Two Guys, Six Clients, No Problem
Communication has to be open in any collaborative project. You'd think that would be easy between two partners, but life always seems to get in the way. Emails get lost, phone messages get erased, and meetings slip back ad infinitum.
How does a company avoid dropping the ball? A heavenly administrative assistant doesn't hurt, but who can afford one these days? What you really need is a good PMS.
Ha ha, very funny.
What Are "Business Hours?"
Joking aside – we believe in being accountable to our clients. The ubiquity of the Internet has made clients demand instantaneous results and constant updates. More and more, they want to be involved in the creation of their project.
Hey, that's great. It's difficult to maintain a solid line of communication with the client, but we embraced the challenge and made it one of our core philosophies. It's allowed us to gain and retain clientele.
Our Wishlist of Features
We at RCS had been looking for a way to maximize our time and ease our development process. We sought a system that would allow us to manage messages, set up to-do lists, create milestones for our projects, and even share files and documents between the team and our clients if needed...
Ask and You Shall Receive
Our answer came to us in a link to 37Signals.
Their Basecamp web-based project management system was exactly what we sought and more. Now our clients can communicate with us anytime they like; all they require is access to the internet.
And who doesn't want a way to avoid meetings?
Project Management, the Way it Should Be
- Easy to set up — 10 seconds to a new project
- Blog simplicity — Posting project updates couldn't be easier
- Simple scheduling — What's due, when it's due, who's responsible
- To-do lists — Make sure all the little things get done
- Simple permissions — You decide who sees what projects
- Email notifications — You'll know when there's something new
- File sharing — Upload and share files on your own FTP server
- Web-based and hosted — No install or IT staff required
- Useful technology — RSS, XML, iCal and Mozilla Calendar friendly
Basecamp is perfect for...
- Internal and client projects
- Freelancers & creative services firms
- Consultants & PR/Marketing firms
- Non-profits & schools
- Publishers & musicians
– 37signals
The system is as easy to use as email or Blogger.
How Much Will It Cost Me?
Basecamp is currently offered in five plans that range from FREE (which only lets you manage 1 project) to $9/month, up to $59/month for the unlimited plan.
Here's Boris Mann's take on the service.