Efficiency is All About Workflow

Over the last year and a half I've had a pretty hectic life - working and studying full time. It was a unique experience, which tested the limits of sleep deprivation, productivity, and work/life balance. It was also unique because it allowed me to experience what small business owners go through in terms of starting and growing their businesses. What I came to realize in the context of the day-to-day life of a small business owner is that time is the most precious of resources.

Saving time requires you to identify the many little things that can deviate your attention from far more important things - like growing your business! It's called being efficient, and as many small business owners will tell you, it's easier said than done.

The MyFax service has, over the years, gone far beyond just offering you the ability to send and receive faxes with your email, the web, or your smart phone. We continuously listen to our customers, and we've gladly delivered with innovative integrations with some of the most popular software applications and mobile phones in the market, including: Microsoft Office and Outlook, Salesforce CRM, Act!, Lotus Notes and, just last week, the iPhone.

In addition, we also created the MyFax Print-to-Fax Assistant. The Print-to-Fax Assistant is a print-driver that lets you send faxes directly from within any Windows-based application by simply selecting File>Print>MyFax.

The MyFax Print-to-Fax Assistant further integrates MyFax directly into your current workflow by allowing you to manage fax communications and document management workflow even more efficiently. Here are some examples:

Two of the most popular office document applications outside of Microsoft Office are Google Docs and OpenOffice. Each offers a suite of free products similar to Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, and Visio. The fact they are free and offer similar functionality has made them popular among small business owners.

Once you have installed the MyFax Print-to-Fax Assistant and you are working within any of the aforementioned programs, rather than saving the file and closing the program, you simply select Print and Choose MyFax. The Print-to-Fax Assistant will then open, and from there you can send your document to multiple recipients by either manually entering contacts or uploading contacts from Outlook. You can even include cover pages and billing codes.

The MyFax Print-to-Fax Assistant is free to all MyFax customers and can be downloaded from MyFax Central. You can see it in action yourself by viewing our video tutorial. Either way, we hope you enjoy the extra few minutes in the day you'll save because of it!

Need to Run Your Small Business? There's An App For That!

I love my iPhone. There's no two ways about it. The marketing professional in me loves how it totally changed the mobile phone game, and the branding and marketing behind it - right from its amazing and flawless design down to the packaging. The early adopter in me loves having the best piece of technology out there (I already have the iPhone 4 while many of my friends are still waiting for theirs), and the ability to stream things like World Cup matches directly on my phone, while at the beach. The business person in me loves what the iPhone and its apps marketplace represent - a remarkably simple but powerful piece of technology that can help you run your business from the palm of your hands, from any corner of the world. But why is that important?

Well, one common thread across our many customers, who are spread across many industries including real estate, construction, and health care, is the "mobility factor." Whether a small start-up or a large enterprise, mobility can now make or break your business. It's no wonder then, why close to three quarters of US workers can now be classified as mobile.

Developments that have certainly aided and abetted this trend include not only the iPhone, but other smart phones and the availability of Software-as-a-Service (i.e. software applications you can access over the web). Starting with the BlackBerry and the idea of "email everywhere" and evolving to the everything-under-one-roof iPhone and Android smart phones (with their respective marketplaces), and continuing with the availability of 3G/4G Internet and cheap data plans, small business owners using SaaS in conjunction with their iPhone can now run an entire office out of their car, at a client meeting, or at half-time during their son or daughter's sports game. This means they are connected to their customers , employees, suppliers and partners 24/7 - anytime, anywhere.

Where Does Fax Fit In?

So where does fax fit in? Well, fax is still an important business communications tool and a staple for many industries in the context of the prospect-customer-supplier dynamic. So it's no surprise that our very large and mobile customer base requested and now has available to them the MyFax app for the iPhone. Available in the Apple App Store - for FREE - this app means MyFax customers can now add even more convenience to their iPhone business experience.

So bear with me for a moment, as I've been waiting a long time to say this: Need an important fax but you're 1,000 miles from your office? ...There's an App for that!!

Read more about the MyFax App for the iPhone here.

So what role does your smart phone play in your business strategy? Have your say in the comments...

Successful Entrepreneurs Aren't Risk-Takers

I read a great article the other day on the subject of Entrepreneurs and Success, by one of my favorite authors - Malcolm Gladwell. You might recognize the name from his recent works: The Tipping Point, Outliers, Blink, and What the Dog Saw. The article debunks the myth of the successful entrepreneur as a risk-taker, and introduces the Predator theory as one of the main reasons behind the success of many of the most famous and well-known entrepreneurs. The success of these entrepreneurs, as the article successfully points out, is not the result of their ability or willingness to take on risk, but rather their aversion to risk-taking, and their focus on the sure thing.

Put another way, these successful entrepreneurs wouldn't place a bet on a Yankees-Red Sox game, where there would be a 50-50 chance of either team winning. They would, on the other hand, put their money on the Yankees, if the first place Yankees were playing a last place team with a depleted starting rotation!

Little risk, high value, and a big pay-off may tend to explain the huge success and adoption of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) within entrepreneurial start-ups; and small, medium, and large businesses that have stayed true to their entrepreneurial spirit. What SaaS represents is a huge deviation from the traditional software model, with little downside and a whole lot of upside:

• There is no upfront investment - you don't have to buy any hardware or software, because SaaS can even replace things like your fax machine, phone system and email servers;


• Little or no risk - you can try it before you buy it. If you buy it, then it's pay-as-you-go with no contracts involved. As well, since you're using a service/services that is used by thousands and/or millions, you know what you're getting from the get-go;


• Value - sharing with hundreds of thousands (and in some cases, millions) of users also allows you to get a more robust service than you could get by running the software and/or hardware all by yourself. Most SaaS offerings provide small business with features and capabilities that were previously available only to large enterprises, and only at a steep cost;


• Accessible from anywhere - the road, home, in an airport, etc. Mobility, whether for a small at-home business or a Fortune 500 company, is the new reality of business. Operating your business from a car while waiting for a customer is no longer just convenient, but necessary to get ahead.

These days, just about anything can be offered "as-a-service" from fax to phone systems; customer relationship management to accounting software to word processing. With the above advantages starting for as little as $10.00 per month, you can truly understand why, for most entrepreneurs, adopting SaaS...is almost a sure thing.

What do you think? Do you see entrepreneurs as risk-takers? Are you adopting SaaS successfully in your business? Take it to the comments...

Best Buy Adds MyFax to its Software Installer

As you may have seen, we had some exciting news to share with you this morning, as MyFax has been added to the list of productivity tools available through the Best Buy(R) Software Installer on selected PCs and netbooks sold at Best Buy stores in the US. This is very exciting news for us!

For any of you who run your own business, your computer often becomes your ultimate communications hub - it's one of the most important items you own. As you know, merely selecting what PC you use is only the first (and arguably the easiest) step you'll take to set up this hub. Getting it fully operational is a whole other issue.

What's made this process so difficult is the dramatic rise of bloatware. You've likely run into bloatware before - all those extra programs and free trial offers littering your desktop because the PC manufacturer was paid to place them there. Even if you navigate the endless slew of registrations associated with these programs, in 30 days you find yourself in a panic because your free trials have "timed out" and you have no way to access the information you need.

As if that wasn't difficult enough, trying to configure one of those combo printer/fax/copier/scanner devices to your new PC is a nightmare, to put it mildly. Your reward for successfully doing this? An endless stream of faxed advertisements that eat up your not-so-endless toner cartridge!

This is why our news today is exciting - Best Buy and MyFax are letting you regain control of your office environment. Using the Best Buy Software Installer, you're able to tackle the issue of bloatware head-on, as you pick only the software you need. That's right - no more free trials for confusing software you've never heard of. Couple this with MyFax, which provides an integrated fax solution that doesn't require any installation, configuration, special hardware or mystifying software. As our customers will tell you, MyFax also lets you choose how you want to manage your faxes, including which faxes you print. No expensive cartridge replacements.

No one wants to spend scads of time just to set up their PC or netbook - we've got too much to do! We feel today's news is one way you can get rid of a common technology headache.

If you want to learn more about today's news, be sure to visit our newsroom.

Fax: The Fourth Pillar of Your Corporate Identity

Your fax number is an essential business communications tool, just like your website, phone number and email address.

All of these tools make it easier for suppliers, prospects, and most importantly, customers, to easily contact you in the manner that works best for them. So it's essential to your business that you publish these four pillars of communication anywhere and everywhere your logo and business name appears!

The MyFax team realizes that for a new start-up or an at-home business, advertising can be costly. So we're proud to give you an exclusive offer - as a MyFax customer, you are entitled to 250 FREE premium business cards from Vistaprint!

These aren't your run-of-the-mill, plain Jane business cards, but rather eye-catching, full colored (front and back) cards customizable by you. With a ton of templates to choose from, you can get creative or just go for the look that best suits your business. All you have to do is insert your company logo, web address, MyFax number and email address - and they will be delivered to you!

You can find more details here - http://myfax.biz.vistaprint.com/

New Contest for MyFax Customers!

I'm very excited to tell you about a new contest we're running that's open to all MyFax customers*!

It's easy - just copy the skill-testing questions below into a Word(R) document, add your answers, along with your name, phone number, MyFax account number and email address, then use your MyFax account to fax the document to 1-866-257-2046. You can even enter as often as you'd like!

It's as simple as that. When the contest ends on August 30th, we'll do a random drawing from the entries that have answered all three questions correctly. The winner will be notified by email and announced right here on the Inside MyFax blog!

Our fabulous prize is an 8GB iPod touch!

• 1,750 songs




• 10 hours of video




• Earphones

Now for the questions...drum roll please...

1. Does your computer have to be on to receive faxes with MyFax?

2. How many email addresses can you send and receive faxes from with MyFax?

3. What is the name of the MyFax online portal where you can send and receive faxes anywhere you can access the Internet?

Don't forget, you can enter as often as you like. And...if you have a friend you think would benefit from MyFax, send them a free month and get one for yourself at the same time. Refer a friend today!

Good luck and Happy Faxing!

*You must be a MyFax customer and at least 18 years of age on the day the contest opens (June 27, 2010) to be eligible to win. Contest not open to residents of Quebec or Rhode Island. No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited by law. Full contest details available at http://www.protus.com/legal/contestrules.asp. Odds of winning will vary depending on the number of entries submitted.

**Pages faxed from your MyFax account will be counted in your monthly fax allotment and if you go over your monthly allotment, additional fax pages are ten cents per page. To enter without using your MyFax, see the contest rules. By entering this Contest, you hereby agree to (a) be bound by the Contest Rules and (b) consent to the collection, use and disclosure of any personal information associated with this Contest by Protus IP Solutions Inc. ("Protus") for the purposes of administering this Contest, in accordance with Protus' Privacy Policy available at http://www.protus.com/legal/privacy.asp.

Don’t leave your communications behind when you jump into the cloud!

So you’ve made the big switch – leaving desktop software, per seat licensing, and annual maintenance costs behind. Congratulations, my friend! As you lean back in your chair to celebrate, feeling pretty smug and proud of yourself, a pile of cords, handsets, and hardware catches your eye. It’s then you realize you’re only half way into the cloud. You’ve moved your office apps online, but your communications infrastructure is so web 0.1 with dedicated voice and data lines, an aging PBX that doesn’t even provide caller id, and a fax machine that is forever out of paper and toner. Easy come, easy go as they say!

And then your cell rings and you have an epiphany – all you need to run your business is your mobile. And then reality sets in once again. Think about:
• Never being free of the office again when literally everyone (clients, creditors, and even pesky telemarketers) has your cell number; or,
• Skyrocketing bills when you finally take that well deserved and oft delayed vacation to “outtacallplan” land; or,
• Reading faxes on your 10 by 10 pixel phone screen.

Well, maybe it’s not such a crazy idea… “there’s an app for that” as they say. In this case, we’re talking about apps that will help your communications infrastructure catch up with your office apps in the cloud and deliver immediate cost savings. Virtual phone systems like my1voice with built in auto-attendant, reception, call routing, call identification, and voicemail functionality move your voice calling into the 21st century, leaving your PBX and dedicated lines firmly behind. As well, internet fax services like MyFax let you send and receive faxes from your email, the web, or smart phone without the need for a fax machine or any of the related costs.

So step into the cloud with both feet - don’t let your communications be jealous of the attention you’ve shown your office apps. Start today for free with my1voice and MyFax.