I had a prospective client call me recently.  He made it clear from the start that he had absolutely no desire to upgrade to the newest version of ACT.  Not a problem as we support any and all versions of ACT.  He then proceeded to send me his wish list for ACT which included finding updated information for his 4500 contacts, integrating with Outlook 2007 and bulk e-mailing. He was using ACT 5/2000,... 

Sometimes the things that seem so obvious to me aren’t quite as obvious to the typical ACT user.  A case in point is sending a fax directly from within ACT. Ten years ago one of the first things I showed new ACT users was how to modify the existing ACT fax coversheet.  Back then most of my clients were using WinFax to link ACT to their fax machine, or printing out a coversheet and feeding it into... 

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... 

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... 

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. ... 

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... 

My dad taught me that when I pointed my finger at someone (or something) I was in fact pointing two fingers back at myself. Think about it the next time something goes wrong with your computer. I recently corresponded with a very irate ACT user. He had tried in vain to install ACT without success. He had hired a “computer expert” who had tried to help him, again with no success. Of course he pointed...