Looking for customers |
Post Reply | Page 12> |
Author | |
intour
Senior Member Joined: 30-June-2006 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 0 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Posted: 01-July-2009 at 5:12am |
It is a very competitive market and there are many different types of customers.
Some want a quick (and cheap) setup and others are prepared to pay for a quality service, training and backup and support. Unless they have experience of running an online store they will need this. It is not unusual for these customers to also require some form of help with SEO.
I find the ones that want the cheap service and say they don't need the extra support are the ones that call me the most!
My personal experience with productcart is that all clients require help and support and a reasonable amount of intial training. This takes time so has to be built into the cost.
Adding yourself to the partner list here and uploading your sample stores is a step in the right direction but you will need to do a lot more marketing in other areas to win business and survive.
Nigel
|
|
JamesD
Newbie Joined: 10-July-2008 Status: Offline Points: 0 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
Currently I'm having them do all the category/product insertion, and product images. I'm providing training as needed. But that's a good suggestion to spell out those services up front. Thanks |
|
Hamish
Admin Group Joined: 12-October-2006 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 56 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
Hi James,
I'm not sure what you including in the $1500. One area you could/should focus on is "value add". The process of finding and signing up a customer takes time and money. One approach, to keep the "cost" down is to leave the customer to add all the categories, products, images etc. However, many businesses are already busy and prefer to focus on their area of expertise. You can offer a range of optional services as well as the basic website such as :- - Admin user training - Product Image Sourcing - Category & Product setup - Custom Code |
|
netprofits
Certified ProductCart Developers Joined: 05-January-2006 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 22 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
Another recommendation...post on these forums. When product cart users have questions, provide helpful answers. We have had quite a few clients ask us to do work for them because we were able to provide good advice here.
|
|
newseed
Certified ProductCart Developers Joined: 11-March-2009 Status: Offline Points: 0 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
I have been in the web development business for 5 years and have worked with Product Cart software for about 1 1/2 years now and I don't think a client's investment of $1500 is wise by using some ready made template, bit of styling and above all things, host it on GoBaddy. They might as well go at it alone and save about $700 because they will end up with a site with no unique design and probably, in some cases, disappointed.
For those that are serious about doing business on the internet using Product Cart (or any other shopping cart) should have a professional developer to produce a professional unique design that will give the prospecting visitors a shopping experience that will keep them coming back. I have seen many sites that were not visually done well in which I would never buy from.
'fast and 'cheap' will result in just that...fast but cheap.
In case you are wondering, no, I am not a resellar for Product Cart. I have dealt with enough sites to know how and what it takes to get a professional looking store up and running. It just so happens that most of them are Product Cart.
|
|
Greg Dinger
Certified ProductCart Developers Joined: 23-September-2006 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 238 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
Here's a helpful idea - I just looked for flashpowered.com and don't find anything. Build a web site including a portfolio of your work so that prospective clients can judge your skills in advance of contacting you so they know whether you are able to do work that meets their expectations. You could also post them to www.greatonlinestores.com which will provide exposure to you. Many merchants looking to build a store reference that site for ideas. By getting your work online, developers who have overload may also be able to judge your ability to take on tasks that they might be willing to offer to you. |
|
netprofits
Certified ProductCart Developers Joined: 05-January-2006 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 22 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
Hi James, if you are getting business on the low end and can afford to build sites for $1500 by all means stick with it. We have been building web sites for over 11 years and specifically working with Product Cart for about 6 years. The majority of our work is Product Cart sites which usually includes purchasing and setting up the site, providing hosting, creating a nice design, integrating the design into the PC template, doing some programming customizations, training the client on how to use PC, etc. For many of our sites, the customization cost is more than everything else combined. There is no way we can earn a living charging only $1500 for a site including the PC license. As Greg hinted, we spend a lot of time working with the customer, making sure the design is professional, and they understand how to optimize their site for search engines and conversion of sales.
|
|
JamesD
Newbie Joined: 10-July-2008 Status: Offline Points: 0 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
Is the consensus that there's more of a market for sites with advanced customization? I'll gladly take any advice I can get. I need to generate business fast.
|
|
cognecy
Certified ProductCart Developers Joined: 18-March-2006 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 8 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
I "Third" that motion NOT to use GoDaddy for ProductCart sites.
GoDaddy is your typical 'budget host' and you really do get what you pay for. If I had a few pages that I needed hosting for cheap and did not have to worry about a database, then GoDaddy might be a good. However, when it comes to applications hosting and in particular, ProductCart, they really fall short on a lot of levels.
|
|
Mark Shipp
Cognecy Solutions, LLC Hosting/Design/Customization/Database Migration www.cognecy.com www.cognecy.co.uk |
|
JamesD
Newbie Joined: 10-July-2008 Status: Offline Points: 0 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
I don't believe I'm de-valueing the product or my time. The last half-dozen customers I've had were just looking for a some very simple customization to the base ProductCart -- background theme, colors, logo... things I could do very easily. There seems to be a market for that. However, some do request an overhaul, and I do of course charge extra for that.
|
|
Post Reply | Page 12> |
Tweet
|
Forum Jump | Forum Permissions You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot create polls in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum |