Business software

What Should You Buy

Computer business software is an area where many new network consultants get overwhelmed. There are so many great products out there that it is hard to decide which computer business software to invest your time and money in. You want to be able to expand your capabilities but you don't want to sink too much time or money into any computer business software purchases until you know you have a market for them. Because computer business software is an investment, you need to think carefully about the programs and packages you purchase.

If you think in terms of whether the business computer software will attract and appeal to sweet spot clients, you are thinking on the right track. You want to ask yourself, "If I invest eight hours in learning this and invest a few hundred dollars in some training or not-for-resale product, am I going to make it back?"There are two computer business software products I recommend you look at seriously for sweet spot clients. Microsoft Small Business Server (SBS) Novell’s Small Business Suite Why I Recommend This Computer Business Software:Both of these computer business software products are inexpensive buy-ins. You're not going to have to spend a lot of money to get a demo or not-for-resale copy for you to learn with. For a few hundred dollars you'll have most of what you need.With both types of computer business software, you should be able to take eight to ten hours and feel comfortable installing it, breaking it, and then reinstalling it. I recommend that you just pick one of them. Don't try to support both types of computer business software at the outset unless you already have really strong skills on both Windows and on Netware, and you want to support both of them right off the bat. Use the computer business software you choose to run your own business. Sooner or later, probably within a month or two, you'll feel comfortable enough to do a simple installation for a client.Bottom Line on Computer Business Software Always think of computer business software as an investment. You need to make sure you will recover, and then make a return on, the time and money you put into acquiring and learning new computer business software. If you stick to Microsoft Small Business Server (SBS) and Novell’s Small Business Suite at the start, your computer business software investment should pay off pretty quickly.

How To Pick Your Small Business Software

As a Small Business Owner one of the main challenges is that our business or service is usually unique and it is often very time consuming and costly to find the software that will allow us to smoothly run our business.So how can we find the software that will meet our needs?

Finding software solutions for small business could be broken down to two basic types of businesses or scenarios:
Software for a brand new business just starting to operate
Software for a business that has been operating for some time already but without a Software Solution but with various off the shelf adhock computer programs.Lets start with the brand new business:We’ll start with a simple 2 step approach:
Define your information and information handling needs.
Define the four “W”’s of your business who where when and why the information will be used. (the fifth W -what we defined in stage 1.)
Stage 1:This is the critical stage but its very simple. Take a piece of paper and write down all the categories of information that you as owner of the business look at each day.For Example: Client Information, Prospective Client Information, Products or services you sellFrom this list we can already learn what the major components of your small business software will be. Part 2 of this article will deal with recognizing and choosing the components.
Stage 2:the 4 W’s a very simple task that is often overlooked.Who:Its best at this early stage to define the who will be using the Small Business Software. One needs to take into account will these people be “computer savy” or not.Where:Isn’t that a bit obvious.. on the computer… Its a little more involved than that! Will the use of information be only in the place of business? or will people be working from home or even on the road?When:Another one that seems “so obvious” but will the small business software system have to be time sensivite? Available 24/7?Why:Now we come to the most important aspect this point actually ties in very closely with stage 1. Why is each category of information important?Now for each category from stage 1 write down the 4 w’s….

Rise Of Online Business Software

With the emergence of different types and scales of businesses comes the need for better and more effective tools in making operations more effectively work. These days, online business software is among the most useful and functional computer programs that are acquired and installed in computer systems of different businesses, be them small, medium or large enterprises. Because of the importance and popularity of online business software available in the market, it is just appropriate that people know more about such computer programs. To begin with, online business software is of course business software that is offered, transacted and communicated through the Internet. You surely know how useful and effective the online media is when in transacting, updating and even facilitating businesses.

In turn, business software is a computer program that is designed and marketed to help businesses boost productivity and even measure and rate productivity for reference. The global business environment has instantly made such products important and necessary in daily operations since the day the first of such software was rolled out and distributed in the market.

Cost cutsOriginally, and still effectively these days, online business software were made to increase companies' earnings through cost cuts and accelerated productive cycles. Major businesses take note that with the use of an online business software, they are able to reduce and eliminate several excessive needs and requirements for added personnel and employees. For example, a company these days is not hiring too many accountants. That is because there are specific business software that are making the operations of the accounting department more streamlined, organized and effective. The result, there is no more need to hire too many accountants and ultimately, there is a significant amount of cost savings from spared potential employee wages.
Replacing white collar laborThe rise of online business software has become a continual threat for white-collar labor. A computer installed with online business software, for instance, will have the capacity and usefulness to replace about a hundred white-collar employees. What is more, the company would be able to save on costs as there will be no more need to shoulder and file for retirement and health benefits. As always, the rise of computers in the 1980s to 1990s had scared the labor sector as many jobs will surely be eliminated. But the rise of online business software has further accelerated and escalated such fears because evidently, some manual and important jobs are being taken over and replaced by the usefulness and non-manual operations of such computer programs.
GlobalizationOne advantage of online business software is that it is effective enough to be a potent tool to help bring about globalization among different companies. These days, there is clamor for effective globalization of businesses. And as all industries in every country links and affiliates with each other, companies are all the more challenged to stay competitive and at par with the world's bests. The Internet is one good and useful venue for globalization efforts. Because the Internet does have greater capacity in communicating and conveying more data and information to users all over the world, online business software is now offered and sold without geographic boundaries. If your business, for example, is based in Japan and you are buying software from a United States company, transactions can be made conveniently and effectively online.If you are operating and managing a business, be it a small or a medium enterprise, you should make it a point to invest in buying and installing online business software into your computer system. Doing so has been proven to be a viable and reliable business management scheme.

Get Expensive Business Software For Free

Don't buy that expensive business software! You can find just about everything you'll need to run your home based business or small business for FREE. The Selah Holy Land Products Company has been using the same software for many years and found it to be extremely reliable. Here you'll find links and descriptions and reviews of the best products on the web. Totally free and without any annoying surveys and hoops to jump through.Websites like download.com and freesoftware.com are changing the way many people are using software and the prices they are willing to pay. The first time I decided to build a web prescence or join the “internet circle”, I realized I didn't have the money to shell out for every $400 - $800 or more program on the market. I was used to working at a large company where PhotoShop, Pagemaker and every other program you needed was at your fingertips. What a rude awakening when I thought I'd launch my own site!
After a lengthy search, a friend of mine suggested I look for the software I needed on download.com and I began to notice, just about everything I needed was FREE right at my fingertips. Now my idea of free, was something that worked, something that didn't make me go through five hundred hoops to get to the end result and was easy to use. Most of the programs out there are either inferior, spyware or just plain hard to use.I thought it would be really helpful to cut to the chase and let you in on the programs I have use and continue to use to this day. They are so easy it's pathetic, and I mean easy because if they weren't I wouldn't have anytime at all to deal with them. I'm busy and I don't want to sit here and figure out a Rubick's cube just to get my business done. So here's a GREAT list of software – FREE you can download and be completely confident in as you try to build your business and get things done, on and off the net.

Word Processing: www.OpenOffice.orgThis works pretty much the same way as Microsoft Office except it doesn't have the hefty price tag. The programs are compatible with any Microsoft application such as Word, Works, Text Documents, Excel, Publisher, PowerPoint, etc. There are a variety of formats you can save your documents in and for this particular article, I used the OpenOffice.org Writer program in the Web Layout mode so I could see what I was doing. I don't know a stitch of HTML (well a little – but very minimal) and I designed my entire website, all my emails, newsletters, etc. through this program. Trust me – you'll love it.
Desk Top Publishing: www.freeserif.comTalk about some awesome free software for desktop publishing! The Serif Programs are great. In fact, I was able to use the progams to design every piece of literature for my company by using the PagePlus program and even did a bit with the Web Publishing although I like the Writer program better for my needs in regards to the web. This program works similar to PageMaker for Mac or Adobe PageMaker for the PC. It's a drag and drop program and you can make anything from a letter to a full blown magazine through it. I did the layout for our company catalog on it and it's great. If you export your pages, you can make them .jpeg's and put them on the net.
Photo Editing: www.Paint.NetThis program is similar to Adobe Photoshop and allows you to create and edit photos. You can do so much with this program it's ridiculous. I don't even know eveyrthing it can do, but I can tell you I have made all the titles and layers and everything else I needed to get my web photos to look really good. Like I said before, if ti ain't fast, I'm not interested.Note:I also use the ArcSoft PhotoImpressions to edit my photos as well, but this wasn't exactly free. It came with my camera when I bought it. If you have it – I recommend using it. I use it all the time for my photos.
Fonts: www.fontface.comThis is a really good site to get fonts. I have used this site for many years and it's never let me down yet. I've got so many fonts on my computer now, I can make all kinds of really good looking photos and documents which can not be duplicated unless someone goes to their site. It's probably the EASIEST place to use. You just click on the letters (the fonts are alphabetized) and then look at the fonts. Then you download the one you want according to the icon below which suits your system. It automatically installs and off you go. I can not stress enough how easy it is! Love that guy!
PDF converter: www.PrimoPDF.comThis is the ultimate program for those who don't want to mess around and buy the $895 ( I almost choked when I saw that price ) program from Adobe for their Acrobat program. I'm almost laughing right now because I can't believe Adobe is asking so much for so little. Anyway, this works great. You can use your other programs to design or write your work, then turn them into .pdf files by using the PrimoPDF program. I've made e-books and catalogs and all sorts of downloadable material by using this program. One thing though, when you install it – in order to convert the file to a pdf format, you'll look under “Print” and choose PrimoPDF. That was a little hard to find at first, but now, it's a snap. Get it – it's great!
Bulk Emailing: www.pimexonline.com/Products/mailexpress.htmWow – what an easy mailing program to use. One drawback though, it will only send out 300 emails at a time on the free version. Of course, when you're on a shoe string, who really cares. The point is, you can use your database in OpenOffice.org which is like Excel – or you can use Excel – and you'll be able to upload your information to the program in a second. Then you can customize the email and even add HTML. I ususally use the OpenOffice.org Writer in Web Layout Mode, then under File->Send - >Create HTML, I copy and paste the HTML into the area where you can plug in the email. Any photos you use will have to be hosted online somewhere and you'll have to make allowances for that.

Small Business, Think Big

Running a small business is much harder than running a corporation. Surprising? Not if you're a small business entrepreneur. As a fledling business owner on a restricted budget you have to multi-task,juggle,prioritize and balance. Unlike corporations, you don't have a specialized professional team to help you manage, allowing you to focus on more critical business strategies.
Neither do you have the capital to afford such luxuries.At best you have about twenty employees that you need to train, supervise, motivate, schedule and pay. You're the sole manager, running your business on a shoe-string budget with only 24 hours a day. Given such stressful financial and time constraints, how can you successfully maintain a balance between excellence, efficiency, and improving productivity all on your own? The answer? Think big. Manage your business like the big corporations do. Corporations rely on efficient organization that is cost-effective. Yes, even big companies have budget (granted big, but not unlimited) constraints that warrant resourcefulness. Today big businesses resort to business management software whenever possible to replace business processes that were once done manually, reducing costs of labor, time and human error. Scheduling employees, for instance, used to be a tedious, time-consuming task before automated scheduling software made rosters, schedules and shift management a breeze. Today, small businesses can not only easily be a more efficient organization with the help of such software but can also obtain business software at no cost. The business software market offers a variety of free trial software programs for evaluation before purchasing. The downside of those programs are either a time limitation (meaning you might not get fully acquainted with all features) or limited in features (meaning you can't test all the features). If you like the program, you find out it carries a corporate price tag. On the other hand, there are companies (few though they exist), such as Kappix, that offer free fully functional business management software, with no time/feature limitations. Kappix, a leading provider of employee scheduling software, provides businesses of all sizes with DRoster Employee Scheduling. DRoster creates, manages, and automates shifts, rosters, schedules, personnel contact information, job descriptions and tasks. DRoster Employee Scheduling software enables a small business to manage its workforce in advance. You can ensure replacement for absentees, breaks, time-off, vacations. Kappix gives small businesses the professional edge that big companies have. This software provider is an example of the few quality providers of true free business management software. Now you can "think big" - focus on more critical business issues and leave the scheduling to DRoster. Kappix provides DRoster at no cost along with free support. Their employee scheduling software is intuitive and designed to meet the scheduling needs of a myriad of industries. Free software like Kappix's DRoster Employee Scheduling Software, can afford you the time to boost productivity without sacrificing valuable money and precious time. Think big, like the big successful corporations. At no cost.

Use List Building Software

You have heard it before, "The money is in the list". What people mean is that a business can profit greatly from their relationship with customers on their email list. If you have a list of targeted past or potential customers, then you can stand to make a decent income from marketing to them.As people visit your website, you should attempt to collect their names and email addresses. You can then offer a sample of your business in the form of a special download or report that requires registration. This enables you to only collect the information of people that are genuinely interested in learning more about your business. This way you don’t waste the time contacting people, who are not true prospects.
Many people will only visit your website the one time. They may be interested in your product or service, and at the time of their visit, they either didn’t need your products or else didn’t have the money for it. So by capturing their email addresses, you have a way to remind them again and again about your business and products over time. For more help go to You should always use a double opt in list. This means that when a subscriber signs up they will be given an opportunity to either confirm or reject your offer to join your email list. This is important because often as a prank, malicious people will some else’s email address to sign up for emails.An opt-in list requires that the person signed up send back a reply to an email delivered to their address. This sign up and confirmation process, prevents you from accidentally sending emails that would be considered spam and causing you trouble in the long run.How to Use List Building SoftwareFor all of the benefits of list building the main drawback is that list building takes time. Months of hard work if not even years to create of list of thousands of responsive users. This is why you should consider using list building software.Good list building software can greatly reduce the time required from startup to full fledged list marketing. List building software should take into account the growth of your business: does the software have the capacity to grow with your company as it develops and becomes larger?Your list building software should also be capable of keeping a database of all your subscribers and allow for easy signup and have a double opt-in safeguard. It should also allow people to unsubscribe quickly if they need. But it should offer you the ability ask unsubscribe the reasons why they are leaving. Although you may get few answers, these can a valuable source of feedback. For more help login to A decent list building software program will allow you to back or move your email addresses database if you need. A simple backup or download system is essential in case of technology failures.A good list building software program can easily increase your subscriber list in a matter of weeks and eliminates all the behind the scenes functions in manual updates. If you want to build an email list quickly and easily then you should consider getting some list building software

Business Cards

It is easy to give your business cards to potential clients, but getting them to keep your business cards is far more difficult. One of the best ways to get potential clients to keep your business cards is through the design of the cards. The design of your business cards should be simple, smart and it should include features ordinary business cards do not have.How does one design professional-looking business cards? You'd wonder how to do it. You can do it on your own with a little outside help from the pros, or you could use flyer printing or other services to make your card. In reality, making a business card is not as complicated as it might seem.Quality card maker software can easily be found on the Internet. Use it to help design and print quality business cards for your company. You can produce a quality card without utilizing professional graphic designer services and you do not need to personally learn design techniques. You can save both money and time when you use quality software to make your own cards.In several easy steps, even someone completely new to online software can find a program online that will be self explanatory. After you locate and download the software, you just run it and you're on your way.After you have put the software on your computer you can choose from numerous templates to design your own business cards. You could put your company trademark on your business cards also. When you are done making your cards for your business, you can use a printer to reproduce these cards on your own or you can have someone else do the printing. This software allows you to use BMP format or PDF format to make your business cards.Programs for creating business cards will cost you less in both time and dollars. These applications assist you in making cards quickly while still having them look as if they were designed by a pro. You can also market your firm through the use of personalized cards. All you need to do is to choose a logo or other distinctive element that will grab the attention of your potential customers.