Have IE6 and IE7 installed simultaneously

This is a very helpful thing if you need to do browser testing on version 6 and 7 of IE from the same computer (and you don't want to have to run a virtual machine/virtual PC instance):

Install multiple versions of IE on your PC

I installed it on Win XP pro and it works perfectly (and IE7 still works too!)

For the record, I only use IE for testing. Firefox 3.0 is my main browser.

Make a good product first, then worry about revenue

First and foremost, focus on making a good product that people like, then worry about how to make money. If something is driven by an innate passion inside of you, then is it really about money? I don't think it should be. If that venture goes belly-up, you may be out investment capital and out of the product you loved, but you should have at least acquired something from the journey and enjoyment of working with that passion along the way.

When I meet people and talk to them about Team Cowboy (my sports team management web site, www.teamcowboy.com), I often get asked the question, "so how do you make money?". I tell them simply that I'm focusing on adding great features and growing the user base. I do have plans to make money -- I have ideas on how to go about it -- but for now, that's not important to me. I'd rather focus on getting the features right, getting more users on the site, and making sure those users are happy (I'm fanatic about customer service; there's simply no excuse to not keep the reason your product exists happy). So far, I think I've succeeded in keeping my customers happy. It's definitely tricky sometimes when you run a free web site. Suppose you were running an e-commerce web site. If customers are unhappy or have a bad experience, you can discount their order, send them coupons, or use other incentives. Anything I give them comes directly out of my pocket (and not just out of my profit margin, as would be the case with an e-commerce site). I get a lot of feedback from my users during the course of customer service emails, and an ecstatic "Thank you!" is probably the most common thing I hear. That keeps me motivated and excited to roll out the great new features (and trust me, there are a lot of them).

I am not oblivious to the fact that as the site grows in popularity, traffic will increase, and that alone will start costing more in bandwidth and other related web hosting costs -- and those are just the hard costs that I MUST face to keep the site showing up when you go to the URL. I will have enough revenue coming in when it's necessary (and even a bit before), but it's not my #1 priority right now.

The article I was reading that made me think of this was about the upcoming release of Mozilla Thunderbird 3.0. At the end, David Ascher, Chief Executive of Mozilla Messaging said:

I'm deferring the revenue model issues for a while. The first priority will be to produce good software. The model used for Firefox was not to generate something that would generate revenue, it was to create the best browser possible. I'm following that recipe again.

Simple words and roughly what I'm going after with Team Cowboy.

Printing with Great prices & Great Quality: Overnightprints.com

I was recently in the need for some business cards for Team Cowboy and decided to give overnightprints.com a try. A year or two ago, I requested a sample kit from Americasprinter.com, and their quality is definitely amazing, and I was waiting for the opportunity to purchase from them (which, by the way, is probably a retailer's dream -- a customer waiting for the "opportunity" to give them business even after a couple of years). Anyhow, I started going through the motions to order with AmericasPrinter.com only to find that they don't even have online ordering! I reluctantly faxed in my order (as they require), and waited for a call back from a sales rep. A couple of hours later someone called me and said a rep would contact me either later that day or the next day. I'm already a bit annoyed at this point since I had to fax the order, and now I have to wait possibly until tomorrow? I decided to go with someone else. Maybe they should consider better customer service and online ordering! By the way, they never did call me but I received an order confirmation email literally about 24 hours after I initially placed the order. I promptly replied and let them know to cancel it and that I had gone with someone else.

That someone else was Overnightprints.com. Their web site was simple, their prices were great, and although I didn't have any samples in hand, I decided to give them a go. They even have an option to do rounded corners on business cards for a small upcharge.

I just got the cards today and they are GREAT. Free UV gloss on both sides (my design is on a white background so fingerprints are not really visible anyhow), and the color is deep & rich without any banding I've seen on some "professional" prints. I got 500 cards for $39.95 plus the rounded corners were $10 more total. I could have got 1000 for $49.95 (+ rounded corners), which is only $10 more, but I figured 500 would last me plenty long. Another cool thing about them is that you can order small runs of business cards -- as few as 100. This is great for small events with unique designs.

Anyhow, check them out, I highly recommend them and will use them again. FYI, they do Postcards, Flyers, Brochures, Letterhead , Greeting Cards & Envelopes as well.

[Update 6/23/07] Just received my sample pack in the mail. As expected, all great stuff. Heavy cardstock, UV glossy options, EXCELLENT full color (even with photos). I highly recommend overnightprints.com!