If you have a service based business, such as virtual assistance, I recomend Base Camp as a great tool for staying in touch with your clients. This is also a great way to keep in touch with any of your employees if you happen to outsource tasks for your business.
Here are some tips on how to set up an account within the program:
Base Camp is a project management software program that not only enables you to create to do lists and share information with others, it allows you to track your time on certain tasks. For a business owner this feature alone can be invaluable. Here’s how to set up an account:
Step 1 Choose your level. Base Camp offers six different plans with prices ranging from free to $149.00. Choose the plan that best meets your needs and don’t worry if you over or under project your needs, they allow you to change your plan quickly and easily and you get a 30 day free trial.
Step #2 Once you’ve created your account you can upload your logo and change the colors of your account to better fit your business personality.
Step #3 Create logins for other people by clicking on the very last button at the bottom of the welcome page. It says “create logins for other people.” Go ahead and click on add a person, you have been already named the administrator of the account. Fill in the information required. Decide if you want to give them open access to all projects, send them a note and create an ID for them. When finished, simply click “add this person,” and you’re done.
Step #4 Check your settings. On your dashboard page you’ll see several options in your top right hand corner of your screen. Settings is the last option. Click it. This is where, if you haven’t already, you can change the look of your page. You can also make security changes, add message and file categories, and modify your email notifications.
Step #5 In the same dashboard page, now click on templates. Templates can be used for repeat tasks, however if you want to assign responsibilities you’ll have to do that from within a project. You can use that template in any project you wish.
Step #6 Create your first project. Go back to the dashboard main page and the very first thing you’ll see at the top are the words “Create your first project.” Click on it. You’ll be taken to a screen where you can name your project. You’ll also have the option of giving others access to this project.
Step #7 Now you have the opportunity to write messages, create a to do list within your project, create milestones, create a writeboard to enable collaboration on documents, set up chats with fellow workers, track your time by using the time button and simply entering the hours you worked on a project and a description of what you did, and uploading files relevant to the project.
Base Camp is a valuable software program because it handles a variety of project management tasks and is extremely intuitive – anyone can use it successfully and with ease.