“User Friendly” has re-defined the way we approach many aspects of our lives.  In the last 100 years or so, the invent of wash machines, robotics, chemicals, plastics and vacuums to name a few have changed our time priorities.  While all of these technical advances, good or bad, have impacted our lives, it is only in the last 30 or so years that an emphasis was put on how easy these inventions were to use.  Back in the good old days you were just thankful you had a washing machine.  Now it has to be a one-click or voice activated machine that knows which settings to use by the wash cycle patterns you typically use.

Websites are no different.  They were not always user friendly to website visitors.  They were definitely not friendly to the person trying to update and maintain them either.  Enter the website content management system (CMS).  Non technical people said that there has to be a way for us to update these websites in a simple way.  The market responded with platforms like WordPress, Joomla, Dotnetnuke, etc.  Actually, thousands of new CMS systems were built to address this issue which caused a lot of confusion at first.  Now website owners had to determine which CMS was the best to use and often were pigeon-holed into a solution that did not do a good job of meeting their needs.  Unfortunately, many of these CMS systems did not provide a user friendly approach regardless of their intentions.  Obviously there were a handful of winners which brings us to today’s options.

Clearbridge has built websites using many of the mainstream CMS systems but we currently prefer to build most of our clients sites using WordPress.  Originally, Wordpress was exclusively intended for blogging but it was quickly recognized as a platform for building functional websites.   There is a simple to use interface for non technical users to access and update basic elements of their own site. Here is where we run into a common misconception.  Offering a non-technical person the opportunity to update their own site is often misunderstood like a do-it-yourself will.  Assumptions are often made that building your website with a CMS will eliminate the ongoing costs of having a web developer much like a do-it-yourself will removes the need to speak with an expert in wills and estates (Lawyer or Notary).  There is some truth to this but it usually ends in disappointment if assumptions are not clear.  So here are some assumptions that should be made clear before signing the contract regardless of which CMS you decide to use:

1. Regardless of how simple any CMS might be to use, there is always going to be a learning curve involved in figuring out how to make changes to your site.  For some people this learning curve is going to be steeper than for others as technical expertise varies considerably from one person to the next.
2. Not all aspects of the website are setup to be easily updated by the CMS functionality.  CMS platforms are generally setup to allow users to make basic changes to the main content areas of pages.
3. The person chosen to manage the CMS should be someone who actually likes a challenge and is open to learning new technology.

One of the more frequent questions I am asked is: “why can’t I just do this myself?”. Good  Great question!

The answer is more than simply accounting for the time it takes to fill out their web form that collects information such as your address, phone number, website, business description and so on.  There are a large number of online tutorials that take you through this process from start to finish.  So if all we are doing is filling out a form that Google provides, the Google Places setup would be less than 20 minutes.

The fact is that setting up an effective Google Places listing involves a LOT more.  Here are some questions to ask yourself:

1. How much time will you spend following a tutorial or figuring it out on your own using Google’s setup interface for the first time?  There is a learning curve here that you may not anticipate.  How many hours do you have to spend on this on top of running your company or working your job?
2. What kinds of problems might you run into as you upload pictures and they don’t work because the image size is too large to upload from your new camera?
3. Do you have a clear strategy defined for promoting your Google Places listing to the top of Google search results.  There are many elements that contribute to position of your listing in Google search results.  We have spent 100′s of hours to understand all of this so you don’t have too.
4. How much time will you spend trying to figure out what went wrong when Google changes the way they do things (this happens on a regular basis believe it or not).  Do you have the time it takes to effectively complete the project only to find out why a week later that your listing has changed without Google notifying you?

We could go on here, believe me. Clearbridge has one goal: to bridge the gap between business and technology  and to enable you to grow your business.   What do you want to spend your time doing?  You’re the expert as a restaurateur, plumber, mortgage broker, doctor, etc.  We do what we do best, so that you can do what you do best.

So the answer to the question is – YES you can update your own Google Places listing.  However, if you want it done in the most effective and efficient way possible, let us help you setup Google Places. We’re good at it. It’s what we do.

Get your Google Places listing working for you today as marketing tool that generates new leads and grows your revenue streams. Contact us to get started today!

As we grow and adjust to marketplace demands, we’re adding a Sales Person to our team. We are looking for a candiate who will help grow our existing client-base with a focus on the Chilliwack Region of the Fraser Valley.

The role can be summed up as follows:

Help new prospective clients receive real solutions to real business problems while creating new relationships for our Project Managers to develop.

At Clearbridge we work as a team, and our Sales force is an integral part of our corporate growth. The Sales Person is the front line and the first point of contact each lead will have with our business. Candidates must be self-motivated, driven-to-conversion, professional and proactive about all communication with both prospective, new, and existing clients. Our goal is to always deliver a clear and professional image that is consistent throughout all facits of our business. A Sales Person who focuses on all of the above points, has the best chance for success in this role.

What do our Sales People love about their job?

1. Flexible hours. We work with you to create a schedule that fits your lifestyle.
2. You can be part of a big picture. We are always working with our colleagues to develop new and interesting ideas. You can be part of that.
3. You help real businesses discover solutions to real problems. You’re a problem solver and a saviour to them in a way.
4. You get to use cool new gadgets. We provide our sales staff with an Internet-connected tablet.
5. The sky is the limit. Clearbridge has an enabling philosophy and we like to not only enable our clients, but our entire team.

The best Sales People we’ve ever seen:

1. Can think on their feet. Being able to quickly understand, interpret and respond to challenging questions is a key component of a successful sales person.
2. Makes consistent and detailed use of tools provided to ensure processes are well documented, well planned, and accurately executed.
3. Are disciplined at performing routine tasks such as entering in client information, following up on meeting requests, and proactive in reconnecting.
4. Are super friendly, excitable, passionate, and driven.
5. Work well with others. We work as a team, our success stories do too.
6. Can listen attentively to client concerns, business hurdles, and can present great, well thought-out responses.
7. Can close sales over and over and over again.
8. Are excellent communicators (both verbal and written). We cannot stress this one enough.
9. Make us look good. Like you, we like to look good great too. See above for steps in achieving.

If this all sounds exciting to you, we’d love to hear from you. The full job description is available via the PDF below. If you’d like to apply, submit a cover letter and resume to careers@clearbridge.ca.

For everyone else, please feel free to post this page and share!

Sales Person – Chilliwack Region – PDF

Recently I decided it was time to catch up on some paperwork we had laying around the office. For well over 4 years now, I’ve laid claim to a “paperless where possible” office however as most know, “paperless” often means endless hours of scanning and digitizing—time most of us don’t have. My solution to the time problem was a Fujitsu ScanSnap s1300 for everyones desk, starting with my own.

At Clearbridge, we are very committed to the Google Apps platform which offers our business incredible digital agility. If you don’t know what Google Apps is, ask us, we’d love to tell you all about it. We think it’s a game changer, and we’ve proven it time and time again by helping our clients move over to the platform. We use Google Docs for our digital filing system and we’ve built a complete model around how it is best setup and used based on our unique requirements (yours will be different). So we had the filing system, we just needed a way of getting things there as efficiently as possible.

Enter the Fujitsu s1300.

This device is simply amazing. With the press of a single button, in a single pass, it’ll take care of both sides of each sheet it feeds (through the automatic feeder of course) and name and store each file in a pre-designated location. This could be on your file system or in a Cloud-based service such as Evernote, Dropbox, or Live Drive. Brilliant.

Time to scan a 2-sided 15-sheet document: 5 seconds of my time to press the button and walk away.

Time to file the document into our Corporate Filing System: 30-seconds.

We love it and we think you will too. Questions about how to best set it up for your office? Let us know.

Happy scanning!