Lessons in Usability from Apple.com, Dell.com, and Bestbuy.com!

Lessons in Usability from Apple.com, Dell.com, and Bestbuy.com!
1.  Put your customers first in site design.
2.  Guide your customer’s actions.
3.  Write on-site content that appeals to the emotions and needs of the customer.
Put Your Customer’s First in Site Design
Apple.com
Is there any question what Apple.com is trying to sell?

What action do you think Apple.com is trying to [...]

Ultimate Blog Party 2010!

 
Hi and Welcome to the 2010 Blog Party!
Thanks for stopping by! Did you come to join the party? Are you ready for it?
Who’s behind Stompermom!
My name is Nicole and I am “Stompermom”!  Why, “Stompermom”… get to that later!  First late me say that I am a Mom of 6, Pastor’s Wife, and Business Owner!
Live is [...]

Calculate the ROI of your SEO Campaign and Get Rid of the Guesswork

As I was talking to my business coach the other day I was telling her how motivated I am for this next coming year.  I was telling her that I finally feel like I am at the place where I know the formula.  I know my analytics.  I know my conversion rate at the keyword [...]

Failure is Just a Stepping Stone

In today’s economic climate, it’s safe to say that there are businesses that are failing. Because of this, it seems a good time to be reminded of the real purpose of failure – to be a stepping stone and a learning experience.
There are steps that one can take when faced with failure – or [...]

All About Hashtags

One thing is certain: the internet world is constantly changing. This is the challenge for those of us who make a living utilizing its power. But as we keep up with the latest trends, we can come across interesting ways to capitalize on the social media front.
One example of change on the [...]

Hubpages, One More Thing To Outsource Now

As you are probably well aware by now, hubpages are one more avenue you can travel down to increase the traffic coming to your website. However, there may be many who have yet to turn down Hubpage Street due to lack of knowledge or just plain lack of time. Let’s be clear, there [...]

Outsourcing for your Small Business

Small businesses, even home-based businesses, can follow the trend of outsourcing. For quite some time, large businesses have been on track with outsourcing activities such as payroll and accounts payable / accounts receivable; and now more and more business owners are realizing that there really is something to the outsourcing game.

One thing to [...]

Play the Popularity Game Linking to Build Your Business

It’s no secret that link building is one way to increase the visibility – and credibility – of your ecommerce site. So powerful, in fact, is this practice that it has the ability to catapult your site to higher levels of success. However, on the flip side of that is that improper linking from outside [...]

Tracking Trends on Social Media Sites

Building a super successful ecommerce business really is something you can do from your Lazy Boy recliner! That doesn’t mean you should, of course, it just means that there are numerous tools in place to help you stay at the top of your game at all times. And at all times, the game is about [...]

Strategic Internet Marketing

Even during times of recession when it seems like many major companies are focused on downsizing, you can grow your business in such a way that it will thrive once the good times begin rolling again. The internet marketing strategies that you engage in over the next several months will lead you right down the [...]

Using Google Keywords Tool

When making decisions about marketing campaigns, PPC campaigns and general business strategies, it is wise to utilize any and all tools available to you. The more the merrier definitely applies here. One of the best tools around is Google keyword tool. Using this free application, you can learn much about the direction your business [...]

Projecting The Best Possible Business Image

“Mirror, Mirror on the wall..” We’ve all heard this phrase countless times since childhood. Rarely does one sit back to ponder the meaning behind the scene of Snow White, in which the ghastly stepmother has trained her trusty reflective friend to give just the answer she sought; but it really does give you something to [...]

Moving Ahead During the Recession

In tough economic times, it is only natural that business owners become frightened. Millions are faced with the reality of less money coming in, which means less money to spend. We have seen the affects of that over the past year as countless small businesses have closed their doors due to poor sales [...]

Analyzing Your Business

Every now and then, it is good to reflect upon the goals you set forth for your business. This should be relatively easy because the main goal (your version of success) should always be right in the forefront of your mind. Even in all the daily activity that goes into building and maintaining the growth [...]

Successful Marketing

In the world of clicks and conversions, the way to success is in building a website that one can feel comfortable perusing through. You want your customers to feel like they can kick off their shoes and stay awhile; for the truth is, if they don’t do this on your site they will do it [...]

The Way To a Truly Powerful Press Release

Using press releases to build up your company’s reputation is a smart idea. First of all, press releases are an economical way to advertise. Second, a good press release tells the public about you or your company in third person form, which can – if written well – come across as a recommendation. But jumping [...]

Master Site Manager Review

Looking for domain management and SEO Tracking Software? Look NO further.  My friend Don Schnure has done it again! If you are like me, you don’t just own 1 or 2 domains. In fact, my husband’s best friend says that I buy domains like some women buy SHOES. (Don’t tell that to zappos!)

Master Site Manager [...]

More Than Meets The Eye

Bookmarking your favorite web pages has been something your web browser could do for some time now. Virtually every toolbar has a handy bookmark link that will easily store a user’s favorite pages right there on their computer. Typically, bookmarks are created for pages that a user visits often and doesn’t want to [...]

How Traffic Geyser Can Help Your Business

Business owners are always heading towards one goal – growing their business! So anytime a tool comes along that can help with that, ears begin to perk up. That does not mean, however, that everyone rushes out to get started with a new business building technique. Many times we business owners take our time tip-toeing [...]

Don’t Forget Why You Do What you Do!

As a business owner who is striving to grow an online store, a corner store, or a large service oriented company, you have probably felt the minutes slip right through your hands as time wears on. Time; it’s your most valuable asset; and yet it is the one thing that can be the hardest [...]

Work More Efficiently With Basecamp

Those who work on multiple projects with several clients and team members know how difficult it can be to keep communication streamlined and stay on track throughout the duration of the project. In the past, there would be phone calls flying back and forth with notes scribbled on a notepad or transcribed into a [...]

Video Ups Your SEO Game

Within the last six months, a high percentage of web retailers have increased efforts to makeover their sites. At the crux of the changes being implemented is good old SEO. Writers are busy coming up with fresh new content that will bring the site up in the rankings; analysis is being feverishly conducted [...]

Twitter – The Ultimate Networking Tool

Anyone in business covets the benefit of everyone knowing your name.  Remember the song from Cheers?
You wanna go where people know,
people are all the same,
You wanna go where everybody knows
your name.
Ah, how often song lyrics just seem to get it right!  When it comes to doing business, the biggest obstacle is [...]

Benefit From the Tools of Twitter

Everyone is talking about Twitter. This rapidly growing site is even expanding language: “Tweets”, “Re-tweeting”,”Twittermance”..I’m sure there is much more Twitter slang that I am unaware of at the moment. The real point is, Twitter’s time in the spotlight has finally come. Although to many of us it may feel like [...]

SEO Scores BIG for You

Over the past few years, research has shown that more than 70% of online consumers set out to find a product or service by hitting the search engines.  With numbers like that, any business owner can see the immense benefit of optimizing their web pages to rank high in those search [...]

Working From Home Effectively

For several years, I had hoped to earn the title “Work at Home” anything.  But the field in which I worked simply didn’t allow it.  When my time finally came to take that leap from working in an office to actually running a business from the comfort of my own home, I quickly realized that [...]

Social Media Marketing – Social Media Marketing for Growth

Here’s what I see as the big dilemma of online business:  people don’t like to be sold.  This mindset held by millions of consumers worldwide produces highly fickle shoppers that will bounce from a website quickly if they feel the old “car salesman” push.
Where does that leave growing businesses when trying [...]

StartRankingNow – Working from Home Really is a Viable Option

With the economy leading companies to downsize, too many people are finding themselves in a situation where they do not have a 9 to 5 job to go do every day.  On the surface, losing your corporate job may seem like a stroke of bad luck; but if you look just [...]

Importance of Pinging Your Blog

Up until recently, most people wouldn’t be able to discern the meaning of the word Ping if not related to Ping Pong.  But now, with the ever advancing technology of the internet, Pinging is an everyday occurrence. 
Remember that old movie with Kevin Costner, Field of Dreams?  Probably the most [...]

Smart Realtors Use Search Engines for Marketing

In decades past, a Realtor would spend a sunny afternoon baking cookies and welcoming guests at an open house, and they would actually drum up a fair amount of business this way.  Who would have thought that a time would come when a Realtor would benefit from SEO? 
Well, the time [...]

Increase Web Traffic with Articles

As many business owners are quickly learning, writing articles is a new trend in advertising.  Ecommerce companies, especially, can benefit from this new marketing trend, as they really have no face for the general public to relate to, and hence need to do all they can to increase web traffic on their sites.  And when [...]

The Best Advertising is Press

A common concern amongst busy entrepreneurs is how to effectively market their business.  Let’s face it; if you’re not seen, you can’t make money.  Advertising can get expensive and there are no guarantees that any paid advertising will increase web traffic to your site anyway.  And yet most professionals overlook the power of a good [...]

Hubpages Equal Success

In the lush forest that is ecommerce, internet marketing is like the roots of a tree.  Without nutrients (web traffic) flowing through the roots (internet marketing), the tree (your website) doesn’t grow.  You want your tree to grow.  Therefore, you need to make sure you nurture deep roots from the very onset of planting. [...]

People do business with People they Know

A good friend of mine had a wonderful way of describing his understanding of building a successful website; and to me, it all revolved around the aforementioned statement.  He said that he viewed his website as a storefront; which in today’s technologically advanced society, it very much is.  He [...]

Dan Kennedy’s NO BS Books

If you have any desire to be a success in marketing, then Dan Kennedy’s NO BS Books need to put at the top of your Must Read Books for 2009 list.  One of the key things I took away from reading his books was that absolutely no marketing material should ever leave your office without [...]

Say what you mean and mean what you say

Seriously trying to not complain here but dealing with the US embassy can sometimes be frustrating!  Expecting problems and trying to be as time efficient as possible I always try to send all the needed info as well as answer any questions I think will be asked ahead of time.  Of course that would have [...]

Setting Goals for 2009

As the New Year approaches it is that time to set some New Years Resolutions.  Apart from the typical New Years resolutions to lose that last 10 pounds of pregnancy baby weight, eat healthier, exercise more, spend more time with the kids (do you ever spend enough time with the kids), read more books and [...]

Power of Audio on Your Website

This week we had an amazing visit from a pastor in a small town.  As many of you know my husband pastors a church in Puebla, Mexico.  About three years ago he began to add downloadable audio preachings to the church website, http://www.iglesiacristianabautista.com.  Little did we fully understand the impact that one site was going [...]

AVG Anti Virus Software Customer Service Nightmare

As many of my friends on stompernet.com have recommended using AVG anti-virus software I decided to try this over the popular but system hog Norton. For the very first day of the free 30 day trial of the AVG software, I have tried to purchase the full version to no success.  The first day I [...]

Ideainterior.com is now in Puebla!

A lesson in marketing from Idea Interior
Idea Interior is the closest thing to Ikea in Mexico and I am glad to announce that we now have it in Puebla, Mexico! I have to say that I am hardly ever impressed with the marketing skills of new stores in Mexico, but Idea Interior sure knows their [...]

Google Search Based Keyword Tool

Googles search based keyword tool is great for finding better paying adsense keywords for a website!  You an put in your website url and google will give you a list of keywords and the ppc value of each of them.  Check it out here: http://google.com/sktool/#
The tool works best with websites associated with your google adsense [...]

Article Marketing Tips

Our seo services website, www.startrankingnow.com offers the service of writing and submitting original articles to article directories.  As we provide this service, I have seen some of the same errors repeated over and over by our clients.  When we open a new project with a client, we ask them for a list of the keywords [...]

How often do you buy a new laptop?

Well, it is that time again… a little sooner this time than expected.  My HP dv9408 which was purchased in July of 2007 has been giving me problems over the last year.  Lately it has been running hot and taking forever to boot up.  The main issue we have now is that when I leave [...]

I hired somebody, now what?

I was on a private faculty call with some stompernet members yesterday and someone basically asked the question, “I hired somebody, now what?”  Since I was not the one answering the questions, I could not give my two cents… so let me take this opportunity to share my opinion!
For most business owners, we know we [...]

Healthcare in Mexico

One of the main reasons people give about not wanting to move to a foreign country is “What if I get sick?” Most Americans will definitely want to keep their US health insurance plan for major medical emergencies of course. However, when you are living in a large city in Mexico, it hardly becomes necessary. [...]

Driving Cross Country

July 10th – Visiting with Friends in Arizona and San Antonio, Texas

We had a fun time taking a break from traveling and visiting with friends in Arizona and San Antonio, Texas.

July 1st – Pictures of architectual designs

May 11th – Visiting Ridgecrest, California and Barnes and Noble

David and Hannah saying HI from Ridgecrest, California.

We visited a church called China Lake Baptist Church while in Ridgecrest.  They are located in this small storefront area.

David and Hannah enjoy a quick trip to the grocery store.  Don’t have this in Puebla, Mexico!

Sarah and Japheth can’t wait to get to the car to read the [...]

June 16th, Darren Lambert, North Carolina

We enjoyed a few days in North Carolina with our friends Darren and Annette Lambert.

June 30th, Family Pictures, Encinitas, CA

Family picture with my BIL, sister, mom, dad and of course our family!

What a happy boy!

June 26th, Wedding Anniversary, Old Town San Diego, CA

We enjoyed a nice night out… without the kids for a change!  Old Town San Diego has always been a favorite spot of ours.  We used to enjoy going to Casa de Bandinis’s before it was relocated.  We found a place to park and wandered into a Mexican restaurant where there was actually a line [...]

June 18th – Cracker Barrel and Taking a Break at the Park

There is only so much fast food a family can take!  After spending almost two months on the road, our whole family was ready for as close to a home cooked meal as we could get.  Our kids ordered vegetables!  They enjoyed the corn, green beans, and carrots the most.  We actually stopped at Cracker [...]

June 11th, Visiting Wonder Works in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee

This was a fun day!  We had to decide between driving through the Smoky Mountains or letting our kids get out and explore Wonder Works.  Even though we really would have enjoyed seeing the Smoky Mountains National Park, the kids, and mom and dad, needed a break from the car!  The kids enjoyed exploring Wonder [...]

June 2nd – Beautiful Sunset in front of a mall

We decided to stop for dinner at the food court of this mall and took the picture of the sunset before going in.

May 21th – Petrified Forest in Arizona

The highlight of the petrified forest was seeing the actual Indian drawings on some of the walls.  I would not, however, call it a forest.  All of the “trees” were of course laying flat on the ground, but even then, they were few and far between and in the beginning we did not realize that [...]

May 10th Visiting Friends in Ridgecrest

Our kids

We had pizza and pasta at Round Table Pizza before heading over to the park to let the kids run around before heading out again for the day!

Our kids enjoyed seeing the airplanes at the China Lake AFB.

Every day the sprinklers in front of the house / hotel we were staying in came on [...]

May 4th, Warehouse

We have a few things to sell!  Anyone need a party grill for tailgating season?

May 29th – Solvang and Santa Barbara, California

Enjoying a park by the beach in Santa Barbara.

This was really fun!  With this 10 person bike, our family and the Sobrevilla family enjoyed an hour riding around Solvang, California.  Solvang is a little city with Dutch roots.  Most of the houses and stores in the downtown have Dutch architecture.  If you like wandering around shops [...]

May 28th – Solvang with our Friends the Sobrevilla Family

We choose Monday to visit Solvang with our friends the Sobrevilla family. Unbeknowest to us, about 95% of the restaurants are CLOSED on Monday night in this small tourist town!  We found this restaurant that was completely packed out with people so we accepted a table on the balcony even though it was coooold.  Being [...]

May 20th – Visiting Great Grandpa’s House

The five kids with their Great Grandparents!

David was asleep during this photo shoot.

May 8th – Visiting a Children’s Museum somewhere in the US

Here is a picture of “daddy” riding a bike on a thin wire at least one story off of the ground!  Fun for him and the kids, scary for mom!

April 29th Visiting Target somewhere in the US.

Our kids enjoy shopping almost as much as mommy does!

June 6th – U.S. Space & Rocket Center, Huntsville, Alabama

There is a funny story here.  As we were traveling, every time we would approach a huge industrial site or power plant, from far away our kids would say “what is that daddy?” We told them (joking of course), that it was a space ship.  They would say, “Really! Wooooowwwww!”  As we got closer we would clear [...]

May 31th, Playing football at a rest area somewhere in Texas

Rest area in Texas where we stopped to play catch with our kids.  Japheth is getting good at throwing the football!

Welcome to Texas!  We did NOT stop at this park.  Well, we stopped, told the kids we were going to get out and play… just until we saw the signs posted everywhere that said “Watch [...]

4th of July in San Marcos, California

This was our kids FIRST real 4th of July.  Living in Mexico, we always have a 4th of July get together where we invite other Americans or close friends to our house for an American style barbecue.  Our kids had a vague concept of the 4th of July but I think they get what Patriotism is about now!  We [...]

July 2nd, Park in Oceanside

July 1st, USS Midway Museum

May 16th, Disneyland Park (Anaheim)

July 3th San Diego County Fair

April 17th, Sea World San Diego

Sea World

Google Headquarters

Today, Sunday, we went for a little Sunday drive and ended up at the Google headquarters, close to Silicon valley her in San Jose. We were able to take some pictures and there is one of me standing in front of one of the Google signs. If you have never been to Google headquarters it [...]

Visiting Monterey Bay, California

On Thursday we drove from Oceanside up to Monterey Bay, Ca. If you have never visit Monterey Bay it is one of the places that should be on your top 10 list of places to go and see. Especially if you are going to take a trip with your husband for your anniversary or honeymoon. [...]

Aisle to Aisle in Barnes & Noble

A little while ago I was walking through Barnes & noble with my kids as part of my overall parenting strategy; to acquire a life long love of reading for my kids. Occasionally, I take them to Barnes & Noble and let them all pick out their own books. After they got done picking out [...]

Starting a New Business

Combining business with family isn’t that hard. About 15 minutes ago my family and I headed on to City Hall and started a new internet marketing business. The whole process took about 10 minutes- after filling out the forms, the required information and $25 fee. I really love starting businesses in the United States, really [...]

Traveling, work, kids, and fun!

For the next three months our family will be travelling the lower 48 states and visiting friends and family as well as a couple side trips to amusment parks. Our journey begins from Puebla, Mexico where we are live. On Wednesday March 26, 2008 we loaded up our minivan with 5 kids, a few suitcases, [...]

Hackersafe A/B Split Test

Almost 6 months ago mostly due to high reviews and a great offer from www.stompernet.com we added hackersafe to two of our websites. As part of the offer we did an A/B split test to see if it really helped increase conversions or not. The A/B split test was run by Hackersafe and the results [...]

A/B Split Testing with a Yahoo Store

My latest adventure has been learning how to set up google analytics and use google website optimizer to do A/B split testing with my yahoo store. I can’t give a higher recommendation than to say that Michael at http://www.monitus.net is the guy you need to see.
First, monitus.net. Monitus.net is a service that you can pay [...]

StomperMom.Com

Ever wondered how to homeschool 3 kids, take care of twin babies, manage the household, and run a full time business all at the same time? I have news for you. You can’t! At least not alone. Almost a year ago I joined an internet marketing membership site called StomperNet. Since then I have learned [...]