These relationships look like this:

ACCOUNT (i.e. Acme, Inc., www.acme.com, 1-800-ACME-INC)
|
|
----- CONTACT (i.e. Joe Smith, joe@acme.com, 555-555-1212)
----- CONTACT
...

This works great when there is a company such as a company client, vendor, or partner and it has employees that are related to it.

However, what happens when the client is an individual person such as someone who bought one of your e-books or a t-shirt? What happens when you are a nonprofit that relates to individual as well as institutional donors?

This is where a fairly recent addition to Salesforce, Person Accounts, comes into play.

Instead of being forced into this parent-child relationship between the Account and Contact, it combines these two objects into one Account/Contact object called a Person Account that looks like this:

PERSON ACCOUNT (i.e. Joe Smith, www.joesworld.com, joe@gmail.com, 555-555-1212)

So, let’s say you started out in Salesforce without Person Accountsenabled or you still find your team creating Accounts and Contacts for B2C individuals. What can you do besides just retyping in all the info in a new Person Account? Can you just convert it?

Well, Salesforce states the only path to change a Contact into a Person Account has these requirements:

1. You must use the Application Programming Interface (API) to do it.
2. You cannot make any other updates or changes to the record at the same time.
3. You must create an Account/Contact pair. That’s one Account with one Contact. The new Person Account will take the Account name.
4. The Account must have a blank Parent Account value.
5. The Contact must have a blank Reports To value.
6. All data in any shared fields (i.e. phone, etc.) between the Account/Contact need to match.*

* I have found that converting a Contact with a mailing address and an Account with no address still works.

Now, the most painful of these steps for a normal Salesforce user is #1. Dealing with the API is a great feature but many stellar admins and users are not familiar with these concepts and are not interested.

Previous discussions I’ve read cover the Data Loader or Excel Connector which can certainly hammer this nail like a sledgehammer but are very developer oriented and overkill for this common task. They are Windows-only apps as well.

Thankfully, there is a much easier way to get this done for Mac, PC, and Linux users on-the-go with less than 10 lines of Javascript from right within Firefox.

More in Part 2.

– Jon

Using a computer for six years should be a somewhat rare occurrence but it is not. Data loss is all too frequent and is estimated to cost $2,900 per incident. Ouch! This is foolish when the problem could have been solved for under $300. Even more, hard drives have been failing at an increasing rate as we depend more and more on our computers – sometimes as high as 15% in a single year!

Especially in this economy, fully depreciating (and then some!) our assets is a high priority but so should avoiding a catastrophe.

I encourage this attempt at cost savings as long as you are managing your risk well.

Doing so includes:

• Automated data backups with multiple versions
  Examples: Mozy for Mac, Carbonite for Windows, Bacula for Linux
• Routine and scheduled Hard Disk replacements & reuse the old drive
  Example: Within the estimated life of the Hard Drive, often called MTTF, or every three years
• Contingency planning for downtime
  Example: Have a secondary computer or shared computer just in case.

Here is what has enabled me maximize my hardware investment while minimizing my risk.

1. I buy only Macs. Since Intel is inside, I can use Windows using a superior hardware setup. You don’t have to, but this is what I do.
2. I have Mozy unlimited backup my hard drive automatically, a little bit every day for about $25.00 a year.
3. I religiously replace my hard drive every 3 years and install a fresh version of Mac OS X.
   (Disclosure: Actually, I hate losing little screws so I buy a hard drive for $109.00 and have Jordan at my local Mac shop, Di-No Computer do it for me for $50.00.)
4. I put the previous computer hard drive inside a reusable portable hard drive enclosure that cost me $62.00.
5. I plug in the hard drive using the enclosure via Firewire
6. I use the Apple Migration Assistant to migrate all the relevant files, applications, and preferences (including my entire Windows installation inside Parallels) over to my new machine.

Total time: 4-5 hours

Time invested: 17 minutes to walk through the Apple Migration Assistant.

Total cost: $25 + $109 + $50 + $62 = $246.00

Peace of mind of low risk and having a Plan B just in case: Priceless

For Windows users, moving your previous PC is probably not desired due to performance issues and for Linux, Ubuntu has a Migration Assistant but mostly from Windows to Linux in the unlikely event you are moving in that direction.

p.s.

I migrate users from Windows to Windows on Mac all the time. I’d love to consider the benefits of this option for you. Let’s connect.

I had client meetings with others in Pasadena, Philly, Seattle, West LA, and Florida this week. All without driving anywhere past my nearest EZ Lube, Starbucks, or Coffee Shop.

You are feeling the pain of this economy and so am I. Even $50 a month saved can make a significant difference if used effectively.

I am in the business of helping make others successful so here is what I do to remain competitive as a small business owner and entrepreneur. I coach, train, and support others as they walk down this journey toward competitive advantage with technology.

Vons, EZ Lube, Hospitals, & Apple Stores: Unexpected Resources
Once you commit to mobilize your office, remaining connected on the go becomes a much higher priority. It used to be that this lifestyle required a cellular card for your computer that could run up to $100 or more per month.

Not so today where you can actually reduce costs by getting out of the office.

This is possible because most business needs some form of Internet access. Many businesses don’t utilize the bandwidth they pay for or want to provide an incentive to visiting customers who may have to wait for services such as EZ Lube. These businesses setup a wireless network that their customers – and you – can access easily with any portable computer with a wifi card. All macs and most other portables sold in the last three years have these built in.

So, once you know Internet access is available in the wild, the next step is find it when and where you need it on the go. Most computers will have utilities that automatically search for networks you can join. If you want to plan ahead or get more info, here are some tools I use that will get you started.

• The iPhone Jiwire Page is an iPhone formatted web page at http://iphone.jiwire.com that allows a quick lookup by address or area code. It has links to maps and contact information to help you check hours and locations via map. Just point Safari there and bookmark it or save it as a shortcut in your Applications screen.
• WiFinder.com is a great service that lets you type in an address or zip code and set a radius – say five miles – to search in. It provides an integrated Yahoo map and contact inforation for locations.
• Wi-fiHotspotList.com provides the usual data but allows you to limit results to a provider such as AT&T. It providies an integrated MapQuest map.
• YouCanWorkFromAnywhere.com provides a great list of additional resources so you can be prepared and realize the benefits of working from anywhere.

In addition to the free and paid wifi hotspots listed above, the FCC is considering creating nationwide wireless with a newly released band of spectrum.

Your comments are always welcome below and please let us know if you have found a tip that worked for you.

See you in Starbucks,

p.s.
That $50 could get you 60 mins of coaching to give you the confidence and skills to not just survive but thrive.