Perhaps you’re familiar with the saying, "fast, good, cheap: pick two.”

It's a popular truism — one that often gets shared when comparing software options. The fastest and best option probably won’t be the rock-bottom cheapest; the fastest and cheapest option might not be very good.

But when you’re choosing between options, it can sometimes be hard to tell when you’re comparing apples to apples, apples to oranges, or perhaps even a bushel of apples from last year’s harvest to a bakery-fresh apple pie.

From marketing speak using jargon that obscures what you're actually getting to glossy charts full of features you’ve yet to see in action — finding the right software that actually does what it promises while also helping you as you work can be a headache, and that’s before you’ve even started actually trying to design with the software.

Whether your goal is to get work done faster, to improve your designs, or to razor down your expenses — great software can be the difference between achieving your goals and designing great projects, or wasting time on a program that doesn’t give you what you need and sends you back to the drawing board to start your search for the right tools all over again.

From the custom pool with the elegantly hidden equipment to the thoughtfully planned landscaping with just the right hardscaping — getting the colors, finishes, and materials exactly right is an important part of creating the best experience for your clients.

Virtual Reality is the most exciting, most engaging technology on the market today, and it's already completely changing how we experience movies, video games, and architecture. Today, virtual landscape software is ready for you — ready for you to add even more depth and detail to your pool and landscape designs, and ready for you to start sharing even more immersive experiences with your clients.

When Lea Frederick started out in the aquatics industry, she didn’t enter the industry expecting that she would one day be the only woman in the world to attain accreditation as a member of the prestigious Society of Watershape Designers, by the Genesis Design Group. 

In fact, Frederick didn’t start out designing swimming pools at all. It was only after her husband, with whom she owned a commercial swim and tennis club, teamed up with a business partner who needed someone to do design and sales that Frederick decided to consider designing pools.

Frederick’s background in engineering meant she had the necessary technical understanding to start designing beautiful pools. By leveraging those skills — along with her experience teaching lifeguarding for the Red Cross as well as kids’ swimming lessons — Frederick has been able to design and build stunning pools that clients love, enabling her to build a successful career as a business owner and Watershape Designer: she owns Vue Custom Pools and Vue Custom Design. 

Achieving the perfect balance of sunshine and shade in an outdoor living space is a skill that sometimes goes overlooked by clients — even though creating just the right balance is one of the key ways that designers transform a yard from something mundane into their client’s dream space.

Outdoor living projects are the second largest investment most homeowners will ever make, next to the house itself. Perhaps your client is finally going to be able to realize their longstanding dream of building the perfect pool for their dream home. Or perhaps they’re asking you to design for them the perfect landscaping for their family to enjoy in their first new home.

What are successful pool builders doing that differentiates them from their less-successful peers? They’re finding new ways to turn an old sales truism to their advantage: they use health and fitness industry data to help them sell benefits, not just features.

Summer often inspires homeowners to start thinking about building a pool of their own — one that will be the perfect summer oasis, the ideal way to stay cool and make even the hottest days of summer enjoyable.

Sometimes, however, building a pool can seem like a dream for the future, rather than an immediately possible reality.

Perhaps a homeowner has heard cautionary tales about the expense of maintaining a pool, or maybe they just can’t imagine the pool of their dreams actually fitting into their own yard’s challenging terrain.

When starting to think about building a pool, the first big question that many homeowners ask is, will building a swimming pool really increase the value of my house?  

For many, the answer is yes.

When Jeromey Naugle joined the pool and landscape industry in 1999, he started out stocking the shelves at a pool store in Gilbert, Arizona. Since then, he has built his own company, Premier Paradise, Inc., to not just earn seven-figure contracts — but to achieve that spectacular growth without even needing to advertise to prospects.

Before he could achieve that success, however, Naugle knew he needed to find ways to do more than just build swimming pools.

After all, his goal wasn’t just to earn a living — it was to build a career that would give him the freedom to create for his clients beautiful, innovative pools.

To do that, he needed to find the right tools, and the right team, that would make it possible for him to create truly spectacular results for his clients.

Selling your clients on the perfect project takes more than just checking items off even the most efficient to-do list. A great design, a beautiful presentation, even the perfect opening on your calendar — you might have all of the big pieces in place.