Being Penny Wise and CRM Foolish
I got a call from a potential client the other day who wanted help in converting his existing databases into the latest version of ACT; he was a long-time ACT user and had accumulated over 20 databases. He then went on to explain that unless I could match the $15/hour price quoted to him by the kid down the street he wasn’t interested in my services. Shortly after that I received a call from...
Is Your E-Marketing Message Marking You as a Spammer?
One of my clients recently sent me a one of his proposed e-marketing templates for my review. He had spent quite a bit of time developing his message and was understandably quite proud of it. What he had in mind was for me to review it, make a few suggestions and fix any typos I might find. He was no doubt expecting a few words of praise, or, at the very least, a large smiley face. What he...
Old Dogs Must Learn New Software Training Tricks
The publishing industry has gone into a free fall. It’s almost impossible for a publisher to compete with the constant stream of new – and relatively cheap – information that we can be accessed via websites, blogs and e-books. Small wonder that so many newspapers and magazines – and even brick and mortar bookstores – have permanently closed their doors.
Perhaps the final nail...
Keep It Simple, Stupid!
Many years ago my husband and I attempted to wallpaper our dining room. Of course it didn’t help that we began work on this DIY project two weeks before Thanksgiving and were under a time crunch. I carefully set up a table in the garage where we applied the paste and carried the soggy paper through the house and into the dining room. Needless to say by the end of the trip the paper was in shreds. ...
It’s A Smaller World Than We Think
I recently ran across a wonderful story in the Washington Post about two high school kids who stumbled across an abandoned baby on their way home from school 20 years ago. The baby, only hours old when the kids found her, were ultimately turned over to authorities. The child was eventually adopted but not before the kids had a chance to visit her in the hospital and gift her with a teddy bear. ...
Let Me Sell You Some Swamp Land in Florida
I love my tennis buddies even if they are a bit technically challenged. Take away their AOL accounts and they’d never be able to access e-mail; to them a browser is someone who’s not yet ready to make a purchase. I found it quite interesting that lately many of them were switching cell phone carriers because they just “had to have” an I-Phone. I know they’ll never use the device for...
Singing the Customer Service Blues
Once upon a time life was much simpler – at least if you believe everything you see in “Leave It To Beaver” re-runs. Dad marched off to the office every day while Mom stayed home and dusted. Not once did you hear Dad cursing because he couldn’t find his software activation code and the gentleman at tech support couldn’t speak English, or watch Mom navigate through a maze of “Press 1...
Fathers Don’t always Know Best
My twenty-three year old daughter was home for the holidays. Hard as it is to believe, my “baby” is now a college graduate. Of course the start of a new decade left me thinking about the technological changes that have occurred over the span of a decade – and how they’ve impacted her life and my business.
Alyssa was raised with a computer. She used to come with me to my computer school...
My Love/Hate Relationship with Amazon
Hi. My name is Karen, and I am addicted to online shopping. There, I’ve said it so I’m now on my road to recovery. I love the fact that I can go online and, in a matter of minutes, send a last minute gift to my cousin in Des Moines complete with card and gift wrap. As an added bonus I can spend a moment or two to do a bit of comparison shopping and then fill in my credit card information...
ACT 2010 Will Soon be Here!
I know, I know. Another year, another upgrade. Upgrades can be expensive both in terms of money and time, but unfortunately they are a necessary evil of the computer world.
Some companies force you to upgrade every year or so. For example, Intuit’s tax tables will stop working when QuickBooks reaches a certain age, or you’ll no longer be able to access your accounts online in Quicken...
