Was building a marketing plan one of your New Year’s resolutions but you just can’t seem to get started? Setting up a marketing plan or even a single campaign is not something to be taken lightly. There are many moving parts that need to be addressed. But let’s talk about a few basics that should help you keep it as simple as possible and get you started.   You know you receive messages that have nothing remotely to do with you or your interests. Don’t you often wonder how and why

Last week, during my 3rd Act! Deep Dive, I talked about finding "gems" of data in your database and then taking actions on them.  It reminded me that I had written an article years ago about this topic. When I went and found it I realized it's still relevant and I've resurrected for a blog post today. This is the article with a few modifications to bring it current. In the past I have written articles and blog posts talking about drilling down into your customer data.  No matter

It seems that the practice of sending cards to customers may be coming back into the norm. I know the holidays are upon us when I start getting calls and emails asking how to print labels or envelopes for holiday cards. The calls often start with the question like, “I want to send out cards, but I don’t want to have to type the labels/envelopes individually. Is there an easier way to create the labels?” So I thought this might be a perfect time to revisit the process.

Early in the New Year is a great time to review your online accounts and services and make decisions on what can be done to make this year better than the last.  Here are a few recommendations: Review your website and update the content or work with a designer to get a fresh look. Your website is often the first impression a prospect has of your company.  Take inventory of your online presence - get all login credentials for your domain(s), website hosting account(s), email

I want answers now-hate to admit it, but I do. Our society has become a bit spoiled with the advent of the internet. If we have a question we simply turn to Google for a quick answer. We can find the best recipe for sugar cookies in an instant. Or, if you are like my eight-year-old son you can find out all you want to know about the world’s largest sinkholes. (True story) There are those unfortunate times, however, that Google cannot bail us out. Times that we need answers from real people.

Act! v19 has been released this month and is ready for purchase or upgrade.  The most significant thing announced was support for 64 bit Office. This enhancement was no slight undertaking and is a very welcome addition.  In addition to the new features, as always there have been ongoing programming bug fixes.  Swiftpage's mission is to produce a robust product that meets the customer requirements. Here's more detail on the new features. Compatibility Enhancements: Act! now

The theme of our newsletter this month is preparing for the new year. And most people will spend the end of the year preparing their New Years resolutions. It is also a good time to do the same thing for your business. And, for me, I believe it should follow the same rules that I apply to myself when creating my resolutions - make them realistic and achieveable. So many times we set goals that have no chance of being realized. The same thing applies for setting business goals. For example, if

Your greatest resource is your time. - Brian Tracy Automation is the key to doing more, more accurately with the time and resources you have. Many of the tasks we are required to do  - or think that we should do - can be done in whole or in part by automation.  Automating routines frees us up to spend our valuable time on problem solving, creative endeavors or personal relationships. So, how can we automate those routine tasks? I have a few go-to tools that I highly recommend: 1.