Christopher Nielsen is CRM 2.0 Certified, an award winning multimedia producer and open source technology expert. With rich product knowledge on systems such as Joomla CMS and Info at hand CRM systems. As the founder of CNPintegrations.com he is the principle CRM consultant, software configuration specialist and Social CRM technology evangelist.
Be sure to visit the new http://www.JoomlaDesignServices.com web portal and blog at http://www.cnpintegrations.com/myblog/
Configuration of Complex Joomla CMS and Customer Relationship Business Management Platforms
December 10, 2009 by IBI · Leave a Comment
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 (our 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 SugarCRM 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 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.
Advertising Door Hanger Can Help New Business Down The Street
December 4, 2009 by IBI · Leave a Comment
Metro Hanger Advertising media is placed on home mailboxes, doorknobs, plus cars, apartment buildings, bikes, and other consumer connection points. Metro Hanger Advertising can consist of straightforward paper door hangers, plastic bag door hangers, and/or custom shaped door hangers. Our goal is to provide the Colorado small business owner with high quality, high impact, low cost door hanger advertising. We also will give you available advertising templates for ads, postcards, door hangers and flyers at no cost. Door hanger advertising can help announce to everyone in your area that you’re the .
Years ago, I started collecting junk mail and advertising gimmicks: door hangers, table top tent cards from restaurants, all kinds of direct mail especially letters. Thankfully, there are other methods of door-to-door advertising: leaving a flyer or door-hanger. Co-operative advertising is a variety of diverse businesses targeting the same neighbourhood and sharing the advertising space on a door hanger. mmLoadMenus(); Door hangers can be informative or advertising in nature. It’s basically a marketing material, where you hook the door hanger onto the door knob of a door advertising your product or service. Think of the promotional possibilities that door hanger advertising can afford a local bar or restaurant. The potential benefits of door hanger printing and door hanger advertising cannot be understated. The memo board door hanger is a visible and creative advertising medium. That’s not hard to understand
door hangers are just such a handy way to leave your advertising message. How it works Advertising messages are printed on door hangers, similar to the type used on “do not disturb” signs in hotels.
Related terms include jlm advertising, billboard advertising best cities, door hanger advertising, stainless steel back splash, and reagon outdoor advertising. terms door hanger advertising, jlm advertising, reagon outdoor advertising, billboard advertising best cities, and stainless steel back splash. Other realted phrases are jlm advertising, reagon outdoor advertising, stainless steel back splash, billboard advertising best cities, and door hanger advertising.
Other related phrases are billboard advertising best cities, reagon outdoor advertising, door hanger advertising, jlm advertising, and stainless steel back splash. Other related terms are jlm advertising, reagon outdoor advertising, door hanger advertising, stainless steel back splash, and billboard advertising best cities.
http://www.advertising-internet-online.com/advertising-door-hanger/
Wirat Muenpan is the webmaster of the Advertising Door Hanger Can Help New Business Down The Street – Quickly and Easily! http://www.advertising-internet-online.com/
Business Blog Marketing
November 19, 2009 by IBI · Leave a Comment
Business blog marketing is not all about profitability. To have a successful business blog, one has to take into consideration the impact it has on its market. It is a critical component to a successful business strategy.
With the availability of information right at the tip of their fingers, consumers have become smarter and more discerning in choosing brands and products to patronize. If you are looking for a profitable growth, it is advisable to follow business blogging code of ethics.
In setting up your business blog, keep the content short and relevant. Avoid excessive promotion as it will turn your customers off. The same way that lengthy paragraphs and sentences would. You must realize that it costs more to gain new customer than to keep existing ones. Therefore, loyalty is one of the easier ways to have steady revenue. Loyal customers also aids in propagating your product by word of mouth.
If you are a small business owner, blog marketing is of more importance to you. It is where you can tell your market how your product or services can help them. Visually impressive blog is not a guarantee of higher revenue. What you say on your website should be interesting enough to hold your customer’s attention. It should clearly provide the benefits of your product in a clear and readable format. And most important of all, it should eventually lead to action.
Business blog marketing is great marketing tool if used wisely. Setting up a customer-focused business blog is the secret to achieving long term profitability.
Tim Yu is a Internet Marketer who owns http://www.InternetBloggingProfits.com – He has helped hundreds of people on Starting Up an Internet Business.
He has recently developed a Free 7-Days Profitable e-course showing you a step by step process for starting your Internet Business . To learn how to start Making Money Fast without wasting your time and losing more money, visit http://www.InternetBloggingProfits.com/BlogSecrets
Writing a Online Business Blog
November 18, 2009 by IBI · Leave a Comment
If you are a small business owner, you absolutely should have an internet business blog. Especially if you are actually operating your business online. Yet, many business owners are still unsure what blogging can do for them. They may like the idea, but are not willing and able to keep up with the regular maintenence that blogging requires. But the truth is, a blog can be the thing that sets your business apart; giving you an edge over even much larger and more established competitors.The small business owner today must make a personal connection with their customers to compete with the bigger, more established companies. Don’t be fooled into thinking that you are only competing with your competitors’ prices. An internet business blog allows you to really speak to your potential clients. Your blog can cover everything from the technical to the inspirational–and anything in between. Through regular reading of your blog, people will become invested in your company-not just financially but emotionally. They will begin to regard you as a trustworthy friend as well as a reliable resource for the products and services you offer.Your blog can also become a treasure trove of research topics, articles, and other information.As people search the internet for information pertaining to your industry, they will find your blog as a consistently update resource. Today’s marketplace demands information along with excellent products or services. In fact, marketing has changed drastically in recent decades to reflect the demand for information by customers. Today’s consumer wants to know everything about the products they’re buying and the companies they are buying from.Your internet business blog must be practical, informative and untechnical so that the average ready can benefit from it. Most companies already have a website, and integrating a blog is a simple matter for your webmaster. Hiring a professional writer or freelance blogger to assist you in keeping your blog up to date is a great way to ensure it is regularly visted. Professonal writers can be very affordable and will help your blog stay searchable and engaging. There is no doubt that a blog is the best ay a sall company can keep their business flourishing without going overboard on the marketing budget.
Now, let me show you one good representation of an Internet Business Blog: Internet business blog. You may want to learn more about Ralf, the creator of this blog: About Ralf Skirr
Small Business Blogs, Blogging and RSS
November 18, 2009 by IBI · Leave a Comment
Two of the best and powerful promoting tools for small business today are blogs and RSS feeds. They are simple to set up and offer many benefits for the small business owner. You need to create an extensive network of contacts to make the most monetary proceeds and accolades from the small business trade industry related to your small business.
Blogs have become all the rage for personal and business use for several reasons. They are great communication tools, they can be informative, interactive, and integrate with many other platforms with ease, plus a blog will gain popularity in a search engine usually much quicker than a standard website could for the same search term.
RSS feeds provide fresh content that is updated in real time meaning it will never be content that has been parked on a page for awhile, and content that may not even be relevant anymore. RSS feeds on a wide and constantly increasing range of topics are obtainable easily through subscriptions to them and RSS readers. Many new browsers as well as the online blogs you can create have RSS subscribe and read features built into them making the process of getting RSS feeds for your website and blog that much easier.
Content and distinctive features on a website and in a blog are powerful agents that pull substantial quantities of traffic to your small business website and blog. Furthermore, the traffic that is pulled towards your small business website or blog comes from search engines redirecting them to your site. Why is this redirection from a search engine important to your website, blog, and earning potential? The redirected traffic is gathered from search users searching for keywords specific to your website or blog, raising the likelihood that this traffic will have a higher interest in what you present to them on your real estate or small business website and blog.
You do not need to buy expensive and complicated software programs to design and publish a blog online. Blogger.com and other online blog creation tools help you create free blogs following simple instructions, design templates, ad ons, and automated processing and publishing in as little as five minutes.
RSS feeds are very easy to find. Simply look for and subscribe to them on the websites you visit in the course of your real estate or small business work, and also on those websites you visit to get current event news and entertainment suggestions from. Many blogs and the newer browsers also have RSS suggesting tools to help you find RSS feeds you may not have known where to search for but that are strongly related to your small business or have a high interest level to them.
Your website designing tools may feature RSS, which will make it a snap to install RSS on your website. Not to worry if your website designing tools do not include this feature. You can still easily install RSS on your website. There are plentiful numbers of web articles and helpful advice and guidance in forums for small business, which can help you with the self installation of RSS on your website.
Blogging amplifies your connection with your contacts for durable working relationships that raises the potential for massive proceeds and enviable business reputation. Blogging also augments your rise in page rank in search engines. RSS for your website and blog will also have a pleasant rank lifting in search engines with little effort on your part besides installing RSS and the subscribing to feeds.
There you have it. Small business blogs, blogging, and RSS are effective, powerful promotional tools with many benefits that you should take advantage of for the success of your real estate or small business.
Our Virtual Assistants (VA) support real estate and business professionals nationwide with all of their marketing, technical, and administrative needs.
Visit our Virtual Assistant (VA) Directory to find a Virtual Assistant today.
What are the Benefits of Business Blogging?
November 18, 2009 by IBI · Leave a Comment
If you are a small business owner, blogs can be really helpful for you. Business blogs serve as economical and most effective marketing tool. You can reach large number of people and improve your business opportunities by blogging for your business.
In order to reach huge number of people, you must adopt effective marketing tools. A good marketing campaign ensures that people are aware about your brand. But, if you are a small business owner, you must adopt cost-effective marketing tools. This ways you can increase your sales and make huge profits by not spending huge amount of money in advertising about your product and service. Business blogs serve as effective and economical marketing tool. It is a corporate tool for communicating with customers or employees to share knowledge and expertise.
Business blogs are increasingly used by the business community. Blogs are an excellent method to share your company’s expertise. It allows you to communicate your knowledge and opinions with other members of the trade. You may also enter in to collaborations or partnerships with other firms who have similar website design business as yours. Blogging also helps in building additional web traffic. If you have posted an interesting blog, people like to read it, share their own views and so on. You can successfully use blogs to attract potential customers. By giving details about your own company, product or service, you can inform people and convert them to potential customers.
There are various reasons for using business blogs. Blogging is a low cost alternative to having a web presence as well as it is a best use of seo. If you don’t have money to get a website designed, blogging lets you put your company name out on the Internet. Moreover, it is easy to update your weblog. If you are not technology-savvy, don’t worry. Blog software is easy to use and get started. So, just decide who your target group is. This helps you to decide the content of your business blogs. Try to make your blogs very interesting yet informative. You must talk about your company, products, and services and invite people to post their views and opinions too. This is one of the best and most economical ways of marketing your brand. You can not only reach larger audience but also enjoy increase sales and profits.
Harry Works as a Content Writer in Neoteric UK which Provides excellent website design , SEO services across UK.
Can SEO Help Combat Marketing Budget Slash?
November 18, 2009 by IBI · Leave a Comment
As a small business owner you have an urgent need to rethink not only your existing business plan but also your marketing budget, and search engine optimization can provide a much needed respite by providing targeted traffic within a small spending compared to hiring new sales people.
Besides following the commonly given away practical advises like decreasing your debt, decreasing your expenses; increasing your savings and practicing frugality in your business and personal life; it is advisable to capitalize from your existing customers and attract more traffic to your online presence be it a website or ecommerce site or blog. Successful online marketing will ensure your survival. If you’re running a traditional set-up with not much of technology put to use, you will need to rethink options and start exploring internet marketing avenues to capitalize online resources at disposal. Don’t stop calling your existing clients and promoting your services or products through discounts or other traditional promotional schemes. You cannot afford to alienate them. But you will agree that the solution on how to drive more traffic to website and increase your web visitors’ conversion rate into leads depends on internet marketing strategies and especially search engine optimization can be an elixir for your business.
If your business has a website, launch some good promotional offers that can help convert your prospects into business. You also need a good online marketing plan as whatever mind blowing offer you have on display; it’s of no use if you do not have sufficient website traffic to be aware of such promotional schemes.
If you’re not yet aware of what SEO is, it’s high time to start educating yourself about it. There are various blogs run by SEO pro that can provide you useful information. It’s the right antidote needed to for successful internet marketing program within a small web marketing budget.
Just to get a head-start on how, what, why, when etc is involved with planning a SEO marketing drive to promote your website search ranking and to increase website traffic, follow these few basic facts:
1. With SEO, you can get your website placed on top rankings of major search engines. This gives your website better visibility, more number of visitors and an extended chance to reach out to your prospects before your competitors wake up.
2. SEO will help to turn your website into an online shop by increasing traffic and improving conversion rate. Hiring a professional SEO expert can deliver good results.
3. Organic SEO is free of cost and delivers results for a longer period of time compared to any pay-per-click advertising options. Hire a SEO consultant to kick-off your organic SEO program and save on cost and time.
4. Although Organic SEO is not rocket-science and you can find tons of online materials on do-it-yourself SEO practices it’s very time consuming. You can spend that time doing other direct client servicing activities and forming strategic growth plans. A SEO pro can help you save this time and even bring on board all the experiential tips and tricks that drive faster results compared to trial-and-error methods. So instead of bumbling and fumbling around experimenting with SEO, hire a SEO expert to take charge immediately.
Be active, be found and make online marketing the center of your activities to survive the recession besides following the conventional precautions. In the online war, it’s important to be found before your competitors. Internet marketing and especially SEO offers many avenues which are cost effective solution compared to traditional marketing methods with added advantage of proper accounting for every penny spent which is something every business owner wants to keep a tab on during severe liquidity crunch.
The US economic downturn is forcing many businesses to rethink their business model and especially marketing budgets due to severe liquidity crunch. While Barack Obama seems anti outsourcing whereas Bush and John McCain profess outsourcing is inevitable for growth. It’s high time you consider SEO for your marketing budget and inevitable element to your business model revision.
I have wide experience in search engine optimization, internet marketing and SEM campaigns. Find best SEO services provider and professional SEO expert in MA. Offers best internet marketing strategy to drive more traffic on your website.
Joomla CMS – CRBM technology configurations – 2 common mistakes to avoid
November 15, 2009 by IBI · Leave a Comment
Configuration of Complex 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 (our 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 SugarCRM to MS Project to Share Point 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 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.
Christopher Nielsen is CRM 2.0 Certified, an award winning multimedia producer and open source technology expert. With rich product knowledge on systems such as Joomla Integration, Joomla CMS and Info at hand CRM systems. As the founder of CNPintegrations.com he is the principle CRM consultant, software configuration specialist and Social CRM technology evangelist. Visit his blog at www.cnpintegrations.com/myblog/
Finally, Small Business Search Engine Traffic
November 11, 2009 by IBI · Leave a Comment
Small Business Search Engine TrafficBoy, if you own a small business and you are NOT getting your best keywords seen on the search engines, then you are missing out in a massive way. This discussion about small business search engine traffic needs to sink in rapidly!!!If that didn’t get your attention then you may need to check for a pulse.We ask one major favor as you’ve just landed here…PLEASE take the time you need to go through the info here and LET IT SINK IN. let yourself lose your opinions and be open to new, powerful ideas.Getting search engine traffic is an absolute must for small business as the long term return on investment from having your keywords on Google page #1 is just plain unbeatable!Get ready to be ablsolutely blown away when you read the following stats on why search traffic is so key for the small business owner…*** 91% of Internet users use search engines*** More than 250 million searches carried out daily in the US & UK alone*** 87% of all visitors come from a page 1 position*** 72% of all online transactions start with search enginesIf you are looking at those stats and they are not demading that you get into a program that gets your best keywords where they need to be, then we surely have a problem here!!!If you are serious about falling in line to get your share of the search traffic and you are ready to get small business search engine traffic, then you need the best, most powerful links you can get and you need to start getting them every day!!!Ta da, after months in prep time, small businesses are about to have a way to know how a small business can get search engine traffic from a company called Beehive Marketing.Beehive was started by former Madison Ave Creative Directors and Systems Professionals to create a combination of creative firepower with unreal technology. The way for a small business to compete online is with LINKING!!! PERIOD. And when you start working with Beehive you will start getting the links to your best keywords from the best sites on the web!Google assigns your positions by the value of the links pointing to your website. Beehive gets you the best links pointing to you each and every day.If you want to know how a small business can get search engine traffic, you need to speak with Beehive today.CLICK HERE TO VISIT BEEHIVE MARKETING GROUP NOW!!!
Mary Tibbes is a professional SEO expert living in Atlanta.
Tips For Getting The Best Website Design For Your Money
November 10, 2009 by IBI · Leave a Comment
Eventually every small-business owner realizes that they will need a website for their business, but figuring out where to start can be a challenge. Just understanding the technical lingo and all the options can be confusing, but with the right preparation you can have an impressive and easy to maintain website for your small business in no time.Check the competitionThe first place to start on your website project is to look at some competitor websites in your industry. You will want to know what your potential customers will comparing you to. You will also want to find out what the standard is for your industry in terms of the number of pages, the type of information and the general look and feel. If for example, your competitors have large sites and many interactive features then you will want your site be comparable, but if your competitors have small simple sites, then you know that you won’t need lots of bells and whistles. Prepare your informationBefore you meet with your web designer, gather some examples of competitor websites that you like. List what it is that you like and dislike about those sites. If you have any pamphlets or brochures for your business, have those ready for your designer as well. Choose some colors or have an idea of some color schemes that you like and if you have won any professional awards or have any important professional affiliations, put that information together because you will probably want to feature that on your website.Do you need a content management system?One important decision that you need to make about your website is whether or not you are going to need a content management system. Content management systems are typically used on larger sites, to control text, video, pictures etc. A content management system allows you to easily change and update the information on your site. This is useful for a website on which, for example staff photos and bios are added often or a newsletter archive is maintained. If you anticipate making many changes on your website, a content management system can save you time and money. With a content management system, the owner of the site can make the changes as needed, without having to wait for a web designer or webmaster to make the changes for them. This can be a very important feature because it allows you to keep your website current at all times so you’re making the best possible presentation to your customer. It can save you money because you will not have to pay your web designer to make the updates for you.Typically, a website that is more than 15 pages would be a good candidate for a content management system. The more information you have on your website the greater the chances are that you are going to need to keep that information updated. If your website is less than 15 pages, you probably will not need a content management system. WordPress as a content management system for small business WordPress is popular as a content management system for small businesses for several reasons. One it is that it is relatively easy to use. You do not need to be versed in HTML or any other programming language to handle WordPress. There are also many training videos and materials available on the Internet and also a number of plug-ins so that you can customize the software for your needs. WordPress is also useful for blogging which can help to keep your website information up to date. If you would like to show up higher in the search results, then WordPress is a good choice for that as well. Google has stated that WordPress is one of the easiest systems to crawl so it can help you come up higher in the search engine results.When you begin planning for your small business web site, start by checking competitor websites in your industry. This will give you an idea of approximately how many pages you will need as well as what type of features you will want on your site. Your goal will be to have your website look as good as, or better than your competitor’s. By planning ahead and knowing what your potential customers will be comparing you with, deciding how large you want your site to be, and what type of features you will need, you will be equipped to get the best possible website for your small business.
Kevin Kielty writes for Internet Marketing Advantage in Raleigh. Web design is his area of expertise. Internet Marketing Advantage specializes in Raleigh website design.
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