Danger Studio

I’ve just released a demo video of a custom Business Contact Manager build for Outlook 2010 that I’ve designed for one of my clients; a local real estate agency. The following build has customization which applies to a person seeking to rent or sale a property and to capture inquires from prospects who look to either buy or rent a property. I had created this video in a response to an e-mail from someone looking for an idea of how to apply BCM to fit their needs. This video is 21 minutes long and illustrates the use of custom fields, reporting and the liquid flow of information within BCM.

I always like to mention that BCM provides a central station hub for the user, giving a power experience over data and organization. This customization file is also for sale under both network edition for multiple clients and local edition for personal and one client use. The fields are 100% editable and custom, we can modify the field names, add additional fields and hide fields you may not even be using. The goal is to build the ultimate content management system to help you better manage your business.

Like many builds I’ve built; I am thinking about opening a marketplace with videos of each of the 42 builds I’ve created. Always feel free to contact me if you would like to see how a certain build works, how certain features work or to design your own content system using the BCM engine.

The video illustrates how wonderful BCM can be when used properly; I wish I had gone over mail merging but did not have the time to do so. With this build (like all builds) you can send direct mail, letter templates and produce contracts and invoices that pull data directly out of contact items. This means one click labels, letters, contracts, forms and much more.

Thank you for watching the video; 21 minutes is a hefty amount of time.

I’m getting a lot of questions from folks about Business Contact Manager fields, mainly what fields should I be using and what fields are best usable in reports. I’d like to quickly post a rundown of the importance of field selection in BCM and perhaps help with knowing the difference between what is an “Organic” field as opposed to a “Custom” field.

BCM’s contact layout out-of-the-box contains what I call “Organic” fields, these are mandatory fields which already exist in your typical Outlook contact form. For example, First Name, Last Name, Address, Phone Number and E-mail are organic fields that make up the natural form in your basic Outlook contact form and in a BCM contact form. These are mandatory fields that you most probably are already using in Outlook to capture information about a person. Organic fields are not editable and can not be deleted, but; they can be hidden. Suppose you would like to hide unusable fields to better simplify the look of your forms, it can be easily done using the form designer to align your form to look polished and easy to navigate between entering data in the order received  from your contact.

Custom fields is where the magic all happens, as I had previously discussed in my videos and other articles; Custom fields are special entree areas where you can capture the data that Outlook does not organically store. The strength of BCM is to allow you to create these special fields and place them on your form so you can easily capture the exact data you wish to store in a contact. BCM provides an array of field types that we can customize to fit your needs; the most popular of fields and descriptions are:

• A text field – used to store string values in text, for example “Comment” would be a text value, suppose you want to create a field to store a response to a question that not a set response, if we were to ask a customer “Are there any special instructions you’d like me to add to your order/record/account?” we could create a text field labeled “Special Instructions” and type any string value in this box, which will store the per contact giving you the option to add as many instructions for as many contacts as you wish and even be able to view these in reports.

• A drop-down field – The second most usable field, a drop-down can be used for a set of answers that are fixed. Unlike a text field, where you can put any data you’d like; a Drop-down field (also referred to as a pick list) can be used as a container for over a 100 of pre-fixed options. For example, a real estate agency wants to know how many bedrooms the prospect is interested in; a drop-down can store values of 1 through 12, making it easy to select a fixed answer and run a report that would show the contacts interested in X amounts of bedrooms.

• Radio buttons – Radio buttons are used to select between categories of suggested 10, a perfect example would be if you need options laid out for selection outside of a pick-list drop-down. The beauty of radio buttons is the free-flow of data inputting where you can see the items without having to scroll down a list.

• Date field – Text fields are not recommended to store dates, dates should always be stored in Date fields because of uniformed formatting. All dates should be in a particular format mm/dd/yy for example;  where in a text box you would throw reports off due to format issues which is why it is highly recommended to only use date fields for date. The benefits other than formatting is the pop-up calendar which allows you to select a date, instead of having to to type 11/03/2011 you would click on “Today” or browse the pop up calendar for your date selection. By using the date field you are given access to reporting logic such as “Show me all contacts with <date field name> greater than xx/xx/xxxx” and so forth.
• Currency field – Although a text field can be used to store currency, similar to the issues with date; we want to reserve the format for currency the same way we preserve formats for dates and numbers. The currency field automatically appends the “$” sign as well, which makes reports look more polished and allows us to use math logic when doing accounting tasks with our records.

• Relationship field – Allows us to relate two contacts together, perhaps the most under-used field of them all and perhaps the most important based on the build of BCM we are designing. The relationship field enables us to tie two contacts together if they are related, using the relationship field we can appoint contact A under contact B, so we can easily move between both records in one window. Using relationship fields can save a huge amount of time between looking for two records that have some kind of a relationship.

I apologize for not responding to my e-mails and youtube messages quickly; I am in the process of moving to a new apartment. I am attempting to try and reach out to everyone, I appreciate your patience.

How often do you ever find yourself helping someone with a computer problem? or how often do you wish you were looking at the same thing a friend or co-worker is on the computer? I’d like to introduce perhaps the most innovative thing since VNC and Remote Desktop Sharing… Join.me!

Join.me is a web-based desktop sharing tool that requires virtually no download at all, allows users to chat and even phone conference. It’s almost unreal that this thing is free. I have used LogMeIn for the past two years up until one day I stumbled across this website; http://www.join.me and found this tool which I have used ever since almost on a daily basis. Join.me provides the end-user client with a code, almost like a phone number; right on their browser which allows to be shared with others to totally view and even control the end-user host computer seamlessly over the web.

I have numerous times have had to fix my girlfriend’s computer, my mother’s computer, my boss’s computer, my co-worker’s laptop, a client’s machine and even do some POS troubleshooting in a store that’s not even in the same city I’m in. All this, and right from the comfort of my home; and for free. I recommend the use of this web site; I won’t even say program, because there is nothing to download! Absolutely no third-party installation files but an OCX that allows instant connection for multiple users! You could even throw a conference on this thing for up to 5 people or more for free.

Did I mention it’s free? and it’s all web-based? and that you could view, and control computers without being on location? Check it out at http://www.join.me (yes, .me, not .com).

Check out these awesome viral marketing campaigns these guys did, it’s genius.

Steve Jobs passed away today, I received the e-mail while in Home Depot shopping for my new apartment. I am deeply saddened by his loss, Steve was a visionary, inventor and a remarkable man whom products I use daily and will continue to use and without a doubt my future children will use. This once a century man changed the world, I don’t think in my life time I will find another like him. I’d just like to make a post today, October 5, 2011; the world lost a great man. Rest in peace Steve, and thank you for everything you did.

1955-2011

QR Codes, or Quick Response codes; are the latest and greatest URL advertising and sharing technique on mobile platforms. If you’ve taken the subway, walked past a billboard or flipped through a magazine lately you would find these black and white stamp looking things called QR codes so you can simply snap a shot with your phone and be taken directly to the URL or form the person intended you to see without having to remember a URL web address. Lately I’ve been seeing these everywhere and tried to incorporate them in my forms for quick snap-and-access view on mobile browsers and found it to be a great success.

QR Codes are suddenly beginning to appear on resumes, fliers, web advertisements and print advertisements on many magazines. Creating these codes takes less then a second, and my video illustrates how easy it is to convert your URL to your web site or form and create a QR Code for placement on numerous mediums to distribute long or complex URLs to mobile web browsers in seconds.

Great uses for QR codes are all in print, such uses include:

• Inserting a QR code on your paper resume or project that leads to a PDF or web site.
• Inserting a QR code on a response sheet, so a person can instantly be surveyed by scanning the code and be taken to a response form.
• Inserting a QR code to interact and test various advertising techniques, asking the viewer to scan the code and response through their mobile device.
• Inserting a QR code in work documents, so they can be scanned and shared on mobile platforms for clients and partners alike.

Thank you to everyone whom contacted me since I began working with Danger Studio, I’ve been very busy with tending to local and several out of state folks whom are now using BCM, CRM and electronic solutions to organize and manage their inter- and outer- office networks.

I’d like to discuss paperless transactions, primarily for data collection and organization. I know I’ve spoken in the past a lot about contact managers and the benefits of automated data capture solutions but through the questions I’ve received from people I figured I ought to write an article to further explain the value in paperless, electronic data gathering and mining.

Opposed to the traditional way of collecting data, unless you must have a digital signature (which now exists through Adobe’s Acrobat) the number one method for collecting data from new and existing prospects is electronically.  Via the use of forms, databases and e-mail we are capable of instantly sharing in real-time data among ourselves and others, after all isn’t it what the internet is made for? to utilize the web to connect and deploy ideas, projects, sales and solicitations.

Why should you go paperless today? what key benefits are there to transforming every document you send out to someone via fax or mail to instant electronic forms? Aside from the fact that you will be saving paper costs, ink costs, copy/printer services and of course not filing the paperwork correctly, thus losing it?

• It’s already scanned! by using paperless data collection, your data is already scanned, merged and saved either on a database or e-mail.
• Portability! Receive electronic form results on your mobile device, open them on one computer, edit, save to view later on another.
• Easy filing! Simply name the file, place it in a folder (or SharePoint, or BCM/CRM solutions) for easy ‘Search and Find’.
• Instant Delivery! no more waiting by the fax machine or waste time on the way to the post office.
• Sharing! Collaborate with co-workers, in real-time fashion in an inter-office environment that isn’t shared with the public.
• Many more features..

Google Docs is a great alternative to a cloud office application, in this video I’d like to introduce the idea of using Google Doc’s spreadsheets and forms as a hub for data management, in this case, lead/contact management. Suppose you are interested in a cloud based, collaborative tool that produces data in Excel friendly spreadsheets you are already used to. Here comes, Google Docs. With Google Docs you are able to customize fields on your web forms and create mini applications that you can deploy in your office or use for personal agendas as demonstrated in this video.

If you need any assistance in building, customizing or modding the look and feel of Google Docs’s applications or you’d like to know what it could do for you, feel free to contact me; I offer customization and consult for all Google applications.

Click here to watch the video directly on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOj0f-kfhRA

My previous video introduced reporting in CRM, I have now created an additional video to introduce and explain briefly the reporting capabilities of Business Contact Manager (BCM). The video is shot directly from my machine, hosting Outlook 2010 Professional with BCM sample data by Microsoft.

In this video I explain the similar functions of running reports against contacts and accounts, although you do have the power to run reports against opportunities and marketing modules as well, I focused mainly on the simple aspect of business contacts. With BCM you can create conditions in verbal math that will filter your report to produce more accurate, targeted results. Let’s call the conditions modifiers, just like CRM; a modifier issues a filter command that narrows your search criteria into pin-pointed indices of data you input in. The best parts I personally like are the fact that Microsoft kept the ribbon style and also allows you to save pre-modified reports for future access.

Just like in CRM, the reports are dynamic and are updated in real-time. SQL Server is really the beauty that connects it all together for us. I create custom reports and also deploy installations with saved reports based on what you’d like. I hope this video explains a little about the rich features of the reporting abilities. As always feel free to contact me for either consultation or if you have any questions about a new or existing deployment.

For the direct YouTube link to this video, please go here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1siZPn2r2J0

In this video I’d like to demonstrate, introduce and perhaps answer some questions about the power of reporting in CRM 2011. In this particular video I had deployed a quick installation of CRM 2011 off-premise from Microsoft and kept all the sample data in place so I could run a few reports against. The beautiful thing about CRM reports is the sue of math and logic to filter data in CRM and return the results you are looking for. BCM has a very similar structure, where you can specify conditions such as Equal to, Greater than, Less than, Begins with and Ends with modifiers to apply the logic to our filter.

In this case I explained the very important aspects of running the report against a certain entity, create a condition with a modifier and dynamically retrieve results into the form body and into Microsoft Excel.

The very basic formula was to run a report against our contacts to show only contacts who’s first names begin with the letter ‘B’,

The logic formula was very simple: First Name (Our field) – Begins With (Our modifier) – “B” (The value). It is much better to view the video to understand how and why this works and how it could help you and your organization.

For a direct video link please click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-D-gA_wAhSM