Hey Ken,

That's a valid question. I hope I can answer it w/o sounding like a jerk. Much as I would like to help Tom in this area, too, there are a few reasons why I'm not.

One is the whole hardware/software issue. If he decides to go with the contact management software like I'm urging him to, then the data entry has to be done on his (not yet existing) computer, because that's where the software will be installed. Even if I had a copy of ACT! myself (which I will eventually be getting for my own business), I don't think there's a way to extract one set of data to disk and import it into another copy of the software. You can export ACT! data into Excel with an add-on piece of software, but you can't go from Excel to ACT! (Keep in mind, ACT! is much more complex and less common than Microsoft products and others that are found on millions of other PCs.)

So, why don't we just select a couple hundred patients and put the basic info into Excel to do a test mailing? I've mentioned that to Tom, and I think the reason he didn't jump at it is because of the time involved in going thru the files and doing the data entry, and the fact that he would have to do the data entry again (or pay someone to do it) when he got ACT!. So, why don't I offer to do it for him? That leads into my second reason...

Positioning. As a marketing consultant, I want to position myself as someone who strategizes, develops the "programming" (not a computer term, in this case), and writes copy (ads, salesletters, etc.). Ideally, the "busy work" should be done by someone in my client's company who is dedicated (P/T or F/T, depending on the case) to following my instructions. If they don't have someone like that (as will be the case with smaller businesses like Tom's), then I might have to help out a little more. But, for something like data entry, it should be easy enough to find a student or hire a temp to do it. I personally charge $200/hr for consultation (though I prefer contingency arrangements); even if I didn't charge Tom that much for data entry, does it make sense for me (or for my image as a "professional") to do work that someone else can competently do for $10/hr? This leads to a third reason...

Simply put, my time can be better spent elsewhere, whether it's developing materials for Tom or for another client, or working on another project, or furthering my own education with books, tapes, & the like.

I hope that doesn't sound too arrogant or selfish, but those are the types of things I have to think about, now.

Regards,
Chris

> Chris,

> I don't know about marketing but one thing
> I've noticed that no one has mentioned in
> all the good advice given and that is why
> don't you offer to do the computer/database
> work as a service to Tom. Since he doesn't
> have a computer and can't afford one right
> now and since you do and seem to be very
> familiar with Tom's needs why not offer this
> service to him. Also you may be able to
> offer this service to the other businesses
> in the mall. Just my 2 cents worth.

> Ken