New Release from The Coudrain Group

From hot and tangy Cajun seasoning to Jambalaya, the style and cuisine of New Orleans is in hot demand even far from the reaches of the Louisiana bayou. Kyle and Sarah Beerbohm saw this appeal, and as a way to spread the flavors of Louisiana throughout the world launched TotallyNawlins.com, a site the offers foods and other products unique to New Orleans.  The Coudrain Group and 3dcart Shopping Cart Software made it possible.

Kyle and Sarah may have had the dream, but it was the site itself that allows these products to reach shoppers at all corners of the globe. The site was created on the 3dcart Shopping Cart Platform by The Coudrain Group, a Louisiana web development company that specializes in social media and website creation for small businesses. The company's president and CEO, Lauren Coudrain, is an expert in utilizing social media and crafted the Totally Nawlins site to allow for customer participation. The site has a rating system for products, a blog, and a Facebook page that allows users to browse and purchase products.

The Louisiana-based Totally Nawlins was started as a way to make regional products like chicory coffee and crab boil available on a larger basis. The Beerbohms are both Louisiana born and bred, growing up close to the city--Sarah in a suburb an hour away and Kyle just a few minutes from downtown. They met while attending Louisiana State University, where Kyle was a pitcher on the 2009 National Championship baseball team and Sarah studying athletic training.

The site reflects their love of New Orleans, with a variety of foods and beverages as well as gifts unique to the bayou. Shoppers can find coffee and tea made in Louisiana along with seasonings unique to Cajun cuisine, and the site allows them to search either by category or by a specific brand name. Totally Nawlins also offers prints of New Orleans paintings, and has gift packages available, including a BBQ kit, coffee sampler and even an LSU pack.

Do You Blog?

Do you blog?  Did you know that blogs can really be a great thing for Search Engine Optimization (SEO)?  There are lots of different theories of course, as to how blogs can help your SEO.  The most obvious being that you are actually writing about something that people may find amusing or useful.  But there are other reasons...

When you think about what Google's main purpose is in our world, it is to be the provider of the "best information".  In order for Google to keep it's position as the world's number one source of information, it has to give the best results.

Let's pretend that you move into a new neighborhood and you need to learn about the best places to shop for food.  You start to search around on your own, but you're neighbor tells you, "Ask the lady down the hall, we call her Google... She knows everything".  She tells you where the best supermarket in town is located.  You check it out.  The aisles are clear of debris, the signs are hung just right, the produce is fresh, the meat is spectacular and the service is amazing.  Would you go back to her for more information?  Yes, of course.  She gave you a great recommendation.

Now lets compare your website to that supermarket.  Guess what your blog is?  Your blog is the same as the signs being hung just right.  It's not enough to make Google recommend you, but it's part of the big picture.  Do you think Google should recommend a website that has not been updated in two years?  In the age of fast moving information, do you really think that not updating your website is the way to go?

This being said, we've started a program for our partners.  Let us help you blog.  If there is anything we can help you with your blog, let us know.  We can't promise we've got the answers for everyone, but if you need some original content, need a guest blogger, or just need some ideas.  Just ask us.

Take care,

Joe P. - 3dcart

Template Design Contest

Hi Everyone, 

Today, 3dcart is "kicking off" our 3dcart template design program with a contest hosted at 99 designs.  The winner will receive $895 and every template we accept through this contest will receive a bonus payout of $250!  This contest is designed to give an incentive so we can get started right away with your newly designed templates.

You have until Tuesday, January 31 at 6 PM ET to submit your designs.

Learn more! http://99designs.com/web-design/contests/ecommerce-template-design-contest-winners-119788/brief

Of course, this isn't the only way you can submit templates to 3dcart!  Our registered developers can submit designs at anytime.

Thanks,

Joe

New Website Releases From Red Peach Designs

Red Peach Designs just released three newly designed websites and all I can say is... WOW!  These look great.  The first site, Cherry Hill Designs features sticky notes, labels, and cool items like customized sippy cups.  The colors are sharp and the layout is clean and easy to navigate. 

The second design is Nu Mom Nutrition, a site dedicated to nursing moms, and moms who are past nursing.  This website is very easy to navigate and it does a great job of explaining what they do very quickly...  Which is very important in eCommerce design.

The third design is Livalift, a natural pill that helps combat depression in women.  This professional website conveys trust and happiness.  The website itself is clean and uplifting.

Congratulations goes out to Danielle, and her team at Red Peach Designs for delivering such pleasing and professional websites on the 3dcart Platform.

Congratulations Are In Order

I wanted to take a moment to thank all of our partners for all of their hard work and success promoting 3dcart.  Just today, an article was released on Practical eCommerce featuring an article about Inspirational 3dcart Designed Websites.

http://developer.practicalecommerce.com/articles/3227-A-Dozen-Inspirational-3dcart-Sites

Congratulations to Marketing Media, Graphically Speaking, Gamby, Bionic Egg, and if one of the sites listed in the article is yours, and I'm missing you, please bring it to my attention.

The faster the word spreads about how great 3dcart is, the faster we can all grow.  If you like the article, be sure to spread that word through social media.

Thank you ALL for your support, and for helping 3dcart become the best eCommerce platform on the web.

Sincerely,

Joe Palko
3dcart Partner Program