Earlier I had a post that mentioned about how e-commerce was doing. I suggested that online retail was going to grow even more and I encouraged you to start selling online. This post has new information about how things are going now. You will also find about an opportunity that can give some exposure to your online business and may be help you carry it to the next level.

For an ecommerce startup, the most mysterious piece of the puzzle is probably online payment processing. Even though we don’t exactly know what goes on behind the scene, we are familiar with credit card machines that are used all the time in retail stores. This is a little easier to grasp than an online payment transaction where there is no credit card swiping machine and where the seller and buyer don’t really see each other.

Think of any store you visited in the last month and consider how that store owner would feel if more than 75% of customers took a shopping cart, pushed it around the store, placing some goods in it and then, when they approach the till to pay for their purchases they suddenly decide that in fact, they are only pushing some goods around and are not going to pay for them. They leave the cart in the aisle and walk out of the store.

Mailchimp is a successful email marketing software which makes it very easy to create and send email newsletters as well as to track email marketing campaigns. Having fun with their mascot Freddie when running your email campaigns is the bonus you get when using Mailchimp. I enjoy their detailed and not boring tutorial and promotional videos that keep you engaged with cool voice effects. But most of all I like their “Forever Free Plan” which is a great way to get started with email marketing if you are on a shoestring budget.

There is a lot to consider when setting up an e-commerce business or taking an existing business online, but these are some of the initial areas to consider once you have a basic idea of what you are selling.

In an earlier article, I wrote about why you should start using email marketing to help your small business. If you were inspired and wanted to start right away, you probably would have wondered where and how to start. Here we have a list that will help you in your search for the right online marketing tool that will fit best to your needs.

Do you remember the article “‘Tis the Season to be Ready” posted before the 2009 holiday season? I had suggested that we were going to experience strong online sales during the 2009 holiday season. I am so happy to find out that I was not wrong.