Freebie Your Way to Small Biz Success!
My friends call me "the king of the business freebie". That may or may not be a compliment, but in 15 years of small business experience I've regularly come up with the best business building technology products - and they've usually been free (or mighty close). From CRM software to social networking applications to online collaboration software to virtual offices, I may have found them all. Granted there have been a few turkeys in the mix, but by and large, there have been a boatload of winners that made a positive difference in my business.
In today's business climate you have to be both creative and innovative if you want to succeed, especially if you're a small business without "big dog" marketing and sales budgets. That's where digging to find new or emerging tech products and services comes in. An exceptional video conferencing or screen sharing app (like DimDim) might allow you to compete effectively against a competitor who's willing to hop on a plane to make a face-to-face sales call. Another might let you create professional quality e-learning to better train or educate your customers on your products (like iSpring). Or you might reach thousands with a private internet TV broadcasting station (on Livestream).
In addition to being creative and innovative, there is one other small business success rule: don't spend money if you can absolutely help it. It's easy to get sucked in with the axiom, "You have to spend money to make money" but it's not true and it's a pretty good way to put yourself out of business. The great thing today is that there are quality free or VLC (very low cost) products and services for almost every business application ... just waiting to be found. Did you know that Google Sites has a beautifully simple website building tool and free hosting (so why are you paying?)?
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