Linkedin – to connect or not connect

I’ve been on Linkedin for many years (My KeePass password safe tells me I created a password entry on October 14, 2006.) I’ve been on Facebook almost as long. In my mind, they serve two very different purposes: Facebook is the ever-present “social networking” platform, while Linkedin is the BUSINESS networking platform. I distinguish them that way for a specific reason… I don’t want “friends” on my Linkedin account… and I don’t necessarily want business connections on my Facebook account. It’s same reason I use the post privacy …

Amazon feature idea… Gift contributions

Scenario: A good friend has mentioned several times that they REALLY like that set of high-end speakers, but they just don’t want to spend $300+, plus they don’t really need them – but they’d still like them. At the same time, you don’t want to spend $300 on a gift for your good friend. So, what do you do? Maybe you know some of their family members or their other friends and maybe you can get them to chip in on buying this great gift. Maybe. Even then, …

Microsoft Stores – Have some stock!

If you’re Home Depot or Best Buy, I can understand running out of stock on items. It happens. Businesses can only carry so much debt when ordering products from suppliers. It’s understandable that Best Buy might only have 50 iPad 2’s in stock at a given store. Home Depot could run out of 3/4 in. HD Maple Plywood, as they only order it once every 6 months and don’t sell much of it. Let’s look at the Apple Store. Sure, Apple only makes and sells about 50 products, …

Limit orders for eCommerce?

In the stock market you can create ‘buy orders’ (also called “limit orders”) which allow a trader to set an automatic ‘rule’ to buy (or sell) a stock when it reaches a specific price. So why not have that feature on Amazon, JCPenny, Staples, Sony – or a 3rd party site that will do the buying for you? Imagine you want that SuperTooth Disco High Power Bluetooth Stereo Speaker, but you just aren’t willing to pay $103.81 for it… but you WOULD pay $85. Sure, you can shop …

Retail businesses and their websites…

Over the years I’ve help a lot of small business owners get their web presence started. One of the biggest mistakes those business owners have been to setup a website with too much of a focus on “timely” content. When writing the content for a website, and more specifically a retail business, it’s important to write generically enough that your site doesn’t look old and outdated in a few months. Using phrases like “We’ve been a leader in water filtration and purification for the past 2 years” means …

Minimal shipping option for Amazon

I love Amazon.com (as many do), but I’ve been bothered for several years at the incredible waste from their shipping packaging. Now, I’m no tree-hugger, but I am a business person and it’s easy to deduce that there’s a significant cost to the boxes and packing paper and air-bags that get put in almost every box. Not to mention the cost of shipping a larger item. Every year Amazon ships tens of millions of packages – some big, some small… this idea is focused on the small items …

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