Workers: how does an electronic secretary sound? What about one who helps out 24 hours a day and never takes coffee breaks?

My name is Kevin Madden, and I have asked Steve Brooks to let members know about our version 2.0 release of ShowBiz CRM, the most advanced software package designed by magicians for magicians. Neither my business partner, Michael Carducci, nor I needed another list-making application, and the big kids at Sales Forceâ„¢ etc. charge hundreds or even thousands of dollars per month for the functionality we wanted. We needed something for repetitive tasks, parts of record keeping, reminding clients who "forgot" to send in their deposits, and about a dozen other things that a trained monkey could probably do and we already do. But the clean-up costs for a trained monkey are steep, and besides, computers are great at tedious tasks. And Michael is an expert software engineer writer with a broad and deep portfolio of complex programming. See where this is going?

Michael and I 'met' on a thread right here on the Café (go look - the beginnings of our conversation are still there). We quickly formed an LLC and got to work. A bit over two years later, we now offer a product that takes care of just about every task the working magician needs, from customers being able to instantly get a slick proposal customized for their event by the performer with just a couple of clicks of the mouse, or taps on your smartphone, to the system automatically sending a nicely formatted thank you note the day after a kid's party gig. So again, try out our beloved Frankenstein (it's free for six weeks), and get four to six hours of your time (for someone doing four gigs a week) back a week, EVERY week.



What does the thing actually do?

The heart of the product is our sophisticated "workflow" engine. You easily create custom routines that automate the tedious parts of your bookings (who is sick of copying & pasting contracts?) to handling the entire booking process for your lower cost shows, with the system even pinging you when customers send in their deposit. Your customers can always choose between multiple show options (if you offer them), and as ShowBiz CRMâ„¢ is online 24/7, they are always able to pay and book. So instead of you copying & pasting, and calling, and reminding, and nagging ... let ShowBiz CRMâ„¢ do ALL of it for you. ALL of it (well, save giving a solid performance).

• Automatic Follow-up Emails after your initial response
  
• Automatic Follow-up Inquiries ten months later
  
• Automatic Thank-you Notes the day after the show
  
• Instant Generation of polished PDF Invoices, W9s, receipts, and Performance Agreements for both the customer & you, the worker
  
• And darn near anything else you can think of
  

We have created a low-cost software product (about 80¢ per day) that like Google is on the "cloud," with servers in Dallas and Chicago. Your calendar is there. Your email blasts (for which you are likely paying up to $30 per month for those alone) are there. Your phone numbers are there. Every email you've ever sent (generated from templates you customize) is there. And anywhere you have internet connectivity, you have access to your records.

There is nothing remotely close to this software by any of the big kids like ACTâ„¢ or magicians have created elaborate (essentially, auto-responders and templates requiring other software products). We've spent tens of thousands of dollars and that many hours making something we need, and whether you need that electronic secretary to sort through table-hopping inquiries, book birthday gigs, or respond to inquiries about your college show, ShowBiz CRMâ„¢ does it with an electronic smile: our tagline is "The Business of Entertainment," and we think you'll find it a reasonable claim!

So sign up (the first six weeks are for free); reserve your spot in our community forum for our twice-weekly webinars on Tuesdays and Sundays (if you get a last-minute gig and can't make it - trust us, you won't be penalized!); personalize your templates and documents; import the form ShowBizCRMâ„¢ generates (your webmaster can help you, and the forum again has lots of tips); and be so very glad you read Steve Brook's email blast. Congrats. You've now cut your paperwork/phone-tag/copying & pasting by four to six hours a week. Our guess is you have better things to do with them.

- Kevin A. Madden & Michael Carducci, Co-Founders, ShowBiz CRMâ„¢ http://ShowBizCRM.com

P.S. Want to see it in action? Try the demo (http://demo.showbizcrm.com/) on the home page. It imitates what your customers will experience (but it will be with your logo, word choices, and pretty pictures).