(Add to Favorites | View All Articles | Resource Directory)
|
|
|
Get your business off the ground affordably7 Essentinal Resources for Small BusinessSo you want to start a business but you don't have a lot of money? Start your business online, and it won't be a problem. There are some pretty terrific resources you can use. Some of them you have to pay for, but they are inexpensive and can get you started quickly and easily. 1. A domain and web hosting. If you want others to see you as a professional and take you seriously, then you need to invest in your own domain and web hosting. Purchased separately, the cost can add up very quickly. Here are some very low cost solutions to help you put your name on the map. Dot Easy - http://www.doteasy.com - For only $25 per year, you can purchase your own domain. The web hosting is completely free. Although this hosting account is stripped of all the bells and whistles like CGI, you still get 15MB of bannerless hosting for free, and if you build minisites, this is a really cheap way for you to get started. Buy a domain a month, and before you know it, you have your own empire of products set up for a lot less than if you had bought all of this separately. Go Daddy - http://www.godaddy.com - Although as far as I know they offer domain names for the cheapest price on the Internet at $6.95, their service is pretty good. I buy all of my domains here, and I've never had any problems. Free Web Space - http://100best-free-web-space.com/ - If money is a real problem right now, but you still want to make a good impression, then this site can help you find the most affordable web hosting or even bannerless hosting that's free. Remember, you get what you pay for, so eventually, when you can afford it, upgrade. There are some good budget web hosts out there like Dot Easy, but for the most part, you get what you pay for. 2. Web Site Creation Tools. There are some fantastic tools on the Internet you can use to build your web site, and they're all free. Considered to be the best HTML editor online, Front Page 2000 will give you hundreds of scripts, as well as a free FTP client you can unzip into the directory and upload your files directly from the HTML editor. There are four different modes, including beginner and expert, so no matter what level at creating HTML you are, this free editor will definitely help you. You'll find it here: http://www.evrsoft.com. While you're there, make sure you check out the free metatag creator, as well as some of the other great free online tools you'll find there. 3. Scripts. If you want to get the most from your web site, scripts will help you do this. You don't have to be an expert in installation either. You can quickly and easily learn how to install them. I taught myself from reading some of the webmaster sites online. You have two choices when it comes to installing scripts on your site: You can install them yourself, or you can use remotely hosted scripts. Remotely hosted scripts are great when you don't have a CGI bin on your site. This site is offering scripts for free: http://site-by-design.com/affiliates.php - Scripts include: Autoresponder Script, Fly-In Ads Script, Paid To Read Emails Script, Safelist Script, Rotator Script, Homepage Traffic Script. Definitely worth a look. Two resources that offer a wide variety of scripts in different formats are: http://www.cgiextremes.com/ http://www.hotscripts.com If you want remotely hosted scripts, the best sites I have found are: http://www.cgispy.com http://www.bravenet.com 4. Autoresponders. Autoresponders will help you in two ways: you can use them for your opt in lists and ezines, and you can also use them to follow up with your customers. With opt in lists and ezines, an autoresponder will save you the trouble of handling subscribe and unsubscribe requests, which can become very tedious after awhile. This will allow you to automate the mundane part of building a relationship with your customers and newsletter subscribers, providing you with the credibility you need online to make the sale. Two sites that offer free autoresponders that are very reliable are: http://www.getresponse.com/ http://www.sendfree.com/ Please note: when using free autoresponders, the site owner will send his/her ads with your messages. This is valuable message real estate. It's better to pay for your autoresponders, if possible, so that you can place your own ads in the headers and footers of all your messages. 5. Online Tools. There is a whole host of online tools you can use to help you with your business including email formatters, newsletter formatters, sales letter and press release formatters, as well as wizards to help you build your web site. Below are some of the best: Pertinent Inc. - http://www.pertinent.com - Offers a free press release creator, as well as a sales letter generator. Free Online Wizards - http://www.thesitewizard.com/wizards/index.shtml - This site offers everything from a wizard to help you syndicate your content to form creators and drop down menu creators. Lots of tips and articles too. Email Formatter - http://www.formatit.com - Tired of getting emails with a ton of >>>>> in them? You can use this site to strip those tags out, as well as reformat your emails to any width. Great for formatting articles too. 6. Business Software. You can find thousands of dollars in free software to help you build your business by searching through software sites online. My favorite is Freeware Home: http://www.freewarehome.com. You'll find over 7,000 applications at last count here, and they're all free, full sized versions of the program. Two applications you won't want to be without are: Open Office - http://www.openoffice.org - Formerly Star Office, this open source application is the best rival to Microsoft Office. You can use it to do everything from convert your documents to PDF, to word processing, spreadsheets, and presentations. There's also a version for MAC, making this a must see application when you can't afford other expensive applications. Banana Cash Books - http://www.banana.ch/banana4/eng/bc4_cashbook.shtml - Although this single entry accounting program accepts just about any currency, if you want to use the accounting method the IRS recommends for small business, this nice little free program will definitely do the trick. 7. Business Education. Once you have your business up and running, it's a good idea to stay up to date with your business and marketing knowledge. There are a lot of great ways to do this including forums, article directories, mailing lists, and newsletters. There are also some great resource heavy sites out there you can benefit from. Below are three of my favorites: My 1st Business - http://www.my1stbusiness.com - Run by Ben Botes, you'll find plenty of ecourses, seminars and more covering small business, ecommerce, marketing, and other topics. You need to sign up for an account, but it's free, and definitely worth a look. Free Marketing Resources - http://www.jdbmail.com/ - Run by Jimmy D. Brown, one of my all time favorite marketers, and quite frankly, one of the best, you'll find audio, ecourses, and other resources in plain English that can teach you how to market online. Jimmy doesn't just teach you what to do; he shows you how to do it, and he spells it out. It doesn't matter if you are a complete newbie, or if you have been marketing for some time. You'll benefit from Jimmy's excellent teaching. Ebook Directory - http://www.ebookdirectory.com - Run by Noel Hynes, this is the most comprehensive collection of small business and Internet marketing ebooks on the Internet, and they're absolutely free. You'll also find plenty of other ebooks here including motivational, writing, and a whole lot more. There are plenty of free resources on the Internet to help you build your business. The trick is learning when you should buy products and services for your business and when you can get a freebie that will do the job just as well and sometimes better. A quick search of Alexa, http://www.alexa.com, will help you find some of the best. Jinger Jarrett is a former military journalist and newspaper reporter who teaches and consults on article writing. You can get her latest ebook, (it's free), "100+ Best FREE and Paid Resources for Writers, Internet Marketers, and Small Business
MORE RESOURCES: News provided by Yahoo! News and Google News Take a small business health check Airport restaurant... small biz corner - The Jackson Citizen Patriot - MLive.com Next Street, Citi create $30M small-biz lending fund - Crain's New York Business Florida small biz owners eye primary - CBS News Oh baby! Small biz scores huge Angry Birds deal - CNN What do Google's privacy policy changes mean to your small biz? - Crain's Chicago Business (blog) Is Facebook advertising right for your small business? Small biz and targeted tax breaks moving in Fla. House - Bizjournals.com |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Looking for small business financing $37.4 million funded from venture capital today. If your business requires your presence to proceed What was your aim when you went into business for yourself? Chances are you wanted to be your own boss, be in control of your future, improve your chances of earning a high income, among other things.How are things for you right now? Do you feel in control of your business? How many hours do you put into your business each day? Each week? Will your current business enable you to retire in the next 10, 20 years?Do you sometimes feel overwhelmed by all the administrative tasks involved in running a business? Do you wish life could be simpler?More importantly, if you don't work, does your cash continue to flow (inwards, that is)?You see, if you can't take a vacation for fear that you won't make any money while you're away, or if your business is such that you're paid per hour (meaning that if you're not working you're not getting paid), then what you are is a glorified employee, and your business owns you. Yeah, It IS Lonely At the Top Sometimes when you run a business you feel as lonely as the Maytag repairman. Loneliness and isolation are very common problems for business owners. A Look at Small Business Incorporating in Florida The choice to incorporate a small business in Florida has several advantages. Corporations are separate legal entities and, as such, the corporation rather than individual owners pay both the taxes and the liabilities. Retail Customer Opportunities for Pressure Washing Companies Pressure washing companies must look for customers in the retail industry to make sure they stay busy. Large Box Stores and Grocery Stores are often you best customers in that regard. Mini-Blind Cleaning Business, Case Study Sometimes the simple businesses are the ones, which make good money. Take mini-blind cleaning for instance. Ten tips for a brilliant marketing strategy A Brilliant Marketing Idea.. Selling Your Business, Entrepreneurs Role $elling $elling $ellingWhat makes a great sales person? Well, the natural ability to sell defnitely could not hurt. Sales people are a passionate, obviously people oriented, motivated and energetic bunch. Dispute Resolution; Competing With Other Franchisees If you are in a franchise and have a territory dispute with another franchisee you need to prevent a lawsuit use dispute resolution techniques to resolve the dispute. Competing with other franchisees is a subject that franchisors would prefer not to need to talk about. Collection Agency Selection Frankly, given the legal and regulatory requirements involved in attempting to collect a debt, it makes as much sense to do it yourself as it does to try to remove your own appendix. A collection agency is, on the whole, much cheaper than a doctors - and lawyers. Franchising Companies Relationship Strategies Franchising Corporations need to maintain an iron fist when it comes to certain things in order to maintain absolute integrity of the system; Consistency, Quality, Cleanliness and Customer Courtesy or Service. Ray Kroc in his book; "Grinding it Out" made that point perfectly clear, some called him a hard ass on the details and indeed it served him well and turned 11,000 franchisees into millionaires along with some 1500 executives early on. Using Excel Payroll Sheet to Make Payroll System Easier For the employees, payday is the brightest day; they finally get the compensation they so well deserve for the services they rendered. For the employer, this could be nerve-wracking, not because they don't want to pay their employees, but because some employers have a hard time calculating the payroll. Where to Find a Cash Windfall of $10,000 to $1,000,000 -- You Never Knew You Had There is a rather famous true story called "Acres of Diamonds".It is about a successful farmer who risks everything searching the African continent for diamonds. The Skills Gap: It Pays to Use Experts By outsourcing to skilled professionals you'll be able to grow your business without adding overhead.Here are some of the costs associated with growing a business through acquiring staff:* recruitment* payroll and tax obligations* national insurance* employers liability* benefits (pension, car, medical, dental)* holiday pay / sick pay / maternity pay / water cooler pay!* office space* equipment or general office supplies* legal responsibilities that include employee policies on working hours, sexual harassment, sick time, leave of absence, holidays, benefits, performance reviews, grievances, terminations* training* managementDo not underestimate the time and money involved in recruiting and retaining staff. Small Business Owners - They Owe You The Money Why Dont They Pay? Doesn't it frustrate you when you've given good service, sometimes super service, and the customer doesn't pay you?Some of them aren't doing too well and are struggling for cash, but, gee, so are you. In the time they take to pay they could have paid off a little each week and the debt would be gone. Dynamics of Daylight Savings Time on Service Businesses in the United States The Dynamics of Daylight Savings Time changes the way we live and do business. What are the true dynamics of daylight Savings. Hispanic Small Business Advantage One thing I have noticed in my travels to different markets is that Hispanic Small Business Owners have a very distinct advantage. They are friendly and very involved in their communities. How to improve customer trust The stock market is still on a wild roller coaster ride. Trust in business is at an all time low. Using Business Broker In the Franchising Industry for Franchise Sales Franchising companies often use Business Broker to help attain sales goals. Here is an interesting fact. How to Become Successful in the Field of Financial Consultants Financial Consultants are one of the fastest growing industries today. More and more people are requiring the services of a finance consultant to get out of debt, and/or prepare for educational and retirement expenses.
|
| Home | Site Map | Privacy Statement | More Articles |
| © 2006 |