Si Chen

Sounds like a simple chicken versus egg problem, isn’t it?  But in fact, this is a very deep question.  How you answer reveals the “soul” of your business.  Consider: I Want to Build a Community for My Customers If you think this way, you’re a traditionalist.  You think of your business/organization as the center or hub of activities.  You like the idea of the community and have probably read (seen?) how some brands have strong communities around them.  You’d like to do the same and build a community for those customers so they can interact with each other, give you feedback, and (hopefully) promote your brand. 99% of organizations probably think and act like this.  But there is another way… I and My Customers are Part of a Larger Community Most successful organizations serve existing market needs, not invent new ones.  People with those needs already form communi... (more)

iContact Email Marketing and Coupon

With all the excitement about social media, don’t forget how effective “old-fashioned” email marketing is. There’s nothing like a regular, relevant email newsletter to generate sales and promote your brand. Email is more complicated now, thanks to the CAN-SPAM Act, so I’d recommend that you use an online service instead of doing it yourself.  There are several good ones out there.  We’ve worked with iContact online email marketing service and have had generally good experiences with it, so I got a special coupon in case you want to try it out: Use coupon code OPENTAPS10, and you ... (more)

How Open Source Can Help Real People

The success of open source is undeniable. Just about any website you visit today is running on some kind of open source software. Your shiny new Mac is running FreeBSD under its beautiful surface.  Google uses open source software.  So does Facebook.  Yet if you mention open source software to most people, they probably will give you a blank look. Few non-technies know what it is, even though they use it countless times everyday. So: Can open source developers create software that directly benefit people, instead of wait for either implementers or the likes of Apple, Google, not t... (more)

Open Source ERP + CRM in the Cloud: opentaps and Amazon EC2

Cloud computing and open source applications is a great combination.  You get all the benefits of the cloud: easy to deploy, easy to maintain, low upfront and long-term infrastructure costs.  But you also get all the benefits of open source: flexibility, low cost applications, and control — control of your software and most importantly, your data. When you bring the two together, you also get a third benefit: Getting up and running with open source in the cloud is amazingly easy.  For example, take a look at how easy it is to start up opentaps Open Source ERP + CRM in the Amazon... (more)

Uploading leads into opentaps CRM

Last week I wrote about an easier way to load your organization’s data into opentaps.   Now we also have an easier way for your salespeople to load sales leads into the opentaps CRM module. Under the “Leads” tab of opentaps CRM, you will now see a new link for “Upload Leads.”   This will take you to the screen where you can upload a spreadsheet of your sales leads, including their name and contact information: There’s not much more to it: filling your contacts’ information, go to the screen, and upload them.  There’s an example of this spreadsheet in opentaps, and you can read ... (more)