December 12th, 2009 Bill Winterberg
Thanks to Andrew Tobias for pointing me towards a bookmarklet called Readability (had I kept up on my Lifehacker RSS reading, I would have seen Readability back in March).
I could spend a few paragraphs explaining how to install the bookmarklet and how it makes reading stuff on the Internet easier, but allow me to let the pictures tell the story.
So, out of the two identical articles below, which one do you want to read?
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Posted in Efficiency, Software | 1 Comment »
December 7th, 2009 Bill Winterberg
I try my best to keep up to date on the popular paperless office solutions on the market, particularly on those that are popular in the independent financial services industry. Every once in a while I run across reviews of solutions that are polar opposites of one another.
Here’s one recent example.
December’s Financial Advisor magazine features a write-up of PaperPort Professional v12.0, reviewed by Joel Bruckenstein. In the review he says:
…its ease of use, low cost and robust features make it an attractive option for smaller advisory firms with limited technology and training budgets.
and…
For the price, PaperPort provides a great deal of functionality.
Sounds fairly promising. For $199, advisers can get an entry-level document management and scanning solution that provides some of the basic functionality needed to implement a paperless office. What’s not to like?
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November 1st, 2009 Bill Winterberg
Last week I wrote about how the Dropbox service prevented minor embarrassment when my presentation slides weren’t loaded on the presentation laptop.
I finally got around to reading the October edition of Forbes magazine and saw Lee Gomes’ Digital Tools column.
Click here to read Forget Disruption. Dive Deep Instead on Forbes.com.
The point of the column is how Dropbox programmers worked extremely hard to tackle some very difficult code, yet the result is a simple and elegant program that just works. Once you “get” the concept of Dropbox and start using it, you wonder how you ever lived without it.
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October 25th, 2009 Bill Winterberg
I just returned from presenting at the SRI in the Rockies 2009 pre-conference event hosted for members of the First Affirmative Financial Network. I presented two breakout sessions for the group, one on using CRM systems to enhance relationship continuity with clients and one on increasing adviser productivity.
One of the tools I recommend in my productivity presentation is a service from Dropbox. Dropbox is a utility that synchronizes all files stored in the Dropbox folder on a computer with any of your other computers where the software is installed. It also has a web interface to browse, view, and download the files stored in the folder. The first 2GB of data stored on Dropbox is free; additional storage is available for a nominal fee.
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Posted in Software, Technology | 4 Comments »
October 16th, 2009 Bill Winterberg
So I’m reviewing my messages in GMail this evening and happened to glance over at the Google AdWords. In the top spot is an ad for Junxure CRM and boasts how “Version 7 Rocks!” (the mixed use of upper and lower case is interesting, too)
Isn’t Junxure on version 8 now?
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October 16th, 2009 Bill Winterberg
ProTracker Software Inc., the makers of ProTracker Advantage, announced an update to its resident CRM system (i.e. not SaaS or cloud service) as well as a new version of its Compliance Manual.
Full coverage of the releases is provided by Davis Janowski at Investment News.
ProTracker Advantage is a CRM system originally developed by Warren J. Mackensen, a fee-only planner in Hampton, N.H., for use in financial planning and wealth management firms.
In my opinion, ProTracker is a suitable CRM solution for advisers who seek a system with a lower learning curve than competitors and one that is not hosted over the Internet (and subject to service interruptions and less-than-realtime performance). Although one drawback of locally-installed programs is that someone must perform the update to the latest version!
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October 1st, 2009 Bill Winterberg
E-Z Data, the provider of SmartOffice, a web-based CRM solution for financial services, was acquired by Ebix, Inc. today for $50.35 million. The acquisition will enhance the company’s existing EbixExchange platform to include E-Z Data’s robust CRM product.
Read the full press release on the Ebix Inc. website and read E-Z Data’s statement to SmartOffice customers on its website.
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September 11th, 2009 Bill Winterberg
Sure enough, yesterday I posted about announcements coming from technology vendors leading up to Schwab’s IMPACT 2009 Conference.
Today, Tamarac Inc., best known for their SaaS rebalancing solution, announced the release of its Tamarac Advisor® 9 platform (coverage from InvestmentNews). This platform expands on the company’s rebalancing offering to include the following technologies:
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Posted in Portfolio Management Software, Software | No Comments »
June 24th, 2009 Bill Winterberg
Following on Monday’s post regarding LifestreamBackup, I learned of another service that is designed to capture and archive messages posted through Twitter.
CagedTweets is another utility that captures and archives comments posted on Twitter. Customers have three options of service depending on the number of Twitter accounts to be archived. Archiving of one account runs $50 and covers 3 years of service (I think), ten accounts runs $100, and firm-wide archiving runs $500.
Unfortunately their website does not have a demonstration of how the service works, nor is a free trial offered to test the service. Yet I have to hand it to the folks behind CagedTweets; they are offering this service through rapid development after being inspired by an April 27 Wall Street Journal article on compliance requirements involving social media.
Still, I’m inclined to endorse LifestremBackup over CagedTweets for two main reasons. First, the former tool features connections to other social media services in addition to Twitter, and second, the service is offered for a very similar price as CagedTweets.
However, according to their website, users who sign up for CagedTweets before the end of July will receive free archiving for all social media applications added to the service.
Check out CagedTweets through this link.
(Hat tip to @jrueckert for mentioning CagedTweets to me)
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March 11th, 2009 Bill Winterberg
I’m busy working on the final slides for a presentation I’m delivering to the Mid-Oregon chapter of the FPA on Tuesday, March 17. Lunch is served at 12:30PM, the first speaker begins at 1:00PM, and my session begins after 2:00PM. I’ve been asked to provide an overview of the CRM software market (not a small task!) and also provide easy productivity tips that can help financial advisers get the most out of each workday.
If you’re in the local vicinity, I encourage you to sign up for what I hope will be a very informative presentation.
Click here to visit the FPA of Mid-Oregon meeting page. Cost is just $55 for FPA members, $65 for all others.
Pre-registration (at least 24 hours in advance) is strongly advised for all chapter meetings. To pre-register contact the Chapter Executive Director, Linda Barba at (541) 284-9855. Please leave your name, membership status, sessions attending, and number of guests.
Posted in Practice Management, Software | 4 Comments »
