The gang at the office here are some sports nuts, and a lot of them play more sports than you can shake a trophy at. There are even times when they organize a decent team. Here is one of several pictures I took at a softball game in summer of 2003.
See more photos that I've tagged 'MonsterCommerce'.
Here's a press release from Network Solutions that was first distributed today.
Creating an online business requires a lot of research and planning. To aid small business owners in their pursuit for knowledge on how to sell online, Network Solutions' E-commerce experts have written a white paper, "8 Steps to Start Selling Online" available on the Network Solutions Storefront.
(PRWEB) – There has never been a better time to start an E-commerce business, which is why Network Solutions® has written a free white paper that offers business owners advice on how to sell their products and services online.
In 2006, according to comScore, consumers spent $102.1 billion online at U.S. based E-commerce sites, which does not include online auction sites, travel spending or corporate purchases,explains Jeff Zimmerman, Vice President of Product ManagementWith so many consumers shopping online, it's imperative that brick and mortar stores and potential new online businesses alike learn the steps involved in effectively selling online.The Network Solutions white paper, "8 Steps to Start Selling Online", is designed for use by people who are either just launching an online business for the first time, or already have a brick-and-mortar store and are venturing online for the first time. Thanks to the many insightful hints and tips presented in this white paper, selling online will be a more feasible prospect to business owners—especially those with little to no expertise managing online shopping cart software. Business owners can gain valuable insight into how to sell online ranging from choosing a relevant domain name to the importance of having a secure Web site.
The white paper points out that an ideal E-commerce Web site should be designed with the end-user (customer) in mind. Although this may seem like common sense, there are many E-commerce sites that let this focus get lost amongst the other considerations like design and navigation. This white paper also outlines how to drive more traffic to your online business via online marketing and search engine optimization. Network Solutions' white paper emphasizes and outlines imperative E-commerce tips like this— both common and obscure.
Creating a Web site for the purpose of selling products or services online entails a large amount of research and planning,says Zimmerman.When starting an online business, forgetting one simple step can make the difference between success and failure.Overall, Network Solutions' "8 Steps to Start Selling Online" white paper is a valuable resource that all business owners should read if they want to effectively learn how to sell online, and make money selling online. As a champion of small business online solutions, Network Solutions truly wants to help small businesses achieve financial success. This is why the white paper covers all E-commerce topics that Network Solutions' experts consider most important. After downloading the Network Solutions whitepaper, business owners should be able to effectively implement these tips. Selling online becomes less risky and more profitable when proper planning, research, and expert advice is applied.
To discover E-commerce tips, selling online strategies and search engine marketing ideas download the "8 Steps to Start Selling Online" off of the Network Solutions storefront, or call Network Solutions customer service at (866) 905-0477 for more assistance.
Find out more at Network Solutions Whitepapers.
Here's a new product from Google that ought to of interest to webmasters looking to boost their paid advertising effectiveness.
Google announced the testing of a new pay-per-action, or PPA, advertising product today. It's important for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the fact that Google controls so much of the online advertising market that just about anything they do in advertising has real consequences around the Internet.
Get started Digesting Google's New PPA Advertising Product.
Internally posted, but I thought it worth sharing!
From: Mitchell, Champ
Sent: Monday, March 19, 2007 8:29 AM
To: NSI All
Subject: 1st Quarter Product Release Celebration!
Importance: HighTeam-
Thank you so much for all of your hard work during the first quarter of this year. Your accomplishments will help us meet our 2007 bookings goal of $335 million, improve our competitive positioning and enhance our customers' experience. The new products and projects that we have launched this quarter include:
- Integrating SSL certificates into the Network Solutions storefront. In just under two years, we have become one of the Top 5 providers of SSL certificates in the world. Your work will help us soon move up to #4 on the list, as this integration has doubled our sales of SSL certificates from the Storefront, as well as ensured that our customers receive the best and most cohesive, user-friendly experience possible.
- Enhancing the Shopping Cart, Homepage, and other aspects of the Storefront. Recent changes to the storefront including a new homepage, enhanced shopping cart, and new secondary up-sell pages will improve our customer experience, conversion rate, bookings, and ability to showcase new products and services.
- Enhancing Image Café. Enhancements to Image Café, our Do-It-Myself Web site creator package, including the new 'Click and Drag' functionality, will make it even easier for Internet novices to quickly and easily publish professional looking Web sites. This is yet another important investment towards our future business growth in this critical segment of our customer and prospect bases.
- Launching Extended Validation (EV) Certificates. EV certificates provide the highest level of SSL security online, bringing our customer's customers an increased assurance that their transactions will be secure. Offering this product gives us not only a chance to enter a new market, but also makes our offerings more relevant to a wider range of perspective customers.
- Implementing the Singl.e View Upgrade. In addition to delivering a required upgrade of the billing system and saving the company money, this implementation significantly improved the user interface performance (by 1,500 percent!) for the Accounts Receivable team by reducing account look-up time from 30 to two minutes.
- Adding blogs to Web hosting. This addition has provided not only a value-add to existing hosting customers, but has also provided us with a critical competitive advantage in the Web hosting marketplace. Since launching blogs on February 24, more than 1100 blogs have been configured.
In addition to the token of my appreciation that was waiting for you on your desk this morning, you also have an opportunity to win prizes while you learn more about our products—both new and existing—through the Product Celebration Scavenger Hunt!
Simply go and click on the link for the scavenger hunt, which will take you on a journey through the Network Solutions storefront. We will randomly choose 10 winners out of all correct entrants—who will receive a $50 American Express gift card!
No celebration is complete without snacks, so be sure to check the break room nearest you this afternoon for refreshments.
Thank you again for all of your hard work. Here's to more successful releases!
Best-
Champ
The following was featured in an internal company wide announcement.
Several employees of the Network Solutions Belleville office have been donating their Saturday mornings to help Neighbors for Renewal in Belleville, a not-for-profit corporation that acquires homes that are in severe disrepair, rehabilitates them using (primarily) volunteer labor, and then makes those homes available for sale at a reduced price to low income qualified families.
The Belleville team of volunteers is currently working every Saturday morning from 9am to 11am rehabbing a home that was built in the early 1800's. The house, when complete, will be used as a community-wide food pantry for the Belleville community. Once this project is complete, the team of volunteers will begin work on another house which will be used by Belleville High School District 201 as a transition house to teach housekeeping skills to autistic and learning impaired students so that they may live independently.
. However, this blog is not an official property of MC nor our parent company Network Solutions. I'm simply testing out a few things. My goal is to distribute information that should be helpful to small business owners and ecommerce web developers and to share new ideas I learn on a daily basis.
encourages its team members to maintain personal websites and respects their right to self-expression via blogs and other forms of online communication. Of course, employees are still bound by certain terms (including confidentiality and avoiding conflicts of interest) whenever anyone discusses Company-related issues such as our product and service offerings, sales campaigns, current and former personnel, corporate strategies, etc. The views expressed on this site are this employee's alone, and they do not necessarily reflect the views of Network Solutions, its management or its staff.
