As well as the realistic, hi quality photos you need to sell your products, you can bring bags of personality to your business by adding more creative imagery. Snaps of staff at work, artistic ‘still life’ arrangements and other editorial shots can all help lift your store from a simple online catalogue to a business with soul.

Now you’re probably wondering how the hell you can do that with no budget and no specialist skills, but take heart. Help is at hand!

Let me introduce you to the hugely popular Smartphone app, Instagram, a photography tool with its own social network. Its 100 million users share over 40 million photos each day, so it’s constantly buzzing with visual activity.

I’m a huge fan. I use it to capture everything from birthday parties and favourite meals to the beautiful things I see in an otherwise dull day. The filters instantly turn my standard photos into the colourful and inspiring images that you might see in a high-end magazine.

Here’s a before and after from my own holiday snaps.

The photo on the left is taken directly with my iPhone. It looks a bit flat, doesn’t it? Now look at the one below with an Instagram filter applied. Instant va va voom!

Not just a pretty picture, reach a new global audience

Instagram effortlessly brings your photos to an image-hungry audience of millions. The photos you take are shared straight away with your Instagram community and can be posted to other networks like facebook and twitter. And just like facebook, you can tag your photos, follow other people, like their photos and make comments.

Your photos can also be downloaded from your phone, so you can use them in lots of other ways like on your blog or website. I’ve also read that Instagram pics are very popular on Pinterest.

To make it even more irresistible, Instagram has just made it possible to record video. You can take up to 15 seconds of video on your phone, apply one of their famous filters and share it with your social networks. I can see endless opportunities here for a short clip of your products in use, or behind-the-scenes footage of your business. At the moment, there’s no easy way to embed an Instagram video into your webpage, but that will no doubt be covered by some clever little tool soon.

Here’s an example of online retailer “the Iconic” using Instagram on their blog.

If you’re looking to inject some creative style into your online store and showcase your products to a worldwide audience at the same time, check out Instagram. You can read how to set up an account for a business here.

The explosion of social networks in recent years gives you access to millions of people all over the world right from your desk. And all for the price of… well, nothing actually. Nada. Zip.

Google has been tweaking its algorithms lately (the way it rates your online content for search) and has put far more emphasis on social media goings on. So the more you are out there talking, and being talked about, the better your rankings in search results could be.

All of the social networks mentioned below allow you to set up a business page or account for free, post text, pictures and even video, and interact with other people around the world. That’s a great way to promote your ecommerce website!

If your potential customers use any of these platforms, you should be there too.

Grab a Google+ business page
The number of businesses on Google+ is growing fast; probably due to the way the mothership ranks Google+ activity in its search results.

Google has made this network the place to connect with people with similar interests and share relevant topics.

If you have a physical store, don’t forget to claim your Google+ local listing.

Formulate a Facebook business page
Facebook has surpassed 1 billion users and is the most popular social network on the planet.

If you want to add a more sociable and shareable element to your business, Facebook is a good option. It is a place where people to hang out and have fun, so watch you don’t get too officious and markety.

Launch a LinkedIn company page
LinkedIn is the go-to place for professional networking. You can also create a company page to promote your products and services and post news updates.

One of its most valuable features is the networking groups. There are literally thousands you can join, from crochet to cryogenics and all points in between. If there’s not one already that’s right for you – make your own!

Take up on Twitter 
Twitter is great for sharing quick, short updates as posts are limited to 140 characters.

It’s a good positioning tool and is often used by business as a customer service channel because of its speed and accessibility.

Pinup on Pinterest
This highly visual network attracts a very active and mostly female community. By creating a business presence on Pinterest, you can be inspired by photos from around the web as well as using it as a billboard for your own products.

Instigate Instagram
Here’s another visually rich community. There are over 100 million active users on Instagram, furiously snapping and creating beautiful images

Free, yes. But there’s a catch…

All this free publicity and access to new markets takes time and energy. You could spend hours every day on it if you let yourself.

Make each interaction count and invest your time in the ones that your target markets gravitate towards.

In many cases, the cost of shipping comes as a surprise to many people during the checkout process. The 2013 UPS Pulse study found that 54% of the online shoppers surveyed that had abandoned a shopping cart had done so because of the cost of shipping.

A similar study from E-tailing Group in 2011 found that 73% of respondents considered free shipping without conditions “critical”.

Social media reviews are also playing an important role in setting customer expectations. A ComScore survey revealed that the top reason for recommending particular retailers was the availability of free or discounted shipping.

Benefits of Free Shipping to your bottom line

Offering free shipping can help increase sales by attracting more shoppers to your store and reducing shopping cart abandonment rates.

It can also lead to larger orders, particularly when minimum order values apply. The
E-tailing Group study found that more than three-quarters of the respondents had added more to their shopping cart to qualify for free shipping if a minimum order value applied.

Different delivery fee models

As a small retailer you might feel you can’t afford to offer free delivery across your entire range. But it doesn’t have to apply to everything on your site.

There are a few different models already in use, such as only offering free shipping:

• to specific locations
• for orders over a certain value
• for specific products, like smaller or lighter items
• at key shopping times of year like Christmas and Mother’s Day
• for members of the store’s loyalty club

Another popular option is flat rate shipping, offering one delivery fee for everything no matter the size or location of the delivery.

Do your research

Obviously, the choice to deliver goods free of charge can have a big impact on your profit margins. Every business is different, so do your research and weigh up the costs and advantages as they apply to you.

• Put yourself in your customers’ shoes and go online shopping for your products. What are your direct competitors offering in the way of delivery options and costs?
• Do the maths to understand the likely effect on your profit margins. If you want to offer free shipping, the level at which it is set is key.
• Test it out. Offer free delivery for a short period of time to see if it creates more income by generating more sales or lowering shopping cart abandonment.

Get the word out!

If you do decide to discount or do away with delivery costs for your customers, broadcast this loudly and proudly!

Put a notice on your homepage, your product pages and update your shipping information. Then head to your social media channels and let everyone know about the change.

Quick tip:  You can offer free shipping on all products by creating custom shipping rates, or you can offer it on specific product collections using shopping cart discounts.