--- title: The Garden Blog (2) description: Thoughts on crafting quality software and design from the team at Lotus (2) --- ![Lotus Apps](https://blog.madebylotus.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Backgrounds_Lotus%20BLog_Jan2017/logo-color.png?width=170&name=logo-color.png "Lotus Apps") - [Work](https://www.madebylotus.com/software-solutions/) - [Why Lotus](https://www.madebylotus.com/custom-software-development/) - [About](https://www.madebylotus.com/about/) - [Blog](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog) - [Start a Project](https://info.madebylotus.com/start-your-custom-software-solution) # Our Thoughts and Stories It's hard to write when we're always so busy creating for our amazing clients! However, we do find time sometimes to share our thoughts on crafting Rails, iOS and Mac apps out of Knoxville, TN. [Start Your Project](https://info.madebylotus.com/start-your-custom-software-solution) ![lotus apps software solution logo KARM Thrift Stores](https://www.madebylotus.com/static/images/clients/KARM.png) ![lotus apps software solution logo citus data](https://www.madebylotus.com/static/images/clients/Citus.png) ![lotus apps software solution logo NASCAR](https://www.madebylotus.com/static/images/clients/Nascar.png) ![lotus apps software solution logo Eyrus](https://www.madebylotus.com/static/images/clients/Eyrus.png) ![lotus apps software solution logo Animikii](https://www.madebylotus.com/static/images/clients/animikii.png) ![lotus apps software solution logo Croozen](https://www.madebylotus.com/static/images/clients/Croozen.png) ## [Why Ads are Frustrating on the Apple App Store](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog/why-ads-are-frustrating-on-the-apple-app-store) Oct 01, 2018 | [By Matt](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog/author/matt) | [Marketing](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog/topic/marketing) - [Tweet](https://twitter.com/share) Recently we noticed that searching for an app by name seemed to reliably show us an ad at the top ... [Read More](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog/why-ads-are-frustrating-on-the-apple-app-store) 0 Comments [Click here to read/write comments](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog/why-ads-are-frustrating-on-the-apple-app-store#comments-listing) ## [Stripe Raises Another $245M and Can Work for Your Small Business](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog/stripe-raises-another-245m-and-can-work-for-your-small-business) Sep 27, 2018 | [By Matt](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog/author/matt) | [Business](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog/topic/business) - [Tweet](https://twitter.com/share) Stripe, the payments processing startup offering streamlined integration services for business ... [Read More](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog/stripe-raises-another-245m-and-can-work-for-your-small-business) 0 Comments [Click here to read/write comments](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog/stripe-raises-another-245m-and-can-work-for-your-small-business#comments-listing) ## [3 Tips to Craft More Effective Email Subjects](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog/3-tips-to-craft-more-effective-email-subjects) Sep 18, 2018 | [By Matt](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog/author/matt) | [Entrepreneurship](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog/topic/entrepreneurship), [Business](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog/topic/business) - [Tweet](https://twitter.com/share) An email subject is your first impression and opportunity to grab a prospect's attention and ... [Read More](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog/3-tips-to-craft-more-effective-email-subjects) 0 Comments [Click here to read/write comments](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog/3-tips-to-craft-more-effective-email-subjects#comments-listing) ## [3 Tips for Quickly Prioritizing Your Product Backlog](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog/3-tips-for-quickly-prioritizing-your-product-backlog) Sep 13, 2018 | [By Matt](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog/author/matt) | [Entrepreneurship](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog/topic/entrepreneurship), [Business](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog/topic/business) - [Tweet](https://twitter.com/share) Having a healthy product backlog is an important task for any team to tackle to help ensure the ... [Read More](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog/3-tips-for-quickly-prioritizing-your-product-backlog) 0 Comments [Click here to read/write comments](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog/3-tips-for-quickly-prioritizing-your-product-backlog#comments-listing) ## [The Hidden Cost of a Cheaper Hourly Rate](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog/the-hidden-cost-of-a-cheaper-hourly-rate) Sep 11, 2018 | [By Matt](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog/author/matt) | [Entrepreneurship](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog/topic/entrepreneurship) - [Tweet](https://twitter.com/share) Everyone expects to get more when paying more, but what do you give up when paying less? There are ... [Read More](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog/the-hidden-cost-of-a-cheaper-hourly-rate) 0 Comments [Click here to read/write comments](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog/the-hidden-cost-of-a-cheaper-hourly-rate#comments-listing) ## [Behind the Scenes: Hourly Rate](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog/behind-the-scenes-hourly-rate) Sep 07, 2018 | [By Matt](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog/author/matt) | [Business](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog/topic/business) - [Tweet](https://twitter.com/share) As software craftspeople, we hear it quite often; how did we determine our hourly rate, or why ... [Read More](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog/behind-the-scenes-hourly-rate) 0 Comments [Click here to read/write comments](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog/behind-the-scenes-hourly-rate#comments-listing) ## [Announcing OnTrac Point of Sale](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog/announcing-ontrac-point-of-sale) Sep 05, 2018 | [By Matt](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog/author/matt) | [Business](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog/topic/business) - [Tweet](https://twitter.com/share) We're stupid excited to share our latest product launch with our partners at KARM Thrift Stores and ... [Read More](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog/announcing-ontrac-point-of-sale) 0 Comments [Click here to read/write comments](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog/announcing-ontrac-point-of-sale#comments-listing) ## [What You're not Asking your Development Partner](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog/what-youre-not-asking-your-development-partner) Sep 04, 2018 | [By Matt](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog/author/matt) | [Entrepreneurship](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog/topic/entrepreneurship), [Development](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog/topic/development) - [Tweet](https://twitter.com/share) Choosing a partner to help build your startup or small business product can be a daunting task and ... [Read More](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog/what-youre-not-asking-your-development-partner) 0 Comments [Click here to read/write comments](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog/what-youre-not-asking-your-development-partner#comments-listing) ## [Our Collaboration with MathStar](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog/our-collaboration-with-mathstar) Aug 16, 2018 | [By Matt](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog/author/matt) | [Business](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog/topic/business) - [Tweet](https://twitter.com/share) We enjoyed collaborating with Carol at MathStar and the mobile development team at TouchTap earlier ... [Read More](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog/our-collaboration-with-mathstar) 0 Comments [Click here to read/write comments](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog/our-collaboration-with-mathstar#comments-listing) ## [Interview with CEO of Croozen](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog/interview-with-ceo-of-croozen) Aug 14, 2018 | [By Matt](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog/author/matt) | [Business](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog/topic/business) - [Tweet](https://twitter.com/share) We're excited to see CEO Gordon Taylor of Croozen discussing product, platform, business and ... [Read More](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog/interview-with-ceo-of-croozen) 0 Comments [Click here to read/write comments](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog/interview-with-ceo-of-croozen#comments-listing) ## [Announcing School PayIt](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog/announcing-school-payit) Oct 12, 2017 | [By Matt](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog/author/matt) | [Business](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog/topic/business) - [Tweet](https://twitter.com/share) Every product launch is exciting, but we're really proud of the team's work to bring School PayIt ... [Read More](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog/announcing-school-payit) 0 Comments [Click here to read/write comments](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog/announcing-school-payit#comments-listing) ## [Using Before Destroy and Has Many in Rails](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog/using-before-destroy-and-has-many-in-rails) Aug 03, 2017 | [By Matt](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog/author/matt) | [Ruby on Rails](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog/topic/ruby-on-rails), [Development](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog/topic/development) - [Tweet](https://twitter.com/share) A quick tip for utilizing a before\_destroy callback in Rails alongside associations.... [Read More](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog/using-before-destroy-and-has-many-in-rails) 0 Comments [Click here to read/write comments](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog/using-before-destroy-and-has-many-in-rails#comments-listing) ## [Expanding Objects in Stripe API](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog/expanding-objects-in-stripe-api) Aug 01, 2017 | [By Matt](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog/author/matt) | [Ruby on Rails](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog/topic/ruby-on-rails), [Development](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog/topic/development) - [Tweet](https://twitter.com/share) Learn this quick tip to reduce the number of API requests and speed up your payments integration.... [Read More](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog/expanding-objects-in-stripe-api) 0 Comments [Click here to read/write comments](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog/expanding-objects-in-stripe-api#comments-listing) ## [How We Approach a New Project](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog/how-we-approach-a-new-project) Jul 12, 2017 | [By Matt](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog/author/matt) | [Entrepreneurship](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog/topic/entrepreneurship) - [Tweet](https://twitter.com/share) Learn how we discuss, analyze, suggest and provide a Project Assessment to new customers to guide ... [Read More](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog/how-we-approach-a-new-project) 0 Comments [Click here to read/write comments](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog/how-we-approach-a-new-project#comments-listing) ## [Official Launch of Equus Hub for iOS](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog/official-launch-of-equus-hub-for-ios) Jun 26, 2017 | [By Matt](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog/author/matt) | [Business](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog/topic/business) - [Tweet](https://twitter.com/share) About Equus Hub Equus Hub approached TouchTap to build an iOS application, allowing enthusiasts, ... [Read More](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog/official-launch-of-equus-hub-for-ios) 0 Comments [Click here to read/write comments](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog/official-launch-of-equus-hub-for-ios#comments-listing) [Previous](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog/page/1) [All posts](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog/all) [Next](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog/page/3) ### Subscribe to Email Updates ### Posts by Topic - [Business (20)](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog/topic/business) - [Entrepreneurship (20)](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog/topic/entrepreneurship) - [Development (12)](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog/topic/development) - [Programming (9)](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog/topic/programming) - [Design (8)](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog/topic/design) - [Ruby on Rails (8)](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog/topic/ruby-on-rails) - [Marketing (7)](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog/topic/marketing) - [Ruby (6)](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog/topic/ruby) - [Branding (5)](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog/topic/branding) - [IoT (5)](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog/topic/iot) - [Linux (3)](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog/topic/linux) - [Raspberry Pi (3)](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog/topic/raspberry-pi) - [UI/UX (3)](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog/topic/ui-ux) - [Typography (2)](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog/topic/typography) - [Networking (1)](https://blog.madebylotus.com/blog/topic/networking) see all [![Web vs Mobile software solutions](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/2735611/9f9c26bf-7589-464e-b3ed-fd96cb095788.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/2735611/9f9c26bf-7589-464e-b3ed-fd96cb095788) [![Pro](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/2735611/524caa0c-d5c7-4692-b2f3-60bcd646c77c.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/2735611/524caa0c-d5c7-4692-b2f3-60bcd646c77c) [![Why Should I Brand My Company?](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/2735611/fc55f924-34af-48ce-8497-80215293dcb2.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/2735611/fc55f924-34af-48ce-8497-80215293dcb2) ### Our Products [![](https://blog.madebylotus.com/hubfs/Backgrounds_Lotus%20BLog_Jan2017/tipcounter-footer1.jpg) Tip Counter for iOS](http://www.tipcounterapp.com/) [![](https://blog.madebylotus.com/hubfs/Backgrounds_Lotus%20BLog_Jan2017/prospector-footer2.jpg) Prospector - Monitor Your Ruby Codebase](http://www.gemprospector.com/) [![](https://blog.madebylotus.com/hubfs/Backgrounds_Lotus%20BLog_Jan2017/brailled-footer3.jpg) BraillED for iOS](http://www.brailledapp.com/) # Ready to have a chat? 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