Online Business Networking - 10/13/2006

Social networking sites, virtual communities, discussion forums and blogs can help you grow your business

Making the Most of Networking Events - How to Work a Room - 03/06/2007

How to maximize your effectiveness for that precious little bit of face-to-face time with other businesspeople

Preparing for Networking Events - 01/02/2007

Proper preparation prevents poor performance. It takes preparation to make the most of your time and make your best impression.

Using LinkedIn to Fill Out a Business Trip - 12/05/2007

Grow your network when you travel

Positioning Yourself As an Expert in Social Networking Sites and Discussion Forums - 12/05/2007

There's more to being an expert online than just knowing your stuff. Here are 6 ways to position yourself as the expert in online communities.

Using LinkedIn to Sell More, Faster - 01/17/2008

LinkedIn can support the entire sales cycle

Racks, Shelving and Display Cases - 06/30/2008

You have to also take into consideration the positioning of your store. When we had a used CD store, we were deliberately going for a low-tech, mom-and-pop, kind of funky feel -- in stark contrast to, say, Best Buy. So we built our own displays out of plywood and painted them. Eventually we started covering them with stickers, CD covers for CDs that were scratched or otherwise unsellable, pictures from old issues of Rolling Stone, etc. We built each display rack for about $20 in lumber and an hour's labor -- a lot cheaper than any display racks we looked at. And the end result worked with our image (though it certainly wouldn't for everyone). Point is... think outside the box, especially if you're on a budget.

Creating a Business Slogan - 06/30/2008

I played around with the Sloganizer -- that was fun. My favorite was this: "Better ingredients. Better social media."

Checking Job References - 06/30/2008

You should also search LinkedIn, Facebook, MySpace, blogs, etc. While LinkedIn may only show positive recommendations, generally so will references (many will only verify employment and whether they're eligible for rehire or not). But broaden your search and you may find negative as well as positive, as well as answers to some of those questions you might not be able to ask in person. Of course, you can't discriminate based on things like the fact that they have kids, or are gay, etc. But you *can* choose not to hire them on the basis that their lack of discretion in how they present themselves online could potentially reflect badly on you if you were to hire them into a high-profile or public-facing position. It's a fine line, but I'd rather have as much information as possible and push the envelope than be taken by surprise a few months after hiring them when something comes out publicly, or is called attention to by a client, etc. There's still a big gray area there that hasn't been resolved with case law yet.

Wireless Internet Service Providers - 06/30/2008

For me, it has to be the same company as my home ISP so I'm not basically paying double. And then at home, I want the bundled services -- cable and phone, as well as internet. Kind of limits my options. :-)

Auto Parts - 06/30/2008

Great guide, Ned. I suppose I knew about most of these options if I thought about it, but thanks so much for putting them all in one place and picking out some of the best resources for those niche specialties.

Promotional Magnets - 06/30/2008

I like the magnetic calendars. We actually picked our realtor because we had a magnetic calendar from her. OK, sure, it was really because we knew her and liked her, but we had been just looking on our own and talking to the listing agents, and seeing her calendar reminded us of her. We called her, and within two weeks we had a house and she had a sale. More than paid for the magnets! :-)

Creating a Facebook Fan Page For Your Business - 06/01/2008

One thing that can be confusing is that many businesses and solopreneurs created groups for their business before Facebook started offering business pages. How do you see groups and business fan pages working together? Or do you recommend only doing one or the other?

Successful Business Networking on Facebook - 06/01/2008

I appreciate your sharing such a variety of success stories. A lot of people share tips, but don't have any real results to back it up.

Facebook for Business Building - 06/01/2008

As an alternative to TwitterSynch, I like HelloTxt, a single client from which you can selectively post updates to Twitter, Facebook, Pownce, LinkedIn, MySpace, etc., etc.

Blogging for the Non Blogger - 05/31/2008

Excellent guide, Kathleen! A couple of other suggestions: 1. Produce good, original content. At one point in time, a blog that was just links to and commentary on other content might have made it. But as competitive as the blogosphere is today, you really need to have some compelling original content to attract and keep readers. 2. Related to that, "find your voice." What is your unique take on the story? Have an opinion. If people wanted just sterile, watered-down information, there are already plenty of sources for that. That personal voice is one of the things that makes blogs blogs, and not just another publishing medium.

Business Marketing and Financing - 05/31/2008

This is too broad a subject for such a short guide. It's all over the place. I think you'd do much better to break it down into individual topics and go into more depth. That said, here are some additional comments: 1. Journalists (and bloggers) don't read press releases from free press release sites. Sure, this does create one more page on the internet with your business name and a link to your site, but if no one's reading it, the value is trivial. If it's worth taking the time to write and distribute a press release, it's worth spending the $80 for PRWeb's "standard visibility" package, which gets you onto things like Google and Yahoo! news sites. But the most likely way to actually get coverage is to send personalized cover letters to journalists you know cover the topic. 2. If you already have a web site for your business, it's far more effective to put your blog on your business site, not one of these hosted services. WordPress is free and easy to install. And for a very low cost, any decent web designer can integrate it into your existing site. 3. I'm surprised you left off craigslist, the largest classified site. 4. Here's where it really shows that this is too broad a topic. There are hundreds of useful sites for business owners. There are dozens of great sites in the category of each of the sites you mentioned. The sites you mentioned are fine -- it's just kind of a mish-mash. You've got a good start -- it just needs to be split up for more focus.

Writing a Strong Call to Action in Your Online Ads - 05/31/2008

One other thing -- this is a great guide, but there is SO much information on Clickz and Search Engine Watch -- if you could deep link to some specific articles, or a hub of articles on the topic, rather than just to the main site, that would be extremely helpful.

How to Avoid Using the Word "Free" (and Other Lame Gimmicks) in Your B2B PPC Ads - 05/31/2008

Excellent guide, Eve. People who are new to PPC often don't think about the fact that the ultimate goal is not CTR, but conversion -- in fact, if you can get higher conversions with a lower CTR, that's better ROI. And you want buyers, not freebie seekers.

Landing Page Optimization - 05/31/2008

I definitely agree with removing the navigation. However, I think having a single link to the home page is reasonable. Sometimes people come through a PPC campaign, read the offer and find it's not exactly what they want, but it's close enough that they'd like to learn more about your company. You don't want to through a whole menu at them, but I think offering some kind of exit action for this middle group -- the "maybe" people -- is a good idea.

Promotional Apparel: More Than Just T-Shirts! - 04/30/2008

One thing that frustrates me is seeing companies do golf shirts and t-shirts, but not men's dress/button-down shirts. Golf shirts are "iffy" for business casual. A logo dress shirt is great. I've worked for two companies that did them with embroidered logos -- I loved them. Also, don't forget about us plus-size folks. If at all possible, try to get products that are available in 2X-3X-4X, not just XL.

Building a Socially Conscious Company - 04/30/2008

I like the idea of the "triple bottom line": People, Planet, Profits. You should never have profits at the expense of people or planet. I also think it's really important to get employees directly involved. Consider giving employees time off with pay support events as a volunteer. Matching giving programs (where the company matches employee donations to charities) are good too.

Cutting Your Overhead Costs - 04/30/2008

I don't have any suggestions regarding software for inventory management, but one thing that companies that carry inventory should look at is whether they really need to carry as much inventory as they do. Obviously you want to be able to accommodate impulse buyers who want something right now, but there are numerous examples of ways you can reduce your inventory requirements: - Dell manufactures PCs on demand. They keep a few in inventory, and obviously have to inventory the components, but they have a tremendsous improvement in space efficiency and capital efficiency with their approach. - Amazon stocks a lot more inventory than your local Borders, but they still don't stock everything. Some books have to be ordered from the publisher and take a few days longer. - While some people buy cars straight off the lot, a lot of people order them custom so they can get exactly the options they want. I wonder how a dealership would do that only stocked 3-4 of each model. It would require a lot less capital and have much lower overhead. - I worked for a high-end stereo store in college. We had everything we sold on display, but probably only about half of it (the best-selling items) in inventory. The really high-end stuff, people had to order and wait a week or two. These obviously may not apply to every business that keeps inventory, but it's food for thought. Sure, you might lose a sale or two, but what's the opportunity cost? What else can you do with the money?

Business Email Etiquette - 04/30/2008

Another invaluable tip -- if your email covers more than one topic, particularly if there are action items for the other person, organize it in a structured list, rather than prose. And a numbered list is better than bullet points. That way, when they reply, they can say "RE: #1", "RE: #4", etc. This also helps prevent them skipping items, which people tend to do.

Business Email Etiquette - 04/30/2008

RE: Keep 'em short... Einstein said, "Things should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler." I've seen WAY too many busy executives who make their emails so short as to be inactionable. If the person has to follow up with a phone call to ask you exactly what you meant, your email was too short. Don't ramble, but don't sacrifice clarity on the altar of brevity. RE: Subject lines They should never be more than about 40 characters. Any more than that is not going to be visible in most people's inboxes. Many high-volume email users process email using the preview/reading pane, not opening each individual message, so the subject has to be short if you want them to see it. Also, when replying to messages, if the subject of the conversation shifts, as it often does, change the subject to reflect the new topic of conversation, but it's helpful to include a reference to the old topic in the subject, e.g., "Baseball tickets (was re: This weekend)" RE: Think before you click One of the single best pieces of advice I give my clients is to turn off the automatic send/receive and the option in Outlook to "send immediately if connected". When I hit send, it goes in my outbox and sits there until I do a send/receive. Before doing an S/R, I scan my outbox, make sure that all the attachments are there and that I'm not sending anything I might regret later. This has the added benefit of boosting productivity by batching your email processing instead of it being an interruption.

Hiring and Using Interns - 04/30/2008

Most schools also have their own listing service for internships, so if you're looking for people locally, or from the top business schools, or top computer science schools, etc., you may want to contact them directly to post your internships.

Sales Compensation Plans that Work - 04/30/2008

I think it's also important to incentivize your sales support staff. When salespeople make the big bucks and the people around them who help them make it happen, e.g., pre-sales consultants, inbound phone agents, etc., don't receive any reward, it can build up resentment that's counterproductive. If you're going to have incentive-based compensation at all, then you should have some kind of reward system for everyone directly involved in the sales process.

Wireless Email Service - 04/30/2008

I suppose it depends on the nature of your business. I'm just really not ready to be that "on-demand". If I make myself accessible to everybody else, I'm not fully engaged with whoever I'm spending my day with. I think it's unreasonable/unrealistic for people to expect same-business-day response on emails. I carry a mobile phone, and if there's truly an emergency that no one else can handle, everyone in my company knows how to contact me. I prefer to just set the expectation. And frankly, someone who expects same-day response on emails, I'm not sure I *want* as a customer.

B2B Pay Per Click Best Practices for Online Lead Generation - 04/30/2008

One of my clients is a heavy PPC advertiser, and one of the keys for him to get good ROI was learning to have his ad copy qualify the customers. He got a much lower clickthrough rate, but about 95% as many total leads -- far more cost-effective. Any thoughts or tips on that idea?

Low-Cost Franchises - 04/30/2008

It's great to know that there are so many opportunities out there that don't require $100K or more in startup costs and working capital. There are obviously a lot of things people need to consider when deciding on a franchise. I think the first and foremost one is this -- is it something you are truly passionate about? Most people who pursue businesses because they "seem like a good opportunity", but it's not something they're passionate about, fail. If you're going to tie up $50K of your money and/or someone else's, you'd better LOVE fixing cars, or cleaning carpets, or getting up at 4am to be serving coffee to half-awake people at 6:00. It's not just another job -- it's a huge commitment. Being a passive investor is one thing, but if you're an active franchisee, choose something you love that you can really see yourself still doing 5-10 years down the road.

Building a Business That Customers Can Trust - 04/30/2008

Excellent guide Helen! One other thing I'd add -- it's sort of in there between the lines but I think it deserves to be explicitly stated -- is to either form an official user group / customer community or support and engage in customer-created ones. Knowing that there is a group of people who can talk openly about your products or services helps build trust because of the closed network phenomenon. People assume that you won't mistreat one customer because word would spread quickly within your customer community.

Promoting your Squidoo Lenses Through your Blog - 04/30/2008

Great guide as always, Kimberly. You can also add an RSS module and put your whole blog feed on your Squidoo page. If you don't want to have just your own blog, there are now several tools like RSS Mix or Feed Informer that will allow you to combine RSS feeds into a single feed, i.e., you could make a feed of your blog plus a few other related blogs and display it in a single RSS module.

Setting up a Merchant Account - 04/01/2008

The concern I hear from entrepreneurs all the time is that it's impossible to get a merchant account if you have bad personal credit. That's why so many of them use PayPal. And PayPal now offers a true merchant account, but they run a credit check for it, which they don't for their regular service. What do you suggest, Daniel, for people with bad personal credit (other than "fix it").

Creating a Business Slogan - 04/01/2008

Simple advice: keep it short. That means both the individual words and the whole slogan. Try to stick to words of one and two syllables, and keep the whole thing t as few words as possible. Think about some of the great slogans: Just do it. Have it your way. Where's the beef? Quality is job one. It's Miller time. Drivers wanted. Breakfast of champions. Got milk? Be all you can be. Get the picture?

Creating a Great Business Brochure - 04/01/2008

I don't really use them any more, given the changing nature of my business, but when I was doing brochures for my small business, I used to love the ones from Paper Direct. The nice thing about them is that you can get an attractive, colorful graphical style without spending a ton of money on printing or lots of color ink. They also have postcards, business cards, stationery, etc., in color-coordinated styles, so you can have a consistent look-and-feel for all your printed materials.

Finding and Using Essential Small Business Forms - 04/01/2008

LegalZoom is also a great source for legal forms and document templates.

Gmail for Work - 04/01/2008

Google now offers GMail as part of their domain tools, i.e., you can use GMail for you@yourdomain.com (well, the whole domain has to switch). I can live without folders -- I like the tagging -- but as a practical matter, I'm finding a couple of ways in which GMail still falls really short: 1. It's not nearly as easy to create rules as it is in Outlook. 2. This is the biggie -- no ability to sort my inbox. I know Google says, "Search, don't sort." But that doesn't work when you're trying to deal with hundreds of messages. So it's OK to have as my mail server and as my web mail when I need it, but I'll happily stick with Outlook as my primary mail client.

Doing Business in Latin America - 04/01/2008

You talk about the importance of face-to-face contact, but I'm finding a growing number of people in Latin America are using social networking sites like LinkedIn, Orkut (huge in Brazil), Xing, etc., to build international relationships.

a Stress-Free Tax Season: - 03/01/2008

Great guide Tony! My only suggestion is that you could provide a couple of more links, such as to Publication 1771 and some information about 401(k) and IRA plans.

Low Cost Do-It-Yourself Web Design - 03/01/2008

Depending on how complex your website needs are (or aren't), Microsoft's Office Live offers free hosting, including site building tools. It includes a bunch of other cool features -- collaboration tools, e-commerce and so on.

Marketing: Top 10 Small Business Marketing Mistakes - 02/29/2008

This is an entertaining and informative list, Kimberly. However, evan as a marketing consultant myself, I take a bit of issue with #3. There are a lot of small businesses that conduct very successful homegrown marketing. Take for example Jim "Mattress Mac" McIngvale, founder of Gallery Furniture in Houston, now the world's largest single-outlet furniture store. He grew his business with cheap, low-budget ads, starring himself jumping up in the air with a handful of money, shouting, "At Gallery Furniture, we really will... save... you... money!" There's a time and a place to hire professionals to do a professional job. But that doesn't mean there's not a lot you can do on your own. Otherwise, what's the point of having so many do-it-yourself marketing books? Guerrilla Marketing? Duct Tape Marketing? etc.?

New Media...and Your BOTTOM LINE - 02/29/2008

This is a good intro article, Diane, but you never actually explained this: "Does that mean that you should shift the greater percentage of your media budget to new media? Definitely not." What follows is an interesting anecdote, but not an explanation of that response. If new media gives such high returns, why shouldn't you shift the greater percentage of your media budget to new media? I'm not disagreeing -- just asking you to explain.

TRADE SHOW LOGISTICS - 02/29/2008

I felt like this was a good outline, Michelle, but some of the items could use at least a little more depth. For example, how do you determine which trade show "will best increase your company proceeds."

Low-Budget Internet Based Brand Monitoring - 02/29/2008

Thanks Justin -- Omgili was a new and useful find for me.

All Search Engines Love Spiders: How Meta Commands Can Help You Love Them Too - 02/29/2008

There was a tremendous amount of detail here, Scott. I appreciate the fact that you covered not only the technical aspect, but in what cases you would apply each technique. Great guide -- 10 from me!

Making a Great First Impression with Your Customers - 02/29/2008

I agree it's a good overview. Frankly, you could make a mini-guide on each of those 11 points on its own! Seems to me those 11 points would make a good checklist to be posted where all your outward-facing employees can see it on a regular basis.

Better Customer Service - 02/29/2008

I think the single biggest issue -- the biggest point of frustration I have when it doesn't happen -- is the matter of taking ownership. The most frustrating thing is to get passed around from one department to the next -- twice recently I've had it take me in a full circle back to where I started -- or to have to keep calling back and calling back to get anything done, or to have to keep retelling the same story to several different people. What the customer wants is for someone to say, "I'll handle it and follow up with you as soon as I find something out." Why does the customer have to escalate it? Those few companies that actually enforce the idea of ownership -- that someone is responsible for your case until it is gracefully handed off to someone else, and that you don't have to follow up with them, they'll follow up with you -- really stand out.

Google keywords advertising has proven unreliable for us. - 02/29/2008

Google doesn't have a monopoly on internet advertising by any stretch of the imagination. On search, yes, but not on advertising. There are plenty of other places to advertise besides AdWords. Also, I find it distasteful that they require a minimum bid, but it's certainly well within their rights. Most auctions have a minimum bid -- why should AdWords be any different? I hardly think you can call it price gouging.

Sales Excellence - 02/29/2008

Good overview of sales management, but I'm not sure I buy the idea that organizations should be entirely sales-centric, particularly that "Nothing is more important that to make the sales team successful." I agree that is incredibly important. But I have worked in a couple of companies that had "sales myopia". The end result was that they created a product that wasn't sustainable. The developers spent their time working on bells and whistles that made for a sexy demo, but the product was difficult to customize and maintain once we got deep into the engagement. Particularly in a software company, the people who can really give you the most insight about the way your product really needs to work are your field engineers -- the people who have to actually implement customer solutions. Microsoft is a perfect example of a company that lost its way in this regard and then refound it. They had over-focused on sales so much that their development tools had really suffered -- they looked good on paper to the people making the buying decisions, but the developers using the tools were frustrated. And they began losing market share to a wide array of other platforms. For years, Microsoft was not a development platform of choice for web applications. Enter Channel 9. Microsoft shifted the focus of their tools development to the real customers -- the developers using their products. Sales are important, but they are short-term. You have to balance that with sustainability.

Press Release Wire Services - 02/29/2008

Interesting approach to this guide, Chris -- I really enjoyed reading the "seasoned pro" vs. "newcomer" perspectives. One tip -- if you copy/paste guides in the future, be sure to check the formatting after you publish it. The comments from Dena and Christine were in the same paragraph with the section heading -- it was very hard to read. I went ahead and took the liberty of cleaning it up for you -- just something to keep in mind for future guides.

7 Lessons on How to Be A Great Client - 02/29/2008

While your guide is focused on being a great client with a marketing / PR firm, many of these can be applied more generally with any kind of consultants or other service providers. I think so many of us were brought up with the mantra, "The customer is always right," that we have become egocentric customers. In the process we have lost sight of the idea that by being better customers, rather than difficult ones, we improve our own odds of success with the project.

Getting Your Product To Stand Out At A Tradeshow - 02/29/2008

Great guide Rohit -- I especially like how you used your personal narrative of this event as the basis for a timeless piece with broad, universal appeal. I look forward to seeing more guides from you here.

Learn How To Use Gift & Loyalty Cards To Boost Your Profits - 02/29/2008

On the flip side, though, I remember reading a statistic (don't remember the exact numbers) that a huge portion of gift cards are never cashed in or used in full. Of course, that's also to your advantage as a business owner -- free money for you! Many businesses also have a policy of taking a small fee off the balance if it's unused for a certain period of time. This eliminates the concern of carrying the liability on the books going forward (because a gift card is NOT actually a cash sale from an accounting standpoint -- it shows in your cash account, but you carry a corresponding liability for the merchandise until the card is used to make a purchase).

Picking Perfect Personalized Pens - 02/29/2008

Just as with business cards or any other promotional items, it helps for the pen to be distinctive -- in color, in shape, in quality, whatever. I use promo pens all the time that I couldn't tell you what business they're promoting. On the other hand, I have a couple of very distinctive pens that I can immediately tell you what company they're from. In particular, larger pens allow for a larger logo image and/or more text. For example, I wouldn't waste my money on those streamline stick pens -- it doesn't matter if they cost half as much or a fourth as much as the other alternatives if the cheap one is ineffective. If the admiral pen is 5x more expensive and 10x more effective, it's a better buy.

Writing a Strong Call to Action in Your Online Ads - 02/29/2008

In PPC ads, your ad copy should also qualify your prospects, otherwise you're wasting your money on both the ad and any freebies you may be providing. For example: Entrepreneurs! Is your company ready to go public? Register for a free consultation vs. Entrepreneurs - Do you have at least $2M a year in revenues? Free consultation about going public You don't want to be paying a dollar a click (or more) for people that aren't even close to qualified, and you certainly don't want them trying to sign up for a consultation. This isn't applicable in all cases, but it's something to consider.

Promoting a Local Business Online - 02/29/2008

I hate to point out the obvious, but I think it's worth saying that you need to have your own web site on your own domain, even if it's a simple little 5-page static site. I'm constantly amazed at how many local businesses don't -- restaurants, salons, auto repair, et al. It really drives me nuts not to be able to find a menu for a local restaurant online too. They should also do some basic search engine optimization. Even for a lot of businesses that have their own sites, the entire first page of search results on Google are pages from CitySearch, Yelp, etc.

Selling Overseas - 02/29/2008

Business networking sites are a great place to meet potential partners and clients in the countries you're targeting. While some sites are pretty balanced geographically, others have a strong cluster effect in certain countries, e.g., Xing in continental Europe and China, Ecademy in the U.K., Orkut in Brazil, Ryze in India, etc. One important issue is international pricing. Is your product/service going to be priced the same (in your native currency) in all markets? That may be the easiest, but you may also end up pricing yourself out of some markets. You'll also need to pay attention to fluctuations in the exchange rate and may have to adjust your prices accordingly in order to stay competitive.

Booking Better Business Events - 02/29/2008

Great guide, Daniel, and some cool new resources I wasn't familiar with.

Using LinkedIn to Sell More, Faster - 01/29/2008

Donna -- unless you choose the option that says "Only share this question with connections I select", it's visible by everyone on LinkedIn. If they're not either within three degrees of you or an OpenLink member (a premium option), then you'll only be able to see their limited profile, not their full profile. When browsing questions, there's an option to sort them by degrees away from you, so that you can give particular attention to the questions being asked by your immediate contacts.

Building a Socially Conscious Company - 01/22/2008

I think an important part of this is to get input from your employees as to what cause(s) they would like to support, rather than just having it be the CEO's favorite charity.

Planning Your Web Site Content - 01/22/2008

I think another important point, sort of expanding on the "double duty" idea, is to think about what other media you might distribute your content in, e.g., mobile and podcasting.

Self Employed Health Insurance - 01/17/2008

You may also want to consider joining a professional association such as NASE or NFIB, both of which offer substantial discounts on health insurance as one of their benefits.

Free Software Downloads for Webmasters - 01/17/2008

I'm intrigued to check out Paint.NET -- I've been a long-time user of GIMP, which is very powerful, but has a pretty steep learning curve for the casual user. I also use IrfanView for anything that just requires cropping, resizing, full-image color/contrast adjustment, etc. It loads almost instantly, which makes it very convenient for those applications.

Improving the speed of your databases - 01/17/2008

Jon: I had to implement a similar solution at a company where I was Senior Data Architect. We were a call center handling inbound telemarketing, and we had to make referrals based on various aggregate data. Well, you can imagine the work load of calculating an aggregate on every single potential referral (over 12,000 of them) and then sorting them. We had to set up a summary table containing the aggregate data and made that an indexed field as well, so that the sorts would be faster. One consideration in all of this is when to update the aggregate data. Do you make a trigger on the source field that updates it any time a record is inserted or edited? Or do you do it on a scheduled basis, e.g., hourly or daily? For our purposes, daily was satisfactory, so we just created a script that ran every night as part of our nightly batch processing.

101 Ways to Market Your Small Business - 01/17/2008

RE: #4 -- two things: 1. Consider carefully about hand-written notes. There are people like me who don't want the paper -- I prefer an email. 2. There's nothing worse than a handwritten note that has no substance -- as you suggest, mention a snippet from the conversation, or do something to make it a note they couldn't have sent to a hundred other people. Really, the content is more important than the form.

Google Print Ads: Newspaper Ads Made Easy - 01/17/2008

At Blog World I saw a demo of them doing this for radio too, and I reckon TV can't be too far away, if they don't already offer it. All your media buys in one place -- that's powerful stuff. Yet another tool that puts tools formerly only accessible to larger companies in the hands of small business.

Creating a .TV Web Channel for Business - 01/17/2008

This is great, Daniel -- I'm off to go .tv domain prospecting myself!

Breaking Into Acting - 01/17/2008

Another thing we've found is that in most major cities there's usually some kind of email list, maybe a Yahoo Group, of local casting calls. For example, here in Austin there's the Austin Film Casting Yahoo Group and AustinActors.net (among others).

Getting a Book Agent - 01/17/2008

While this may still be the way a lot of books are done, these models are changing. My coauthor and I got our agent based on just a proposal -- we didn't even have a sample chapter and table of contents (although we did have them by the time we were shopping it to publishers). Also, we found our agent via LinkedIn. Actually, we found one agent at the agency via LinkedIn, and he loved the idea, but said he was too busy for it and referred us to another agent in the agency. And in case you're wondering, yes, it was a very mainstream agency (Waterside) and a very mainstream publisher (AMACOM), and yes, we did get an advance, even as first-time authors. Also, there's an emerging middle niche of publishers that are working with authors directly, usually without agents. And in some cases, even with major publishers, an agent may not really be necessary. This is particularly true on series books, like For Dummies, Complete Idiot's Guide, etc. The deals on those are very standard and not really open to much negotiation. And while it may be difficult to reach an acquisition editor directly, again, LinkedIn has proven a useful resource for connecting with them.

Writing copy for your email newsletter - 01/07/2008

Well, Dominic, these are supposed be how-to guides, not just mini-links to more guides. Why not show off some of those copywriting skills and actually post them here? People come here looking for information -- expecting them to click off to another site in order to get, well, ANY value, is a disservice to the reader. If you want to attract readers, serve them. Give them what they're looking for -- don't make them jump through one more hoop first. It's not a matter of what Paul or I think you ought to do -- the fact of the matter is that posting links rather than content will backfire on you and turn people off, rather than attracting them. Why don't you just post some of those articles here? There's no rule saying they have to exclusive to this site.

Work.com Guide: How To Green Your Business - 01/04/2008

Another thing is not to be fooled by "green-ish" labels, particularly on paper products. A lot of products are entirely "pre-consumer", i.e., made from industry scraps. They used to just throw all this stuff back into the pulp mix, but now they bundle it all together so they can green market it. Look for paper products that have at least a portion of post-consumer recycled product. One of the most readily available choices is Marcal, which I know Office Depot carries. They have their recyclyed fiber content information on their website.

Improving Internet Customer Service - Part 1 - 01/04/2008

While not specifically related to just internet customer service, I think it's critical to a) empower your reps, and b) escalate when necessary. Tim Ferris tells in his book, The 4-Hour Workweek, about his decision to tell all his customer service reps that if they could solve the problem for a cost of less than $100, to just do it, and quickly. Doing so radically reduced his time, kept him from having to hire additional agents to handle the load, and created more loyal customers who gladly referred others because they had gotten great service.

Using Typefaces - 01/04/2008

It also makes a big difference if your project is for print or screen. For example, serif fonts may be considered more legible for long blocks of text in print, but that's not necessarily true on-screen. On-screen, wider fonts like Verdana improve legibility for longer blocks of text.

Web 2.0 Link Building Tactics - 01/04/2008

Man... this field is my business, and I still can't keep up with all the new stuff. What about Squidoo?

Merchant Rates - 01/04/2008

FYI, PayPal is now offering a full-fledged merchant account (no -- not their old business account -- the real thing) at rates well below the average. They even have virtual terminal services.

Writing an Effective Customer Newsletter - 01/04/2008

One of the trends I'm seeing a lot of (and that my firm is doing with some of our clients) is that companies are trying to get double mileage out of the same content -- using it on both a blog and a newsletter. Aweber has a couple of cool tools: one will help you build your newsletter from your blog's RSS feed, and the other will take your newsletter content and make HTML and RSS archives for your website. There's also a WordPress Newsletter Plug-in that allows to build a newsletter from your WordPress-based blog. FeedBlitz and FeedBurner also offer blog-to-email solutions.

Finding Store Displays and Fixtures - 01/04/2008

Depending on your store, you may be able to build your own fixtures. My wife and I used to have a used CD store, and we built all our display racks ourselves in a day for a fraction of what new ones would have cost. If your shop has a kind of artsy / funky / bohemian vibe, it can work well and save you a bunch of money.

Creating a Home Office with Minimum Distractions - 01/04/2008

Another thing that has really worked for me is making a commitment to go paperless, as much as possible. I take all my notes on my computer. Business cards get entered and then thrown away. No newspapers, no print magazines. I don't save old utility bills and bank statements (hooray for electronic banking!). I produce all my contracts with my signature embedded in the document electronically -- clients sign them and fax them back to my virtual fax number. As a result, all of my filing fits into one small, portable 10-inch thick filing box.

Creating Invoices That Get Paid - 01/04/2008

One thing I've found is that if you're dealing either with a small business owner or if your client contact has to approve the invoice for payment, then timing can be very important if you're involved in ongoing work with them. Sometimes waiting to send the bill right after you've completed some important task or small milestone will get your invoice expedited, while sending it while they're waiting on something (particularly if it's overdue) will cause them to stall, even if the invoice is for work already long done, not what you're currently working on. Unfortunate, but true. Also, as a cash-flow conscious small business owner, I generally make all my invoices "Due upon receipt" unless the contract specifies otherwise. One way to accelerate payment, particularly when dealing with larger companies that are notoriously slow to pay, is to offer a fast-pay discount, e.g., a few percent off if it's paid within 10 business days.

Computer Programming Languages - 12/01/2007

Not many people work in Perl any more. The hot web development languages these days are PHP, Ruby on Rails and C# (C Sharp). Those will be far more practical and marketable skills for the foreseeable future.

Commercial Airlines - 11/30/2007

One important concern for business travelers is delays. I did an article for one of my clients about this, and learned quite a few things I didn't already know in the process: 25 Ways to Avoid Travel Delays

Microsoft Windows 2000 - 11/30/2007

Isn't this a little out of date? XP and Vista are out since then. Why would anyone still be considering an 8-year-old operating system?

60+ Free Web Development Tools & Resources for Entrepreneurs - 11/30/2007

I especially love Feedburner's new customizable RSS headline animator. A lot of sites won't let you insert Flash, and practically no one allows Javascript, but pretty much everyone allows GIF images. Take a look at my profile here for examples.

People Search - 11/30/2007

Don't forget social networking sites. With nearly 20 million members, a significant number of business professionals are in LinkedIn with their complete work history. And Facebook has now opened up its member search to the general public -- you don't have to join Facebook to search it.

Online Collaboration Services - 11/30/2007

Deki Wiki is another good wiki application. It's free and open source, but what I particularly like about it is all the cool Web 2.0 mashup extensions that have been built for it. One line of code, for example, displays the headlines from an RSS feed in either a table or a list.

Working at Home - 11/30/2007

One way to minimize your space requirements and your clutter is to go paperless as much as possible -- electronic faxing, scanning business cards and important documents, taking notes on your computer instead of notepads, etc. I did that and I've cut my desk space needs in half.

Social Media Optimization - 11/30/2007

One important thing for people to keep in mind about blogging is that writing the content is only about half the picture. You need to also be reading other blogs, commenting on them, linking to them, cross-promoting them in social networking sites, etc., in order to really be effective. Also, LinkedIn has a Q&A section that tends to be more business-oriented and higher-quality answers (in my experience) than some of the others.

Free Business Software for Windows - 11/30/2007

You learn something new every day. Foxit turned out to be a great find -- thanks!

Internet Software - 11/30/2007

Blogs are also a great marketing tool and a way to stay in touch with your customers. WordPress seems to be the blogging platform of choice at the moment.

Defining Your Business Value - 11/30/2007

I'm in the fortunate position of being an entrepreneur and having complete control over what I choose to sell and what I don't (OK, technically, every salesperson does, but many may feel trapped with one particular product or service out of the company's offering that they don't really believe in). Anyway, my point is that I don't sell products and services that aren't differentiated on anything other than price. Being in a commoditized market is no fun at all. This is where sales needs to work together with the marketing department (or if you're an entrepreneur and you ARE the sales department and the marketing department!) and clarify the positioning of the product or service such that for the right niche market, your offering is the sole source. I love your suggestions about getting the input from your customers to help do this. I just also think you need to include some competitive analysis and decide how you differentiate yourself from your competition.

Company Profile Research - 11/30/2007

If they're a publicly traded company, be sure to look up their quarterly reports at EDGAR. Also, I've found Silicon Investor an invaluable (and free) tool for doing financial research on companies.

Business Portal Software - 11/30/2007

Good overview, but I was very surprised not to see Microsoft Sharepoint mentioned, since it's the most popular portal solution for smaller businesses.

Credit Card Processing Contracts - 11/30/2007

What's your take on PayPal for this, now that they have their Virtual Terminal offering?

Using Joomla CMS to Build Your Website - 11/30/2007

iJoomla also has some great professional-quality (but not free) extensions for Joomla geared towards some specific applications. I've found that some people who've never worked with a CMS system before still have a hard time figuring out exactly how to best organize their website, and some of those pre-packaged solutions really help.

Lemon Law - 11/30/2007

While it's possible for any make and model to put out a lemon or two here or there, certainly some have better track records than others. Be sure to check out new car reviews and ratings at Consumer Reports, Edmunds and J. D. Power. The best insurance against buying a lemon is to do your homework before you buy.

e-commerce homepage design : 9 golden rules - 11/30/2007

This is a great guide, Paul -- I will be referring a lot of people to it. Most business owners don't have a clue how much impact site design can have on purchasing behavior, other than the basics like an easy-to-use shopping cart.

Real Estate Auctions - 11/30/2007

Wow -- I had no idea there were online realty auctions. I suppose it's the natural evolution, but I still find it surprising. I'll have to check it out.

Gmail for Work - 11/01/2007

Great guide, Brian, but you forgot to mention that Gmail is also accessible via SMTP and POP3, so if you're like me and highly attached to Outlook, you can still use Gmail with it.

Voice Marketing - 11/01/2007

Do you have any stats on the actual success rate of this approach, Matt? I know that any time I answer the phone and it's a recording, I just hang up -- doesn't even matter what it is. Any tips on writing the script so that people who are a little more receptive to it than I am stay on and listen?

Using open source CMS solutions to manage your website - 11/01/2007

This is just a small fraction of the available options. There's a great web site, OpenSourceCMS.com, that lets you try out all the different platforms before you decide on one. They cover things like image galleries, wikis and blogs, as well.

Facilitating Brainstorming Session - 11/01/2007

I've also found that it helps to consolidate the list by combining similar ideas before sorting it. Also, sometimes drawing a mind map helps -- putting the key or central concepts up on a whiteboard and writing related words or ideas under them (especially helpful when doing things like brainstorming a product name).

Registered Agents - 11/01/2007

Some of the more popular states for corporations also have state-level associations, such as the Nevada Registered Agent Association, that provide additional info and member directories.

Starbucks Coffee - 11/01/2007

Don't forget us non-coffee drinkers -- be sure to include some Tazo Chai and a couple of other teas for the rest of us.

Blogging for a Jewelry Business - 11/01/2007

Excellent guide, Caroline! A couple of other important things: 1. Make sure you're committed to consistency. Starting out gung-ho and then not posting for several weeks can actually hurt you rather than help you. 2. Plan to spend about as much time doing other things to promote your blog -- participating in forums, answering comments, leaving comments on other blogs, blog carnivals, etc. -- as you do actually writing on your blog. Writing your blog is only half the equation.

Business Contingency Planning - 10/31/2007

This may seem obvious, but you should have specific plans for the natural (or other) disasters that most commonly occur in your area. For example, a Colorado business should have a specific plan for a blizzard, while a southern California business won't, but they will need an earthquake plan. And I said "other" because if, for example, you're within 150 miles of a nuclear power plant, that's an issue. Also, if you live in a large city, you probably need to be more prepared for a terrorist attack than if you're in a small town.

Real Estate Virtual Tours - 10/31/2007

Do-it-yourselfers should check out Panoguide.com, which offers free how-to guides, forums, and extensive product reviews on 360-degree and panorama photography.

Marketing Your Local Business Online - 10/31/2007

Bill Gates said recently that in 5 years, use of traditional Yellow Pages will be near zero. And yet it amazes me how many local businesses have no internet presence of their own, especially when it can be done so inexpensively. Good guide, but you need to check the formatting -- it's coming out all as one continuous paragraph.

Self-Service Moving - 10/31/2007

What do your drivers do while people are loading the truck?

Advertising Your Business With Promotional Gifts - 10/31/2007

A refrigerator magnet calendar was part of why we chose our realtor. We were looking on our own and had just been working with the listing agents, but we were getting frustrated. I actually knew a bunch of realtors, but one who we didn't know very well, but knew from our church and felt like we would be "in tune" with, had sent us that little calendar, which we noticed one day on the door. One little reminder that turns into a sale can more than pay for your entire investment in promotional gifts.

How to Market and Network Online in 5 Easy Steps - 10/31/2007

Sherese - this is a good overview of what a balanced strategy looks like. FYI, that URL for your profile at Fast Pitch isn't working -- might want to check it.

Is your Business listed in Google Maps? Submit your business to Google Maps - 10/31/2007

Local search is booming. Bill Gates said recently (and I agree) that in 5 years, use of the paper Yellow Pages will drop to nearly zero (at least among people with broadband access). It constantly amazes me to find local businesses -- restaurants in particular -- that don't have their own web presence -- usually just a profile and reviews on Citysearch, Yelp, etc. Twice recently I've chosen one restaurant over another because they had their own site and their menu online, and another restaurant didn't.

earning money online :: create part time work at home jobs to find a job marketing your own skills! - 10/31/2007

I feel like you have about the first 40% of a really great guide here. I love your writing style, but this guide leaves me begging the question, "OK, how?" As marketing copy on a sales page on your site, that would be perfect. Here, it feels like a tease. Finish what you started and I'm sure you'll see some great responses.

Hotel Furniture - 10/31/2007

Used hotel furniture also makes for affordable, durable home furnishings or for casual office areas (reception, lounges, etc.). Great guide, Matt.

IRA Plans - 10/31/2007

One thing that a lot of people don't realize about Roth IRAs is that the government doesn't say what you <i>can</i> invest in -- they just give a very short list of things you <i>can't</i> invest in. With a self-directed LLC IRA, you can invest in real estate, stocks, passively in small business, and so on completely tax-free.

IT Jobs - 10/31/2007

This is a good start, LaRita, but you're missing one of the most important tools for IT job seekers: social networking sites. According to several recent articles, FaceBook and LinkedIn are now major tools for IT recruiters: "According to the ATSCo survey, the vast majority of recruitment consultants use social networking sites to find candidates and network with clients (83%)." Blogs are also increasingly important, especially in the IT industry.

Commercial Doors - 10/31/2007

This is an excellent guide to a topic I've honestly never even given much thought to. I had no idea there was so much variety and so many factors to consider. Thanks, Selena!

Marketing for Professionals - 10/31/2007

Also, while I think you've got some great advice here, I think the resource list is a little short. There are are SO many good articles and sites out there -- I think it would be helpful to point people to some more in-depth resources on some of these topics.

Using Email Effectively - 09/27/2007

I leave mine open all day (too much of my work is done via email not to), but I turn off automatic send/receive, and I only do that in batches.

Postcard Marketing - 09/27/2007

For smaller businesses, or for personalized cards, there's also Send Out Cards, which allows you to choose a card template, type in your own message, and send it to your recipient. You can even make a font of your own handwriting so that it looks like it's coming from you. This allows you to use it for thank-you cards, get well cards, whatever.

Promotional Pens - 09/27/2007

Here's an idea for giving out your pens in a way that's useful, not pushy... Always carry a few with you in your pocket at networking events, conferences, etc. Whenever you hand someone your business card, jot some kind of personal note on there -- a useful web site, book title, your cell phone number, something they're supposed to send you, etc. Write the note with one of your pens, and when you hand them the business card, hand them the pen as well. A lot of people won't say anything and will just take the pen. If they do say something, tell them to keep it.

Open Innovation - 09/27/2007

Hey Jeff - I'm already a huge fan of Fellowforce and have participated in several challenges, as well as blogged about it. And thank you for giving us a great example of both a) a guide that may be biased towards the author's company but still presents a valuable overview of the topic, and b) the power of social media by your subsequent interaction in the comments section. Bravo!

Cheap Laptops - 09/27/2007

One thing in particular to watch out for, though, is video card capabilities. That's not easily upgraded on a laptop -- OK, it's usually not upgradable at all -- and if you want to do business in SecondLife or other 3-D virtual worlds, you'll need more up-to-date video capabilities. My laptop is about 4 years old, has 2 Gb RAM and a 2.8 GHz Pentium 4 CPU -- ample for most business applications -- but I can't run SecondLife on it at all and World of Warcraft (yes, you can actually do business networking there) is so choppy it's unplayable.

Business-to-Business Online Competitive Intelligence for Search Marketers - 09/27/2007

Competitive analysis is essential for good SEO. Unfortunately, the typical metrics for analysing the "competitiveness" of search terms miss the mark. Most competitive metrics look at the number of results for a particular term, which really doesn't matter that much. What DOES matter is how well optimized the top 10 are: keyword density, keyword placement, inbound links, etc. When I'm doing keyword research, that's what I do -- look at the those three things for the top 10 competitors. That's how I decide if a particular keyword is worth pursuing or not, and how much effort to put into it.

Reducing Stress at Work - 09/27/2007

Personally, I find leaning back in my chair and staring at the ceiling to be incredibly effective. Taking a break and playing a game works well, too.

Office Desks - 09/27/2007

I learned something REALLY important about materials... there's a new kind of laminate that's been available the past few years in which the laminate is "baked in" as opposed to glued on. The easy way to tell is that the baked-in laminates have smooth, rounded corners vs. the hard rectangular corners on traditional laminates. The baked-in laminates are a LOT more durable and not subject to the annoying peeling problems of traditional laminates.

Ring Finger Sizing - 09/27/2007

Within a few days? Plastic rings? Why not just do like so many places do and give people something they can print out from your web site instantly? That seems to be what most of the online jewelry stores do: Balfour ring sizer JewelryList.com ring sizer Overstock.com ring sizing chart Blue Nile ring sizer (this one is especially useful because it also includes a chart for measuring the size of one of your current rings) There's also a ring size conversion tool in case you know your size from one country and want to convert it to the sizing from another country. I think offering something like one of these would be a lot more effective, Ron. Who wants to wait 2-3 days to determine their ring size? By then you've likely lost the order.

Advertising That SELLS - How to get up to 3x more response on your ads? - 09/27/2007

Myth: Keep it short or people won't read it. Fact: Keep it relevant and informative to the reader and appropriate to the context in which it's placed or people won't read it.

Person-to-Person Business Finance - 09/27/2007

I've been following Kiva -- great to learn about these others. I think this is a really promising area, and I'm glad to see technology being used so effectively to enable this.

Online Brokers - 09/27/2007

I think ShareBuilder is worth taking a particularly close look at, especially for people who are new to investing in stocks. They have an automatic investment plan that only charges $4 per trade -- great for those looking for growing their position in a few stocks long-term. They also offer real-time trades at competitive rates, but so far as I know, the other offering is unique. It's certainly what they've built their brand around.

Making Sure Your Online Presence is On Par - 09/27/2007

I'm with Paul -- I felt like it was a bait-and-switch. You're a great writer, and this has so much potential. YOUR online presence would be made stronger by presenting a more balanced guide with links to numerous appropriate resources.

PC Cases - 09/27/2007

Great guide, Judy -- I honestly had no idea there were SO many options available. For those people who have a Fry's in their town, it's the one store I know of that seems to have a pretty good variety of cases in stock, in case you want to go see them up close and personal.

Tracking Obscure News About Your Company - 09/27/2007

I like to get my stuff via RSS as well. In addition to Google's blog search, I also use IceRocket and Technorati.

Using YouTube to Promote Your Business - 09/27/2007

A couple of things I think are really important: 1) Don't do video just because you think everyone is doing video -- it has to make sense with your product or service. Some things lend themselves to visuals, others don't. 2) Fit into the YouTube ethos. It should be funny, entertaining, thought-provoking or educational. A typical ad or corporate/industrial video won't serve you well -- in fact it might actually backfire on you. My absolutely favorite example of effective YouTube marketing is the outstanding Will It Blend? series from Blendtec -- a perfect example of something that really lends itself to the visual medium. The real-time compilation is a great quick overview, and the glowsticks, marbles, tiki torch and golf club are all particularly impressive. It's amazing what's happened with it -- not only has it spawned a plethora of parodies, it's become so successful that they actually now parody themselves (AFTER watching some of the others, see the Chuck Norris video or the crowbar).

Business DSL - 09/27/2007

Now that cable companies are also offering high-speed business-grade services, any thoughts on comparing DSL to cable?

Buy A Small Business Successfully - 09/26/2007

Yeah -- I agree with Donna. The valuation is one of the most important steps, and there's nothing in here about it.

Remove backgrounds from photos easy and smooth - 09/26/2007

Ideally, your background is a significantly different color than your subject, and if so, you can use the magic wand tool to select the background separately from your main subject. You'll have to tweak the sensitivity setting to get it just right. Once you get close to your subject's edges, make sure you feather the selection so that you get a soft, blended edge. Also, no need to spend the money on Photoshop -- GIMP is a free open-source graphics program with most of the capabilities of Photoshop. About.com's Graphics Software Guide, Sue Chastain, has an excellent tutorial on removing backgrounds.

Facebook Basics for Your Business - 09/26/2007

Excellent guide, Brian. I have to admit that even though social networking is my core business, I've been so busy that I really haven't had much time to spend exploring Facebook, but I've been extremely impressed with their approach from a technology standpoint. I love the open API and all the implications of it, and I can only hope that other major social networks will follow suit.

Dress Codes for Small Business - 08/31/2007

I don't know that I agree, Susan. Just as you differentiated between a production environment and an office environment, should software developers have to wear the same thing that salespeople who are calling on customers do? I think there's also a difference between back-office and customer-facing. But the reality is that even if there "shouldn't" be, if you require dress shirts and ties from software developers, you won't attract and keep top talent. In Silicon Valley or here in Austin, where I live, require business casual and you won't attract and keep top technical talent.

Choosing the Best Small Business Credit Card - 08/31/2007

If you travel a lot, you may want to get a card that has no pre-set spending limit. It's very easy to max out a $5,000 credit limit in just a couple of trips.

Finding Home-Business Opportunities - 08/31/2007

There are absolutely pyramid schemes out there -- I see a couple of new ones every month. But people shouldn't make the mistake of equating legitimate network marketing / multi-level marketing with a pyramid scheme. Many MLM companies cost little or nothing to join and provide excellent products/services at a fair price.

Finding New Business Ideas - 08/31/2007

Another good approach to starting a business is "ride a trend". In addition to Springwise (one of my very favorite sites), check out their sister site, Trendwatching.com. Also, Anita Campbell, one of our Work.com experts, has her own site on small business trends.

the 2007 Postage Rate Changes - 08/31/2007

I would say that reading this makes me just want to do even more electronically where possible, but email delivery is becoming increasingly complex in itself! ;-)

Resume and Cover Letter Writing Services - 08/31/2007

I think it's important to state that the same resume does not necessarily suit every job application. When I was searching, I had about four different basic versions that focused on different strengths and experience, and would then customize it a little bit if needed for a particular job.

Low-Cost Businesses You Can Start - 08/31/2007

I'm surprised direct selling and network marketing aren't on here. Absolutely, certainly, there are rip-offs in both of those areas, but there are also many that you can start for less than $50 and in some cases even free. Do a lot of people end up unsuccessful in them? Yes, but then a lot of people end up unsuccessful in other businesses, especially if they're undercapitalized and/or inexperienced. When you isolate out that factor, the stats are much closer. There are also lots of other ways to make money online -- blogging, social media, etc. -- many of which require little or no money to start. And you can go buy expensive training programs on how to do it, but most of the information is out there for free if you just know where to look.

Creating a Great Business Plan - 08/31/2007

You can have a great business plan, but then have a few mistakes kill the whole deal. Some examples: - Value inflation / hype ("unparalleled", "unique", "superb returns", etc.) - Failing to relate to a true pain (having a product that seems cool, but customers don't really *need*, so won't spend money on) - "We have no competition." - Of course you do. If you think you don't, you don't understand what competition is, and that's a problem. - Unrealistic financials. It doesn't matter how enticing they look if they aren't believable. That's just a sampling. More at Why Business Plans Don't Get Funded.

Angel Investor Preferences Right Now - 08/31/2007

First-hand experience -- they like to see at least a prototype of your product, too, which can be a challenge for a tech company if your founders aren't also developers.

Guarding Your Business against Fraud - 08/31/2007

Hah -- Frank Abagnale! That's the guy from "Catch Me If You Can". Interesting comments from him about the movie.

Labor Law Posters - 08/31/2007

Excellent guide, Ned. I'm sure a lot of first-time business owners have no idea about this.

Phone Conferencing Services - 08/25/2007

Actually, the cheapest solution is free conferencing. ;-) Depending on your needs, they may do the job just fine. Three that I've used successfully in the past are FreeConference.com, FreeConferenceCall.com and Basement Ventures. Basement has a limit of 250, rather than 100, and I think all three of them now provide free recording as well. Honestly, I don't know how they all do it -- I'm sure they get a few upsells, but compared to how much usage the free service gets, I have to wonder. They've all been around for a while, though, so the business model must be working.

Using Microsoft Outlook in Your Business - 08/25/2007

One of the most important things to do to improve your productivity with Outlook 2003 or earlier is to get a good search tool -- the one built in to Outlook is certainly flexible enough, but incredibly slow on a large archive. There used to be a great add-on for it called Lookout, but Microsoft bought them and incorporated the technology into Outlook 2007. I tried Windows Desktop Search, but it didn't work on my machine. As a free alternative, I suggest either Copernic Desktop Search or Google Desktop. Or just bite the bullet and upgrade to Outlook 2007.

Desktop Publishing - 08/25/2007

My best recommendation about desktop publishing packages: don't buy it if you don't need it. MS Word has become an extremely capable and powerful tool and will adequately meet the needs of many people, if you learn its capabilities. Of course there are certain kinds of things that are much easier in a full-fledged page layout tool, but you also have to consider the learning curve for a whole new application. Compared to the volume of desktop publishing you do, will it really save you the time and money in the long run?

Free Business Software for Windows - 08/25/2007

One of the most important ones for me has been GIMP, a very powerful open-source alternative to Photoshop -- more than ample for most business needs. Another is Audacity, which I use for editing all of my podcasts, sound bites and audio products. Still waiting impatiently for a true Outlook killer though -- calendar, email, contact management and task list all rolled into one.

Firefox Extensions for Productivity - 08/25/2007

What a great resource, Greg. I'm going to check out Who Is This Person and Signature this weekend -- those would both be extremely helpful to me and a lot of people I know.

Instant Messaging for Small Business - 08/25/2007

Don't forget about Skype. If you're already using it for voice communications, why not also use it for text and have one less piece of software to deal with?

VoIP for Small Business - 08/25/2007

While I'm still a big fan of Skype, I have to say that I'm reconsidering my use of VOIP as my main home phone line (I currently have digital phone from TimeWarner). I have been finding that it doesn't always give good consistent quality when recording conference calls, interviews for podcasts, or radio appearances. If you do much of that, you might seriously think about not using VOIP as your only phone line.

Marketing to African-American Consumers - 08/25/2007

Don't forget about social networking, both as a marketing channel but even more importantly as a market research tool. While largely unknown outside the African-American community, BlackPlanet.com is actually one of the largest and most popular social networking sites overall.

Promotional Apparel: More Than Just T-Shirts! - 08/05/2007

I agree -- this is one of the best guides I've seen. Very detailed, thorough, and -- most importantly -- ACTIONABLE!

Using a List for Lead Generation - 08/01/2007

It's a bit more labor-intensive, but you can get super-targeted by doing searches on sites like ZoomInfo and LinkedIn. Through LinkedIn, if you use it right (i.e., connecting with people you actually know, not just anybody who will connect with you), you can get warm introductions as well.

Creating Great Presentations -