Way back in the last century, even before we started Dotcomweavers as a new jersey based web design company, professionals recognized the immense potential benefits that could come from utilizing a content management system (CMS). By building in a CMS to create, manage, store and deploy content on the websites they designed, they could empower the site’s owners in numerous ways, including:

• Anybody you give access to the system can change and add to the content of your website from anywhere. You don’t need a separate web professional on staff or retainer to keep your site fresh and up-to-date. And the modern CMSs, our web developers NJ team deploys take almost no time for the company’s own authors to learn.

• Design and content are separate, so you can’t “break” the design template while altering the content. Conversely, you can change the design template at any time without having to re-input or reformat the content.
• Because a CMS website is database-driven, you can create and store hundreds of pages or more in the database and the CMS will deploy them dynamically.
• No longer practical only for big spenders
• Back in those days, though, these benefits were just a pipe dream for most small and mid-sized companies. Sure, web developers in NYC or NJ could custom-develop a CMS for you from scratch —but they had to charge so much for development time that the overall cost was prohibitive. As soon as the words “content management system” came up in discussions with web developers, NJ/NY businesses would first react enthusiastically and then beat a hasty retreat when they heard that the price for such a system could easily run into six figures.
• But during the last decade, the advent of open-source blogging software and other inexpensive tools like WordPress and Drupal has made the dream a practical possibility for many more businesses. Our own team of web designers  incorporates a CMS into at least 95% of the sites we build. They really do simplify website updates and enable many of our clients to minimize ongoing website expenses.
• So why wouldn’t every website benefit from using a CMS?
• Although our web developers NJ team members are firm believers in the benefits of a CMS for most types of websites, we also know there are still some instances where they wouldn’t provide enough value to make them worth the trouble:
• Brochure and other static websites. If you don’t plan to change the site much or very often, you don’t need all that power. It would be like using a Ferrari engine to push a baby stroller.
• Websites with limited lifespans. If you’re just building a website for a one-time event, for example, you don’t need to be able to change it.
• Websites of companies that don’t want to “do it themselves” at all, but would rather leave everything in the hands of an individual or a group dedicated exclusively to website maintenance. This is obviously a costly alternative, but some companies can afford it.
• Dotcomeavers web designers in NJ would be happy to discuss your goals and operational preferences with you to determine if a website CMS is right for your business.

The new year’s biggest trade show event — the Consumer Electronics Show that convened January 11-13 in Las Vegas — had the unmistakable aura of the dinosaurs.  While organizers reported that it drew the largest crowd in its history, close to 140,000 attendees, there were definite signs that it is no longer “the source” for all that’s shiny and new and exciting to consumers.

The biggest players aren’t playing that game anymore

For one thing, the biggest name in the business and the universally recognized leader in innovation both signaled that they don’t consider the trade show the place to be.  For the last 15 years, Microsoft has supplied the keynote speaker for CES, but the company says this is the last year in that run. And they aren’t going to have a booth at next year’s show, either. As for Microsoft’s longtime rival, Apple, well, they don’t do trade shows at all. And that policy hasn’t seemed to hurt them one bit.  What products generate more buzz than Apple’s?

Pros and cons of in-person conferences, and trade and consumer events

There are two basic kinds of these events — professional conferences and trade shows. Dotcomweavers recently participated in the first kind at the November 2011 Web 2.0 Expo conference, joining big names like Microsoft and a select group of cutting-edge web developers. New York’s Sheraton Hotel and Towers provided a relatively intimate setting where we had the opportunity to network with our peers and make them aware of exciting developments from our new Jersey based website design company right in the conference’s back yard.

Traditionally, trade shows have been regarded as the premier marketing vehicles for all kinds of products, ranging from esoteric scientific equipment to manufacturing materials and cars and boats. Vendors spend anywhere from thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars or more to rent exhibit space, develop elaborate presentations, deploy custom-designed booths, and transport and pay personnel to man them — all for the opportunity to showcase their wares to and answer questions for a group of current customers and potential buyers who are usually more interested in where they are going to eat after attending the day’s events and whether they should go to a nightclub or hit the slots tonight. Is it worth it to exhibit at trade shows today?

A modest proposal — Web-centric marketing can be more effective at a fraction of the cost

One thing our Dotcomweavers’ web designers team has learned over the years in working with hundreds of companies is that today’s consumers and business people are looking for convenience in evaluating and buying products and services. Sure, if they go to a trade show, they can see a lot of products in one place, which is, arguably, convenient. But why travel all the way to a show and spend hours walking past booths for other products that are of no use to you, just so you can see and maybe handle half a dozen versions of the thing you’re looking for? And, in particular, why do that when you can type a few words into a search engine and instantly access all the information you could want about virtually every version of that product category that’s available anywhere in the world?

From a vendor’s point of view, it just makes a lot more sense to spend a fraction of what exhibiting at a single trade show might cost you to transform your website into a search-engine optimized “booth” that attracts unlimited numbers of visitors, turns them on to your products with engaging content and visuals, and actually helps them buy from you (which often isn’t possible at a trade show). Smart businesses of all kinds have been turning to our website design company in New Jersey for help to accomplish these lofty goals, and we see every day as an opportunity to come up with new ways to make marketing more efficient and cost-effective.

With all the talk in recent years about the “paperless” office of the future — which should certainly be here by now, in 2012 — you might not expect much good news for printing- and paper-based companies these days. And yet, if you provide what people want and make it easy for them to find and purchase it the way they prefer, the savvy vendor — in any business, including paper — can capitalize on real opportunities the digitized world presents.

A case in point is Dotcomweavers’ client Paterson Papers and their new e-commerce website www.thepaperstoreandmore.com, recently profiled in North Jersey’s leading print publication, The Record, and in its sister website, northjersey.com:

http://www.northjersey.com/news/135151463_Paterson_Papers_manages_to_adjust_to_a_digital_world.html

Continual innovation keeps company on leading edge of technology

The article describes how Dotcomweavers helped Paterson Papers, now nearly a hundred years old, remain nimble and adjust to the digital world by carrying on and extending the company’s tradition of innovation. Back in the 1950s, the original store installed a vacuum-tube communication system, cutting-edge in its day. They brought in computer systems and software in the early 1980s. And in 1987 they changed the way papers were sold by building the Paper Store and More retail store, enabling short-run printers and other customers to purchase small quantities of a large assortment of papers, the same day, at discounted prices.

Refinements in new e-commerce site

Although Paterson Papers has a well-established paper distribution business and successful stores selling smaller quantities at retail, and has had a website since the late 1990s, they recognized a new opportunity to set themselves apart from the competition once again in the present.

The older Paterson Papers website did have a comprehensive listing of all the products they stock. But — as with competitors’ websites — it was difficult, if not impossible, to buy from them online unless you already knew exactly what brand, weight, color, finish, etc. you needed. In contrast, the new e-store we designed and built for ThePaperStoreandMore makes it simple to browse their offerings, to quickly zoom in on the specific products possessing all the characteristics you need, and to purchase with just a few clicks.

E-store is the face of the future

With the e-store up and running, and the orders starting to come in, the proprietors of Paterson Papers are optimistic about their business going forward in the digital world. Michael Prell, 52, whose great-grandfather, Sam Prell, founded the company in 1914, is quoted in the Record article as saying, “We have always kept up with innovation and will continue.” At Dotcomweavers, we are proud and excited about helping old-line businesses continue to thrive. We truly believe the future is unlimited for those who are able to exploit web technology as it develops.

Recently, Dotcomweavers worked with Steven Johnson to make his idea for parlaying streamlined online fundraising into a business — raiseBIG.com — a reality. He’s a great example of an ambitious entrepreneur, eager to build on a genuinely innovative idea. He’s starting small, here in New Jersey – but with a terrific website, we can imagine this becoming a huge community and the dominant concept in focused fundraising within a few years.

Fundraising for fun and profit

raiseBIG provides mostly local non-profit groups and individuals the ability to create and promote fundraising campaign and actually collect donations using the new website Dotcomweavers developed, raiseBIG.com. The idea is to provide them with their own web pages, where they can upload pictures, videos, and info – and transparently hook up with Facebook and Twitter. From their campaign web pages, they can raise and collect funds easily, and administer their own programs, without turning their organization into a non-commissioned sales force.

Streamlining the fundraising process

Based on the founder’s big ideas, we designed raiseBIG.com to deliver a host of capabilities and benefits that far exceed old-fashioned, costly and time-consuming fundraising techniques:

• Eliminate the middleman, and vastly improve profit margins – 90+ percent goes to the users of raiseBIG vs. conventional 20-60 percent
• Raise awareness and enthusiasm through donor community cross-marketing
• Enhance campaign promotion and reporting via social media tie-ins
• Make it easy and fast to donate, with just two clicks
• Provide reassurance to donors with secure credit card and PayPal collection
• Create attractive campaign web pages quickly and simply with easy- to-use CMS
• Administer campaigns and donor gifts/rewards seamlessly

raiseBIG’s management is streamlined, too

raiseBIG’s owner retains 100% control of all content that goes in and out of the sight so that he can maintain the integrity of his vision for it. It’s set up so that he has total visibility into what’s going on in all campaigns at all times. Funds are delivered directly into the raiseBIGPayPal account. When a campaign ends, the funds raised — less the owner’s commission — can be transferred to the campaign creator’s PayPal account seamlessly.

The technologies we used to build the site included Php, MySQL, Paypal Mass Pay, Ajax, Javascript, HTML5, CSS3 and CodeIgnitor, and we customized them heavily to fit the raiseBIG vision.

Turn your vision into reality

With the launch of raiseBIG.com, its mastermind, New Jersey entrepreneur Steve, has successfully implemented a brand-new kind of business, which will produce profits for him at the same time it puts more money in the hands of those who need to raise funds.

Talk to Dotcomweavers about your ambitions for expanding your business or building an entirely new one like raiseBIG did. Let us show you how we can help make the execution of your ideas — and the achievement of your goals — reality through the magic of Web 2.0.

Dotcomweavers’s Office in the Cloud

The growth of eCommerce has spawned new business models

There’s no question about it. Business conducted via the internet is exploding.  All areas of eCommerce have been experiencing double-digit growth for the last several years, despite the difficult economic conditions. The United States Commerce Department just reported that online retail sales in the third quarter of 2011 grew by 13.76% versus the same period last year, to more than $47 billion.

And online sales volume is only part of the total picture. A company’s website is key to how they are perceived in the marketplace, as buying decisions by businesses and consumers alike are fueled by the research and even the social networking they do online. You must have an effective web presence to even stay in the game.

Agility and impact trump infrastructure

Today’s and tomorrow’s businesses will thrive by reaching out to customers and prospects where they like to browse, interact and buy – and that is increasingly on the web. Especially when your business venture is just starting out, the most valuable investment you can make is the one it takes to get your presence known in the flourishing new marketplace that is the web.

There’s no denying that to score an initial impact and then to grow your web presence, there will be costs. But budgets are tight, and there are so many opportunities to spend money when you are starting up or expanding. Fortunately, there are new models for doing business that make it possible to achieve these goals by allocating investments strategically.

Savvy business people – abetted by the innovative real estate, IT suppliers and web services organizations they rely on – are focusing their resources on getting the company’s name out in the marketplace rather than spending money on infrastructure they don’t actually need to succeed. That’s why cloud computing is an important trend. It lets you increase capacity and add capabilities on the fly, without heavy spending on establishing offices and buying equipment that ties you down. It just makes more sense to put that investment in the kind of high-impact web presence that gets attention for your business.

Where’s your office? In the clouds or in “the cloud”?

It used to be that as companies grew their businesses, they would invest in fancy offices and storefronts to project confidence and establish their presence in the market. They built gleaming skyscraper headquarters, where executives would get the best offices “up in the clouds,” with the best furnishings and views, and office space allocation would solidify the pecking order among workers.

The Bergen Record in northern New Jersey just reported on a developing trend that defies that old model.  There, the Regus company houses many firms under one roof — each using minimal space, often only part-time, and sharing receptionists in what are effectively virtual offices. We at Dotcomweavers are tenants in their Paramus building, and we were featured in the article.

Facilitating involvement with your customers

This arrangement provides numerous advantages, both for our business and for our clients:

• We didn’t have to outfit offices, which can be very costly and take the focus off our mission.
• It cuts our overhead, enabling us to provide excellent value to customers because our overall cost structure remains low.
• We employ knowledge workers, who often prefer to work remotely.
• It’s better for us to spend time with our clients than in the office.

We believe that these new business paradigms are the shape of a future that will become even more nimble and customer-centric as unnecessary costs are minimized.

PARAMUS, N.J., Nov. 15, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — Dotcomweavers, the leading custom web solutions and development company out of Paramus, New Jersey exhibits web-based solutions at one of the biggest technology events of the year, the Web 2.0 Expo in New York.

The Web 2.0 Expo is an annual technology event that joins together industry leaders, professionals and innovators for next generation Web 2.0 discussions, workshops and seminars. The four day event features keynote speakers from major corporations with varying leadership backgrounds but articulating similar visions for technological growth. Attendance to this event is by paid registration and draws thousands but only a limited amount companies marketing fresh new ideas are accepted as exhibitors.

“As Dotcomweavers continues to grow in the Web Development space, we must also continue to expand our knowledge about best practices and new tools to deploy for our customers,” said Amit Bhaiya, Dotcomweavers Co-founder and President. “To have the opportunity to exhibit and network with our peers at such a huge technology event was an important step towards our growth and success.”

Dotcomweavers markets dynamic web solutions and services that encompass the latest in Web 2.0 design, development, and business models. Web projects, Crazy Susan’s Cookies and Tates Bake Shop were showcased by DCW at the Web 2.0 Expo featuring customized web solutions integrated with Miva Merchant and OSC ecommerce platforms. Other projects on display, raiseBIG and Roam4less offered more robust solutions that involved database creation and manipulation, automated business processes, web scraping technology, unique algorithms and Content Management Solutions with various reporting features.

Additional Web 2.0 companies exhibiting at the expo included, Microsoft, IBM, Visa, Plimus and Blackberry, just to name a few.
About Dotcomweavers: is a cutting edge web design and development company headquartered in Paramus, New Jersey. Dotcomweavers builds end to end web solutions using various open source platforms, proprietary solutions and customizable technologies. Founded in 2005, Dotcomweavers has become the leader in providing first to market innovative web solutions that are flexible and efficient.

This article was posted here:

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/dotcomweavers-showcases-at-the-2011-web-20-expo-in-new-york-133914063.html

• You business web design is extremely old-fashioned

Your website will really demand a good revamping if it hasn’t experienced a polish in years. In order to remain relevant, your website needs regular updating. So if you are lagging behind and have not upgraded your website with latest service info, new product images, graphics, content of the recent years and photos, you must pay attention to your web design overhaul.

• The website should reach the benchmark where it can compete with competitors

Think the customer way! Your customer will certainly compare your website with your competitors’ and will prefer the one which is regularly updated and has latest content available along with a web design that attracts them. You can also look around your competitors’ sites and check their branding style, graphics and content. Evaluate whether your website will fall in the top of the heap. If your site doesn’t seem to stand out, plan a new web design.

• Does your business website succeed in portraying your business’ brand image as the final way out for the customer?

Websites are the summary of your business for your potential customers. Therefore, it is very important that your business portrays a strong visual impact on your customers. Moreover, invest in efforts to fix in your dreams, emotional needs and goals of your audience through your website. So if you think your website lacks an impactful brand image, you must revamp your website.

• Have your web designers suggested you a website template?

Then without further ado you must implement a website overhaul. Regardless of choosing templates that save you a lot of money; it can have an adverse impact in the long run. By using cheap and free website templates you will be damaging your professionalism and credibility. This is time you run with the big dogs.

• Is it your business or catacomb?

If the second option is your answer, then you know what to do. If customers are clueless even after navigating through your website, you need a website redesign. The offline world is different and cannot be followed online. Therefore, if you fail to hold on to your customer through your website, be prepared to never see them come back again.

In such a competitive online market, you need the distinctive edge to be recognized. Making efforts to make your web designs effective is a very important step in attracting more customers to your business. In today’s world, there is no exception you can ignore your online image. So pay attention and give time to your website design to make it stand out among competitors.

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Dotcomweavers are a team of professional web designers located in Paramus, New Jersey. We are committed to helping small and medium businesses find growth online. ASK DCW is your chance to ask questions, seek advice and get the knowledge you need to make your business successful in the online marketplace. Connect with us on Twitter (@dotcomweavers) or Facebook.

There are a couple things that stand in the way of business owners and success in today’s market: the incredible amount of choices presented to each consumer and the short period of time in which you have to catch their interest. So how do you reach these desensitized, overloaded consumers? How do you hold their attention and convince them to purchase your products over your competition?

Not to pile on, but there’s just one other problem. Who has the time to run a business and juggle the many hats of marketing and product exposure?

The answer to all of these problems is finding professional web marketers to help brand your products. The first step of course, is to get your business online. Find the right professional web designers to create a stunning website for you, then, it’s time to start your web marketing strategy. If you aren’t sure how to go about advertising your business on the web, the best thing to do is let those who do create a customized web marketing strategy for you. It will come at a low cost to your budget and save you plenty on print advertising, costly mailings, brochures, and even billboards.  Online, you can connect with other websites of a similar nature that are not direct competitors and use them to extend your own reach. Create email lists filled with ideal customers for your products. Use search engines and social networking websites to make your website easier to find.

The advantages of using professional web marketers to brand your product and company are too many to ignore. Forget the old ways of marketing, as it is past time to start embracing what’s new.

Sit down with online marketing experts, who have years of experience and many successes. They can help you target your ideal customers and devise a campaign for reaching them. Stop wasting money on trying to convince people who just aren’t interested.

Get your product as much exposure in the areas of the Internet that harbor your ideal customer and they will respond!

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Dotcomweavers are a team of professional web designers located in Paramus, New Jersey. We are committed to helping small and medium businesses find growth online. ASK DCW is your chance to ask questions, seek advice and get the knowledge you need to make your business successful in the online marketplace. Connect with us on Twitter (@dotcomweavers) or Facebook.

Fantastic e-commerce websites do not just pop up overnight. A lot of planning and allocation of resources is needed to make sure the website can be built to meet the goals of the owner, while protecting the owner and customer, and providing a memorable transaction experience for the customer.

In order to accomplish this goal, your web business needs a few essential tools:

Hosting

This is necessary to make your website live.  Think of it like a cell phone.  The domain is your phone number and the hosting is your monthly service plan.

Shopping Cart

Whether your needs can be handled with existing e-commerce software or if special modules using oscommerce software are needed, your checkout process needs to be immaculate.  This portion of a business website is often overlooked by the owner, when, in fact, it is the most important aspect of their online business. It must be easy to use, seamless and completely secure.

CMS

A CMS or control management system is essential for properly managing the content of your website.  Without it, it becomes confusing and very difficult to keep up with updates, errors, changes and more.  A custom CMS allows for incredibly efficient web content management.

Internet Marketing Strategy

No two businesses are the same, so every business needs its own custom strategy for marketing itself online. A mix of link building, social media efforts, target audience advertising, SEO, and on-site marketing efforts are required to help any online business reach its potential.

Premier Presentation

The way you present your products, services and general online presence is extremely important.  Avoid using free web design.  For the best possible results, partner up with professional web designers for all your design, development, and graphical needs. Get a tasteful arrangement of web design, rich media and functionality to give your products and/or services the best possible presentation to potential customers.

Finding all these tools to create the perfect website for your online business can be difficult.  Of course, it’s easy when you work with professional web designers that have the knowledge and resources to provide all of the above aspects for your website.

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Dotcomweavers are a team of professional web designers located in Paramus, New Jersey. We are committed to helping small and medium businesses find growth online. ASK DCW is your chance to ask questions, seek advice and get the knowledge you need to make your business successful in the online marketplace. Connect with us on Twitter (@dotcomweavers) or Facebook.

However you do not need to put yourself online, and that is up to you. But you need to realize that the drawbacks of staying local will hurt your company much more than enhance it.

Cons of Not Taking Your Company Online

No matter how old school you are if you are in business for yourself you need to realize that there is a lot more to be gained from being online than from not. Consider what would happen if you were to stay as you are.

• All of your competitors will pass you. Even if you have a loyal customer base eventually you will no longer be able to compete because even they will feel the pressure to go to the bigger and better provider.

• Huge potential loss. There is a lot more income to be had out there if you are able to reach more customers. Is that not the goal to create as large of a customer base and need that you have to grow and expand? You will be improving your value and company size along the way, with little cost to start.

• Eventual loss of company. If you do not get online, you will eventiually lose all of your business that can do what you can cheaper and easier without needing to lift a finger, because they are online.

No matter what you are doing, you need to realize that in order to continue to grow you will need to get online.

The Pros of Being Online

When your business is established online, you will find there are a number of windows that can be opened to you that you did not know existed. Think about all of the people that you will be able to reach simply by increasing your exposure in the vast space of the Internet. Here are some of the major reasons you will want to be online with your small business.

• Unlimited exposure. By putting yourself online, you will be able to reach a great deal more potential clients than you would have by traditional advertising methods.

• More channels to conduct business. By going online with your company, you will open up the ability to not only reach more customers, but you can sell right on the web to these customers. You will be able to make sales and provide services not only in your community but all over the world depending on what you have to offer.

• You can enhance your image. If more people know who you are and where you are the more they will talk about you. No matter what they are saying you are getting free advertising. You will be able to tap this untouched potential by doing very little except creating a popular website.