A warm welcome to all the folks who braved the cold weather to hear me speak at today’s Dekalb County Brown Bag Luncheon. I met many entrepreneurs — from start-ups to seasoned pros — and was impressed with the talent and commitment they exhibited. Best of luck to all of you with your business ventures. We hope to see you back here on the blog from time to time. As promised, here is a listing of the web sites we discussed today:
MARKETING TOOLS:
•E-mail management and marketing: http://www.ConstantContact.com
•Polls/customer surveys: http://www.surveymonkey.com/
•Cheap photos for marketing pieces (coupla’ bucks a piece): http://www.iStockPhoto.com
•Full-color printing: http://www.PrintingForLess.com (ask for the Red Team)
•Quick, cheap printing (quality not great): http://www.OvernightPrints.com
•Fun, quirky printing: http://www.Moo.com
•Custom, cultural, and theme invitations and event paperie: http://www.KembaCelebrations.com
•Shirts, tote bags with your logo (small quantity): http://http://ocs.landsend.com/corpsales
•Edible greeting cards: http://www.EdiblesInc.com
•Custom cookies: http://www.LadyFortunes.com
•Chocolate business cards: http://http://SchottChocolateImages.com/
•Cheap mugs: http://www.DiscountMugs.com
•Custom containers, notepads: http://www.TheMacBethCollection.com
•Last-minute gift ideas: http://www.RedEnvelope.com
•Business networking: http://www.LinkedIn.com
•Social networking (find relevant groups):
http://www.Facebook.com
http://www.Ning.com
http://http://www.meetup.com/cities/us/ga/atlanta/ (MeetUp Atlanta) (MeetUp Atlanta)
•Naming tools: http://http://www.wordlab.com/tools/t_index.cfm
OPERATIONS TOOLS:
•Simple project management tool: http://www.BasecampHQ.com
•Quicker surfing: Google Toolbar http://http://toolbar.google.com/T4/index_pack_xp.html
•Easier bookmarking: Google Bookmarks http://www.google.com/bookmarks/
•Directory assistance on the run (free): Google SMS (text message) http://http://www.google.com/intl/en_us/mobile/sms/
•Create PDF files (free): http://www.pdf995.com
•Conference calls (almost free): http://www.MrConference.com
•Legal advice and forms: http://www.LegalZoom.com
•Productivity advice: http://http://suiteminute.blogspot.com/
•Online continuous data backup (cheap): http://www.Carbonite.com
•Restaurant reservations (quick): http://www.OpenTable.com
•Discount furniture, supplies, office space: http://http://atlanta.craigslist.org/
•Web-based accounting: http://www.QBOE.com (QuickBooks Online Edition)
•Plan your route:
http://www.MapQuest.com
http://www.GeorgiaNavigator.com
•Best deal on cell phones: http://www.Sprint.com/SERO
(need an employee e-mail to access the site: email me and I’ll send you one)
•Web site traffic reports and analysis (free): http://www.google.com/analytics/
•Free website (domain name, hosting, branded e-mail, design tools): http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/officelive/default.aspx
(Microsoft Office Live)