A David Creation

The Blackberry Smartphones have struggled a bit since Apple and Android created some pretty amazing touchscreen phones. Blackberry entered the touchscreen market  2 years ago when Verizon released the Blackberry Storm. The Storm has never really taken off like Verizon or other Blackberry users were hoping, which is why Verizon turned their attention to the Android “Droid.” Having had a Blackberry for a number of years in the past, I must say, the keyboard was awesome. I think RIM has the keyboard mastered. So, with the arrival of the new Blackberry Torch, RIM created a better touchscreen phone and a pulldown keyboard that Blackberry users are familiar with already. I think this might be a good call. They are not calling it an iPhone killer, which is also a good marketing strategy. Instead, they are catering to what their clients want: an easier to use browser and touchscreen with the ability to use the “old-fashion” keyboard. It will be released to the US. in about 2 weeks.

To learn more about the new phone, watch the WSJ report below. | or visit The Blackberry Torch Page.

Zoho CRM has been working on a Native iPhone App for months if not years. I keep hearing that in two months, we’ll see something. I’m not sure which two months they are talking about, but I hope it is soon. Until this App is a reality, Zoho CRM still has an excellent online product. It is truly a threat against the big box Salesforce. Salesforce, is still the leader and has a nice product. The problem with Salesforce is the price tag for small business owners. It is just not affordable. Zoho CRM is very affordable. A small contracting company can purchase 3-4 users for around $25 a month. Zoho also just added a Chat feature, which will just make it even better!

Tactile CRM, though not as robust as Zoho, Salesforce or ACT! by Sage, is an up and coming online CRM. It does the basics: Sales tracking, Calendar, To-Dos and basic Reporting. They told me this week they are working out the final bugs on their native iPhone app and will be releasing it to Apple I would hope by mid August. If Tactile beats Zoho CRM, I might give them a try. Their price is around $9 a month. I believe you should be able to use Tactile App for everything and cut out Google Apps etc. However, I like Google Apps and Outlook and hope Tactile will still make a two-way sync for those of us who do not want to switch.

Finally, Pipeline Deals already has a nice iPhone browser-base App. They too are working hard to release a native app to Apple. We should see their App be released within the month. Pipeline Deals is a simple CRM. I really like it. The last time I tried it, I did not like their Calendar features. BUT, I received a notification that they have made some dramatic changes to the calendar and task scheduling, which I think will make Pipeline Deals a favorite of mine.

So who will be the first of these three companies to release a Native App for the iPhone? When I know, you’ll know. I’m still waiting for ACT! by Sage to get their “act” together and release a stand alone App for the Blackberry, iPhone and Droid. They have been the small business leader and are NOT staying ahead of the game. They will be losing a lot of clients within the next 6 months if they do not follow suite. I’m calling 2011 the year where Customer Relationship Management programs become bigger, better and cheaper than ever before: all online too and on your phone.

Note: It takes time and money to develop an App. The iPhone is relatively easy to develop an App and the Blackberry is not. Android Apps are also easy…but are not the same as the iPhone. So all these companies are doing one at a time. At this time, iPhone wins!

I’ve been using LogMeIn’s software for a couple years now and have been quite impressed with their iPad and iPhone apps as well! They work great. I only use LogMeIn on my iPhone when I forgot something at my office computer that cannot wait til I return. The reason is because the screen is so small on the iPhone. For example, if I forgot to click “send” on an email and ran out the door. I’d use Logmein from the iPhone to send the email. As for the iPad, that is definitely a wonderful app due to the larger screen size!

The LogMeIn has a free and paid subscription. For contractors, you only need the free version if you are trying to login to 1 computer. If you want to login to multiple computers, I’d suggest the paid version. The App for the iPhone or iPad is $29.99 but is well worth the cost!

I recently was turned iTeleport, which looks like a competitor of LogMeIn. To read a thorough review comparing iTeleport to Logmein, Visit this blog. I have not tested iTeleport, but from reading an article or two, it looks like LogMeIn might be the same or better. Give LogMeIn or iTeleport a try and let me know what you think. iTeleport has also done a better job, in my opinion or marketing to the small business folks. Their short videos take after Dropbox and really help consumers know what iTeleport does well!

I recently received an invite to an interactive, online Stationary program. It is pretty nifty and called Paperless Post. The program is easy to use to send custom stationary online, instead of printing and mailing it. Although I still prefer the Old Fashion approach at times, Paperless Post is a good alternative if you are trying to save on postage. The cost to design and send a custom letter in a virtual envelope starts at about $.06. As best as I can figure out, it would cost closer to $.25 if you wanted your company logo sent and a custom envelope look. So, Paperless Post can get pricey if you don’t look carefully at the bottom line price per piece. No matter what you do, it is cheaper than the US mail.

Play around with the Paperless Post program. The first few letters you send are free of charge. It can add a nice personal touch at the end of a project: something different than an e-Card or letter in the mail.

I’d highly recommend two great online programs: Freshbooks and Quickbooks Online.

Invoicing Made Easy

Freshbooks is the easiest invoicing system in the world. There is nothing that comes close to this program. Stop looking for another option and try Freshbooks. It is incredible. A number of my painting clients want to switch but can’t because they use Quickbooks (which I’ll talk about in a minute). Why do they want to switch so bad? Because it is “Invoicing Made Easy!”

Freshbooks offers the following great features for a small service business: Basic Customer Database, Create & Send Estimates, Invoices, Expenses, Run Simple Accounting Reports: Balance Sheets and P&L, Track Time and Bill Clients and Accept Online Payments. Why is it easy? You don’t have to open an email program or attach anything. Everything is done within Freshbooks.

How Does Freshbooks Work

First, you type in a client’s contact information. Second, you create a new estimate. A contractor can have a template for his/her services along with prices. Once you create the estimate, it gives you a couple of options. You can send as a PDF by email, email it through Freshbooks (recommended) or USPS using Freshbooks to do the sending (envelope, stamped and mailed). Once the client views the estimate, he can either comment on changes he’d like to make or click “Accept Estimate.” Freshbooks then converts it right into an Invoice for you to approve and send your client. The client then has the option to mail a check or click “Pay Online.” If they select to pay by Credit Card, you will receive a confirmation once the transaction goes through and Freshbooks will mark the “invoice” as paid!

I use Freshbooks for my entire accounting system as I don’t have employees. So I use the “expense” tap to keep track of all my expenses, which are imported using my bank and Expensify. I then email my report to my account during tax season. Give Freshbooks a Try! You’ll love it!

Quickbooks Online

Quickbooks is the leader in small business accounting software. A couple of years ago, they created Quickbooks Online (QBO). It was not until the last year that QBO became a viable option for service companies. This is because Intuit made some pretty substantial upgrades to the online program and enticing low monthly cost. One of the best things about Quickbooks Online is that everything is “in the clouds.” You don’t have to purchase QB upgrades each year. Instead you just have one low monthly bill: typically $25-35 a month. This is worth it, because it includes technical support.

QBO is a full accounting system: invoicing, job tracking, budgeting, estimates, automatic bank reconciliation and much much more. I’ve heard from a few accountants that they are not ready to switch to QBO because it is still a smaller version of the PC software “Quickbooks Pro.” So, talk to your accountant and see if it will do what you want. I tried it out for a month or two, and all though it was too big for my company, it was pretty easy to use.

Now, if you are a contractor, what program is right for you? In most cases, I’d suggest Quickbooks Online, but do talk to your Accountant. Some accountants don’t like QB online because it lacks a few key features such as good Payroll and Job Costing. Freshbooks, even though it will do estimates and basic expenses, Quickbooks really has a lot more features. Freshbooks also does not claim to be an accounting program. It specializes in invoicing. It also integrates with a lot of 3rd party online programs, and I hope someday it will integrate with Quickbooks. Right now, Quickbooks Online will do everything Freshbooks can do. The difference is that QBO is not as fun to use as Freshbooks, it does not have a company branded website (Freshbooks does) and Quickbooks only allows for emailing or mailing invoices: in other words, a client can’t accept estimates and invoices through Quickbooks Online. So for now, contractors, use Quickbooks…and if you have another $25-30 extra a month, use Freshbooks! Freshbooks is really geared toward the freelance and very small business owners such as a web designer, marketing guy like me or even an online retailer.

If you have further questions, let me know.

I was asked by a client this morning how he could get his calendar, contacts and email on his new iPad easily. He was not sure it can be done. Well, he was in luck. There is an easy way to get all three items in sync in 5 minutes or less. Once it is setup, you just have to be connected to an Internet source. My client just purchased the new 3G iPad, and within a few minutes, he had all of his information in real time. He is using the iPad as his main “mobile office.”

To get your mobile office running on your iPad, I strongly suggest using the following programs: Google Apps and Dropbox. If you are using Microsoft Outlook and want to continue using MS Outlook, you need to sign up for Google Apps Premier, which is $50 a user per year.

Step by Step Setup Step 1. Open Settings App
Step 2. Open “Mail, Contacts and Calendars
Step 3. Create a New Account - Under the Accounts Heading, Tap “Add Account” - Touch the first “Microsoft Exchange” logo
Step 4. Fill out Account Information Email: Google Apps email account: yourname@yourcompanydomain.com Domain: leave blank Username: same as above “email” for Google Apps Account Password: Google Apps Password Description: Whatever you’d like. I suggest, “Company Email” or “Google Apps Account” Then Click “Next”
Step 5. “Certificates and Verify Account” You will receive a few pop ups to verify your account. Just tap accept, continue and/or next when prompted. Bottomline: don’t tap “cancel”
Step 6. Add “Server” info - After you tap accept, you will be see the previous screen appear with a new tab called “Server” - Type in “m.google.com” and tap the blue next button
Step 7. Turn ON Mail, Contacts and Calendar - By default, the mail will be “ON” and the Contacts and Calendar will be on “OFF” mode - Turn ON the Contacts and Calendars. - If you already have contacts on you iPad, You will be prompted with a pop up screen that will ask you if you wish to keep or delete your iPad contacts. To avoid duplicates, I’d recommend making sure that your Google Contacts are up to date and you remove all iPad contacts. Google should be the default. Tap Save…and you are done!

If you are not currently using Google Apps for your business or Dropbox and don’t know if that is a good move, email me with your questions.

Remodeling companies need to get specific information from a clients about their home remodeling projects before going to the next step. To do this, a remodeler needs a custom questionnaire to help him move smoothly through the sales cycle. I was recently asked if there was an easy way to create a questionnaire for kitchen and baths and post it on a company website or email it to a prospect. The answer is “yes there is!”

The more expensive and customized route is to hire your web designer to create the questionnaire form and post it on your website. Creating custom forms on a website typically require a lot of special coding which sometimes drives the price up. The second option is to use Google Docs. Google Docs has a Form Creator built in, and it is very simple to use. The form tool also comes with over 70 themes to help dress up your questionnaire.

When you create a Google Form, you can easily send the questionnaire via email to a prospect, have them fill it out and then login to see their answers. To make that easy, Google notifies you when a prospect uses the form/questionnaire.

So, the next time you want to create a customer survey, estimate request or questionnaire, give Google Docs a try. Google makes it simple!

Note: To make things even easier for your business, try switching your office to run in the Clouds: Google Apps, a good CRM & Dropbox.

Does this sound familiar? You sit down to check your email inbox and realized that 75% of your emails do not need an immediate response? If you are using Microsoft Outlook, you can quickly “flag” or create a follow up/reminder for the emails that you can respond to at a later time. But what about for those of us using Google Apps, Gmail and a mobile device such as a Blackberry, iPhone or a Droid?

I get emails almost every few minutes during the day. Prioritizing, setting reminders and follow ups are crucial for me so I don’t waste time. Thanks to a new program called Followup.cc, it has made my scheduling and responding to emails easy and a major time saver. Now when I get an email on my phone or Gmail, I don’t have to respond right away. I just use the Followup.cc service, which sets a reminder for when I want to respond. I mainly use this free service when I’m “mobile” so I don’t forget anything. It is easy for me to view an email and then forget to respond.

Here is how Followup.cc works. Lets say I get an email from my credit card company saying, “Your Bill is Due on April 22nd.” Well, I don’t need to pay it right now, so I will use Followup.cc to remind me of this email at a later date. To set a reminder for April 20th, I will click “Forward” and type in “April20@followup.cc” and hit “Send.” I will then get a reminder email on April 20th to pay my credit card bill. It’s that simple.

Now, with any program I use these days, I have a wish list of things I’d like to change. Instead of having to type in an date or time @followup.cc I’d much rather have a simple application that does the dates and times for me. In other words, I’d like my phone or Gmail program to have a calendar and time dropdown menu where I can select when i want to be reminded instead of hitting the forward button and manually typing in everything. However, Followup.cc is a good start for mobile users. Once you get use to the program, it is pretty easy.

I’ve been keeping a close eye on a cloud computing CRM program called Zoho CRM for a year or so now.Zoho CRM is a lot like SalesForce but is a lot cheaper and has less features. However, it may not be long before Zoho because a possible threat to the expensive Salesforce giant.

Benefits of Zoho

If you are looking to go to the clouds for your business (online applications as opposed to software installed on your desktop) and you do not need a lot of bells and whistles, Zoho CRM will pretty much do the job. It is free for up to 3 users. I’d recommend the enterprise version, which is around $25 a month and gives you four unique users. You can access your data from anywhere around the world in real time. It also has a good email add on, integration to Quickbooks and syncs with Outlook. Zoho CRM also syncs with a Google Apps account. By the way, I’d highly recommend Google Apps for your business, IF you are trying to get away from Microsoft Exchange and a dedicated server.

The New iPhone and Android Version

For over a year, Zoho has promised Zoho CRM on an iPhone, Blackberry and other mobile phones. They have finally pulled through and created a Beta version. It is not an “App” but a mobile-browser version: m.zoho.com/crm#

The application, as I expected it to be is quite buggy. However, it is also awesome! It does not work well with Google Calendar at the moment and some of the functions are a little “sticky” or don’t work well yet, but I expect in a few months, Zoho CRM for iPhones and Androids will be a great tool for small business users. I do not foresee a Zoho CRM iPhone App in the near future, as that would be very expensive and this company is slow at developing.

The Bottom-line

I really wish I could fully recommend Zoho CRM for my customers both for mobile and online usage. If you happen to be tech-savvy and don’t mind overlooking a few minor bugs, then you should try this program out. It is an excellent start. I’ve already submitted a few of my request to Zoho, so we’ll see if they begin to fix those bugs. Give it a try, and let me know what you think.