Keeping it simple

Faxing for less money

About six months ago, I realized that I still needed a business fax capability for sending and receiving faxes, but the dedicated phone line for this business fax just seemed to be costly. I switched to a paperless fax system from Concord Technologies. There are multiple service options including routing faxes directly to individual company employees. In any case, I got a new fax line: 800 572-7031 which is a toll free number for people to use which takes the faxes received and converts it to a pdf attachment which is emailed to me. It is little slower than my direct fax line, but I really like the convence of getting my faxes via emails. I can pick up faxes remotely, when I check my office emails. My service is saving me about $15/month, which over a year totals $180. Savings are a good thing. The company's web site for the faxing service I use is: http://www.concordfax.com/ . I recommend them.

Regards,

Jeff Cozens

Taking time to review

I ran across this idea in another blog. The blog's author, Pam Hoelzle, a business coach in Edmonds, Canada. She had this advice for all businesses:

First, you need to diagnose what's hurting your business. Slower business gives you time to analyze your business in detail. Look for deficiencies in three areas: operation, financial and marketing. The quickest way to diagnose your business is to talk to your clients.

I liked her thinking, and we are in the process of putting her ideas to work for at Systematic Solutions. After all, one definition about insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.

Jeff

Save $$$ on your 411 calls

Instead of calling regular 411 to get information (and an extra charge on your phone bill), Google by voice by calling 1-800-GOOG-411 to get a street address or phone number. Some say GOOG 411 works better than others; if you haven't tried it, here's a YouTube clip (courtesy of Google) on how to give it a try.

This type was suggested by Gerry Young at It Focused Solutions. Thanks Gerry.

 

Regards,

 

Jeff Cozens

 

 

Have you been Plaxo Pulsed???

The old idea that you are six degrees of separation seems to be what Plaxo Pulse is promoting. The basic idea is that you are half a dozen introductions away from anyone you want to meet. Looks like Plaxo is trying to drive home that point. (http://pulse.plaxo.com ) It surprises me "how small the world really is"…. Well I guess the real news is that we are connected to our neighbors in more ways than we think. Who can you connect too who you have lost connection or contact? Maybe when you get your Plaxo invite from someone you too will be surprised how many people I know that know you… Happy networking…and connecting…..

Jeff Cozens

To Vacation or Not to Vacation

I just recently finished a week's vacation in Baja. My body must have really needed the break, since it felt so great to have vacation-time. In addition, it has been hard to get back into the working grove, as least mentally and emotionally, since the vacation ended some four days ago. In the early days, when I started my company, the idea of vacation was completely foreign. Who would do the work, what if "George called", and who is going to earn the money to pay the bills? These were the crazy thoughts that raced through my brain.

About 8 years ago, I took a series of classes on creating balance in your life. One of the big challenges for me, when I took this class, is finding time for myself and giving myself permission to take time off. The classes challenge was to take between 4-6 weeks off each year. Ouch, for sure that much time away from my job was scary. Fortunately, I was able to learn how to give myself more time off. Taking this week's vacation, or the week I will be taking to go camping this summer, is just the "personal medicine" I need. Creating balance between work goals, personal goals, fun time, contribution/spiritual time, and family/relationships is not an easy task. I find, for me, taking vacation time is a great way to create more balance with my family and have some fun. I hope you too are planning on taking care of yourself with some time off for vacation. Don't put it off, but make it a life goal for 2008!

A Friend is a Gift you Give Yourself

I am the type of person who really enjoys reading the newspapers.  I regularly read the local San Jose Newspaper and the Walls Street Journal.   Needless to say that much of what I read lately is of a negative slant.   Come to think of it, I think the newspaper industry, as well as the news industry, just has that slant all year round.  But I needn’t mean to talk on this topic. This topic I wanted to talk about is based on the thought a favorite aunt gave to me many years ago.  “ A friend is a gift you give yourself” is a poem by Robert Louis Stevenson Scottish author (1850 - 1894)

I challenge everyone to think about an old friend who you have lost contact with.  Think about the close best friend that you have not called in a while.   Take a moment to call, email, or write that person today.   How can you expect to have them as a friend if you never put any energy into the friendship.   Friendships and the joy they can bring, can overcome all kinds of bad news.    Friendships don’t depend on low gas prices, on good effective government officials, or on economists telling us we are going into recession or the next week an inflation cycle.  Friends just require the gift of your thoughts and your attention.   Have a good “friend” day!

Standards tightening with XBRL financial reports:

I suspect few of my readers will be forced to issue their financials using the Extensible
Business Reporting Language (XBRL), since the Dec 15th 2008 rule for requiring this
reporting standard only affects the Fortune 500 type companies and their SEC reporting.
We are all familiar with pdf files and how you need a pdf reader to open and search for
data in the pdf file.   The XBRL standards are a similar situation, where the banking and
SEC industry wants to automate reading and searching financials and allow an easier
processing of financial information.   Look for these types of reporting standards to start
being required for smaller businesses by your banks and government agencies.  By using XBRL
viewers, similar to pdf viewers, these digital financial documents can be opened, read and
searched.  I see this eventually being a tool for all investors who need to compare
financial results between companies and industries. 

If you are looking to upgrade or replace your back office accounting system, I recommend
you make sure they are quickly export the financials reports (i.e. Balance Sheets & Profit
and Loss Statements) to this new standard.  Like the old boy scout slogan, be prepared.