Free is Good !!!

Working in a small company, our sales CRM has been based on a sophisticated system namely Outlook and several long Excel sheets. I have had a long on and off affair with ACT! which I could no longer really get to work for me.

I have recently decided to change our system and after reviewing several expensive software solutions including SalesForce(tm) I have decided to go with a pure online (web based) system.

Basically, we are always connected. Why should our CRM reside anywhere but the web?

After looking at several system I have decided to test run a website called www.freecrm.com

This San Francisco based service has a free (limited) version but more importantly has an excellent feature set - everything I want without too much junk I can't understand and use.

The "Pro" version is only $15/m per user.

I am still not completely sold (some early problems are occasional lag when working with the system as well as some bugs I already found). Still, the upside of this system is high and I intend to call the company and see how the problems can be addressed. I will keep you guys posted on the up and downside of the system.

The Greatest Product For Long Flights

Over the last two month I logged a little over 100 hours of flight time on my various work trips. I would like to recommend a little item that makes my flights productive and fun. Well, maybe not fun, but bearable. The external universal battery allows my tired old laptop to log up to 6 hours of extra operation. With my internal battery maxing out at 2 hours, this allows me to catch up on all my e-mail, rehearse my presentations and catch a DVD movie (a real power drain) without worrying or working with a dim screen to save on juice. I recently purchased a second battery for a trip I had to Europe. You can get a really nice universal battery for $150 online with free shipping at this website:

http://www.laptopbattery.net/universalbatteries.html

Oh, I must warn you, if you travel like me, with a laptop, two external batteries, and IPOD, noise canceling headphones and a PSP, be ready to have the screeners look through your bag. Still, highly worth it....

Back In The Saddle

Hello Readers

It has been a while since my last post, in the interim I was able to squeeze the following:

1. My second daughter, Leah Rose Rotem was born.
2. I somehow found the time and energy to close a major deal with a fortune 100 company
3. I have managed to travel several trade shows and in Europe

I am back and committed to more regular posts. I have several articles on the back burner, but I would love to get your inputs on what subjects you would find most useful.

Happy trails.