Schools & Resources
Our schools and resources coverage explores sources to help merchants improve their ecommerce skills. We look at helpful books, podcasts, blogs, tutorials, courses, YouTube channels, and more.
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Schools & Resources
Learning from Bad Web Design
September 14, 2012 • Drew Coffin
Recognizing bad web design is often easy. But it can be difficult to know what makes it bad. In this article I will give you examples of bad web design and explain what good design practices could be used instead. Note that many of these examples are extreme cases of bad web design and there is more than one mistake in each example image.
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Schools & Resources
16 New QR Code Campaigns in 2012
July 24, 2012 • Sig Ueland
Quick Response (QR) codes continue to appear in creative and inspired marketing promotions. Companies are finding new uses for the codes, as well as new ways to display them. Here is a list of new QR code campaigns in 2012. Some of the QR examples are remarkably inventive, such as Ema...
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Schools & Resources
16 New Ecommerce Books for Summer 2012
July 16, 2012 • Sig Ueland
Working on your summer reading list? Here is a list of new ecommerce and Internet-marketing books for summer 2012. There are new titles on social media, handcrafted Pinterest businesses, search engine optimization, and even a title on creating short product videos. This list was compil...
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Schools & Resources
Reading List: Trevor Ginn of Hello Baby
June 15, 2012 • PEC Staff
In “Reading List,” we ask ecommerce professionals to name some of their favorite recent books and blogs and tell us why they read them. For this installment, we corresponded with ...
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Schools & Resources
Reading List: Hassan Bawab of Magic Logix
June 11, 2012 • PEC Staff
In “Reading List,” we ask ecommerce professionals to name some of their favorite recent books and blogs and tell us why they read them. For this installment, we corresponded with ...
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Schools & Resources
Reading List: Andrew Youderian of eCommerceFuel.com
June 8, 2012 • PEC Staff
In “Reading List,” we ask ecommerce professionals to name some of their favorite recent books and blogs and tell us why they read them. For this installment, we corresponded with ...
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Schools & Resources
10 Photoshop Skills for Beginners
May 14, 2012 • Drew Coffin
Adobe Photoshop is an incredibly powerful program that allows you to do professional grade image manipulations and adjustments. Whether you want to work with product images or design website layouts, Photoshop has the tools you need to get the job done. However, Photoshop is so powerful...
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Schools & Resources
Reading List: Neil Davidson of My Web Presenters
May 3, 2012 • PEC Staff
In “Reading List,” we ask ecommerce professionals to name some of their favorite recent books and blogs and tell us why they read them. For this installment, we corresponded ...
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Schools & Resources
15 New Ecommerce Books for March 2012
March 13, 2012 • Sig Ueland
The wide adoption of the tablet has created an explosion in ebook publishing. Here is a list of new ecommerce titles, including books on marketing, social media, and email lists. Nearly all of the books are available in digital format, while only one is available in hardcover. One-third...
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Schools & Resources
Managing a Design Project When You’re Not a Graphic Artist
March 5, 2012 • Drew Coffin
Ecommerce merchants wear many hats. One of them is designing graphics for their websites. In my experience as a freelance graphic artist, I've adopted steps to help me become efficient and productive for each graphic project. I've listed those steps, below, hoping they can help non-pr...
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Schools & Resources
Reading List: Luke van de Paverd of eCommerce Economy
March 2, 2012 • PEC Staff
In “Reading List,” we ask ecommerce professionals to name some of their favorite recent books and blogs and tell us why they read them. For this installment, we corresponded with ...
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Schools & Resources
Reading List: Jaime Brugueras of Mineful
February 24, 2012 • PEC Staff
In “Reading List,” we ask ecommerce professionals to name some of their favorite recent books and blogs and tell us why they read them. For this installment, we corresponded with ...
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Schools & Resources
Reading List: Stefan Schmidt of Hybris
February 14, 2012 • PEC Staff
In “Reading List,” we ask ecommerce professionals to name some of their favorite recent books and blogs and tell us why they read them. For this installment, we corresponded with ...
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Schools & Resources
SVG Images: Sources to Download, Create
January 30, 2012 • Drew Coffin
In "SVG Images: What Merchants Need to Know," I explained the difference between raster and vector images and explained how SVG images use XML to generate perfectly scalable graphics. From that article, recall that raster images can accommodate many more color variations than vector, b...
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Schools & Resources
15 Schools for Ecommerce Degrees
December 5, 2011 • Sig Ueland
Online entrepreneurs typically learn their trade by trial and error. They also acquire skills through online courses — such as those at Practical eCommerce. But there are also bachelor and master degree programs that concentrate on ecommerce. Here is a list of degree programs that fo...
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Schools & Resources
12 Tech Review Sites for Small Businesses
November 22, 2011 • Sig Ueland
Technology product review sites can be a valuable resource for small businesses that need to make purchasing decisions. Sites offer expert and consumer opinions, as well as how-to information, competitive pricing locations, and the latest news on technology trends. Here is a list of t...
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Schools & Resources
12 New QR Code Campaigns
November 15, 2011 • Sig Ueland
Quick Response (QR) codes continue to gain momentum in mobile commerce. As the holidays approach, a number of companies have launched QR code campaigns to boost sales, as well as promote worthy causes. Here is a list of new QR code campaigns. In addition to promoting mobile commerce, t...
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Schools & Resources
13 Sites to Answer Technology Questions
November 10, 2011 • Sig Ueland
Making a technology buying decision is difficult when you don’t understand the technology itself. You know that cloud computing has little to do with the weather, but beyond that you’re stumped. Where do you turn for answers? Here is a list of resources to get answers to your technolog...
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Schools & Resources
13 New Ecommerce Books in September 2011
October 7, 2011 • Sig Ueland
September’s new ecommerce books are about social media and location-based marketing tools. Several of the books focus on online strategies for small businesses. Here is a list of new ecommerce books in September. Included are both new releases and new editions. Release information and...
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Schools & Resources
Reading List: Konstantin Molchanov of CS-Cart
September 15, 2011 • PEC Staff
In “Reading List,” we ask ecommerce professionals to name some of their favorite recent books and blogs and tell us why they read them. For this installment, we corresponded with Konstantin Molchanov, promotion speci...
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Schools & Resources
Reading List: Steven Nash of Open Study College
September 2, 2011 • PEC Staff
In “Reading List,” we ask ecommerce professionals to name some of their favorite recent books and blogs and tell us why they read them. For this installment, we corresponded with ...
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Schools & Resources
25 Top-Selling Ecommerce Books in August 2011
September 1, 2011 • Sig Ueland
A new school year is just around the corner. Time to hit the ecommerce books. Here is a list of Amazon's top-selling ecommerce books in August. There are several books on using social media to help your business. And there are books on creating dynamic content for your site. There are ...
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Schools & Resources
9 Mobile Apps for Business Training
August 31, 2011 • Sig Ueland
A small business owner must continually learn new skills to address challenges. Mobile training apps provide an inexpensive and convenient way to train yourself as you run your changing business. Here is a list of mobile apps for business training and education. Some of the apps are st...
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Schools & Resources
4 Free Photoshop Alternatives: Sources to Learn
August 30, 2011 • Drew Coffin
My suggestions for free Photoshop alternatives we published earlier this month, in “4 Free Photoshop Alternatives for Image Editing.” I described four free Photoshop alternatives — GIMP, Paint.NET, Aviary, and ...
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Schools & Resources
20 Government Sites to Help Small Businesses
August 12, 2011 • Sig Ueland
Do-it-yourself small businesses don’t normally look to the government for help. But maybe they should start. The federal government is desperate for small businesses to succeed. In the midst of record unemployment, a new Kauffman Foundation-funded U.S. Census Bureau study reports that...
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Schools & Resources
Reading List: Josh Colter of Elias Interactive
July 27, 2011 • PEC Staff
In “Reading List,” we ask ecommerce professionals to name some of their favorite recent books and blogs and tell us why they read them. For this installment, we corresponded with ...
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Schools & Resources
Reading List: Steve Castro-Miller of Bold Software
July 20, 2011 • PEC Staff
In “Reading List,” we ask ecommerce professionals to name some of their favorite recent books and blogs and tell us why they read them. For this installment, we corresponded with ...
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Schools & Resources
25 Top-Selling Ecommerce Books
July 4, 2011 • Sig Ueland
Assembling your reading list for a summer getaway? Don’t forget to pack the ecommerce books. Here is a list of top-selling ecommerce books. There are general books on ecommerce and social media for businesses. And there are books on specific ecommerce subjects, such as search engine op...
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Schools & Resources
Reading List: Tomer Tagrin of Yotpo
June 7, 2011 • PEC Staff
In “Reading List,” we ask ecommerce professionals to name some of their favorite recent books and blogs and tell us why they read them. In this installment, we corresponded with ...
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Schools & Resources
5 Free Business Training Opportunities
May 19, 2011 • Armando Roggio
Ecommerce entrepreneurs are responsible for every area of their business, from accounting to order processing to website maintenance. So it is common for some small business owners to find that they need to learn new skills to either get their business started or help it grow. In this ...