Written by Randi Zimmermann | UPDATED August 31, 2020

In my previous blog post, I defined Zoho Projects and some of the key features that Beckmann Collaborative uses in the application. This article dives into some of the features that you'll notice upon first logging into Zoho Projects.

The first time you log in to any project management platform, it might be intimidating. In Zoho Project you will see feeds, projects, dashboards, and task lists. No need to fear, this article will guide you through with some helpful directions. 

Zoho Projects Dashboard

The first screen you see will either be your feed or your dashboard - depending on the default setup with your organization. The feed is similar to one you might see in a social media feed - showing real-time updates about what tasks have been opened, closed, or commented on. This can be...

Mindset First: Your marketing is going to be awful if you cannot get "in the flow" to write good quality content and express something useful and interesting. 

Here's a quick video with 3 Tips for Getting in the Flow. 

A strong content marketing strategy uses customization to engage your ideal customers and help you meet marketing goals. As a marketing team grows, things can slowly become a little "off".  The voice of your content may not be right, things may get rushed to meet deadlines, or a marketing idea may not align with your business goals. That is why we create different processes for generating better content more consistently. We call these processes workflows.

Workflow management can build efficiencies into your business, so you spend more time doing meaningful work rather than getting lost in minute details (or becoming...

UPDATED: March 21, 2023

This is the second post in our series about Zoho CRM setup. If you are still looking for a basic understanding of definitions and CRM strategy, read the first post. This post is focused on more specific logistics of setting up your CRM account so that it's customized to your needs. We'll touch upon the most important settings including:

• Personal Settings
• Company Details
• Email Integration
• Phone Bridge
• Social Integration
• Custom Fields - Modules and Fields
• Email Templates

How do you get to your settings? Click on the wrench and screwdriver in the top right corner of your screen, similar to the screenshot below.

1. Personal Settings

In the General section, you'll find Personal Settings. Fill out all of the fields in the Personal Settings - most important will be your email signature. Your email signature will show up in any emails you send out...

If you're new to either Zoho or project management software, you might not be familiar with Zoho's popular project management tool, Zoho Projects. Zoho Projects is a cloud-based application that enables you to assign and manage tasks for multiple projects in thorough detail. It is primarily designed for small and mid-sized businesses, and it keeps all of your projects conveniently in one, user-friendly place. In a review from PC Mag, Zoho Projects was labeled an outstanding choice for both small businesses and mid-sized businesses.

Key Features of Zoho Projects That We Love

Time Tracking

For Beckmann Collaborative, one of the most convenient features of Zoho Projects is time tracking and reporting. We use time tracking for EVERYTHING. It helps us continually learn and improve our marketing operations. 

First, we can export...

Guest Post by Louisa Garcia Moreno

Employees today spend most of their lives in the workplace and when it’s not designed with their well-being in mind it can be a stressful and draining experience and could potentially harm their performance.

Safeguarding the mental, physical, emotional and financial health of employees in the workplace is the goal of corporate wellness. The effects that stress and poor health can have over performance levels and business success should not be underestimated. When lack of wellness inadvertently becomes part of a company’s culture it can have serious consequences for a business — what begins as employees’ poor performance may eventually translate into poor performance at a corporate level.

According to findcourses.co.uk’s 2019 L&D Report, the linking factor between well-being and business success is employee...

What is a CRM?

CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management. This term is used by sales teams to describe contact management for leads. Among high-tech marketers, it usually refers to the software or systems used to manage relationships. 

    Before you jump into a CRM software, remember that first and foremost CRM is a part of your sales and marketing strategy. If your goal is to grow long-term relationships with customers and prospects over time to increase revenue and lifetime value, then you are seeking a smart CRM strategy. Everyone has a different bend on what CRM Strategy means - ranging from personalized communications to retargeting email ads. At the end of the day, CRM is all about how you can optimize Customer Relationships to maximize your sales.

Since Beckmann Collaborative is based in Austin, TX it is easy for us to visit clients in nearby Texas cities. It is also fun to go on a road trip! This week, we had the pleasure of visiting Killeen, Texas to work with the incredible team at NextHome Tropicana Realty  Our focus was on using social media marketing as an individual agent and how you can cross-pollinate your content with the company's social media. 

Quick Brag About This Team of Realtors

The team at NextHome Tropicana Realty is passionate and driven to support their local community in Killeen, TX. When we talked about their professional goals as an agent, the focus was not on money or becoming a "local celebrity."  These individuals were all about giving back and empowering others. Their target audience includes active-duty soldiers and their families, veteran retirees, army...

UPDATED July 2021

Kajabi for your LMS (Online Courses)

As a company with education and professional development rooted in our mission, we spent a good amount of time searching for the right LMS (Learning Management System).  While we loved using Wordpress for our website, finding an LMS plugin with a smooth integration was a challenge. 

We Compared Kajabi to Several Others

Several clients and partners talked about Teachable, Udemy, and Thinkific. All of those platforms are great for certain people and companies. For us, we found them limiting.

Those other LMS platforms have a big database of customers who are often categorized as "casual learners" or inactive. Those are not the people who get value from deep-dive training that requires focus and some elbow grease to get the work done right.  

For Beckmann Collaborative, ...

UPDATED March 7, 2023

Blogging in itself offers a wide array of benefits to your brand. Not only does it increase SEO, but it can also reflect your expertise to potential customers or clients.  Businesses of all sizes and across many different industries have found blogging to be a strong tactic in their content marketing strategy. 

What is guest blogging?

Guest blogging is the practice of writing an article or blog post for another company's blog. This is a way to build relationships, increase your authority, get broader brand exposure, and (of course) build backlinks for SEO.  Inbound links, also called backlinks, are a primary SEO ranking factor for search engines. Guest blogging offers an opportunity for you to write valuable content and link back to your own website.

Quick Lesson About...

Guest Post by Don Matejko

Strong presentation skills are important for any sales professional, especially when the products or services being sold are complicated, expensive and/or unfamiliar to the prospect. Some salespeople are naturally gifted presenters, but most acquire their skills through experience and training. If you are responsible for training in this area, here are important tips to bring your salespeople along quickly in the art of sales presentation.

1. Establish a training knowledge base

Effective presentations require the presenter to be credible and authentic. No amount of pre-packaged text and dazzling imagery can cover up a presenter who doesn’t really know what he or she is talking about. In contrast, a presenter who exudes confidence and understanding can effectively turn prospects into customers even if the presentation itself is flawed. With this...