Erich Stauffer

Blog

  • My Letter to Best Buy on 9-18-1995

    Best Buy,

    I thought I had the best buy until I tried to use my Rayovac coupon on one of your compact disks, Ghostbusters II.

    I bought a pack of Rayovac batteries and received a 2.00 off coupon for any cd in Best Buy. I found the Ghostbusters cd in a 3.99 rack, at your Greenwood store in Indiana, and found out it was only 1.99, but the computer wouldn’t let me use the coupon because the cd was a penny short.

    I bought the cd anyway because it was a good deal, but I still think I should have received 2.00 off anyway. Just because your computer didn’t have a button for that, I lost 2.00. I have enclosed the coupon and receipt.

    Sincerely,

    Erich Stauffer

    Here is Best Buy’s response, a letter received from them dated October 18, 1995:

    Dear Mr. Stauffer,

    Thank you for taking the time to express your concerns regarding your Rayovac coupon.

    I was sorry to read that you were not able to use this at the store. Please accept the enclosed check for $2.00 in lieu of the coupon that you should have been able to use with the purchase of your CD.

    I apologize any frustration or inconvenience this may have caused you. Please feel free to contact me regarding this or any other concern you may have with Best Buy stores. I can be reached at 800-369-5-5- x2908 during business hours.

    Sincerely,

    Sheila

  • IT Business Analyst with Dentrix Experience

    I do IT services for dentists and dental offices, specifically Dentrix training and implementation, Google Apps intranets, and WordPress websites.

    I’m an IT Business Analyst that provides IT services for dental offices. I’ve been providing IT services for 7 years after graduating from IU in Indianapolis. I’m A+, Network+, and Microsoft certified. I have experience with Dentrix G4 and G5 and am looking for other dental offices who are considering switching to Dentrix.

    IT Business Analyst and Indianapolis Dentrix Expert

    I recently upgraded a dental office in Indianapolis from Dentrix G4 to Dentrix G5. I’ve also helped them with their dental website design and online marketing efforts from Facebook to Twitter to Google Adsense. In addition to technical design and implementation, I also do business consulting in the form of staffing models.

    It’s become cliche to say you’re experienced at Microsoft Office, but I’d say I’m a pretty advanced Excel user. I even made an analogy at my last Indianapolis Marketing Meetup meetup that Google Analytics’ database could be manipulated similarly to a pivot table in Excel. Excel is a great tool and one I’m fond of for organizing and displaying information, which is something I really like doing.

    In fact, you could boil almost everything I do down to organization and display because whether I’m setting up a Windows server, a network architecture, a website in WordPress, an Intranet in Google Apps, or a custom dashboard in Excel, I’m always doing the same thing: categorizing, organizing, and displaying information so it’s easy to follow, easy to read, and useful.

    Do I always succeed? No, but I’m continually seeking ways to get better – and I adapt to my users. Dentrix is a perfect example of this. I didn’t set out to learn Dentrix, but when no one in the dental office knew how to use it, they asked me to learn it and teach others – so that’s what I did. Now I realize that Dentrix is just CRM software to organize and display patient information to dentists. Who would have thought?

     

  • Things have changed. Times are different.

    Business owners used to be able to pay the Yellow Pages once per year and get business all year long without having to do anything.
    Things have changed. Times are different.
    You now have to do content marketing, social media marketing, traditional marketing.
    Social media is complicated:

    http://www.businessinsider.com/social-media-marketing-landscape-complicated-2012-5

  • Always Working

    I’ve identified a program that’s been running in my subconscious mind that always believes there is something coming along around the bend to provide a windfall. The problem is that there is no windfall coming. I have to do the work always. ‘always working’ instead of ‘working until’ needs to be my new programmed thought.

  • Two Types of Clients

    In the 10 months since I went full-time running Erich Stauffer I have taken clients from a dysfunctional, disparate web presence to having a cohesive web platform that they can use to self-market their own business in a responsive manner. I’ve converted clients to WordPress, implemented Google Apps, and ensured their files were getting backed-up.

    I had a client email me to tell me. “[We] are progressing with WordPress. Little steps but steps none the less. Although I was not always thrilled with the WordPress idea I do want to thank you again for leading me down this path. All things considered it is not everything I want…but, it has allowed [us] to make changes and updates from my desktop that were never possible before.”

    All of this has led me to discover that the clients I have now are not the same clients I had 10 months ago. They are not the same clients without a website, a social marketing strategy, or an email newsletter. They are clients with questions about how to use their new marketing platform to integrate into how they run their business. They are businesses who want to get more out of their initial marketing to see a return on that investment (ROI).

    Integrated Marketing is Responsive Marketing

    When you use your web platform to respond to marketing data to fulfill daily production goals, fill appointment slots, or push a particular product, you are practicing integrated marketing techniques. At Erich Stauffer, we can teach you how to have a responsive marketing strategy that is integrated with your business processes and procedures. We will train you or your staff to use your web marketing platform to work for you.

    I still serve that first type of client who needs their first web page or their web site converted to WordPress for easier management. I still help people setup their Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, and Pinterest accounts. I still help people setup or optimize their email marketing solutions, but now we also do more. We are technology consultants specializing in web technology and business analysis. I am Erich Stauffer.

  • What Do Meetups Mean to You?

    Recently, Aaron B. Hockley wrote about, The Dirty Little Secret of Attending Meetups. Aaron states that he doesn’t go to meetups to learn, but “to meet interesting people.” Having written about Meetups extensively in the past, I decided to comment:

    “I go to meetups to learn new things, things that aren’t taught in any class, things that you wouldn’t have learned if you hadn’t been in a group setting to learn them. There are things that happen in group dynamics that don’t happen while reading a blog post on how to do something. But to your point, the people make the difference and if you go to it with that mindset of just wanting to meet interesting people, then learning or networking or anything else is just a bonus on top of that.”

    Unlike Portland, Indianapolis doesn’t have an Instagram meetup, but any photographer could create one. It does have a WordPress meetup – two of them, in fact. Indiana may not be the west coast, but here’s 4 reasons why Indiana entrepreneurs rock.

    Here’s what Meetups mean to me. What do Meetups mean to you?

  • Integrated Marketing with a Platform

    For the next few weeks I’m going to be talking about how to integrate marketing into the management of your business.

    Today I’m going to introduce a term called “platform”. Your platform is a combination of your website, social media, and any other form of advertising you may have. When you buy Google ads or run a Groupon, you’re paying for using those other company’s platforms.  The bigger you can build your own platform, the greater your own reach can be and the more money you can save (and make).

    Here’s a couple of examples of how you can use your platform:

    1. You have excess inventory so you make a sale and announce it on your blog, across social media, and in an email newsletter. You sell out.
    2. 2.  You’ve got some open appointments that need filled so you offer a sale for today only if you mention where you heard about this offer.

    “To be successful in the market today, you must possess two strategic assets: a compelling product and a meaningful platform.” In this step-by-step guide, Michael Hyatt, former CEO and current Chairman of Thomas Nelson Publishers, takes readers behind the scenes, into the new world of social media success. He shows you what best-selling authors, public speakers, entrepreneurs, musicians, and other creatives are doing differently to win customers in today’s crowded marketplace. Hyatt speaks from experience. He writes one of the top 800 blogs in the world and has more than 100,000 followers on Twitter. His large and growing platform serves as the foundation for his successful writing, speaking, and consulting practice.

    In Platform, Hyatt will teach readers not only how to extend their influence, but also how to monetize it and build a sustainable career. The key? By building a platform. It has never been easier, less expensive, or more possible than right now.

  • Plug-In Solar Panels

    No electrician necessary.

    While white roof paint is a great way to save energy, sometimes you want to make more energy too. This UL-listed 120-Volt AC solar kit is truly “plug & play”. The 240-Watt “DeckPower120” is designed for ease of use and allows you to simply mount to a deck or outside post with included deck bracket. Simply plug the DeckPower120 into a standard dedicated outside electrical receptacle, and that’s it, no electrician required!

    Buy one panel, or buy up to five at any time for up to 1,300 watts of household AC electricity on one circuit! NO costly installation, NO headaches, and NO worries: the “DeckPower120” is a technological breakthrough that offers up to a 50% reduction in wiring requirements by eliminating all DC-side design and installation issues! The deck bracket assembles quickly and attaches to your deck railing as-is with no modification of your deck, and it’s adjustable for a “just right” angle to the sun year round!

    DeckPower120 kits are eligible for the 30% Federal tax credit, and additional State tax credits may apply, further reducing your payback time! With SpinRay Energy’s advanced technology, our panels require no maintenance, are easily expandable, and have a 15-year limited warranty. Just sit back and enjoy the lower electric bills!

    Plug-In Solar PanelsHere’s what one reviewer had to say, “This is a great way to get started in “green” energy. When combined with the SpinRay deck mounting kit this was made for the “do-it-yourselfer”. It took about 30 minutes to unpack the panel and mount it on the home deck railing. The customer designed mount allowed the solar panel to be mounted securely and easily to the deck rail. After mounting, just plugged it into the outdoor deck electrical outlet nand it was creating over 200 watts of power that was feeding into the house electrical system. Just need to find which deck railing direction had the most sun exposure. What is great about the solar power system, is that additional solar panels can be easily added and plugged together and do not require additional outdoor outlets. Really like all the water proof components and electrical connections.”

    Another reviewer said, “Well, purchased both the 120 and 240 volt AC panel and kits from SpinRay Energy. I plugged in the 240 watt panel a few days ago and today I did the same to the 120 volt system. Was super easy to get running. I opened the 2 boxes, panel in one and mounting kit in the other. I put the deck mounting kit together and mounted the panel on it. Took about 20 minutes to assemble. After I got it put together I went over to my deck and it easily hooked onto it, AMAZING….lol. Then I plugged it into an outside plug that I use for my hedge trimmer, outside lights, etc. I also purchased a “kill a watt” electrical monitor from them and to check to see if this panel/inverter worked correctly. After 5 minutes of the system getting electricity from the house plug the inverter turned on and started producing about 218 watts, when you unplug the house plug the solar panel stops producing power, just like it supposed to. The system came with UL certifcates that say the solar panel and the inverter are UL approved and listed so I guess nothing is more safe then that. And after plugging in and unplugging a dozen times I feel safe that this system works as advertised.”

  • Coding WordPress Columns to Match Length

    A client recently asked what they could do to make the content in their sidebar column match their main content column.

    The short answer is: it’s not easily user-editable, but it can be done.

    WordPress works by using “theme files” to construct a web page ‘on the fly’. The content of the page is stored in a database, but the design of the page is stored in theme files. While WordPress only requires two theme files (index.php and style.css), most WordPress web sites use at least six files. The main theme files are as follows:

    • header.php – contains information for the header
    • index.php, front-page.php, page.php, or single.php – calls the header and footer; contains instructions for the middle part of the page
    • footer.php – contains information for the footer
    • sidebar.php – contains instructions for the sidebar

    In this client’s particular design, the header and footers go all the way across the page and the middle content area is split into two columns. The sidebar is a column that goes all the way from the top, just under the header, to the bottom, just above the footer. The other column is where the post or page content goes. Whichever column’s side has more content will determine how long the page is. The sidebar only appears when it’s ‘called’ to appear. Each page you see could be a different type of page. Page types are as follows:

    • Front page – what the home page looks like (front-page.php)
    • Page page – what a Page looks like (page.php)
    • Post page – what a Post looks like (single.php)
    • Category page – what a Category view of Posts looks like (index.php, category.php, or archive.php)

    For example, the front-page.php theme file controls the home page and it doesn’t call the sidebar. There are other types of theme files like search.php for searches, but this is a short list.  There are also more specific theme files that can be created based on a page name. For example, I could create a theme file called “page-health-benefits.php” for the Health Benefits page and I could code it to look completely different if I wanted to. I could also call a different header, footer, or sidebar, for example.

    Here are some options for when columns don’t match up in your WordPress design layout:

    • Stop using the sidebar – You can eliminate the problem by only having a one-column layout.
    • Page-specific theme file(s) – I can code a theme file specific for the Health Benefits page which would show a different sidebar altogether or none at all.
    • Page Continuation / Pagination Code – to make the sidebar area never have white space at the end, I could code in a ‘page continuation code’ so that when the content gets to a certain length, it paginates to a ‘page 2’.
    • Manually Code in Scenarios to the Sidebar: I can code in scenarios that say, “If the page is Health Benefits, then display more content in the sidebar”. This would not be something you could easily edit.

    Summary

    It’s not uncommon for sidebars to have more or less content than it’s corresponding column. Dynamic changes to column length are possible through custom coding. Custom coding makes the site harder to keep updated in the future, but that’s not really your problem unless you’re doing it yourself. If it really bothers you, go to a single-column layout. If you can’t get over that extra white space, contact us. We are an Indianapolis web design firm that makes custom WordPress websites.