Historical Timeline

BGGE, the business and the website, has undergone a lot changes through the years.  Implementing those changes for the business was relatively easy.  However, the BGGE.com was built through trial and error.  And believe me, there were a lot of errors.  I am a self-taught webmaster.  That means I have dedicated countless hours learning about coding, sitebuilder limitations, online brand identity, and marketing, including wading through the guru-hype which promised riches in days. 

Although I could have outsourced many of these tasks to others once I had established my online presence, I wanted the hands-on experience.  Ten years later, I still get a lot of satisfaction from creating a webpage from scratch or getting a new visitor through my marketing efforts.  Later this approach proved to be the right one for the business too.  How else could I teach my web-design clients to avoid the mistakes I made? 

The growing pains of BGGE.com are outlined beIow.  I will be revising this page during my "2013 revamp".  Please come back soon to see the updates.

• 2001 to 2002 - Development.  While teaching myself the basics of coding, the challenge was finding a hosting company with a website builder that simple enough to use and delivered professional results.  After several failed attempts, I found CityMax which had all the features and flexibility I needed.  I registered my domain name - bgge.com in 2002.     
• 2003 - Product research & partnership development.  I decided early on that I would design and market BGGE using the same free and low cost products, services, & resources that offered to my visitors.  To insure that they were also "high quality", I invested thousands of man-hours, much to the chagrin of my loved ones, researching the products that are offered on BGGE --- personally testing many of them.     
• 2004 to 2006 - One-stop shopping theme continued.  Online sales were good.  BGGE.com's Google search ranking was climbing.   But by the end of 2006, I noted that sales were not proportionate to the the increase in traffic I enjoying.  So I decided that I might need to revise my online marketing strategy to increase sales.
• 2007 - Shift to business related products & services.  After tax season in 2007, I decided to add a Tax FAQ channel after spending more & more time on the phone answering the same questions from business clients.  It soon became evident that many of them were beginning to feel the effects of a slow economy that I had noted in the previous year. 
• By 2008, with the mortgage crisis and the historical high food & oil prices, many of my clients were holding down two jobs and others were thinking about starting their own businesses.   In response,  launched BGGE Custom Web Design and started adding resources & products to help these "new" entrepreneurs work easier, learn quicker, & shop smarter, and still have a little fun at the end of the day.
• Expect more changes for BGGE in 2009.  By the end of the first quarter, BGGE Gift Shop & Redemption Center will offer corporate account partnerships for businesses that want to set up employee reward programs.  Low-cost bookkeeping and tax preparation services will be offered, too.

Last Updated
12/08/2008