Manage sales, service, and marketing processes all together

Find out how to manage customer information to make your business more productive

Whether you're completely new to customer relationship management (CRM) software or you just want the scoop on the newest version, this handy guide will get you going. Discover how to set up CRM 3, navigate and customize the system, use it to work with your accounts and contacts, collect leads, forecast sales, run reports, and much more.

Discover how to

• Develop and manage customer relationships
• Implement a sales process
• Set up security and access rights
• Generate quotes, orders, and invoices
• Manage leads and opportunities
• Create and use product catalogs

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Power Sales Writing is a brisk, no-nonsense guide to writing sales messages guaranteed to grab and hold a prospect's attention.

With this book in hand, everyone from salespeople to marketing managers to business executives will quickly and painlessly master the essence of effective sales writing to win the sale or client. This book includes:

Lists of power words and phrases
Editing and revision techniques
Tips on how to break bad news and achieve desired outcomes
Advice on translating sales skills into copy
Techniques for getting prospects to act by articulating their need

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The CEO Refresher, October 2004

One of the Best Books of the Year. Criteria are creative leadership, mindfulness, relevance, unique insight, actionable, "head twisting."

Chicago Tribune, September 27, 2004
If firms want a strong organizational gene pool, they need to hire and manage top partnering talent.

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This book provides insight into how industry experts have successfully architected, developed, and maintained Microsoft BizTalk Server in mission-critical environments. Authored by highly-regarded consultants with a wealth of knowledge on designing, building, and operating enterprise applications using BizTalk, this comprehensive guide gives you the techniques and best practices you'll need to develop effective projects.

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It's not just another book on Ajax. It's Pragmatic Ajax: a concise, complete look at a new way of envisioning and implementing browser-based applications.

Ajax turns static web pages into interactive applications. Now you can deploy rich-client applications to clients without sacrificing the easy deployment of web applications. But to many folks, Ajax seems difficult. That's why we produced this book. As a Pragmatic guide, it strips away the mystery and shows you the easy way to make Ajax work for you.

We cover the the basics of DHTML, JavaScript, and the infamous XmlHttpRequest call. You'll see how to add Ajax to existing programs, and design new applications to exploit the power of Web 2.0. Learn the three layers of Ajax framework, and when (and how) to use each. See how to create rich clients, use visual effects, add client-side validation, and handle forms. Write applications that degrade gracefully if clients don't support JavaScript. And see how to integrate your Ajaxified clients into Java, .NET, and Ruby on Rails server frameworks.

With Pragmatic Ajax, you'll:

• Understand the breadth of the Ajax/Web 2.0 landscape, and go-indepth on how Ajax works
• Learn how JavaScript works with your server-side framework
• See how to easily apply Ajax techniques to an existing application–and when not to
• Know what's coming by looking at new features and frameworks currently in active development.

Writing dynamic applications isn't that hard. Folks are awed by Google Maps, but it isn't rocket science (apart from the satellite pictures). As a special bonus, see how to implement your own Google Maps-like application using DHTML.

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For far too long, photographers have "made do" with software tools designed for a variety of users. Now at last there is a program specifically built to meet the needs of professional and serious amateur photographers, whether you are on Mac or Windows: Adobe Lightroom. And there is an expert ready to incorporate this great new program into photographic "best practices": Tim Grey!

In Lightroom Workflow, bestselling author Tim Grey brings his knowledge of digital imaging and pro photography to the latest Adobe offering. Tim breaks down the modules of Lightroom in the same workflow-based approach to photography that has been so popular through all his books and workshops. Readers will discover a natural flow for capturing, storing, sorting, and adjusting images, getting better results all while reducing time and effort.

Tim explains how Lightroom offers file import, cataloging, archiving, processing, presentation, and printing under one roof, and how you can take best advantage of just the functions that are most appropriate for your individual needs. You'll see why you should shoot Raw but also find out how to master Lightroom if you can't or don't choose to. And you'll learn how to finish your images to their best advantage, whether you print or you output for screen.

Featuring elegant example images from the portfolios of professional photographers, Lightroom Workflow shares real-world expertise on how to get better results while reducing time and effort.

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The second-generation Smartphone applications are exclusively designed to leverage the advantages of mobility and ubiquitous wireless access. This book provides you with an in-depth look at software development issues and design guidelines, and helps you gain the skills you need to develop your own efficient and feature-rich Smartphone applications that utilize the latest cutting-edge technologies.

Complete with code and examples, the book first walks you through the Microsoft Smartphone platform from a software developer's perspective. It next uncovers the .NET Compact Framework as well as the Smartphone programming environment. You'll then find detailed information on Microsoft Smartphone-related application design and programming topics in the domains of the .NET Compact Framework (managed code). Plus, you'll explore advanced development topics such as security and performance considerations that you'll be able to incorporate into your own applications.

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The secrets of digital image editing - explained in plain English!

Photoshop CS3 is a powerhouse, and here's the fast and easy way to get up to speed on all the coolest features. This friendly guide helps you get images into Photoshop - and then turn them into dazzling works of art. You'll see how to work in the right file formats, master the Brushes palette, get creative with filters, convert color to grayscale, and more!

    * Adjust brightness, improve color, and fix flaws
    * Take advantage of the Raw file format
    * Composite images with layers and blending modes
    * Automate your tasks with scripts and Actions
    * Apply the new Smart Filters to Smart Objects

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The Google Web Toolkit is a new technology that automatically translates Java into JavaScript, making Ajax applications easier to code and deploy. GWT in Action is a comprehensive tutorial for Java developers interested in building the next generation of rich, web-based applications. This book was written by Robert Hanson, creator of the popular GWT Widget Library and Adam Tacy a major contributor to the GWT Widget Library.

There is a new emphasis on building rich, web-based applications. These applications can be difficult to build because they rely on JavaScript, which lacks the sophisticated object-oriented structures and static typing of Java, they are tricky to debug, and they require you to manage numerous browser inconsistencies.

In May of 2006 Google released the Google Web Toolkit (GWT). GWT enables developers to create Ajax applications in Java. With GWT, you can build your applications using a real object-oriented language and take advantage of Java tools like Eclipse that are already available. Instead of trying to bring tool support to Ajax, Google brought Ajax to a place where the tools already existed.

GWT in Action shows you how to take advantage of these exciting new tools. Readers will follow an example running throughout the book and quickly master the basics of GWT: widgets, panels, and event handling. The book covers the full development cycle, from setting up your development environment, to building the application, then deploying it to the web server. The entire core GWT library is discussed, with details and examples on how it can be extended.

GWT helps you make the most of Ajax in your web applications and GWT in Action helps you get more out of GWT. Readers can download Early Access Chapters of GWT in Action now and participate in the Author Forum by visiting at the Manning site.

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With this unique resource, you'll discover how to unlock the power behind Excel Services in order to effectively utilize server-side spreadsheet calculation and rendering. It walks you through all programming aspects of Excel Services, covering everything from APIs to UDFs (User Defined Functions). You'll quickly gain a strong understanding of what Excel Services is, how to work with it, and how to develop applications using its robust features.

Written by the senior software development engineer for Excel Services, this book first provides you with detailed explanations about the various programmability options Excel Services offers. You'll then gain an inside look into the problematic areas that you must avoid. And you'll find ideas for solutions that you can create using this server technology. This information will help you extend and work against Excel Services as you develop business-critical applications.

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Though Python is a relatively new programming language, it has quite a significant audience owing to its sensible syntax. An active user of Python since 1996, Beazley provides ample information on the fundamentals of versions 2.0 and 2.1, including syntax, functions, operators, classes, and libraries. This is first and foremost a reference, so he avoids lengthy discussions of Python's superiority. Peppered with good code samples and featuring a companion web site with more extensive pieces, this title should be on hand in larger libraries. (more…)

JBoss Seam integrates EJB 3.0 and JSF components under a unified framework that simplifies and accelerates Java EE web development. Now, JBoss Seam’s project leader and technology evangelist take you inside this powerful new technology, showing exactly how to put it to work. 

Michael Yuan and Thomas Heute show how JBoss Seam enables you to create web applications that would have been difficult or impossible with previous Java frameworks. Through hands-on examples and a complete case study application, you’ll learn how to leverage JBoss Seam’s breakthrough state management capabilities; integrate business processes and rules; use AJAX with Seam; and deploy your application into production, one step at a time. Coverage includes

How JBoss Seam builds on–and goes beyond–the Java EE platform

• Using the “Stateful Framework”: conversations, workspaces, concurrent conversations, and transactions

• Integrating the web and data components: validation, clickable data tables, and bookmarkable web pages

• Creating AJAX and custom UI components, enabling AJAX for existing JSF components, and JavaScript integration via Seam Remoting

• Managing business processes, defining stateful pageflows, and implementing rule-based security

• Testing and optimizing JBoss Seam applications

• Deploying in diverse environments: with Tomcat, with production databases, in clusters, without EJB 3, and more

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