The following articles highlight professional technology works produced by Vangie Beal for various online media publications.

Electronic Commerce (Ecommerce)

Top 2012 Ecommerce Trend: Retailers Need to Move to Mobile (Ecommerce-Guide.com)
The "I'm thinking about it" stage of optimizing for mobile customers has passed. It's now a must-do for even the smallest of online retailers.

10 Open Source Shopping Carts to Run Your Ecommerce Business (CIO)
For businesses that rely on online transactions, open source shopping carts are a good alternative to proprietary ecommerce software: They are a fraction of the cost and are supported by large communities of users and developers.

A Hassle-Free Return Policy is the Best Policy for Online Merchants (Ecommerce-Guide.com)
Tips to create a return policy that will provide a good customer experience without losing your small business Web shop profits.

Mobile Commerce: iPad and Tablet Shoppers Buy More (Ecommerce-Guide.com)
Research shows a large increase in ecommerce website traffic from smartphones, but the conversion rate is much higher on iPads and tablets. Is your ecommerce website optimized to cash in on that trend?

Tealeaf Offers Insight to Mobile Customer Behavior (Ecommerce-Guide.com)
For e-commerce business owners who want to capitalize on the m-commerce trend, Tealeaf offers analytics for the growing mobile shopper base.

PayPal Handles PCI Compliance for SMB Ecommerce Merchants (Ecommerce-Guide.com)
While the phrase PCI compliance is enough to make a small business ecommerce merchant groan, the reality for merchants is that compliance is required in this day and age of online shopping -- regardless of the size of your online business.

Social Media & Social Networking               

Top 10 Social Media Tips for Small Business Marketing (SmallBusinessComputing)
The following top 10 social media tips for small business marketing will help you understand how to interact with customers in online social spaces and also guide you in building better, smarter relationships with customers on social networks.

7 Tips to Manage Customer Service on Facebook (Ecommerce-Guide.com)
The following Facebook customer service tips and tools can help you to provide top-notch customer service through this communication channel.

Juice up Your Facebook Page with Shopping Tabs (Ecommerce-Guide.com)
While people on Facebook use the social networking site to learn more about a company or to get special offers, the verdict is still out on whether Facebook will really move forward as a profitable shopping platform.

Enterprise Applications & Call Center Technology

Salesforce.com CRM Spring 11 Release Reviewed (EnterpriseAppsToday)
With new Chatter and Jigsaw integration, Salesforce.com has once again redefined online customer relationship management (CRM) with its Spring 11 release.

A Closer Look at Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Online (EnterpriseAppsToday)
Microsoft rolls out the online version of Dynamics CRM 2011 and a new Marketplace for CRM apps. Does the new version live up to all the pre-launch hype?

Tips for making the business case for CRM analytics – and what can be gained (SearchCRM)
Providing exceptional customer service that exceeds customer expectation is the service level organizations strive for. Without the right technology and processes in place, companies may never achieve this level of service.

When is the right time to overhaul contact center technology? (SearchCRM)
The contact center is the heartbeat of an organization’s CRM. It’s also an area where contact center technology can lag and daily operations function on outdated customer service technology.

Oracle's latest cloud CRM release comes amid controversy with rival Salesforce.com (EnterpriseAppsToday)
Oracle has unveiled new call center and marketing features for its cloud CRM service – just as the company's rivalry with Salesforce.com heats up.

What is ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning)? A Technology Word Definition (Webopedia.com)
Short for enterprise resource planning, ERP is business management software that allows an organization to use a system of integrated applications to manage the business.

Small Business Marketing

Online Marketing Trends for Small Businesses to Know in 2012 (SmallBusinessComputing)
There is no better time for small businesses to take advantage of online marketing.  Today, there are many online marketing channels to suit any type of business and any size marketing budget.

Constant Contact Helps SMBs Manage Social Media Marketing (Ecommerce-Guide.com)
Small business owners can drive social word-of-mouth with new a product called Social Campaigns.

Top 10 Social Media Tips for Small Business Marketing (SmallBusinessComputing)
The following top 10 social media tips for small business marketing will help you understand how to interact with customers in online social spaces and also guide you in building better, smarter relationships with customers on social networks.

Email Marketing: Segment Lists for Targeted Campaigns (Ecommerce-Guide.com)
There are a number of tactics that small business owners can use to boost email marketing efforts. One technique that will help you send relevant communications to specific people in your list is called email list segmentation.

Computer Hardware & Software

Wipe, Don't Reformat, Your Old Hard Drives (SmallBusinessComputing)
The fact that reformatting a hard drive doesn't completely erase the data stored on it is both a blessing and a curse depending on your circumstances.

Microsoft Vista Home Networking Setup and Options (PracticallyNetworked)
The most daunting part of upgrading to Windows Vista may be trying to figure out where in the layers of menus the networking and file-sharing options are hidden.

Nice Looks, Cool Head: Guardian 921 with Sentry LX Fan Controller Review (SysOpt)
Sleek and appealing, NZX's Guardian 921 case provides plenty of space for gaming hardware, but the Sentry LX fan controller might be of limited utility to all but over-clockers or relative novices.

Blade Servers: A Quick Reference (Webopedia)
Blade servers are outgrowing at a faster rate than traditional rack-mount servers. Using a blade can be as easy as using an expansion card — only this "expansion card" comes with one to four processors, memory and disk storage.

Expand Windows Home Server With Add-ins (PracticallyNetworked)
An active Microsoft Home Server developer community has produced many useful add-ins. Here are three that we tried and liked.

The Internet and Technology

Defend Yourself Against Identity Theft (Webopedia)
In today's society, you often need to reveal personal bits of information about yourself, such as social security numbers, a signature, name, address, phone numbers, and even banking and credit card information. If a thief is able to access this personal information, he or she can use it to commit fraud in your name.

Chatting Your Way to Success with Live Support (Ecommerce-Guide.com)
While customers have come to expect this type of greeting when shopping at a brick-and-mortar store, Internet customers are also being offered a similar experience when shopping online, albeit World Wide Web style.

How Wireless Networks Work (Webopedia)
Even when you have a wired network already in place, a wireless network can be a cost-effective way to expand or augment it.