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CollectiveX Takes Membership Groups 2 The Next Level
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What if you could combine the simplicity of Yahoo Groups the professionalism of Linkedin, the look and feel of a Ning, the social skills of Facebook and the added security of a corporate intranet. We as Solopreneurs and Small Business owners have many different group memberships and affiliations.
I myself have a Yahoo Group for keeping track of my old college mates, I am on Linkedin for many of the professional and job related contacts I make on a regular basis. I administer a Ning with a colleage of mine to help us grow a community of ebay users. I keep track of most of my social networking on Facebook and also use Google Apps for a secure intranet. This is why I am so impressed with CollectiveX and its Groupsites. CollectiveX is the creation of one “Serial Entrepreneur” named Clarence Wooten.
In 1994 to early 1998, Clarence ran Metamorphosis Studios, Inc., a multimedia and Web design firm. Metamorphosis Studios was acquired in 1998 by MediSolv, Inc. In 1998 Clarence founded ImageCafe.com, a leading e-commerce website solution. With less than $1 million in capital raised, Clarence sold ImageCafe to Network Solutions/VeriSign for more than $20 million. Prior to starting his most recent venture, Clarence was managing partner of Wooten Ventures, an angel investment firm providing seed funding and guidance for entrepreneurs building innovative businesses.
Groupsites are powered by CollectiveX and combine the best features of forums, calendars, email lists, and social networks. Groupsites are a meeting place that provides members of the 2 The Next Level group with a shared calendar, discussion forums, photo gallery, files and member profiles.
Please visit our Groupsite http://www.2thenextlevel.collectivex.com and while you are there you may want to create your own.
Congratulations CollectiveX you have just taken our readers 2 The Next LEVEL of Success.
All the best
JB
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Facebook and Visa Team Up With a Great Gift for Small Businesses
Visa is giving the first 20,000 U.S. based small businesses that sign up a $100 Facebook ad credit. As soon as you join the Network, you will get an email back with a coupon code you can claim, to run ads on Facebook.
I saw this awesome offer on Anita Campbell’s Blog “Small Business Trends” and had to share it. I immediately logged onto my Facebook account and did a search for Visa and found the Visa Business Network. After filling out a short business profile form and adding the Visa Business Network to one of my Facebook Pages I got an email from Facebook with my 100.00 Facebook advertising credit.
One hundred dollars is not much but it is a great way to test an ad out on the Facebook community with no cost to your business. If all goes well I will hope to parlay this gift from Visa into more revenue for my business.
Thanks again Anita
JB
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The Facebook Insider’s Guide to Viral Marketing is a Solopreneurs Dream Come True
I have been a member of Facebookfor alomst 3 months now and I am hooked. I have already amassed about 380 friends and countng at the time of this posting. I have all but abandoned the myspace.com page I once had and I suggest that all Solopreneurs and Small Business persons do the same.
My good friend Brent Leary a CRM Analyst turned me onto Facebook but I really never took it seriously until I saw how many professional people were on Facebook. I, like everyone esle on the planet thought myspace.com would be the answer to helping me promote my business online. All I got from myspace.com was a bunch of junk advertising and requests from internet porn spammers to be my friend.
Facebook has changed my way of thinking when it comes to online social networking. I have met some of the most positive and productive people on the planet within Facebook pages. My favorite Facebook application has got to be “Events” where you can post your upcoming event for thousands if not millions of fellow professionals and Solopreneurs to see. I have been invited to some of the best teleseminars, webnars and networking events through this Facebook application.
As quoted in the Facebook Pages The Insider’s Guide to Viral Marketing.
“Businesses now have the ability to expand their revenue base and acquire new customers through free Facebook Pages. Pages enable customers to interact, learn, purchase, and spread the word about your business to their friends”
“Every day, most of Facebook’s 70 million active users log on to Facebook to learn about their friends and share information about their interests and activities. This regular interaction gives businesses the opportunity to connect with existing and new customers as effectively as a face-to-face meeting”
Here are the four Keys to using Facebook
1) Make business personal.
2) Update your Facebook Page frequently.
3) Harness the power of News Feed.
4) Choose the applications that are best for your business.
I have also posted the complete guide below. My suggestion is that you quickly download it, Read it and then take action on all that is has to offer.
All The Best
JB
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Start Slide Show with PicLens LiteTop 10 Web 2.0 Sites for Solopreneurs
Since I use most of these sites to help me run my business I wanted to list them so that you can make mention of some of the Web 2.0 sites that help you run your business. I have given a brief description on how I use each of these sites.
Please post comments on your top 10 Web 2.0 sites.
1. Zoho.com
2. PayPal.com
3. Wordpress.com
4. Google Apps
5. Facebook.com
6. iContact.com
7. Logmein.com
8. Microsoft Live Small Business
9. Skype.com
10. Picnik.com
These 10 Web 2.0 website are actually in order of importance to my business. Your top 10 may look totally different and also might not be in the same order as mine. The top 5 are website I use daily. I do have many others that I use as well but these 10 are the ones I cannot do without.
1. Zoho.com (CRM, Spreadsheet, Word Processor, Presentations, Database, Project Management, Organizer, Web Conferencing and many more)
Even though Zoho.com has not been around to long I still see it as my number one because of the way it helps me run my business. I mainly use it for the awesome and yes Free CRM but its all in one running a business capabilities are literately outstanding.
2. PayPal.com (Online Credit Card Payment System)
I have used PayPal.com the longest, going on 8 years now. I will talk more about PayPal.com in coming blog entries but for now I will only say it is a must have for any Solopreneurs business person that wants to get paid for their service or product via credit card today.
3. Wordpress.com (Blogging)
This blog is using the Wordpress.com technology. If you are just starting out in the blog world I suggest you start with Google’s Blogger.com but for a more professional and state of the art look and feel I would recommend Wordpress.com.
4. Google Apps (Gmail, Google Doc + Spreadsheet, Google Calendar, Google Notebook, Google Adsense, Google Adwords, Google Anylitics, , , and many more)
Google Apps is a combination of Applications and Tools that can have a very big impact on your business. Gogge Apps could be considered a number one for most Solopreneurs and should be in most cases. It may move them up on my list in the coming months. In the mean time I will keep them here because my top 4 have just a little more influence on how my business runs everyday.
5. Facebook.com (Social Networking)
Facebook has taken everyone buy storm. If you don’t have a Facebook profile page get one today. Social networking is the future of business marketplace for Solopreneurs and business owners alike. Myspace is for the kids, dating and entertainment. Facebook is for those of us who want to market and promote our business to millions of like minded people.
6. iContact.com (Email Marketing)
Email marketing at its best. All the features your business needs to send out professional email campaigns. Remember email is still the most inexpensive and fastest way you can market your business to your targeted prospect and customer.
7. Logmein.com (Remote Support and Training)
I use this service both as a way to remotely log into my home computers when I am on the road or at a client site. I also use it to remotely train my clients without leaving the comforts of my home office. All you need is a quickly installed plugin and a Fast Access connection to the Internet on both ends.
8. Microsoft Live Small Business (Websites, Email, Online Advertising, CRM, Chat)
I can’t say enough about Microsoft Live Small Business because I regard it as the Best way a Soloprenuer can start out on the web. Where else can you get a starter website with domain name and branded email all for Free. Please see my previous blog post “Don’t Already Have a Website For Your Business? With Microsoft You Have No More ” for more information.
9. Skype.com (Long Distance and International Phone Calls, Chat, Video Conferencing)
Skype is the future of Internet Communication as far as I am concerned. I use it for making calls all over the united states and the world. Skype to Skype call are always free and Skype to land lines are really inexpensive. It is also a great video conferencing tool that will work with most of your existing web cam software.
10. Picnik.com (Graphics Editor, Photo Editing and Alteration)
Here is a great site for those of you who don’t want to pay an outrageous price for some of these photo and graphic editing software. Think of it as “Web 2.0 PhotoShop” without the cost and installation.
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If you are a Solopreneur or business owner and would like to learn more on how you can build your business with Web 2.0 Technology Tools this is the place for you.
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