Marketing to people who have already visited your site is one of the fastest, easiest and least expensive ways to increase your sales.

Studies show that when customers return to your website, their conversion rates improve by more than 13%!

Increase your sales by taking advantage of the consumers who have already shown an interest in your site.

Email Marketing is:

• Effective – You can reach your existing customer base as well as prospective customers.  You will be communicating with people who have already demonstrated their interest by joining your mailing list. It increases the lifetime value of your customers.
• Affordable - the cost of an email marketing campaign is quite low, especially when compared with more traditional advertising methods.  In addition, studies have consistently demonstrated that it is much cheaper to retain a customer than to gain a new one.
• Fast – your message is delivered almost instantaneously to the people you want to reach. From concept to implementation, email campaigns can be put into action very quickly. You receive a quick response too, usually in a day or two.
• Targeted - emails can be customized for specific purposes and be tailored for defined recipient groups based on the attributes of your choosing.
• Measurable – it's easy to track how many of your emails were delivered, how many were opened, how many people clicked through to your site and how many of the individuals who “clicked through” actually completed a transaction.  You can find out what's working by comparing different campaigns as well as different versions of the same campaign.
• Easy – from being able to compile a detailed database of customer information to the creation of custom, branded emails, there are tools available that make it possible to create and manage sophisticated email marketing campaigns.

If you aren't collecting email addresses from your visitors, it's time to start. By collecting contact information, it's possible to better serve your visitors while increasing sales.

Use a permission-based subscriber collection tool so you deliver your message to a receptive audience (this also assures compliance with industry standards for anti-spam best practices).

Important tips about email capture:

• Place an email capture screen on every page of your website in order to reach all visitors to your site.
• Invest time in finding the best place for your email capture field. Smart placement dramatically increases your email capture rates.
• Promote the benefits of becoming a subscriber and offer special opt-in bonuses.
• Make it simple. Don’t ask for too much information up front.
• Protect their privacy. Post a link to your company’s privacy policy.

Effective email marketing boosts your bottom line. In these challenging economic times, can any of us really afford to overlook it?

Our next installment will focus on the techniques needed for a successful email marketing campaign.

If you would like help implementing an email marketing campaign, we can help. Check out our Email Marketing Services in our store.

Does email markeing work for you?  Leave a comment below?

Out of the box, the Extension Data field isn't used for anything, and the Xml packages don't use this field unless you customize it in, so you may be wondering 'what does it do?' The quick answer? Anything you want it to! This tutorial will show you how to use the Extension Data field to add additional information to your product detail pages. To complete this tutorial, you need access to your site's Xml Packages folder, and a basic knowledge of HTML. You can find the Extension Data field in Products and Categories in AspDotNetStorefront. You may have seen the tab in your product screen admin section over to the far right. Next to the field it says: '(User Defined Data)', which is exactly what it is, extra data as defined by you. You can use this extra field to add and display any additional product-specific information. If you'd like to notify your customers when an item will ship, and that shipping time-frame will vary per product, you can enter the text to display in the Extension Data field, and with a minor customization you can add that to the page. This field can be a lifesaver if you have any other extra details about the product you'd like to add and you've already used your spec sheet field. The Extension Data field is a great tool for us as developers. With Extension Data, we can easily add extra data to the page without having to modify the database schema, or source code, so we've been able to modify the product and category display with Extension Data without taking sites off the upgrade path. If you're new to Xml Packages, XSLT, or AspDotNetStorefront customizations, this is a great place to get started.

1. Log in to the admin section of your site.
2. Navigate to a product you'd like to add extra information to through the tree menu under Organization > Manage Categories.
3. Click on the Extension Data tab to the far right.
4. In the first field: 'Extension Data (User Defined Data)', enter the information you'd like to appear on the product detail page.

Now that we have data to work with, we can add the extension data field to the Xml Package. Navigate to your site's Xml Packages folder, and locate the Xml Package that is used for that product. If you're not sure which one is being used, go back to admin and go to the main screen of that product. Under the first tab, there is a Display Format Xml Package dropdown menu. The Xml Package selected in that menu is the one being used for that product. Find that file name in your XmlPackages folder, and open it in your favorite text editor. After the file is open, search for the text "<xsl:template match="Product">". Xml packages use these 'template' tags to start a new piece of the template. For instance, in an Xml Package using variants, you'll probably find a 'template match="/"', which is the first template used when the page is loaded. In that template tag, you'll probably see a call to another template called '/root/Products/Product', which is the Product display template, and in there you might find another call to another template called '/root/Variants/Variant'. These are all different pieces of the template that contain different code that is used to control the display format of your product detail page. Each of these template pieces has a different structure of data beneath it, so you'll be able to access different parts of the product display. The Extension Data field is located under /root/Products/Product, so we'll want to find that template and add our Extension Data field there. You can add this field anywhere you like. You'll notice a lot of HTML tags like tables and divs, that will help you locate the correct place to display your Extension Data. Treat this document like a standard HTML page. The structure is similar, so if you want your Extension Data underneath your product description, search for 'description' in your document within the Product template. You'll probably find '$pDescription', this is where it's writing out the description content that you enter in admin. You can add a line break beneath that and add your extension data tag. Once you've found the correct location for your Extension Data field, you can easily place the tag by typing out the following: <xsl:value-of select="ExtensionData" disable-output-escaping="yes"> This is using a simple value-of XSLT element. We're displaying the 'value of' the Extension Data field. The second part of the tag: 'disable-output-escaping' is equally important. When set to yes, all of your HTML tags entered in to your Extension Data field will be 'escaped'. This way, if you'd like to add a line break with the HTML tag <br /> directly in the Extension Data field, it will be added to the code of the page instead of actually written out on the page itself. That's it! After you've added your Extension Data field to your Xml Package and saved your file, you should see your text showing up on your product detail page where it was entered. You may need to refresh your browser in order to see the change. What do you use the Extension Data field for on your site?  Share your experience with the community by leaving a comment below.

Keeping up with accessibility standards makes your website usable by a much larger audience. It also allows the search engines to accurately assess your site’s content. There are many steps to maintaining maximum website accessibility, some of which we’ll cover in future posts, but for now let’s start with arguably the most important one: Image ALT Text. Image ALT text, contained in the ALT attribute of an image, is a written explanation of the image’s message. The text appears when that image cannot be displayed. In some browsers the text also appears as the tooltip. The HTML looks like this: <img src=”images/vortxlogo.gif" alt="Vortx" /> Why is ALT text important?

1. Visually impaired shoppers using screen reader devices depend on ALT text to explain images. So do users who browse the internet with the images turned off, with text-only browsers, or using technology that doesn’t support certain image types. This is a huge group of potential customers that you’re alienating by not implementing ALT text.
2. Web crawlers look at ALT attributes to determine the relevance and validity of your site’s content. If you want your site to be optimally indexed by the search engines, you need appropriate ALT text on your images.
3. Images with properly coded ALT attributes tend to rank higher in image searches.
4. The ALT text acts as anchor text if the image is clickable; anchor text is given significant weight in search engine ranking formulas.
5. Image ALT attributes are required for valid XHTML.

The primary purpose to implementing image ALT text is to increase your site’s accessibility. ALT text may or may not directly improve your site’s rankings, but it will allow users with limitations and impairments to shop on your site and it is a must for valid XHTML. ALT text is not an opportunity to stuff a bunch of image-irrelevant keywords on your site in order to get more traffic. That actually makes your site less accessible to impaired users and you could be penalized for it by the search engines. If you use ALT text for the purpose of increasing accessibility, and you do so correctly, you will be rewarded. Remember that EVERY image must have an ALT attribute, even if it is null (alt=""), and that the text you use must present the content and function of the image. Here are a few tips on what to include in the attribute text:

• Product image ALT text should be the product name or a very brief description of the product, not a string of keywords. It needs to be readable.
• The ALT text of navigational images, such as arrows and menu tabs, should be the function of the image (“next” for a forward arrow) or the text that is in the image itself (“Customer Service” for a button that says Customer Service).
• Purely decorative images should have null ALT text (alt="") because there is no content or function. Whenever possible you should use a CSS background image for decorative elements so that you don’t have to assign a null ALT attribute and you avoid disrupting the flow of the page to the screen reader.
• Don’t include “image of ___” or “picture of ___” in the ALT text. It’s just not necessary.

Good news for AspDotNetStorefront users. The Version 8.0 release includes a fantastic new feature: Alt-text on product images. Prior to this release you had to do some complicated XML in order to put ALT text on your product images. Now the field is in the Product entry panel under the Search Engine tab. Thanks ADSNF!

In the current economic climate, my mind often drifts to the movies we all see, set in the days of The Great Depression (remember Cinderella Man?) and I focus on the “corner shop” and the community that was built up around it. Storekeepers watched out for each other, and also looked out for their regular shoppers, hoping that none of them would fall upon hardship and shouting loudly to make the public aware of real bargains. Fraud and petty theft were reduced, strangely enough, and camaraderie and citizenship were values that were celebrated. All of this is to say that I forecast (hardly inspired, really, since we are already seeing the beginnings of this!) a very real sense of “community” coming to the Web. Community Will Grow in Two Directions Store-owners will be happy to drop some of their competitive edge and work together for the good of all. I predict that links between sites will be more forthcoming and that co-operative marketing will thrive (“I will put a note advertising your socks in the box when I pack these running shoes – will you do the same for me?”). I think that we will see more online “malls” where a single shopper can find a wide range of goods and pay for them all at the gateway to the mall. I think that collaboration will be widespread and advantageous. Secondly, shoppers will also collaborate – this is the part we are already seeing so clearly. Shoppers twitter, discoverit and share their newly discovered knowledge widely. I predict that we will see much greater use of “forward to a friend“ in a world where real bargains are to be found. I think the fast-growing coupon sites will begin to be much more pro-active in encouraging coupon-fiends to spread the coupons around their community. I think that shoppers could well be encouraged to shop online at a store that is smart enough to help them cut their shipping costs with the following “you will pay just the same to ship three more items …. go now and ask your local friends and neighbors if they want to share an order” …. Or even “you will pay just the same to ship three more items ….would you like us to watch out for another shopper from your zip code and alert you both to the possibility of shared shipping?" Community will be king. How Can You Share in the Camaraderie? You should start immediately, thinking about the needs of your own market sector. Can you bring shoppers together in some way? You might be able to single-handedly help your consumers to form buying groups, or shared loyalty systems, or just information-sharing gatherings. You can reach out to owners of websites selling complementary products and consider co-promotions. You should definitely surf the web and find like-minded groups of people and start sharing ideas and listening to the thoughts of others. These are exciting times to join a community and benefit in many ways.

There are two reasons why social media should be part of your marketing strategy: 1. It's trusted 2. It's cheap In part 1 of "How to Create Cheap, Trusted Marketing" we're going to delve deeper into "It's trusted" and show you how you can start reaching out to the people who influence social media. Social Media is More Trusted Now than Ever In Edelman's 2008 Trust Barometer report, they found that "Social Networkers" are the most trusted source for information about a company or product. SNs are people who frequently speak out about companies and products, do independent research, and want companies to know what they have to say. Social Media is flourishing because of the perceived trust in SNs. Social Media allows SNs easy access to a wide audience, allows them to easily research and disseminate ideas, and allows them to use multiple channels to reach an audience. If you want to change public opinion about your product, a Social Networker is the place to start.  But remember, these people got to their positions by being savvy, and won't likely fall for marketing speak. How to Approach a Social Networker:

1. Find the Right One - Find the Right Person - Find an SN that cares about the kinds of products or companies you care about.  Look for SNs that are active across multiple platforms (blogs, Twitter, Facebook, Myspace).  You want to find someone that actively creates and shares information, has a wide audience, and who elicits active response from the people they are networked to.
2. Be Enthusiastic and Genuine - SNs got where they are by helping people steer clear of marketing BS. If you don't have a genuine love for the product you're sharing, it's going to be difficult to sway them.  Use specific stories, and relevant data when talking to SNs.  Give them the information, and let them decide for themselves.
3. Be Active with the SN and Their Community - If you found an SN that is right for your product, you should already be participating and engaging them.  Even before you approach them with your product or company, you should build up trust as someone who cares enough to participate, even when you don't have anything to gain.

How do you use social media to promote your business or product?  What are some methods that have helped your site succeed?  Leave a comment below. P.S. Make sure you sign up for our newsletter so you don't miss Part 2, The Cheap Part!

When you walk through the mall, think about the sights, sounds, and smells that greet you as you pass by a store. What makes you want to go in and look around?  That awesome pair of shoes displayed so nicely in the window or a gigantic, red “50% Off” sign?  What turns you off?  Loud music or merchandise piled everywhere without any organization? Many of the lessons learned in physical stores can be applied online too. Walk through this checklist of five brick-and-mortar inspired tips and see how your online store measures up. 1. Keep Things Neat and Clean Ever seen a store with stained floor or ceiling tiles, a dirty bathroom or dusty merchandise?  That’s how shoppers perceive your site if the details aren’t taken care of.  Make sure that you:

• Have a clean, appropriate, updated design.
• Have an About Us, Security Policy, Contact Us and other text pages that look and feel like the rest of your site.
• Have a custom 404 error page that looks like your site and, most importantly, helps redirect customers to a useful page.

2. Make Your Store Pleasant to Be In Do you enjoy stores with aisles so close together that you can’t walk past another shopper without knocking merchandise off the shelf?  Banish this claustrophobic feeling in your eStore by:

• Allowing whitespace on each page between design elements.
• Logically placing your products in categories and featured product listings. Add enough information to get customers interested, but not so much that it clutters the page.
• Removing all design elements that don’t serve a purpose.  If it doesn’t have a purpose, it doesn’t belong on the page; it’s only adding to the clutter.

3. Make Your Products Easy to Find When you’re looking for something specific in a large department store, what’s helpful?  Signs? Store associates? Logically grouped products?  Add all of these things to your eStore to improve the shopper’s experience by:

• Including a quality search option prominently on your site.  Make it accessible from all pages.
• Grouping your products into logical categories and sub-categories and making these top-level categories easily accessible from all pages of your site.
• Building your navigation structure (and information architecture) so that your shoppers know where they are and how they got there.  Breadcrumb trails are a great way to do this!  Make sure that your navigation includes common category and product names. Get into the mind of your shoppers, and design your site in a way that makes sense to them.
• Offering customer service in the form of live chat, a phone number, email address, and contact form.  Make these options easy to find just in case the shopper needs them.

4. Guide Customers Through the Shopping Process Have you watched a store associate behind a messy counter try to provide a quality checkout experience?  This major turn-off can be avoided online by:

• Ensuring that the checkout process is smooth and as quick as possible.
• Adding any helpful tips and navigation tools to guide the shopper through the process.
• Removing ambiguity over what the shopper should do next.  It should be obvious what button they need to click to continue!
• Including a process status indicator (i.e. Step 1: Shopping Cart, Step 2: Shipping, etc) to help shoppers understand the checkout process, know how far along they are, and increase their follow-through.

5. Make Checkout Easy When you go into a grocery store for a week’s worth of groceries and can’t find a cart or basket are you ever tempted to just leave?  Make sure that your eShoppers don't have the same problem by:

• Placing “Add to Cart” buttons in highly visible, intuitive positions – wherever a shopper might want to add an item to their cart, let them!
• Ensuring that your site loads quickly and has enough bandwidth to handle your traffic volume.  When people see that there aren’t carts out in front of a grocery store, they think it must be packed!  Keep your lag time down and customers won't know that your online store is getting slammed.

Have any pet peeves that really drive you nuts at the store (online or off)?  What do you see in brick & mortar shops that you apply to your online store? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

With the release of Google Analytics Event Tracking, users can learn about their customers in ways they previously couldn't. The biggest new feature,  from an eCommerce standpoint, is the ability to see what users are adding to their carts. Adding the new Event Tracking code to the Add to Cart buttons on product pages (which only requires modifying one line of code in many shopping carts like AspDotNetStoreFront) lets us capture the SKU and pass it into the ga.Js trackevent method to be recorded in Google Analytics. The method looks like this: _trackEvent(category, action, optional_label, optional_value) For example, we might want to send “Shopping Cart”, “Item Added”, and “SKU”. In reports from Google Analytics, we would then be able to narrow down results by category, and see which SKUs were added to a cart. Event Tracking can also monitor when items are deleted from carts. By tracking these events, clients could see which products are being constantly added to carts, but not purchased. Identifying which products are getting cut means you can make changes and hopefully increase conversions. Using the Event Tracking also gives a better understanding of bounce rates. Google measures a bounce as a single page hit and then exit. But, what if there is a video on a landing page, and a user hits "play" and watches the video? Previously, if the user watched the video and left, Google would count this as a bounce. With the event tracker, you can send the information about the Play button click to Google, and Google won't count it as a bounce when the user leaves. The Google event tracker can also track interactions with Flash and Ajax, which can be used to serve content using the same page, and thus only call the Google tracking pixel one time. An in-depth guide for the event tracker can be found here. If you have Google Analytics on your site and would like to know how Event Tracking can help you, send us an email, we'd be glad to help. What are some other applications that you'd want to use the new Google Event Tracker to monitor? What else do you want to be able to track with Google Analytics?  Leave a comment below!

In every AspDotNetStorefront site, there is a contact form page that visitors can use to send you a message. This is set up as a topic, and you can find it by going to www.yourdomain.com/t-contact.aspx. This page can be modified through the HTML editor just like any other topic by going to Content > Manage Topics in version 8.0 or Misc > Topics in earlier versions. Here, you can make any changes you like to the layout of the page, but what about modifying the actual email you get in your inbox when the contact form is submitted? Unfortunately, there's no HTML editor for that. Luckily, we found a great feature built right into AspDotNetStorefront that allows you to customize the contact form! Without this feature, you'll still get your contact form results in your inbox, but using this feature will allow you to change the way it's displayed. This is especially useful for quoting the original message in an email response to the visitor, but if you don't want those extra strange form tags to show up. What's a 'B1'? Who knows...let's get rid of it! This tutorial will show you how to turn this:

Name=Nicole Swan Phone=541-201-9965 EMail=nicole@vortx.com Subject=Contact Form Submit Test S1=This is a test message submitted from the Contact Us page. B1=Submit into this:

Name: Nicole Swan Phone Number: 541-201-9965 Email: nicole@vortx.com Subject: Contact Form Submit Test Message: This is a test message submitted from the Contact Us page. This tutorial requires a basic knowledge of HTML and XML Packages. If you know a little HTML but you're not familiar with XML Packages, read on! This tutorial will help you get to know them. So, what's an XML Package? Your AspDotNetStorefront site uses XML Packages for a variety of functions that you would not be able to live without. Your category and product pages need them to display content, your search function uses it to display results, your news, minicart, & customer receipts all depend on them as well. With this tutorial, you will use an XML Package to control the form results sent from your contact page.

1. Log in to your admin site, and head over to the AppConfig Parameters. This is located in the Configuration > Advanced menu in AspDotNetStorefront 8.0 or in the Misc menu in earlier versions.
2. In the top left, under the "Add New" heading, you'll see two fields for "Config Name" and "Config Value", followed by a drop-down box.
3. In the Config Namefield, type in 'SendForm.XmlPackage'.
4. In the Config value field, type in 'notification.contactform.xml.config'
5. In the drop-down menu, select XMLPACKAGE

Now, you should have a brand new AppConfig Parameter called SendForm.XmlPackage with a value set to notification.contactform.xml.config. This means your AspDotNetStorefront site will now look for the XML Package 'notification.contactform.xml.config' and use that to control the layout of the form results. So let's go create that XML Package!

1. Open the XML Packages folder in the root of your site.
2. Open the notification.newmemberwelcome.xml.config file in your favorite text editor*.
3. Save this file as 'notification.contactform.xml.config' in the XML Packages directory.

Now all we have to do is edit the file to display the results from the contact form, and not the new member welcome message. Let's start at the top. If your text editor shows line numbers, you'll find displayname="Welcome Email" on line number 2. Change "Welcome Email" to something a bit more accurate, like "Contact Inquiry Form." The rest of the information on line 2 can stay the same. Now go down to line 19. This is the template. This is the actual content that will be displayed in the email. Since we don't want the new member welcome email to be sent out, let's delete everything in between the <xsl:template match="/"> and </xsl:template> tags. Your XML Package should now look something like this: Now, we just need to put the form contents in between the <xsl:template match="/"> and </xsl:template> tags. First let's lay the groundwork. On the contact page, you have 5 fields to display:

• Name
• Phone Number
• Email
• Subject
• Message

So in the template in the XML Package, list those fields, and leave some space for the results to follow. This should look something like this: For every form field in the contact page, we want to display the results in the email. Each form field has several attributes, one of which is "name". If you view the source of your t-contact.aspx page, you can find the 'name' attribute for each form tag. This is what we'll need to display the results of the form. Below, I've listed the form fields and their corresponding 'name' attributes as they are in the out of the box contact form. Name - 'name' Phone Number - 'phone' Email - 'email' Subject - 'subject' Message - 's1' As you can see, the AspDotNetStorefront programmers made it pretty easy for us to figure out what is what. Now in the XML Package, let's add these values. We'll do this with the value-of element in XSLT.

<b>Name:</b> <xsl:value-of select="/root/Form/name" /> <br /> <b>Phone Number:</b> <xsl:value-of select="/root/Form/phone" /> <br /> <b>Email Address:</b> <xsl:value-of select="/root/Form/email" /> <br /> <b>Subject:</b> <xsl:value-of select="/root/Form/subject" /> <br /> <b>Message:</b> <xsl:value-of select="/root/Form/s1" /> Now save your document and test it out! You can easily apply further modifications, just treat the <xsl:template> area of the XML Package like an HTML page. You can add HTML tags, & CSS styles to every element displayed. If you'd like to add your company logo at the bottom of the message, or a special coupon code for visitors sending inquiries, just add the text or image content wherever you'd like it to appear. You can also add and remove form elements on the contact page, and display them on the page, just make sure your form fields each contain a unique 'name' attribute, and apply that with the value-of element in your Xml Package.

*All custom development of AspDotNetstorefront by Vortx is done with Microsoft Visual Studio. You can download the express edition here. You can also use any text editor such as notepad or wordpad, which both come with the Windows operating system. You can also use Notepad++ or Textpad, which are lightweight versions of Visual Studio, but heavyweight versions of notepad.

Branding your business or product is one of the most important decisions you'll ever make.  Great brands go down in history. Bad brands go up in flames. Kleenex, Q-tips, and Scotch Tape are brands that became household names. Many people say "Kleenex" when they really mean facial tissue because the idea of facial tissue in general has been branded with the name Kleenex. Kleenex has been the number one selling brand of facial tissue since 1924. Effective branding builds name recognition and, more importantly, trust.  Statistics show that trusted brands always outperform unknown or poorly branded products. As Jack Fischman, owner of Todaysgentleman.com and Amazingbeltbuckles.com, says, "With eCommerce stores you are trying to create a relationship with the customer. A relationship that assures them of your commitment to quality service, satisfaction, etc… it's important to be consistent with your image and branding so that when they see your brand something clicks in their head saying, ‘Oh! I recognize and trust that.’" Your online success depends on what happens in the minds of people who visit your website. Positive brands create a trustworthy image in your customer’s minds, which is important when privacy and security are serious customer concerns. A brand tells your customers what you promise to deliver: innovation, ease of use, quality, service, best price, etc… An effective brand name is:

1. Easy to remember
2. Easy to spell
3. Provides a positive mental image
4. Brands that positive image into the mind of potential customers.

Not only does your brand offer a promise to your customers, it tells people who you are.  What do you want to be remembered for? Is it the best quality? The best service? Innovation? Based on experience, Jack explains, “Subconsciously through a consistent brand your customers get a familiar comfortable reassurance that will draw them back to your business. Additionally it builds credibility.” “These concepts are even more important in eCommerce than with a physical brick and mortar store since the only way to establish a visual presence in a customer’s mind is through the branding.” This is especially important when someone visits your site, but doesn’t buy.  If your brand is memorable they will return and statistics show that a return visit has a 20% greater chance of resulting in a sale. How did you decide on the brand for your business? Did a market research firm help you, or did you go with your gut?  Are you happy with your choice, or would you change it if you could? Leave a comment and help the community better understand branding.

Using your computer effectively takes some practice. These tips save me time and headaches each day and I'm sure they'll do the same for you. Read through and give these a try - you'll be surprised at the great tools available and what you can do with them! Get the Tools:

1. Desktop Search - Google or Microsoft, they're both good. The second you don't know where something is, search for it.
2. Application Launcher - Launchers allow you to get to the screen, folder, or application you want without taking your hands off of the keyboard.I use Slickrun. Another launcher that is used around the office is Launchy.There are lots of these applications available for free.  Find one that works for you and set up your browsers, email, business applications, common folders paths and anything you use on a weekly basis. Get comfortable with this app and read the manual or help file.  You should be using it all the time.
3. A New Text Editor - For me, Word is too slow to load and Notepad is too limited in options. I use Notepad2 and I am very happy with it.  I use Textpad as well, but mostly for searching text within a bunch of files.  If you need to search many files in a folder, Textpad is still the best I’ve found. Notepad++ is also a very good alternative to Notepad2.
4. Multiple  Monitors - Ultramon gives you a taskbar on all monitors and helps you manage your windows on multiple screens.

My new favorite browser is Google Chrome.  I like the way it uses space, the flexibility of the tabs, and plenty more.  I also have the latest releases of Firefox and IE7 on my machine. The Firebug add-on for Firefox is a must-have for anyone involved with website design or implementation. It lets you see into the HTML of a webpage to find problems while they are rendered.  You can debug JavaScript, CSS, and HTML from this tool. Use a RSS Feed reader.  Don't browse or search for the information you know you want.  Find a feed that will deliver that content to you.  (Power Users should try Yahoo Pipes.) Organize Your File Structure Manage your file structure by starting with broad-themed folders and moving to very specific folders.

• For example, when I organize my project folder structure I start with "C:/Clients/Client/Project/Files." Yours would most likely be different.
• I always have a shortcut in my launcher to get to "C:/Clients" folder and I have shortcuts to get to most client and project folders too.
• Other folders I keep in the root of my drives are "Development," "Sandbox," and "General."

I try to keep all my files out of the roots of my drives and in a folder that is descriptive to what it contains. Your Desktop Go through all the icons on your desktop and move the files and folders to the correct place in your file structure.  Move all program shortcuts into your launcher application or into the Quick Launch bar. During my workday:

• I generally drop files and folders onto my desktop that are relevant to the projects I am working on.  I use my desktop as a reminder that I need to do something with these files.
• At the end of the day it's a combination of Outlook, our task management program and my desktop where I look for any loose strings that I need to clean up before work is done for the day.

Your Start Menu My launcher application has minimized my use of the start menu, but I still organize it so when I do need to use it the programs are where I can find them.  Keep the initial menu short and use the flyouts to refine your programs. Get Help These handy apps help you remove temp files from your machine and help detect and remove spyware.

• CCleaner: http://www.ccleaner.com/
• Spybot Search and Destroy: http://www.safer-networking.org/en/spybotsd/index.html

What programs do you use that save time and manage your computer?  Share your favorites below in the comments section.