This past year I wrote a post on a CRM program (Insightly.com) that has revolutionized how I organize the business side of my site. Organization is vitally important. This is especially true as my blog has grown and I have begun to focus more on the business aspect of my site. Trying to stay organized by using spreadsheets, alarm dates set in my phone, and tons of post it notes just doesn’t cut it anymore. That is why I have fallen in love with Insightly. Now all my contacts are in one place, as are all my deadlines, events, tasks, and notes. I can tag and link everything from my contacts to deadlines, to events. I love that I can access my information on not just my computer, but also my phone and tablet allowing me to be organized even when I am out and about.
For those who haven’t tried out Insightly's FREE Service yet I recommend that you go and sign up today and see for yourself how awesome it really is. If you are worried that this might be too complicated they have some great FREE tutorials on all the tools they offer that walk you through step by step.
I have had some who are already utilizing Insightly’s FREE service (and are all loving it) ask me about their premium or paid services and why a blogger would want to use it when their FREE serve is so amazing. Speaking from experience there are many advantages of utilizing Insightly’s premium services. In addition to getting more storage space and being able to have more than 3 users actively using your account, here are a few reasons why the premium services are sooo worth it:
Google Contact and Calendar Sync: I just love this option! I already had many contacts and dates in my Google account and it is great to not have to manually transfer it all over to insightly. I am too busy to have to spend hours of my time re-entering information I already had into a new program just so I could have everything in one place. The best part is how easy it is to sync your accounts. (For me easy and quick are big.
Custom Branding for your back end interface: This is a fun option available, but one that I have found helps set the right state of mind. I like the fact that when I log onto Insightly it is my Logo at the top and my background on my back end interface. I feel this just sets the professional feel especially when I have need to using it in front of others.
25 Custom Fields (Within each record type): Just as every blog is unique, so to is the back end business side of things. This is why being able to customize the fields for your account is so important. Perhaps you want to track referrals for your contacts, who has won your various giveaways, or you might want to keep track of what reviews you have done in the last year. Where you are able to create up to 10 Custom fields (for each record type: i.e. Contacts, Organization, Opportunities, and Projects) the FREE service, you get to create 25 Custom fields with all the premium services. This gives you plenty of opportunity to make the back end interface of Insightly your own, to make sure all your record keeping needs are met.
The best part of the Insightly subscriptions is that you can change your plan up or down at any time and with any upgrade or downgrade in plans, you will be credited pro rata for the time remaining in the current billing cycle! So play around and see which plan is best for you.
