Recently I bought a new edge router for the home.  I ended up getting the RVS4000 small business VPN gateway with Protect link service built in.   I got this as a few of my bigger clients need me to help them on their local network issues alot and a few of them a are a few hours away.   So with some dyndns action I setup direct IP filtered VPNs so I am always local on their network and can service them faster then ever.   For my small home office this device is hardcore overkill, but as a total solution it is a perfect and so I got it.    Now we are a design firm and so naturally we are 100% Mac users (please no flame emails).   To this end we have limited security software installed on our devices, and for the past 3 years have lived in the wild of the internet with ZERO incident.   Well, as our business grows, we have actually brought a couple of windows machines into the office (yes they are banished to the corner).   I started to think that I needed to put some AV on them.   I started to price out a muli seat license from Avast (love them for home users), but this is for business usage.   I realized that it would cost me easily $100.00 for a service that would only bog down the machines.

While I was reworking some internet filters on the router, I remembered that I could get a complete solution that resided on the router, and acted as a filter for all users.   Since I am tapping about 1% of the power of this device I thought perfect it cannot cost more then $100.00 or so bucks, and if my Macs can get that little bit of extra edge then all is good.    So, off to Cisco small business website to see what I can find.   This is where the anger starts to build.   If you go to Ciscos website it is so unfriendly, and designed to literly force you to read till you give in and sign up for a partner program.   They make it very difficult to buy any products etc.   But I am getting ahead of myself, and letting the fun out of the bag.    While searching for new firmware (since I am here) for the RVS4000 I see a nice friendly “chat now” button and click.   Hopeful that some nice person at Cisco direct could help.   After filling out everything up to my blood type and SSN I finally got someone on the line.    Here is the ENTIRE chat with ZERO edits.

Thank you for choosing Cisco. We will be with you shortly.
You are now chatting with Rajish.
Rajish: Thank you for choosing Cisco Systems.  How may I assist you today?
Rajish: Hello David
David: I have a RVS4000 and I am intrested in buying the protectlink service
Rajish: I would be glad to assist you with that.
Rajish: May I know how many users would be there in the network?
David: only 2 of us, but we have 3 laptops and two hand held devices
Rajish: Alright David
Rajish: David , Kindly give me a moment here while I gather the required information.
Rajish: David , please look at Cisco ProtectLink Gateway of Cisco ProtectLink Security which Protect Your Business against Spam and Web-Based Threats
Rajish: Please click here for Cisco ProtectLink Gateway datasheet
Rajish: Was that link helpful for you David ?
David: yes and no… I appreciate the data, but how much and where do I buy it from
Rajish: Please allow me a moment david
Rajish: David , The cost for Cisco ProtectLink Gateway Security Service  having part number L-PLGW-5= is $129.99. The price I have is the list price; you will get this product at a competitive price from our reseller.
Rajish: May I know that if you have Cisco rep or reseller working with your company ?
David: No there is no rep working with us… I do not deploy your services, just needed more of a robust device for my home office so I went small business
Rajish: i see
Rajish: If you would like, I can set you up with a Cisco partner/reseller to discuss this project in more detail, provide a recommendation, a quote, and any additional assistance you may need, would that be okay for you ?
David: honestly, that is way overkill for my needs… I just want to buy the service… if there is not a simple way to do that…. then it is a lost sale!
Rajish: Thank you for waiting. I’ll be with you in just a moment.
Rajish: In that case i will send you one link from where you can directly purchase from our site
Rajish: Please click here for Cisco ProtectLink Security Solutions: Models
David: thanks… to be honest this is really alot harder then it should be… I work with hundreds of small business and 99% of them are under 5 people and they would NEVER go through this many hoops just to order antivirus… you need to make it drop dead easy or you just loose out on a MASSIVE market
David: ARGHHHHH – FAIL!
Rajish: I understand that David
David: the link does not have a buy, it is merely the same link you sent earlier if you scroll to the bottom and click
David: well this is a lost sale, and probably will be a lost device as I am not willing to jump hoops to do the Cisco dance….
David: you can read about my disgust tomorrow on http://digitalpure.com
Rajish: apologize for the inconvenience. I would like to assure you that you are important to us and that I am here to assist you
Rajish: Did you tried our 30 day trial for this Protect link ?
David: Well, honestly a simple google search shows me almost 100 sites that have this product now that I know the part number and they all allow for the product
Rajish: I understand
David: I do not want a trial, I want to buy it…. to buy it you need to contact a PARTNER! === EPIC FAIL!
Rajish: Please note that, we sell our products through our resellers/Partners/Reps
David: NONE of the online partners on your website have this product listed for sale
David: this is the biggest secret that Cisco has
Rajish: Also the link that I had given you is to buy it from our website.
Rajish: No.
Rajish: Please go through the link that I provided.
David: really where, can you provide me the EXACT url…. the one you sent give me a trial…. click the get started link and it tells you to FIND A PARTNER
Rajish: I will also send you the phone number of the partner that you can purchase this software.
David: I do not want a phone number… you really are not understanding this are you…. I just want to buy it online and be done… I do not want to jump through hoops, listen to some salesman try to sell me other crap….. I just want to give you money, and you want me to dance
David: so, please do not have a single person contact me unless they are offering me a free year for this really bad experience
David: I will be shopping for a new edge router for my business and will STOP suggesting my clients use your services
Rajish: You can call our Gold Partner CDW to purchase this product in the phone number 800.750.4239
David: like I said, I work with hundreds of small home office users, and have deployed about 12 of these…. DONE! never again
David: yeah, have you ever called CDW that is a 60 minute ordeal to get anything done…. Again, you failed to read and listen to my concerns and just followed the script handed to you.
David: thanks but no thanks…. unhappy customer leaving chat and leaving your company

So, I wish that there was timestamps in there, as many times the rep would be gone for almost a minute or two and then come back with a healthy scripted answer.   I found it funny after it was very clear that the tone of the conversation had failed never did he offer to actually resolve the issue rather try and force a trial (where you have to have a partner call you) or have me call CDW which is even a bigger joke.   I finally closed the window after a 5 minute wait and no response from the rep.

Anyway, so what is the net result of this.

1. I am NOT buying their ProtectLink Product
2. Unless Cisco calls me and give me a year free of their protectlink product free in the next 14 days then I have a brand new RVS4000 for sale

They have proven that the small business person is not worth their time, and so it is not worth my time to give them more money.   I am sorry Cisco but you need to step back think about the market you are loosing and then think about how the share holders would feel if they read this thread and saw the EPIC FAIL that you had.

See you there, and lets talk!

When designing a CMS website many people think first of Drupal or Joomla in the open source market, or they consider Expression Engine, Modx, DotNet Nuke in the paid market (yes, you can get them free I know).   People can discount WordPress as a CMS and as a true platform for their design. WordPress today is far easier then even the old mainstays in the CMS market like Joomla and Drupal. WordPress is an active community of plugins, extensions and theme developers.

If you desire a simple, basic website and you have little to no php, html or css coding experience, WordPress can be the right solution for you. All that is needed is a desire to learn, some of your time and basic computer skills.  The rest is taken care of by the community. Here are a few ways this can be done.

Site: Look & Feel (aka THEME)

The look of your site could be the most crucial thing; if your site doesn’t look good, if its not laid out well for visitors then you won’t garner long-term business. This is where theme designs come in. Themes are WordPress website designs that you can install in just a couple of clicks, and can be changed easily. When you are reviewing themes there are two options: Commercial (paid) or Community (free). Some people may think that paying for a theme is against the spirit of open source community (GPL). Although this argument is understandable, I can also see the other side which is that you need to pay for a professionals time, talent and energy. I am personally and professionally a huge fan of commercial themes. At times I have suggested to clients that they choose a template as a base look and feel, then we can modify it to conform with their needs. Here are some of the preferred commercial theme vendors we recommend:

• StudioPress (our site is based on the executive theme)
• AgentPress (real estate specific)
• Theme Forest
• Gorilla Themes
• Aloha Themes
• WordPrezzie
• WooThemes
• Elegant Themes
• iThemes

As you can see from the short list of Premium Commercial Theme providers the choices are many, and the costs are quite reasonable. Another benefit of using a premium theme is the support. I have found StudioPress to be the TOP in support after sale, with both iThemes and WooThemes following a close second. All of these premium providers have dedicated support forums, and staff that allow them to offer additional services which can prove to be worth more than the cost of the theme alone.

Consider using a community theme, and there are currently over 1,100 themes at the WordPress website (http://wordpress.org/extend/themes/) that you can download for free.  Some are even released by premium theme providers.  This is how many of the premium theme makers give back to the community that they love.

Making Your Website Into What You Want (PLUGINS)

After determining the look and feel of your site, consider the function of the site.  This is where the plugin community comes into play.  Currently there are over 8,000 plugins listed on the WordPress website (http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins). Think of any function that you want, and there is a plugin for it. I would like to highlight a couple of plugins that I have fallen in love with, and are really the cream of the crop:

• e-Commerce (build a store)
• Shopp (another commerce plugin)
• Gravity Forms (easy forms mangement)
• Joost De Valk (Yoast) – Collection of Plugins
• Caffinated (auto feed of content)

Extending your WordPress website can be very easy, and there are many plugins that can help you with the SEO aspects of your site.

Getting a website up and running that is both good looking, and has the functions that you need can be relatively simple.  The question to ask is “what do I do now?” Here are the best “next” steps you should do. Remember that the steps below assume you have your own hosting account. If you do not, its imperative that you find a quality host.  We HIGHLY suggest WPwebhost who are WordPress EXPERTS and have one of the best support teams on the planet.

1. Download WordPress
2. Choose a Theme (I suggest studiopress)
3. Learn Some Tips and Tricks
4. Install some plugins
5. Tweak!

If you get into the process and find that it is more complicated than you thought it might be, take a step back and be sure you contact a local WordPress Design firm who can help you. You will find that many firms will actually help you for free in a limited fashion. In my experience, WordPress design firms can be committed to the WordPress community-at-large and would enjoy helping you. If you have questions or comments, please feel free to leave them below. If you would like to work with Digital Pure to develop a custom website, please contact us today for more information and a quote.

Lets look at the numbers:

Trulia claims to expose agents listings to over 5million searchers each month (http://www.trulia.com/agents/)  Google claims to have over 2.7Billion searches in a month (http://searchenginewatch.com/2156461). While the numbers posted on Trulia’s website may seem nice, they are not the bigger fish in the market. Zillow, eclipses them almost 200% more unique visits each month (http://siteanalytics.compete.com/trulia.com+zillow.com/). The smaller figure of visitors though, makes them a perfect target for a Google, Bing etc.

As we can see from the search trends for “homes for sale” (http://google.com/trends?q=Homes+For+Sale&ctab=0&geo=us&geor=all&date=all&sort=0) we can see that over the last 4 years searches for real estate have remained fairly static despite the slump in the market.  This was also seen in the visitor stats for companies like Trulia and Zillow. This means that from a search engine’s perspective, this is a viable and sustainable market for growth through integration.

Let’s look at how the acquisition would affect google, and you the agent:

1. Further market share of search for Google
2. More leads for companies that are poised and ready for the integration
3. Higher emphasis on local search optimization

Google already owns 75+% of the search market, but is having to maintain this market share with upstarts like Bing! gaining ground every month.  One way that they can do this is by capturing off-page, non-search traffic into their system.  If Trulia is getting 2.7 million uniques a month, and Zillow is getting 4+ million uniques – that is almost 7 million unique searches a month that Google loses each month.  The ad revenue through adwords, and adsense is staggering.  Now if Google was able to recapture even 50% of the 7 million unique visitors each month it could further solidify the market share, drive uniques away from competition, and increase ad volume for competitive key terms even higher.

Since Google does capture 75+% of the search traffic on the internet, and there has not been a big increase or decrease in search volume for these terms, it would only mean that companies that are optimized for the proper key terms are poised to increase their share of the increased traffic volume through the engine.   We work with agents all the time, who have either poorly constructed, badly optimized or under-marketed websites and are looking to increase the leads generated.   What many fail to realize is that generating leads through your website can be easy or hard depending on your tactic.  If you want to know more about how to do this, contact us for details.

Agents, and brokerages need to be sure that they have properly seo’ed their sites for their target keywords, setup proper url structures, have great title tags, and optimized their local search options.  Google will NOT care who you are as long as you can provide the best user experience.   This means that smaller boutique shops like Arbour Realty in Arlington VA has as much chance of someone searching for a home through their site, as a large firm such as Long & Foster – but only if they are properly optimized.  With the integration of real estate listings into search, traffic to sites that are not properly optimized should see traffic fall off sharply.  This will be partially due to the lack of clients needing to click through to your site to see the data they want, and the fact that users will put a higher emphasis on the speed, accuracy, and relevancy of the information you are trying to provide them.

One of the key ways that Google could implement the integration of Trulia into their product line would be in the local campaign that they are doing.  Google is very vocal about personalization, and localization of search.  They further solidified this with their recent “I’m A Favorite Place” campaign, which includes individual real estate agents.  Google has also been testing the inclusion of known real estate listings into real time search via the “7 pack” (when you see the map, and 7 businesses in your search results).   To me, it looks like Google has been testing out the functions, getting ready to either compete or integrate.

So what Does This All Mean:

• Do I think that Google acquiring Trulia is a good thing? YES
• Do I think that many agents are ready? NO
• Do I think that Local Search will have a larger impact on your SERPS (Search Engine Ranking Position)? YES
• Do I think that sites like Zillow will see a surge or drop in traffic? I lean toward a drop
• Do I think that adsense and adwords will become more expensive for site owners? YES (only 5-7% though)

There are many things we still need answers on, and this is still an early analysis. Agents, need to be ready to handle a jump in traffic, or loss due to integration of the listings into search.  Agents, also need to be ready to increase their exposure through social media campaigns.  These type of “trust” building campaigns will only help to increase the brand of the agent, or brokerage, and help drive the user to their site directly.

Digital Pure is here to help you.  We only perform 100% white hat, legal optimization.  This means that you are “future proofing” your site from changes with the engines.  We also include a full local search campaign with all our campaigns.  So if you need a new site, or your site needs to be redesigned – we can help.  If you need to start, or jump start your site optimization – we can help.   If you need help managing, or starting your social media identity contact us.   We are here to help make sure that you meet your website goals.  Choose a solution with a purpose from Digital Pure, LLC.

I am starting to get more and more into audio books, and trying to grow my library.  One of my favorite sites to visit is http://christianaudio.com.  They have a huge library, diverse selection of authors, great prices and each month they give away a new book so that book the price is perfect.   Since I buy alot of books from them (going on 100 now) I like to save as much money as I can, and so I get their newsletter.  I will admit it comes a little more then I like, but that is what filters are for.

Anyway, so recently they sent me this newsletter and the header graphic was so catchy that I was on their site before I knew what hit me.  I have to say, it was GREAT marketing.  Lets take a look at the ad that almost got me.

What is the first thing that you see and wan to react to.  It is the FREE SHIPPING. It is Christmas, and we are all feeling a small pinch in our wallet, so saving some cash on shipping is awesome from any store.  The problem is that our mind says “free shipping” then skips the last part “on all downloads”.  WAIT!, WHAT! downloads, there is no product shipped so of course it is FREE SHIPPING.  That is true, and they are not hiding that, but that is not what your brain thought when it saw the post.  It saw that there was a offer for something for FREE and you wanted to click it.

Now translate this to your business.  How can you increase, or at least increase the perception of your business?  Can you give away something without actually giving anything away?  I debated this question in my industry.  Since my entire business model and service is jut that service based I do not have any physical products to give away or ship so I need to get creative.  Maybe next year, I can think of something as clever as they did.

Anyway, think about this in your business.  What the ways that you can be creative, and add more value to what you sell or offer your clients without increasing your costs.  Real Estate agents you could offer a “enhanced” staging consult for free.  This will cost you nothing, but the enhanced qualifier word makes people feel they are getting more of a value from you.

In the mean time, head on over to christianaudio and check out their products.  I do not get any affiliate or kickback from this post.  You can go to them direct by going to http://christianaudio.com

Merry CHRISTmas and Happy New Year

Today, as I was working on some items for the social media campaigns for some clients I came across a service called People Pond.  The premise here is that you pay signup, and allow them to start aggregating all kinds of data.  It is intended to be a one-stop for all your social, brand, identity needs on the net.  I was intrigued so I signed up and started to fill in a profile.  You can see it here (http://www.peoplepond.com/digitalpure)

One of the things that they offer is a “badge” that will allow you to “prove” that you are legit with all the profiles you have (yeah, cause a free service cannot be faked right).  Anyway, that is another post.   So, as you can see there is one green bar on the shield.  I wanted to see what you need to do to get all three bars (more legit right).  Who could have guessed this is where the pay services come in to play.   To be honest, I do not think paying for a service like this is such a bad idea, and at $99.00 a year for the best package and to get all 3 bars not a bad price.  I am not sure that I will be utilizing the service on my clients yet (developer if you would like to give me a free copy I will be happy to review it).

Anyway, so as I am looking at the pricing, I notice the add-on services that they offer.  In very typical web 2.0 it is listed below the primary pricing, and in a darker color to signal a strength to the options, but not that they are the goal of the site (color theory I leave to my wife).  So, one of the upgrade options is this:

$ 3.00

Verbal Abuse
Is your day going far too well? Are you missing your parents? We are happy to step in and make things right for you. A miserably angry person will contact you and make fun of you and all that you love. If something comes up later that was missed in the original contact, you will be contacted again. By purchasing this service, you waive all liability and claim against PeoplePond and anyone else recruited in the process to make you miserable. So there.

You are not misreading that.  One of the options is for someone to call you and verbally abuse you.  I am not sure if this is a real or fake service, but I am curious.  I am also a little troubled that someone would really want you to call them and verbally abuse them.  I am even more troubled by the fact that a company would realize this niche need and fill it.  I wish I was at the board meeting when the developers came to the meeting and announced that service offering.  I wonder if they brought in a couple of the “pros” and gave a demonstration of the service to the board.  Also, how do you determine if someone has been harsh, or driven away a client through verbal communication with clients when they have this job.  Is this one of those where “compliments” are the worst thing that you can get.   I could go on, but really I must stop.

The last thought running through my head as I close out this post is this.  Do you optimize or create landing pages for this market.  What is the SEO tactic to use here.  Is PPC the better choice due to the unique nature, and potentially unique clientele that might be searching for this service.  In the end, your business model is profile aggregation so why offer a customer aggrevation service.  I suppose if it will sell, then what the H…

In the state of todays marketplace every company needs to be thinking about what they can do to try and increase not only their PPC search traffic, but more important their ORGANIC search traffic. Everybody wants their site to rank in the top 10 on Google, Yahoo, MSN, Ask. What do you need to do to do this? What happens when you do something wrong? What are the terms that I should know to be able to compete?

Too often I see companies and designers that are spouting off 1/2 truths, or things that they learned 3 years ago about SEO and how it should be done. While I am happy that they are able to offer their clients some benefit, many times it is more harmful then helpful. Many times the techniques are black or grey hat SEO at the very best.

When I build a website for a client, one of the things that I include is basic SEO optimization of the site. Many of my design friends seem to think that this should be an extra charge. I agree it would be nice to strong arm clients into paying for my doing the work already, but I find that value adding helps to want clients to come back for more services. So I do not charge for SEO services right now.

I have put together a small offering to the internet and SEO community to try and help combat this. While I know that many of the items in this primer will change in the coming months or years, it is a very good basic starting point. I hope that you all enjoy this presentation.

I encourage everyone to check out the free resources that are awesome on the internet. Here is a short list of a few that I enjoy and use all the time.

• SEOmoz
• Website Grader
• SEO Browser Testing
• SEO Terms

If you are interested in how we can help you with seo optimizing your site, setting up a PPC campaign, or just need some consulting on what you should do to get better rankings please contact us. For more details on our SEO, PPC and Social Media Optimization offers, please see our page here. Also, please download our 100% free SEO Training guide below. This FREE tool can be a valuable resource in understanding SEO, and why it is good to hire a firm to assist in your efforts to optimize your site.

Also, this list will have a indicator of the OS that you can use it on. Many of the apps I started on the MAC with are ported from windows or linux apps. As my needs and tastes for the pure cocoa app grew, so did my app choices. I have listed the apps in order of importance to me in my daily usage also.

Browsers: (all cross windows, apple, linux)

• Safari 4
• Firefox 3
• Chrome

Email: (all cross platform)

• Gmail (web interface)
• Postbox (awesome port of thunderbird)
• Thunderbird

Web Dev:

• Coda (MAC)
• Alkaline (MAC)
• NVU (windows, linux)
• CSSedit (MAC)

Office Productivity:

• iWork 09′ (MAC)
• Office 2008 (MAC), 2007 (windows)
• Google Docs

Graphics:

• Pixelmator (MAC)
• Vector Designer (MAC)
• Pictureusque (MAC)
• QuickScale (MAC)

Media:

• Fission (MAC)
• Screenium (MAC)
• Wiretap Studio (MAC)

Day to Day Management:

• Dropbox
• ClamXav
• BackupBlaze
• Things (MAC)
• Google Contacts (all platforms)
• Google Voice (all platforms)
• Google Calendars (all platforms)
• BusySync (MAC)
• Cha-Ching (MAC)

As you can see this list can get very long very quickly. I really find that I am using more and more apps from Google on my computer and iPhone each day. While I use Skype and AdiumX for my IM needs, for almost all my voice needs Googe voice wins out. I even use the vocito app to use google voice from my desktop, and grandialer from my iPhone to use it there.

I am sure there are many great alternatives to some of the apps that I have listed here. I am daily trying out new apps. That is how I came across postbox, and can say that it is the BEST desktop mail program out there. I might be biased as I love the thunderbird project, but the level of professional thought that went into this app is amazing. Couple that with the awesome power of Google Mail (Gmail) and you have a killer combination.

I did not list any of the preference panes, backup apps (except one), or social media apps that I am using. That would have made the list a little too long and hard to use. I hope that you have been sparked with some ideas on some alternative apps to the big boys. I own Office 2008, iWork 08, 09 and Adobe CS4 Premium and I am proud of that. I am also prouder that I have fond smaller, better coded, better functioning alternatives to those massive, overly bloated code hogs to use on a daily basis.

What apps are you using, let me know. I am always looking for a few good ones.

Ok, first let me say this post is a little bit of a rip on UPS, but seriously when you see the details you will fully understand. I recently bought new monitors for my wife and I from NewEgg (they rock). I got a great deal on some 24″ HD Monitors under $225.00 a piece so we pulled the trigger. It is a nice business write off now that I am working from home as a 1099 contractor for a small firm, and writing magazine articles (more about that later).

Anyway, NewEgg has a super fast shipping policy, and many times free 3 days ground shipping (yes I search the site for it all the time). Most of the time the items arrive in less then three days as they have setup shipping centers all over the US (like Amazon did). Many times my items come from PA or NJ and since I am 1-2 states away it is 2 day shipping for FREE (YEAH!). Well, this last order is taking the full three days, but it is not due to NewEgg, instead it is the stupid shipping patterns of UPS that are causing the delay. Look at the details for this shipment:

Tracking number (sorry)
Ship date 05/27/2009 23:01:49
Estimated delivery 05/29/2009
Destination FAIRFAX, VA, US
Service type GROUND
Weight 16.00 LBS
Status In Transit
Date/Time Activity Location Details
05/28/2009 20:47:00 IN TRANSIT TO[I] CHANTILLY, VA, US
05/28/2009 20:46:00 DEPARTURE SCAN[I] RICHMOND, VA, US
05/28/2009 18:08:00 LOCATION SCAN[I] RICHMOND, VA, US
05/28/2009 16:44:00 ARRIVAL SCAN[I] RICHMOND, VA, US
05/28/2009 12:38:00 DEPARTURE SCAN[I] BALTIMORE, MD, US
05/28/2009 10:13:00 ARRIVAL SCAN[I] BALTIMORE, MD, US
05/28/2009 09:38:00 DEPARTURE SCAN[I] LAUREL, MD, US
05/28/2009 03:50:00 ARRIVAL SCAN[I] LAUREL, MD, US
05/27/2009 23:21:00 DEPARTURE SCAN[I] EDISON, NJ, US
05/27/2009 17:49:00 LOCATION SCAN[I] EDISON, NJ, US
05/27/2009 10:12:00 ORIGIN SCAN[I] EDISON, NJ, US
05/27/2009 23:01:49 BILLING INFORMATION RECEIVED[M]
Ok, so for all those people that are not here on the right coast here is why this is stupid…. It went from NJ to Central MD, then to North MD, then to Southern VA back to North VA…. The funniest part of all this is that Edison is about a 4 hour drive from my house, Laurel is 1.5 hours, Baltimore is about 2 hours and Richmond is about 3.5 Hours…. So for a 4 hour trip it is taking 3 days and traveling up and down the coast. (see this maphttp://www.packagemapping.com/?action=track&shipper=ups&tracknum=1Z00377R0314349852&uniqueID=&)

My question is this. If the world is talking about too many green house gases, carbon footprints and all that other stupid stuff. UPS claims to be as eco-friendly and give back as possible. Why are they not looking at the process they have here. If the item went from Edison to Laurel to Chantilly it would have been delivered in 2 days. Also, since it would have been continuing in a straight south line from NJ -> MD -> VA there would have been MASS speed and eco-gains. Not to mention less man power needed to unload and load the truck 2X opposed to 5X now. I know that UPS’s arguement will be that it is easier to load and unload in small batches as it moves from location to location, but come on you sent this package on a 2 state tour just to get it 4 hours from your location.

What areas in your life do you just do it that way because that is how you did it in the past. Or how many times have you caught yourself saying there has to be a better way to do this, and you look at the process to realize that you are doing the same steps in circles. We need to break ourselves down and look at what we are doing and try to be more effective in the daily items that we work on and do.

Well, in the effort of sharing, and growing the industry as a whole I am giving up the secrets to what I am using and why.   Now many of these sites and products you are already going to know, but there might be a few that surprise you, or some that you have never known.

Ok, the list…..

CMS = Wordpress and Joomla

Design Templates = WooThemes, Studiopress, iThemes, Elegant Themes, Wordprezzie, Gorilla Themes, Rocketthemes, Pure-joomla, Praisejoomla, psdtowordpress, psdtoxhtml, Flashden

Design Tools = Coda, Illustrator CS4, Fireworks CS4, Flash Proffesional CS4, Basecamp, Backpack, Highrise

Financial = Freshbooks, Outright, Paypal Pro, Google Checkout, HRBlock

Hosting = 6sync, Hostmonster

So if you are looking to start a online company, and want to keep it simple I suggest invoicing with Freshbooks, Taxes with outright, and using Wordpress for your site.  Then use Basecamp to keep track of your projects (integrates with freshbooks) and Highrise to keep track of your clients.

If you have any other suggestions of companies that I should consider because you have found them very helpful, please let me and the world know.  Feel free to comment on what you use.