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Interesting small business ideas coming out of the recession

Thursday, April 30, 2009 – 6:57 pm

In a glass-half-full note, one of the positive things that comes out of a downturn is that laid off workers generate new business ideas.  Here’s one you probably haven’t heard of: wedding cake rentals.  My brother-in-law and his wife have started a company called Twin Cities Cake Rental, which allows engaged couples in Minneapolis/St. Paul to rent a wedding cake.  The cake itself is a prop, and guests are served sheet cake, saving the new couple hundreds of dollars.

Good luck in your new venture, Chris and Robbin!


Updates to Beanstream Payment Module for Zen Cart

Saturday, April 11, 2009 – 8:37 am

The Zen Cart guys asked me to make some enhancements to the Beanstream Payment Module. I added dual currency support ($US and $CDN).   It is now available from the Zen Cart downloads area.


5 Reasons Why I Love to Shop Online

Monday, March 2, 2009 – 8:36 pm

5 Reasons Why I Love to Shop Online

a guest post by Holly McCarthy

It’s something my friends and I love to do – just hang around a mall all day long, going from shop to shop, taking in the sights and sounds of other shoppers, and having a great day out. But I must admit that I’m a closet online shopper too – I find as much pleasure in scouring the Internet for deals as I do when I’m out on the streets. And if push came to shove and I was asked to choose between online shopping and the real thing, I would say that the former has a slight edge over the latter, simply because:

  • It’s the best way to buy presents for people who live far away: It’s pretty simple when you can provide one billing address and another shipping address to shop for loved ones who live in different cities. You can buy them stuff from online stores and have them ship the product directly to them. And very often, if you plan your purchase in advance and choose ground shipping, you get your gift shipped free of cost.
  • It beats battling weather conditions: If you’ve ever shopped during intense heat waves with buckets of sweat pouring down your back or during cold fronts where the snow creeps up your shoes and forms wet slush, you’ll definitely appreciate the comfort of shopping from a climate-controlled room, with a hot cup of coffee (or a cold beer) beside you.
  • You have greater variety: Yeah, you can shop all over the country, without having to spend an additional penny or travelling an inch from where you are. All you need is the time and the patience to search the Internet for the best deals and greatest collections when you’re looking for a particular item.
  • You get great rebates: Some offers are only available online – besides the coupons and deals, you also get mail-in rebates that sometimes take half the price off the product.
  • You’re contributing to saving the planet: Now I’m not a green freak or an environmentalist, but what I do know is that I prefer a clean world to live in, one that does not involve climate change and global warming. So I’m happy to do what I can to reduce the use of fossil fuel – the less I use my car, the less I’m polluting the environment.

This guest post was contributed by Holly McCarthy, who writes on the subject of the top online college. She invites your feedback at hollymccarthy12 at gmail dot com


Making Zen Cart Quantity Discounts Marketing Text sensitive to exceptions

Tuesday, February 17, 2009 – 9:11 am

Many people (14,712 downloads at last count) have benefited from my Zen Cart Quantity Discounts contribution. But sometimes you don’t want to discount all your products.  That’s why I added the user exits exclude_category() and exclude_product() - to facilitate that kind of exclusion.

If you have used exclude_category() or exclude_product() to limit your Quantity Discounts, you should also limit the display of your Quantity Discounts Marketing text.  Take a look at the notes on Zen Cart Quantity Discounts Marketing Text for instructions on how to do this.


Zen Cart Combination Discounts Offers on listing pages

Sunday, February 15, 2009 – 7:06 am

The Combination Discounts Offers on Listing Pages Zen Cart extension is now available. This extension displays your Combination Discounts offers on listing pages such as All Products, New Products, Manufacturer Pages and Search Results. It makes the Combination Discounts Marketing Text even more visible.


Zen Cart Better Together Offers on listing pages

Saturday, February 14, 2009 – 5:18 pm

I’m going to put together a series of marketing enhancements for my Zen Cart contribution Better Together this year.  Here’s the first one: Better Together Offers on product listing pages.


Interesting News Stories 01/18/09-01/24/09

Sunday, January 25, 2009 – 11:04 am

Zen Cart Save For Later contribution released

Monday, January 19, 2009 – 5:22 am

Amazon.com’s shopping cart page has a feature whereby items can be set aside from the current checkout but still visible for later purchase.  It’s called “Save For Later.”  This functionality is now available in Zen Cart with my Save for Later contribution.  I hope you like it!


Interesting News Stories 01/11/09-01/17/09

Sunday, January 18, 2009 – 4:20 am

While things are slow, make demonstration videos

Thursday, January 15, 2009 – 8:29 am

Things are slow right now.  You’re spending less time on sales, less time on support.  How can you best spend the free time you have now to create value in your business?

One idea is to build a video portfolio on YouTube demonstrating the use of your products.  Take a look at my client CropStop.com on YouTube, showing how to use QuicKutz, Boss Kut and Cuttlebug scrapbooking dies, embossing folders and storage sleeves.