Eugene, OR – October 13, 2009 – Palo Alto Software is pleased to announce the launch of its newest software package designed for entrepreneurs and small businesses, ‘Start, Run & Grow Your Business’ (SRG). The package contains over 45 “best-of-breed” software tools to help new small businesses and entrepreneurs get up and running, as well as to assist existing businesses with improving their practices, making it one of the most comprehensive small business toolkits ever assembled.

Designed to address the many needs of new, existing and growing businesses, the package has a broad range of tools and applications meant to help your business succeed.  The programs incorporated into SRG include software for bookkeeping, timesheet management, project management, storing passwords, creating press releases, and doing payroll taxes. Additionally, the package includes a full year’s subscription to Email Center Pro, Palo Alto Software’s leading customer service email management program. Other offers such as logo development from HP’s LogoWorks, a web domain from Network Solutions, and business cards from VistaPrint, will help new companies improve their visual identity.

SRG also comes with a free one-year subscription to Inc. magazine, one of the country’s leading small business publications. Free credits for online surveys and email marketing from VerticalResponse can help entrepreneurs carry out relevant market research and focused online marketing, while sales contacts from Jigsaw will assist in generating new leads.

“With the current state of the national economy, entrepreneurs and small businesses are vital to our economy, creating 60-80% of all net new jobs,” stated Palo Alto Software CEO Sabrina Parsons. “By giving new businesses the tools to get off the ground, and helping existing ones to become more efficient and effective, we hope to help not only them, but the wider economy in general.”

‘Start, Run & Grow Your Business will be on shelves starting October 1^st in Target stores nationwide.  Start, Run & Grow Your Business and Start, Run & Grow Your Business PLUS, which features even more functionality, will also be available at Amazon, Fry’s, Costco.com, J&R, Apple and other retail outlets nationwide.

www.start-run-grow.com

Tags: press release, Start Run and Grow Your Business
Posted on October 13th, 2009 | No Comments »

Eugene, OR (PRWEB) September 30, 2009 — Palo Alto Software is thrilled to be the Eugene Area Chamber of Commerce Business of the Year award recipient. The Business of the Year award is given annually to a Eugene-based business that excels across four categories: community caring, environmental values, growth and innovation.

“Palo Alto Software was named 2009 Business of the Year because of its focus on the triple bottom line of sustainability-financial, social and the environment,” says Dave Houser, chamber president. “Palo Alto Software truly demonstrates an outstanding contribution to the community in each of these ways.”

Palo Alto Software creates, develops and manufactures tools to help start-ups and small businesses succeed. Earlier this year Palo Alto Software launched the Oregon Small Business Boost program, providing $3.2 million of free business planning software to Oregon entrepreneurs. In addition, Palo Alto Software supports a host of community causes ranging from SCORE to the Nature Conservancy.

“With the current state of the national economy, entrepreneurs and small businesses are vital cornerstones in securing the financial futures of all of our families and communities,” stated Palo Alto Software CEO Sabrina Parsons. “We are delighted to be recognized by our home Eugene Area Chamber of Commerce for our passion to support these leaders.”

Palo Alto Software will receive the award at the Chamber’s 6th Annual Emerald Award presentation on October 6th at 5pm at the Hult Center in Eugene. Those interested in attending can reserve seats at http://www.theemeraldawards.org/.

About Palo Alto Software, Inc.
Palo Alto Software, Inc. develops, publishes, and markets software products for use with personal computers. Business Plan Pro is the best selling business-planning software in the U.S. retail market, according to NPD Intelect. Palo Alto Software’s marketing-planning product is Marketing Plan Pro powered by Duct Tape Marketing. This combined product line offers “know-how” solutions that have made Palo Alto Software the market leader in its category.

Palo Alto Software was founded in 1988 and is a privately-owned corporation based in Eugene, Oregon. For more information about Palo Alto Software products, visit, www.paloalto.com.

Tags: award, Oregon Small Business Boost, palo alto software, press release
Posted on October 2nd, 2009 | No Comments »

Eugene, OR (PRWEB) August 25, 2009 — Palo Alto Software is proud to announce the release of Business Plan Pro’s 15th Anniversary Edition. Business Plan Pro is the world’s most popular business planning software with countless repeat customers. In fact, over the past 15 years, over a million businesses have taken advantage of this industry leading business planning tool.

The release of Business Plan Pro’s 15th Anniversary Edition celebrates the program’s accomplishments in assisting businesses in planning for success. This has included everyone from first-time business owners to serial entrepreneurs to business unit leaders at more than half of the Fortune 500 companies.

“When Business Plan Pro was created, our goal was to provide software that would help businesses succeed through better strategy and planning,” stated Palo Alto Software founder and Business Plan Pro creator Tim Berry. “An entrepreneur’s most powerful tool is a detailed blueprint of when, why, and how to do things that make or break any business; not just when the business is starting, but as a continuous process. We believe that in business, if you plan for rain you will never get wet.”

Along with the release of the 15th Anniversary Edition, Business Plan Pro celebrates its crystal anniversary with the launch of an online ‘Customer Gallery’ to pay tribute to the many relationships that continue to inspire them to do what they do. The ‘Customer Gallery‘ invites everyone to hear the stories of some truly remarkable entrepreneurs. Visit www.paloalto.com/business_plan_software/customer_gallery.

About Palo Alto Software, Inc.
Palo Alto Software, Inc. develops, publishes, and markets software products for use with personal computers. Business Plan Pro is the best selling business-planning software in the U.S. retail market, according to NPD Intelect. Palo Alto Software’s marketing-planning product is Marketing Plan Pro powered by Duct Tape Marketing. This combined product line offers “know-how” solutions that have made Palo Alto Software the market leader in its category.

Palo Alto Software was founded in 1988 and is a privately-owned corporation based in Eugene, Oregon. For more information about Palo Alto Software products, visit, www.paloalto.com.

Tags: business plan pro, palo alto software, press release
Posted on October 2nd, 2009 | No Comments »

Business Plan Pro Standard Edition and Business Plan Pro Social Enterprise Edition Available as Donation for Non-Profits

EUGENE, OREGON – May 13, 2009 – Palo Alto Software (www.paloalto.com), creators of a product line that offers “know-how” solutions to help small businesses grow, and TechSoup Global, a nonprofit organization devoted to making technology and technology education available and affordable to other non-profits and libraries all over the world, today announced that donations of Palo Alto Software’s Business Plan Pro Standard Edition and Business Plan Pro Social Enterprise Edition will be available to non-profits that are registered with TechSoup Global.

Organizations can use Business Plan Pro Standard Edition to create business plans or funding plans for their own organizations or use Business Plan Pro Social Enterprise Edition to create a plan for earned income ventures or social enterprises to provide financial support for their main missions.

“At TechSoup Global, it’s our goal to bring essential technology solutions to the non-profits and libraries we serve,” said Roger Abraham, Vice President of Products at TechSoup Global. “Thanks to our partnerships with leading technology companies, nonprofit organizations in the US and NGOs in more than 20 countries can take advantage of these tools even during times like the present when budgets are shrinking. Business Plan Pro makes it easier for organizations to follow best practices and create a solid plan on which they can build their important work.”

“It is with great personal pride that we are able to continually help non-profits,” said Sabrina Parsons, CEO of Palo Alto Software. “Business Plan Pro has been an award winning tool for over a million for-profit and non-profit companies over the last 20 years and we believe that our donations and discounts through TechSoup Global will greatly help advance our efforts in the non-profit sector.”

Donated Business Plan Pro software is available to smaller organizations whereas larger nonprofits are eligible for substantial discounts. For details on the program, including eligibility requirements, go to TechSoup Stock, TechSoup Global’s product donation service.

Palo Alto Software’s Web site, bplans.com, offers many sample business plans plus a wealth of articles and tools related to starting up a business.

About Palo Alto Software, Inc.
Palo Alto Software, Inc. develops, publishes and markets software products for use with personal computers. BUSINESS PLAN PRO is the best selling business-planning software in the U.S. retail market, according to NPD Intelect. Palo Alto Software’s marketing-planning product is MARKETING PLAN PRO powered by Duct Tape Marketing. This combined product line offers “know-how” solutions that have made Palo Alto Software the market leader in its category.

With its most recent product, EMAIL CENTER PRO, Palo Alto Software has created a Web 2.0 “Software as a service” (Saas) email management tool.
Palo Alto Software’s award-winning site, www.bplans.com, continues to be one of the highest visited sites in the small-business arena, offering numerous business-planning resources.

Palo Alto Software was founded in 1988 and is a privately-owned corporation based in Eugene, Oregon. More information about Palo Alto Software products is available on the company website, www.paloalto.com.To access high-resolution images or further information, go to http://news.paloalto.com/

About TechSoup Global
San Francisco-based TechSoup Global (www.techsoupglobal.org) is a 501c3 nonprofit organization that provides technology information to individuals and organizations in more than 190 countries, has provided consulting services in more than fifty countries and, through its global network of capacity building NGOs, manages product donations to more than 80,000 organizations in 22 countries. The product donations program has enabled organizations to save over $1.2 billion in expenses as of September 2008. TechSoup Global continues to innovate with a goal of bringing increased resources and capacity to organizations working diligently on their social missions. In addition to Palo Alto Software, TechSoup Global has a network of more than 35 corporate donor partners including Microsoft, Cisco and Symantec. For more information about technology donations and resources, visit www.techsoup.org.

Tags: palo alto software, partner, press release, techsoup
Posted on May 13th, 2009 | No Comments »

Eugene, OR (February 5th, 2009) – Palo Alto Software, Inc. today announced a second installment of its webinar series, Back to the Fundamentals.

Palo Alto Software, along with John Jantsch, author of the Duct Tape Marketing system, will host a webinar for businesses interested in taking small action steps today that will pay off big tomorrow.

The webinar, titled Simple Marketing Tactics That Pay Off Big in a Slumping Market, will be hosted by John Jantsch and is the second in a series of webinars designed to get back to the basics of business.

Jantsch will touch on topics such as attracting all the clients your small business can handle, how to work with clients who value what you have to offer, and how to significantly increase what you charge for your services.

“When times get tougher, there seems to be a renewed interest in the fundamental marketing tactics that every business must practice in order to grow,” said Jantsch.

Simple Marketing Tactics That Pay Off Big in a Slumping Market is a free webinar scheduled for Wednesday, February 11th at 12 noon Central Standard Time.

For more information and to register for this event, please visit: http://www.bplans.com/fundamentals

About Palo Alto Software, Inc.

Palo Alto Software, Inc., founded in 1988, develops, publishes and markets software products for use with personal computers. BUSINESS PLAN PRO is the best-selling business-planning software in the U.S. retail market, according to NPD Intelect. Palo Alto Software’s other products include MARKETING PLAN PRO powered by Duct Tape Marketing, and EMAIL CENTER PRO. Palo Alto Software’s product line offers “know how” solutions that have made it the market leader in its category. Palo Alto Software’s award-winning site, www.bplans.com, continues to be one of the highest trafficked sites in the small-business arena, offering numerous business-planning resources. Palo Alto Software is a privately-owned corporation based in Eugene, Oregon. More information about Palo Alto Software products is available on the company website, www.paloalto.com.

Additional Resources:
To access high-resolution images, go to http://news.paloalto.com/

http://www.businessingeneral.com | http://www.ducttapemarketing.com

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Tags: duct tape marketing, palo alto software news, press release
Posted on February 10th, 2009 | No Comments »

Palo Alto Software’s Strategic Alliance has helped make the Myrtle Beach SCORE Chapter Junior Apprentice Program a huge success

Eugene, OR (December 3 2008) – Palo Alto Software, Inc. received the ‘Exceptional Service Award 2008′ from the Myrtle Beach, South Carolina SCORE chapter.

Bob Checkaneck, SCORE University Chairman for Chapter 381, said, “We at SCORE Myrtle Beach want to present you with the attached award. Our Strategic Alliance with you has enabled our chapter to become a tremendous success! One of our major activities was our Junior Apprentice Program which you are an integral part of.”

The Junior Apprentice Program is co-sponsored by the Georgetown County School System, Georgetown Chamber of Commerce, Palo Alto Software and SCORE. It’s a four-day program that teaches business principles, how to write a business plan and then how to present the plan to a local CEO. As part of their sponsorship, Palo Alto Software provided 10 licenses of Business Plan Pro software to load onto the GCSS school computers for the week of the program.

The target market is kids entering high school, freshmen and sophomores. The average student attends eight hours of classroom a day and completes six hours of self-assigned homework. Students participating in this program pay no fees except their time.

According to Checkaneck, the program is working. “So far we have done this with 160 kids and none of them have dropped out of high school. The school system has a 50% drop out rate.”

Checkaneck emphasized that the Junior Apprentice Program has helped put SCORE Myrtle Beach “…in the top 1% of all the SCORE chapters in the country in SCORE’s Chapter of The Year competition.” This award was to show their appreciation for Palo Alto Software’s continued support of the program and to the success of their chapter.
About Palo Alto Software, Inc.

Palo Alto Software, Inc. develops, publishes and markets software products for use with personal computers. BUSINESS PLAN PRO is the best selling business-planning software in the U.S. retail market, according to NPD Intelect. Palo Alto Software’s marketing-planning product is MARKETING PLAN PRO® powered by Duct Tape Marketing. This combined product line offers “know-how” solutions that have made Palo Alto Software the market leader in its category.

Palo Alto Software’s award-winning site, www.bplans.com, continues to be one of the highest visited sites in the small-business arena, offering numerous business-planning resources.

With its most recent product, EMAIL CENTER PRO, Palo Alto Software has created a Web 2.0 “software as a service (Saas)” email management tool.

Palo Alto Software was founded in 1988 and is a privately-owned corporation based in Eugene, Oregon. More information about Palo Alto Software products is available on the company website, www.paloalto.com.

To access high-resolution images or further information, go to http://news.paloalto.com/

Additional Resources:
blogs: http://www.businessingeneral.com/ | http://www.deadsimplesoftware.com/ |
resources:

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Tags: award, palo alto software news, press release, SCORE
Posted on December 4th, 2008 | No Comments »

The fastest, easiest way to create a marketing plan – is new for 2008 enriched by Duct Tape Marketing.

Create a great action plan that you will be proud to share with your colleagues and that will grow your business.

Eugene, OR (August 22 , 2008) – Palo Alto Software (www.paloalto.com) in partnership with John Jantsch of Duct Tape Marketing (www.ducttapemarketing.com) today announced the release of its newest version of Marketing Plan Pro Software powered by Duct Tape Marketing. In this latest release of Marketing Plan Pro, Palo Alto Software has taken the award-winning Duct Tape Marketing methodology and embedded it into Marketing Plan Pro–creating a product that will guide users through the process of creating a powerful marketing action plan that will help them understand how marketing and advertising can help successfully grow their businesses.

Marketing Plan Pro powered by Duct Tape Marketing – the best way to write a successful marketing plan- is all-new for 2008. Small businesses often struggle with marketing strategies, and how to put an action plan in place that will actually grow their sales numbers. Marketing Plan Pro will give any business a clear plan to start working from and get them started on creating a winning marketing strategy in just 30 minutes. This new version of Marketing Plan Pro will help you:
• Build your marketing vision to identify your business goals and measure your progress.
• Identify your remarkable difference and help figure out how you stack up against your competition.
• Find your customers
• Forecast sales and budget expenses

“It’s been exciting watching my Duct Tape Marketing system go from blog to book to software. Merging my system with Palo Alto Software’s Marketing Plan Pro software will make this methodology available to anyone wanting to see their business succeed,” says John Jantsch, creator of Duct Tape Marketing. “The 30-minute plan will allow anyone to get from plan to action immediately.”

Marketing is a system, not an event, and Duct Tape Marketing is a systematic approach to marketing that is as elegantly simple as that sticky and trustworthy roll of duct tape. The Duct Tape Marketing system, developed by renowned small-business marketing guru John Jantsch, shows customers how to develop and execute marketing plans that will give businesses life and longevity. Audio introductions narrated by Jantsch are also included for major topics.

“Working with John Jantsch to bring Marketing Plan Pro powered by Duct Tape Marketing to market has been a great experience for Palo Alto Software,” said Sabrina Parsons, CEO of Palo Alto Software. “Our Marketing Plan Pro software still employs the core elements that have always made it a great value—including the step-by-step approach that guides users seamlessly through the process of creating a marketing plan that will be immediately available for use and get results. Palo Alto Software’s collaboration with John Jantsch and the Duct Tape Marketing system will be nothing short of remarkable for new and repeat customers, and we are very proud to bring this version to market.”

Marketing Plan Pro powered by Duct Tape Marketing is available via http://www.paloalto.com

*For credentialed press inquires: Evaluation copies of the software are available for review, please email mediarelations@paloalto.com for a serial number and link to download. Physical software available upon request.

Tags: 30 minute marketing plan, duct tape marketing, marketing, marketing plan pro, marketing software, new for 2008, press release, product release, software
Posted on August 22nd, 2008 | No Comments »