For those who don’t know, every new hire at FreshBooks starts in Support. At least two full months in fact. Frankly there’s no better way to learn our customers and our product then to be on the front lines. The really cool thing is that when their Support training is completed they officially become a Support Rockstar and we hold a crazy graduation ceremony. We do this for each individual person. And it is always a total surprise for the person.

On Tuesday, Tim Lee, our latest Support Rockstar graduated Super Mario style (he’s a big Mario fan). We surprised Tim by turning the entire FreshBooks HQ into the first stage of Super Mario Bros. We made him go through the entire “level” as Mario. It was ridiculously awesome! Watch the video.

P.S. We’re hiring!

We announced our November 12 workshop in Boston a couple weeks ago and our November 25 Vancouver workshop earlier this week. We’re rounding out our 2009 roadshow in Chicago and still taking your votes for 2010!

Our Chicago workshop will be on Tuesday, December 08 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at MacHero HQ (1307 W. Hollywood Ave.). Seating is limited to 40 people and the cost is $100 per person. Register now!

Mike will address many of the questions you have as entrepreneurs through topics such as:

Building – your web app, your company, your team
Marketing – with and without dollars
Product management – so you know what’s right to build
Metrics – to track your progress
Financing – the who, what, when, where, why and how 5Ws of fund raising

There’s a guaranteed a spot for anyone travelling such great distances to get the goods.

Once again, the details (in short form) are:

What: How to Build a Web App Business workshop lead by FreshBooks’ CEO Mike McDerment
Where: MacHero HQ (1307 W. Hollywood Ave., Chicago, IL)
When: Tuesday, December 08, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
How much: $100 per person
Register here!

Big thanks to Gino from MacHero for sharing his offices for the day!

Leave a comment or drop me a note at rayanne [at] freshbooks.com if you have any questions you want Mike to address.

It’s not too late if you want us to take the workshop to your town. vote here! Tell us where we should go next!

We announced our Thursday, November 12 workshop in Boston a couple weeks ago and now is the time for you, Vancouver!

Second stop stop is Vancouver on Wednesday, November 25 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Earl’s Yaletown. Seating is limited to 40 people and the cost is $100 per person.  Lunch and refreshments will be provided. Register now!

Mike will address many of the questions you have as entrepreneurs through topics such as:

Building – your web app, your company, your team
Marketing – with and without dollars
Product management – so you know what’s right to build
Metrics – to track your progress
Financing – the who, what, when, where, why and how 5Ws of fund raising

There’s a guaranteed a spot for anyone travelling such great distances to get the goods.

Once again, the details (in short form) are:

What: How to Build a Web App Business workshop lead by FreshBooks’ CEO Mike McDerment
Where: Earl’s Yaletown (1095 Mainland St. — Upstairs in the Private Dining Room, Vancouver, B.C.)
When: Wednesday, November 25, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
How much: $100 per person
Register here!

Special thanks to the folks at Bootup Entrepreneurial Society for helping us organize this event and making it run smoothly!

Leave a comment or drop me a note at rayanne [at] freshbooks.com if you have any questions you want Mike to address.

And if you want us to take the workshop to your town, vote here! Maybe we’ll be seeing you soon.

Yup! FreshBooks’ own Support Rockstars will be on-site in downtown Toronto at the Dark Horse Cafe on Wednesday, November 11th 2009 to answer any questions you have about FreshBooks, provide support or just to chat.

The Details:

Where? Dark Horse Espresso Bar, 215 Spadina Ave.
When? Wednesday, November 11, 2009.
When exactly? 4 P.M. – 8 P.M.
Who? YOU (and us!)

Drop in when you can, coffee’s on FreshBooks!

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We all do business on the Web. Your customers are there and so you want to be there, but we aren’t all web designers or developers. That’s why you need easy tools to turn your prospects on the Web into leads and orders for your business.

Wufoo is a beautiful Web application helps anybody build amazing online forms. When you design a form with Wufoo, it automatically builds the database, backend and scripts needed to make collecting and understanding your data easy, fast and fun. All you need is a browser, an Internet connection and a few minutes to build a form and start using it right away.

And now, you can quickly and easily create Wufoo forms to collect online orders and leads directly into FreshBooks. Set prices in your Wufoo form and generate invoices immediately in FreshBooks.

Talk about making something seemingly impossible, easy. With Wufoo, you’re only clicks away from doing more business on the Web.

If you liked this, check out our other add-ons. We’re always looking for better ways to fit into your world.

We’ll let you know on Monday who’s won!

Harry Potter

Super Trooper

Paul Stanley from KISS

“It’s-a me! Mario!”

Zombie Cowboy

Civilian getting eaten by a shark! AaaAaaAAHhh!

Rodeo Clown

Leslie Chow from The Hangover

Phantom of the Opera

Eeyore

Expenses can become a Cost of Goods Sold one of two ways.  Firstly, any expenses you rebill to a client (ie put on an invoice) will be included in your Cost of Goods Sold.  Second, when you are on your Profit & Loss report, you can “edit” your Cost of Goods Sold (note the blue “edit” link above) and add expense categories you want to be included in your COGS.  We’ll remember which categories you consider COGS so this report runs smoothly in the future.

I won’t get too deep into the thick of things, but the Profit Loss report is a powerful new tool in your FreshBooks arsenal. Login to your account, have a look, and tell us what you think.

Stay tuned for details on workshops in Vancouver and Chicago, but first stop is Boston on Thursday, November 12 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Virtual Phone System company Grasshopper’s headquarters. Seating is limited to 40 people and the cost is $100 per person. We’ll even make sure you don’t leave hungry or beer-less. Register now!

Mike will address many of the questions you have as entrepreneurs through topics such as:

Building – your web app, your company, your team
Marketing – with and without dollars
Product management – so you know what’s right to build
Metrics – to track your progress
Financing – the who, what, when, where, why and how 5Ws of fund raising

There’s a guaranteed a spot for anyone travelling such great distances to get the goods.

Once again, the details (in short form) are:

What: How to Build a Web App Business workshop lead by FreshBooks’ CEO Mike McDerment
Where: Grasshopper HQ (197 1st Ave., Suite 200, Needham, MA)
When: Thursday, November 12, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
How much: $100 per person
Register here!

Leave a comment or drop me a note at rayanne [at] freshbooks.com if you have any questions you want Mike to address.

And if you want us to take the workshop to your town, vote here! Maybe we’ll be seeing you soon.

If you need assistance during the long weekend, please visit our forums where you might find the answer you are looking for.  If not, please email us or leave us a message and we will be happy to assist you on Tuesday morning.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We often refer to those opportunities at FreshBooks as “Green Fields”.

At the same time, as exciting and appealing as all of that opportunity is, it can also pose an equally powerful threat to your growth.  On more than one occasion I have referred to this threat as being “paralyzed by choice”.

Are you paralyzed by choice?

The reason you are paralyzed is that you are a small business constrained by your own resources.  There is only so much you can actually do.  Trying to deal with all the opportunities at once can become overwhelming.  You start and stop so many things that suddenly you can’t make any of that great potential happen.

That’s where “choosing” becomes the single most powerful enabler of growth.  And its power is not in selecting…it is really in eliminating.   By choosing you are both deciding what to do and what not to do.   That’s powerful.  And once those choices are made, you and the rest of your team can start to really mobilize around those choices.  Every day people can move and make decisions using your choices as the guide – and eliminate all the other opportunities from the decision equation.

And that’s when things really start to happen and you begin to advance your efforts.  All of a sudden you feel like you are moving forward and growing.

Making choices is more important than making the right choices

I’ve often said that the act of making choices is more important than making the right choices.  And I believe that because it drives you into action and results.  And, with so much opportunity in front of you nearly all of your choices are going to be good ones.  So even if you choose your fifth best idea to go forward with instead of what would have been your first that’s great!  At least you move that forward.

And, in the unlucky and unlikely event that you do make a bad decision, at least you will figure out early that it was a bad decision because you moved it forward fast enough.

Finally, the beauty of choosing is that you can keep choosing.  Once you’ve moved one agenda or priority forward sufficiently, be sure to look at your choices again and see which might be best next.

So, if you find yourself facing the “Green Fields” of opportunity in front of you and feeling a bit “paralyzed” then choose your way out.   Make your choices, get in action behind them and start growing!