Why a Reliable Internet Connection Is a Must During This Pandemic

While we are all wrapping our heads around this “new normal” that we’ve found ourselves in when the pandemic struck, we’re re-assessing what are actually the essential things we need in life. And one thing that keeps being at the top of the list is reliable internet. In the beginning, with the first stay-at-home orders, we saw many internet services crash under the strain but good providers like Spectrum internet outage turned out to be for a small period, and we saw once again how crucial they were to our daily lives. So, what are the things that make a good internet so essential?

Working From Home

A lot of people have switched to working from home to minimize exposure and eliminate using public transportation. For many, this means working online, whether by always being in contact with their colleagues, or full-on accessing their office computer remotely. Whichever the case, a productive day means stable internet and good speed. This is why at the beginning of the pandemic, a lot of people reconsidered their internet and cable plans to make sure that they can stay connected and do their jobs properly. For some, a lousy internet connection actually meant potentially losing their jobs, especially if they are self-employed and had to put their business online.

Online School

For the younger generations, the start of the pandemic meant schools closing and their lives getting turned upside-down. While some countries introduced a system of TV classes, students still had to submit their assignments online, or join online video-calls with teachers. For kids without a stable connection, it could mean missing out on classes or not being able to fully understand the subject, because of constant interruptions. Additionally, since kids won’t be getting as much attention from the teachers, they might have to do a lot of additional research by themselves, which will also require reliable internet.

Stay Connected With Loved Ones

Social distancing has hit everyone hard. We all have to be responsible and keep our distance, but it’s normal to miss your family and friends. And this is where we use the internet most often – chatting, video-calling, and sending pictures of our lunch to friends and family. Especially when families have to be separated – for example, grandparents not being able to see their grandkids for a long time – video calls are life-savers and will help people stay connected and feel less lonely through these times. People who have been in long-distance relationships or live far away from a family already know this feeling all too well, but now this is a reality for nearly everyone.

Stay Informed

With new measures being introduced seemingly every day, it’s important you stay on top of everything that is happening and get the newest information from reliable sources – which can often only be found online. Without good internet, you might miss and important stay-at-home notice and get in trouble for it, or you might miss the instructions on what to do if you actually feel some symptoms. Not to mention, the world hasn’t stopped: things are happening the same way as they were before the pandemic started, and we need to be aware of current events around the world.

In short, stable internet access has been a necessity for years, but the pandemic has brought to light exactly how big of an issue it can be when we do not have access to it.

Why you need a PC based CRM in 2020

For the past Decade, Customer Relations Management has been transformed by SaaS providers so completely, that some people think CRM means Cloud. On-Premise CRMs that you can purchase for a one-time price have almost disappeared. The problem with the Cloud model is that every service provide aims to lock you in to monthly payments, slow loading web pages, and features that hide behind premium fees.

No one can predict what our economy will throw us in 2020. But it seems clear that the last 14 years of growth may soon level out or decline. When business gets tough, then the high monthly payments become a burden.

When CRM was new, back in the 1980s and 90s, the main business model was PC based software, PC based data, with sync services to handheld devices. CompanionLink was born in those years, and we retain that service model. More recently there is a trend to adopt personal CRM that cannot be ignored.

We have introduced DejaOffice PC CRM. This is a Contact Manager, Calendar App that runs on Windows PCs, Android Phones, iPhones and iPads. On each of these platforms, the CRM database is local to the device. This means that you gain speed and productivity compared to the browser based model. It also means that if you are disconnected from the internet, on your PC by a carrier outage, or on your phone by simply being in a parking garage, you can still work effectively.

Standalone: DejaOffice PC CRM Standalone $49.95 – A simple standalone Contact Manager for Personal or Small Business use. Track your Contacts, Calendar, Tasks and Notes. This CRM can easily import all your data from Palm Desktop, Outlook, or Google.

You can make mail-merge emails, letters and mailing labels. You can handle tasks and store notes. Automatic backups and privacy features are included.

Outlook: DejaOffice PC CRM for Outlook $99.95 – All the features of Standalone with the additional feature of an Outlook Add-In. You can easily drag and drop an email to create a Contact, Calendar Event, Tasks or Note.

Express: DejaOffice PC CRM Express $129.95 – Customer History and Follow Ups are the main features of the Express version. Easily see everything you’ve done for the customer, and everything planned for the future. The Express version includes the Outlook Add-In, but also adds a feature to automatically move Outlook Emails to Contact history.

Pro: DejaOffice PC CRM Pro $199.95 for 5-Users – Multi-User version with a shared database. No other CRM is as affordable. Every person can have their own schedule, with permission to edit other schedules. Everyone can share a Contact list so that your Company Contacts are always up to date.

Free trial

Download a free trial today. As a part of this trial we will email you setup guides and we will help you get started. There is no risk. See how productive your day can be when you put Customer Relations back on your PC where it belongs!

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CompanionLink provides effective alternative for Telexis PHONEslips and Group Scheduler

CompanionLink Software is offering customized import for the discontinued PHONEslips and Group Scheduler programs provided by Telexis Software.

Telexis has announced that these products have been discontinued and support ended December 31, 2019. Customers who currently use PHONEslips will continue to run, and can still export their contact database.

CompanionLink provides a program with similar functionality called DejaOffice PC CRM.

Click on these links for more information:

To take a call using DejaOffice PC CRM, you display the Contact List and then Search for the contact who is calling. You can start the search simply by typing their name in the contact list. If the contact is found, you can record a call by clicking the Telephone Icon. Then you can put in the details of the call. To assign it to another user, put their name as the “owner” of the record. The call will appear on that person’s task list. You can also assign a priority and category color to the call.

DejaOffice PC CRM Pro also has a group scheduling screen. You can use this to view a the calendar for multiple people, and easily move scheduled events from one to another.

DejaOffice PC CRM has well rated Mobile Apps. USB, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and DejaCloud Sync may be used to move data from the PC to DejaOffice on your smartphone.

For a limited time you can order DejaOffice PC CRM Pro, for 5 users ($199.95), with the optional RunStart service ($49) where we will assist you to import your PHONEslips contacts and help set up your office database. We offer $10 off for a total price of $139.95. Click here to order this today.

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10 Apps To Boost Your Productivity As An Entrepreneur

An entrepreneur is faced with numerous competing tasks such that his energy and productivity may be compromised. Technology is one of the distractions, but it has redeemed its image by providing some of the most amazing productivity apps for entrepreneurs. Mypaperwriter.com provides professional writing services to save time and enable you to boost the quality of work you submit.

Apps enable entrepreneurs to focus on the tasks at hand, keep deadlines, and manage communication tools, among other functions. Boosting productivity requires a good time manager and maximum concentration. Here are apps that will transform your productivity as an entrepreneur and, therefore, enable you to hit your entrepreneurial goals.

1. Asana

Asana is the perfect project management tool. It combines assignment allocation, HR management, and deadline tracking in one app. A communication thread will be added under each task. A free version helps you to try out the features on offer. The premium version is affordable for all businesses.

2. Evernote

Entrepreneurs popping from one meeting to the other require the best note pads. Evernote enables you to take notes on your phone and transfer them across platforms. You can attach files and other documents generated or required for the meeting.

3. Buffer

Entrepreneurs today have to use social media for communication and marketing. Buffer is the perfect choice for passing information across different social media platforms. You can time your communications to update whenever the need arises automatically.

4. Dropbox

Access to documents and files while in the field is one of the biggest challenges for organizations. Dropbox solves the problem by allowing you only to tag a password along. You can drop the files from any device or location. This allows co-workers or entrepreneurs to access the documents anytime and from any location.

5. Monday.com

The apps are designed to provide a central point for controlling all your work. You can track progress and communicate with the persons involved through the platform. Progress is updated in real-time to assist in monitoring the performance of each stakeholder. It is one of the best organization tools for entrepreneurs.

6. DejaOffice

The app is designed for marketers, customer care reps, and salespersons, among others who have to deal with customer information. It is optimized for mobile use to allow you to access all data and information about your customers on the phone from any location. You can transact and make business decisions anywhere you go.

7. Square

Do you wish to take payments from any location and serve customers around the world? Square is the app to install. Since you can monitor financial transactions, it will be easier to serve your customers.

8. MobileDay

The app serves entrepreneurs who need to hop into video conferences at any moment. Once you set up the call, passwords will not be required. You can, therefore, hold your conferences anywhere and at your convenience.

9. InvoiceGo

A professionally looking invoice will get you paid fast. Since you are not always on your desk, you need a tool to send your most professional invoice.

10. HelloSign

Signing documents online or away from the office is tricky. Avoid wasting time by using HelloSign to append the signature wherever you are.

Bonus: Milanote

Milanote is an easy-to-use tool to organize your ideas and projects into visual boards. Milanote’s flexible drag and drop interface lets you arrange things in whatever way makes sense for your project.

There are many other apps to solve our daily entrepreneurial needs. Choose an app that will deliver the best user experience, especially through the provision of multiple features.

7 Great Project Management Apps for Teams

Project-Management tools help you to organize and systematize your project on a single platform. This software helps you categorize your tasks by telling you the ones who have been working on, the others that are being worked on by other members of your team, and the position of a project that is in progress.

1. Trello

You can add due dates, attachments, and any required comments on the work presented. It also helps save a lot of time since you have an entirely organized chart right before you, which helps you jump right to action from an idea to create different tasks and complete them instantaneously. So, let’s start with all the great Project Management Software for firms & businesses.

Trello is the first tool that comes to the mind of any individual when they’re discussing about project management tools. Trello is, although very fast and swift in its nature of completion of work, it does only offer a very limited array of email integration and a similar number of labels.

You can add multiple people to work with you on any project you are doing to planning to do, due to its collaborative feature. Along with its professional usage, firms use it widely to plan vacations and other leisure activities too.

However, there are so many other great Trello software alternatives that you can also check out to save you some time.

2. Click Up

Click Up is a very modernized and technical alternative to Trello. Not only is it proficient in task management but encompasses the ability to offer goals, reminders, docs, calendars, etc. Click Up is completely customizable and is useful for any and every type of team and field of work. Since it is based on common ground, all kinds of teams can use the same app to collaborate, organize, and plan their tasks, respectively. 

Features

  • Common platform for all users
  • Reliable and Consistent user interface
  • Free sources for training purposes
  • High ability for customization

3. Backlog

As a project management software, Backlog is the one that is very rich when it comes to the features. However, this does not result in any complexity in usage and lets it be rather simple. This software has multiple subscription plans as per everyone’s budget requirement and also remains relatively cost-effective. The good thing about these subscriptions is that they bill the entire company for corporate usage and not an individual.

Features

  • Multiple, creative template options
  • Automated system for creation and issuing of templates
  • Drop file-sharing system

4. Air Table

This software is suitable for businesses of big sizes and offers collaborative functionalities and tablet-friendly options. It also aids in setting your priorities and clocking schedules to the minute. This helps in effective alignment of work for a speedy work completion process.

Features

  • You can easily integrate social media and email IDs.
  • The platform and views can be customized
  • Records can be filtered and rearranged

5. Paymo

This is an application for project management that is used vitally to complete the project right from the time of its conception until the very end of it. It is ideal for businesses that are either small or are medium-sized, with more scope to grow. This software helps these businesses to simplify their complex procedures and processes and ensures the swiftness and fastness of the business that is being carried forward.

Features

  • It collates data from various other systems during the process of estimating a project
  • You can create a visual timeline of the work being done or the work that has been finished by you and your team
  • There is time tracking to ensure that deadlines are met regarding each and every task
  • It offers complete transparency between the employees and the manager

6. Process Street

This software contains maximum accuracy as a management tool meant for the workforce. It is best suited when there are repetitive tasks that need to be done by a company. Since workers may be on different levels of movement within their operation, Process Street helps to create workflow processes for businesses, to track them and optimize them as and when needed.

Features

  • Collaboration and integration available with over 1000 applications
  • Collaborating on the teamwork and being able to track the progress
  • Allows swift control and analysis of the business processes

7. Task World

This project management software is cloud-hosted and uses visuals for task management and planning ahead. It records all the changes that have been made or are being made and stores them in chronological order so that accessing them later does not prove tedious.

Features

  • You can add colored tags or labels to differentiate and sort out the tasks which you have to do. Color coded work descriptions have been proven to be done in a better manner due to its nature of visual appeasement.
  • If you want to keep your tasks under the veil, Task World also can help you lock the document or hide it from the other members of the team.

Summary

Task management tools abound. If one of the seven above does not fit your needs, check out this list of The 64 Best Free Productivity Apps of 2021.

Sync Outlook with Google Calendar and Contacts

Easy and Automatic sync from Outlook to Google!

Contacts and Calendar

Synchronize any Outlook Contacts folder to Gmail Contacts. Synchronize any Outlook Calendar folder to Google Calendar. All your events will synchronize including recurring events. You can use a Scheduling tool for Google, that will synchronize to your Outlook Calendar. When people call you, their Outlook name will show on your phone. When you read an SMS text you will see their name at the top.

Fully Automatic Two-Way Sync

CompanionLink for Google gives you easy and automatic two-way sync from any Outlook Folder to Google, and Google will sync to your phone. CompanionLink is the only sync tool that has Push Sync enabled for Google Calendar, so you see changes from Google instantly in your Outlook Calendar.

Purchase now for just $19.95!

One Computer License retail $24.95 now 20% off – Click Here to Purchase today for $19.95. A one-computer license is for one computer only. If you later purchase a new computer, you would need a new license for it.

Portable License retail $49.95 now 20% off – Click Here to Purchase today for $39.95. A portable license may be installed on up to 3 computers, work, home, laptop, and can be transferred when you buy a new computer.

Free 14-Day Trial

This trial will synchronize all your contacts and calendar just like the paid program. All fields are included.

Click here to Download the Free 14-Day Trial

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View the Set Up Guide

Here is a complete Set up Guide

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Sync Google Calendar to IMAP, POP3 and Outlook 2010 Folders

CompanionLink will synchronize with any Outlook folder. You do not need Exchange or Office 365 to use it. You can synchronize to any Google account. Works with Office 365, Outlook 2019, Outlook 2016, Outlook 2013 and Outlook 2010. You can synchronize Contacts, Calendar and Tasks.

Telephone Tech Support

We also offer Telephone Tech Support at (503)243-5200 or email us at support@companionlink.com.

Click here for more information about CompanionLink for Google.

Challenges in Mobile App Testing and their Solution

Mobile application testing is evolving with the rapid development in mobile technology. The device manufacturers are coming up with new features and new operating system versions. All the new features and functions are creating challenges for the testers to perform functional testing and non-functional testing. Let’s have a look at some of the challenges that the testers face while testing an app.     

Context Awareness

Context can influence the operation of an app or its functions with data from its environment. Applications can be in different contexts with different data which creates a problem in the entire testing process. Also, smartphones rely on constantly changing environments and usage patterns that impact the context.

Security Issues

When it comes to testing an app on cloud-based devices, private cloud is much more secure rather than the public cloud. A secure private cloud will have an extra layer of enterprise-level security. Although the public cloud is also safe to use for testing the apps, the better option is to go for private cloud to avoid any high-level data breach.

Operating System versions

OS fragmentation is an issue that worries most of the testers. Apple has launched iOS 13 and that means that the new apps need to be compatible with the currently popular versions including 10, 11, and 12. Although when it comes to Android, the problem is much severe. Android has 29 API levels and at least 9 API levels are still widely used by the users. There is a great percentage of users who still use Android 6. So the testers need to make sure that all the functionalities work fine on all the devices irrespective of the OS version.    

Device Screen Sizes

The mobile device manufacturers are upgrading their screen technology and coming up with larger and better screens. There are devices with different screen sizes like 5, 5.5, 6, 6.3, 6.5 inches, etc. This creates problems for testing as the app should be tested on a variety of devices to be compatible with different screen sizes. Now there are foldable devices in the market which means there is a need to test the app for foldable screens too.    

Parallel Testing

Enterprises are looking to automate most of the testing to increase productivity. Although parallel testing is not practiced in most of the cases. It means that the test scripts are not executed on multiple devices all at once. Users can test a device with an Android operating system, and a device with an iOS running on it at the same time to maximize the test coverage.

Conclusion

It is required to perform mobile testing at a scale to assure quality. Users can connect with tens or hundreds of devices using appropriate tools. It’s better to record the test script and run it on multiple devices using the right automation testing tool. Users can also opt for a performance testing tool to simulate network condition. If required then use a load testing tool to test the functions for performance under difficult conditions. This enables users to expand test coverage.

How to Improve Writing Skills for Your Small Business Productivity

Many people conduct their businesses online. It’s a fast and popular method, which brings many dividends. One of the most important parts of successful business promotion is the content. Every website should be stuffed with proper documents and informative blogs, articles, and other papers. Besides, a website owner is supposed to write emails, reports, reviews and so on. They are necessary when a businessman works with partners, clients, and suppliers. Therefore, properly developed writing skills are of great importance.

Not all people are gifted in writing. The others may have problems with business writing, which is formal, strict, and professional. Such people have to look for some possible solutions. Of course, they have to practice every day and read appropriate literature to become experts. Some of them use online help.

There is an essay writing service which can help to boost the writing productivity of any business platform. The experts write thematic business papers that fully suit the purposes of clients. They are of exceptional quality and unique. All the orders are written on time, private data is secured, and we set fair prices. Feel free to visit a professional essay writing company to find out more details. You will be satisfied with the capabilities, which will bring your business website to the new quality level.

We can also recommend several tips. They are good enough to boost your writing productivity with your own effort. Be attentive and try to use them properly.

Organize Your Thoughts

It’s essential to be always organized and understand what you’re supposed to do. Before you even begin to write, you should identify some important issues. These are as follows:

  • The main message;
  • Effective ways to deliver it;
  • Understanding your audience;
  • When and where to apply;
  • What are possible problems;
  • How to overcome problems, etc.

Keep these points in your mind and organize your thoughts. Thus, you’ll know how to start and what to write about.

Be Concise and Logical

Business papers differ from other pieces. They are not some sort of storytelling. They always get right to the main question of the paper. Therefore, follow this simple but important rule. Don’t write too long sentences, as well as long paragraphs. If you have done so, see how you can divide them into smaller pieces. Short sentences and paragraphs make any text more readable and pleasant to the eye.

Never go astray. Once you have reported the main purpose of your paper, stick to it. Don’t write pointless sentences that don’t affect the topic of your paper. You may find a possible solution at DoMyWriting. All the explanations and examples must fully suit your topic.

Avoid Unknown Words

Some folks adore playing with words. This habit negatively reflects on their writing. They begin to use too many unknown and overly “wise” words. It is understood that if you write about business, you ought to use certain terms and definitions, which belong to it. Most people may not understand them and so, a good writer explains them. If they are inevitable, provide clear examples and explanations.

However, don’t write too many unfamiliar words. Otherwise, your text will be a real mess of explanations. Cut out jargon, professional terms, slang, and similar words. Use them only when they MUST be used. Other terms can be substituted with common and well-known words.

Use Active Voice

It’s also vital to cut out passive voice to a few sentences per text. Active voice is much better for most papers and business is no exception. Why is it better than passive constructions? Firstly, the active voice makes our speech more dynamic and faster. Secondly, the passive voice takes more words to finish our thoughts.

Compare two plain examples:

  • Passive: The book was read by me.
  • Active: I read the book.

It is easy to see that an active construction took fewer words to finish the sentence. Consequently, it affects the way your text looks like. Your sentences will be shorter, which won’t make them unreadable. Besides, it will be comfortable and quick to read them. Of course, your readers will likewise understand your message better as well. Lengthy texts may take away their concentration and attention.

Be Attentive and Professional

Always give heed to the names, gender, positions, titles and similar essentials. Your documents should be formal and professional. When you turn to other people, make sure you know their full names, ranks, and some responsibilities. If you are precise, people will notice it and will be grateful for your attention.

If you want to engage a person in your writing, use the pronoun “you”. The practice shows that people become more interested in what they read if the author turns to them like “As you can see…”, “You may notice…”, “You are welcome to…”, etc.

State a Clear Call-to-Action

Every business document has a “call-to-action”. It clarifies the main intention of the author. He or she may want to:

  • Advertise;
  • Sell;
  • Buy;
  • Invite;
  • Encourage;
  • Engage, etc.

Regardless of your purpose, this sentence or two should be straight to the point and clear. Use proper language that fits the content of your paper and deliver a plain message of what you expect the readers should do.

Memorize these tips. They are universal and can suit any business direction you choose. Use them wisely and you’ll gradually become a great business report writer. Besides, seek other methods and writing activities to improve the productivity of your business in other aspects.

DejaOffice changes for Mapping and Location

In March 2019, Google announced a new policy for Geocoding – Map Lookup. We use Google Geocoding for the Address Lookup feature in our PC, Android and iPhone Apps.

The change is significant. After providing us this service for free, Google is now proposing to charge $0.05c per lookup. There are complexities in the lookup on whether it is just text, or whether we download the map picture and the location picture. Overall, our DejaOffice users do about 50,000 lookups per month.

Not wishing to get a $2500 bill, we are moving to other options. For DejaOffice for iPhone we have switched to Apple maps which are being supplied for free.

For DejaOffice for Android we tried using Bing Maps, but they wanted to give us a $5000 bill because they count lookups differently than Google. Also their Geocoding library is not nearly as complete. We have moved to OpenMaps, but they immediately issued us a warning that we have too many customers trying to map at the same time.

So we are now playing with a hybrid solution. We feel the real culprit for us is just a few people who are mapping their whole database on a regular basis. So we have slowed down that process and shunted it to OpenMaps. You can still do it, but the Map process is slowed to one lookup per second, so a 3000 record database will now take more than an hour to look up.

We have reverted Contact and Calendar location mapping to Google – because it’s just a much better service – as long as you do it one at a time.

We still expect a bill from Google. But we are hoping it is small enough to just absorb so we don’t have to create a billing system.

New in 2019: DejaOffice PC CRM featured in Forbes

Forbes article highlights DejaOffice multi-user CRM

Author Gene Marks has highlighted our product DejaOffice PC CRM in an article titled On CRM: Is A CRM Necessary?

To answer the title question – Yes, a CRM is absolutely necessary for every small business. The only question a business should have is how much to pay on a one-time, monthly or annual basis.

CRM Stands for Customer Relations Management and it is the primary system a business has to track its prospects and customers. Every time a customer calls, emails, texts or visits a business, the nature of that interaction should be recorded in company records. Later, this information can be used for marketing new products, or renewing agreements, or engaging the core sales cycle of the business.

Without a CRM you are blind. Every customer interaction is done without context, or understanding the past relationship. This leaves your customers open to your competitors, and you lose your niche.

With a CRM you have effective communication. Your customer remembers you, and you can do the courtesy of remembering the customer. If your business can survive on 300 customers, how much better will it be with 600 customers or 900 customers. The purpose of computer automation is to delegate the responsibility for remembering the details to a proper database and not just carry it in your head.

Gene concludes with the question: “Wouldn’t just a simple, inexpensive system that enables your group to share accurate contact, history, notes and calendar information take be sufficient?” and answers with ” For many, it just may. And for $200 (and a few bucks extra for support), it could be worth the try.”

Click Here to try out DejaOffice PC CRM for Free

Thank you Gene Marks and Forbes!

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Galaxy Note 10-Plus – First impressions from an Android App Developer

I’ve been using it for a week now as my personal phone. I have always been a great fan of Galaxy Note phones, and have used Note, 2, 3, 4, 7, 9 and now 10. The Kindle App is my primary library now, and also I read a lot of news stories. I have several investment apps that show charts. I like the larger screen size for that.

Here’s my first week’s impressions:

Size

Not a problem at all – same width and height as Galaxy Note 9-Plus, and slightly thinner. The screen is huge, but the phone itself is the same size.

Moving Apps

Samsung SmartSwitch moved nearly all of my apps and settings. It is really mysterious what it moves and what it does not move. My pictures and documents move fine, and the app icons, and some of the app settings. A couple of my Critical Apps did not come up and I had to reinstall, notably Investing.Com, Fidelity, Worden and Kindle just needed a new login. My morning wake up up alarm moved, but did not turn on or have the right tune – two days to fix that.

Here are instructions to move DejaOffice. It took me less than a minute.

Bloatware

Samsung removed a lot of the bloatware that interfere with Galaxy Note 9. That’s good. But then they added even more. After an OS update the old phone goes through optimizing 144 aps, and the new phone does 265 apps. so it looks like they added 120 background apps. It takes about an hour to turn off and disable things like “Ant” which I guess is a radio, Flipboard, Samsung Pay. The Samsung browser now had bloatware in the browser to tell you to sign up for Samsung Pay. More and more I use the Duck Duck Go security browser on my phone. I’ll do a blog post on that soon.

On-Off Button and Bixby

After forcing Bixby on us in Galaxy Note 9, Samsung is allow you to turn it completely off in Galaxy Note 10. So it’s off for me. Mysteriously Samsung now use the old left-side Bixby button as the on-off button. After 6 years of turning on the phone on the right side, I still think this was a “wrong decision”. The right side button worked great. Why move it? I find many old habits will have to change. When I view the phone in landscape mode in my holder, on/off was on the top and easy to hit. Now it is on the bottom and I have to remove my phone from the holder to turn it off.

Cost

For me cost is a factor, but it is required that we have each of the newest phones i the office for tech support purposes. I pay $41 per month for T-Mobile jump plan, plus $11 per month for insurance, and the Jump cost for this phone was about $250, so figure $75 per month for the newest phone for me.

I do not believe 5g will really change how we use phones, so I would not recommend the cost for 5g, at least not yet. Maybe not ever. I’m a big fan of Mid-Tier phones like Nokia 7.1, OnePlus, and the mid-tier Galaxy line. I think this is a better use of money. A top tier phone is like a new car – the resale drops 40% of your investment in the first six months – so it hovers halfway between luxury and waste of money. But if you want the leading edge of phone design, Galaxy S10-Plus is the best 2019 will have to offer – At least until iPhone 10 comes out.

Special features of DejaOffice:

  • Time zone management, so when you land your Calendar doesn’t go wonky
  • Calendar Colors that match Outlook
  • Templates that save time entering new Appointments and Tasks
  • Persistent alarms to be sure I don’t miss anything.
  • Recurring tasks compatible with Outlook
  • Optional:  Franklin Covey task priorities  A1, B2, C99
  • Works same on Android and iPhone, Phones and Tablets.

How to Sync Outlook Contacts with Android: Use CompanionLink for easy and secure sync from Outlook to your Pixel 3a phone. This is a better system than Google, who sells your data, or Microsoft who hosts your data on their exchange server. Here are some setup guides for CompanionLink sync:

CompanionLink for Outlook
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Phone Applications That Can Save Your Business Time

Introduction

Technology has changed the world of business through the development of small business software which makes it easy for business owners to run their businesses smoothly. Different business applications have been developed to replace manual activities as well as the chances of errors which could result in losses. Software for small business provides the owners with applications that serve different purposes, such as the time management apps for saving time and payment apps for effective correct payment calculations.

How to save your business time

If you are seeking to increase the productivity and market share of your business, then all that you need to use a good business application which helps in the management of your activities. EduJungles, a company that specializes in essay writing, has provided different tips on how to save one’s business time. Among such tips is the utilization of business applications depending on the activity that you wish to manage. The applications play a substantial role in making the life of an entrepreneur easier as compared to the absence of such apps.  For instance, there are apps that help in payment processes, time management, and organization, among others. Time management is among the most important factors which facilitate the running of a business.

Asana

Asana is one of the best organization apps developed through modern technology to help businesses in effectively managing their projects. The application facilitates team communication hence making it easy for the team members to track the progress of the project. They are able to communicate in one place, and this is known to make it easy for them to coordinate activities regarding the project. The application can be used both on the web and on mobile phones. It facilitates teams by making them organize, monitor, and manage their project objectives. Therefore, if you are seeking to keep your teamwork on schedule, then this is the best application to use. It will not only facilitate the completion of the project but will also keep the team members motivated.

Dropbox

Dropbox for business is a storage tool that provides the user with a secure collaboration platform for all their business files. The tool is secure, and therefore, one does not have to worry about losing their files to hackers. It also allows a person to share the files whenever they feel like. The tool helps in saving an individual’s time through the reduction of the amount of time spent in searching for business files in different locations in the computer. Whenever and individual wishes to review a particular business file, they can easily do it by accessing the Dropbox.

How to start a business in college.

There are many ways through which an individual can start a business in college. All that you need to understand is the various applications that can be used to run the businesses easily. Hence, once you have come up with an idea regarding the business you intend to run, you can seek the help of an expert on the best apps to use. For instance, a service that sells college essays would be a great starting point for business in college. It is a business whose demand is high, and therefore; it would not be a challenge in getting clients. A great mobile app for this business would help on how to track business expenses.

Any.do

This is categorized as one of the organization tools that helps a business in the management of their lists, tasks, and notes. The business has plenty of such activities to coordinate, and if not well-coordinated, then that could result in huge losses. The manual coordination of such activities is hectic and enhances the chances of making errors. Hence, this application has been designed to facilitate the running of a business. Any.do provides small business owners with an opportunity to share business files hence making it a perfect application for the management of projects through collaboration with the team members. It can also be applied in big businesses since the sharing function makes it easy to collaborate a project within a team.

Where to find the money for a business.

Coming up with a business idea is something that many people can easily do. However, coming up with the money required to run such a business is what makes the whole idea a challenge. Capital is not only required to start a business but also to boost its activities whenever it is less productive.  Writemyessayforme.co.uk provides a list of ideas on where to find the money for a business. Among them is being funded by shareholders. Also, an individual can also acquire a loan from various loan applications. The applications allow an individual to indicate the amount of loan that they wish to collect and the time when they should make the payment.

Harvest

This is a business application that plays a substantial role in small business owners by helping them to perform a time-based reporting. Through the application, businesses can manage time tracking, expense tracking, and invoicing. These are some of the aspects that business owners find it difficult to manage manually due to their chances to bring errors. Therefore, in the case of a small business owner, the application would be pf great help in avoiding the errors which could, in turn, affect the profitability of the company.

Nexonia

The Nexonia application allows the user to enter their expenses and in turn, submit them for approval. An individual can also work offline and submit later at a convenient time. The reports are thus synchronized and made available from both the mobile application and the web interface. The application helps in putting an end to the wastage of funds through business trips since the trips have to be approved on a case-by-case analysis. Company employees hate the idea of having to file crumpled receipts after a trip. However, through Nexonia, the company is able to adhere to the set policies regarding trips. It’s a simple solution to complex problems, and it has become famous.

Conclusion

Who could have thought that the process of running a business could get this easy? All the appreciation goes to the advancements in technology which has made it possible to create the various business applications through business management software. It is the obligation of a business owner to identify the applications which best suit the activities of their business. Different business apps provide distinct services depending on the kind of activity that someone wishes to manage.

Most Effective Business Strategies for Small Business in 2020 and Beyond

Small businesses need effective business strategies to keep up with the market due to the number of competition existing in the same industry. Keeping up with the latest business news and trends can help small or starting businesses to plan how they can utilize those changes to grow the company’s brand recognition and sales.

The effect of technological revolution businesses are experiencing is changing at a rapid pace, producing massive numbers of information, progress, and technology in a short amount of time. Keep in mind that the most effective business strategies prevent you and your company from potentially wasting time and effort.

For small businesses to stay and flourish in a competitive market, they’ll have to utilize the innovation of technology in their business strategies to stay on the cutting edge. Thus, here are the most effective business strategies for small businesses in 2020 and beyond.

Using Chatbots to Automate and Enhance Customer Communications

Chatbots are one of the most effective business strategies because of their ability to think and respond to queries similar to a customer service representative. Due to the advances in technology, machines and software are enhancing their capabilities in artificial intelligence and natural language processing.

The machine learning code inside artificial intelligent machines and software has been programmed in a way to understand queries similar to a human being’s thinking. Another special feature of the machine learning code is that it allows chatbots to gain experiences and learns them to improve how they interact with customers and handle further conversations.

The importance of using chatbots in business processes is to enhance customer communications and improve customer engagement. Since chatbots are capable of handling a huge amount of customer interaction-based problems, your business can then deliver a better experience to them, expanding your business’ reach.

Social Media Marketing Experts Will Be Key

Social media marketing is a necessity for businesses because it’s an effective way to drive audience engagement to gain attention for the products and services you provide. It was even found that over 70% of small and starting businesses used social media to expand their reach and boost brand recognition in the past years.

It’s essential for small businesses to share content by posting blog posts,  image updates, texts, and videos, on social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. In that way, your small business can be one step closer to achieving your branding and marketing goals to grow your business.

Go Cash-Free

Another main issue that small businesses face daily is the costs of running a business. But, due to the increase in technology accessibility, you’ll be able to use smaller and smarter systems to increase efficiency and improve your manufacturing methods.

Taking advantage of technology can help you overcome the business infrastructure costs with new plug-and-play features that can provide you cheaper access to large-scale business infrastructures.

Takeaway

Business owners should always keep in mind to keep up with the latest news and trends in the industry to make the growth of their small business a success. Even though the small business level is constantly changing, taking time to plan out effective business strategies and utilizing new trends is the best way to stay on the cutting edge in 2020 and beyond.

5 Writing Apps to Boost Your Business

In today’s business marketplace, most resourceful entrepreneurs are building long-lasting brands. The less resourceful ones are struggling to position their brand properly, mostly because they are not leveraging the right strategies, the right people, and especially the right tools.

Nowadays, content is extremely important. But not just any type of content, but highly qualitative content that is designed to serve the reader’s interests, needs, and problems.

Of course, developing top-notch content is not so easy, especially due to the fact that every niche is overcrowded with competitors. To gain competitive advantage, every webmaster, small business owner, or marketer should take advantage of the best writing tools online in order to improve their content development performance.

In today’s post, I’m sharing 5 writing apps that can help you boost the performance of your business by allowing you to strategize, develop, and promote your content effectively.

Trello

Trello is a popular app that can help you skyrocket your business’ writing productivity while automating your business processes. Whether you’re writing on your own or dispose of a team of professional writers, Trello’s boards, lists, and cards can help you keep everything in check.

You can create goals, deadlines, and assignments while also keeping track of everything that you and your team produces. If you’re having trouble with organizing your content schedule, Trello is the way to go!

Email Excellence

Here’s an excellent underrated tool that can help your email marketing efforts big time!

Email content is extremely important in the last stages of a sales funnel. Once a person finds out about your brand, you should slowly cultivate a relationship with him in order to generate trust.

Email excellence is an email productivity app that allows you to go through, organize, and respond to your business emails in a truly effective way.

If you’re not able to write effective email content, you should consider investing in professional services. One good option would be to leverage academic writers from Edubirdie, which are totally familiar with email writing practices. The greatest thing is that they’re also using the Email Excellence app.

Dragon Dictation

Dragon Dictation is a different kind of writing tool, one that allows you to speak rather than write and get your content ready for publishing. Just like Google Voice, this app uses voice recognition features that allow you to talk instead of write. As you speak, your words will appear on the screen.

You can even speak commands like “delete the last sentence” and the tool will do that for you. The benefits of this tool are quite significant:

  • It can be used both on desktop and mobile devices.
  • You can produce more content in less time
  • Your writing will sound conversational. This is exactly what business writing is about.

Hemingway

There’s quite a big difference between writing and business writing. A content that is designed to reach the eyes and ears of potential customers needs to be simple and clear. Most customers are looking for easy-to-read texts that help them understand the real benefits of a brand or product.

Hemingway is a free online app that allows you to simplify your content’s readability. Simply copy-paste your content into the app. The tool will automatically detect “readability” problems such as passive voice uses, sentences that are hard and very hard to read, and too many adverbs.

Once your text is analyzed (it happens instantly), the sentences that need to be modified will be highlighted. In some cases, the tool will even recommend simpler alternatives.

Enloop

Writing business plans has always been a time-consuming task. Very few writers are familiar with what it takes to craft an effective business plan that does not only convince clients but also makes them crave for a collaboration.

Enloop is a tool that provides a lot of effective templates that can be easily modified and turned into personalized business plans. If your business presents a constant need for business plan help and financial forecasting guidance, Enloop will do wonders for you!

Final Words

Content marketing is a key strategy that you cannot ignore if you want to reach the top of the ladder. Rather than spending a lot of money on employees and freelancers, simply tap into the power of online writing tools. Check their benefits, test them out, and see if they suit your needs. If they don’t, only then consider hiring. If they do, you’ll be saving a lot of time, attention, and money along the way!

3 Digital Advertising Techniques You Should Consider

Are you looking for new ways to advertise your business? It may be that you want to promote a specific product, re-brand or reach a new audience,  and to do this, you will need effective advertising tools. When deciding on your advertising strategy, you should consider the different types of digital marketing you could use, as this is the most effective way to promote your business, engage with your target audience and boost your sales. Take a look at these popular digital advertising tools, which will help your business create an online profile to be proud of.

Virtual Reality

One of the most forward-thinking tools is virtual reality technology, which is designed to create situations which feel entirely realistic for the user. While this is a fairly new advertising tool, it has been beneficial for a variety of industries. This includes the property sector, with companies like RW Invest using it to market their off-plan buy to let properties. Potential investors can plug into their VR devices to discover what the final product will look before they make any investment commitments.

Car companies, like Renault, also use VR technology as an alternative to test drives, which has resulted in a massive boost in car sales. This is also a cost-efficient and timely way of advertising their car models, as it avoids any car handling errors and enables staff to make immediate sales on the day.

Social Media

Arguably the most effective marketing tool is social media advertising, as it allows businesses to connect directly to customers. The majority of companies utilize social media to advertise products, communicate with customers, collect data and more. By using social media, companies can cut costs massively, and although some elements involve payment, there are many ways you can promote your business for free on sites like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Businesses have an unlimited amount of options when advertising on social media, although you need to make sure that you choose the right tools for your sector. Many industries have found success on Instagram, which is the fastest growing social media platform in 2019. The Instagram Stories tool has been especially effective, with spend statistics showing that the overall amount spent on this type of advertising has doubled by 18%. Stories ads are excellent for one-off promotions, as the advert will only last for 24 hours, so it forces customers to act fast, helping them make quick sales.

This is due to the effectiveness of swipe up option which links straight to their site, enabling customers to purchase their products in one or two clicks.

Streaming Services

With the popularity of Streaming services such a YouTube, Spotify, TikTok, Satellite Radio and others, streaming advertising solutions are a smart place to consider placing advertisements. With more services moving online only and with a large portion of the world using streaming to get their news and entertainment, this is a great option to consider to reach a larger audience.

Email Marketing

The effectiveness of email marketing is definitely underrated, as many companies brush it aside, as it is seen as one of the most annoying types of advertising. Despite this, businesses have found great success with email marketing campaigns. This is most likely because their email campaigns feature high-quality content and uniquely connect with their target audience. 

Email marketing experts believe there are several guidelines you should follow to ensure your campaign is successful. This includes using the sender’s name in the email. Common email tools like GetResponse, Constant Contact, and the many MailChimp Alternatives make this customization possible. You should also make sure you send out emails at prime times in the day to ensure you connect with your target audience at the right time. It is also essential that you keep content as simple as possible in order to generate clicks and potential sales. 

4 Software Tools to Boost Your Business

4 Software Tools to Boost Your Business

There are over 342 million domains registered around the world. That’s hundreds of millions of businesses all fighting for the same thing: More growth, more customers, and more revenue.Growing your business isn’t as easy as setting up shop and watching the customers walk in. 

Now, growing a business is more competitive than ever. Here are four software tools you can use right now to boost your business and overtake the competition. 

1. All-In-One Business Software

Managing a small business is one of the hardest jobs out there. From booking customers to follow-ups, invoicing, payment processing, and marketing, customers require more attention than ever. Managing these factors without software is difficult and far less efficient. 

While CRMs can be fantastic for client and customer management, they don’t give you a full-scale business toolset. Meaning you have to source potentially dozens of other tools for each step of the process. Instead, consider using an all-in-one business software. 

For instance, if you are a service business, Housecall Pro caters directly to your niche, offering business tools for each step of the process from lead generation to sales and building future loyalty: 

If your business is focused mostly on online products or services, consider using a software like Oracle NetSuite, where you can manage everything from accounting to CRM and ecommerce tools, too: 

Want to streamline your business growth? Start using fewer tools, and instead, use the right ones. Consider checking out the battle of Kartra versus Builderall.

2. Podcast Hosting Software

Podcasting has taken the world by storm in the last year alone. While the concept is far from new, podcast listening and creation has surged, proving to be a fantastic tool for business growth. Millions of people worldwide tune into podcasts daily, and many businesses have developed their own to build brand awareness: 

Creating a podcast is a great content marketing tool you can use to bring in more organic traffic. On your podcast, you can cover topics related to your business, services, and products, to subtly sell without selling. 

Via better podcast marketing, you can help your brand grow through more than just written words on your blog. 

Using a hosting provider like MELON or BuzzSprout, you can upload your podcast to all podcasting directories from iTunes to Spotify and more:

3. Writing and Grammar Tools

Content marketing is king. But, you likely already knew that. If you want your business to generate organic leads, you need to develop stellar content in your niche that solves a problem.  However, the blogging space is saturated. It’s crowded with websites that already have heavily established domain authority. 

Domain authority is a ranking of your backlink profile, which is a big determining factor in how well you can in turn rank on Google. Your writing needs to be error-free, and compelling enough for people to continue reading (and crave more). 

Using the best writing tools, you can start to refine your tone, voice, and style. These will help you create a unique perspective that stands out. 

Want more organic traffic? Start writing better content that is unique to your industry.  One resource to assist you in writing is Sqribble Ebook Software.

4. Photo Editing Software

According to a recent Backlinko study, images in your content marketing are critical for delivering better user experiences and can even impact ranking ability. When it comes to boosting your business, images can be utilized almost everywhere from online to offline channels: 

  • Social media
  • Content marketing
  • Email marketing
  • Direct mail 

Whether you want to develop an infographic or utilize them directly on a landing page, photos should be a big part of your marketing strategy. They can also help humanize your brand by serving as social proof for potential clients and customers. Use high-quality photo editing tools to get the job done and improve your business growth. 

Wrapping Up

Boosting your business growth is more than just hustling now. While more time to make more sales is great, competition is stiffer than ever. You need to provide great service and impeccable marketing to your target market.  Using these four software tools, you can do just that.