Colorado Web Solutions is pleased to announce another First in Yahoo! Store technologies, Wholesale Hub.

With this Yahoo! Store Wholesale Module, you'll be able to create a wholesale driven website with protected access to pricing, ordering and some additional content. The best part is that your non-wholesale customers can still view your site, read about your products and contact you; they just can't order or even see what your wholesale pricing is!

By default, the only way to offer Wholesale Ordering in a Yahoo! Store is to lock the site with a password for the chosen few buyers. This is fine if you don't want the world to know what you sell, but many manufacturers want to offer their end users the ability to view their products, etc. The only thing they want to lock out is the ability to view wholesale pricing and, of course, the ability to purchase at wholesale prices.

Colorado Web Solutions has developed a new module called Wholesale Hub and it will change the way that Yahoo! Stores handle wholesale pricing. With this new module, wholesalers will have the ability to lock down only the elements that they don't want available to the general public. Their wholesale customers will have unique user names and passwords that will allow them access to the restricted content and functionality that the public won't be able to see.

Wholesale Hub is available in three different versions; Lite, Standard and Professional. The versions range from manually driven technology to robust back end systems that allow for automatic (approval driven) registrations and management.

If you are in the market for a Yahoo! Store Wholesale Solution, contact us at Colorado Web Solutions and we can give you a full run down of this new technology and determine how it can help your business.

For more information on Wholesale Hub as well as a working demo, please visit:

http://www.coloradowebsolutions.com/yahoo_store_addons_wholesale_hub.html

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The Development Team at Colorado Web Solutions
www.ColoradoWebSolutions.com

News article featuring current client Massey's Outfitters. Colorado Web Solutions, AvantLink and Massey's Outfitters have teamed up to manage affiliate marketing for Masseys.

Massey's Professional Outfitters Opens Affiliate Program on AvantLink Platform

Specialty outdoor gear and apparel retailer Massey's Professional Outfitters recently teamed up with Affiliate marketing provider AvantLink, effectively offering their performance marketing partners industry leading technology and reporting.

Park City, UT (PRWEB) October 11, 2007 -- AvantLink recently announced the addition of four specialty web stores from Massey's Professional Outfitters to their quality-focused and progressive Affiliate network. Massey's features a vast selection of gear and apparel for travel, winter sports, surf, paddle sports, and more traditional outdoor activities like camping and hiking. MasseysOutfitters.com is the main site/store, and other stores on board with AvantLink include an alpine specialty site at 800-SKI-SHOP.com, a bag and pack site at WeGotYourPack.com, and a surf lifestyle site at TheFlipFlopper.com.

"The Outdoor/Recreation category in Affiliate marketing has a true leader with Massey's Outfitters," says Gary Marcoccia, Marketing Director at AvantLink. "They understand and embrace the power of high-value Affiliate partnerships. Program terms for all four stores include a 365-day cookie life, and they do not reverse Affiliate sales on returns. For Affiliates in our network with qualified traffic, it's a no brainer to promote these guys," Marcoccia adds.

The Outdoor/Recreation category in Affiliate marketing has a true leader with Massey's Outfitters

Stated objectives of creating profitable, long-term strategic partnerships with commitment to excellence and innovation are the cornerstones of the four Massey's Affiliate programs. Seasoned and effective online marketing professionals have received these programs very well. This is in part due to a very experienced and trustworthy Affiliate management team, in addition to competitive payouts, advanced Affiliate solutions and innovative program terms.

"We understand and acknowledge that Affiliates have a lot of choices in the Outdoor/Recreation category," explains Brent Carey of Colorado Web Solutions, program manager for Massey's. "We want to make sure that the best Affiliates know we'll do everything possible to convert their traffic, provide exceptional support on all levels and honor every sale they refer, even if the item is returned to us," he adds. "If an Affiliate sends us a buying customer they've done their job and they should be compensated, period."

Program terms like no commission reversals on returns is one of the reasons why the programs are so popular. A few other benefits to Affiliates promoting the Massey's programs include:

• 365 cookie duration on all referred traffic


• Store wide discount promotional codes available


• High site conversion on all traffic

About AvantLink:

AvantLink was founded in 2005 on the ideas of innovation, quality and service. They offer industry leading datafeeds and advanced Affiliate tools like RSS feeds, an Affiliate API, coupon feeds, product displays, and ad syndication options. For more information please visit AvantLink.com.

About Massey's Professional Outfitters:

MasseysOutfitters.com, and their complimentary stores, are adventure specialist with roots in the outdoor industry dating back to 1972. Their stores carry over 200 brands from world known companies like Patagonia, Marmot and Chaco. For more information please visit MasseysOutfitters.com.

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IMPERIAL BEACH, Calif, May 8, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Christopher Calpito, CEO of Nicodrops, Inc. (Pink Sheets:NCDP), developer of the drug-free, non-nicotine smoking alternative, herbal dietary supplement, today released a report to shareholders:

In my last communication with you on September 11, 2006, I had anticipated having enough news and information to provide you to justify a quarterly communication. As it turns out, our business prospects did not move as fast as we anticipated, thus I waited until now to provide shareholders with an update.

With that said, we have a lot of great news to report for 2007. Although we still maintain our relationships with the retailers and distributors, Nicodrops is making a major direct-to-consumer push to take full advantage of the world's smokers who are trying to quit. At last count, according to the American Heart Association, there are over 46,000,000 smokers in America alone. If just .001% of these smokers try a 30-day supply of Nicodrops, Nicodrops can achieve over $2.28 million in annual revenues. If we get .01%, that number grows to $22.8 million. Looking at the worldwide smokers, it is staggering to know there are over 1,100,000,000 smokers. The potential is truly amazing, so we are starting to aggressively pursue this market directly through proven methods and mediums.

New website:

We have partnered with Yahoo!, Google and MSN preferred vendor, Colorado Web Solutions, to completely revamp and redesign Nicodrops.com. Colorado Web Solutions (CWS) (http://www.ColoradoWebSolutions.com) has been working with online businesses since 1997. The primary focus for CWS is Yahoo! store development, and affiliate management. Nicodrops and CWS have teamed up to take Nicodrops to the next level. Not only will Nicodrops have a new state-of-the-art Yahoo! site to showcase Nicodrop's excellent product line but we are also expanding our marketing initiatives with an affiliate program. With the combination of a premier design company, new marketing initiatives and an unparalleled product, Nicodrops and Colorado Web Solutions look forward to a dynamic relationship.

The new and drastically improved site will go live this week, and we anticipate a very successful re-launch. We have been working hard with our developers and strategic partners on designing the site to provide the necessary information for smokers who desire to stop smoking. Our new shopping cart is easy-to-use, and makes purchasing Nicodrops more convenient.

Search Engine Optimization

With our new SEO/SEM partner, we are implementing very sophisticated Search Engine Optimization and Search Engine Marketing programs for the site, and plan to show up on the 1st page search results for the top 5 search phrases: Stop Smoking; Quit Smoking; Smoking Cessation; Smoking; and Smoking Help.

On average over 3.2 million smokers in just the U.S. alone are still looking to stop smoking on the Internet every month as reported by the Yahoo!, Google and MSN.

Nicodrops is utilizing the mass marketing capabilities of YouTube and MySpace by strategically placing the company's infomercials on these sites, resulting in maximum consumer exposure.

Affiliate Marketing

Nicodrops is in final negotiations with a well-respected NASDAQ company, which is a leader in the affiliate marketing space. Our new affiliate marketing campaign will launch soon after the new Nicodrops.com website goes live. We will release more details regarding this exciting new affiliate marketing partner soon.

On the retail front, we are pleased to inform you Nicodrops are still being sold through Walgreens, CVS.com, PureZing.com and other boutique outlets. Through the success of our new and aggressive online campaign, we feel confident we will attract more attention from additional retailers throughout the year.

Thank you once again for your patience, and I look very forward to providing you with much improved financial results in the very near future, which we expect will result in a higher share price of your stock.

Nicodrops, Inc., Imperial Beach, Calif., developed a drug-free, non-nicotine product which helps reduce the stress associated with not smoking, using all natural herbs.(i) For more information go to http://www.nicodrops.com or call 1-619-424-9521.

This press release contains ``forward-looking statements'' within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Act of 1995. The words ``believe,'' ``expect,'' ``anticipate,'' and ``project,'' and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date the statement was made. Such statements may include, but not be limited to, projections of revenues, income or loss, expenses, plans, and assumptions relating to the foregoing. Forward-looking statements are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties, some of which cannot be predicted or quantified. Future results could differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements.

(i) These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any diseases.

The world of website analytics was born out of the very basic necessity to know statistical information regarding one's website. "How many people are coming to my site?" "Which day of the week do I get the most visitors?" "What month?" "What time of day?" The answers while fascinating are really not very useful in answering the real question at hand: "Is my website working?"

Consider the fact that the very basic analytics that are part of a web hosting package can tell you with accuracy that your website receives 5000 hits daily. What these basic analytics can't tell you is why only one of those 5000 hits results in a sale. This article will discuss the depth of information that is available today via powerful website analytics systems and the importance of what that info can tell a website operator or business owner.

There are two types of analytics systems available today to website operators. They are Log File and Web Based. Log File analytics systems look at the log files created by the web servers and are prone to up to a 30% error rate because of a lack in effective customer identification methods. Due to an inability to correctly identify visitors they are prone to drastic over-counts of potential customers and new visitors to a site. Web based analytics rely on placing an HTML tracking code in the browser of the visitor. The tracking code will remain in place (unless the visitor has deleted their cookies) for future visits to identify them as a returning visitor. In general web based analytics systems are a far more accurate and effective means of gathering data that will help address marketing issues that are critical to the success of your website.

The depth of available information from web based analytics systems is truly astounding. In real time you can find out information as basic as which time zone accounts for the majority of your customers to in depth step-by-step scenario analysis that will shed light upon the effectiveness of checkout procedures and signup forms. And you can do so for any timeframe you choose with a single click of the mouse. The available information can be broken down into two main categories. They are demographic and operational.

Demographic information is specific info regarding your potential customers that is incredibly valuable from a marketing standpoint. A good analytics system will be able to tell you what carrier your visitor is using, and also number of visitors by time zone, visitors by country, visitors by state, visitors by zip code, visitors by city, and visitors by area code. This geographical information is extremely useful for the purpose of targeting print, radio, and television advertising. Knowing specifically which areas account for the majority of your traffic will make targeting your advertising and promotional efforts a simple task.

Operational information available via web based analytics systems is often times the most important and eye opening data regarding one's website. Operational data will tell you where customers go within your website. It will map out the most popular click trails taken by your visitors. It will tell you which actions are most frequently taken by visitors (i.e. signing up for email lists, file downloads, tell a friend actions etc.). It will help determine the effectiveness of online advertising efforts including Pay-Per-Click advertising and email campaigns. It can determine the number of visitors from organic (free) placements in search engines. It can break down search engine results by search engine name and even by phrase and keyword. It can track visitors from affiliate links, email links, link exchanges and other links. It can determine the average number of clicks it takes a potential customer to reach key pages of your site. And perhaps most importantly it can determine bounce rates for specific pages and also determine the effectiveness of page sequences like your shopping cart or account creation page. It also allows website operators to tweak small things or make experimental changes to their site based on analytic information to see what changes are affected. This is really just a sampling of the operational data that is available, but it is easy to imagine the light that this much info can shed upon the general effectiveness of your entire website.

Traditionally this level of information may have only been available to large companies with great financial means. This is certainly not the case in today's online business world. With the advent of programs like "Total Analytics" from Colorado Web Solutions, even small business owners can be privy to such a tremendous level of information for surprisingly little cost. To see an overview of available packages within Total Analytics click here: http://www.coloradowebsolutions.com/total_solutions_total_analytics_main.htm

An understanding of both the operational and demographic data that is made available by web based analytics systems can only serve to improve the performance of your website and of your efforts to attract new customers. The ability to know not only who is coming to your website, but where they came from, whether or not you paid for their visit, how much you paid, and how often those visits result in sales is incredibly important. Website operators and business owners who have an understanding of this information, and use it to make sure that their website is performing at a high level are at an obvious advantage over those who must make changes and simply hope that they will effect the problems they may be having in the correct way. Simply being able to correctly diagnose problems will save time in fixing them and pay for itself in the long run with an effective and user-friendly website.

Colorado Web Solutions
http://www.ColoradoWebSolutions.com

Just last week, I wrote two online retailers an email about their products. I had a few simple questions about their products that I couldn't find the answers to online. Their individual responses made me realize that I needed to write about this, because their service drove me to purchase (or not purchase) from them.

Here is email number one. I had a question about a patio table and the description online was not as complete as I would have preferred.

"I've got a question about the Monico Manor Dining Table and Chair Set. As far as I can tell, the tiles on this table can be removed. Is that correct? Are the tiles on this table 12 x 12 tiles?

Thanks so much for your time.

Matt Sampson"

Now, this is the response I got back from this company:

"Dear Matt Sampson,

Right now, all of the information we have about the patio furniture
is right on the product description page. I know that it can be
difficult to figure out what you want to order without more
information, and I'm sorry if we've let you down.

Your comments are a big help to us, and I'll make sure to share them
with our team that works with our product information.

Thanks for getting in touch with us. I hope you'll visit us again
soon.

Best regards,

jason j."

OK, so this email was nice in the fact that they admitted they have a problem. But in reality, I don't really care how "nice" they are, I just wanted an answer before I purchased an $800 table set and paid $200 to ship it to me. So yes, they were pleasant and nice, but I certainly didn't get the table from them.

So what could they have done?

1) Find the answer. There must be a warehouse they could call to get the answer for me. Unfortunately, it was easier to just tell me they didn't know. Well, it was easier for me not to order. The funny thing is that I ended up calling one of their retail stores and found the answer to my question. Why could customer service not have done that for me?

2) Tell me they'd follow up with me in a few days. Ok, so maybe the warehouse was closed. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt. So, send me an email letting me know that they did not know the answer YET, but that they would find out for me in the next week.

3) Actually tell the product description writers and have them update the description. I've checked that description a number of times over the last few weeks and it hasn't changed. I know it takes time, but if they really want to provide good service, they would update their description for future customers.

Those are just a few suggestions; there are many more things that could have been done as well. They could have sent me a coupon code telling me that they are sorry for not having enough information, but here's a code to get a discount on a future purchase. Suggest I call a store to find out. Anything would have been nicer than, "We're sorry we've let you down. Please visit us again!"

Now, here is an example of an email interaction that led me to purchase.

"Hello - I just wanted to find out how easy it is to replace the bulb in these lamps, what kind of bulb it is, approx how long the plug is and how you turn it on and off.

Thanks so much!

Matt"

And here's the reply that should be a model to all online businesses:

"Hi Matt,

Thank you for your e-mail. The light bulbs in our lamps are easy to replace. You simply squeeze two metal prongs together and pull the bulb assembly out. The bulb wattage is typically 15 watts (you can use up to 40 watts for the massive size). This is the same size as a night light, and uses a candelabra base. The cord is 6 feet in length, and has an on/off switch on the cord. I hope this answers your questions, and we thank you for visiting our website.

Best regards,

Sales Department"

See the difference here? Not only did they answer every one of my questions, but they elaborated on them to make sure it was clear and concise. This is the kind of response that led me to make a purchase.

So what's my point with all of this?

If you've got competition, you should always assume that they are doing a better job than you. It's like playing blackjack in Vegas. The dealers' hidden card is always a 10. If you have this kind of mentality with your customer service staff, or yourself if you're a one person operation, you'll always provide the best service possible. Remember, even though some customers will be short in their emails to you, this isn't rude or impersonal. They just want an answer. You should always write back to them in clear, full sentences and make sure that they are getting the answer to ALL of their questions. These are your customers, without them, you don't have a business. Treat them like gold and it will pay off.

The same principals apply to your phone operators. They should be as professional and personal as possible. We've all talked to impersonal and scripted phone banks and it doesn't feel good. Talk to your customers like they are respected friends. This will almost always lead to a sale, and probably a life long customer.

In regards to phone operators, many companies are tempted to outsource their phone support. It's easy, there's no management to worry about. The benefits are plenty, but what about the negative impact? With a phone bank call center, it's virtually impossible to give the service that makes you a top tier retailer. If you're a household name you can get away with it. We almost expect poor service from the big box stores. But why create that feeling with YOUR customers? Call Center staff's can not be expected to know your product inside and out, it's not reasonable. So what happens when someone calls to find out what size the tiles are on the table they want to buy and they don't have that info written down? The customer doesn't get the answer.

Now, I'm not saying that all Call Centers are a bad idea. If it's substantially more economical, or if your businesses size is no longer able to handle the call volume, by all means look into a Call Center. Be careful though. Really think about the impact on your customers. It may be cheaper, but how many customers will you end up losing? What information will you be missing out on by not speaking directly with your customers? These are all points to consider.

This leads me to my third and final point. Listen to your customers. If you've got questions that are getting asked on a regular basis, there's a reason for that. Your information online is not as complete as it should be. What would happen if you updated your content to answer common questions online? You'll get fewer phone calls. And I'm not only talking about product descriptions here. This can apply to your customer service and help sections as well. I used to manage the website for a multi-million dollar online retailer and we updated our customer service section monthly. During our staff meetings, we would talk about the questions that people were calling about, talk about policies or wording that confused customers and then immediately update them online. Your website is never complete and DON'T EVER THINK IT IS. It will evolve constantly and you should embrace those changes and really work hard at giving the customers what they most need - complete information.

Good luck to you all.

Matt Sampson
http://www.ColoradoWebSolutions.com

"Once we get up and running, maybe we will look into search engine optimization. Right now, it costs more than we want to pay"

When you are in the business of website construction, and the more complete world of building successful online businesses, this is a quote that you will hear with startling regularity. Search engine optimization is a critical aspect of a successful online business that is too frequently viewed as being too costly or not important enough for business owners and budget builders. This article will address the importance of timely SEO work in relation to new online businesses and website redesigns.

Anyone who has even looked into starting a business, whether they saw it through to completion or not, has most certainly become familiar with the phrase "location is everything". As a business owner, you might be lucky enough to possess the best product, best concept, best customer service representatives, and the best prices. But if you do not possess the means by which to present any of those things to customers, what are they really worth? Truly successful businesses, be they brick and mortar retail stores or websites, combine a product, a concept – and equally important, a medium that is easily accessible to the largest number of potential customers possible. Ask any small business owner why they need a website, and the response will probably sound something like this… "Because it will allow us to expand our business across the country and even the world." Yes, the real draw is the potential number of customers online. There are hundreds of millions of people online doing business every year, and that number will only continue to climb. By making the investment in search engine optimization a priority you will greatly reduce the time it takes to reach the largest possible number of potential customers. Remember, effective search engine optimization does not occur overnight. Instant gratification is only achieved by costly pay-per-click advertising methods. Effective search engine optimization can achieve the same results for a fraction of the cost of PPC advertising.

So, if you have your priorities in order, upon completion of your website or redesign, phase two will be about search engine optimization. We are all aware of the importance of top 10 results in the major search engines for the key words and phrases related to our specific products. If you rank outside the top 20 for example, your chances for turning search engine results into sales are virtually zero. If you rank somewhere in the top 10, some level of success is likely provided your website is effectively built and easy to use. At CWS, we like to stress the importance SEO work in tandem with the website design to create a web page that is not only easy for the customer to find, but an effective sales tool as well. We have all done a search only to continually arrow back to the results page because the page we were sent to was cyber trash. It is simply not enough to attract visitors. The page itself must be effective as well.

Here are some interesting facts from Search Engine Marketing Firm iProspect regarding search result behaviors:

22.6 percent of search engine users end their search after viewing the first few results returned

An additional 18.6 percent stop after reading the entire first page of results (41.2% cumulative)

25.8 percent more abandon their search after the first two pages

14.7 percent (81.7% cumulative) wait until they view three pages


Meta tags while an important aspect of SEO work are not everything. That is why a major focus of search engine optimization at CWS lies in the content of web pages and keeping that content fresh. It is critical to give the search engines new content to read on a regular basis. For an overview of the SEO services offered by CWS please click here.

The actual process of search engine optimization can be complicated, and very time consuming to do correctly. Any honest SEO firm will tell you that it often takes time to realize the results that you set out to achieve when the process is first started. This is just another reason to make SEO a priority in the initial stages of construction or redesign. The more time you allow for the various pages of your site to be indexed properly, the better your results will be. In addition, for most business owners, a new website or site redesign represent a significant investment. The single greatest benefit you will realize from making SEO a priority is a more rapid and more substantial return on that investment.

To learn more about Colorado Web Solutions and their SEO Marketing Services, please visit: http://www.coloradowebsolutions.com/other_services_seo_services.htm

The Commission Junction based initiative will increase online exposure and web sales

New Orleans, La. June 10, 2006- Massey's Professional Outfitters and Colorado Web Solution (CWS) are excited to announce the launch of a Commission Junction based affiliate program. The new program is designed to allow web content developers the opportunity to create income through the display of advertising and product feeds on approved sites. CWS's role is maintaining data-feeds, approving new affiliates, and helping sites with technical hurdles.

Colorado Web Solutions, is excited to have been selected to manage Massey's Affiliate Program. "Our primary goal is to increase their online exposure and web sales thru a well managed affiliate program. With our experience in affiliate marketing and such an incredibly large product selection, we're expecting great success for Massey's", says Brent Carey of Colorado Web Solutions.

Realizing they weren't up to the task in-house, Massey's spent quite some time searching for the perfect manager to implement new programs for their quickly growing web business. "CWS offered everything we were looking for in an affiliate manager," says Mike Massey "a long history of successful programs and a knowledgeable staff chock full of outdoor enthusiasts."

Since the inception of the program last month, Massey's and CWS have signed up hundreds of affiliates and many are off to a great start. A good example is Trailspace.com who displays masseys.net advertising and product data feeds.

Massey's Professional Outfitters was founded in 1972 and specializes in full service outfitting for all types of adventure travel. Massey's operates 3 Louisiana locations, each stocked with an unrivalled selection of gear and clothing for skiing, snowboarding, canoeing, kayaking, hiking, backpacking, and world travel. Our professional staff, which consists almost entirely of outdoor enthusiasts, has outfitted tens of thousands of customers over the course of three generations. The philosophy to sell only the highest quality merchandise from top manufacturers and consistently provide first class service to everyone has earned a loyal following that continues to grow daily. Visit us online at www.masseys.net. Locations include Metairie, Baton Rouge and Covington.

Colorado Web Solutions a web services and affiliate marketing company whose previous outdoor clients include skihelmets.com and snowleopard.biz offers a full range of online business services. Since 1997, their clients have generated nearly $500,000,000 in online sales and are growing continuously. Colorado Web Solutions has three primary focuses; Yahoo Store Building, eCommerce Marketing and Affiliate Marketing. Their services range from assisted promotion to full service management programs. For more information, visit them online at www.ColoradoWebSolutions.com

Commission Junction (www.cj.com) provides advanced performance marketing solutions that help marketers increase online leads and sales. By facilitating strategic relationships between advertisers and publishers, Commission Junction leverages its proven expertise in affiliate marketing and search marketing to drive measurable results for its clients.
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