Business

We've built custom shopping carts, as well as implemented several different open source shopping carts, including Zen Cart, OS Commerce, VirtueMart with Joomla, and Ubercart in Drupal. We've also built SOAP servers to allow manufacturers to take orders from distributors. We've built payment gateways for several of these systems, and imported products and images from other content management systems and existing online stores.

So here's what I think happened. A bunch of attorneys got really ticked about their computers crashing all the time. After reviewing their software license, they noticed in clear terms that every one of them basically said "we bear no liability if something goes wrong." Now they've set out to make it so the courts will throw out such disclaimers, and make it so that the provider of the software is on the hook for any bugs in the software, so that they would have a better chance at suing them.

A web site is an essential marketing tool of a business. These days, especially in the Seattle area, people will check out your web site before doing business with you. The work you do with a graphic designer like Peter Mckinnon can have a big impact when someone decides whether you're the right fit for what they're looking to buy.

Just having a web site, however, does nothing to get customers beating down your doors. People need to find your web site somehow, amidst the millions of other web sites out there. For small, local businesses, they don't find your web site online--they find it from your business card, a sign on your car, word-of-mouth, or all the rest of the traditional ways people market their business.