August 31, 2009
At the risk of overdoing it on the social networking related posts this month, I really wanted to share with you all a recent article that appeared on the ecommerce blog, getelastic.com.
This blog is particularly reliable source for etailers and internet marketers who want to get a pretty detailed overview of anything that’s hot in the ecommerce space, and this month’s entry “Top 10 Web 2.0 Activities for Ecommerce” is a perfect example of just how thorough author Linda Bustos is.
#10 is Customer Reviews, and from personal experience I can vouch for the influence these hold on conversion rates. On DHgate.com, the feedback system is an integral element to improving the customer experience, on both the seller and buyer side.
Aside from inbuilt feedback systems to boost business, as an entrepreneur I’ve grown my companies based on seeking out feedback at every possible opportunity – from customers to peers - as well as taking the time to provide my own to others whenever requested.
As leadership expert Ken Blanchard says “Feedback is the breakfast of champions”, and I’ve always enjoyed a full breakfast.
August 28, 2009
While I’m getting all Web 2.0 on you, I should also mention that my company, DHgate, has a group on Facebook. It’s a great place to pull all of our online stuff together, and highlight all that’s going on across the various teams. A lot of the users tell us that they find it an interesting way to get a full overview of all the happenings at DHgate.com.
We work hard to keep it up-to-date and useful, so as always, I’d love to hear if you have any suggestions or examples of your own experiences using the site.
Ours is a fun and growing community, and seeing as we are all there, why not sign up at http://www.facebook.com/dhgate ? I’ll look forward to seeing you there.
Have a great weekend!
August 21, 2009
I was enjoying a Seinfeld rerun the other evening and came across this classic quote:
“According to most studies, people’s number one fear is public speaking. Number two is death. Death is number two. Does that sound right? This means to the average person, if you go to a funeral, you’re better off in the casket than doing the eulogy.”
This is particularly relevant to me as, although completely confident in business, I sometimes suffer from slight nerves when up on a podium. I’d much rather take 100 questions without notice than stand in front of a group of people and talk continuously without interruption. I like interaction. I like getting to the root of what people really want to know. I liked to take this approach when heading up my teams at Cisco and Microsoft, and in several ways, the understanding I gleaned from this approach led me to begin my own ventures, Joyo.com (now amazon.com.cn) and Dhgate.com.
So when Google approached me to take part in their inaugural Women@Google event, I was pleased to hear that this would be in an interactive forum.
As part of their global Women in Leadership program, I was asked to take to the stage and participate in a live interview and open Q&A session with Googlers (the in-house term for Google staff). I found the session hugely rewarding as I had the opportunity to speak openly and discuss issues with some of China’s most active online developers. In turn, they were hugely interested in international ecommerce, and had a lot of questions about the future and China’s role in it.
Across the world, other women leaders to take part in these sessions include U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton, activist and author Eve Ensler, parasitologist Jane Goodall and former HP CEO Carly Fiorina. What questions would you ask these women leaders?
August 16, 2009
Being an entrepreneur is not just a job: it’s a lifestyle. Most people go into business for themselves for a greater degree of personal freedom and satisfaction as well as the financial rewards.
If you haven’t read these, add them to your list.
Free Agent Nation by Dan Pink explains why what he calls the “micro-business” is the future of America, and how not even the U.S. government gets it yet. Dan used to be Al Gore’s speechwriter in the White House during the Clinton administration, until he woke up one day and realized he wanted to cut out on his own. The way he weaves his own story with his voyage of discovery about what it means to be a Lone Wolf in American business is delightful.
The 4 Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss is an interesting book because while I think I would be bored to tears if I only worked 4 hours a week, he gives some important perspective. The key is not to work harder, the key is to work one heck of a lot smarter, and in pursuing his extreme examples he will help you – like he has helped me – achieve the most important thing, which is a life that blends a healthy mix of challenge, satisfaction, and fun.
If you have not yet read Guy Kawasaki’s The Art of the Start, you now have no excuse. Before you read anything else, go pick up this mini-masterpiece and keep a pen and paper next to you as you read. You will get more good ideas out of one chapter of this book than you’ll get out of a shelf of typical business books.
