Posted by Jackie Ewing on April 9, 2010
As an entrepreneur with limited funding, I have found some really great tools that I use on a daily or weekly basis. The best thing about them, other than that they work really well for me and my workspace, is that they are FREE – no cost me!
1. Logmein.com
Logmein.com
This fabulous software allows me to log on to my workstation from anywhere with internet access. I needed something that didn’t require me downloading my emails to different locations and then trying to synchronize so I didn’t have to read, delete or answer emails more than once! Using Logmein accesses my PC remotely, similar to PC Anywhere, but with super response time, clear graphics and very rare log offs. I use an Acer notebook when I am out and about and it runs so fast because I don’t have to put any software on it. I just connect to my PC via Logmein and have access to everything.
I also load this software on certain computers for clients that I do work for. I can access the information I need without having to drive over to their offices. It’s especially useful when working with big databases. They sometimes don’t copy too well and then copying back to the original location can be a nightmare.
Simply put, Logmein allows me the freedom to log me in to whatever remote PC I need access to. I LOVE it and highly recommend it to all and sundry! Click here to get the software download and instructions for use.
2. Cute PDF Writer
Although I really want to get Adobe Pro, I just cannot afford it right now. So between Adobe reader and cute PDF writer I have managed to do very well without it. This software is loaded like a printer so when I need to convert a document to PDF, I “print” it to this PDF writer – cute, huh? Click here to go the site and look for the Cute PDF Writer, Free Download.
3. Mozy.com
Mozy.com
I have a small backup drive attached to my main PC but I have way more data than it can store for me. My IT guy told me about Mozy which is a remote back up
service. They offer a certain amount of storage for free, and as you grow you can increase for a pretty nominal fee. It works well for me and I have been able to access my data when I want. Click here to access this nifty tool.
4. Pandora.com
As anyone that does any kind of writing or data entry can tell you, sometimes music just helps the process along! Pandora is different to your regular radio stations in that it learns from your music choices and tries to find you more like that. You can save your music types as radio stations so that your favorite music genres are ready when you log on. You can connect your Twitter and Facebook accounts if you like and share a song or an entire radio station. There are some ads, but not enough (yet!) to tick me off. Of course, I could pay the whopping $36 for a year of ad-free music, but that would spoil the fact that I can use it for free! Click here to access Pandora.
So, there you have it. 4 Free Tools for Entrepreneurs. Would love to hear about it if you try them and like them, or not! If you have any of your own faves that you’d like to share, please comment.
Posted by Jackie Ewing on March 12, 2010
Jackie T. Ewing listening and learning
I think it’s fair to say that social media has become a very big part of my life. There’s so much to learn and so many ways to learn that I sometimes wonder if I’m the only one out there struggling to keep up! But, as I tweet and communicate on Facebook, I realize that, indeed, I am NOT alone! So as I sift through the ton of information at my fingertips, let me share what I’ve learned and perhaps it will assist some other poor souls.
Telesminars & Webinars
There are so many tools out there to help us do things better, faster and more efficiently. How do we figure out which ones are best for us as individuals? I know I’ve slogged my way through umpteen different kinds to get to the ones that I like to use; the ones that do save me time and help me accomplish what I need to do. This particular post is about my safari through the world of Teleseminars and Webinars and what I’ve gleaned from my travels!
About the middle of last year (2009) I began to subscribe to webinars and teleseminars on various social media topics hosted by a variety of folks that had caught my interest by tweeting, facebooking or via referrals from others in my network. To say that I sat through a few of them is a mild understatement! I sat through many and wondered “why on EARTH am I doing this?”, and then went and sat through many more and got such a TON of great information that I subscribed to even more! At some point I realized that I was in constant search of the “newest, greatest” thing and wasn’t actually doing anything with the last “newest, greatest” thing I had learned.
Teleseminars are used to provide information, training, or promote or sell products to group of people interested in a particular topic. They are similar to traditional seminars, in content and purpose, but they are given over a teleconference or bridgeline rather than at a specific location. (Wikipedia)
So I managed to wean myself off of doing too many of them and I have gone back through the information that I have learned; highlighted what I wanted to implement; implemented what I had highlighted and then gone through it again to find the nuggets that I had missed the first time around. Actually, if I admit it, I didn’t understand a lot of what I had heard and seen the first time around and it simply washed over me. Months later, when I had finally twigged to a lot of what social media was about and how people were using it successfully, I went back and found the good stuff that I could actually now use!
Web conferencing is used to conduct live meetings, training, or presentations via the Internet. In a web conference, each participant sits at his or her own computer and is connected to other participants via the internet. This can be either a downloaded application on each of the attendees’ computers or a web-based application where the attendees access the meeting by clicking on a link distributed by e-mail (meeting invitation) to enter the conference.
A webinar is a neologism to describe a specific type of web conference. It is typically one-way,[1] from the speaker to the audience with limited audience interaction, such as in a webcast. (Wikipedia)
In hindsight, I can safely say that it was probably a good thing that I went a little overboard with these tools. Not only because I learned how to participate and connect with others while on the webinar or teleseminaar, but because I also learned how to listen a lot better than I used to. Being Irish, I do tend more toward talking than listening and not really subcrsibing to the idea that we have two ears and one mouth for a very good reason!
Multi-tasking
Taking part in a really good webinar or teleseminar also made me stop trying to multitask ALL the time. To really get some great information from these tools you MUST pay attention and take copious notes. Not to do so is a waste of your time and money, if you had to pay to participate. There are some fabulous webinars and teleseminars that do not cost anything to participate. Do yourself a favor and find some good ones and sign up.
Recommendations
There are many to choose from. Pick those that supplement your specialty and try ta few of them. I have discovered that the Tuesday afternoon webinars with ISMA (International Social Media Association) are a fantastic source for not only social media topics but also general business practices. I have it down to a science now where I call in while car-pooling to the high school. This way I get to listen in and learn a LOT!
IS customer service dead?
Customer service is a hot topic with me and I’m always looking for new input and insights in to what others think makes customers tick – and more importantly, buy and come back to buy repeatedly. Check out Sydney Barrows website for teleseminars on creating great customer experiences.
For hot tips and tricks for internet marketing and social media I find Matt Bacak‘s webinars packed full of good stuff.
So, get online and find out who is offering teleseminars and webinars that cover your niche. Participate, learn and implement and you too can make the most of these tools.
I’m interested to hear about any websites or folks offering teleseminars and webinars that you have tried and recommend. Leave comments below with a link to the resource so that others may also benefit.
Posted by Jackie Ewing on January 19, 2010
You’ve heard enough about Facebook by now to know that you probably should be doing something about using it in your business. But like many others, you are probably also wondering WHY and HOW?!
This article will address the WHY part of that question.
In a nutshell, if you add a Facebook Fan Page to your overall marketing strategy (and Yes, you should have one of these!!) you will supplement your efforts at driving traffic to your website or phone.
Here are 3 really good reasons why your business should have a Facebook Fan Page and why it is imperative that you do it NOW as opposed to “just as soon as I can find the time”.
- Excellent Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
- Very effective communication tool
- It’s FREE!!
Let’s take a look at these in more detail so you can see how they apply to YOUR business.
Excellent Search Engine Optimization:
If you have a website for your business then you surely are aware of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and how much time and energy is spent on this. The idea is if your website is optimized with the right keywords and meta data, the search engines will find your website, like what they find and then place you high in their rankings of other websites similar to yours. Good SEO will place your site high in the organic (non-paid for) listings when folks search for your product or service. A Facebook Fan Page will supplement all of your other SEO efforts.
You can add content daily and change it out at will. The static pages of your site once indexed, remain that way because they typically don’t change much. Search engines like new and updated relevant content and will index it well if they see it happening on a regular basis. Posts to your Facebook Fan Page can be done daily, even hourly if your audience is receptive enough.
You can add unlimited photos and videos to your Facebook Fan Page. Tag and describe these with your top keywords and you give the search engines many more reasons to visit and index your site.
Very Effective Communication Tool:
Of the 350 million users that are on Facebook almost daily, do you think any of your customers are among them? Absolutely! So use Facebook to converse with them in their style. Of course, first you need to get them to come to your Fan Page and become a fan. You can do that many ways – email signatures, newsletters, mail invitations. Just find the customers that choose Facebook as their favored communication tool and interact with them regularly. Take a llok at Coca Cola’s Fan Page to see how they interact with their fans and you’ll see how powerful a communication tool this really is!
It’s FREE:
This the greatest reason why your business should have a Facebook Fan Page – it’s completely Free to use! You can double or triple your SEO efforts at no cost to you, but some well-planned time. The speed that good fan pages are showing up all over the search engines is phenomenal! If you don’t take advantage of this, you will most certainly be left behind.
Posted by Jackie Ewing on January 11, 2010
I’ve seen one-too-many comments from frustrated Facebook friends on the raging Mafia Wars or Farmville or sheep-throwing or other such nonsense to ignore it any longer.
Block Mafia Wars
I consider myself one of the lucky few who have never engaged with anyone on these and so have remained relatively free of requests. I did make it my business to find out how to block unwanted applications when I received a ton of requests to join Mafia Wars from friends that I knew were just not the type – and sure enough, it was a scam.
So, to permanently block one or more unwanted applications from your facebook you have two choices
- Next time you receive a request from one of these apps, look for the “block application” link and click on it
- Go to the app itself and block it there
To do the 2nd option, follow these steps:
- Click on the Facebook Applications link in the bottom left-hand corner of your screen
- type “mafia wars” in the search box and hit enter
- You’ll get a list of apps with that name; the most popular one is the one you want to block which is usually top of the list. look at the number of active users if you are unsure which to choose
- click on the link to the app
- right under where it says “Go To Application” it also has the option to Block Application
- Click on “Block Application”
- You’ll get a pop-up screen asking if you want to block the application, click on the big blue Block Mafia Wars button
- Final pop-up will confirm that this app is now blocked for you
How to Block Farmville
If you want to block more apps just repeat the above steps for each of them.
Hope that helps alleviate the frustration with unwanted apps. Let me know how it worked out for you. All comments are welcome!
Posted by Jackie Ewing on December 29, 2009
Your Goldmine is your customer list
Instead of spending all of your time and money on looking for new customers to buy from you, have you thought about “mining” your past customers for “gold”?
What I mean by that is, if your customers have purchased from you at least once before and have enjoyed their experience of dealing with you, the chances that they will buy from you again are very good. So, have you contacted them and asked them if they are looking to buy something similar? If they are not, have you asked them if they would recommend you to their family, friends and acquaintances? Their recommendations can be an excellent source of unpaid “advertising” for you.
We all know how referrals work in our own lives – you have a great experience at a restaurant, or see a great movie and you tell all your friends about it. There is a very good chance that they will try that restaurant or movie based only on your recommendation!
Your customer is talking about your business!
Well, that same principle applies to the business of selling. Personal recommendations from your customers to THEIR personal circle will generate some form of business for you. It might not be in the form of immediate sales, but over time, it will result in sales and repeat customers. Remember that what other people say about you, your product or your service is far more powerful than what you say about it yourself.
This is where the power of Social Media can really help this concept. You should be using the power of excellent social media tools (e.g. Twitter, Facebook Fan Page) to communicate with your customers on a level that is NOT about selling. You should be learning about them, from them and giving something back to them. The power of the personal circle and recommendations can be seen daily on Twitter and Facebook and you should make that a part of this mining process.
You also need to communicate with your customers on a regular basis through email and print. If you don’t have an email newsletter, you are losing out on the potential of building really lasting, long-term relationships with your customers. Your communication to them is not a bother, if they don’t unsubscribe. They may not react immediately because they are not ready to buy. But when they are, because you communicate with them regularly, you are at the forefront of their mind when a particular need arises. Some will respond better to print so you should also use direct mail as part of your mining process. Continue to “mine” your list and communicate with them very regularly.
A nice reward
If you offer to reward your past customers for referring folks to you that do end up purchasing with you, you will have a better response. It doesn’t have to be anything major – although most folks would really appreciate a 53” Plasma screen TV! -it could be a discount off their own next purchase with you; it could be a $25 Starbucks card; it could be free pizza for a couple of nights – the possibilities are endless. They are limited only by your imagination!
If your customers ARE going to purchase again, then make them an offer they cannot refuse – while still making a decent profit from the sale. Be creative and make your offer so compelling, that they will WANT to come back and buy from you and are ready to buy now.
So, my advice is to turn to those that you have done business with in the past and “mine” them NOW for some “gold” in your business that is waiting to be found.
