Please visit the brand new FLPowersports.com, dealer of high-quality pit bikes, dirt bikes and scooters.

This new custom website is a stellar example of e-commerce done right.  The shopping cart features multiple product display modes, is sortable and has built-in product search.  Best of all, the checkout process is extremely quick and convenient.  In addition, the client can update the rest of the site using the seamlessly integrated Content Management System.

During this project, I got to ride one of the 125cc pit bikes and it was a lot of fun.  It’s hard to believe how affordable these bikes are.  If you know someone interested in getting into motocross or you just want a fun bike to thrash around on, FLPowersports.com has you covered.

Does your business have an online e-commerce store? Now it can.

Visual Harmony offers E-Commerce Shopping Cart solutions starting at $1999.

Here are just a few benefits of owning an online storefront:

• Wider Reach: If you own a “brick-and-mortar” store is in Florida, you can now reach potential customers in California, Maine or even Zimbabwe (if you ship there) much more easily.  You can get a lot of exposure that you otherwise would be missing out on.
• Increased Revenues: An e-commerce capable website can make sales 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
• Low Overhead: Once your e-store is operational, there is very little-overhead to keep the site running for years and years to come.  Unlike the expenses for operating a walk-in storefront which pile up month after month.
• Better for Local Customers: People within driving distance of your physical storefront can learn more about what you are selling before they come there.  Just think how many times you have checked a price on something online before driving to pick it up.  I do it all the time.

Do you really need a Brick-and-Mortar Storefront?

It’s clear that some stores such as Wal-Mart, Target, Best Buy make the majority of their sales in their brick-and-mortar stores.  I assure you that they are the exception and not the rule.

If you do not already have a physical storefront, who says you need one?  Statistically, the need for a physical store increases your overhead and cuts away from your bottom line by at least 15%.  Why give that up?

Fact: Visual Harmony has been in business since April 2007, without ever needing a physical office.  Everything clients need to know about us or how to communicate with us is available on our website.  By declining to use a physical storefront, we are able to offer higher-quality services at a more affordable rate than the competition.

Get it!

Give us a call at 352.207.5855 or email us to discuss your new online e-commerce store.

We are proud to announce the launch of the newly redesigned benefit-advisors.com.

If you are looking for Florida employee health insurance or other team benefit solutions, they’re the ones to call.  Not only do they know their stuff, they’re a pleasure to work with.  Many thanks to Michelle, Ray, Donna, Neal and the rest of the team!

An example color scheme created by Color Scheme Designer 3

Looking for a time-saving tool to help you pick great color palettes? Well, make sure you check out Color Scheme Designer 3.  It is by far the best and most feature-rich online color choosing app I have ever used or come across.

It allows you to choose a base color by clicking inside the color wheel.  From the base color, it can generate a monochromatic, complementary, triadic, tetradic, analogic or accented analogic color scheme. You can further adjust the scheme’s saturation, brightness and contrast to your liking.

Both a light-dominant and dark-dominant preview are available to show you a couple of ways the generated scheme could be used to color a web page.  Click the button labeled “Light page example” to view the light-dominant preview and the button labeled “Dark page example” to see the dark-dominant preview.

Once you are satisfied with the scheme you have created, you can export it as HTML/CSS, XML, plain text, a Photoshop palette or even a GIMP palette.

Other nice features are the ability to randomize the palette and vision simulations that allow you to understand how your scheme will appear to the visually-impaired.  Checking the box next to “Show text” will display white, black and grey text over all of the different colors in your palette.  Did I mention that it’s FREE?

A splash page is a frequent request from clients.  It’s basically a page that loads before the home page.  Splash pages often contain obnoxiously overbearing flash movies that really serve no purpose other than to make the site owner feel cool.

IMHO, splash pages are a big no-no.  Here’s why:

1. Splash pages usually take a loooooooong time to load.  Do you like having to wait when you do your web surfing?
2. Your site’s most important page is the home page.  Why would you want to make it harder for visitors to get there?
3. They get old real quick.  Would you watch your own flash movie 100 times without losing interest?
4. Every portion of your site should have a reason for being there.  What purpose does your splash page serve?
5. They are usually expensive.  Flash development isn’t cheap and depending on the depth of your splash page, it could potentially cost more to create than the rest of your site.

I’m sure there are plenty of other good reasons NOT to use splash pages and it’s hard to think of a good reason for creating one.  So, don’t waste your time or budget!

Put Your Visitors First

It takes some work (sometimes hard work) to get people to visit your website. So why chase them away with a site that isn’t usable? If you invest the time to make your site(s) visitor-centric (Warning! Additional work required), people will stay on your site longer and are much more likely to come back. To get a better idea of what I mean, let’s look at Merriam-Webster’s definitions of usable:

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