So you want to share some job files?

And you've found out, perhaps the hard way, that emailing attachments (especially large ones) is not the way to go.

You could subscribe to an FTP (File Transfer Protocol) service.

But here's the scoop:

FTP typically requires an FTP 'client' — meaning yet another program.  These are generally not simple to configure.  Uploading a file would be limited to those with the program and skills. So now you have to outfit all your key players (some of whom may not be high up the technology curve) with the FTP program.  Along with the client, you'll need a service (website or server) to host the files — more stuff to configure.

Downloading files would either require an FTP client again, or be handled through a web page with a simple file listing. You may have to pay someone to create this web page on your corporate website, if you have one. Now we're talking time, some technical know-how, and $$.

Now for the BuildIT advantages:

1. Easy drag and drop file uploading through Internet Explorer.
2. Our maximum file size is, well, big enough that it likely won't be a problem 99% of the time, but with some sweet talking, we can increase this if required.
3. Our display is visually appealing: thumbnails, file info. And, it's easy to understand.
4. Easy management: remove/disable files easily, see all access attempts, etc.
5. Downloading is resumable (i.e. if the file download stops for some reason, it resumes where it left off).  Many other file download services don't support this.
6. Files in BuildIT are presented logically within a task or a sharing link... in other words, there are associations with files that will make it easier for you to manage them.
7. BuildIT manages the server: so no headaches about configuration, no tech support nightmares, etc.

So, launch your free test drive, click the "files" tab, and start sharing. It's one of the many advantages you'll appreciate.

Michael Cain
BuildIT VP Development

Dear BuildIT User,

We are pleased to announce our latest update to the system - driven by your requests and suggestions.

Contact Schedules

Contact Schedules are a free and powerful service you can offer to anyone in your contact database:

Clients
Subtrades
Vendors
Contractors
Design Professionals
Other Employees

Contact Schedules give your contacts a real time view into the schedule, where they will see only those tasks assigned to them by you, the BuildIT user. When they open their free Contact Schedule online, your contacts can:

• view their tasks /action items
• change their views based on multiple filters
• and add comments to individual tasks which you, in turn, are notified of.

Status of tasks is now color coded, so contacts can see at a glance which tasks require attention immediately.

Contact Schedules are a key benefit to BuildIT users who want to keep their contacts updated with ever changing schedules. No more relying on outdated printed schedules, marked up calendars, and Gantt charts pieced together on the walls. Send out Contact Schedules to all you key players today, and start leveraging the power of real time scheduling.

Each and every contact in your database has a free Contact Schedule! For example, 200 contacts in your contact database means 200 separate, distinct, and available Contact Schedules that you can use to drive your business forward to the next level of keeping folks informed, keeping customers happy, and keeping your schedules on track.

Rich Text “HTML” Email Creator

Many BuildIT users rely heavily on the power of BuildIT’s email system. Without a doubt, it makes sense to keep all communications on the job in one place, organized, and accessible by all key players on your team.

Now, this powerful communications system has been improved with a rich text editor. You have been requesting this for months, and it has finally arrived! You can select different fonts, sizes, colors, bold, underline - the list goes one. Many of the key functions you have used in other common email systems like MSN, Hotmail, Gmail and Outlook, are now included with BuildIT. We’ve even made it easier to view your emails for those of you with larger monitors.

Additional Enhancements

We haven’t stopped there. BuildIT is a constant work in progress. Our Users (and other stakeholders) expect nothing less. You’ll also benefit from:

• Spell checker (now deployed in many dialogs, including documents, and enhanced for emails).
• DO IT control to create a schedule template from an existing job.
• New “form view” for viewing, printing, faxing, and emailing document templates.
• New controls allowing users to email or fax more than one document in one step.
• Contact Schedule preferences, allowing you to change the layout your customers see.
• Date header now displays on each page of a printed Gantt chart.
• Continued speed enhancements to the BuildIT engine and some fine-tuning to really make things hum.
• New Blog (you're reading it now) for research, power tips, and a dose of humor – for folks that are serious about getting the most from BuildIT.

We’re proud of the success of our customers who use BuildIT to manage their businesses. It’s your vote of confidence in the system, and your continued input that drives BuildIT forward. Stay profitable in 2008, and let us know where we can make a difference.

The BuildIT Team
1 866 585 5050 x1
www.builditsystems.com

Nothing against Home Depot. Probably wasn't even Home Depot where they bought the paint and tiles. 

But the previous owners should have left the finishing to the professionals.

So here's how the story goes: 

I love Linwood / Lindal cedar post-and-beam homes, always have, always will, and this one caught my attention. 

From the thumbnail picture, shown here, we couldn't be too sure on the details, so we drove the 2 hours, with kids in tow, and set out to find the truth. This could be the dream property for us, the one we've been hanging out for.

First step, view the property.

Nice drive up the hill, the realtor who came along with us was glad I had an SUV (they do come in handy when you have a long, unplowed driveway in the winter, saved getting out the snow shoes).
 
The long winding driveway was great, what a cool piece of land. I love it. 12 acres of paradise, pines and firs, georgeous view of the valley. 12 minutes to the beach/coffee shop, and 20 minutes to the ski hill, a true Canadian happy medium.
 
We get to the house. Oh oh. First impression ... something's not right. Those of you with an eye for screwups on the jobsite will know what I mean.
 
You can tell when craftsmanship checked out before the work began. Unfortunate. The custom cedar post and beam shell is beautiful, the sighting of the home perfect, what a shame the previous owners played "home improvement". I think my wife said "what were they thinking?" a few dozen times. I probably won't introduce her to the previous owners :-)
 
They used Hardi Plank for the exterior, a cement fibreboard siding that is quite popular in these parts. Bonus. Paint is peeling though, after only 2 years. Minus. Did they prime? Doesn't look like it. What paint did they use? Who's idea was it to use those colours (pale yellow)?
 
We enter. I can live with the reddish tile floor, though the colour would be near the last on my list of faves. The glulam beams are impressive, I'm liking it. Go to the kitchen. Where's the stove? Oh, they forgot that beauty, but I did find 220 behind some drawers. Cabinet doors are missing. What's up with the kitchen island? Inches way too high, and not very useful, unless Mrs. Previous Owner was 7'-6".
 
Living room - inspiring. Small, but inspriing. The view will sell this house, if everything else is screaming "don't buy me". The fireplace looks like an afterthought, but glad it's there. The geometry of the room was odd. My daughter asked, "what's this space for?" Guess it could be where I go when my wife gives me time out.
 
Blue, red, pistachio walls, brown carpet, red tiles with a clashing baseboard to, er, match, what's up with the colors? Why do people think they can go to the local home improvement store and be a hero? Oh, what $200 worth of interior design advice from a professional would have done for the value of this house!
 
I look up at the ceiling in the hallway, and main bath, water stains, oh oh, the house is only 2 years old. Enter the main bathroom. How on earth did the 12 inches between the tub and the sink pass code? Will have to ease up on the twinkies if I want to make it to the toilet in the corner. Oh, and the baby blue tile? See previous paragraph.
 
The deck is a bit of a concern too, wood looks weathered, not sure how many years it will last, and water is pouring off the prow roof onto the deck in front. Some detailing issues, but I was made aware of a few of these from the friendly neighbourhood building inspector.
 
I could go on. And I will for a bit, this is fun. The master bedroom in the open loft is a cool concept if you're kidless and the honeymoon is still going strong, but I'll either need to put locks on the kids' bedroom doors that lock from the outside, or buy 15 years supply of ear plugs for 'em.
 
The mechanical room is impressive. You can tell we're from the "city" when we saw the big water jug in the basement, the size of a Volkswagon Bug. My better half thought it was a crude sauna, and I was hoping it wasn't some fancy new sewage treatment system. I ascertained pretty quickly it would be our H2O. Wouldn't want that baby to spring a leak.
 
No sabotage that I can see from the previous owner. Looks like they left in a hurry, kids stuff, office stuff, garbage, computer, toys all over the house. Shame it ended in a mess for them. This is a court ordered sale, and often they can be a bit messy.
 
'Nuf said. Can you believe despite all this, I haven't ruled it out? Am I crazy?
 
In my humble opinion, the only one who's crazy is the guy who didn't accept the previous offer of $half a mil. Anyone who offers more proves the theory of irrational buying behaviour. This place will need many $10K's of fixin's just to get it to it's assessed value.
 
With no warranty, and still no occupancy permit (final inspection pending), this one may remain on the for sale list for some time.

BuildIT could have helped all the "professionals" who got the house to lock up, no question.

But left in the hands of a homeowner with bad taste to finish, the poor castle didn't have a chance.

Have you ever had someone butcher your work, desecrating the thing you poured hours into?

Let us know, we'll post it here for the rest.

Scott Hutchinson
scott@builditsystems.com
1 866 585 5050 ext 1

I was in a car accident last summer. Got rear-ended big time. I heard the guy behind me lock up his tires, then bang.

Here's a photo - so much for that "new car smell" ! 

Six months later, the insurance company gives me a call.

"For your pain and suffering, we're prepared to offer $X - this is the high end of what we typically offer for soft tissue damage".

My lawyer laughed. He said "add $100,000 to that, and you'd be at the high end".

For a minute there, I smiled, and my opinion of lawyers suddenly changed for the better  

Then he said, "it's a game, they'll tell you what they want, so you'll settle, and not call a lawyer. Kind of like a used car salesman. They'll tell you pretty much anything to sell the car - buyer beware."

Then I thought about the stuff we read on websites (construction software websites, besides ours of course !) and take as the gospel truth. Sometimes it's downright amusing. Many times it's a lesson in what NOT to do. Sometimes it gets under my skin. Because I know you're reading it too, and some of you may be taking it as the truth.

Here's a quote I read recently:

"Most people who TRY software X, BUY software X". That came right from their CEO.

Seriously, do you believe that? Is that true of any product anywhere in the world? Let me know if you find something where this is true - I want to speak to their marketing department !

A wise mentor once told me that "the truth is good enough".

So here's the truth with respect to BuildIT: "most people who try BuildIT, DON'T buy BuildIT".

We're so high up the search engine rankings, and our website is referenced in a gazillion directories online, that we get people launching free test drives daily, from around the world. Our competitors even take us out for a test drive - they don't even hide the fact. They're certainly not going to buy BuildIT !

Sales 101 - the sales funnel. 

As in any business, you have leads.

A percentage of those leads, the majority, are "just looking", kicking the tires as it were, doing research, getting an idea of what's out there, shortlisting possible solutions for the boss.

Then there is that smaller percentage of leads that are serious, in desparate need of a solution, and we are the best match. They buy (immediately, or eventually with further research), and they benefit.

Like I say, it's like OJ Simpson's glove - it's just gotta fit.

But to get to that point, you've got to put your solution out there, and have folks test drive it.

Haven't started your free test drive yet? No prob, click the big GREEN button in the top right of this page, and you'll be on the inside in minutes !

Scott Hutchinson
scott@builditsystems.com
1 866 585 5050 ext 1

I was reading a competitor's newsletter the other day. They were talking about their pricing.

"...pricing as low as $ XX per project per month..."

Clever. Penalizing those with more projects on the go. The more success you have, the more you pay the piper.

It got me thinking.

There's a lot of fine construction software out there (some real duds too), and each company puts their spin doctors to work on how to share pricing with you, the prospective buyer. And each company is trying to figure out how to extract as much $$ from your wallet, and still make you feel like you're getting great value.

They'll marginalize the cost (dollars per day, dollars per project) and hide some of the extras. Some will "bait and switch" you, get you on board, then upsell you to the package/module you really need.

Here's the formula, simple and sweet:

You'll buy when PV > 10C (that is, "perceived value is at least ten times greater than cost").

For instance, when you pay BuildIT $795 for a 1 year subscription, in your mind, if you don't see $8 - $10K in your pocket by year's end, you'll go elsewhere (or stick with your free legal pad or spreadsheet).

When we started BuildIT many years ago (an eternity in Internet Age years), we sat around a small particle board desk and tried to figure out what we should sell our first release for. We knew it had to be greater than 0 (we weren't registered as a non-profit). We came up with a number, and surprisingly, people bought.

Over time, we've refined the application, figured out the language of our customer, added more valuable time-saving tools to the system, and one other thing:

We've drastically reduced our price.

Why?

We understand a few things that the other guys are having a hard time figuring out.

1. We can't be all things to all people. BuildIT is not an "all in one" solution. It is a tool which helps you in 3 main areas: scheduling, online file management, and communications. Because we have a narrow focus, we can have a narrow price point as well. The big guys that offer complex, enterprise suite solutions, well, their pricing is also complex, and enterprise level (read: big money).
2. You'll pay for many features you won't ever use. You'll pay thousands just to get started. And you'll pay equally as much if not more in getting ramped up, training, lost time during the transition. And sadly, the thing you bought may end up on the shelf in the back room just next to your year-end file box from 1998.  We know that simple and rudimentary is a good thing. It means those on your team with the least amount of technical aptitude (that may be you) have a shot at using BuildIT with success. Get them using the email system, and viewing the schedule on a regular basis ... and the battle is half won. Simplicity and ease of use - it's definitely the ace up our sleeve.
3. We've kept our company simple, not adding layers of staff, management, overhead, boardroom furniture, stuff that our competitors get YOU to pay for. We don't spend $1000's on advertising, expensive trade shows, playing trains/planes and hotels. We don't have "distributors" - there's no need for that added cost. We are the envy of the industry - just Google: construction scheduling software, and look who comes up on the first page.  Our competitors are still trying to figure that one out.

4. We've made the system easy to use, and easy to learn, at any time of the day, in any time zone. This allows us to price BuildIT ridiculously low, so pricing is the least of your hurdles to getting started with us.

BuildIT pricing: $795, for 1 user account, 1 year term discounted.

Or if cash flow is a priority, pay $85 per month.

Of course we have some other items on the menu, but they're optional.

So, whether you're doing 2 projects this year, of 200, you'll pay the same price.

We're honored to be competing with packages that are in the $5K plus range. I often refer our test drivers to those packages. See what's out there at that price.

Your PV (perceived value) of BuildIT will skyrocket in their shadows.

Scott Hutchinson
scott@builditsystems.com
1 866 585 5050 ext 1