Free Marketing and Sales Tools on Your Mac!

I admit it, I'm a download junkie. I love finding new applications on the internet and trying them out.

So when I was looking for a database app that would help me track my marketing contacts, current clients, and follow-ups, I was geeking out on all the wondrous offerings before me. I downloaded a few and gave them a test run. Most of them had some means to integrate my existing address book and calendar, which I first saw as a bonus.

Then, I had an epiphany. I wondered why I was trying so hard to learn a new app that's using data I had already spent time entering?

I had found my solution. It was already on my Mac, I had already paid for it, and for the love of Jobs it was staring me in the face every day. The system is simple, and any Mac user can do it.

Note: I'm running Mac OSX 10.5 (Leopard), but the tools I describe are available on earlier versions of OS X.

The first application I use is Address Book. Any marketing guru will tell you that creating and maintaining a contact database is like having a phone. Are you in business? You should have one of these.

Creating contacts in Address Book is simple, so rather than get into basics I'd like to show you a tip on how to exploit an often-overlooked feature, the Note section.

Not long ago I was surprised to learn that merely having contacts does nothing for your business; you should actually have a plan to use them (every day, something new).

The Note section is great for this. You can write whatever you want in there, so it's perfect for tracking marketing activity. Here's an example of a Note section for one of my marketing contacts:

• sent slick sheet 11/16
•  EMAIL BOUNCED 1/23 (check source!)
• saw my portfolio at March conference: gave me her card: Lisa does *everything* for them; layout, art direction, find artists, etc.
• Sent e-mail to Lisa 3/29; got response and request for samples same day

This is great for me, because all I need to do is look up a contact and see what my activity has been with that person. It's very efficient, because I don't need to reference another app or database. I'm already working in my Address Book. If you do this consistently over a few months, you'll be shouting for joy whenever you need to reference a marketing contact.

So I know what I did already, but how do I know what I need to do next, i.e.; the Follow-up? Another cool, free app that's already sitting on your Mac: iCal.

This requires a bit of discipline on your part, but again, if you're diligent it will pay off. As soon as you create a contact in Address Book, add an iCal event to contact that person. Even if your event is merely a reminder to think about them, it will help you to really use your database. iCal also has a handy alarm for each event, so you can set it up to pop up on your screen or even send you an e-mail at a time you choose. I set multiple alarms for events and then forget them.

If you have an iPod or iPhone synced to your Mac, you'll also get those little reminders on the go. I carry my iPod almost everywhere for this reason – another “free” tool if you exploit it well.

It's a great system and the part I like best is the simplicity. All of these functions already existed on my computer and I was using them every day. I'll probably never cure my addiction to downloading cute little apps for fun, but at least I know I've got this area covered.

Postscript: I would imagine that there is a similar set of Windows apps that will accomplish the same thing. I would be curious to know how Windows users have applied existing system applications to their marketing and sales systems.