tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28673430133146645592011-04-21T20:05:32.131-05:00<a href="http://www.merchanttutorials.com/blog">The MerchantTutorials.com Blog has moved to http://www.merchanttutorials.com/blog.</a>Chuck Laskerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16719048370037095323noreply@blogger.comBlogger291100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2867343013314664559.post-27587950564584670452008-12-14T19:37:00.001-05:002008-12-14T19:41:01.848-05:00

I've created a Wordpress blog at my domain, so this blog is not going to be active anymore. If you're subscribed to this blog, please go to the new blog and subscribe on the top right.http://www.merchanttutorials.com/blog/Thanks for following!

Chuck Laskerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16719048370037095323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2867343013314664559.post-595553140962651502008-12-14T11:06:00.002-05:002008-12-14T11:09:37.230-05:00

I highly recommend the following subscription - the SEO Tip of the Day from Tampa SEO Training Academy.http://www.Tampa-SEO.com I've been subscribed for a couple of weeks and each day they send a really good tip, especially for merchants.

Chuck Laskerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16719048370037095323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2867343013314664559.post-67495402313828103582008-12-12T18:30:00.002-05:002008-12-12T18:31:38.472-05:00

I've created a Facebook fan page for MerchantTutorials.com. If you have a Facebook account, join up!http://www.facebook.com/pages/MerchantTutorialscom-Miva-Merchant-Help-and-Training/38823439262

Chuck Laskerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16719048370037095323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2867343013314664559.post-74340415965158780992008-12-12T11:26:00.002-05:002008-12-12T11:28:00.010-05:00

I have a Helpful Links page at MerchantTutorials.com, but I thought I'd add one to my personal blog at ChuckLasker.com. I hope it helps.http://www.chucklasker.com/miva-merchant/

Chuck Laskerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16719048370037095323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2867343013314664559.post-30028782298609103752008-12-02T23:27:00.001-05:002008-12-02T23:28:18.731-05:00

I guest wrote a blog article for the DoublePlus blog about Email Marketing:http://www.doubleplus.com/email-marketing-mistakes.html

Chuck Laskerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16719048370037095323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2867343013314664559.post-50432438525043464392008-11-11T11:07:00.003-05:002008-11-11T11:09:46.997-05:00

At the Miva Merchant blog they just posted a Store Morph Mini Primer that is an excellent overview of what you can do with Store Morph technology in your templates. If you're not familiar with programming or tokens, it may take reading a few times, but some trial and error and you'll be doing all kinds of things at your site.http://www.mivamerchant.com/blog/21/

Chuck Laskerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16719048370037095323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2867343013314664559.post-38056964301495512322008-10-20T11:22:00.002-05:002008-10-20T11:23:34.163-05:00

I wrote an article that Miva Merchant liked so they put it on their blog:http://www.mivamerchant.com/blog/18/outsourcing-hiring-out-to-save-time-and-money/So you have an online store. This morning, you woke up, checked your email, approved tasks for your vendor partners to perform today, and an hour later you were on the beach, relaxing to the sound of waves crashing, planning the rest of your

Chuck Laskerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16719048370037095323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2867343013314664559.post-88694638060802575702008-10-07T16:10:00.001-05:002008-10-07T16:12:07.306-05:00

I submitted this story to Website Magazine a few months ago and only now found out it got published on their site. Strangely, I provided a print version and longer site version, and they put the shorter print version on their site... Anyway, it's interesting."As an online business owner, I imagine that this morning you woke up, checked your email for about 20 minutes, approved several actions by

Chuck Laskerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16719048370037095323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2867343013314664559.post-52850710422124872202008-09-19T20:32:00.002-05:002008-09-19T20:37:13.257-05:00

I have rebranded MerchantAnswers.com as MerchantTutorials.com. This better describes what the site is about. Look for some new benefits soon, too!

Chuck Laskerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16719048370037095323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2867343013314664559.post-14867246669668652792008-05-20T12:11:00.003-05:002008-05-20T12:12:54.926-05:00

Opinions are everywhere about SEO - and most are based on hot air. So how do you learn what's most important for SEO? How about gathering 37 of the top experts on the subject and have them rate importance?http://www.seomoz.org/article/search-ranking-factors

Chuck Laskerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16719048370037095323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2867343013314664559.post-6145193579845530222008-05-08T21:16:00.002-05:002008-05-08T21:52:01.991-05:00

Do you subscribe to Website Magazine? Those who do know how useful the magazine is, with practical information any site owner can use. You'll be happy to know the next issue is being sent out right now. The electronic version is already up!If you do not have a free subscription, get one here now!Articles this month include:Feature Article: Mobile Web - Hope or Hype?Semantic Web - Understanding

Chuck Laskerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16719048370037095323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2867343013314664559.post-28049952103708708832008-04-28T11:03:00.003-05:002008-04-28T11:12:06.170-05:00

So Miva Merchant 5.5 is coming out "soon." I'm not sure what "soon" is, but I hope it's not too soon. As a beta tester, I'm not feeling it's ready at all.The problem is, I haven't been able to test streaming the update into a site with a lot of third party modules. I really want to see that before feeling comfortable with the mass-update that is planned.My suggestion to MM5 users is, don't update

Chuck Laskerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16719048370037095323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2867343013314664559.post-66585739434410624052008-02-04T16:58:00.000-05:002008-02-04T17:05:22.460-05:00

Here's a page I created of helpful links for Miva Merchant users:http://www.merchantanswers.com/helpfullinks.htmlIf you have any suggestions, please let me know.

Chuck Laskerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16719048370037095323noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2867343013314664559.post-38274814807571562062007-10-30T15:05:00.000-05:002007-10-30T15:06:17.469-05:00

A great study from my favorite company - MarketingSherpa.http://www.marketingsherpa.com/article.php?ident=30183Limited time access so read it now!

Chuck Laskerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16719048370037095323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2867343013314664559.post-37222844339974980392007-09-11T14:12:00.000-05:002007-09-11T14:21:19.419-05:00

Want a bunch of incredibly powerful, and free, online marketing advice? Subscribe to MarketingSherpa's newsletter. Here's an example of free content (available for a limited time for free, then must pay):http://www.marketingsherpa.com/article.php?ident=30124Here's the subscription page. They have a free trial, too:http://www.marketingsherpa.com/newsletters.html

Chuck Laskerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16719048370037095323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2867343013314664559.post-58076311617118701362007-09-09T14:20:00.000-05:002007-09-09T14:28:32.166-05:00

Social networking. If you have an online presence, and don't know what that phrase means, you need to Google it as soon as possible. I believe there are only two areas of growth right now on the Internet - social networking and mobile marketing.Social networking is important because it connects people and companies together. By now, you should already have a blog, so your customers can get to

Chuck Laskerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16719048370037095323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2867343013314664559.post-41545190297325259482007-08-06T17:31:00.000-05:002007-08-06T17:33:28.469-05:00

Rick Wilson, who was a member of the original Miva Corporation team, has joined with others to acquire MIVA Small Business. It will be "Miva Merchant" again, and they'll have a new logo, etc. very soon. If you don't know Rick, let me tell you that this is a really good thing. I can't wait to see what happens next.http://smallbusiness.miva.com/company/press/release.mv?Release_ID=95

Chuck Laskerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16719048370037095323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2867343013314664559.post-40903391956392481072007-07-18T10:47:00.001-05:002007-07-18T10:52:21.674-05:00

Okay, from the moment I saw this in a PCMag.com article, I wanted one. So I clicked on the site link and lo and behold, it's ugly. I mean, really ugly, and not very usable, and the shopping cart is just PayPal. For a $350 to $550 product, what is the deal?http://www.cruzincooler.com/Then I realized something. I looked through the site and I wanted the product even more. And then I realized that

Chuck Laskerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16719048370037095323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2867343013314664559.post-40140164690858277012007-05-22T14:09:00.000-05:002007-05-22T14:10:14.040-05:00

I just wanted to make a quick comment about security. When people complete help desk requests with me, they often send me their main admin user name and password. Normally, I recommend creating a new one for me, and for any vendor. But my main observation is many people are still making the old password mistakes. Following is an article about the top 10 passwords people use, and I've seen several

Chuck Laskerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16719048370037095323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2867343013314664559.post-79178651699792300082007-05-22T14:07:00.000-05:002007-05-22T14:09:19.250-05:00

Google has been introducing a lot of new services for Webmasters. My favorite is an amazingly powerful, and free, analytics package where you can see conversion statistics, abandonment rates, including which screens people leave the site from. These analytics are almost as powerful as some of the most expensive analytics packages I've ever seen. Recently, a company has figured out how to best

Chuck Laskerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16719048370037095323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2867343013314664559.post-50621950300554271872007-05-02T13:50:00.000-05:002007-05-02T14:41:26.921-05:00

I am compiling Miva Merchant common questions, and will be working on answers via tutorials, code, examples, etc. at www.merchantanswers.com. Anyone who sends me at least one question that I use I will give a free month to (it's subscription based). Just send me any questions to cal@doubleplus.com.

Chuck Laskerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16719048370037095323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2867343013314664559.post-79062584229724335012007-04-25T13:13:00.000-05:002007-04-25T13:17:50.649-05:00

As YouTube.com explodes, other sites are seeing the value of this kind of viral networking tool. A new site, FreeIQ.com, allows you to charge for your content and earn money for referrals. This is a cool idea. An expert in, say, dog training, could create a video series. The first couple could be free, as a teaser and free sample, and the rest paid. A great way to make money on expertise, while

Chuck Laskerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16719048370037095323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2867343013314664559.post-15482732904460428342007-04-12T11:08:00.000-05:002007-04-12T19:06:33.823-05:00

For the first time, I am having clients ask me about hiring me full time. I believe that the Web has grown to the point that even smaller businesses are seeing a benefit of having full time Web marketing staff. Is it really better?Of course, that depends on your business. If you can afford a true professional (not a teenager or hobbyist) that understands your site inside and out, understands Web

Chuck Laskerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16719048370037095323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2867343013314664559.post-48926060058110677342007-02-19T12:29:00.000-05:002007-02-19T18:08:05.561-05:00

The Miva Merchant checkout system is pretty cumbersome, but it's very difficult to think about ways to change it. The Ship To address is required to calculate shipping and sales tax most of the time, the payment method must be selected in order to display the proper payment fields, and the shipping, sales tax and payment information must all be in place before submitting an order. So, the page

Chuck Laskerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16719048370037095323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2867343013314664559.post-91878306810824837352007-02-03T16:30:00.000-05:002007-02-03T16:33:42.692-05:00

I prefer email and instant messaging for communication. It allows time to think, keeps a record of the conversation, and allows a BRB message when you have to use the restroom. On the telephone, everything is in a hurry, and disagreements come up later as to what was said.Yet, with dozens of clients who have online businesses, many of them want to speak by telephone all the time instead of use

Chuck Laskerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16719048370037095323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2867343013314664559.post-18125923656891172782007-01-06T15:35:00.001-05:002007-01-06T15:35:59.504-05:00

I'm typing this post on my PDA phone. As a new user, I'm beginning to appreciate the new push to create mobile-compatible Web sites. If you have a mobile phone, check out your site. If you don't, go to your nearest Verizon dealership and try one there. It's quite sobering.

Chuck Laskerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16719048370037095323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2867343013314664559.post-14509964990573164922007-01-06T15:06:00.000-05:002007-01-06T15:10:18.229-05:00

Lately we've been getting new clients who were using other consultants, who either have moved on to other things, or have gotten too busy to take on work and even are telling clients they can't help them anymore. There's a real need for more help in the community.I started as a user, who steadily answered questions on the user list until I got hired, and slowly went full time. If you're a user

Chuck Laskerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16719048370037095323noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2867343013314664559.post-63564973128863846872007-01-03T18:34:00.000-05:002007-01-03T20:48:29.462-05:00

I am going to Hawaii for a client on-site meeting and staying for three weeks. While there, I am thinking about doing a Miva Merchant User Conference. If you're from the area, or willing to travel, please complete the following survey:http://FreeOnlineSurveys.com/rendersurvey.asp?sid=11xesmrg53vli34254809For more info, email me at cal@doubleplus.com

Chuck Laskerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16719048370037095323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2867343013314664559.post-43570804939947640462007-01-03T17:19:00.000-05:002007-01-03T17:21:46.469-05:00

Over the years, I've gained a large amount of interesting knowledge, mostly about ecommerce. So, I thought I'd start posting stuff here for the benefit of mankind. Or, at least, for the benefit of the seven people who will read this. If you read something you like, post a link at forums or send to friends. Feel free to comment, but insults might be deleted if they're too accurate.

Chuck Laskerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16719048370037095323noreply@blogger.com0