Monday, November 3, 2008

amazing new invoicing system

Posted in business

I love being organized; however, getting there is somewhat of a challenge: coming up with the right systems; breaking the code. Do I color coordinate by project or client? Should each client have their own ID Number, or should I categorize by project number? Is Excel REALLY the best tool to keep track of everything or is there something better? How do I know how much money I’ve made this year? Who are my top clients? Who’s invoice is overdue? HOW CAN I POSSIBLY KEEP UP WITH IT ALL?!

Enter Billings. Billings 3 to be more precise.

Track time & expenses easily - Easily track time from any application using the convenient menubar timer. Or use global hot keys to start/stop timers. Any way you look at it, Billings makes it easy to track those valuable minutes.

One click invoicing – Sending your client an invoice is as easy as a click of a button. You can send an invoice for specific projects or send a consolidated invoice for any or all completed work.

Know who owes you instantly – Billings immediately alerts you when a client has an overdue balance – with obvious red icons. Never let an invoice fall through the cracks again. Finally some peace of mind.

Send statements – Sending statements to your overdue clients is incredibly easy. Just hover over an overdue balance, then click to send a statement. Choose your template and send away.

Non stop invoicing – Send the same invoice to your client every month? Setup a recurring invoice once and forget it. Billings reminds you the day of – with an easy one click send button.

iPhone companion – In early 2009, you’ll be able to purchase a companion to Billings for your iPhone. Track time & expenses and then wirelessly sync with Billings at home or at the office.

I’ve spent the last three days entering past projects and invoices. Now I can run reports and see who owes what and who’s paid what amount. I can easily track account balances, and send statements to remind clients to pay their bill.

If you have your own company, or work for yourself, then this is DEFINITELY the system you should be using!

HT: Sarah Hellems over at Credo Creative.

Friday, October 24, 2008

why blog-based websites are “it”

Posted in business

About two years ago I decided to start a blog. It was called Utobia and it was home to rambleings and creative findings. It’s where creativity came out to play. I started it on Blogger as it was free at the time. I then changed over to WordPress and launched Utobia2.0. Same blog, different look and back end mechanics. Shortly after that, I launched tobysturgill.com, a sad little portfolio website that housed my previous work and contact information.

I was never truly happy with my professional site. It was static, uninteresting and boring. Not a true reflection of me at all. Plus, I had no way of tracking traffic or seeing who was coming and going. Meanwhile, Utobia2.0 kept getting all the attention and momentum. In just a few short months, I had already gotten 1,000+ hits. Then it hit me… why not blend the two into one website. Far greater reach with the same amount of frequency. Imagine what that kind of exposure can do for business!

Enter the new tobysturgill.com. Staying with WordPress as the back end, I snagged up a template from a third party designer, made some minor tweaks, called tech support three times in two hours (because I barely knew what I was doing) and by the end of the weekend I had this site up and running. Now my business is exposed to the daily traffic of my blog.

Professionally, there’s nothing wrong with using a blog-based platform for a website. It’s easy to update and virtually free. Stuffy, static web pages are a thing of the past. Sites that haven’t been updated for a few months run the risk of being out of date and irrelevant. If there’s something I’ve written that they like, then they post it on THEIR blog or site with (hopefully) a link back to me. New people then come to see my site and learn that they can hire me. Plus, WordPress plugins make tracking and trafficing very easy.

It’s the same reason why Twitter is so important. Constant contact and communication. Micro-blogging, if you will.

I want to be an early adopter, but better yet, I want to be influencer. So that means not standing around and waiting for a majority to catch onto things. Is a blog-based website unconventional? Sure. Are a lot of people/businesses doing it? Not yet. Does that make it bad or any less professional? Absolutely not.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008