Do you have your ACT! database set to 'roll-over to today' certain uncleared activity types? Are you overwhelmed by the number of roll-over activities that appear when you open ACT! each morning? A good friend and colleague of ours has developed a free ACT! add-on program that can help lighten your day just a bit.

The Multiple Activities Reschedule is a must-have ACT! add-on program for busy people who just don't have enough hours in the day to get through their task list. If you consistently roll over your activities, and are buried under the growing number of items on today's calendar, you'll want to download this add-on! We did. With this tool, you can highlight multiple activities in your ACT! task list, then right click, select 'Reschedule Multiple Activities' as shown in the picture, and reschedule them en masse to another day - not just roll to today, but move to next week, next month, or whenever is convenient. BEST OF ALL, it's free! Try it today - the only thing you have to lose is your seemingly endless daily task list!

* Compatible with ACT! 2010 and ACT! 2011 locally installed databases only. Not available for ACT! for Web users.

** We do not receive compensation for promoting this add-on. We simply love to share useful, time- and energy-saving ACT! tools. We hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

We'd love to hear what you think of this product - please comment below! And if you have ideas for ACT! feature improvements, please let us know those as well! We will gladly pass them along to our connections in the Sage ACT! product development department.

Handheld Contact Update

Handheld Contact has lowered the pricing for the annual Professional Edition* subscription from $239 to $179, making it more affordable than ever before to take your contacts and calendar with you!

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Handheld Contact (HHC)... Handheld Contact is an ACT! add-on program that wirelessly syncs and manages your ACT! Contacts, Activities, Calendar and Notes/Histories from your Blackberry, iPhone, or other Windows Mobile smart phone.

Who Should Use Handheld Contact?
If you're job requires you to be on the road more than in the office, or if you just like the comfort (and security) of having your contacts and scheduled work activities with you at all times, you need Handheld Contact for ACT! (Never forget about another call or meeting again!) Trust us, we use it and have found it to be one of the most useful ACT! add-on products on the market.

What are the benefits?
Besides security and convenience, HHC is loaded with a variety of features that enable you to customize, access, edit and sync your ACT! database right from your phone. You can read all about the features and benefits on our Handheld Contact web page.

Would you like to get started?
If you are interested in having your ACT! database with you at all times for less than $15 per month, contact us on the web or call (847) 520-0860 today!

iPhone users will want to read my previously posted article - Handheld Contact for ACT! is now available for the iphone!

* Please note that there are no price changes for the Basic Edition service.

Does your company host webinars, seminars, or other events during the year? Did you know that ACT! can be used as an event planner to help you more efficiently organize and track your event details? ACT! has a variety of tools that can be used to ease the process of event coordinating, such as:

• Custom fields and tables - Add custom fields to your layout to track important event information (like contact registration and payment information) and create a custom table to track and display all the details of your various events
• Dynamic groups - Create dynamic groups for each event that will automatically add your event invitees, registrants, and attendees to the pre-defined groups. This is incredibly useful for quickly and easily sending out invites, reminders, and post-event follow-up messages.
• Sage E-Marketing for ACT! (SEMA) - Use SEMA to send out professional event email invites. Review the SEMA email blast reports to help you follow up with contacts who haven't registered but appeared to be interested based on their interactions with your email.
• SEMA Surveys - Create your event registration forms with the easy-to-use SEMA survey tool. Capture all the important registrant information and set each response to map back to an ACT! field - even the custom fields you created - eliminating manual data entry.
• Sage Drip Marketing - Take all of your event email invites, reminders and follow-up messages and add them to a pre-defined campaign series that will automatically send the emails on the dates you tell it to.

Using these ACT! tools can take your event organization to the next level! You can find out more about how to utilize and implement these event planning tools at our upcoming ACT! lunch and learn workshop.

Can't attend? Feel free to call us (847) 520-0860 to learn more today.

We'd love to hear the ACT! tools or tips you've used to help in your event preparations.

Most email marketing messages are meant to inspire people to take action, ie. make a purchase, register for an event, call today, etc. The writers put a lot of thought, effort and time into those messages, often without considering the most important aspect of email marketing  - the subject line. The truth is, if your subject line doesn't motivate people to open the email, even the world's best marketing message isn't going to be successful. Here are 5 tips for creating subject lines that will have people begging to read more:

1) Know your target audience! What are the topics they are buzzing about today? People are more likely to open emails that are relevant to their needs or interests. So grab their attention by writing about your audience's "hot topics" and create subject lines that include these buzz words (How? See number 2 below). 

2) Think like a reporter. Magazines and newspapers spend a lot of time and money to know exactly who their target audience is and what they want to read about . So take a lesson from them and create strong, attention-getting subject lines suited to your business. Or, if you are really struggling to identify relevant content for your audience, review magazines in your industry. You can learn a lot - without investing all the resources. 

3) Use numbers when possible. Today's consumers are busy. An email subject line that lists "5 Quick Tips" or "Top 10 Reasons to..." suggests a quick read and lets the reader know exactly what to expect.

4) Avoid bait-and-switch tactics. Honesty is the key to building trust. If you are sending out a monthly e-newsletter, it may be perfectly appropriate to simply title it as "XYZ Corp. January News" - or you may wish to incorporate buzz words from one of your news articles. Just make sure your subject line always accurately reflects the content of your email, lest you be known as the company who cried wolf.

5) Test your subject lines to find what works. Segment your contacts into two or more groups and send each group the same email using different subject lines. Using your email provider's analysis tools, compare the open rates. Did one subject line have a greater influence than another? Use the information you gather to help you create future subject lines. Are you unhappy with the analysis tools provided by your email provider? Contact us to learn how easy creating and analyzing your email campaigns can be with ACT! E-marketing.

Do you have a tip you'd like to add? We'd love to hear it! Comment below.