How online retailers make you spend more [infographic]

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I’d rather buy from Harry Potter

In great stories (like Harry Potter) the hero is prepared to die to save the day. Your company should be willing to die for your customers. But to think this way you have to care about the people with whom you do business. Viewing them as a necessary evil won’t … Continue Reading »

5 Simple Ways to Improve Your Customer’s Experience

I’m not sure where I discovered Derek Sivers, but his writing and videos are quickly becoming my favorite sources of inspiration (just ordered his book today). Here are 5 tips from Derek’s video for anyone who deals with customers: answer the phone. I’ve been making a concerted effort to answer … Continue Reading »

How Small Businesses Engage in Ecommerce [infographic]

Our friends across town at Formstack created this insightful infographic about small business ecommerce engagement. Enjoy! Click to EnlargeFormStack

The Ecommerce Solution You’ll Find Refreshing (drumroll)

Entry-level solutions tend to move upmarket and compete for bigger customers. But it’s rare to have an enterprise solution effectively move downmarket and gain market share against lower cost competitors. That’s why I don’t think ebay can use Magento to gain market share with smaller shops. It’s more likely that … Continue Reading »

Liberating Constraints

We’re in the middle of a great ecommerce store redesign. I couldn’t ask for a better client to serve. The ecommerce framework we’re using is refreshing. And putting the entire team on the same project has been energizing. For too long we split our efforts into smaller project chunks, which … Continue Reading »

How we almost killed our service business (and then recovered)

We started our business by focusing exclusively on a specific ecommerce platform. This taught us a lot about two types of customers: online retailers and creative firms that wanted to offer ecommerce services to their clients but needed an expert partner to pull it off. Our business pivot feet were … Continue Reading »

Longfellow on Startup Life

The heights of great men reached and kept Were not obtained by sudden flight; But they, while their companions slept, Were toiling upward in the night. Standing on what too long we bore With shoulders bent and downcast eyes, We may discern – unseen before – A path to higher destinies!   … Continue Reading »

The Irrefutable Pivot Rule

When I tried to unpack the core meaning of a lean startup pivot, a key question arose – What is the business equivalent of keeping one foot on the floor? Answering this question led to the irrefutable rule of business pivots…

Startup Quote: Just be prepared for…