Author: webproworld

Dave Thomas: Tribute to a Small Business Gone Big

Recently we lost one of the most important businessmen in the world. Dave Thomas, the founder of Wendy’s fast food chain, died of liver cancer at the age of 69. He has left us with an amazing legacy of making it from nothing, of succeeding in the face of terrible odds, of finding amazing success without possessing any of the usually associated advantages. Dave Thomas was a completely self made man, and it is from him that I have taken my philosophy of doing business.

How to Create an Effective Navigation Structure for Your Site

A ship captain traversing the open seas without a good navigation system will surely get lost. Maybe he’ll strike sharp rocks and his ship will sink. A visitor who arrives at your site and can’t navigate it for the information they seek, will surely get lost also and leave in frustration. Your ship (your web site) will also sink if this continues to happen.

The Dilemma of Shipping and Handling

In the middle of last year (June 2001), Amazon.com made headlines by announcing that they were going to offer free shipping and handling for any purchases over $99. Is this a trend for the future? Maybe…but only for the rich.

While Amazon’s offer brought millions of dollars worth of publicity to the company, not too many of us regular ecommerce website owners can afford to offer free shipping and handling. The latest issue of eMarketer’s “eCommerce: B2C & Demographics” emphatically states that shipping and handling is a “sizable” business expense. The online metrics company, Jupiter, stated that 45% of ecommerce website owners loose money on shipping and handling.

The Psychology of Color in Marketing Materials

Market researchers have had a field day identifying the colors and the likely effect they have upon us. However, the effects of color differ among different cultures, so the attitudes and preferences of your target audience should be a consideration when you plan your design of any promotional materials. For example, white is the color of death in Chinese culture, but purple represents death in Brazil. Yellow is sacred to the Chinese, but signified sadness in Greece and jealousy in France. In North America, green is typically associated with jealousy. People from tropical countries respond most favorably to warm colors, people from northern climates prefer the cooler colors.

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