Articles - Page 177

Agentic AI for Agencies in 2026

bmckeiver

Growth and positive change are always welcomed in professional organizations and endeavors. However, sometimes this can also present new challenges.
Particularly when an individual or organization has gotten used to a content management system, upscaling can be tough. Adding new content types, new clients, new members, and new devices can present certain struggles that those using the system must overcome.
Every CMS has its own level of scalability and its own features to help usher in growth. Knowing what to look for (and what to watch out for) during this expansionary period is important.
<h2>Beware of Compatibility Issues</h2>
When it comes time to expand your use of a CMS, you should be aware of potential compatibility issues. Let’s say the system you have is optimized for creating spreadsheets or ledgers for tracking financial data. If you’re looking to use a new type of document or file extension in the same program, you should check to make sure its supported.
Many of the top CMS programs on the market are designed to be flexible with the types of files that can be used. But this doesn’t mean that is always the case – check ahead of time and see if there are any add-ons that you need to install to make sure your CMS keeps working as intended.
There’s also the possibility that you may want to add new devices and new locations. Cross-platform functionality is a popular feature of the top CMS providers out there, but its always good to make sure your system supports the changes you want to make.
<h2>Ensure You Can Manage Permissions Properly</h2>
Let’s say you’ve just landed a new client, or hired a new employee, and you want to make sure they can use your CMS comfortably for collaborative projects.
However, you may not want the new party to have access to all information within a system. They may have a specific area where they need to work or a specific type of data they need to access. When you’re adding people to your CMS, you need to make sure you can give them the appropriate permissions to access only the information they need.
Keeping permissions and account management under control is vital for maintaining organizational privacy and making sure information doesn’t end up accessible by unauthorized parties.
<h2>Make Sure the Support is There</h2>
No matter how you want to expand your use of a CMS, you need to make sure you can get your questions answered quickly.
Ensure that you have resources on hand to help you troubleshoot and debug any problems you encounter. This will help you upscale easier and make the experience simpler every time from then on out. See if your CMS provider offers email and phone support, or, better yet, in-person techs to help you with your upscaling activities.
When you’ve gotten comfortable with a CMS, you want to ensure you can keep using it even as your operations grow. Though scaling up does present a few curious problems, the benefits it offers can make it well worth the added effort.

What to Watch Out for When Upscaling with a CMS

mike-johnston

JotForm, a popular tool for creating online forms, today announced <a href="https://www.jotform.com/cards/">JotForm Cards</a>, which replaces traditional web forms with a singular card format that greatly improves response rates. Using mobile-focused, individual questions, JotForm Cards make the form completion process fast and simple.
Users have traditionally gravitated toward JotForm because of the ease at which they’ve been able to create forms using the platform. But the end product basically just looked like any other online form. JotForm Cards changes that, with a distinct, bold design that focuses on the experience of the form respondent.
<img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/md7GNQfEwsdLG-5-syyt4WfPq0QgFAOUiXRbvHgCKVGgtJvBbBszsHeWbpaLZkmKTBYvZLN5F0nwBCIiYCQsU_CjApc6flPchk2QXyWkUTuHZAW7oZkh_sbAQNrIMg-h08N-4yZP" />
Noteworthy JotForm Cards features include:
<ul>
<li>
One question per page, to improve respondent focus
</li>
<li>
Micro animations that interact with the end user
</li>
<li>
A motivating progress bar that turns green when answers
</li>
<li>
A smart embed feature to match the form to any embedded site
</li>
</ul>
JotForm user testing showed that JotForm Cards forms improved completion rates by 36 percent — a significant boon for organizations needing better data. A big reason for this is the mobile friendliness of the forms, which show up incredibly well on any device. A swipe left from a phone or tablet shows the next question on a form.
The new product marks a big change for the company, which was founded in 2006. Before, when a respondent would fill out a traditional JotForm form, they wouldn’t necessarily know it was different from any other form they’ve filled out, which was the point. But JotForm Cards forms are very unmistakable from any other type of web form circulating the internet. And the emphasis on a friendly UI means a big win for JotForm users needing more responses to their forms.
To try JotForm Cards, visit <a href="https://www.jotform.com/cards/">https://www.jotform.com/cards/</a>.

JotForm Unveils New Form Style for Improved Conversions

In this digital age, the need for a business to keep a unique and compelling conversation going with their customers is more prevalent than ever. Not only do businesses need to have a strong email marketing strategy to have this conversation, but they also need to be comfortable enough with that platform to trust it, almost implicitly, to handle and home their marketing needs.
However, regardless of whether the business is just opening its doors, or has been around for generations, finding an email marketing platform that synchronizes well enough with the business that the owner is willing to invest in this kind of trust is hard. There are many factors to consider and while there are leading platforms, there isn’t one that is perfect for every business.
So, here is a comprehensive list of the best and the worst aspects of 6 top email marketing platforms, so that every business owner can decide what is the best option for their business.
<h2>MailChimp</h2>
Founded in 2001, <a href="https://mailchimp.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">MailChimp</a> started as a side project for a variation of web developer but has grown into a trusted ally among millions of businesses, worldwide. With the businesses (and individuals) that utilize this platform ranging in size, experience, and email marketing need, MailChimp covers the scope of the market and has become a leader in the industry. This platform is known for having a welcoming, fun, and engaging atmosphere, while still being able to lend a serious advantage to businesses; especially those that are just starting out.
Pros:
MailChimp is extremely easy to work with, having a simple design and a cute disposition. (Who doesn’t like a monkey wearing a hat?) Yet, the whimsical nature of this platform does not dampen the pros for their professional function ability.
Two of the best pros going for MailChimp is their awesome freemium plan and they're thorough, yet easy to comprehend reporting methods for tracking the success of a company’s email marketing campaign.
The first is the ample amount of free content that is available to users with under 2,000 email subscribers. Complete campaigns to this number of subscribers, sending 12,000 emails per month is an exceptionally large girth for businesses who are looking to build up their marketing. There is a limited amount of options that require users to upgrade to the fee-based subscriptions, so long as the business stays within the free-subscription requirements.
The second, piggybacking off the first pro is the depth and ease of reporting that comes with MailChimp’s service. Garnering reports on how a campaign is doing, or did, especially in terms of the free subscription is extremely useful and user-friendly on this platform.
Cons: 
Unfortunately, while simple design is great for learning and exploring a platform, it doesn’t bode well for creativity and while the platform is functional, the more in-depth features are lacking.
One of the two major issues with MailChimp is the lack of originality in their email templates. For a savvy email subscriber, it is easy to spot an email created on this platform. While there is a host of templates to choose from, the ability to truly customize an email template is a difficult feat to overcome.
The other major issue with MailChimp is the high price point for fee-based plans, versus the low quality of email automation. When a subscriber upgrades to a service, they expect to get better more than what they had before. While the freemium plan is generous and with it, people don’t seem to care so much about the lacking email automation, when businesses start to pay for MailChimp, they are disappointed to find that they still cannot accurately automate their marketing strategy.
<h2>Constant Contact</h2>
<a href="/products/constant-contact" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Constant Contact</a>, founded in 1995 under the initial name, Roving Software started out as something of an early social media platform. Initially, it was simply a way for friends to keep in contact with one another online. However, instead of becoming the initial Facebook, this company utilized their platform to help small businesses compete with large corporations in terms of marketing and communication.
Constant Contact is the father of the email marketing platforms we have today, while continuously developing to keep up with their ever-evolving predecessors.
Pros: 
Constant Contact is easy to navigate, it is tried and true with over and has a lot of niche features that other platforms do not offer. One feature is event management. This feature is extremely useful and as easy to navigate as the rest of the platform. Therefore, if such a unique feature is a good fit for your business, this platform might be a good fit for you.
Secondly, the physical approach that Constant Contact takes to helping businesses learn about their email marketing is unique for their niche market. Constant Contact employs the use of seminars and training sessions that have experts touring the country, speaking in different venues to spread information. This direct link to a company, especially a digital company, is extremely rare and people respond well to this tactic; especially their constituents, considering business owners are not always tech-savvy. Therefore, having the ability to talk to a real person, during an event close to their home or business is important.
Cons: 
While being revolutionary has its benefits, eventually, what was once novel becomes commonplace and with a reverence that Constant Contact deserves, the cons of this platform stem from their age.
Two major cons for this platform include the fees for Constant Contact being vastly overrated, for service that has become the status quo for most of the other companies and the virtual customer service.
The first is the price point that Constant Contact is working with. While they do offer a generous 60-Day free trial of either tier of their service, once that time is up, the fees are top heavy, compared to the service that is received. Based entirely on the number of email subscribers the packages start at twenty dollars per month, for up to 500 email subscribers and goes up from there. However, the basic plan, regardless of how many subscribers, doesn’t offer email automation at all.
The second issue with Constant Contact is their virtual customer service. While their physical customer service tactics are on point with what business owners want, their virtual customer service leaves much to be desired. Unfortunately, customers have often found the service they received to be completely unhelpful; that is if they can even find the link to get to the service desk they are trying to reach. It has even been reported that people have encountered links that don’t work, or lead to an error screen. 
(Ouch!)
<h2>Drip</h2>
<a href="https://www.drip.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Drip</a> was started in 2013 by a man named Rob Walling, who was trying to create a better email marketing platform. Along with co-founder, Derrick Reimer, Drip grew into the first, self-proclaimed, ECRM (E-commerce CRM). This means, that instead of focusing completely on the inner-workings of the business, this customer relationship management (CRM) system also integrates the e-commerce of the business. This is meant to smooth the transaction between customer service and e-commerce. The website is colorful, eye-catching, strangely 90’s sitcomish, meets millennial but it is also clean enough to be professional. The appearance of Drip’s marketing is unique, but it works.
Pros: 
Drip is known for having excellent automation capabilities and marketing collectivity, which is what Drip set out to do when it was created. 
The automation capabilities are excelled and the information sharing that is available on the platform is enlightening. The ease in which different automation can be executed, based solely on how the individual customer reacts to an email is unmatched. The setup for this automation, as well as the rest of the platform, is straightforward and since the automation is so in-depth, the reports that it works from are exponentially useful to the business owner as well.
The second major pro for Drip is the marketing collectivity and connectivity. Instead of simply being able to set up email campaigns, this platform takes marketing to a new level by truly integrating different facets of marketing strategy. Instead of having to force the social networking, the email subscribers, and the website contacts to work together, Drip’s platform allows seamless connectivity and the sharing of information. Once it is set up, the CRM portion of the ECRM connects customers while the E-commerce portion individualizes those customers, based on their spending habits.
Cons:
Drip is, by all accounts a solid email marketing (ECRM) platform, but that doesn’t mean it exists without faults; after all, this platform, like all platforms, isn’t for everyone. Two major issues users have with Dip is the price point and the complexity of the platform.
The first con is the price point. While there is a free option to use Drip, if the platform reaches over 100 contacts, which is easy to do, the minimum paid fee is $41. That fee is undeniably heftier than the other top email marketing platforms. However, if you are utilizing all the functions instead of having an email marketing platform and a CRM system, this price point can possibly be rationalized. Yet, if this price point isn’t in your budget, especially for new businesses, then it doesn’t matter what the ECRM can do for you because you won’t be able to use it.
The other problem is the complexity of the platform. While on the surface Drip is simple to use, there are a lot more cogs to this platform than others. With the integration feature, as seamless as it may be, still brings the baggage of depth that some beginning email marketers might be overwhelmed by. Additionally, considering the amount of the integration this system can do, businesses could end up overpaying for a service they don’t even know they’re not using to its full capacity.
In summation, email marketing platforms are as vast as the businesses they serve. These three email marketing platforms are the most reliable, affordable, and versatile on the market today. Ultimately, the decision can only be made by the business owner, as it is important that every business finds the email marketing platform that is right for them.

3 Top Email Marketing Platforms

Today, <a href="https://www.zoho.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Zoho</a> launched a new version of its DIY website builder, Zoho Sites. The new, clutter-free interface offers a range of advanced features, including pre-built website sections, dynamic backgrounds imagery (videos and parallax images), and more page elements. This update also expands the customizations available in the product, allowing users better creative control over their design. 
“This major release makes Zoho Sites a true no-code platform, helping users create beautiful websites by supporting all major design elements and features,” said Raju Vegesna, Chief Evangelist, Zoho Corp. “With rich design layouts, templates and customization options, the new builder provides a tailored experience that caters to the website needs of any business category.”
Highlights of the New Zoho Sites:
Pre-built Website Sections: Zoho Sites now offers a selection of layout templates that help users structure and design web content. The templates cover various categories, such as Heading, Image, Icon, Newsletter, Box, Tab, Accordion and Carousel. Users can simply drag and drop the desired section into the page builder.
More Page Elements: Additions to the Elements tray provide users with more creative tools for experimenting with their page design. The new page elements include Content Containers, Icons, and Dividers.
Dynamic Backgrounds: Users can now add videos and parallax images to the background of a webpage. By placing compelling visual imagery behind static page content, users can create a more engaging and immersive browsing experience.
Access Restriction: Users can make their website private and manage their website's visibility from both the public and within the organization.
Quick customization pop-up: Whenever users add an element or section, a pop-up offers them design and formating options to personalize content layout and properties. The tools in the pop-up are layout-specific, which makes customization quicker and more precise.
New UI: The new look and feel of Zoho Sites strikes a balance between clean design and robust usability. Navigating within the website builder is straightforward, and all integrations are just a click away.
Integrations with Zoho and third-party products: Users can get to know their audience better by using integrations with Zoho SalesIQ, Zoho CRM, Zoho PageSense and Zoho Campaigns. These integrations allow website owners to engage with visitors via live chat, collect user data via forms, observe visitor activity via Zoho PageSense and keep visitors in the know via newsletters.
Pricing and Availability
The new Zoho Sites is available immediately. The free version includes access to a full range of website building tools, while the paid versions offer more advanced functionality. Paid subscription starts at $5/site/month for an annual subscription of the Essential Plan, increases to $12 for the Professional Plan and $20 for the full-featured Ultimate Plan. For more information on Zoho Sites, please visit: www.zoho.com/sites.
Zoho Sites is also part of Zoho One, the company's all-in-one suite of applications for running an entire business.

New Version of Zoho Sites Helps Users Build Beautiful, Modular Websites with Advanced Customization Options

It can be both timely and somewhat alarming to realize that the technologies once refined to science fiction are now having a very real impact on our world.
It shows just how much technology has evolved and causes some people to step back and consider their age. Though artificial intelligence and machine learning have been around in some variety for years, they’re seeing more serious development today than ever before.
The notion of “smart” machines and “cognitive” programs is alarming for some, but others see potential in this trend. For content management systems, where personalization and adaptability are key, AI could be a driving force in the future.
<h2 style="margin-left:0cm;margin-right:0cm">How the CMS Model Has Changed Overtime</h2>
AI isn’t the only technology that has seen big changes in recent history – every CMS developer on the market knows that their own systems are being pressured to adapt and keep up with an ever-growing technological landscape.
CMS software has largely been looked at with a marketing mentality in the past, especially by developers. The idea of putting out a better software package than your competitor used to be the only major concern to be had. Now, with content spread across various devices, platforms, and interfaces, adaptability is the new must-have characteristic for any successful CMS.
Content management can now mean a number of different things. The phrase has morphed into an umbrella term, which can refer to any given number of types of content management along the cloud, on a company website, and even within the hard drives of in-house systems.
<h2 style="margin-left:0cm;margin-right:0cm">People Value Personalization, and AI Can Deliver</h2>
The idea behind a CMS is convenience. People like being able to keep track of and monitor their content no matter what device, OS, or system they’re using.
AI is about helping programs and devices learn to make decisions – to think, and to reason, based on information inputted into them. This means if a CMS uses AI technology, it could theoretically adapt to the use patterns of its controllers.
If a company has taken to streamlining all their content to a website via WordPress, for example, a CMS could theoretically offer that as an option every time, or at the very least keep the users’ settings on hand and set things up for them beforehand.
A CMS excels when it is able to meet the needs of users, and what better way of doing that then tailoring the system to user preferences?

Will Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Change the CMS Landscape?

Volusion today announced it is bringing Apple Pay, with the addition of a Buy Now button, to its merchants and their customers. Apple Pay is transforming mobile payments with an easy, secure and private way to pay that’s fast and convenient. Volusion now enables its merchants to provide their customers with seamless payment integration from their Apple devices, eliminating the need to enter their payment, shipping, or contact information each time they make a purchase through an online store.
Security and privacy are at the core of Apple Pay. When a consumer uses a credit or debit card with Apple Pay, the actual card numbers are not stored on the device, nor on Apple servers. Instead, a unique Device Account Number is assigned, encrypted and securely stored in the Secure Element on your device. Each transaction is authorized with a one-time unique dynamic security code.
“In our daily conversations with the merchants we serve, we’ve learned that seamless and secure payment options are top priority, and we are happy to announce that Volusion merchants can now provide Apple Pay as an option to meet that need,” said Kevin Sproles, CEO and founder of Volusion. “We know merchants using Apple Pay see two to five times higher conversion at checkout compared to other payment options and see more than 50% faster checkout times. We are excited to be able to provide this for our merchants and their customers.”
Volusion has also added the option for merchants to integrate Buy with Apple Pay button to product detail pages in their online stores. This feature allows customers to purchase the product with Apple Pay directly from the product detail page. The Buy with Apple Pay button eliminates the extra steps involved in a traditional checkout process of adding an item to the cart, navigating to the cart and filling in billing and shipping information.
Earlier this year, Volusion launched a significant upgrade to its core technology, to give small businesses a one-stop shop with all the tools they need to successfully sell online. Features of the new platform, V2, include quick store building to help merchants sell faster, hosted checkout within merchants’ domains included in all Volusion plans.
Apple Pay is easy to set up, requires no contract or fees, and users will continue to receive all of the rewards and beneﬁts offered by their credit and debit cards. Online shopping in apps and on websites accepting Apple Pay is simple with Touch ID, or just double-click the side button and glance at your iPhone X to authenticate with Face ID. There’s no need to manually fill out lengthy account forms or repeatedly type in shipping and billing information with Apple Pay. When paying for goods and services on the go in apps or Safari, Apple Pay works with iPhone 6 and later, iPhone SE, iPad Pro, iPad Air 2, and iPad mini 3 and later. Users can also use Apple Pay in Safari on any Mac introduced in or after 2012 running macOS Sierra and confirm the payment with iPhone 6 or later or Apple Watch, or with Touch ID on the new MacBook Pro.
For more information on Apple Pay, visit: <a href="http://www.apple.com/apple-pay/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://www.apple.com/apple-pay/</a>
To learn more or to start creating your business on Volusion, visit <a href="http://www.volusion.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">www.volusion.com</a>.

Apple Pay Now Available for Volusion Merchants

Power your CMS on AWS

Manage your websites & apps in the most trusted cloud.

#ffffff

Contao version 3.5.33 is available. This is a bugfix release that restores the PHP 5.4 compatibility and fixes problems with MariaDB 10.2.4+ and MySQL 8.
Even if Contao 3.5 still supports PHP 5.4, they strongly advise against using outdated PHP versions. Contao 3.5 is compatible with the latest PHP versions, therefore – if the installed extensions allow it – you should run it with PHP 7 or at least PHP 5.6.
The developers have also revised identifier quoting, which has been had added to Contao 4.4.10, and ported it to Contao 3, so Contao 3.5 should be compatible with MariaDB 10.2.4+ and MySQL 8 now.
For more information on Contao and to grab the latest version, <a href="https://contao.org/en/news/contao-3_5_33.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">head to their website</a>.

Contao 3.5.33 is available

The folks at Concrete5 have released their latest update. This release is recommended for anyone using 8.3.0, and those who have wanted to update to 8.3 from an earlier version.
This version further fixes problematic updates from earlier versions of concrete5 as far back as 5.7.5.13, updates CKEditor to the latest version, and provides a number of small but important bug fixes. 
Here's a sampling of some of the changes:
<h2>Feature Updates</h2>
<ul>
<li>Updated CKEditor rich text editor component to 4.8.0 (thanks MrKarlDilkington)</li>
</ul>
<h2>Behavioral Improvements</h2>
<ul>
<li>Improvements to coding standards and PHP documentation (thanks mlocati, HamedDarragi)</li>
<li>Scan the SRC directory within the application for translatable strings (thanks matt9mg)</li>
<li>Fixed users being able to delete core and active themes (thanks deek87)</li>
<li>Removal of inline block JavaScript to facilitate more performant websites (thanks Remo)</li>
<li>Certain text field database indexes will be preserve across the upgrade process, leading to better performance (thanks mlocati)</li>
</ul>
<h2>Bug Fixes</h2>
<ul>
<li>Express Entity attribute type was not installed due to a bug in 8.3.0 and 8.3.1. This is now fixed.</li>
<li>Improvements to the upgrade process: fixes to missing database tables under certain conditions (thanks mlocati)</li>
<li>Fixed bug where blocks were not having their output added to the output cache, leading to general slowness, and a slow Dashboard Welcome page.</li>
</ul>
To see the rest, check out the <a href="https://documentation.concrete5.org/developers/background/version-history/832-release-notes" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">release notes</a>

Concrete5 8.3.2 is Now Available!

<a href="http://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.perfectsensedigital.com%2F&amp;esheet=51743952&amp;newsitemid=20180117005124&amp;lan=en-US&amp;anchor=Perfect+Sense%2C+Inc.&amp;index=1&amp;md5=ac4998a47d5e2c1998217bd7e635e7b7" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Perfect Sense, Inc.</a>, provider of digital content management solutions and services through its platform, <a href="http://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.brightspot.com%2F&amp;esheet=51743952&amp;newsitemid=20180117005124&amp;lan=en-US&amp;anchor=Brightspot&amp;index=2&amp;md5=fa05454d3427853adbd85667e9d18db8" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Brightspot</a>, today announced it has appointed DC-based software technology enthusiast Jenifer Kern as its first Chief Marketing Officer (CMO).Kern brings more than 20 years of technology marketing and sales experience with both SaaS and software-enabled services firms. She most recently served as CMO at Tracx, a social media software company in Bethesda, MD. Prior to Tracx, she built the marketing and inside sales function from the ground up at Celerity where she was integral to driving its rapid growth, resulting in the successful sale of the company.
“While technology innovation continues to speed ahead in every industry and for every role, enterprise web content management solutions have lagged behind,” said Kern. “Digital content editors, marketers, and publishers remain frustrated with the speed and ease at which they can manage their web presence in real-time, while taking advantage of the most current technology trends. Perfect Sense created Brightspot to solve that very problem and I couldn’t be more excited to be part of this product and customer-focused company.”
In her role at Perfect Sense, Kern will be responsible for developing sales and marketing strategies and implementing programs to drive scalable revenue growth through its digital content management platform, Brightspot, which will be launching a major upgrade in April, coinciding with the company’s <a href="http://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.perfectsensedigital.com%2Fabout-us%2Four-story%2F&amp;esheet=51743952&amp;newsitemid=20180117005124&amp;lan=en-US&amp;anchor=ten-year+anniversary&amp;index=3&amp;md5=8e1074159cab443c414dbcdd48cb0196" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">ten-year anniversary</a>.
“What I saw at Perfect Sense was a different kind of company, one that was purpose-built to make people’s lives easier when it comes to managing their digital presence. The origin of the Brightspot name is rooted in our mission to be a consistent bright spot in the daily lives of web publishers, marketers, communicators, developers, and all of its users.”
The appointment of Kern comes one year after the company announced a <a href="http://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.perfectsensedigital.com%2Fblog%2Fperfect-sense-announces-22m-round-of-funding-from-carrick-capital-partners&amp;esheet=51743952&amp;newsitemid=20180117005124&amp;lan=en-US&amp;anchor=%2422M+investment&amp;index=4&amp;md5=0593e2e03253ed471fcc2c081bccd54e" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">$22M investment</a> from Carrick Capital Partners. Her hire rounds out a series of strategic executive team hires, including that of CFO <a href="http://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.perfectsensedigital.com%2Fpeople%2Fkami-ragsdale&amp;esheet=51743952&amp;newsitemid=20180117005124&amp;lan=en-US&amp;anchor=Kami+Ragsdale&amp;index=5&amp;md5=a2b09e6fafc3b7df0f160ef06ddb3861" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Kami Ragsdale</a> earlier in 2017.
Kern is a frequent speaker and has served on several marketing association boards, including Women in Technology (WIT), Marketing Leaders of DC, and AMA-DC. She was recognized as Outstanding Female Speaker of the Year by HubSpot’s INBOUND conference for <a href="http://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DGq3TI38EVbo&amp;esheet=51743952&amp;newsitemid=20180117005124&amp;lan=en-US&amp;anchor=her+presentation&amp;index=6&amp;md5=6e59182f486ca3cbccc08f586ed2deb4" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">her presentation</a> “Getting Sales Jazzed about Inbound Marketing.”
About Perfect Sense
Founded in 2008, Perfect Sense was created to deliver enterprise digital platform solutions in a more thoughtful way. Offering a suite of publishing-based products, as well as digital consulting services, Perfect Sense serves many marquee brands including Walmart, Johnson &amp; Johnson, Sotheby’s, Univision, U.S. News, Politico, and Scripps Networks Interactive.
Its digital content management platform, <a href="http://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.brightspot.com%2Fcapabilities&amp;esheet=51743952&amp;newsitemid=20180117005124&amp;lan=en-US&amp;anchor=Brightspot&amp;index=7&amp;md5=c8de188ab28f3aaeac8372265e00a3a0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Brightspot</a>, was purposefully built to put flexibility, customization, and sanity back into the lives of web producers – moving away from rigid and inflexible CMS architectures. Its evergreen and modular foundation enables digital content teams to quickly embrace new publishing trends and tools, enabling continuous improvement of their digital properties and customer experiences.
Headquartered in Reston, VA, Perfect Sense maintains a strong focus on giving back to the community by supporting local and national organizations including Special Olympics, The First Tee, YMCA and Troops First Foundation.

Perfect Sense Announces Enterprise Software Executive Jenifer Kern as Chief Marketing Officer

Always leave a paper trail – it’s something every business owner has heard at one time or another.
It’s a proven and tested point of advice for professionals. It’s echoed through university courses, how-to lists, and business seminars. It’s right up there with the customer always being right and time being money.
But the point behind the paper trail is efficient management. It’s less about the appeal of a desk overflowing with sheets and more about the ability to locate and find information when it is needed. For businesses, invoicing software has made it possible to have the trail without the paper.
Cash is giving way to cards and even phones as the primary method of transferring credit. Truck drives are now required by law to replace their paper logbooks with electronic logging devices. The paper age could be on its way out – meaning nabbing the right paperless invoicing software is key for business owners and entrepreneurs. Here are four of the top options out there.
<ol>
<li><a href="https://www.freshbooks.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">FreshBooks</a></li>
</ol>
FreshBooks is aimed at small businesses, and these organizations often have the biggest needs when it comes to invoice organization. Small companies that grow quickly often find themselves being overwhelmed by the stack of papers they have to keep track of.
Not only does this software allow users to create professional-looking invoices, organize them easily, and receive payment for them via credit card, it allows for automation of those tasks small business owners must get used to. From sending out reminders to determining deposit charges, FreshBooks can be a budding business’s best friend for ditching the paper-based accounting approach.
<ol>
<li><a href="https://housecallpro.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">HouseCall Pro</a></li>
</ol>
Paper invoicing can get a lot more complex when there are multiple locations involved. Trying to mail, fax, or deliver documents between multiple locations can be cumbersome. It can also be risky, especially when those documents have important financial data on them.
HouseCall Pro uses a cloud-based platform to allow for seamless sharing and streamlined workflows. Made for the from-home entrepreneur who wants the right tools to succeed, this platform can be run from a smartphone and is one of the highest rated apps out there for running a business.
<ol>
<li><a href="https://www.bigtime.net/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">BigTime</a></li>
</ol>
As the name suggests, this software is based around paperless management of billing and time. For companies looking to make sure they’re getting the most out of every hour and accurately utilizing all their resources, BigTime is a top choice.
The software is available for a 14-day free trial, allowing growing businesses to try before they buy and see how much time they save. After all, time is money.
<ol>
<li><a href="https://www.timesolv.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">TimeSolv</a></li>
</ol>
Another top choice for managing invoices and time, TimeSolv allows for easy creation of client-specific invoices, timesheets, schedules, and more. These logs can be edited and corrected as needed, making it easy to track data accurately.
The software also makes it possible to streamline the management of entire projects, assigning tasks and the costs that go with them for efficient daily operations without the paper pile.
There you have it, if you are looking to ditch the paper trail and go electronic, try one of these 4 Sleek Invoicing Software Services and let us know your thoughts.

Ditching the Paper Trail: 4 Sleek Invoicing Software Services

There are plenty of technologies that promise to revolutionize the way people do business, especially when they’re just starting.
Finding your footing as an entrepreneur can be tricky. You’re often tasked with maintaining the balancing act between big ambitions and limited resources. Since your budget and following may be limited in the beginning, choosing the right tools can make or break your efforts.
In terms of data management, project planning, and storage for the endeavor, there are few options out there better than the cloud. Growing in popularity due to its improved security and the wide array of possibilities it provides to users, the cloud is proving to be a top tool of budding entrepreneurs.
<h2 style="margin-left:0cm;margin-right:0cm">Seamless Storage and Data-Management Options</h2>
Storing, sharing, and swapping data across multiple devices is almost always a common need at the start of a new business project.
Whether a person is looking to cycle information between a small team of workers or simply view them across multiple devices, the cloud can be a fitting solution. No longer simply viewed as a remote storage drive, the cloud has become an all-purpose resource for entrepreneurs.
Take for example a few of the common tasks people will face when they’re starting a new business:
<ul>
<li>Keeping in touch with vendors and clients</li>
<li>Staying up-to-date on sudden changes</li>
<li>Working at various locations from various devices</li>
</ul>
For the upstart entrepreneur, there is no off day and there is no time to rest. The cloud provides quick access to all pertinent files a person has for their project, and expands on the sharing and security options business owners love.
<h2 style="margin-left:0cm;margin-right:0cm">A Safe and User-Friendly Tool</h2>
Despite the original accusations levied at the cloud regarding it as a danger and a potential goldmine for data thieves, cloud storage has been proven to be as safe and efficient as local storage.
The added security modern cloud services offer also adds more convenience to their plethora of sharing options. A busy entrepreneur can separate their files into separate folders on the cloud – they can then make certain folders accessible to teammates, certain folders accessible to vendors, and create any configuration that fits their needs.
Not only does this allow an upstart entrepreneur to keep track of their files and access them from any connected device, but it also ensures they can control who is allowed to edit or view any of the files they store on the cloud.
<h2 style="margin-left:0cm;margin-right:0cm">Affordability and Scalability for Growing Businesses</h2>
Any person who aims to do business with others, especially as the primary boss of their own efforts, needs two things in a tool – they need to be able to afford it in the short-term, and they need to be sure it won’t hold them back in the long-term.
The cloud is available in multiple variants, with various capacities and numerous features available. It’s also easy to upgrade to more storage and better capabilities without disrupting your current use of the tool. For those who are still fleshing out their idea or those who are waiting for their first big sale, the cloud is a great option.

Why Upstart Entrepreneurs Are Relying on the Cloud

New technologies will continue to change how organisations manage their content in 2018.
If you’re looking to overhaul your current web content management system or you’ve only started setting up shop, it is useful to know which trends are shaping content management systems (CMS).
CMS is always evolving and in the past ten years there has been a shift towards the needs of the end-users and the need to deliver content across different channels.
The benefits of a good CMS include an organised, updated site that delivers a seamless experience to its users.
These factors underpin the key content management trends to watch in 2018.
<ol>
<li>Artificial intelligence </li>
</ol>
Every part of the economy – and society – is being disrupted by new forms of technology like artificial intelligence. In CMS there are a few practical applications of how AI can improve the way your business stores and accesses content. AI is especially useful as the volume of content production – and the need for this content to be managed – continues to rise.
<a href="https://techcrunch.com/2017/08/26/ai-will-fundamentally-change-how-we-manage-content/">According to Techcrunch</a>, the growth in the collection of content will make it easier for AI tools to organise data in 2018, with AI algorithms performing better on large sets of data.
A practical example of this is a recent partnership between Box and Google where images will be automatically tagged when they are uploaded. The image recognition tool will be able to recognise text and other information in images and store it accordingly.
Chatbots driven by AI will also be able to point users to the information they need. <a href="https://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/3811367">Gartner predicts that by 2021</a> more than half of enterprises will be spending more on chatbots than on mobile app developments. Using chatbots for easily automated content searches will free up employees for more meaningful customer engagement.
<ol>
<li>Personalisation</li>
</ol>
AI is also at the core of another key trend: Personalisation.
In e-commerce an Accenture <a href="http://www.evergage.com/blog/consumers-want-personalization-stats-roundup/">study</a> found that 75% of customers prefer businesses to recognise them by name, know their purchase history and suggest items based on that history.
Personalisation programmes also <a href="http://searchcontentmanagement.techtarget.com/feature/A-personalization-engine-comparison-Acquia-Evergage-and-Google">increase</a> revenue by up to 10%.
The business case for personalisation is clear and possibilities when using CMS in the right way are endless.
To effectively personalise users experience using CMS different data must be collected. This incudes search keywords, on-site browsing data and explicit user data such as the information collected in forms. From here your CMS can offer users options for suggested content to match their needs and preferences.
In the example of the retail industry, personalisation in CMS allows companies to offer targeted rewards to customers and they’re able to customise these rewards to make them location-specific, for instance.
There are a range of personalisation engines running in the cloud to choose from including <a href="https://www.google.com/analytics/optimize/">Google Optimise</a>, <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/optimizely-personalization-now-available/">Optimizely</a> and <a href="http://www.evergage.com/">Evergage</a>.
<ol>
<li>Headless CMS and multi-channel delivery </li>
</ol>
It’s called web content management, with a connection to the website as the platform
In 2018 content needs to be delivered to several more platforms than just your company website.
The move towards <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/cloud-first-headless-cms-what-it-is-and-why-you-should-use-it/">headless CMS</a> continues in 2018. Increasingly, people are creating and consuming content on mobile devices. It is estimated that by 2018, 80% of content use will be on mobile and mobile already represents close to seven to ten minutes on digital media and this is only one new medium your content needs to be delivered on. One benefit of headless CMS is that the content management environment is separate from the content delivery environment. This gives you more flexibility to pull content from a single repository to display and publish on multiple platforms.
The growth of open-source platforms like WordPress appear to be <a href="https://trends.builtwith.com/cms/WordPress">plateauing</a> have plateaued in the past year, with some analysts linking this trend to the steady growth of new content infrastructure systems like headless CMS.
Early adopters have already moved towards headless CMS and it is expected that it will be widely used in the year ahead.
Whether you opt for a headless CMS or not, keep in mind that your CMS must make it easy for developers to integrate content across channels.
It’s important to know the latest trends in your industry as a new CMS feature can make it easier for your businesses marketers and developers to create and organise content. When you’re putting together the business case to improve your CMS – or start from scratch – consider your needs. What kind of content is your organisation creating and storing? Perhaps you don’t need a CMS with hundreds of out of the box features. It could be that you’re not producing rich media and need a simple system to allow teams to tag metadata to make it easier for users to find information.
A CMS must make it easier for marketers and developers to collaborate and update content and for customers to easily navigate your site from any location or device.
When selecting our CMS in 2018 always use these indicators as touchstones to make sure you’re moving in the right direction.

Web Content Management Trends To Watch In 2018

By 2020, the average business buyer will manage<a href="https://walkersands-dot-yamm-track.appspot.com/Redirect?ukey=1ShaHNl6jUYNoTg6uRPFqZkHmmuOmNJfMj1XORmg2hd8-1462957689&amp;key=YAMMID-75637296&amp;link=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gartner.com%2Fimagesrv%2Fsummits%2Fdocs%2Fna%2Fcustomer-360%2FC360_2011_brochure_FINAL.pdf"> </a><a href="https://walkersands-dot-yamm-track.appspot.com/Redirect?ukey=1ShaHNl6jUYNoTg6uRPFqZkHmmuOmNJfMj1XORmg2hd8-1462957689&amp;key=YAMMID-75637296&amp;link=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gartner.com%2Fimagesrv%2Fsummits%2Fdocs%2Fna%2Fcustomer-360%2FC360_2011_brochure_FINAL.pdf">85 percent</a> of his or her relationship with an enterprise without interacting with another human, according to Gartner. This is quite a shift when you consider almost all B2B purchases were conducted by phone, fax or in person just a few years ago. 
The evolution toward self-service in B2B is natural, especially when you look at the way the B2C space has progressed over time. Business buyers are also consumers, and expect the ability to make purchases on their own time and via intuitive eCommerce sites just like they do in their personal lives. 
However, B2B businesses still have room to grow when it comes to making self-service intuitive and customer-friendly. Too often, businesses rely on rigid commerce systems that are simply not equipped to enable comprehensive branded experiences customers expect today. B2B buyers are served a tasty buffet of experiences for finding and consuming marketing information. But when it comes to placing an order, checking the status of an order, or requesting a quote or configurable product, the experience is not nearly as appetizing.
With a B2B commerce platform that can easily connect with a CMS, businesses can merge the structured, transactional, back-end commerce experience and unstructured, front-end marketing experience into one fluid interface. 
Why self-service is a win-win for B2B customers and sellers
Self-service is transforming B2B industries. Customers can now enjoy the flexibility of purchasing on their own terms, while businesses reduce overhead costs per transaction and increase revenue through more strategic resource allocation. 
The beauty of self-service is that it enables customers to research and purchase intuitively, rather than browse physical catalogs and order over the phone with sales representatives. Many businesses offer mobile self-service features that allow for on-the-go ordering, enhancing buyers’ freedom to purchase wherever and whenever they want, and reducing order errors.
The combination of these benefits significantly improves customer satisfaction. A recent <a href="http://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/marketing-and-sales/our-insights/finding-the-right-digital-balance-in-b2b-customer-experience">McKinsey</a> study found that 86 percent of B2B decision makers prefer using self-service tools for reordering rather than talking to a sales representative. When buyers have the freedom to purchase on their own through a convenient platform, they are more likely to complete purchases and less likely to turn to competitors.
For businesses, one of the larger benefits of self-service sites is the reduction of overhead costs per transaction. With a self-service commerce offering, businesses can transform the sales team/customer relationship, allowing sales reps to act as strategic advisors rather than simple order takers. By automating administrative tasks through the commerce platform, salespeople can spend more time consulting customers and proactively finding opportunities to cross-sell and upsell.
Using the Cloud to facilitate self-service
While the benefits of a self-service platform are clear, not all B2B commerce platforms enable the degree of flexibility today’s customers demand. Features of a quality self-service platform include:
<ul>
<li>Simple steps to purchase</li>
<li>Ability to purchase without using phone or fax </li>
<li>Mobile options for researching/purchasing on-the-go</li>
<li>Personalized pricing, promotions and custom catalogs</li>
<li>Useful content to help customers research</li>
<li>Robust features to facilitate complex orders (e.g. multiple orders per cart, multiple shipping destinations per order)</li>
</ul>
Some of the most successful B2B sellers enable self-service with commerce systems built on cloud platforms. These systems are flexible and can be built to include robust features that mirror a B2C buying experience. And the end product allows buyers to self-serve while giving the brand flexibility to adapt the solution based on buyer behavior and needs. 
The benefit of commerce and CMS integration
While self-service functionality is important, B2B buyer demand for sophisticated commerce experiences has grown with the improvement of B2C sites. Traditional B2B commerce tends to be rigid, clunky and require multiple steps to complete purchases. That’s because these systems were built on ERP systems – back-end platforms never designed to be customer facing. Structured content, such as detailed SKU data, pricing, support contract information and catalog management were historically meant to support manufacturing and other internal purposes rather than to help educate customers. While most eCommerce systems can help customers serve up accurate products, prices, and account servicing information, they are not intended to provide highly branded marketing experiences or to support unstructured content, such as educational or promotional materials.
The opposite is true for front-end content marketing systems. Businesses have always prioritized a user-friendly, elegant experience for customers to consume unstructured content that drives them to buy. A CMS ensures the customer experience is beautifully branded until the moment a customer decides to purchase.
But when structured commerce data is fed into the CMS through a robust API, the end-to-end customer journey can combine the beauty and elegance of the front-end content marketing experience with the functionality of the back-end experience. B2B businesses looking to improve self-service for their customers should look to cloud platforms with a powerful set of APIs to connect commerce and CMS. With the support of a partner that understands the branded experience, businesses can ensure a consistent, user-friendly experience at every touchpoint.
Self-service is the future for B2B industries. But for businesses truly dedicated to increasing revenue and improving the customer experience, a flexible, API-first digital commerce platform is necessary to meet business buyers expectations. Smart businesses will make the necessary technology investments now to meet and exceed expectations down the road
By Andy Peebler, <a href="http://www.cloudcraze.com/">CloudCraze</a>

How Self Service Can Power Improved B2B Digital Commerce Experiences

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