Austin Business

Business Rules of Thumb

A wiki with rules of thumbs

http://rulesofthumb.pbwiki.com/

Statistics for the Austin MSA

I'm working on a marketing plan for our business and needed some statistics for the Austin area.  I started by visiting the U.S. Census site but then went to Austin Chamber site and found everything I needed on one page.  Population & Population Growth, Employment by Industry, Employment by Occupation, Education Overview, Crime Rate, etc.  Check it out:

http://www.austin-chamber.org/DoBusiness/CustomizedReports/index.php

Contrast in Customer Service

Earlier I wrote about the great customer service offered by the Taj Group who sent a customer's wife sandlewood soap just because she complimented them.  Contrast this with the lousy customer service we just got from Projector People. 

As a training center we have bought 5 projector's from Projector People.  We bought them because they had a good website that explained the projector's well, good pre-sales support, and good prices.  The last projector I bought was for my brother as a birthday gift.  They promised him an extra bulb, and a free screen.  He filled out all the paperwork and sent it in.  A month passed, two months passed.  He called Sanyo, he called Projector People, he called the Rebate Center--they all kept passing the buck.  This week he finally had it and called Projector People and told them he was going to file complaints.  Their response...your screen will be there Friday...maybe.  Live with it. 

My brother is the guy who did file a lawsuit when the Porsche dealership pushed him too far.  He's also one of the most networked people I know in this town.  When he put his application in for the Austin Under 40 award (he won) he got recommendations from the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Mayor and several judges.  He definitely influences 100's of people in their purchase decisions.

It is interesting to me that all the hard work that Projector People did in building a great site, having great prices, and heck even having generally good customer service can be undone by one sales rep saying "Live with it."  All it would have taken to keep a happy customer would have been a kind word.  A great lesson to learn.

Blackberry Spell Checker

There are basically two spell-checking programs for the Blackberry, both require a server component. The free one, bbCorrector, comes with a PHP script and an EXE you run on a web server.

The steps below use bbCorrector and a server someone was kind enough to put up for all to use. It uses Google for the spell checker. (This means you do not need to have your own server).

Step 1: Create an Account

http://bb.nexstanza.com/

Step 2: Install Software

http://www.tateu.net/software/bb.php?f=bbcota

Step 3: Set Server URL

a: Open the bbCorrector Application
b: Add the server:
  http://nexstanza.com/bb/server.php
c: Add your account info from step 1.
d: Save

Step 4: Reboot Phone

(I popped my battery out)

Step 5: Check Spelling

Start an email, type something, click the scroll wheel, choose 'Spell'.

NOTE:
On a duplicate word my BB isn't wide enough to see all the buttons.

Spellchecker for Blackberry

There are basically two spell-checking programs for the Blackberry, both require a server component. The free one, bbCorrector, comes with a PHP script and an EXE you run on a web server.

The steps below use bbCorrector and a server someone was kind enough to put up for all to use. It uses Google for the spell checker. (This means you do not need to have your own server).

Step 1: Create an Account

http://bb.nexstanza.com/

Step 2: Install Software

http://www.tateu.net/software/bb.php?f=bbcota

Step 3: Set Server URL

a: Open the bbCorrector Application

b: Add the server:

http://nexstanza.com/bb/server.php

c: Add your account info from step 1.

d: Save

Step 4: Reboot Phone

(I popped my battery out)

Step 5: Check Spelling

Start an email, type something, click the scroll wheel, choose 'Spell'.

NOTE:

On a duplicate word my BB isn't wide enough to see all the buttons.

Free Credit Report

With all the data theft going on lately it's wise to check your credit report periodically.  Each of the three major agencies are obligated to give you a free copy of your credit report once a year.  You can get the credit reports at:

https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/index.jsp

It's free, just don't sign up for all their offers.  I rotate between each of the bureaus every four months to keep up to date with what's going on in my credit file.

By the way this doesn't give you a credit score, want a free credit score?  Go to www.eloan.com -- they'll give you a credit score. 

Project Management Website

Essays on Project Management, etc.

http://www.scottberkun.com/essays/

Gantthead.com - The Online Community for IT Project Managers

I was looking for some project planning help for a recent bid I was doing and ran across this really useful website.  Yes, a lot of stuff is membership only, but there is a good amount of free stuff including free project plans--I lucked out and the project plan I needed (Software Development Project Plan) was free.  The really useful stuff is under the Download section. 

http://www.gantthead.com/