The Power of Design

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Design is everywhere. You can find it on our television and computer screens, in newspapers and magazines, on billboards, food packages — you name it. We live in a visual culture inundated with media and saturated with images we simply cannot escape. It can distract and annoy, but it also has the power to entice and inform. A design can even affect our overall perspective.

So why is design and creativity undervalued by many? If design evokes emotions, affects what we buy and enables us to absorb and process information in new ways. Design is much more than just visual aesthetics, is all about generating insightful solutions that put people and their needs first.

Design should entice and persuade. Design can help your business stand out from the competition, keep your brand memorable, keep your content user-friendly, and help your business make a good first impression. A professional designer has the potential to deliver those kinds of results.

Next time you take a walk, remember design is everywhere. I challenge you to explore your surroundings, I bet you will be surprised of what you find — and that’s the power of design.

September 19, 2016

By Cristian Garcia

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CRM Speed Dating

maxresdefault Every organization can benefit from a means to organize and track relationships. But like any important relationship, you don’t want to dive in blindly. Whether or not you have a customer relationship management tool in place, it’s smart to keep your options open.

When courting CRM options, there’s a few broad categories you’re sure to encounter, each with their own benefits and potential drawbacks:

The Brand Name – Expensive, high-maintenance, and proud.

Examples: Salesforce is king

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The Niche – This variety of CRM solution is built specifically to cater for your industry. A key here is to get to know which CRMs comparable organizations are using. If many or most of your peers use something specific, there’s a good chance they’ve found something that suits your needs. For instance, since the Drupal CMS is quite popular in the the non-profit community, these same non-profits might want a CRM that plays well with Drupal.

Drupal CRMs: CiviCRM, CRM Core, RedHen.
NonProfit CRMs: NeonCRM, DonorPerfect

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The Fixer Upper – Cheap, sometimes free even. There isn’t going to be much automation and the features are going to be relatively low when compared to the brand name. But some of these tools are filled to the brim with potential. As is the case with even Brand Name Solutions, the secret to any CRM solution is that you get out only what you put in.

ZoHo is a great example. Customizations can improve an already great product, but it’s great on its own.

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The Custom Solution – This is basically the ‘going stag’ solution. Whether you’re working with a brand name, specialized niche solution, or a fixer upper, a general CRM framework works best when’s its tuned to your business model and the individual workflow of the individual(s) who will be using the finished tool.

But if your business model is unique? Well, then you might need a custom CRM built from the ground up. You might even be building your own software as a service (SAAS). Unless you have a talented developer on your team, you’ll likely need to pay a proven development team with experience in your general wheelhouse.

A moderately to extremely customized CRM brand
Your brand new and wholly owned CRM solution (Make sure you own it!)

August 30, 2016

By John Dudley

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July 13th: Update Your Drupal Site Today

securityreview This is just a friendly update for any and all with Drupal websites: there’s a critical security update released mid-day today.