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There are plenty of tools available today that make the difficult aspects of business easier. From actually running the business, to managing employees to tracking leads and sales. However not all tools are created equal and let’s be honest there are a lot to chose from.

Project Management Software Review of Basecamp

Basecamp is a hosted online project management tool created by 37 Signals. Because it is hosted you can access it from any computer that has an internet connection. This is perfect for virtual employees, virtual companies, satellite offices or large companies that don’t want to pay for the IT infrastructure required to run a large scale project management tool.

The software focuses on making the 20% of tasks that you will perform 80% of the time in regards to project management. The result is that the software is incredibly easy to use and intuitive. The core features it offers is as following:

• Assign, edit and discuss to-do’s and tasks
• Set milestones with e-mail reminders to allow tracking and monitoring of progress
• Give clients and other companies access to the project
• Create and collaborate on write boards
• Store and upload files related to each project
• Track and manage time based on project, employee, user
• Send and track messages and communication

By keeping everything in one place (such as messaging) it is much easier to track the discussion regarding a project rather than sorting through e-mails chains and strings.

Basecamp has been used by some major companies to manage their project management needs as well, including:

• National Geographic
• Kellogs
• USA Today
• Fox Sports
• Warner Brothers

The only issue I have found with basecamp is that there is no standard calendar function. The milestones works as a calendar in a lot of ways, but is lacking in the department of scheduling meetings and things of that nature. However google calendar is still free so it is not a huge issue to overcome.

Sign up for a free trial of basecamp today

CRM Software Review of Highrise

The other area of business that can be time consuming and unwieldy is managing your contacts, sales process and leads. Typically the best software to manage this process is a CRM, or Contact Relationship Management Software. CRM Software tracks the contact information of the people who you encounter and meet related to your business in addition to a large list of other details such as:

• What type of contact (lead, affiliate, partner, etc…)
• Where they are in the sales funnel
• Any discussion that has gone on, and what it pertained to
• Tasks related to contacts (such as following up, etc…)

One of the most popular CRM software available is the online hosted solution of Highrise also developed by 37 Signals.

Highrise is hosted so you don’t have to have an IT department or company install it on your computers, worry about software upgrades or maintenance. It is a very low monthly subscription that covers the cost of all maintenance, installation and upgrade needs.

Highrise is a full featured CRM software that includes all the best features you need in a CRM system, including:

• Website integration and tracking
• Easy sorting and management of contacts
• Easy to import and export data using excel, csv, etc..
• E-mail reminders regarding responding and tasks
• Tracking and management of discussion and messaging through e-mail

Highrise has received glowing reviews from such top organizations as:

• Time Magazine
• Mashable
• PC World
• Seth Godin
• Sun-Times

Unlike other CRM software, Highrise is easy to use and learn. You don’t need to read through a 200 page instruction manual, a training video, or 1 on 1 coaching. You will be importing your contacts and managing their details with in minutes of sign up.

Sign up for a free trial of Highrise today