Archive for September, 2009

eHarbor softball ends fall season

Tuesday, September 29th, 2009

By Robert Lockard

After a stunning doubleheader victory to end its regular season the week before, the eHarbor, Inc. softball team played another doubleheader on Wednesday, September 23, 2009 with different results. Those two games were the first two of the fall season’s playoffs and, unfortunately, we lost both and so we won’t be moving on toward the championship.

eHarbor softball players in the dugout

The eHarbarians tried hard in the first game, but the other team proved too strong. We put up an excellent fight in the second game of the night and we almost pulled off a come-from-behind victory, but we came up just short.

This was a crazy season. It started with an impressive win and ended with two stunning victories. You can read about our two wins in my blog entry, “eHarbor softball wins dramatic doubleheader.”

Winter is just around the corner – it’s supposed to snow in many of Utah’s mountains tomorrow – so we’ll probably play softball again in the spring.

You can keep coming to the eHarbor Blog for updates on what our company is up to, as well as the newest updates on ecommerce, Web design and SEO. I also recommend you check out the new Submit Solution blogs. Their themes include:

- Paid Search Advertising

- Search Engine Optimization

- Social Media

- Website Design Services

I’ll see you again soon!

E-books on the verge of explosive growth

Friday, September 25th, 2009

By Robert Lockard

Are books about to take a quantum leap forward? I just read an excellent article on CNN called, “E-books catching on with readers.” I’ve covered this topic before on the eHarbor Blog, and much of what I read in this article harkened back to the thoughts I offered in my blog entry, “Will Kindle hurt book publishers?” In that blog post, I focused solely on the Kindle DX, but now many other companies are jumping into the fray.

E-book cut into a printed book

The e-book industry certainly looks promising. It’s attracting top booksellers like Barnes & Noble and Amazon, as well as tech giants like Apple, Google and Sony. Technological advances keep coming, making e-books thinner, easier on the eyes and more affordable every year. In fact, according to the article, they could become as thin as a piece of paper within the next five years. That sounds amazing!

The reason I am so excited about this development is that it has the power to dramatically cut printing costs and open the doors to up-and-coming authors to show off their work. Imagine someone writing a great work of fiction and selling it through Amazon at a fraction of the price it would be if it had to be printed, shipped and stored. That author could start earning revenue almost immediately.

You can find the rest of this blog entry on the new Social Media Blog on Submit Solution. That blog entry is entitled, “E-books gaining in popularity.” The new Submit Solution website looks great. You should definitely check it out, and you can keep coming back to the eHarbor Blog for stories about eHarbor, Inc.

The photo of the e-book inside a book is from Flickr, and it is the copyright of timonoko.

Submit Solution receives tasty website launch party

Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009

By Robert Lockard

The new Submit Solution website is quite amazing, isn’t it? If you haven’t checked it out, be sure to visit www.submitsolution.com right now to see all the great Web design, SEO and other services we provide there.

In fact, Submit Solution’s new website is so cool that we actually held a launch party in its honor on Monday, September 21, 2009. Alyssa Udall and Britnee Nguyen, the other two writers on the four ecommerce blogs on Submit Solution, and I planned a company-wide get-together in which we enjoyed refreshments and gave out prizes. The refreshments were made up of drinks, as well as orange and white donuts, which were shaped like the new Submit Solution logo. See for yourself.

Submit Solution logo made of donuts

Submit Solution logo

That S-shaped group of donuts was one of my favorite parts of the celebration. After that, we held a fun scavenger hunt. Employees had to search the Submit Solution website for clues to lead them to prizes cleverly hidden throughout our eHarbor, Inc. office. We hid clues on Submitsolution.com in the site’s blog tags, image titles and in the text of Web pages.

The prizes people could win by finding and unscrambling the clues included toys, candy bars, eHarbor mugs and Bigler Bucks, which we affectionately named for Oliver Bigler, the CEO and cofounder of eHarbor, Inc. We use Bigler Bucks to buy company products, like pens, mugs and shirts. Our employees enjoyed this friendly competition. Most of them are used to playing foosball, so this scavenger hunt was quite tame in comparison.

You can read more about this website’s great features in my blog entry, “Submit Solution launches updated website with new design features.”

eHarbor softball wins dramatic doubleheader

Monday, September 21st, 2009

By Robert Lockard

The eHarbarians’ softball season ended on an incredible high note on Wednesday, September 16, 2009. The eHarbor, Inc. softball team had to play a doubleheader that day, one game after the other, and they came through both times to grab a double victory.

eHarbor softball player batting

Coming off a stellar victory in the first game, our team kept up with the other team in the second game. It was close. We were trailing by one point near the end of the game.

During one play under those dangerous circumstances, one of our runners was declared “Out,” even though the second baseman totally bumbled the ball and didn’t have it in his mitt when the runner slid in under him. Our coach, eHarbor President John Russell, pointed out that serious flaw in the umpire’s call, and he was promptly thrown out of the game. It was quite a sight to see.

After that, things got even more exciting. With little time left, our batters were looking to smash a game-winning hit, but, ironically, all they had to do was stand next to the plate to win. The pitcher must have been really tired or had some crazy strategy because he just kept walking our batters until we scored two runs and won the game. That was awesome!

We ended this season with a record of 3-4. Our post-season begins on Wednesday, September 23 at 6 p.m. Whether we win or lose that game, we’ll play another one that same evening. I’ll let you know how we do. Go eHarbor!

Simple is better in Web design

Thursday, September 17th, 2009

By Robert Lockard

In honor of Submit Solution’s newly redesigned website, I will talk about four Web-design strategies you can use to make your website look more pleasing and hold viewers’ attention longer. These strategies come from a blog post on the Think Vitamin Blog, entitled, “How to Make Your Web Design Stand out from the Crowd.”

Spider webThe first strategy is not to be afraid of empty space in your Web design. On news sites, like CNN, you won’t find a bit of open space; all of it is taken up with headlines, graphics and numbers. That is useful for people looking to cram as much useful information as possible into a confined space. But it can feel cluttered and overwhelming on ecommerce websites that are selling products and services.

Giving viewers space to breathe can create a relaxed atmosphere on your website. We’re already bombarded with information, so it is refreshing to find a website with some elbowroom.

You can find the rest of the steps in a blog entry on the new Web Design Blog on Submit Solution on October 5. The new Submit Solution website is now online, and it will get most of the Internet marketing blog entries from now on, while the eHarbor Blog will mostly be about topics related to eHarbor, Inc.

The photo of the spider web is from Flickr, and it is the copyright of dann solo.

What to do before you hire a Web designer

Tuesday, September 15th, 2009

By Robert Lockard

Do you feel lost when it comes to Web design? You don’t need to be an expert on HTML, Ruby or other programming languages to end up with an effective design for your ecommerce website. You can use Magellan Commerce’s custom-design services to handle the actual design part.

Blue dogBut there are several steps you can take before you go to the experts to make sure your site does precisely what you want it to. These steps come from an Examiner article entitled, “Website design starter plan for clients.” That article has horrible spelling and grammar, but it has a few good ideas I want to share, so I’ll cut its author a little slack.

Anyway, here are two of the steps you should take before requesting help from a Web designer:

1. Look at what your competitors are doing. Plagiarism is illegal, but finding good practices and Web-design ideas is perfectly legal. This will give you a good starting point to see which elements of a website you would like to use in your own. Try to stick to general ideas, such as navigation, structure and what subjects are covered in the text.

2. Once you have an idea of what others are doing, start mapping out your website’s outline. Start with the main pages, such as home, services, products, about us, etc. Then add subpages under the main pages to build on more specific topics. Fill in as much detail as you can about what information and messages you want those pages to contain. This will help the designers be more precise in meeting your needs.

You can find the rest of the steps in a blog entry on the new Web Design Blog on Submit Solution. The new Submit Solution website is now online, and it will get most of the Internet marketing blog entries from now on, while the eHarbor Blog will mostly be about topics related to eHarbor, Inc.

The photo of the blue dog is from Flickr, and it is the copyright of lepiaf.geo.

eHarbor softball comes close

Friday, September 11th, 2009

By Robert Lockard

The fifth game in eHarbor, Inc.’s fall softball season was an exciting confrontation. On Wednesday, September 2, 2009, our eHarbarians fought hard, scoring 10 runs in a single inning. They enjoyed so much success that coming into the bottom of the second-to-last inning, they had brought their lead to six, with a score of 13-7.

eHarbor, Inc. softball team

Unfortunately, the other team came to life in that inning, scoring an astonishing nine runs. eHarbor got two early outs, but after that the other team just kept hitting solid grounders outside our fielders’ range. It took too long to get the last player out – the damage was done.

Our hitters stepped up to the plate to try to make up lost ground, but they all popped out. The other team won the game 16-13. Boy, that was an exciting game. The eHarbarians tried hard, but victory was just beyond their grasp. Our record this season is now 1-4.

We played our next game on Sept. 9 in Orem, Utah and we also lost. Next week, we’ll have double header and then our regular season will be over. If we can triumph in our last two games, we will hopefully be able to get into the playoffs, as we did in the summer season. You can read about our record-breaking summer season in my blog entry, “eHarbor, Inc. softball ends season in good form.” Stay tuned to the eHarbor Blog to find out how our team does.

Submit Solution launches new website with design services

Wednesday, September 9th, 2009

By Robert Lockard

Submit Solution, an Internet-marketing company, just released an advanced new version of its website, submitsolution.com. The updated site now includes two new services – custom Web and logo design – as well as four ecommerce blogs and free search-engine submission, in addition to its search engine optimization and paid-search packages.

Submit Solution is already an expert at getting qualified traffic to clients’ websites via SEO and PPC campaigns. By adding custom website design and logo design to its services, Submit Solution can now help turn a higher number of site visitors into customers.

Submitsolution.com has a more user-friendly design, allowing visitors to quickly navigate its Web pages. The site boasts free search-engine submission, as well as four new blogs focusing on SEO, PPC, social media and Web design, respectively. It also provides additional Internet-marketing tools, definitions of ecommerce terms and FAQs to help newcomers learn the ins and outs of Internet marketing.

“The new Submit Solution website helps potential clients understand both the intricacies of a successful search-engine marketing plan and what we can do to help,” said Oliver Bigler, chief executive officer and founder of Submit Solution. “Internet newbies can often be drowned in a sea of conflicting information. Our website helps clients navigate their way toward information and services that fit their needs best.”

For 14 years, Submit Solution has worked in the Internet-marketing industry. Its SEO packages were recently updated to add social-media posting and inbound linking to its traditional tactics of optimizing site content, such as adding Meta tags. Other new or improved services include:

- Website designSubmit Solution logo

- Logo design

- Paid-search advertising

- Competitive analysis

- Website consulting

This launch of Submit Solution’s new website makes this the second week in a row in which we’ve introduced an innovative product or service. Be sure to check out my blog entry on Magellan Commerce’s new online merchant service: “Magellan Commerce the 1st to offer ecommerce and merchant services.”

ThemeFury.com creator named eHarbor MVP

Monday, September 7th, 2009

By Robert Lockard

Jeff Ashby, an SEO technician at eHarbor Inc., is the latest employee to be named the company’s Most Valuable Player. He received this honor at our monthly company meeting on Wednesday, September 2, 2009.

In addition to his normal responsibility of providing search engine optimization for our clients, Jeff created a new website called Theme Fury, which offers more than a hundred free Wordpress themes. These themes help Wordpress blog owners stand out with a creative design instead of using a standard format.

Theme Fury logo

Theme Fury already offers themes for websites in a number of categories:

- Animal

eHarbor MVP Jeff Ashby- Artistic

- Business

- Car

- Craft

- Education

- Electronics

- Family

- Health

- Music

- Nature

- Personal

- Sports

Be sure to visit Theme Fury’s installation page to find out how to install your favorite theme to your blog.

When Jeff’s not doing SEO or computer programming, he enjoys collecting Pez dispensers and watching Filipino movies. His favorite restaurants are Red Robin and Olive Garden, and he likes to watch shows like “Seinfeld” and “Arrested Development.”

This is the third time I’ve spotlighted an MVP in the eHarbor Blog. You can read about last month’s winner, Derek Anderson, in my blog entry, “eHarbor MVP gives great customer care.” We have many great employees to spotlight. I’ll keep you posted on them at the start of each month.

The photo of Jeff Ashby is from the blog post “Halloween Pictures” in the Ashblog, his personal blog. The Theme Fury logo is the copyright of Jeff Ashby and Theme Fury.

Is Facebook dying?

Thursday, September 3rd, 2009

By Robert Lockard

Is Facebook starting to die? That’s the topic of an astonishing New York Times article, entitled “Facebook Exodus.” Author Virginia Heffernan starts by pointing out:

The exodus is not evident from the site’s overall numbers. According to comScore, Facebook attracted 87.7 million unique visitors in the United States in July. But while people are still joining Facebook and compulsively visiting the site, a small but noticeable group are fleeing – some of them ostentatiously.

Telluride, Colorado ghost town

I’ve written about Facebook several times in the eHarbor Blog, usually noting its strength and rapid growth. Along with Twitter, it is leading the social-media revolution – or fad – that could change search engines and other aspects of the Internet. This article grabbed my attention and demanded I discuss it.

You should definitely check out the New York Times article because it tells five stories about individuals who left Facebook for a variety of reasons. They are all quite compelling. One felt his privacy was violated by Facebook, and another felt she was wasting too much time on the website.

The feelings of privacy violation are completely understandable, and perhaps even unavoidable. Facebook is a social network so its information is not meant to be completely private. Perhaps people’s concerns are just the result of their own carelessness in posting too much information or not studying the rules to keep it hidden. Or maybe it’s a combination of shifting, hidden or hard-to-understand rules, as well as people’s decisions not to read the fine print.

The last paragraph in the New York Times article sums it all up nicely:

Is Facebook doomed to someday become an online ghost town, run by zombie users who never update their pages and packs of marketers picking at the corpses of social circles they once hoped to exploit? Sad, if so. Though maybe fated, like the demise of a college clique.

You can find the rest of this blog entry on the new Social Media Blog on Submit Solution when it is published. The new Submit Solution redesign is almost ready, and it will get most of our Internet marketing blog entries from now on, while the eHarbor Blog will mostly be about eHarbor, Inc.

The photo of the ghost town near Telluride, Colo. is from Flickr, and it is courtesy of Rob Lee.