You’ve just been tasked to promote the website of your ecommerce organization. You also need to keep on top of what’s happening in ecommerce, such as legal and regulatory issues. One of the best ways to get this information is through educational outlets of ecommerce organizations.

Thanks to the Internet, you can get a list of ecommerce professional organizations. Obtain information about ecommerce professional organizations by doing the following:

1. Participate in seminars in order to understand the business strategies that professional ecommerce associations use.

2. Education yourself on e-commerce issues or promotions that professional ecommerce groups encounter through podcasts.

3. Visit blogs in order to acquire ecommerce organizations education and training.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Learn about business strategies of professional ecommerce associations via seminars

Seminars can help you gain better insight into how professional ecommerce organizations manage their websites. You can learn how they recruit members or how they market their services. Keynote speakers can also show you how professional ecommerce groups manage membership registrations, newsletters or events.

I recommend: ALEPH offers seminars that provide information about ecommerce professional organizations. Some of the topics seminars cover are designing and managing online catalogs or online payments. In addition, you’ll also learn how to manage newsletters and membership registrations. WECAI, a women’s professional ecommerce organization, also has seminars designed to help women better conduct business on the Internet.

Understand e-commerce issues or promotions of councils for ecommerce via podcasts

Since you're running a professional ecommerce association, you need to understand what other associations are doing. Listening to podcasts can give you a perspective on the techniques that ecommerce professional organizations are using to increase traffic to their websites or signing up new members. Podcasts can also cover legal and regulatory issues.

I recommend: Pennsylvania e-Commerce Association has podcasts that cover legal issues that affect e-commerce. If you have employees, you might want to listen to the podcast that discusses employer liability and email policies. Digital Podcast also provides podcasts on e-commerce.

Get more ecommerce organizations education and training from blogs

You can also learn about ideas on how to boost e-commerce by visiting blogs. They can also give you the latest trends in this industry. You can read what other users are saying, and share them with your members. Some of the topics you can learn about include doing business internationally or boosting sales without hurting your budget.

I recommend: Practical eCommerce provides blogs on e-commerce that are helpful to professional ecommerce associations. Here, you can learn how to sell products and services internationally. Miva Merchants offers information on how to create SEO (search engine optimization) links. One of the groups that the author mentions is professional ecommerce organizations.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Make sure you invest in a sound database application so that you manage your members' contact information. To help you decide, investigate what database program professional ecommerce associations use.

Professional e-commerce associations offer a slew of opportunities for positive exposure for your business. In addition to members of e-commerce organization who work within the industry in some capacity, you will have opportunities to meet and get to know other professional e-commerce organization members, including those in businesses that support e-commerce.

Affiliation with professional e-commerce groups provides lobbying and networking opportunities that can be immensely helpful to your own business interests, while you support the industry. Membership in professional e-commerce organizations often means access to information and contacts that can be important to your own company. Regional councils for e-commerce offer even more opportunities to network with local business and industry leaders in your community. Use your membership in professional e-commerce organizations in a number of different ways.

1. Expand your network through professional e-commerce groups

2. Support the industry by participating in e-commerce professional organizations

3. Find a better job through e-commerce organization connections

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Develop business contacts in groups for e-commerce

Professional e-commerce associations hold regular meetings, seminars and conventions for members and interested parties. At professional e-commerce association events, as well as through various committees in which you can participate, you will have numerous occasions to socialize and network with other business people who support and work within and for the growing e-commerce industry. The business leaders you meet could offer a number of trade opportunities for you and your company.

I recommend: Get involved with shaping government policy and driving e-commerce through the Association for Enterprise Integration. Commerce Net is a consortium of Internet businesses that have banded together to promote the interests of e-commerce related issues.

Demonstrate your interest by joining professional e-commerce organizations

If you want to do business with e-commerce-related companies in any kind of capacity, you will want to show your support as well as meet national and local leaders in the industry. You often can do this best by participating in councils for e-commerce with both your presence and your financial support.

I recommend: eCommerce Benchmarking Association is a free professional e-commerce organization that is working to set industry standards. It could be a great starting point for meeting others in the industry. eMA is an e-marketing association for businesses that are committed to promoting e-commerce worldwide.

Get recognized at councils for e-commerce

Whether you are just breaking into the e-commerce field or you are looking to further your career through a move to another company, you can make some great contacts at a professional e-commerce association. While working with the group and building relationships, you can utilize the educational opportunities that the group offers as well as proving yourself as a stable volunteer.

I recommend: The Women’s ECommerce Association is a hub of e-commerce activity where you can meet up with any number of career opportunities with business that promote women in e-commerce fields. The eCommerce Merchants Trade Association will give you plenty of connections with business leaders all over the country who are involved in growing their e-commerce business.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Join a committee in your professional e-commerce organization to develop closer relationships with others who could be helpful to your career or who can send additional business your way.

E-commerce is now a fact of life, and vendors who do business online need representation like everyone else. In addition to a voice in government, an e-commerce organization may provide networking opportunities and access to vendor directories, continuing education programs and subscriptions to trade publications, among other things.

However, there are usually dues associated with e-commerce organization membership, so you should choose a group that offers value for your money. Each association has a different focus, so find out about some players before you sign up.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

ECommerce Merchants

The trade group eCommerce Merchants was started by small online merchants who banded together in search of a better deal on merchandise. Today, the group is a full-fledged professional network of individuals who share tips and best practices to help each other get ahead.

I recommend: Visit eCommerce merchants yourself to find out more about the group's mission.

Women's ECommerce Association, International (WECAI)

In a traditionally male-dominated field, WECAI has a mission of helping women thrive in eCommerce. In addition to networking opportunities, the group awards scholarships and recognizes women who have achieved success online, be it in retail, industry, science or education.

I recommend: Read more about WECAI at the group's website.

ECommerce Benchmarking Association (eCBA)

The eCBA seeks to identify best practices and make these methods available to members. With that aim, the organization conducts benchmarking studies to analyze key e-commerce processes.

I recommend: The eCBA lists its objectives and mission on its website.

Minority E-Commerce Association (MECA)

The MECA is a non-profit group with the goal of empowering minorities through eCommerce. For instance, MECA developed the Honey Project, in which high school students helped develop a market for African honey.

I recommend: Find out more about MECA's mission and projects.

International Luxury e-Commerce Association (ILEA)

Many merchants who do business via eCommerce are scrappy, independent merchants building a brand. But what about the needs of established companies with luxury brands to uphold? That's where the ILEA comes in. This group helps companies that make luxury goods promote their brand online, while still maintaining its popularity and prestige.

I recommend: Read more about the ILEA and join its mailing list.

Institute of Certified E-Commerce Consultants (CEC)

The CEC is mainly focused on educating industry professionals to promote a high level of expertise in the industry. In addition to providing business and marketing training, it also has a technology education plan.

I recommend: See all the CEC has to offer by reading its reasons to join.

Professional ecommerce groups help to provide overviews on the ecommerce industry as it grows exponentially both domestically and abroad. Businesses lean on the resources of ecommerce organizations and councils learn about rapid innovation within their web based sales field.

When a beginning e-seller is looking to get critical information about how their role will fit into a market, or what to do about competing with other ecommerce vendors, they can find help from the web on locating ecommerce organizations news and trends:

1. For hooking up with domestic or international ecommerce organizations and groups for ecommerce to maintain a relationship that will give a business a heads-up about new practices and changes in their field.

2. For training staffers in the nuts and bolts of guiding a company into ecommerce success.

3. For other business initiatives aimed at growing a community presence or getting otherwise "linked in" to greater networking roles for their markets.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Use online magazines for news on ecommerce organizations

Many traditional periodicals have brought their resources to the web. It can be easy to click through and find news on an ecommerce organization or anything else within the industry that will help to promote a web based business or assist with market research.

I recommend: Find out about what's happening with an ecommerce organization or council for ecommerce at CIO-IN: "Solutions for the Enterprise." Get more similar resources from sites like PCWorld for keeping on top of how large agencies work with specific ecommerce vendors to figure out the future of the industry as a whole.

Get more news direct from international ecommerce organizations

Some web venues are run by international organizations that keep a handle on how ecommerce professional organizations work with businesses worldwide to facilitate what is a rapidly growing field. E-commerce increasingly crosses national boundaries, and ecommerce organizations are attempting to keep up with the constant innovation.

I recommend: See more on ecommerce organizations at the International Trade Forum. See more at the International Chamber of Commerce: "The World Business Organization."

Find more news at compilation sites for professional ecommerce organizations

Other web venues have built their own compilations of information on ecommerce organizations for businesses with a stake in how the online community works to sell products. Click through to find your own ecommerce solutions or networking contacts that will help in a specific business initiative.

I recommend: For specific info on benchmarking in e-commerce, as well as links to professional ecommerce associations, try E-Commerce Benchmarking.