If it’s not on your calendar, put it there now; Sunday, May 11 is Mother’s Day. It doesn’t get the same coverage as the more popular gift giving holiday’s like Christmas and Valentine’s Day, but when it comes to finding the right gift you want to make sure you get Mother’s Day right. To help 3LUXE users with their quest to find the perfect gift, we launched the 3LUXE 2008 Mother’s Day Gift Guide.

After all your mom has done for you over the years, you don’t want to wait until the last minute and miss out on the opportunity to say thank-you. And although the National Retail Federation believes consumers will scale back on the amount they spend compared to last year, we’ll still spend an estimated $138.63 – a little more than the standard card and flowers of yesteryear.

Recognizing there’s not a “one size fits all” gift for Moms, we’ve broken out our gift guide into four segments. In addition to the Traditional Gift Guide, we’ve added gifts perfect for “Techie” and “Foodie” moms. Finally we’ve created a Romantic Mother’s Day Guide. The last one isn’t for “your” mom, but for the mother of your children. Several years ago (it might have been Katie’s first Mother’s Day) I screwed this one up, I’m not not going to let that happen again. Hopefully there is a new Dad out there who will see the Romantic Guide, awake from their stupor, avoid my mistake, and get a great gift for their wife.

Whatever you decide to do for “Mom” this year, be sure to include a heartfelt “Thank-you”. Nobody is more deserving.

All the best,
Bill

Ask any friend – they’ll claim to doing research before making a purchase. Nobody wants to make (or admit to making) an uninformed purchase. Some of us do research on everything from large investments like cars, to daily necessities like a bar of soap. The amount of time and effort we invest varies greatly by individual and can be influenced by a number of variables; cost, time, importance, etc. In a study from earlier this year, eMarketer found that 9 out 10 people, read reviews at least “some of the time” before making online purchases. Surprising to many, over 65% surveyed check a minimum of four reviews before making an online purchase. People are predominately (76%) looking to the web for a combination of user and expert reviews – all great news for 3LUXE.

What I find most interesting or surprising about online research are the misconceptions about the “rich”. Many imagine the rich to spend frivolously, going from store to store, adding shopping bags at each stop. These images are reinforced by the photos we see in grocery tabloids of famous stars doing just that, but the stereotype couldn’t be further from the truth. The majority of the rich accumulated their wealth by making wise investments and being smart about how they spend money – good habits don’t die.

MediaPost published an article last week covering a new study done by American Express and Harrison Group that illustrates how the rich comparison shop. Like the rest of America, they’re increasingly turning to the web for both research and purchases. The study defined “rich” as having $352,000 in discretionary annual income, approximately 12 million American households. This wealthy group holds 70% of U.S. assets and accounts for 50% of the consumption. With vast resources available, the wealthy go to the same place everybody does for comparison shopping, the net. 70% surveyed utilize the net to identify, price, compare and purchase fashion and home goods. Not only are the wealthy using the net for research, it has become the preferred destination for shopping, with 70% preferring the web over in-store purchases.

I often receive questions about the range of prices and breadth of categories reviewed on 3LUXE. Everything from BMX to Boeing and Strollers to Sedans, we find the best. We do this because we know it doesn’t matter if you’re dropping a few bucks on beer or breaking the bank on a new boat. What matters is doing the research right and finding the best product.

Our goal at 3LUXE is simple, to save time, your time. Instead of spending hours researching your purchases, let us do that for you. Spend your time enjoying what’s most important to you – whatever that may be.

Simply find the best of everything.

All the best,
Bill

Since launching 3LUXE I’ve been surprised by the popularity of our turntable selections . However, the popularity has nothing to do with nostalgia, but a desire to archive valuable record collections to a digital format. Two of the record players selected connect directly to a computer and convert classic records into portable MP3s that can be enjoyed anywhere.

Since it’s a rainy Saturday here in Saint Paul, I decided to get caught up on some reading. The latest WIRED magazine included Transfer Tickets: The Best and Worst in VHS-to-DVD Converters. The review included four devices that allow you to transfer VHS tapes to DVD. As someone who has a large collection of personal video on VHS this is a great find. My favorite is the solution from Pinnacle Systems, Dazzle DVD Recorder.

For under $50.00 this solution is perfect, allowing you to easily plug your VCR into your PC with a USB connection. It allows you to declutter – box up all your old VHS tapes and the VCR. And unlike standalone hardware solutions, it doesn’t add another video component into your entertainment system.

Pinnacle has a long history as a leader in video editing and continuously gets highly rated in reviews from both users and professionals. This device is no exception, it’s a simple device to move video collection from VHS to DVD. The Dazzle DVD Recorder keeps it simple – tape to DVD. One recommendation, before transferring your videos, check Pinnacle’s website to download the latest driver and software updates.

As an added bonus, Amazon has Dazzle DVD Recorder on sale for $44.99 with free shipping.

All the best,
Bill

I apologize to anyone who was attempting to use 3LUXE early this morning. During routine server maintenance we had a “glitch” which caused us to go down. The issue has been resolved and we’re back up and running.

In addition to server maintenance we recoded many of our pages (including category and Best Of) this week. The result – 30% faster page load times, allowing you to find what you’re looking for even faster. Over the next few months we will continue to enhance 3LUXE, making it easier and faster to “Simply find the best of everything”.

If there is anything you would like to see on 3LUXE (categories or features), be sure to let us know, simply use our online form or email me directly (bill at 3LUXE dot com).

All the best,
Bill

Last night Mother Nature threw us a curveball in Saint Paul hitting us with a wintry thunderstorm, complete with lightning, rain and snow. It made for a messy morning – I’m ready for spring.

When I booted my laptop this am I saw the 3LUXE “Best Of” the Day, the Mion Current, making me hopeful for spring. Mion makes awesome sandals. Admittedly they’re a favorite of mine, the perfect balance of comfort and toughness. Since Mion makes such an excellent sandal I couldn’t have been more surprised when I saw a report that Timberland will discontinue Mion and GOLite footwear this fall.

I hope this is a faulty report and I’ll be able to continue to enjoy Mion’s for summers to come. If it turns out to be true, I suggest we all stock up before they run out.

All the best,
Bill

I was recently interviewed by Christopher Elliot for an article published on Microsoft’s Office site: 10 strategies for enticing visitors to buy or act. The purpose of the article is to help business owners convert web visitors into customers.

With Christopher’s permission, I’ve posted the entire interview below.

Christopher Elliot: My audience is small businesses and sole proprietors. In your opinion, how important is turning a reader into a customer for these groups?

BW: Turning a website reader into a customer is critical for small business. Most companies agree the purpose of a web-site is to educate existing customers and attract new customers. Done right, a website can be a cost-effective tool for attracting new customers and expanding your reach to an audience you may not have had access to in the past.

CE: Do you know of any surveys that discuss the importance of making these conversions?

BW – I haven’t read any recent survey’s discussing the importance of converting customers. But on the flip-side, I would be hard pressed to remember the last time a day passed where I didn’t receive at least one email discussing online conversions and options to optimize and test your website. It seems as if we have moved past asking if it is important, to how do we optimize our site for new customers?

CE: I’d like to mention your top two or three tips for converting Web site users into customers. What are your top two or three tips? I’m trying to get beyond the obvious ones, like “always include a call to action or a subscriber form on your site”—I think most people reading this already do that.

BW: I think an easy one that people is miss is adding a bookmark option/widget to their site. Bookmark widgets have exploded in popularity with Web 2.0, and for a small business they serve two important purposes. The first is to attract return visitors. Many times people will bookmark a site of relative importance or a site they plan on re-visiting when they have more time. If you have a complex product or service, it’s important to make it easy for your customers and prospects to find you a second and third time. The ancillary benefit of a bookmaking tool like del.icio.us – it allows people of like interests to share information and possibly drive additional prospects to your site.

The second is fairly obvious, but often missed. It’s important to repeat your call to action multiple times on the same page. If you have a very informative site with lot’s of data, don’t just put a call to action (ie buy button) on the top or bottom of a page. If people know what they want, put a prominent call to action “above the fold” so your users see it immediately and can act. For the customer who takes more time and reads all of a page, place another call to action at the end of the page, so they can easily act. This simple change will definitely increase conversions.

CE” Also, I’m wondering if there are any common mistakes that small businesses/sole proprietors make when they are trying to improve their conversions?

BW: I believe a fairly common mistake made by both small and big business is losing focus of the 90 – 10 rule online. Many companies have a core product or service that accounts for the majority of their business, but when visiting their website you would never know that. You often see sites where low volume / low margin offerings get the same amount of space as the core offering. Businesses should give users what they want by highlighting their core products, making it as simple as possible to convert their largest base of customers.

All the best,
Bill