The 50 Best Tips

— Brian Beck, Broadspan Commerce, “How to Successfully ‘Land’ on Your Feet,” Sept. 11, Catalog Success Idea Factory

E-COMMERCE

✱ Prolong the season with e-gift cards.

Online sales began a rapid decline in the week before Christmas, probably due to shipping times. To minimize this effect, start promoting electronic gift cards around the same time you’re no longer able to meet Christmas shipping deadlines.

— Oneupweb, “Four Lessons Learned From Holiday ’06,” Jan. 16, Catalog Success Idea Factory

✱ Keep it short.

When preparing your opt-in form fields, be specific, but limited. Researchers have found about half of Internet users say they’ve been asked too much information when they register. They’re also not likely to spend more than two minutes with the registration form.

— GOT Corp., “Grow Your Opt-in Lists by Turning Browsers into Buyers,” March 16, Catalog Success Idea Factory

✱ Work around your site’s peak times.

Be clear about your site’s peak selling times, days of week or season for selling. Then go out and assess tools and opportunities that fit buyer behavior. So if Monday at 10 a.m. is a very active “browsing” time, align your actions around that knowledge, whether blitzing the market with sales calls, running search campaigns during designated periods or placing radio ads during the drive times that surround peak browsing times.

— Suzanne McGann, Voyageur I.T., “Five Tips for Managing Online Strategy,” June 5, Catalog Success Idea Factory

✱ Charge for membership.

If you create a community where you provide valuable information to others, the ability to share information amongst themselves and the assurance that you’ll keep out defectors, then people will pay for the benefits you offer. It’s necessary to gain the trust of the community and not break that trust with purposeless fees. Make sure that what they’re paying for, they’re getting.