Are multiple conflicting simultaneous promotions costing you customers?

It's getting cold again here in Georgia, and after the first time using our fireplace this season I remembered how much I need a screen to protect our hardwoods and rug from the hot embers that sometimes pop out onto the floor. After searching online for about an hour, I settled on a nice (but [...]

Zirtual shut it’s doors: What does this mean for outsourcing?

  Check the bottom of the page for several updates! This morning I received the following email from Zirtual, where I have been a customer for about six months using their "Zirtual Assistants" or ZAs to help me manage my business without hiring a full-time assistant. Dear Zirtual Clients, It is with an incredibly heavy [...]

ICE Retailer E-Commerce Conference

This October, for the second consecutive year, I'll be speaking at ICE Retailer, an e-commerce and digital commerce conference in Atlanta, GA. Founded by John Lawson of ColderICE, the conference has an all-star cast of speakers including Peter Shankman, JB Glossinger, Brandon Dupsky, Alaa Hassan and, of course, John Lawson (and many, many more). A complete schedule hasn't been [...]

By |September 14th, 2014|E-Commerce, Speaking|Comments Off on ICE Retailer E-Commerce Conference

Dealing with Damaged, Used or Worn Customer Returns

If you have an online store, it’s just a matter of time before you’ll get a return in the mail that is worn, used, damaged or in some kind of disarray. Hopefully you have a return policy in your online store… even if you do not accept returns, you should still publish your policy (if [...]

By |September 5th, 2014|E-Commerce, Order Management|Comments Off on Dealing with Damaged, Used or Worn Customer Returns

Who Do They Think Read Errors, Anyway?

Back in 2004 Jason Fried and Matthew Linderman of 37 Signals wrote Defensive Design for the Web because there was a real epidemic spreading around the Web. Error messages were cryptic, server-generated strings of gobbledygook that didn't make any sense to the real people visiting websites, and very few large websites seemed to give any thought or planning [...]