MyOutwardHound.com is a small, niche store that primarily sells the Outward Hound line of dog gear that includes car booster seats, dog strollers, dog ... Continue reading “Google, Are You Geo-Targeting My Search?” Or, “Maybe Only People In California Buy Dog Stuff.”]]> I’ve come to notice something very interesting on one of my eCommerce stores and I’m beginning to wonder if this is just a coincidence or something that can be attributed to Google.

MyOutwardHound.com is a small, niche store that primarily sells the Outward Hound line of dog gear that includes car booster seats, dog strollers, dog life vests, and outdoor gear for dogs. The manufacturer of these products is the Kyjen Company located in Huntington Beach, California. Since the site is pretty keyword rich in “Outward Hound” terms, our search engine placement is good – which is a double edge sword. People looking to buy Outward Hound items find us pretty quickly, but so do people who think we’re the manufacturer and are looking for replacement parts or warranty information.

To help those customers who aren’t looking to buy, but need the contact information of the manufacturer, I added the following text to the customer service page:

Outward Hound Product Warranty Question or Information:
For question regarding replacement parts, accessories or warranty claims on Outward Hound pet product, please contact the manufacturer directly at:

The Kyjen Company, Inc.
P.O. Box 793
Huntington Beach, CA 92648

Phone: 800-477-5735
Fax: 714-841-8979
E-mail: info-mail@kyjen.com

Since that text was added, nearly 16% of site visits for February MTD comes from the state of California, which is more 3 times more than the second highest state.

I started noticing the number of orders being shipped to CA and I had to dig further into why, and the numbers got me thinking.

Is Google (or other engines for that matter) crawling pages like this looking for information that may determine where orders ship from and geo-target search results based on where the search originates from? Or, do these products fit the California lifestyle?

That same page has an address on it for our office in Wilkes-Barre, PA, but traffic from Pennsylvania is just like any other state according to the sites analytics. I want to ride out the month of February before making changes to this page, but come March, I’m going to remove the California address and do a test to see if site traffic from California users decreases.

I’ll keep you posted with my findings. In the mean time, if you own a dog that you spend a lot of time with outdoors, check out MyOutwardHound.com – even if you don’t live in California.

Now, now… I didn’t say I “hate” chocolate, or I “don’t like” chocolate… I’m just not a fan. Maybe my disdain for this confection comes from being exposed to such cheap drug-store brands like Russell-Stover or Whitman’s as a young lad. Or maybe it had something to do with ... Continue reading “Cadbury Mini Eggs Are My Weakness.” Or, “1,080 Ounces of Heaven.”]]> I’m not a chocolate fan.

Now, now… I didn’t say I “hate” chocolate, or I “don’t like” chocolate… I’m just not a fan. Maybe my disdain for this confection comes from being exposed to such cheap drug-store brands like Russell-Stover or Whitman’s as a young lad. Or maybe it had something to do with eating way to many 3 Musketeer bars and spending the night repositioning them into a bucket next to my bed.

Whatever the reason, I’m just not a fan. Except at Easter time.

Oh, Easter! The one time a year when Cadbury makes the only chocolate I’ll eat – the Cadbury Mini Eggs. These irresistible nuggets of milk chocolate shaped like a bird’s egg and coated in a crispy, sugary, candy shell are my weakness. Just ask Pam, the owner of BlairCandy.com.

When she told me that she spent this past weekend getting all the Easter candy up for sale on her eCommerce store, I knew this was the moment I’ve been waiting for. Just a few weeks ago, I finished the last bag of Cadbury Mini Eggs I had left from last Easter. You see, I buy a lot and keep a candy dish filled with them throughout the year, so when it’s time for a quick Mini Egg fix, they’re right there.

Today, I received my order of three cases of these sugary delights from BlairCandy.com.

• 108 bags.

• 1,080 ounces of chocolate.

• 1 year’s worth of way too much chocolate.

• Far too many calories to even think of.

But who cares! I’ve got a year’s supply of the only chocolate candy I eat and I’m happy.

If you’re looking to get a chocolate fix or if you have a hankering for some nostalgic candy, head on over to Pam’s website and see all the delicious confections she offers, and tell her I sent ya.

Just don’t buy up all the Mini Eggs, I may be back for more…

However, the pump was labeled as “Regular, ... Continue reading “Regular, Plus & Premium.” Or, “Regular, Plus & Super.”]]> I stopped by the local Sunoco station to fill ‘er up yesterday and was greeted with signs promoting Sunoco gift cards for the holiday. With a clever take on the different grades of gasoline, the signs touted that the gift cards are available in “Regular, Plus & Premium.”

However, the pump was labeled as “Regular, Plus & Super.”

Being the curious devil that I am, I wanted to see if this was a marketing blunder or mislabeling at the pump. I found that Sunoco has four different grades of gasoline, Regular, Plus, Premium and Ultra 93. Super is nowhere to be found in that lineup.

As the stewards of the Sunoco “brand,” the oil giant should care enough to force stations to comply with proper labeling and brand identification – especially with the much marketed ULTRA 93 product. By not doing that, it only creates confusion.

But it’s only gasoline, Scott!

A good friend of mine, Catherine Shafer from CDS Creative put on a presentation during Solid Cactus Boot Camp called, “Your Brand is an Asset.” During the 90-minute session, she discussed the importance of protecting your brand and making sure it’s used properly. We all work hard building our brand and to see it used inappropriately is not good for business, which is why we should invest time in protecting it.

This example serves as a simple lesson in consistency and why enforcement of proper brand usage is important. A Big Mac is a Big Mac in every McDonalds. It’s not a Big Burger, a Big McD, or The Mac. It’s a Big Mac and that’s their brand and it’s what people order that sandwich by.

Super! Or is it….. nevermind.

P.S.: According to Sunoco, gas stations are not obligated to carry all four gasoline grades at their pumps which explains the absence of the fourth at this particular station. It’s doesn’t excuse the mislabeling, tho.

While Black Friday may be the big one for brick-and-mortars, Cyber Monday has gained a reputation as the holy grail for eCommerce store owners and it ... Continue reading “Cyber Monday Bargains.” Or, “Smile for the Camera!”]]> Jeff Chirico from WBRE TV called me early Monday morning. He was doing a story on the biggest shopping day of the year for online merchants – Cyber Monday.

While Black Friday may be the big one for brick-and-mortars, Cyber Monday has gained a reputation as the holy grail for eCommerce store owners and it gains in popularity each year. Jeff turned to Donna Talarico and myself to get the skinny on how social media is being used by both consumers and businesses alike.

Granted not everyone has embraced social media to the extent that you and I have (right!!!), but those who did got to take advantage of some great Twitter, Facebook and MySpace only deals! I hope you were one of them.

Thanks to Jeff and the WBRE crew for thinking of us!

Jeff Chirico from WBRE

SHAVERTOWN, LUZERNE COUNTY –The internet was also very busy with shoppers. Today is Cyber Monday. Tonight, consumer reporter Jeff Chirico tells us how bargain hunters can score by using social media.

If you’re shopping online this Cyber Monday, you’ll find deals on almost every retailers website. But to find some of the best sales this year –you may have to go social. Scott Sanfilippo, co-founder of Solid Cactus says “social media has taken on a whole new dimension in marketing. Years ago it was print ads, radio, email marketing. Now it’s all changed.”

Solid Cactus is an ecommerce developer. Sanfilippo says retailers are jumping on the social media bandwagon because it reaches hundreds of millions of potential customers for relatively little money. A lot of retailers are taking advantage of Facebook, they’re using twitter to promote deals and offers.” Donna Talarico, Solid Cactus interactive media specialist, says “they’ll put links to Cyber Monday deals, coupon codes that are exclusive to Twitter. Toshiba for instance is giving away three free laptops on Cyber Monday only on Twitter. It’s a way to boost its base of followers. Even small retailers like Blair’s Candy from Altoona, is tweeting its holiday discounts.

So if you’ve never used social media, where do you start? Sanfilippo says the quickest and easiest site is Twitter. It takes just a minute to create a username and password and another few seconds to follow your favorite retailers.” Talarico says one of the biggest things on twitter is people using hash tag, the number sign and Cyber Monday, so if you do that search on Twitter you can find real time Cyber Monday deals.”

And experts agree –this new form of marketing to holiday shoppers won’t disappear once Santa returns to the North Pole.

A younger me, on the right, working the line in the Ferret Store's warehouse. Picture from July 11, 2005.

But alas, the days of me picking, packing and shipping orders are gone. But I do remember them. I ... Continue reading “eCommerce Store Owners Love the Holidays.” Or, “Oh! My Aching Back!”]]>

A younger me, on the right, working the line in the Ferret Store's warehouse. Picture from July 11, 2005.

But alas, the days of me picking, packing and shipping orders are gone. But I do remember them. I remember them well.

When I owned TheFerretStore.com, a typical Monday would consist of about 300 – 350 orders. Once Black Friday hit, a typical Monday had us looking at 500 – 600. And we didn’t drop ship. All the product we sold was stocked in our warehouse, picked, packed and shipped by a staff of 50 before automation.

We had pickers that would grab an order, start at the front of the pick route and fill big plastic tubs up with that order’s contents. The tub made it’s way on a set of rollers to a packing station where someone would verify items and quantities, wrap the items up with care and seal the box. The box would then make its way to a shipping station where one person would do the weighing and shipping.

Then we automated things. Everything was barcoded for accuracy, the shipping station was eliminated and equipment added at each packing station which enabled the packer to verify, pack and ultimately ship the package. With automation we dramatically increased out output and reduced our headcount.

Even with automation, when the holidays rolled around, it was all hands-on-deck. Everyone stepped up to the plate when the orders were backing up. We had a 24-hour shipping guarantee that we had to abide by and that meant many late nights and weekends. Customer Service Representatives would help out after their shifts, all our managers were pulled into the warehouse and basically anyone who could breathe was enlisted to help.

While the orders were going out, stock was coming in, so we had to balance and work around stockers who would be in the aisles restocking shelves or relocating product for quicker picking. Normally restocking was done at night when the picking operation wasn’t going on, but during the holidays you did what you had to do!

The hustle-bustle of “the season” was fun and exciting, and in case you didn’t get it from this post – I miss it. I loved walking through the warehouse watching that big stack of orders start out inches high and get whittled down by the end of the day, then grow the next morning. I miss the excitement of hearing “150 orders to go and an hour to get them out” at three in the afternoon.

A lot of eCommerce store owners never had the “thrill” of warehousing product and and filling orders. As more and more companies started drop-ship programs the eCommerce store owner needs to just send their orders in and someone else does the work for them.

The stores I own today, are all drop-ship stores and well, aren’t very exciting this time of year! There’s no warehouse for me to walk through and count the boxes going out. There’s no busting on the FedEx or UPS driver who was off for 8 weeks because that 70-pound ferret cage he lifted resulted in a hernia. And there’s no late night or weekend shifts working to crank out the orders (everyone hated them anyway).

I waxed nostalgic in today’s post after receiving an email from one of my good friends who uses Solid Cactus for her eCommerce needs. She was showing off pictures of the orders leaving her warehouse like a new father would show off pictures of his newborn son.

I remember pictures like these too…. I also remember how bad my back hurt by the end of the day Friday.

Happy selling!

If you’d like to open your own eCommerce store and experience all the fun and excitement for yourself, be sure to call upon Solid Cactus. I’m not only a former owner, I’m also a customer. And an employee! They can help you get started on Yahoo! Store, Amazon Webstore, eBay Prostores or Solid Cactus eCommerce.

Then once you’re up and running, Solid Cactus can help with Internet Marketing, Call Center Services, Comparison Shopping Engine Management, accuRATEship Shipping Manager, and total automation with Cactus Complete Commerce.

Shameful, self serving plug is complete.

Days, weeks, even months later I end up hearing the stories about “Boot Camp After ... Continue reading The Boot Camp Pictures I Wasn’t Supposed to See!]]> I wrote about another successful Solid Cactus Boot Camp that wrapped up Friday night (October 16, 2009) with our closing cocktail reception, dinner and “commencement.” For some reason, I always miss out on the fun that happens AFTER the event!

Days, weeks, even months later I end up hearing the stories about “Boot Camp After Hours” but nobody has captured those moments on camera or video yet. Until now!

One of the attendees, Pam Macharola from BlairCandy.com, who also is a great personal friend, brought along some wax lips that made for some very funny photos Friday night. “Candy Pam” shared the hilarity with me tonight with the promise that what happens at Boot Camp, stays at Boot Camp, but these are just too funny not to share!