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Archive for June, 2007

GMail Trick

Tuesday, June 26th, 2007

I found this gmail tip while browsing and I thought it was mighty useful.

Gmail has an interesting quirk where you can add a plus sign after your Gmail address, and itll still get to your inbox. Its called plus-addressing, and it essentially gives you an unlimited number of e-mail addresses to play with. Heres how it works: say your address is pinkyrocks@gmail.com, and you want to automatically label all work e-mails. Add a plus sign and a phrase to make it pinkyrocks work@gmail.com and set up a filter to label it work to access your filters go to Settings->Filters and create a filter for messages addressed to pinkyrocks work@gmail.com. Then add the label work.

More real world examples:

Find out who is spamming you: Be sure to use plus-addressing for every form you fill out online and give each site a different plus address.

Example: You could use
pinkyrocks nytimes@gmail.com for nytimes.com
pinkyrocks freestuff@gmail.com for freestuff.com
Then you can tell which site has given your e-mail address to spammers, and automatically send them to the trash.

Automatically label your incoming mail: Ive talked about that above.

Archive your mail: If you receive periodic updates about your bank account balance or are subscribed to a lot of mailing lists that you dont check often, then you can send that sort of mail to the archives and bypass your Inbox.

Example: For the mailing list, you could give pinkyrocks mailinglist1@gmail.com as your address, and assign a filter that will archive mail to that address automatically. Then you can just check in once in a while on the archive if you want to catch up.

The ultimate top 10 computer chairs

Monday, June 25th, 2007

The ultimate top 10 computer chairs

Uncomfortable in your current office chair ? Here are ten not-so-ergonomic nut computer friendly chairs

OneBip - Everybody can pay

Monday, June 25th, 2007

OneBip - Everybody can pay

For those of you who have e-commerce sites, here is a new technology that enables payments by cell phone. I wonder how useful this really is. I mean I can see someone paying for something at a vending machine with a ceel phone, but a to go shopping with with? Not sure

Let em know what you think

Management Exam

Wednesday, June 20th, 2007

Not sure where the original source is , but I was given this very difficult exam.

Management exam

The following short quiz consists of 4 questions and will tell you whether you are qualified to be a professional manager. Scroll down for each answer. The questions are NOT difficult. But don’t scroll down UNTIL you have answered the question!

1. How do you put a giraffe into a refrigerator?

The correct answer is: Open the refrigerator, put in the giraffe, and close the door. This question tests whether you tend to do simple things in an overly complicated way.

2. How do you put an elephant into a refrigerator?

Did you say, Open the refrigerator, put in the elephant, and close the refrigerator?

Wrong Answer.

Correct Answer: Open the refrigerator, take out the giraffe, put in the elephant and close the door. This tests your ability to think through the repercussions of your previous actions.

3. The Lion King is hosting an animal conference. All the animals attend… except one. Which animal does not attend?

Correct Answer: The Elephant. The elephant is in the refrigerator. You just put him in there. This tests your memory. Okay, even if you did not answer the first three questions correctly, you still have one more chance to show your true abilities.

4. There is a river you must cross but it is used by crocodiles, and you do not have a boat. How do you manage it?

Correct Answer: You jump into the river and swim across. Have you not been paying attention? All the crocodiles are attending the Animal Meeting. This tests whether you learn quickly from your mistakes.

10 online operating systems reviewed

Wednesday, June 20th, 2007

Big WebOS roundup - 10 online operating systems reviewed

Is it possible to run a business without buying software? Here is a list of the top 10 Web OS’s that quite possibly will let you get away with it.

Franchises That Are the Web Worker’s Best Friend

Wednesday, June 20th, 2007

Web Worker Daily » Blog Archive Franchises That Are the Web Worker’s Best Friend «

I found this interesting. Its a list of the best franchises for web workers on the go. I had not thought about this but I do some of my work at Panera Bread not only for the free wireless , but it has pretty good food also.

Have any favorites that are not on the list ? let me know

How to Get Hired as a Professional Blogger

Wednesday, June 20th, 2007

How to Get Hired as a Professional Blogger

This article has some good advice and tips on how to get work as a professional blogger. I have done much of the same things to get started on my blogging career

Discover AGLOCO - How It Works

Tuesday, June 19th, 2007

Agloco –

A Global Community
Circa 1999…

Alladvantage.com was on the internet with the first free Get Paid to Surf” program using a viewbar. In general, you downloaded a tool bar, surfed, and got paid. It was free and by introducing others, you would get paid on their surfing as well.

It worked VERY well but the company got caught in the dotcom crash of 2000-2001 when advertising dollars dropped thru the floor.

However, consider this:

Within 6 months they were one of the TOP 20 Most Visited Websites,
They grew to over 10 million members online,
They paid out over $10,000,000 dollars to members.

Alladvantage was incredibly VIRAL.

Forward to 2006…

AGLOCO will be the same. You do not want to hesitate on this

Whenever you are online, either surfing, blogging, clicking on an ad, making a purchase, all the money generated by members activities will be shared among its members, 5 levels deep.

Cashboard

Monday, June 18th, 2007

Estimate, Invoice, and Time Tracking Software for your business : Cashboard

Cashboard is a hosted application that you access from a web browser.
You dont have to install anything on your computer to use Cashboard.
Although its hosted we dont hold your data hostage. Download it anytime you want.

This is a very interesting app that is still in Alpha. If it does half of what it promises, I will definitely sign up.

20 Ways to Use LinkedIn Productively

Monday, June 18th, 2007

Web Worker Daily » Blog Archive 20 Ways to Use LinkedIn Productively «

I am a big fan and user of LinkedIn. I was glad to see this post on how to be a power LinkedIn user. Great stuff

10 tips to get more customers

Monday, June 18th, 2007

1. Get New Business From Old. Ask existing clients for more biz before you
try warming up a stone cold lead. Ask the happy clients for referrals to
people they know that you don’t – and be sure to keep track of who
referred whom.

2. Pitch a Stranger. It’s like bad advertising when you blow hot air when
pitching to a new prospect. In face-to-face mediating you’ve got to know
what to say, and say it with conviction.

3. Give It To Me Straight. No one has time for the “warm-up”. Prepare well
honed phrases and practice them in front of a mirror. People like it when
you can get to the point rapidly and intelligently. If it’s by email, make
sure they don’t have to scroll down to read it all.

4. Talk About Your Failures. Seriously! It builds credibility. Everyone can’t
be perfect all the time, and when you can tell a prospect why you lost a
client and what you’ve learned it’s a welcome change. They appreciate not
getting the usual hot air & razzle-dazzle.

5. Offer a “Loss-Leader”. People are less and less apt to buy impulsively from
a person if they don’t have a good feeling about them. Offering a lossleader
allows the relationship to mature over time. This is very important
in B2B clients. (Loss-leader is the practice of offering a product or service
at a considerable discount and loss of profit to attract future business.)

6. Get Sold Yourself. Pick the most successful competitors in your area and
let them sell you. Play customer and be aware of how you feel during each
step, and see why their approach works so well. Auto-makers buy each
others cars and break them down to nuts and bolts. You can do the same
thing in your space.

7. Pitch an Enemy. Find the most disagreeable son of a gun you can find and
pitch him or her. Let them be as nasty as they please, then analyze later if
anything they said had any merit. Be totally unemotional, and don’t
defend anything. You’ll learn where you’re lacking after doing this.

8. Start an E-mail Newsletter. This is much like #5. Give them useful
information week in and week out, or month in and month out. Make
them happy to see your name in the “from” field. If they only hear from
you when you want something, they’ll turn you off when they hear from
you.

9. Offer Testimonials. Satisfied clients or customers can say things about
you that you can never believable say about yourself. Use the person’s full
name if possible when doing this. “KM from Buffalo” isn’t nearly as strong
as “Kenneth Moore from Buffalo”.

Prision vs Work

Friday, June 15th, 2007

Prision vs Work - The Humor Archives - funny jokes, pictures, cartoons and movies

IN PRISON … you spend the majority of your time in an 8×10 cell.
AT WORK … you spend the majority of your time in one 6×8.

IN PRISON … you get three meals a day.
AT WORK … you only get a break for one meal and you have to pay for it.

IN PRISON … you get time off for good behaviour.
AT WORK … you get rewarded for good behaviour with more work.

IN PRISON … the guard locks and unlocks all the doors for you.
AT WORK … you carry around a security card and open all the doors yourself.

IN PRISON … you can watch TV and play games.
AT WORK … you get fired for watching TV and playing games.

IN PRISON … you get your own toilet.
AT WORK … you have to share with some idiot who pees on the seat.

IN PRISON … they allow your family and friends to visit.
AT WORK … you cant even speak to your family.

IN PRISON … you must deal with sadistic wardens.
AT WORK … theyre called managers.

IN PRISON … all expenses paid by taxpayers; no work required.
AT WORK … you get to pay all the expenses to go to work, and then they deduct taxes from your salary to pay for prisoners.

IN PRISON … you spend your life looking through bars from the inside, wanting to get out.
AT WORK … you spend most of your time wanting to get out and go inside bars.

Hack Your Work: 23 Ways to Get Ahead, Work Less and Achieve More - Dumb Little Man

Thursday, June 14th, 2007

Hack Your Work: 23 Ways to Get Ahead, Work Less and Achieve More - Dumb Little Man

This is an interesting article on how to get ahead. I am not sure I agree with all of it but still, its a good read

Affordable & Professional Company & Business Logo Design, 3D Logos & Web Page Templates, Stationery & Website Design - Pixellogo

Tuesday, June 12th, 2007

Affordable & Professional Company & Business Logo Design, 3D Logos & Web Page Templates, Stationery & Website Design - Pixellogo

Need a logo designed quickly ? Pick a pre-designed logo and buy one.

5 Reasons Why Blogging is the New Internet Marketing Tool

Saturday, June 9th, 2007

Blogging is a concept that started in late 90s. It used to be a way to comment an existing webpage, an opportunity for visitors and readers to react or voice out one’s opinion on the said page. What started as a single-sentence commentary has evolved into pages of personal take on just about anything and everything under the sun. As it continues to move forward, online advertising has tapped into the blog’s potential. Here are 5 reasons why you should use blogging as an Internet marketing tool.

1.Blogging is simple. The simplest way to get your piece on the net is through blogging. No skills are necessary… an average adult can read and type, or at least click a mouse. It’s like having a virtual piece of paper and you just write your ideas, experiences, new products, and hope that the truth behind your articles comes out and entice your reader to also try your product. If you have a PC and an Internet connection (who doesn’t?) then you can blog and advertise.

2. Blogging is authentic. In this day and age where advertising saturate our lives, we question the credibility of promoters’ claims. However, in blogs, real people share their real-life experiences, unscathed by paid advertising. Reading blogs about first-hand product use is like talking to people about their first-hand experience. You definitely want to buy a tried and tested product.

3. Blogging is free. Because blogging is yet to be proven as a mainstream online advertising media, most sites see it as something to augment current marketing tools and thus offer it for free. Any opportunity for free webtime is definitely a bonus especially to businesses that are starting up. Needless to say, paid blog pages can generate more income for your seriously growing business.

4. Blogging builds credibility. As you get more and more into writing your experiences on a particular product or industry, your readers come to realize that they can depend on your posts for their own information needs. As such, you become an expert on it; as a consequence, more readers visit your site and more bloggers link to your blogs. As companies and professional organizations notice the growth of your readership base, they may soon get in touch with you for advertising on your blog page, or make you an affiliate, which pays for every referral generated from your blog site.

5. Blogging builds your market. Unless you are a Hollywood star, chances are, only your Mom reads your posts. Mom has a lot of friends, so she lets her friends know how interesting your blog site is. But you need not depend on Mom to increase your readership base. Look into the following ways to build your market through blogging:

-By using your e-mail. Today, blogging is overcoming the e-mail’s popularity in quickly and effectively reaching and expanding a market. In this age of speed and quick access, logging in and downloading e-mail is simply taking longer than clicking into a blog site. Let them explore your site by using a short e-mail message as teaser to your blog site. If your e-mail is on an entirely different subject, use your e-mail signature to give a link to the site.

-By using subscription. An easy way to get your readers e-mail is to give them an opportunity to subscribe to your blogsite. Keep some exclusive information for your subscribers to entice readers to subscribe and give their e-mail address. Just be responsible in using their e-mail address, as the last thing you want is a comment on your blog that you are a spammer.

-By understanding your readers. Conduct a simple survey for your readers to understand their profile and advertising preferences. Ask consumers to give you feedback on a post, an ad link, or a trial that you shared. In this way, it is like interviewing your readers without the commitment and intrusion of a face-to-face interview.

-By joining a blog network –A network of blogs maybe a collection of blog sites that share the same industry, interest, readership base, payment mode, etc. Consumers find credibility and convenience in clicking one link to several real bloggers about a single subject. Clearly, more bloggers are better than one.

-By using RSS. RSS is the fastest growing technology on the Internet today. As such, having RSS feeds to your blog is definitely another means of generating awareness for your readership base. Having a variety of feeds can add interest to your blog site.

Give your business a boost by effectively using blogging as an Internet marketing tool.

About Home Biz Chat

Running a small business is difficult enough. You have to play accountant, shipper, secretary, technical guru, salesman and a host of other roles to make it successful. That’s where Home Biz Chat will come in. Searching endlessly and delving deeper into the web for articles tips, trick and hacks to make running a small business easier and, dare I say it, fun.

The editor, a small business owner and computer god, will decipher, decode and explain in layman’s terms, the million ways software and hardware can make your small business successful and maybe even gain some time for the family and enjoy your success.

Home Biz Chat Author(s)
    » Jeff-Christman

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