April 09, 2008

2 Personal Productivity Tools: Desperately Needed

In a self-service 24/7 digital world I need some serious help to keep my data in synch and to get all my fabulous gizmos to work with me rather than against me.

There are two tools that I desperately need. They may or may not exist. If they exist and you know about them I implore you to call, contact or cue me about how to get them. If they don't exist I beg you to invent them, mash them up or get somebody in India to create them fast. I hereby renounce all claims and future royalties.

Universal Address-book. The idea is to update things once in a single place and then quickly and easily share the data across platforms. I want a tool that will allow me to data enter and store my personal database of addresses and contacts on the web and download it with a click to every computer, phone, PDA and other intelligent device I have. I've tried to concentrate all my updates and changes in Outlook and though Plaxo claims to have a tool like this, I can't download it and can't seem to use it.

Global Cellphone Dialing Software. I want a software program that will know when to dial the extra zero and when to dial the access codes necessary to use all the stored numbers in my phones. Unfortunately the numbers I enter are keyed to the national system or to my providers' protocols. But when I travel, there's always an added access code or you have to dial 08 in-country versus 8 from abroad. I want a patch that will suss out this stuff digitally and automatically understand what I've got stored and do whatever is needed to make the connection, save me time and reduce my anxiety. 

If I could get, find or discover these tools, I'd have a lot more time to contact, connect or converse with all those people at all those numbers I've been madly collecting, storing and updating.     

Apr 9, 2008 7:44:12 PM | Media

1 Comment

Steve Elliott

I have been looking for these same tools and now I think I have one of them, take a look at www.myoffice.net its a great desktop/web/pda system that doesn't require me to connect my pda to the pc at all, (that's where the headaches start for me!) I've been testing it for a fortnight, I signed up because its cheap $2 per week, and it works seamlessly, I've gotten rid of Outlook completely stopped using ACT! and now I have my emails, email history clients and history all running in synch: try it you get a free 30 day trial so see what you think.

PS I have no association other than being a customer - the best recommendation of all in my opinion !!

Steve Elliott

Posted by: Steve Elliott | April 18, 2008 at 10:38 AM

The comments to this entry are closed.

NEXT POST
An Afterthought About Inventors Inventing is a defiant assertion of our vitality and humanity. An inventor rejects the status quo refusing to accept what is in favor of what might be. An inventor assumes there's something different and something better to come. Inventing is an act of supreme optimism which refutes the existential notion that we are helpless creatures marooned on a rock spinning in space subject to the repetitive cycles of nature, tradition and convention. The act of invention articulates our ability to change our own lives; to make something happen rather than have things happen to us. And while not all of us can invent things, we can all celebrate the revolutionary impulse which inspires us to think, to adapt, to experiment to build and to strive for discovery --- the driving force of our civilization.
PREVIOUS POST
Selling Uncertainty Hiring a law firm isn't much different than hiring an ad agency or a marketing firm except for the fact that most clients think they can do advertising and marketing as well as their vendors. Yet lawyers not only leverage their positioning as licensed specialists they invoke the language and the customs of their guild to enhance the pitch process. Both sets of professionals are retained to address uncertainties in business, usually high stakes uncertainties with many variables where some combination of skill, insight, experience and luck determine the outcome or the consequences which can be dire. Both trade on knowledge clients don't perceive themselves to have to affect future events and both offer fresh fruit and cookies in the early engagement meetings. Having witnessed several law firms in pitch mode this week, here are the lessons they offer marketers. 1. Establish Credentials Upfront. Send preliminary materials and brochures ahead. Emphasize the practice areas most relevant to the prospective client. Be understated not over-the-top about who you are and what you can do since they are in the room because they believed the credentials you sent earlier. Don't belabor the point. Don't parade every partner or department head. Don't talk about yourself because they only care what you can do for them. 2. Connect the Dots Early and Often. Link your expertise with the prospects problem in the first 2 minutes. "You're being indicted; we're the best criminal defense guys in town." Cut to the chase early and often and zero in on the prospect's anxiety. "We got Exxon out of the same mess because we've got specialists in that area of the law and because we lobbied the regulators." Or remind them that you've done exactly what they need done zillions of times. "We were in front of the FCC just last week. We filed a motion identical to yours. In fact our partner Sally went to law school with the Chairman and our associate Bob is sleeping with him." 3. Punctuate Forecasts with Bold Statements. Outline the dependencies and contingencies that could impact events. But rather than say "if this happens" or "on one hand" which makes you appear to be unsure punctuate the prophecy with bold statements on several issues (the more insignificant the better) that eliminate the perception that things are uncertain or risky. As you lay out all the likely and unlikely things that could or might happen pause dramatically and say "but no court will issue a declaratory judgment on this issue!" By signaling firm beliefs you take the edge off the murky, hazy and nasty view emerging from the crystal ball and reinforce your standing as an organization that can weather a storm. 4. Give them the Odds. Clients buy outcomes and want success. The perception of do-ability directly influences their perception of value and often determines who gets the deal. Nobody wants to hear that whatever they want can't be done. So even in situations where things look bleak, offer hope by citing odds. Say things like " based on what we know now and on our experience in dealing with these matters, there's a 60 percent chance we can get this done in 6 to 9 months, assuming the Treasury Department doesn't do X." Or try "there's only a 1% chance you'll be led way in handcuffs." And even though prospects know to immediately discount the quoted odds by as much as half, they take great comfort in your willingness to risk a forecast. And if you can, for good measure, throw in some guild argot or a Latin word or phrase to reinforce your expertise and general willingness to stare down the abyss. Instead of saying " there's a tiny chance" boldly assert "the risk is diminimus!" 5. Ballpark the Numbers. Tell them flat out, with as many caveats as you like, how long it will take and how much it will cost. Everybody is a price buyer on some level and prospects hate the conceit that you have to carefully scope this all out or that you are wishy-washy about money. They know that long before the meeting, you've figured out, at least provisionally, who is going to do the work, what it will entail and roughly how much you need to charge to make your margin. They also know you have several different ways of calculating costs and several pricing models. So tell them right then and there. You can always hem, haw, stammer, back track, discount and...

Danny Flamberg

I am a veteran marketing consultant working with leading and emerging brands

The Typepad Team

Search

My Other Accounts

Recent Comments