There is a great deal of interest in a small scale eCommerce platform.  Let's break out a couple of scenarios in which a small business would require on-line payment services.  I will try to keep it simple and around a limited amount of products that do not require a full scale eCommerce shopping cart. Let's say no more then 10 products or services.   Before we dive into the various online services there are some merchant requirements to consider.

• A business account is required.
• Merchant Account
• Payment Gateway 

You can use an existing business account to open an merchant account and then open a payment gateway account or you can get the merchant account and payment combined as one like authorize.net, Google Checkout, PayPal and SimplePay.  Some of it is around brand and all lot is about functionality.   A merchant account allows you to accept credit card payments, that is process and deposit with a 'slight' charge for the trouble.  The payment gateway provide an connection between the Internet and the banks's secure network.  You need a account with both or a single provider of both services to transact sales. 

A Website Developer plans, designs and manages a website development project.  To really get ahold of this concept one has to think of a website as a giant book that is not bound together by glue and thread, instead they are bound by hyperlinks.  A web site developer plans all the pages and how they connect. Menus, links, image rendering, all require a method a 'appearing' in a visitors browser.  A developer can build a web site from 'scratch' but usually some kind of Content Management System with a template is the typical solution.  The CMS, as Content Management Systems are called, provides the web pages in a database, or dynamically.  This creates a consistency in the website and continuity in menu link structure.  Linking is an extremely important function that on the surface may appear straight forward but has it's own complexities better managed by a CMS.  This avoids broken links and and lost visitors leaving the website.

What does one look for in a website developer?

• Background in Content Managment Systems is very helpful, especially if you have a CMS in mind
• website design skills. An eye for layout and execution.
• Broad knowledge of other server based applications to add services like RSS, podcasts, forums, shopping carts.
• Search Engine Marketing is very important

A favorite saying of mine from the classic golfing movie 'Caddy Shack' is 'Be The Ball'.  Now in other professions outside of golfing,  like snipers the saying is 'be The bullet' .  I prefer golf balls as they hurt less. So let's break it down on what this 'being The ball' means in everyday  life.

What is The 'ball'?    Metaphorically speaking, it's anything that we wish to achieve.  To be The Ball is to imagine ourselves as the object or accomplishment we wish to achieve.

How does a golf  ball succeed in reaching it's goal of the 'hole in one' which is how we generally like to do things, the first time?

1. A golf ball requires a quality core to start with.  That is the ball has to be well made. 
2. The ball requires a proper device to propel it to the hole
3. The ball requires a skilled operator of said tool of propulsion  (also known as a 'golf club' or driver)
4. The environmental conditions like wind and rain effect the success of the ball making it to the hole

So to be 'The ball' one must take all of the various conditions that will influence the outcome into consideration to achieve the goal.

To merely hope the ball will find the goal while wildly swinging at it is a path to frustration and failure. 

Amazing what one learns from golfing comedies.  And I do not play golf,   at least not the sport.

Although there is a movie about the real Baron, Munchausen Syndrome can be a serious physiological issue and can manifest itself beyond the single person.   Munchausen syndrome refers to factitious disorder with physical symptoms although I have seen this same syndrome in some web site developers who keep making their sites 'sick' in order to get attention.  There is no reason for the site to be ill and yet the developer keeps implementing more and more drastic measures in order to fix the newest malady.   As this is difficult to pull off on a stripped down version  (Keep it simple, stupid) they add more and more 'features' that no normal user would ever be able to find let alone use.  Like Munchausen it is difficult to diagnose and as a doctor might recommend some radical enema therapy the developer is changing out databases on a perfectly healthy 'child' with no thought to the absurdity of the action or recommendation.

The best course of action in a case of site poisoning is to bring in some other developers familiar with the web site management system and audit it for function and scope. I would suggest 2 from separate agencies as typically the real patient is in total denial about the harm they are inflicting on their 'child'.   A dead give away is more then one 'development' site or more databases than a gaggle of geese.   There should be one database with backups which are not part of the day to day operations, or, running a development site, a second database that is a sample not for production database. 

It's strongly recommended not to allow this illness to continue on one's web site as it will be a financial drain bringing ruin in the long run.

• Recognize the behavior
• Take action: Have your site audited
• Intervention: Make sure you have backed up your database and website files before discharging the developer.
• Legal action may be required to keep the developer away from one's website and for damages incurred. 

As always my favorite photo site:

How to sell anything online

The Internet has introduced a whole new world that defies some of the traditional elements of starting a business. Overhead can be much lower without the requirements of location, location, location.  A good Internet connection is of greater importance and a logistics plan on how the Internet business will get the product to the customer.  A traditional business relies on walk-in traffic to generate sales whereas a web based store can actively promote the product in a live fashion without the hassle of someone needing to walk into the store.   For the Internet merchant the advantage is the greater opportunity to drop ship items that may not be as heavy a mover but still compliment the product line.  There is a trade off in a tactile sense but the advantages of comparing greater numbers of similar items with user reviews really can  allow a customer to make a more informed decision.  We sites can offer a shopper a far larger selection of products without wearing the customer out walking hundreds of miles to find the right fit.

I was Looking over  Google Webmaster console and saw this recent addition to the interface.  It's intriguing because It shows a variable position.  Everyone, well most everyone has been assuming static positions in the SERPs and this clearly demonstrates that it's being moved depending on some unknown factors. Without a time factor is hard to determine what it all means but this does throw a new spin on Search Engine Optimization.

This is an intriguing tool if it stays 'on'.

The world's most remote restaurant? Really?

I'm a reader of Gizmodo and ran across an article and pictures about a remote restaurant and it's perilous position at the top of a mountain.   Intrigued by the logistics given the images (the whole point of the story) I ran a search and located the actual "story" out of Wikipedia.  Although not really the same story but a tall tale playing on parts of the real location, Mount Hua, in China.   Talk about search engine marketing.

The words "Somehow I doubt the veracity of this" was repeated over and over again from post to post, search engine result page to page as if the original poster rational was good enough for them to re-publish. So what lesson do we learn from this ripple effect of half truth journalism with no vetting of the story?  plenty.

• A silly blog post has legs.
• The real story is more interesting then the fiction.
• The ability for a story, any story, to go viral is irrational.
• Cable cars seem to make a mountain journey more enjoyable.
• content scrapers are all around us.

It's a monastery and temple complex.  It sounds wonderful and treacherous, but not a 'restraurant'. 

Most peaks are very steep and very difficult to climb. The south peak is the highest and at the top of it is a large pond in which there is very clear water never dry all year long     .Mount Hua   web site has some great pictures of the temples.  And a photo journey up one of the paths. 

Photo, 'Thousand feet cliff of the Hua Shan (Shaanxi, People's Republic of China) by

Ondřej Žváček

A role clouded in mystery, a Webmaster is a a very special role in the realm of the Internet.  The mystery really comes from the lack of information and the wide range of skills necessary and variability of requirements to manage websites.  Interestingly enough the 'Webmaster', or Website Administrator has no level of proficiency.  There is no 'Junior Webmaster' or 'Assistant Webmaster',  it always ends in a plural  'Webmasters'. A simple site with little interactivity and requirements of updated content can easily fall into a a simplistic view of a webmaster.  Worse persons who see themselves as 'webmasters' can create an industry wide misunderstanding of web site administrators.  A Webmaster is actually a combination of different roles all rolled into one 'Jack-of-all-trades' master at none.    Master at none does not imply a lack of skill but rather a continuous requirement of honing one's skills at the 'craft'.