Dan Gandor http://www.dangandor.com The web home of Daniel J. Gandor Thu, 29 Mar 2012 22:14:37 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 12 New Year Tips for Websites – Happy New Year 2012 http://www.dangandor.com/2011/12/12-new-year-tips-for-websites-happy-new-year-2012/ http://www.dangandor.com/2011/12/12-new-year-tips-for-websites-happy-new-year-2012/#comments Sat, 24 Dec 2011 17:51:04 +0000 dgandor http://www.dangandor.com/?p=334 12 Business/Website Tips for 2012In honor of the new year, we offer 12 business tips for 2012!  Here are some ideas/tips to keep in mind if you have a small business or a website:
  1. Keep your passwords secure!  Okay this one isn’t really a business tip, but I’ve seen too many people get their websites and/or email accounts hacked.  Be sure to change your passwords regularly and use complex passwords:  best practice is over 8 characters, a combination of upper AND lowercase letters, numbers, and special characters.  If you have a password of 6 characters, with just letters, it can be cracked in less than 5 seconds!  Conversely, if you have a complex password of 8 characters, it would take over 2 years!  Check this out:  http://www.symantec.com/connect/blogs/how-quickly-can-your-password-be-cracked
  2. Keep your website fresh.  Search engines like Google and Bing reward websites with fresh/new content.  Be sure to add something new regularly.  All the websites I develop offer easy-to-update administrative functionality that allow YOU to edit your website quickly and easily.
  3. Market your website offline for free.  Don’t forget that word-of-mouth advertising is some of the post powerful marketing there is!  Be sure to simply talk your site up in the “real world.”
  4. Market your business and website offline.  Marketing OUTSIDE of the web can sometimes bring more traffic to your site than online marketing.   If you want to get “official”, you can do direct mail marketing.  I highly recommend Expresscopy.com for your direct mail needs:  Postcard Printing. 20% Off Your Direct Mail Campaign.
  5. Market your website online.  If you haven’t tapped online marketing channels like Google Adwords, you might want to try!  It can drive VERY targeted traffic to your website when you want.
  6. Start a blog.  Blogs are a great way to keep your website fresh.  They are also great to let your customers know more about you and strengthen your relationship.
  7. Email your customers.  Again, keep that relationship strong with simple emails to your customers.  If you want to get fancy, you can do true email marketing, we do it!  Mailchimp is great (and free):  www.mailchimp.com.  We can also help you design that campaign if you want to get serious about this.
  8. Leverage your logo.  Do you have a great logo?  Why not create some reminder items!  CafePress and/or Zazzle can create tons of promotional items with your logo/imagery on it!  Think mugs, tshirts, plates, keychains, etc.
  9. Go Social Simply.  Have you mentioned your website on your personal Facebook and/or Twitter profiles?  Why not?!  Do it today and you’ll be surprised how much traffic this can bring.
  10. Do REAL Social Media Marketing.  If you want get serious, we can help create destinations (pages) for you on Facebook and Twitter.  People can “like” your business and/or this lets you build 1-to-1 relationships with your customers.  Again, that word-of-mouth advertising can be leveraged online too!
  11. ABC – Always Be Closing.  Sometimes people forget that the point of a business is usually to MAKE SALES.  Make sure your website and/or marketing tactics ask for something (hopefully a sale).  Keep that call-to-action strong!
  12. Put your Customer First.  One of the first rules of good marketing to keep your customer at the center of everything you do.  So, no matter which of the tips above you employ, be sure to think about it from the customer point of view.  How will THEY be seeing your site, your email, your communication.  Why would THEY want to act upon your offer?  Always put them first.

As always, if you need any help with your online strategy, web design needs, or even help/advice regarding the tips above, please don’t hesitate to contact us!

dan@dangandor.com
847-752-6228
www.DanGandor.com

Happy New Year,
Dan

]]> http://www.dangandor.com/2011/12/12-new-year-tips-for-websites-happy-new-year-2012/feed/ 0 Hosted Shopping Carts Comparison http://www.dangandor.com/2011/10/hosted-shopping-carts-comparison/ http://www.dangandor.com/2011/10/hosted-shopping-carts-comparison/#comments Sat, 08 Oct 2011 10:32:19 +0000 dgandor http://www.dangandor.com/?p=256 As I work with clients who want an online store, one of the first things I try to determine is whether they would best be served by a hosted solution or a self-hosted shopping cart. There are a TON of options for both those categories, and a ton of websites comparing one option to another, particularly in the hosted realm. However, I never saw a comparison looking at a bunch of hosted shopping cart options at one time. So, I started compiling this for myself, but figured others could benefit from my research as well. This information is not every hosted shopping cart out there, but it’s the big boys, the ones I would feel comfortable potentially recommending to a client. The information is current as of October 5th, 2011, and I’m sure can/will change over time. Please check out each of the vendor’s pages for the most current and complete information.

Vendor Plan Cost/Mo. Setup Cost Transaction Fee Products Storage (MB) Bandwidth (GB)
3DCart Mini $19.99 $0.00 0.00% 100 1000 2
3DCart Starter $35.99 $0.00 0.00% 500 2000 4
3DCart Gold $49.99 $0.00 0.00% 1000 ∞ 6
3DCart Professional $99.99 $0.00 0.00% ∞ ∞ 20
3DCart Power Plan $129.99 $0.00 0.00% ∞ ∞ 45
BigCommerce Bronze $24.95 $0.00 0.00% 100 200 2
BigCommerce Silver $39.95 $0.00 0.00% 500 300 3
BigCommerce Gold $79.95 $0.00 0.00% 1000 500 5
BigCommerce Platinum $149.95 $0.00 0.00% ∞ 1000 15
BigCommerce Diamond $299.95 $0.00 0.00% ∞ 3000 45
CoreCommerce Beginner $19.99 $0.00 0.00% 100 200 1
CoreCommerce Starter $39.99 $0.00 0.00% 500 300 4
CoreCommerce Basic $59.99 $0.00 0.00% 1000 500 10
CoreCommerce Standard $99.99 $0.00 0.00% 5000 1000 20
CoreCommerce Professional $149.99 $0.00 0.00% ∞ 3000 50
MagentoGo Get Going $15.00 $0.00 0.00% 100 200 4
MagentoGo Going Places $25.00 $0.00 0.00% 500 500 8
MagentoGo Go Beyond $65.00 $0.00 0.00% 1000 800 16
MagentoGo Go Anywhere $125.00 $0.00 0.00% 10000 5000 32
Shopify Basic $29.00 $0.00 2.00% 100 100 ∞
Shopify Professional $59.00 $0.00 1.00% 2500 500 ∞
Shopify Business $99.00 $0.00 1.00% 10000 1000 ∞
Shopify Unlimited $179.00 $0.00 0.00% ∞ ∞ ∞
Volusion Steel $19.00 $0.00 0.00% 100 ∞? 1
Volusion Bronze $39.00 $0.00 0.00% 500 ∞? 3
Volusion Silver $59.00 $0.00 0.00% 1000 ∞? 5
Volusion Gold $99.00 $0.00 0.00% 5000 ∞? 15
Volusion Platinum $149.00 $0.00 0.00% ∞ ∞? 20
 ∞ = Unlimited  ? = Unconfirmed

 

Try them out here:



BigCommerce: The easiest way to sell online!

Check out Shopify


Volusion
]]> http://www.dangandor.com/2011/10/hosted-shopping-carts-comparison/feed/ 1 Phone Pranks http://www.dangandor.com/2011/08/phone-pranks/ http://www.dangandor.com/2011/08/phone-pranks/#comments Sat, 13 Aug 2011 18:30:55 +0000 dgandor http://www.dangandor.com/?p=208 I was cleaning out my hard drive today and found two phone pranks I recorded back in like High School.  Still funny…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UR92nKZR9PY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VRkIS5izq0

]]> http://www.dangandor.com/2011/08/phone-pranks/feed/ 0 My New Car – 2011 Hyundai Sonata http://www.dangandor.com/2011/05/my-new-car-2011-hyundai-sonata/ http://www.dangandor.com/2011/05/my-new-car-2011-hyundai-sonata/#comments Sat, 21 May 2011 19:44:42 +0000 dgandor http://www.dangandor.com/?p=169 I recently finally retired my 2002 Sonata (133k miles and still running strong) to get a new 2011 Hyundai Sonata. I must admit, Hyundai did an AWESOME job designing this model, it’s truly stunning. I got the 2.0L Turbo engine (274 horse power), Limited Edition, with Navigation system – black exterior, black interior – fully pimped out. It’s got paddle-shifters, leather, moon roof, heated seats (even in the back), upgraded Infinity audio, and everything else I could ever want. I’m really happy with it! It even has an iPhone/iPad dock that allows you to fully control your iPhone through the touchscreen…it’s really sweet. Here are some pics are the model I actually got…

]]> http://www.dangandor.com/2011/05/my-new-car-2011-hyundai-sonata/feed/ 0 iPad 2 Rocks http://www.dangandor.com/2011/03/ipad-2-rocks/ http://www.dangandor.com/2011/03/ipad-2-rocks/#comments Wed, 23 Mar 2011 23:06:35 +0000 dgandor http://www.dangandor.com/2011/03/ipad-2-rocks/ I am writing this blog post from my iPad 2, sitting delayed in an airplane. I must admit, the onscreen keyboard works pretty well! I’m ALMOST typing as fast as I could on a regular keyboard (okay, maybe HALF as fast, but still a lot faster than like my iPhone). I really didn’t have much else other than to brag about thus truly awesome device. Hopefully this delay finishes up soon and I can get back to Chicago.

]]> http://www.dangandor.com/2011/03/ipad-2-rocks/feed/ 0 Welcome to the Updated DanGandor.com! http://www.dangandor.com/2011/02/welcome-to-the-updated-dangandor-com/ http://www.dangandor.com/2011/02/welcome-to-the-updated-dangandor-com/#comments Wed, 02 Feb 2011 23:19:44 +0000 dgandor http://www.brushbeauties.com/dangandor1/?p=122 Along with the new year, 2011 rings in a new design for DanGandor.com! I felt it was time to bring a little more content to the site and so I added this whole blog section. The new site also has a new great portfolio engine – one that hopefully better showcases my work. The homepage has the large “featured item” animated section front and center which hopefully captures some attention. The bottom footer area is dynamic based on what’s new from the blog, my Twitter feed, and my contact links & information.

DanGandor.com 2009 Design

The "old" DanGandor.com design

2011 DanGandor.com Design

The "new" DanGandor.com design.

So, I’ll archive my old design in my portfolio, and move forward with this new one! I hope you all enjoy! Let me know what you think…

]]> http://www.dangandor.com/2011/02/welcome-to-the-updated-dangandor-com/feed/ 0 The Future of Payments http://www.dangandor.com/2011/01/the-future-of-payments/ http://www.dangandor.com/2011/01/the-future-of-payments/#comments Sat, 29 Jan 2011 18:34:08 +0000 dgandor http://www.brushbeauties.com/dangandor1/?p=19 I just learned of this awesome new service called Square (www.squareup.com) – and here’s the link to the free iPhone app. It’s basically the first company to bring credit card payment/acceptance to the masses.  It’s a free credit card swiper/reader that attached to iPhones and iPads and allows anyone to accept credit cards on the fly (pun intended, I guess).  They only charge a fairly nominal per-transaction fees, no monthly or device fees.  As a website business owner who DOES pay monthly “merchant fees” to accept credit cards elsewhere, this service is definitely a game changer.  I WISH Square would offer to pay me to promote their product, but frankly, I’m doing it for free because I want all CFI’s to start accepting payment via credit card.  (I HATE writing checks!)  How great would it be if you can earn credit card points/miles while flight training?

Who knows, maybe I’ll even start getting reimbursed for av-gas costs via credit card too!  I’m seriously thinking about just signing up for one….who else in aviation is as well?

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