now is a good time to change our thinking on how to market to our customers.
I read an article on ZDNet, entitled “Forrester: e-commerce ‘better suited to withstand economic downturn’,” which gives some exciting information about the growth in the ecommerce industry, thanks, in part, to the economic downturn.
Ecommerce is a less-expensive way to do business because it doesn’t involve most of the usual costs of doing business in a mall or other shopping center. Plus, it’s cheaper to advertise online than in traditional media, as newspapers have painfully learned.
Most of their online spending is on email campaigns. Social media is also becoming a popular avenue for businesses, although search engine optimization is another way to reach targeted audiences. We had a seven-part series on search engine optimization that might be helpful in successfully implementing it on your website.
This topic is building on ideas I introduced back in March when I wrote back-to-back blog entries on the ecommerce industry: one about how retailers are investing in ecommerce and Web advertising, and the other on how consumers are spending more online.
In the second blog post, I pointed out that ecommerce sales will likely dip slightly in 2009 before increasing again in 2010. However, in the ZDNet article, the author says they might grow by 11 percent to $156.1 billion. Whichever study you look at, it appears ecommerce is outperforming nearly every other retail industry.
Profit attracts competition, so be mindful of how you enter into this market. Be sure to put your best foot forward by using eHarbor, Inc.’s affiliates to guide you through your website design and other important steps.
The photo of the water drop is from Flickr, and it is the copyright of Gaetan Lee.
Tags: article, consumer, Ecommerce, economy, eHarbor, Forrester, humor, Media, news, positive, research, retail, search engine optimization, SEO
Posted in Ecommerce | 3 Comments »
Wednesday, May 6th, 2009
By Robert Lockard
Technology might actually be a boon for traditional media providers, thanks to Amazon’s new version of Kindle, called Kindle DX.
If you read my blog posts on the New York Times and news media in general, you know that traditional news providers seem to be in trouble. Their revenue keeps falling, readership is mostly in decline, and other factors point to a shift in the way people gather news.
This Kindle development is a welcome bit of good news.
I read about Kindle in an article in Computer World, entitled “New Kindle creates new challenges for publishers.” This sounds quite exciting. The previous Kindle version had a six-inch display, but the new one will have a 9.7-inch display, making it easier to read books, newspapers, magazines and other content.
Instead of facing the problem of providing news free of charge, news publishers might actually be able to pull in decent revenue with portable devices like this. The New York Times has already been offering its content to Kindle readers for a monthly fee, but it is expected to lower that fee for the new version.
This is certainly a good opportunity for news publishers, but it comes with a few question marks. Since the technology is so new, it might be difficult to tell what price consumers are willing to pay. Also, news websites and blogs are still popular, and it might be difficult to persuade people to give up their free news sources for a portable, paid service. Cell phones can be used to read news articles, but they are much smaller, so maybe this is a viable option.
Amazon is the first to delve into this new industry, but there will surely be competitors soon, and that could also help news providers by giving them more avenues to sell their content through.
I’m glad to share this positive story. I might write a follow-up blog entry about the Kindle product after it debuts. We’ll wait and see. Stay tuned for more ecommerce stories like this in the eHarbor Blog.
The photo of Kindle and the New York Times is from Flickr, and it is the copyright of jocke66.
Tags: Amazon, article, Ecommerce, eHarbor, internet, Kindle, Media, new, new york times, news, online, positive, revenue, technology
Posted in Ecommerce, Media | 3 Comments »
Monday, May 4th, 2009
By Robert Lockard
eHarbor, Inc.’s softball team continued its winning streak on Wednesday, April 29, 2009 by beating the other team 27-12. That’s right, a 15-point victory. Our team’s record this season is now 3-0.
eHarbor's softball team includes President John Russell (top left) and CEO Oliver Bigler (top center, with three on his right and left).
Here are some of the highlights:
- Five players batted 1.000.
- One player had two triples.
- Despite the high score, no one on the eHarbor team managed to hit a home run. One player hit the ball off the fence, though.
I’ll get back to ecommerce topics soon. Stay tuned for more positive stories from eHarbor and its affiliates.
Tags: baseball, company, eHarbor, event, Fun, orem, positive, provo, sport, success, utah
Posted in Fun, eHarbor | 3 Comments »
Thursday, April 30th, 2009
By Robert Lockard
You might remember my blog posts on eHarbor, Inc.’s celebration of its successful start to 2009 with a showing of the movie “Knowing.” I’m pleased to say the good times keep coming, as the company recently announced its annual summer party on June 12-13, 2009.
That’s not to say that we’re celebrating all the time or that we’re focused solely on having fun. Our slogan for 2009 is “Swinging for the fence,” and we’re doing our best to live up to that ideal by working hard and giving our best effort.
Back to the eHarbor Summer Party, it is going to be fun. All eHarbor employees are invited to come enjoy camping, barbecue, an outdoor movie (I love movies!), golf tournament and some sort of water e-lympics.
These festivities will take place in Hobble Creek Canyon, near Springville, Utah.
The photo of a tiger playing with a ball is from Flickr, and it is the copyright of Tambako the Jaguar. This is the second photo of a tiger I’ve included in the eHarbor Blog. I also included a photo of a lion with my blog post on making content king. I really like cats.
Tags: company, Ecommerce, eHarbor, event, flickr, Fun, growth, Knowing, marketing, movie, online, positive, slogan, success, utah, website
Posted in Fun, eHarbor | 1 Comment »
Friday, April 24th, 2009
By Robert Lockard
Two weeks ago I mentioned eHarbor, Inc. won its first game of the softball season in the Provo/Orem recreation league. On Wednesday, April 22, 2009 our team played its second game.
We were supposed to play our second game last Wednesday, but, amazingly, it snowed several inches and made the field unplayable. Snow in spring! Global warming, I guess.
Our softball team took the field Wednesday at 9:15 p.m. and kept swinging for the fence until we won 21-16. We’re now 2-0!
The game’s highlights included:
- Four eHarbor players batted 1.000.
- Two players hit home runs. Mike Sorenson, a Submit Solution representative, got an in-the-park home run, while Calvin Russell once again hit one into the parking lot.
Our team’s next game is scheduled for Wednesday, April 29, 2009 at 6:15 p.m. Hopefully we won’t see any snow this time.
This is my 30th blog entry on the eHarbor Blog. We’ve come a long way in the past three months. I’ve been talking a lot recently about social media, news media companies like the New York Times and, of course, ecommerce. I thought I’d take a break from that hard and heavy stuff to talk about other things I find interesting – things that make me happy.
I hope you notice the tag logo we added to the eHarbor Blog. You can see it in the address window above. We made it using Favicon.
The photo of the baseball player swinging is from Flickr, and it is the copyright of AlphaTangoBravo / Adam Baker.
Tags: affiliate, baseball, company, eHarbor, flickr, Fun, game, news, orem, positive, provo, slogan, sport, Submit Solution, success, utah
Posted in Fun, eHarbor | 1 Comment »
Friday, April 10th, 2009
By Robert Lockard
eHarbor, Inc. has a tradition of playing softball in the Provo/Orem area’s recreation league. It’s a fun way for eHarbor employees in different departments to come together and build teamwork. In March, eHarbor’s team re-formed and on April 8, 2009, we played our first game.
And we pretty much blew out the competition, winning 13-3.
One employee in particular, Calvin Russell (who works in the support department), really swung for the fence and ended the game with a home run. It’s so cool that eHarbor employees can not only achieve great results in their web-design projects and online marketing, but also spend time excelling in fun activities like this.
The team’s next game is scheduled for April 15. Hopefully we’ll triumph again on the field, just like we do in our ecommerce business.
The photo of the baseball celebration is from Flickr and it is the copyright of sakura_chihaya+.
Tags: 2009, baseball, company, division, eHarbor, event, flickr, Fun, game, history, orem, positive, provo, slogan, sport, success, utah
Posted in Fun, eHarbor | 2 Comments »
