We’ve been using CS-Cart for Scrubmeister.com for about a year now. We were looking for something that we could own and host on our own server. Many of the shopping carts are hosted on some other servers and you more or less just rent it. That might be OK for some but not what we wanted.
I reviewed numerous cart options before taking the plunge to buy this cart software. Even spent a week working on a FREE software cart. I found that it needed numerous mods to get even close to the functionality I wanted. It also had very poor support at their forum.
The version of CS-Cart we bought in the beginning did everything we wanted right from the start. Downloaded the manual (pdf), used their forums and support desk a few times to get started. I found it fairly intuitive which is good since I have no experience setting up a shopping cart.
There have been several version upgrades over the last year. It just keeps getting better. Every version fixes a few bugs and adds some new functions. Its hard to imagine that this software doesn’t do something you want. There are multiple functions we don’t even use!
Go to www.cs-cart.com and check out their website. It will take a while to read it all so plan on spending some time there. You can even try out the software in a demo area. Look at the forums, documentation, etc to get a better feel for how it might fit for your business. The price has gone up $25 since I bought the software but I would still spend the money for it today.
Wickedgoodenterprises.com has been offline for most of 2011 so we could focus on family and some other outside projects.
Scrubmeister.com has been running this year. Will post an update to how that site is doing and a review of the CS cart software we use for it.
We will be starting another new website: workathome-forum.com soon. The goal with this forum will be to help people wade through all the work at home ideas and schemes out there. It will be an independent website. We aren’t selling anything just trying to educate and share information. More on this project later……….
Starting Scrubmeister.com has been an interesting experience. The software was one hurdle but one I didn’t expect was Vendors.
We contacted several companies about becoming distributors for their product. Some were very quick to respond and were happy to hear from us. Others required multiple phone calls and emails. Some have still not responded or provided us with details we need to do business with them. So…..You think we should sell their products?
If I didn’t know any better there seems to be a lack of salesmanship? The economy is not great for most companies and here is someone willing to sell your products. Do you not at least respond? Another thing we’ve found is that many haven’t really grasped what the internet is and can do for them. They still want a phone call, provide few details and remain secretive. “What’s your fax number?” Are you serious? Email a PDF or something! There are also those companies that think a distributor should have a vast stock pile of product and huge capital investment.
I’m sorry but those that can’t respond to an email or drop ship some product without huge investments will be left by the wayside or selling everything themselves. Every other industry is adapting. Why not suppliers of cleaning products?
As a note………We don’t have anything on Scrubmeister.com that I wouldn’t personally use as a professional cleaner. Our goal has always been to provide the best made products that will provide years of service and make customers lots of money.
After months of work we have finally opened Scrubmeister.com
Scrubmeister is an online store for professional carpet, upholstery, and floor care professionals. We have over 20 years of cleaning experience and have picked some of the best products to load into our store. Most are made right in the USA.
Its been a long slow process learning and modifying new software for the site. There are bound to be a few tweaks and mods needed in the next few months but the software seems to be doing what we want.
We’ve got some great product lines and will be adding more products and lines in the coming months. Stop by often as things will be changing rapidly!
We just did a major update to uscleanersnetwork.com During this process we learned of various new security measures we could take and implemented them.
Spammers and other bad guys sure are busy! Every time someone comes up with a way to defeat the bad guys they come up with something new. It certainly is a fluid situation.
Make sure your own personal computer is secure. Install any updates and keep all software current. Also run antivirus and anti malware software regularly. Take every step possible to secure your own information including using strong passwords.
Hope you had a great Holiday season. Its time to review 2010 and move on with new things for 2011.
2010 was a frustrating year here at Wicked Good Enterprises. We did sell Wicked Good Cleaners but ended up owner financing it. Not sure I will ever do that again. Getting paid was a nail biter I don’t care to repeat. Toward the end of the year we began working on the internet web sites so we could progress into an internet based sales business. Finding software that would work short term and be expandable has been daunting. There are literally thousands of options for web stores and cart programs. We decided to give Zen Cart a try. After weeks of fiddling with it we decided to move onto something else. Zen would require a lot of programming to do what we wanted. I would rather spend time running a business and selling things and not programming. After a second review of options we came across CS-Cart. Its not a free program but also not the most expensive. Out of the box it looks like it will meet all our needs. That right there will save a lot of time and effort. Downloaded a trial version and so far it looks good and makes sense behind the scenes. Pretty sure we will start Scrubmeister.com using this software and expand to some other areas of sales if it works. My goal for this year is to have a maximum of 4 stores up and running. The four will be: Scrubmeister.com, lightersnmore.com, performanceflashlight.com, and multitoolsnmore.com . Each of these covers a different market so hopefully we can avoid some seasonality to our sales.
The next post will be a review of CS-Cart.
I recently encountered two situations that really surprised me………….
First, I need to replace a pair of old hiking shoes I bought at LL Bean. Got many good years of service but its time to replace. They no longer make the shoe I have. Not much of a surprise there. OK, I’ll buy another American made shoe. Good luck with that! Have looked at many local shoe stores and online. The vast majority of shoes are now being made in China. Even those that say they make shoes in USA only make a small percentage of their line here in the US. This holds true for sneakers as well as hiking and other kinds of shoes. Only one maker of sneakers in the US now (New Balance) and they admit only a small percentage are made here. I tried looking for those locally and couldn’t find any. Even looked at boots I knew were traditionally made here. NO LUCK! Nothing available locally. Found a place online I can order from that claims to stock US made boots. How many of you would work that hard to find something made in USA?
Needed a set of tires for my wife’s car. All the local shops carry are imported tires. Went online to Tirerack.com. Very good site that has reviews, etc. They also show where the tires are made. When I put in the size we needed there were only a few choices of US made tires that would fit! I decided on a set of Goodyear. You need to look at where each tire is made. Not all in their line is made here. Incidentally about that time saw an ad for Sears and they had the tire I wanted on sale. Called the closest store which is about an hour away and they actually had them in stock!. Deal done. Again, how many would work that hard to buy an American made tire?
Wonder if this has could be a reason our economy is doing so poorly?
Look next time at where products are being made. More are being made overseas. Just discovered one of my favorite clothing brands Carrhart is now imported. Will the madness never end?
Have been giving a lot of thought to what is next for Wicked Good Enterprises…………
Looks like the next thing is an online store(s). Liking the looks of Zen Cart software so I may be developing one or more stores. Products? Cleaning Equipment, Flashlights, Multitools and more!
Cleaning is still in my blood. Sold my carpet cleaning business in January but can’t seem to give it up altogether. Distribution seems like the next logical step in my cleaning career. The other sites are more or less hobbies that I want to turn into small businesses. My goal with developing the online stores is to create a business that can be run from ANYWHERE, without employees or a physical storefront. This can be accomplished by drop shipping or using order fulfillment services. I don’t think we could be competitive if we set up a distribution business here in Maine right now? This may be something we look into down the road but certainly not in the beginning. Setting up shop in this manner will allow us to live where we do in Maine but also to do some traveling later on.
Been a while since I posted. Its been a busy summer!
Well the forum experiment is a bust. I’ve spent a lot of time and energy on them and nothing in return to speak of. The only one that is doing anything is the US Cleaners Network which has been up for years. It just pays for itself now. Seems it would literally take years or piles of money to get forums noticed at all.
I’m tired of dealing with the site updates and constant spammer barrages. Decided to park all the domains at Google Domain Parking. Maybe I can make a few dollars that way?
My next “experiment” will be some online sales. Think we will build a few and do one or more using some other hosts that have links to other things on the web. Perhaps Ebay Pro?
Mike
I posted a few months ago wondering if anyone was making money with a forum.
I now own 15 forums. Some have been around for several years. Some only a few months. My only income source on these right now is Google Adsense. One thing I did try in the last few months was adding Google Adword advertising to draw visitors to the forums. I also did a lot of SEO type work on the sites so I would get organic results as well. My results have been less than stellar. Only a very small percentage of visitors clicked on a Google ad. Based on my results I would need a ridiculous amount of visitors on each of my forums to generate any reasonable amount of income.
So………….My conclusion is you need to be selling something or have your forum tied into some other income stream in order to make it pay for itself. Forums are not a get rich quick thing for sure. It could take years to get any decent income stream from a forum. I may go back and try to tie in other income streams to a few of the forums to see if I can still make something with them. I think I will have to sell something and have the forum tie into that somehow? Will give that some thought and post about it later.
I’m going to keep these forums up for a while but have dropped the Google Adwords campaigns for now. Its costing me way more than I’m making. For the amount of time, effort and energy I put into creating the various forums it has been a big let down. ………………..Next idea!
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November 23, 2011 11:06 am | 
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