Starting a business is one of the most intense experiences a person can undergo. That may sound a bit extreme, but it’s true. A true startup is generally taking something that does not exist (an idea) and attempting to translate it into a physical reality, which will hopefully generate income.
During the ideation and beginning phases of a startup, the energy is incredible. It seems easy to knock out 16 hour days because the vision is so clear and the expectancy is so high. It’s like falling in love! But, unfortunately, the honeymoon eventually ends, and then it’s time to lock and continue to build the company and drive it to profitability. Two extremely important characteristics of successful entrepreneurs are:

1. 1. An ability to stay focused on important tasks-at-hand, and an ability to push non-essential tasks to the background.
2. 2. An ability to stay focused on selling.

When entrepreneurs start getting bogged down by menial tasks that do not directly impact bottom line cash flows and company growth, the very survival of an early-stage company can come under attack. Furthermore, an ability to sell will surely drive a company south. Fortunately, there are technology solutions for both of these issues. Let’s discuss them.

InfusionSoft

If your company has any sort of online presence, which it should, then InfusionSoft may be a no-brainer investment. InfusionSoft basically automates your online sales process. When a potential customer visits your website, there should be an immediate call to action that requires this customer to submit their email address. You may offer a free e-book, a video tutorial, or simply free updates, but there must be a strong attempt to harvest emails.
Now, once you have an email address, InfusionSoft begins to work its magic. You can create the most detailed email marketing campaign that is completely automated and hands-off. InfusionSoft also has extremely advanced analytic capabilities so that you can see exactly where all of your click-throughs are coming from and build a concentrated marketing campaign around that information.

Do.Com

Every entrepreneur must have a method of staying organized. Do.Com is a great solution. Entrepreneurs can divide tasks into groups for easy reference. If you have several people in your company, you can also assign tasks to each and other monitor the forward movement on specific projects. Do has a very clean and intuitive web platform, but it also has Android and Apple apps for mobile devices.
Do does everything that a personal task management and project management software should do, but it does it in the cleanest and most intuitive manner our team has ever seen. And we’ve tried them all! Further key features include:

• Attaching and sending files
• Calendar Sync (ie. with Google)
• Sharing task lists
• Organizing projects
• Tracking contacts
• Emailing tasks
• Creating groups
• Setting reminders

As an entrepreneur staying focused on the important things and driving sales is essential to startup success. Finding and consistently using an effective task management and personal organization software, along with a high-level sales and marketing software is not an option—it’s a necessity.

Danielle Thomas is a graduate from Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California, now working as a freelance writer, entrepreneur and researcher. She covers a wide range of topics for www.merchantseek.com with a particular interest in technology, the Internet, and the emerging business systems of the 21st century.

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