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

Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.

Start Slide Show with PicLens Lite

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

Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.

Start Slide Show with PicLens Lite

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

Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.

Start Slide Show with PicLens Lite

I just listened to a great interview on one of my favorite Internet radio shows. Brent Leary the host for the podcast “Business For Technology Sake” interviewed David Meerman Scott author of the book The New Rules in PR and Marketing.

If you have not heard one of Brent Leary’s interviews you are in for a treat. If you are a child of the 80’s like me and loved the music that crossed the air waves back then you will enjoy Brent’s intro song selection. Brent has a different track for almost all of his podcast.

I won’t give it away but you have got to hear David Meerman Scott describe one of his New Rules that he says was worth over a Million dollars to him. I am also looking forward to reading his FREE e-book which assisted him in getting his book deal.

So take a listen to Brent’s Podcast with David Meerman Scott and let me know what you think. You can also feel free to download Mr. Meerman’s E-book from the link below.

All the best

JB

The New Rules of PR (186) - 377.38 KB

Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.

Start Slide Show with PicLens Lite

If you are a solopreneur or small business owner that is on the go and has more than one phone number you will definatley appreciate this post. What if you can could be contacted using one phone number on any of your main phone devices. Most of use have at least 3 different phone numbers. Home, work and cell and if you miss a call on any one of these numbers you have to get the message from 3 different voice mail boxes.

Enter GrandCentral one number for life. As a fellow Solopreneur I need to make sure I don’t miss a call. But if I do miss a call I don’t want to have to check three different voice mail services. Right now you can get a GrandCentral phone number for Free while it is still in Bata. When someone calls that number it calls me on any of the phones I choose and if I miss the call I can check the messages via my phone or better yet I get an email message and I can check the voice mail via the web.

My favorite feature has to be the ability to screen any of your incoming calls. We all remember the best thing about having our old answering machines was being able to listen to the person who called and decide if we wanted to talk to them. Well you you can do the same thing with your GrandCentral number. When someone calls you and you are unsure you want to talk to them just hit the 3 button on your phone and you get to screen the callers message.

If I decide after listening in on the callers message I want to talk to them all I have to do is hit the Star Key (*) on my phone keypad and I can join the call. What’s great is just like an answering machine the caller can’t hear you or know that you are listening and if you decide you don’t want to talk to them they just leave their message on the voice mail.

I now have one number 404-287-0848 and one number only. Numbers on GrandCentral are going fast so I suggest you get one ASAP.

All The Best

JB

Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.

Start Slide Show with PicLens Lite

I have owned well over 100 domain names over the many years I have been on the Internet. For some of you who don’t remember when the world wide web first starting out domain names were actually FREE. Yes, I said FREE. Since then domain names have taken a roller coaster ride. Today you can register a domain name for as little as 6.95 per year and in some cases depending on who is doing the promotion Free domain name registrations are still available.

The number of dotcom domain names has soared more than 130 percent to 66 million. Every two seconds, another joins the list.

So what is in a domain name that can be worth millions? Well according to Business 2.0 Magazine Kevin Ham’s domain names have made him 300 million dollars richer. Kevin Ham owns domain names like Weddingcatering.com and Greeting.com which he paid $350.000 for when it went up for bid 2 years ago. Mr. Ham owns about 300,000 domain names, and No that was not a typo. He owns roughly 300,000 plus domain names that bring in about 70 million a year in revenue.

Mr. Ham’s biggest claim to fame though is the Cameroon typo mistake in which he has made a killing.

What say you is the Cameroon typo mistake? Well all of us have done this at least once or twice or more when we type in a .com domain name as .cm instead. Go ahead and try it on almost any popular domain name that you can come up with. Try it and see what happens.

If Mr. Ham is still taking advantage of the Cameroon .cm typo then you will see a website with all kinds of related information to your typed in domain name. Lets just use one of my favorite baseball teams the New York Yankees and type in www.yankees.cm The page that comes up has many related content links for the New York Yankees. The only thing is you will also see that Agoga.com brand at the bottom of the page which lets you know that site is owned by Mr. Kevin Ham.

Mr. Ham, a self made solopreneur millionaire, made a deal with the country of Cameroon who owns the domain name extension .cm to redirect almost every domain name that is miss typed .cm to one of his Agoga.com websites. These website have both Google and Yahoo pay-per-click ads on them. Mr. Ham then gets the revenue made when you go to one of these sites and click on one of the related links. He then splits some of the revenue with the country of Cameroon.

So what is in a domain name for you. Well I don’t expect you to acquire as many domain name as Mr. Ham or even me for that matter. What I do expect is that take advantage of all the great things that can become of your business with spending as little as $6.95 on a domain name. If you don’t have your own domain name for your business I suggest you go to a website like www.proemailaddress.com and register your company domain name for $6.95.

The possibilities are endless once you have your own registered piece of the world wide web.

All The Best

JB

Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.

Start Slide Show with PicLens Lite

I have been a Paypal.com account holder for eight years now and I am amazed at how much money I have made using their service. If you are not yet familiar with PayPal and are a Solopreneur or a Small Business owner you are leaving a lot of money at risk. I say at risk because if you don’t have a way to accept credit cards/debit cards for payment on your goods or services you not only risk losing business but you also risk not getting paid at all.

The reason I became a PayPal.com member so long ago is because I had a contract with a major university to complete work on a website I was designing for their building services department. The department head was very impressed with my work and asked if I accept credit cards as a form of payment. I only accepted checks or cash at the time like most small businesses just starting out.

The amount they owed me could only be paid by the department head with his university issued credit card. The department head’s only choice was to send a check request to the director of the department, the director of the department sent a request to the purchasing department who then sent a request to the billing department who then 5 months later sent a check to me.

If only I had a traditional merchant account at that time. Most Solopreneurs or Small Business owners don’t need or can’t afford the cost involved to maintaining a merchant account. I didn’t have enough volume of business at that time to justify a merchant account so I was stuck waiting when it came to check payments from my clients.

PayPal.com to the rescue! Not only can I now accept credit cards of all types including American Express, MasterCard, Visa and Discover Card, I can also allow my clients to send me an eCheck through PayPal.com
PayPal.com also gives you an Invoicing tool that will send out professional invoices through email that will include a link back to PayPal.com to allow your client the ability to pay that invoice with their credit card.

Their once was a very popular commercial that a famous actor at that time Karl Malden did for the American Express Travelers Checks. The catch phrase at the end of the commercial was “Don’t Leave Home Without Them!” Well I do the same with my PayPal.com Debit Card. I don’t leave home without it. You can get a Free PayPal.com Debit Card with 60 days of good standing of creating your PayPal.com account. Once one of your clients or customers pays you through PayPal.com using their credit card the funds are automatically availble via your PayPal Debit Card.

There are so many other great features PayPal.com has to offer it will take more than one Blog Post to go over them. So if you are a Solopreneur or Small Business owner and want to expand the profit potential by accepting major credit cards for payment of your goods or services get THEE to the PayPal.com site NOW!

All The Best

JB

Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.

Start Slide Show with PicLens Lite

The second Woman 2.0 conference and business plan competition was held in Stanford California this past weekend. 125 women owned companies submited their bids to be in this competion but only 5 got the chance to pitch their companies’ idea to 9 judges. These five companies were competing for a chance to win 15,000 in business services and a chance to meet with angel investor Esther Dyson who has previously invested in companies like Flickr and del.icio.us who were then sold to Yahoo.

The five competing companies were as follows in order of their final standings.

1. Koollage
2. Gaiagy
3. Skillshop
4. Webvet
5. Passive Devices

Three of the favorites were Kollage, Gaiagy and Webvet.

Koollage was the big winner with its ability to bring iphone users and blogs together using widgets that mix different types of digital media such as video, images, and search results.

Gaiagy will give building owners (both individuals and businesses) personal recommendations for how they can most economically make their operations more “green”.

Webvet is a website that is looking to to help you and your veterinarian provide the best possible care for your pets.

If I had to choose a company that could really make it in the world we live in today, I would have to choose Gaiagy.com. The Green factor is IN right now and it is not going to do anything but get bigger. The sales of tankless water heaters and low flow toilets are going into overdrive. I for one just got a float ball replaced in my bathroom toilet that is currently saving me almost $100.00 a month on my water bill.

Gaiagy may not be the most high-tech of the five finalist but I sure hope it gets funding from someone. We need more Green products in our homes and buinesses. I also applaude the founders of Women 2.0 in recognizing that women can also produce ideas that can take shape and blossom into successful web 2.0 companies.

Stay tuned in to when the next Women 2.0 conference and business plan competition will take place.

Don’t let us Guys steal all the glory of the Web 2.0 age.

All the best

JB

Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.

Start Slide Show with PicLens Lite

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

Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.

Start Slide Show with PicLens Lite

This video was the intro to this years Web 2.0 Conference

Web 2.0 Expo is a global annual gathering of technical, design, marketing, and business professionals who are building the next generation web. Web 2.0 Expo features the most innovative and successful Internet industry figures and companies providing attendees with examples of business models, development paradigms, and design strategies to enable mainstream businesses and new arrivals to the Web 2.0 world to take advantage of this new generation of services and opportunities. Web 2.0 Expo is co-produced by TechWeb and O’Reilly Media.

The next Web 2.0 Expo will be held in New York City from September 16-19th at the Jacob Javits Center.

Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.

Start Slide Show with PicLens Lite