The production release of Magento Open Source commerce is finally alive!
For an open-souce platform, this e-commerce application is simple and easy to set-up. Designed with search engine optimization in mind, Magento is relatively easy way to set-up a shopping cart system on your web site.
Various marketing and promotions tools, Payment integrations, statistics and customer management ... view all features here ...
Have fun selling online!
Over time, it definitely will. Blog by e-mail, blog from your PDA or cell phone, blog online or even blog from a 3rd party application.
I've tried Qumana in the past, kudos the Vancouver based company for developing such a nice product. Never really did get in to their ad posting system though. I'm it has great merit.
The Beta Zoundry Raven application caught my attention recently. Why it can manage your blogger 'blogspot' accounts. Hey ... it can also manage all of your hosted Wordpress sites. It doesn't stop there, various blogging platforms are support it. So why not try it out and see where it takes us.
Hey, wait a minute, it also supports the various tags from popular sites like Technorati, Del.ic.ous, Flikr and more ... very cool indeed.
Images and media?
No problems there. Ties in nicely with Picasa, ImageShack and more.
The whole point of search out a decent blog editor is simplicity.
You get an idea, why go through the process of getting to the site, logging in (in you can remember all your passwords), fiddling around with the tags, wondering if you have the lastest plugins installed and more.
Open up the Raven application and off you go!
Happy blogging!
(now let's see how this post renders online)
Because you really have to laugh sometimes about it
Happy Friday!
Do people still run Internet Explorer 6 (IE6)?
You betcha!
Recently created a site for client and I kept hearing "What's up with the blocks in the navigation menu?"
Grey blocks? What block?
Turns out they were in IE6 mode.
Could I convince them to upgrade to IE7?
Sure I could have, but their point was that if they are using IE6, then others must be using it as well!!!
Good point
Tool for developers, especially the CSS types
Test out your website on various versions of Internet Explorer (and FireFox too!)
http://tredosoft.com/Multiple_IE
If your site is not rendering well in ver7, you'll have more fun in ver6 - have fun!
Today I seriously started my *new* voip provider search
I've had enough of not being able to get inbound calls for weeks and being disconnected during calls from my current provider. At one time, the service was better. (No names please)
Some people claim that the quality of calls has gotten better ...
"Why wouldn't it, when there is no-one using the network!!!" was the comment I heard one time.
3 companies came up on my radar.
My prime objectives being able to call forward, conference call and have reliable voice-mail.
It was interesting to find some companies offering with some really *cool* online account management features. On this point alone I almost signed up.
Why voip?
It's pretty sweet knowing your call is being routed many different ways on the Internet to get to your calling destination.
It's about new technology and being able to say "Yeah I was there when it was in it's infancy!"
Technology aside, cost wise, it just makes sense.
Why pay for extras like voicemail, caller ID, call forwarding and more when in most cases it's all included.
The search begins
Let's do it the traditional way and weed through the hype and in-coherency of web site navigation, I've got some serious questions here:
- Can you port a number over?
- How about additional virtual numbers in other cities?
- Can I get a toll-free number because business is booming?
- What are the start-up costs & am I locked in a contract?
To answer these questions I pick up the phone and start calling
Company A:
Ring ring, push button 1, push button 2, wait, push button 1 again, placed on hold ...
You made me push all these buttons to be placed on hold?
Why not just tell me you're busy right up-front and call me back?
Click
Company B:
Sorry I don't understand you ingleesh
Company C:
You advertise VoIP in your ads but you don't provide voip service, hehehe, you only install voip equipment I've never heard of and I still need to find a voip provider?
Can you at least recommend someone you have set up service with recently?
Click
Company D wins because I was able talk to someone who was able to answer all my questions within 5 minutes of the call. "Yes we can do this, no we can not offer that". Services were outlined, prices were quoted and technical knowledge was there.
Best of all, there was no real push to sign up and grab my Corona-Cash.
Did I sign up?
Not quite yet, waiting on a few options, but you sure can guess who I remembered and talked about today and who more likely will get my business and future referrals.
Answering incoming calls is important for any business.
It's funny how some companies wonder why their sales are not increasing when there's no one really there to answer the calls coming in.
Coddle your leads, they'll bring you more if you treat them right
All eBay affiliate peddlers out there, change your lucrative Commission Junction eBay affiliate links immediately! Less than 30 days to migrate over with a 5% bonus commission for the month of April 2008
SAN JOSE, Calif.,– March 17, 2008 – Today eBay unveiled the eBay Partner Network, a new global affiliate program for publishers driving traffic to eBay. Officially launching on April 1st, 2008, the eBay Partner Network will be eBay’s new in-house affiliate network, designed to more fully align the programs across eBay’s global properties and give affiliates expanded access to revenue opportunities across its platforms.Registration not until April Fools Day!
http://affiliates.ebay.com/ns/Launch.htm
Starting from March 17 through April 1 2008, it will no longer be possible to register through Commission Junction. Please check back on April 1 for more information on how to register on the new eBay Partner Network.With an organization this big, it's almost nice to see them go in-house.
Absolutely nothing!
If your domain name is up for renewal (usually within 3-7 months), some domain name holders will receive an offical looking letter from the Domain Registry of Canada indicating that it is time to re-new the domain name .... at a higher rate!
The actual form looks quite official, with it's brown envelope and 'governmental' look and feel
By actually submitting your cheque or credit card information, you are actually transferring from your existing domain registrar to this company.
A few related links:
http://www.twistimage.com/blog/archives/domain-registry-of-canada-scam-with-direct-mail-and-online/
http://www.domainhelp.com/who_is_the_domain_registry_of_america_or_canada
The Web Host Industry review recently came out with their 1st annual "Hottest Hosts" publication back in January (wow - it's already March!!!) titled 'Web hosting and hosted services buyer's guide'.
Various categories including Small Business hosting, Unix/Linx, database, enterprise, ecommerce and more.
What I found surprising was some of the host providers I work with that are not mentioned or included in the publication. It's not like these companies do not have an advertising budget or thrift on PPC ad campaigns.
For small business hosting needs, there are always options and you do not have to work locally, as one client recently thought they had to do. Host providers throughout USA and Canada are abundant, quality of service and level of support will always vary.
A steal for small business hosting:
A new promotion that recently came up offers
a whopping 10GB of server space,
300GB of monthly transfer (bandwidth),
500 email accounts (ok, I'll set those up right away!)
and 10 MySQL database (very sufficient for most business needs).
Best of all, plans start from $3.65 to $4.29 a month - a no brainer for a simple 5-5000 page website!
View more about this Web Hosting Special here ...
