I watched the recording for Sherwin-Williams 2012 Color Forecast webinar that was held this week and loved the color palettes.  I did a screenshot of one of the images they presented during the Reds segment. Can you believe this is actually a headboard in a hotel? What a novel idea. I think I decided to create this post based on this one photograph. Although, I am excited about receiving my new paint deck.

Click on any of the images to view actual names of paint colors. You can order the paint decks for the 2012 Forecast free of charge by logging into Sherwin-Williams Resource Library for Designers.

NEUTRALS

REDS

BLUES

GREENS

Do you ever play phone tag when trying to schedule appointments with your clients? We’ve got a great solution for you. A couple months ago, we signed up for an online appointment scheduler called TimeTrade. We absolutely love how easy it is for our customers/clients to make appointments with our company. It has saved time for both our company and our customers/clients.

TimeTrade integrates with your existing Outlook or Google calendar. You can create multiple event types with different blocks of time. When a client selects a desired time, your Outlook or Google calendar is automatically filled in with their information.

Try it for yourself for 30-day free trial. The single user price per year is only $49.

Schedule a 15-Minute Quick Demo

Want to see how easy it is to create an activity with TimeTrade, watch this video on YouTube.

Facebook Marketing All-in-One for Dummies

I listened to a great webinar today hosted by Gail Dody with Design Success University presented by Amy Porterfield. The subject was marketing with Facebook. Amy is a very engaging down to earth speaker. Visit her on Facebook and like her page, you’re sure to get lots of great marketing tips from her.

She also mentioned that she was one of three authors that wrote the book “Facebook Marketing All-in-One for Dummies.” This book discusses everything you ever wanted to know about how to effectively use Facebook as a marketing tool. Check out the book, it has a wealth of information. Amy shared a lot of great tips on the webinar today. Thanks Gail for having the insight to have Amy do a presentation today.

Have you seen these funny looking squares that resemble a computer chip and wondered what the heck? You’ve probably noticed them on printed materials you’re receiving in the mail. They’re showing up everywhere! Or, you might have even noticed them on a few business cards. Keep reading to see how to begin using those funny looking squares today.

What are Quick Response Codes?

First, let me explain how and why these codes are used. They are called QR Codes (Quick Response) and they are able to be read with an app in mobile phones such as iPhone, Android and Blackberry. These unique scanner apps read the QR Code and instantly displays any type of information from the vendor’s website, a shopping cart page, or contact details.

Make Your Own QR Code

You can even generate your own QR Code to add to your marketing materials. We’re in the process of adding QR Codes to our business cards, brochures, flyers . . . well you get the picture. You can generate a different QR Code that is specific to each marketing piece. For instance, your brochure QR Code might take a person directly to the homepage of your website. A QR Code on a flyer might take your client to a specific page on your website. A QR Code on your business card could give them your contact details. In this world of technology, it’s all about giving our clients the information they want RIGHT NOW!

Getting a QR App

Below is example of a QR Code online generator that can create a QR Code for your business card by using the Create a meCard option. If you want to create a QR Code to direct someone to your website you would simply click on the drop down menu and select Bookmark a website. There are several QR Code generators available on the web. We selected Qrafter, anyone can visit this website and generate QR Codes for free, however, their current mobile phone app is only for iOS devices which are the iPhone and iPad. I also like Mobiletag and their app is for Andriod, Blackerry and iPhone users. Download an app for your phone today; be prepared to take interesting journeys with your phone.

You can upgrade to the Pro Pack ($2.99) and create QR Codes right from your iPhone.

How to decide to pay and reimburse yourself can be a difficult question, especially when you first open your business. Almost all new businesses have to re-invest most of their profit back into the business. Think about how much it would cost to replace yourself doing the tasks you do. If you hired someone to do your job, what is the going rate in your area? That is the minimum base rate you should choose to pay yourself. Some business owners pay themselves based on a percentage of the job, sometimes that is easier in the beginning when cash flow is tight.

After deciding how much, let’s look at how to enter that in your QuickBooks company file. You will want to discuss this with your accountant of course, as everyone’s entity and personal situation will vary. If you create payroll for employees, you can make yourself an “Employee” and pay yourself, letting payroll taxes accrue as you go along. This is how I have paid myself for years. Pay as you go and even it all up at the end of the year on your tax returns.

Chart of Accounts

You need two accounts in your Chart of Accounts to show money drawn and money invested. Depending on your entity type there will be different account names for each entity. Essentially, whether it is a Partner Draw or an Owners Draw, the name is different but the concept is the same. Your company has money, it isn’t taxed yet, and you want to put it in your pocket. That’s OK, it’s your money.

Below are three examples of Chart of Accounts’s set up as three different entity types, notice how they have similar names for the money drawn and money invested equity accounts?

Owner Draw

Partner Draw

Corporation

What your accountant and the government care about is that when you take or put money into your company, you record that information correctly. Show how much you take and how much you put in, so the accountant can arrange it all on your tax return at the end of the year and assess the proper payroll and income taxes on it.

Draw Check

If you don’t create payroll you can write yourself a “Draw” check, remember to use the equity account in your Chart of Accounts that is for draws, don’t get hung up on the difference in names in the different types of entities. Here is an example of a check written to the owner of the company for $1000.00 as a salary.

The other thing you need to account for is business expenses that you make with personal funds or credit cards. Very, very important to keep track of these. You can do them as you go but most people let them pile up in a file and reimburse these expenses periodically. This money that you “invest” in your company is money you can take out of your company with no payroll or income taxes assessed; it is money the government has already taxed. Let’s look at two ways to get that expense posted in QuickBooks and/or pay yourself back.

Expense Account

If you want to pay yourself back just write yourself, a check and use the appropriate expense account. If you used your personal credit card to buy some paper at Office Max, below is a check showing how to pay yourself back.

Now here is the really cool trick, how to enter the expense and NOT pay yourself back right now. We are going to create a “Zero Sum Transaction in a Clearing Account.” Won’t you look smart at your next tax appointment throwing that fancy phrase out on the desk? It’s very easy!

• Create a new bank account called “Clearing Account” (List > Chart of Accounts > right-click, select “New” > Type, Bank > Save & Close.
• Now create a check and make sure you choose the “Clearing Account this time, the example below shows the same copy paper expense, but it makes an expense number for Office Supplies and an Investment entry for the amount invested.
• Notice there are two entries on the expense tab. The second entry uses the Owner’s Capital: Investments account and the exact same amount in negative format was entered.

You can stack numerous transactions on the same check here. Simply list all of the transactions with explanations and make just one entry with the negative number for the investment, like this…

QuickBooks & Quoting

If you use QuickBooks in your design business you need Minutes Matter QuickBooks & Quoting! Included with your purchase is a free one-on-one set up with Vickie, The Countess of QuickBooks, to make sure you’re off to the perfect start with our QuickBooks & Quoting.

|Purchase QuickBooks & Quoting|

Changes to GoPayment

Recently, I was on the phone with Intuit and the person mentioned GoPayment and how Intuit had made big changes in regards to GoPayment. They are now offering a TOTALLY FREE reader to everyone with a low swipe rate of 1.6%. The GoPayment App to install on your device is also free. All business owners that accept credit cards know if you can actually swipe the client’s credit card the discount rate is much lower. All the sudden, I began to sit up and listen with great interest. He went on to say since I was already using Intuit’s merchant services for the Desktop version of QuickBooks they would simply add GoPayment to my existing account with NO additional monthly charge. Immediately, I was sold. Of course, I confirmed this offer didn’t have any hidden charges and I quizzed him over all the terms and conditions. There is no contract, you can cancel at anytime and it is extremely easy to sign up as new merchant with Intuit. I think he told me the monthly fee is $11.99 per month.

Testing It Out

I received my FREE reader this week. Dandelion Interiors is ready to accept charges using our iPhones or iPad. Did I mention Jerry and I love our iPhones? Jerry and I both tested the reader on our phones and indeed it works as advertised. You can even void a charge right from your phone. Absolutely, love it! Isn’t technology amazing?

I had to share some exciting news from Citrix with all of you that have an iPad or that are thinking about getting an iPad. I attended a webinar yesterday via my iPad ~ WOW! All I did was click on the webinar link in my email and I instantly began to connect. I wasn’t even prompted to enter my name and email, my iPad did that automatically. The audio and video worked perfectly with no lag time. Love the ability to zoom by tapping and pinching. I connected to the webinar via our office WiFi; using a 3G connection will use too much of your 3G plan. Just one more reason to think about getting an iPad.

Citrix (GoToMeeting) announced this week that you can now join webinars on your iPad. Download the free app from the Apple App Store and join meetings on your iPad in seconds. This exciting addition to GoToMeeting, built specifically for the iPad, makes online meetings more accessible than ever. Use your iPad to attend online meetings on the go – at a café, in a hotel, wherever you happen to be.

Using GoToMeeting on an iPad, you can:

• Attend online meetings wherever you are – at no charge.
• Join meetings in seconds by tapping a link in an email or enter the meeting ID in GTM App
• View presentations, mockups and reports – whatever the presenter shares on-screen.
• Connect to audio through your iPad or over the phone.
• Pinch to zoom meeting content.
• Switch between portrait and landscape.
• Increase the viewer size with a double tap of the finger.

Using GoToMeeting on an iPad, you can’t:

• Ask questions (Citrix is working on adding this functionality)
• Raise your hand

NOTE: To enjoy webinars without internet interruption, I recommend you join a webinar only when using a WiFi connection.

I recently purchased an stand for my iPad. A stand is a perfect solution when I need hands-free viewing for webinars or when I’m cooking. Did I mention I love allrecipes.com?

Have you ever checked your internet speed? Occasionally, everyone should check their internet speed to confirm they’re actually getting the speed they’re paying for. There are several speed tests that will clock your download & upload speed. The download speed will be the most important test, since 95% of the time you’re surfing the internet, viewing videos or downloading files and images. You would only use the upload speed when you’re uploading a file to a forum or sending an email with an attachment.

Do you feel the need for speed? Check out your internet speed by clicking on one of the links below. Check your speed multiple times as your speed will vary based on the time of day.

Below are the speed test results from a few of the Minutes Matter team:

• Minutes Matter Office ~ Comcast Business Class Internet 22Mbps ($99 per month) our download speed ranges between 16 – 24 Mbps. (see screenshot above)
• Anna, Studio’s Tech Support ~ Comcast personal ($52 per month) her download speed ranges between 9 – 12 Mbps.
• Vickie, QuickBooks Tech Support ~ Hughes Network (she lives in a rural area and paid one upfront fee) her download speed ranges between 5.79 – 5.82 Mbps.
• Merlyn, Studio’s Coach ~ Comcast personal ($55 per month) her download speed ranges between 15 – 32 Mbps. (Merlyn, you’re kicking with that 32 Mbps)

Do you have to wait several seconds for a website to load or 15 – 30 minutes to download a software program like Studio? If so, you’re experiencing a slower internet connection. The normal time to download our Studio software should be 2 – 7 minutes. More than likely your IP (internet provider) offers multiple speed levels of course a higher price tag comes with the higher speed. Contact your IP and find out if you’re actually receiving the speed you’re paying for. If you’re paying for the lowest speed you might consider increasing your speed to the next level. In this day and time none of us like to wait. We all want instant results. Today, so much of our design research is done on the internet; business owners need a fast connection to reduce wait times. DSL connections are typically a little slower than cable speeds. Mobile Broadbands or Aircards are slower than DSL with speeds ranging from 1 – 3 Mbps. Hardwiring your computer to your router will increase your internet speed. The further away your laptop is from your router the slower the connection. When possible, try to download large files and watch videos when you’re hardwired.

Have you signed up for an account with Twitter? If not, you should sign now and secure your company name and your personal name. I know what you’re thinking, I don’t care what people are eating for dinner or when they are going to sleep. And you’re right most people don’t care about that type of chatter. Twitter is much more than when people are eating or when they are sleeping. I use Twitter for multiple reasons and I keep finding more ways all the time.
My top four reasons to use Twitter:

• Search a topic: Twitter is a great vehicle to search a what people are saying on a specific topic or product. Almost EVERY business has a Twitter handle. (That’s definitely a reason you should sign up for a Twitter account today, if you haven’t already.)
• Your website: For those of you that have new and updated website, you can add your Twitter feed on the homepage of your website. Your homepage will always feel fresh and up to date. You never know when a visitor might see a Tweet that peaks their interest. It might prompt them to pick up the phone an make an appointment. Best of all Tweeting is free! Your clients will begin to know, like and trust you through Tweeting. See screenshot of our new Minutes Matter website. Casey is working hard again!
• What’s happening at a conference? Hashtags are another great way to use Twitter. Attending a seminar, market, convention or trade show? Search to see if the event has created a hashtag. Using a hashtag is totally different than following someone on Twitter. Here’s how they work. Say that you were attending an event and the event promoted the hashtag #hpfall (High Point Fall Market) every Tweet that includes #hpfall will be organized and listed into that specific search. Say you’re at a conference and the presenter has some great tips or inspiring ideas; you could Tweet what you think; don’t forget to include the hashtag. Everyone that searches the hashtag can see all those Tweets. When lots of people are Tweeting during a conference using the same hashtag, people that aren’t able to attend the conference could get a glimpse of what’s happening at the conference and what they are missing. The next conference Minutes Matter is attending will be the WCAA Inspire 2011 conference. Hopefully, they are reading this ezine and will create the hashtag #wcaainspire hint, hint!! We have created a hashtag for our monthly webinars. If you didn’t receive your webinar confirmation or have a question or comment during the webinar you can Tweet using the #mmwebinar hashtag. We’ll be monitoring the hashtag during every webinar as well as one hour prior to the webinar. Here’s an example of a Tweet using a hashtag: I’m trying to join the Studio Live webinar today, HELP! #mmwebinar
• Vendor Help! Tweet a question to a vendor, post a concern (be nice), or better yet give a testimonial. Recently, I was having trouble with my Comcast Business internet. I Tweeted: “@comcast My internet has been intermittent for two weeks. Hard to do business!” A tech had already come and gone trying to correct the issue, but couldn’t find the problem. After my Tweet, I received a reply within 30 minutes, asking me to email them with more details. I emailed them the details, my area Comcast supervisor called me personally and dispatched three techs to come out the next day. I now have the supervisor’s cell phone number. Love that! I am happy to report my internet issues seems to be a thing of the past. Of course, I also Tweeted about their great customer service.
  

Minutes Matter’s new website ~ Coming Soon!

I usually try to Tweet one – three times a day. Of course, you’ll want to keep your Tweets short and sweet because you’re only allowed 140 characters per Tweet. I love using Seesmic, I can view most of my social networks like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn all in one place.

If you would like to follow me on Twitter search @minutesmatter. Have a question or comment about Studio or need to get activated? Tweet us!

Below is an email Merlyn received after today’s Studio Live webinar. Merlyn copied me on the email and I laughed out loud when I read it. Susann gladly gave us permission to post her email. It is really funny when things like this aren’t happening to you.

Enjoy!

“Hi Merlyn, Great webinar today (as usual!). I have to tell you about how Studio saved me a trip recently… I have two dogs that I rescued 5 years ago. They were holy terrors when I first got them and have come a long way since then, but they still have a few “quirks” that drive me crazy. I had just heard from a client that she wanted to go with one of my renderings for her MBR, and she asked me to send her a quote. I said sure, got her folder out and went to another room to get my calculator. By the time I got back to my desk, her folder had been ripped to shreds and partially eaten by one (or both, who knows?) of the dogs. (Yeah, two years ago they did that to my taxes just as I was going to deliver them to my accountant). Anyway, as I sifted through the shards of paper, I found my initial measurements showing all but the length of the window being quoted. I wanted to get that quote in the mail that day and not have to wait a few days to go out to measure yet again. Then it dawned on me…when I did the rendering for that window, I did it on a photo and used the set scale tool. So, I checked the rendering and had the measurement that was close enough to do the quote! Bet you haven’t heard that one before!! I told the client (who also has dogs) who got a big kick out of the story (as did my accountant two years ago)…I’m so glad everyone else thinks it’s so funny!
Susann S. Pittsburgh, PA”

Susann, I know your dogs aren’t as bad as the dog in the photo, but I thought the photo added a bit more humor to your story. Thanks for sharing!

Do you have a story you would like to share regarding how you have used Studio?