Your Small Business Toolbox - More Value For Less Cost » Manage Your Finances http://101freetools.com/articles Fri, 10 Sep 2010 04:40:34 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 en hourly 1 Small Business Secret: A New Way To Accept Credit Cards http://101freetools.com/articles/2010/08/small-business-secret-a-new-way-to-accept-credit-cards.html http://101freetools.com/articles/2010/08/small-business-secret-a-new-way-to-accept-credit-cards.html#comments Fri, 13 Aug 2010 04:01:48 +0000 Tonya R. Taylor http://101freetools.com/articles/?p=1425

Shhhh, here’s a small business secret for accepting credit cards you need to know about because…

“We no longer take cash”.

Those were the words I heard from a flight attendant on a business trip a few weeks ago. The flight attendant was giving the cabin information on the list of cocktails available to purchase.

I’m thinking (but said allowed without noticing), “Huh?! Really, who doesn’t take cash?”

We are 10,000 feet in the air; all WiFi enabled electronic devices are now in airplane mode which means no connection. How will they process a credit card?

To my surprise the flight attendants were equipped with handheld devices to swipe a credit card that immediately returned an authorization number. NICE.

Guess what!?

Did you know you too can accept credit card payments anywhere? There is a new way for businesses to accept credit cards without having a merchant account.

Time to be Square

Square is a card reader where you can accept credit card payments on any device with an audio input jack.

You guessed it! This includes your mobile phone.

It works on the iPhone also on the iPad or iPod Touch and on Google Android phones (sidebar: I got a Droid two weeks ago and love it). Square was created by Jack Dorsey. Yes, the same Jack Dorsey who is cofounder of Twitter.

Square allows you to start accepting card payments (and cash too) at anytime from anywhere. Square is different from a merchant account because there are no contracts, no monthly fees, or hidden costs. You don’t even have to pay for the equipment; which is just a small mobile card reader device.

Square Greens Your Business

With Square there is no paper to store or keep track of for your business or customers.

Using Square you can review track and manage the money you are paid online with their simple, easy to use payments page. All Square transactions; your cash, credit card purchases and credit card payments can be accessed securely from anywhere. You can quickly see how much you’ve made for the day, organized by tax, payment method and tips (if you accept them).  Best of all your data can be downloaded in other programs.

All receipts are sent to your customer’s mobile phone and kept in a well organized view.  You customers can browse photos of every item they purchased, read descriptions, and share the list with others.

How To Get Your Square

If you are ready to get your square (remember it doesn’t cost you a cent to get one) here’s what you need to do:

  1. download the app form iTunes or the Android Market
  2. follow the instruction on the app to create an account

Important Square TIPS

  • You have to be approved to accept credit card payments. You must provide your SSN, DOB and receive a simple background check (same as a merchant account)
  • You have to wait to receive your Square card reader until you are approved
  • You have restrictions on getting your money (due to fraud potential). Limited to the $1000 immediately, $1000 each week then 30 days you get the rest. The Square team is working on ways to increase the limits.

Just like Twitter, Square will be the next big thing for small businesses, so get your now. Are you using Square for your business? Let me know in the comments below.

Photo courtesy: microsoft.com






Copyright © 2010 Rising Star Ideas, LLC. All Rights Reserved


Tonya R. Taylor, Your Savvy Online Business Builder, is dedicated to helping you learn how to use the internet to build a bigger more profitable business. Subscribe to the weekly newsletter Building Blocks to get how-to articles, tips and resources so you can Spend Less and Make More.




If you liked today's article check out these related articles:

  1. Ten ways to take your business out the office and into your phone
  2. 3 tools to help your small business get paid faster
  3. Your secret weapon for creating new streams of revenue

]]> http://101freetools.com/articles/2010/08/small-business-secret-a-new-way-to-accept-credit-cards.html/feed 2 Manage your money in five minutes or less http://101freetools.com/articles/2010/06/manage-your-money-in-five-minutes-or-less.html http://101freetools.com/articles/2010/06/manage-your-money-in-five-minutes-or-less.html#comments Fri, 04 Jun 2010 04:04:52 +0000 Tonya R. Taylor http://101freetools.com/articles/?p=1302

Before I start telling you about this amazing money management find recently added to “Your Small Business Toolbox” let me say this…

YES this tool is TOTALLY free.

And really it’s a service every financial institution should offer, PERIOD!

With that, I’m sure you can tell I love this tool!

This one tool is the answer I have been searching for to help me with bookkeeping, for the past 5 years or so. At first it was scary; I was a little reluctant to try it because it I had to enter detailed financial information.

But then I remembered the information I needed to share is the EXACT information I need to use Quickbooks, which was driving me crazy. I didn’t want to hire a bookkeeper (again!) just to help me enter and reconcile transactions or to run quarterly reports. Ugh!

So I decided to give it a try…

Introducing Mint.com “The best free way to manage and grow your money”.

And their tag line is not hype; you’ll quickly learn it’s the truth.

Mint.com is an online tool used to visibly manage, monitor and track all your accounts; even Paypal, in one place with one login. This tool will help you understand your money in ways you never imagined.  To give you the freshest possible information, your accounts are updated each time you login automatically.

Mint.com has read only access to your accounts so you cannon (nor can anybody else) transfer money, pay bills or make purchases.

According to the Mint.com website the tool was created for personal finances but I have found it can be used for business too. To be clear Mint.com does not do financial reporting like:

    • Balance sheets
    • Profit and Loss Statements (P&L)
    • Accounts Receivable or Accounts Payable
    • Aging Reports
    • Cash-flow Analysis

However you can use Mint.com for business to:

  1. Track trends – with the click of the mouse use the trending graphs and charts to visual see your spending, income and debt over time by categories, merchants or tags.
  2. Plan your budget -  Budget planning – create spending budgets that occur monthly, every few months or only once. Get this you can automatically rollover unspent funds to the next month. Cool!
  3. Get alerts – receive an email or text message to remind you to pay bills, low balance limits, unusual spending, bank fees, large purchases or if you go over your allotted budget.
  4. Manage remotely – Use all these features on their handing mobile apps for the  iPhone and Android.

If you are not ready to create an account (remember I was there too!), check out the Mint.com “Ways to Save” page. You can use their suite of 7 tools use to help you find savings for credit cards, checking accounts, savings account, CDs, Brokerage, 401k Rollover and Auto Insurance all without creating an account.

Using Mint.com for business allows you to set it and forget it. Giving you the power to easily manage your business finances in five minutes or less.

Have you used Mint.com let me know in the comments below

Photo courtesy: microsoft.com






Copyright © 2010 Rising Star Ideas, LLC. All Rights Reserved


Tonya R. Taylor, Your Savvy Online Business Builder, is dedicated to helping you learn how to use the internet to build a bigger more profitable business. Subscribe to the weekly newsletter Building Blocks to get how-to articles, tips and resources so you can Spend Less and Make More.




If you liked today's article check out these related articles:

  1. Your Small Business Toolbox – Money In The Bank
  2. 7 money-saving ideas
  3. Starting a business (or continuing) with no money?

]]> http://101freetools.com/articles/2010/06/manage-your-money-in-five-minutes-or-less.html/feed 0 Your Small Business Toolbox – Money In The Bank http://101freetools.com/articles/2010/04/your-small-business-toolbox-%e2%80%93-money-in-the-bank.html http://101freetools.com/articles/2010/04/your-small-business-toolbox-%e2%80%93-money-in-the-bank.html#comments Fri, 09 Apr 2010 04:03:07 +0000 Tonya R. Taylor http://101freetools.com/articles/?p=1190 Your Small Business Toolbox

Small business problem: On a shoestring budget but need sensible solutions to address tomorrow’s technology needs today.

Your Small Business Toolbox is dedicated to providing businesses with time and money saving free or low cost online tools. Inside Your Small Business Toolbox you will find 101 plus free tools with articles to get immediate results in social media, marketing your business, growing your website, managing your finances and running your business.

You get maximum value at minimum cost from the tools found in these topics:

How To Use Social Media

Social media, who has time? Social media sites like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, MySpace are no longer optional for business. However, many small business owners are discouraged with the social networking sites because they don’t see social networking as marketing and they find it hard to measure return on investment (ROI).

If you’re considering adding Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn to your marketing strategy these practical tips and articles provide a winning combination that makes a difference.

How To Market Your Business

Whether you are a beginner or an expert you will find easy free tools for marketing your small business that really work. You will find some amazingly unparalleled information you need to know guaranteed to create new streams of revenue and increase customer loyalty.

In these tough economic times these tips and articles provide straight talk about a secret weapons your small business can use to turbo-charge your income.

How To Grow Your Website

Do you know who your visitors are, where they are visiting from and what pages they view on your website? Do you make it make it easy for visitors to share your content on Twitter, Facebook, email or one of the many social bookmarking sites?

To be perfectly honest, it doesn’t matter if your website is built on a web 2.0 platform or not these tips and articles provide information to increase your website traffic that will turn visitors into customers.

How To Manage Your Finances

It doesn’t matter whether you are a solopreneur, a home-based business or small business you want to know how can I get paid faster? Right! Simply stated, you need high-performing tools for your small business to create invoices and keep track of business expenses.

Look for more tips and articles inside “Your Small Business Toolbox” featuring the most flexible financial planning options like accepting payments online, adding shopping carts to your website and cash flow analysis.

How To Run Your Business

It doesn’t matter whether you are getting started or already have a business in place, imagine being able to leverage free tools to run your business smarter instead of harder. Do you fax, create PDF documents, use email services or have a small business phone services?

This topic has a growing number of online tools you can count on. Compare for yourself  the tips and articles to determine which tools benefit your business most.

Your Small Business Toolbox is a great resource because it identifies with online technology needs of small business owners, solopreneurs, home-based business and many other small business owners.

Small business solution: Visit 101 Free Tools.com often to find 123 (and counting) high quality tools and articles guaranteed to keep more money in your bank.


Are you using free tools discovered in Your Small Business Toolbox? Let me know in the comments below.

Photo courtesy: microsoft.com






Copyright © 2010 Rising Star Ideas, LLC. All Rights Reserved


Tonya R. Taylor, Your Savvy Online Business Builder, is dedicated to helping you learn how to use the internet to build a bigger more profitable business. Subscribe to the weekly newsletter Building Blocks to get how-to articles, tips and resources so you can Spend Less and Make More.




If you liked today's article check out these related articles:

  1. Small Business: Improve Your Website No Webmaster Needed
  2. Social Media ROI
  3. 3 tools to make your website or blog social media friendly

]]> http://101freetools.com/articles/2010/04/your-small-business-toolbox-%e2%80%93-money-in-the-bank.html/feed 0 3 tools to help your small business get paid faster http://101freetools.com/articles/2010/02/3-tools-to-help-your-small-business-get-paid-faster.html http://101freetools.com/articles/2010/02/3-tools-to-help-your-small-business-get-paid-faster.html#comments Fri, 26 Feb 2010 05:05:02 +0000 Tonya R. Taylor http://101freetools.com/articles/?p=1072 101 Free Tools

It doesn’t matter whether you are a solopreneur like me, a home-based business or small business we all want to know the same thing…How can we get paid faster? One sure-fire way to generate cash flow is to send your clients an invoice as soon as possible.

You could always use your favorite publishing software to generate a professional looking invoice. However with this option you miss out on some much needed additional features like setting-up recurring invoices, tracking, reporting and so much more.

But to really get the cash flowing fast you have to offer customers a way to pay their invoices as quickly as you send them. The most flexible options include accepting payments online via electronic checks, ACH funds transfer or credit card.

Simply stated, you need tools to help your small business get paid faster!

Me too!

Since American Express is my business card of choice, I was so excited when they announced their new invoicing service for small business owners AcceptPay. AcceptPay is an online tool for electronically invoicing customers and accepting online payments.

Great! I signed up right away.

AcceptPay has two options; a free lite version or a monthly fee full version. On the surface the free version appeared to be a nice option for a small business. Until I realized they restrict the number of monthly invoices you can email to 10, it does not include any reporting and you cannot accept online payments.

What’s the purpose of sending electronic invoices if your customers can’t make a payment online?  RIGHT!?

The full service version has a monthly fee of $20 plus you have to pay a number of per transaction fees. After taking a look at this option I realized with the features they offer you can get even more using the free version of PayPal minus the monthly fee.

Now don’t get me wrong I love and frequently use PayPal but there is an even better tool for invoicing your customers.  The best model I’ve seen for online invoicing is FreshBooks and I’m already using it.

FreshBooks is so much more than an invoicing tool. It’s an accounting system with simple services that help you manage your business. You can:

  • Use a secure web address to access your account, branded with your business name.
  • You can track time of your staff or a contractor with time sheets by projects or tasks. They will login using your branded FreshBooks web address.
  • Share documents with your staff and clients, set access levels to restrict who can see what.
  • Create support tickets to help manage additional time spent with customers.
  • Send snail mail invoices by the US Postal Service prepared by the FreshBooks team, just purchase stamp credits.  Invoices are sent via first class business mail within one business day.

FreshBooks has 5 different paid plan options and 1 free plan. The free plan is robust with only two restrictions; you are limited to 3 clients but you can invoice them as much as you need. Your emails will have an added signature at the very bottom that reads: “Save time invoicing with FreshBooks (www.freshbooks.com)”.  It’s so small you or your customers will hardly notice it. In my opinion that’s a small price to pay to create a free small business invoice.

For online invoicing and so much more Rising Star Ideas, LLC recommends FreshBooks.

How do you invoice your customers and how do they pay; check or online? Let me know in the comments below.



Copyright © 2010 Rising Star Ideas, LLC. All Rights Reserved


Tonya R. Taylor, Your Savvy Online Business Builder, is dedicated to helping you learn how to use the internet to build a bigger more profitable business. Subscribe to the weekly newsletter Building Blocks to get how-to articles, tips and resources so you can Spend Less and Make More.




If you liked today's article check out these related articles:

  1. One Tool and Five Ideas To Add Video To Your Small Business
  2. Small Business Secret: A New Way To Accept Credit Cards
  3. Your Small Business Toolbox – Money In The Bank

]]> http://101freetools.com/articles/2010/02/3-tools-to-help-your-small-business-get-paid-faster.html/feed 2 2010 Business Resolution: Save money – use free tools http://101freetools.com/articles/2010/01/2010-business-resolution-save-money-use-free-tools.html http://101freetools.com/articles/2010/01/2010-business-resolution-save-money-use-free-tools.html#comments Fri, 08 Jan 2010 16:48:53 +0000 Tonya R. Taylor http://101freetools.com/articles/?p=944 Believe it or not we are only one week into the new year and people have already 2010 New Year's Resultionstarted breaking their resolutions. Have you? Does your list look like this:

  1. lose weight
  2. exercise
  3. drink more water
  4. quit smoking
  5. earlier to bed
  6. drink less
  7. pay off credit cards
  8. phone mom more
  9. etc.

I’m sure at least one of these sound familiar to you, right?

Imagine the overwhelming number of people who put “lose weight” on their personal resolution list to do this year, last year and even the year before. SMH (for those who don’t know this is short hand for “shaking my head”) because I too am one of those people.

Now imagine, the number of business owners who have put “grow my business” on that same type of list. Both business and personal resolutions fail because they are not focused, too broad and/or don’t have a plan.

Check out these 5 specific and measurable ways you can use free tools today to save money and grow your business. Repeat after me…In 2010 I resolve to:

1. Learn how to rake in more cash using an Opt-In email list – with a free eCourse

Email marketing is still an extremely effective way to get folks to take action. This free eCourse will teach you 21 simple things you can do to immediately increase your traffic, responses, sales and profits. Some of these tips teach you how to get more people to open your email; others teach you how to get more people to  read your email; and still other tips teach you how to get more people to take action.

2. Increase my revenue while I sleep – with Paypal

Let your customers pay for your products or services online, anytime, anywhere. According to Paypal small-to-medium-sized businesses that use their service get an average sales lift of 14%. There are no monthly fees, set-up fees or cancellation fees; however there are (small) per transaction fees. You can automatically add customers to your email marketing (with MailChimp see #5) list instantly and seamlessly whenever they buy from you.

3. Track my website visitors and Twitter followers  – with Clicky Analytics

Know who your visitors are, where they are visiting from and what pages they view on your website. See your Twitter growth stats in one location with your traffic data. Clicky Analytics makes it easy to improve your results online with real-time analytics. With this information you will write better content, strengthen your marketing initiatives, and turn visitors into customers.

4. Save money on conference calls – with FreeConference.com

Reduce or eliminate the expensive of hosting conference calls. When using toll-free numbers the conference organizer will (usually) pay a per minute rate for each participant in the conference. With Free Conference long distance rates are charged to each individual conference participant’s by their long distance carrier. Conference calls take place on regular telephone lines and no computer or Internet access is required.

5. Turbo-charge my email marketing campaigns – with Mailchimp

Even if you already have an email marketing tool, I’ll bet you don’t have functionality like MailChimp. Creating stunning email marketing campaigns and autoresponders is just the beginning. MailChimp lets you share your email campaign across social networks Twitter and Facebook. MailChimp can automatically tweet your campaign the moment it is sent. They will even track how many times your campaign was re-tweeted and let you know who’s doing the re-tweeting. With their cool Facebook feature you can post your newsletter to your news feeds with one-click.

By creating specific and measurable goals for your business this year doesn’t have to be like previous years. Implementing these free tools today will help you, repeat after me “I resolve to WIN in 2010″. Make this the year you succeed in accomplishing your business (and personal) resolutions.



Copyright © 2010 Rising Star Ideas, LLC. All Rights Reserved


Tonya R. Taylor, Your Savvy Online Business Builder, is dedicated to helping you learn how to use the internet to build a bigger more profitable business. Subscribe to the weekly newsletter Building Blocks to get how-to articles, tips and resources so you can Spend Less and Make More.

P.S. Are you still saying "I don’t get Twitter?" Take charge, download my free report guaranteed to reveal why Twitter is a priceless effective business tool for a women owned business, entrepreneur, sales professional, event planner, professional organizer, solo professional and many other small business owners. You’ll get answers to the top "I don’t get Twitter" frequently asked questions (FAQ) on how to get greater results using Twitter for business. You get insider secrets to quickly gain an advantage over those businesses who choose to ignore Twitter without spending a ton of money advertising and marketing.




If you liked today's article check out these related articles:

  1. Business Resolution: Use free tools to grow my business
  2. 3 tools to turbo charge your social media marketing
  3. 5 Business Resolutions You Can Easily Keep

]]> http://101freetools.com/articles/2010/01/2010-business-resolution-save-money-use-free-tools.html/feed 0 7 money-saving ideas http://101freetools.com/articles/2009/05/7-money-saving-ideas.html http://101freetools.com/articles/2009/05/7-money-saving-ideas.html#comments Fri, 08 May 2009 05:01:20 +0000 Tonya R. Taylor http://fakeituntilyoumakeit.com/?p=534 May 11, 2009 will mark yet another increase in postage from the United States Postal Service (USPS). As a result, you are working hard to offset these costs by searching for creative ways to save money.

Unfortunately, visiting your local brick and mortar post office won’t help, because the real savings happens online. Believe it or not, whether you’ve got one customer or thousands, USPS.com has several FREE tools to help YOU save money and time. These tools are so simple you’ll wonder how you ever managed without them.

I’d like to call your attention to 7 money-saving ideas using USPS.com:

1.    Order shipping supplies – your supplies will be sent directly to your office or home.

Instead of purchasing boxes, envelopes, tubes and stickers USPS has various sized boxes perfect for items that range from large drawings, fishing rods and golf clubs to one or two DVDs or CDs. The envelopes are ideal for sending letters, cards, and other small documents.

2.    Print and pay for shipping labels – your labels will be printed without leaving your desk.

Instead of standing in line to determine price and postage print professional shipping labels, pay for postage with any major credit card, calculate and compare postage. Create an address book to standardize information and view shipping history.

3.    Track and confirm mailings – your delivery status information will be sent by email.

Instead of spending time entering tracking numbers have the updates can be sent to as many as three email addresses for a period of 2 weeks following your request.

4.    Schedule a pickup – your carrier will pick up from your home or office at a time and place convenient for you.

Instead of spending time loading packages in the car, standing in line and using your gas you can schedule your Carrier Pickup up to 3 months in advance. Your request can be extended as long as your future dates are within the 3 month time frame.

5.    Use PC Postage – you will be able to download postage and use your standard printer.

Instead of waiting in line to purchase stamps PC Postage allows you to download postage and use your standard desktop printer to print it directly onto envelopes or labels for your mail or packages. You can also save money with the Forever stamp which remains valid for first-class postage regardless of any increases.

6.    Use Direct Mail Services – you will be able to select the format style that best suits your business needs.

Instead of hiring a graphic artist use pre-designed templates to create a direct mail campaign use your own company logo to create customized direct mailings choose from cards, flyers, postcards, and more.

7.    Open an express mail corporate account – you will be able to receive a 3% price reduction.

Instead of waiting days for your packages to arrive get a guaranteed delivery time, quarterly rebates, monthly activity report and overnight deliver to most locations.

Despite the increase from the United States Postal Service, I challenge you to discover how these 7 ridiculously easy ways to save money and time can decrease your business expenses.






Copyright © 2010 Rising Star Ideas, LLC. All Rights Reserved


Tonya R. Taylor, Your Savvy Online Business Builder, is dedicated to helping you learn how to use the internet to build a bigger more profitable business. Subscribe to the weekly newsletter Building Blocks to get how-to articles, tips and resources so you can Spend Less and Make More.




If you liked today's article check out these related articles:

  1. Ten ways to take your business out the office and into your phone
  2. 3 Things to do before you buy PDF software for your small business
  3. One Tool and Five Ideas To Add Video To Your Small Business

]]> http://101freetools.com/articles/2009/05/7-money-saving-ideas.html/feed 0 The more you learn the more you earn http://101freetools.com/articles/2009/04/the-more-you-learn-the-more-you-earn.html http://101freetools.com/articles/2009/04/the-more-you-learn-the-more-you-earn.html#comments Fri, 10 Apr 2009 04:53:18 +0000 Tonya R. Taylor http://fakeituntilyoumakeit.com/?p=411 Smartphones, MP3 Players and iPods you’ve seen them and chances are you have one or two of them yourself.

Have you ever wondered what people are listening too? Guess what, its not always music they could be learning.

Hundreds of thousands of people have discovered the wide range of audio programs now available via podcasts.

Did you know studies show more education leads to bigger paychecks? So basically the more you learn the more you earn.

Yet small business owners routinely do not take full advantage of the many types of learning and training opportunities. These opportunities can range from audio books, special reports, ebooks, teleseminars, webinars and more.

But who has time for training while running a business, right?

What about while you are driving, waiting in line, cleaning the house or at the gym (wait there’s no time for that either!).

How about leveraging your time with audio training products?

It’s up to you to fill in those gaps with tools to get you moving to create that wildly successful business you have been dreaming about.

Now don’t get me wrong I complain about the lack of time too. That’s why my good friend Crystal from Big Bright Bulb surprised me with a gift audio book “The Dip” by Seth Godin using an online service called Audible.

I loved the book and the flexibility from having the audio version.

FYI, Audible has the largest selection of digital audiobooks available with over 60,000 titles that you can listen from your computer, burn to a CD or with iPod and over 500 other devices. Plus they will gift you two FREE books just for trying them out.

With Audible there are no more excuses to start (or continue) learning!






Copyright © 2010 Rising Star Ideas, LLC. All Rights Reserved


Tonya R. Taylor, Your Savvy Online Business Builder, is dedicated to helping you learn how to use the internet to build a bigger more profitable business. Subscribe to the weekly newsletter Building Blocks to get how-to articles, tips and resources so you can Spend Less and Make More.




If you liked today's article check out these related articles:

  1. Read faster than you ever thought possible
  2. Google Gold
  3. For lead generation, this works like crazy

]]> http://101freetools.com/articles/2009/04/the-more-you-learn-the-more-you-earn.html/feed 0 Small businesses determined to survive hard economic times http://101freetools.com/articles/2009/03/small-businesses-determined-to-survive-hard-economic-times.html http://101freetools.com/articles/2009/03/small-businesses-determined-to-survive-hard-economic-times.html#comments Fri, 20 Mar 2009 03:50:59 +0000 Tonya R. Taylor http://fakeituntilyoumakeit.com/?p=395 Whether you are a new or seasoned entrepreneur, starting and running a business in a recession is going to be tough.  If  you are like me, by now you are tired of hearing about the harsh economic times.  Determined to survive you are looking for solutions that will  BOOST productivity and profits. These 4 powerful tips will help you  position your business to get results:

1. Be open for business 24/7

Your website allows your business to be open around the clock.  Sidebar: In 2009 if you don’t have one then you aren’t in business.  Microsoft Office Live Small Business will give you the tools to set up one for FREE. Make sure you know the marketing effectiveness  by using website grader.  Website Grader is a free seo tool that provides a score that incorporates things like website traffic, SEO, social popularity and other technical factors. It also provides some basic advice on how the website can be improved from a marketing perspective.

2. Look like a high quality professional

Central desktop allows you to simplify how you collaborate with others. You can create online workspaces to share files and documents, manage task lists and engage in group discussions just like the larger companies.  With this tool you have access to key information from anywhere.

3. Act big on a small budget

The RingCentral virtual phone system with a Toll Free 800 numbers delivers all the power of a “big company” system but with no hardware to buy and nothing to maintain. It’s an ideal telecommunications solution for mobile professionals, home offices and small companies.

4. Be in business for yourself but not by yourself

You need people to help get things done, right? Amazon has a program called Mechanical Turk where you create human intelligence tasks (HITS).   You can leverage this global, on-demand, 24 x 7 scalable workforce  which is a faster, cheaper alternative to staff your projects.  Get thousands of HITs completed in minutes and pay only when you’re satisfied with the results.






Copyright © 2010 Rising Star Ideas, LLC. All Rights Reserved


Tonya R. Taylor, Your Savvy Online Business Builder, is dedicated to helping you learn how to use the internet to build a bigger more profitable business. Subscribe to the weekly newsletter Building Blocks to get how-to articles, tips and resources so you can Spend Less and Make More.




If you liked today's article check out these related articles:

  1. Don't get caught with out data security.
  2. Entrepreneurs: Why use FREE tools to grow your business? (Hint: Its not what you think)
  3. 5 Business Resolutions You Can Easily Keep

]]> http://101freetools.com/articles/2009/03/small-businesses-determined-to-survive-hard-economic-times.html/feed 0 Cut your costs dramatically http://101freetools.com/articles/2009/03/cut-your-costs-dramatically.html http://101freetools.com/articles/2009/03/cut-your-costs-dramatically.html#comments Fri, 13 Mar 2009 04:46:39 +0000 Tonya R. Taylor http://fakeituntilyoumakeit.com/?p=379 Are you worried about the economy?

Who isn’t!

As you know, many business owners are in a place of fear about cash-flow and the economy.

Right now you need to purchase technology to grow, help you manage people, sales, customer service and collaborate with others, right? Unfortunately, the technology resources you have identified all have a price.  But, for small businesses, the payment in not using technology is often more costly than the actual purchase price. So keep in mind technology is an unavoidable cost of doing business.

That’s why every week I identify online tools along with tips on how you can use these tools in your business. In addition, I created an eBook “101 Free Tools To Grow Your Business” for small business owners to easily find tools to help them act big on a small budget and look like a high quality-professional.

The demand for “101 Free Tools To Grow Your Business” was so huge, now there’s an even better way to get the eBook. Here’s how it works, I have created a complimentary (there will never be a cost, no email, download or membership required) searchable directory, full of online tools you can start using today to boost your productivity and profits.

101freetools.com is a great resource for your small business looking for an edge during this lingering recession. And you thought you couldn’t afford online technology tools!

As I discover more online business tools they will be added to the directory so check back often. You can dramatically cut your technology costs and create your own business stimulus package by using these online tools.

Enjoy!






Copyright © 2010 Rising Star Ideas, LLC. All Rights Reserved


Tonya R. Taylor, Your Savvy Online Business Builder, is dedicated to helping you learn how to use the internet to build a bigger more profitable business. Subscribe to the weekly newsletter Building Blocks to get how-to articles, tips and resources so you can Spend Less and Make More.




If you liked today's article check out these related articles:

  1. Entrepreneurs: Why use FREE tools to grow your business? (Hint: Its not what you think)
  2. One Tool and Five Ideas To Add Video To Your Small Business
  3. Small Business: Improve Your Website No Webmaster Needed

]]> http://101freetools.com/articles/2009/03/cut-your-costs-dramatically.html/feed 0 5 Business Resolutions You Can Easily Keep http://101freetools.com/articles/2009/01/5-business-resolutions-you-can-easily-keep.html http://101freetools.com/articles/2009/01/5-business-resolutions-you-can-easily-keep.html#comments Fri, 02 Jan 2009 05:42:38 +0000 Tonya R. Taylor http://fakeituntilyoumakeit.com/?p=321 Does your business resolutions list look like these?
1.    Measure online traffic
2.    Increase follow-up with your prospects/customers
3.    Effectively market and advertise
4.    Increase online sales
5.    Find and keep new customers

Whether you’re hoping to effectively market and advertise or get more online sales, here are 5 tips that will help you stick to your business resolutions beyond January 1st.

Resolution: Measure online traffic
1.    Track your customers
You need comprehensive real time website tracking tools that give you instant access to vital information and data about your sites audience. Know who your customers are, where they are visiting from and what pages they view on your website. With Clicky Web Statistics you will improve your results online with real-time. With this information you will write better content, strengthen your marketing initiatives, and turn visitors into customers.

Resolution: Increase follow-up with your prospects/customers
2.    Automatically eMail prospects/customers
Use autoresponders to send canned messages. This will instantly add follow up to visitors requesting information from you via email and it is automatically delivered to them within seconds!  As an added bonus, this will save you hours of time each week.

Resolution: Effectively market and advertise
3.    Create high-impact emails
It is important as a business owner to create professional looking email marketing. You can easily and effectively create high-impact emails that are as professional as your business with email marketing software. Email marketing operates in real-time allowing your prospects to respond instantly. A highly effective and useful email will influence prospects to visit your brick and mortar location or visit your website to purchase your product or service immediately.

Resolution: Increase online sales
4.    Use affiliate marketing
Affiliate marketing allows anyone the opportunity to make money online by promoting various products or programs from other companies. Instead of creating a direct sales team; you can leverage affiliate marketing efforts by promoting other companies products and/or have them promote yours too.

Resolution: Find and keep new customers
5.    Become the expert
Establish your credibility in your market. Blogging will make it easier for your business to be found by your customers as well as others in the industry. High quality content will cause newspapers, magazines, and other websites to link to your blog. As an expert you may be invited to speak at conferences, workshops and seminars.






Copyright © 2010 Rising Star Ideas, LLC. All Rights Reserved


Tonya R. Taylor, Your Savvy Online Business Builder, is dedicated to helping you learn how to use the internet to build a bigger more profitable business. Subscribe to the weekly newsletter Building Blocks to get how-to articles, tips and resources so you can Spend Less and Make More.

P.S. Are you still saying "I don’t get Twitter?" Take charge, download my free report guaranteed to reveal why Twitter is a priceless effective business tool for a women owned business, entrepreneur, sales professional, event planner, professional organizer, solo professional and many other small business owners. You’ll get answers to the top "I don’t get Twitter" frequently asked questions (FAQ) on how to get greater results using Twitter for business. You get insider secrets to quickly gain an advantage over those businesses who choose to ignore Twitter without spending a ton of money advertising and marketing.




If you liked today's article check out these related articles:

  1. Grow your business on YouTube, Facebook & Twitter
  2. 2010 Business Resolution: Save money – use free tools
  3. Small business owners 5 things I hate about receiving your emails

]]> http://101freetools.com/articles/2009/01/5-business-resolutions-you-can-easily-keep.html/feed 1