Archive: December 2006

December 30, 2006

Successfully Scanning Business Cards and other lessons from trade shows

Over the past few minutes I've been scanning business cards collected at a recent trade show. I add some...

December 28, 2006

Book Review: Truth or Delusion? Busting Networking's Biggest Myths

Networking is such a powerful form of building your business. I've done it for years quite successfully. I've given...

December 27, 2006

Penny Pinching Tips to Get the Most Out Of Your CRM System

Investing in a CRM system is great and will boost your business. But whether you've invested $20,000 or $5,000 in...

December 27, 2006

Skype is Cheap. But not for everything.

Skype is free (and or low cost) for making phone calls around the world. However, you can save MORE...

December 27, 2006

Local Search. Now Micro Search

Using any of the major search portals you can find a business in your zip code. But can you find...

December 26, 2006

Thanks for the Christmas Cards...

This year I received Christmas cards from... Robin Robins of Technology Marketing Toolkit - she helps techies sell more. Infinity...

December 26, 2006

Joopz: Web to Cell - Cell to Chat. Perfect.

Guess what I just did? I went to Joopz and sent an SMS message to my cell phone. Ho...

December 25, 2006

Book Review: Managing Without Walls

Having a remote sales force is a good thing. You can have a sales or service presence away from the...

December 25, 2006

Let Your Web Customers Add Comments to Your Web Pages with Stickysurf

Have you ever been on a web site and wanted to add comments to the web site and send...

December 25, 2006

Microsoft Gets VERY Creative With Mobility Videos

A Microsoft PR person sent me a link to http://www.workwherever.com that shows a "business person" using Windows Mobile in various...

December 22, 2006

Biometric Readers are NOT As Secure As You Think

I've been using a biometric reader in my relatively new Lenovo 3000 N100 notebook. Most times it works fine, but...

December 21, 2006

Should You Buy a Mac or PC

Many users already know what they want - Mac or PC. But there's a good number of computer users, including...

December 21, 2006

Microsoft and Best Buy Get Closer

Microsoft reported today that Best Buy's Geek Squad (11,000 agents who visit homes and businesses) are not only selling...

December 21, 2006

Are Page Views No Longer Valid?

I often hear people still talk about "hits" on their web site. A "hit" is simply the count of every...

December 20, 2006

Micro is the New Huge

Last week Steve Strauss' All Business newsletter was so great, I read it twice. It's a quick read, if you...

December 20, 2006

Blogger.com Upgraded - Much Better

I was recently using the new Blogger.com and its very good. The features are still not as extensive as Word...

December 20, 2006

WSJ on IE 7's "anti-phishing" Security Bar. Will it hurt smaller businesses?

The Wall Street Journal writes that with the introduction of an anti-phishing tool in Microsoft Internet Explorer 7, small...

December 19, 2006

Book Review: Killer Web Content: Must Read Book (before you build a web site)

I recently received a copy of Gerry McGovern's book, Killer Web Content. The book is simply amazing and really...

December 19, 2006

Macworld Conference and Expo: Leverage Mac Technology and Grow Your Business

If your business foundation is Mac computers you want to seriously consider attending Macworld 2007 (January 8 - 12,...

December 19, 2006

Is it time to try Linux? No and Yes.

Although Linux use is growing, it's still not ready for small businesses to use in their day to day operations....

December 18, 2006

Email Marketing Stats by Industry from MailChimp

If you've been considering whether to use email marketing in your business - stop considering and just do it....

December 18, 2006

Time Magazine Picks YOU as the Person of the Year

I'm not sure if Time Magazine simply didn't want to pick a human this year, but for whatever reason it...

December 18, 2006

Blogging vs a Web Site

A few weeks ago Jim Blasingame (Small Business Advocate Radio Show) and I discussed the issue of blogging. One of...

December 14, 2006

Work Seamlessly Online and Offline with Thinkfree

For most hosted applications you either work all online or work offline and have to manually upload the latest...

December 14, 2006

Taking IT Analyst Advice With A Huge Grain of Salt

The Associated Press reports that Gartner says that blogging will peak in 2007. I have always respected the research of...

December 14, 2006

Are Hackers and Thieves On Your Payroll

What if you came to work tomorrow and found that your most trusted employee, who was your network administrator was...

December 13, 2006

Paper Newsletter from Smart Online

I received a newsletter from Smart Online, a hosted application platform. What was unusual about it - was that it...

December 13, 2006

It's Not Just Technology that Needs to Shift

When we first begin working with a client, we don't talk about technology at all because, I know that business...

December 13, 2006

Yahoo and IBM Offer FREE Corporate Search

Google offers a search appliance that can search up to 500,000 documents. Now Yahoo and IBM are teaming up to...

December 13, 2006

Are Your Web Site Bells and Whistles Annoying People Away?

I was recently on the web site of WCBS News Radio 88 and listening to some local news via the...

December 12, 2006

Need Tech Support NOW? Pay Only For the Help You Get.

One of the most dreaded situations is when your computer does not work. The second dreaded situation is when...

December 12, 2006

Research and Compare Construction Software

If you are in the construction business, it's important that you use software that is specifically designed for your...

December 11, 2006

All In One Server from DirectPointe. Hardware Appliance and Managed Services

Last week DirectPointe launched SmallOffice Solution, which is a server appliance that bundles networking hardware, software and support services...

December 11, 2006

The Birth of a New Franchise: The Utility Company

The Utility Company provides small businesses with a range of technology services - from management to "break-fix" for one monthly...

December 10, 2006

Untangle's Free Software Security Suite

If you are looking for a full suite of security software, Untangle has a deal for you. Free (if you...

December 10, 2006

No Web Site? Want Online Traffic? Google Can Help.

If you want to capture the wave of Google's AdWords program and buy cost per click advertising, but don't have...

December 10, 2006

Dont' Delete Electronic Records. The Court Might Need Them

You might be tempted to think that only "big businesses" have to worry about record retention. This is not the...

December 10, 2006

Shipping Something? Let Pitney Bowes Help You Manage Everything Online

Is shipping a key part of your business? Do you send 20, 50, 100 boxes or more per day...

December 8, 2006

Buying Radio Advertising Through Google

Google pioneered an easy system to bring advertisers (Adwords) and online publishes (Adsense) together so that advertisers, through one...

December 8, 2006

The Four Key Elements of a Tight Tech Strategy

Last week, I shared the difference between good companies and excellent companies. The chief difference is excellent companies know how...

December 6, 2006

Your Customer's Cell Phones + Your Data Via SMS. Wow

Everyone has a cell phone. It's the most popular communications tool - beyond more complex smartphones, PDAs and other...

December 6, 2006

(New Info) Prevx - Free For One Year - Security Solution

Prevx is offering a FREE download of its security product, Prevx1 (good for 28 days), free for the entire...

December 6, 2006

Web 2.0 Online Dangers. Use The Web But Be Cautious

Many of us are screaming that Web 2.0 online services are important to leverage as they add much more functionality...

December 5, 2006

Selling Online is Not About Sales, but Marketing and Buzz

The $30 Picco Z helicopter is a mini-helicopter that's on track to have sales of 150,000 units this holiday season....

December 5, 2006

Local Search is Getting Hotter: R U Ready

I've been gently warning you for months that local search is and is going to be more and more of...

December 4, 2006

Fedex, Technology and Paper

Mimeo makes its money because its customers are always in a hurry and waiting until the last minute to...

December 4, 2006

Customer Reviews Can Boost Online Sales

When a customer buys a pair of shoe online, a plant from your online store, or simply loves the customer...

December 3, 2006

Google Docs - Simply Wonderful

I've been using Google Docs for a project with 3 people, total of 4 including me. I'm pleased to...

December 3, 2006

Xerox's Erasable Paper

Xerox's research indicates that Of the 1,200 pages the average office worker prints a month, 44.5 percent are for...

December 3, 2006

Have Microsoft Office 2007? Change the Default File Format!

Someone recently sent me a file saved in an Excel format. Instead of being saved as "xls" the file...

December 3, 2006

The Case for A Video Brochure

Frank Felker of Radio Free Enterprise believes every business should have a video brochure. I agree. It's so simple...

December 3, 2006

NetObjects - Powerful Simplicity

Dreamweaver is the web site development program of choice for professional web developers but can be way too complex...

December 3, 2006

Are Printing & Emailing files A Big Part Of Your Day?

If printing to multiple printers and emailing multiple people various sets of documents is part of your day to...

December 2, 2006

Traditional Security is Not Enough

Very similar to a vaccine, security vendors can traditionally protect a computer only when they have details on what...

December 1, 2006

The 10 Most Overlooked Aspects of Security

Security is so important and its a topic that while sometimes I don't want to write about so much, I...

December 1, 2006

MYOB Announces Premier Accounting Small Business Suite 2007

MYOB recently announced the release of the MYOB Premier Accounting Small Business Suite, which features Premier Accounting 2007, their small...

December 1, 2006

Podcassting From Your Telephone - No Computer, Microphone or Software Needed

Podcasting enables you to connect with your audience via audio instead of just text - as with a blog....

December 1, 2006

Intuit Now Serves You and Your Bank

For years Intuit has sold consumer and small businesses software and services for their businesses. With Thursday's acquisition of Digital...