Visionary Web will be hosting a business seminar on e-retailing on January 24, 2008 at the Wabash County Chamber of Commerce. Mark Sapusek, Visionary Web’s Director of Web Solutions will be the presenter.

Mark will cover topics such as: e-commerce and selling products online, merchant services, EBay, PayPal, Authorize.net, Security, and Shopping Carts. Mark will also take questions and provide insight from over ten years of experience in the industry.

The seminar is $59.00 and reservations can be made by calling the Chamber at: 260-563-1168. The seminar is part of the Triple Play Business Seminar Series sponsored by the Wabash County Chamber of Commerce and the Indiana Small Business Development Center. Other sessions included a Guerrilla Marketing seminar in November 2007 and an upcoming seminar on Customer Service on March 27, 2008.

This new website was developed to provide better and quicker access to important information to our existing and potential clients. The site is the result of a development process including several people:

Toby Sapusek implemented the core Joomla! content management system and provided development assistance throughout the process.

Scott Munday implemented the WordPress blog and developed all original functionality for the site.

Andrew Duffy led the project implementation, worked on the original design, and developed the content.

Christina Sapusek provided strategic direction, edited content, and provided designed feedback.

Mark Sapusek provided strategic direction, worked on the original design, and developed style specifications.

Eric Sanson provided design feedback.

Konrad and Julie Willmert participated in the sitemap development.

Justin Ross contributed to the original design development.

As the children talk about going back to school, I realize what a busy summer it has been here at Visionary.

Our Intern, Stephanie has been invaluable keeping up with the organization and growth of Visionary Computers. We have created a new logos for Visionary Computers as well. Look at Andrew’s post and vote on the one you like the best. We have been proud to launched several new sites, including Landmark Conference Centreand Nancy J’s Fabrics.

If you visit our location, you will notice that we remodeled the entryway with new carpet and paint. Thanks to the handy man Eric, we will have a custom made desks in the web design area. We are going faster than we can re-arrange the offices.

We are also excited to welcome our newest employee! Eric Coon will be joining our team as our Computer Technician.

On a personal note, my children have been just as busy. Weston created a video game and has a new kitten named Rascal. He has spend a lot of time in the pool and mastering tricks off of the high dive. He has finished reading the series “Secrets of Droon” and truly can’t wait to go back to school and start the 4th grade. Suzi started the summer not letting go of the side of the pool and now she is going off of the diving board. She finished reading the Junie B Jones series of books, doing very well in gymnastics and will be in the Wabash Area Community Theatre production of Beauty and the Beast in October. She also has a new kitten named Cuddles. I don’t know if 2nd grade is ready for Suzi:-)

I hope that your summer has been as wonderful! Stop by and see what our team can do for you!

Christina

This summer Visionary Enterprises is introducing VisTech Technology Camps. We are offering classes that will help students improve their technology skills. The camps will be offered for young minds ages 7 to 17 and they will enjoy programs like video game creation, web design, graphic design and computer building. Adults will also enjoy the Technology camps through programs like Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel and digital photography.
We do have special offers and they include:
• Early registration (2 weeks prior to class) – $10 off per class
• Register for more than one class and get $10 off each additional class for which you sign-up
So hurry and register at http://vistech.visionaryweb.com/registration.php to take advantage of the discounts!!
Our mission at VisTech is to provide kids and adults opportunities to learn the most up to date technology as well as to learn fun, practical technology applications. The kids camps will provide the young minds an opportunity to enjoy learn and explore the world of computers and technology. The adults will be provided with practical lessons to teach skills to use in the workforce and in their everyday lives.
We have a well qualified staff with degrees and certifications to provide you with the knowledge about ever changing technologies.
Please feel free to browse the website at http://vistech.visionaryweb.com or pass by our office at: 1288 Stitt Street, Wabash, IN 46992 and contact us about the classes. You can register by mail, fax or phone. To find out more about registration please go to http://vistech.visionaryweb.com/registration.php

The Small Business Development Corporation (SBDC) has been a great source of advice and resources for our company through the years. As Wabash City Council began looking at budget items for next year, several city council members did not know of the SBDC or their role in helping small businesses. They are a wealth of information and I wanted to let others know we are very grateful for their services.

We started as a home business and quickly grew into owning our location and hiring employees. As a business owner, I have learned that the successful businesses know how to network and who to go to in order to find information and resources. The SBDC does that for businesses. They have helped our company prepare business plans, seek financing, form our company into an LLC, consult on managing company growth and advise us on applying to become a WBE with the State of Indiana. Any time I need business information; I can contact my regional SBDC and receive information to help me find what I need.

I would encourage anyone who wants to start a business, seek financing, grow a business… to learn what the SBDC can do for you.

Sometimes it is not what you know, but who you know.

You can learn about the Indiana SBDC. Then look for your local SBDC.

I have had a few people ask me about Windows Media Center Edition lately, so I did a little research and thought that I would pass along what I learned.

Media Center Edition, or MCE, is still your basic Windows XP Professional version, but with a few extra features that are pretty neat, like Multi-tuner support, built-in DVD and CD burning, support for digital and high definition television programming, and personal video recording.

The main Media Center menu, or start page, is logically laid out with options for My Music, My Pictures, My Videos, Online Spotlight, Play DVD, and More Programs. You’ll also find buttons for logging out, minimizing, restoring, and closing the Media Center application window.

A typical Multimedia PC will have the necessary TV tuner card(s) for interacting with your cable or satellite signal, DVI/S-Video/component out video card to plug into your TV, and an audio card (5.1; 6.1; or 7.1). To give your PC the capabilities of a complete multimedia entertainment system, it is recommended that you have two TV tuner cards and an audio card with surround sound capabilities. Dual tuner cards will enable you to record one thing while watching something else.

MCE has a number of features you may find useful. Visit Microsoft’s web site for a full list. Today, I will just focus on the DVR function (because it is cool).

In the My TV module, the Recorded TV section lets you manage your recorded television shows. Here, you can view programs already recorded, record a program while watching something else, or, record live TV while watching a previously recorded program. Add a DVD-R burner and now you can transfer those pre-recorded programs to DVD. Similar to a DVR, you can schedule programs to record and easily search for a program using keywords.

The program guide is downloadable from the internet and gives you an advance programming schedule. Unlike the programming information you get with TiVo, the Microsoft Guide is completely free, making this MCE feature more unique than some other consumer electronics rivals. Also, purchasing hardware for TiVo and other PVR’s is considerably higher than simply configuring your multimedia PC using the MCE operating system.

Did I mention you can also pause, rewind, or slow motion a live broadcast? Cool huh?

And maybe most importantly – even though have a system configured for multimedia capabilities, you still have a complete computer system with all the same functions as any standard PC.

The one problem with Windows XP Media Center Edition is that it’s not sold as a retail OS like the standard XP. MCE 2005 is only available as OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) or as a built-in, retail computer system. But no need to worry, we can easily buy and install this for you!

Recently we have had a few customers inquire about low budget hosting. They have seen ads for other companies which offer hosting as low as $2 or $3 a month. They want to know two things: 1) How can these companies offer such cheap hosting? 2) Can Visionary Enterprises offer budget hosting?

Let me start with question one. There are several factors that allow these companies to offer cheap hosting:

1. They load servers with as many websites as possible. Via our friends at Name Intelligence, I looked up the IP address of one popular domain registrar and host and found that the IP address, and corresponding server, hosts 1,801 domains. Assuming each account uses two domain names, that’s still 900 accounts on one server. When they guarantee 5 Gigs of space per account, that means each server has in the neighborhood of 4.5 Terabytes of space. Well, not really. These companies gamble on the thought that each customer will only utilize a small fraction of the promised space available. While true, one wonders what happens when each customer tries to max out their available space. Just to note: we currently run about 150 accounts per server and we don’t oversell hard drive space.

2. Google Support. Google support is when you get so fed up waiting for an informed response from technical support that you turn to Google to find your answer. Budget hosts use tiered support levels to elevate support issues from lower knowledge staff to higher level staff. Usually the first couple of tiers are located in offshore call centers. I have read many stories in support forums from individuals who have tried to get specific problems resolved from lower level support staff to only get wrong answers. When the first level doesn’t understand the basic technology they also fail to move the support request of the ladder because they think the problem lies with the customer, not the server. At Visionary Enterprises we know just about all of our clients by name. Not because they call for support all the time, but rather because we have lunch with them, see them around town, attend meetings with them, and see their kids at ballgames.

3. DYI (Do It Yourself). Budget hosting is DYI hosting. The customer sets up all of their own account functions from e-mail accounts to domain name pointers. Visionary Enterprises hosting on the other hand is managed hosting. When a customer needs a new e-mail account, he or she just e-mails us, and we respond with the new username and password. Some budget hosting customers like being able to make these updates on their own, and that is fair. But some customers don’t want anything to do with these types of updates. We at Visionary Enterprises enjoy doing these tasks. That’s why we are in the business.

4. Wal-mart Factor. Many budget hosts have volume deals with major hardware, software, and infrastructure suppliers. When they can purchase equipment for almost nothing, it makes it difficult for small providers to compete. Also, when they deal with millions of customers, making a small amount on each one adds up. Smaller providers must rely on a bigger return on each customer to pay the bills.

These are just a few reasons why budget hosts can offer such cheap hosting. I’ve tried to stay away from ranting, as I know that budget hosts honestly appeal to some people… and that’s fair. But for other people, who don’t mind investing in a better quality product, better access to resources, more personal support, and who want to support their regional economy, we offer advanced and managed hosting.

On to questions two: “Can Visionary Enterprises offer budget hosting?� While we are not ready to open a call center in India, we know that some clients don’t mind the above factors if they can get a lower price. We are currently developing new DYI hosting plans which will be offered at a lower rate than our managed plans.

While I wish I could go into much more detail at this point, I better hold back as no specifics have been put into place yet. However, we are pretty excited about the possibilities that we are exploring. Stay tuned for announcements about these new services soon.

Q: How important is it to integrate your existing business systems with your website?

A: It really depends on what you are trying to do with your site, but for many of clients this has become a key to making a really useful site and one that is worth the money that you put into it. By integrating into your existing business systems you can communicate with your customers and your distributors easier and you can also increase sales.

Some examples of integrating your site with existing business systems:
1) Tying the web site to a Point of Sale system so that users can see their account balances (this may help ease the number of phone calls you get from clients to get this type of data). This might also lead to allowing customers to pay for their balances online which would streamline your receivables.
2) Tying the web site to an existing accounting system. This type of integration could allow outside sales people to enter invoices or print receipts. This also could reduce double entry of information by allowing clients to pay for their products online and having this info link directly to your accounting system.
3) Linking your site to your Customer Relationship Management System may allow an ease of contacting and communicating with new customers. Tying the web to a ticketing system may streamline customer support issues.

I will follow up on this article next time with some real-life examples of integration services we have performed for some of our clients.

Visionary Enterprises is a company that understands success is derived from giving clients superior service, creative solutions, and exponential return on investment. At Visionary Enterprises, exceeding expectations is how we do business.

As a team, Visionary Enterprises employees work to develop new ways to amaze our customers with our dedication to the customer’s project. In staff meetings we regularly share with each other how we have provided superior customer service and how we each have exceeded a client’s expectations in the past week. This is one way in which we continue to nurture a culture of exceeding expectations at Visionary Enterprises.

As the Chief Operations Officer, it is my responsibility to make sure our clients have a great experience with Visionary Enterprises. If we have not exceeded your expectations in your interaction with us, please let me know. You can contact me directly at aduffy@visionaryweb.com.

So that I can pass on praise to our employees, please also let me know when a member of the Visionary Enterprises team has provided you with excellent service. Better yet, tell the employee directly.

Hello everyone. I just got back today from Las Vegas (my first trip there). There are so many casinos and people there. Everyone is in a hurry around there, people are honking at each other all of the time. I’m surprised there isn’t more accidents there because pedestrians just walk right into the street even though the street sign is red.

My favorite slot machine was Star Wars. If you get one of the characters three in a row, they say one of their lines from the movie. The bonus game is a lot of fun. You shoot the storm troopers and then you look up at the death star above you which is circling to a certain number of credits. I saw a few people get 3000-4000 credits on it.

There are many shows that you can see as well. We saw a comedy show at Harrah’s, the pirate show at Treasure Island and the volcano at the Mirage. You don’t have to like to gamble to have a wonderful time in Vegas. I would definitely recommend seeing Las Vegas for anyone.

Anyway, I hope that you have a wonderful new year and I hope to see you in 2006.