Valient Himself

It isn't everyday that the lead singer of your favorite band walks into the bar and says "hi". 

Kelly and I went out to the Reservoir in Carrboro last night to celebrate my friend Chris' 30th birthday.  After we'd been there for a bit, 3/5 of my favorite rock band - Chapel Hill-based Valient Thorr - walked into the joint.  Of course - both Chris and I recognized them immediately and, of course, we both started giggling with excitement.

Lead singer Valient Himself walked by and I greeted him.  And he reminded me that I owe him an email.  I had previously contacted him to commission an ink portrait, which was admittedly just a mechanism to get to meet him and hang out.  Pretty cool that he remembered/recognized me.

We caught up at the bar shortly thereafter.  Talked about how being the lead singer of an upstart (for 7+ years) rock band is kinda like being the CEO of a start-up.  (Ha!)  And discussed the importance of being your own man...and openly telling critics, detractors, etc. to eat sh!t - both literally (in his case) and metaphorically (probably more appropriate in my case).  And we talked about their new record that should release later this year...and how it is less metal, more funk.

Best of all?  Completely nice guy - friendly, appreciative, funny, and absolutely rock & roll.  And it was his birthday, too.

Valient Thorr is touring with Mastodon, Between The Buried And Me, and Barroness.  You should see them.  I'm going to the Raleigh show on April 17.  And I'm wearing my Thorrior armor.

You should buy their record Immortalizer.  You'll be glad you did.  I've been obsessed since the day I bought it.

You better live your life.
This ain't no practice round.
Don't stumbe off the path.
Cause it's a long way down.

Bill & Ted On Start-Ups

I LOVE Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure - one of my favorite childhood movies.  I watched it for the umpteen millionth time this morning at Kelly's parents' house.  (One of the benefits of waking up two hours before everyone else is having unfettered access to the billion channels on the Stowe family television.)

This scene got me thinking:

My partner Adam and I are in the very early stages of something that we think has a chance to be big.  (Ahem!  Argyle - social media marketing software.) 

Much like Bill & Ted, we're really excited and certain of our eventual success.  Unlike Bill & Ted, we're not letting ourselves succomb to two classic start-up temptations:

• Banking On Someone Else - Even though they seem to be pretty deadset on (and desperately need!) a new "hire" to elevate their performance, there's no way that Wyld Stallyns will get Eddie Van Halen to join the band.  Instead, they need to figure out how to start getting traction in their neighborhood, then on the San Dimas scene, and then on from there.  They're much more likely to recruit an "A" player like Eddie if they can show some momentum and a track record.
• Hoping For A Big Win - Everyone dreams of a triumphant video and a quick rise to the top.  The reality?  That just doesn't happen.  The vast majority of overnight successes are the culmination of many years of pounding away in anonymity.

For now - the Argyle team is focused on learning to play our instruments and putting together a good set.  Everything else will take care of itself.

Party on, dudes.

Why I Broke Up With Kings of Leon

It was cool to like Kings of Leon in 2005.  Nobody had heard of them and the redneck Strokes sound on "Aha Shake Heartbreak" was really fresh.  You could buy a concert ticket for less than $10.  And they had this weirdo Pentecostal-white-trash background that made their music all the more mischevious.

It isn't cool to like Kings of Leon in 2010.  Kelly and I paid $40/ticket to see them put on a short, boring, ambivalent performance in Cary this past Spring.  They're on pop radio.  They probably wear really expensive blue jeans.  Basically - they've become the antithesis of everything that made them fun.

So I broke up with them.  Actually - I broke up with them the day I heard "Sex On Fire" on the radio.  Kelly will confirm.  We were in her car and the song came on Kelly's favorite Top 40 station:

• "Is this Sex On Fire?"
• "Yes."
• "Well.  I guess that's that."

We'll always have the good times.  Their back catalog will remain in heavy rotation - "The Bucket" will remain one of my favorite songs and their 2nd and 3rd records will always mark fun times around 2005, 2006, 2007. 

They're still a great band and they'll still sell a gazillion records and gazillion concert tickets.  Just not to me.

(Note - I've had similar break-ups with Pearl Jam, Metallica, Modest Mouse, Son Volt, Ben Folds, Beck, and Weezer.  So pretty good company for KOL.)

Regarding John Edwards

I was in college from 1998-2002 - years in which the "we love John Edwards, the golden boy rising star of the Democratic party" hype hit a fever pitch.  He was elected to the US Senate in 1998, gave the (memorably bad) commencement address for my graduation in 2002, and more or less put North Carolina back on the national political map with his dashing charm, populist message, and rapid ascent within the Democratic party.

I had three friends from college that grew up in Robbins, NC - the hometown that John Edwards so frequently mentioned in his stump speeches.  At some point during my time as a UNC undergrad, all three of independently stated to me that:

• John Edwards is a complete scumbag.
• Everyone in Robbins hates him.
• They are ashamed to share the same hometown. 

Turns out they were right.

The Argyle Social Blog

In case you don't know, most of the nerdy marketing/technology programming on the Boggs Blog has moved to the Argyle Social blog.

Two Tips For Applying To Start-Up Engineering Jobs

My company is hiring a software engineer, so we've put together a job description and circulated it through free channels like our friends, local networking groups, Facebook, LinkedIn, Craigslist, etc.  We haven't seen as many applicants as we'd like, but we've seen enough to know that some software engineers need a lot of help when it comes to applying for a job with a start-up.

Two suggestions for your consideration:

Don't tell me what you've built - show me.
You're probably working on a product now, right?  How about a screenshot?  Or a description of how the product solves a business problem?  Or at least a link to your company's web site? 

Plus - every good engineer I've ever met has some sort of side project or portfolio of prior side projects/products.  Seeing your previous work will make me feel a lot better about your future work and make it obvious that software is a passion, not a 9 to 5 thing.

Use the name of my company in your cover letter.
If your cover letter/email doesn't mention Argyle by name in the first paragraph, then I stop reading.  Simple as that.

Culture According To Netflix

I can't remember how I found it...but this presentation about the "Freedom & Responsibility Culture" at Netflix from CEO Reed Hastings is pretty amazing.

Netflix doesn't seem like the ideal workplace for everyone...and that is precisely the point. It certainly sets the bar for me in terms of the company that I just birthed and the company I hope to build.

Also - you can take my commentary with a grain of salt. I haven't worked for an "organization" since May 2007...and that company was a late-stage 25-person software start-up.

A few of my favorite nuggets, all quoted/editorialized directly from the presentation:

Real company values are reflected in who gets rewarded, promoted, or let go. So true. Actions are way more important than granite-carved words in the lobby. Despite what they may say - your employees want more money and more recognition. Volunteer days, birthday parties, quirky events, Hawaiin-shirt-day, etc are nice and important - but only cosmetic reflections of a culture.

Adequate performance gets a generous severance package. Fear as a motivating factor? I don't hink so. Iron sharpening iron. A players want to work with other A players.

We're a team, not a family. This is probably borderline inflammatory for some, but I dig it. I've had the good fortune of working with tons of people that I like. But I've had very very very few co-workers that I love/respect as family - same for just about everyone, I'm sure. So why not just drop the lip service?

We're like a pro sports team, not a kids recreational team. Hilarious and spot on in so many ways.

Our model is to increase employee freedom as we grow. This is the most ambitious statement in the entire document. Certainly a worthwhile ideal, but only doable with A+ players throughout the organization. Not just at the management level.

Avoid chaos as you grow with ever move high performing people, not with rules. See above.

Netflix Vacation Policy - There is no vacation policy. Focus on what gets done. Not necessarily when and how.

One outstanding employee gets more done and costs less than two adequate employees. Yes, yes, yes. Salary/benefits are the obvious new-hire costs, but the secondary costs are just as important. One bad seed or one lazy colleague or simply an "average" performer can create all kinds of productivity, teamwork, and culture challenges.

Give people big salaries and the freedom to spend as they think best. Variable compensation is extremely motivating and an absolute necessity for some roles - ie sales. However, if you're running a Netflix-type org - A+ players, freedom, competition - then straight salary makes the most sense.

Individuals should manage their own career paths and not rely on a corporation for planning their careers. If I were Jeff Fischer - the Director of Career Management at Kenan-Flagler - or Shawn Graham - Director of Career Management at Pitt Katz - I would have this tatooed to my forehead.

MLK and Tar Heel Boys' State

I attended the American Legion Tar Heel Boys' State in the summer of 1997.  From the organization's website:

Tar Heel Boys’ State is a leadership action program. Qualified male North Carolina high school rising seniors take part in a practical government course designed to develop a working knowledge of the structure of the government. It is the aim of the program to impress the young citizens with the fact that the government is just what they make it.

At least that was their purpose.  Boys' State really just a weeklong rodeo of 16 year-old boys from all over NC terrorizing each other and the Wake Forest campus...with a smattering mock-government/educational events we had to attend.  As I recall, it was tons of fun for the most part.

I have no idea how it happened, but racial tension became a big problem toward the end of the week.  My hunch is that a vocal, inbred, redneck faction didn't like that the elected "president" of Boy's State was an African American.

Regardless, I had no idea that anything was going on until one of the adult leader's brought it up during one of our all-camp meetings.  The man said that we weren't the first camp to have issues with race...and that we would find the night's speaker to be extremely relevant.

Evidently, it was a tradition of sorts that one of the counselors - a middle-aged, African American preacher - deliver Martin Luther King, Jr's "I Have a Dream Speech".  I can't remember the gentleman's name, but I remember his face and his booming, Southern voice.  He recited the entire speech from memory.

I wept and so did everyone around me.

Why Carolina Gets A Pass This Season

1.)  Until April 2010, we're the National Champions.  Pretty easy to overlook sloppy play when you've just hung a new banner in the rafters.  (At least for me, probably not so much for Roy.)  I'll get back to stressing about our performance, berating players, and accelerating my receding hairline next season.

2.)  I've seen much worse.

2010 Resolutions

Last year's New Year's Resolutions and my efforts at keeping them were pretty weak:

• Re-establish weighlifting routine.  (First 8 months - Fail.  Last 4 months - High Pass.)
• Read more books.  (Low Pass)
• Stop eating like a 14 year-old.  (Fail)

I'll blame the mixed results on the ambiguous goals, the transition from student to reality, the three weeks spent in Spain, and my Nintendo Wii.  Plus - I never really "published" my goals, so there wasn't really any public accountability. 

So - this year's resolutions are broadcast to the world and a little more measurable:

Bench press 280 lbs.  Most type-A, white, overly-educated, American males in my situation - approaching 30, cognizant of their waning athleticism...and expanding waistline - would opt for a triathalon or marathon as validation of their physical stamina, mental toughness, manhood, etc. 

Thanks to a lifetime of basketball, I don't have the knees or ankles for such a pursuit.  So, since I can't be a distance runner, I'm instead gunning for the ability to pulverize a distance runner in hand-to-hand combat.

Plus - I'm tired of being the wimp in my family.  My brother is enormous and strong as an ox.  My future-brother-in-law is also enormous and also strong as an ox.  My dad is pushing 53 and can still out-lift me.

I weigh 200 lbs, I have really long arms, and I can barely push ~210 lbs right now - which is (ahem!) more than I've ever lifted.  So 280 would be a pretty big win.  300 lbs is the stretch goal.

Read 1 novel per month.  This is the "watch less TV, play less Wii" resolution.

Note that Dan Brown, Twilight, Malcolm Gladwell brain candy shite doesn't count.  I'm talking about books that I can discuss with Ben Rogerson.  Books with depth and sub-text - not just plot.

I finished "The Human Stain" last night - a fantastic read on race and identity.  I have two more Philip Roths on my nightstand.

Be Resolute.  This one is admittedly fuzzy, but certainly more personal and more meaningful.  Details forthcoming in another post at some point.  I'm going to play some Wii before going to bed.  :)

Family Christmas Card

Kelly and I upgraded to a "family photo" style Christmas card this year:

Michael Brooks took the photo, I did the design in Gimp. 

(Sorry if you didn't get one.)

This wasn't the first Christmas card I've designed.  In 2001, my college roomates John, Lee, and I staged a photo shoot in our dorm - 210 Old West.  Afterwards, we conceived a design theme, found the requisite clipart online, and published the deeply symbolic masterpiece you'll see below.

We emailed the image to every address we could find - including Chancellor James Moeser, Coach Matt Doherty, numerous listservs, etc.  As you might imagine, many people loved/hated it.

Our's was a fairly eclectic living space.  If you can't tell, the items in the picture are (from left):

• a banjo
• a styrofoam cooler
• (behind the cooler) fish tank with dead fish
• potted plant
• bag of Utz
• SunMaid raisins
• Tofu
• 8 of Ben Rogerson's Dr Pepper cans
• empty bowl with spoon
• Cha Cha Chili instant soup (under the bowl)
• empty burlap sack
• Let's Go Europe
• Jiffy cornbread
• a ficus

Photo credit - Ben Rogerson

Re: Short URLs...

...I was right.

Google and Facebook are in the game.

MUCH more on this sooner rather than later...

Changing Times For Marketers

You better start swimming or you'll sink like a stone.

Bob Dylan said that to beautifully articulate the rising tide of the Civil Rights Movement.  I'm just appropriating completely out of context to explain the sink-or-swim situation soon facing marketers.

(Instead of taking the time to craft an original thought - I'll gladly/lazily refer you to this great entry from Forrester forecasting the tectonic shifts facing marketers over the coming months and this "trends for 2010" post from eMarketer CEO Geoff Ramsey.)

The long and short of my perspective is this - I hate being marketed to...or marketed at...or however you want to describe the dim-witted shortcuts that pass for "marketing" these days.  (See Dell, iContact, and Sarah Palin.) 

Unfortunately, interrupt-driven - and lowest-common-denominator - marketing will always exist because - to some degree - it works and because it often provides to only mechanism for super-broad reach. 

Fortunately, there is a glimmer of hope on the horizon.  And it comes from relationships generated from the opt-in, personalized promise of email marketing and the influence and insight from the social web. 

The technologies and tools are there - marketers just need to step up their game, get smarter, get personal, and stop spraying/praying. 

2009's Greatest Hits

This is always my favorite post of the year - the list of songs that soundtracked the past 12 months.  It always helps me remember fun times, people, and places.  As always, tip of the hat to Chaz Felix for introducing me to the format.

2007 Edition
2008 Edition

Without further ado, the tunes I jammed in 2009:

I Hope the Ghosts of the Dead Haunt Your Soul Forever - Valient Thorr

I listened to Thorr non-stop this past year.  Love love love the tight riffage and the sociopolitical (motivational speaker?) lyrics.  Ironic.  Brutal.  Fast.  Funny.  Awesome in every way.  Excellent workout music.

The 506 performance in Feb was the most fun I had at a rock concert in 2009.  These guys poured their guts on to the stage.  And Chris and I sported our sweet Thorrior denim.

They're based in Chapel Hil, by the way.  I said "hi" to the lead singer - Valient Himself - at the Harvey Milk performance at 506 this year.  (Another mind-blowing concert.)

Ogeechee Hymnal / A Horse Called Golgotha - Baroness

As far as I'm concerned, this piece from Baroness' Blue Record is the absolute best cut from 2009.  (Yes - this qualifies as a "piece" - not a song.) 

LOVE how they take a simple melodic idea in Ogeechee, layer it with chunky, harmonized chords, and then let it feedback as it segues into Golgotha.  The intro reminds me of "...And Justice For All" and the days when it was cool to like Metallica.  After the spacious interlude - which follows the same melody - Baroness blows it away.  Stick around until the end - they let it drone out again and bring it back home.  Brilliance.

If you're not a fan of droning sludge, feel free to skip ahead to ~4:00 - the devastation starts shortly thereafter. 

If you're not a fan of harmonized shouting and face-melting guitar, feel free to skip this one altogether.

(Note - I linked to a live version because I couldn't find the album version spliced together on YouTube.  The layered guitar subtleties on the record are amazing.  HIGHLY recommended.)

The Cup of Lonliness - George Jones

This tune played out the credits of "The Mountain King" episode in Mad Men Season 2.  Don Draper is truly a broken, lonely man.

The Possum's original recording is grittier, more broken-hearted, but you get the general idea from this overly-produced re-take. 

(Yes - the playlist just went from stoner metal to classic honky tonk.  That's the way I roll.)

Head Full Of Doubt / Road Full Of Promise - The Avett Brothers

I didn't really like the new Avett Bros record when I first listened - I missed the chirpy harmony, the banjos, the redneck vibe, etc.  Then I listened to it again and realized that it is the best front-to-back record from 2009.

"Decide what to be and go be it."  The perfect lyric for a song about a head full of doubt...and a road full of promise.

Boots of Spanish Leather - Bob Dylan

Kelly and I spent 3 weeks in Spain this past Spring.  Which reminded me that I love this song.

Useful Chamber - Dirty Projectors

No Greatest Hits list is complete without a band referred to me by Ben Rogerson.  He gave me a copy of Dirty Projector's "Bitte Orca" one summer afternoon and I promptly listened to it non-stop for weeks.

Any description I write won't do the music justice - so just listen to the entire song and soak in all of its glorious, angular wierdness.

Love Game / Poker Face - Lady GaGa

I love Lady GaGa.  Don't hate.  Really looking forward to her inevitable, spectacular fall from grace in 2010!

Glory Of Love - Peter Cetera

I also love Peter Cetera and the super-sugary love songs that played on easy listening stations in the mid/late 1980s.  (Richard Marx, anyone?)  Peter's performance in this video is almost as awesome as his feathery blonde hair.

Kelly downloaded this song to her phone in the backseat of her parents' Honda CRV on the way back to Stowe Hill from dinner in Pineville one evening this Fall.  She and I laughed like crazy and sang every word.  Her parents weren't sure how to react.

Oh! You Pretty Things - David Bowie

I distinctly remember listening to this song coming home from the Harris Teeter at Meadowmont.  I'm not sure why.  Regardless - I certainly went through a Bowie phase this past Spring.

The Final Countdown - Sorry Charlie

Keep On Loving You - Sorry Charlie

I was in a band in 2009.  And we were kinda awesome.

Here I Go Again - Sorry Charlie

I will never forget this moment.  Charlie had a big intro planned...and I botched it with awful keys...and he further botched it because he got the mic cable wrapped around an amp. 

You still gotta admit that this is pretty epic, especially considering that we rehearsed 2 times before this performance. 

If it looks like we were having fun, it is because we were.

Here's to an even better 2010.

Sarah Palin Book Signing Video

My friend Tom retweeted this video from Digg.  (That was a nerdy sentence, by the way.) 

Basically, a guy with a camera and a guy with a microphone interviewed people waiting in line outside of a Columbus, OH bookstore for a Sarah Palin book signing.  Enjoy.

A few thoughts:

1.)  My first reaction was laughter.  Regardless of your politics - some of this stuff is hilarious.

2.)  This video is unfair.  I'm sure that a Barack Obama book signing would have attracted a similar set of polictical savants.  There are just as many stupid, uninformed Democrats as there are stupid, uninformed Republicans.  I would LOVE to have a nickle for every person that voted for Barack Obama without so much as an inkling of his policy positions.

3.)  When you think about it - this video is really just sad.  I guess people have a right to be ignorant.  Just a shame that they'd rather exercise their right to ignorance over their right to be informed, participate, etc.

4.)  Daily Show fodder notwithstanding, I'm ready for Sarah Palin to go away.

Help Hajo Meet The Hoff

My friend Hajo is in the cereal business.  (I've written about him before.)  He specializes in delicious, gluten-free, custom cereals.  The concept comes from a similar business that has been very successful in Deutschland.

My friend Hajo is also German...which means he LOVES David Hasslehoff - because all Germans love David Hasslehoff.  This is a fact. Seriously - what is not to love about his legendary Berlin Wall performance? 

(Why did the Berlin Wall come down?  Because The Hoff rocked it so hard with the piano key neckerchief and blinky Christmas light leather jacket, that's why.)

So:

• Germany's greatest export to the US = delicious, custom-mixed cereal.
• America's greatest export to Germany = The Hoff

Thus, over lunch last week, Hajo - with help from Allen and your's truly - came to the only logical conclusion:

David Hasslehoff MUST have Hajo's delicious Custom Choice Cereal. 

So Hajo set the goal of personally delivering a bag of cereal to The Hoff by the end of March 2010.  More on the CCC blog.

Here's how you can help in 3 easy steps:

1. Get inspired.
2. Repost this on your blog/social network of choice.
3. Buy some yummy cereal from Hajo so that he can afford a plane ticket to LA.

Squarespace iPhone App

Brilliant piece of software.

Tyler Dog agrees.

Three Nights At Memorial Hall

Was talking with one of Kelly's co-workers Sunday night re: the recent performances at UNC's Memorial Hall.  I'm pretty sure it was the best - or at least most personally entertaining - run of shows at the venue since the 2005 re-opening:

• Sonny Rollins - the Saxophone Colossus is 90 years old, can barely walk, can't straighten his back beyond 45 degrees...but he can still blow.  He only showed brief flashes of his brilliance, though it was amazing nonetheless to see/hear such a titan of the genre.
• Ravi Shankar - another aging master I feel fortunate to have seen.  He can still shred a sitar - no joke.  And his daughters - Anoushka and Norah Jones - are hot.  (Which reminds me to ask Kelly if she'll still love me when I'm in my hanging-out-with-Ravi-Shankar phase.)
• Bela Fleck/Edgar Meyer/Zakir Hussain - probably the best in the world in the respective instruments - banjo, double bass, tabla.  Really inventive set and jaw-dropping virtuosity.  Plus - they're nice guys. 

(I think there was actually a 4th show somewhere in there...but I didn't see, so it doesn't count.)

The 2nd best string of performances I can think of are the back-to-back Wilco performances in 2006.

Oh yeah - or maybe the 4 nights of Bolshoi Ballet.  :)

Twitter Forcing A Strategy Switch

Came across an article on the Chicago Tribune regarding the strategic impact of social media.  This blurb jumped out for me:

While about five officials at Southwest Airlines typically vet every press release for accuracy and nuance, communications staffer Christi Day flies solo on Twitter. She acts as the discount carrier's voice without editing from her bosses.

This is fascinating, though I suppose it isn't really surprising given that social is largely still an experiment for most marketers in the space...and a curiousity to the majority marketers that remain on the sidelines.

Still, I can't help but imagine that there will eventually be a need for oversight, approval, etc. for social posts.  Every corporate post to a social stream instantly reaches hundreds of thousands of people that matter.  It facilitates the holy grail of marketing communications - one-to-one conversations with your customers - yet it isn't getting any attention from management?  (Actually - it is probably better this way...)

On the other hand, a press release gets slowly cycled through the creaky traditional media machine and often leads to follow up conversations before the "story" actually happens, if it happens at all.  This paradigm is shrinking fast.

Plus - this is an awful lot of trust to place in one person/role.  Do the people at Southwest realize that - to the thousands on Twitter - Christi Day is the voice of Southwest?  Not that she's doing a poor job - just seems like they'd want to put a bit more thought/effort into the channel.

Launching A Business In The Cloud

I started writing this in early July...and just now finished it.  So some of the temporal references are a bit off.

eb
--

I've built most of the operational plumbing for a small business over the past few weeks...and I've done it all without installing a single piece of software or building a single MS Office document.  (OK - except for an overly-MBA'ed financial model in Excel.) 

Here's the playbook for launching a lightweight company in the cloud:

Web:  Squarespace.com

I showed my friend Tristan an early (and hideous) mock-up of Argyle's website one afternoon in the Kenan-Flagler cafe.  After a quick look, he replied with three very wise questions:

1. What are you doing?
2. Don't you know the best time to change directions in an IT implementation is at the beginning of the project?
3. Will you please let me show you Squarespace?

I was on the cusp of a custom-built disaster...and Tristan intervened just in time to introduce me to the best web app I've used in a long time.

Except for the images I bought from iStockPhoto and a few blurbs of custom CSS and HTML, Squarespace elegantly powers every pixel of ArgyleMail.com.  Point and click, drag and drop, save and close - it could not have been easier to put together a polished, professional website.  All for ~$30/month.

I can't say enough good things about the service.

(Note - Tristan works there now.)

CRM - Salesforce.com

Admittedly, Salesforce.com is waaaay more than I need at this point.  However, it is very helpful for getting out of spreadsheets, formalizing processes, and taking baby steps towards becoming a data-driven company.

I paid $99 for a year's worth of Group Edition - which includes a handful of users, several helpful Google integrations, and more than enough functionality to keep me going for a long time.

I haven't done it yet - but it is (kinda) easy to integrate a web form to dump contact data directly from my site to my CRM.

Accounting/Billing - Quickbooks Online

While it isn't the prettiest application, Quickbooks gets the job done.  As far as I know, the online edition offers the same functionality as the installed edition. There are some other apps that offer similar services - Freshbooks is probably the most popular - but QB is the most comprehensive.

They also offer a merchant account service that is a little pricey, but integrates nicely with the service.  It is a little clunky billing customers, but I don't really have the volume to warrant an upgrade.

Operations - Google Apps

I run my email, my calendar, and (most of) my documents through Google.  Extremely easy and beautifully functional. 

I can't imagine why any small business would deal with the hassle of hosting their own productivity services when - after some easy DNS changes and a quick set-up - they can run it all through Google for free (in most cases) or cheap. 

The Salesforce.com integration makes it an even bigger no-brainer.