Posted by Jackie Ewing on August 9, 2010
Blogs are a great source of information
Blogs (web logs) are an absolute mine of information regarding marketing, social media, Harry Potter, mobile technology – whatever your passion, there are numerous blogs out there with great information for you.
I check in regularly to certain blogs so I keep up to date with what’s going on in the world of Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and mobile media. Some of my favorites are Mashable, Social Media Examiner and Read Write Web.
Now I didn’t find these all on the same day. I waded through tons of links that folks had on their websites, facebook pages or I saw someone tweet them on Twitter. After a couple of weeks of reading, I chose the ones that resonated best with me. I pull great information from them all the time. I use it in my own business, I share the information with people that also use it in their businesses. You can check out my blog right here – The Edge.
Do you have favorite blogs that you like to read? Perhaps you’d like to share them with some other folks. Just post a comment below with a link to the blog and a note as to why you like it.
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.
