Somehow... Nazi's never seem to go away...

Good thing we have clients with a sense of humor. So remember to Nazi proof your… proofs? before you send them. Enjoy! And be careful… the Nazis are out there.

In school it was most students’ nightmare to be assigned yet another brand identity project.  It seemed like every class, every semester, assigned branding or re-branding projects.

A professor of mine once pointed out that we were doing that assignment so many times because it is hard to do.  On paper, it looks easy.  You make a logo and apply it to some stationery and a few assets.  But there’s the rub.  It’s true, the rest will be much simpler (notice I didn’t say easy) if you have a strong mark to begin with. However, designing a concise, thoughtful, clever logo is difficult.

Naturally,we have  ground rules for making any design, but how do we find the way to tie an abstraction like a thought or a feeling to something tangible?

Get out in the world. I initially felt like I was wasting time if I walked around a mall, or a bookstore. At some point it was brought to my attention that writing things down while meandering through public spaces could bring spades of inspiration.  I now carry a notebook with me everywhere.

Listen to music. It’s no secret that this can be a powerful creative tool.

Read. The more information you take in, the more you will have to offer.

Write.  Get out of your head.  As visual people (this is from another professor) we need to see things to process information fully.  Yes, even words.

Draw. Again, we are visual.  Learn to solve spatial problems with your hands.  Don’t forget that the computer will not make you a good designer anymore than a box of pencils will.  Develop your hand skills and translate that into the digital medium.  Everything a designer does with CS4 today was done by hand just 15 years ago.

Share. In graphic design, one of the most helpful tools is often another designer.  Collaborating is one of my favorite things about the design business.  It seems often that more is more.  In other words, more pairs of discerning eyes on a project is likely to yield a more successful end result.

All of these things will help you be a better designer, and it is my firm opinion that you will be a happier person as well.  In this world, success is based on how well your designs communicate. Perhaps you sold a logo you don’t particularly care for (aesthetically speaking).  The real point is, did it get the client’s message across?  That’s the measuring stick.

So if  you’re stuck, go for a walk, look around you, and rethink your process.  It’s nice when we get to make something pretty, but often that isn’t the task before us.

In other news, its now the third week of the year and I hope you are still keeping up with your resolution!

So progress of 2009 was actually really bleak because our goals weren’t really specific to our own company. I think we hit 1/3 which I guess is not that bad considering, like I mentioned before, most people never really keep to there resolutions.

Oh well, all is forgiven and hopefully this year will be much better. So what do we have planned for this year? Well its actually really simple:

• Double our sales by end of the year. I’m not going to disclose the number but I’ll definitely let you know if this occurs.
• Move to a bigger office (this actually seems very likely in the next month or so and I guess is a cop-out to say we at least accomplished one of our resolutions).
• OK, because the previous one is a cop-out, move to a bigger office and make sure it just emits the Border7 brand!
• Update our blog to the new layout we have planned (we need more time since client work is taking up most of it!) and also blog on a more frequent schedule.
• Increase our RSS & Newsletter subscriptions by 30% by summer.
• And do a site overhaul as far as design, content, and offerings. We have a lot of new things in store and have shifted focus slightly, and or site doesn’t really reflect that yet.

Well, here’s a toast to the new year and I wish everyone the best of luck with whatever endeavor  you have planned for yourself.

Make sure the customers are aware of new products and can distinguish them. “New!” “Latest” “Hot New Item!” One thing that always brings customers back, is new products. The more new items you release, the more things to shop for. The more to shop for, the more to buy.

Customers love receiving something for free. If you can, include something for free with purchase. “Buy one get one FREE!”, “Free gift with purchase”, “Free gift on purchases more than $xx”. A big thing with the economy now is people are looking to pinch dollars more and more. By offering something free with purchases, it gives the customer a sense of savings. Even if the gift is just merchandise that advertises your company, it’s still free.

Let customers know the urgency of buying now. Use words like “For a limited time only!” or “Offer ends mm/dd/yy.” This brings a sense of uniqueness, like what they’re buying isn’t going to be at that price for long and if they wait, it’ll cost them more to buy.

Stress the limited amount of product. Use words like “While supplies last!” or “Limited amount available.” Doing this emplies that what they’re shopping for is something rare and special, that it’s something that is hard to find and they should take advantage of it while it’s there.

If your prices are lower than other stores, make sure your customers are aware of that. Have a comparison of price chart somewhere on your site, or have a section dedicated to testimonials from people saying how good your pricing is. When you’re doing this however, be sure not to mention specific names of other companies. Good sportsmanship is part of the game, and pointing fingers only makes you look bad.

Coupons are a great way not only to gain new customers, but to also keep customers. By offering 10% off to New and/or Returning customers they are more inclined to shop with you because they get a discount.

These tips are sure to boost your sales as well as your customer base!

But I will admit, I sometimes like the idea of resolutions. I, myself, have made them before, but I change the title to “goals” instead. Its a way to trick my mind into accomplishing them. A resolution is just a yearly goal. Not only do I have yearly goals, but I also make t hem measurable. So instead of “lose weight” its “I will lose 3-5 lbs per month.” This gives me a smaller time frame (waiting a year to accomplish a goal leads to procrastination I’ve found.) and something I can quantify and track. This makes following my “resolution” much easier.

Three easy steps to make and keep your resolution:

1. Make the resolution. Define it and ensure that it is quantifiable and has a due date (Plus be reasonable with your goals).
2. Plan. Make action points that you can easily follow.
3. Measure and track. Check on your progress often.

Step 1: Establish your goals.

So as a business person, this is the best time to establish what goals you would like to accomplish in the next year. Again, keep in mind that we want to be able to measure results. So instead of “increase traffic,” your resolution should be “increase traffic by 5% by the Summer.” We have something to measure now, and then we also have a deadline. We also made the goal reasonable enough that its possible to accomplish (I’ve also found that this is key to keeping your resolution).

Step 2: Plan, Plan, Plan!

So now that we have our 2010 resolution! YAY! New Year tradition is completed! But wait! We want to keep the resolution! Having a plan will help ensure we follow through. So for instance:

Resolution: Increase traffic by 5% by summer.

Plan of Action: Begin Twitter & Facebook. Focus blog. List bloggers & sites to garner exposure. Test Google Adwords, Test Facebook Ads. Contact People on list to do guest posts and vice versa. Etc, etc, etc.

By breaking the resolution into plan of action, you now can see what you have to do to accomplish it. You can break it down into weekly goals to do one action point, or you can just do them as time permits. Whatever works best for you is what you really ought to do.

Step 3: Measure for results

The plan was made and you acted accordingly. Its summer now, therefore its time to measure the results of your efforts. If you made it, then you have the rest of the year to bask in your own glory. If you end up just shy of your goal, there’s still six more months to try and get it done!

Time for them resolutions!

We’ll be posting a follow up of our company’s 2009 resolutions later this week and we’re in the process of creating next year’s now! So next week you’ll get to see what we have planned. What are some of your resolutions? Do you usually follow through with them? Or do they tend to fall on the way side?

Border7 wishes you a happy and prosperous New Year! Happy Holidays!

Generally speaking, customers dislike the idea of paying additional money for shipping and handling. They’re already shelling out money to buy the goods, why should they spend more just to receive them? When shopping at a store, you’re only paying for what you wanted (plus tax) and then you can drive home with it. There are a lot of people who will avoid shopping online for this reason as well. I’d suggest coming up with ways to make your shipping costs lower.

The other reason the chart shows, is the physical need to touch and see the product. A lot of people like to play with the stuff they’re buying. Make sure they’re kosher so to speak. This obstacle can be a little easier to overcome. By having lots of photographs and detailed descriptions you can ease the customer’s mind. Including a product video or demonstration can be even better!

Can you think of any other reasons people would choose to shop at a store over online?

What is SaaS?

Wikipedia explains that SaaS is s a model of software deployment whereby a provider licenses an application to customers for use as a service on demand. Typically the company that created the software will host the software on their own servers and charge a monthly fee to its users.

Why should I use it?

Since its an on demand service, and the company is the one hosting the software, you don’t have to go looking for a host that can support your store. You also don’t need to be very technical to start your store. Brenden from Repeater Store also noted that a major reason people choose a SaaS shopping cart is the ease of you. They “are the easiest to get set up with, the most straightforward, and have the lowest barrier of entry.” When starting out, this can be a lifesaver.

Typically, hosted solutions also have their own tech support. This means there is someone available for you to always contact when you have questions. Should some problem arise, you can pick up your phone and there is someone to call. You don’t usually have to pay for tech support as its included in the monthly price.

Nathan Shackles from Racarie Software notes that in any industry, particularly software, software can become obsolete fairly quickly. “It can become out-dated very quickly. With the speed of software/technology progress, you can buy a licensed software product and within a year or two it’s already out-of-date and much better products are out on the market,” Nathan explains. When using a hosted solution, updates are deployed to all users when they’re available, at no cost to you.

What is wrong with this model?

Another valid point that Ernesto made was that “you are always at the mercy of the provider” when choosing a hosted solution. As we discussed in the licensed section, you are limited to what you can and can’t do with the software. “If you play in their sandbox, you have to play by their rules” as Ernesto says. Its a very true statement. If you decide to use a hosted shopping cart, you really need to make sure that it meets all your needs before committing. When you start using software and find out that a certain feature is lacking, you don’t have an option to really fix it. You are limited to the features the shopping cart you use has.

You will be paying a fee every month for as long as you are using the software. This amount adds up. With licensed software, you pay a one time fee for the license, and then you pay a cheaper monthly price for the server. With the hosted shopping cart solutions, you will pay a premium monthly price (can range from $50-$500+). The price is inflated to account for development, hosting, support, and any other reasons. And some shopping carts also charge overages for bandwidth. This can be an issue so you really need to monitor this as the costs can be insurmountable.

Another issue with having the software hosted on someone else’s server is that should it ever go down, you’re pretty much helpless. You don’t control the servers or the hosting so if something breaks, the company is in charge of it. The best you can do is call and complain and try to get some money back.

Examples

• BigCommerce
• CoreCommerce
• Shopify
• Volusion

What are your thoughts on hosted solutions? Do you like the SaaS model? Or do you think its a waste?

Why should I consider a licensed solutions?

Ernesto, a web consultant in the Washington DC area, stated that using a licensed solution provides “the maximum flexibility.” I have found this to be the number one reason people choose to go with a licensed shopping cart. When you use a hosted solution, you are limited to the features the software has. If you need something extra you don’t have the ability to code around it.

Brenden, of Repeater Store, also notes that flexibility is his top concern when looking at shopping cart solutions. He continues by saying “its difficult to find an Ecommerce package that can cope well with any desire that you might have (e.g. strange shipping rules, unorthodox discounts and promotional codes, etc).” By using a licensed solution, you can modify as needed and most have a community that works on customizations.

PerfectForms, although not a shopping cart platform, is also software in high demand. The interesting thing with them is that they provide their users the option to use On Demand (hosted solution) or On Premise (a licensed solution that lets users install the software on their own servers). Tom Allanson, CEO of PerfectForms, stated that “privacy and security of data made a company choose their On Premise solution. Security and privacy is another thing someone needs to consider when looking for a solution. When using a hosted solution, the software company has access to much of the same information that you do.

Why Should I hesitate?

A driving factor that makes people shy away from licensed solutions is cost. There are solutions out their that are inexpensive, but generally require customizations and changes. These add up as development costs. Tom mentioned that “smaller businesses tend to choose On Demand after discussing prices.” When starting out your funds are limited so the upfront costs of running your own licensed Ecommerce solution can be daunting.

Also, for those that are less tech-savvy, hosting your own shopping cart can prove difficult. You need to first find a host that can maintain your site and its traffic. You typically need to have a basic understanding of web hosting and running a site. Most of the time, store owners just want to worry about selling products. The technical details can be headache inducing. If the site goes down, you’re responsible. You don’t have anyone to call to fix it right away. Or if you do, you’re paying them premium price to work for you.

Brenden also stated that hosting your own solution can be a little more tricky to set up. From step one, to finally running your store, the softwares out there are not always that easy. They tend to have a high learning curve and there’s no one to call to teach you what you’re doing.

Examples

• Interspire
• Magento
• OSCommerce
• XCart

What are your thoughts? Do you like licensed solutions? Or do the cons really outweigh the pros?

Customer Corner

We’ve signed on several new clients and a lot of fun projects this past month. So look out for when those are done! In other news, the following things happened:

- All Sarongs was moved from OSCommerce to Volusion. We designed a simple template for them and moved all their products over.
- Cookies for Kids’ Cancer has Joan Cusack to thank as their spokesperson! They also are partnered with Glad, and Glad is matching all – donations this month. So if you’re looking for some holiday gifts, their cookies are delicious!
- We recently redesigned Shady Accessories and Phone Case Store.
- We also updated Little Mass with their new line of clothing.

At the office…

We didn’t have a movie night this month, but instead had a game night which was a lot of fun. We played a game Munchkin which is basically Dungeons&Dragons with playing cards. I highly recommend you try and play it.

We also hired two new interns here at the office, Nora and Sable. They’ll be handling a lot of projects and help the rest of us become sane again.

A few tidbits about them just so you get to feel like you know them. During Nora’s interview, we asked her what type of candy bar she’d want to be and she picked “Carmello” because they’re hard to find but so good when you do. Sable went to Santa Susana High School, a technology magnet, and was my classmate once.

Anyways, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU. And I hope you all have a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving!