LOVING Blogger Right Now

Ok, I just saw and used the BRAND NEW BLOG TEMPLATE DESIGNER - on Blogger.com - (where I proudly host my own blog) and while I'm a little worried that it is SO easy to design your own blog with these tools - (since I offer blog design as a service) I have to say - it's AWESOME.

You can easily select layout, theme, colors and your own elements such as font colors, background pattern or image - to make your blog stand out and be unique.

It appears - that now anyone can have a GREAT looking blog without any trouble at all - and just a few minutes of fiddling around back-end of Blogger. Could life be any better? Blogger is free - and now you can design it on your own in just a few minutes.

Seriously - With all the different layout, customization options - I can't see how any two blogs could be exactly alike using Blogger's new template design tool.

But certainly - (hopefully) people will still need help with custom graphics and special touches on their Blogger blogs.

If not - I can start selling more WordPress customizations.... :)

Happy Blogging!

Expanding Services - New E-Commerce Design Platforms Availalb

Well, I'm pretty proud of myself over here - I taught myself how to customize 2 new carts this week. How's that for expanding horizons? :)

I really love it when we take time to figure out how something works - and help someone out - and such was the case in all three of these instances.

While I already had some experience with Core Commerce - (One website - Camo Supply - online boutique carrying hunting, fishing gear and more) and have an opportunity to work on another one right now. This one's cool - it's CANADIAN - and you know how I love those Canadians -( the guys at Attribune )- they helped me with that horrible virus last year. And - this new Core Commerce site sells a really cool product.
Also, helped a colleague with a Channel Advisor store - which once it's live - is going to be GORGEOUS. Can't wait to post a link to it.

Also, customized a very cool E-Bay Company Pro-Stores site. I'll post a link as soon as it's live - but it looks great so far!

I will be adding these services to my schedule of services - likely at the same price as Volusion customization. I haven't completely decided yet, because the features and flexibility of each are so different - it might take doing a few before I really know how much time it will take.

Beautysak LAUNCHED

A new site (on Volusion e-commerce) launched last week - and I am proud to say I am behind the template, created to mirror the original beautysak.com website. Check it out here: www.beautysak.com. If you need any sort of makeup, skin care products, hair care products or nail polishes - beautysak.com has what you need.

Open Source CMS, is it right for you?

Coming Soon! OPEN SOURCE CMS: Is that what you need?

E-Commerce Solutions

Need to sell your stuff online? There's so many options available, I thought I'd share some of my experience.

Depending on:
1/How many products you have to sell
2/Your budget
3/Your hosting arrangements (do you already have a website hosted?)
4/Your reporting and management needs

I have several systems that I've worked with now, that I can categorize to best make a suggestion to how you should choose.

If you are looking for great reporting and support, as well as a hosted solution (that is, you don't have a dedicated host for your website), I highly recommend Volusion, a hosted e-commerce solution that is fully customizable, with GREAT support, and GREAT reporting. With Volusion, you'll pay for hosting, and (maybe) your domain, and you can also sign up for a SSL certificate (Secure Socket Layer) and a merchant account + gateway (to accept credit card payments) all in one swoop. With this solution, you'll choose different packages depending on how many products you sell.

If you already have a hosting account, and you're on a tighter budget, you can always opt for an Open Source (Free, under the GPL License) product like Zen Cart, or OS Commerce. Another option, is to go with a CMS (Content Management System) like Joomla, and install a shopping cart component to go with it, like Virtue Mart. All of these options are 'free', but since they are so, the support is more of a 'community' of people who work with these applications. While they all work great, once installed and configured, they do require a little more learning on your part, as the end user. They are also customizable with template structure, and can be managed by you.

There are thousands of other applications and programs out there, but these, so far - have proven the most efficient for managing and selling products. If you can afford to go Volusion - I do recommend it highly because of their awesome support staff.

Please don't hesitate to contact us with any questions or concerns - we'll be happy to be candid with our experiences in this arena.

Happy Selling!