When we do business online, sometimes we forget that we are dealing with something that is global, something so huge and so potent. We forget that we are not just buying milk from the local grocery store or that we are not just selling lemonade from a lemonade stand. We always need to be reminded that the online business is a real business. It deals not with paper money, but real money. It has the complete potential to support you and give you the power to become an independent entrepreneur. Just because your business is online doesn’t mean you shouldn’t treat it like a real business. This is the second post in a series looking at some of the most important elements of a strong online business model.

Build A Smart Model

Building a smart business is easier than you think. All you really need is some basic knowledge of the internet and some business common sense. The rest will all follow easily. How do you do this? Just follow some of the tips below and you will soon realize the potential of your online business to be a fully automated and smart model that could easily earn you extra money without giving it much effort.

Tip # 1. Diversify Income Streams.

Everyone know putting all your eggs in one basket is a bad idea. The internet is a very potent source of income and you should optimize it by diversifying the way you make money in the internet. One method or one source is not enough to keep your income steady and flowing. You can easily add to your income if you use different methods ( such as having adsense on your site, hosting ad banners, etc) and add multiple streams of income from diverse sources. Why should you do this? Here are a few reasons:

• Doing this can protect you from losing everything when advertising terms change or a partner decides to pull out. By having more than one source of income, you could have the option of pulling out when you need to or have a steady source of income even if one source fails or does not perform up to your standards.
• Doing this, will require a lot of work, however, the security is worth it! By having multiple sources of income it also means that you double the work. You check more things, it requires you to answer to more people but the financial security of doing this is worth it. The double work pays off especially when you realize that it gives you double the income for a bit more of your time. Soon, if you work hard enough, the rewards will be greater and you will be earning more than you expect with a few clicks.

Tip # 2. Build auto-pilots to fund future projects

We all know that in order to make money,we have to spend a little money. However, if you do not have the capital at the moment, and you have a project in mind, it would be great to build capital for your next project by finding easy ways to make more money on the net. You do not have to spend a lot of time on the net for it. You could do this by building muse projects.

In the 4-hour Work Week, Tim Ferriss talked about muse projects. Muse projects are simple, single problem solutions, that once started, could run on their own yet provide some income. It doesn’t have to be a lot. What could you do with $500 a month to put toward your Internet Business? Adsense sites, affiliate products, hosting ad banners and similar avenues, any of these could be turned into auto-pilot projects. Add enough of them, and they may become your whole income model!

Tip # 3 Think global

Do not forget that the internet is not only a local network. It reaches every part of the globe at all times and it is a 24 hour money making network that never sleeps. When you’re developing your projects, remember that some of your potential customers will be outside the US. Many of the products sold online are not bought by local buyers, you will find that when you have an online business most of your customers and market would be outside the country. In fact, you may even want to target prospects outside the US and make money by offering products and services targeted for these audiences.

Never limit your target market to a certain region geographically if you are in the internet. It is smarter and wiser to remember that in the internet, you have the whole world at the palm of your hand and within reach.

Also remember to take advantage of global arbitrage when it comes to talent and labor. There are thousands of well educated, well qualified people around the world willing and able to help you build your online businesses. Look at sites like oDesk.com to find one that can help make your project a global success.

Tip # 4. Always keep your flagship.

I tend to believe that you should solve one problem with one solution. This manifests itself in my online business as hundreds of web sites, each intended to address and solve one problem. If you focus on addressing the needs and wants of a single market, you can effectively find out and be an expert on their needs and wants and anticipate the market demand easier than by solving many problems and addressing many markets at once. Though others may disagree and your experience will vary, this is just the way I’ve chosen to structure my business.

One reason is for ease of sale. That’s right. I structure my business so I can sell any part of it if the opportunity presents itself. It is easier to present and design a website if you have a single market in mind. You can singly attack and attract your target market this way and you can build a brand name for yourself that way. Being known for a flagship name could help make you a household name in the market you choose and easily bring more people to your online business.

And as of today, I don’t see any reason why I’d ever want to get rid of my flagship property, jtrigsby.com. I mean, lets face it, I’d pretty much have to change my name for it to become useless for me! Keep your home base just like a manufacturing business would keep their headquarters. No matter what they make or sell, the headquarters remains the same. Your flagship would identify you, no matter what you sell or what service you provide to different markets, people would always find you there and would bring business to you if you are known by that single name.

Building a smart model with the tips above could be easy for some and a challenge for some. Why don’t you try and write a one-page online business plan and see if it is possible to apply the aforementioned tips to your online business. In that business plan you should identify your objectives, and state why you are starting an on-line business.

Then, you should identify your market or the people who are you trying to reach and sell to. Give them a name, describe them, and make a list of where they spend money online today. Ask yourself what they need and what you could provide them as well.

Identify your competitors. Start with the big players then work down to the second and third tier. How do they reach their customer base? What can they do that you couldn’t? What do they do that you could do better? Identify your strengths and weaknesses against them.

Finally, think about how you’re going to get out. An exit plan is a great way to ensure that you will not lose everything when you close down shop. Will you sell to someone else or just close up shop? What will you do when you reach your objective? What are the determining factors that would make you close up shop?

By answering these questions, you would have created a solid plan of action that you could apply to your own business. Hopefully, you have built a smart model that could generate you money easily and could gain profit from the very rich and potent online market that you choose.

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Like any business, the online business needs careful planning, preparation and operation to make it successful.  Just because you’re business is online doesn’t mean you shouldn’t treat it like a real business. This is the first post in a three part  series looking at some of the most important elements of a strong online business model.

Your Online Business Is Still A Business

It is important to remember that once you start doing business on the internet that you are actually being entrepreneurial and starting your own online business. Whether it is an online shop to sell your arts and crafts or you offering your services online to other people – it is an online business. For this business venture to succeed and start earning, you have to learn how to view it as if the business was real and not virtual.

To do this, you must start business planning and some market research which are the foundation of any business. However, if you are not a big business person, you can also achieve success in your business if you know the four basic business factors that are important in any business online or not. These factors include:  objectives or goals, market, competition and exit strategy.

Know your objectives

Before starting any business you must know your objectives. Of course, the ultimate goal of any business is to make money or gain profit. However, while that’s a good enough reason some times, more often there is a reason you want to make more money.  It could be to pay off bills, buy a new boat, or just quit your day job. Understanding WHY you are starting your online business makes decision making a lot easier later on.

Before you start your business, you have to start with by knowing what your business goals are. To effectively do this, it is important that you ask the following questions:

• Why are you starting this online business?
• What does your business do?
• What is this business for?

These three questions will help you formulate your Mission and Vision Statement. The mission statement articulates a company’s purpose. It announces to the world why your company exists, what it does and what your business is for. The mission statement will serve as your guide to achieving your ultimate business goals.

Alongside this, most business people put together a vision statement which is a statement of your company’s goals and what it wants to achieve. Together, the mission-vision statement defines the purpose of your online business.
Know your market

Once you get know what your purpose the next step is to know your market. There is only one way to make money, on-line or off-line… You have to sell something. It may be tangible goods or just your time. If you are having a difficult time figuring out what to sell, think about it backwards and ask yourself what people want to buy. Knowing your market makes product development a lot easier.

Once you get a general idea of what you are going to sell (whether it is a product or service), you have to find out who you are selling to. It is difficult to make money online if you do not know who to channel your marketing energies to. To do this, ask yourself the following questions:

• What is your product/service?
• Who will benefit most from your product/service?
• Who else would benefit or could use your product/service?

Once you answer these questions then you have discovered your Target Market. Remember that, Selling is easier if you have a target in mind. You cannot expect to put a website or products in the internet and they would sell instantly if you do not channel your energies towards marketing to the right people.

Focus your energies on trying to attract these people and knowing what they want or need.  This knowledge will help you develop or create better things that these people may want or need that you can provide. This innovation that is specifically targeted for them could help you get an edge in the dog eat dog world of online business.

Know your competition

Another way to succeed in the Online business world is to know your competition. Just like in an off-line business, taking on the biggest competitor in your on-line business niche is going to be pretty hard. When you’re just getting started, look for the second and third tier players in your niche and target their audience. Then with success, aim your sights a little higher. Taking smaller bites of the pie makes getting started a lot easier.

By studying your competition, you could learn from them. What they did right, what they did wrong, what they can improve and what you can do to get the edge and steal a portion of their market. Learning from your competitors would help you avoid the mistakes they did and make your business much more successful and profitable.

When doing the competitor analysis, you must answer the following questions: (SWOT ANALYSIS)

• What are my business’  internal strengths?
• What are the weaknesses?
• What opportunities are there for me to grab?
• What threats are there in the market that I should avoid or get over?

In addition, you could also answer the following:

• What things can I do better than my competition?
• What things did they do that I should avoid?
• What can I improve on their strategy to give me the edge?

Know your exit strategy

Finally, it is good to know that each business has its own cycle. It is good to know when to quit and bail out while it’s still good. What would you do if the business is already in decline? How would you exit the market?

In the early days of any business its easy to imagine that it will go on forever. Its important however to consider how long you will be willing to run your business and under what conditions you will consider selling or ending your business.

You have to be realistic and prepare for things that may come if your business is unsuccessful.

These four elements are also the four basic elements or factors in business planning and development. The knowledge of these four elements will help you write out a business plan that could be your roadmap to the success of your online business,

Have you started planning your online business? Or if it is existing does it have a business plan? Maybe the best thing to do to improve your business or start it out, is to write a one-page online business plan.

To this you have to:

• Identify your objectives, why are you starting an on-line business.
• Identify your market, who are you trying to reach. Give them a name, describe them, and make a list of where they spend money online today
• Identify your competitors, start with the big players then work down to the second and third tier. How do they reach their customer base?
• Finally, think about how you’re going to get out. Will you sell to someone else or just close up shop? What will you do when you reach your objective?

I hope that this article would help you create that perfect business plan for your business. Remember that planning is one of the best keys in strategic online business success. Good Luck and Happy Planning!

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The basic Skype service is free and allows you to make voice and video calls with excellent call quality to any other Skype user, anywhere in the world.  Think of it as an interactive email or instant message.  Skype allows you to conduct conference calls with three or more Skype users for free as well.  There are more features available for those who are willing to pay a nominal fee.      

For a small fee each month ($2.95 USD as of this writing) you can get a Skype-In telephone number.  This will allow regular telephone users to dial a number and reach you via Skype.  Not only can you accept incoming calls from regular telephone numbers, but you can also make outgoing calls to regular telephone numbers as a Skype-In subscriber.  This could eliminate the need for you to get a dedicated telephone service for your home-based Internet business.  Telephone service through traditional providers can be expensive and come with contracts and early termination fees.  Skype is a no-hassle and inexpensive service as an alternative to traditional telephone service for your Internet-based business.  A great benefit of being a Skype-In subscriber is the availability of using your Skype number with various other services and devices.

As a Skype-In subscriber, you can forward your Google Voice number to your Skype number.  That way you can still take advantage of Google Voice’s features (i.e. voicemail transcription, SMS to email, conference calls, personalized greetings and more) while using Skype.   For those of you on the go, Skype has a killer iPhone app that makes free calls over a 3G network.  There are also apps available for Blackberry and Android devices that make it easier to do business remotely.  The Skype apps are definitely some of the best cloud apps available.

Home-based Internet businesses would greatly benefit from using Skype.  You can set up accounts for your employees, make international calls without worrying about the price per minute, enhance your conversations with video capability, integrate existing telecommunication services and mobile devices, perform conference calls, and more all for a nominal monthly fee. 

If you have not already, take a few moments and sign up for a Skype account to see how your business can benefit from its endless features.  You can do so by clicking on the Skype logo to the right. 

For those of you who do use Skype, what do think about it?  Do you use it for personal purposes, business purposes, or both?  How has your business been impacted by using Skype?  Have you used Skype with Google Voice or used any of the mobile apps?

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Google Voice is a great new telecommunications service from Google. It is not a phone redirecting service. It’s not VoIP or Voicemail. It is a combination of all of the above and more. Google voice allows users to register a new phone number and direct it to call multiple phones. It could also collect messages and act as your personal switchboard operator and it also tracks, records and transcribes communication for easy recording and safekeeping on the cloud.

It is currently one of the best cloud apps in the market today. However, it is still just limited to the United States. You can get a telephone number for any US Area Code (sorry, only works in US) no matter how far or remote the area that you would like to be in. Google voice service also now allows you to choose words or witty phrases that your phone number spells out. So you can easily personalize and have fun choosing the number that you want such as (773)824- LOVE. The downside is that sometimes you cannot use an existing number of yours or have to pay a switching fee to allow it to switch to Google Voice which can be a sad fact for those who are married to a longtime cell number or the like

Another great thing about Google Voice is that you can forward incoming calls to ANY phone, to even more than one phone. This protects your privacy since you don’t have to give out your actual cell phone number and if you change phones, you don’t have to worry about missing calls.  This application forwards your calls to as many or as few numbers as you like, and you can even redirect calls to different phones depending on who is calling. This makes it easier for you to organize your call list, avoid unwanted callers and get the calls that you actually want.  Just like gmail, you can even set certain groups (or individuals) to be sent directly to Voicemail, to the Spam folder, or block the call altogether.

With Google voice, you are not stuck at home with a computer. It is portable and could even be used with ANY phone. It forwards the calls to wherever you are and you can check your messages from all the phones anywhere using the service. The Iphone has even launched an official application for Google Voice users.

If that’s not enough, Google Voice also allows you to thread incoming calls differently for different groups of callers. For example, unknown callers go straight to voicemail while family callers go to your cell phone and business callers only go to your cell during business hours. You can take that total holiday without fear of losing and missing any important calls. You can take your business anywhere with you and gives you freedom and allows you to organize contacts into groups for easy tracking and recording.

Google voice allows you to either have the calls sent directly to your phone with no filtering, or you can have Google ask them to say their name first so you can screen callers and choose the people you want to talk to or avoid. The service will call you, tell you the name of the person who is calling, and give you the option to take the call or send them to voicemail. This is a great way to protect your privacy. You can also customize the behavior of the service at anytime depending on a group (Friends, Family, Work, etc.) or an individual basis. This eliminates the guesswork and even gives you the ability to listen in on voicemails as they are being left.

This service also has a great voicemail system with transcription and email forwarding. Incoming voicemails are automatically transcribed and can be configured to be emailed to you. It could also be sent through SMS and is recorded and kept in the cloud forever. There is no fear now of losing a call record because you will all have them organized and permanently stored in the cloud.

Now for the best part, Google Voice gives you all of this for FREE.  It’s all free. And we all love free! How could you even compare to that?

So, this leaves me to ask: Do you use Google Voice? What do you think? What’s the good, the bad, and/or the ugly from your experience with Google Voice? Is it worth it or is it just another waste of a perfectly good cloud?

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If you are into marketing and sales, you’ve probably heard sayings like “Always be selling” or “Always be closing (the sale).” If you intend to have a successful online business, you should really “Always be list building.” It’s an online marketing basic. Everyone knows that having a well-targeted and responsive list of people is the key on how to make money blogging.  It is essential that you understand that the success of an online business comes from building relationship with a big subscriber base. It is also important that you build good relationships with people who are generally interested in the same subject area as your product or service is.  This will allow you to enter their niche and help you sell the product to them. You have to remember that the most successful online business knows that they can only succeed when the subscriber succeeds or is satisfied.

“Your List” is the list of readers, subscribers, or followers who have given you permission to offer them products for sale. Seth Godin coined the term Permission Marketing to define the practice of asking someone’s permission before hitting them with a marketing message. The concept is simple, permission marketing is basically the privilege and it is not a right of delivering anticipated, personal and relevant messages to people who actually want to know or hear about it. This list allows the person to choose which marketing messages to allow and which to filter out.

If you want to know more about it, here is a link to Seth Godin’s book below

To tell it simply and in a more straightforward way it is basically this: People hate SPAM. If you use the older technique of using mass e-mails to market your product, more likely than not, you will not get your message across. Your message will fall into the vortex called the SPAM folder (or stuff that we don’t ever read) and eventually get deleted along with the other e-mail garbage. An average person will never sort through SPAM and read through all of it.

Online consumers are very selective of what messages they want to read. They only read things that are interesting to them. That is why it is important that you give them the ability to choose whether or not they want to read the message that you are offering them. By having an opt-in subscriber system, the consumer now has the power to choose if they want to be on your list or not. If they are interested, more likely than not, they will subscribe and therefore read your messages and eventually patronize your business.

Most often, your List is thought of as you email subscribers, but you can also include your Twitter followers, Facebook fans, anyone who has opted-in to relationship building with you. You have to capitalize on the power of social networking in helping you build your list. Remember, that in order to catch their attention, you always have to post meaningful messages that will interest them in adding you to their friends list. By doing so you can effectively build relationships with your list and eventually have them patronize whatever it is that you are selling. This is an effective way on how to make money blogging as well.

So, how are you building your list? Do you use social networking sites such as twitter and facebook to do so? Do you only friend people so you could add them to your list?

If you are interested in further building your list, you can use this link to sign up with Aweber and learn how to effectively build your list even further for the success of your online business.

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]]> http://www.jtrigsby.com/2010/07/building-your-list/feed/ 0 http://www.jtrigsby.com/2010/07/building-your-list/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/LifeInTheInternet/~3/HlwSvtjjHEk/ http://www.jtrigsby.com/2010/07/stop-taking-pictures-of-the-cloud-and-get-your-pictures-in-the-cloud/#comments Tue, 06 Jul 2010 14:00:45 +0000 jtrigsby http://www.jtrigsby.com/?p=1171

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Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.]]> In the past, people would take their roll of film and get their pictures developed at the local drug store.  Getting the pictures developed was the only way to view pictures taken with film cameras.  With today’s popularity of digital cameras, people can take as many pictures as their memory cards will hold (usually thousands upon thousands) but it is not practical (or necessary) to print hard copies of every picture.  When you get your pictures home, what do you do with them?  Most people will only go as far as uploading their pictures to their computer’s hard drive, which puts their new memories at risk.  Two internet services make sharing and storing pictures very convenient and trouble-free.  Both services are examples of cloud-based storage.

The two big players are Flickr and Picasa.  Flickr is a Yahoo property while Picasa is a Google property.  Both services offer pretty much the same thing but there are some differences between the two that you should consider before clicking the “Upload” button.  Flickr places your pictures in the public domain by default, which means that anyone with internet access can view your pictures.  That may be appropriate for your sight-seeing tour of San Francisco but not so much for your Spring Break trip.  Flickr does allow you to perform some minor editing such as cropping and color fixing to your uploaded photos.  Picasa is private by default, which makes it ideal for sharing with family and friends without changing the settings of each photo album you create.  It has several powerful tools such as tagging a photo to a map and order products (i.e. mouse pads, coffee mugs, etc) using your uploaded pictures.  I like both services.  I use Flicr for pictures that I want to share and Picasa for family pictures.

Both services offer fast and easy picture uploading so their site.  You can create albums with both services so that you can organize your pictures easily.  One of the biggest benefits with either service is that you can access your pictures from anywhere and on any computer.  No longer are you constrained to viewing your pictures on your computer’s hard drive.  Now your pictures are in the cloud.   Sharing your pictures is very easy since you can send a link to family and friends for them to click on and view your pictures trouble free.

The most important benefit that both services offer is that they use redundant, cloud-based storage to keep your pictures safe.  The cloud-based storage is backed-up and secure, unlike your computer’s hard drive.  Keeping your pictures on your computer’s hard drive puts them at risk of a virus or a hard drive crash.  In most cases of a hard drive crash, your pictures will be unrecoverable.    

I want to hear about your experience with moving your pictures to the cloud.  Do you use Flickr or Picasa?  Have you had a good or bad experience with them?  If you are not ready to move all of your pictures to the cloud, at least consider a service like Mozy online backup to keep them safe.

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]]> http://www.jtrigsby.com/2010/07/stop-taking-pictures-of-the-cloud-and-get-your-pictures-in-the-cloud/feed/ 2 http://www.jtrigsby.com/2010/07/stop-taking-pictures-of-the-cloud-and-get-your-pictures-in-the-cloud/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/LifeInTheInternet/~3/rDbDzX_LJps/ http://www.jtrigsby.com/2010/07/why-you-should-listen-more/#comments Thu, 01 Jul 2010 15:05:09 +0000 jtrigsby http://www.jtrigsby.com/?p=1179

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Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.]]> Writers block. We all have it. There comes a time in the writer’s life when we are so willing and ready to write and know that we need to write, but as soon as we open the word processor our brain simply flatlines on us.

Bleep. Bleep. BLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP. Dead.

At this point in time, we panic. We have a deadline. We need to write about something. Anything! But the universe refuses to give you inspiration or a topic to write about. Thinking back as a blogger you have probably written about everything. Some of them could be topics that you are really into, you feel like you have written the best post in the world but your hit count says otherwise. People are not interested at all and then you stop and wonder why this is so.

Maybe it’s time to stop and think about it. Maybe it’s time that you stop being a selfish insular blogger and start thinking about your audience. Remember that your blog is not just your personal diary and you are not writing only for yourself but for others. Writing for others means that you have to think about what they want to read and not just what you want to write. If you want to write for an audience, you should listen to what they are asking, then go write about it.

I hear bloggers say all the time, “I’ve run out of things to write about!” Well, then you aren’t listening to your audience! Your audience, or the people who read your blog, are probably the most important people to consider when writing your blog. If you want to be a successful blogger, you should start to listen and observe what people would like to read and know about things in your niche. The most successful bloggers anticipate and look for clues as to what potential readers would want to learn about next. Remember that blogging is almost like reporting. You have to find a good story. If you want to be read, you have to find topics that your readers would actually want to read about. Interesting topics would lead to people wanting to read the blog, therefore leading to traffic, once people read your blog and likes it they recommend it to friends creating more traffic.

So, how do I know what my readers think? I really am not a mind reader.

If you want to write something that would be of most interest to your readers, review your most popular blog posts and comments. What was the topic? What was the controversy? What got your readers to take action and comment? Sort through them and through this, find clues on what things you wrote about that they like and start from there. You can easily find things to write about by looking back and reviewing what you have already written and finding out the topics that they really were interested in. This will give you a clear idea of what your audience wants to read about and have something to write about.

If you still cannot find anything to write about or would rather not repeat a topic that you’ve already exhausted, then find inspiration elsewhere. Take the pulse of your online community somewhere other than your blog. What are they saying or asking about on Twitter or Facebook? What is the current trending topic right now? Do you have an opinion about it? What do you feel about such things?

Finally, if all else fails and you still couldn’t get it, ask them what they’d like to hear about. Asking your readers what they want to hear about next is a great way to show that you’re not a one sided blogger and you care enough for your readers that you want your readers to be actively involved in the blog. With this one, you are opening your blog to interaction with your audience by asking them to answer a survey poll question or comment about what they want to know or hear next about a certain topic or generally asking them what they want you to blog about next. This will allow your readers to feel more involved in the blog and therefore, if they feel that they belong there, they will actually come back and read your blog more. Successful bloggers have gained many loyal readers through interaction with the readers.

So, if you want to be a successful blogger you have to learn how to listen to your audience to find inspiration on what to write about next. So, how do you listen or get feedback from your readers? Are you listening anywhere other than your blog? Where do you get your inspiration to write?

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]]> http://www.jtrigsby.com/2010/07/why-you-should-listen-more/feed/ 0 http://www.jtrigsby.com/2010/07/why-you-should-listen-more/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/LifeInTheInternet/~3/OzeN87wgwDY/ http://www.jtrigsby.com/2010/06/5-reasons-to-use-online-tools/#comments Tue, 29 Jun 2010 15:50:06 +0000 jtrigsby http://www.jtrigsby.com/?p=1130

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The Internet today is more a way of life than an exception to the rule like it was a few years ago; everyone knows what it is and almost everyone uses it on a regular basis. While some people stop at checking their emails, using social networks to connect and interact with friends and acquaintances and playing online games, others use the web for just about their every single need. It’s their lifeline to the world around them and the world they live and work in; it’s not just a communication and management tool, but a method of continuous learning and knowledge improvement. With easy access to online tools, the Internet offers ways and means to revolutionize your life without going to too much trouble.

Online tools are great because:

• They’re cost-effective: Most organizations are moving to the cloud today where software is offered as a service rather than as a product. So you can pick and choose the services you need and pay only for them instead of having to pay for the entire product even though you’re going to use just the bare minimum of features. This makes software as a service structures both cost-effective and efficient. Also, when you outsource operations like administration or backup to the cloud using online tools, you save on infrastructural and manpower costs as well. Most online tools for basic operations like creating and editing documents, spreadsheets and pictures are free.
• They facilitate collaboration in real-time: With online tools, it’s easy for people on a project to collaborate their efforts in real-time, no matter how geographically diverse their locations are. They no longer have to wait for updates and revisions before they are able to do their part. Changes are visible as soon as they’re made, and feedback is almost instantaneous because many people can work on the same files across several computers.
• They prevent clutter and disorganization: When your software tool is online, you don’t have to waste hard disk space by installing it on your system. This translates to a huge amount of space on servers in organizations where every computer uses the tool. Also, when all files related to a project are stored in organized folders online, it becomes easier for people working on them to access and upload them quickly and efficiently. There is less clutter on each of the clients the software runs on because most of the application resides on the cloud server.
• They’re portable: With online tools, you’re not restricted to one particular computer in order to work on any project or task. You can access your files from any location as long as you’re connected to the Internet. This makes it easy to travel without a second thought and work from wherever you are with the same degree of efficiency.
• They’re customizable: And finally, online tools are great options for those who don’t use all the features of software applications because they allow you to access only the tools you need. This way, you not only reduce your expenditure, but also find it easier to navigate the tool and use just what you need. For example, instead of having to pay for the entire Office suite of programs, you could pay only to use Word and/or Excel for a certain period of time and renew your subscription with additional or less features every few months.

If you’ve never tried online tools, get started with one today – they simplify your work and personal life in more ways than one.

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Join hosts @VickieRigsby and @jtrigsby for this week’s episode of Life In the Internet as they talk about cloud apps.

• What exactly IS “the cloud”?
• What about the security of my files and documents?
• What is the best cloud app?

All this and more on this week’s Life In the Internet Podcast!

Links

Will Tablets Outsell Netbooks?
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-20008027-92.html

Free Weekly Meal Planner from CulinaryClique.com
http://www.CulinaryClique.com/freegift

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As some of you probably know, I use Virtual Assistants, or VAs, to help me out with a lot of my Online Business Model. I was having a chat with a friend the other day about some of the things my VAs help with and he said that would be a GREAT topic for me to write / speak on. So I’m going to take him up on his advice!

I have a pretty good idea of what topics should be covered but I also want your input, that way I can be sure to address questions that might have slipped past my brainstorming. So lets hear it.

• What questions do you have about VAs?
• Have you used a VA and have a tip you’d like to share?
• Do you have any concerns about using VAs?

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