Batter Up - Are You Ready?

Like successful small business owners, Major League Baseball's best managers know when to tinker and when to leave well enough alone. That makes complacency your biggest enemy. For example, as a small business owner, look at your IT infrastructure - it may not be broken, but is it taking too much time, energy, and resources for the results it derives? Like the good baseball manager who tinkers with his batting lineup to get his players in the right slots, your IT support system is something you need to constantly review, looking for what works best now.

Perhaps the toughest part of any baseball manager's job is letting a player know that he no longer benefits the team as he once did. Fortunately for small business owners, the decision to replace an IT component isn't nearly as heart wrenching. After all, a piece of peripheral hardware like a fax machine is an inanimate object that won't break down in tears if you decide the time has come to eliminate it due to cost, ongoing maintenance, or the simple annoyance factor.

While small businesses have proven to be resilient in this era of economic recovery, they're facing the most critical time of the year - the fourth quarter. The fourth quarter of any year is like the ninth inning of a tie game. You don't have time for pop flies or strikeouts; you need to get a run on the board and earn that win! And to do that, you have to be aware of the resources you have. It simply won't do to go overboard spending time and money that will mean a poor return on investment (ROI).

Small businesses can make the most of their fourth quarter by looking to the cloud. Using cloud applications like MyFax, you can minimize margins and stay focused. These affordable, pay-as-you-go applications are operational in minutes and can be accessed from anywhere you can access the Internet.

On September 16, we'll host a webinar on the Intuit Community called "Home Run Stretch - Make the Fourth Quarter Count!" This is a must-attend event for small businesses, as we'll discuss:

- Leveraging cloud applications to streamline time, lessening time spent on administrative tasks;
- How your business can go paperless for efficiency and effectiveness;
- Why you need to integrate workflows to avoid duplicated efforts;
- The advantages of going mobile with your iPhone, Blackberry or Android to make the most of your day

Click here to register for this webinar and hit the comments with YOUR suggestions as to how to make the most out of the fourth quarter "home run stretch."

What do Real Estate Agents & Accountants have in common?

On the surface, nothing – with one being naturally gregarious and assertive, the other more reserved and analytical – I’ll let you figure out which for yourself!

The answer to what real estate agents and accountants have in common lies in their paper-based workflows including:
• Need for regulatory compliance - Both professions are paper-heavy by nature – with lots of required regulatory and government documentation along with the need for legally valid signatures.
• Thrift – Paper is costly. Accountants are cost conscious by nature. Agents are money motivated and like to keep as much of their commission check as possible.
• Client communications and confidentiality – Paper is an open loop process and prone to being misplaced or lost. Both accountants and agents deal with sensitive information that if misused could compromise their client’s position or otherwise cause them direct harm.
• Professionalism – Accountants need to project a professional image to attract clients and to build client trust and loyalty. Agents are on the road a lot. Being on the road, being productive and being professional can be mutually exclusive.
• Technical simplicity – With rare exceptions, agents and accountants are not techies – if they were, chances are they would have taken a different career path.

So the answer to what real estate agents and accountants have in common is MyFax!

MyFax lets you send and receive legally valid documents from your email, web, or smart phone and keep an electronic record. MyFax replaces your need for fax machines, in house fax servers and everything that goes with them, like supplies, dedicated lines and long distance charges. MyFax helps ensure client confidential communications. Faxes are sent from and received in a user’s private email inbox or from the password-protected MyFax website. MyFax projects a professional image with business class reliability and 99.9% availability commitment. MyFax never runs out of paper or toner, never jams and a user’s computer doesn’t have to be "on" to receive faxes. MyFax is easy to implement - no installation, no additional hardware or software, no maintenance - and it’s as easy to use as email.

Not surprisingly then, real estate agents and accountants are two of the largest users of MyFax. So if you’re an accountant or real estate agent and haven’t tried MyFax, why not?

And if you’re a mortgage broker, insurance agent, lawyer, or health care provider – the question and answer aren’t a lot different!

Try MyFax today for Free.