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Lighting Life Up With Mother Nature

Awesome work, insane parties, this is what life means at AblySoft. However, every now and then, we feel like taking a break from the maddening crowd and the urban jungles. This is the time when we look up to the mighty mountains of Himalayas, like, literally. And thus we decided to set on a voyage to Katnalu Creeks, Shimla.

Hail Himalayas Starting Point

After a 3-hour short drive, we were welcomed at The Hail Himalayas Campsite with rinks to quench our thirst and fresh food for the famished. No weren’t tired. Yes, we were excited for the expedition.

As we set foot for the trek, we were welcomed by the relaxing greenery and cheerful Magpie. But before that, we had a very important thing to do; selfies, lots of them!

As Hail Himalayas offer a wide variety of outdoor activities, we found ourselves engaging in the one of our choice. Some participated voluntarily; some took up the challenge, while some did it because it looked fun. Some claimed the obstacle course to be a cakewalk (we knew it wasn’t, let them brag :D) while some exclaimed it to be a nut tougher to crack than they expected.

Adventure Ropes

Instructions time

And then we were told to gather up by our mountaineering instructor.

Following his instructions diligently (yeah, right), we started trekking in the lush greenery and cool breeze that was quickly turning into cold gusts of wind. Magpies were constantly cheering us as we moved forward.

Set to Trek

And then, we found ourselves following the sound of flowing water. Lo and behold, a beautiful waterfall greeted us with its cold water. Somehow, Mother Nature knew how to place stones and boulders for us to sit on.

Everyone had a different experience from this little trek, but it was definitely relaxing and rejuvenating for all of us. It was a unanimous verdict.

As we returned to the base to get back to the same old city life, Magpies bid us a melodious farewell, making us want to come again.

AblySoft Bags the Most Promising Web Design and Development Company Award

Getting recognized by NASSCOM has been one of the most remarkable achievements for AblySoft, and the feat has garnered us a major attention by media. Our insatiable desire to be the best and come up with more remarkable ideas landed us another laurel.

Silicon India not only included Ably Soft Pvt. Ltd. as one of the 20 visionary companies that offer nonpareil web designing and development services in India, but also declared us the winner of the list.

Here’s what Silicon India had to say about us:

This is what happens when great minds join hands together and bring out the best of their hard work. This recognition is a joint effort of us all. It’s not one person’s achievement, but a result of all the collective energies working together to take the world of Ecommerce to greater horizons. Kudos, Team Ablysoft!

We did what may dream of doing, and we are not even half way there yet.

When Sun Kissed Beaches and Spirit of AblySoft Came Together

The beautiful laidback beaches of Goa welcomed the Ablysoft family when we headed there to unwind and have some fun. After some hard work and new additions to our team, we finally earned the much needed get away! We thought it would be nice to share some experiences that came along.

Party by the Beach

We danced like crazy from dusk to dawn, inspiring everyone with the real party spirit. The party did not end once the DJ stopped the music; the zeal continued in our hotel rooms.

Experiencing Goa as a Local

Endless partying was not our only agenda as we planned many wonderful visits in the city during the day. Although it was party time every evening but our days went by exploring the local cuisines, sun kissed beaches, Portuguese architecture and flea markets full of spices and antiques.

Riding through the City

Our team took the roads by storm with rented scooters, bikes and 4 wheels as they head out to explore the hidden getaways in Goa. Every pit stop was followed by a photography session and a desire to explore some more.

This four-day fall trip came with countless photos, social media updates and memories to die for. These memories are proof that Ablysoft is more than just a place of work. The entire team rejuvenated and was looking forward to going back to work with full enthusiasm and a trip down memory lane.

Social Media Presence – Why your business deserves it?

Social media platforms are becoming a frenzy gesture for online buffs. Integrating it into your business modules is probably one of the foremost measures to be taken to make your business a success. The world is rushing to be online, where are you?

Social Media – New age marketing

Social media extends impressive opportunities for engaging customers, clients, targeted communities, public in conversations and brand awareness initiatives. Also, this further helps in developing brands and services. Initially a risky area to venture into, social media now is a boon for online businesses. Being a responsible online merchandizer, you must understand the importance of spreading your word through the hallways of social media as well. Social media is indeed one of the most amazing ways to grow by leaps and bounds.

Market calls – Social media

According to some essential stats, over 1 billion people in the world are on Facebook, including over 175 million Americans, or 1 in 2 adults. Twitter recently surpassed 400 million accounts. LinkedIn boasts over 200 million users. Small business owners are trying to take advantage of these trends, but few are completely reaping the benefits. And the biggies are yet to explore the entire realm. It’s a wakeup call for how future businesses should be like.

Some of the benefits of social media to uplift your business’ online stature are:

Branding – One of the most obvious advantages for most businesses is branding. Branding gives a personality to your business by effectively conveying its voice throughout the social media hallways. Brand awareness is indeed the most important factor that determines your business’ footing in the market rush.
Reputation management – Yet again an essential element. Your brand needs to be looked at pleasantly. Social media is a free world, hence it is important to incorporate it effectively into your business modules. Channelize your conversations with online customers to map your reputation graph to soaring heights. Be immediately responsive to the online queries and complaints, this will help win their trust and eventually their loyalty.
Helps recognize target markets – Social media allows you to have a better insight of target markets, hence enabling target market activities to maximize your business benefits.
Lead generation – Another benefit associated with social media is lead generation. Monitor your conversations online, identify the positive and negative comments and make the most out of them.
Enhanced internal communication – Social media like Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Skype, all facilitate improved inter-office communication. The overall communication speeds up and is more fun; chatting, face to face communication, creating and announcing events, even holding conferences and webinars is easier than ever.
Bigger and better impact – Social media is big, like really big! It has the capacity to impact other search results. It costs less and is promising to give you that added mileage

The benefits of social media are many. Above stated are a few of those vitalities. Have more to add? Feel free to share your views in the comment section. If you have started an online venture or own an established online agency, do share your experiences.

Secret to Making People Open Emails Faster and Frequently DEBUNKED!

“More often than not, I open these email blasts sent from various eCommerce portals about enticing offers and deals, and tend to throw them to my virtual wastebaskets for they serve no purpose to my needs. There are only some that I open perhaps because they look great at once and say it all without making me doubt or think too much. They BOOM, while reassuring me the control to opt in and out. Also, the ones I happen to click at a flick are those that sound real & personalized. The emails that tend to talk to me and touch me to turn to them are the ones that interest me to look for more”

About 70% of digital marketers consider email marketing as one of the top mediums for minting massive ROI. It is also known to be 20X more effective than other marketing channels. Emails are cost effective, versatile, immediate, personal and trackable. However all this only helps if at all your emails are opened and taken action upon. So how exactly can you make ‘THEM’ click to open your e-envelopes, subscribe and buy more?

Find out how open rates for your emails can become higher than ever:

Keep the subject line short; ensure it is not beyond 50 characters. Exclamation or overly enthusiastic lines might sound engaging, but they don’t work always. Instead focus upon messages that relay timely and pertinent information. Whatever you write, make it look and sound legitimate. Avoid any misleading or vague subject line and it should often include your company name. For example, test with 1% of your list — 100 out of 10,000. Even if you have a standard subject line for your newsletter, it’s a good idea to test a new twist every six months or so. Better yet, enlist your readers in voting for the new “title” for your newsletter subject line.
Make it sound personalized. Use your recipient’s name in the subject line. Such messages improve the click through rates by 14% and conversion by almost 10%.
Research about your target audience and find out the right frequency of communication. Don’t bombard them with your emails and leave them sighing, but don’t ignore either.
It is an absolute no-no to use spam messages or traps and subject lines. To be on the safer side, run your email through a spam filter before pushing it out.
You get greater response to your emails if they read, hi, hey, quick question etc. Be specific about your messages to achieve higher open rates in your emails. Numbers and specificity of the message are always enticing. Make ‘Them’ stare at your figures or numbers mentioned in the mail for long enough to know more about. Imagine “How I Made $125,677 in Six Days with One Blog” will have people thinking HOW?
Make them emotional and show a final solution. Strike the emotional chord with your readers and provide them a solution that is positively influential.
Make it more like a movie trailor that makes ‘THEM’ salivate at the mouth on what could happen next. Watched one of those trailors when something really dramatic teases you throughout and suddenly at the moment when the ‘what’s next’ about to happen, the trailor ends and launch date shows? Let the curiosity grab their minds.
Send your email blasts like strategized and planned. Make a list of those people who didn’t open the email and resend them the email with a completely revamped or new hot button.
Reassure ‘THEM’ some life changing mantra or belief, or help them overcome some sort of deep seated fear they haven’t touched on for years. Establish this essence in your email blasts and make them click to read more and subscribe.

If you have already come so far reading, drive back home these pointers and make the most of them by integrating these into your email marketing campaigns.

How to Evaluate Web Design Agency from Its Pre-Proposal Questionnaire

“A questionnaire can tell a lot if you are ready to listen”

Questionnaire usually arrives when you have already made up your mind about web design service provider. You are impressed with website, previous works, success stories and promises made. Even the price seems legit.

In such a pleasant scenario, why would one look critically at a two-page document sent for basic inputs?

Why not just scribble answers quickly and let the work begun?

Well, you can obviously do that but it would only mean letting go a golden opportunity to evaluate your design partner for the last time before investing money.

Benefits of doing this;

Two goals can be achieved by giving a critical eye to the sent design questionnaire;

Queries raised and information sought in a questionnaire could be used to gain insights about hired company’s approach towards designing.
With a careful glance at the questionnaire and earlier discussions in mind, one can crosscheck the authenticity of impressive design-talk already made.

Let’s list some set of questions that will give you a fair idea about potential design experts;

(Note: Please remember that central idea of the questions matter rather than the way it is phrased).

General;

1) Comment on following to give insights about your target audience;

Age group
Gender
Technical expertise
Internet connectivity
Purchase power

2) What is the purpose of your website?

To expand beyond your brick and mortar model
To generate leads
Online selling
To create awareness
To build your brand image
After sales support

Both questions are very basic in nature but tell a lot about company’s work approach and industry knowhow.

Information sought in the first one clearly aims to get a fair understanding of demographics associated with target audience. Age group and easy with technology will help in reaching a decision about functionality. Gender on the other hand can determine overall personality and color scheme.

Second question tries to understand client objectives so that design elements can be developed with the same in mind. Generating leads and creating brand awareness are two entirely different objectives. Hence, it helps if design agency is prior aware about purpose.

Conversion sensitive;

1) How do you want customers to contact you?

E-mails
Contact Us forms
Mails to a postal address
Live Chat
Telephone

2) What will be your marketing strategy to reach your customers?

PPC
SEO
Social Media
Content marketing
Through your physical stores
E-mail marketing
Traditional marketing

Every website comes into existence to achieve a predetermined goal. Most of business oriented ones want to leave a mark on their customers and get leads. The website design has to focus on the ones that are most appropriate as well as desired by the client.

In the same way, if client is aiming for business mileage than mere web presence, then, discussion related to future marketing plans is vital. This helps the designers in creating scope to target appropriate marketing channels. In case client has social media promotion on his mind, creating space for social sharing buttons needs to be taken care of during design part only.

Branding related

1) Would you like to launch it as an extension to your existing brand name or with a new identity?

2) What do you think is your Core Competence/ USP?

3) Why people prefer to buy from you over other competitors?

Lower pricing
Delivery time
Brand name & reputation
User reviews & personal references
Certifications, awards & appreciations
Others (please specify)

There is no denying that branding is critical. While a new web business may wish to build its brand around pricing, other may like the homepage to be dominated by the quality of its offered products. The concept of separating the virtual brand from company name is also common.

Hence, a good design requires feedback and insights from brand positioning point of view. Such questions serve two purposes;

a) If the client has prior plans about branding, he highlights the same and design team works on the right path from the very beginning.

b) If client has not given little thought to branding, then, he certainly will have plenty of reasons to think about.

These are not the only questions that you should scrutinize though. Read between the lines while going through the questionnaire. For instance;

“Do you want a mobile version of your website?” reflects that the service provider has the expertise to develop mobile websites as well.

Similarly, look for cues related to professionalism, technical expertise, planning and global approach. Vague and irrelevant questions only escalate the chances of blame game after project commencement. This will not only lead to dissatisfaction but also financial loss.

A questionnaire reflects the industry beliefs of people it represents. So, if yours is not in accordance to the flawless aura of the hired agency, there is some serious thinking to do.

Being a web design agency with nine-years of industry experience, we at Ably Soft understand the importance of above highlighted questions & queries to cover branding & business objectives.

If you want a website to represent your business or online idea, discuss your needs with us to learn about our scientific usability focused approach to website design & development.