When you think of creating a website, you usually think of long hours and extensive coding and definitely not something that a regular Joe would be able to achieve. But what if you were able to create your very own website minus fuss? Well, Business Catalyst enables you to do just that. Business Catalyst has a flexible platform that allows you to apply your ideas to your online business.

With BC, you have the option of using your own tools or choosing from the ready to use ones for customizing and controlling the codes in your pages for opening and closing html tags. If you are a web designer and enjoy coding, you can use any front end technology or anything similar to it like flash or java script to css. If not, use one of the built in templates that is the best fit your online business.  Business Catalyst has a simplified templating process which can be used to easily set up the pages of your website. Templates simply wrap pages with a sort of super page allowing you to separate and change recurring design elements to individual page content.

The modules and the codes produced by the BC system are also completely xhtml friendly and can be used in any web standard and the as desired.  You have full access to the html codes and have complete design freedom allowing you to fit your designs in the modules. You can also make updates on the modules while keeping your design intact. You can create as many modules as you want for your online business. You can use templates and layouts by using a standard ftp slogan or use the powerful extension for adobe dreamweaver to edit pages and add modules to your website.

Due to its flexibility in designing and built in web host, BC is perfect for building and running an online store. Business permits basic module management allowing you to customize the look and feel of your online shop, blog or website. You can use html tags to edit pages and apply css for styling each page. Upon saving the changes you have made on your website, the pages will be updated almost instantly. You can edit your product view or blog layout. You can also move tags however you want according to your desired style.

Most tags need parameter to modify their behaviour and output and there are tags that are not in the default layout.  You can add other tags and layout design to further customize your page layout. Many of default classes, html and css layouts can be found in BC’s modulestylesheets.css. Simply look at the css class you want to change and all changes will automatically be updated.

BC also allows you to customize the '404' error pages and other system generated responses from the system messages section. These can be found in BC's dreamweaver extension and administration interface. Even if you are not a dreamweaver user, you can still have access to control everything you need to build, customize and tweak according to your business needs. This is a very effective way for every online business owner to create a result driven website and Business Catalyst can give you all that.

To effectively reap the benefits your business can offer it is very important that you make wise decisions for the progress of your online business. Business Catalyst has a powerful integrated reporting tool especially made to keep track of every aspects of your online business. This feature automatically collects data from your customer that allows you to fully understand the success rate your online business. As it is built-in and ready to use, there is no need for you to waste time in set up.

What wouldn’t we give to have complete control of what’s going on with our online business? With BC’s reporting functions you can have it. BC’s reporting allows for a bird’s eye view of literally every single activity taking place on your website.

There are four key metrics that the report uses to help you track your business

   i.            Actual number of visits

  ii.            Total amount of online sales

   iii.            Number of sent inquiry forms, and

  iv.            The subscription report

These four metrics allow you to track what is happening on your website, from every page to your online store, email marketing to lead management, in real time.

With BC’s powerful integrated reporting system you have the ability to capture and keep a record of all customer transactions and activities. So every time you have new customer register for your live feed, you will know it instantly. You’ll see exactly how many inquiries have been received on your dashboard.  You can also choose what fields you would like to appear in the report. Filter the list to view the report of those who have recently submitted an inquiry form along with all other forms submitted in the past. Reports can be exported or downloaded to excel, pdf or csv formats, if you want to review the detailed analysis offline.

You also have the ability to access more advanced reporting data. Simply click on the Report tab and the reporting dashboard will be presented for your review. From the dashboard you’ll be able to further drill down into your four key metrics and see data from the actual traffic on your site to shopping cart abandon rates, customer details to annual revenue reports. You can also create cases for new customer reports to help you easily track new customers.

This type of integrated reporting platform is usually only available to high end enterprises and businesses owners, but with Business Catalyst you have the same opportunity, as any other big enterprise has, right at your fingertips. This is a kind of platform that is perfect for any online business and you can have it all with Business Catalyst.

In all kinds of business it is important to provide customers with opportunities and means to interact with the business and having an online presence is no different if not even more important. The more you interact with your client the more you can build on your client’s trust and being able to earn your clients’ trust can benefit your business in so many ways. One of the direct results of such trust is that loyal customers could recommend you and/or your products to their acquaintances, making your business grow and increasing your profits.

One way of the most common ways of staying connected online this is through a ‘Contact Us’ form. Here, clients can interact with you directly, submit inquiries and also make suggestions. You probably already have a ‘Contact Us’ form, but is your ‘Contact Us’ form able to convert the leads captured and to monetize your business further? Having a customized Contact Us form with strategic field or business specific questions can help serve your clients a lot better than a generic one.

Business Catalyst’s centralized integrated CRM feature, not only allows you to customise the form to suit your business needs but will also automatically capture all the details within the system and create a customer record every time your clients a submit a form. Since this feature also keeps record of all transactions for a given customer, this allows you to create and customised mailing list for e-mail marketing campaigns and promotions.

Another interesting feature in BC is the Web Form. The BC Web Forms give you the ability to create triggers called ‘workflows’ to help you stay on top of your business and respond faster to your clients. You could also apply personal touches on the web form by adding notes or task to customer records, like, when you want to follow up with specific customers or when you want to send them loyalty offers and special promotions.

These web forms can increase sales and track customer loyalty with its custom trackable data that is tailored for your specific online business needs. Each form can be transformed into multiple cases allowing you to track the ways your customers interact with the business. You can use it in a secure zone wherein only your registered members have access which allows you to encourage more enrolments and sell ongoing membership. Of course you can also allow all users access by simply choosing the “Don’t subscribe to a secure zone” option.

Creating the Contact Us form in BC starts with a basic customer data that is very easy to set up. You have the option to customise this form based on what you would like your clients fill in, like, username, password, email, etc. You can also set their login details to the member’s only area. You have the option to add several drop downs menu if you have several preferences for the log in feature.

BC also has the option to ‘not use a workflow’ or ‘content approval workflow’, if you chose to do so in some cases depending on your type of business. With BC, you can use these options to your advantage. You can also use the web forms in order management, email response and so much more.

Despite the fact that it sounds complicated, it is really fairly simple and can be achieved with little or no experience in computer coding. This not only save you time but it also save you costly programming projects. And just like any other page in your website you are free to customize your Contact page to suit your business. Just save and publish it once you are ready to go. Now starting and maintaining a relationship with your customers is so much easier.

In today fast paced world where people have no time to actually visit stores and sort through the hundreds of choices, they are looking for fast and convenient ways of shopping; and the World Wide Web provides just the opportunity for businesses to meet potential buyers at the click of a button. It only makes sense for any business owner to extend their services to an online platform to better serve their consumers at the convenience they desire.

Why choose Business Catalyst?

No external system, plug-in or coding, Business Catalyst’s or BC’s complete built in features makes setting up and managing your online store easy and convenient.  Select a website theme that you think best compliments your business, upload your product list and you are ready to go in a matter of minutes. Define your own theme using html and css codes and use product import to upload multiple products to your online store all at once. You can sell anything from products to services and even downloadable media.  BC’s Modules functionality also makes it easy to upload catalogues and brochures and link them to any desired page in the website. It is fast and easy and only takes a few minutes to finish.

Keeping up to date and tracking your customer’s transactions hasn’t become easier. BC allows you to track your products so you know which product is selling more and which is not and adjust your inventory accordingly. BC is also integrated with a lot of different payment gateways that are available all over the world. Clients can choose from various shipping methods to suit their requirements and giving your business more flexibility. With Business Catalyst, you have the power to manage your business and virtually watch your profit grow. 

Most businesses have brochures, catalogues or simply pictures that they may want to display or make available to their customers. Business Catalyst’s Module menu allows you yo do just that.

The Literature sub-menu allows you to manage brochures, catalogues. Once you have save  the file on to your local machine,Upload it as a new module and Save the page. Customers can then view and/or download the file by simply accessing the Literature menu of your website.

For those of you who do not have the time to create modules yourself, Business Catalyst has a wide range of high quality ready made modules that you can use for free. All you have to do is insert your content or text in one of the Business Catalyst built in modules and save it. You can also add or edit modules using the Business Catalyst’s dynamic menu module.

You can also create Announcements and Bookings using the Module menu. Creating an announcement is very easy to do and does not require you to be a web master to set this up. Upload a photo in it to add sophistication to the content and in as easy as 1..2..3.., your website is full of interesting photos and features.

The Module feature is very particularly useful for businesses that needs to upload and manages brochures that showcase their products. With Business Catalyst, it is very easy for business owners to let the world know and see what they have to offer.

You can also create an Ad rotator page, a FAQ page, a photo gallery and much more with Business Catalyst’s wonderful features that would definitely benefit your business. And since your website is updated in real time, this means your contents is always fresh and up to date for your customers.There is no limit of the number of files you can upload, so add as many modules as you want, cause remember, it will only make your website more interesting and engaging.

Steve Jobs will certainly be missed by me and many others. As difficult as it is to realise this loss, its easy to appreciate all the amazing contributions that he has made, bringing great technology to so many. Steve your products were insanely great, your keynote addresses are unrivaled.   You will be missed.

Here's a link to the commencement speach he made back in 2005.

MAKE MONEY WITH SECURE ZONE

Secure zone is a webpage that you don’t want to be visible in public view. These secure zones can offer secure downloads, forums and other content that are only accessible by registered members once they are logged in into your site. You can actually make as many secure zones as you want and with Business Catalyst’s CRM feature, you can grant access to secure areas or set and reset your member’s password easily. 

When you offer a paid subscription through a secure zone, make sure that it is something very interesting and that it will make your clients register on your website without hesitating. Give them effective reasons why they should be a member of your website. No matter what your business is, you can create a secure zone that is necessary to grow your business fast. 

By creating a secure zone, your clients will not be able to access some of the major features of your website unless they register and this is where you will make money. You could even set different types of subscriptions like SILVER MEMBER, PLATINUM MEMBER, or GOLD MEMBER. Each type of membership have different prices and the higher their type of membership is, the more features they can enjoy in your website. 

You can be very creative in setting up different secure zones. This is very important in growing your business and gain trust from your clients in the long run. You can try to check out some of your competitors and see what features they are offering in their websites and then offer something similar to that but a better one. The best way to be successful in business is to get ahead of your competitors by offering more benefits and features. With Business Catalyst, we can help you reach that goal through our secure zone feature.

KickStarter.com

Need funding for a new idea.  Kickstarter.com might be the place to go.  Check out one of my favorite success stories below.


One of my favorite success stories in the making. PowerLaces lets go back to the future.

I wanted to share this video to show how technology is continuing to exponentially change the way that we do businesses. I find that Ted talks like this one inspire us to look toward the horizon for new opportunities and new ways to overcome challenges in smarter, more effective and more efficient ways. Internet based Technologies are allowing us to collaborate, share information and connect with each other in ways that allow for exponential growth.

The free web browser from Google called Google Chrome has an incredible app store with apps you can use straight from your webbrowser.  Download apps from its huge catalog from categories like Education, Entertainment News & Weather, Productivity and more. To make it inciting many of which are free like NPR, and the ever so popular Angry Birds.