ASI® SmartBooks

Pollyanna or Henny Penny?

By Mark Bloom

Prevailing with Disciplined Optimism

The old country song encourages us to "keep on the sunny side of life". That is not always simple to do. It is comfortable to fall into the Chicken Little view that a positive outlook in troubling times is just being a Pollyanna.

Credit markets in turmoil! Unemployment up! Orders down! Default Credit Swaps! Fortune 500 Bankruptcy!

It is easy to mock an optimist. Scorning those who hope for the best can give us a great feeling of a knowing smile at the hopeful`s foolishness. Unbridled, idealistic, romantic notions of cheerfully annoying optimism can even make us wince in agony.

Optimism is fundamental in order to make a small business thrive. Overcoming fear, anxiety, frustration and skepticism can make the difference between success and failure. The key is to practice realistic and disciplined optimism. Optimism can inspire you to maintain confidence and get to work removing whatever obstacle is in your way. Disciplined optimism allows you to own...

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Issue	Title	Date
151	Automating Backups	5/14/2013
150	Changes to Customer History List	4/30/2013
149	Dashboard-Info at a Glance!	4/16/2013
147	Reviewing Prior Bank Reconciliations	3/19/2013
146	Landscape Preprinted Invoices	3/5/2013
145	Reconciling Credit Cards Versus Bank Accounts	2/19/2013
144	New Support Hours	2/5/2013
143	Vendor Payment Methods	1/22/2013
142	Bank Reconciliation	1/8/2013
141	2012 End Of Year	12/11/2012
140	Make a Note	11/27/2012
139	Automatically Closing Orders and Invoices	11/13/2012
138	Filing Sales Tax	10/30/2012
137	Is performing a backup enough?	10/16/2012
136	Voiding a Check	10/2/2012
135	Analyzing/Changing Budgets	9/19/2012
134	Out Of Balance?	9/4/2012
133	ASI SmartSales Integration is Available	8/21/2012
132	Frequently Asked Questions	8/7/2012
131	Tips to Reducing Employee Absences	7/24/2012
130	Unraveling the Email Mystery	7/3/2012
129	Importance of a Disaster Recovery Plan	6/19/2012
128	Treat Credit Cards as Bank Accounts When Reconciling	6/5/2012
127	Paperless Payroll	5/23/2012
126	Bells and Whistles	5/9/2012
126	10% Off User Upgrades	5/16/2012
125	10% Off User Upgrades	4/25/2012
124	Complex Shipping	4/11/2012
123	ASI SmartBooks and Microsoft SQL Server	3/28/2012
122	Cloud Computing Pros and Cons	3/14/2012
121	Coming in Version 2.2.4	2/29/2012
120	'Order'ly Product Branding	2/15/2012
119	ASI SmartBooks Service Pack	2/8/2012
118	New ASI SmartBooks Online Training	2/1/2012
117	Organizing Ledger Accounts	1/25/2012
116	Fiscal Ledger Closing	1/18/2012
115	Managing Vendors	1/11/2012
114	Year-End Tax Saving Tips	1/5/2012
112	Happy Holidays	12/20/2011
111	To Everything There is a Season	12/14/2011
110	Will ProfitMaker Data Convert to ASI SmartBooks?	12/7/2011
109	Reducing Paper Success Story	11/30/2011
108	Speed Up Your PC	11/23/2011
107	The Face of Customer Service	11/16/2011
106	Fast and Easy Credit Card Tracking	11/9/2011
105	The List Tool	11/2/2011
104	How Do I Keep My Hardware in Good Running Order?	10/26/2011
103	Important Announcement for ProfitMaker Customers	10/19/2011
102	Inventory and Shop Floor Management	10/12/2011
101	Our Website is Changing!	10/5/2011
97	PCI Compliance	9/28/2011
96	Determining Value	8/31/2011
92	Feature Presentation	8/10/2011
87	Training Videos	7/13/2011
84	Shop Until You Drop (Ship)!	6/7/2011
82	9.00 to 9.30 Enhancements	6/1/2011
79	Online Seminar Introducing the New ProfitMaker	5/14/2011
73	The 'Bespoke' Document	3/22/2011
70	Better to Give!	3/1/2011
68	What Makes for Great Order Entry?	2/15/2011
66	You Spoke. We Listened.	1/25/2011
65	Keyboard Power	1/11/2011
63	Happy Holidays	12/29/2010
62	Year End Processing	12/13/2010
60	A Good Offense...	11/16/2010
59	Cash is King	11/1/2010
58	Maximize Your Equipment	10/18/2010
57	Updates Shield Profits	10/4/2010
56	Pollyanna or Henny Penny?	9/20/2010
55	Back to School!	9/7/2010
54	Little Boxes...	8/23/2010
53	Can You Hear Me NOW?	8/9/2010
52	Credit is Money	7/27/2010
51	Measuring Profitability	7/13/2010
50	ProfitBuzz Spins 50th Issue!	6/28/2010
49	Commission Types	6/14/2010
48	Hardware Problems?	6/1/2010
47	Units vs Directories	5/18/2010
46	Don't Get Left Behind!	5/4/2010
45	You Better Watch Out!	4/19/2010
44	Recycling Bits!	4/5/2010
43	It's None of Your Business!	3/22/2010
42	Argh! My bank reconciliation doesn't balance!!	3/9/2010
41	The Top 5 Month End Reports	2/22/2010
40	Automated Alerts	2/8/2010
39	Petty Cash Isn't Petty!	1/25/2010
38	Should I Go or Should I Stay?	1/11/2010
37	Happy Holidays	12/29/2009
36	The End Is Near!	12/14/2009
35	Streamline Month End	12/1/2009
34	A Public Space in the Middle	11/16/2009
33	Web Payments	11/3/2009
32	Where Has All the Data Gone?	10/20/2009
31	Updated Web Site!	10/6/2009
30	ProfitMaker 9.1 Released	9/22/2009
29	Credit Where Credit Is Due	9/8/2009
28	Budgets	8/24/2009
27	How to Fail	8/11/2009
26	Researching Accounts	7/28/2009
25	Customer/Vendor Letter Writing	7/14/2009
24	The Eyes Have IT!	7/7/2009
23	ProfitMaker's AD-vance Program	6/30/2009
22	General Ledger Out of Balance?	6/23/2009
21	Windows Logo Key Speed Ups!	6/16/2009
20	Design Your Own Matrix Items in ProfitMaker	6/2/2009
19	Information is Power!	5/26/2009
18	Track Expenses for Samples	5/19/2009
17	Activity Manager	5/12/2009
16	CAN SPAM!	5/5/2009
15	Quotes that Work!	4/28/2009
14	Business Intelligence Report, Charts, and Graphs	4/21/2009
13	Integrating ProfitMaker with ESP Online	4/14/2009
12	Introducing ProfitMaker 9.0	4/7/2009
11	PDF is GREEN!	3/31/2009
10	Accurate Margins mean Better Decisions	3/24/2009
9	Optimize and Protect Your Business Processes	3/17/2009
8	Resolve to Master Time	3/10/2009
7	Answers to the Most Asked Support Questions (Part 2)	3/3/2009
6	Answers to the Most Asked Support Questions (Part 1)	2/24/2009
5	ProfitMAKER Order Entry Tips	2/17/2009
4	Manage Your Activities	2/10/2009
3	How to Avoid End Of Month Closing Crunch	2/3/2009
2	How Do People Find Your Business?	1/27/2009
1	ProfitBUZZ to Provide Help and Insight!	1/20/2009