I am about to start finding work. I was wondering what would be a good software for keeping track of clients, show schedule, invoices, and maybe inventory list, and maybe notes (like trick idea, routines)

Also it would be nice if the software wad free or cheap.

You will find several threads around comparing and contrasting several software packages. But free? With the considerations you're looking for (and I, as well) you'll possibly have to shell out some bucks, unless you know someone who has Filmaker or some such program that will customize a freebie for you.

Right now I'm using a demo version of "MagicBase Pro," and while it is certainly better than nothing, I don't think I can replace my composition book right now for the $199 price. But if you do stumble across some shareware or freeware, by all means let me know. Good luck.

There are some great open source CRMs out there... as mentioned
in other threads... however, they are not for the faint of
heart in terms of setting things up on your server.

Note that you don't necessarily have to have an All-in-One
toolkit for these tasks. You can indeed send invoices with
a word processor, track gigs in a spreadsheet,
and keep your calendar/email with Google calendar/gmail.

So, if that's an option you think work considering. here's
a free Microsoft Office rival to check out:

http://www.openoffice.org

Of course, http://www.google.com has a ton of stuff available and they
keep adding to it.

For other kinds of free software, in varying states of completeness
and usability, check out: http://www.sourceforge.net

Another great free software place that's a little simpler to search,
but with a smaller subset of tools is http://fossfor.us/

Make sure when you go to someplace like sourceforge that you read
about the state of the project and version number. I wouldn't
recommend grabbing anything much before a Version 1.0, although
it could be worth the risk. Also, check out the website to see
what kinds of support exist -- manual, wiki, html pages.

The basic groundrules for Free Software are primarily you will
have to do the digging to figure it out yourself. Support for
free software is typically extremely limited.

--Jack

I plan on getting a better program when I have an income. But know I have little to no money for a software right now, thank you for your suggestions

I think the free MS Office type software is a great idea. I personally am very fond of Google Docs.

If you are in college you should check out your computer store. Typically they offer a very large discount on the actual MS Office software. I was able to get my license for ~$25 and that's for the full professional edition.

It's not as fancy as CRM software, but certainly can get the job done. My dad has successfully used MS Works for the last 20 years to manage his drywall/remodeling business. Just need to find what works for you.

Have a look to our shop, http://www.magieteck.com

We sell software for magicians!

I have been a full time professional magician for ten years and I own a video production company as well. We can afford the higher priced software and we do and have used it over the years, however we have recently begun changing everything over to open source software. Both my performing business as well as our video production company are now being run with "Portable Apps" http://portableapps.com/ on a 8gb USB thumb drive, Google Docs & Gmail. With the exception of our video editing software everything is now free & open source.

We do have full versions of the Portable Applications on all of our computers but graphics, invoices, contracts, client files, web-browsers, Web design, sales letters, screen capture, chat, CD/DVD burning, file syncing and about a hundred other applications can be run with our tiny USB drive and Gmail. All free and all constantly being updated at no charge. We experimented with several systems until we finally decided on this. So far it is a dream. The thought of being able to run two successful businesses from a tiny USB and a laptop computer is to me "ultimate freedom". I urge you to check out portable apps.
http://portableapps.com/

David Tower

I should have made it clear in the title of the topic, I have a MacBook Pro

Try Eagle Data at http://www.eaglesoft.de/eagle/eagledata.html
It's free and simple to set up.
If you ever want to spend some money, Filemaker Pro is customizable and full featured.

Open Office dot org

It's runs natively on a Mac.

Your local Mac store will also have the latest bento software when you're ready to pay.
Joe

You can find an older version of ACT! for cheap on eBay. I use ACT! 6.0, and you can find that on eBay for around $20.

The software isn't that important. However the system that software forces you to conform to will give you structure, if you need it. Before the computer, big corporations kept track of things.

I'm just saying this as a warning, don't expect software to make you into a better businessman or better organized. It will only do this if you put in the work.

All the software you need came with your Macbook Pro. A spreadsheet (Numbers) and Pages (Word Processing/Page Layout) will take care of 95% of your business needs...certainly until you're able to buy more specialized software.

The software I LOVE is
Infusionsoft..
no its not free
but MAN its Awesome

CRM > List managment > even integrates with Merchant account

the basic account there has increased my response time drastically