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Robert Scoble the author of the Blog “Scobleizer” does and in depth interview with Sridhar Vembu the CEO and Raju Vegesna the Evangelist of Zoho. Zoho is number 1 on my list of Top 10 Web 2.0 Sites for Solopreneurs. I use the Zoho Suite almost every day to help run my business.

Solopreneurs and small businesses really need to take a good look at utilizing a service like Zoho in order to keep your business productive and more cost efficient.

Zoho is giving companies like Google, Salesforce and even Microsoft a run for their money. Where else can you get to use an office suite similar to Microsoft Office, Google Apps and Salesforce CRM all for FREE.

Take a look at this interview and let me know your thoughts.

All the best

JB

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If you are a small business and you are thinking of purchasing software to run your business like the most well known business suite of software made by Microsoft Office, then you may want to read on and take a better look at what is out there.

Microsoft Office for Windows which consist of a suite of software programs that include Microsoft Word, Excel, Outlook, Publisher and Power Point. These programs are the core of software used by many small to large businesses. The most well know of the suite and most widely used is Microsoft Word which is a word processing program.

Zoho.com is a web based service that offers their own suite of programs for businesses. The one great thing about these online programs is that most of them are absolutely FREE. I am currently using 5 of the 12 main programs Zoho Writer (Word Processor), Zoho Sheet (Spreadsheet Program) Zoho Planner (Online Organizer) Zoho Project (Project Manager) and last but not least Zoho CRM (Customer Relationship Manager) .

My favorite program right now is Zoho Planner. Zoho Planner is a way for me to keep track of my business ideas and personal goals with an automated to do list. It also lets me stay organized by storing my documents and images while also sending me email reminders on what I need to get done for the day. The one thing that sets these online programs apart from their off line competition is the ability to share and collaborate with others in your business.

At a press of a button I am sharing my to do list with my wife, my spreadsheet with my coworker and my latest invoice with my accountant. All one needs is an email address to be put on a list for sharing secure access to any of my Zoho suite of programs.

The only draw back to this great way of sharing thoughts, ideas and documents is the fact that you have to be on the Internet to use the programs. If for some reason you don’t have a continuous connection to the Internet you can’t do business. Here is where the off line Microsoft products have their advantage.

So as a business owner I would need to way the circumstances and needs of my business. If being able to access your work off line is important to you, and you want to sacrifice speed, mobility and collaboration, then the more traditional Microsoft products may be your way to go.

Zoho.com has me hooked on business in real time. I totally enjoy being online almost all the time and reaping the benefits updated information that I can get right now. I also enjoy not having to be tied to a desk to do my most important work. I can do my work whenever and where ever I please in the world that has an Internet connection.

Zoho.com suite of online programs will give your business an affordable, fast and mobile way to conduct its operations.

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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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