Daniel J. Lewis

Internet entrepreneur, award-winning podcaster, podcast consultant, keynote speaker

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What I Need in a CRM

May 5, 2016 by Daniel J. Lewis 8 Comments

My podcasting business and responsibilities have grown enough that I realize I need a customer relationship management (CRM) system.

That feels a little too corporate to me. It's like I'm becoming a robot without a personality. But I'm very quickly overwhelmed with the requests for my attention and this is a way out of that. I really want to be accessible and spend time fully responding to every message, but I can't respond to everything for free, or else I would be a bad steward of my time and my responsibility to provide for my family.

A big source of such stress comes from my multiple inboxes. Requests for consulting, questions about products and services, questions about podcasting, feedback for my podcasts, and more. I can't handle it all, so that's where a CRM can help me and my assistants tag, organize, prioritize, and respond to each important message I receive.

My search for the right CRM has been frustrating. Thus, I invite your suggestions—whether you're a user or employee of a CRM provider.

Here's what I need in a CRM.

Integrate with/take over email accounts (potentially Gmail)

All of my email addresses are merely aliases that forward to a single Gmail account. These messages do receive some automated filtering and tagging within Gmail. Then, I can send from any these aliases.

I need a CRM to take over these email accounts for future conversations, plus integrate with previous conversations I've already had.

Allow collaboration

Many messages that I receive can be answered quickly by pointing to my large catalog of content I've already created. Thus, I would prefer an assistant to have the first view of incoming messages to particular addresses. That assistant could then reply on my behalf, or tag important messages for me to either address personally or consider for creating further content on my site.

Integrate with MailChimp

I use MailChimp as my email service provider. With any CRM, I need it to integrate with MailChimp to at least let me know whether the person I'm emailing is already on my list (and what group/segment they're in). It would be extra nice if I could easily add them to a list and group from the CRM.

Integrate with social

I want the CRM to show me the person's Twitter, Facebook, and other social accounts, plus maybe even their bios and latest messages from such accounts. Then, show me whether I'm already connected with that person and let me choose to connect with them right from the CRM.

So far, so good, right? The following is where most CRMs begin to fail.

Integration with WooCommerce and an API

I use WooCommerce for selling on The Audacity to Podcast™ as well as Podcasters' Society™. The ideal CRM would show me what products, memberships, or services a person has purchased from me. There would also need to be an API for connecting with my proprietary system in My Podcast Reviews.

Social lead generation

An important part of my business is monitoring relevant conversations on social networks. I have saved Twitter searches that help me find podcasters who need podcasting help or should use My Podcast Reviews™. If possible, I would also like to monitor Facebook groups, Google+ communities, subreddits, Quora, and such (goodbye, most popular CRMs).

Let's take Twitter for example. When I see a tweet matching my detailed search query, I need to immediately see whether I have ever tweeted that person before and whether they're already a customer (through integration with WooCommerce and My Podcast Reviews). Then, give me and my assistants the ability to respond and let me see that it was responded to and who did it. Afterward, that account would be marked as having already received a response from me at some point.

Plus, such searches and responses would be different for different social accounts. Thus, the CRM would need to support multiple social accounts (there goes Nimble, if I didn't already disqualify it).

Template responses

For email and social, I need to have multiple templates my assistants can use to respond. Such templates would be great if they were intelligent enough to prefill with the recipient's name. I know TextExpander can do that, but that means extra software.

iOS app

A mobile-friendly website is nice, but it would be best if the CRM is available as a standalone mobile app that provides all the functionality on mobile.

A single platform

I'm not interested in paying for and managing several different platforms to each do separate things. I want a single place to login and have the tools I need.

Simple

I don't want to spend days learning how to use a complicated CRM, and it would defeat the purpose for me to hire someone only to manage my CRM. Thus, the CRM must be simple enough that I can get working with its workflow on the same day I sign up.

Affordable

I'm willing to pay for this solution because I recognize the value in the time and frustration it will save. But to me, “affordable,” means under $100/month for two or three users.

Got suggestions?

I may update this post with additional needs. Is there any CRM that meets all these needs?

I've looked at Nimble, Insightly, Contactly, FullContact, HootSuite, Zoho CRM, Apptivo, Nutshell, PipelineDeals, Salesforce.com, and OnePageCRM. They all fall short in crucial areas (usually the social integration). I'll also be looking at others. But I'm starting to lose hope.

What do you suggest, based on my needs?

Filed Under: Business, Productivity, Social Media, Technology Tagged With: CRM, integration, marketing

Why Moving Your Home Business Out of Your Home May Be Your Best Decision

April 2, 2016 by Daniel J. Lewis 4 Comments

 

Guy working from home

Working from home seems like the entrepreneur's dream, but it may not be as fun, productive, and profitable as you may think.

I left my full-time job in 2011 to fully commit to my growing podcast-consulting business (known as The Audacity to Podcast). Being recently married, I thought the combination of doing what I love, around the woman I love, and in the place I was most comfortable was a dream come true.

But it was far more stressful than I ever expected. Moving my studio office out of my home—four years later—was one of the best things I did for my business and my marriage.

Your story and situation are probably quite different from mine. So you may need to adjust my advice for your circumstances.

1. Clear boundaries

My home office had always been in the lower level of our bilevel home. (These seemingly state-mandated constructions are like two-story homes half-sunken into the ground. The entry is between the two floors with immediate stairways. The kitchen, living room, and bedrooms are usually upstairs and the “family room” and fireplace are usually downstairs.) And there was no door to my office.

Not having a door is an issue all on its own. But the proximity of my workspace to the rest of my life made it difficult to create and maintain healthy boundaries.

It was too easy to be interrupted by home life. Every brief question, kitchen noise, and even small moments of affection were interruptions.

Plus, it was difficult for me to stay away from work when my same PC also doubled as an entertainment device.

When I moved my business into separate office space, it made it much easier to leave work at work and enjoy home at home. The small commute gives me time to transition between work and home mentalities. Plus, my home is no longer set up for intense, focused work, so I'm far less tempted to let that kind of work interrupt my home life.

It's now much easier to make home a place for family and my office a place for work.

[clickToTweet tweet=”Moving your business out of your home creates clear boundaries.” quote=”Moving your business out of your home creates clear boundaries.”]

2. Greater focus

With far fewer interruptions, it's much easier for me to focus on my business priorities while I'm at work. There's no washing machine, there are no clashing dishes, and there's no noise-maker from hell (also known as the vacuum clean or—worse—the dryer buzzer).

Working from home requires a lot of discipline. You still need discipline working from a private office, but the opportunities to be distracted are far fewer. It's like the difference in maintaining a diet while you're walking in a park versus walking through the candy aisle.

[clickToTweet tweet=”Moving your business out of your home brings greater focus.” quote=”Moving your business out of your home brings greater focus.”]

3. Improved relationships

I totally love my wife! I made a lifetime-binding oath before God and man that I would always and forever love her. But that's not easy when I'm being selfish and under pressure. Marriage is hard work (because it means my changing and growing), but it's totally worth it!

During the first few years of my business, it was only my wife and me in the house—all day, every day. That continuous exposure to each other was bound to stir up nastiness we didn't realize we had (marriage doesn't create problems, it reveals them). So in addition to learning how to live together and become more Christlike toward each other, we also had the extra stress of my new business.

With blurry boundaries came frequent interruptions. With the interruptions came reduced productivity and increased stress. With increased stress came more temptation to be ugly.

I'm not saying that a home business will cause problems in your marriage. But it certainly is an additional burden stacked on what you may already be struggling to work through, which makes it easier to fail.

I hated facing a crisis multiple times every day. My crisis (or turning point) was how to balance loving my wife and investing myself in my business. I hated making those decisions between important priorities, and I was confronted with them throughout the day. Those decisions, alone, caused more stress in addition to all the other stresses (especially when I would make the wrong decision).

When I moved my business into a separate office, my marriage improved significantly. It wasn't this decision, alone. There were other things changing, too. But removing this collection of stresses made it easier to focus on and appreciate my relationship with my wife.

Let me be clear. Moving my office did not save my marriage; God saved my marriage. And I believe God gave us the wisdom to finally move my office space and relieve some of that stress on our most important relationship on Earth.

[clickToTweet tweet=”Moving your business out of your home can improve your family relationships!” quote=”Moving your business out of your home can improve your family relationships!”]

4. More flexibility

My business is podcasting and helping podcasters. This means I record a lot of audio and video—reviews, podcast episodes, consulting, courses, promotional videos, and more. That kind of multimedia work requires specialized equipment, a quiet environment, and sometimes lots of space.

Recording anything was always a challenge. I would cage our dog and ask my wife to be absolutely quiet—no dishes, microwave oven, flushing toilets, and sometimes not even walking around (because my office was below the kitchen and dining room). My activities and responsibilities were conflicting with my wife's activities and responsibilities. This meant my recording times were extremely limited, or the inconveniences would create additional conflict.

Plus, it wasn't practical to leave my video equipment set up, especially while we were trying to sell our house.

Now, having my own, dedicated space gives me the flexibility to arrange the space how I need it and leave my equipment set up. This makes it much easier to record something when time and inspiration hit.

[clickToTweet tweet=”Moving your business out of your home gives you more flexibility!” quote=”Moving your business out of your home gives you more flexibility!”]

Is a separate office for you?

As for me and my wife, we realized that even though working from home is very comfortable and affordable, it's far better for both our family and my business for me to work away from home—not even a small building on our property.

Your situation may be unique and still share some similarities with mine. You really have to decide this for yourself. But I hope this gives you some ideas to discuss with your family and associates.

Please comment with your own working-from-home stories and what inspired your decision for where you work.

Filed Under: Business, Family, Productivity Tagged With: balance, flexibility, focus, home, office space, podcasting, priorities, productivity

There Will Always Be Copycats, Especially If You Were First

March 19, 2016 by Daniel J. Lewis 2 Comments

Idea Followers

The Internet has enabled great innovation. From their homes, many people have created highly valuable empires through an online platform.

But invention and innovation come with frustrations—especially if you were the first to implement an idea.

Charles Caleb Colton said, “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery,” but it never feels like flattery when a competitor copies an idea. Yet, competition has created some of the greatest innovations in technology!

Think about where personal computing would be if Xerox and Apple hadn't raised the standard in the '80s.

In 2016, 76% of Americans own a smartphone—you probably have one within reach (if you're not reading this one your smartphone already). Thank the fierce competition between Google and Apple for how much that mobile power has matured over the years.

With the tools available to you, it's possible to create nearly any solution you can imagine. But be prepared for the copycats, the innovators, and those with similar ideas.

Yes, you can protect some ideas with patents.

When you see copycats, take the challenge to leave your status quo and innovate!

[clickToTweet tweet=”When you see copycats, take the challenge to leave your status quo and innovate!” quote=”When you see copycats, take the challenge to leave your status quo and innovate!”]

Filed Under: Business, Motivation Tagged With: competition, copycats, innovation, invention

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