3 Questions on Business Mangnt Software

[LIPstudio]

Two quick questions on business software again: I'm looking at Blinkbid and MYOB (Mind Your Own Business).

1. Has anyone used either software and do you recommend it?

2. For anyone who is using Blinkbid and also has additional businesses besides photography, do you use another software for your other business or can you use Blinkbid for everything.

3. For anyone using MYOB and is in photography, how do you like it for your business?

I"m a couple of days from buying either one, thanks for your input.

[hhscr]

I use MYOB for my business. It is a very straight forward accounting program that can be setup to run just about any type of business. When you first set it up you can create your own setup or you can select a template that is provided based on the type of business you are going to use it for.

This is what I did and just picked the template that is the closet to my business type. You can then make changes to customize it to your liking. As with any accounting program you will need some basic knowledge of accounting to make it easier.

This is a very powerful program that does more than I use. It can do just about anything you could possibly want for a business. There is a learning curve but once you get use to the layout it gets pretty simple.

[bondarnes]

Here is an e-mail I received on a new photo business software that is still in the developmental stages. You might want to download their free 30 day trial. Even though I have not looked into it that much, it sounds like it might be the best answer for photographers.

Dear StudioCloud Users,

We wanted to update you on StudioCloud's exciting product changes. If you are currently on a 30 day trial and the expiration date is before this coming Friday the 12th, it has been extended for five days to let you experience the new and improved version of the Basic Suite, In-Studio Gallery, and Online Gallery. Because of the nature of online software we are able to continually improve, enhance, and make your overall user experience faster and more efficient. You will never have to pay for an upgrade to automatically get the latest and greatest. We love feedback from our users and listen to what you have to say. Many of our features have been suggestions from photographers like you.

One of the biggest changes has been due to the release of Adobe's next version of their platform Adobe Air. This has allowed us to fix many of the "issues" that Mac users were experiencing with the Galleries. You can now import any size photo (RAW images not supported yet) and a lot of the little annoying quirks are now fixed. A few other changes include a detailed pop up description of products on the online gallery which allows you to tell customers the details of products and packages. Because of this, a product name field has been added which will look like a duplicate of what you had entered in your product code field. In the Basic Suite you can now update your product descriptions to be more detailed and communicate more clearly to those ordering on your Online Gallery. Coming soon you will be able to change the order of your product lists, choose to add unique product lists to online albums, and accept credit card information from customers ordering online.

The Online Gallery now includes a returning studio client option and a friends and family option. This way if they are already a client at your studio it won't create another client entry, it will just add the order under their current one. If they are a friend or family member it will add them as a new client and put that invoice and balance under their name. As before you will still receive an email once an online order has occurred.

Adobe's release has also allowed us to improve the speed of all of our products. We are currently in the process of optimizing our memory usage for upcoming releases that will improve your experience even more. Because of Adobe's new Air platform we are unable to automatically update your In-Studio Gallery. You will need to come to this link to install the latest of StudioCloud's In-Studio Gallery http://studiocloud.com/preview.html Just click on the install now button.

StudioCloud's Workflow Manager is almost ready to enter Beta. Please reply to this email if you would be interested in testing it out. Here is an excerpt from Workflow Manager's description, "StudioCloud's Workflow Manager will help your studio manage your workflow progress to guarantee pickup dates for customer's orders. Easily track the progress of each order on any given date. Workflow Manager is easily customizable for each studio so you can create your own processes based on your unique studio needs."

We also thought we would let you know that Adobe has done a spotlight on StudioCloud. Check out what Adobe is saying about us, http://labs.adobe.com/showcase/air/studiocloud.html To stay up-to-date on StudioCloud's new features check out our blog at blog.studiocloud.com.

Thank you to everyone who has offered feedback and helped to improve StudioCloud's products. We look forward to hearing from all of you!

Sincerely,

Andrea Carlson
StudioCloud
Customer Relations
andrea.carlson@studiocloud.com

[jenac]

Anyone ever used or heard of SuccessWare?

[bondarnes]

I have been using SuccessWare since 2000. Like PhotoShop it is a very powerful program with several features that I don't use. The programs Victor was asking about could be compared to using PhotoShop Elements.