Archive for the ‘Microsoft Office Live Small Business’ Category
Webinar: Barack Obama, Social Media and Your Business
July 4th, 2008 | 
Author: 
business development expert David Bullock. The Webinar is on Barack Obama’s social media lesson to small businesses. David Bullock (Business Owner / Online Business Development Specialist)
Host: Brent Leary
Date and Time: July 9, 2008
12:00 pm , Eastern Daylight Time (GMT -04:00, New York)
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To register for the online event
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1. Go to https://demo3.webex.com/demo3/onstage/g.php?d=695278719
2. Click “Register”.
3. On the registration form, enter your information and then click “Submit”.
Once the host approves your registration, you will receive a confirmation
email message with instructions on how to join the event.
All the best
JB
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Tags: Top 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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Posted in Facebook, Google Apps, Microsoft Office Live Small Business, PayPal, Wordpress, Zoho | 
Comments
Don’t Already Have a Website For Your Business? With Microsoft You Have No More Excuses
For all of you who have been singing the same “I don’t have a website because” song for years I give you your final answer. Microsoft Office Live Small Business. If you are just starting out in your business or you have been in business for some time but still had that song in your head here is your chance to take singing lessons from Microsoft.
Microsoft Office Live Small Business will give you a do it yourself starter website, complete with domain name and professionally branded email all for FREE. Yes, I said for FREE. All you have to do is go to http://www.officelive.com/ and fill out a short form first creating a Windows Live ID using your current email address. You would then follow the step-by-step wizard that will help you in creating your Office Live Account.
If you want to see the steps involved before your try them yourself I suggest you go to www.freemswebsite.com a website I created using Office Live Small business. This site has a Step-by-Step video on how to create a Microsoft Live Small Business account. Freemswebsite.com it also has testimonials from many different business owners who used Microsoft Live Small Business to create their own websites.
The great thing about building a website with Microsoft Office Live is that it is so easy. You don’t have to know HTML and you don’t have to download any software to create the website. Once your website is complete you can then create professional email addresses for you and your business. Check out my blog post “How Many Email Addresses Should I have? to see how many emails you should have for your business starting out.
Last but not least you also would get to use some of the many tools needed to help promote your website. Microsoft’s own Ad Manager is included and will give you a $50.00 head start on your first search engine marketing campaign.
OK up to now you have heard me rave about this great way to get your business up and running on the Internet with a FREE website. Now here are some of the not so great things. First you do have to give them your credit or debit card number. This is only used for identity verification and will not be charged any kind of start up fee like most companies that give away free items. Once your account is created and you log into your control panel you will see some advertisements. These advertisements are sometimes annoying but are necessary to keep this service FREE.
Remember this is your starter website and due to the fact that you get it for Free you don’t have a lot of flexibility or creativity in your choice of designing the website. Microsoft gives you a choice of website templates and color schemes that can truly make an impression on your audience but won’t win you any awards when it comes to look and feel.
One feature that I did not like at all was how they first handled the email addresses for the website. You were not allowed to download the email to a pop3 email client like Microsoft Outlook. You had to log into your account and get your mail via the web every time. The pop3 email download was only allowed if you upgraded your account to a non Free account.
Microsoft was smart to rectify this issue and give those who have Free Microsoft Office Live Small Business accounts the ability to download their email to an email client using a downloaded software plug-in called Outlook Connector. I will address the way Outlook Connector works in a future blog entry.
So my friends if you are still singing that same old song “I don’t have a website because I am not a programmer” or that other one ” I can’t afford a website” or maybe even “I don’t have a website because I don’t have the time” Please stop with the excuses and let Microsoft help get you into action with an almost perfect solution.
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