Benjamin Franklin recommended that you build an App. Well, sort of. “Time is money,” Mr. Franklin advised, in his pamphlet Advice to a Young Tradesman, Written by an Old One. You’ve probably heard this thought on the value of time before? Perhaps, in a way, Ben’s ponderings from 1748 are applicable today in a, well, application he never could have predicted. 265 years later, our lives are extremely fast-paced. While Ben Franklin discussed the value of hours and days, we look at mere seconds and see dollar signs. Simply put, no one can afford to wait anymore. We’re all getting used to the availability of instant information. As a business owner, if you know that your clients appreciate streamlined, highly informative content available rapidly, then you can keep them happy by providing information that is always accessible. Unfortunately, a nice website (and even a mobi...
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Want brand awareness? Increased sales? Need to spread the news? Strengthen customer relationships? Or simply remind customers that you exist? Whether you’re testing the waters with direct marketing, or you’ve been sending marketing blasts for years, here are some tips to make sure your emails are effective. And read. Think about your inbox on a Monday morning. (Stifle that groan, please.) We all know the feeling of being flooded with emails. Let’s be frank: nobody opens every single email. Even your blind mouse could smell spam by now. There’s a lurking chance that your email will be banished as “trash” (or worse, “spam”) without the result you were going for. So how do you get your marketing emails opened? 1. Send your stuff to the right people. Should you purchase an email list? Probably not. “Bought recipient lists generally don't work for several reasons,” says YC...
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As a church, service company, charity, or retailer, are you getting the most out of your eCommerce website? With Christmas behind us, I reflected on my own spending trends. About 90% of my holiday purchases were made online. TIME Business & Money says that I wasn’t alone – online store spending increased over 17% from the previous year’s numbers! Online shopping has become an undeniable appeal to consumers, who can save time and often money by using virtual stores. Truth be told, Andy Chandler of the YCP team says that he hardly ever sees a “standard e-commerce site.” Most clients are unique, requiring custom solutions. “Many of our websites are services driven or are donation based. For example, some of our clients are only selling digital products, so shipping and inventory don't play a role - but secure delivery does. Backstage is designed to handle any type of sto...
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Did you get a shiny new tech-toy for Christmas? My dad and stepmom did. They proudly FaceTime-ed me from their new iPad, and when I "hung up," they were busy trying to wrestle the device back from my 18-year-old sister. Tablets and smart phones easily transcend generational barriers. In fact, data collected by NPD DisplaySearch projects that tablets will outsell notebooks by 2016. Why does this matter? I'll give you a hint . . . your website! Problem? Solution. Ethan Marcotte explains the problem this way: "We’re faced with a greater number of devices, input modes, and browsers than ever before." While it's possible to design separate packages for each of the different platforms (desktop, tablet, smart phone, mini-tablet), there's a better solution, and we predict you'll hear a lot about it this year. The solution is responsive web design, in which we create an attrac...
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