I’m as busy as any other consultant, and I constantly wish for another three or four hours a day to do everything I want to. The trick is always finding ways to use my time more efficiently, and what can be “outsourced” cheaply and reliably. Sometimes even finding these solutions can be tricky, so when one comes to me, I’m eager to give it a try.
A few weeks ago, I was contacted by the great folks at Shoeboxed.Com to give their service a try. ShoeBoxed will take those piles of business cards and receipts you have lying around the office and scan them into a database for you. You get the paper back, if you want it, and all you are left with is the data in electronic form which you can keep on their site with a membership or download to your own computer. I know have all my business cards in a database that I can use to create and sort as an email and outreach list, client generation source, and more. And best of all, I have tons less guilt about not having done this all along. This solved my backlog problem and lets me move forward exactly as I need to.
This has been a real blessing for me. I had a HUGE pile of business cards I knew I had to get into a database soon, especially since my book is finally coming out in August. I needed to have all this data organized and in one place, and the thought of getting an expensive scanner or trusting my kids to do the job well and consistently was concerning. All I had to do was place all the cards in an envelope (which meant cleaning the office- a side benefit!) and sending them off to ShoeBoxed. They let me know when the package was received, and when the files were ready. It was such a simple process, I signed up for an ongoing account to help make my data and receipt management for my business easier from here on out.
While I tried this service I had heard about before because they contacted me and offerred a free trial, I am now a paying account holder because the service helps me make better use of my time for very little money. And that’s a big deal when you are trying to run your own business. Anything I can do to get my time back is a godsend. Shoeboxed.com is helping me do that, and if you get a chance, check them out.
This isn’t an affiliate post, and I don’t have any other client or similar relationship to Shoeboxed.com other than as a happy customer. The trial was given without a a quid pro quo arrangement, but that they hoped I could recommend the service if it worked for me. And I have to say, it was an easy win for me. If you have a paper receipt and business card management problem, Shoeboxed.com may be an easy answer for you too.
Let’s hope I can make all my chores this easy in the future 🙂