The World of Online Payments

September 25, 2015September 20, 2015 / Elliot Chan / Leave a comment

Read full series at the Control blog: Part 1/Part 2/Part 3/ Part 4/ Part 5

Let’s embark on a trip together, shall we? In this five-part series, we’ll be exploring payment solutions around the world and discussing the cultural and technological differences that enable diversified methods of online payments.

Because the world is linked together in so many ways, one of which is the digital marketplace, it’s crucial for your business to understand how a certain demographic prefers to pay. Acknowledging your audience’s payment preference, regardless of which country or hemisphere they live on, is business intelligence that will make you fluent in the payments world.

North America: In North America, credit card is king in terms of online payments. However, there are a number of payment options rising in popularity across the continent. [Read full article here]

South America: In South America, the middle class is rising and the unbanked and underbanked population are now accessing online payments. All this is changing commerce. [Read full article here]

Europe: Europe is home to many different languages, buying cultures, & online payments. Each of those elements will be vital as eCommerce penetration grows. [Read full article here]

Asia/Australia: There are two Asian markets online, one is leading the industry and the other is rising. Online payments will be the keystone for both as trends continue. [Read full article here]

Africa: Africa is a region with fastest growing Internet penetration. Online payments, along with regulations and infrastructure, can help eCommerce thrive. [Read full article here]

Pricing Your Product Properly Matters

July 23, 2015July 24, 2015 / Elliot Chan / Leave a comment

Before you sell your products or market your services you must first identify the cost. Understanding the price will give you a better perspective of your potential revenue, competitors and target customers. Pricing your product is a defining mark for your company and should not be taken lightly. Follow this five-part series to understand the complexity, trickery, and science behind pricing.

Originally published on Control. March 12, 2015

Part One: Cost-plus Pricing or Value-based Pricing

There are two general principles to pricing your products and services. You can rather implement the cost-plus or the value-based pricing method. Whichever one you choose, it will not only define your product but your company as a whole.

So what’s the difference?

Part Two: 7 Free Tricks To Pricing Your Product

The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly

Shoppers are inherently programmed to compare prices. If you place a $20 T-shirt next to one that costs $50, it is instantly clear which one is more affordable. However, if the $20 one is made to be far less desirable and—for what you are getting—is still quite pricy. That’s because the intention is not to sell the $20 product, but to get people to opt for the more expensive deal for the reason that it’s actually worth it.

Part Three: Tiered Pricing Can Take Your Product To The Next Level

Tiered pricing gives people choices—and we all know that people love choices. When it comes to payment, choices may bring more value to your customers. Why not let them choose how much they want and how much to pay for it? After all, when you go to the coffee shop you want the freedom to pick Small, Medium, or Large. This ideology can work for your product or services too.

Part Four: 6 Ways To Conduct An Effective Discount Promotional Campaign

After the free samples and 14-days trial period, you may be pressed to earn more leads and gain more revenue. Without adjusting your standard price, you’ve decided that implementing a discount or promotional campaign is the best avenue to take. However, there are no fixed rules when applying discounts or generating coupons. You can hand out flyers on the street, but all that effort may be wasted time. Here are six tips to conducting a successful discount promotional campaign.

Odds are at one point or another you’ll want to increase the price of your product. Investors, competitors, your internal team, and even the public may be urging you to do so. You yourself know that the current price is under valuing your product and this path is no longer sustainable. There are many reasons why raising the price makes sense, but the question is not why you should hike prices, but how to do it effectively without losing customers and decreasing your conversion rate.

Want to Start A Scalable Business? Here Are Some Ideas

May 20, 2015 / Elliot Chan / Leave a comment

Elliot Chan

Originally published on Control. Feb 28, 2015

You want to start a scalable business because you have huge aspirations. Unlike running the mom ‘n’ pop shops in your neighbourhood, you want more than a few loyal customers. You want to grow your company, reach new investors, and expand across the city, the country, and even the world.

A scalable business is a company capable of multiplying revenue without compromising the resulting profits. You’ll charge the same price per customer if you have 100 or if you have 100,000, and more clients doesn’t equal larger workload. That is a scalable business.

When your company is ready to scale, it’ll have a desirable product and an established business model. Not only will your friends and family think your ideas are great, but investors will come knocking as well.

So where do you begin? What exactly does this type of business look like? To get you started on your road to glory, here are a few examples of businesses proven to have scalable potential.

Software Companies

Why are some of the biggest companies in the world based around software? Well, it’s because quality software can be replicated over and over again without excessive expenditure. A software startup with limited capital can build a minimum viable product (MVP) with budding potential and present it to the market and investors. Then over night, they can gain a huge following, or disappear with miniscule damages.

Whether your new company is based around a SaaS model or utilizes the cloud, building around a low-cost deliverable will help your scalability.

Take a quick look at the world’s largest software companies, Microsoft and Oracle. These two brands are churning out products that consumers don’t even know they are purchasing. Once the developed product is ready for the market, consumers can access it with a few clicks. No need to stock it on a shelf and no need to drive to a store and buy it.

When products need physical applications, such as the case of CD-ROMS, smart companies will outsource the operation without compromising the team’s time, efforts, and intellect. Scaling does not all happen internally. Sometimes your company will need help.

E-commerce

Online shopping is a worldwide phenomenon and it’s only growing. Unlike brick-and-mortar businesses, e-commerce has exceptional scalable capacity. While some shoppers are searching for a desired product, many are just browsing (window-shopping) hoping that something will catch their eyes. Here is where your company appears.

It’s true that products available online are also available in stores. So with that in mind, how can you possibly set your brand apart in this cramped market place?

The answer is trust. What do people hate about department stores? The cavernous warehouse sensation, the time-consuming journey through the wrong aisle, and the often-indignant customer service. A scalable e-commerce business must offer a solid product and a customer oriented business model to match.

Take the fashion startup Indochino for example. The formalwear company focuses solely on giving the modern men—who are often reluctant to get garment measured and tailored—an experience that is worthwhile and enjoyable.

In addition, successful e-commerce startups offer incentives that retail stores often omit. Coupons, discounts, and various other marketing strategies to gain loyalty are ways to turn your savings into new customers.

Social Network and Gamification

Perhaps it is too late to invent Facebook or Twitter, but your scalable startup can still connect people together in different ways.

Two prime examples of scalable businesses that leverage social media for success areFourSquare, a mobile app that learns what you like and suggest places for you to go, and OpenTable, a service that allows you to make dinner reservations quick and easy. Both of these applications fulfill that public demand to explore and evaluate, while providing a gamified element that encourages users to return.

Monotonous and stress-inducing problems seep into our lives constantly. If you can build a company that makes even one of those problems enjoyable (or even bearable), such as finding someone to help you clean your house, like TaskRabbit does, then you are on your way to creating something scalable.

Read more about business and payment on Control.

In and out of the net

April 6, 2015April 1, 2015 / Elliot Chan / Leave a comment

What has the Internet turned us into?

By Elliot Chan, Opinions Editor
Formerly published by The Other Press. March 23, 2015

When we think of the Internet we think about the free flowing traffic between us and endless information and connections. Without having to put on shoes or brush our teeth we can go shopping, hang out with our friends, attend a course, and watch a movie. That is the Internet we know of.

As our dependency on the World Wide Web increases and technology advances, the Internet becomes more than a research data base, social meet-up, and entertainment resource. Like a plant growing fast and wild, branches and roots stray off in directions away from our periphery. The Internet is also now a cliquey underground society fulfilling the needs of those who want smut, drugs, and other products not readily available at Wal-Mart.

The dawn of the Internet—sometime during the late ‘90s—changed the face and other body parts of the pornography industry and the way criminals corresponded, exchanging insight. Remember when free porn was like a hidden gem and “how to make a bomb” articles were the red flag keywords?

As the web progressed, leaked photographs, stolen identities, and bootlegging have become the norm. We are no longer fazed by these wrongdoings. We condemn them, sure, but the lawlessness of the Internet does not institute any repercussions. Click away, delete, or access a different hard drive and we’ll be safe. As the law tries to end torrent sharing sites such as Pirate Bay, it seems they may never stop the numerous illegal acts occurring on the Deep Web, an area of the Internet not indexed by standard search engines.

As of 2001, the Deep Web was believed to occupy a space 400 to 500 times larger than the Internet we normally access, our surface web. Here are some numbers that might give you a better idea: over 10 years ago, the size of the Deep Web was estimated to be about 92,000 terabytes, which is 92,000,000 gigabytes. But all the numbers are merely speculation, because there is no real way to measure it. What makes the Deep Web worrisome to some? Well, can you imagine a physical place where you can buy a quarter gram of Afghan heroin, various firearms, fake identification, and hire an assassin? No? Well, on the Internet, there are hundreds and thousands of places.

The way we make money has changed thanks to the Internet. The way I make money is through content creation. I write marketable copy for different companies from tech to arts. My job would not exist without the Internet. However, many are choosing different avenues online to make a living as well: e-commerce, SaaS, and monetized user generated content. The last one in the list is interesting, because people can literally sell a show from the comforts of their own home. It can be a video blog like the kind you watch on YouTube, it can be a video game commentary like the kind you see on Twitch, and it can be pornography like the kind you find on MyFreeCams. There is literally a platform for any kind of entertainment you want to produce, and you can make a living doing it. Just try to avoid using public library as your settings.

It’s horribly clear that today we can only truly know a person by understanding their search history. The fact that Google has more information about us than our friends and family says a lot. Our relationships, our knowledge, and the life we’ve created are now a few gigabytes on the Internet. And that is how significant we’ll continue to be as the web, like the universe, continues to expand.