Are you an entrepreneur, small-medium business owner, or manager of a company? If so, you simply must check out this project management software from ProActive Software (company website). Their program, ProWorkflow, is a wonderful product that helps you save money and make money through efficiency. It helps you keep track of your employees projects, workflow, and time spent. And it’s attractive, too, which I always love.

ProWorkflow has a great list of features, but the one that caught my eye was that it keeps your clients’ drink preferences. I once read that if you stay at a Ritz hotel they record everything they know about you so the next time you stay at one they can make you as comfortable as possible by suggesting a restaurant or by other means. Does that make this the “Ritz” of all project management software? Hah, it’s entertaining to think of it that way.

Right now they’re offering free trial accounts so you can get in there and see what it’s all about. I tried it myself and it was even more impressive than I had anticipated. The most important part, other than the features, was the interface. It is a very nice looking program and everything is very easy to find. The way a program looks is extremely important because no one wants to look at an ugly screen and, believe it or not, that can bring down productivity in itself.

They offer a code to download, so you can take care of it all on your own server. I prefer to run scripts this way because I like to have full control over things. They also offer a subscription hosted services where their staff will install it for you and get you running fast. They also handle any software bugs or upgrades leaving you to take care of the things you need to take care of.

I’m very impressed by this software.
Try the demo, let me know what you think.

It seems these days everyone wants to work for themselves. I can definitely relate, I’ve worked with and for my share of jerks. Quite a few people have asked me how I got started with my homebased business, and have even tried to start their own like it.

If you’re looking to start your own business, the biggest suggestion I have for you is to take a look at the market. When I started my hosting company back in 2002 the timing was perfect. At the time hosting companies were pretty expensive and if they weren’t, the company was pure crap. Through a connection of mine I got ahold of a cheap server and was on my way.

It wasn’t just the market, though, it was also my ability to put my company out there. I ran a website that was very popular at the time (Lala Land, anyone know it?) and a lot of people wanted one just like it. So of course I linked to my hosting company on the site and word of mouth from me and my friends brought me there. I’ve seen my friends try and make the same type of company with lower prices and a great site, but still not do well. I don’t know exactly how, but something was just perfect then and it got me going.

Good thing it worked out for me, too. Because now I get to stay at home and take care of my family without having a lot of money troubles. Granted, I do live slightly above my means, but I’m learning and moving on, too. I got excited about the idea of being able to get my dream car and I took it, though I probably shouldn’t have.

What kind of business ideas do you have?
Do you have your own company?
Tell me about it.

If you asked me, “What do you do with your earnings?” I would flat out tell you, I put it all into savings. To me, anything I make from this, and my other blogs, is money I wouldn’t otherwise have and I treat it as such. I stick it straight into the savings account. The only difference is my mommy blog, any money I make there is split between my boys’ savings accounts.

The next step, for me, is to learn about investing. My 4.5% savings account is great, but what if I could get double or triple that? Back when Taser was a new company Jay wanted us to get stock in it, but we didn’t have the minimum $2,000 we needed, a year later we checked it out and the stock was doing so well it would have turned into $30,000 if we had simply gotten the $2,000 originally. Pretty impressive stuff.

I admit, I’m not too wonderful when it comes to investing. I know there is a lot there to understand and simply reading about it won’t tell me what I’m looking for. I usually learn by example, so I’m happy to have found this investor social networking site, MyWallSt.net. This gives me just the push I need to get started. I’m really interested in learning about all the ways to invest, I even opened my first CD a month or so ago.

When it comes to something as important as money, I don’t like jumping the gun. I like the idea of having investor friends that can help me with the big decisions. Not only because they probably know more about it than I do, but also because different people have different views of things and can probably come up with ideas and scenarios I wouldn’t otherwise think of. I’m very excited to join this new site and to see where it takes me.

Blogging has finally made it big, they’ve made a television show about it. There’s a new show out on the CW called Gossip Girl where a girl blogs about the lives she observes. Basically, and obviously, she watches her neighbors and blogs about them like a gossip queen. The story narrated by Kristen Bell (Veronica Mars, Pulse) and the show is from the same creator as the over-popular ‘The O.C.” - so you know it’s going to be an instant hit. I just hope it doesn’t end up giving blogging a bad name.

The show seems pretty interesting, I may pop it on just to see if it can live up to the hype. I’m not big on gossip and drama, but when they make a show about something I do every day I have to admit, I’m curious. I haven’t ever heard of any of the other actors in it, but that’s not saying much. I don’t get too heavy into TV because I value my sanity, I usually just watch TV for *maybe* 20 minutes a day. Let’s see if this show can hold my interest for an entire hour.

Check it out. Gossip Girl on The CW starts Wednesday, September 19.