Creatuity Corp.

Celebrating Our Entire Team on Administrative Professionals’ Day

Josh — Tue, 01 May 2012 01:28:18 +0000

Here at Creatuity, everyone pitches in – we’re a close knit team (Family, Friendship and Loyalty is one of our core values, after all) that likes to have fun while getting our work done (hey, there’s another core value! Positive Attitude & Fun Environment). As such, we don’t have a single “administrative professional” (I suppose “secretary” is no longer considered politically correct?), all of us fill in and take care of the administrative tasks as they come up.

So, for Administrative Professionals’ day, it only seemed right to celebrate the entire office – we sent our team a wonderful fruit & chocolate arrangement from Edible Arrangements, and at Melinda’s suggestion, we took a team photo to commemorate the day.

If this sounds like a great environment you’d love to work in, check out our Careers page – we’ve been growing rapidly for several years now, and with all of our recent Press Mentions, we’re growing even faster!

How did your office celebrate Administrative Professionals’ Day? What do you consider a fun working environment?

This post originally appeared on the website of Creatuity Corp. as Celebrating Our Entire Team on Administrative Professionals’ Day. Please visit us at Creatuity Corp..

Now Hiring: Client Relations Specialist and Client Relations Intern in Richardson, Texas

Josh — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 20:04:39 +0000

Creatuity has announced 2 job openings – a full-time Client Relations Specialist and a part-time or full-time Client Relations Intern. For more information and to apply, visit the careers at Creatuity page.

The ideal candidate is someone with some experience working for another web development firm or software development firm or a similar industry, but this position is open to anyone with a passion for working with customers via the phone, the web and email to update them on the status of their project, gather requirements and other information and help track critical bug reports and other urgent requests from the first contact with the client through to their resolution.

This post originally appeared on the website of Creatuity Corp. as Now Hiring: Client Relations Specialist and Client Relations Intern in Richardson, Texas. Please visit us at Creatuity Corp..

How SOPA and PIPA might affect eCommerce

Bernardo — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 00:13:39 +0000

SOPAstrike.com

Today, many websites like WordPress.org and Wikipedia are “going dark” as way to stand against the bills SOPA and PIPA . Others like Google are participating by using their homepages to inform the public. SOPA, short for the “Stop Online Piracy Act,” and PIPA, an acronym for the “Protect Intellectual Property Act,” are essentially efforts to stop copyright infringement committed by foreign websites. However, many believe that if these bills were approved, many law-abiding small and large U.S. businesses would be affected and potentially put out of business.

Under the proposed legislation, many search engines would have to block content from their search results, and many U.S. businesses will have to monitor everything that is linked or uploaded by users. Many large companies, including Google, EBay, Facebook and Twitter, among others, wrote to congress explaining why these bills threaten the American economy and technological progress.

wikipedia.org

This also means that any video or music incorporated into a site whose copyright belongs to another also has the potential of a felony charge. SOPA also allows complete power to Congress to block international websites from being accessed from within the United States. This means that there is a possibility that you may lose access to a vendor or supplier in a foreign country, resulting in lost orders, dissolution of business relationships, and perhaps going out of business.

Congress is scheduled to vote on the bills January 24, 2012. You cam read the full bills here (SOPA and PIPA). If you are interested in signing a petition at Google or at SOPAStrike.com

Creatuity will continue to monitor the news and updates will be posted here on our blog.

This post originally appeared on the website of Creatuity Corp. as How SOPA and PIPA might affect eCommerce. Please visit us at Creatuity Corp..

How Long Does It Take To Build a Magento Ecommerce Website?

Josh — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 15:00:34 +0000

If you’re looking to launch a successful online business powered by the Magento e-commerce platform, or maybe your business is growing and you’re looking for a web development company to help you move your website to the Magento e-commerce platform, the first thing you’re probably wondering is “how much is this going to cost” or “how long will it take?”.

While every project is unique, based on our previous experience, a new Magento website can take anywhere from 60 to 600 developer-hours to implement. That’s a huge range, but there’s a few simple questions that will help narrow it down:

Do you want a custom theme, or a theme you’ve purchased from a site like Theme Forest?
Are you planning on using the extensive features built into Magento, or do you want custom functionality and features developed for you?
Do you have a clear plan for exactly how you want your site to look and operate?

If you’re planning on using a purchased theme and relying on just the features built into Magento, then your project will most likely fall into the 60-hour range; if you want a custom theme built from scratch, custom functionality and don’t have a solid plan for your site, then you’re looking at closer to 600 hours for your Magento e-commerce website project. On average, though, most sites tend to take around 200-250 hours, especially those with a customized theme and some additional features, which most site owners tend to prefer.

With our experienced team of Magento developers and our extensive experience with the Magento e-commerce platform, Creatuity would love to implement your new Magento website for you – simply click the Request a Quote button above and one of us will be in touch with you to learn more about your project as soon as possible!

This post originally appeared on the website of Creatuity Corp. as How Long Does It Take To Build a Magento Ecommerce Website?. Please visit us at Creatuity Corp..

Requesting References and Other Mistakes When Hiring a Web Developer

Josh — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 23:12:28 +0000

Recently, a potential client asked a question that we get from time to time – “do you have a few references I could call?”. I politely informed this person that out of respect for the privacy of our clients, we don’t. What I really wanted to say, though, was “look out!”

This warning popped into my mind based on my experiences hiring a Realtor last year – just as many of our clients have never hired a web development firm or web developer before, I had never hired a Realtor before. So, what did I do? I talked to other people (many of which, it turns out, had also never hired a Realtor before) and I searched on Google for things like “How to hire a Realtor” or “How to select a Realtor”, just as you might’ve searched for “how to hire a web developer” or “how to select an ecommerce developer” to find this article. Everyone I spoke with and every article I read included one piece of advice in common – ask for references!

So, I asked for references, just as many of our potential clients might ask us for references when considering hiring us. And I called these references, and they all gave glowing, rave reviews for the Realtor who had given me their contact info. Until one Realtor I interviewed balked at my question when I asked him for references – he laughed, actually. He explained that he would give references if I absolutely wanted them, but that he didn’t normally give references. He returned my question about why he didn’t disclose references with a question of his own – “Have you ever called a reference who gave anything less than a perfect review?”.

I stopped and thought about it, and realized that no, no reference I have ever called for a Realtor or another professional service provider has ever given a bad review; then I realized – of course, no one gives you the contact information for their worst experience or, even, for anyone who will give less than a glowing review. Asking the professional service provider you’re about to contract with for a reference is no different than asking a chef if his restaurant gets good reviews – of course he’s only going to point you to the most glowing reviews he’s received!

That’s when I realized that giving references accomplishes little to help a potential client determine if they’re a good fit for our services or not, and only serves to put a burden on a few of our previous clients who we had previously given as references. So, here at Creatuity, we no longer provide a list of references for potential clients to call – instead, I’d encourage you to consider the following alternatives to requesting references when looking to hire an ecommerce development firm:

Make sure the firm has a published portfolio with sites based on the same or similar technologies as your project will be based on. Realize that not every project is listed in a firm’s portfolio because of NDA’s and other restrictions, but every firm has at least a basic portfolio online.
Instead of requesting references, search for the principals of the firm on LinkedIn – they should be there; if not, you may be dealing with someone who is merely moonlighting as a web developer. This can also help you understand more about the firm’s background and focus areas by seeing what their principals are interested in.
While it’s still rare, see if the firm posts any sort of values online – finding a good fit for your personality, values and working style can be just as important as the technical skills the firm possess. You’ll be working with these people for at least a few months, so find someone you can work with well.
Make sure you can find a phone number and physical address on the firm’s website – not publishing these are another sign of someone who is merely freelancing part-time, which can cause problems with your project’s schedule among other things. Even if you plan to work purely virtually with your new web development firm, there’s always that time in every project where you say “this would be much simpler if I just called them!” – when that moment arrives, you want to make sure you have a phone number that someone answers!
Finally, ask if ongoing support is available – many ecommerce development firms don’t like to provide ongoing support, which means you’ll need to find someone to provide support and updates for your site after it launches.

Look for an upcoming article on the Creatuity e-commerce blog that discusses a few more questions you should ask your ecommerce developer before you hire them! In the meantime, do you ask for references? Have you ever had anyone give a bad reference? Let us know in the comments!

This post originally appeared on the website of Creatuity Corp. as Requesting References and Other Mistakes When Hiring a Web Developer. Please visit us at Creatuity Corp..

Creatuity Featured in X.commerce Magento Developer Directory Announcement

Josh — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 21:50:54 +0000

When X.commerce (a new venture by Magento, eBay and PayPal) and oDesk wanted to highlight a Magento developer while announcing the new X.commerce Directory of E-Commerce Developers, they chose only one development firm to feature – Creatuity, a Dallas, Texas-based e-commerce development firm.

In the press release announcing the new X.commerce Directory for E-commerce Developers, oDesk features a quote from only one developer – Joshua Warren, president and founder of Creatuity.

Creatuity was among the first to take the X.commerce pledge, was the first US-based development firm to be listed in the X.commerce developer directory and was the first US-based development firm to pass the eBay API/integration skills test on oDesk and join the eBay developer group/directory on oDesk. Creatuity plans to similarly be the first to pass the Magento test-just as soon as oDesk makes it available!

We enjoy working with Magento and are excited about the X.commerce launch. We continually expand our skills and experience with the Magento, eBay and PayPal platforms – we encourage you to learn more about our Magento development and consulting services, review our portfolio of selected Magento sites we’ve developed and then call our offices at 214-810-5005 or email us at contact@creatuity.com to learn more about how we can help you with your next eBay, Magento or PayPal project!

This post originally appeared on the website of Creatuity Corp. as Creatuity Featured in X.commerce Magento Developer Directory Announcement. Please visit us at Creatuity Corp..

New Magento Feature: Allow Shoppers to Login with their PayPal Commerce Identity

Josh — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 15:42:04 +0000

At this week’s X.commerce Innovate event, eBay is expected to announce a new product called Commerce Identity. This product, which was first reported by AuctionBytes yesterday, is tied to a user’s PayPal account and works much like a Login with Facebook or Login with OpenID button, allowing shoppers to login to your site using an existing account so they don’t have to create a new account.

However, Commerce Identity goes beyond a simple login shortcut, and ties a complete “shopping profile” to their account – this profile will include such data as the user’s purchase history, preferences, and attributes such as shoe size, for example.

eBay has announced that this functionality will be supported on Magento sites – this is a ground-breaking feature that we urge all of our Magento clients to implement, as it will allow you to customize the user’s experience based on the attributes in their shopping profile – you could, for example, feature only those products that fit the user or that match the user’s previous purchases not only on your site but on every site they’ve used their Commerce Identity on.

Creatuity is available to help you implement the Commerce Identity on your Magento site; please feel free to email us at contact@creatuity.com, call our offices at 214-810-5005 or fill out our Magento quote form and we’d be more than happy to discuss implementing logging in with Commerce Identity on your Magento website!

This post originally appeared on the website of Creatuity Corp. as New Magento Feature: Allow Shoppers to Login with their PayPal Commerce Identity. Please visit us at Creatuity Corp..

Creatuity Takes the X.commerce Pledge

Josh — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 19:36:38 +0000

We’ve been working with the Magento, eBay and PayPal platforms for quite a few years, so when we heard about X.commerce and the X.commerce pledge, we were excited to be one of the first development firms to make the pledge!

The X.commerce pledge (which, we were excited to see, aligns and overlaps quite a bit with our Core Values and our Mission to create quality ecommerce tools and websites that are affordable, fun and easy to use, enabling the smallest new venture to compete with the largest established company.) reads:

We believe that merchants should harness technology, not the other way around. Technology solutions should be future-proof and meet their needs, not enslave them with confusion and costs.
We believe that developers should have one place where they can plug in, get the latest and greatest tools they need to build killer apps and features, using proven code.
We believe in helping all merchants and developers compete, save time, share ideas, grow, and frankly just make more money—faster.
And we’re realists; we know we can’t do it alone. Things are changing constantly, new ideas and technologies crop up daily. The customer is in control. The notion of “build it and they will come” is dead. To win in the commerce game, we need to combine forces, roll up our sleeves, stay caffeinated, and shape the future of commerce.
We pledge to make this happen in an open, transparent, and collaborative way. After all, isn’t that the way it should be?

We’re excited to take this pledge and be a part of what X.commerce is doing – the combination of eBay + PayPal + Magento really can’t be beat, in our opinion – using these 3 services you can easily launch or grow your e-commerce venture and connect with your customers online.

This post originally appeared on the website of Creatuity Corp. as Creatuity Takes the X.commerce Pledge. Please visit us at Creatuity Corp..

Job Opening: Web Development Interns

Josh — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 21:17:11 +0000

Creatuity has announced 2 job openings for part-time web development interns through the Industrial Practice Programs department of the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering & Computer Science at the University of Texas at Dallas. While students from other universities and departments will be considered, preference is given to UT-Dallas students working through the Industrial Practice Programs department. The only major criteria is at least some experience with the PHP programming language, so if you or someone you know is a UTD student with some experience in PHP, please take a moment to read our job posting below, or refer to UTD IPP’s JobLink job # 3801.

Summary: Creatuity Corp., a fast-growing e-commerce development firm, is seeking two part-time (20 hour/week) web development interns. Over the course of their internship, these interns will gain experience in almost every area of a web development firm, including software development as well as client and community relations.

Responsibilities:

Coordinate with our project teams to perform code reviews and develop bug fixes, improvements and enhancements to existing code (written in PHP).
Implement new features and functionality on our new cloud-based e-commerce platform.
Provide regular project status updates to clients and accept bug reports and new feature requests from clients via email as well as the phone, converting those to technical tasks.
Assist sales staff in replying to potential clients, gathering requirements and developing proposals.
Engage with clients and the greater community via Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, the Creatuity.com blog and various e-commerce-focused discussion forums.

Requirements:

Ability to describe technical topics in plain, non-technical customer-friendly English
Ability to convert customer requirements into technical requirements
Some knowledge of HTML, CSS and PHP
Written English skills
Spoken English skills
Ability to work 20 hours/week in our office for the duration of the internship

Preferred:

Experience with Facebook, Twitter and the WordPress blogging platform
Experience in any type of sales or customer service

About Creatuity Corp.: Founded in 2008, Creatuity creates quality ecommerce tools and websites that are affordable, fun and easy to use, enabling the smallest new venture to compete with the largest established company. We focus on delivering quality results for our clients, and have fun doing it – we have a casual dress code (no suits!), provide your choice of platform (we prefer Apple, but if you prefer Windows or Linux, that’s no problem!) and value constant learning, communication and collaboration. Read more about us at http://creatuity.com/ and our 8 core values that define our company culture at http://creatuity.com/values/

Location: 100 N Central Expressway, Suite 815, Richardson, Texas 75080

To apply: use UTD’s IPP JobLink or email your resume and cover letter to contact@creatuity.com with the subject line “Fall Internship Application”

This post originally appeared on the website of Creatuity Corp. as Job Opening: Web Development Interns. Please visit us at Creatuity Corp..

Texas Surges Ahead 25 Rankings to Join Top 10 States for Entrepreneurial Activity

Josh — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 17:00:50 +0000

Researchers at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Bureau of Business Research and Department of Economics recently updated their State Entrepreneurship Index, their state-by-state measurement of entrepreneurial activity, moving Texas up 25 places to #9 for entrepreneurship.

The index looks at much more than just the number of new businesses started, including factors such as gross receipts of partnerships and sole proprietorships, number of patents issued per capita, etc.

While we work with clients from all over the world, here at Creatuity we’ve noticed that even throughout the recession, demand from Texas startups for software and web development services has remained strong, stronger than many other regions in the US. This latest report only strengthens our belief that the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is poised to become one of the top locations for technology-focused companies.

This post originally appeared on the website of Creatuity Corp. as Texas Surges Ahead 25 Rankings to Join Top 10 States for Entrepreneurial Activity. Please visit us at Creatuity Corp..