Google For Small Business

Google’s GoMobile Website Evaluation

JB Brathwaite — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 14:57:59 +0000

80% of customers abandon a mobile site if they have a bad user experience.
–Source: Limelight Networks, Inc., 2011

Unlike a traditional website, “mobile sites are designed for the small screen, with the needs of mobile users in mind. A mobile-friendly site can help your business connect with customers and increase sales, but a bad mobile experience can drive your customers to your competition.*
–Source: Compuware, “What Users Want from Mobile,” 2011

The statements above are even more compelling in 2012, as mobile phone and device use has exploded. As most folks increasingly access the web on the go, they have now come to expect websites to be just as accessible and user-friendly on a mobile phone screen as they are on a PC screen.

Mobile-friendly sites are designed for the small screen and the capabilities of mobile devices. But being mobile-friendly is more than just fitting within a screen. Take a look at the “10 Mobile Site Best Practices” outlined by Google’s GoMo initiative and learn the important things you can do to turn your site into a great mobile experience.

1. KEEP IT QUICK

Mobile users are often short on time, squeezing in online tasks as they go about their day. To help them, design your site to load fast and make copy easy to scan.

2. SIMPLIFY NAVIGATION

No one likes to be confused. Clear navigation and, on large or complex sites, search functionality will help your customers easily find what they need.

3. BE THUMB-FRIENDLY

People use their fingers to operate mobile devices—especially their thumbs. Design your site so even large hands can easily interact with it.

4. DESIGN FOR VISIBILITY

A mobile-friendly site gets its message across without causing eyestrain. Make it easy for your customers to read—remember, they may be in a place with low light

5. MAKE IT ACCESSIBLE

Ideally, your mobile site should work across all mobile devices and all handset orientations. Find alternatives to Flash—it does not work on some devices.

6. MAKE IT EASY TO CONVERT

No matter what your site’s objective is, your customers need to be able to do it with a virtual keyboard and no mouse. Make it easy to buy something or contact you.

7. MAKE IT LOCAL
Consumers look for local info on their phones all the time—from locating the nearest gas station to finding an open pizza place. Include functionality that helps people find and get to you.

8. MAKE IT SEAMLESS

People now use multiple screens throughout the day. Convert as much of the functionality of your desktop site to mobile as you can to create a seamless experience.

9. USE MOBILE SITE REDIRECTS

A mobile site redirect is code that can automatically tell if visitors are using a mobile device and send them to the mobile-friendly version of your site. Have your site developer implement this redirect code so your customers get the best version of your site for their needs

10. LISTEN, LEARN AND ITERATE

Good mobile sites are user-centric, which means they’re built with input from your audience. Ask

your desktop site users what they want in a mobile website and make testing and optimization an ongoing process.

FAQs

Q: My site shows up on my phone. That means it’s mobile-friendly, right?

A: Not necessarily. Most sites will show up on a smartphone, but unless they have been designed with mobile in mind they may not provide the best user experience. A truly mobile-friendly site is tailored to the needs of mobile users and device capabilities.

Q: I can’t afford to build a mobile site. Can it wait?

A: Sure it can wait…if you’re willing to risk missing out on a ton of business. Soon, more people will be accessing the Internet from mobile devices than desktop computers.1 By 2015, mobile commerce will reach $119 billion worldwide.2

1 Gartner, “Gartner’s Top Predictions for IT Organizations and Users, 2010 and Beyond: A New Balance,” 2010

2 Forrester Research via Google, “What Users Want from Mobile,” July 2011

Q: We built a mobile app. That’s the same thing, isn’t it?

A: Mobile apps can be an important part of your mobile strategy, but the fact is, they are not a replacement for a mobile-friendly site. Apps are platform-specific and take a lot of work to update. A mobile site, however, will work on any mobile device with a browser.

Q: I don’t think my customers are mobile. Isn’t that mostly for teenagers?

A: Absolutely not. In the US, smartphone penetration reached 17% (age 13-17), 54% (age 18-24), 62% (age 25-34), 53% (age 35-44), 39% (age 45-54), 30% (age 55-64) and 18% (age 65+) by the end of Q3 in 20113. 1
This is only expected to grow.

3. Nielsen, November 2011

Q: How can I tell if my clients are using mobile phones?

A: Your desktop site analytics can tell you a lot about how people are accessing your site. Look for searches coming from mobile operating systems and determine what percentage of your total traffic this is. Also note what these users are looking for and where they are browsing—this will help you prioritize the right info and features when you build your mobile-friendly site.

Q: How do I know if a mobile site will help my business?

A: The statistics are compelling, but it’s understandable that you’d like to know for certain if a mobile site will drive business for you. Luckily, it’s not an all-or-nothing thing. You can experiment with a basic mobile site and different content, and assess performance. This will provide learning you can leverage when you build a full mobile site.

Q: How much money will I make from my mobile site?

A: Return on investment will vary for each site. You should focus on the additional benefit that you will be providing users in giving them an additional access point to your content. As mobile usage increases, so will your user base and revenue

Now that you know the advantages of having a mobile website, we would like to help you create one. We offer a Free mobile website evaluation. Just fill out the form below or call us with your website url (http://www.yourwebsite.com) and we give you suggestions on how you can take your website and profits to the next level by going mobile.

How to Use Google Apps Mail to Avoid Choking on Spam

JB Brathwaite — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 22:59:46 +0000

Spam: on your dining plate or in your email inbox, few find it particularly appealing.

The latter can be downright annoying and costly. That “Spam” is named to describe the billions of unwanted e-mail messages generated by networks of zombie computers controlled by the rogue programs called botnets. Like weeds in a garden, they detract and distract from the email you want to receive in your inbox with things like requests for assistance in transferring money from foreign accounts, ads for singles in your area, physical enhancements/enlargements, or in more harmful and sophisticated cases, notifications of failed electronic bill payments.
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Spam is more than an annoyance. It’s a multi-layered nuisance that is responsible for a great deal of fraud and computer virus spread that takes place online.

How can you control Spam that oozes its way into your personal and professional email inbox? Google Apps Mail is a viable solution.

I established a Google Gmail address for my personal email use back on August 22, 2005. To date, I have more than 61,000 archived in that Gmail account. Conversely, I have a Yahoo! email account, for additional personal email use, that I have had since September 2001. That account has almost 90,000 emails in it. (I may be an email hoarder, but I prefer to think of myself as a thorough record keeper.)

I have not actively used my Yahoo account since 2006. The majority of the email I receive through that account–about 96% of the messages–is Spam. Even with a so-called “Spam filter” in place. This number will likely continue to increase. On the other hand, my Gmail account has an impressive showing of keeping my inbox 98% Spam free. Meaning that with over 61,000 email messages and counting, only 2% of them would be mail I’d consider Spam. The other 98% were email messages that I welcomed and appreciated receiving.

On the professional side, I was once a Microsoft Outlook devotee for my business email. However, my experience was the Spam filter in Outlook was just as bad if not worse than that with Yahoo! Even though I had the account set to the highest level of Spam filtering, I would still get multiple emails trying to sell me everything from Viagra to veterinarian drug discounts.

In 2005, I couldn’t take the Spam any more and made the switch to Google Apps Mail for my business email. In this case, Gmail has also performed well, cutting down on my Spam almost 98%, with 37,000 archived emails. I’ve found that the Spam filter in Google Apps email is far superior to any Spam software I have tried over my many years of using email.

We all know how much time, energy and money is wasted having to deal with Spam. So why do we subject ourselves to yet more Spam and even more chances to get viruses that attack our computers? If you too have found yourself in an an ongoing war with Spam, I would like to help you put an end to your battles. Come on and make that move to “Go Google” in 2012 and leave all that Spam in your past.

Social Media Management Tools That Can Make A Difference In Your Business

JB Brathwaite — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 04:44:56 +0000

Why is social media management so important these days?

Are you on so many social media networks that you feel like keeping up with them all could be its own full-time job? Or maybe you are trying to harness the power of your “Likes”, “Tweets”, “Plus one’s” and blog entries to fuel the marketing/promotion of your name and your company’s brand, but not sure just how it’s all supposed to work?

If you’ve answered yes to either of these questions, and/or if you’re feeling the least bit overwhelmed or intimidated by what’s required to properly maintain social networking accounts that you may have for both yourself and your business, read on–this post is for you. Reliable help is available.

It’s clear that social media has emerged as the fastest form of communication between those who are in the know and those who want to know. Most of us now keep track of family, friends, associates and clients via the top social networking sites: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and most recently, Google+. Many of us also have blogs and Youtube Channels to which we want to add content and maintain on a consistent basis. There are social media management tools that you can employ to streamline your time and efforts spent on social media networking sites. Hootsuite, TweetDeck and Seesmic are three of them.

Hootsuite, TweetDeck and Seesmic are social media management tools that can help elevate the way your business stays in contact with your followers, friends, likes and comments.

TweetDeck and Seesmic came early on the scene for use of monitoring Twitter feeds. The TweetDeck dashboard was my first social media management tool. I then tried Seesmic when I learned it had a video blogging and comment feature that made it unique among the competition.

I then gravitated to Hootsuite when it arrived in the cloud, and it remains my social media management tool of choice. In fact, I was so impressed with this tool and all of its features that I enrolled in Hootsuite University and became one of their first independent certified social media professionals. The joy I take in training the uninitiated on its unparalleled ease of use is immense.

When you incorporate social media into the marketing and operations of your business, you can all the more greatly appreciate what these tools have to offer for managing and making sense of your social business.

Hootsuite (Affiliate Link)
Fees: Basic-free, Pro-$5.99/month, Enterprise-Call
Multiple Social Media Networks: Yes
Custom Analytics: Yes
Team Collaboration: Yes
Sechedule Messages: Yes
Mobile Apps: Yes
RSS/Blog Integration: Yes
Automated Reports: Yes
Monitor Mentions: Yes
Custom Dashboard: Yes
File Upload: Yes
Browser Extensions: Yes
CRM Integration: No

TweetDeck
Fees: free
Multiple Social Media Networks: Yes
Custom Analytics: No
Team Collaboration: No
Sechedule Messages: Yes
Mobile Apps: Yes
RSS/Blog Integration: No
Automated Reports: No
Monitor Mentions: Yes
Custom Dashboard: Yes
File Upload: Yes
Browser Extensions: Yes
CRM Integration: No

Seesmic
Fees: free
Multiple Social Media Networks: Yes
Custom Analytics: No
Team Collaboration: No
Sechedule Messages: Yes
Mobile Apps: Yes
RSS/Blog Integration: No
Automated Reports: No
Monitor Mentions: No
Custom Dashboard: Yes
File Upload: Yes
Browser Extensions: Yes
CRM Integration: Yes

10 Reasons To Adapt To Google Cloud Apps Today For Your 2012 Business Success (Video)

JB Brathwaite — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 22:33:51 +0000

Have you ever seen the savvy entrepreneur holding court in a coffee shop or making transactions at a Panera Bread as you’re grabbing your sandwich to go and rushing back to the office, only to wonder how you too could possibly spread your wings and make the world your workspace?

Well, with the right guidance, it’s easier than you think. And it can start with something as simple as your email.

Do you have a Google Gmail account that you’ve designated for personal use? Have you experienced the ease and functionality of your Gmail account and wished you could use your @mybusiness.com email just like Gmail? Well this and more is possible for your business. It’s time to take the limits off.
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Many think Microsoft Outlook email is the only way you can send, receive and organize your email for your business. This is understandable. Microsoft Outlook has dominated business email for decades. While there are other alternatives out there like Lotus Notes and Groupwise, none of them have ever come close to capturing the market Microsoft cornered with Outlook and the Outlook Exchange server.

Well now with the advent of Cloud computing, there is another alternative to Microsoft Outlook mail and more broadly, Microsoft Office. Google Apps is a service from Google providing independently customizable versions of several Google products under a custom domain name of your own. It features several Web applications with similar functionality to traditional office suites, including: Gmail, Google Groups, Google Calendar, Google Talk, Google Docs and Google Sites.

Unlike Microsoft Office, Google Apps is free and offers the same amount of storage with its business email accounts as regular Gmail accounts. Google Apps for Business, which offers additional e-mail storage, is available for an annual fee per user account.

If you are serious about moving your business onward and upward in ways never imagined, here are 10 reasons you should consider Google Apps now for the 2012 success of your business:

1. You get to try the Google Apps version for up to 10 users for free.

2. You get to put your branded name and logo in the control panel, ie. @yourdomain.com.
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3. Using Google Apps Sync for Microsoft Outlook will enable companies running Microsoft Exchange Server to migrate their email boxes from Microsoft Exchange to Google Apps.

4. Google Apps For Business gives you 25GB inbox storage per user. No more having to delete email in order to free up space.

5. You have access to online document storage for files of any type–unlimited storage for supported formats and 1GB for all others.

6. You’re granted freedom with mobile access, where you can sync with your Android, iPhone, Blackberry and other popular devices.

7. You’re freed of clutter and craziness with industry-leading spam filtering. Spam and virus protection and email content filtering.

8. You’re not left to fend for yourself. Google Apps For Business offers customer support 24/7 email and phone support.

9. The seatbelt sign is off and you are now free to move about the cabin: your work is 100% web-based. No software, hardware or cumbersome maintenance required, saving you time and money for business and pleasure.

10. You’ve got safety in numbers. Google Apps was built from the ground up with security in mind. Google Apps is the first cloud-based messaging and collaboration suite to achieve FISMA (Federal Information Security Management Act) certification.

I have been using these applications and training business owners on how to get lighter on their business feet using Google Apps for many years. Usually, it all starts with email. The more I write and speak about it, the more excited I get when I help people transition their business from the dinosaur fettering Microsoft Outlook to the nimble Google Apps For Business services. Companies like Hamilton Beach, Virgin America and National Geographic have all gone gaga over Google Apps, so why shouldn’t you?

Should I come again regarding the Top 10? Take a look at the videos below about Google Apps. These videos will give you an even greater understanding of how and why you should seriously consider going Google Apps. Let’s get started now so that come 2012 you’ll find yourself truly taking things to the next level.

All the best,

Monitoring Your Money Solutions That Help Track Your Past And Plan For Your Future

JB Brathwaite — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 20:26:50 +0000

Do you know how much money you spend on DVD movies every month? What about how many times you spend money in The Home Depot or Macy’s or even Starbucks? Well if you are like me you may *ahem* not quite realize just how much you are spending until that credit card bill or bank statement comes in the mail.

Usually we would have to go to multiple websites to see all the many transactions we make each day. Some of us have multiple bank accounts, several credit cards, investment accounts, car loans, mortgages and student loans–it might be challenging at times to keep track of it all.

With the economy struggling to get back on its feet we all have to be even more vigilant regarding the whereabouts of every dollar and coin. Here are two Cloud-based solutions that will help you confidently command like Rod Tidwell from the movie Jerry Maguire, “Show me the money!”

Mint and Buxfer are both online solutions that will help you organize and track your spending as well as help you budget and plan for the future all under one umbrella. I have used both services but I prefer Mint over Buxfer because of its ease of use and its recent acquisition by Intuit, the makers of Quicken.

I recently used Mint to help me cut down on my entertainment and restaurant expenses. It let me see how I was spending too much on services like Netflix when Redbox could serve my family without the monthly membership cost. It also gave me a breakdown of how many times fast food stealth runs ate away at our family’s monthly budget when our (well, OK, my) going to the grocery store instead would have made more economic sense.

One of my favorite features of Mint is the clickable graphs that visually track and show how and in what categories you are spending your money. Another is the email alerts that notify you of such things like exceeding your predetermined limits within your budget, or if your bank balance is getting lower than your designated dollar level.

All of this is done under one secure login that then synchronizes all of your accounts into one dashboard. Mint even gives you advice on how to start saving for an emergency fund and suggests ways you can plot financial goals to plan for retirement.

The more we know where our money is going, the more we can figure out how to wisely manage its moves. So I suggest you check out both of these services and see which one helps you save more on your bottom line.

Mint
Fees: Free
Mobile Apps: Yes
Email/SMS Alerts: Yes
Track Investment: Yes
Budgeting: Yes
Bill Reminders: Yes
Pay Bills: No
Track IOUs With Friends: No

Buxfer
Fees: Free – 3.99/month
Mobile Apps: Yes
Email/SMS: Yes
Track Investment: No
Budgeting: Yes
Bill Reminders: Yes
Pay Bills: Yes
Track IOUs With Friends: Yes

Microsoft Internet Explorer Is Dying A Slow Death at the Hands of Google Chrome

JB Brathwaite — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 20:22:09 +0000

How many of you remember the Internet Browser wars of the early 90’s? Did you know that the most dominant browser at the time was not Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, but a company called Netscape’s Netscape Navigator? It was the world’s most popular browser, accounting for 90% of all web use at its peak.
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Microsoft decided to get into the game by bundling Internet Explorer with the new release of their Windows 95 operating system. Back then you had to purchase the Netscape Navigator in order to browse the Internet. Microsoft gave the Internet Explorer to you for free with every purchase of a Windows 95 license. Needless to say, Internet Explorer gained dominance in the web browser market–Internet Explorer usage share peaked at over 95% by 2002..Netscape tried to fight back as best it could, but it was eventually bought out by AOL and has never been a contender since. What Netscape did do was start a foundation called Mozilla in an attempt to produce a competitive browser using the open source software model. That browser would eventually evolve into Firefox.

I was a huge fan of Firefox when it first came out and was an even bigger fan of its introduction of Tabbed browsing. Firefox was definitely my browser of choice until Google decided to get into the game with Chrome in 2008.

In just a few short years Google Chrome has climbed to number three on the browser list behind Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox. Chrome is now the most downloaded browser of all the major browsers including Internet Explorer. It is downloaded now over 117,000 times a day compared to Internet Explorer’s 41,000 per day, according to CNET Download.com.

So why is Google Chrome becoming the browser that everyone wants to use over Internet Explorer? The three main reasons are speed, simplicity and security.

Speed
Chrome is designed to be fast in every possible way: It’s quick to start up from your desktop, loads web pages in a snap, and runs complex web applications fast.

Simplicity
Chrome’s browser window is streamlined, clean and simple.Chrome also includes features that are designed for efficiency and ease of use. For example, you can search and navigate from the same box, and arrange tabs however you wish — quickly and easily.

Security
Chrome is designed to keep you safer and more secure on the web with built-in malware and phishing protection, autoupdates to make sure the browser is up-to-date with the latest security updates, and more.

These three features are what got me to try Google Chrome, but there are two other not so popular features that have made me use Chrome as my permanent default browser.

If you are like me and you enjoy tab browsing to its fullest, you have to understand that when you have too many tabs open at one time, you run the risk of crashing your entire browser due to memory limitations. Not only does Chrome cut down on your browser crashing but it will prevent one browser tab from crashing the others.

The second feature that has me hooked is the Google Chrome applications. These are applications built specifically for Chrome and come in three varieties called utilities, extensions and themes.

You can get these applications from the Google Chrome store. These applications are so helpful with my everyday tasks and endeavors that I am not sure what I would do without them. They range in applications that will help you keep track of your social media in Hootsuite to making interactive presentations using SlideRocket to providing a temporary release for downtime with Angry Birds.

The more I use the Google Chrome browser the more I am becoming ready to eventually go completely to the Cloud with the ultimate use of the Google Chrome OS. I don’t have my Chromebook on order just yet but I am steadily heading that way.

Downloading and installing Google Chrome is as easy as going to http://www.google.com/chrome and hitting the ‘Download’ button. Google Chrome is free and installs in seconds for Windows XP, Vista, and 7.

So if you are an Internet Explorer user and have not yet given Google Chrome a try just yet, I highly recommend you do. Even if you find you’re not ready to immediately go Chrome, I would boldly suggest you make it your second choice browser over Mozilla Firefox. More arguments for this to come…

All the best,

4 Payment Solutions That Will Help Your Business Get Paid FASTER

JB Brathwaite — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 18:50:11 +0000

If your business cannot accept credit/debit cards, you won’t be in business for long. There. I said it. Even in today’s challengingeconomic times there are still more consumers willing to use their credit/debit cards over cash or check.

At one time small businesses could not accept credit/debit cards online without first qualifying for a bank merchant account. Banks held all the power and we all had to go through them in order to enable our customers to pay with their Mastercard, Visa, Discover or American Express. That was then, this is now.

I will never forget the first time my business was affected as a result of not being able to accept credit cards. Ten years ago, I had just been awarded a contract to design a website for a large university. They wanted to use their university credit card to pay for my services. Unfortunately at the time I was unable to accept credit cards, so they had to go through the process of getting a check requisitioned to me for payment through the university’s purchasing department. I didn’t think this would be that big a deal. I had no idea it would be a three-month process to get it done.

Yes, I said three months. I won’t burden you with all the details of what went on–just know that I would’ve received payment in less than three days had I been able to accept credit cards at that time.

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Fast forward to today. Through services like PayPal, Google Checkout, Amazon Payments and Serve from American Express, we now have multiple options to get paid faster by accepting credit/debit cards.

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All of these services offer a better and faster means of getting paid without having to obtain a bank merchant account or wait many months to get a check in the mail. My payment service of choice happens to be PayPal, but I suggest you check out all these payment solutions and see which one works best for you and your business.

PayPal
Sign up: Free
Online Payments: Yes
Mobile Payments: Yes
Online Payment Buttons: Yes
Offline Payments: Yes
Fees: 2.9% + $0.30 PER TRANSACTION (Discounted Rates Available)

Google Checkout
Sign up: Free
Online Payments: Yes
Mobile Payments: Yes
Online Payment Buttons: Yes
Offline Payments: No
Fees: 2.9% + $0.30 PER TRANSACTION (Discounted Rates Available)

Amazon Payments
Sign up: Free
Online Payments: Yes
Mobile Payments: Yes
Online Payment Buttons: Yes
Offline Payments: No
Fees: 2.9% + $0.30 PER TRANSACTION (Discounted Rates Available)

Serve by American Express
Sign up: Free
Online Payments: Yes
Mobile Payments: Yes
Online Payment Buttons: No
Offline Payments: Yes
Fees: Free – 2.9% of the amount transferred + $0.30 per transfer

Thanks again for your support and please leave your thoughts and comments below.

All the best

Back up Solutions to Keep Your Precious Data Safe

JB Brathwaite — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 23:23:36 +0000

How are you backing up the data on your home/ home office computer?I recently had a client call me in complete distress over some photographs he could not find on his computer. He thought he’d accidentally deleted the folder they were in, and upon further investigation, sure enough he had.

We looked in his Windows recycling bin and unfortunately the folder was not there to be recovered by the standard methods to retrieve accidentally deleted files or folders in the Microsoft Windows operating system. My client had no duplicate copies anywhere else on the computer hard drive.Now, my client was under the impression that he was covered because he had an external hard drive that he used as a backup to his computer. He figured that all would be well with this extra fail-safe in place, right? Wrong. As Murphy’s Law would have it, his external back up died that very same day. The external drive would not power up no matter what we tried.

My client was again devastated with the news of the external hard drive’s demise. He was faced with the painful reality that the beloved childhood photos that documented his son’s life were gone, nowhere to be replaced.

Although this scenario may sound like the sort of bad luck that could not happen to you, believe me it could. My client is not the first to experience this calamity. Such stories abound all around the web.

Fortunately this story does have a happy ending.

My client works in a home office with his wife who assists him. The work on her computer was even more vulnerable than his, as she didn’t have an external hard drive on her computer to back up her files. To remove the risk of her files facing a similar demise, I recommended another back up plan: a service that would store her files online. I suggested Mozy, an online back up service that caters to the needs of the small business and home office niche. Mozy was able to back up not only the files on her hard drive, but also the files from my client’s external hard drive on his computer through the computer network.

After checking the Mozy online backup, we were able to retrieve the folder of priceless photos my client had mistakenly deleted. You can only imagine his relief.

Computer hard drives, both internal and external, can and eventually WILL fail. Don’t wait another moment to back up data that is precious to you and your business. There is nothing like peace of mind.

Here are some online back up services that I suggest you consider to protect your data from hard drive failure and natural disaster:

Online Backup Service	Stated Price	Price for 3 PCs and 50GB Data for 1 Year	Free Plan
Carbonite	$59/year/1 PC	$177	15-day trial
CrashPlan	$50/yr/1 PC unlimited	$120	30 day, and free local, friend
IDrive	$49.50/year/150GB/1 PC	$149.50	5GB free account
Jungle Disk	$3/month plus storage fees	$81	None.
KineticD	$2/GB/unlimited PCs	$100	14-day trial
MiMedia	$99/year/100GB/Unlimited PCs	$99	7GB free account
MozyHome	$5.99/mo/50GB/1 PC	$119.88	2GB free account
Nomadesk	$75/year/unlimited/3 PCs	$75 (subject to fair use policy)	30-day free trial
Norton Online Backup	$50/25GB/5 PCs	$100	30-day 5GB trial
SOS Online Backup	$79.95/year/5 PCs	$79.95	14-day trial

(Full disclosure: Mozy is a paid referral affiliate link. After doing my own due diligence, Mozy was the option I believed was best and the one I’ve trusted for my own backup storage needs.)

All the best,

PDF Powered Solutions

JB Brathwaite — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 14:20:39 +0000

What is a PDF file?

As defined by Wikipedia.com, Portable Document Format (PDF) is an open standard for document exchange. This file format created by Adobe Systems in 1993 is used for representing documents in a manner independent of application software, hardware, and operating systems. Each PDF file encapsulates a complete description of a fixed-layout flat document, including the text, fonts, graphics, and other information needed to display it.

PDF files were first used by offset printers to standardize the printing process when given a file in electronic format. Prior to that, the printers had to hope they had the fonts needed to exactly match what the client wanted. If they did not, they had to somehow try to recreate it. They also had to request and keep track of all the multiple “pieces” needed to build the client’s print job, and deal with color separation issues for any graphics. With all these hoops and potential challenges, the client often ran the risk of being disappointed that the print job wasn’t exactly as they’d envisioned it.

The creation of the PDF eliminated all of that hassle. Now, printers work from PDF files created by the client, to exact desired “what-you-see-is-what-you-get” specifications.

Today most of us use the PDF file as one of the best ways to send documents via email. Creating a PDF file can now be done through the Microsoft Office Suite. You can convert your Microsoft Word, Excel or PowerPoint file to PDF format.

Converting your software files to PDF helps reduce the size of the file so it can be easily transported via email or downloaded from a website on the Internet. Downloading the free Adobe Acrobat Reader software that can be found on Adobe.com makes opening PDF files equally as easy.

At one time the only other way to convert files to the PDF file format was through the use of Adobe’s $199.00 program Acrobat X Pro. Thankfully for the budget-conscious individual and small business owner, that is no longer the case. I have listed a few web/cloud and software-based solutions that make it easy to convert and manipulate almost any PDF file format–for free and almost free:

All-in-One online PDF reader, editor, form filler, & form designer
Pdfescape.com – Free with regisitration. Ad Free version $10 for Life

Creating PDF files
PrimoPDF -Freeware
Pdf995 – Freeware
Cutepdf – Freeware
Adobe CreatPDF – $9.99/month

Converting Microsoft Word files to PDF
Microsoft Office 2003-2010 – $150-499
Google Apps - Free
PDFOnline – Free and Freeware
Doc2PDF – Free and Freeware
Wordtopdf – Free and Freeware

Converting PDF files to Microsoft Word files
PDF2Word- Free
Pdftoword – Free to Freeware
Convertpdftoword – Free
Freepdfconvert – Free

Merging PDF Files into one Document
Pdfmerge – Free (PayPal donation)

Split a PDF file into one or more pieces online
Splitpdfonline – Free (PayPal donation)

Convert HTML web pages to PDF files
Htmlpd f – Free (PayPal donation)

Convert PDF files to Images (jpg)
Convert PDF to JPG – Free

Add password protection to your PDF files online
Pdfprotect – Free (PayPal donation)

Remove passwords and restrictions from secured PDF files
Pdfunl ock – Free (PayPal donation)

Fill-Out PDF Forms on-line
Pd ffiller - Free – $29.99/year

If you have any additional PDF file services to add to this list please contribute them via the comments below.
If this solution helped you, please help us spread the word by using the button above and below to share
it with your Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+ friends.

All the best

A Beginner’s 5-Step Solution to Email Marketing Success

JB Brathwaite — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 02:38:47 +0000

At first glance, putting together an email marketing campaign can seem daunting. How does one even know where to begin? Well, the best place to start is by thinking through and considering all the steps. After all, how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. Once you apply this simple 5-step process for fail-proof permission-based email marketing you’ll be equipped to you simplify the email marketing process and execute successful campaigns.
Step 1:
Start by using permission-based email software (such as iContact, Constant Contact or Mailchimp) that make it possible to easily create e-newsletters, automatically manage subscribes, unsubscribes and bounces and provide you with view reporting statistics like opens and click-throughs.

Step 2:
Decide on the type and frequency of the email communications you will be sending. I recommend sending at least one newsletter per month. You can send multiple newsletters if you sell different types of products or services. You can also send promotional messages offering a discount or a coupon for a product or service.

Step 3:
Add a sign-up form to your website so you can start collecting subscribers and import any existing lists of subscribers that have already requested your communications. It is generally considered acceptable to import the names of anyone who has done business with you in the past year, if you will be sending content relevant to what they purchased.

Step 4:
Choose email template that works with your image/brand by using the templates provided within the email software, having your in-house team create one, or by using the custom design services of your email software company. iContact, Constant Contact and Mailchimp offer hundreds of design template options that can be used free of charge.

Step 5:
Develop relevant and high-quality content for your newsletter or message, and send it out to your list. Continue sending your e-newsletters, announcements and offers with consistent frequency. As your list grows, you will see increased traffic (and if applicable, increased sales) on the day of and the days following an email send.

Following are pertinent details regarding the email marketing services that I recommend (Full disclosure: my links to iContact and Constant Contact are affiliate links through which I am compensated if you sign up and then pay for the monthly service).

iContact
Pricing: Free – $699.00 (Subscriber based)
Free trial: 30 days
Free limited version: Yes
Support: Phone, Chat and Email
Headquarters:
5221 Paramount Pkwy.
Suite 200
Morrisville, NC 27560
(877) 820-7837
@icontact

Constant Contact
Pricing: Free – $150.00+ (Subscriber based)
Free trial: 60 days
Free limited version: Yes
Support: Phone and Email
Headquarters:
Reservoir Place
1601 Trapelo Road
Waltham, MA 02451
Phone: 781-472-8100
@constantcontact

Mailchimp
Pricing: Free – $240.00+(Subscriber based)
Free trial: 0 – 2,000 subscribers
Free limited version: Yes
Support: Chat and Email
Headquarters:
512 Means St
Suite 404
Atlanta, GA , 30318 USA
@mailchimp