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
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Successful Joomla Web Site in 7 Steps
Building a Joomla web site can be a daunting task if you realize all that the Joomla CMS framework is capable of. We have broken this down into seven easy to follow steps that can get you started in the process of achieving superior results with your new portal. We hope this can help ease your mind and provide a simple process and approach.
Step One: Defining your business goals.
The first step in this process is to clearly understand what the goals are for investing your time and money into this project. What quantifiable results do you want to achieve with this initiative and who else will be involved in the process of achieving these goals. Very much like starting any new business you want a clear understanding of your SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats).
Step Two: Defining your Project Plan.
Once you have a clear idea where you are going you need to develop a strategic plan for getting there. Project plans need to consider where you want to go both short term and long term with this project. It needs to have a focused and phased approach that takes into consideration your available time and resources over time to sustain this project. It needs a timeline and content acquisition checklists that will help you stay on target and on focus with your priorities.
Step Three: Defining the Look and Feel.
The first actual development tasks with your Joomla Project are to define your Joomla Website design and choose your template or process of implementing one. There are three key parts of a template you need to consider.
1. Graphical design elements: Colors and style
2. Layout options: Wireframes or in Joomla terms Module Positions
3. Features and Functionality: Standards compliance, special modules and capabilities.
It is important to realize that the Joomla template is a foundation for which you will build your site and you need to consider this decision carefully. However, you can easily change templates in the future with often little effort.
Step Four: Defining Content and Navigation.
Now that you know how you want your Joomla web site to unfold, both from a design perspective and from a road map ahead you can start mapping out the intended content and collecting any graphics or generating article copy. Typically you will want to bring every page of content into an offline document that can be edited prior to inserting into your new site. Sometimes if this is a site redesign you can cut and paste from an existing site. If you plan to get the most out of search engine optimization you will want to get targeted keywords generated and pass these on to your authors for consideration in developing the copy.Now is a good time to think about the Sections and categories for which you will organize your content and how you want your users to navigate with the best possible user experience. It is a good idea to use a mind mapping tool to define your site navigation.
Step Five: Features and Functionality.
With a clear understanding of the content you want to present and manage you will have a better idea of the types of Joomla Extensions that you will need to implement this. With over 4000 extensions and the list is growing every day, you may need to make lists of the options, compare the features and review the demos and reviews before installing them on your site. Once you have narrow this down you can then test them on your new site once you get it installed. Sometimes you may find that there are not existing components that provide the features or functionality that you need. This will require creating a development spec that clearly itemizes the features you want to add to an existing extension or for building a custom extension for your site. It is a good idea to get this sorted out early in your development process.
Step Six: Installation and Configuration.
Once we have all of our objectives, a defined roadmap, site plan and specific template in hand we can begin the installation and configuration process. Some ISPs have automated tools for installing Joomla but I prefer to get the latest release directly from the Joomla.org site and to install it manually. Once Joomla is installed we go through a process of configuring this specific for your needs. Installing extensions, installing the template and setting up the parameters, once you get the baseline of your site configured with all of the components, modules and plug-ins and perhaps a couple place holder content articles and menu items it is a good idea to make a back up copy of this and there are inexpensive extensions that can automatically do this for you.
Step Seven: Populate your Joomla web site with content.
Having a good baseline for your framework in place and backed up prior to beginning to populate content and fine tuning the configurations helps you move quickly and safely through the content population stage in your project. This is the point where we provide training or you would go through tutorials on content management techniques. Once you get this underway most of the outcome is in your hands. With a good support team that is well rounded in both strategy, branding and marketing expertise as well as the technical support and programming expertise you can increase your effectiveness through a collaborative Joomla Website development approach. We highly recommend that you work with a qualified team to guide you through this process. In the end it will give you a much more professional web site, better train your team and give you the technical support to get the very best value out of your investment.
Moving Forward
Joomla CMS is a superior choice for growing a solid business online. There are endless extensible possibilities and freedom to expand this as a platform for success. There are many other steps you can take to optimize your content and leverage more in-depth capabilities of the Joomla framework over time but this should get you an overview of the initial steps for getting started. With a good strategic and tactical plan you can keep your focus. In a world fill with exciting possibilities it is very important not to lose sight of your intended business results. Regardless of your web expertise, choosing a qualified support team to help you build, launch maintain your project will give you the very best return on your time and capital investment.
Step One: Defining your business goals.
The first step in this process is to clearly understand what the goals are for investing your time and money into this project. What quantifiable results do you want to achieve with this initiative and who else will be involved in the process of achieving these goals. Very much like starting any new business you want a clear understanding of your SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats).
Step Two: Defining your Project Plan.
Once you have a clear idea where you are going you need to develop a strategic plan for getting there. Project plans need to consider where you want to go both short term and long term with this project. It needs to have a focused and phased approach that takes into consideration your available time and resources over time to sustain this project. It needs a timeline and content acquisition checklists that will help you stay on target and on focus with your priorities.
Step Three: Defining the Look and Feel.
The first actual development tasks with your Joomla Project are to define your Joomla Website design and choose your template or process of implementing one. There are three key parts of a template you need to consider.
1. Graphical design elements: Colors and style
2. Layout options: Wireframes or in Joomla terms Module Positions
3. Features and Functionality: Standards compliance, special modules and capabilities.
It is important to realize that the Joomla template is a foundation for which you will build your site and you need to consider this decision carefully. However, you can easily change templates in the future with often little effort.
Step Four: Defining Content and Navigation.
Now that you know how you want your Joomla web site to unfold, both from a design perspective and from a road map ahead you can start mapping out the intended content and collecting any graphics or generating article copy. Typically you will want to bring every page of content into an offline document that can be edited prior to inserting into your new site. Sometimes if this is a site redesign you can cut and paste from an existing site. If you plan to get the most out of search engine optimization you will want to get targeted keywords generated and pass these on to your authors for consideration in developing the copy.Now is a good time to think about the Sections and categories for which you will organize your content and how you want your users to navigate with the best possible user experience. It is a good idea to use a mind mapping tool to define your site navigation.
Step Five: Features and Functionality.
With a clear understanding of the content you want to present and manage you will have a better idea of the types of Joomla Extensions that you will need to implement this. With over 4000 extensions and the list is growing every day, you may need to make lists of the options, compare the features and review the demos and reviews before installing them on your site. Once you have narrow this down you can then test them on your new site once you get it installed. Sometimes you may find that there are not existing components that provide the features or functionality that you need. This will require creating a development spec that clearly itemizes the features you want to add to an existing extension or for building a custom extension for your site. It is a good idea to get this sorted out early in your development process.
Step Six: Installation and Configuration.
Once we have all of our objectives, a defined roadmap, site plan and specific template in hand we can begin the installation and configuration process. Some ISPs have automated tools for installing Joomla but I prefer to get the latest release directly from the Joomla.org site and to install it manually. Once Joomla is installed we go through a process of configuring this specific for your needs. Installing extensions, installing the template and setting up the parameters, once you get the baseline of your site configured with all of the components, modules and plug-ins and perhaps a couple place holder content articles and menu items it is a good idea to make a back up copy of this and there are inexpensive extensions that can automatically do this for you.
Step Seven: Populate your Joomla web site with content.
Having a good baseline for your framework in place and backed up prior to beginning to populate content and fine tuning the configurations helps you move quickly and safely through the content population stage in your project. This is the point where we provide training or you would go through tutorials on content management techniques. Once you get this underway most of the outcome is in your hands. With a good support team that is well rounded in both strategy, branding and marketing expertise as well as the technical support and programming expertise you can increase your effectiveness through a collaborative Joomla Website development approach. We highly recommend that you work with a qualified team to guide you through this process. In the end it will give you a much more professional web site, better train your team and give you the technical support to get the very best value out of your investment.
Moving Forward
Joomla CMS is a superior choice for growing a solid business online. There are endless extensible possibilities and freedom to expand this as a platform for success. There are many other steps you can take to optimize your content and leverage more in-depth capabilities of the Joomla framework over time but this should get you an overview of the initial steps for getting started. With a good strategic and tactical plan you can keep your focus. In a world fill with exciting possibilities it is very important not to lose sight of your intended business results. Regardless of your web expertise, choosing a qualified support team to help you build, launch maintain your project will give you the very best return on your time and capital investment.
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Tips to integrate Joomla CMS and CRBM Platforms
Joomla is a powerful framework for delivering Complex web portals. With over 4700 extensions and counting, the largest developer network in the world and the most user friendly interface has made the award winning Joomla CMS the fastest growing open source CMS project perhaps in the world. With millions of users and enthusiasts from all around the globe and a low cost of entry this is quickly becoming the dominant content management system (CMS) for small businesses (SMB's) and even larger enterprises and institutions. We compared Joomla vs Drupal and Joomla vs Wordpress which are other worthy technologies but Joomla seemed for us to be the best overall platform for recommending to our customers. As Joomla integrators and Joomla Component Developers we deliver complex Joomla configurations for a wide variety of customers. Joomla is a perfect framework for the micro small business owner that needs training and mentoring to work independently on building their web empire as well as the small business enterprise with complex Joomla configuration needs.
There are several layers in deploying a Joomla CMS project.
* Planning and content architecture
* Template Design and graphics
* Components and Configurations
* User experience
* Customer Programming
* Legacy System Integrations
* SEO and Marketing
* Joomla User Training
* Ongoing Technical Support
Just to name a few... With any technology there are different points of entry depending on the experience and technical aptitude of the humans interacting with the system, the technical and business process requirements and the overall dynamics of the organization implementing the particular solution. We CNP Consultants try to help folks "Get the most value out of their technology investment". Yea you will see this in our marketing but this is much more than hype. Value can be the key to success or failure. Among the biggest mistakes we have seen folks make and even made ourselves are:
Common Mistake #1
Just because you can do something with technology does not always make it practical.
I have personally implemented many powerful tools that accomplish their intended functionality but they actually never get used to their full potential by the end customers. While these were fun for us to build as developers and to see something cool that works, it did not really serve any of us well since our clients customers do not use them and thus they have a significant investment they are net getting a return on and thus until this first investment is paid for they are not all that excited to engage us to build more stuff.
The key here is determining first the business priorities of the project and then making sure everyone is listening to the needs of the end customer or user. Hey sometime folks build web tools just for themselves. I know I often post blog articles with a lot of links I want to not only share but also refer back to and we put plenty of tools online that we want to use ourselves as much as we want to and share with our customers. Just make sure you are clear why you are doing something and assess if it is going to deliver the right return on your investment.
Stay focused on what your customers are saying and what will yield the greatest return.
Technology implementation can be a never ending pit you throw money into, something that my father used to say about owning a luxury boat. If you are building your site for the shear ego of having a beautiful site with all kinds of creative features and functionality, have at it and of course we love to work with entrepreneurs with big ideas. However, like any relationship and any good investment a long term strategy is often much more practical. Our consulting customers get good advice about products and services that can grow their business or allow them to continue to get value from their investments. I have seen folks to often go for a quick sell and end up with dysfunctional customer relationships that ultimately cost more than the profit you made in the first place. Ask yourself many questions including "Is what I am doing today going to matter a year from now"? If you ask the right questions up front this can help you get the most out of your initiatives.
Technology is a moving target
One of the many reasons we got behind the Joomla CMS project as a core competency was because it was open source which offered freedom and scalable options for solving the greatest amount of business problems. We took the gamble from the trends in the market place that Joomla would continue to grow with features and stability and that the developer community would continue to be attracted to the Joomla framework thus building more confidence in the market place. With a scalable platform that is built on open source code for use was great since we wanted to work with technology that sold itself and that we could support and expand upon it to meet the needs of the types of customers we wanted to attract. Any kind of dynamic web portal project is a moving target and often needs to change course in mid stream. You have to keep good forward momentum yet listen to the trends in the marketplace so you can sail into the wind effectively. An innovative and scalable open source platform like Joomla is a perfect foundation for meeting this challenge.
But wait there is more...
A couple years ago, after a good year of working with Joomla we were looking for solutions that could actually help us build an all-in-one web based framework for managing our business in a Virtual Office Environment (everything accessible on the web). This is when after trying and implementing several CRM and project management tools ranging from Sugar CRM to MS Project to SharePoint we found Info@hand CRBM. This was the perfect platform since it was open source code base and integrated with the Joomla CMS and QuickBooks. Now after 3 years of connecting the dots we have a powerful web infrastructure with "Complete transaction life cycle management" and "Customer Relationship Business Management". Very very very cool platform... we love it and so do many of the customers we have introduced to it. Though this system is also wired up with the DimDim.com conferencing and collaboration suite it also fills many gaps in client customer collaboration. These types of regular new innovations continue to add low cost of entry tools and value to the small business.
Sounds complicated but it is also very simple if you have time as your friend
What we have learned as "early adopters" is that there is much more to it than the technology if you are going to be successful. Complex Joomla Integrations are getting simpler as this platform evolves. The old carpenters saying get the right tool for the right job is very good advice. Since there are so many tools now in our toolbox and we fully understand how they all can work together I know I can start talking about it and it does not take long to get that "deer in the headlights look" from a prospect. The trick here is making sure we establish a clear roadmap and strategy for implementing technologies that will bring the greatest reward to your business and value to our customers. This takes time and effort to get it right and should be done early on in your process.
Common Mistake #2
Just because you have the technology does not mean you should implement it.
The second most challenging aspect of implementing a complicated project is the thought process of "let's do it all at once". I have often had clients that want to load up their sites with a ton of components and then they want to throw these new features out to their customers or workforce all at once. Well this is a huge horse pill that never gets swallowed. Hate to say it but until recently I have been guilty of this myself. There is a fine line between "Build it and they will come" and "Here take a bite and let me know if you like it".
Remember this is all about relationship management
I remember back in my days of dating that it only takes one or two words to "turn off" and scare someone away. Essentially this is a similar process we go through for attracting customers. While you want to make sure what you are presenting is honest and has substance you do not want to overload, overwhelm folks with more information than they are particularly interested in at the moment. You also want to put out information and web tools in a way that they want to have them presented. As in listen well and be a good conversationalist. Such is the case even more now with the Social Technology boon. I used to say "it is not hard to fall in love since people are impulsive by nature but the real challenge is falling in love with the right one". The same is true with technology. It can be easy to get excited about some new features and want to add them right away to your site just because they are cooler than the site next door. However, every time you push something new out it may distract or turn off your customers.
In relationships of any kind they are best nurtured over time. Deploying technology is a complex multi dimensional relationship. Moving too fast has greater risk of failure for everyone involved. You actually have several relationships and processes that need careful consideration over time:
* Solutions: Customer Needs - Business Process Need - Technology Implementation
* Relationships: Vendor Teams - Client Teams - Customers
In Conclusion work smarter with a good plan
Plan carefully and gather the right information about your customers and how technology can get you the best results in Joomla Design as it relates to your business strategy. Make sure you deploy solutions over time with good the right vendors and the right customers. These systems have enough complexity that you have to really keep your eye on the ball or you can and will often times fail. None of us want to waste time or money and the wrong decision in this economy could cost you business. Before you travel anywhere it is a good idea to get directions, a map or invest in a GPS. Why would you not want to invest in good quality consulting to help guide you along the path of implementing technology?
Joomla Roadmap and Planning Guide
Value Builder Methodology
We have since built consulting practices to address these two common mistakes folks make with complex technology implementations. Yea sure we have to be geeks and able to wire all this stuff up and yes we do this well but the trick to getting value out of your technology is much more that the groovy tools we can dish out. With a few exceptions, most of the technology these days is all ready built and what that means is there is a greater need for configuration and being able to map the humans with the technology in a way that will allow you to stay focused on your priorities. Just start asking yourself questions like: What actions will give the best long term results? What will put out the fires of tomorrow before they start? How can I make this profitable to my company and add unique benefits to my customers?This should help get you on the right path.
There are several layers in deploying a Joomla CMS project.
* Planning and content architecture
* Template Design and graphics
* Components and Configurations
* User experience
* Customer Programming
* Legacy System Integrations
* SEO and Marketing
* Joomla User Training
* Ongoing Technical Support
Just to name a few... With any technology there are different points of entry depending on the experience and technical aptitude of the humans interacting with the system, the technical and business process requirements and the overall dynamics of the organization implementing the particular solution. We CNP Consultants try to help folks "Get the most value out of their technology investment". Yea you will see this in our marketing but this is much more than hype. Value can be the key to success or failure. Among the biggest mistakes we have seen folks make and even made ourselves are:
Common Mistake #1
Just because you can do something with technology does not always make it practical.
I have personally implemented many powerful tools that accomplish their intended functionality but they actually never get used to their full potential by the end customers. While these were fun for us to build as developers and to see something cool that works, it did not really serve any of us well since our clients customers do not use them and thus they have a significant investment they are net getting a return on and thus until this first investment is paid for they are not all that excited to engage us to build more stuff.
The key here is determining first the business priorities of the project and then making sure everyone is listening to the needs of the end customer or user. Hey sometime folks build web tools just for themselves. I know I often post blog articles with a lot of links I want to not only share but also refer back to and we put plenty of tools online that we want to use ourselves as much as we want to and share with our customers. Just make sure you are clear why you are doing something and assess if it is going to deliver the right return on your investment.
Stay focused on what your customers are saying and what will yield the greatest return.
Technology implementation can be a never ending pit you throw money into, something that my father used to say about owning a luxury boat. If you are building your site for the shear ego of having a beautiful site with all kinds of creative features and functionality, have at it and of course we love to work with entrepreneurs with big ideas. However, like any relationship and any good investment a long term strategy is often much more practical. Our consulting customers get good advice about products and services that can grow their business or allow them to continue to get value from their investments. I have seen folks to often go for a quick sell and end up with dysfunctional customer relationships that ultimately cost more than the profit you made in the first place. Ask yourself many questions including "Is what I am doing today going to matter a year from now"? If you ask the right questions up front this can help you get the most out of your initiatives.
Technology is a moving target
One of the many reasons we got behind the Joomla CMS project as a core competency was because it was open source which offered freedom and scalable options for solving the greatest amount of business problems. We took the gamble from the trends in the market place that Joomla would continue to grow with features and stability and that the developer community would continue to be attracted to the Joomla framework thus building more confidence in the market place. With a scalable platform that is built on open source code for use was great since we wanted to work with technology that sold itself and that we could support and expand upon it to meet the needs of the types of customers we wanted to attract. Any kind of dynamic web portal project is a moving target and often needs to change course in mid stream. You have to keep good forward momentum yet listen to the trends in the marketplace so you can sail into the wind effectively. An innovative and scalable open source platform like Joomla is a perfect foundation for meeting this challenge.
But wait there is more...
A couple years ago, after a good year of working with Joomla we were looking for solutions that could actually help us build an all-in-one web based framework for managing our business in a Virtual Office Environment (everything accessible on the web). This is when after trying and implementing several CRM and project management tools ranging from Sugar CRM to MS Project to SharePoint we found Info@hand CRBM. This was the perfect platform since it was open source code base and integrated with the Joomla CMS and QuickBooks. Now after 3 years of connecting the dots we have a powerful web infrastructure with "Complete transaction life cycle management" and "Customer Relationship Business Management". Very very very cool platform... we love it and so do many of the customers we have introduced to it. Though this system is also wired up with the DimDim.com conferencing and collaboration suite it also fills many gaps in client customer collaboration. These types of regular new innovations continue to add low cost of entry tools and value to the small business.
Sounds complicated but it is also very simple if you have time as your friend
What we have learned as "early adopters" is that there is much more to it than the technology if you are going to be successful. Complex Joomla Integrations are getting simpler as this platform evolves. The old carpenters saying get the right tool for the right job is very good advice. Since there are so many tools now in our toolbox and we fully understand how they all can work together I know I can start talking about it and it does not take long to get that "deer in the headlights look" from a prospect. The trick here is making sure we establish a clear roadmap and strategy for implementing technologies that will bring the greatest reward to your business and value to our customers. This takes time and effort to get it right and should be done early on in your process.
Common Mistake #2
Just because you have the technology does not mean you should implement it.
The second most challenging aspect of implementing a complicated project is the thought process of "let's do it all at once". I have often had clients that want to load up their sites with a ton of components and then they want to throw these new features out to their customers or workforce all at once. Well this is a huge horse pill that never gets swallowed. Hate to say it but until recently I have been guilty of this myself. There is a fine line between "Build it and they will come" and "Here take a bite and let me know if you like it".
Remember this is all about relationship management
I remember back in my days of dating that it only takes one or two words to "turn off" and scare someone away. Essentially this is a similar process we go through for attracting customers. While you want to make sure what you are presenting is honest and has substance you do not want to overload, overwhelm folks with more information than they are particularly interested in at the moment. You also want to put out information and web tools in a way that they want to have them presented. As in listen well and be a good conversationalist. Such is the case even more now with the Social Technology boon. I used to say "it is not hard to fall in love since people are impulsive by nature but the real challenge is falling in love with the right one". The same is true with technology. It can be easy to get excited about some new features and want to add them right away to your site just because they are cooler than the site next door. However, every time you push something new out it may distract or turn off your customers.
In relationships of any kind they are best nurtured over time. Deploying technology is a complex multi dimensional relationship. Moving too fast has greater risk of failure for everyone involved. You actually have several relationships and processes that need careful consideration over time:
* Solutions: Customer Needs - Business Process Need - Technology Implementation
* Relationships: Vendor Teams - Client Teams - Customers
In Conclusion work smarter with a good plan
Plan carefully and gather the right information about your customers and how technology can get you the best results in Joomla Design as it relates to your business strategy. Make sure you deploy solutions over time with good the right vendors and the right customers. These systems have enough complexity that you have to really keep your eye on the ball or you can and will often times fail. None of us want to waste time or money and the wrong decision in this economy could cost you business. Before you travel anywhere it is a good idea to get directions, a map or invest in a GPS. Why would you not want to invest in good quality consulting to help guide you along the path of implementing technology?
Joomla Roadmap and Planning Guide
Value Builder Methodology
We have since built consulting practices to address these two common mistakes folks make with complex technology implementations. Yea sure we have to be geeks and able to wire all this stuff up and yes we do this well but the trick to getting value out of your technology is much more that the groovy tools we can dish out. With a few exceptions, most of the technology these days is all ready built and what that means is there is a greater need for configuration and being able to map the humans with the technology in a way that will allow you to stay focused on your priorities. Just start asking yourself questions like: What actions will give the best long term results? What will put out the fires of tomorrow before they start? How can I make this profitable to my company and add unique benefits to my customers?This should help get you on the right path.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Joomla CMS best for Small Buisness
Joomla is a dynamic portal engine & free award-winning content management system that enables a web developer to build customized applications and dynamic websites. Joomla is most user friendly web development application. Users with minimal programming knowledge can also build websites on Joomla. Above all other benefits, Joomla is an open source solution that is freely available to everyone. Joomla is designed in such a way that it is easy to install and set up.
The framework of Joomla is written in PHP and it consists of modules that can be customized as per your website needs. Joomla is used all over the world for everything from - simple websites to complex corporate applications & it offers solutions that are easy to understand and quick to implement. Whether you are a Joomla expert or have just started working with Joomla, you will enjoy working on it. Joomla is used everywhere to power your websites of all shapes, sizes and tastes.
Joomla is user friendly because of following features:
For clients who needs specialized functionality, Joomla is highly extensible, with over thousands of extensions (most for free under the GPL license) are available in the Joomla Extensions Directory.
The core Joomla framework enables developers to quickly and easily build Data reporting tools, Application bridges, Inventory control systems, Reservation systems, Complex business directories, integrated e-commerce systems, Custom product catalogs and Communication tools. Since Joomla is based on PHP and MySQL, you're building powerful applications on an open platform that anyone can use, share, and support. The new MVC framework of Joomla is built to enable people with the basic Joomla knowledge to override the core of the CMS without actually modifying the original code.
Now a days Joomla is the most popular open source CMS currently available and this is evidenced by a vibrant and growing community of Joomla users and talented Joomla developers. Joomla’s roots go back to 2000 and at present with over 200,000 community users and contributors, the future looks bright for the award-winning Joomla Projects.
What is Content Management System (CMS)?
Content Management System as the name reveals allows the easy management of websites without knowing technical details of web development or one can say that Content Management System (CMS) is software that keeps track of each & every content on your website same as your the library keeps track of books. Also the main advantage of using CMS is that it requires almost no technical knowledge to manage contents. In simple words, a CMS will allow you to update your website contents easily and smartly. So, if you are a non-technical guy, then too CMS will allow you to update your website contents without much of a hassle.
For more information on Joomla CMS, Joomla Design Services, Joomla Development Services visit http://www.joomladesignservices.com
The framework of Joomla is written in PHP and it consists of modules that can be customized as per your website needs. Joomla is used all over the world for everything from - simple websites to complex corporate applications & it offers solutions that are easy to understand and quick to implement. Whether you are a Joomla expert or have just started working with Joomla, you will enjoy working on it. Joomla is used everywhere to power your websites of all shapes, sizes and tastes.
Joomla is user friendly because of following features:
- · Database Driven site engines
- · Browser uploading and images
- · Customizable layouts & dynamic forum
- · Polls, voting booths
For clients who needs specialized functionality, Joomla is highly extensible, with over thousands of extensions (most for free under the GPL license) are available in the Joomla Extensions Directory.
The core Joomla framework enables developers to quickly and easily build Data reporting tools, Application bridges, Inventory control systems, Reservation systems, Complex business directories, integrated e-commerce systems, Custom product catalogs and Communication tools. Since Joomla is based on PHP and MySQL, you're building powerful applications on an open platform that anyone can use, share, and support. The new MVC framework of Joomla is built to enable people with the basic Joomla knowledge to override the core of the CMS without actually modifying the original code.
Now a days Joomla is the most popular open source CMS currently available and this is evidenced by a vibrant and growing community of Joomla users and talented Joomla developers. Joomla’s roots go back to 2000 and at present with over 200,000 community users and contributors, the future looks bright for the award-winning Joomla Projects.
What is Content Management System (CMS)?
Content Management System as the name reveals allows the easy management of websites without knowing technical details of web development or one can say that Content Management System (CMS) is software that keeps track of each & every content on your website same as your the library keeps track of books. Also the main advantage of using CMS is that it requires almost no technical knowledge to manage contents. In simple words, a CMS will allow you to update your website contents easily and smartly. So, if you are a non-technical guy, then too CMS will allow you to update your website contents without much of a hassle.
For more information on Joomla CMS, Joomla Design Services, Joomla Development Services visit http://www.joomladesignservices.com
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