Choosing Software to Run Your Business

“I love researching software and online platform solutions for my business” said no one, ever.

That said, I do spend a fair amount of time researching software and online systems for us and clients and realized that YOU might be interested in our solutions for your own business. Ya know, so you don’t have to spend all YOUR time researching. So, here it is, I hope it's helpful.

Bookkeeping:

Bookkeeping is the task I love the least. Seriously. But I LOVE Xero.com. It's saving me several hours per month in time over the old systems we’ve used. It is SO worth the monthly fee.

Xero can do everything we need, and it's easy to understand and set up. I can keep track of multiple bank accounts; generate estimates and then convert them to invoices; track inventory and client/business expenses; automatically reconcile the bank accounts; generate cash flow and other reports; enter bills to be paid; track time and attendance for employees and pay them; prepare W2s and 1099s, and export them all to tax software. They even have mobile apps for when I'm on the run and need to enter something.

Organization and To-Do Lists:

I use Evernote to keep track of clients and their to-do lists, and share notes/images/files. Evernote is a gem, it's secure, free or very low cost and it does everything I need.

Each client (and our company) has a Notebook, and each notebook contains notes and info for projects and to-do lists. Evernote syncs across computers which is very handy. I can update and edit the info from any device we use for business (and we use seven) and immediately see it on the other devices.

Email:

These days many of our clients just have a Gmail account. You know, like, MarysArt@gmail.com. It’s free and easy to use and you can set up your gmail account on your computer or check in online. However, if you want to present a more professional face to the world, I do recommend that you have a yourname@yourdomainame.com email account. For example Mary@MarysArt.com.

Yes, it costs something to have email via your domain name, but IMHO (In My Humble Opinion) it’s totally worth it. Get an IMAP (not a POP3) account through your domain name provider (we use Godaddy mostly) and you can sync email across all your devices.

Websites:

Our website has been a Squarespace website for years and years and we’ve set up dozens for clients. Yeah, we’ve tried other platforms but Squarespace is the best we’ve found. They are an awesome and ethical company. You can start with a simple inexpensive brochure website and grow into a complex e-commerce website later. Their support is stellar, and the websites are responsive and mobile-friendly with extensive customization capabilities, integrated and supported modules, and much more.

Many of our clients want to learn to maintain (or at least edit) their websites so we give lessons also.

Documents:

Microsoft Office is what we use the most, along with Apple's iWork suite. 

To create, edit and share PDF files, we use Adobe Acrobat Pro via an Adobe Creative Cloud subscription.

Image Wrangling and Graphic Design:

Again, for us it's cost-effective to have a subscription to Adobe software: Choose from one or all of Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Lightroom, Dreamweaver, Muse, Acrobat, Bridge, and many more.

For quick image resizing to use on websites and for tutoring clients I use free Skitch. It's really easy and fast for grabbing and annotating screen shots from the web, sharing them, and lots more.

For powerful image wrangling without a monthly fee you can purchase Photoshop Elements and it has many of the same features as Photoshop at a fraction of the cost.

But before you buy, check the software on your computer. You may have something you can use, like iPhoto. I don't think you should spend money when you already have software that will do the job. When you grow out of it later, great, move on up to something else.

Backups - Two is Better Than One:

We learned the hard way to have more than one backup system. A few years ago the backup drive crashed, taking with it a lot of files that were not on any computer (any more). Lesson learned.

Now we have two backup systems:  External hard drives with Time Machine on the Macs is backup number one. Check your PC as Windows may ask you if you want to use your new external drive for backup. Backup system number two is online secure, encrypted cloud storage via Backblaze which backs up all our computers to one safe place that can be accessed from just about anywhere. It's come in very handy when we're traveling and a client has an emergency and we need to access their files. 

Contact us if you have questions or need some help with any of this.

As always, all our best to you and yours,

-Robin

Create Better Newsletter and Email Subject Lines

Think back to how you sort through all that incoming email. If you're like me, you triage your email inbox at least once a day by reading the subject lines and noticing who it's from. If there is nothing in the subject line that intrigues me to read further, it goes in the trash can.

The subject line in your email or emailed newsletter may be the only thing standing between you and the trash can. 

Michael Katz, one of my favorite people and a boon to solo professionals, said it best:

"Today I ... received a newsletter from a company.

The "subject" line read: COMPANY NAME'S July 2014 Newsletter.

I didn't open it.

I knew who sent it (COMPANY NAME), but there was nothing in the subject line that compelled me to look further (sort of like if Steven Spielberg released a movie called "Movie July 2014").

People are busy and easily distracted. Try and give them a reason to pay attention to you."

~ Michael Katz, Blue Penguin Development, Helping Solo Professionals Become Likable Experts

Here are some samples of email subject lines that survived my morning traige, and a couple that didn't.

Survived:

"3 Tools to Better Manage Your Blogging Editorial Calendar"

"A new Follow button and a new case study"

"Scottish Figurative Painter Visits Argentina"

"How to sign documents online with e-signatures"

"Is your art just free décor?"

Trashed at first morning triage:

"Share This Widget Update"

"Do You Know This Person?"

"New Updates"
 

I did know the companies/people who sent the trashed emails. I trashed them because there was nothing there that I was interested in.  :-D

Do you need to comply with the GDPR?

If your business is based in the European Union (EU), or you process the personal data of individuals in the EU, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) - a new European privacy law - affects you. It took effect May 25th, 2018.

Here is some information from MailChimp and Squarespace, the companies we use most often for email newsletters and websites. It should help you make an informed decision about what to do. We apologize for the late notice. Personal trials and tribulations got in the way, sorry, but let us know if you need help implementing any of this.

Do you need to comply with the GDPR? 

If you are an organization that is organized in the EU or one that is processing the personal data of EU citizens, the GDPR will apply to you. Even if all you are doing is collecting or storing email addresses, if those email addresses belong to EU citizens, the GDPR likely applies to you. Non-compliance can result in financial penalties.

That said, I need to remind you that we are not legal counsel. If you have clients/customers and other people you collect personal data from in the EU, you may want to consult with legal and other professional counsel regarding the full scope of your compliance obligations.

So what does it all mean?

If you send emails to, or collect other personal data from, people in the EU you will need to implement some changes to how you collect and store their data. One of the fundamental aspects of the GDPR is that organizations who collect personal information from people in Europe must ensure that consent is obtained in accordance with the GDPR’s strict new requirements. For example, the law says that pre-ticked boxes on a newsletter signup form (along with silence and inactivity) do not count as consent, so you’ll need signup forms that make it easy to collect the permission you need.

When relying on consent as your legal basis, the GDPR says the consent you obtain must be freely given, specific, informed, and unambiguous. You also must clearly explain how you plan to use their personal data. 

Please note: Whatever system you use to send emails and collect personal data please know that just enabling GDPR fields on your signup forms does not make you compliant. It’s the first step of the process. To collect consent from new and existing EU contacts, you’ll set up your forms and send a consent campaign. If they do not consent to being on your email list, you must remove them.  

Your business may not be affected by the GDPR. However, we think it wise to put these protections in place for the future since European law tends to set the trend for international privacy regulation, and increased privacy awareness now may give you a competitive advantage later.

All our best to you and yours,

-Robin

P.S. 
Here is info on keep your website complaint at Squarespace.