To run my several online businesses(authority blogs, information marketing sites, affiliate sites) and offline businesses( outsourcing, real estate investing, Speaking & consulting) efficiently I take help of many people, technologies and resources.
Here is a list of those technologies broken down into categories. This is one of those lists that I used to give just to seminars and workshop attendees in the past. The are not arranged in any order or I am not recommending one over the other. The purpose of this post is to give you all the names and options.
Communication Resources (VOIP)
The internet brings great opportunities to do business all with people from all around the world, and fortunately there are also a number of resources to help with the communication that is necessary. The resources here will allow you to communicate inexpensively with others:
Skype Free calls over the internet to other people on Skype for as long as you like. I use SKYPE extensively to communicate with family, friends and my outsourced vendors
Vonage – Leading provider of VoIP internet broadband telephone services. When you are calling me in my office..you are calling me on a vonage line. The difference is..I could be answering from Canada, India or Santa Clara, CA depends where I am at that time.
Gizmo – Low cost international calling and free calls to users on Yahoo Messenger, Google Talk, Windows Live users and SIP networks. My friends use this frequently, have never tried this.
Vonics Digital– A good alternative, plans start at $12.99 per month.
VoipBuster – Free program that uses the latest technology to bring free and high-quality voice communications to people all over the world.
SunISP – VoIP Plans
Data Backup Solutions
Anyone that has important of sensitive information on their computer needs to have a system in place for backing up the data. For online entrepreneurs a loss of data could be tragic, It had been to me several times in the past. These resources will give you a number of options from which you can choose the one that is best for you. Backing up your hard drive can be done quickly, easilyand automatically:
Below are a list of resources that you can try. Today I have a terabyte storage in my office with RAID 5. This is from a company called Buffalo. If you are starting out you and try
Mozy Industry-leading solution for online backup.
Intronis Online backup solution with remote computer data backup software.
Carbonite Unlimited online backup for one flat fee.
Data Deposit Box Your source for online backup, and secure online data backup.
Athena Backup Automatically backup your home computer files with Athena Backup.
Data Protection Services Secure online backup services, free trial!
Invoicing Solutions
If you are sending and tracking invoices to customers, you may be able to save some time and make the process more efficient by using a program that is specifically designed for this purpose. These resources can help the organization of your invoicing and they can allow you to have more time to spend on what you do best:
Bamboo Invoice Simple, Open Source, Online Invoicing.
FreshBooks Online invoicing and time tracking service.
Transcepta Electronic invoicing solution.
Blinksale The easiest way to send invoices online.
InterlinQ Solutions Providing a daily job report, time sheets, job tracking, construction reports and mobile billing.
Bill My Clients Easy way to create and send invoices and bills to your clients
Billing Orchard Online electronic billing software application.
2nd Site Secure invoicing service w/ online invoice payment & online employee timesheets.
Accounting Solutions
Many online entrepreneurs and small businesses do not have the need to use an accounting system that is as complex as that of a larger business, but every business needs to have organized and accurate financial records. These resources will provide you with everything you need and can easily be used by anyone:
Intacct Delivers ERP software as a service to small and midsize companies.
QuickBooks Online Accounting Solutions for professionals and businesses.
Xero Slash the hours you spend every week on accounting administration.
Time Management Solutions
Time management is critical to achieving maximum productivity. In order to improve that time management of your business, try some of these resources. I think you will see that the resulting organization and efficiency will have a noticeable impact on the results of your work:
Google Calendar Free online shareable calendar service.
Vitalist Web based task manager designed to work with Getting Things Done (GTD).
Backpack Personal and small business information management, intranet, and to do list organizer.
Basecamp Web-based tool that lets you manage and track projects.
GoplanOnline project management app.
Copper Project Project Management Software.
Side Job Track Web-based job tracking, invoicing, reporting & project management software.
ActiTime Free Time Tracking Software.
Contact Manager
Online entrepreneurs typically have a very large number of contacts that they need to keep track of. These programs are specifically created to help you effectively manage your contacts. If you could use some improvement in this area, try some of these resources:
Highrise – Shared contact manager.
BatchBook – Easy-to-use contact management system.
Relenta CRM – Small business CRM software.
Oprius – Sales and Contact Management Software for Independent sales consultants
PipelineDeals – CRM made simple – $15/User/Month.
Zoho – Customer Relationship Management, on demand CRM.
Simple Sales Tracking – Web-based hosted CRM.
SugarCRM – Commercial Open Source CRM.
Hiring Freelancers
At some point you may have a need to hire freelancers of some type. Fortunately, there are plenty of resources online to help you find freelancers and identify the right one for your project. All of the
websites listed here will allow you to search for freelancers according to your needs:
Elance Outsourcing to Freelancers. Have no idea how much I have spent on Elance in the last few years(a staggering amount). I am sure my good friend Sanjay Naronha is similing.
Guru Free service helps you find freelancers, get free quotes, and get your project done.
SmarterWork Top small business services marketplace.
Contracted Work Work Jobs Freelance Search.
oDesk Global service marketplace for small and medium sized businesses. I have started to explore this myself
Get A Freelancer Freelance programmers and web designers.
BizReef Online Services platform.
Joomlancers This blog was designed from a vendor found joomlancers.
Online Reputation Management Tools
Reputation management is a very hot topic online right now. As an entrepreneur, your reputation can have a serious impact on your success and you have a need to monitor your reputation and to make sure that what is being published is true. There are a variety of resources that can help in different ways:
claimID Free, easy way to manage your online identity.
Google Alerts Email updates of the latest relevant Google results.
Yahoo Alerts Free, personalized notification service.
Technorati Real-time search for user-generated media.
FindMeOn Manage your circles of friends, family, colleagues and others.
myOpenID Secure OpenID provider.
Accepting Payments
If you are taking online payments from customers or clients, you will need a way to make that happen. There are a number of different options, and the details of each can vary a good bit. Take a look at these options and see which is best for your situation:
PayPal – World renowned.
Google Checkout – Google??™s way to send and receive money.
Neteller – Online payment solutions.
Moneybookers – Cheaper way to send and receive money worldwide.
iKobo – Pick up your money at over 1000000 Visa ATMs.
CheckFree – Provides financial electronic commerce services.
Authorize.net – Most secured and friendly solution. I have two separate accounts with them two run two of my online businesses
Shopping Carts
E-Commerce sites that are selling products to customers will need some type of shopping cart. There are a number of open source options listed below, as well as a number of other options. Hopefully you will find one that is well-suited to your needs:
Zen Cart Free, user-friendly, open source shopping cart system.
osCommerce Free online shop program.
AgoraCart Free shopping cart.
OpenCart Open source PHP-based online shopping cart system.
Ubercart Open source e-commerce suite.
X-Cart Shopping cart software & PHP ecommerce solutions.
NetSuite Integrated web-based business software suite.
ZNode ASP.NET shopping cart.
Fortune3 Ecommerce Shopping cart software.
Network Solutions Robust, customizable Ecommerce online shopping cart software.
1shoppingcart Business professionally over the Internet.
Secure Delivery The best digital download management site on the net!
Magento Open Source eCommerce Evolved!
Social Networking
Social networking sites can help entrepreneurs to find potential partners, get advice from other entrepreneurs, network with others around the world, and to simply get some exposure for their profile. Each networking site is a little bit different. You??™ll never have the time to use all of them effectively, so find a few that have potential to help you the most and be actively involved:
PartnerUp Find business partners, opportunities to get involved in businesses.
Cofoundr – Cofoundr is a private community for entrepreneurs.
Fast Pitch Networking – Business Networking Social Network for Business Professionals.
Killer Startups Reviewing new startups.
Konnects Business technology focus groups and networking events.
LinkedIn Strengthens and extends your existing network of trusted contacts.
Ryze Business Networking.
StartupNation Provides real-world business advice to people who want to start a business.
Startupping Community resource created for Internet entrepreneurs.
UpSpring Business networking.
Ziggs White pages and free people search for professionals.
Funding Resources
Many entrepreneurs will need some type of funding for their ventures. If this is the case for you, these resources may be helpful. Locating potential funding sources can be a bit easier be taking advantage of the resources that are available:
GoBigNetwork Angel investor network/venture capital.
Fundability Puts your company in front of qualified and interested investors.
Find That Money Formidable presence in consumer finance.
Venture Deal Venture capital database.
American Capital Advance Fast Business Loans.
CPC & Revenue from Affiliate Offers
One of the most common ways to make money with a website is through cost per click programs like Google AdSense. While these programs are not a good fit for some sites and for some audiences, they have proven to effective for many:
Google AdSense – Google??™s CPC Network.
Yahoo! Publisher Network – Yahoo??™s CPC Network.
ABC Search – Get paid per click by ABC.
AdBrite – Webmasters can buy and sell text ads based on their site??™s topic area.
Chitika – The leading merchandising network for bloggers.
Bidvertiser – Pay per click advertising.
Kanoodle – Distributes results to a large network of other search engines and search box providers.
Clicksor – Effective online advertising technology.
Kontera – Advertiser and Publisher Solutions.
CPM Revenue
CPC isn??™t the only option for monetizing a website through advertisements. By choosing a CPM program you will be compensated for impressions rather than clicks. Here are some of the choices that are available:
ADSDAQ – A new advertising exchange.
ValueClick Media – One of the largest and most effective online advertising networks.
AdDynamix – Full-spectrum interactive provider delivering ad management.
Morning Falls – Online advertising solutions to advertisers and publishers worldwide.
CPX Interactive – Online ad network.
BurstMedia – Internet advertising network.
Casale Media – World??™s fastest growing provider of online media solutions.
Tribal Fusion – Focused on high quality sites with targeted content and significant reach.
BrightRoll – Video advertising.
Adtegrity– Internet Advertising Solutions.