“I don’t want Windows 10!”
Here’s a little nugget that I heard about from my landlord – Mr. Glen Flett of Burlington, Ontario. If you’re tired of seeing the Windows 10 Pop-ups, you’ll love this!
From what we’ve seen, Windows 10 is working out quite well for some people – but for most, Windows 7 or 8 is still working just fine. If you are still thinking of getting your “free” upgrade, you should know in advance that some other programs (including some versions of act!) may not be compatible with windows 10, and if you’re not on subscription, they could be rather costly to upgrade.
If you have made the decision not to upgrade for now, it doesn’t stop that annoying box from popping up constantly. There are some rather complicated ways to stop the pop ups, but I recently found a very simple one, thanks to the folks at ghacks.net and their “I don’t want Windows 10” program.
To access the free program, click here and download the zip file.
Of course if you’ve made the decision to upgrade, give us a call at 905-336-8988 so we can make sure you have an up-to-date version of ACT!
Program Combatibility, Database Maintenance and Screen Resolution
Are your 
programs playing well together?
Our act! gurus can tell you which versions of act!, outlook, windows and other programs play well together. Do you have a brand new operating system? act!v18 is compatible! Do you have programs that are having a hard time communicating? Give us a call. We can provide a solution.
Is your screen resolution working with act!?
If letters and fonts look strange or don’t seem to fit your layout, you may need a dpi fix. We can finally offer this tool to fix screen resolution issues with act!
Click here to download the program.
Database Mainenance: How to avoid disaster!
If your database breaks down or your computer blows up, having a recent backup to restore from could be the difference between your business grinding to a halt and “business as usual”. I recommend this be done at least once a week, and should be done from within act! using the File | Backup feature.
Database Maintenance
Performing “housekeeping” on your database helps to keep things in order, but more importantly, can prevent database corruption! A scary thought I know, but database corruption is a reality that can prove to be disastrous. There are tools right within act! to perform database maintence to help you keep your data clean and safe.
Purchase a Maintenance Package
If you are nervous about performing your own act! maintenance, our technicians can shine up your database and have it running like a well-tuned machine. You can trust us to do it right! Maintenance programs start at $195 per year!
The New Canadian Anti-Spam Law (CASL)
On July 1, the new Anti-Spam Law takes effect, and all Canadian businesses will be required to comply. This means that to send any e-communications (e-mails, texts etc.) you MUST have obtained consent from the recipient.
We have spoken to a number of clients in varying situations and established a few different options to establish CASL compliance.
First of all, there are a couple of possible scenarios; Clients who already subscribe to an e-marketing solution such as Swiftpage or Constant Contact, and clients who do not.
For clients who have an e-marketing subscription:
Most e-marketing programs probably have a means of obtaining consent from subscribers, and providing a list in excel format with the results. We can help facilitate this process, and also bring the information into ACT!
If you are using Swiftpage, the process is even smoother. (see Option 1 below — Swiftpage Email)
For clients who do not currently have an e-marketing subscription:
We have narrowed it down to three options:
Option 1 – Swiftpage Email
First, we would sign you up as a subscriber to swiftpage email. Pricing starts at $14.95 per month and can be cancelled after one month if you won’t use it again. This service is also a great way of staying in touch with clients by sending out newsletters, surveys, announcements etc., and tracking the results in ACT! – so you may just want to keep it!
Using your Swiftpage E-mail account, we can help you send out an email requesting consent from your contacts. Once consent is granted, the results will be stored in ACT! The costs involved would only consist of about an hour of our time at $125, plus the cost of a month of Swiftpage e-mail (which averages at $30 for most people). Any remaining time can be used to create Swiftpage templates for future use, or banked.
Option 2 – Automatic Web Forms for ACT!
This is an add-on product that works directly within ACT!. You can send clients an opt-in request, or double opt-in request, and ACT! will automatically advise you when new updates are received. The cost is $50-$70 US per month, set-up is quick and easy, and the only item we have reservations about is the “captcha”. (see graphic below)
Option 3 – Hero Automation Tool
This is a tool that a local programmer created specifically to provide ACT! users a solution to the new CASL. It generates an email from ACT!, and also records results directly into ACT!. The cost is $200, but the product is not supported past July 31 2014. It does seem to work well, but the fact that e-mails are sent directly from ACT! would probably require sending emails in smaller batches to prevent blacklisting.
Eliminating Duplicates in ACT!
Duplicate contacts crowd a database and create confusion… but they may contain important information you need to keep. This 5 minute instructional video explains how to combine duplicate contacts for a cleaner database!
Use ACT! Smart Tasks for Automation!
Are there certain tasks that should be completed regularly that sometimes fall through the cracks? For example, welcoming a new client, sending a birthday message or following up on a recent quote? Perhaps contacting clients who have not placed an order within “x” amount of time, or reminding someone that their contract is up for renewal.
ACT! Smart Tasks can ensure that these important day-to-day tasks are not forgotten! Just let ACT! know what to do when a certain criteria is met and you can get on with your day while ACT! does the rest! Elements such as time delay, drip marketing, field updates, act! activities and emails can all be scheduled to take place automatically.
Watch this short video to get an idea of how you can use Smart Tasks to put your business on auto-pilot!
Amber Gillie, ACC
It’s amazing how much power one little word can hold. “Certified”. I’ve been an ACT! consultant for years, and never really felt the need to make it official, as I was able to perform all the work, answer all the questions and fix all the problems that my clients needed. And for the difficult ones, there was always Sharon and Colin close at hand, with their years of experience and never-ending patience.
Nevertheless, I was curious about the certification process and couldn’t resist the temptation of belonging to the very first group of Swftpage certified ACT! consultants. So I’m proud to say that I achieved my goal and am now a Swiftie ACC. A SWACC… yes — a SWACC! Not sure what this changes as far as business practices — I will still work closely with both Sharon and Colin to determine the best solutions for our clients, but I will do it with more letters after my name!
Tomatoes and Databases
So what on earth does one have to do with the other? At first glance, absolutely nothing usually (unless you grow and sell tomatoes and also use a database to keep track of your tomato business). But read on and all will be revealed.
Tomatoes
I love tomatoes, and I think that anyone who has ever tasted a home-grown tomato will agree that there’s just no comparison with the ones you buy from the store. This is one of the reasons I started growing tomatoes in the first place, but the main reason was to involve my kids in my gardening adventures. I use the word adventures because it sounds so much better than failures. Growing up in Southeast London, England, I never did learn to grow anything much more than mustard and cress on blotting paper (we were forced to do this in school), and a ginger beer plant. No, I’m not making that up, we had a ginger beer plant right in our kitchen and we used to sell it on the black market to ginger beer addicts. (Okay, I made that last bit up.)
So through much research, and asking my next door neighbour who actually knew stuff about gardening, I determined that tomatoes were the my best bet for our very own gardening project. The reason? They’re pretty much foolproof. You buy a couple of plants, throw them in the ground and get the kids to water them daily whether they need it or not. This last exercise has dual benefits; the plants have a better chance of survival and it gets the kids out of your hair for a while so you can put your feet up with a cuppa.
****To learn more about growing mustard and cress on blotting paper or growing your own ginger beer plant in your own home (doesn’t have to be in the kitchen), send me $10 right away. Or, alternatively, click on the links at the bottom of this blog.
Databases
First of all, you don’t have to operate a tomato business to have a database. In fact most businesses have nothing at all to do with tomatoes, but do utilize some kind of database system, and there are lots of them out there to choose from. So which one should you choose and what on earth does all this have to do with tomatoes? Lots – ask you self these questions:
What’s Right for Me?
• Tomato Plants: If you’ve only got a window box don’t go buying the “Jack and the Beanstalk” variety.
• Database System: Same sort of thing. If you’re a small business owner don’t be talked into buying the “latest and greatest” as it’s probably more than you need or can afford. Even if you can afford it, paying for something that does way more than you need is not just overkill, it can work against you. If it’s too complicated to use it probably won’t get used. Choose something that’s affordable, easy to use and does what you need. If you need help deciding, consult someone who knows what they’re talking about and also has you best interests at heart. (You could try doing what I did and asking my next door neighbour, but she knows way more about gardening than databases, so maybe not.) I have been using a fantastic product called ACT! for over twenty years now.
Keeping Them Healthy – Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure
• Tomatoes: Plant marigolds alongside your tomato plants to deter pests and keep the plants generally healthy.
• Your Database: Learn how to use your system properly from the get-go so it doesn’t end up a complete mess down the road. Think of it this way, buying the software is a cost, but learning how to use it is the real investment. Make sure you perform database maintenance on a regular basis – and BACK IT UP!
Stay tuned for some tips & tricks on cleaning up your ACT!…. and some delicious tomato recipes!
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FAQ Friday: Why are you so excited about this acquisition? #WeAreAllSwifties #act! | Swiftpage Marketing Blog http://ow.ly/k7iCk
An Exciting New Start for ACT!
As you may (or may not) know, ACT! has been affiliated with Swiftpage Email for several years now, allowing ACT! users to send mass email campaigns directly from ACT!. This is why we were thrilled to hear the announcement that Swiftpage is buying ACT!.
Over the years, Swiftpage has earned our respect as a progressive organization with an emphasis on customer feedback and satisfaction. To sum it up, they’re a class ACT! (pun intended) and as far as we’re concerned this is fantastic news!
Continuing with exciting announcements, we have a new addition to our team! Our daughter, Amber, has re-joined our company. Amber worked with us several years ago, and kept up with ACT! even after she left. Amber brings with her some unique skills and she will be contacting you to keep you in the loop.
As always, we are here to answer any questions you may have – so please feel free to call or email us at ecm@getyouracttogether.net.
Effective Contact Management 