Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

I have launched a free, easy to use online billing system called Invoiceplace - http://www.invoiceplace.com

Use Invoiceplace to create invoices, quotes and receipts and print as Word of PDF documents. It is built especially for consultants, freelancers, home-based and small businesses.

You can try it for free, and I invite you to register for a free sign up account. The free account lets you create unlimited invoices, quotes and receipts and securely store you business and customer and details online. You can store details for up to three customers with the free account.

Paid subscriptions are coming soon if you have more than three customers.

I invite you to have a look, and your feedback and suggestions are much appreciated!

Regards,
Scott

Invoice Place - Invoices, quotes and receipts - free, fast and easy.

http://www.invoiceplace.com

This actually looks very interesting to me, being a freelancer. However, what I`d rather see would be a sort of virtual tour. I clicked the "try it for free," knowing that I`d have data do fill in. And that`s the problem, what I`d really like would be to not have to fill in data, but see what the result would look like.

I can see two ways to do this. The first would be a slide show in a separate window, like a demo. The second would be a second option to "try it free," something like "see what an invoice looks like." I`d like to fill in dummy data, then see a final result in my own browser. Could that be done?

I`d also like to see more immediately how much it would cost. I don`t much care for sites that ask me to "sign up" or "register," but don`t tell me what`s the ballpark money we`re discussing.

Other than that, it seems like a good idea. At first I questioned why I`d want it, given a PayPal account. But upon reflection, I can see it being quite helpful---especially with quotes. :-)

Thank you very much for the feedback Craig. I will be creating a virtual tour/screenshots and updating the public website within the next two weeks.

I do have a sample PDF invoice on the front page (first box on the left hand side).

There isn`t much in the way of screenshots on the public page because my goal is to encourage people to try out the service themselves, it`s the best way to find out if it would be useful for their business. A chance to kick the tires, so to speak!

The paid subscription will let you store more customers, pricing will be between $5 - $10 US dollars per month.

However you can sign-up for a free account - unlimited invoices, quotes and receipts for up to three customers.

What I`m trying to do is provide an easy to use service to manage your quotes and invoices - to keep track of current and expired quotes, due and overdue payments, record partial payments (such as retainers) and produce professional invoices and quotes.

Also, with one click you can convert a quote into an invoice, and then with another click create a receipt for each invoice.

We don`t get paid to write invoices (well I know I don`t!), but of course without them we have no business. I know it can be drain to keep up with accounts receivable, and Invoiceplace is designed to make this task a bit quicker and easier.

Thanks again for the feedback.

Regards,
Scott

Invoice Place - Invoices, quotes and receipts - free, fast and easy.

http://www.invoiceplace.com

Alright, then I`d write some easy to read content to that effect. :-)

What`s interesting to me as a writer, is I go look at a site and put in some feedback. Then the creator/owner posts some comments addressing what I said, or they email me with answers.

When I read their commentary, THAT`s what should be on the site! LOL!

Too many people believe they somehow have to sound high-falutin` when they write "real stuff" on a Web site, or for ads, or whatever. They have to use "adult" "grownup" words and language, and puff their language up to sound formal, dressed up, suit-and-tie. Not true!!

Suppose I came to your store (if you had one) and you came up to me asking if I need some help. I say, "So what do you guys sell here?"

Now you say, "Our facility interacts with the customer to generate customized invoices. We offer a free trial of our product, and blah blah blah." <blech!> :-)

You`d Never say that! Instead, you`d smile, and say something like, "We`ve got a great way for you to send invoices around the world. You can type in your stuff, your customer`s stuff, hit a button, and we`ll format it for you and make it look totally professional. Here, c`mon...let me show you how it works...(this is SO cool...!), and you can give it a shot."

Then I could type some nothing stuff, hit a button, and see my nothing stuff right there, instantly, as an invoice. I could care less about looking at a PDF of someone ELSE`s nothing stuff! I want to see MY nothing stuff! LOL!! See? :-)

Make it fun! Let me type "pdflkfeoine" in one line, and "4093u403" in another. Then hit a button, and BLAMO!....there`s my invoice, with whatever nonsense I typed Or whatever actuall stuff. Then I`ll see how cool it is....! Then I`ll try it again, but with a real invoice! :-)

Alright, here`s my thought. On the home page, you have the 123 box. That should be a hyperlink to take you to either the coming demo, or to the "sign up for free" trial.

On that page, I chose the US, then filled in some junk. I couldn`t get past it because of the required fields. I just wanted to see an invoice I created without any important stuff...just an example. I wanted to see what choices I have for the header, could I put in my own logo, what would it look like in Word or PDF format, etc. I didn`t want to waste time with all the required fields.

Then I clicked on the logo to get back to the home page and it isn`t a hot link. I see the logo is a link on the other pages, not that one...where I`m looking at the "create an invoice," "create a quote" trial.

It comes down to I want to see what it`s gonna look like, quickly before I bother with registering, trying out for free, etc. I know your intent, and I realize you`re trying to make it easy...from YOUR perspective. But not from mine.

Someone the other day pointed out they would have to rethink their site a bit, based on what the customer likes, not what they particularly like. That`s the truth, within the guidelines that your business itself is what you like. But I`d venture to guess that you actually like the money coming in, right? :-)

BTW, the weaselwords.com link took so long to load, I didn`t get there. But that`s their site problem. I`ll try it again later. :-)

Thanks for the prompt feedback Craig. What do you think of the updated text on the front page?

I do have a link to a sample PDF invoice on the front page so people can see what the finished product looks like, without registering or taking any further steps.

As far as producing your own sample invoice then you do need to enter the  mandatory fields in order to create an invoice.

Regards,
Scott

Invoice Place - Invoices, quotes and receipts - free, fast and easy.

http://www.invoiceplace.com

Yes, I like the text on the front page. It`s clear, immediately understandable, and works for me. One minor thing, under the graphic for the PDF example...the red picture, first to the left.

I know it`s a link because when I hover over it, I get the hand cursor. But on first look, it worries me that if I click, I`ll actually SEND an invoice! LOL! I`d like to see the graphic or some text indicate that clicking the link will show me the PDF example.

Then, as I said, the ABC graphic should start the demo...or at least take me to a content page that tells the three steps necessary to try it out.

A Tour has been added to Invoiceplace. This includes screenshots and a brief overview of each step of the process to create invoices, quotes and receipts.

Please have a look at the Tour (link in the top right of the front page). Your feedback is much appreciated - http://www.invoiceplace.com

Regards,
Scott

Invoice Place - Invoices, quotes and receipts - free, fast and easy.

http://www.invoiceplace.com

Scott-

Nice additions with the tour and home page edits from your feedback here on this post.  I think the tour is a GREAT feature.  You may also want to consider a "Features" page to outline everything a user gets and what they can do with your service. Users are drawn to these pages as it gives us the facts on what we`re considering and what is important to us.  It also allows you to point out your differences/advantages over other services.  Good luck!

Aaron