I am thrilled to announce that my two latest books have been selected by Packt  Publishing for inclusion in their R.A.W. (Read As We Write) program.  The two books, ACT! by Sage 2011 Cookbook and ACT! by Sage Reports and Dashboards Cookbook, are designed to provide step-by-step instructions so that you can master ACT as quickly and efficiently as possible. The RAW program is an innovative publishing... 

There’s always something to be thankful for. In my personal life I’m thankful that I live in Florida, the weather is absolutely perfect, and for the first time in years I’m not responsible for “the” dinner.  I’m thankful that my daughter has inherited my “shopping” gene and will actually accompany me to the mall on Friday and that I have lots of great activities planned for the weekend. In... 

It was a dark and rainy night – literally – in August of 2002. Let me digress.  I was one of the 12 consultants nationwide that had been chosen to run an ACT 6 launch event.  I was given 6 weeks to secure a location, make audio/visual arrangements and run a trade show of ACT addon vendors.  Attendees were invited based on a circle of Fort Lauderdale; the “powers that be”... 

I know what you’re thinking.  Another year, another upgrade.  And with new versions of ACT rolling out on a yearly basis you might not feel the need to upgrade.  After all as the saying goes, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. If you’ve been sitting in the Stone Age and are still clinging to your tried and true version of ACT 6, you might want to take a look at the features that you missed... 

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,... 

I see it all the time. The typical CRM user fires up his software and is greeted by numerous alarms.  At that point he deftly hits the “Select All” and “Snooze” button.  Drip.  Drip.  I can almost hear important information dripping through the cracks of the database! Oh, alarms – how do I hate thee?  Let me count the ways.  First of all, too many of you routinely snooze your alarms. ... 

This being Easter weekend I thought I’d share a couple of my favorite ACT Easter eggs.  In case you’re not familiar with the term, a software Easter egg refers to a bit of hidden code in the software.  Although these Easter eggs are all represented by fields and aren’t necessarily hidden, they do tie into other parts of ACT which you might not be aware of. ID/Status: Although I hate the name,... 

I’ve lost ten pounds since the holidays!  Having been on the Injured Reserve list with a knee injury for over a year I packed on the extra weight.  I’ve been fortunate enough all my life not to have to deal with weight loss issues so I wasn’t sure what to do.  Quite frankly, the thought of paying hundreds of dollars for artificial meals or drinks wasn’t appealing so I tackled the problem... 

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... 

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...