Adrian Sanders

Everyone knows that marketing matters. What they don’t know is that given the right tools, marketing isn’t expensive, time consuming, or difficult. That’s great news for small business owners strapped on cash and time. Here’s our list of 5 easy to use, well tested, and free online tools that help manage small business marketing. Give ‘em a whirl – we promise it’s worth it 1. Google Analytics Knowledge is money, especially in the nebulous world of marketing. Google Analytics, a free service from Google (duh), helps you track and analyze website traffic. Using Analytics, you’ll see exactly how many visitors your website gets, what they’re searching for, even which social networks they’re using. You can even setup goals (say, a contact form submission, or a download) to see which types of users are doing what. That’s invaluable knowledge that belongs in every marketer... (more)

Why the New Basecamp Refresh Is a Sign of Things to Come (Why That’s Good)

So, the new Basecamp is out, released with much applause (and yes, a few groans). We reviewed it last week and found it super promising. Exciting stuff. What’s more exciting than the sexy new project management tool, though, is how it was released. 37signals, the company behind Basecamp, basically rewrote the rules of software releases. They’ve re-invented their core product, which is pretty unprecedented for software companies, and married two models of software development, old and new. Now that’s exciting To really understand what we’re talking about, a little history is re... (more)

Cloud Computing Makes Business Easier

VM Associates is a New York City cloud computing consulting firm. We help companies transition into newer, better, smarter software. Contact us to talk about your business, the cloud, and how we might help. ... (more)

Two Competing Approaches to Small Business Software

I speak with small business owners every day. Most of the time, we’re speaking because they have problems – workflow problems, software problems, scaling problems. Solutions aren’t obvious. If they were, we wouldn’t be in business. Thing is, it’s not just that solutions aren’t obvious – it’s that solutions may solve the same problems (inventory, for example, or CRM), but their approach can be crazily dissimilar. That matters, because how a piece of software works can have long-lasting business implications. Here’s why. The Gorilla Approach Business software can be broadly lumped... (more)

Client Case Study: When Business Tools Break

I got a call a few weeks ago from a NYC-based foreign language school that was looking for a software makeover. They were using Google Spreadsheets to manage their student, class, and payment information, and for the previous year were happy as can be. After all, Google Spreadsheets offers some awesome collaborative capabilities: simultaneous spreadsheet viewing and editing, universal accessibility, and powerful Excel-like analytics and reporting. Still, as the business grew, the sheer size of the spreadsheet made it more of a headache than anything. As is so often the case, they ... (more)