Help Managing Money & Information
This post has nothing to do with marketing or self promotion. Well ... perhaps it does. This contribution is about managing money and information. Without the ability to keep a handle on each of those, your marketing efforts can be ineffective.
Although I write mostly about low-cost and no-cost marketing tactics, in most cases, you’ll still need a few clams for business cards, stationery, hosting, office supplies and the occasional cup of java. Beyond this, if your finances are out of whack, you’ll quickly find yourself in Stress City. When that happens, it’s pretty tough to focus on marketing effectively.
When it comes to managing information, many of us have the no-system system. We collect a bunch of this and that. We put it here and there – under a stack of papers, in a draw or file cabinet or store it in some uncharted corner of our hard drive. When it comes time to find it again, we’re out of luck.
Enter Mint.com and ShoveBox.com. Both of these saving graces came into my inbox from Long Island-based designer, Amy Mantione, principal of Element Graphic Design.
Mint.com is a pretty complete solution to manage your finances, track expenses, budget your money, find ways to save money and get a snapshot of where you stand at a moment’s notice. How handy is that? You don’t need any bookkeeping skills, either.
From their site:
ShoveBox (Mac OSX 10.4+) is about capturing the snippets of info you’re constantly gathering. It sits up in your menu bar for easy access. Drag and drop. Folders, labels and flags. Commenting. Easy searching. Whew! Organization. Plus, they offer a free trial.
Although I write mostly about low-cost and no-cost marketing tactics, in most cases, you’ll still need a few clams for business cards, stationery, hosting, office supplies and the occasional cup of java. Beyond this, if your finances are out of whack, you’ll quickly find yourself in Stress City. When that happens, it’s pretty tough to focus on marketing effectively.
When it comes to managing information, many of us have the no-system system. We collect a bunch of this and that. We put it here and there – under a stack of papers, in a draw or file cabinet or store it in some uncharted corner of our hard drive. When it comes time to find it again, we’re out of luck.
Enter Mint.com and ShoveBox.com. Both of these saving graces came into my inbox from Long Island-based designer, Amy Mantione, principal of Element Graphic Design.
Mint.com is a pretty complete solution to manage your finances, track expenses, budget your money, find ways to save money and get a snapshot of where you stand at a moment’s notice. How handy is that? You don’t need any bookkeeping skills, either.
From their site:
“Mint immediately pulls in your balances, purchases, stock trades, etc. to give you a complete picture of your finances. Mint connects securely with more than 7,000 US financial institutions, saving you hours of tedious data entry.
Mint updates all of your account information automatically. So you always have the most current information available. With Mint, you can focus on making smart decisions, not on managing and planning financial spreadsheets.”
ShoveBox (Mac OSX 10.4+) is about capturing the snippets of info you’re constantly gathering. It sits up in your menu bar for easy access. Drag and drop. Folders, labels and flags. Commenting. Easy searching. Whew! Organization. Plus, they offer a free trial.
Labels: Amy Mantione, Element Graphic Design, manage information, managing money, mint.com, shovebox.com
