Here at NetSource Technologies we’ve designed and developed E-commerce websites using ProductCart — premium E-commerce software developed by Early Impact — for more than eight years. Beginning April 15, NetSource Commerce, a new sister company of NetSource Technologies, is taking over development, sales, and support of the ProductCart E-commerce suite after acquiring the software and related intellectual property from Early Impact.
Several members of the Early Impact team, including company president Cedric Adams and principal developer Sheri Park have joined NetSource Commerce as part of the acquisition. NetSource Commerce plans to continue to grow and develop ProductCart, regularly adding new features and improving performance. The newest version of the software, ProductCart v4.7, will be released for new sales during the week of April 15. Version 4.7 update packages for existing ProductCart customers will be available within the next two to three weeks.

“We believe that ProductCart is uniquely positioned as a feature rich, powerful cart that can be completely customized to particular businesses’ needs to help them best serve their customers,” NetSource owner Greg Petry said of the acquisition.

In addition to ProductCart, NetSource Commerce has also acquired the Early Impact Payment Gateway (now the NetSource Commerce Payment Gateway). The gateway supports all of the most popular payment processors, and includes access to a Level 1 PCI Certified credit card storage vault to enable repeat transactions with securely stored payment information. NetSource Commerce is also assuming management of the website GreatOnlineStores.com, which showcases some of the finest and most successful websites developed using ProductCart.

ProductCart is PA-DSS validated shopping cart software used by thousands of businesses to run professional E-commerce storefronts. Among the very best stand-alone E-commerce software available today, ProductCart is the result of 10 years of non-stop improvement. It’s a feature-rich shopping cart system that has everything online sellers need, including powerful marketing features, detailed apparel inventory functions, QuickBooks synchronization, support for more than 35 payment gateways and an available version that includes a powerful product configurator with conflict management.

To learn more about ProductCart and NetSource’s plans for the future of the software, check out a Q & A with owner Greg Petry.

We don’t just make website at NetSource, our talented team members have also been known to make a tasty treat or two. This year the competition will be steep, with lots of entries competing for the following prizes:

• Tastiest
• Most Festive
• Most Artistic

Voting is open to all NetSource employees (be sure to taste-test vigorously today!), just add your comment below with your choice for each of the three categories.

The entries:

Laura – Christmas Cake Batter Sampler- Cake Batter Confetti Cookies, Cake Batter White Chocolate Fudge, Cake Batter Rice Krispie Trees

Cindy – Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake

Brent – Pizza Sampler- BBQ Pizza, Pizza Rolls, Pesto Pizza

Melissa – Cookie Dough Truffles (hidden in the fridge in the gingerbread container)

Dana – Berry Cobbler (in the fridge)

Cynthia – Festive Magic Cookie Bars

Dan – Banana Pudding (in the fridge)

Jesse – Winter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Brenda – Christmas Wreath Spice Cake

Matt – Spirit Sampler: Jack Daniels Fruit Cake, Official Kentucky Bourbon Balls (made with Makers Mark, of course) & assorted cookies

Jamie – Peanut Butter Pie

Savannah – Cheesecake Brownies

The results are in! Congratulations to Cindy for her triumphant win!

We had an incredible turn-out this year, with 64 people voting for their favorite pumpkin.  Cindy’s Harvest got 27 votes, followed by 18 votes for Melissa’s Raven and 16 votes for Brent’s Release the Crackin’! The Sales Team was especially strong this year…

Thanks to everyone for their amazing submissions and to all of our customers, family and friends for voting!

Harvest - 3rd Annual Pumpkin Carving Contest Winner!

It’s that time of year again! We have several worthy contenders this year for the title of Pumpkin Carving Champ…  Who will win is entirely up to you!

Cast your vote in the Comments below. We’ll tally the results and announce the winner on Thursday, Nov. 1.

 Happy Halloween!

Brenda – Witch’s Brew

Witch's Brew

Witch's Brew

Brent – Get Crackin’

Get Crackin'

Get Crackin'

Cindy – Harvest

Harvest

Harvest

Laura – Fat Cat

Fat Cat

Melissa – The Raven

The Raven

The Raven

Melody – Mummy

Mummy

Mummy

Thanks for your votes!

Greenlawn RV Sales, of Columbus, Ohio, has launched a new website using NetSource’s exclusive dealer website content management system, EZ-Site. The new website allows site visitors to browse the company’s inventory of new and used RVs, and also presents information about the company’s parts and service department.

Greenlawn RV Sales specializes in travel trailers, fifth wheels, toy haulers and truck campers. They offer a wide range of Starcraft, K-Z and Skyline recreational vehicles. The browser-based EZ-Site system lets the dealership staff easily update and maintain the website without the need for any special software.

NetSource offers specialized online solutions for trailer dealers through its sister companies, TrailersUSA.com, a leading classified ad website for trailer sales, and NetSource Media, which focuses on online solutions for the vehicle industries.

NetSource Technologies is an award-winning web design, hosting, e-commerce and consulting company that has been serving Ocala, FL and clients nationwide since 1995. Visit the web site at www.netsourceinc.com for more information on services and to view additional client websites.

NetSource Technologies’ 2011 website design for Pumpkin Masters has been awarded a Silver ADDY® by the American Advertising Federation’s District 4. The award qualifies the Pumpkin Masters site design to compete as a finalist in this year’s National ADDY® Awards.

The ADDYs are the largest creative competition in the country with over 40,000 local entries competing in 200 markets coast to coast. Winning an ADDY at the district level is the second step in competing for a National ADDY Award. Any entry that wins a Gold or Silver ADDY at the district level is eligible to advance and compete in the national competition.

PumpkinMasters.com

The new Pumpkin Masters website, which debuted in September, features a parallax background, animated header and other entertaining effects to invite visitor engagement. The site launched in conjunction with a social media campaign conducted by NetSource, resulting in more than double the traffic — over 2 million visitors — to the site over the previous Halloween season.

“We’re proud and extremely excited for our staff’s work to be recognized with a district ADDY® Award,” says NetSource owner Greg Petry. “We appreciate the opportunity that Pumpkin Masters gave us to work on their new website, and we’d like to thank them for giving our team the creative freedom to produce such a striking and effective design.”

NetSource Technologies is an award-winning web design, hosting, e-commerce and consulting company that has been serving Ocala and clients nationwide since 1995. Visit their web site at www.netsourceinc.com for more information on their services and to view additional client web sites.

So you’ve decided you need a new website, or your existing website needs a facelift?  Not so fast!  Before you choose a website developer and spend your money on a new website, there are several things you need to consider carefully in order to get the most out of your investment.  And there are some details that if they aren’t taken care of BEFORE you start building that website, could doom you to failure.

Make sure you know the following, and can communicate the answers to your developer, to get the best possible results.

1. What Are Your Goals?

This may seem like a straightforward question with a “well duh” answer… your goal is to have a good-looking website, right?  But WHY? Do you want to increase sales of a particular product? Are you dismayed that your competition always shows up in the search engine results ahead of you?  Maybe you need a tool to better serve your existing customers. Or you’re hoping to improve your brand’s reputation.  The more concrete goals you can define, (for example, you want to decrease the amount of time your representatives spend on the phone answering support questions), the better equipped your developer will be to deliver a concrete, and successful, solution for you. And not incidentally, the more likely you’ll get a higher return on investment and be happy a year after your new site’s launch.

Sample Domain Name Record: You'll notice that the domain name record for amazon.com lists Amazon.com, Inc as the Registrant and also includes it as Technical and Administrative Contact.

2. What Is the Status of Your Domain Name?

If this is your first website, you’ll need to register a brand new domain name.  Hopefully, you can secure www.yourcompanyname.com.  More likely, the most obvious domain name will be unavailable (good domain names are getting pretty scarce).  You’ll need to do some homework early on to find a domain name that fits.  Your web developer can help you with this (as long as you let them know you need help), or you can do some research on your own on a website like, domaintools.com. (If the term domain name has you scratching your head, learn Internet Lingo here.)

If you are embarking on a website redesign, you might be making a switch from your original developer. If this is the case, you’ll want to make sure that your domain name’s record lists you or someone at your company as a main Contact.  Moreover, you’ll want to make sure that your company is listed as the official Registrant, instead of the development company you previously engaged.  Sometimes unscrupulous developers will register your domain name under their own company ownership, and then use it as leverage to keep you from leaving. This situation can certainly be overcome, but it is a pain in the neck and takes time to resolve.  If the issue isn’t identified early in the development process, it has the potential of delaying the launch of your new website.

3. Who Is Your Competition?

It will be helpful for your website developer to know who your competition is both offline and online.  This gives them a jump-off point for research and baseline comparisons.  It makes sense: in order to make you stand out, they need to know who you need to stand out from.  Knowing your competition also allows you and your developer to differentiate you and your products and services very deliberately.

Additionally, your developers should be thinking about search engine optimization for your new site, and your online competition needs to be identified in order to begin research and effective planning.

4. What Is Your Overall Branding and Identity (and are you happy with it)?

You’ll clearly want your new website to be the best representation of your organization and its products or services as possible.  However, a designer can create incredibly beautiful designs, but they won’t match your vision unless you can successfully communicate your brand to them.

Do you have existing marketing materials? Show those to your new designer, and tell them what you like and don’t like about them.  Be as specific as possible. Does the logo need to be changed? Are the colors all wrong? Does the design style not match your company’s personality?

How would you describe your company? Write down words like “conservative,” “modern,” “friendly,” “cutting-edge,” or other descriptive words that you want potential customers to think of when they see your website and interact with your company.  Is there a disconnect between the way your company is currently viewed by customers and potential customers and the way you want to be perceived? Tell your designer about this challenge so he or she can address it.

What makes your company stand out? Sometimes called your unique selling proposition, your customers want to know why they should do business with you and not your competition.  Your designer will need to convey this clearly and effectively to help you convert potential customers.

The more information you can give at this stage (the beginning) the better… there is no such thing as information overload when you are conveying your brand image to a designer.

5.  Ongoing Marketing and Maintenance Budget

It is tempting (and common) to consider your website project as a one-time investment of time and money.  However, if your goals (remember we defined those above) include anything related to search engine optimization, building traffic, increasing sales, or increasing conversions, then you’ll need to consider ahead of time your plan for ongoing upkeep and marketing.

Search engines change their algorithms and rules on a regular basis, so if you are interested in keeping your site visible in the search engines you should expect to commit time and/or money to keeping your website at the top of the SERPs.  This is something you might want to task an employee (or yourself) with, or you could engage your developer’s services.

There are many things you can do to make sure your website remains attractive to both search engines and potential customers:

• Keep content up-to-date by updating your website on a regular basis.
• Consider a blog to help you build relevant, keyword-rich content on your website.
• A/B Testing can help you continually refine your conversion results and test the effectiveness of your copy and calls-to-action.
• Pay-Per-Click advertising with Google can help you drive pre-qualified traffic to your website.
• Incorporate a social media strategy to maintain your brand presence elsewhere online and boost SEO.
• Build inbound links.

Be sure to discuss your ongoing maintenance and marketing plans and develop a realistic budget with your developer before embarking on your website redesign project. This will help ensure your initial goals are met and that your initial development isn’t a wasted investment.

The NetSource design team is pleased to announce the launch of www.paaseastereggs.com, the redesigned website for PAAS Easter Egg Dyes, America’s favorite brand of Easter egg coloring for more than 125 years. The new site, which debuts just in time for Easter, features a playful and dynamic user interface packed with product information, kids games and crafts, and egg decorating tips for the whole family to enjoy.

Visitors to the PAAS website can find out about the newest egg coloring products for 2012, like the Retro Splatter kit and Deggorating Doodles pens. The site also features Easter egg games, crafts and recipes, as well as decorating tips from the PAAS professionals. The site also offers links to the company’s latest TV commercial, and to the popular PAAS/Heinz egg decorating app that allows iPad owners to digitally decorate and share their Easter egg ideas.

www.paaseastereggs.com

In addition to the website project, the NetSource team spearheaded PAAS’s social media presence and ongoing campaign for the Easter season which includes several promotions and contests to engage visitors and fans.

Americans purchase more than 10 million PAAS Easter Egg Color Kits during the Easter season, and use them to decorate as many as 180 million eggs. The company is owned by Signature Brands, LLC. PAAS Easter Egg Coloring Kits can also be found on Facebook at www.facebook.com/PAASeaster.

NetSource Technologies is an award-winning web design, hosting, e-commerce and consulting company that has been serving Ocala and clients nationwide since 1995. Visit their web site at www.netsourceinc.com for more information on their services and to view additional client web sites.

The NetSource design team is pleased to announce the launch of www.drsisto.com, a new website for the surgical practice of Dr. Todd Sisto.

Dr. Sisto, whose practice is located in Inverness, FL, specializes in plastic, reconstructive, aesthetic (“cosmetic”), and hand surgery. He has been in Citrus County performing these procedures for 20 years, and he is the only ABMS Board Certified plastic surgeon in Citrus County, FL.

www.drsisto.com

Dr. Sisto’s featured procedures include SlimLipo, a laser fat removal process, and Adivive, a method of aesthetic fat transfer which restores lost or uneven body volume and contours. Dr. Sisto is currently on staff at several Florida hospitals, including: Citrus Memorial Hospital, Seven Rivers Regional Medical Center, Oak Hill Hospital, Spring Hill Regional Hospital, Brooksville Regional Hospital, and All Saints Surgery Center.

The new website provides extensive information about plastic, reconstructive and aesthetic surgical procedures, including before and after photos which demonstrate some of Dr. Sisto’s results. The site also includes a section of news regarding the practice and a blog which provides interesting and important information for prospective patients. The website is built using NetSource’s exclusive SiteSource content management system, which allows Dr. Sisto’s staff to easily update or edit information on the site.

NetSource Technologies is an award-winning web design, hosting, e-commerce and consulting company that has been serving Ocala and clients nationwide since 1995. Visit their web site at www.netsourceinc.com for more information on their services and to view additional client web sites.

Congratulations to the NetSource team for a great year at the ADDYs. We submitted 6 projects for consideration in the 2012 Greater Ocala Advertising Federation ADDY Awards this year and were recognized with 7 awards!

Held this year at the Irish Rose in downtown Ocala, Friday, February 17th, the ADDY Awards recognizes outstanding local creative and advertising talent, and this year was no exception. NetSource’s entries were in good company, with stand-out submissions from local agencies such as Akers Creative, That! Company, and Little Black Mask.

The big winner for NetSource was Pumpkin Masters with a Gold ADDY and the Best of Electronic award. For those of you keeping score (like me) that’s two years in a row that we’ve won Best of Electronic!

Here’s the breakdown:

Pumpkin Masters
www.pumpkinmasters.com
Gold ADDY, Website, Consumer HTML/Other
Best of Electronic
Dan Higbie, Lead Designer
Christie Heikkinen, Designer
Alan Cece, Programmer

Keystone RV Center
www.keystonervcenter.com
Silver ADDY, Website, Consumer HTML/Other
Dan Higbie, Lead Designer
Jeremy Jones, Designer
Alan Cece, Programmer

NetSource Technologies
www.netsourceinc.com
Silver ADDY, Advertising Industry Self-Promotion, Interactive
Dan Higbie, Lead Designer
Lee Simpson, Programmer

Pondineer
www.pondineer.com
Silver ADDY, Website, Consumer HTML/Other
Jeremy Jones, Lead Designer
Alan Cece, Programmer

ShoponPurpose
Silver ADDY, Elements of Advertising, Logo
Christie Heikkinen, Lead Designer

Southeastern Stone & Tile
www.southeasternstoneandtile.com
Silver ADDY, Website, Consumer HTML/Other
Christie Heikkinen, Lead Designer
Alan Cece, Programmer

Each Silver and Gold award recipient will advance to the Regional competition (one of 14 in the nation), and then those winners proceed to the national level.  Kudos to the team and in particular Dan, Christie, and Jeremy for such exceptional work, and good luck at the next level.  Here’s looking forward to another great year!