Friday, April 27, 2007

Small Sites Now Targeting Mobile Web

Mr. Tromp signed up for a mobile Web address with the newly available suffix "dot-mobi" and used a self-starter kit from a company called Roundpoint Ltd. to build www.kilburnie.mobi, the mobile site for his Inn at Craig Farm. He says he's gotten a surprisingly good response, with 30 to 40 new calls per month from interested travelers who heard of his inn by accessing the cellphone site.

"For people to find me, I have to make myself available any way I can," says Mr. Tromp, a Dutch native who was general manager of the Windows on the World restaurant in the World Trade Center before moving south for a career in hospitality.

As technology allows consumers to access the Internet with their cellphones, many big companies have launched mobile versions of their Web sites, including big media brands like MTV and ESPN and news sites like USA Today and The Weather Channel. But such projects can be costly and complex and until recently have been out of reach of small businesses.

Now new low-cost tools and services are making it easier to jump onto the mobile Web.
Internet registrars, who have made a living on small businesses and already offer a variety of tools to help them build basic Web sites, are taking advantage of the new opportunity in mobile.

For example, Harry Boadwee used GoDaddy to set up www.travelosa.mobi, a mobile Web site that provides information for travelers such as flight cancellations, weather and car-rental information. Registering the domain for a year cost him $12 . GoDaddy also provided Mr. Boadwee with site-development tools offered through a partnership with mTLD. Mr. Boadwee developed the site himself using those tools.

Behance For Professional Community:Make Ideas happen

Behance is a new site all about developing knowledge, products, and services for the creative professional community. The entire team follows an incredibly well thought out philosophy they called Productive Creativity– and the execution of their site design, presences and overall aesthetic speaks strongly on how well they walk their talk. In addition to the daily content that peers into the lives and creative process of successful creatives, be sure to pop by the ‘Outfitter‘ and grab an Action Pad or two. Behance is about ‘making ideas happen’, after all what’s an idea without some solid follow through?
More:http://behance.com/

GotVMail

GotVMail's award-winning Virtual Phone System allows your small business to:

u Sound more professional: A single toll-free or local number, main greeting auto attendant, multiple extensions, live call forwarding, music-on-hold, and more.

u Be accessible to callers: Forward calls anywhere to any phone (cell, home, work, office, VoIP).

u Better manage messages: Receive voicemails and faxes via email as mp3 and PDF attachments.

u Save time and money: No equipment to purchase or maintain. No long-term contracts to sign. Setup the GotVMail system online in a few easy steps via myGotVMail.
More:http://www.gotvmail.com/

Innovative Investing Tool

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More: https://ecommerce.smartmoney.com/ecommerce/login?promo_code=WSJ0303SU&adv=WSJ.com&advtype=networkJournal_90x35

How To Start A Consulting Business?

Mr.X:I want to start a consulting business, targeting companies that have $1 million to $6 million in sales. My services will include cash management audits, operational audits, loan application preparations, financial trend analysis, and business loans.What is the minimum amount of capital that I will need? Initially, I will work from home.

How important is a website? How much can I expect to pay for the establishment and the maintenance of the website? What type of office equipment will I need? Should I incorporate, then get a bank account or should I open the bank account first? Are there other services that I should consider? -James Evans, President, Evans Business Advisory Service, Sugar Land, Texas

Dear X: Consulting does not require very much of an investment to get started. For what you are describing, you will probably only need a notebook computer and an Internet connection.

The best way to get started is to keep your regular job while you start to support a few clients. This will allow you to determine if you have a viable business. Once you have confidence that this is a model that you can develop, then focus on the areas that have brought you success so far. That is how you will best define what services you should promote, or lead with, when talking to potential clients

A website may be helpful in spreading the word about your business but it is not what is going to sell your service. In your field, word-of-mouth referrals are key. Yes, you will need to open a bank account, as soon as you anticipate getting your first client. If you anticipate earning profits of more than $20,000, incorporation may be worthwhile. It can help you protect your assets and give you a corporate name that will enhance your firm’s image.

Open Source Software And Keynote

Open source software doesn’t cost a penny - just go download it. It’s also reasonably safe, given that the source is open to the world and there are a lot of very intelligent people out there constantly improving it, particularly the more popular packages. As a personal finance blogger, this aspect is a very powerful one, but it was only the first step.
Keynote is a flexible, multi-featured tabbed notebook, based on Windows standard RichEdit control. It's always accessible with a single keypress, even if you work in another application. Take a look at the screenshots page.
For More:http://www.opensource.org/
Keynote:
The basic idea in KeyNote is that you can include many separate notes within a single file. This means that you do not need to open several files - for most purposes it is enough to create only one file and hold all your notes inside it. With the addition of the tree-type notes, you now have a three-dimensional notebook: many notes within one file and a multi-level, nested pages within a single note. Optionally, KeyNote can encrypt your data securely using the Blowfish or Idea algorithms. Keynote's interface and behavior are extremely configurable.
For More:http://www.tranglos.com/free/keynote_main.html