Moving Small Biz Ramblings

Published in May 28th, 2007

I have decided to start posting all my small business content over at www.singlefounder.com. The site is dedicated to all those that want to start a business on their own and are tierd of hearing people tell you that you can't do it.

I like WordPress, but…

Published in May 26th, 2007

Posted by Scott in Web Apps + Dev

No Comments

I almost switched my blog to WordPress today, I even imported all the data and started modifying content, but at the end of the day it just did not work out.
I think it came down to the fact that I would be spending too much time configuring the tool and it would not do everything [...]

StartUp in Columbus or Silicon Valley?

Published in May 25th, 2007

Posted by Scott in Small Business

No Comments

Business is really just a matter of solving problems. I think people in Silicon Valley solve problems in a certain way for certain people and people in Columbus, Ohio solve problems a certain way for certain people. The usual assumption is they are solving the same "startup" problem, but in reality they are not.

The people [...]

Does Corporate Block AdSense and Analytics?

Published in May 23rd, 2007

Posted by Scott in Computing

No Comments

I was browsing my site yesterday from an undisclosed corporate location and I noticed something. No AdSense and no Analytics scripts were being loaded.
This is because the corporate proxies are blocking certain Google related sites. What does this mean? Well it means 2 things.

I can't make money on my Google Ads for people browsing at [...]

It's all about the funnel.

Published in May 22nd, 2007

Posted by Scott in Small Business

No Comments

You have heard about conversion rates for your website, but there's more to it than that.

I was talking to a friend of mine today and we were chatting about sales, and conversion rates when it dawned on me that just about everything you do in business is related to your sales funnel, or more [...]

What to charge? Check Your Attitude!

Published in May 21st, 2007

Posted by Scott in Small Business

No Comments

Back in the late 90's when I co-founded a startup called CyberMech, one of the things that surprised us was the size of the deals we could get. We were starting off with $500 websites called the "intro site" then before we knew it we were selling $5,000 sites, then going for $50,000.

At some point [...]

Google Trends Just Wrong

Published in May 20th, 2007

Posted by Scott in Computing

No Comments

I did an experimental search on the accuracy of Google Trends between "Paris Hilton" and "Java". Google Trends Page.

Java in RED, and Paris Hilton in BLUE.

According to Yahoo! Paris HIlton was the most search on phrase over the past few years, yet somehow Java managed to beat her consistently since 2004. So use Google [...]

Launching a Web Site by Wil Schroter - ReVisted

Published in May 19th, 2007

Posted by Scott in Small Business

No Comments

I have had a few weeks to think more about "how to launch a web site" and I realized what Wil was doing. He was describing how to plug holes in your conversion funnel.

promotion -> top of funnel
cool kids –> register
fill the room –> trial
keep conversation going –> sales
remind people how cool you are –> [...]

The Chicken or The Egg / The Product or The Market

Published in May 19th, 2007

Posted by Scott in Small Business

No Comments

I have often wondered how inventors/entrepreneurs stumble on a new product or new service that takes off. It's always been a similar question to what comes first, the chicken or the egg? But now I think I am coming close to what it is, it's a little of both, or a lot of luck.

For those [...]