Free Online Office in Less Than A Day
January 30, 2008
If you are like many other busy small business owners, you wear many hats and may easily find yourself in a situation where you need to leave your primary place of business during a busy season to attend a weeklong training in another state or help out a sick family member who lives 500 miles away. Small business owners often don’t have corporate Intranets set up, but they need access to certain files from remote locations in order to finish a project or collaborate with other team members while travelling. It can be complicated to call the home office and stay on top of all projects. It is often a hassle to keep sending large files back and forth. What alternatives do busy professionals have?
Anyone can set up a free online workspace for ongoing projects at BlueTie . You can customize your workplace, upload your files, contacts, calendar, and create to-do lists. A free account lets you have 20 users and as an administrator you can grant access and deny access if necessary. And you can access your online workspace from any place with an Internet connection. Don’t like the interface of BlueTie? There are other free options out there, such as Basecamp. With a free account, you can work on one project and give access to team members and clients. Customization is limited, but isn’t a workspace mainly for getting the job done? Still not satisfied? Try Wrike. It is built with the understanding that e-mail collaboration is crucial to completion of most projects. All members of your team get e-mail notifications about changes posted to your projects. I like their Timeline feature, it is easy to track the progress of any project. In need of more features? You can test drive WebEx Office by signing up for a free trial.
HyperOffice offers a Pay As You Go option that you can choose after your free trial expires. HyperOffice may also be an affordable alternative to Microsoft Exchange and SharePoint.
Google Docs (formerly Google Docs & Spreadsheets) makes it possible for several users to view or edit a presentation online. Users can create a presentation from scratch or import and share an existing PowerPoint presentation. During a web-based presentation, participants have a chat room to the right side of the presentation slides. Participants need a Google account. Streaming audio or video and screen sharing features are not available.
Some of us like to travel everywhere with our laptops and wireless cards. It is possible to send and receive faxes as well as make phone calls from your laptop when you sign up for RingCentral. A free trial is available.
Need to schedule a conference call with several participants while travelling? Try freeconference.com. Their “Web-Scheduled Standard” and “Reservationless Standard” conferencing services are free, but Toll-Free (800) Dial-in Numbers are not provided. Most callers should expect to dial a long distance number to access conference bridges therefore should expect to pay domestic long distance rates charged by each caller’s long distance carrier for the length of time they are on the call.
Don’t let technology enslave you, let it free you up to work wherever you would like.
Best Assistant Ever – BlackBerry.
January 27, 2008
My customers ask often – how are you able to respond to my emails so quickly?
How do you stay on top of things? After all, you have your business, 3 children and plenty of errands to run. The answer is simple – my BlackBerry. I can use the idle time while waiting in line or sitting at the airport to respond to my emails. I can browse the Internet and get answers to any questions that require research. I may be cooking my breakfast, but I know when my customer needs my help because my BlackBerry is buzzing. I can also log on to my online office and get the files I need to forward to my customer. I can even do some bookkeeping online with my BlackBerry. And my nimble assistant Ms. BlackBerry does not ask for much: I pay my monthly bill to Verizon Wireless and keep her charged, that’s all. No office space, paychecks or training required.
Things worth branding
January 20, 2008
Is your company offering a service or product that provides an experience or lifestyle? Would you like to create a stronger bond with your clients? Would you like them to think about you or your company when you are miles away?
Here are some things that you can brand:
- Email signatures
- Bookmarks
- Fax sheets
- Flyers
- Information handouts
- Mouse pads
- Stationery, business cards
- Notepads
- Online training centers
- Portfolios
- Postcards
- Pens, pencils, mugs, t-shirts, vests, tote bags
- Posters
- PowerPoint shells
- Sticky notes
- Telephone recordings
- Training manual covers
- Websites, blogs
- Your car
- Evaluation and suggestion forms
- Bulletin boards
Traditional versus online marketing
January 15, 2008
Things happen fast these days…..The ink has not dried yet on the brand new marketing kit you were planning to mail to your prospects in a few days when you find out your competitors have uploaded another new podcast to their website featuring added services. Their updated marketing materials can be downloaded off their site. Their blog has recently been updated as well. Did you miss the train again? Should you even bother creating brochures and mailing them out?
Prospects and customers need information faster and faster to make important decisions and move on.
Small business owners need to be adaptive to their customers’ needs and trends, therefore they can’t set their marketing plans in stone. Marketing plans need to be reviewed and updated frequently.
Some things have not changed. Networking and word of mouth referrals still remain strong. Here are some useful tips for 2008:
Some rules from One Phone Call Away: Secrets of a Master Networker by Jeffrey W. Meshel and Douglas Garr
- What you know facilitates who you know.
- Make the person you are speaking with feel like he or she is the most important person you know (relatively speaking, of course).
- At each new stage of life we don’t “graduate from,” we “graduate to.”
- Good judgment comes from experience.
- Experience comes from bad judgment.
- The one thing you go to your grave with is your reputation.
- Plant a lot of seeds. They will turn into trees.
- Share unrelated values and opportunities. Your relationships will appreciate it, and loyalties will grow.
- Are you viewed as smart and sharp at what you do?
- Are you viewed as a giver or a taker?
- Do others think you are connected?
- Are you well liked by your peers; are you viewed as a good person?
- Do people respect your opinion?
- Are you ever overbearing or overanxious when making a point?
- The perception may be wrong, but it doesn’t matter. Perception is reality.
- Drive yourself to be better – every day.
- Shyness may be a personality characteristic, but it need not be lifelong. If you’re shy, work to overcome it.
What Is The Foundation of Small Business Marketing? Is it Hype, Hope or System?
January 9, 2008
When I ask small business owners what their plans for marketing are in 2008, I get different answers that can be divided into 3 categories. Some say they need to talk up their new product or service so that all their current and future customers get a BUZZ and feel a need to pick up the phone and call in their order.
Others say they will redesign their website and HOPE it will bring in some new business. The third group – the more serious entrepreneurs – have decided to educate themselves and create their first marketing plan.
Almost none of them use the word SYSTEM. I discovered Duct Tape Marketing in 2007 and am a firm believer in installing a marketing system in 2008. My plan is to live by a marketing calendar where January is the month of Networking and Education.
Have A Sticky 2008!
Varju Luceno
Duct Tape Marketing Authorized Coach
