If you run a website and embed videos, you need to read this.  This trick will help you keep your viewers from wondering off your page when they get distracted by YouTube's suggested videos/

YouTube will show suggested videos at the end of your video. Sometimes these videos are called Recommended videos. These are the videos that show up when your video ends. See pic to refresh your memmory

This is very annoying as your viewer will be distracted by these suggested videos and move off your channel or worse, your website.

I run an online store and embed videos on my website. My customers love the videos, but the last thing I need is losing my customers to other "Suggested Videos" by Youtube. These suggested videos will temp your customers away from your website onto YouTube. This is a very bad thing for e-commerce merchants using youtube.

In my YouTube video (see below) I will show you how to stop the YouTube suggested videos. You will learn that how to simply stop YouTube from distracting your customers with Suggested Videos which appear at the end of your video. Learn how your video simply stops and this keeps your customers focus on your website. Watch and learn this simple trick which will keep your customers on your website and you will enjoy higher conversions and lower bounce rates.

Inventory Management Shopify - Why and Why not track inventory

This is a tutorial on why you would use Shopify's inventory function.

Shopify offers a simple inventory management tool as part of its package. You may use the tool but are not required to. Today I am going to talk about the pros and cons of using inventory management and Shopify.

Why use Shopify's inventory control?

Inventory control is useful if you are a large business and need to track your inventory. However if you're a small store, like me, visual inventory control is simple and effective. By using Shopify's inventory control feature, you can always see how many items are available in your inventory to sell and which inventory items need to be restocked. This is especially useful if you rely on a drop shipper.

The Shopify inventory control feature has option that allows to stop selling or keep selling even if you are out of stock.  This gives you lots of flexibility and offers control and options.

Option #1 Sold Out.

Shopify allows a product to show that it is "sold out".  Make sure that you show related products on your product page. You hate to lose a sale because a customer leaves your store in disappointment. Related products are easy to show.  Enable this feature in your theme's product page layout.

"Sold Out" is useful in creating a sense of urgency.  For example, you might be selling several styles of signed, limited edition prints.  Shopify's inventory control will allow you to show your customers how many prints available to sell and when it is "sold out". If your product page redirects your customer to other prints for sale, you would have created urgency to buy another style print before those also become "Sold Out".

Watch this online.

Option #2 Don't use any Shopify's inventory controls

Most of us have multi channels selling our products. Multichannel - that's just a fancy way of saying eBay, Amazon, Etsy and your bricks and mortar store. Keeping track of your inventory available for sale in all your sales channels is a daunting task. There are apps to manage this but for most of us the apps are too expensive and too complex to manage.

Since most of our stores are simple operations, we can manage our inventory visually by looking at what's on our shelves. But what happens when the item is out of stock? 

Option #3  Selling out of stock items.

Every now and then it happens. You're out of stock. Shopify has a way to address the out-of-stock issue.  If you use the inventory control function simply choose to "sell through".  My definition fo selling through means that the customer will purchase something that you do not physically have in stock to ship. Its not a sin to do this. Perhaps the item is in transit and will arrive shortly and you will be able to ship it in a timely manner and save the sale.

When you allow your customer to purchase something you don't have in stock, you need to contact your customer directly and give them a realistic delivery date or suggest an alternative item that would fulfill their needs. For a small shop, this is a feasible option.  I suggest doing this by phone as its the most expedient method. Most customers don't mind waiting a few days or hearing about an alternative option. If the customer does not want to wait a few days or want an alternative item, you can always refund them their money.

To allow a product to "sell through", click the box that says "Allow customers to purchase this product when it's out of stock" on the product page.

If you don't use the inventory control function, by default, you will sell through.

Option #4 Hide the Product

You can change the "Visibility" until you get inventory in stock.  I do not advise hiding the product unless you are never going to sell this item again.  Hiding products will confuse your customers and Google. And you may forget to "make it visible" when you do get it back in stock.  If it's not visible - you can't sell it.

To control Visibility, click the "Visibility" box at the top right hand side of the product page.

Option #5  Another strategy.

In my shop, Good Life Tea.com  I use a combination of inventory control systems.  I sell a combination of tea and tea ware. Monitoring the amount of tea I have on hand is easy because it's very visual. I simply look on the shelf and see which glass jars are getting low. But my tea ware is another story.  Since I keep some on the selling floor and some in my storage area, it's hard to see how much inventory I have. So for my tea ware, I use Shopify's inventory controls. However, since I do not use Shopify POS, my inventory is not exact. If I did use Shopify's POS then my inventory would be accurate, since the POS and E-commerce would be integrated. (I tried the POS and it was not adequate for me because I sell tea by the ounce and Shopify POS does not accommodate this style of inventory. I use Shopkeep for my POS)

Pro Tip

For my tea ware, I set the inventory count to about 1/4 of my total stock. This means if I have 12 red tea pots, I list 3 in my Shopify inventory. I do this because from my experience, I know that out of 12 teapots I will sell about 3 by Shopify and 9 in my store. By referring to the inventory page, I get a good picture of what inventory needs to be ordered.

I hope my insights have given you some pros and cons of using Shopify inventory control system. The important take away is that it is a tool that can be turned on and off for specific items products that you sell. The inventory control can be used as an approximation tool of how much you have on hand. Even though it is not entirely accurate, it provides clues as to what to reorder so that you are never out of stock.

My Shopify Wants

I would like to get email notifications when my inventory levels get low. This would help me keep tabs. Also make the POS work for ounces.

Broadband After Breakfast Report

Dr. Sam Samanta  from FLCC Victor Campus spoke about his new Associates Degree program that will guarantee students jobs that pay
in the mid $30K with local manufacturing employers.  The program was designed with input from the local manufacturers who have the jobs to
fill now and into the future. The program can accommodate up to 15 students in the fall term and is a combo of academics and hands-on
computer-automation training. This program is ideal for those who want to have a high paying job fast. And in this field there is room for
personal growth.

In summary 2 years, low cost education, employer specific training. high paying many unfilled jobs.  This is a winning combination. Perfect for
HS grads, young people looking to make a career move, ex-military and recently unemployed.  Interested persons can contact me for an intro
to Dr. Sam who can best explain it.

Below is the link to the program.  Unfortunately, FLCC presents this program in boring academic jargon instead of the jobs that await grads.

http://www.flcc.edu/ictech/

Robert OBrien
http://cdgacoworking.com/
www.NancyWiley.com

Posted via email from Stuff important and amusing to Rob OBrien

Google AdWords

If you haven't tried AdWords in a while you should. Now with Google
customer support and a $75 start up coupon its worth the experiment.
In the past, I tried it and it was a frustrating DYI effort. Sure
there's lots of tutorials and online help, but who has time. Now with
customer support to help, you can have highly targeted, relevant ads,
on a budget you set, running in about an hour. With this hand holding,
the Google AdWords rep greatly improves your chance of success instead
of wasting $ and time like I did in the past. And there is on-going
support too.

Combine this with their free Analytics and you have some powerful
tools at your disposal. And Analytics is free too!!

How cool is that.

Robert OBrien
http://cdgacoworking.com/
http://WonderLandBook.com/

Posted via email from Stuff important and amusing to Rob OBrien

My Rochester: Nancy Wiley | Democrat and Chronicle

via democratandchronicle.com

My wife the famous artist makes the Rochester Newspaper.

Check out her websites

www.NancyWiley.com
www.WonderlandBook.com

Posted via email from Stuff important and amusing to Rob OBrien

Did you ever use the Commodore 64 PC?

I did and its back as a real computer for those who want a bit a nostalgia.  Back in the stone age this was the thing to have.

via finance.yahoo.com

Commodore USA

The Commodore 64 is being re-released for the modern computer user.

 

I was just 6 years old when the Commodore 64 computer went on sale in the summer of 1982. Although I already owned a computer at the time -- a ZX Spectrum -- I remember my excitement about possibly getting my little hyperactive hands on the newly released Commodore.

 

At the time, the Commodore computer cost $595 and came with a whopping 64 kilobytes of memory. It also contained a graphics and sound card that stood apart from other computers of the day.

Now, nearly 30 years later, the Commodore brand has taken on new management and is re-releasing its flagship computer, this time with all the amenities of a modern-day computer packed What a hoot. Its back. I used this back in the stone age and now its back as a full featured retro computer.

 

read more via finance.yahoo.com

Posted via email from Stuff important and amusing to Rob OBrien

My Next Show

I'm going to the Artist Doll & Teddy Bear Convention organized by the Susan and Terry Quinlan of the Quinlan Museum.  The show is going to be in Philadelphia on May 12-14 (Thursday -Saturday).

I'm excited to see that so many artists will show their work.  I applaud the Quinlans for keeping the show affordable.

Click here to see a list of attending artists http://www.quinlanmuseum.com/convention/participants.html

The deadline for the show is APRIL 18 for artists, collectors and vendors.

I look forward to seeing you there.

Posted via email from nancywiley's posterous