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	<title>A David Creation &#187; Small Business Solutions</title>
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	<link>http://www.adavidcreation.com</link>
	<description>Marketing, Social Media &#38; Small Business Solutions</description>
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		<title>Base CRM by Future Simple</title>
		<link>http://www.adavidcreation.com/base-crm-by-future-simple/</link>
		<comments>http://www.adavidcreation.com/base-crm-by-future-simple/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 07 Feb 2012 19:57:15 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>David</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Small Business Solutions]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Base CRM for Google]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Base CRM for iphone]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[best small business crm]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Cloud Based CRM]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cloud crm for small business]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[crms for small business]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Easy to use CRM]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[good crms for small business]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[google apps crm]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Simple CRM programs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[small business crm]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.adavidcreation.com/?p=1456</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I&#8217;ve been keeping an eye on Base CRM (formally Pipejump) for over a year now. The thing that attracted me to Base CRM originally was the design and User Interface (UI). It was a very simple UI. It should be, as it was developed by a company called, Future Simple. So far they seem to [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a target="_blank" href="http://www.adavidcreation.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Base-CRM-by-Future-Simple-ADC.png"><img class="alignright size-medium wp-image-1459" style="border-image: initial; border-width: 1px; border-color: black; border-style: solid; margin: 10px;" title="Base CRM-by Future Simple-ADC" src="http://www.adavidcreation.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Base-CRM-by-Future-Simple-ADC-300x257.png" alt="" width="300" height="257" /></a>I&#8217;ve been keeping an eye on <a title="Base CRM" href="http://bit.ly/wLGSfW" target="_blank">Base CRM</a> (formally Pipejump) for over a year now. The thing that attracted me to <a target="_blank" title="Base CRM" href="http://bit.ly/wLGSfW" target="_blank">Base CRM</a> originally was the design and User Interface (UI). It was a very simple UI. It should be, as it was developed by a company called, Future Simple. So far they seem to make simple, easy to use web and mobile apps. So what makes <a target="_blank" title="Base CRM" href="http://bit.ly/wLGSfW" target="_blank">Base CRM</a> special or worth checking out? I won&#8217;t go over all the details, just the key features I liked:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>iPhone &amp; Android Native Apps: </strong>This is where Base CRM Shines more than most other Customer Relationship Management programs on the web. They have not promoted their product much until the Native Apps were released (at the same time too). I think this was a very smart business idea. Many people, including myself, have worked with one CRM after the other, hoping and praying for a good mobile solution to be released. Small business people are on the move, not always in front of a desk. Most software companies will release a web app version before a native app, when their customers want a native app. (If you don&#8217;t know the difference, comment in this post or email me. I&#8217;ll explain.) The Base iPhone App works very well in my testing. Once again, it doesn&#8217;t have a lot of features, but it has just enough: Contact Information, Task and the ability to create and monitor deals on the go. The contact area works similar to the iPhone contacts too. What more do you need? I&#8217;d love to see the calendar feature, but that is not a must at this point. The design and UI of Base CRMs mobile apps are very slick. In fact, I like it better than Salesforce (the leader in Cloud CRMs). The reason why most other CRM developers do not have native Apps is because the expense and updates. First it is very expensive to create an App: as high as $50,000 sometimes. Then getting updates pushed can take awhile: Google or Apple has to approve them. That is the main reason most developers steer away from them. The consumers (you and me) have gotten addicted to the easy of native apps, so we like them better than going to a browser.</li>
<li><strong>Integrates well with Google Apps for Business.</strong> If you don&#8217;t really know what that means, read my post about <a title="Google Apps vs Regular Gmail Apps" href="http://www.adavidcreation.com/what-is-google-apps-as-opposed-to-regular-gmail/" target="_blank">Google Apps vs Gmail.</a> You can forward the emails you want quickly and easily into Base. You can also create Notes, Task, View Existing Notes, Customer Details all within Gmail. <a title="Gmail integration" href="http://www.adavidcreation.com/?attachment_id=1457" target="_blank">See Screenshot</a>.</li>
<li><strong>Export Task/Events to Google Calendar with One Click: </strong>Base keeps everything very simple, including naming things. For example, Task can mean either an event or to do. Instead of having two many buttons and options, Base makes it simple to create a task. When completed, you have an option to send to iCal or Google&#8217;s Calendar. <a title="Screenshot of sending to iCal and gmail" href="http://www.adavidcreation.com/?attachment_id=1458" target="_blank">See Screenshot.</a></li>
<li><strong>Custom Fields &amp; Customer Information: </strong>Again, no information overload with the Contact Management area. It starts out with the very basic information, and you can then add custom fields, which in my test, worked great! You can easily look up customers and contacts using their easy to find search section and dig deeper using Tags. I actually like how simple the UI is for the Contact Management area. Many small business owners are overwhelmed with too much information. It is also one of the reasons I still evaluate CRMs&#8230;looking for simple solutions for that one audience and more advanced programs for those who want more! This CRM is easy to learn and do what most small businesses need (at least starting out).</li>
<li><strong>Deals and Reporting:</strong> This is where Base seems to spend a lot of time in developing a good user interface with the design and reporting. Once you start filling in your deals, Base begins creating a custom database for good reporting. (note for the old Act! users reading this: Deals are Opportunities). You can quickly look at where all your best leads are coming from, how many you&#8217;ve closed, lost and what still needs to be done to close out a deal.</li>
<li><strong>Support:</strong> Very quick response and help when I needed it. They listen to me too!</li>
<li><strong>Importing from Other CRMs: </strong>They make it easy. I tried it and had no issues. They&#8217;ve also offered to help import existing deals (and have them postdated)</li>
<li><strong>Price:</strong> The price is free for anyone to start using Base. So how do they make their money? Well, they give you a certain amount of free DEALS. Once you reach that amount, I think it is $150, then you go to a paid account, which starts at $29.99 a month. This could still be a very affordable option for many small businesses. Lets say you are a remodeler who does 50 bids a year. It would take you 3 years before you&#8217;d reach the paid version. If you are a paint company that does 20 bids a week, it would take you a couple months before you hit the paid version of $29.99 a month. Where it can get a little pricey for the small companies is when you hit 1000 deals. Base charges $99.99 for from 1,001 to 10,000 deals. If you have a larger sales staff 5 estimators, $99.99 a month is nothing.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>The Bottom line about Base,</strong> so far in my early testings of it&#8217;s abilities: <strong>I like it.</strong> I&#8217;ve suggested a number of features to the company, and I hope they will implement them. For example, their Task Times only give you 1 hour options. I&#8217;d rather make task with 15 min increments. Seems like an easy update, and they&#8217;ve already said it is in the works. Integration with Google Documents, a File storage (Dropbox, Egnyte, Box.net) would also be nice. They are working on a Quote system (to send estimates and invoices similar to Freshbooks. It is already released, but improvements are underway). <a target="_blank" title="Base CRM" href="http://bit.ly/wLGSfW" target="_blank">Base CRM</a> is your simple and easy to use CRM. I think by not having too many features, it will make some of you very happy and have less frustrations. I&#8217;d like to see Google Apps have more plugins and keep the CRM simple.</p>
<p>Let me know if you&#8217;ve tried Base and what you think about it.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.adavidcreation.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/20120207-175545.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-full" src="http://www.adavidcreation.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/20120207-175545.jpg" alt="20120207-175545.jpg" /></a></p>
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		<slash:comments>4</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>What is Google Apps as opposed to Regular Gmail?</title>
		<link>http://www.adavidcreation.com/what-is-google-apps-as-opposed-to-regular-gmail/</link>
		<comments>http://www.adavidcreation.com/what-is-google-apps-as-opposed-to-regular-gmail/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 31 Jan 2012 16:39:11 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>David</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Small Business Solutions]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gmail vs google apps]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[google apps for business]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[should i switch to google apps]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[what is google apps]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.adavidcreation.com/?p=1448</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I get the &#8220;deer and the headlight&#8221; look every time I ask someone if they are using Google Apps for their business. They typically respond with, &#8220;I think so. I have a gmail account. Is that what you mean?&#8221; My answer is, &#8220;No. Google Apps is a business product and is so much more than [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I get the &#8220;deer and the headlight&#8221; look every time I ask someone if they are using Google Apps for their business. They typically respond with, &#8220;I think so. I have a gmail account. Is that what you mean?&#8221; My answer is, &#8220;No. Google Apps is a business product and is so much more than Gmail.&#8221; I&#8217;ll attempt to explain what Google Apps is and if you need it.</p>
<p><strong>Google Apps &amp; How Did it Get Started <img class="alignright size-medium wp-image-1449" style="margin: 10px;" title="Google Apps Platform-Sample-ADC" src="http://www.adavidcreation.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Google-Apps-Platform-Sample-ADC-300x272.png" alt="" width="300" height="272" /></strong></p>
<p>Google has products both for personal and business uses, and while the products look almost identical, they are different.  Google created Google Apps (G Apps) for Business a number of years ago yet did not market it to businesses heavily until the past 2 years. Google is famous for beta testing their products, so they were slowly testing and introducing G Apps to companies all over the world and at the same time, creating marketshare. I saw G Apps really take off after the company opened up <a target="_blank" title="Google Apps Marketplace" href="https://www.google.com/enterprise/marketplace/?pli=1" target="_blank">Google Marketplace</a>, which allows other businesses to develop their products to link up nicely with the Google Apps&#8217; platform. For example, when I login to my G Apps in the morning, I can click a dropdown menu labeled &#8220;MORE&#8221; with my other business tools, linked to my G Apps Account (i.e. My accounting software, CRM, Email Newsletter, Schedule Tool etc). This makes working in the Cloud a piece of cake (no more software to open and close on my desktop: all done within my browser). The third party programs that link up to my Google Apps account sometimes provide further integration with my Google products. For example, Pipeline Deals CRM has a Gmail plugin that allows users to link up notes, add deals, new contacts, task and much more, right from within their email. You can also schedule appointments from within Pipeline, which will automatically sync to the Google Calendar.</p>
<p><strong>What Does Google Apps Do?</strong></p>
<p>First, Google Apps consist of all the Google products under a business domain. These would include things like: Gmail, Calendar, Search, YouTube, Google+, News and so on. In short, Google allows you to have a personal and business account. Just like Microsoft wants you to use all MS products, Google wants you to use only Google products! An example of the difference between personal and business, instead of having your email be johndoe@gmail.com you&#8217;d use your business email johndoe@yourcompanyname.com. You&#8217;d use the popular Gmail application, Contacts, Google Docs and Calendar for your email, schedule, contacts and creating/collaborating on documents. The only major difference you will notice is that your company name can replace the Gmail/Google Logo, access to the Marketplace and you can manage your entire companies&#8217; domain settings: add new users/emails, change passwords, give or restrict company access to certain documents and much more.</p>
<p><strong>Mobile Capabilities</strong></p>
<p>Google Apps for business works incredibly well on Android and Apple smartphones. I&#8217;ve tried it on both devices. My favorite is how it integrates with the iPhone. Most people don&#8217;t know this, but you can use the Microsoft Exchange Icon (use Google settings instead) to have an Exchange-like 2way sync with your Google Calendar, Email &amp; Contacts. It works perfectly! I wrote a <a title="How to Setup my Google Account on my iPad or iPhone" href="http://www.adavidcreation.com/tag/how-to-setup-google-apps-on-ipad-and-iphone/" target="_blank">step by step guide to set Google up on an iPad</a>, and the same settings apply for the iPhone. You can also turn on Google Sync to see other Calendars on your phones.</p>
<p><strong>The Pricing Structure of Google Apps</strong></p>
<p><strong>Free Version: </strong>The price to use Google Apps can&#8217;t be beaten. It is free for up to 50 users of a company to get started. The free version gives you 1GB of Google Document storage and 7GB of email space. To give you an example of how much 7GB is for email. I&#8217;ve been using it for about 3 years and have not reached my 7GB space. I do have to empty my email trash to keep it below 7GB a couple times a year and that is about it. I also purchased more storage space for documents. For $5 a year, I got 20GB. I&#8217;ve only used around 2GB, so for $5 a year it is great. Oh, and the free version also has Google Adwords displayed. I somehow got around that too. I installed a free plugin to my browser that hides all the ads.</p>
<p><strong>Paid Version</strong></p>
<p>The paid version is around $5 a month per user. You get about 3 times the storage on your email (20+GB) and more files storage. All Google Adwords will be hidden too. The only other main difference with the paid version is the ability to continue to use Microsoft Outlook instead of the Gmail platform. Google creates a two way sync for emails, calendars and contacts. I know of a few companies that do not like Gmail&#8217;s look and feel and want to remain on Outlook. I have not heard too many complains regarding the syncing, but it is not fool proof. My suggestion is see if you can get used to Google and make the switch. I was on MS Outlook for 10 years or so and switched. It takes awhile, but I think you&#8217;ll find Gmail will work just fine. You can customize many many features in Google Apps.</p>
<p><strong>Should You Be Using Google Apps for Your Business</strong></p>
<p>If you are a small business that tends to be mobile often, I&#8217;d definitely recommend switching to Google Apps. You will not have to run expensive Exchange Servers in most cases, which will cut down on IT help. There will be a learning curve and some time to learning and switching to a new platform. So do not make this switch if you don&#8217;t have the time to commit to learning a new product. Also, if you ask your IT people, most will tell you not to switch. They don&#8217;t like many cloud products because it is putting them out of a job. Believe me, IT people don&#8217;t like me! Most of them complain that cloud programs lack security and that Google can&#8217;t be trusted. Yet, most of the IT guys are in love with Microsoft. Can Microsoft be trusted? Microsoft knows Google is a threat and has created a similar product: Office 365. As I told one client recently who asked me about Office 365, stay with Microsoft if you have the IT folks local to you to set you up and get you trained. If you don&#8217;t have anyone you can trust or set you up, move to Google. Google Apps for Business helps business be more productive and mobile. You can pick up any computer from around the world, login to your account and run most of your business in seconds!</p>
<p>______________</p>
<p><strong>Side Notes about Google Docs and IT Professionals:</strong> By the way, if you have not tried Google Docs as an alternative to Microsoft Word and Excel, give it a try. If you are doing standard spreadsheets and document creations, it works great. Oh and one final thing regarding IT professionals. First, I respect what they do, and I am not really an IT guy. They can run circles around me. I&#8217;m more of a user interface (UI) guy. I know what works best for my clients. IT folks should really spend time learning more about what products work the best for their clients, not just how to fix or setup a computer system. I get asked all the time who can setup their Google Apps, customize signatures, find a good app for taking notes, install plugins, setup a smartphone and many many more user experience setups. If IT professionals spend time doing those types of things, they will always have a job!</p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>How To Setup an Away Message on Your iPhone for Gmail</title>
		<link>http://www.adavidcreation.com/how-to-setup-an-away-message-on-your-iphone-for-gmail/</link>
		<comments>http://www.adavidcreation.com/how-to-setup-an-away-message-on-your-iphone-for-gmail/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 12 Nov 2011 19:22:11 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>David</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Cool Software]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Small Business Solutions]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[google apps away message using iphone]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[iphone away message and gmail]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[setup away message iphone]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.adavidcreation.com/?p=1383</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[If you are like me, I&#8217;ve run out of the office for an extended period of time and forgot to set my away message. Sure if you remember at some point during the day when you are in front of a desktop or laptop you can do it, but what about when you remember and [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>If you are like me, I&#8217;ve run out of the office for an extended period of time and forgot to set my away message. Sure if you remember at some point during the day when you are in front of a desktop or laptop you can do it, but what about when you remember and all you have is your iPhone? If you use Google Apps for Business and an iPhone (I&#8217;m sure the same thing works with an Android) then this short tutorial will save you time and keep you looking professional.</p>
<p><strong>Step By Step</strong></p>
<p><strong> </strong><em>Note: I&#8217;m giving you the detailed step by step approach. Advanced users of the iPhone know there are faster ways to access Gmail)</em></p>
<div class="group">
<strong>Step 1: </strong>Open up Safari and type in <strong>m.google.com</strong> in your browser<br />
<img class="alignright size-medium wp-image-1385" style="border: 1px solid black;" title="Gmail-away-message-sample-1-ADC" src="http://www.adavidcreation.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Gmail-away-message-sample-1-ADC1-200x300.png" alt="" width="200" height="300" /></p>
</div>
<p><span id="more-1383"></span></p>
<div class="group">
<strong>Step 2:</strong> Click on the <strong>GMAIL </strong>icon</p>
<p><img class="alignright size-medium wp-image-1386" style="border: 1px solid black;" title="Gmail-away-message-sample-1b-ADC" src="http://www.adavidcreation.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Gmail-away-message-sample-1b-ADC-200x300.png" alt="" width="200" height="300" /></p>
<div><strong>Step 3: </strong>Click the Blue Button &#8220;Visit Now&#8221;</div>
<p><strong>Step 4: </strong>Login to Your Gmail Account
</div>
<p><!--more--></p>
<div class="group">
<strong>Step 5: </strong>Once logged in, touch the <strong>Menu</strong> button at the top left corner <img class="alignright size-medium wp-image-1387" style="border: 1px solid black;" title="Gmail-away-message-sample-1a-ADC" src="http://www.adavidcreation.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Gmail-away-message-sample-1a-ADC-200x300.png" alt="" width="200" height="300" />
</div>
<p><!--more--></p>
<div class="group">
<strong>Step 6: </strong>Then touch the <strong>Tool </strong>icon at the top right corner <img class="alignright size-medium wp-image-1388" style="border: 1px solid black;" title="Gmail-away-message-sample-2-ADC" src="http://www.adavidcreation.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Gmail-away-message-sample-2-ADC-200x300.png" alt="" width="200" height="300" />
</div>
<p><!--more--></p>
<div class="group">
<strong><img class="alignright size-medium wp-image-1389" style="margin: 5px; border: 1px solid black;" title="Gmail-away-message-sample-3-ADC" src="http://www.adavidcreation.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Gmail-away-message-sample-3-ADC-200x300.png" alt="" width="200" height="300" /><br />
Step 7: </strong>Final step is to tap the button that says, &#8220;Enable vacation responder&#8221; Choose your dates, add your message and tap <strong>APPLY</strong> when done (top right hand corner)
</div>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Why iCloud is Not Business Friendly</title>
		<link>http://www.adavidcreation.com/why-icloud-is-not-business-friendly/</link>
		<comments>http://www.adavidcreation.com/why-icloud-is-not-business-friendly/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 24 Oct 2011 15:02:34 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>David</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Cool Software]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Small Business Solutions]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[icloud for business]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[iOS 5 for business]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.adavidcreation.com/?p=1358</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[First Off, Why Apple Again, David? Each month, a growing number of consumers turn to two mobile devices, Android or Apple, for their personal and/or business needs. Although I like Android devices, I have given Apple iPhone two thumbs up for being the most business friendly. Two reasons: Apple was first to create the popular [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong>First Off, Why Apple Again, David?</strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.adavidcreation.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/20111024-074658.jpg"><img class="align none size-full alignright" style="margin: 10px;" src="http://www.adavidcreation.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/20111024-074658.jpg" alt="20111024-074658.jpg" width="202" height="302" /></a></p>
<p><a></a></p>
<p>Each month, a growing number of consumers turn to two mobile devices, Android or Apple, for their personal and/or business needs. Although I like Android devices, I have given Apple iPhone two thumbs up for being the most business friendly. Two reasons:</p>
<ol>
<li>Apple was first to create the popular downloading of &#8220;Apps.&#8221; (i.e. App Store). Why is this important? Because developing an App is expensive, and an App on an iPhone does not work on an Android. Therefore, developers typically create an Apple App before they create an Android version. The Android Apps I&#8217;ve tried for business are typically more buggy, because Android has a lower standard for allowing Apps; the Android Market is open source, meaning anyone can create an App and post it. Apple has very strict standards and can take an App off their store at anytime. One good example is Facebook&#8217;s App for the iPhone and Android. The iPhone App is incredible and has 10x more  features than the Android version. A business owner or employee can manage a business page directly from the iPhone App, but not from the Android (yet).</li>
<li>It is just a very handy device and fun to use. The Android, to me, as very many cool features, but Apple has less moving parts on the screen. I get less distracted when using the iPhone and find myself playing around too much with the Android features. I stick to business on the iPhone!</li>
<p><a> </a></ol>
<p><a> </a><strong>Now for the Update on iCloud for Business</strong></p>
<p><a> </a></p>
<p>In mid October, Apple released what seems to be their biggest software update ever: IOS 5. It truly is remarkable. I wrote a quick summary of my<a title="IOS 5 Quick Review" href="http://www.adavidcreation.com/ios-5-upgrade-for-iphone-quick-review/" target="_blank"> </a><a title="IOS 5 Upgrade for iPhone Quick Review" href="http://www.adavidcreation.com/ios-5-upgrade-for-iphone-quick-review/">favorite features last week.</a> Because it is such a big jump from version 4 to 5, there are still a few bugs. I&#8217;d go ahead and upgrade your iPhones if you have not already, but just know you will encounter a few small bugs. Most of these bugs seem to clear up quickly, either on their own or when you restart. I&#8217;m sure their first update 5.1 will fix all these critters.</p>
<p>Now, Apple is claiming their biggest update in IOS 5 is the new iCloud (formerly MobileMe). What I read about iCloud sounded spectacular: updating Apps on multiple devices, taking a photo on your iPhone and it showing up instantly on your work/home computer, file storage, email, calendar syncing and sharing etc. I also realized that Apple sells primarily to consumers and not small business or Corporate America. I had many people ask me what I thought of the new iCloud and if it was a good tool for business. My answer is simple: <strong>iCloud is NOT a good business tool.</strong> It is meant for <strong>individual, personal</strong><strong> use.</strong> Do I like iCloud? Overall, yes! It is easy to use. But I am very disappointed about a few things:</p>
<ol>
<li><strong>Only one email per account:</strong> A family or even a business cannot have multiple email addresses within iCloud. Each person has to create their own iCloud account. The problem with this is&#8230;</li>
<li><strong>Photo Sharing is for Personal Usage: </strong>Because each person needs his or her own iCloud account, the new Photo Stream feature does not allow sharing with other iCloud users. It works with 1 account only. So as a business owner taking photos of a job site or business activity while using Photo Stream, the photos will be uploaded and streamed instantly to his computer, not to his marketing person, admin or another co-worker. That pretty much defeats the purpose.</li>
<li><strong>Can&#8217;t Delete Photos Easily: </strong>Apple offers 5GB of Free Storage. This will add up fast when you turn on Photo Stream. Once you take a photo, it uploads to iCloud. You cannot delete individual photos within iCloud. So if you take 5 quick shots of a job or person, all the bad ones are uploaded with the good ones. Now there are some techie work arounds, but with the first release of iCloud, Photos are there to stay in the clouds. You can delete photos on your phone and computer only. You can also wipe ALL photos off iCloud and start from scratch, but why would anyone want to do that? The idea of iCloud is to help consumers be more mobile and save everything off site to avoid hard drive crashes and provide easy access to info on the go.</li>
<p><img class="size-full alignright" style="margin: 10px;" src="http://www.adavidcreation.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/20111024-074731.jpg" alt="20111024-074731.jpg" width="202" height="302" /></p>
<li><strong>Calendar and Document Sharing Do Not Exist: </strong>The bottom line is iCloud is for a single user, you or me. If you want your co workers or family to share information, you can create 1 iCloud account, but it is not safe and is just not a good idea. iCloud will not replace Egnyte, Dropbox or Google Apps.</li>
</ol>
<p><strong>What should a business do with IOS 5 and iCloud? </strong></p>
<p>I know some of you are thinking, &#8220;Run that by me again, Dave. Why is the iPhone better than the Android?&#8221; It is true that Android technology is a Google product, and I like Google. Yet there are too many devices and features to figure out with Android and only 1 with Apple: the iPhone. That&#8217;s it. Also, just because iCloud is not business friendly, doesn&#8217;t mean you need to ditch the phone. What I did was this:</p>
<p>1) I basically kept everything the same: Synced my <a target="_blank" title="Google Apps for Business" href="http://www.google.com/apps/intl/en/business/index.html" target="_blank">Google Apps for Business</a> account (compare with MS Exchange) with my iPhone.</p>
<p>2) I switched from MobileMe to iCloud for personal use. I use my iCloud account for Photo Streaming so I don&#8217;t have to download and upload photos to my computer. I then can take those photos on my computer and share the ones I want with others.</p>
<p>3) I continue to use Dropbox and Google Docs for my file storage. In short, the new upgrade is business friendly if you customize it to your liking. I am just not endorsing the iCloud for business, and I think Apple would agree with me that it is meant for personal use. I hope Apple releases an iCloud for Business! At this point they are rolling in the dough selling their new product to individuals. They don&#8217;t need to be all things to all people (just yet). It is good marketing. They know their audience!</p>
<p><strong>Your Turn</strong></p>
<p>What do you think of the new iPhone 4S, IOS 5, SIRI, and iCloud? Are you happy with the changes Apple made?</p>
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		<title>IOS 5 Upgrade for iPhone Quick Review</title>
		<link>http://www.adavidcreation.com/ios-5-upgrade-for-iphone-quick-review/</link>
		<comments>http://www.adavidcreation.com/ios-5-upgrade-for-iphone-quick-review/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 13 Oct 2011 17:40:27 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>David</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Cool Software]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Small Business Solutions]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[icloud for business]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[iphone 4S]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[iphone ios 5 upgrade]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[review on ios5 for business]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.adavidcreation.com/?p=1348</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I was one of the millions of users, I&#8217;m sure, who upgraded the iPhone to the latest operating system with IOS 5 and iCloud. It took awhile to get it working correctly, and I&#8217;m still figuring out all the new tricks and features. Am I happy with the upgrade? A definite Yes! Yet for those [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img class="alignright size-full wp-image-1351" style="margin: 5px;" title="iphone-4-ios5" src="http://www.adavidcreation.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/iphone-4-ios5.jpg" alt="" width="307" height="461" />I was one of the millions of users, I&#8217;m sure, who upgraded the iPhone to the latest operating system with IOS 5 and iCloud. It took awhile to get it working correctly, and I&#8217;m still figuring out all the new tricks and features. Am I happy with the upgrade? A definite Yes! Yet for those of you who are not really techie, I&#8217;d probably hold off on upgrading unless you don&#8217;t mind a few bugs and the process taking awhile. Some of your programs will crash. This is not Apple&#8217;s fault most likely. The App companies are frantically trying to catch up with Apple and get their programs compatible with IOS 5. I&#8217;ve had a number of programs crash, yet even as I write this, I&#8217;ve gotten App updates. A quick workaround is to delete the buggy Apps and reinstall them.</p>
<p><strong>My Favorite Things About iOS 5 For Business Usage</strong><br />
What I like most about the upgrade? The notifications and dropdown menu are similar to the Android devices, which I&#8217;ve always liked. It is about time that Apple introduced this. This can save you time in the long run, not having to open up different applications to view emails, to do list, Facebook, Twitter, etc. You can set up your phone to only receive the notifications that are most important to you. From a social media marketing standpoint, this definitely is a nice feature. I can now take a quick peek on some of my networks without logging into each App.</p>
<p><img class="alignright size-full wp-image-1354" style="margin: 5px;" title="ios-5-screenshot-dropdown-menu" src="http://www.adavidcreation.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/ios-5-screenshot-dropdown-menu.png" alt="" width="307" height="461" />The camera feature is also the latest and greatest upgrade that is noteworthy. Now you can click the &#8220;up&#8221; volume button to snap a photo and a camera icon is on the Lock Screen menu.</p>
<p>Apple claims there are close to 200 updates for the iPad and iPhone on this new release. If you have an iPad, the upgrade looks almost the same. My favorite upgrade on the iPad was the split keyboard. It works great! In this blog post I won&#8217;t explain all the new features as I just mentioned several of my favorite ones! As for my thoughts on iCloud, this too is an incredible new feature, but I don&#8217;t see a lot of real value for a business owner. iCloud is still more focused on personal use. For example, you can now take a photo on your iPhone, and it will show up on your other Apple or PC devices that run iCloud. Your music, movies and photos are stored &#8220;in the clouds&#8221; freeing up space for your devices. So no more plugging in your devices: it is all wireless and automatic. A time saver I&#8217;m sure.</p>
<p><strong>The iPhone 4S</strong><br />
I will be testing out the new iPhone 4S soon and give you my feedback on SIRI, the new voice recognition feature. I have never really seen a good voice recognition program to date, so I&#8217;m hoping Apple will have released something impressive. The good news is they partnered with the premiere voice recognition company, Nuance. Stay tuned.</p>
<p><strong>Your Turn</strong><br />
Will you be upgrading your phones this year? If you are using a Blackberry or Android, do you plan to switch to the iPhone or are you happy with your current device? Also, those who have an iPhone, will you upgrade to the 4S or wait til Apple releases a new design, iPhone 5?</p>
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		<title>Slow Down Professor</title>
		<link>http://www.adavidcreation.com/slow-down-professor/</link>
		<comments>http://www.adavidcreation.com/slow-down-professor/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 28 Sep 2011 17:08:10 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>David</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Marketing Advice]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Small Biz Talk]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Small Business Solutions]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[should my business use social media]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Social Networking]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[too much social media]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[what social media sites should i use]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.adavidcreation.com/?p=1328</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Too Many Social Networking Sites! Did you know there are over 200 active social networking sites on the web? What do I mean by active? Popular and still in business! This number does not even come close to all the small, no-name social networking sites that exist, probably numbering in the thousands. The big name [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong><img class="alignright size-medium wp-image-1334" title="Social Media Throne" src="http://www.adavidcreation.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Social-Media-Throne-290x300.jpg" alt="" width="290" height="300" />Too Many Social Networking Sites!</strong></p>
<p>Did you know there are over <a target="_blank" title="active social networking sites" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_social_networking_websites" target="_blank">200</a> active social networking sites on the web? What do I mean by active? Popular and still in business! This number does not even come close to all the small, no-name social networking sites that exist, probably numbering in the thousands. The big name sites are familiar to most of us: <strong><a target="_blank" title="My facebook page" href="http://www.facebook.com/adavidcreation" target="_blank">Facebook</a>, Google +, Twitter, Yelp, Linkedin, delicious, XING, Windows, Live, Tumblr, and MySpace.</strong> <em></em></p>
<p><em>&#8220;Whoa! Slow down, professor! I&#8217;m trying to keep up!&#8221;</em> Isn&#8217;t that what you are thinking at this point? If you are like me, you&#8217;re overwhelmed. It seems like every week I get invites to join a new social networking site. Sometimes I&#8217;ll join for a little while just to see what is going on and what it is about. Yet many of the sites I join won&#8217;t last. So what should you as a small business owner do when faced with so many choices of social media sites?</p>
<p>Two years ago, I was a fan of having one&#8217;s brand on the top 10 social networking sites. I thought like many online marketing guys did, &#8220;I want my clients to be #1 everywhere!&#8221; Yet I realized that good social media etiquette means to be <strong>real with people</strong> and <strong>connect as a human being</strong>. I now believe that by having your company brand on too many sites makes it almost impossible to</p>
<ol>
<li>Be faithful to keep up all of them</li>
<li>Keep it real. Each social networking site has a different audience. Not all your company updates and blog posts should be posted on all these different sites. At some point, you&#8217;ll get discouraged that no one is engaging with you in return and you&#8217;ll burn out with too many posts and updates.</li>
</ol>
<p><strong>Keep Things Simple</strong></p>
<p>My suggestion is to step back and look at what you are doing. Ask yourself, &#8220;What do I want to accomplish by marketing my business online or using social media tools? <strong>The primary purpose should be listening to and engaging with your ideal customers.</strong></p>
<p>Find out what your customers want to talk about, learn about, read about, watch, and then give it to them. Find out who they are and where they spend their time. If most of your customers seem to spend time on Facebook (800 million users now&#8230; chances are they do) then focus your attention on Facebook and pull back on Linkedin, Twitter and the other hundred sites you&#8217;ve started to date. If you are a commercial contractor who typically deals with business people, Linkedin is definitely for you. If you are doing market research and trying to see what the word is on the street, or do some networking, check out Twitter.</p>
<p><strong>When The Dust Settles, My Personal Pick </strong></p>
<p>So what is one change I&#8217;ve made in 2011? My job is in marketing. So I will still be testing out social networking sites and occasionally you&#8217;ll see me on multiple channels. Yet I&#8217;ve narrowed my focus to primarily using blogging and Facebook to engage with friends, as well as current and potential customers. I get most feedback from blogging and Facebook. Also, Facebook has done a fantastic job creating THE social network.</p>
<p>Google is trying to outperform FB by creating Google +. It will not stick. When the dust settles, Facebook is here to stay. Why? Because the baby boomers and even many in the silent generation are learning how to use Facebook&#8211;not Google+, Twitter or the others.  So I continue to spend a few hours a week writing blogs and posting useful information here and on Facebook, distancing myself from many of the other social sites.</p>
<p><strong>What about you?</strong> What do you think about all these social media sites that keep popping up? Have you tried out Google+?  What changes have you made this year in your business with regard to social networking?</p>
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		<title>9 Steps to Putting Yourself Out There! by Steve Burnett</title>
		<link>http://www.adavidcreation.com/9-steps-to-you-putting-yourself-out-there/</link>
		<comments>http://www.adavidcreation.com/9-steps-to-you-putting-yourself-out-there/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 19 Aug 2011 18:13:43 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>David</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Marketing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Marketing Advice]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Small Business Solutions]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.adavidcreation.com/?p=1273</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Zig Ziglar said, &#8220;If you help enough people get what they want, you will get what you want.&#8221;  I truly believe this and that is exactly what I am doing while putting myself out there and promoting others in my communities. I am offering a community service to my friends in local communities by giving them a [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Zig Ziglar said, &#8220;If you help enough people get what they want, you will get what you want.&#8221; <img class="alignright size-medium wp-image-1274" title="Dallas Council of AAMCO Venice Community Spotlight 0 05 55-28" src="http://www.adavidcreation.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Dallas-Council-of-AAMCO-Venice-Community-Spotlight-0-05-55-28-300x168.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="168" /></p>
<p>I truly believe this and that is exactly what I am doing while putting myself out there and promoting others in my communities. I am offering a community service to my friends in local communities by giving them a 5 minute video interview, promoting them on &#8220;<a target="_blank" href="http://www.burnettpainting.com/community-spotlight/">Community Spotlight</a>&#8221; to my entire Social Media network.</p>
<p>I go one step further and have the videos transcribed and then post them as a <a target="_blank" href="http://http://www.burnettpainting.com/blog/">blog post</a> for them as well.</p>
<p>After interviewing the local Venice Florida business or professional, I then include them in the Community Spotlight e-mail that I send out that includes the latest Community Spotlight encouraging them to support their fellow spotlighters (creating community)  by promoting the video to their social media channels!</p>
<p>What I do:</p>
<p>1. First, these are all good friends of mine. I am a heavy net-worker! I attend 4 to 8 networking events a week. So this helps to create community within &#8220;our&#8221; chambers. I offer the interview opportunity and set up a time to meet them at their place of business.</p>
<p>2. I use a Flip Video on a tripod. Flip is great for fast editing and uploading.</p>
<p>3. I then edit the beginning and the ending.</p>
<p>4. Upload it to <a target="_blank" href="http://www.youtube.com/1800paintingcs">YouTube</a></p>
<p>5. From YouTube it drops into my <a target="_blank" href="http://www.burnettpainting.com/community-spotlight/">website</a> under the Community Spotlight tab.</p>
<p>6. Have the video transcribed.</p>
<p>7. Take the transcription and screen shots from the video and then set it up as a <a target="_blank" href="http://www.burnettpainting.com/blog/">blog post</a>.</p>
<p>8. Take that link and e-mail all of the Spotlighters to promote to their networks.</p>
<p>9. Post the video to all 7 of my Social Media channels.</p>
<p>And that is it!</p>
<p>How is it working for us? Well, year to date, we are up 97% with a record 73% close ratio without 1 print ad.</p>
<p>In closing, also consider what Zig Ziglar said, &#8220;People often say that motivation doesn&#8217;t last. Well, neither does bathing &#8211; that&#8217;s why we recommend it daily.&#8221;</p>
<p>~Steve Burnett</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
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		<title>Verizon to End Unlimited Data Thursday</title>
		<link>http://www.adavidcreation.com/verizon-to-end-unlimited-data-thursday/</link>
		<comments>http://www.adavidcreation.com/verizon-to-end-unlimited-data-thursday/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 05 Jul 2011 21:41:02 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>David</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Small Business Solutions]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[smartphones verizon]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[verizon vs at&t]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[verizon wireless data plan]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.adavidcreation.com/?p=1236</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I knew this day was coming. AT&#38;T did it last year and Verizon was holding on as long as they could. Unlimited Data plans for new customers on the Verizon network will vanish this Thursday, July 7th. The Verizon network is very strong and does not have the drop call problem AT&#38;T had with many [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I knew this day was coming. AT&amp;T did it last year and Verizon was holding on as long as they could. Unlimited Data plans for new customers on the Verizon network will vanish this Thursday, July 7th. The Verizon network is very strong and does not have the drop call problem AT&amp;T had with many of their smartphones. So, if you are looking at switching to Verizon, I&#8217;d definitely do it in the next 1 1/2 days. Smartphones for your business is a fantastic idea, even for some of your employees. You can shoot and post videos and photos to the web right from your phone. After Thursday, the data will be limited.</p>
<p>Most likely Verizon will set the limit to 2GB as the starting point of their data plan ($30 a month). To be honest, that is actually plenty of data. The only reason you&#8217;d go over that is if you &#8220;tether&#8221; your phone to a laptop or decide on watching a Netflix film! If you want to watch a movie on your phone, make sure you are connected to a wifi and DON&#8217;T use the 3 or 4G network. Finally, the only downside to this limited data (for newbies) is that they can&#8217;t skype or do video conferencing in the field. This too will burn up data usage in no time.</p>
<p>What carrier do you currently use? Do you use a smartphone for your business or any type of device?</p>
<p>To read more about the new plan, visit the <a target="_blank" href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304760604576428242590784046.html?mod=djemalertTECH ">WSJ article. </a></p>
<p><strong>Side note about AT&amp;T:</strong> If you are with AT&amp;T&#8230;one reason to stay with them vs. Verizon is that you can search the web and talk on the phone at the same time. That is a good feature if you need web access while you are doing a business meeting. Verizon web search only works when you are not talking on the phone or are connected to a wifi. spot. This is because AT&amp;T uses GSM radios and Verizon uses CDMA radios. I believe Sprint is the same as Verizon.</p>
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		<slash:comments>4</slash:comments>
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		<title>Cloud Computing and a Word of Caution</title>
		<link>http://www.adavidcreation.com/cloud-computing-and-a-word-of-caution/</link>
		<comments>http://www.adavidcreation.com/cloud-computing-and-a-word-of-caution/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 29 Jun 2011 14:41:05 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>David</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Small Business Solutions]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cloud based computing for small business]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Cloud Computing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pros and cons to cloud computing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[the cloud]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.adavidcreation.com/?p=1231</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I am one of those business guys who is embracing Cloud Computing. I like it and see a lot of benefits to how it can make a small business more productive away from a physical office. I like how I can run out to meet a client, take my laptop, fire up my browser and [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img class="alignright size-medium wp-image-1232" title="Cloud-base-computing" src="http://www.adavidcreation.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Cloud-base-computing-300x300.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="300" />I am one of those business guys who is embracing Cloud Computing. I like it and see a lot of benefits to how it can make a small business more productive away from a physical office. I like how I can run out to meet a client, take my laptop, fire up my browser and have an identical appearance as my large desktop computer in seconds. I like how saving and sharing files is made easy, and I spend less time waiting for things to load and save. Although the Cloud is still in its infantile state, is is here to stay. I believe every business should begin taking babysteps to embrace the Cloud <strong>and yet still be cautious at the same time. </strong>Let me tell you how I use the Cloud for my business and how I remain cautious.</p>
<p>What I use for my business:</p>
<ul>
<li>Macbook Air, iPhone, iPad &amp; iMac</li>
<li>Tablet PC (when I need a PC)</li>
<li>Google Chrome and Firefox Browsers with their auto sync functions (Cloud)</li>
<li>Google Apps for Business (email, contacts, calendar &amp; docs) (Cloud)</li>
<li>A copy of Microsoft Word and Excel on my harddrive although documents are saved online)</li>
<li>Photoshop (again, copies saved online &amp; backed up)</li>
<li>Dropbox for files sharing and online storage. (Cloud)</li>
<li>Freshbooks (Cloud)</li>
<li>Google Voice</li>
<li>Highrise and Basecamp for CRM &amp; Project Management from 37 signals (Cloud)</li>
<li>External Harddrive*</li>
</ul>
<p>The last item I mentioned is the key: *an external harddrive. It is pretty safe to say that Cloud storage and usage is safe, especially if it is a well known and trusted company like Dropbox. However, Cloud Computing still requires a physical location somewhere. This means that although our data is being backup &#8220;in the clouds&#8221; it is being backed up somewhere offsite, to a large server somewhere in the world. The reason this is a good thing is that your physical computers are not being data hogs and will generally run and operate at a higher performance. Also computers that run off a physical server tend to be a little slower. But, to be extra cautious with your data, financial documents, passwords and even pictures, I would recommend still backing up these items to an external harddrive. These harddrives are dirt cheap now. You can buy a 350 GB harddrive for probably $60-70. Do a backup everyday, week or month and you can then rest assured that if there ever was a problem with the Cloud, God forbid, you&#8217;d have a backup copy. Also, if you use an online CRM program, I&#8217;d recommend doing an export of your data every so often. This is good not only if something ever happens but even if there is a human error. For example, if someone in your office accidentally deletes a contact or a group of contacts, you can then import them back in if you are regularly doing your own backups.</p>
<p>So the bottom line, be a little cautious with Cloud Computing in these early stages and backup your data regularly. How has your business embraced Cloud Computing and what steps have you taken to protect your data?</p>
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		<title>Top 3 Music Mobile Apps for Contractors</title>
		<link>http://www.adavidcreation.com/top-3-music-mobile-apps-for-contractors/</link>
		<comments>http://www.adavidcreation.com/top-3-music-mobile-apps-for-contractors/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 14 Jun 2011 14:42:36 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>David</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Cool Software]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Small Business Solutions]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[music apps for android]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[music apps for iphone]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[music mobile apps]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.adavidcreation.com/?p=1208</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[My primary service is being a marketing manager and keeping service companies accountable with their marketing and customer service. My secondary service, which ends up being more of a hobby, is testing out cloud computing programs and mobile applications for contractors. Small business contractors tend to be on the road a lot these days trying [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>My primary service is being a marketing manager and keeping service companies accountable with their marketing and customer service. My secondary service, which ends up being more of a hobby, is testing out cloud computing programs and mobile applications for contractors. Small business contractors tend to be on the road a lot these days trying to stir up work. Many of them use their time wisely by listening to books on tap and podcast, which I highly recommend. However, if you are like me, I sometimes like to use those short trips to do nothing productive but listen to good music. So what are the three top music mobile apps that I&#8217;ve used? I will list them in order of my top choice to third choice.</p>
<p><strong>#1 Grooveshark <img class="alignright size-medium wp-image-1209" title="photo-grooveshark mobile" src="http://www.adavidcreation.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/photo-grooveshark-mobile-199x300.png" alt="" width="199" height="300" /></strong></p>
<p>Grooveshark works primarily on a Blackberry or Android platform. It can work on an iPhone, but the iPhone must be &#8220;jailbroken.&#8221; What does that mean? It is easy to do but complicated to explain in this blog post. If you really want it on your iPhone, shoot me an <a target="_blank" title="email david" href="mailto:david@adavidcreation.com" target="_blank">email</a> and I&#8217;ll tell you how to get it on there: it is free and easy to do. Grooveshark lets you choose what songs you want to listen to. Once you select the song, you can create your own playlist. It takes a bit more work using Grooveshark because you have to manual put all the songs you&#8217;d like together. I tend to go through phases where I listen to 20 or so songs a hundred times. So for me, Grooveshark is perfect. I have a couple of favorite playlist that I play often. Once I get tired of those songs, I create another playlist. The only downside to Grooveshark is the monthly cost. It is free if you use it on your desktop computer, but if you want it on your phone, it is about $9 a month. Good app, definitely cheaper than just buying individual songs from iTunes, if you really like music!</p>
<p><strong>#2 Jango <img class="alignright size-medium wp-image-1210" title="Photo Jun 14, 10 02 21 AM" src="http://www.adavidcreation.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Photo-Jun-14-10-02-21-AM-200x300.png" alt="" width="200" height="300" /></strong></p>
<p><a target="_blank" href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/jango-radio-mobile/id416867919?mt=8" target="_blank">Jango</a> has recently introduced their own mobile apps to the Android and iPhone communities. I have been waiting for this App for about a year. I have not tested this App on the Android but use it on my iPhone. Although I like Grooveshark when selecting individual songs, <a target="_blank" href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/jango-radio-mobile/id416867919?mt=8" target="_blank">Jango</a> does an excellent job helping me select a good playlist. How it works: I choose an artist. <a target="_blank" href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/jango-radio-mobile/id416867919?mt=8" target="_blank">Jango</a> then gives me a list of similar artist. I then tell it whether I want to play more or less of those artist. Once I&#8217;ve built my desired artist, it will begin playing them. I then begin to rate whether I like the song and/or artist (like Pandora). If I don&#8217;t like a song, it will tell me it won&#8217;t ever play it again and will then ask if I want to continue playing music from that artist. It is pretty intelligent, because sometimes, I don&#8217;t like all the artist on a certain &#8220;station&#8221; that I created. <a target="_blank" href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/jango-radio-mobile/id416867919?mt=8" target="_blank">Jango</a> is still new to me, but so far, I really like it. The songs it is playing are pretty much right to my liking. The good part: it is still <strong>free!</strong></p>
<p><strong>#3 Pandora</strong></p>
<p><strong></strong>I was a huge fan of <a target="_blank" href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/pandora-radio/id284035177?mt=8&amp;ign-mpt=uo%3D2" target="_blank">Pandora</a> when it was released. I wondered who the heck could ever compete with this company. I would play Pandora at my house, computer and car whenever I could. Grooveshark and Jango have truly done an awesome job in my book moving ahead of Pandora because of the customization features. Pandora is still a great App, simple and easy to use.</p>
<p><img class="alignright size-medium wp-image-1211" title="Photo Jun 14, 10 03 00 AM" src="http://www.adavidcreation.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Photo-Jun-14-10-03-00-AM-200x300.png" alt="" width="200" height="300" />The only downside I&#8217;ve experienced with it is it is not so customizable. It also tends to play the same songs several times in a short timespan. Do I still use <a target="_blank" href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/pandora-radio/id284035177?mt=8&amp;ign-mpt=uo%3D2" target="_blank">Pandora</a>? Yes but not as much as the other two apps. My wife still is use to <a target="_blank" href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/pandora-radio/id284035177?mt=8&amp;ign-mpt=uo%3D2" target="_blank">Pandora</a> and plays it primarily. That is only because I have not introduced her to Jango!</p>
<p>What do you guys use on the road? Anything I&#8217;m missing that should be on the list? I&#8217;ve yet to try Rhapsody, though it sounds very similar to Grooveshark and is $9.99 a month.</p>
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