We certainly aren't the first firm to write about why we've decided to make ExpressionEngine our preferred platform for web sites, and we certainly won't be the last.
Why do we like ExpressionEngine so much?
A few reasons:
Flexibility. Your web site's pages and templates should be built to support the compelling design we create for you and be optimized for search engines. They should be built with only those considerations in mind and your Content Management System should support them without imposing any constraints. ExpressionEngine does that for us and its templating language was what first attracted us to it. It lets us do our jobs.
It's powerful. Just look at this list of features. That's what EE supports out of the box. Add to that over 330* add-ons, plug-ins, modules and other enhancements and you have a platform that is extensible to any project's requirement. If your project poses a unique challenge, add-on development is very manageable; EE's architecture is designed to support it.
It works (nearly) everywhere Unless you're looking to use a Windows server, which isn't impossible but would likely preclude us working with you, ExpressionEngine can be launched on most every typical LAMP hosting environment. We've even launched an EE site on GoDaddy.
Security. We recently launched a site for Fidelity on ExpressionEngine. 'Nuff said.
Community. Those 330+ add-ons? Many of them come from an incredibly enthusiastic and dedicated network of developers who have adopted ExpressionEngine as their platform of choice. They extend EE's support team and not only contribute to a huge pool of resources, but also make EE a pleasant product to work with.
That said, sometimes we're asked to compare ExpressionEngine to an open source platform. There are two reasons for this:
Open source is free. That's true. But we're not putting a $10,000 Microsoft solution in front of our clients. ExpressionEngine costs $249.95** for a license. Put that up against a project budget and it's pretty close to free. And that $249.95 gets us as developers and our clients as license holders access to one of the most responsive, friendly and genuinely helpful support teams I have ever encountered in all my years of development. They're worth it.
What if ExpressionEngine goes away? Who says your open source platform won't go away? If it loses appeal, if its community dries up, who supports your site? The same person that would support your ExpressionEngine site if they went away. An ExpressionEngine server installation is a MySQL database and a collection of PHP files. Your license allows you to do whatever you want with those files, modifying the application to any length for your own use. It's a powerful, modifiable web site platform. And based on its current adoption rate and enthusiastic, ever-growing developer community, it's not going anywhere.
ExpressionEngine's our recommendation. If a client or prospect comes to us with another platform as a requirement and we think we're equipped to make that project a success, we're not ideologues who will rule that out. We build custom applications and platforms where appropriate as well. If you're looking for our choice on a robust platform that can be tailored to your needs with a modest amount of effort, EE's our answer.
We've launched a lot of solid web sites and helped write our share of success stories. That we've adopted ExpressionEngine as our recommendation for content management and banked our business's success on its ability to deliver now and in years to come says a lot about its robustness and longetivity. We are excited and fortunate to work with this product on each project that presents the opportunity to and hope we're successfully conveying that to all our clients and prospects.
ExpressionEngine 2.0 is in development this year and we're looking forward to its release. It's going to take a great product and propel it even further, leveraging EllisLab's CodeIgniter framework for development.
** $249.95 for Commercial License. $99.95 for Non-profit license. $39.95/$19.95 per yearly subscription to access product updates, though for many clients whose site has launched, we don't consider that necessary.
I haven’t yet gotten to the enhancements I’d like to make to the Campaign Monitor Subscribers Pepper for Mint, but I have updated it to work with Campaign Monitor’s API.
If you view the original post for this add-on to the popular stats package, you’ll see what it’s all about. You’ll also see that as of December 2008, the CM Subscribers pepper has been broken, requiring an update to the code to match Campaign Monitor’s new API.
If you’ve generated your API key and accessed your List ID since December, this version will work for you. If you installed the pepper with an API Key and List ID from before December, just visit your Campaign Monitor account, regenerate or access your new keys, plug them in via Mint Preferences, and you’ll be back in business.
The incoming Obama administration is seeing green, and it’s not cash. It’s a plan to transform and stimulate America’s economy through initiatives that support clean energy and sustainable, smart technologies.
We’re fans of all those things and look forward to seeing these new industries flourish and grow. We foresee an army of entrepreneurs empowered by federal or VC funding and increased demand. If you’re involved in a new business in this new era—one that creates or manages green products, renewable energies or sustainable solutions—we want to help you leverage branding expertise and marketing strategies that will help your business succeed. And if your idea involves a web application, we can help build that too.
The time to get in touch? Before your product hits the market. Before it’s hit the assembly line or landed its first customer. Let’s talk brand strategy, online marketing opportunities and ways to put the web to use. Email or call 617.507.4686.
We have seen a significant amount of fresh business from startups and new businesses over the last few months, with this past month being the most dramatic. Mark has already written briefly about Your marketing budget and a slow economy, which talks about maximizing your return on investment, and I want to reflect a bit on the entrepreneurial spirit. I see two major factors contributing to our spike in business from this group.
Innovation is Recession Resistant
At a public bi-weekly coffee get-together of smallish business owners and entrepreneurs here in Providence, a grad student asked if any of us had seen a significant hit in our businesses during the downed economy. One business owner turned to him and said that good ideas and innovation will always succeed. He was right on. As we see large sections of our economy crumbling, the pieces that are in high demand are good ideas, refreshing new products and tools that increase efficiencies and add value. History concurs. Wired.com’s Daniel Roth writes that out of the turmoil of the Great Depression rose numerous inventions, including the now ubiquitous nylon and television. The 1969-70 and 2001 recessions saw the advent of the pocket calculator and the ipod, respectively. Innovation never sleeps.
Layoffs and Dead-End Jobs are Breeding Grounds for Entrepreneurship
Sometimes it takes a little shove from the nest for some entrepreneurs to focus back on the things that they were once passionate about, or to implement an idea that has been percolating for some time. There’s also nothing like layoffs of your colleagues and friends in your company to knock creativity and optimism out of you. I went through this with the first .com bubble back in 2001. Try motivating a creative team when they come to work every day packed to be fired and thinking every conversation with your boss is going to end with a pink slip. It just doesn’t inspire confidence. Recessions and layoffs release many undervalued employees to do what they have always wanted to do. They go back to their basement or garage and think up the next best thing.
Slim Kiwi is not in the mortgage business or in investments, and we’re not unionized American car makers. We partner with our clients to bring their idea, their product and their small business to market. From what we have seen, it seems that now is a great time for small businesses to get ahead of their competition. If you know us, you know that we just love working with people starting up businesses. We love their enthusiasm, their pragmatism, their creative thinking, the speed at which they move, and their collaborative spirit. These are the tools for success in a challenging economy.
Increasing discomfort in my wrist led me to research and consider using a tablet and stylus as a replacement for my mouse. Making this type of transition after using a mouse since my childhood days was significant, so I've tried to provide an account of some of the issues, problems and benefits that I've found come with making the transition. They include the following:
The motivation: purely ergonomics
The purchase: Intuos3, 6" x 11"
Features
Using the tablet with multiple displays
Precision stylus handling (why I can't use the tip of the stylus to "click")
Physical setup and the tablet adjustment period (patience, my friends)
A less direct firm might think, “if we put sample rates on the home page, we could scare off prospects.” We think the right clients value our work and our experience. Other reasons -
1. It’s a filter: We like talking to prospects and getting to know more about what they do and how we might work together. In that process, we spend time outlining what we do, how we work, and what our deliverables are. We start talking about ideas and possibilities. We don’t like leading each other down that path before finding out how big the ballpark is, or if we’re in the same league.
2. Towards more transparency: We’d rather be partners in business than dance partners, so let’s not dance around topics. When you shop for a car, you get to see the sticker price and then start talking. You might be looking for something with more or less features than what’s on the lot, but you know what models will suit your budget.
For most clients, it’s a much easier process when you let us know your budget so we can outline the range of services we can provide and advise which will be the most effective. Our job is not just delivering a web site or branding package; it’s to deliver ROI. We can best deliver ROI when we’re equipped with information to maximize your budget.
Both sides have a responsibility to be open when it comes to budget so that the relationship is based on an equal exchange of value.
