Archive for September, 2011
Using Google Apps in Your Business
Posted by: | Comments
“There’s an app for that”. How many times have you heard that one? With Google Apps, you don’t have to look any further to keep your business in sync.
Applications are programs that offer you an easier way to accomplish something that you already do. For instance, you can drive around town and look at the gas prices for various stations. It is time consuming, but you can get the lowest price in your area. With applications like GasBuddy, this is accomplished in a few seconds before you even leave the house.
One advantage that Google Apps have over others is their ability to be available at all hours and from anywhere in the world. Their applications are similar to what you are offered with the Microsoft Office Suite but with less hassle and greater flexibility.
Have you heard of the Cloud? It’s not as mysterious as it sounds. By using Google’s server, you have access to a secure site for sharing information between business colleagues and support services when you need them. The Google list of apps includes Gmail, Google Docs, Google Sites, Google Calendar and Google Talk.
Advantages of Google Apps for your Business
No extra licenses to purchase – With software programs, you are given a certain number of licenses for the application. If you want other employees to use them, then you need to purchase more licenses. Google takes the work out of this by offering training on how their system works. If changes are made, it is done by them.
No syncing issues – If one person creates a document, they have to send it to others for them to see it. If changes are made, the document then has to be resent to everyone else in the group. On the Cloud, any changes that authorized users make is automatically logged and seen by others in the group. Also, calendars are compatible with other software applications so you always know what you are doing when and where.
Mobile compatibility – Many businesses, especially online ones, are managed not just by PC terminal but via mobile Smartphones. With Google, accessing your email and documents is easy. All of the people working on projects can be updated at the same time. Information is stored on their secure server and not in any one person’s computer files. In the event of a hard drive crash, your work is safe.
More email storage – Google offers more storage than other email service providers. And, much of the spam and malware are removed before it even gets to your inbox to increase security for your business information.
Is this enough for you to try Google Apps for your business? See if it makes your business run smoother.
How to Use Social Bookmarking as a Business Tool
Posted by: | Comments
Along with social networking sites, there are now a number of social bookmarking sites on the Internet. While social networking sites build upon relationships between members social bookmarking sites create connections through the types of content generated by members. It is these connections that make social bookmarking such an effective business tool for Internet entrepreneurs especially.
Maybe you have read a blog post or article on someone’s website. At the end of the article or blog post, you’ll see a host of different little pictures or characters. Run your cursor over them and names like Technorati, Digg, Reddit and Delicious pop up. What are these characters and what do the names mean?
These are links to social bookmarking sites. Social bookmarking is much like what you would do with an actual bookmark. Physical bookmarks are used to mark a page or a passage that you want to find again at some point. This goes for social bookmarking icons as well. If someone wants to find that particular article again or let others know about it, they can bookmark the address on a site and mark it with keywords for future reference.
Not all social bookmarking sites are the same. The principle is the same across the board, but some social bookmarking sites specialize in different media. Squidoo specializes in creating lenses that showcase an area of expertise of the lens owner. Flickr concentrates on photos. Some bookmarking sites deal with movie or music reviews in contrast.
Before choosing a bookmarking site, find one that caters to the content or type of business that you conduct. That will draw the most traffic to your business. If there is more than one, then join all that apply. One thing to remember is to create content that people will be interested in and use to track back to your business website. Remember that your site readers will mark your pages and posts on these sites because they find them informative and useful and think others will too.
Through quality content, a business owner can easily create a nice following of readers and possibly higher search engine rankings with the use of social bookmarking sites. For the purpose of content, look around the more popular bookmarking sites and see what others are viewing and find interesting and useful. That is the type of content you want to focus on with your websites. Investigating the more popular social bookmarking sites will make it easy to track down competitors and find out what your target market deems as useful information. Using these bookmarking sites will increase the visibility of your content and make it easier to market to your specific target customer or reader.
Social bookmarking is a simple, but effective way to bring traffic to a business website. Add bookmarking icons to your blog or website to help increase the chances of someone adding it to their favorite list of content.
