Posima | Blog

One small hurdle can equal hours of pain and lost sales

2009-03-04T18:38:00-08:00

I have recently been working with a team (who is a new team within an older corporation) to get their website and ecommerce system up to par. The blogging platform, ecommerce platform and proprietary login system are substandard at best but they’re the required platforms by IT. Two very small issues have become a severe nightmare.

1) The username field only allows for 15 characters
a) The page doesn’t notify the limitation to the user ahead of time and plenty of people are used to using their email address which can easily exceed 15 characters
b) When the user goes over 15 characters, they are greeted with a red error stating “System Error, please try again later.”

2) When a user does go under the required characters by chance, they get dropped off at their user profile page instead of continuing with their checkout.

These two seemingly small issues drive 80% of their customers to require multiple phone and/or email touches for assistance on checkout and countless abandoned carts. Two months since launch of their new ecommerce site, this issue is still not resolved.

Amazon has sympathy for early adopters

2008-04-09T16:04:00-08:00

During the Christmas season, I had purchased an HD DVD player from Amazon believing that HD DVD would win the format wars due to superior pricing. Lower prices with comparable quality equals market share...I was wrong. My eight year old DVD player had given out finally so I decided my brand new obsolete player was still worth having to play normal DVD’s. I was pleasantly surprised this morning to receive an email from Amazon that basically said, “Hey we know you f*cked up by choosing the loosing format, but we’re gonna help make it a little better by giving you $50 off an electronics purchase.” This isn’t the same as Circuit City quietly exchanging all HD DVD units but it’s better than a sharp stick in the eye.

Google Calendar

2006-05-25T18:12:00-08:00

I’ve been using Google Calendar a lot lately and love it. I can log in and edit my schedule from any computer. I also receive email or text notifications at a preset time before a scheduled event. It works with the iCal standard, which means most local calendars on your computer can be updated automatically by subscribing to your Google Calendar feed.

Try it here

Momentum

2006-05-17T03:53:00-08:00

Recently I’ve been dealing with my fair share of issues, both personal and business related. These issues are really putting a damper on my attitude until today. I decided that these issues were nothing more than speed bumps. Speed bumps are designed to slow you down, not stop your momentum completely. As is with life, there will be times your emotions want to bring you to a complete stop. Use your brain, deal with the issue and move on.

Ten Smart Moves To Improve Your Business

2006-05-09T17:16:00-08:00

Derek Featherstone says:

1. Start a blog

2. Get good help

3. Write with a twist

4. Unplug your fax machine

5. Stay as small as you logically can

6. Stay under the radar

7. Just turn email off

8. Raise prices every year

9. Know when to throw in the towel

10. Get office space

The Five Most Common Lies in Business

2006-05-05T17:00:00-08:00

My favorite is “We judge people by their performance.” However, I disagree with the “This is business, not personal” remark. Sometimes, a business decision outweighs a personal one.

What Good Roomates Are For

2006-05-03T18:00:01-08:00

Great Thinking in Umbrella Design

2006-05-02T18:00:00-08:00

Shade of an umbrella or a nice tree?

Will the Mobile Phone Become the Dominant Internet Platform?

2006-04-27T17:00:00-08:00

I believe this is the way the internet is going. My friends have been calling me out for always having to be on the internet, whether I’m doing something productive or not. I feel I have to be constantly available to the people that need to communicate with me.

Unlike most people, I work all day every day in very short spurts. I have developers and clients all over the world and they need to contact me at different times during the day. Not having access to my email or chat for more than a few hours slows down my developers if they have a question or run into a snag. I’m also one man that has to provide customer service to my clients whenever they need it via the forums.

What’s the solution?

Within the coming months, I will make the switch to a PDA/Smartphone. With a mini computer platform with internet access like this I’ll be able to:

- send and recieve emails
- be able to check Posima’s signup and visitor stats
- access my Blinksale account to see what my cashflow is like
- answer support requests via the forums
- check on updates to projects in development via my Basecamp account

...and I’ll be able to do this whenever, wherever.

The only problem is, now my friends and family will REALLY think I don’t do anything all day.

The ultimate tax shelter: Owning your own business

2006-04-26T17:00:00-08:00

I’m not sure I like the tone of this article, it sounds like a great way to piss off the IRS. However, what you should take out of this article is how to make the gradual transition from being a corporate cog to getting paid for doing what you love.