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Akwasi Adjei

Network operations, Adjsoft Solutions
Santa Barbara, CA, USA
Member Since: 09/20/2006
Status: Contributor
No Website Listed | Contact
About Me:
I am the community leader for the technology section of work.com. In my free time, I conduct research in business, communication and information technologies in developing countries. I am also interested in information security and decision analysis. See my personal blog for my latest ramblings. I hold a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering and an MS in management information systems. I have consulted for several information technology startups in the US and in Africa. I have also been featured in a PBS documentary on emerging technology experts in Africa.

Industry: Internet, Voice Over IP
Size of Business: 1 - 10 employees
Years in Business: 2-10 years

Affiliations:
Internet Diffusion, Linux, Technology Transfer, Information Security

Business Interests:
Ghana, Business Process Outsourcing, Internet Diffusion in developing countries

Total Guide Views

1 9 2 0
Overall Rating: N/A
Guides Written: 5
Comments Posted: 444
Comments Received: 0
Favorite Guides: 65

Guides I've Written

  1. Doing Business in Ghana


    Invest in an emerging economy of West Africa with a stable government & competitive labor force
    Guide Rating: 7.6 out of 10. Saved by 2 people.

  2. Using Linux for Your Desktop


    Using Linux and open source software for your small business
    Guide Rating: 8.8 out of 10. Saved by 2 people.

  3. Doing Business in Nigeria


    Explore the rich resources Nigeria has to offer.
    Guide Rating: 8.4 out of 10. Saved by 0 people.

  4. Doing business in Egypt


    Do business in the cradle of civilization
    Guide Rating: 9.0 out of 10. Saved by 0 people.

  5. Doing business in Sierra Leone


    Sierra Leone
    Guide Rating: 9.0 out of 10. Saved by 0 people.

My Comments

  • Great article. Gettting customers to your site is different from getting customers to use your site. Great SEO tactics can drive customers to the site but a lot of thought has to be put into decent site navigation, relevant content and usability to keep customers on your site.
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  • Is it not against the law to hire interns without paying them?
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  • Being a member of MENSA qualifies one for lots of discounts including car insurance discounts.
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  • Twitter Tools - 05/29/2009
    Great tips and links Zeke. I am going to check them out now.
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  • There are times when connection times may be slow.This article discusses how to tweak cable modem speeds.
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  • "keep in mind that Web readers have a short attention span. Target the survey length and question style to your audience". Great point Jennifer. I always get discouraged when I get long surveys to complete online. Great guide.
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  • Gmail for Work - 03/31/2009
    I have been using gmail on the iphone and I love it.
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  • Virtual Debit Cards - 03/31/2009
    Wow. This sounds very dangerous to me. I don't whether I will trust a virtual debit card, should I?
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  • Micheal, how is Ubuntu faring for you?
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  • "We have found that culture knowledge is hard to duplicate". Well said. I agree.
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  • Cloud Computing - 03/31/2009
    Certainly, cloud computing is the buzzword these days. One company that offers web-based cloud computing is Rightscale .
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  • Macintosh Computers - 03/31/2009
    Welcome Donna to the Mac family.
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  • "retain ownership of intellectual property when using ICs". That will be my number one concern should I ever have to hire an independent contractor for your business. What is the contractor's duty? What risks am I taking by hiring a contractor?
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  • Business Blogging - 03/31/2009
    I have also played with the Search-Based Keyword Tool from google and I strongly recommend it.
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  • Good question, Susan. One upside of a recession could be innovation. People are forced to rethink the way they do things, what their assumptions are and what they want to do. It might be a good time to cash in on the ideas of unemployed but brilliant folks looking for a new start.
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  • Thanks Scott for your links.
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  • Facebook keeps changing its user interface and has caused some upheaval amongst it's users. How many of us don't like it? Add me to the that number.
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  • Is ITIL the only change management certification out there? Any there any others?
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  • Great to see. Hopefully someone comes up with a comprehensive guide on Doing business in Tunisia.
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  • I remember that in the early days of the world wide web, guestbooks were very common. I don't seem to them as often. This guide makes a good case for guestbooks.
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  • I agree with Scott. Dan, this is a great guide for small businesses. I will bookmark it now.
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  • Are the C family of languages in trend anymore? Other object oriented languages such as python are becoming popular.
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  • I never heard about factoring until I read this guide. Thanks for the guide.
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  • Great topic for a guide. I have heard a couple of nasty stories about family businesses under the pressure of divorce. Good points you raise, especially pre-nuptial agreements.
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  • First and foremost, the organization needs to develop a culture of openess and honesty. A great employee feedback tool might be essentially useless if employees are afraid to speak up for fear of retribution. How am I sure that my feedback is not going to put me in a negative light before my superiors should it be negative? Anonymous feedback could be an option, however the culture of the organization should support candidness and honesty.
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  • Great tips, James. Are there any questions that you can not ask in an exit interview?
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  • Verify, verify. It is not a bad idea to check in with the USCIS from time to time.
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  • I have seen a lot of telecommunications engineers come from the military especially the Navy. This could be a good option for those who can not afford regular education.
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  • This looks like an advertisement to me.
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  • Interesting point about certifications. Some have long held the opinion that IT certifications are not important. Its true that you see a lot of certified IT technicians without the requisite experience. Great guide though. Lots of useful tips.
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  • One useful thing is to include the telephone number of the person or company you are shipping to. Believe it or not, it is way easier for the receiver to be called to claim the package than to have it delivered.
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  • Great topic for a guide. Your guide will be better with more information like links and more action steps.
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  • Very informatiive guide. Thanks Stephanie.
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  • Well, with the way the economy is, it might be time to start looking at emerging markets for business opportunities. India, certainly one of them .
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  • You have to be careful with debt settlement companies. I have heard some horrible stories from a a couple of friends. It is best to find a non-for-profit company that offers debt counseling.
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  • Great and funny. Interesting.
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  • Check with your bank first. Sometimes, some banks offer some kind of loan advance based on your income. Payday loans offer exhorbitant interest. Avoid them as much as you can.
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  • Employee Evaluation - 01/31/2009
    To add to Sarg's comment, it is always important to have some humility when working for someone. It is all about delivery. A great idea that is not delivered timely and tactfully is useless. Having an employee who does not fit into the organization just does not work, inspite of how smart they are. One bad ingredient can spoil the soup.
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  • GoToAssist express is a new solution for remote computer repair from Citrixonline.
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  • GoToAssist express is a new solution for remote computer repair from Citrixonline.
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  • Log Analysis - 01/31/2009
    Anyone tried splunk ? .
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  • It is important to understand what at-will employment means. I have been an at-will employee sometimes and it is good to know more at-will employment. Thanks for the guide.
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  • Nice and basic. Following these steps could help.
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  • Maybe a more appropriate title for this guide is "How to write a press release".
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  • Job Interviewing - 01/31/2009
    A sense of humor always help. It is important to make the interviewers comfortable. I agree that one should not go overboard with it though. Thanks for the comment.
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  • List Servers - 01/31/2009
    Good old mailman is still around. It has proven reliable after all these years.
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  • Web Server Software - 01/31/2009
    Eric is right. Apache is the most popular web software out there. It is easily configurable.
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  • Volunteer Abroad - 12/29/2008
    Very sad, Donna. It is very important to find the right organization for volunteers in Ghana. Perhaps, it will be great if the US embassies maintain a list of recommended volunteer programs, especially for developing countries.
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  • I don't believe we encourage wars like this on work.com. Lets stop this.
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  • CES is one of the biggest trade shows. Although it is generally for consumer products, it is a good place to exhibit.
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  • Java Training - 12/29/2008
    Most community colleges and universities offer classes in Java programming. Find one nearest to you and attend a class.
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  • Is it worthwhile to seek the help of a speech therapist? I have a friend who swears by speech therapists. According to him, it helped with his presentation skills.
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  • Another tip is to use search folders. In Outlook, you can use search folders to manage your email effectively. My search folders look for keywords in the mail, that way I can be prompted when they arrive.
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  • Reducing headcount. That is one of the hardest thing a company could do. Doing it in one fell sweep is the hardest, but very important. It is better to do it once and face the consequences once. Constant layoffs portray the organization as a weakening one over and over again. It might not augur well for stock prices and potential recruits.
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  • Agreed. The yahoo deal was a failed one, but what lessons are in this case for small businesses. Maybe a guide to how consider buyout offers will help.
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  • Oh, Donna, would that not be great :). Was it not this year that an airline had to fly empty planes because of a glitch in the reservation software. It is amazing that these things still happen. For some reason, I believe that the airline companies might be carrying on with legacy systems that have outlived their usefulness. Gone are the days where everyone used a travel agent whom were connected directly to the airlines. Travel consolidator websites have turned almost everyone into their own travel agent. Hopefully, airlines will be able to get a hang of this as soon as possible.
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  • Lesson Plans - 12/29/2008
    I wholeheartedly agree with Paul that technology can not do all the work for you. It is still important for teachers to go through the process of evaluating their students, the material and the atmosphere for creating a wonderful learning experience. Use the technology, don't rely wholly on it.
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  • Travel to Ghana - 12/29/2008
    The best time to travel to Ghana is during winter ( well winter in the west, but not at all in Ghana.) Flights are cheaper during January and February. I find the best prices for my flights at sidestep.com. It is best to buy your ticket at least a month before leaving.
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  • One of the things I find most annoying about public address systems is feedback, that shrilling and obnoxious sound you hear when someone is speaking. Engineers try their best to factor feedback into their designs. This article explains feedback and some rules to avoid it.
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  • Most employee evaluations are yearly which I sometimes find to be a bit absurd. Evaluating an employee for the whole year in about one hour does not do justice to neither the company nor the employee. Evaluation should be a continuous process and should be integrated into the organazational development process. Provide feeback constantly so that no one is taken by suprise.
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  • Linux Desktop Tips - 11/30/2008
    Great tips. I would love to see more. Are these tips only for Novell?
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  • UNIX - 11/30/2008
    For the curious, there are many flavors of unix.
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  • It is great to offer educational opportunities to employees. It makes them feel more valued. The biggest challenge in distance education is time. Since most online classes are asynchronous, students need to be online quite a bit. Offering them time to do that while at work goes a long way to help. Thanks for this guide.
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  • I also recommend building a great online profile and using career oriented social networking sites like LinkedIn. Joining alumni associations immediately after graduation can open a lot of career opportunities.
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  • Organizational development can serve as a proactive not reactive way to develop an organization. It is a science actually and it involves some planning and systematic execution. The culture of the organization needs to be understood and time should be spent on planning the overall development of the organization. Thanks for the guide.
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  • Glad to hear that the newest Blackberrys come with a touchscreen. That's nice and it will be a good rival to the iphone for business users. That brings up the question, is the iphone better for business users? Any thoughts out there?
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  • Nothing beats doing it yourself though. A good technician needs to know and love the hardware. Take a PC repair class at your local high school or community college.
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  • I still use salary.com's salary wizard to determine what I should be making at a particular job. It is important not to base your salary requirements only on this information.
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  • Office Romance - 11/29/2008
    You can't not expect the inevitable. We spend 8 hours or more at work everyday, sometimes more than we spend at home. It is expected that relationships will form and people will get close. It comes down to maturity. Separating work from your personal life. Maybe companies should start offering counsel for employees on the do's and don'ts of office romances other than pretending that they should not happen. It reminds me of the "Don't ask, don't tell policy" in the military.
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  • Your article inspired me to research about a spouse's right to privacy. I saw this online on the legal consequences of spying.
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  • Be careful when purchasing computer franchises. There are more restrictions on franchises than on an outright purchase. Franchise agreements are binding and there is a bunch of legislation protecting both the franchisors and the franchisees. When in doubt, hire a franchise attorney .
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  • Simple, but true. I love the cartoon.
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  • Perl is still very relevant though not with web development. It was and still is the programming language of choice with system administrators, particularly unix/linux. Any good system administrator should know some Perl.
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  • How a prospective candidate fits into the culture of the organization is very important. In my opinion, someone with all the requisite skills is useless unless they can fit into the organization. The prospective employee and employer need to understand the culture of the organization and more importantly the group they will be working in.
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  • Thanks for the 7 C's. I had not heard about that before. Donna also makes a good point, end it before it goes bad. That goes for any relationship. Not to be a pessimist, but if a relationship is going to go bad, it will. I heard somewhere that "being a good visitor is to know when to leave". Recognizing that the relationship is about to end is an essence of fiduciary duty. Partnerships are based on fiduciary duty which mandates that the partners should put the interests of the partnership above their own. Look at the bigger picture, put aside selfish interests and get out honourably before it is too late.
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  • "Include Annual Service Agreements in Your Business Model". Thats a good point. Service Level agreements bind the business to specific performance metrics and ultimately high quality customer service. The customer is always the key to a business's success -- especially for small businesses. SLA's give customers the feeling that the business cares about them and their well-being.
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  • Thanks for this guide. To add to your last point , also make sure that your name is legal. There are a lot of legal consequences if the business name violates any copyright and trademark laws. This article answers some common questions.
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  • The biggest barrier to starting your own computer business, like any other business, is the fear of the unknown. Joshua's advice to start by moonlighting is a great one. Start small, explore possibilities, ask questions, determine your skill set and augment it with continuous education. I like point 4, "Do not forget about Non-Technical Skill". Afterall, a computer business is a business. If you are not skilled at accounting, hire one. Most businesses fail because the owners try to do too much at once. Concentrate on your strengths and farm the rest of the work out.
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  • Online technical support has taken off. There are lots of products. There is a phletora of online support software like GoToAssist and rapidassist . With these remote assist software, you can invite a trusted friend or third party to fix any computer issues.
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  • I wholeheartedly agree that a business should have a professional looking email address. It certainly puts credibility to the business when the name of the business is part of the email address. Operating your own email server certainly comes introduces security risks like viruses and spamming. Its best to use a third party vendor. It is also important to understand the difference between POP and IMAP when requesting email service from an outside vendor. This FAQ can help.
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  • This is awesome. I also love the fact that the judges list is publicly available. Sure adds a lot of credibility to the contest. Like they say, " May the best man win".
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  • Thanks for the link Shara. It has a lot of valuable information.
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  • Great tips Vikas. I am going to bookmark your guide.
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  • I agree with Paul that a decline in work performance does not neccessarily mean that the employee is taking drugs. There are many reasons why an employee might be performing poorly. Jumping to quick conclusions does not make a good manager.
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  • I have tried joomla and wordpress and I agree with Eric that wordpress has the most support. It is relatively easy to setup.
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  • Well we all know how the trust system based model of lending money is working. One look at stories like kiva gives us hope that loans based on trust might take off. Thanks for this guide.
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  • Wiki Web Server - 09/30/2008
    Wikipedia provides an article on comparing wiki software .
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  • Not only are there passenger airline carriers but also cargo airline carriers. See this comprehensive list .
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  • Its also a good idea to join joint Chamber of Commerce groups. Examples include the East African Chamber of Commerce . Most African embassies provide information on these joint Chambers of Commerce. Call the local country embassy for information.
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  • Great guide Patti. Two companion guides will be doing business in Nigeria and doing business in Ghana
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  • Books - 09/30/2008
    Honestly, I love independent book stores for one reason. They seem to carry out of print books more frequently.
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  • Good question Larry. I guess that we all need to be careful about the personal information that we share. I wonder if these sites are illegal. Can I sue them for putting inconsistent information on the web?
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  • Citrixonline has a great webinar tool called gotowebinar . It can present to up to 1,000 attendees.
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  • Thanks for this guide. Security certifications are becoming popular amongst network professionals. Other certification exams include the CISSP and the Security + exam.
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  • A very important security conference is the annual Defcon held in Las Vegas during the summer.
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  • The University of Washington is supporting an open source laptop tracking software named Adeona .
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  • Common Stock - 09/04/2008
    Google took an interesting approach to selling stock using a "dutch" auction. I wonder if this precedent will become a norm for future stock offerings.
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  • eTraining - 09/04/2008
    Lynda has pretty competitive pricing.
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  • Firsttuesday is another international business networking forum.
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  • Intranet Software - 09/03/2008
    Intranets become the repository of an organization's shared knowledge. They provide a rich set of tools for members to exchange ideas and share information. Small businesses need to develop a culture of documentation and knowledge sharing from the beginning.
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  • Great article. I would say that this guide was long overdue.
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  • Thanks for pointing out the danger in relying heavily on social networking sites for employment decisions. On the other hand too, one should be very careful of what personal information is out there. There are aggregate social network sites out there that harvest information from different websites and post an aggregate profile. One such site is plookup. I saw a profile on there I never put up and it had some inconsistencies.
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  • I believe the latest Apple laptop is the Mac Air, the world's thinnest laptop.
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  • Apparently, law firms operate on a cash basis accounting. This article explains why.
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  • Twitter Networking - 08/31/2008
    Thanks for this article Lisa. Twitter is very popular amongst my friends. Its kinda nice to know what is going on instantly. Want breaking news? Follow BreakingNewsOn.
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  • Famous Quotes - 08/31/2008
    I find very inspiring quotes from Wikiquote. There is a sub page for proverbs. Using quotes and proverbs make a speaker more articulate. To quote a proverb from Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart: "Proverbs are the palm oil with which words are eaten".
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  • Internet Events - 08/30/2008
    The institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers ( IEEE) organizes lots of conference about the computer industry. http://www.ieee.org/web/membership/gold/events
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  • Volunteer Abroad - 08/30/2008
    Those who want to do technical volunteering should try Geekcorps. Geekcorps sends technical volunteers to developing countries to help develop their ICT infrastructure.
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  • I hear a lot of great things about Drupal. I don't exactly know what the learning curve is. There are a lot of Drupal support groups . Find one near you.
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  • Hellotxt? I am going to try it right now.
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  • A second in command could well be likely in charge if something happens to the CEO. I think that the second in command should be someone you want calling the shots if you are not available. No CEO should long to be in that position forever. Companies evolve and leadership changes should reflect that. Look for traits in your future CEO and hire him/her.
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  • Jerry, thanks for this guide. I never heard about SAML till I read it.
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  • I have heard about a new search engine called Cuil. It claims to have indexed more pages than google .
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  • A popular open source software is asterisk .
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  • I love the oreilly books. They have books for almost every computer area.
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  • It is also a good idea to subscribe to some of IEEE's societies publications for up to date information on the latest telecommunication trends.
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  • I recommend taking a basic accounting course at a local community college. Being able to understand a balance sheet is a vital tool for investing.
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  • Microsoft access also has a database template call Northwind customer database.
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  • Beer - 07/31/2008
    I have always wanted to make my own beer. Wouldn't that be nice? Thanks for the guide Natalie.
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  • I have never heard of the Vasicek model of interest rates. Thanks for this guide. Now I know.
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  • Management Advice - 07/31/2008
    Find a mentor... Mentors are generally experienced managers who have seasoned advice about how to handle employees. Mentors are valuable to anyone, including managers.
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  • HI Sharisa, is there any immigration software geared at individuals rather that attorneys? I would have loved one when I was going through my immigration process. Sorta like a Quicken for immigration.
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  • By far the best book to learn C from is from a book by the authors of C, "C Programming Language" by Kerningham and Richtie. It is widely accepted as the standard book for learning C.
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  • Some vendors and certification organizations offer linux certs. Off the top of my head, I can recall Comptia Linux+ and Redhat . Many community colleges offer classes and might be a cheap way to get started.
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  • Windows 98 Download - 07/30/2008
    Now, that's a classic. Isn't it. Believe it or not, I have come across some Windows 98 computers once in a while. I don't know how long folks are going to hold on to it for.
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  • Great guide Kirsten. You really took an often debated topic to write on. I like your action points. I wonder why nursing is a low-paying job. I heard that there is a shortage of nurses. I do agree though that part of this apparent inequality is due to a higher rate of entering and leaving the workforce primarily due to motherhood. However, I have read some articles chronicling the success of working mothers. It can be done and I hope your guide gets a lot of visibility. A lot of people will benefit from it.
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  • Data Centers - 07/30/2008
    I saw the cleanest data center today. I was so impressed. The cabling was neat, the temperature was just right. I read in one of the fast company issues that data centers account for about 3% of the world's energy. Significant, isn't it? Green data centers should be considered, shouldn't they?
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  • There is also StarTeam .
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  • This washington post article expounds the benefit of doing business in Africa.
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  • It is also good to talk to "home-bred" investment management firms in Africa. They have the "inside" information from experts who grew up and have worked there for many years. The investment climate there could be a little challenging. For the west african market, a good company is Databank .
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  • Email SMTP - 06/30/2008
    IMAP is generally better for SMTP email than POP. The IMAP protocol has better "features" and should be used. Some argue that POP might be better because you are in control of your messages ( it is on your computer after it is downloaded). Be sure to ask your hosting company the imap mailbox limit. If your business receives a lot of email, you might be better off with POP so that you don't worry about storage limits.
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  • Micheal Porter is my favorite Management theory expert. His management theories make basic sense and I believe are still applicable today as they were when he proposed them. The value chain and the 5 forces analysis are popular theories he proposed. His books make great reading.
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  • Great guide and straight to the point. The immigration process can be drawn and seemingly painful. I have seen people struggle with the process over the years and it is important to note what can and can not be done as a permanent resident. So far, I have seen that honesty is the best policy when dealing with the USCIS. In one particular case, I have seen people still acquire their permanent resident card without having been married for the stipulated two years. Rare but doable. If your situation did not work out , it is important to be honest with your immigration officer. The USCIS provides for the application to be granted on the basis that the marriage was in good faith.
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  • Thanks for this guide. It also helps to scourge through blogs and forums online to get more information on the path to citizenship. Furthermore, it is important to research ahead of time what the citizenship requirements are so that you can be prepared. For active travellers. it might be easy to fall afoul the continous residency requirements.
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  • Cat Cable - 06/30/2008
    Sometimes it is easier to just make your own cable ( well, let me rephrase that, customize the length of your cable). For the curious, give it a shot. Its kinda fun.
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  • USCIS - 06/30/2008
    I have been dealing with the USCIS ( formely INS) for 7 years and I am glad to say that their service has improved greatly. I remember the days you had to show up at 3:00am in order to stand in long queues just to ask a question or seek information. It's information systems have been revamped and they are a pleasure to work with. I believe that it is a great example of how information systems can improve customer service, even for government agencies.
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  • Banks in Mozambique - 06/30/2008
    NIce to see a guide about African banks. The CIA factbook provides very relevant and common information about African countries including Mozambique .
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  • Some telecom vendors offer free events and training to their customers. One such company is Adtran. Take advantage of these offers.
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  • Krishnan, you make a good point that mobile marketing has not been popular here in the US. I have always wondered why. Do you have any reasons why this is?
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  • This whitepaper from business.com collates interesting data on online competitive intelligence. It requires registration in order to download the paper.
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  • Great resources Matt. Thanks for the link to MAPP. I will take the test and see how it goes.
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  • Salesforce is a leader in online software-as-a-service services. It's CRM is online and offers low rates.
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  • FTP Servers - 06/29/2008
    Another tip is to use secure ftp for sensitive materials. Ftp normally sends passwords in cleartext.
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  • Another great resource could be reading through blogs or even twitter.
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  • Barclays bank also has a tremendous presence throughout Africa.
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  • I never heard of threnchless technology till now. Thanks for the directory at nodig.com.
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  • Thanks for the links to the credits.
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  • Donna makes a good point and one which needs to be taken into consideration when deciding what is really deemed affordable. Hidden costs like the cost of updating your website and renewal costs can erase initial savings.
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  • Great guide Michelle. This one is going into my favorites.
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  • Hi Eric, thanks for this guide. I see that you own the company and it makes me questio the neutrality of this guide. Do you have another other resources for Telecoms training?
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  • I used the services of Jacobsen and Han in Los Angeles and they were great. I would recommend them anytime.
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  • SSL Certificates - 05/31/2008
    Some websites provide self signed certificates for non production use.
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  • Hi Vicky, for the sake of those who might not understand what RAID is, could you please provide some background information about RAID?
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  • I have tried signing up for tech newsletters and it has been quite a challenge to keep up with the myraid of information that results. Just be careful when signing up and make sure you choose legitimate websites. I go with techrepublic and fast company. It is enough to keep me uptodate.
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  • Thanks for this guide Eve. I have always assumed that customers are always attracted to free stuff, but I have just spent a couple of days in Las Vegas and I am beginning to see your point. There are so many offers for free stuff that it is beginning to seem overkill. Thanks for pointing this out.
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  • I only see a link to one resource for business and personal loans. Can you provide others?
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  • Thanks for this guide. I was thrown off a little by your title though.
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  • Shredding reduces the risk of dumpster divers accessing important and sensitive information.
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  • To answer the question from georgettesaab, you might need to purchase separate cards. You should think of the cards as conduits through which the Internet "reaches" your computer.
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  • Nice guide Mark. Hopefully someone writes a guide on the best ways to list a business.
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  • Thanks Gabriel for this guide. I am going to check out the Ranksense SEO software.
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  • Valuable information. Great feedback. You present the information well. Definitely one of my favorite guides on work.com.
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  • I decided to check out the best companies for minorites to work for. This is what I found . I was suprised to see yahoo at number 11. Interesting list!
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  • BIlling systems are important to small businesses. Afterall, that is how income is collected. Billing can be sensitive and billing systems need to be secure. This articles gives a small overview on evaluating billing systems .
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  • In response to the previous comment, there is plenty of advice available on work.com for starting your own business. You can do a search for "start business" and you should see a couple of helpful guides. I believe the guides will be useful. It will be great if you could share your experience with us later.
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  • Great. I have been looking for a pitch for an idea I have for a business and your guide is very useful. I am going to save it now.
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  • Alibaba appeals to small businesses interested in doing business with countries all over the world. I have heard great reviews about it from a friend who runs a fashion business.
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  • I agree that this is a great resource too. I like well designed brochures that do not "YELL" at you. Let me also add that I hate spelling errors. I have seen brochures with great images and bad spelling. Much ado about attention to detail.
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  • Thanks Parkick. One very common online fraud is the 419 scam. I have read miserable stories. I once blogged about it.
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  • Thanks for this guide Thomas. I just want to point out some free scanning tools. Some simple tools hackers use include nmap and nessus .
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  • Hi Jon, you describe a method of auditing Access databases. Thanks. Maybe your guide would get a higher rating if you expanded the focus to auditing in general. Auditing improves the overall security of databases. Are there any other security measures you can recommend?
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  • "Add an email change of address button or page to your website to enable regular users or customers to send you their new email address. ". I like this idea it should be a standard practice on websites. It just makes sense. Thanks for this guide.
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  • How to write emails - 04/30/2008
    Thanks for this guide. A good companion guide is business email ettiquette .
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  • Interesting. Considering labor laws, are there any tips to make sure that tracking of employees is done in a legally correct manner?
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  • Vapps offers an amazing audio conferencing solution. You can even use skype to dail into the conference.
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  • Virgin Mobile also offers great prepaid mobile phone plans.
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  • Interesting. I never knew I could order records online. Very cool. Thanks for the guide.
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  • Great tips. I can not think of anything that you missed. I am going to save this guide for future reference.
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  • Is there really a need to spend a whole week on Code Verification after adding a new feature? It seems to me that the your version of the CVP might prolong time to market.
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  • Great question.. I have had the opportunity of talking courses online and I can say that they can be very effective. I believe that it is going to be a matter of time and sooner than later, online degrees are going attain a similar level of respect as brick and mortar degrees. In my online courses, I had the opportunity to interact with different people from all over the world. Traditionally, I believe it would have been very difficult to experience a similar level of diversity and a broad knowledge base. I took classes with students from the Phillipines, Jamaica, Canada, North Carolina, Chicago and even South Africa all from the comfort of my home office. I know that some brick and mortar colleges are adding online courses to their curriculum. Time will tell.
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  • Also, consider sending your data to an offsite data storage location like Iron Mountain.
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  • Internet Security - 04/29/2008
    A great way to increase employee awareness of security policies is to incorporate security training with most training events in the company. A good way to achieve this would be lunch and learn sessions in the company. It will also be a good idea to hammer on security during new employee orientation where prospective employees might be the most attentive.
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  • I have been using a free version of the Avast antivirus software.
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  • Hi Rob, I found it a bit difficult understanding your guide. What exactly is a URBaCS website?
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  • Computer Free Tips - 04/29/2008
    I believe that your guide topic has potential to provide a great guide. Did you have problems with writing the guide? I would love to see more information on how to obtain free computer tips.
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  • "Most experts concede that while information technology for healthcare will ultimately reap significant savings for most medical care providers, the upfront costs are steep. One way to manage those costs is to gradually implement your technology upgrades". Great point. High initial costs and resistance to change create major obstacles to technology adoption. Sometimes a risk analysis also helps to justify spending big on technology. For the healthcare industry, evaluating HIPAA complaince can make a good point to go digital.
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  • Wireless Technology - 04/29/2008
    I see that you addressed the difference between wifi an bluetooth. I have had a few people ask me to clarify the difference between the two. This pcworld article provides further explanation.
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  • Thanks for this guide. I took a look at your blog and I see that you are quite the expert on Mobile handhelds. I look forward to more articles from you.
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  • I did not know about the PCI Compliance, June 2008 deadline. Thank you very much. I will save this guide.
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  • We use ADP at work. It is really easy to use and I recommend it. I was able to download my W2s directly from my tax preparation software. I thought that was awesome.
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  • Hi. I clicked on your guide right away but there seems to be no content. I believe that this guide when done will have a lot to offer. Did you experience any problems when writing the guide?
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  • VAPPS also has great videoconferencing software with reasonable prices.
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  • Thanks for this guide. I will add it to my favorites. You hit the nail right in the middle. Privately held companies keep their information semi secret. Your links will surely help anyone seeking information on these companies.
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  • Universal Messaging - 03/31/2008
    CallWave offers a universal messaging platform. Check it out .
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  • Telecom Management - 03/31/2008
    I agree that you should get advice especially, inpartial advice on your telecommunication needs. It is neccessary to distinguish between what you need and what you want. It is easy to get distracted with what features come with a product and sometimes you end up getting features you don't really need.
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  • Buythough also offers industrial laptops.
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  • Motherboards - 03/31/2008
    ASUS has been around for a long time and I have come to trust them. Whenever I build a computer, I try to get one from them. Thanks for the tomshardware.com website link. I will go check them out.
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  • Intranet Software - 03/31/2008
    Microsoft Sharepoint is not bad either. We use it at work and is quite customizable, i.e if you can afford it. Hipergate is another free intranet software.
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  • Great guide. A companion guide is doing business in Latin America . I would love to see more geographically centered guides like this. Thanks for the guide.
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  • I keep saying and believing that marketing to the hispanic population is profitable and should be incorporated into the marketing strategy of an organization. The hispanic community is ever increasing with immigration and can not be ignored for too long.
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  • Hi Gavin. it is sad that there is a lack of angel investors in South Africa. I did not know that because South Africa is a leader in the African continent, techonlogy and infrastructure wise. I find it hard to believe. I know that the founder of Ubuntu is from South Africa. Have you personally had any bad experiences finding angel investors in South Africa? I did some research on angel investors in South Africa and came up with this blog entry.
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  • Harassment Law - 03/30/2008
    Thanks. I am glad there is a guide on this topic. It is sometimes difficult to determine what is harrassment or not. This article also talks about a rising form of harrassment, Cyber harrassment.
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  • How do we really measure the financial impact of data loss. Some states especially California have passed laws which force companies to disclose confidential data losses. I have not heard about a company go broke because of these disclosures but I am sure that they might lose some business. Protecting data is a very detailed process and essential. Hopefully more states require these disclosures in the near future.
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  • Maybe this guide could be improved to be a good tutorial for MS Access. I don't believe there is an existing guide.
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  • I recently got to use Counterpath's X-lite softphone and I love it. The voice quality is clear and I know of some companies which use it in their call centers.
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  • Interesting Colleen. I might have to dig into one of those trials and see how it works. However, I wonder if there are any legal gotchas a trader should be aware of?
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  • I did not know that google relied that much on the DMOZ description. I am sure that is basic knowledge to most SEO guys, but that's good to know. Thanks for the examples too.
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  • I am certainly not an expert on linkedin but I do find NOTASPAMMER's comment a little bit suprising. I believe that Linkedin makes an effort to ensure my contacts are people I want on my list and not solicitors. I am on a couple of social networking sites and get quite a number of contact offers. However, I like my linkedin to show professional contacts, keeping it separate from my personal ones. This issue might be up for debate but I like it that way.
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  • I have used Request Tracker in the past. It is robust and free.
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  • I like your recommendation about researching the accreditation of the university. The accreditation of a college is a measure of how effective their education is and for that matter how much value employees get from their education. Thanks for that tip.
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  • Becoming a Fizber - 02/29/2008
    Hi Julia, I never heard the term "Fizber" before. Great. Now I know.
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  • I am signing up now. Thanks Shara for this guide.
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  • Lets not forget the simplest form of computer security hardware, locks. Physical security is often overlooked in the overall picture of computer security. Simple locks go a long way to provide physical security. What is the use of the most complex security system if it can be stolen?
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  • Database recovery is a pain. Ask any database guy and they will tell you that it is one of their worst fears. One mistake and there goes months and months of data. The cliche, prevention is better than cure. Backups are essential. Replication is another strategy to maintain redundancy. Databases are crucial. Protect them.
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  • There are a lot of free, open source network monitoring tools out there. Openview, BigBrother and Nagios are the ones I have some experience with. This article on Network Monitoring Tools will help to evaluate different options.
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  • Fitness Franchises - 02/29/2008
    Thanks Joel for this guide. A fitness trainer friend of mine told me that the fitness training industry is going to increase significantly in the coming years. Maybe I get into a franchise. I did not see a lot of resources on fitness franchise opportunities in your guide though. Could you provide some?
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  • John, you make great points with your 12 tips. To be honest, this is one of the most detailed guides I have read on work.com. Thanks. I look forward to more guides from you.
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  • Data is the mainstay of a business. It helps to understand trends, market opportunities, threats and strengths. Deploying a reliable database is one of the major challenges of organizations especially small businesses. Hiring an experienced database expert to design a robust database should be high priority. It is money well spent.
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  • "Government agencies and non-IT organizations frequently have gaps in knowledge or experience that IT service providers must bridge." I can not agree with you more. I think that this applies to all organizations not only Government and non-It organizations. Thanks for this guide. As informations systems become an integral part of organizations, the market for systems analysts will increase.
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  • Thanks for this guide Mary. I did not know that there was mileage and routing software out there. I can imagine how it will help businesses cut costs especially with the rising cost of gas. This guide goes on my favorites list.
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  • I have considerable experience with call centers and the challenges of technology especially for remote monitoring. Outsourced call centers need to be remotely monitored to achieve good customer satisfaction. Network monitoring tools, video monitoring and quality assurance tools are vital. Great guide. I would loved to see more resources. Call center magazine is the premier source of information for call center information.
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  • Prepaid Phone Cards - 02/29/2008
    What a great idea to distribute phone cards as an incentive program for customers.Of course, that will depend on the type of business. It will not be a great incentive to customers of a retail store. Then of course, a business like a gift shop or a money transfer center could use this incentive. Overall, incentives for customers, however small helps retain loyal customers.
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  • OC-12 Broadband - 02/29/2008
    Wikipedia's article on SONET explains the structure , the different transmission speeds and the Network Management protocols.
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  • Interesting. It is easy to forget that HTML is the foundation of the web and web pages. I have come across web programmers with poor knowledge of HTML. Furthermore, true HTML coders are hard to come across. Thanks for this guide.
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  • the GMAT Exam - 02/29/2008
    I wish I had this guide when I took my GMAT exam a couple of years ago. I did not use any of the test preparation companies but I wish I did. My tip to anyone taking the GMAT is to practice. Test taking skills are very important. Practice takes away nervousness and testing anxiety. For those who can not afford expensive tuition, there are test preparation books from Barrons.
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  • Home-Based Jobs - 02/28/2008
    Your guide is going into my favorites list. Your tips on avoiding work at home scams are right on the money. Certainly, the lure of working at home can expose unsuspecting job seekers into the hands of scammers. I expect more people to be working from home in the future. Work at home brokers will be cashing in.
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  • I read about the difference between judicial and non judicial foreclosures at http://www.all-foreclosure.com/judicial.htm. I wonder which holds an advantage over the other and why?
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  • Foot Lockers - 02/28/2008
    Great guide with some good tips.
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  • It seems that this guide only recommends one company? Are there any other resources for recovering data?
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  • Business Shoes - 01/31/2008
    Very very innovative. I never thought about a guide about business shoes, but physical appearance is very important in the business world. Thanks for this guide.
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  • This website on developing domain names has a lot of resources.
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  • I love del.icio.us and one of the reasons is because the domain name is creative. Is it really that is to use a TLD from a different country? I have never tried it but I will.
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  • Public speaking is an art I believe. Practice, practice and practice. That is how I overcame my fear of public speaking. I am not an expert but I will use your tips to improve.
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  • Check 21 - 01/31/2008
    Hi Bob, what exactly is Check21? Could you provide more resources?
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  • Being successful - 01/31/2008
    Thanks for the guide. Most books I have read about being successful is managing time. According to Peter Drucker, "time is the scarcest resource available."
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  • Are employees of companies allowed to sell their stock futures?
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  • I saw that whitesmoke has a facebook application for free.
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  • How true. At present, I am suffering from bloggers block and I can't seem to get myself inspired to write posts. I am going to use your tips to get myself started again. Wish me luck.
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  • I printed out your guide and I am going to keep it close by. Email etiquette is very important in the workplace because email has become a basic mode of communication. Emails might be the only mode of communication and for that matter replaces personal contact. The manner an email is composed goes a long way to improve perception.
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  • Righly said, Tony. There is a lot of confidential information on tax documents especially W2s. Social security nos, wages and employer information are listed. What a valuable resource of information for identity thieves? I guess the first step to make sure that these sensitive documents get to your most current address. Your w2's getting into the wrong hands is receipe for disaster.
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  • I do know that there are some companies that offer free business cards in exchange for advertising space at the back of the cards. Is there a similar program for personalized pens?
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  • Using Typefaces - 12/31/2007
    To he honest with you, I have not given much thought to the type of fonts I have ever used. Thanks for this guide. I am saving it for future reference.
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  • I really don't know what to make of this guide. It sounds more of a complaint about google to me.
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  • Great tips. Continous monitoring your outsourced call center partner is essential. Your tips do create a good solid platform to enhance quality.
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  • Good tips Justin. I look forward to more work.com guides from you. Thanks for this guide. I am going to bookmark it.
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  • Thanks for this guide. Most of your links point to your company's website, which makes me question the neutrality of your guide a little. However, I am going to save it for future reference.
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  • The IRS also has an online classroom designed to help new and existing small business owners understand and meet their federal tax obligations.
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  • Vibrationstraining - 12/29/2007
    This is the first work.com guide I have seen in German. I used alta vista's babel translation service for translation. Are there any other physiological training resources apart from Galileo? For those who might want some more information, see this vibration training website .
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  • I believe this article is well written. However, I would have loved to have seen it in the work.com format. It is helpful for businesses to go through a total requirements analysis .
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  • GPS Systems - 12/24/2007
    I have been thinking of buying a GPS system for a while. Your guide is comprehensive. Thank you very much. I have saved it for future reference.
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  • Retaining Walls - 12/24/2007
    Nice guide Selena. One question popped into my mind after readiing your guide. Can a homeowner claim a tax benefit from using eco-friendly materials?
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  • Thanks for the guide. I have a few questions though. Do traditional banks offer financing too for commercial equipment? Given a wide range of available financing, what tips will you give a prospective finacee when comparing offers from competing lenders? Are there any brokers available? Should a prospective buyer consider used equipment? Thanks.
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  • Me neither, Scott. I am going to save this guide for future reference. This guide has lots of useful links, Frances. Thank you very much.
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  • You make a good point about targeting the ever growing Hispanic community. I live in Southern California and I share the your sentiments that businesses should make it a point to service that ever growing demographic. There are a quite a few guides on work.com that focus on the Hispanic population. Do you have any specific tips on improving customer service for Hispanic customers? Also, I would love to read the whole case study. Could you provide a link?
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  • Good list of resources on company profile research. I agree with Donna that it is a good idea to check what is being said about the company in the blogosphere. It is good to see what someone else is saying about the company, not what the company is saying about itself. Shara wrote a detailed guide on small business blogs .
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  • I agree that accessories make mobile phones more comfortable. What are the latest accessories out there? How will they enhance my mobile phone experience? How do I spot fake accessories from genuine ones? Work.com articles are directed at small business owners and they might be interested in more information about how these accessories can enhance their business experience.
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  • Thanks for this guide Mark. I am a novice to real estate terminology so I did know neither what FSBO nor expired meant. LaRita wrote a good work.com guide on For Sale By Owner properties. Maybe someone will be kind enough to write an article on Expireds. Your guide 's title made me believe that I was going to be reading an article on how to get training on real estate sales. I hoped to see links concerning real estate sales training. Could you provide us with some?
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  • I was eager to see more resources on how to prevent online check fraud. Great introduction.
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  • Your guide has some good advice for advertisers. It seems to me that the root of your message is to understand and respect your client. I believe that your advice is not only useful to advertisers but also to most small businesses. Thanks.
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  • Domain Parking - 12/22/2007
    I have some reservations when it comes to the idea of domain parking. Some see it as an investment and others see it as a nuisance. Google has adsense program for domains. Is domain parking ethical? I would love to hear some arguments for and against domain parking.
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  • Pardon my ignorance, but I did not know anything about Cost Segregation until I read your guide. Well, I only took one business class in college. Anyway, I decided to look it up. With the tax season coming up, your guide would have drawn a lot of interest. I believe that it needs a little more information. What specific tax advantages does it provide to commercial real estate owners? Is there any specific software available?
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  • Great overview of data management software. You rightly point out that the key is to come up with a data management plan. I have seen situations where a data management plan comes as an afterthought. I have fallen into that trap a few times. One often overlooked step in a data management plan is getting rid of data. Vulnerability exists when the process of discarding data is not planned. What do you do with your old hard drives? What about the prints from your data management software? Are they shredded? Data falling into the wrong hands is dangerous. SOX and HIPAA have made it a federal offence.
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  • Yahoo news article about a successful businessman in Ghana.
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  • Networking Software - 11/30/2007
    Great introduction to networking software. Administering a network can be little challenging. Learning the basics of networking helps in basic network troubleshooting. Understanding IP addressing and basic network terminology. Dan's article on business and tech terms jargon is useful.
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  • Thanks for mentioning the HIPAA requirements. Violations of the HIPAA act, carry very strict penalties . Employees working with Healthcare Management Software need to be HIPPA trained to avoid penalties.
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  • Apparel Software - 11/28/2007
    Great guide overall with lots of resources. This guide covers software from designing apparel through apparel software for supply chain management to software at the retail level. I read a while ago about online apparel companies that allow customers to design their own clothes online. What an ingenious concept! Talk about outsourcing the design to the customer. I wonder which vendors provide this type of software? Could designing your own clothes online be the future of the fashion industry?
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  • Thanks Giovanna, I wish this guide was around when I started graduate school whiles working. I would also recommend working for an employer who pays for continuing education. Some companies encourage their employees to get further education and they pay for it. If you dont want to change jobs, find out from your HR department has any incentives for going to school like paid time off. Its worth the effort to find out.
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  • Are there any other resources you can recommend for recovering data?
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  • Computer Rentals - 11/23/2007
    Protect your privacy and intellectual property . You hit the nail right on the head with that one. It will be bad for a competitor to have access to your trade secrets. Small business owners can project a "big" business image without having to really invest the capital. It would be cool to show up at a presentation with the latest gear.
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  • Database Software - 11/22/2007
    I remember when I built my first database application in dBase. Databases, I believe are very useful for small businesses. Databases allow you to manage, retrieve and store data. It is important for businesses to manage data in order to figure out how to maintain competiveness. How much am I selling, who am I selling to and how long is it taking? Today's data can predict the future. Mine the data, there are many hidden answers.
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  • Rebuild your RAID - 10/31/2007
    Would you advise a novice to attempt to rebuild a raid array? It seems complicated. Any other resources/list of data recovery companies?
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  • John, I was immediately drawn to your guide because of the title. I really think that it is a very important topic. I would love to see more resources on starting up businesses overseas.
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  • In my experience, honesty is very touching in customer service. If you dont know the answer, politely say so and then go and find out what it is. A customer would be happier knowing that you are taking the time to find out how best to help. It is far better than pretending to know when you don't and taking the customer for a spin. When in doubt, ask.
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  • Steve, are there any other models apart from the TMC EV4500 for small businesses? Are there considerable savings a small business should expect from switching over to VOIP?
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  • Lots of useful information. I am going to bookmark this guide.
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  • It is a good idea to check out the quality of customer service for any provider. However, I wonder if there are other criteria you might want to consider when choosing a Microsoft exchange provider.
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  • Not a bad idea to be listed in Google Maps. The verification process seems a little lax to me. I don't believe that phone or email verification is secure enough for a business listing. I wonder if google provides the same service for other countries as well?
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  • IT Audits - 10/30/2007
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  • Free wireless internet is great. Some cities are making efforts to provide their residents with free internet service. This is of course subject to some controversy because it portrays the city as an Internet Service Provider(ISP). The question of security comes into play of course if encrypytion is not enabled but free is not always "free".
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  • Hi Steve, could you provide tools or software to verify addresses to prevent fraud?
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  • Interesting comment Jeff. I guess someone took a cue from the recent lawsuit by a judge against a dry cleaning company. Cases like this reminds small business owners that they are being held accountable to the same laws as big businesses.
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  • I wondered why there was a guide for XP when Vista is the latest Microsoft operating system. But, you are right Judy, I know quite a few people who are considering switching back to XP from Vista. I still use XP and I don't intend switching anytime soon. So far, XP has become a stable operating system. It has been around for about 6 years. I will say, it stood the test of time.
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  • Nice introdution to online business management tools. Hopefully, more small business will adopt online Saas tools as an alternative to traditional heavyweight "offline" tools. Companies like google are pushing online tools, one of which is google spreadsheets. One obstacle threatening the adoption of Saas is data privacy . Some folks are wary of publishing data to third parties.
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  • I would not go far to say that this one of the worst articles. I think that your guide has potential. I agree with Paul that breaking up this guide will make it more readable.
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  • Company Rankings - 10/24/2007
    I agree with Donna. This is a great guide. I have seen some institutions solicit money from companies in order to place them in lists. Beware. They send you a mail saying you have been chosen. Then they ask you for money. Needless to say, it is a scam and it can ruin the reputation of your company.
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  • Internet Marketing - 10/24/2007
    Thanks Matt for a well written guide. Needless to say, internet marketing is the way to go these day. Marketing professionals now need to know the fundamentals of internet marketing in order to be useful in today's workforce. I have seen internet marketing and online marketing used interchangeably. Is there a difference?
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  • Dan, thanks for your guide. From your profile, you seem to have a lot of experience with franchises. Thanks for sharing your expertise. I would have loved to see more Starbucks specific information in your guide. I still have questions like, how much would you need to start the franchise? What are the specific requirements? Would you need lawyers? Do you have to scout the location yourself? How long does it take from application to approval?
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  • How difficult is it to sell your house yourself? I wonder why folks don't do it often? Is it too time consuming? Thanks, LaRita for the resources you provide in the article. I bookmarked it to share with a friend.
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  • WMS Software - 10/24/2007
    Hi Jason, your article led me to research how to choose a warehouse management system. I found this whitepaper .
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  • Computer Security - 10/24/2007
    Thanks Marianne. I am always glad to see an article on computer security. Surely, a computer security policy will safegaurd your business. The most important about a policy is enforcing it. A great policy is essentially useless unless it is enforced in a consistent manner. Educate all new employees, conduct regular reviews of the policy with existing employees, reprimand those who violate it and continually update the policy to reflect your current situation. Computer security is a process that must be constantly fine tuned to be effective.
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  • I am always cautious about outsourcing parts of a business without trying it out first. In my opinion, customer service is a very important component of any business. I believe the best approach is to hire some inhouse customer service agents, train them, learn how best to handle your customers and them outsource part of that process out. It is important to cultivate a unique "customer service style".
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  • Would you advise a small business to build their own server? Otherwise, what resources are available for help?
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  • Thanks Kate for this guide. A great companion guide wil be " Guide to Employment Agencies and Recruitment Agencies . One question, do you have any resources on IT recruiting services for the international market. I know a friend who is looking for a high tech job in another country.
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  • I rated this guide a 10 for the reason that it is an essential read not only for anyone trying to get out of credit card debt but also for those who intend on getting into debt to start a business. A lot of potential entrepreneurs have been known to use credit cards to finance their businesses. Having a contigency plan to get out of credit card debt could prove useful.
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  • Thanks Ned. I used to work in the transportation and logistics industry a while ago and I love your approach to writing this guide. Managing the supply chain is very essential to the profitability of a business. It is important to forecast demand in order to supply your customers. Most businesses have periods of high demand (for the retail sector, it is the holiday season). One point you mention, ensuring that transportation was done in a safe, efficient and reliable way, caught my attention. It brings to mind the question of packaging and damaged goods. I found this article on reducing the cost of damaged goods.
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  • Wholesale Clothing - 10/23/2007
    Thanks for this guide LaRita. Do you have specific resources for wholesale "second hand" clothing? I have heard of some businesses buying second hand clothing wholesale and selling them in other countries.
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  • T1 - 10/23/2007
    Pacwest is another company that offers T1 services. Generally, T1 circuits are dedicated circuits so for businesses who value Quality of Service (QoS) over cost T1 is a better option. This is a basic explantion of how T1 works.
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  • This is the first guide that really tackles the issue of software licensing. Thanks. I don't think a lot of people give much thought to the limitations that software licenses exert over their distribution and usage. There are many types of software licence agreements. The most flexible one are the free software licenses which essentially give you the freedom to use the product as much as you want but contribute any improvements / changes back to the code.
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  • Thanks Marianne for this guide. I sometimes wonder if it is safe to buy discounted wholesale computers. Computer costs keep going lower and especially the fact that buyers mostly get these wholesale computers with no warranty could make wholesale computers a risky business. Nevertheless, this guide is well writen and I am going to save it should I want to get into the busines.
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  • 4 Compensation Tips - 09/30/2007
    Another way to compensate employees could be providing a great stock option plan. Employees who are offered stock options on a regular basis would be likely to feel a sense of ownership and contribute to its growth. Its a great way to compensate without having to fork out a large amount of cash.
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  • I don't want to sound like a broken record but you wrote a very great guide to using facebook. I have been using it for a couple of months and I am beginning to explore the applications. I really love the status updates where I can read the mood of my friends. I have had some friends some funny updates and seeing them sometimes makes my day. Thanks Brian.
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  • You might want to do business in Ghana .
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  • Firing a Customer - 09/13/2007
    Sprint recently fired some customers. Read this Callcenter article .
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  • Great guide with lots of resources. I am sure small business owners will find your resources useful.
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  • Hi Mohib, Sunrocket is out of business. So sad. Are there any other companies you can recommend?
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  • Nice guide. I also read the more detailed report. You note in the report that you used the Work.com guide format. It made the report very concise and easy to read for busy professionals. The Work.com guide format really works.
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  • I like the 10 commandments of data recovery. They are the same things I tell my clients and friends before, during and after they lose their data. I saved your guide to my favorites.
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  • online games - 09/04/2007
    Hi Ashely, I was immediately drawn to your guide but then got a little disappointed. Online gaming is popular especially with interactive internet games like Second Life. See a very popular guide on Doing Business in Second Life. I hoped to see more information about popular online gaming sites, and how small businesses can benefit from starting or joining these sites. Is there marketing and advertising potential?
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  • Read this PC magazine's linux installation guide .
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  • One thing to watch out in future employees is how well they will fit into your team. No matter how good a prospective employee is they will fail if they can not fit into the culture of the organization.
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  • Good customer service should be at the forefront of every business. Thanks for this guide about call monitoring solutions. A rapidly growing business should put great customer service first. It is also important to incoorporate best practices in customer service including call monitoring with customer service associates. This way, bad habits are not learned.
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  • I like this guide. I saved it to my favorites. A great companion guide is managing email overload .
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  • I did not know about fax to edi solutions until now. Thanks for this guide. By the way, is EDI still popular amongst B2B ecommerce?
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  • Good guide, Greg. We use microsoft sharepoint at work. I have a question though, what are the main differences between workflow software and project management software?
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  • LaRita, what is your take on online storage solutions? I had a discussion with a client the other day regarding the pros and cons of online storage. She was concerned about how secure her data would be.
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  • Holly, I was immediately drawn to your guide. I am looking for acquire some liquidated assets for a friend in Ghana. Do these assets come with some sort of warranty? I hope that you can add some more resources to your guide.
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  • Office All-in-Ones - 08/29/2007
    One argument that can be made against using all-in-ones is the concept of the single point of failure. When the machine dies, there goes all your bundled functions. What preventative measures can be taken to ensure that these machines last longer?
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  • Macintosh Computers - 08/29/2007
    Some freeware for macs. I dont use a mac regularly, but I would love to know if you have used any of mac freeware?
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  • DBAN boot and nuke is a very popular program to completely erase a hard drive. I found a tutorial .
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  • Thanks for this guide Frances. I need a new computer and I want to go with deal. I decided to lookup articles and blogs on how to get the best deal on a dell. This dealhack article has 5 good recommendations . 22 confessions of a former dell manager is also quite interesting.
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  • Is it not a great idea to use cellular phones as credit cards? I believe that some countries have had this service for a long time. I saw this article which provides examples of how other countries are implementing this service.
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  • Great guide, Steve. I am sure small businesses will find your guide to be a good jumpstart to create their email marketing campaigns. The increasing popularity of video websites like youtube sends the message that online video might be the next big thing in marketing. Which video format and software do you think will be most appropriate for creating video emails?
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  • Hi Bob, your 10 points are very interesting. You recommend going with SIP (Session Over Internet Protocol) providers over proprietary vendors. I agree with you because SIP is a pretty lightweight protocol but what specific advantages does SIP have over other proprietary protocols like H.323? Also, how would a small business make a transition from the traditional Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) to VOIP? What steps are involved? How do they keep their old numbers? What are the challenges and ultimately, would it be worth it?
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  • The EU has stricter privacy laws compared to the US. A small business owner interested in expanding to Europe shoud understand the differences and implement privacy controls before it is too late. This msnbc article tackles the differences in the layman's language.
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  • I find it most annoying when I encouter a customer service agent who clearly does not understand my problem and tries to give me a runaround. I would rather they put me on hold, research the problem and then come up with a solution. Placing a customer on hold is not a bad thing if it is done in a professional manner. Meagan's guide on improving your telephone manners is a good companion to this guide.
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  • Thanks for this guide. Telephone manners are very crucial to how a customer will percieve your business. I am glad that you placed considerable emphasis on placing a customer on hold. As a rule of thumb, it is helpful to check in with the customer on hold at least every three mins. It also helps to thank the customer for still waiting on hold.
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  • "When employees feel like they're part of a team, conflict is less likely. Encourage a team atmosphere with team-building exercises and by rewarding group achievements". Building a team for a group of strangers is very challenging. I believe the conflicts occur in a workplace largely due to personality differences and furthermore the overall culture of the organization. Every organization has a culture and you can tell a lot about the overall culture of the organization by how it manages employee conflicts. Prospective employees should really observe the organizational culture of an organization before jumping in.
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  • Using Webinars - 07/31/2007
    I have been in the situation where I have been bummed during a webinar due to a loss of internet connection, dropped/delayed audio but the worst is a speaker or presenter who is not sensitive to the special conditions of webinars. It is important to treat everyone equally although they might not be in the same room.Some tips from webinar success.
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  • I have used Gotomeeting before and I loved it. You can take it on a spin for a free trial.
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  • I was immediately drawn to your guide because of it's title. I must say that you have a lot of useful information and I have a few questions. How is hiring in China different from hiring in the United States or in the western world. I read a story about how Microsoft finally conquered China in the Fortune Magazine. I was intrigued by this article because moving top employees and recruits to build the business in China did not work. Sometimes, what is good for the goose might not be good for the gander.
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  • At times, I get faustrated when I receive poorly thought out and poorly written emails. I was reading a tech republic article on 10 e-mail habits that waste time and cause problems . Interesting read.
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  • I would say that security is a big issue with online banking. Identity theft is a growing problem. According to the ftc , identity theft accounted for 36% of all complaints in 2006. Overall online banking is very convienient and might overcome the traditional bricks and mortar banks. The question is, when? Until then here are the do's and don'ts of online banking.
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  • Violet, I believe your guide topic is catchy and a step in the right direction. I would love to see a section about the different types of batteries and perhaps a section on how to make your battery last longer. How should I dispose of a battery and what safety precautions should I take to ensure that my battery does not explode and burn down my house or business? Writing good guides could be a bit challenging but it might be worth the effort. Who knows, you could be an expert soon. Shara in the work.com blog writes about How to be an expert .
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  • Bugs versus defects. I think they are the same thing but I wholeheartedly agree with you that the term "Defect, makes it more challenging and more focused". Overall, your guide tackles an interesting topic. I would have loved to see information about how best to get your customers/consumers to provide regular feedback on defects in your products and maybe a section on how to get help and resources for building an effective and as you put it "Defect fixing process".
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  • Hmmnn. I have heard a lot of arguments for and against going for an online degree. There is a school of thought with the impression that online schools are not as effective campus based instruction. Well I do not buy that,. I have had the opportunity to be in either situations and I argue that they are different ways of instruction but are effective in their own ways. Online education is a life saver for anyone who just can not afford to go back to a campus. Children, family, career and other things in life can make it impossible for an otherwise determined candidate to go to school. Ying, thanks for this guide. I would like to see more resources on getting an online degree like listing some more providers, financing and maybe some success stories.
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  • I love this guide. Especially the title. Overcoming one's fears is essential. I have talked to many people who want to start businesses but are afraid. I had a small business when I started Grad School. I believe that most people are afraid because they do not want to leave their comfort zone. Not everyone can start their own business and succeed. However, the ability to know that you can do something for yourself is priceless even if you work for someone else.
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  • The key is to start from the beginning. I believe there are two types of potential employees. The ones who just want to work and the ones who want to advance. These days, companies should be looking for "knowledge" oriented employees.. These are the people who ask questions, always looking for the best solution, always challenging what practices and methods are in place. These are the employees who will benefit most from employee training costs. Such employees will are the ones who will take advantage of all the web based training. Another thing here, be prepared for the consequences of training. There will be new ideas and as an employer who encourages training... be prepared for change. It will come.
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  • Tom, I agree that this is a great guide. I am pleased with your action steps. You really covered all the basics. There are web widgets for specially for business. There are thousands of widgets available on the yahoo . softpedia lists a lot of mac based widgets for business owners.
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  • Hi John, I was hoping to see some evaluation of email encryption software. However, what has been your personal experience with email encryption and in what circumstances would you not employ encryption?
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  • Hi Roy, I am never able to keep my batteries for a long time. Sooner than later, their capacity diminishes and then I have to buy extra ones. Your guide provides some good tips. Can you provide more resources?
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  • Web 2.0 - 06/13/2007
    I have read this guide a couple of times. I came across the blog post on the risks and rewards of web 2.0. I am intrigued by security issues in information technology so this blog post caught my attention. I am particularly worried about potential social engineering attacks particularly phishing attacks. Anyone can post a false profile to get a job, attack you network or even gain confidential information from unsuspecting employees. Are there any security tips that you can suggest for business owners who use web 2.0 sites?
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  • Barcode Software - 06/13/2007
    Hi Frances. great guide. I saw a link to RFID, ME. In the past I have read a few articles on the future of RFID in the supply chain. In your opinion, is RFID going to take render barcoding obsolete in the future?
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  • I routinely run the systems diagnostics on my dell computer as a preventative measure. This checks for potential and or current problem on my hardware. Immediately after booting up my computer and before Windows boots, I hit the F12 key. Other PC vendors might have different options so consult your PC vendor's documentation.
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  • Mac users are able to visit Apple stores to get free advice. These stores offer free daily 1 hour workshops. Lookup a store close to you and get some good and more importantly, free advice.
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  • I know that Wells Fargo offers online bill pay thru Quickbooks. I am a huge fan of online bill pay cos I never remember to pay bills on time. However, it is cool to have all your finances managed by Quickbooks and still pay your bills thru the bank. It saves the trouble of having to reconcile your personal finances with your bank statements.
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  • I found your points about website translation very interesting. I looked around for some resources and websites that offer website translation. Check out applied translation and worldlingo.com. I believe google and yahoo also have directories on website translation.
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  • I looked around for some resources on conversion tracking. Micosoft's adCenter . I also saw this article from search-marketing.info. Read this Microsoft's article on conversion tracking.
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  • I never heard about XBRL before. Thanks for this guide. In this new age of stricter accounting laws like SOX, languages like XBRL should it make it easier for accountants to keep tighter and more responsible control over accounting. Hopefully, XBRL will take some of the inconsistencies and accounting errors some companies keep reporting.
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  • For those who dont want to deal with the hassle of printing their own materials, try mimeo . They also provide DVD/CD duplication. Another resource is fedex kinkos. Upload your documents and pick them up later.
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  • To add to Donna's comment, another company providing free wireless service is whisher . Whisher allows you to share your wireless bandwidth with others in good faith. It requires WEP or WAP encryption for security. However you have the option to disable sharing if your bandwidth gets too slow. At least you can warn others first.
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  • Telecommunting and teleworkers communicate mostly by email and telephone. Teleconferencing costs can add up. Foonz allows you to setup teleconferences for free. You get a phone no from foonz, then create a group list. The foonz phone number allows you to start a conference or even leave a message for your group members. Virtual teams will find this useful.
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  • One other way to cut costs is to use online postal mail. Earth class mail receives your postal mail and converts it to electronic format , forwards ship the mail, shreds or recycle's junk mail, archives old mail. See their FAQ for small businesses .
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  • A good resource which will help a business evaluate wether offshoring, outsourcing or nearshoring is viable is neoIT . Read some of their articles and white papers . Also check out global services media .
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  • Software Updates - 05/26/2007
    For unix/linux based syatems, you can get software updates on a reqular basis by crontab. In crontab you can schedule your update command (for Fedora use /usr/bin/yum update). Crontab allows you to choose the min, hour, day of the month, month or day of the week .
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  • "technology investments that cost more should take precedence because they deliver more value to your business". It is difficult to justify why a particular technology will deliver more value to your business inspite of its relatively high cost. This has been a bone of contention between the IT and finance depts for a long. An ROI calculator helps but there are situations where ROI analysis could shoot down a cutting edge technology purchase. Finance tends to look at how the technology will increase sales. It might not be immediately apparent but I have seen situations in which newer technology has opened new opportunities for a company. And trust me, that is hard to justify to someone looking only at numbers.
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  • Hard Drives - 05/25/2007
    So the first terabyte hard drive is out. A terabyte is approximately 1000 Gb.
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  • Unified Messaging - 05/20/2007
    I read this techrepublic article on unified messaging aka unified communications. UM converges all the many different forms of communication into on manageable unit. The ability to see your faxes in your email or a software client that also allows you to check your voicemail and play messages. Supposing you are not home yet, you could be able read a transcribed text of the voice message. One emerging company in UM is callwave.
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  • Thanks Felix for such an informative article. For free technology web seminars (aka webinars), I use techrepublic. It also hosts articles, downloads, forums and software.
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  • The first ever Second Life career fair will be held May 15th - 17th.
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  • Dell chooses Ubuntu linux of its second crack at linux.
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  • Reporting spam to your ISP greatly helps to reduce spam. I make it a point to report spam to my email provider. If everyone did that, the amount of spam could reduce.
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  • I have been using some google gadgets for a while. I use the text messaging gadget. I can send text messages to anyone all over the world.
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  • Dan, your guides are thorough and very detailed. Thanks. I first heard about voice over ip back in Ghana 7 years ago. It was a big deal because of the high prices that the Public Switched Telephone Network providers charged for calls. I remember that it cost about a dollar a minute to call my friends in the United States. The goverment actually deemed it illegal for ISP's to use VOIP. A friend of mine was arrested and spent some time in jail. If i am not wrong, it is still illegal to use VOIP. See this article .
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  • Research is very important. Research your competitors and find out what they are using regarding technology. Using the right technology gives a small business competitive advantage.
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  • Sometimes you just might want to give the computer away. If you ever want to recycle your computer for some good karma, this is an article to help out.
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  • Hi Greg, I have not had a chance to use the documents and spreadsheets. However, I heard that it suffers from a couple of limitations including not supporting Opera and Safari web browsers. I hope that these minor hiccups will be taken care of. I really love the concept of being able to access my documents anywhere. Some users might be worried about how secure their confidential documents will be. So far Google "does no evil". We hope it stays that way.
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  • Hi Tony, great guide. What advantages does SATA have over PATA?
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  • Callwave offers unlimited incoming faxes to an email of your choice. The faxes come in pdf. Their low price of $7.95 should be appealing to small businesses.
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  • One important thing to note about outsourcing one's business is ANYTHING can go wrong. It is very important to have a continigency plan to "insource" work. I have been in a similar situation and I had to spend hours working with the outsourcing company to understand what had been done. Do not outsource what you can not measure and take keep close tabs on the progress. Most importantly, make sure you understand what is being done on a consistent basis. Remember murphy's law and prepare for it.
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  • Great guide. We use ADP's ezlabormanager .
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  • Ftp is not a very secure protocol for transferring files. Files are transferred in the clear without being encrypted. Some ftp software provide secure versions i.e ftp over ssh. Examples include winscp .
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  • Custom USB Drives - 04/29/2007
    There has been a lot of discussion on the security and reliability of usb drives. Losing a usb drive with confidential informationm can be devastating. It is neccessary to encrypt the contents of the drive. Try truecrypt .
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  • Network Adapters - 04/24/2007
    Configuring a network adapter can be a bit of a pain especially external adapters especially from one location to another. Folks get mad when suddenly "my internet does not work here". There are two basic ways, dynamic or static. With dynamic, you get an IPaddress automatically when connected. However, in some situations, you will need to ask the IT administrator to give you an IP address. IP addresses are just unique "nos' you need to talk to the internet.
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  • Beware of roaming. Roaming charges are expensive and will take a huge chunk out of your cell phone budget. Ask the salesperson for details on how extensive your coverage is. If you do business outside the country, dont forget to ask about International rates. Dont assume calls to Canada, Puerto Rico are included in your plan. Most cellular operators have roaming contracts with cellular providers in different countries. Compare the rates and save.
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  • Hi Chris, are there any scheduling and dispatch software you can recommend?
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  • You mention the Northwind database. I always recommend Microsoft Access for beginners. The Northwind database provides a easy to learn and pretty intuitive platform to understand database basics. Once one understands the concept of normalization, understanding databases becomes a tad easier.
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  • Calling Cards - 03/31/2007
    Try phonecardsmile for cheap but high quality phone cards for international calling. Their rates to Ghana, my home country, are unbeatable.
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  • I would add a warranty plan. Warranties are an often overlooked but very essential part of technology purchasing. In some instances, extended warranties might come in handy. Some tips on extended warranties. 1. Read the warranty. I know its long but it might pay in the long run. You dont have to buy the product right away. Take it home 2. Try to get manufacturer's warranty. Sometimes, you can get manufacturer's warranty which overlaps the store's warranty. 3. Check your credit cards. Some cards extend manufacturer's warranty. The lesson is " dont be in a haste". Everything is going to break someday. Protect yourself.
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  • Server Software - 03/31/2007
    "Open source is often cheaper, but could take more resources to manage.". This is a very old debate amongst systems administrators and computer enthusiasts in general. Apache is a widely deployed open source web server. Netcraft runs a
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  • Web Servers - 03/31/2007
    Most small business will benefit from shared hosting web hosting companies. It is significantly cheaper to used shared web hosting than to deploy a webserver. Most of web hosting companies provide a choice between Linux(apache) and Microsoft (IIS).
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  • Ink and Toner - 03/27/2007
    Shake that toner. You will be suprised how much extra printing you can get done by shaking that toner. Some printers will also estimate how many pages you have left before the toner runs out.
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  • Great guide. For a medium business, it might be economical to buy a network printer. With a network printer, everyone does not need to have a printer on their desk along with the annoying cables. Would you recommend that?
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  • Used Laptops - 03/26/2007
    A lot of my clients ask me about buying a used laptop. Your point about buying refurbished laptops is exactly what I tell them. I do not recommend buying from an individual. Another way to get used laptops is to contact established companies who tend to write off company laptops after a couple of years. I actually have a friend in that business.
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  • Whats the difference between a router , a hub and a switch?
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  • Blu-ray and HD-DVDs will bring a new twist to the camcoder. This forum discusses HD-DVD and Blu-ray camcoders. For the technology aware and risk takers, camcoders with built-in blu-ray burners could be a good buy. Last year, Hitachi announced it would try to bring out a camcoder with a blu-ray burner.
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  • Prosper.com is one of the fastest growing peer to peer lending websites. From the prosper website, a lender can be "Any adult US resident can lend money to others on Prosper. After passing Prosper's identity and fraud checks, lenders offer money to borrowers at rates they select.". A borrower can be"Any adult US resident can lend money to others on Prosper. After passing Prosper's identity and fraud checks, lenders offer money to borrowers at rates they select. "
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  • Window shopping at the neighborhood computer store is a great way to learn more about the latest technology terminology. The customer service reps eager to sell are great resources for no-cost and pretty accurate information about the latest tech products.
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  • Computer Repair - 03/22/2007
    There are many forums available on line to help solve minor issues. PCTechBytes is one such forum. Post a question and you will get an answer almost instantanously. Dont also forget about the neighbor's geeky kid. He might know a thing or two you dont know.
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  • Should we choose cable over dsl? This CNET article guides us to make a choice. CNET gives us a comparision .
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  • Business Blogging - 03/13/2007
    In the August 2005 edition of Fast Company magazine, Jory writes about business blogging for beginners .
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  • Web 2.0 - 03/13/2007
    A web 2.0 website that is making some headlines these days is swivel . The website allows users to upload, compare and contrast data. It will be an invaluable tool for business owners for researching anything including digital music sales in Japan
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  • I have been using trillian for a while now. I am able to see all my contacts from my yahoo, msn and aol.
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  • A great deal of customer service can be outsourced to the customer. More and more people are becoming internet and technology savvy and are likely to search on your website's help desk for immediate information. Running a detailed but yet easily navigationable web-help desk should reduce the number of calls that a business would get.
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  • There could be some downsides about blogging about your company. I have heard of employees being fired from their company for blogging. When blogging about your company, take the ff into consideration. 1. Is blogging allowed? Check with the HR/Legal department. Look thru your NDA and all the employment paperwork you signed. 2. Make sure that the company does not have an official voice or blog you may contradict.
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  • Great guide. Authentication is one of the three main factors in information security. The other two are confidentiality and availability. Confidentiality ensures that unauthorized information is not accidentally disclosed. Availability ensures that information is available when needed.
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  • This blog spells out 12 steps for emails anonymous.
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  • Web collab is a simple to use web-based open source project management software.
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  • I will argue that small businesses might save money by outshoring to countries like the Phillipines and India.
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  • I found a website for interviewees.
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  • Documentation is a very important skill for a small business worker. Small businesses tend to have the employee who wears many hats and acquires diverse skills on the job including tech skills. Such employees should be made to document as much as possible. Documentation becomes an invaluable tool for computer and software training.
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  • Good guide Greg. However, I have been to a few presentations with great audio/visuals but poor choice in color scheme and font. When preparing a presentation, it might be important to write the powerpoint presentation to suit the visuals. Using black fonts with a blue background on a slide can not be overcome by the best projector resolution. Running a test presentation always helps.
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  • Great guide. There has been a lot of talk about the impending format war between Blu-ray and HD- DVD. Many have compared it to the Betamax/VHS vcr format war in the 80's. These different formats require separate DVD players. Do you recommend one over the other?
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  • Hi Tonya, great guide. You rightly pointed out that moving from a document based ordering system to EDI greatly reduces errors and removes the cost of manual document exchange. What do you think will be barriers to adopting EDI in small businesses?
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  • I find it important to figure out how customers will use your site. A website is basically a selling point for a small business. A great website without excellent navigation is fraustrating. Broken links, poor design, convoluted content and outdated information make a business look inefficient. Designing with the ease of usability is always the best way to go.
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  • Employee Evaluation - 02/09/2007
    I have had to be evaluated in the past and I have seen good and bad ways to do it (from my point of view). I agree with Susan's post " I'm much more supportive of a performance management approach in which an employee and employer establish goals for the employee's growth and development, at least quarterly. Performance feedback should occur every day on the job and at the completion of assignments and projects." Most companies have performance evaluations once a year. I have seen colleagues try hard in the last month to impress their bosses and supervisors for a positive review. Human nature allows us to judge the present and the immediate past. As a supervisor, it will be difficult to "remember " the whole year. The tendency will be to pay attention when evaluations are coming up. The question is, "is that fair?".
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  • I like your section on screening employees. It has been mentioned time and time again that the biggest threats to an organization always comes from within. Credit checks are also a way to screen employees. They reveal the financial situation of the potential employee. Does the employee pay his bills on time? Does he/she abandon credit cards w/t paying? Evictions? These can spell out trustworthiness and might be an indication of future behavior.
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  • Great guide Judy. Crises will and often do happen at the least expected time. The best precaution is to be prepared. It is also important to have reqular reviews of crisis scenarios and educate employees on prevention techniques.
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  • It is not suprising that toll free nos attract more customers that regular numbers. Is there a way to get a directory of all toll-free nos?
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  • One simple to implement and manage faq software is phpMyFAQ . It is an open source FAQ system. Most websites offer support for phpMyFAQ.
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  • Copyright issues surrounding online videos. See this news article .
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  • To upgrade or not to upgrade? That is the question. Many businesses will ultimately face this conundrum. This article from tech republic lists 10 reasons why and also why not to upgrade to Vista. At first glance, it seems that upgrading to Vista will be more of a hassle than it is worth. Vista promises to be revolutionary but it will be interesting to see how quickly small businesses will respond to this discontinous innovation and cross the chasm in its adoption lifecycle.
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  • I saw a post on how online video publishing has still not gone mainstream. Any comments?
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  • Thanks.
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  • Thanks Greg.
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  • Hi Mike, what are the advantages of using a hosted Microsoft Exchange Provider over an In-House Microsoft Exchange Server?
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  • This gadget for ebay will be useful for ebay customers.
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  • Great guide greg. This blog list 10 useful extensions for small businesses. Email this and del.icio.us for bookmarking are extensions I also find useful.
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  • Hi Geoff, Great guide. Like you pointed out, employees are most likely to steal from the employer. Most people seem to overlook this. Thats why is important to educate employees on the security policy of the company.
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  • Great guide. Youtube is a great pioneer in online video sharing. I found also sharkle .
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  • Thanks for the guide to selecting an ISP. More often than not, there is a cholce between cable and dsl. Which one is better for a small business owner?
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  • Hi Larry, There are many resources on this topic. The Internet society has this article . See this timeline also.
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  • One important security measure is to blank the host screen whiles you are working. This option is available for most remote access software. This prevents passers-by from seeing what you are doing in the office. Another tip is to turn off the hibernate option on your host computer otherwise you will NOT be able to connect when in hibernation mode.
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  • Hi Martijn, This guide seems to promote your company. I did not learn anything other than the name of your company.
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  • This article from Microsoft explains how to set up networks.
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  • Hi John, Your point about getting at least a 3 year warranty raises a question I always find hard to answer. Is warranty neccessary for a computer that might be obsolete in 4-5 years?
    Read More
  • Great guide. Thanks. Like you rightly pointed in your article, upgrade when neccessary. It is also important to crosscheck your hardware configurations against the minimum requirements of the upgrading software. I have been caught in that hole a few times.
    Read More
  • Hi Mark, I found this article on mac address filtering as a security measure.
    Read More
  • Hi Lynn, I am skeptical about the email legal disclaimers. See this post . Are email disclaimers legally binding?
    Read More
  • Hi Mark, for most businesses, a wired connection already exists. A wireless connection is sometimes an afterthought. How would you integrate a wireless LAN into a prexisting wired connection?
    Read More
  • Hi Mark, The biggest contribution that bluetooth has brought is the wireless keyboard and mouse. Is it not great that folks won't trip over cables and sustain injuries?
    Read More
  • Hi Mark, Say I own a hotel where guests come in and go, I would have to change the SSID password everytime a guest leaves so that he/she can not use my WLAN. This will not be feasible. is there any other way to secure my wireless LAN?
    Read More
  • Hi Tonya, Some wireless devices are labelled 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g... compliant. There seem to be a lot of wireless standards and protocols out there.. Could you explain the differences?
    Read More
  • Hi Shara, That is a great question. For starters, lets identify some desktop operating system requirements I will need as a small business owner. 1. The operating system must be secure. I don't want to reboot or have my computer crash every couple of days. I don't want viruses and worms attacking my box. 2. I want to run basic software. An office suite i.e a word processor, an email client, a web browser, instant messenger and a graphics editor. 3. I want to to find hardware drivers easily. For example, my monitor, graphics card, wireless card, printer and scanner should be able to plugin and play without much effort. 4. I want to be able to call for help and have my problem resolved as soon as possible. All these requirements lead to "ease of use" . My answer is " linux has more support (hardware, user, software) than FreeBSD or other unix variants". This polishlunix tool can be used to compare opensource operating systems.
    Read More
  • I found a list of free antivirus software. I recommend the AVG .
    Read More
  • Hi Chris, I have used paypal quite a bit. However, there are some websites that pretend to be paypal. I get emails asking me to verify my paypal account. What other security issues surround paypal and how can I make sure that I am safe?
    Read More
  • Great guide Jenni. I can not agree more with creating a usage policy to prevent abuse and most importantly for security issues. There have been a couple of worms that have been written solely for IM applications. Some IM applications offer an instant file transfer option. Like every file that an employee receives by email, all files transferred by IM should be scanned for viruses and worms.
    Read More
  • For many small businesses, it might be convienient to find a web designer in your area. One indispensable resource is craigslist.
    Read More
  • Interesting article Bhavin. I heard about Ruby on Rails recently. What advantages does Ruby on Rails have over developing applications using the widely known Linux/Apache/Perl ?
    Read More
  • When I need technology products, I like to use mwave. Their customer service reps are great and they have great deals.
    Read More
  • Fax Over IP - 11/30/2006
    Using fax over VOIP can be a little challenging. I recently tried to setup a brother fax machine with my vonage service. A great tip is to search on the fax machines vendor's website for VOIP configuration settings. Brother had the following tips 1. Reduce the modem speed to 9600 bps 2. Turn off error correction mode. Check with your VOIP vendor before purchasing a fax machine.
    Read More

My Favorite Guides

  1. Keeping Up with Business Technology - 09/15/2006


    How to stay plugged into the latest tech news, info, advice & reviews
    Daniel Kehrer

  2. Password Generators for Networks - 02/21/2007


    Keep your data safe and your employees on guard with strong authentication
    Greg Brown

  3. Setting up a Merchant Account - 09/15/2006


    Having a credit card merchant account is critical to growing a small business
    Daniel Kehrer

  4. XBRL (Extensible Business Reporting Language) - 05/30/2007


    This new Internet language will change business data forever
    Daniel Kehrer

  5. Microsoft's Vista Operating System - 01/12/2007


    Wait or update? Much depends on the needs of your business now
    Greg Brown

  6. Call Monitoring Solutions - 09/15/2006


    Find out how your employees treat customers on the phone
    W. Eric Martin

  7. B2B Online Competitive Intelligence for Search Marketers - 07/22/2007


    How to Track Your B2B Competitors Online and Drive Better Search Marketing Results
    Ben Hanna

  8. Web 2.0 - 10/19/2006


    What is Web 2.0 and why does it matter for your business?
    Shara Karasic, Work.com Community Manager

  9. Using Technorati to Find Blogs About Your Industry - 09/21/2006


    Using the #1 blog search to find out what others are saying about your company
    Brian Brown

  10. Managing Employee Conflicts - 09/15/2006


    Pump up productivity by keeping peace in the workplace
    Jenni Simcoe

  11. Internet Marketing - 10/09/2007


    For the 21st century business, online marketing isn't just effective; it's essential
    Matt Alderton

  12. New Online Business Management Tools - 10/12/2007


    Handle billing, payments, inventory, payroll and more easily online
    Daniel Kehrer

  13. Credit Card Debt Management - 09/28/2007


    Eliminate credit card debt using credit card debt management tools
    Greg Brown

  14. Inbound Call Centers - 10/03/2007


    Giving customers strong solutions, support and service is easy via outsourced call centers
    Matt Alderton

  15. Getting Started with Zen Cart - 05/24/2007


    Using a popular ecommerce package to put your store online
    Phil Glatz

  16. Internet Fax Services - 04/19/2007


    Email faxing lets you send and receive faxes without a separate fax machine
    Jenni Simcoe

  17. Interactive Voice Response (IVR) Systems - 09/15/2006


    Use technology to manage and meet customers' needs
    Toni Klym McLellan

  18. Doing Business While You Play - 06/14/2007


    This summer, stepping out doesn't have to mean shutting down
    Tom Shaughnessy, Director of Business Marketing for Sprint

  19. Internet Service - 09/28/2007


    Move your business into high gear with the best Internet service for your needs
    Greg Brown

  20. Calculating Tech's Total Cost of Ownership - 09/15/2006


    Shopping for computers or software? Do a TCO analysis to control costs
    Beth Stackpole

  21. Yahoo! Small Business Services - 09/15/2006


    A one-stop source to grow your business
    Dave Chartock

  22. Apparel Software - 10/31/2007


    From fashion design software to POS systems, apparel software has altered the industry.
    Jeff Copeland

  23. Backing up Your Computer Files - 09/28/2006


    You know it's vital, so here's how to get it done
    Daniel Kehrer

  24. Wholesale Clothing - 09/30/2007


    Find the best prices on wholesale fashion apparel for all your company's needs
    LaRita Heet

  25. Restaurant Accounting Software - 11/28/2007


    Accounting software for restaurants manages the kitchen efficiently while creating a smooth POS operation
    Marianne Cotter

  26. IT Recruiting Services - 10/23/2007


    Take advantage of high tech recruiters when you need to hire IT employees
    Kate McMains

  27. SEO 101 - Image Optimization - 10/21/2007


    Make the most of your images for Google Universal Search
    Richard Burckhardt

  28. Company Profile Research - 11/29/2007


    Use business information to ace a job interview or sales pitch
    Jeff Copeland

  29. Real Estate Auctions - 11/30/2007


    Strategies on how to buy or sell property through a real estate auction
    Frances Sharpe

  30. GPS Systems - 11/28/2007


    GPS systems provide a number of applications and solutions for businesses
    Jenni Simcoe

  31. Telecommunications - 12/01/2007


    Telecom tools keep your business, your employees and your customers connected
    Matt Alderton

  32. Data Management Software - 11/15/2007


    Protect your company's electronic intellectual property with data management software
    Jenni Simcoe

  33. Mileage and Routing Software - 02/24/2008


    Save your moving company time and money with vehicle routing software packages
    Mary Beth Doyle

  34. Email Forwarding - 03/02/2008


    Email forwarding Service for small businesses
    Kimberly Ben

  35. Transportation and Logistics - 09/28/2007


    Use logistics management when it absolutely, positively has to get there when it's needed
    Ned Averill-Snell

  36. Telecommunications Consultants - 09/24/2007


    A telecommunications consultant can help you gain a competitive edge
    Marianne Cotter

  37. Macintosh Computers - 11/12/2006


    Macs play better in the PC world than you might think
    Ned Averill-Snell

  38. Office All-in-Ones - 09/15/2006


    Get a complete package in one simple device
    Cherie L. Berkley

  39. Firing a Family Member - 02/06/2007


    It’s all about the business
    Judy Rakowsky

  40. T1 - 09/27/2007


    Get your small business rolling with high-speed business T1 Internet access
    Greg Brown

  41. Pop Up Displays - 09/27/2007


    Pop up trade show displays make an eye-popping statement
    Jenni Simcoe

  42. Foot Lockers - 02/03/2008


    How to get functional yet stylish foot lockers for your business
    Kelly Shetsky

  43. Expense Report Software - 09/15/2006


    Get a handle on travel and entertainment costs.
    Chris Maxcer

  44. WMS Software - 09/30/2007


    Take stock of the benefits of Warehouse Management Systems software
    Jason Agard

  45. For Sale By Owner (FSBO) - 10/05/2007


    Saving money by selling your own home FSBO
    LaRita Heet

  46. Managing Small Business Email - 09/15/2006


    Taming the electronic beast within your office
    Toni Klym McLellan

  47. Managing Change - 09/15/2006


    Making the most of chaos means taking charge and sharing the vision
    Jackie Larson

  48. Wireless Technology - 10/17/2007


    Connect your phone, computer or entire workplace with wireless technology
    Erin Brereton

  49. Employment Laws and Regulations - 12/02/2007


    How to get low-cost or no-cost information on employment laws and regulations
    Elaine Smith, SPHR

  50. Using Online Videos for Your Business - 01/11/2007


    Online video content for training and marketing – and how to do it
    Geoff Kohl

  51. Hiring Tech Help for Your Business - 09/15/2006


    Tips on creating your own geek squad
    John Henshell

  52. Law Firm Software - 10/09/2006


    Streamline operations and increase profitability with legal software
    Frances Sharpe

  53. Document Management with HyperOffice - 02/28/2007


    A quick-reference guide on setting up your HyperOffice portal for advanced document management.
    davidmulhaney

  54. Outsourcing CD and DVD duplication - 07/21/2007


    How to save yourself hassle and get it done right.
    Tara Roitman

  55. Video Conferencing Solutions - 09/28/2006


    Technology can connect distant co-workers and clients
    Tonya Vinas

  56. The Top 5 Mistakes Advertisers Make with Their Advertising... - 11/14/2007


    ...and the ways to fix them.
    Melton Cartes

  57. Know how to chose a data recovery specialist - 09/03/2007


    The key to choosing a data recovery company
    Vicky Brauner

  58. What Hackers Know About Your Network - That You Don't - 11/08/2007


    Hackers are constantly scanning your networks - learn how to find out what they know about your network.
    Thomas Raef

  59. How to Host an Effective Conference Call - 11/06/2007


    With these guidlines your calls will be better attended and more productive.
    Conferenceguy

  60. acquiring information technology for your business - 12/01/2007


    Some tips on what to look out for when you are acquiring computer hardware, software, or consulting services.
    Computer_Guy

  61. Recruiting Employees - 10/21/2006


    How to get better team members in less time.
    Reggie Shropshire

  62. Sucessful Ecommerce Fulfillment - 07/20/2007


    Highlights the key concerns a business owner should address in order to hire the right fulfillment company
    Joseph DiSorbo

  63. How Businesses Can Play with Business Credit Cards - 08/24/2007


    Let Business Credit Cards Help You Budget Your Expenses and Income
    Aika Anderson

  64. Credit Card Rewards - Credit Card Reward Program-65748 - 12/27/2007


    How to take advantage of a Reward Credit Cards
    Elisha Davis

  65. How to Get and Pay for Your College Education While Working - 11/24/2007


    If you're after your Bachelor's or Master's degree while working, our guide will show you the steps to make it a lot more affordable and manageable.
    Giovanna Villanueva
Work.com