Tips and Tools for Thanksgiving-Themed E-Store Decor

Dressing up your e-commerce store and promotions with autumn and Thanksgiving accents doesn’t take a redesign. Our tips and free tools will help you — and your online store — get in the holiday spirit.

Adding holiday-themed product shots is a low-cost, easy way to offer a visual taste of Thanksgiving at your e-commerce storefront for the holiday. Online store owners can create a festive look by simply replacing their front page product images with ones that are holiday-specific or those featuring traditional autumn colors.

Online shops with seasonal products can create a Thanksgiving-specific category page and leave it up all year for SEO purposes. As the holiday approaches, use a simple image on your main storefront page to link to your special Thanksgiving holiday category.

Tips and Tools for Thanksgiving-Themed E-Store Decor
By Vangie Beal, November 11, 2008

Five Timely Tips for Holiday E-Mail Marketing

Last month, holiday e-mail campaigns were all about segmentation, not blasting. This month it’s time to grow your list, build loyalty and capture new subscribers. We show you how.

In October the focus was on segmenting your list and testing subject lines. Vezina said that by November, hopefully merchants have done these administrative tasks and have looked through results of their own A/B (split testing) marketing tests.

This month, Vezina suggests merchants really cater to online shoppers, and reward their list members, not only to create a bond but to also continue growing their list in the last weeks leading up to the shopping frenzy. Here are five tips to employ this month.

Five Timely Tips for Holiday E-Mail Marketing
By Vangie Beal, November 10, 2008

Trilogy of Terror: Viruses, Worms and Trojan Horses

The most common blunder people make when the topic of a computer virus arises is to refer to a worm or Trojan horse as a virus. While the words Trojan, worm and virus are often used interchangeably, they are not exactly the same. Viruses, worms and Trojan Horses are all malicious programs that can cause damage to your computer, but there are differences among the three, and knowing those differences can help you to better protect your computer from their often damaging effects.

The Difference Between a Computer Virus, Worm and Trojan Horse
By Vangie Beal, Last updated November 07, 2007

Doing Business on eBay Alternative for a Buck a Month

Online vendors listing on The SOC Exchange pay just one dollar a month or $10 a year to sell, with no other fees. Plus, eBay security updates.

Like newer alternatives, Bonanzle, Wigix, and and eBay’s successful online classified site, Kijiji, The SOC Exchange lets online merchants list “buy now” prices with the option for interested buyers to submit offers (OBO) to sellers on items they are interested in purchasing. It appears many new sites are using this format instead of auctions because it is easier for both buyers and sellers.

The SOC Exchange, however, does not work exactly like a classified site where most transactions are local. Rather, sellers still have the option to accept payments and ship items out to non-local buyers. Lagudi, however, did say that auction-style listings may be offered in the near future.

Doing Business on eBay Alternative for a Buck a Month
By Vangie Beal, November 5, 2008

More Than 1,000 Text Messaging Abbreviations

If you have ever received an instant message or text message that seemed to be written in a foreign language, this Webopedia Quick Reference will help you decipher the text chat lingo by providing the definitions to more than 1,000 chat abbreviations.

Some of the following chat abbreviations may be familiar to you, while others may be foreign because they are used by a different group of people with different online interests and hobbies than your own. For example, people playing online games are likely to use chat abbreviations that are different than those used by teenagers texting on their cell phone or abbreviations used by someone updating a financial blog.

AAF As a matter of fact
AAK Asleep at keyboard
AAK Alive and kicking
AAMOF As a matter of fact
AAMOI As a matter of interest
AAP Always a pleasure
AAR At any rate
AAS Alive and smiling

Read all 1,011 text abbreviations here.