CatalogSuccess.com talks about the judicious use of AJAX. He makes the critical point that you need to be sure to degrade gracefully (i.e. don’t fall off the cliff if the user has JavaScript disabled).
Friday, May 30, 2008
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Beyond Blogs
Business Week revisits the topic. They repeat the theme that non-hierarchical connectedness and dialog – promoted by Web 2.0 style tools – is the next big thing. Interesting article … but is it just me, or does Zuck look a bit too much like a Greek God? 
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Three words from Seth Godin about email
Seth Godin speaks to Google – a wonderful talk that’s well worth an hour of your time. Most interesting story: creation of Hallmark collectible ornaments (about halfway through), with followup marketing by email. Takeaway: the most effective email campaigns are
- Anticipated
- Personal
- Relevant
The “email blast” approach has never worked, will never work, and will likely land you in hot water. Take the time to do it right.
That Software Guy works with MailChimp on email promotions. Check out their resource library to see the depth of their expertise. Reasonable prices for small businesses too.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Adding boilerplate text to your Zen Cart product descriptions
At the request of a user on the Zen Cart forum, I beefed up this tip page to describe how to add boilerplate to the new products, all products, featured products and product listing pages.
Monday, May 26, 2008
Gas Tax, please
Dr. Greg Mankiw calls it “The Pigou Club” (after economist Arthur Pigou, who advocated using taxes as a way to correct for negative externalities).
That Software Guy calls it the “fund the war and the follow up costs, including veterans benefits, instead of screwing our warriors and giving our kids the bill” club.
This Memorial Day can I get an amen from an office-seeker who’d like to talk about the duties of citizenship? Didn’t think so.
RIP J.R. Simplot – from chips to chips
J.R. Simplot passed away today. A real Horatio Alger story – started in business at 14.
In 1923, he left home with four $20 gold coins and paid $1 a day for room and board at Declo’s only hotel. As a shrewd young businessman, Simplot bought interest-bearing scrip paid to teachers who also were boarding there for 50 cents on the dollar.
Question: is there anything you can buy today for fifty cents on the dollar? His story comes wonderfully full circle:
n 1980, at age 71, Simplot took a gamble on the next generation of businessmen, giving Ward and Joe Parkinson $1 million for 40 percent of what would become computer chip maker Micron Technology Inc. Over the years, he pumped in $20 million more to help Micron build its first manufacturing plant and to stay afloat. Micron went on to become a major producer of DRAM memory chips, which are used to store information in personal computers.
Question: if you can’t run your own business, can you take an ownership stake in someone else? Dreams need funding today.
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Sales Training Videos
Probably not what you’re used to.
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Next year in Jerusalem
New life goal: to attend MashBash in Israel. Have fun, guys! I look foward to reading about it this year.
