This client is in the throes of opening up a retail location, where 2 businesses will be location – Event Planning and Photography (focusing on Babies and Weddings). They are hoping to add a bakery later on.

The owner had already paid someone to design the logos and setup 3 initial websites plus a brochure. The designer had to move to Germany, however – and the owner was not comfortable working remotely (although I’m sure the designer could have done this!).

What I found when arriving onsite reminded me of the importance of staying organized with your data. They had data strewn across 3 different machines, weren’t sure of where the logo file were – in fact, weren’t even sure what format the files were in. It also took some time to find the login information for the GoDaddy account to see what had already been setup.

[As an aside - the original designer also signed them up for "account protection" - which means that we will have to jump through some serious legal hoops before we can get the domains transferred over to MidGaHosting.com - a MUCH friendlier and less expensive option].

The staff are also in some serious need of training in basic computer processes – and some decisions need to be made regarding file management, network sharing, printer setups – all with an  eye to increasing efficiency. After all, the less time spent LOOKING for a file means more time WORKING on it, right?

Small Biz is a tough market, yet so very important to our country. It is a TOUGH decision to spend money on training because it is an intangible thing – yet having on-site training from a GOOD trainer can pay extraordinary dividends in terms of efficiency gains and aggravation reduction!

I’ll be talking with the client after the dust settles about doing some onsite training. It’ll be interesting and fun!

If you’ve never heard of Dropbox, it is a well-done way of storing files online. You can access them through a webpage, or if you install the software on your machine you can also access them on a local folder (which is kept synced up). Folders can be shared as well.

CLICK HERE to try to win this from AppSumo.

I looked at several different possibilities – Magento, etc – even looked at using WordPress, which could be theoretically doable – but settled on Prestashop because the base store is free, and it comes with a plethora of features. It is easily extensible with add-in modules (similar to the WordPress Widgets and Plugins) – many are free, and there is an active paid developer community as well.

Other attractive features are the options for multiple languages, multiple currencies, multiple shipping partners (which I don’t need for this particular store), and the template design setup.

The shop has been up and running for some time – I am still loading product into the store at odd times, so it will be some time before there are more than a few products available.

Overall, I am pleased with the software. The only two “gotchas” I had to wrestle with were the PHP upload settings on the server – fortunately my host provider (MidGaHosting.com) allows me to change the settings to allow larger file uploads), and needing to unblock some ports on the hosting firewall, which took a bit of trial and error.

Prestashop is available at Prestashop.com. Tell them the MaconMacGuy sent you!

For example, all of the hosting accounts – from the very cheapest all the way to the most expensive Dedicated hosting package – available at MidGaHosting.com come with multiple email accounts. You can access your email via the traditional route – using an email client like outlook or Thunderbird – or you can use Webmail.

The advantage here is that using you@yourbiz.com as your business email is that is reminds people of our business, of your domain, of your website – thus boosting your brand.

While we’re on the subject of boosting your business through small changes, here’s another tip: Make sure your email signature is worth reading. It should include a link to your webpage, your email address, and your basic contact info. Why? Again – to boost your brand.

This has the side effect of making you look more professional and more businesslike.

But what do you do if you just can’t let go of gmail/yahoo/hotmail/etc.?

I have one client who just loves using Gmail – so we set his Gmail account to fetch lal of the mail from the biz account so that he receives all of his mail in one spot. Yet people are emailing him at HIS domain, so this still reinforces the brand.

So start using your domain to the fullest! You paid for it!

…and if your hosting account doesn’t have sufficient email options to suit you, check out the packages over at MidGaHosting.com – [it's another MaconMacGuy.com production!]

This is a real problem for the small business owner. It’s even bigger if you aren’t online-centric.

So what do you do?

Here is my take on the whole online marketing thing. CAVEAT: I’m not getting rich from anything I’m doing online – nor do I have a realistic chance at becoming so! I use the online marketing stuff to let the world know what I offer.

I have indeed had some clients come from an online search – but most of my clients have come from word of mouth and from referrals.

So you should probably have a package from Morton Salt next to you while reading this!

1. You can’t do everything.
2. You SHOULDN’T do everything. If you did, the business would seriously suffer.
3. The occasional “quick fix” might be OK – i.e. deal sites like Groupon, DealSaver, etc – but aren’t very good for developing a longterm business.
4. A lot of the stuff that’s HOT right now online will be gone in a few years.
5. Tell a story….Tell it well….and Tell it consistently.
6. Oh – and make it short. If it’s a long story, break it up into smaller segments (like, CHAPTERS!)
7. Where to tell it? Start with your own website – yes, you need one!
8. ONLY Then move on to other places – Facebook, Google Places, etc.
9. There are ways to get your stuff to automatically show up on other websites – using RSS. CLICK HERE for an article about gettting your blog to automatically update your Facebook Page.
10. The ideal would be to write it once, and have it show up in several places online. Its’ less work that way!

Any other ideas? Let me know!

BACKGROUND: I have several website that are WordPress based, and thus have an RSS feed as part of the setup. Several others are using Feedburner to distribute the feed as well.

There are also some Facebook pages setup as an auxiliary web presence – See the HamSandwichTees Website vs. the Facebook Page for an example.

What I wanted to do was to add an entry to the website, and then have it automatically transfer in to the Facebook Page.

Here’s how:

• Login to Facebook
• Click Pages (left menu)
• Click on the Page you wish to edit
• Click EDIT PAGE button – top right
• Click APPS link on left menu
• Find the NOTES app – click the “Go to App” link
• Click EDIT IMPORT SETTINGS link on left sidebar.
• Add in the appropriate RSS link (something like http://hamsandwichtees.com/feed/)

Some observations:

1. OScommerce has been around a long while, and has a tremendous community built up around it. My impression is that the look is dated, and debugging/configuring  the install will take quite a while.
2. Xcart is something I’ve had some peripheral experience with through a former client. It is commercial software, and is quite capable. I’ve decided for budget reasons to not go commercial, however.
3. OSCommRes is an option available in my MidGaHosting.com host account. There is little info on the web about it, though, and I really do not want to start up a new online store with dead software.
4. Zencart looked interesting – it looks like a more modern version of OScommerce. Several posters commented that it was a better choice than OScommerce, but it would still require significant tweaking.
5. Magento also looked promising. It is an opensource/commercial hybrid – the so called “freemium” model. Unfortunately for me the “Community” edition was missing some features that I need in this store.
6. PrestaShop is what I decided to try. It looks like it will do what I need it to do, and the setup seems to be fairly straightforward. I am still in the midst of configuing the backend, and then will start loading product into the store. At that point I’ll make the shop active.

The short list of my requirements:

1. mysql/php based
2. Easily add downloadable products
3. Some carts can do “multiple stores” inside one install. That might be useful later should this store branch out into shippable products.
4. Backup capability inside the admin panel
5. multiple admin users – I’m going to need some help later!
6. Ability to add free products to the mix.
7. Builtin RSS feed
8. Multiple currency capable
9. Builtin hooks to Paypal and Google Checkout

More later as I continue this journey!

Also of interest – when this aired, the World Wide Web was only 2 years old!

This is a new organization, and their website needed to be clean, easy to navigate, and yet allow for conference registration…. and not cost a lot to develop.

I created several tie-ins with Paypal in the site, working with the groups treasurer. For a new organization cost containment is obviously a critical issue, and we found that Paypal’s pricing for handling the credit card payments was significantly lower than the SCNSE’s bank.

I also added a feedburner tie-in so that anyone can be notified when news is added to the site.

Behind the scenes I am working with the organization’s board to create a communications structure, including email addresses, contact information, and training a “PR” person on adding news to the site.

“Being online” means more than just having a website. It has to integrate into the business (or in this case, the organization) – and that means having a communications process setup to answer questions and comments, add material to the site, etc.

There is a lot of additional activities and features that could be added to the site, but for now what is there is enough to get a new national organization started.

Check it out for yourself:

Society of Clinical Nursing Specialist Educators

You can take a look and listen to it at http://marketplace.publicradio.org/display/web/2010/11/26/tech-report-technology-to-make-shopping-easier/, assuming you’ve got five minutes to kill!

Here’s why you really should have your own domain:

1) Less cheesy email address.
2) Email address / website that reinforces your brand
3) A spot to sell your stuff, perhaps.
4) Search engine visibility

To get started, swing over to
http://www.midgahosting.com
Click the order button. To get started you really only need the cheapest plan.

The form has an option to find a domain – you can do .com or .biz – maybe even .pro.
(BTW – domains are case-INsensitive, so you can type them either way).

Select the US-based data center. There’s also an option to go ahead and install wordpress or any of a few dozen other packages.

BTW – one cool feature is that you can host 3 domains within the same hosting account…so you could then add mikeknapp.com to the same account for the price of a domain, install wordpress, and use THAT one to sell your art.

http://www.maconmacguy.com/compare-hosting/#explain
for a quick explanation.

I have a post for my Mercer CSC125 class with several links to the Macworld material, including photos, video, and some editor’s reactions. You can view that post HERE, over at csc125.blogspot.com.

I threw the lesson plan out the window, and we had a very interesting discussion about the student’s reactions to the iPad – was it a usable thing now, could it be usable on the job – in business, etc.

What surprised me was that the overall reaction was “yeah, it’s cool, but I don’t see how it’s useful for me”. Several questioned droppiong $500 on something they weren’t sure they’d use (which was actually  nice to hear! I’m sure their parents would be proud.)

Most of the kids have smartphones and laptops. Abvout half of them know about multi-touch capabilities, but relatively few have multi-touch capable devices. A surprising number said the omission of a videocamera was a deal-breaker for them – most who said this use video chat on Skype to stay in touch with home (several states away, even across the ocean in Britain).

My take?

A very cool technology which will again change how we interact with the computers in our lives – after the concept of “no keyboard” is adopted across the industry. I can see using one, especially given the iWork apps (which are Office compatible), projector interface, and the fact that I do all my email on the web anyway.

This is going to be interesting!

Techrepublic posted a few snippets from the presentation by Steve Jobs:

…and here are some reactions from the PC World and MacWorld editors:

In the interest of helping him out I sent the following email – which has been edited to suit my purposes here.

Another of the things I do is web hosting (at http://www.midgahosting.com ) and design and online presences and such for some of my clients – and I noticed you’re using a cs email account. Just wanted to mention that you’d really get some brand boost if you had your own domain, and use that as your email “base of operations”.

I’ve got a couple of real estate people who are doing that – they’ve bought their domain and hosting (under $4/month) and they’ve never done anything with the hosting part.

In your case I’d suggest getting the domain, and then setting up a wordpress blog (which is EASY using midgahosting) – use a couple of “pages” for company info, but use your posts for the releases you send out. This would amplify the search engine affect for each release.

[What they look like depends on the template chosen for the blog, but often pages show up as tabs at the top of the blog, and posts are the main part. Over at http://www.maconmacguy.com, for instance, pages are the tabs at the tops, but posts are the entries on the right under "news".]

Just thought I’d throw this idea into your bucket! I feel strongly that receiving emails from whatever@mycompany.com is stronger than getting it from whatever@cs.com.

–

The process:  head over to http://www.midgahosting.com.
Click on the “sign up” link, at the top.
Fill out the form. Decisions to make:

1. what username you want – for logging into your control panel area
2. Which data center (I suggest California, but there isn’t much speed difference between California and London from Georgia)
3. Which plan – for your purposes I suggest the cheapest! Easily upgradeable later if needed.
4. Pre-installed script – Select wordpress here. No charge – this just saves you a step later.
5. Your desired domain…. then the usual contact and payment info

==============================================
Tom Rule
The MaconMacGuy
Computer help, training, Websites, Processes

http://www.MaconMacGuy.com

Web Hosting under $4 a month

http://www.MidGaHosting.com

==============================================

One of my clients is blind, and runs a computer-based recording studio (that is verrrry nice, let me tell you….). There’s a constant dance we have to do to keep his machines running, because not only do you have the inherent complexities of dealing with Windows (XP pro in his case), PLUS the weirdnesses of audio on Windows, you have JAWS, a screenreader fropm Freedom Scientific to boot.

It can get hairy keeping things running.

My client has depended on Outlook Express for years for his email – primarily because Jaws didn’t play well with the full Outlook, and webmail isn’t an option (for the same reason). Summer 2009 Microsoft stopped supporting Outlook Express on Hotmail because they moved to “Windows Live”, which uses a fundamentally different technology for email fetching.

Now, I understand the technical and business reason for Microsoft’s decision – after all, this is a FREE product they’re offering. I also understand my client SHOULD have moved off of using MSN for his primary email a long time ago, and moved it onto his own domain – but generally you don’t fix what’s broken, especially when you have a memorize what is onscreen because you can’t see it!

But this means my client can do NO business online, because email is how he conducts a good part of his studio work.

A tough situation – one he didn’t ask for. In the next installment I’ll describe what we decided on after much discussion – and let you know how it all came out.

As I type this I’m waiting to find out myself!

A small business – it might be a plumbing company, printshop, whatever….. – has their website plastered on their truck / flyer / billboard / facebook ad / etc. They’ll have the company name, a phone number, maybe a phrase describing what they do – in short, it’ll look pretty good, and is probably pretty effective.

…and then I get to the contact email address.

If you are going to go to the trouble of having a website and your own domain (www.joesplumbing.com) – you really ought to use an email address from that domain as your primary contact.

Why?

Using whatever@joesplumbing.com will reinforce your website, your brand name, and make it easier for potential customers to remember you. There is also the advantage of consistency – clients only have to remember ONE domain (joesplumbing.com) – not 2 or three (Wait – was the email contact at yahoo.com? hotmail? live.com? uhhhhhhhh……)

Granted, this is ONLY an advantage if your domain makes sense for your business – but it is definitely worth doing well!

What about spam?

Most hosting plans will offer some type of spam filtering. The plans over at MidGaHosting.com all do. It is a fairly capable spam filtering system that catches the majority of the spam received, and it is easily configurable in the hosting control panel. You just make a selection for each email address on how aggressive you want the filter to be.

If you need something heavier-duty, try the hosting plans offered by the MaconMacGuy. You can add on an industrial strength spam filter for $12/year per email address that will catch virtually every piece of spam the world throws at you. It is remarkable effective – and can save you some significant time in handling email.

Another Option

Setup what is known as an “alias” email account – again, easily done in your hosting control panel. An alias account isn’t a “real” email account, but the hosting will automatically forward any emails sent to info@joesplumbing.com, for example, to Joe’s real account at Gmail or Yahoo (which then spam filters the incoming mail). The DISADVANTAGE of this approach is that your customer will email info@joesplumbing.com, but will receive a reply from joesplumbing@gmail.com – and this can be confusing. It could also possibly trigger their spam filter.

Contact the MaconMacGuy for more information and ideas for using technology in YOUR business!