Mark Reino |
PR |
Oct 14, 2011
Two weeks ago, Target’s aggressive promotion of its Missoni clothing line, which included sales online and at a pop-up store in midtown Manhattan, caused such a flurry of activity among customers that the discount retailer was forced to close the pop-up store when it ran out of merchandise. The activity also crashed Target’s Web site.
There is no way a large retailer such as Target(TGT_) should have problems like this, but nonetheless the crash happened, and small businesses relying on Web sales should take a lesson and prepare for particularly busy times or promotions.
Mark Reino, CEO of…
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Mark Reino |
Strategy |
Jun 02, 2011
Over the last few months we have had so many fun and unique professional opportunities that I wanted to kick-start this newsletter with a quick summary of recent events. With any luck, you will not only grasp the essence of the business value we are delivering to our clients, but also recognize just how much we have evolved as an agency (and how much fun we’ve had doing it) since the last time you checked in with us.
In typical Merit Mile fashion we simply had to close out 2010 with a celebration that allowed all of us to forget…
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Jessica Osman |
Strategy |
Jun 02, 2011
On the pro bono front, Merit Mile has teamed with 9PickUp.com and Aid to Victims of Domestic Abuse to redesign and launch their new web presence. Aid to Victims of Domestic Abuse, otherwise known as AVDA, is a nonprofit organization that promotes violence-free relationships and social change by offering alternative choices to end violence and domestic abuse and provides assistance to victims of domestic abuse. AVDA collects household, tax deductible donations through AVDA Home Pickup Service— a fleet of trucks that are dispatched daily throughout the local Boca Raton and Delray Beach areas.
The…
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Mark LeBlanc |
Web |
Jun 02, 2011
When we learned we were developing a robust eCommerce solution for fashion company Laure Nell, I thought my various experiences with different CMS’ and standard eCommerce frameworks were sufficient enough to expect what was to come. From what we’d read on the topic, the documentation for Magento has improved over the past few years, though being relatively new to the platform, we were still left with many questions and almost nowhere to turn for answers.
After a few days perusing the forums, the documentation, and collaborating with our Magento consultant some relatively simple starter steps that shouldn’t have taken so…
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Kyle Newton |
Lead Gen & Advertising |
Jun 02, 2011
Advertising has got to be one of the greatest ways to make a living. The pace is frantic, deadlines often looming, and the landscape ever changing. Over the last two decades technology has revolutionized the way we work, think, create and communicate. One thing hasn’t changed at all however. That one thing that gets me out of bed in the morning – and keeps me focused during occasional midnight-oil burning.
The coolest thing about this business is meeting a new client. After nineteen years and hundreds of these introductions it’s still exciting. It’s more than just meeting new people…
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Craig Henderson |
Web |
Jun 02, 2011
Two critical, yet often overlooked, aspects of website creation and management involve testing and backups. Often taken for granted and not included as part of the regular production cycle, these two tasks can make a world of difference.
Take quality assurance (QA) testin for example. Many web designers/programmers and businesses have the attitude that their website is running fine today and will continue to do so in the future – not taking into account changes in the environment including new browser releases, updated operating systems, hosting infrastructure changes, monitor and browser resolution changes and other frequent changing variables.
In order…
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Todd Lane |
Lead Gen & Advertising |
Jun 02, 2011
Rock ‘n roll was not just a musical revolution; it was also one of the main voices of a social revolution that focused on individuality, freedom of expression, and diversity. The rock ‘n roll generation defied convention and created massive industries such as personal computing, which led to the greatest explosion of information availability via the Internet, and now to the easiest, most convenient, and least expensive model for application development and deployment: cloud computing.
In a guitar case, cloud-based systems enable small to mid-sized businesses (SMBs) to have the sophistication and business benefits of enterprise-class systems at a…
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Wojay Jenkins |
Lead Gen & Advertising |
Jun 02, 2011
For savvy retailers, e-coupons have become an explosive business builder—but the operative word is “savvy.”
If you’re a CPG retailer who hasn’t added online couponing to your marketing mix, you need to. According to a recent Forrester Research report, E-Coupons Engage Customers Beyond Discounts:
- Half of coupon users who go online use e-coupons as well
- They make more money, shop online more, and talk about new products with peers more than offline coupon users do
- One-quarter of e-coupon users said they like to try new products and services before others, compared with 13% of offline-only users
- Thirty-five percent…
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Mark LeBlanc |
Strategy |
Dec 07, 2010
Since the release of Silverlight 4 and Windows Phone 7, we are starting to see a noticeable shift in how the Windows web platform is being used to benefit just about every area of the web. With Microsoft’s recent announcement in their change of strategy for browser-based application frameworks, with HTML5 Canvas and Silverlight, it’s fascinating to see the direction the market is going.
Silverlight as a framework has seen some major re-tooling over the past year and several game-changing features have caused me to rethink my priorities as a web developer. While HTML and Javascript will always…
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Craig Henderson |
Web 2.0+ |
Dec 06, 2010
By now you’ve undoubtedly seen the numerous “To the Cloud!” commercials or come across of the many “Cloud Power” print campaigns that Microsoft has been actively promoting recently. As a SMB business owner, or road warrior passing through airports to make your next important sales presentation, you may wonder how the cloud fits into your life or what the cloud can do for you.
Microsoft’s push behind the cloud is focused on three distinctive components which include Office 365, Azure and Windows Server.
What’s the difference you ask? Each variant of the Microsoft cloud is targeted at specific roles…
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Craig Henderson |
Strategy |
Nov 05, 2010
Microsoft has just released Office 365, a cloud-based collaboration tool aimed at businesses of all sizes. Now SMBs can test the waters of cloud computing, while increasing productivity. Essentially all the documents, files, contacts, calendar needed to run your business are now available online, via the cloud, 365 days a year. Whether traveling for business or on vacation, you can keep in touch with your organization and keep in the loop on important projects, all from a basic Internet connection.
From independent professionals to SMBs and large enterprises – Office 365 helps save time, money while making collaboration…
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Wojay Jenkins |
Lead Gen & Advertising |
Jun 03, 2010
With the advent of Web 2.0, who needs offline advertising? You do. Read on to learn how offline awareness and demand generation tactics such as television, radio and outdoor advertising is still a critical part of the media mix equation.
When e-commerce was younger, it was an article of faith among marketers that online advertising alone could not generate sufficient response for an online enterprise to succeed. Creating awareness required offline advertising. Then the Internet evolved into Web 2.0, followed by the social-media juggernaut, and some savants proclaimed advertising in what used to be known as traditional media to be…
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