Greaterscope

The last two weeks have been a holiday blur, so no weekly updates. However …

Lately I’ve thought about creating a separate website for my product. I do think it’s a good idea, as it will be a pure place for stuff that’s only related to the product, but I don’t see the need just yet. That sort of thing will come when I’m feeling more momentum, which will come when the following are accomplished in roughly this order:

1. Choosing a name for the product
2. The code reaches a more usable state
3. I get the word out and have more genuine interest
4. Documentation is written and is ready to be put on the site
5. I decide how I’m going to cultivate a community for the product

With every web app I make I eventually get to the stage where I try to inject some color into the thing. But this never works, so I might as well give up. I’m not qualified to work with color, or even suggest colors that might go together (though I do like greens and browns). This is definitely something I should pass off to someone else.

So how about it? Are you up to the task of making the admin area of my storefront software look great?

In return, you get to see the app before it is released, which gives you a great chance to offer feedback. You’ll also get a free license which comes with a year’s worth of updates. You can use the license to set up an online store on 1 domain. So if you have been wanting to set up an online store but had some difficulty choosing a software package, why not use mine? Help me out and I’ll return the favor.

Of course, you must be sufficiently experienced in creating great looking web apps. But that goes without saying. Contact me or post a comment if you’re interested.

Something I failed to mention: I added more items to Uservoice. Many were items from my long-term radar, but really, I shouldn’t start on any of them until I know what’s important to customers.

This past week a previous employer mentioned that he’s no longer going to use the shopping cart product he has been using for the past year. I’m not sure of the specifics of his frustration, but he said they’re looking at alternatives now, which means I felt compelled to tidy up some loose ends and send him a demo URL. It could be just the thing we need to get rolling.

As far as my todo list, most of the items from last week still remain, since much of my time was spent making sure the demo was functional. Reality has set in regarding the holidays so I’m not expecting any more great strides until January.

I finished reading all of Balsamiq’s past blog posts today. Their transparency is enlightening. Here are a few things that stood out.

He has advisors. I’ve had little luck asking my friends for advice on things I’m working on. And I don’t feel quite right about approaching the managers at my day job. Not sure how they’d react, especially since they’d end up advising me out of their company. Still, it’d be priceless to have someone to bounce ideas off, to read what I write, to test my products, and so on. Preferably I need someone that has really “been there” in the “software product company” sense.

He quickly moved on to create additional “products”, which are integrations of Balsamiq into other applications. This may be a move we can make in the future.

He based his licensing agreements on an Atlassian EULA. Their EULA is something I need to read more thoroughly. I’ll write more about our licensing needs at a later date.

He contacted popular blog and startup sites to spread the message about what he’s doing. I’m hesitant on this step, but I’m certain it’s essential. I actually wish it weren’t essential. For some reason I’ve always had this hesitancy about self-promotion, but in reality you don’t have to go the “obnoxious self-centered constant-talker” route. You can just send a short blurb with a link to someone and be done with it.

There was also a reference to ReadWriteWeb’s page calling for the names of gritty web2.0 entrepreneurs. The most web2.0 thing I’m doing is using jQuery, which probably doesn’t count. And I can’t use their call for names as a way to get initial exposure because we haven’t launched and have no revenue. They specifically want companies turning a profit.

I surprised myself this Wednesday. It’s amazing how much work you can get done when you’re not surrounded by the comforts of home. The story goes that after lunch I went downtown to a local coffee shop, downed a cookie, got a coffee and got to work. Items completed:

• Admin: Resize uploaded images and save the appropriate sizes in the image folder for each store
• Admin: Simple pagination for product and category listings
• Admin: Add TinyMCE WYSIWYG back to edit forms
• Admin: Merge two product editing forms

Those are the significant items. Features left to do:

• Storefront: Finish USPS and UPS integration
• Storefront: Finish example integration with a payment processor
• Admin: Delete functionality
• Admin Perhaps clean up category listing page
• Storefront: Login and account registration during checkout process

While walking home today I thought maybe I could go ahead and put up a demo. But I don’t want to short-change with an admin area that’s still too rough around the edges. We can wait a bit longer for a demo.