Money related resolutions are very popular in the new year.  Everyone wants to get out of debt, everyone wants to reduce their expenses and everyone loves to create an additional source of income.  In this post, I will show you 2 online tools, that will help you maintain your Money Resolutions this new year.

Xpenser

This is an extremely simple but powerful tool to manage all your expenses, with their receipts (if any).  The major strength of Xpenser comes from its support of variety of channels – to record expenses.

You can record expenses to your account, in one of the following ways:

• Direct Entry on Xpenser Online Tool
• Send your Expense Details from a registered Email
• Send the details from SMS/Text Messaging (carrier charges will still apply)
• Send Expense Information as a Twitter Direct Message to Xpenser
• Send the details via Instant Messaging
• Speak about your expense after setting up a Voice account….

One other key feature with Xpenser, is the ability to use variety of Currencies and the accurate conversion it provides.  I find this feature missing in many other Personal Finance tools – which are biased toward USD.

Xpenser FAQ is the best place to get an answer for most of your questions.  Try out this sweet little tool and I am sure you will not regret!

PocketSmith

PocketSmith is an online money management tool – that is not very simple to use but its strength lies elsewhere.

It is a web based tool not only to record your expenses/income, but also forecasts your future cash position.  This tool helps you manage all the cash-flow in a calendar format – that is very intuitive and easy to visualize.

Some of the features of the tool include:

• Set and achieve your Financial goals
• Compare your Budget with the actuals
• Integrates with your Back Accounts
• PocketSmith calendar can be connected with Google Calendar

You can know more about PocketSmith here.  Though the Free version of the tool will suffice most of your financial needs, they also have Paid Flavors for needy users.

These 2 tools, when used with purpose can help you stick with your Money Resolutions this New Year.  However, to make these Resolutions a success – one has to develop a sense of money discipline – which no tool can help and must come from within!  Good luck this New Year and may you Grow Richer!

Work for Others – This is the majority.  Such people are happy getting a job that pays them well and takes care of their well being.  They are at home – working hard, getting the occasional rewards and feeling happy at the growth of the organization, they work for.

Work for Others and sometime for Themselves – This type of people also work for a reputed Organization.  But it is more of a necessity, than the love of it.  They love to break free and go their own way – but lack the needed confidence.  They are not yet ready to lose their monthly paychecks! These people try to do some small chunks of work for themselves like Freelancing, Online Money Making, Social Entrepreneurship etc.  But they are not game for the big show yet!

Work for Themselves – This type of people are never at home working for others.  They always try to break loose.  They go out on ventures of their own and take the responsibility for all success (or failure).  They are ready to give up the monetary pleasures of life, for the sake of their ambitions.  They are self-starters and enablers!

It is very natural that people go through all these phases – during their career.  Some people get stuck to one of these – but other move across.  But just think about where you are, at this time? This will help you analyze where you will be, in the next 5 years of time.

Photo Credit: said&done

I always believe that to succeed in Business – you should start loving Money.  Not just the love – you should also start understanding how to better manage the Money that you spend and the Money that you make.

One of the wonderful Money Blogs I regularly follow is – Get Rich Slowly.  This blog is full of practical advice and tips to improve on your money management skills.

Recently, GRS has been running a 14-part series that explains the core tenets of the site.  I strongly urge you to read all the posts written so far and also follow this blog (remember – I don’t get anything through this recommendation.  It is purely based on my experience!)

Here is the latest post in the Series – Nobody Cares More About Your Money Than You Do.  This post has links at the bottom, to all other posts in the series.

Happy Money Management!

This Weekend, I did a Book shopping after a long time.  Unfortunately, I could not find the book I was looking for.  But I bought this book and loving it so far!

Stay Hungry Stay Foolish is a simple book, about extraordinary personalities and their achievements.  The book is a mini-biography of 25 IIM-A graduates who made it big – by taking the Entrepreneurial route.

These outstanding folks are grouped under 3 categories – The Believers, The Opportunists and The Alternate Vision

You can read some excerpts from the book here.  If you are an early stage Entrepreneur or aspiring to become one, this book is a must read as it increases your motivation level – multi fold.  This book is definitely a grab for Rs.125, which is just awesome! Go get it and have fun!

Business is all about happy clients.  A happy client creates a repeat business and brings in much more happy clients.  As a freelancer, the biggest challenge is to establish long term relationship with clients.  So how do you make sure to win clients?  Once won, how do you keep them happy and bring in repeat business?

Winning clients

Negotiating and winning clients is an art. Success doesn’t endorse you always, when it comes to winning clients.  So what are the basic criteria to increase the probability?

1. Be Reasonable

Always be reasonable with your clients.  Especially, your initial clients.  There are many factors where you have to be reasonable – cost, effort and duration. Never quote sky-high costs or absurd time lines.  Make sure to understand the project and quote reasonably.  Remember – whatever compromise you make here is an investment into your future relationship with the client.

2. Be Clear and Informative

Whether it comes to your understanding of the project or putting forward your suggestions – be very clear and informative. Never confuse the client with jargons – as 80% of the time they are unclear about the technology. Also, when you assume or suggest something, make sure to be informative.  Don’t do these without backing them up with real facts or analysis data.

3. Be Precise

Be very precise with your commitments, time lines, payment schedule and the overall cost.  Never let your assumptions come in here.  I have seen instances where freelancers assume a monthly payment schedule, just to know later that the client committed only at pay-for-deliverables. Make sure this doesn’t happen with you.

4. Be Honest

This is subjective, but yet very critical.  Be honest with the feasibility of the solution and the timeline.  Don’t commit for a solution that you are unsure of, with an assumption to further analyze it after the project start.  If you are unsure, let the client know about it and give a “go ahead”.  Such an honesty will do a lot of good.

Keep them Happy Forever

So you won the client? Now what?  How to make sure that they are happy with the relationship?  How to make them bring repeat business?

1. Be Committed

Try your level best to meet all the commitments.  If you foresee any problems, bring it to the notice of the client as early as possible.  Never take back commitments at last stages.  This makes you look unprofessional and poses a risk of losing the client.

2.  Be Punctual

Deliver or complete the committed work, in the time frame agreed upon.  Though there are instances where the project might overrun, try your best to keep it on time.  Again, intimate the client about anticipated delays and keep them in the loop.

3.  Be Regular

Regular updates to the client, makes sure that the project proceeds in the right direction.  This also enables your client to provide periodic feedback – that can eliminate last minute surprises. Come up with an update schedule with your client – may be weekly – and stick to it.  Even if there is little progress during a week, update the client at the stipulated time, as it creates a positive image around you.

4.  Be Patient

There are many clients who are very unsure about the requirements at the beginning of a project and develop ideas during the project life cycle.  It might require you to make a big change in the design, to accommodate the ideas.  Be patient when such things happen.  If the change is unfeasible within the given budget, let your client know about it in a professional manner.  Never lose your patience and this can reap you benefits.

These are some basic tips to win and retain clients.  So what is that you do to win clients?  How do you make sure they are happy with the relationship? Shoot in your comments and I love to hear them all.

Photo Credit: Cocoabiscuit