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January 17, 2007 | Comments: (0)

Online Education has Multiple Benefits for SMBs

Online education was a buzzword several years ago, but don't let the lack of recent hype fool you: The concept has never stopped growing. There are well over 120 full-scale online universities teaching on the Web today and dozens of high-quality e-learning Web sites offering non-degree courses, as well.

Checking into these resources has a two-pronged benefit for SMB owners and operators: First, it can make you smarter; second, it can make your employees smarter. That last one is important because it can double as an important job benefit for small businesses that might otherwise not be able to afford traditional tuition aid for their employees.

I've yet to find an online university that will negotiate advantageous rates for a specific business, but that's not to say the deal is impossible. If anyone out there's done something like that, let me know.

Meantime, if you're thinking about striking such a deal or perhaps just standardizing on an online learning institution for your company, these are excellent resources:

* ClassesUSA. This is Web learning exchange portal listing not just online universities, but also specific degree programs and courses of study. Not quite as extensive as eLearners (below), but good for full-on degree program research.

* eLearners.com: A full-on Web education portal. Aggregates all kinds of online learning, from kindergarten right up through graduate programs. Also has a great directory of online universities and an article repository, too.

* Media First: This is a good place for SMBs to learn to deal with media relations. Not as a good as a PR agent, Media First still offers training in media relations for both PR pros as well as non-PR workers who'll still have media contact as part of their jobs.

* UK Business Training.co.uk. An awkward name still doesn't ruin this site's value for online business training resources in the UK.

Posted by Oliver Rist on January 17, 2007 11:16 AM

September 11, 2006 | Comments: (0)

Comparative SMB Shipping Site

Like how sites like Expedia or Travelocity show you side-by-side price comparisons for airline tickets to the same destination at the same time? Well now you can do the same thing for packages.

RedRoller.com takes your basic shipping information and them computes what it would cost to send your package with all the most popular shipping companies. You get a side-by-side (or rather stacked like in the screen shot above) price comparison and links to immediately ship your package online. The site lets you print mailing labels and is even integrated with eBay.

Best of all, it's still free for the moment. Check it out.

Posted by Oliver Rist on September 11, 2006 02:02 PM

September 06, 2006 | Comments: (0)

More Small Biz Resources from Microsoft

Microsoft's always had a decent selection of online small business resources, but they've just added a few more.

The (semi-) new site is called Small Business + and Redmond's trying to make it more of a personalized SMB resource rather than just a general one. Signing up requires you to give them some information about yourself and your business, but the payback is content delivered up to you that's (hopefully) of specific interest.

You get access to Microsoft's Small Business Summit trade shows, a delivered monthly newsletter, online training course content and some free online technical advisors you can actually talk to.

What I really wish, however, is that instead of just providing 'resources' Microsoft actually help the SMB customer. Like with pricing in a nasty economy...? Just a thought.

Check it out.

Posted by Oliver Rist on September 6, 2006 09:44 AM

June 12, 2006 | Comments: (0)

MySpace More Than Just a Dating Site

Who knows, MySpace might actually become a worthwhile place to visit for even the SMB management set. Seems the company has just launched a job search site, called appropriately MySpace Jobs. She's powered by the Simple Hired search engine and will probably wind up becoming a player due to sheer volume--it already boasts 5 million listings.

Of course, whether it'll wind up being a job site for professionals or a site that gets high school kids pizza delivery jobs in the summer remains to be seen.

Posted by Oliver Rist on June 12, 2006 09:12 PM

May 17, 2006 | Comments: (0)

Office On the Web: HyperOffice

There are a number of team-tool/collaboration sites on the Internet. But many of them fall short when you really try and toss some work at them. Probably not the case with HyperOffice, however. At least it better not be, based on its features and price.

First off, it's really three products instead of one. The team collaboration tools are one bit, then there's the portal-based document management and finally, there's full MS Exchange email hosting (mostly).

The email hosting bit seems to be done via an Exhange killer product on the back side. HyerOffice is very careful to offer its' email hosting service as a 'low-cost alternative' to full Exchange hosting. However, the features that HyperOffice lists pretty much cover what an actual Exchange hoster would provide: custom domain management, IMAP or POP3, Outlook synchonization, shared Outlook calendars, shared Outlook contacts and even a Sharepoint-type feature. All that Outlook-compatible functionality at a below-Exchange price points to Exchange killer platforms like Scalix or Gordano. HyperOffice doesn't detail what it's using, but fortunately, our testing experiences with these products have been pretty darn good.

And that's just the email part. HyperOffice also has a slew of other services, including a pretty flexible collaboration tool kit. Shared document editing, versioning, storage--the usual trifecta. But this time combined with something that HyperOffice calls "interlinking"--an ability that sounds suspiciously like hyperlinking, but lets users tie together all documents in a project--even emails and notes.

Finally, HyperOffice also manages the full intranet load. Custom design tools, extranet integration, and customer portals. Everything's marketed with an 'alternative-to-Microsoft' approach, pitting these features against Sharepoint. Seeing some examples, it seems to work well enough, though I'm going to doubt it's as easy as Sharepoint.

Pricing for HyperOffice is actually one of its better features. Group size starts as small as 2 persons for a monthly charge of $18 all the way to 250 people for $1370/month. Team storage is assigned with these plans beginning at 200MB for 2 people up to 25GB for 250 people. But if your particular project requires more than the basic storage, HyperOFfice will sell you more space for $3.00 per additional 100MB.

Add it all up and it's a compelling portfolio of Web services for the SB set. Even better is the ability it has to let you grow from SB to MB and up without necessarily sacrificing the tool kit to which your employees have grown accustomed. All the MS Office integration on the client side is really just gravy in comparison.

Always wonder, tho, why this type of all-in-one-office-tool site doesn't also bundle voice services. Voicemail, fax services and even VoIP would seem a natural extension, no?

Posted by Oliver Rist on May 17, 2006 10:21 AM

April 27, 2006 | Comments: (0)

Download The First SMB IT Buyers' Guide: Internet Fax Services

Took me a little while to compile this chart, but here 'tis: The first SMB IT Buyers' Guide. Today, boys and girls, we've compiled you a fine summary of Internet Fax Service providers, their features and basic pricing.

There are more fax services out there than the twelve I've managed to summarize here, but I thought these were either the best known or the best suited to the SMB set. Also, I've got a finite attention span for this kind of thing, and figuring out 57 features for 12 products tends to bring out my ADD demons. I kept them at bay with an adventurous dosage of gin, tonic, chocolate chip cookies and background TV, but I've got limits.

Of the 12, the two I liked best are highlighted in green: InterFAX and Venali. Of the two, I rate Venali as somewhat ahead of InterFAX and certainly ahead of the rest of the field.

Venali may not have the desktop client platform breadth of some of the other services (they love Microsoft), but they definitely have the best business feature set of the bunch and an excellent price to boot. Better, where the others tend to top out at the small business level, Venali can take you from small to medium and right on up to enterprise.

An interesting one is the Phone Company's Remote Printing Service. This is basically a collection of open fax servers worldwide that you can use to send a fax from your browser in a pinch. Not something you'd base even a small business' entire fax functionality upon, but an interesting development--and definitely a utility worth knowing about for when the fax gods are angry with you.

I tried to convert this thing into a PDF, but Adobe has always hated me; so download the link below only if you've got Microsoft Excel or something compatible. I'll keep dancing with Acrobat and get that version up as soon as I find someone smarter than me. (Short search, I know.)

Also, anyone has any corrections to this chart, please post in comments and I'll add after verifying.

Download Fax Buyers Guide.xls

Posted by Oliver Rist on April 27, 2006 08:55 PM

April 18, 2006 | Comments: (0)

Small Biz Tutorials Online

This is a small biz startup sort of post, but since I'm always in that mode, I might as well drop a few findings here as I come across them.

My big weakness in managing my biz is accounting, book keeping, etc. Not only did I major in medieval english lit in school instead of business administration, but numbers have always turned my brain to molasses. (Weird feeling, by the way).

Surprise, though, because there is salvation, namely that nothing un-molasses the brain like the mother of invention...necessity. When your ability to pay bills is directly reliant upon how much you can learn about small business accounting, your brain tends to speed up.

For me, it just doesn't speed up until I've got free time, which is usually later at night; so I wind up learning my small business accounting largely over the Web. Fortunately, there are numerous excellent tutorials available out there if you just know where to look--or you have some small biuz blogger around to point them out.

Management Help is an excellent site. Basically a free library of in-depth papers on all kinds of business management topics. One is this a really good guide called the Basic Guide to Financial Management in Small For-Profit Businesses. No, it's not a Sanford page-turner, but if you need the knowledge it's there. And in much more depth than the usual "5-steps to basic whatever" type article you'll find in the online small biz mags.

In a similar vein, I really liked their guide to Financing by For-Profit Organizations. Again, quite in-depth and far beyond a typical magazine article.

A little less in-depth, but much quicker to digest are these video tutorials and workshops from Commerce Bank--yeah, the same guys who provide time and temperature on TV late at night. They've actually put a fairly large library of topics on the Web, including conducting a market analysis, building a business, management tactics, etc. And they're free--just click on the link and you can watch the workshop lecture right there in the browser. Sure, the advice is aimed at pulling you into various banking services, but it's still good knowledge.

Posted by Oliver Rist on April 18, 2006 05:55 PM

April 13, 2006 | Comments: (0)

Learn IT at Home with WatchIT

I get press releases from these guys, and it turns out the site is pretty informative. WatchIT is billed as an online educator specializing in IT training.

Content is delivered on-demand and generally in the form of downloadable videos. You can get a free 1-day pass, which is real cool, so give yourself a few hours and check it out. And remember that they've got a wider curriculum than just straight IT nerdery. Find content on sales, marketing and CIO-style management to name a few.

If you're smart enough in a particular topic, you can even check into becoming a WatchIT Subjective Expert. You'll likely find my name in there under Adult Online Content and Avoiding Exercise.

Posted by Oliver Rist on April 13, 2006 02:28 PM

April 04, 2006 | Comments: (0)

Incorporation Made Easy...Online

There are any number of reasons you might want to quickly and cheaply form a new corporation or business entity. Trying out a new product idea or service. Separating such a concept from an existing entity. Or hiding out from the FBI. Kidding!!!

The best way is to use a corporate attorney, but that's often expensive and time consuming. If you're into the lower road when it comes to this process, check out BizFilings. In the same vein as MyTechnologyLawyer.com, this site simplifies specific legal functions for easy Web-based processing.

Specifically, the site has taken much of the legwork of filing for incorporation and placed it all online. Just fill out a number of forms, pay the ticket and submit. Often, you can get your incorporation back in just a few days after BizFilings gets done filing everything with the appropriate state and federal authorities. It's clean, fast and definitely cheaper than using an attorney at between $99 and $350 bucks.

They've also got other handy services, including corporate dissolutions (yak, but it happens), ordering corporate supplies and other stuff.

Definitely worth some bookmark space for the frequent entrepeneur.

Posted by Oliver Rist on April 4, 2006 11:10 AM

March 24, 2006 | Comments: (0)

Me Babbling and a Burgeoning SMB Resource

This past Wednesday, I had the chance to get interviewed by Scott Draughon, the force behind MyTechnologyLawyer.com. His site also has a corresponding radio show that converts content (including my interview) into downloadable MP3s.

Scott and I talked about a bunch of things (Verizon won't like me), but in the process he turned me onto an SMB resource site, called the SMB Technology Network. The site is still growing, but it's got a decent bookstore of small business texts and sponsors educational events around the country.

Scott says SMBTN will soon begin a small biz-to-small biz networking site, but that's still in the works. Keep watching.

Posted by Oliver Rist on March 24, 2006 11:22 AM

February 08, 2006 | Comments: (0)

Wrote an Idea on a Napkin? Win a $100,000

Got this as a press release from MarketingExperiment.com (MEC), which is holding its first Back of a Napkin business plan competition:

"[MEC]... is having its first business plan competition, where they are offering the contest winner a "business jump-start package" worth approximately $100,000. Although other organizations frequently hold business plan competitions, MEC's is unique in that they don't want 30-page entries. All business plan information has to be written on a 5x7 index card, or in essence, on the 'back of a napkin'."

Maybe Monster.com isn't the only way out of the cube-prison blues.

Posted by Oliver Rist on February 8, 2006 07:09 PM

November 03, 2005 | Comments: (0)

Microsoft on a Publishing Tear

The folks in Redmond are writing up a storm. And while usually that's just a bunch of press releases, right now it's a host of useful information. Here's a summary:

The Windows XP Security Guide. Covers securing WinXP in enterprise client, standalone and specialty modes.

I may need this one next week: the DNS Step-by-Step Guide. Covers all the steps required in properly setting up the Windows Server 2003 DNS Service.

This one's a little specialized, but useful nonetheless. The Step-by-Step Guide to Setting up VPN-Based Remote Access in a Test Lab. Probably similar in overall functionality to setting up VPN access elsewhere, so it may have broader appeal outside the test lab setting.

Posted by Oliver Rist on November 3, 2005 08:47 PM

September 19, 2005 | Comments: (0)

Another SMB Web Resource

Here's another Web site worth a glance if you're seeking small business advice, know-how and products. Hop on over to Yahoo. You've got a Small Business section linkable right off the main page. And don't be put off if you think it's just a hawk sub-page for Yahoo's hosting services. These are indeed showcased, but there's also a whole library of online SMB articles, concerning everything from Web presence management to sales, marketing and financial management. And it's all free whether or not you're a Yahoo customer.

Posted by Oliver Rist on September 19, 2005 07:36 AM

September 07, 2005 | Comments: (0)

SMBs Shouldn't Count Out Oracle

If there's a name more synonymous with big honking enterprises than Oracle, I don't know it. In my last real-life negotiation with Oracle reps some five years ago, they cheerfully put a $2 million price tag on software we figured we'd get for $500K. Taking care of the little guy just didn't seem to be on Ellison's radar.

But since then open source has taken the world by storm (especially the host of powerful OSS databases) and probably taken a respectable chunk of Oracle's market share with it. So the guys from Redwood Shores, CA have taken to singing a different tune.

Yes, Oracle knows the SMB market exists. You can find several dedicated links for SMBs on Oracle's site, and they've got a surprising amount of meat. Mostly technical flesh, though. You can find oodles of whitepapers and a large number of recorded seminars and Web casts all free for the downloading. But unless you're an Oracle DBA or serious about becoming one, this stuff is largely as interesting as watching paint dry. Three or four of these docs in a row and I want to peel off my own corneas with a paint scraper. And why is so much of it in PDF?

For business managers, you'll find the typically objective customer case studies and loads of advertorial content for additional Oracle services and partner products. That last is actually pretty helpful if you know what you're looking for. An important relationship for the SMB set, apparently, is Oracle's partnership with Dell. (Funny, because I deal with Dell quite a bit in my alter ego as a diabolical IT consultant and they've never mentioned Oracle to me or my SMB customers. Unrequited love?)

In a really good move, Oracle has opened its online store to SMB customers. If you know what you want and you can't afford to deal with a ruggedly handsome, smooth talking middle man like yours truly, Oracle will let you buy most anything you like online. That's a big plus for smaller business folks who just need to get the job done with the least amount of hassle.

Now if Oracle would only be part of industry shootouts like the Identity Management shootout we InfoWorlders just finished at the ANCL lab in Honolulu, maybe the SMB set would learn to trust the platform a bit more. Hard to know someone's the best at something if they never go out and prove it.

Posted by Oliver Rist on September 7, 2005 01:20 PM

September 06, 2005 | Comments: (0)

Financial Advice from the Richest Man in Computing

For those of us still wrestling with the financial aspects of running a small business, Microsoft wants to help.

No, really.

Check out their Small Business Financial Management Guide (ironically published in PDF) right about here.

Posted by Oliver Rist on September 6, 2005 07:32 AM

August 30, 2005 | Comments: (0)

Evil Empire Web Site Post 1

Okay, break from TV vegging...

So I've pinged HP's SMB web site here already, which means I can't very well ignore one of the largest vendor-sponsored SMB value-add sites in multiverse. You can say a lot about Microsoft. Quite a lot. A real mammoth amount of verbiage, in fact, but that's difficult to concentrate on right now because the TV is polluting the corner of my eye with Jessica Simpson having what can only be described as an intimate encounter with the General Lee. What happened to that woman?

Be she as she may, and say what you will about the Empire of Darth Gates, but you've got to hand the SMB web site crown to Microsoft--at least for now. No other site I've been able to find has more dedicated and value-add content aimed specifically at SMB users. None.

So much that I can't write about all of it in these short snippet posts. So instead, we'll just take a tour of one part -- the Microsoft Office Online section. Hit the Microsoft site, head over to the Office Home Page and the Office Online link is right there. Or you could just click here.

Once there, you'll find [take deep breath] all kinds of free Office templates, articles on using Office tools in SMB tasks, links to Office-related services, links to third-party Office add-ons and even just general content on running your business better. [take another deep breath] Plus there are short-cut links to tools like clip art, Office demos, calendars, planners and whole slew of other stuff. (You know Jessica's assistant hits this site. And only her assistant.)

There's even a Hot Downloads section that cycles through the most popular downloads of free add-on Office tools. Recently grabbed one myself, namely a new search engine for Outlook. With around 7000 messages in my Inbox and Archive, this puppy has already saved my butt twice--though it's making Outlook start times a bit annoying.

You can even read some fun content, like Crabby Office Lady (take a look at the icon--30 years, that's Jessica). And she's just one of five columns all spewing out advice on how to make better use of Office. At $300+ per Office package, getting more for your pennies definitely can't hurt. And if you don't like what you see, there's even a suggestion box--don't do what you're thinking. Be nice.

Microsoft has very obviously put a lot of effort into attracting SMB customers to this place. If you've already dished out for the Office software, you really owe it to yourself to spend a little time exploring this site. There's loads of stuff here, and, after all, you paid for a chunk of it already.

Next time, I'll hit the other SMB portions of Microsoft's Web property -- and, yes, there's plenty more to cover.

Back to TV vegging. (...Damn. I thought NBC canceled The Office.)

Posted by Oliver Rist on August 30, 2005 06:22 AM

August 23, 2005 | Comments: (0)

HP's SMB Site: Sweet But Could Be Sweeter

Plenty of vendor Web sites have an SMB page or two, but a few companies have gone the extra mile and put up something that's really useful to most SMB audiences even if they might not be customers. One is HP, though it still needs some content TLC.

Drop in on HP's site and click the Small and Medium Business link on the right side of the main page. It doesn't look that much different from most SMB-oriented sub-sites, but dig a little and you'll find several golden nuggets.

First there's the Use & Learn section, which is rife with how-to guides, articles and tips and even downloadable templates designed to work seamlessly with HP printing products. These are useful, but definitely geared towards end-user types.

The Expertise Centers are really just sales drivers that give you the skinny on differentiating between HP products and lots of marketing smoke on comparing HP products vs. other vendors. Pretty much the same thing in the Solution Centers section. However, the Support & Services section is once again truly useful.

First, you'll find a well-populated knowledgebase that's searchable by product. You'll also find links to new driver downloads, and links that provide all of HP's rather numerous options for upgrading an existing product warranty. Similarly, there's a hook to SMB-oriented leasing programs and their requirements. Even links to the refurbished purchasing section.

If I had a wish list for HP's SMB site, it would be more dedicated SMB advice content and far more interactivity. Dell's site, for example, not only provides all the necessary information for applying for an SMB leasing program, but actually allows you to apply right there over the Web. Now that Dell and HP are head-to-head, HP needs that kind of convenience.

And while I like HP's vertical pages (you'll find links to Real Estate, Healthcare and more), these pages need more dedicated technical content. Real Estate, for example, refers back to a dedicated real estate marketing package that HP sells, but needs more information on how to combine that with other HP products for the best solution. Maybe a non-marketing, more solution-oriented case study or two?

And finally, there should really be some dedicated SMB-style IT content. Microsoft's got TechNet--which I'll go into detail about during a later post--where's HP's IT beef? The Support section is nice, but there's plenty more to discuss besides individual product support.

To find it, you need to look very closely at the SMB Support link. Bottom right, you'll find a link to the IT Resource Center. That's what us SMB geeks are looking for. An IT-style knowledgebase, technical forums, a patch/firmware database, a software update manager and more. Even a link to Compaq's ongoing technical knowledgebase. The only thing really missing, which Microsoft has, is the large library of technical white papers that explain how to use Redmond's products in endless scenario variations. Forums may make up for some of that, but TechNet really can be a learning tool all by itself.

If you've got an SMB-oriented Web site that you like, post it here.

Posted by Oliver Rist on August 23, 2005 04:39 PM

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