Free ACT Addons – Great Products, Great Price!

act addons
I’ll often hear people comment, “ ACT! does what you expect it to do”.  That quality shouldn’t be underestimated and in fact is one of the reasons ACT! users remain so loyal in a competitive world with an increasing number of CRM choices. However, sometimes small routine tasks that seem relatively simple can be a source of frustration to ACT users.  Xact Software is an ACT! add-on...

Get a Free ACT E-Book

act 2012 book
Last year I switched to a new publisher, PackT, after many years of writing the ACT for Dummies books.  My new titles are called “Cookbooks.”  Although you won’t find a great recipe for lasagne inside you will find dozens of easy-to-follow recipes that will help you master the more advanced areas of ACT. Packt Publishing is about to publish its 1000th title. Packt would like you...

Zen and the Art of ACT! Database Maintenance

act database maintenance
Back in the days of ACT! 6 (was that really ten years ago?) my telephone message asked callers if they had recently “Compressed and Re-Indexed” their database.  Back then, there was no way to automate this process although a reminder could be set to prompt a user to run maintenance.  Unfortunately, many ACT! users either ignored the prompt – or didn’t know how to set it to begin with. Fast...

ACT! E-Marketing Vs “The Other Guy”

act remote options
I often expound on the virtues of ACT! E-Marketing, formerly known as Swift Page E-mail.  I thought I’d share a conversation with one of my clients who had some reservations about switching to ACT! E-Marketing from one of the “other guys.” “Hey Karen, I know you push ACT! E-Marketing.  I use MailChimp and I’m pretty happy with it.  Tell me why you think I should switch to ACT! E-Marketing.” “Well...

So Write a Book Already

act 2012 for dummies
Hard as it is to believe, I’ve written over a dozen books on technology and created training videos on ACT! and Outlook.  Trust me, writing is a labor of love.  My “day job” is to help my clients utilize CRM software to make themselves – and their businesses – more efficient, effective and profitable.  For me, writing was a second job that required untold hours of my time during the evenings...

ACT Dynamic Groups

act advanced query
The other day I was working with a client when his ACT! alarms window opened; I must say that the number of alarms he had was, well, alarming.  He quickly clicked the Select All button, selected Snooze and put all the alarms to rest for the remainder of the day.  Curiosity got the better of me so I headed over to his Task List where I saw that the date filter was set to Today.  I changed the filter...

Creating a Highly Effective ACT! E-Marketing Message

act emarketing
I work with hundreds of ACT! users, most of whom are willing and eager to start e-blasting away.  Unfortunately many of those users never get their e-marketing plans off the ground.  In this article I want to show you an easy way to get your thoughts down on paper – or in this case, into any one of the three most important ACT! Templates.   By using this formula you will create a highly effective...

ACT 2012 Book

act 2012 for dummies
Many of you have been asking me when my next “ACT for Dummies” book is coming out.  I’m pleased to announce that it’s here – although maybe not in the same format as you might expect. Anyone familiar with the publishing industry – or the local bookstore for that matter – knows that the industry has undergone radical changes in the last several years.  For...

ACT! 2012 ROAD SHOW COMING TO SOUTH FLORIDA

2012 roadshow
Register Now to Attend. Join Karen Fredricks, owner of Tech Benders and the author of 7 books on ACT and the ACT! lynda.com training videos as she hosts the ACT 2012 Fort Lauderdale Road Show at the Westin Hotel on Thursday, July 28 from 1-5 PM. The Florida ACT! 2012 Road Show is an opportunity to meet with people from Sage Software and to learn to new ways to better implement ACT! in your company....

Need Help with ACT! Reports and Dashboards?

act reports and dashboards
Sage ACT! is the top selling CRM software application, and helps businesses to centralize contact information, organize their calendars and notes, and ultimately maximize contact relationships to optimize business efficiency and profitability. ACT! includes a variety of dashboards and reports to help business owners measure the success of their marketing efforts. The Sage ACT! 2011 Dashboard and Report...