Personally, I over-thought our original blog approach when we first kicked it off. I was always on the lookout for the one “big idea” for my blog posting as it relates to web design and development.

I am now taking a different tack.

According to Rule #5 of the blogging article, “You need to read constantly to be a good blogger.” Personally, I am close to averaging about 2 hours a day just learning. Counting all of my Bloglines.com feeds, I am at 47 online sources including blog sites and web sites. I follow 7 offline sources (Business Week is my favorite). Listening to Joel Osteen one morning about two years ago, he challenged his listeners to turn their cars and commutes into a “University” and listen to audio CDs and podcasts rather than feeding the mind the bad news most radio broadcasts deliver. I took Joel’s sage advice and now dedicate my 20-30 minute commute to and from work each day into a time to listen and learn. My iPod is loaded with podcasts from design and innovation to web development strategies and tactics.

So what will I be doing different? Thinking from the perspective of a typical client who doesn’t have the time to follow all the trends and events of the web development industry. I will write brief summaries of interesting articles and blogs I discovery in my daily reading. Also, to help engage our client’s thinking about the success of their websites, we will post small and big ideas and concepts that come out of interacting with our clients and our own team.

Steve C. Kahle – Managing Principal – White Lion Internet Agency

Yesterday, I ran across an article about a “90 day same as cash” program launched for Blue Nile. Blue Nile claims to be the world’s largest online vendor of diamond engagement rings by the way.

Essentially, if you are a consumer in the market for a diamond ring costing between $250 – $25,000, you can elect to use Blue Nile’s “Bill Me Later” option.

What is pretty slick is how efficient the “Bill Me Later” option is at checkout. All a customer needs to enter is their date of birth and the last four digits of their Social Security number and presto – you get an approval notice in seconds.

The “Bill Me Later” approach is sure attractive to those who don’t want to mess with revolving credit card payments from a large diamond ring purchase. At the same time, I bet the Generation Y demographic, making up a good percentage of typical Blue Nile customers, is not afraid to use their credit card online.

For me, it has been over 11 years since I had to learn about color and clarity. If I was making a purchase today for a new engagement ring, I would go for the credit card payment to earn the miles. Overall, it will be interesting to see how the “Bill Me Later” ecommerce tactic impacts overall sales for Blue Nile relative to the economy.

In closing, you have to wonder if there could be a better online payment approach to stretch sales.

Steve C. Kahle – Managing Principal – White Lion Internet Agency