Archive for November, 2008

Happy Thanksgiving

Thursday, November 27th, 2008

thanksgiving Happy Thanksgiving
Happy Thanksgiving guys! We are so thankful for our friends, family, colleagues, clients, and just everyone for making Border7 possible and such a fun place to be!

If you’re in the area and in line for the Black Friday Sales, maybe we’ll see you with our cookies =)

Cookies For Kids Cancer Bake Sale

Monday, November 24th, 2008

So, its Thanksgiving Week, so we’ll be taking a break from updating the blog and will just slowly work on current projects. One of our biggest projects is a non paying gig that we’re going to be partaking in this week.

The Border7 staff will be hitting up all the local stores bringing yummy home made cookies to shoppers asking for donations to the wonderful cause that is Cookies For Kids Cancer.

Now, I personally have friends who won’t be able to eat the delicious cookies we’re making so, AND I also have little time in the next month to visit local friends (holidays, birthdays, etc). So, here is my proposal: if you feel the great feeling of wanting to help those who are less fortunate AND want me to visit you, please fill out the following Order Form. I will personally deliver the cookies to you (as long as you’re in the Southern California area) if you can get at least 5 orders from your area.

So, help a great cause and let’s have an awesome visit over some cookies =) Please fill out the form, or just email me at amy@border7.com with your details. Thanks!

P.S. I’ll drive down to the Mexican Border up to San Luis Obispo. Remember, at least 5 orders per area and I’ll hand deliver the scrumptious cookies!

EDIT: The cookies will be delivered during the first few weeks of December. Costs are $5 for a sampler pack (4 cookies) and $10 for a dozen. They’re REALLY yummy cookies. These are homemade cookies that the Border7 staff is baking ourselves and not the ones directly from the CFKC website (which are also really delicious cookies as well).

Six Questions to Ask a Shopping Cart

Tuesday, November 18th, 2008

When searching for a Shopping Cart solution, there are six questions one should always ask.

  1. Do they support my Merchant Account/Gateway? If you’re a brick and mortar store, you already have a Merchant Account to process your credit card transactions. Generally they will have a Gateway that you can utilize when you decide to take your store online. In E-Commerce, shopping carts have to develop specific integrations with the various gateways. Its best to know if a cart is already integrated with your Merchant  Gateway & Account; then finding out later that you will need to use one of their supported Merchant Gateways & Accounts and pay extra for having two of the same thing.
  2. Can they handle the options/attribute sets that my products have? Every store has a unique situation. When selling tee shirts, you may have different SKUs for the same product that has different options. You should always ask how the cart handles this, if it can handle it, and if it adds to the bottom line. Or, you have a furniture company that not only needs the different SKUs, but you also need to modify the pricing based on the options selected. Not all carts are made to handle these configurations, you do not want to be stuck with a shopping cart that is unable to handle your products.
  3. Does it integrate with my Shipping Carrier of choice? If you already utilize UPS and sign up for an e-commerce solution that only supports FedEx, what does that do for you? Are you going to sign for FedEx and pay for two shipping accounts? One that you’re not even allowed to use? Or, what if they don’t calculate live rates at all? Are you going to charge the same shipping price for all locations and lose money because of it?
  4. Does the cart allow for a custom design? Most carts come with a default template, but its default; meaning everyone else has it too. In E-commerce, design is a factor in where people shop. If you look like every other store, what sets you apart? Some carts come with a few standard templates as well, but that just means fewer stores will have the same exact template as you. Wouldn’t it be embarrassing if someone noticed?
  5. What features are available in regards to Promotion? Coupons? Discounts? Buy 1 get 1 free? etc? Part of every business model is some sort of marketing scheme. Standards include coupons and discounts and get progressively more diverse from the “Buy 1, Get 1 free,” “Free Shipping over $99,” or Price Brackets based on quantity ordered. Make sure the E-Commerce solution allows for a variety of these, and always check that it will work before running an advertising campaign.
  6. Is there technical support available? Does it come at an additional cost? E-Commerce generally has a high learning curve, and setting up a store is not the most fun thing on a business owner’s to-do list. A shopping cart that has technical support is always a perk. When something breaks or doesn’t work according to the manual, you want to ensure there is someone to explain why. Some carts come with technical support as part of the price, and others have additional fees, this is also something to keep in mind.

Introducing Safari

Sunday, November 16th, 2008

safari_intro Introducing Safari

Introducing Internet Explorer

Thursday, November 13th, 2008

ie_intro Introducing Internet Explorer

Introducing Firefox

Wednesday, November 12th, 2008

firefox_intro Introducing Firefox

The Neccessary SSL

Tuesday, November 11th, 2008

What is an SSL?

An SSL is a Secure Socket layer. The basic description is that it is a protocol installed on your server that encrypts information that is passed through the user and the server (e.g. credit card transactions). You can read more information at the Wiki.

Why get it?

An SSL is necessary if you choose to sell online and accept credit card transactions. Not only do some gateways require that you have an SSL to use them, but many users will navigate away from your online shopping cart if they do not see the familiar padlock or “https://” It inspires confidence in your site and ensures that transactions are secure. Customers are more likely to purchase from your online store.

How does it work?

Once an SSL is installed on a store, it generally is applied to the checkout pages (where credit card information is entered). When a user submits their information, the SSL protocol is enacted and it encrypts the information being passed to the server. In the case of credit cards, gateways generally decrypt the information once it is passed through.

Where can you get one?

There are numerous companies that sell SSL certificates. It is generally adviced to buy from a familiar one just to reassure your clients. You can try Comodo, GeoTrust, Thawte,  and Verisign.

Prop8 (not) Fail!

Wednesday, November 5th, 2008

Last night we stayed up to watch the election race and to find out how the propositions went. To our dismay, Proposition 8 passed with 52% approval percentage. One of our friends made a comment that I decided to draw out to make them feel better.

noon8 Prop8 (not) Fail!

Hopefully the battle is not lost and with Gandalf’s power, be repelled. Ironically enough, Gandalf the Grey played by Sir Ian Mckellen in Lord of the Rings is gay. I completely did not realize this until writing this post.