by Amanda Duncan on 12/2/2011
“Without doubt, it was my worst ever business decision. We had thousands of orders pouring in that really we hadn’t expected to have. A much larger company would have difficulty coping,” said Rachel Brown, owner of Need a Cake bakery.
Groupon, Living Social and Seize the Deal can be great for consumers but like any business tool it has its consequences. Brown posted a 75% discount on her bakery’s cupcakes and over 8,500 people snatched the deal. The unexpected response resulted in additional hiring to accommodate so many people. In the end she ended up losing $20,000.
Groupon’s defense; Brown didn’t add a limit on the number of vouchers that could be sold and Groupon did nothing wrong. “We approach each business with a tailored, individual approach based on the prior history of similar deals,” Groupon’s international communications director Heather Dickinson told the BBC.
So if you’re a small business and considering Groupon, Living Social or Seize the Deal, just be aware. You should put a cap on how many deals can be seized and realize what your company can realistically handle. Don’t abuse the power of Groupon or you may find yourself drowning in a sea of cupcakes like Brown.
by Amanda Duncan on 11/4/2011
Starting January 1, Google will start charging for the use of Google Maps; but don’t fret it’s not for everyone. According to BBC reports, the charges will affect mainly travel firms and real estate agencies that use Google Maps to show customers street views of property. Charges will kick in once a website exceeds 25,000 map hits a day. The cost will be around $4 for every 1,000 views over the limit. Thor Mitchell, product manager of Maps API at Google, said: "We need to secure its long-term future by ensuring that even when used by the highest-volume for-profit sites,…
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by John David Back on 4/19/2011
Recently we finished a project that was much like any other project: some fancy js, some ajax, some HTML5, and other nice things. The last thing you want to hear, perhaps selfishly, is 'IE Browser Compatibility Mode' towards the tail end of a project. This article explains how we heard that, how we reacted, and how we rallied to overcome it. The client we worked on the project for continually let us know that the site looked messed up in compatibility mode. "Of course it does," we thought. "Who uses that on purpose?!" Well, it turns out, they did. Several…
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by John David Back on 2/3/2011
I've been called a lot of things, some good, some bad, but designer was never one of them. Well, maybe bad designer. Anyhow, I took it upon myself to create a real work of art to cheer up Toby about a project we are working on. Have a look!
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by John David Back on 10/19/2010
Now that you've cut your proverbial teeth with our first installment, HTML5 and You: Part 1, and you quickly and easily learned how to create an HTML5 document, I'll show you how to do something cool and HTML5-y. This particular piece of fuctionality really is HTML5-y, because it was introduced in HTML5. Can I get started? One thing that I love, and I mean love in the truest sense, in a form is when there is some text in the fields to indicate what the heck the form is looking for. I like that better than stuff like: This is…
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by John David Back on 10/7/2010
Well, the announcement from the W3C yesterday that HTML5 is not ready to be released is not going to stop me whatsoever from barreling straight ahead with it. It's too, and I mean TOO, awesome to not start using. It feels like all the dirt and grime from HTML4.x is being washed away, and I am cleansed in a nerdy tech bitwise baptism. To prove my point, this brief article is basically about how you, Jimmy Layperson, can easily render your HTML document to be checked for HTML5 conformance. One caveat, though, THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING. You still have…
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by Stuart Koenig on 6/16/2010
We're excited to be back on track with the design and development of a new website, content management system, and ticketing engine for the Cincinnati Public School systems "crown jewel", the School for Creative and Performing Arts (SCPA). Having officially inked the deal last July (yes we said that, last July), the project was on hiatus while several specifics were resolved surrounding the naming of the institution. We're excited to report that we're back in full production and things are moving forward at a swift pace.
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