But, then there are those times when the module you need is available for free — and it really works.  And you marvel at the wonders of open source!

We’ve had that experience with a great product called SimpleCaddy from Atlantic Intelligence.  It’s FREE and it does exactly what it promises: it provides a simple shopping cart system that is integrated with PayPal, and includes a shipping calculator and even a coupon system.

We just implemented it on How Rude Is That? A relatively simple four-product store took us only about a day and a half to set up.

Check out the results, here:

Worth noting that this was promoted via email, LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. Social media results were our best yet: nearly 80% of respondents were new to our database. Tide is turning in favor of social media for investments and b2b.

But there was good news … with the Static FBML application, all you really do need to know is HTML — that is, after you have figured out how to get the application working on your page, which is anything but an intuitive process.

For whatever reason, Static FBML works a bit differently than other Facebook applications and settings, and if you don’t keep the steps at your fingertips to remind you how to work it, you’ll go mildly bonkers.  I found a great tutorial on Social Web School  – I suggest you visit it and bookmark it.

Alternatively, here’s a quick overview:

(1)  First, install the Static FBML application — use the search box to find it, choose “install on my page,” then click the page you’re interested in customizing.  (Be sure you’re an administrator of the page you have in mind before you start.)

(2)  ‘Add’ the application using the + on your page.  (After you add it, ignore the pencil — which doesn’t help you edit the page.  Confusing, I know!)  Instead, go back to the page’s wall and select “edit this page” on the left side.  Scroll down until you see Static FBML listed near the bottom.

(3)  From here you can add the HTML you want to appear on the site, as well as edit the title of the box.  (To see samples of some very basic customizations we’ve done, visit Sterling Pacific Financial’s page (see the white paper promo on the left side) and Saint Mary’s College Women in Philanthropy (the “give” banner).)

(4)  After you create your content, you need to move it to a box to allow it to display (until you do so, it will appear only in the “boxes” tab).  Go to the boxes tab, click the pencil near your new box and choose “move to wall.”

This should be enough to get you started.  For a more comprehensive tutorial (with pix and comments), visit Social Web School:

Social Web School – FBML Tutorial

We just finished the launch of a new web site and marketing program for

The fund identifies opportunities to purchase real estate assets at significant discounts, and allows investors to participate, providing the opportunity for individuals to invest in multiple real estate projects with a single investment. As a volume buyer, the fund has access to opportunities (and prices) unlikely to be available to individual investors.

It appears to be working. Since we’ve been building/maintaining the blog (and other elements of Sterling’s social media strategy, like its Facebook page), Sterling’s search results have steadily moved upward. And, more important, the people who find the site are finding it credible and compelling (evidence: actual investor and borrower emails and phone calls). This credibility is critical in a largely unregulated industry with a wide range of standards: many highly professional, top performing companies, but also many bad actors.

Now, it’s hard to disagree with those who point out that this is yet another example of why you should always watch what you say on Facebook, via Twitter, on your blog; there have been well-publicized incidents of job-destroying posts via all of these social media. And even back in the olden days before social media, prudence would dictate that even putting anything of this sort into writing, was risky (especially email).

And yet … is the point of these “social” platforms to share our social selves openly with friends? Or is it just PR for our careers?

Right now I count among my friends many clients and former clients — a diverse group with diverse tastes and boundaries, so I am always cautious about what I post. But I wonder how cautious some of them are. They’re not posting screaming rants about their bosses, to be sure. But, I have seen posts about after-hours behavior, strong political views, and relationship troubles from some friends that I think might offend some of the others. It makes me wonder what people are assuming about the people they friend on FB.

I wonder if more categorization would be beneficial. Don’t most people have layers of friendship — lifelong friends and intimate relationships with near transparency; work colleagues, to whom we’re bonded (maybe only for the moment) by current tasks; admired ex-bosses whom we hope will always remember us as youthful overachievers; former youngsters we once mentored, whom we hope still think highly of us; siblings (we may trust them with our lives, but still not want to tell them everything); etc. We wouldn’t discuss the same things with these groups in person … yet with social media, you’re seemingly left to choose either to reveal so much it’s not prudent or too little to be genuine. Or, you can choose to just not to make all your friends your “friends” — by rejecting your boss or client’s friend request. (Talk about ‘not prudent!’)

Isn’t some categorization in order? Instead of just FB friending, could we “colleague” people we know mainly through work life? “Relation” people we’re connected to by blood? “Client” people whose business we’re grateful to have — and anxious to retain?

Just thinking out loud here ….

If you are your business’s only employee (or, if your business employs only you and your spouse), you can set up an individual 401(k) — and contribute as much as $47,0000 in 2009. (Your contribution limits are based on the overall IRS limit as well as your income from the business — you can contribute up to 100% of the salary you’re paid, plus the company can contribute a percentage of your salary as well.)

Besides the obvious — an individual 401(k) is an incredible tool for catching up on savings, and for minimizing taxes — there are specific advantages to small business owners to shifting their retirement savings to this type of account. For entrepreneurs used to high degrees of control, the “checkbook control” you get from a solo 401(k) is highly appealing. You can invest in “alternatives” like real estate and mortgage notes without hassling with a custodian.

Perhaps most useful in the current economic environment — you can even take a loan against your own 401(k). If you’ve been considering tapping your IRA funds to cover a cash flow crunch in your business, this tool alone can save thousands in penalties, plus permit you to replace any funds lent to keep your overall retirement planning on track. (Learn more about this in a recent Forbes article, “Coming up with cash in a pinch.”)

Anyway — back to the ad — what was notable about this campaign was the medium: a bus back.  VR does a great job with social media (they have a lively blog, and they promote it politely and regularly to their clients, plus they are often featured on other companies’ blogs) and with web marketing.  But, what impressed me was that this web-based business was using a very old school medium alongside their excellent use of technology.

Why does this impress me so?  I too often find clients — and, especially, marketing consultants in the web marketing and social media space — have the idea that other forms of advertising must be left behind once social media and other web marketing tools are embraced. 

Forum posts on the need to choose one or the other abound: “Which is better PR — pickup in a blog or in print?” “My clients still want to use print — how do I convince them to migrate to social media?” etc., etc.

But, why must it be one or the other? Print, television, events and outdoor all still have their place in my view.  They’re still more efficient at reaching large numbers of targeted eyeballs en masse in many cases — especially for audiences that are less dedicated to electronic media sources, but, even for younger, more wired audiences, they can sometimes be more reliable and efficient.  And, they can often be purchased in combination with web advertising on related sites.  What’s more, in today’s market, pricing is adjusting in step with smaller audiences and the shifting economy, making traditional media a better value than ever.  Even television is becoming more targeted and affordable for smaller companies than ever before. On the flipside, the costs of web 2.0 can be much higher than expected, because of man-hours needed to maintain blogs, participate in forums, etc. — for many small companies, it’s not possible to move the needle using social networking alone.

There are those few audiences that have moved almost entirely away from traditional media for their work-related reading — it’s conceivable that technology professionals are probably no longer efficiently reached via traditional media, for example.  But, I believe it’s wrong to generalize.  I’m using a blend of media for most of my clients these days, and achieving better, more cost-effective results this way.