Mt. Mckinley (Denali) Training Program
| May 17, 2012 | Posted by Igor under Climbing |
Unfortunately, due to some financial difficulties, I had to cancel the climb. I was devastated when I had to make that decision, but it is what it is. All that training and hard work with no return – doesn’t feel good. Yea I look and feel great, but aside from that, its a big disappointment. I figured since I put so much effort into making this trip happen, I would share my workout program. I am a strong believer of strict regiments. My father raised me this way, and it sort of stuck around. Prior to starting, I’ve researched on…
Managing E-Commerce Profits/Losses (P&L)
| May 17, 2012 | Posted by Igor under e-Commerce, Project Management |
One of the reasons that I love E-Commerce is the direct impact of changes made today on sales figures for tomorrow. Being well organized and structured are key criteria to help gain a tight grip on your P&L. There are a few reports that I create that give me a great outlook on what the business is doing. The following are samples of three spreadsheets that I use to summarize the business. I try to keep these high-level as I often use them for annual budget forecasts and during sales and marketing meetings. These are just summaries. The actual reports…
Inheriting others mess and how to fix it
| May 16, 2012 | Posted by Igor under Project Management |
I’ve been quite busy beginning of this year and didn’t get a chance to write much. In fact, I’ve been so busy putting in 80 hour weeks that I felt that I’ve lost touch with the outside world. I’ve taken on a new challenge as Head of E-Commerce for a major retailer. I was directly responsible for the e-commerce division P&L. The position didn’t last long as it was consolidated and moved to Europe, but in the 2 months that I was there a lot of work and effort was put into a big project of redesigning the site, rebuilding…
Who drives your e-Commerce business?
| May 11, 2012 | Posted by Igor under e-Commerce, Project Management |
Coming from an investment bank industry, where I worked for the IT department managing bank data-centers, I know firsthand the role of IT. In the banking industry the rules are simple. Those who make the money, drive the decisions. If the business needs a technology, it is a matter of how can IT implement it. IT is a support/admin unit of any company. Simply put, if the business doesn’t make money, IT doesn’t exist. IT is there to support the business and do everything possible to help the business generate revenue and help the company grow! If you’re Amazon/Zappos type…
The power of the SOW (statement of work)
| March 13, 2012 | Posted by Igor under Project Management |
Ever wonder what is the most important things you can do to improve your project being successful? The Statement of Work (SOW) .. It’s the key to any project. It doesn’t matter what the project entails; it always has a scope of work. Having a detailed and thorough SOW especially in eCommerce determines the success of the project. The eCommerce industry is still fairly new and not understood by many companies, specifically by the C-level management. An eCommerce business is not just a page with pictures and “add-to-cart” button. As in any retail store, you need an architect to design…
Affordable multi-channel tools for startups
| January 20, 2012 | Posted by Igor under e-Commerce |
The biggest challenge for me when running an e-commerce business is finding the right tools for the job. Especially when it comes time for managing data feeds. For drop-shipper type of businesses this is probably the most tedious task. There are a lot of processes involved such as: inventory management, tracking import/export, product distribution and order management. If you sell on several marketplaces like Amazon, Sears, Buy.com and Newegg, in addition to these channels you have product distribution to Google Shopping and the like. This requires sending constant product feed to update the inventory. Next is importing the orders into…
SEO Plan for launching SEO project or hiring an expert
| December 20, 2011 | Posted by Igor under SEO/PPC |
The industry is moving fast and as a President or a CEO you don’t have time to manage everything. Therefore you’ll be faced with either hiring someone or outsourcing to a 3rd party. SEO is one of the most popular topics in online marketing today. The challenge is how to hire a SEO expert. Better yet, how do you know what to expect if you’re not a SEO expert yourself? I put together a SEO project plan that covers on-page and off-page optimization efforts. The first step is to analyze the site. You need to have a thorough analysis of…
The power of marketplaces (Amazon, Buy, Newegg)
| December 5, 2011 | Posted by Igor under e-Commerce |
So you’re ready to take your business to the next level. Selling on marketplaces is the new hype. Every major online player is going in that direction. In fact, I wanted to turn TrendToGo.com into a marketplace over three years ago, but didn’t have financial support to realize that project. There are pros and cons on distributing your products on the marketplace. The advantages are obvious; it’s the disadvantages that no one thinks about. Selling on marketplaces can have a major impact on your business. This is the reason why a lot of online retailers are taking their products OFF…
KISS – The art of clean awesome product pages
| December 2, 2011 | Posted by Igor under e-Commerce |
I love to KISS (keep it simple stupid). Whether I am working on a project, a business plan or daily operations – I KISS. There’s always a fight that goes on between the designers, the marketers and the developers. Everyone has their own opinion on what consumers want. Today, with so much media, ads and spam at the end of my day I feel that I’ve read a book. People don’t have the time and the attention span any more. In my opinion if you’re going to deliver a message, do it clean and do it fast. Designing a clean…
Order Processing – Online Operation Management (series)
| November 30, 2011 | Posted by Igor under e-Commerce, Project Management |
This post is part of a series that I plan to create on business processes such as: order process, returns and shipping. What do you have to know about operating an online business? You have to be organized and structured! If you can’t keep your operation organized and structured, you will have a hard time with customer service. Have you ever noticed why your competitor’s order fulfillment is faster than yours even though you have the same distributor/drop-shipper? Before I start to think of any shopping cart implementation, I look at the business process. Streamlined operation is what shapes great…
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