mdyasar-blog

[mdyasar-blog]

Take 100% Responsibility for Your Life

"You must take personal responsibility. You cannot change the circumstances, the seasons, or the wind, but you can change yourself". One of the most pervasive myths in the culture today is that we are entiled to a great life that somehone, somewhere, someone (certainly not us) is responsible for filling our lives with continual happiness, exciting career options, nurturing family time, and blissful personal relationships simply because we exist. But the real truth is that there is only one person responsible for the quality of the life you live. That person is you!!! If you want to be successful, you have to take 100% responsibility for everything that you experience in your life. This includes the level of your achievvements, the results you produce, the quality of your relationships, the state of your health and physical fitness, your income, your debts, your feelings- everything! This is not easy. In fact, most of us have been conditioned to blame something outside of ourselves for a parts of our life we don't like. We blame our parents, our bosses, our friends, the media, our coworkers, our clients, our spouse, the weather, the economy, our astrological chart, our lack of money- anyone or anything we can pin the blame on. We never want to look at where the real problem is- ourselves. There is a wonderful story told about a man who is out walking one night and comes upon another man donwn on his knees looking for something under a streetlamp. The passerby inquires as to what the other man is looking for. He answers that he is looking for his lost key. The passerby offers to help and gets down on his knees and helps him search for the key. After an hour of fruitless seaching, he says, "We've looked everywhere for it and we haven't found it. Are you sure that you lost it here?" The other man replies, "No, I lost it in my house, but there is more light out here under the streetlamp." It is time to stop looking outside yourself for the answers to why you haven't created the life and results you want, for it is you who creates the quality of the life you lead and the results you produce. You- no one else! To achieve major success in life- to achieve those things that are most important to you- you must assume 100% responsibility for your life. Nothing less will do. If you want to be really successful, and I know you do, then you will have to give up blaming and complaining and take total responsibility for your life- that means all your resuts, both your successes and your failures. That is the prerequisite for creating a life of success. It is only by acknowledging that you have created everything up until now that you can take charge of creating the future you want. "You see, if you realize that you have created your current conditions, then you can uncreate them and re-create them at will. Are you willing to take one hundred percent responsibility for your life??" - Jack Canfield

[mdyasar-blog]

General Steps for Developing Online Shopping Store

Steps in Developing Online Shopping Website: 1) Web Hosting: If you’re brand new to e-Commerce, here’s a quick primer on what you’ll be choosing between. There are two basic types of online stores: - Hosted — essentially store software run on a server provided and maintained by the same company, with one monthly payment; and - Self-hosted — you pick and pay for the server, and download, install, and maintain the e-Commerce software yourself. There are advantages to each. Hosted sites are often preferred by new store owners due to ease of setup, but they lack the same kind of control over add-ons, bandwidth, etc. that self-hosted sites do. However, if you would choose to have it hosted using any web platform, then you can choose ‘BlueHost’ which provides features such as ‘Free Domain Name’, ‘Free SSL Certificate’ and many others. 2) Domain Name & Logo: - A domain name is your website’s address on the internet. - It is what users will type in their browsers to reach out website (for example: google.com or wpbeginner.com) - If you don’t have a domain name and want to register, you can have it registered using ‘BlueHost’ which is currently offering this feature along with the online shopping site. - Logo is a trademark for any business - If you have to develop logo, you can either hire outside consultants for developing your own log, which is quite expensive, or you can opt for few online sites (99Designs or 19 Dollar Logos) which will provide you pre-registered logos already developed by some designers. 3) E-Commerce Platform: The e-Commerce platform manages all the products, categories, checkout process, and other aspects involved with a functional e-Commerce website. There are dozens of e-Commerce platforms available, most of which have relatively the same functionality and features. Choosing a platform can be a big hang up for a lot of entrepreneurs. There are two famous e-commerce platforms, which are both powerful and extremely easy to use. - Shopify (Starting at $14/mo) – Shopify has done everything they can to make setting up and running an eCommerce website as easy as possible. They handle all the hosting, security, and credit card processing to give store owners more time to focus on promoting their website. However this also means that webmasters are somewhat limited when it comes to changing how the website functions and looks. To combat this, Shopify has a wide range of website templates and apps. While there are free apps available, many have an associated monthly fee which can add up quickly. - OpenCart (Free) – OpenCart is a very powerful and easy to use platform with a long list of features. Unlike Shopify, OpenCart is open source meaning webmasters have the ability to make any changes to the design or functionality of the website. However, this also means that hosting and website security will need to be setup manually. OpenCart also has thousands of pre-programmed “extensions” that allow users to easily customize the website without hiring a developer. Many extensions are free of charge while others have a one-time fee between $10 and $50. Bottom line: If you want to get started as quickly and easily as possible, choose Shopify. However if you’re somewhat technical and want more control over the look and functionality of the website, choose OpenCart. Again, you can always move to another eCommerce platform down the road if necessary. 4) Integrating Supply Chain: Once your customers place an order with you, how are you going to get your products to them? And how do you plan on sending them tracking information, or even printing out the appropriate labels to place on their boxes? For most store owners, the easiest answer to all of these questions is “with shipping software.” From simple web interfaces provided by your local carrier to more robust, multi-carrier software suites, shipping platforms can provide: - Automated management of outgoing shipments - Creation and printing of shipping labels for packages - Import of tracking information for your orders and automated customer emails They can also save an immense amount of time, since you won’t need to enter tracking information by hand or generate labels one-by-one via a clunky website. You’ll probably want to select shipping software after you choose your site software, because compatibility can vary by CMS. However, most store platforms will be able to interface with your country’s major carriers of choice — like the USPS and UPS in the United States — so that’s a good starting point, and often the most affordable to boot. 5) Payment Gateway: First things first: to sell goods online, you need to be able to accept payments from customers. And to accept payments, your store needs to hook into a payment gateway — essentially, a special processor that securely moves funds from customers’ bank accounts into your own. Not every payment gateway is compatible with every eCommerce platform. In fact, this is one of the most common reasons that store owners strike otherwise favorable options from their short lists: they simply won’t work in their country. This is sometimes because demand for certain payment options is lower, or there are technical limitations preventing the platform and gateway from working together. Before selecting a platform, you should ensure that your chosen payment gateway is supported, either in the “core” platform or via an extension or add-on. If it is not, you can potentially have someone develop an add-on for you, but this can be very costly and may not even be successful. If you haven’t yet chosen a payment gateway, this may not matter, but you should at least be certain that the store will support your country’s currency (or currencies, if you plan on accepting several). This often can’t be modified, so do your homework before making a decision. For instance, a good combination would be to allow direct bank transfers and payments from all major credit cards. In the end, it all depends on who you’re catering to. From the screenshot above, you’ll see that ‘MindMeister’ allows users to pay with several credit cards, PayPal, or a coupon. We should also make sure that we get SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) Certificate, which secures credit card and other sensitive transactions. 6) Integrating Accounting Software: Why Integrate Dynamics GP and e-Commerce Channels Integrating your backend system such as Dynamics GP with your e-Commerce channels allows you to deliver the customer experience your customers are demanding. Integration allows items to be consistent and available in all e-Commerce sales channels. Inventory level can be updated in near real-time to avoid stock-outs or back orders. Orders can be processed intelligently and in a timely fashion. And, customers receive great service. It takes integration to put these types of processes in place. Your GP and e-Commerce systems cannot be in silos, operating on their own. If they are, you’ll be left with manual data entry that is slow, cumbersome, and can result in human error. This can lead to high internal costs and revenue can be jeopardized. Your customers will pay the ultimate price of a poor experience with your brand. GP and e-Commerce integration leads to streamlined processes that put your customers’ interests back as the top priority. Dynamics and GP Integration Options GP and e-Commerce integration is easier said than done, though. Not all integration options are created equal. Each type will have different impacts on both your business and your customers. - Custom Development Your first option is always to build the integration in-house. Using basic APIs, a developer can integrate your systems. In-house integration, however, requires that you have the IT staff with the knowledge, time, and resources to build the integration. You’ll also need them to commit to maintaining and supporting the custom code written. Depending on your business, you might not have the staff, time, or money to support this type of project. If you don’t, then you’ll want to search for integration provided by a 3rd party. - Point-to-Point Integration Some integration solutions are point-to-point. This means that your GP ERP is “pointed” at your e-Commerce system; there’s no operational platform in the middle of them. You’ll have to choose which system to manage your sales data in. These types of solutions are usually affordable (like $100-$200 a month), which can be great for smaller retailers just starting out. On the other hand, a point-to-point solution can lack flexibility and functionality for a growing merchant. They sometimes can’t support integration with brick-and-mortar stores, fulfillment via drop ship suppliers, and 3rd-party warehouses. Inventory may not be updated in real-time. This architecture also doesn’t allow for easy restructuring. You’ll have to re-configure your integration every time you add a new channels. This can be costly both in resources and time. - Multichannel Management Platform The final integration solution is a multichannel management platform. This technology differs from point-to-point as the multichannel management platform sits as an operational hub between GP and your e-Commerce channels. Your data is then synchronized between your system through the platform. Ideally, a multichannel management platform does this by using pre-built connectors for GP and e-Commerce channels like Shopify, Magento, Amazon, and eBay. Connectors make configuration easy and flexible both at set-up and in the case of system changes. This solution is more expensive than a one-off point-to-point solution, but still cheaper than a custom integration. You’ll pay more for more robust capabilities like splitting orders, using multiple warehouses, and real-time inventory updates across all your sales channels. Companies also should monitor your data for you 24/7 so you always know your data is moving to where it should be. This type of platform is usually best for an SMB or Enterprise merchant looking to integrate, but doesn’t want to build a custom solution in-house. (Full disclosure, this is what Channel is. We are a cloud-based multichannel management platform. It’s why we know so much about integration between GP and eCommerce channels.) How Integration Will Affect Your Business Choosing the right integration option can turn your solution into a competitive advantage for your business. With automated sales processes, even a small business can compete against large retailers and provide the shopping experience demanded today by customers. You’ll be able to provide customers with consistent, detailed product data, real-time inventory updates, and quick order processing. You’ll be able to expand your business to new sales channels, while still maintaining operational efficiency.Your customers will thank you with repeat sales. Last but not least, you should also consider ‘Legalization’ and ‘Marketing strategies while creating the online shopping website: a. Marketing: Building your ecommerce site is only half the battle - next you have to get it seen - and there’s some key concepts you’ll need to learn to succeed on this front. The most important is SEO (search engine optimisation) as this is what you’ll need to do to get visibility on Google and other search engines. Watching our introduction to search engine optimisation is a good place to begin, as this can get you to grips with the basic principles. Check out the Kissmetrics and Search Engine Land guides to e-commerce SEO too. Also, if you’ve built your site using Shopify, Magento or Wordpress, try to explore some of their helpful SEO add-ons. These include but aren’t limited to: - CreareSEO - SEO Meta Manager - Yoast SEO plugin Experiment with Google AdWords, and check our small business guides to Facebook, Twitter and YouTube too, and explore the basics of content marketing whilst you’re at it. As the e-commerce success of the Dollar Shave Club shows, some clever content marketing can do wonders. b. Legalization: Last but not least, it’s wise to learn the law before setting up an online shop. There are a number of e-commerce specific laws designed to protect consumers and it’s important to stick to these in any online trading that you do. In the UK key laws you’ll need to adhere to include: - The Electronic Commerce (EC Directive) Regulations 2002 - The Data Protection Act 1998 - Consumer Contracts Regulations (previously the Distant Selling Regulations) - ICO Cookie Law By and large these laws aren’t too restrictive, as they basically involve applying some common sense. Onlineretailing.co.uk provide a good overview of what applying them entails, whilst Which.co.uk provide an excellent explanation of the new Consumer Contracts Regulations. These replaced the Distant Selling Regulations in June 2014. References: http://www.wpbeginner.com/wp-tutorials/how-to-start-an-online-store/ https://woocommerce.com/2015/10/technical-aspects-sell-online/ https://woocommerce.com/2015/06/ecommerce-platform-features/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/brentgleeson/2014/09/05/3-steps-to-launch-your-first-ecommerce-website/#2fa25b20292f http://www.simplybusiness.co.uk/knowledge/articles/2016/02/how-to-start-an-online-shop/ https://blog.kissmetrics.com/easy-payment-process/ https://www.nchannel.com/blog/dynamics-gp-and-ecommerce-integration/