Tag: small business
35 Essential Social Media Resources You May Have Missed
by Ranju Chaudhary on Jun.28, 2010, under Gadgets, Trends, What's Happening?
Chances are you’ve been waiting in line all week for the iPhone 4, which means you haven’t been keeping up on your social media resources. Tsk-tsk.
Put said device to good use, and scroll on down for your weeklycavalcade of hints, tips, insights and analysis.
This week’s list includes some great Google
facts, web design inspiration, and a few ways to improve your social business model.
Go on, gorge yourself.
Social Media
- 15 Fab Flash Mob Videos on YouTube
We’ve rounded up the very best flash mob events caught on camera, from big brands and ordinary bands of people. - Why Feedback and Filters are Necessary in Social Media
Social media noise can be combated in two ways: By sending feedback to the noise generators, and by effectively filtering social streams. Here’s a look at both. - HOW TO: Crowdsource Funds for Causes, Creativity and Startups
These resources can help you raise money for your charity, latest project, or business venture. - How Salespeople Are Using Social Media for Real Results
The days of door-to-door salespeople might be over, but social media has opened new opportunities. - 9 Universal Principles of Viral Media Sites
Want your site to get a billion page views by going viral online? Want to enter the rankings as Internet
meme? There’s no set formula, but there are a few tried-and-true principals to adhere to. - The Top 10 Most Watched Web Series, May 2010
If you’re looking for some video entertainment to watch on your lunch break, this chart is a great place to start. - 10 Best UFO Hoax Videos on YouTube
We’ve trawled YouTube for UFO clips, and pulled together a list of the ten very best hoaxes, unexplained footage, fakes, and mysterious home movies. - 3 Things Facebook Does Very Well
Despite the passionate criticism Facebook has received lately, the network is a social giant and web mainstay for a reason. Here’s what it’s doing right. - Why Food Bloggers Are Here to Stay
Food blogs have taken off, but some food bloggers still struggle to have the same legitimacy as their print-publication counter-parts. - Are You a Comments Troll?
When a story’s subject/author/factual errors/typeface sends one into a fit of rage, it can be hard to hold back one’s ire. - HOW TO: Help New Users Stay Engaged on Twitter
Twitter is growing, but new users are often overwhelmed, and many don’t stick around. We’ve outlined some ways you can help prevent them from becoming part of the Twitter quitter trend. - How Social Media is Helping Veterans Connect
Veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are utilizing social media for more than just staying in touch with family while deployed. Online communities have become important support systems.
For more social media news and resources, you can follow Mashable’s social media channel on Twitterand become a fan on Facebook.
Tech & Mobile
- iRig Turns Your iPhone Into an Awesome Guitar Stompbox [REVIEW]
We went hands-on with the AmpliTube iRig, an interface for your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch that lets you plug in a guitar and use your device as a stompbox. - 10 Fun Facts You Didn’t Know About Google
Google is not your average company and it’s fitting that they have a history chock full of quirk. Here are 10 facts you may not have known about Google. - Tech Tourism: 10 Great Geek Destinations
From the birth of Silicon Valley to the inception of Twitter, we’ve pinpointed ten places on the map for those with a passion for tech and social media. - 14 Sites Changing the Way We Shop
We’ve been shopping online since the mid 90s and the web has become a playground for smart and savvy shoppers. Here are 14 sites changing the way we shop. - Free Music Monday: 10 Free Downloads Compiled for You
10 free tracks in honor of the #musicmonday tradition on Twitter. - How iOS 4 and iTunes Work Together [VIDEO]
Check out this video demo of the new mobile OS and your favorite music app in action together. - 10 Best Multimedia and Entertainment Android Apps
Turn your Android device into a multimedia hub for music, video, books, news, and more with these 10 great apps. - HOW TO: Get Up-to-Date on WordPress 3.0
WordPress 3.0 brings a refined backend interface, a new default theme, a new custom menu structure, and improved support for custom post types and taxonomies. - Top 10 Resources for Design Inspiration
A list of the best visual resources where web designers and creatives can turn for inspiration and to jump start their creative thinking. - iPhone 4 vs. Droid X Feature Comparison [INFOGRAPHIC]
How does the new Droid X stack up against the new iPhone 4? Check the chart. - HOW TO: Use iMovie for iPhone
iMovie for iPhone is the official Apple application that lets iPhone users record and edit high-definition video to publish directly to YouTube or send via MMS and e-mail. - 10 iPhone Apps for a Better Night’s Sleep
Sleep is one of the best things for your body. No matter how many hours of rest you get, these 10 apps can help you make the most of your sleep at night. - iPad Magazines: Don’t Believe the Hype
Much has been said about the iPad’s ability to reinvigorate the publishing industry, but the first generation of magazine apps on the iPad falls short. - 5 Free Ways To Find Local Concerts on Your Smartphone
If you want to find local concerts while you’re on the go, these 5 apps will keep you in the know. - The History of the iPhone [INFOGRAPHIC]
It’s been an auspicious week for Apple and its much-touted wonder device. Take a stroll down memory lane with this infographic. - 5 Cool Non-Profit Uses of Location-Based Tech
We’ve seen brands use location-based services for marketing, but non-profit organizations have jumped on board to spread awareness and make connections. Here are some interesting examples.
For more tech news and resources, you can follow Mashable’s tech channel on Twitter and become a fan onFacebook.
Business
- 5 Useful iPhone Apps for Business Networking
Five useful iPhone apps that will help you become a better business networker. - Newspapers Are Still Dying, But the News Is Not Going Anywhere
Newspapers need to desperately seek new ways to find revenue with experimental tactics in order to stay alive. - HOW TO: Use QR Codes for Small Business Marketing
If you’re unfamiliar with the business potential of QR codes, use this post as a crash course in how to get started. - HOW TO: Use Social Media for Lead Generation
Being that social media is a great place to attract new customers, we put together a quick guide on how to use social media for lead generation. - HOW TO: Improve B2B Sales Productivity with Social Media
Social media offers unprecedented ways to investigate and make connections with business customers that will save you time chasing worthless leads. - Why Your Next Business Card May Be Virtual
Virtual business cards offer many advantages over paper cards: They’re cheaper, take up less room, automatically update, and can instantly hook into your social graph. - HOW TO: Evaluate Your Social Media Plan
If you are frustrated because your business hasn’t seen results from social media marketing, maybe it’s time to rethink your plan. Here are some tips to help.
5 Free and Open-Source Software Alternatives for Small Businesses
by Ranju Chaudhary on Jun.18, 2010, under Latest Web Technologies, What's Happening?
If you’re part of a small business, chances are you’re always looking for ways to save money. What many business owners and managers don’t realize is that they can get all the software they need to run a business — quite literally all of it in most cases — 100% free of charge. That includes operating systems, word processing programs, accounting software, email servers, graphic design programs and more.
If you put in some time to do some research, you might find perfectly free software alternatives that work just as well as Microsoft Office, Adobe Photoshop, QuickBooks, and other better-known programs.
Best of all, since FOSS is free to download and try, there’s no risk in testing it out. Take a look at some of these programs and see if a few of them would fit your business needs. You lose nothing by giving them a try, and if they are a good fit, you could save hundreds or even thousands of dollars in licensing fees and upgrades.
1. OpenOffice
OpenOffice is an open-source alternative to Microsoft Office and similar software suites. It’s absolutely free to download, and it contains programs for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, graphics databases and more.
The interfaces are familiar and intuitive; in other words, even if you happen to realize you’re not in MS Word, you won’t feel lost or not know which buttons to click to get your work done. It is available in many languages and works on all common operating systems.
2. GNUCash
GNUCash is a free program for personal and small-business accounting. It tracks bank accounts (including investments), revenue and expenses. Its features include tracking for customers, vendors, jobs, invoices, accounts payable, accounts receivable and detailed reporting, as well. You can import all your current data from programs such as Microsoft Money and Quicken, and you can also export data to spreadsheets, including Microsoft Excel spreadsheets.
Since accounting software is so integral to a business’ bottom line, this might be something you’d want to test first before you make a full commitment to switching. If you’ve got a good grasp of other accounting programs, GNUCash will be second nature to you; however, if you’re new to such programs, reviews suggest you’ll still have a fairly easy time grasping its concepts, features and uses.
3. GIMP
GIMP is a free Photoshop substitute that will satisfy all but the most demanding professional graphic designers. If you need to make simple web graphics, retouch a few product photos, or create flyers or other marketing materials, this program should work nicely for you. It’s robust, and if you’ve used Photoshop or Photoshop-like clone programs, the interface and commands will be familiar to you. The images you create can be saved in an array of common formats, including PSD Photoshop files, in case you need to send your files to a Photoshop user.
All in all, GIMP might be the single greatest money-saver on this list. It’s completely free, whereas a single Photoshop license — which you’ll need to pay for again each time Adobe releases a new version of the software — can cost hundreds of dollars per user.
4. Zimbra
If you want a Microsoft Exchange-level email program for your business, including web, mobile and desktop email clients, but you don’t want to pay the licensing fees, you might consider Zimbra as an alternative. Its FOSS version is free of charge and available for immediate download. It’s compatible with most operating systems, including Mac and Windows, and it includes an address book, a calendar, document support and a task-management app, among other features.
This app also integrates natively with other mail clients, such as Outlook and Apple Mail. Lastly, Zimbra also uses a standards-based approach that supports POP, IMAP, iCal and more for importing email and calendar data from other programs.
5. Linux
Sometimes called GNU/Linux, this family of operating systems is versatile, free, easy to customize, stable, beautiful, frequently updated and — let’s say it again — completely and utterly free, regardless of how many devices or users install it.
For years, there’s been the commonly held idea that Linux OSes are command-line intensive, difficult to use, easy to crash and generally for nerds only. Much of this “fear, uncertainty and doubt” has come from corporate entities that benefit most from these drastic misperceptions. While you might want to reach out for a little help when installing your Linux OS for the first time, you’ll be shocked at how simple and user-friendly a Linux distro (that’s short for “distribution,” the Linux term for version) can be. The interfaces are elegant and intuitive, much more so than even Windows or Mac for many users.
If you’re concerned about not being able to find programs that will run on a Linux machine, you can run any Windows applications you need by using Wine, a Windows emulator:
Clearly, installing an entirely new operating system is a bigger commitment than switching from MS Office to OpenOffice, but the rewards (and the short- and long-term savings) are much, much greater. If you’re hesitant about making the commitment, try installing a distro such as Ubuntu on a personal laptop or netbook until you get a feel for it and are confident it will work for your business.
