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Earlier this week we talked about using online backup services for offsite safekeeping of our files and photos.

But many of us have stuff that lives online and not on our home computer, like blogs and websites, and all our goodies at Del.icio.us and Flickr, et. al.

I feel sure we can depend on social media sites and online services like Jott and Remember The Milk to protect what we’ve put out there. And that’s not fangirl talk.

The bottom line is that their bottom line is 100% dependent on their ability to 1) provide the service, and 2) preserve our data. And not necessarily in the order.

So with our links, photos, reminders, and schedules in trustworthy hands, we only need to worry about backups for our websites and blogs. And really, we don’t need to worry (much) about those. Here’s why— Read more

cc danielle_blue, courtesy of Flickr

A great question arrived at the Idea Cafe’s CyberSchmooz forum about a month ago (time flies!), asking how to expand an annual art show’s income beyond the 3-day event. Edward (the owner) says it best,

I am wondering however if there is another component, other than another event, that I can add onto a business like this that would still fall under the umbrella of this 3 day event. Since the website gets a good amount of hits maybe I can sell something on my site?

My question is: Do I work on ways to add more components to this or do I focus on making this 3 day event the biggest and best 3 days of the entire year?

Edward’s feels he can pull his event off only once a year. I suggested he at least consider a holiday event in December, and promised I’d “chew on” ways he could leverage his website for income the other 362 days of the year. My much-gnawed answer is:

DO BOTH
by providing the value of the real-world event in an online venue

For the artist/vendor, Edward’s art show is an opportunity to display and sell their work while connecting with art enthusiasts. These attendees benefit similarly: they can explore a variety of art in one place, meet the artists, and buy their work.

With those things in mind, here’s how Edward can promote his annual art show and earn year-round income with a restyled website: Read more

A recent CNN Money article offered alternatives for e-commerce business owners that are “sick of PayPal”. Service descriptions from the article and the vendor websites were revealing, and not in a good way: Read more

I’m determined to abandon software by running my business with online tools and Web 2.0 applications, and it didn’t take long to find I’m not the only one experimenting with working 100% from the Web.

In no particular order, here are the top posts and articles I’ve found on the topic (so far): Read more

No, this is not another blogpost on the wonders of Web 2.0. Actually, this is a blogpost that is wondering about Web 2.0.

By definition Web 2.0 is “the generation of web-based communities and hosted services such as social-networking sites, wikis, and blogs…which aim to facilitate creativity, collaboration, and sharing among users”.

So primarily, Web 2.0 is about connections…about giving us access to friends and strangers anywhere on the planet; storing and sharing our photo albums and diaries and links; logging our briefest thoughts, cataloging our possessions, and enabling virtual and actual exchange.

So I’m wondering: if I can (and do) use the Web to access anyone, anywhere, anytime…if I can (and do) store and share my documents, photos, and thoughts online…if the Web can be (and is) my primary method for exchanging books, products, ideas, and money…then what do I need software for?

Because compared to web applications (Web 2.0 and otherwise), software is a hassle from beginning to end. There’s an—often large—upfront financial commitment, then downloads and maintenance for fixes and updates. Software requires lots of hard drive space, is bound by license to one computer, and accessing new and improved features requires spending more money on upgrades.

Web-based applications lack all that software drama. There’s almost always a free service plan, or advertiser support so it’s free to all. If there is a cost, it’s a tiny monthly subscription payment with no long-term commitment. There are no downloads or installations or maintenance. Web apps can be accessed with any Internet-connected computer with a web browser—whether Mac or PC or Linux—and improvements are integrated at no extra cost.

So here I am, liberated from my desk by a wireless Internet connection, but still tied to this specific laptop by its software. Which is totally okay…until the motherboard croaks, or the hard drive fails, or it burns up in a house fire, or I lose it, or someone steals it. Then my business is in a coma until I can get myself a new computer and reinstall all the software and recover all my files.

But if I was Web 2.0 Wondergirl, I imagine I’d find/borrow/buy another computer and get back to work within the hour. And actually, must it be a catastrophic scenario? Maybe I just want to travel light rather than lug my laptop to Mom’s, or into the city, or on a plane to…wherever. Maybe I like to be on the move and could work quite well at whatever Web-ready computer I found at the cafe, hotel, library, etc.

So I’m wondering: With the appearance of Web 2.0 collaboration tools and other sundry web applications, can we live without software?

I’ll try it and let you know.

I’m researching an article on web applications and have a list of great stuff for micro-business folks like us:

Business essentials require email, word processing, spreadsheets, scheduling, and project management. For these, I use Gmail, Google Documents, Google Calendar, and Basecamp.

My reasons are pretty straightforward: they’re free, they’re flexible, there’s little or no advertising, I can access them from anywhere, they’re feature-rich and well supported, new features are added regularly, and did I already say they’re free?

Sometime Essential Webware

Essentials aside, here are Web applications that come in handy on the few occasions when I need them:

• USPS.com
  I use Stamps.com software when I’m at home, but this is it for printing postage when I’m offsite.
• CatPrint.bz
  100% online professional printing services—type in your document information, upload a PDF, check your online proof, and pay. Best bit: their printing cost calculator has saved me hundreds of dollars by showing the impact of design decisions (document size, margins, etc.) on the bottom line. I love these folks.

Could be Essential Webware

Here are a bunch of sites—mostly Web 2.0, one not—that are totally new to me. I haven’t tried them yet, but most come highly recommended:

• WordPress
  I blog with it, but I hadn’t considered using Wordpress as a content management system. A grand idea: building, customizing, and editing a website without paying a penny for software.
• Picnik and Splashup
  Along the thought of free design applications, these offer online image editing with plenty of features and power.
• Blinksale
  Simple online invoicing that costs nothing if you only send a few invoices each month. Nice options like customizing invoices with your cool logo.
• Box.net
  For digitals that need a home you can access from anywhere. Perfect for sharing files and offsite backup.

Missing from this list is a desktop publishing application. Service providers for business card printing and whatnot sometimes have design/layout features built into their websites, but wouldn’t free-standing desktop publishing webware be the cherry on top?

There are plenty of web applications out there for business functions (critical or no), these are just what I use and unearthed (so far). If you have favorite webware that you use in your micro-business—especially a desktop publishing app—leave a comment and tell us all about it.

P.S. Reading back through this post, it appears someone could run a business entirely on webware. Huh. Now there’s some good news for folks looking for a low- to no-cost startup…

Whew! Taking a short break from blogging, folks. More posts coming soon. Thanks for your patience!

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