One of the most enjoyable parts of my day is when I have the opportunity to speak with other entrepreneurs about their business. These conversations remind me of the issues I faced when growing my own eCommerce sites. While the Internet has evolved over the years, some things remain a constant – like how to increase site traffic, how to reduce cart abandonment, how to extend the amount of time a visitor remains on the site and how to “really” make money online.
I don’t know how many times I’ve used the “Field of Dreams” analogy to aspiring eCommerce store owners who think all they need to do is put up a website and a million dollars in sales will come overnight.
If life were only that easy!
Over the years, I’ve helped hundreds of people make the leap to the web to start their own business and become their own boss. Many of the individuals I’ve worked with over the years have remained very close, personal friends, like Pam Macharola of BlairCandy.com.
Pam’s family owns a wholesale candy, tobacco, cigarette and paper supply distributorship that has been in business for 70 years in the western Pennsylvania town of Altoona. One day, Pam had the idea to open up a candy shop online. When she presented the idea to her brothers, who also work in the business, they scoffed at her and said, “Right Pam, people are going to buy candy online.”
Taking a chance, she went with her intuition and opened BlairCandy.com in 2000. With thousands of different kind of candy bars and cavity inducing sweets, she launched a store that would make Willy Wonka salivate with wild abandon.
Then came 2003.
That’s the year Pam came across my company, Solid Cactus, and enlisted our help to grow her candy empire. We gave her site a new look that not only matched her products, but also the mood her customers where in while shopping, helped out with her marketing efforts and loaded her website up with features designed to engage the visitor and lead them to the holy grail – the checkout.
One cold Altoona morning as business was just as brisk, Pam called her brothers into her office to settle a bet she made with them three years ago – that people WOULD buy candy online.
Since then Pam has used Solid Cactus for almost every aspect of her business – even after the sale of my company to web.com. We’ve also become great personal friends who enjoy busting each other’s gluteus maximus when debating over which item page layout looks better, who got more sales on the third Wednesday of the month, and why I should suck it up and take golf lessons.
eCommerce store owners are more than just business owners. We’re entrepreneurs. We’re forging through a new way of doing business that wasn’t even thought of before 1994. And as a “band of brothers” we’re here to help each other, make friends and share experiences.
Isn’t that what it’s really all about?
Want to know more about BlairCandy.com and Pam Macharola? Follow Pam on Twitter at @CandyPam and on Facebook here. Follow BlairCandy.com on Twitter at @BlairCandy and on Facebook here.
