A Letter to my Husband: Why I Need an ipad for Work

The newest ipad incarnation goes on sale today. I know, I know, I could just go buy one without permission from my husband.  It's only $499.  I have purchased plenty of less useful items that cost more than that without his permission; but I'm putting so much into the startup of my new business that I just can't do it.....  yet.  

So on to the title of this post:

Dear Jason,

I need to buy an ipad for my new business.  It's a tax write-off, so actually a.muse is going to buy it.   You see, it's actually imperative that I get one.  Let me count the ways....

As an event planner, I need to make presentations to clients, and what better way than to whip out my ipad and flip through beautiful pictures.  It's way less cumbersome to break out than my laptop, much more impressive, and would set me apart from my competitors.  Also, once I've landed the client, I usually bring them a printed full color page or two of my inspiration board, with pictures of examples of what I plan to do for the event.  It would have samples of linens, color themes, decor pieces, etc.  Now I wouldn't have to spend the money printing in color, I could just show them from my ipad.  Then, using printcentral, I could print one out for them at their office, right from the ipad.  In fact, I can print anything out anywhere.  I wouldn't have to carry around files and folders... think of how much we would save in ink and paper!

There is also an app called Bento that is specifically designed for event planners.  It helps with tracking contacts, vendors, tasks, expenses, location details, important files, emails and more, and link them to any of your events. They have templates for meetings, conferences, tradeshows, weddings, parties and fund raising events.  Winning!

I could also get the Square app and reader, which would allow me to accept credit cards.  It costs nothing until I swipe the card.  Right now, I don't have that capability and in order to to that, I would need a merchant account and all the cumbersome stuff that goes with it.  Not to mention I would probably have to write down the account information and come home to process the card, and by then it may not have been written down properly, it may get declined, the paper could get lost.  This way, I run the card right there in front of the client.  Done.  And it will immediately send them a professional receipt.  I can also use this software to track cash or check payments and send receipts for that.  Fab, right?  I could also use this to accept credit cards at fundraising events, saving my clients money and once again, setting me apart from my competitors (unless they read this blog).

For those clients that I charge by the hour, there is Timemaster which helps track time spent on projects and assigns them to different clients.  I would have portable access to the internet so I can get online anywhere, which is helpful because I'm on the go all the time.  I can even use it as an ereader so that I can read my books if I'm tired of surfing the web on trains, etc.  Again saving my back from having to carry books around with me. 

So, Jason, you see this is why I need an ipad for work.  The new one goes on sale today and I think we should take a trip to the apple store and test drive one! 

Your loving wife,
Sue
President
a.muse Events.