Software packages for cleaning businesses

If you're running your own cleaning business, then buying cleaning business software is a good way to organise the business.

There are a number of software packages available that are specifically designed for cleaning businesses. The software has a range of functions, which normally include features such as:

• Appointment tracking so that cleaning personnel know where to visit on a daily basis.


• Client contact management facilities.


• Customer history.


• Customer billing capabilities including the ability to take credit card payments.


• Customer feedback on the quality of their cleaning service, which can help to improve customer service.


• Charting and data analysis capabilities.


• Data backup.


• Financial forecasting.

Read more about cleaning business software packages here.

How to Create or Buy Promotional Cardboard Standees

Looking for a cool idea for endorsing your small business? Many organisations already know the marketing power of lifesized cardboard cutouts. If you happen to go into any record or film store, the odds are they could have one or two promotional cardboard standees of celebs to endorse the latest record or film.

Cardboard cutouts are beneficial marketing devices for trade exhibits, in-store promotions, new shop openings (less expensive than hiring a real superstar!) and office parties.

There are a couple of ways of making a cardboard standup for use for a promotion. The initial way is to get a specialist art company to make a cardboard standup for you. Yes there are really organizations which will make available this service on your behalf!

The benefit of getting a company to supply your cardboard standup for you is that they will use premium materials and you'll be assured of receiving a top quality cardboard cutout to utilise to advertise your corporation. Unfortunately it may be expensive to get a cardboard cutout professionally created. The fee is gonna be especially high if you just want a single figure produced.

A neat choice is to create your own cardboard standup. This is actually quite easy to accomplish. There's a great software program that will help you create your own personal lifesized cardboard standees. The great thing about this is that the cardboard cutout creator software actually works with any photo! You can start using your photograph of your chosen personality, work colleague or model, then make as many cardboard standees as you require. While the quality may not be as high as obtaining a cardboard cutout figure professionally created, the actual fact is that many cardboard standees are simply required for trade displays or one off promotional events, so it's not always worth spending lots of cash on producing your cardboard cutout.

The computer software for creating your own personal personalised cardboard standee contains everything you'll want to know so that you can create cutouts using a standard printer. It guides you through the process of selecting the right materials for printing. There's advice about weatherproofing your standup should they have to stand outdoors for long time periods. There's also details about how to choose a photograph that might produce a really good standee. If you are in need of photograph ideas then there's also some cool information about where to obtain particularly good photos of celebs.

Stock Trading Software

Stock trading software is essential if you want to have a go at making it as a day trader. Stock trading software can be used to document your existing trades as well as show promising new trades.

Stock trading software used to be mainly based on desktop PC software. It is now increasingly possible to use ever more advanced stock trading facilities using online based trading platforms. Such platforms are attractive because they can be accessed from any location where an Internet browser is available. Many of the popular trading platforms are also available on mobile computing devices.

Two of the most popular trading software packages for the serious trader or day trader are MetaStock and TradeStation. Both have comprehensive facilities for tracking and documenting stock trades, and allow access to a wide variety of markets. Both are also popular with traders who have a programming background, as both packages can be programmed so that custom stock indicators can be programmed into the trading platform.

If you’re not a semi-professional trader or day trader then an alternative is to use one of the many free websites to keep track of your portfolio. Financial sites with good portfolio tracking tools include iii.co.uk and the Motley Fool. Both Yahoo and Google also now offer enhanced facilities for small time stock traders.

How to Make Your Own Cardboard People

If you're looking for an original gift for someone then it's hard to do better than making cardboard people. Making a cardboard cutout of a person is a great gift whether it's for a birthday, retirement party, important anniversary or some other occasion.

As well as being a great gift idea, cardboard people can be a great business promotional tool. For years cinemas as well as music and entertainment stores have used cardboard celebrities to promote new films, albums, books and other merchandise. Getting a celebrity to endorse your product is one of the oldest promotional marketing tools in the book. Unfortunately it's really expensive to get an A or B list celebrity to promote your business. The next best thing is a cardboard cutout of that person.

Cardboard people can be bought online from a number of retailers. They will often have special deals on cardboard people who are in the news (such as the hottest celebrities and newsworthy people). A lot of art supply companies will also custom build you a cardboard person of your choice.

A cheaper option is to make your own cardboard person. Here's some great software for doing this yourself. All of the materials you need to make your cardboard person are easy to obtain, and you can use any printer to print out your cardboard person.

Time Tracking Software Products

Professional services organisations typically charge clients for the time taken on projects. Consequently it is important to have a high quality time tracking software product. A good quality time tracking tool can dramatically improve business efficiency as well as ensuring that clients are correctly charged for the time taken on various projects.

• This article describes the various time tracking software applications on offer.

For smaller enterprises a desktop based tool such as HourGuard might be sufficient. For larger organisations there is the choice of desktop PC or Internet based solutions. Many of these larger packages integrate with billing and project management software such as Microsoft Project.

There are also specialist software packages available such as PT billing software for private physiotherapy practices.

MicroFiche and MicroFilm Scanning Services

Before computer technology became widely introduced into offices, one of the most popular data storage solutions was through the use of microfilms and microfiches. Both data storage mediums are designed to be inexpensive long term archival formats. Unfortunately they are slow and inefficient means of data storage compared to today's computer based systems.

As this article shows, it's now easy to scan and convert archived data stored on aperture cards, microfilm and microniche. Data can be converted to a range of digital file formats, then used in other data processes such as document tracking and management. Microfiche scanning can either be carried out in house using specialised hardware, or it can be outsourced to one of the many scanning service companies.

Physiotherapy Clinic Software

Physiotherapy clinic software is useful for automating many of the processes involved with patient care. The software can improve efficiency by allowing patient case histories to be entered and updated. Specialised physiotherapy software is often pre-configured to allow rapid data entry of standard physiotherapy treatment options and notes. Many of the software products are available for both desktop based as well as mobile computing technologies.

• Here's more information about the range of physiotherapy patient care software products available.
  

Physiotherapy Billing Software

If you're running a private physiotherapy practice then it's also worth investing in physiotherapy billing software (PT billing software). While private physiotherapists tend to concentrate on patient care, they often neglect the financial side of running a business. This can be a costly mistake. Studies have shown that physiotherapy practices that use paper based systems often miss out of huge amounts of income because patients aren't being billed property for the full course of their treatment. Mistakes can also arise due to the nature of many treatment plans being paid for by private medical insurance, the patient's employers or other bodies.

Good physiotherapy business software is therefore essential. It improves income and cash flow through efficient billing procedures. Many software solutions also improve patient care by improving scheduling of patient care. Physiotherapy software can also be of value to other healthcare professionals such as chiropractors.

Document Tracking Software

If you're running a business and need to keep track of your documents then it's essential to have a good quality document tracking software solution.

Document tracking is often used in businesses that rely on case file management such as law enforcement, the legal and medical professions. There are a number of document tracking solutions from small applications that track electronic documents to sophisticated solutions that include barcode scanning, document labelling and the ability to track documents over several sites.

This article about document tracking software discusses some of the options for implementing a successful document tracking solution in your business.

SQL Server Transact SQL Tutorials

Looking for articles about SQL Server programming? Here are some of my latest SQL tutorials. They are written with SQL Server's transact SQL in mind, but most will work with Oracle, MySQL and other relational databases:

• How to create SQL.


• Using the Transact SQL Insert Into statement.


• Book a SQL Server training course online


• Find the date today in Microsoft's Transact SQL.


• How to find the month name in SQL.

Here are some more SQL Server Transact SQL tutorials.

New Software Resources

The SoftwareDocumentation.info software portal has now gained some new sections of the website. The new website sections contain information for the following software resources:

• Business Software
• Financial Software
• CRM Software
• Monitoring Software
• Database Software
• Testing Tools

SQL Documentation Tool for SQL Server 8.3

The SQL Documentation Tool is a complete documentation solution for Microsoft SQL Server databases. It automatically creates comprehensive technical documentation reports for databases, saving valuable developer time and money.

Reports are created in HTML [sample], Microsoft's HTML Help [sample], RTF [sample] and text [sample] formats. Color coded, syntax highlighted copies of the Transact SQL associated with stored procedures, functions and views are included with the reports. The compiled HTML Help reports includes an index and search facility.

Version 8.3 offers the following updates:

• Function dependency information is more complete.


• Extraction of MS_Description fields from all database entities now works if the connection type is set to SQL Server 2008.


• The Check for Updates option is now disabled while tasks are in progress.

Download SQL Documentation Tool Trial Version

.NET Documentation Tool for C#/VB.NET 10.1

The .NET Documentation Tool code documentor tool automatically builds comprehensive technical software documentation for .NET Framework applications written in VB.NET or C#. Microsoft SQL Server and Microsoft Access databases associated with the application may also be documented if required. There is enhanced functionality for documenting ASP.NET web applications.

Reports are created in HTML [sample], Microsoft's HTML Help [sample], word processor compatible RTF [sample], XML [sample] and text [sample] formats. Color coded, syntax highlighted copies of the .NET and SQL code are included with the reports. The compiled HTML Help reports include fully searchable source code, making the .NET Documentation Tool an invaluable utility in understanding your (or someone else's!) applications. Versions for ASP and Visual Basic 6.0 are also available.

Changes in version 10.1 of the .NET Documentation Tool are:

• The SQL Server database documentation routines have been reworked in order to provide greater
  compatibility with the schemas functionality introduced with SQL Server 2005.
  This improves the quality of the documentation produced for SQL Server Views, Stored Procedures and Triggers.

Download .NET Documentation Tool Trial Version