Are you ready for your future customers?
Over the past few months I have been giving a lot of thought about who our customers are and will be in the future. What is it they want and need most? Kind of ironic sine the past three years we have been doing this and thought we finally had it nailed. Well the biggest lesson I have learned is that providing what a customer wants is a bit of a science and can often be predictable but delivering what they need is a moving target and not so predictable.
Since we work in the Joomla CMS , customer relationship and engagement space we have to not only set an example for customer experience but we have to help guide folks on ways they can use our CRBM Platform to harness theirs. I have been reluctant in the past to build "service packages" since we are a service provider and do not for the most part sell products. However, what I have found is that the number one thing our customers need is value. The question has been how can we deliver value in a way that those new to these technologies can understand while delivering it in a model that is easy to embrace. Thus we launched a series of Kick start programs and value building initiatives. This is what our customers were asking for.
Welcome to the Value Builder Methodology:
“If you don't know where you are going, you might wind up someplace else.” - Yogi Berra
We have seen the buzz in the CRM world to be all around building value for the customer so here are some key steps we take in our new Value Builder programs.
1. The first questions we have to ask are what are your biggest pains and what are the biggest hurdles for increasing your sales potential.
2. Then we have to clearly identify your priorities and map them to the required technologies that can increase efficiency and achieve business goals.
3. Then we have to identify and configure what technology can meet the desired results.
4. Then we have to integrate the people and processes with the new technology.
5. Then we have to follow-up with alignment and support solutions designed to help you navigate through the bumps in the road.
There are often additional steps in the process but part of the planning with this kind of Value Building Methodology is the fact we customize a specific plan for each customer.
Smaller business units will drive efficiency and change the landscape forever:
Some projects involving many stake holders require much more in-depth documentation and a more traditional approach. This slows down the process and makes the implementation much more challenging. Breaking down a horse pill into smaller bite sizes makes anything much easier to digest. One big advantage with smaller businesses or business units is their ability to respond in a collaborative real time process. This can not only significantly increase the efficiency in execution and improve the return on your investment but it can allow you to better target an action plan that meets the dynamics for your work group and untimely better service to your customers. I think as enterprises realize this and have to respond to the downturn in the economy and combined with the trends of social media dictating customer expectations you will find redefined business models that will have smaller divisions acting as smaller companies within a larger company umbrella.
The changing tide will wash surprises up on the beach.
Since well before the big melt down and shift in US politics we have been seeing some dramatic changes in the way customers are choosing vendors.
• It is harder to win loyalty
• There is a longer venting process
• Customer are in control of engagement
• They are eager to embrace next generation tools
• Building Value is key to successful relationship
• Consolidation and efficiency is in big demand
• Customers are cautions due to uncertain future in the marketplace
Greater opportunity will be there for those prepared when spending loosens and the economy gains momentum in an upturn. If you can make a solid case for delivering value and quality to your customer while providing a complete and emotional experience with your customers you will be prepared for the relationship. If you embrace and develop business processes and efficient business units that can leverage a Customer Relationship Business Management system or CRBM Platform of technologies you will be prepared to successfully respond and manage your new and existing relationships. Simply put having an aligned business strategy combined with the tools to effectively execute the strategy will be the formula for success with the customers of tomorrow in an ever changing economy.
Let’s start a conversation
The new customer relationship management wave is Social CRM and what I like to call "Customer Conversation Management" or CCM. If used right these tools can be a roadmap to meet your next generation of customers. What we have found to be a great resource for gathering customer information and insight was to use social media tools blended with a CRM strategy and other web technologies to engage in ongoing two way conversations. While we all want to hear from our customers it is also important to have this conversation with your peers. The other thing to think about is the depth of these conversations since no one wants to listen to someone full of themselves or with nothing interesting to bring to the conversation.
Business is getting personal again with the wave of web 2.0 social technologies digging their heels in. Relationships in the new social space will follow the same principles of any good relationship. Just like in a personal dating engagement no one likes a bragger and you need to start off as friends if you want the romance to live long. In a business relationship you need to make sure that you connect personally since you are doing business with people. A machine can be configured but humans need to be nurtured and responded to.
For more information on the security issues related to Joomla Website Design and Joomla Website Development please visit http://www.joomladesignservices.com We shall be happy to demonstrate our expertise with Joomla.
Friday, June 18, 2010
Friday, June 11, 2010
3 Top Considerations for Choosing a Joomla Template Design
The high level difference between building a traditional static web site design and a Joomla CMS site is not that different since we have to consider all of the same strategic, development and design specifications but the actual development process is very different. Joomla CMS uses a template architecture that allows you to separate the content management and functionality from the design interface. This has many advantages but it requires a different approach to our planning and implementation processes if we are to get the most out of this new Web 2.0 socially aware business model.
Weigh the cost factor of building or buying
Before you go down the path of designing a template you need to make sure you weigh the business impact on the decision to built it or buy it. It is important to realize that a full design process for a Joomla template is much more than just creating some appealing graphical elements in Photoshop. Make sure you review the cost implications and determine where this fits in your priorities. When companies do a realistic assessment of considering this choice we have found that in most cases it is far more cost effective to brand and alter an existing template vs going through the entire ground up design process.
The advantages for using a template
One of the advantages of pre-built templates is you can look at ideas and weed out subjective roadblocks and hone in on what is going to appeal to your clients and their customers. There are so many wonderful Joomla template design specialists that have built incredible and flexible templates with this need for a unique business identity and cost efficiency in mind. Most of these design teams have several highly skilled full time designers and content developers working on maybe one new design per month. Most small businesses can not afford to hire a team with this diverse skill set to build a one off design for their company and thus, why the template strategy was built into the Joomla framework to allow for this flexibility in the first place. It actually creates a win for everyone since designers now have a greater market for their creativity and business owners have a more cost effective solution to achieve world class designs that they can re-brand with their own identity. Another great reason why this approach is so popular and advantageous is that, for the most part, swapping a template (if the actual new joomla template is designed correctly) can take very little time to implement. Where, in the past changing a look and feel for a web site was a rather laborious process of altering every page.
Three key elements of a template:
There are three high level evaluation considerations for choosing or designing a Joomla template design.
1. Graphics and Branding
2. Content Placement
3. Features and functionality
Graphics Elements:
The graphics elements in a well designed template are among the easiest to change by design. Most come with layered source files that allow you to tweak files and make changes to get the fine tuning of your branding to match in the final rendition of your presentation. Most are designed with style variations out of the box to allow you to quickly get a look and feel that aligns with your brand identity. Many cases you can change the logo to your own, change a few settings in the back end and be done. One of the key underlying features of a Joomla template is that it is built using cascading style sheets (CSS) which means that it gives you the flexibility to tweak other template attributes such as fonts and bullets or other typography attributes. Make sure you consider the quality of the CSS development, availability of source files and use rights as part of your decision for implementing a template.
Content Placement:
Traditional design would typically start with a sketch of ideas about where you want your content to show up. This leads to what is called a wireframes mock up to indicate where content is to be placed and help identify what types of content will go where. In Joomla they call this module positions because Joomla is built to allow you to assign particular content to particular module locations. When you are picking your template make sure you consider where you want to place content and if the module positions in that template will support the specific content you have in mind for now and in the future. Keep in mind that just because there is a module, for example, in the left position that you have to populate content there. Most module positions will adjust dynamically depending on if content is assigned to it or not. Once you see how this works on a few demo sites it may open your mind with new ideas about what you may want to try with your site.
Features and Functionality:
Having a joomla template that supports your desired features and functionality is very important. As you add new components and extensions to your site you need to make sure that the template you chose will support them. With the growing need to adhere to web standards and to meet web accessibility requirements you have to make sure your template framework will support any required features and that it is compatible with standards or targeted browser platforms. There are also many new “eye candy” capabilities with the advancements of AJAX libraries that are becoming the norm. Things like “litebox” which brings an image to the front of focus and grays out the back ground or special menu or tab modules that require some code integrations to make them work effectively (mootools is a good example).
Other considerations:
It is good to review all three of these elements in your preferred template or design mock ups with an experienced Joomla professional prior to choosing your template or engaging in a design project. There are a lot of well planned layouts, graphic designs and feature rich capabilities to choose from but you have to strike the right balance with each element to get the best option for your particular needs. Keep in mind there are new templates being generated all the time and with the themplate framework in Joomla you can easily change templates in the future but you need a good foundation. This is especially true if you are just getting started. Your template is the foundation of what you will build and position your content around in a Joomla CMS web site. Another important consideration is the support available from the particular template development teams and the availability of documentation or tutorials for the template features. Having good documentation can save you and your team time and money supporting your project in addition it can help you realize possibilities or limitations of your Joomla template before you implement it.
For more information on the security issues related to Joomla Website Design and Joomla Website Development please visit http://www.joomladesignservices.com We shall be happy to demonstrate our expertise with Joomla.
Weigh the cost factor of building or buying
Before you go down the path of designing a template you need to make sure you weigh the business impact on the decision to built it or buy it. It is important to realize that a full design process for a Joomla template is much more than just creating some appealing graphical elements in Photoshop. Make sure you review the cost implications and determine where this fits in your priorities. When companies do a realistic assessment of considering this choice we have found that in most cases it is far more cost effective to brand and alter an existing template vs going through the entire ground up design process.
The advantages for using a template
One of the advantages of pre-built templates is you can look at ideas and weed out subjective roadblocks and hone in on what is going to appeal to your clients and their customers. There are so many wonderful Joomla template design specialists that have built incredible and flexible templates with this need for a unique business identity and cost efficiency in mind. Most of these design teams have several highly skilled full time designers and content developers working on maybe one new design per month. Most small businesses can not afford to hire a team with this diverse skill set to build a one off design for their company and thus, why the template strategy was built into the Joomla framework to allow for this flexibility in the first place. It actually creates a win for everyone since designers now have a greater market for their creativity and business owners have a more cost effective solution to achieve world class designs that they can re-brand with their own identity. Another great reason why this approach is so popular and advantageous is that, for the most part, swapping a template (if the actual new joomla template is designed correctly) can take very little time to implement. Where, in the past changing a look and feel for a web site was a rather laborious process of altering every page.
Three key elements of a template:
There are three high level evaluation considerations for choosing or designing a Joomla template design.
1. Graphics and Branding
2. Content Placement
3. Features and functionality
Graphics Elements:
The graphics elements in a well designed template are among the easiest to change by design. Most come with layered source files that allow you to tweak files and make changes to get the fine tuning of your branding to match in the final rendition of your presentation. Most are designed with style variations out of the box to allow you to quickly get a look and feel that aligns with your brand identity. Many cases you can change the logo to your own, change a few settings in the back end and be done. One of the key underlying features of a Joomla template is that it is built using cascading style sheets (CSS) which means that it gives you the flexibility to tweak other template attributes such as fonts and bullets or other typography attributes. Make sure you consider the quality of the CSS development, availability of source files and use rights as part of your decision for implementing a template.
Content Placement:
Traditional design would typically start with a sketch of ideas about where you want your content to show up. This leads to what is called a wireframes mock up to indicate where content is to be placed and help identify what types of content will go where. In Joomla they call this module positions because Joomla is built to allow you to assign particular content to particular module locations. When you are picking your template make sure you consider where you want to place content and if the module positions in that template will support the specific content you have in mind for now and in the future. Keep in mind that just because there is a module, for example, in the left position that you have to populate content there. Most module positions will adjust dynamically depending on if content is assigned to it or not. Once you see how this works on a few demo sites it may open your mind with new ideas about what you may want to try with your site.
Features and Functionality:
Having a joomla template that supports your desired features and functionality is very important. As you add new components and extensions to your site you need to make sure that the template you chose will support them. With the growing need to adhere to web standards and to meet web accessibility requirements you have to make sure your template framework will support any required features and that it is compatible with standards or targeted browser platforms. There are also many new “eye candy” capabilities with the advancements of AJAX libraries that are becoming the norm. Things like “litebox” which brings an image to the front of focus and grays out the back ground or special menu or tab modules that require some code integrations to make them work effectively (mootools is a good example).
Other considerations:
It is good to review all three of these elements in your preferred template or design mock ups with an experienced Joomla professional prior to choosing your template or engaging in a design project. There are a lot of well planned layouts, graphic designs and feature rich capabilities to choose from but you have to strike the right balance with each element to get the best option for your particular needs. Keep in mind there are new templates being generated all the time and with the themplate framework in Joomla you can easily change templates in the future but you need a good foundation. This is especially true if you are just getting started. Your template is the foundation of what you will build and position your content around in a Joomla CMS web site. Another important consideration is the support available from the particular template development teams and the availability of documentation or tutorials for the template features. Having good documentation can save you and your team time and money supporting your project in addition it can help you realize possibilities or limitations of your Joomla template before you implement it.
For more information on the security issues related to Joomla Website Design and Joomla Website Development please visit http://www.joomladesignservices.com We shall be happy to demonstrate our expertise with Joomla.
Friday, June 4, 2010
Joomla CMS Protection : Six Tricks for Keeping the Crooks Away
2010 has been a boom year for web hackers. I hear that overall hacking was up around 600% during the last year reported by Joomla ! web protection specialist Tom Canavan. Tom wrote a book labeled “Joomla! Web security” released through Packt publishing. A handful our customers experienced hacker difficulties this year which is undoubtedly something which keeps all of us on our toes. A large majority of the hacks tend to be more embarrassing than anything however, many do damage intellectual assets, client assurance along with corporate identity. Although hacking occurs in many public website systems and Content Management systems the Joomla! online community is among the fastest to reply as it is using one of the biggest worldwide systems of Joomla Developers as well as skilled programmers. In our struggle of keeping the bad guys away we've drawn together a few ideas along with links that you can look at.
Tip One: While creating and designing any Joomla! website remember to keep on top of a high quality protection system as well as fit these expenses in your regular budget. A dynamic website needs frequent consideration which indicates a continuous investment of your time as well as resources to help keep this up. Hackers pound away at the central Content management system platform as well as third party plug-ins in search of vulnerabilities. If you always make sure your primary Joomla CMS as well as extensions are operating using the newest security patches you will save yourself lots of complications simply by protecting against a large portion of vulnerabilities. The more time a component is offered but not patched the greater probability a hacker has to crack into your infrastructure. Remember, that for almost any reasonable website, you place lots of time as well as treasure into making this your home on the internet and if you don't invest in guarding it the whole place may be blown up in a puff of smoke.
Tip Two: Use professional components whenever feasible and be ready to help with some of those initiatives that aren't. The reason is, supporting the code are serious individuals and overall costs works into the achievements as well as durability of those components. It's a significant responsibility in order to support the stability and advancement of those development initiatives. The healthier you are able to enable them to develop into the healthier your own code choices are going to be in order to develop your individual internet system over a period of time.
Tip Three: “Keep a clean house” as they say. You should clear away any unused components and modules. This will not just help in reducing the ways for any hacker to get access it will even increase the efficiency within your website. Ensure file permissions are going to allow you the mobility you'll want to build out articles however, button down anything else in order to additionally prevent risks.
Tip Four: Check out the method of utilizing a security tracking program. Often these solutions will be offered via your current Internet Service Provider. We've worked with the “Securelive” solution developed especially for Joomla! and thus far it is doing a fantastic job. There were a few performance troubles while we were first having it set up but now it is very effective. Learn about it from www.securelive.net.
Tip Five: Backup everything regularly and do not forget. This provides you with a far greater feeling of protection on several levels as well as defends you against more than hackers, and also protects against “human failures” too. You might want to take a look at www.joomlaplug.com and http://www.akeebabackup.com/ for a couple Joomla! component alternatives we have used.
Tip Six: Have a look at exactly what security vulnerabilities might impact your site most. The more you know the better prepared you will be. Here are a few blogs and posts we located which will further assist your own study ways for stopping hackers from spoiling your entire day as well as sending you and all of your company in “fire drills and rescue missions”
For more information on the security issues related to Joomla Website Design and Joomla Website Development please visit http://www.joomladesignservices.com We shall be happy to demonstrate our expertise with Joomla.
Tip One: While creating and designing any Joomla! website remember to keep on top of a high quality protection system as well as fit these expenses in your regular budget. A dynamic website needs frequent consideration which indicates a continuous investment of your time as well as resources to help keep this up. Hackers pound away at the central Content management system platform as well as third party plug-ins in search of vulnerabilities. If you always make sure your primary Joomla CMS as well as extensions are operating using the newest security patches you will save yourself lots of complications simply by protecting against a large portion of vulnerabilities. The more time a component is offered but not patched the greater probability a hacker has to crack into your infrastructure. Remember, that for almost any reasonable website, you place lots of time as well as treasure into making this your home on the internet and if you don't invest in guarding it the whole place may be blown up in a puff of smoke.
Tip Two: Use professional components whenever feasible and be ready to help with some of those initiatives that aren't. The reason is, supporting the code are serious individuals and overall costs works into the achievements as well as durability of those components. It's a significant responsibility in order to support the stability and advancement of those development initiatives. The healthier you are able to enable them to develop into the healthier your own code choices are going to be in order to develop your individual internet system over a period of time.
Tip Three: “Keep a clean house” as they say. You should clear away any unused components and modules. This will not just help in reducing the ways for any hacker to get access it will even increase the efficiency within your website. Ensure file permissions are going to allow you the mobility you'll want to build out articles however, button down anything else in order to additionally prevent risks.
Tip Four: Check out the method of utilizing a security tracking program. Often these solutions will be offered via your current Internet Service Provider. We've worked with the “Securelive” solution developed especially for Joomla! and thus far it is doing a fantastic job. There were a few performance troubles while we were first having it set up but now it is very effective. Learn about it from www.securelive.net.
Tip Five: Backup everything regularly and do not forget. This provides you with a far greater feeling of protection on several levels as well as defends you against more than hackers, and also protects against “human failures” too. You might want to take a look at www.joomlaplug.com and http://www.akeebabackup.com/ for a couple Joomla! component alternatives we have used.
Tip Six: Have a look at exactly what security vulnerabilities might impact your site most. The more you know the better prepared you will be. Here are a few blogs and posts we located which will further assist your own study ways for stopping hackers from spoiling your entire day as well as sending you and all of your company in “fire drills and rescue missions”
For more information on the security issues related to Joomla Website Design and Joomla Website Development please visit http://www.joomladesignservices.com We shall be happy to demonstrate our expertise with Joomla.
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Shopping Cart Ecommerce with Virtuemart, Joomla and QuickBooks
One of the most powerful and popular capabilities of a Joomla website is the ability to deliver robust ecommerce solutions. While there are a growing number of options for ecommerce in Joomla CMS, the pioneer and still the most popular shopping cart option is the Joomla Virtuemart shopping cart extension. It has been exciting to watch how a great basket of ideas has grown to become one of the most popular engines for ecommerce on the web.
Small businesses like it because it is FREE to download, it is easy to implement and maintain and it is scalable to meet the needs of their business as it grows. Shoppers like it because it looks great, is intuitive to use and is secure for handling their transactions. Developers like it because there are many extensions, accounting systems integrations and it is open source code so they can deliver real world business results and be the hero.
Let’s start with a quick overview of the core features and then I will get to some real exciting stuff that I like about this solution.
Virtuemart release 1.1.4
Brief General Features
1 : Capable of using Secure Sockets Layer (https) Encryption (128-bit)
2 : Flexible Tax Models
3 : Shoppers can manage their User Accounts (registration required)
Brief Product Catalogue Features
1 : Powerful Web-Administration Interface
2 : Manages an unlimited Number of Products and Categories
3 : Can be used as a Shop or just as an Online-Catalogue
Administration Features
1 : Multiple Images and Files (like Spec Sheets and Flyers) per Product
2 : Product Attributes (like Size or Color) can be added to Product
3 : Product Types for Classification (like "Car", "Motorbike" or "Music Album")
Payment Modules
1 : capable of live Credit Card Processing
2 : pre-defined Payment Gateways like authorize.net®, PayPal, 2Checkout, eWay, Worldpay, PayMate and NoChex
3 : extend your Shop with other Payment Modules using the Payment Module API!
Virtuemart Extensions:
In addition to the many core features there are many folks that have taken initiatives to build add-on’s and themes to enhance this Joomla extension with an even more rounded collection of capabilities for both look and feel of the shopping experience and functionality to serve niche markets.
Templates:
Virtuemart has been around for a while, has a pretty nice user interface and is overall very flexible for delivering a comfortable and astatically pleasing customer experience. However, I happen to like the surge of interest in developing template options for Virtuemart.
I think one of the reasons many of the template design vendors have not jumped on board with template designs for Virtuemart has been that unless you deliver Virtuemart as part of the installation it can be difficult for the average non-technical user to install. I think this will only get better over time and since it has grown in popularity there is now a stronger business case for vendors to invest in this.
Payment Gateways:
One of the biggies for setting up ecommerce is having a connection between your shopping cart and a payment gateway. Something I especially like is that connecting to PayPal with Virtuemart is a real no brainer. Just enter an email address for your PayPal accounting and you are mostly “DONE”. While Authorize.net is another popular gateway there are several others supported and since the Virtuemart framework is open source, well, you can build your own if needed.
Small Business Management Solutions – Real world value
The real power and value for your small business with the Joomla Website Design and Virtuemart combination is the ability to integrate Joomla and Virtemart with other accounting and Customer Relationship Management systems.
Synchronize with QuickBooks and CRM
The key integration that I am particularly interested in is the Info@hand Customer Relationship Business Management platform, where there is a bridge between the users in a Joomla/Virtuemart experience and the contacts and accounts in info@hand CRM. With this solution you actually manage your products inside of the CRM (info@hand) and then synchronize this with your Virtuemart extension in Joomla. Then to make this even more interesting, when a customer makes a purchase an ecommerce invoice is passed to info@hand and associated with the account so you can then manage all of your accounts from a centralized dashboard in info@hand... And then to make this even more exciting you can synchronize info@hand with QuickBooks Accounting software so that you have a full transaction life cycle management solution.
Why we feel Joomla and Virtuemart are the best solution for small business ecommerce:
As a Joomla Developer we have implemented sites for customer ranging from selling a single product to working with companies with huge databases of products. In this experience we have found the Joomla and Virtuemart solution to be very easy for our customers to configure and manage. It offers most of the functionality out of the box and if you use PayPal for your payment gateway it is about a easy as eating pumpkin pie to set up.
We hope this overview is helpful and if you ever need configuration support custom coding or training on the Joomla Website Development or Virtuemart solution we would be happy to talk with you.
For more information on Joomla Website Development and Design services please visit http://www.joomladesignservices.com
We shall be happy to demonstrate our expertise with Joomla.
Small businesses like it because it is FREE to download, it is easy to implement and maintain and it is scalable to meet the needs of their business as it grows. Shoppers like it because it looks great, is intuitive to use and is secure for handling their transactions. Developers like it because there are many extensions, accounting systems integrations and it is open source code so they can deliver real world business results and be the hero.
Let’s start with a quick overview of the core features and then I will get to some real exciting stuff that I like about this solution.
Virtuemart release 1.1.4
Brief General Features
1 : Capable of using Secure Sockets Layer (https) Encryption (128-bit)
2 : Flexible Tax Models
3 : Shoppers can manage their User Accounts (registration required)
Brief Product Catalogue Features
1 : Powerful Web-Administration Interface
2 : Manages an unlimited Number of Products and Categories
3 : Can be used as a Shop or just as an Online-Catalogue
Administration Features
1 : Multiple Images and Files (like Spec Sheets and Flyers) per Product
2 : Product Attributes (like Size or Color) can be added to Product
3 : Product Types for Classification (like "Car", "Motorbike" or "Music Album")
Payment Modules
1 : capable of live Credit Card Processing
2 : pre-defined Payment Gateways like authorize.net®, PayPal, 2Checkout, eWay, Worldpay, PayMate and NoChex
3 : extend your Shop with other Payment Modules using the Payment Module API!
Virtuemart Extensions:
In addition to the many core features there are many folks that have taken initiatives to build add-on’s and themes to enhance this Joomla extension with an even more rounded collection of capabilities for both look and feel of the shopping experience and functionality to serve niche markets.
Templates:
Virtuemart has been around for a while, has a pretty nice user interface and is overall very flexible for delivering a comfortable and astatically pleasing customer experience. However, I happen to like the surge of interest in developing template options for Virtuemart.
I think one of the reasons many of the template design vendors have not jumped on board with template designs for Virtuemart has been that unless you deliver Virtuemart as part of the installation it can be difficult for the average non-technical user to install. I think this will only get better over time and since it has grown in popularity there is now a stronger business case for vendors to invest in this.
Payment Gateways:
One of the biggies for setting up ecommerce is having a connection between your shopping cart and a payment gateway. Something I especially like is that connecting to PayPal with Virtuemart is a real no brainer. Just enter an email address for your PayPal accounting and you are mostly “DONE”. While Authorize.net is another popular gateway there are several others supported and since the Virtuemart framework is open source, well, you can build your own if needed.
Small Business Management Solutions – Real world value
The real power and value for your small business with the Joomla Website Design and Virtuemart combination is the ability to integrate Joomla and Virtemart with other accounting and Customer Relationship Management systems.
Synchronize with QuickBooks and CRM
The key integration that I am particularly interested in is the Info@hand Customer Relationship Business Management platform, where there is a bridge between the users in a Joomla/Virtuemart experience and the contacts and accounts in info@hand CRM. With this solution you actually manage your products inside of the CRM (info@hand) and then synchronize this with your Virtuemart extension in Joomla. Then to make this even more interesting, when a customer makes a purchase an ecommerce invoice is passed to info@hand and associated with the account so you can then manage all of your accounts from a centralized dashboard in info@hand... And then to make this even more exciting you can synchronize info@hand with QuickBooks Accounting software so that you have a full transaction life cycle management solution.
Why we feel Joomla and Virtuemart are the best solution for small business ecommerce:
As a Joomla Developer we have implemented sites for customer ranging from selling a single product to working with companies with huge databases of products. In this experience we have found the Joomla and Virtuemart solution to be very easy for our customers to configure and manage. It offers most of the functionality out of the box and if you use PayPal for your payment gateway it is about a easy as eating pumpkin pie to set up.
We hope this overview is helpful and if you ever need configuration support custom coding or training on the Joomla Website Development or Virtuemart solution we would be happy to talk with you.
For more information on Joomla Website Development and Design services please visit http://www.joomladesignservices.com
We shall be happy to demonstrate our expertise with Joomla.
Saturday, May 1, 2010
JomSocial for Joomla CMS Perfect Companion for Social Communities
JomSocial is a perfect tool of Joomla Website Design for meeting the demands of the marketplace and our overall shift in cultural interaction notably called socialeconomics. The idea was to build conversations around topics that can help folks better understand not only what is at stake but perhaps where they can contribute their ideas and creativity in a way that can have impact on the end game. This www.givetoed.org community allows folks to interact with most of the popular social networking and community collaboration tools in a way that remains personal yet captures the spirit of teamwork.
1 : Platform for communication, collaboration and education
The GiveToEd.org platform leveraged all of the key features found in the JomSocial Community suite for Joomla CMS and has the intention of centralizing conversational information that can increase awareness about targeted topical categories. The ability for anyone to contribute blog articles, calendar events and comments around these topics seems like a perfect application of these tools. Since the JomSocial components are useful for expanding the user profile fields in Joomla CMS it is a huge compliment for a variety of web applications that want extended user profiles and registration form processing. I was an avid user and big fan of another such tool for several years now called Community Builder components. These were the first for the Joomla platform and are still a great choice for Social Networking sites and extending user profiles. However the overall architecture of the JomSocial suite of community tools is a little more user intuitive for a facebook style niche social community.
2 : We will see more and more niche social communities moving forward
I think we will see more of these types of niche communities over time since organizations like Linked in are the business networking Chambers of Commerce of the future. Businesses are competing globally now and our personal social circles are also much more diversified and geographically dispersed. As an example I joined facebook a while back but did not find many folks on there just a few early adopters, social media geeks like me. Since leavening the Mpls MN music scene in 2000 after a rewarding 15 year career in the music/entertainment business, I have been longing to connect with many of my old friends and colleagues. A few weeks back I found a few folks that knew a few folks that new a few folks and within a week I was instantly connected with nearly 300 wonderful people that I really missed and appreciate. They and I have been able to passively and personally interact in conversations in the weeks since. It is really neat to see what many of the folks, some I have not seen for 10 years, have been up to. Though I am half way across the country in a different world as a family man a computer geek I am able to connect to a part of me that I could have by no other means.
3 : Relationship management tools will be the norm of tomorrow
The Givetoed.org community we built is hoping to bring our local communities together around a central purpose of improving our public education. Social community and relationship management tools like this play an important role and create a bridge for people to communicate at a level they could not before. For example you can look at this two ways; One, you can get those spontaneous thoughts out with quick short messages that syndicate in real time for instant response to a broad audience quickly or you are able take your time with well articulated content you wish to share that could have a lasting effect on others opinions. These social web tools can help fill the gap of communication and collaboration between where we were not too long ago and where we are now and into the future.
4 : Public Education is just one community that needs social media conversations
If the next generation of schools are going to be effective and affordable we will have to adapt to a world to a world we have yet to understand. Just think, when a 1st grader this year graduates from college it will be 2026 give or take a year. Look back on what happened in the past 16 years and tell me if you could have predicted where you would be today back then. I am thankful that the technologies like JomSocial for Joomla CMS much like Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms have evolved to connect people and help us manage these many relationships My hope is that many sites like our www.Givetoed.org social community web portal will bring people together to Collaborate, Communicate and Educate on important areas within our society. We learn more efficiently through interpersonal communication than by any other means. I hope you drop by and have a look around and even better yet leave your comments.
For more information on Joomla Website Development and Design services please visit http://www.joomladesignservices.com
We shall be happy to demonstrate our expertise with Joomla.
1 : Platform for communication, collaboration and education
The GiveToEd.org platform leveraged all of the key features found in the JomSocial Community suite for Joomla CMS and has the intention of centralizing conversational information that can increase awareness about targeted topical categories. The ability for anyone to contribute blog articles, calendar events and comments around these topics seems like a perfect application of these tools. Since the JomSocial components are useful for expanding the user profile fields in Joomla CMS it is a huge compliment for a variety of web applications that want extended user profiles and registration form processing. I was an avid user and big fan of another such tool for several years now called Community Builder components. These were the first for the Joomla platform and are still a great choice for Social Networking sites and extending user profiles. However the overall architecture of the JomSocial suite of community tools is a little more user intuitive for a facebook style niche social community.
2 : We will see more and more niche social communities moving forward
I think we will see more of these types of niche communities over time since organizations like Linked in are the business networking Chambers of Commerce of the future. Businesses are competing globally now and our personal social circles are also much more diversified and geographically dispersed. As an example I joined facebook a while back but did not find many folks on there just a few early adopters, social media geeks like me. Since leavening the Mpls MN music scene in 2000 after a rewarding 15 year career in the music/entertainment business, I have been longing to connect with many of my old friends and colleagues. A few weeks back I found a few folks that knew a few folks that new a few folks and within a week I was instantly connected with nearly 300 wonderful people that I really missed and appreciate. They and I have been able to passively and personally interact in conversations in the weeks since. It is really neat to see what many of the folks, some I have not seen for 10 years, have been up to. Though I am half way across the country in a different world as a family man a computer geek I am able to connect to a part of me that I could have by no other means.
3 : Relationship management tools will be the norm of tomorrow
The Givetoed.org community we built is hoping to bring our local communities together around a central purpose of improving our public education. Social community and relationship management tools like this play an important role and create a bridge for people to communicate at a level they could not before. For example you can look at this two ways; One, you can get those spontaneous thoughts out with quick short messages that syndicate in real time for instant response to a broad audience quickly or you are able take your time with well articulated content you wish to share that could have a lasting effect on others opinions. These social web tools can help fill the gap of communication and collaboration between where we were not too long ago and where we are now and into the future.
4 : Public Education is just one community that needs social media conversations
If the next generation of schools are going to be effective and affordable we will have to adapt to a world to a world we have yet to understand. Just think, when a 1st grader this year graduates from college it will be 2026 give or take a year. Look back on what happened in the past 16 years and tell me if you could have predicted where you would be today back then. I am thankful that the technologies like JomSocial for Joomla CMS much like Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms have evolved to connect people and help us manage these many relationships My hope is that many sites like our www.Givetoed.org social community web portal will bring people together to Collaborate, Communicate and Educate on important areas within our society. We learn more efficiently through interpersonal communication than by any other means. I hope you drop by and have a look around and even better yet leave your comments.
For more information on Joomla Website Development and Design services please visit http://www.joomladesignservices.com
We shall be happy to demonstrate our expertise with Joomla.
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Friday, March 5, 2010
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