Latest Tips, Tools, & Technology to Build Your Business
Business
How To Rise Above The Crowd
May 26th
In this day and age, a new business has to really stand out in order to stay afloat. When opening we’re often more interested in the sales numbers than the customers. This is one of the biggest errors a new business owner can make.
There’s customer service and then there is real customer service. Recently the local grocery store started calling loudly “Welcome to (store name)” as you walked through the door. I was so shocked that I actually jumped. In their attempt to seem like they care about you, they had chosen to be loud and insincere.
When I enter my More >
Rescue Time Review
May 24th
After using the program for two weeks, I can see where it would be very useful for someone in a more stable work situation. Working from home, and also, the main gardener, cook, housemaid, errand person, banker, accountant, etc. I found that it didn’t really meet my needs. Almost everything I do went under the uncategorized listing, so it made most of my day look like I wasn’t working.
Also, since I surf the net as part of my work, looking for interesting information, statistics, etc., the time I spend on the net is positive, but unless I check each site More >
Mini-Projectors – Not Quite There Yet
May 19th
With the miniaturization of so many things such as iPod, Androids, etc. it seems that we’re moving into the “tiny society.” However, it seems that mini-projectors are not quite ready for the main stream, yet.
Although they are getting all the bells and whistles of almost being a small handheld computer, the main function they were built for, projection, seems to still be lacking in quality and light level.
After reading many reviews it seems that presenters should, at least at this point, stick with their larger projectors if they really want to impress someone. Almost every review, on several makes and More >
When Schedules Don’t Jive
May 17th
Being self-employed is fraught with all kinds of potential pitfalls. One of these is the schedule dance. If you and your spouse, or significant other, are both self-employed this dance can be intensified.
It is important to keep your objectives in mind when looking at the day’s schedule. It is easy to get caught up in the schedule of your partner and miss getting anything done with your own project, especially if your partner’s business is bringing in more money than your own.
The other thing that happens is that when things get rough, or you feel stressed, or just plain tired More >
Rescue Time
May 13th
One thing that I find difficult, since I have an in-home office, is staying on task. It’s easy to get distracted answering the phone or email, doing laundry, trying out that new online game, etc.
I just downloaded a program called RescueTime. It is supposed to keep track of everything I do on the computer. It’ll tell me how much time I spend on each web site. How much time I spend doing blogging (although it will just show I was using Word). I can even set it up so that I can’t get to my most distracting sites for a More >
Saving Time While On Hold
May 11th
If you hate to be on hold forever when calling tech support or customer service then Fast Customer may be the answer for you. This nifty little app for the iPhone does the dialing for you.
Of course you can only reach companies that are in their database, but they’ve got some of the biggies, including the IRS and Apple.
All you do is choose the company to call and the software will do the rest. It punches through until it reaches a real live human. Then rings you up so that you’re ready to talk to them.
It only cost a buck More >
Using Twitter To Get More Customers
May 7th
If you could have a free way to drive more customers to your business you’d take it, right? That’s what the founders of InboxQ thought, so they created a free Internet tool to do just that.
You can use Twitter to connect with potential customers through answering their questions. The founders of InboxQ found that most questions posted go unanswered. So, they developed a way for you to put in keywords, and posts that have relevant questions will be funneled to you.
All you do is answer the question, making sure you don’t become a spammer, and you have the opportunity to More >
Changing Great Ideas Into Reality
May 4th
Have a great invention idea, but don’t have any money or idea how to go about getting it off the ground? There’s a new site called Ahhha that’s looking for you. There are other sites that offer support, but Ahhha actually let’s you see if others think your idea is a good one. If it gets enough support there could be funding in your future.
Ahhha doesn’t decide your future, the crowd does. They can also help you with ideas and tools that could help you bring your dream into reality. Ahha’s working to take the mystery out of patents and More >
Scanners Ain’t What They Used To Be
May 1st
All you have to do is look at all the gadget ads and you’ll notice that scanners are no longer 20 ton machines that grind, pop, whirl, and even shake a little while they’re scanning. Now you can get one that weighs as little as 10.2 oz. What they can do is pretty amazing, as well.
Not only do they scan regular documents, but some of them will actually let you highlight key words and when it imports the document it recognizes those words as important. You can scan business cards and import them into your PDA or other address book. More >
Take Payments Anywhere
Apr 30th
The heartbeat and blood of any business is money. Without it your business is dead. Now there is a nifty new gadget that allows you to use your iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, or Google Android devices to take payments.
You no longer have to qualify at a bank and pay heavy surcharges. Qualifications are simple and geared to the small business owner. All you need is a bank account, a physical address, and a social security number. The fee is a flat 2.75% with no other strings attached (slightly higher for manual input). There is no contract, minimum or maximum purchase, More >