Add Some Spice to Your Photos

Sync Mutiple Computers with a Microsoft App That Works (really, it does…)

Ever realized you needed a document that was on a different computer
from the one you were on? With FolderShare, you can access your files
from anywhere.

• Keep all your files in sync
• Use
  FolderShare to create a mirrored image of your most important folders -
  like your Favorites, Pictures, and Documents - so they’re the same on
  all your computers.

• Sharing files is easier than ever
• Sharing
  with friends, co-workers, and family is easy when you add and update
  files in a shared library. Large files? Not a problem - FolderShare can
  sync files up to 2 GBs in size. And it works on both Mac and PC.

• Get to your files instantly when you’re away from home
• Install FolderShare on all your computers, and you can access all your files from any computer on the Internet.

Microsoft Foldershare is what we finally settled on after months of trial and error. Hopefully, in us sharing this with you and your business, you can get to syncing with a bit less effort then us. Best of all, unlike many of the other apps we tried, this one is completely free. The only draw back we can find is that there is a 10,00 file limit on a single sync point, but you can get around that by syncing the underlying folders separately. If you need help, as always, feel free to contact us @ 1.866.516.1576 for all your online consulting needs.

A brand spanking new release came out April 22nd and you can Install Foldershare for Windows by following this link.

Please let us know what you think…

How Much Google Juice Do You Have?

The inspiring design, llc. PageRank Tool

PageRank is a numeric value that represents how important a page is on the web. When one page links to another page, it is effectively casting a vote for the other page. The more votes , the more important the page must be. But, it is also important to realize that Google also measures the importance of the page that is casting the vote, so one vote can be of more “significance” then another. Google then uses all of this information to calcualte a PageRank or PR. A very technical analysis can be found at Wikipedia, Google, and WebWork Shop.

Whats Your Google Juice? Check out Our Page Rank Tool at inspiring design, llc.

Why is it important? Read about Online Marketing - why its important, why you need to do it, and how you can do it now.

Google Gadgets - Make Your Site a Hub

In previous articles I combed over Google Gadgets for your iGoogle homepage. Now, I move into looking into Google Gadgets for your website. How can you male it that a user of your site doesn’t need to leave? Simply give them all of what they need online in one place - your place. The following are a few of the google gadgets we have been experimenting with. Leave us a comment if you use one on your website and have received positive feedback on it. Most of these gadgets lend themselves well to blogs, but can work on a website if incorporated ina tasteful and thoughtful way. Not like we have here…

Contact Us if you would like help setting these or any other gadget on your blog or website.

General Modules

Real Estate Specific Modules

Easy 1099 and W2 Filing for the IRS Challanged

Its that time of year again, and I am not talking about Groundhog Day, even thought it is an undervalued national holiday (and a equally undervalued and spectacular Bill Murray movie.)

Nope, its tax season. And if you are like me, and run a small business, that’s great for your accountant, and not so great for you, your free time, or you wallet. I wanted to pass on a small tool that made my life just a touch more manageable this year. I work a lot with contractors and consultants, which means a bevy of 1099 activity. There are several avenues you can travel down for your employee W2’s or 1099’s. You can let your accountant take care of it, you can do it yourself, or you can let the magic of the world wide web help you along. Since I am a believer in magic (an an online solutions company), I opted to explore my options on the web.

Most services out there will do your 1099’s, but for a price, and most only make sense if you are doing bulk submissions (20-30+). However, I found a little site, with a very apt name: FileTaxes.com

I searched and searched, and stumbled across this one. One can file single 1099’s or multiple 1099’s for a flat rate of $3.49, a great price for the small business that don’t need a ton of them filed. It also efiles with the IRS, mails them to the recipient, provides you with hard-copies, and emails a conformation upon delivery. You can read more at http://www.filetaxes.com

Read more at inspiring design, llc.

This is an article in a monthly series - how to run a business using online tools.

Personal Intro to Your Business Website or Dysfunctial Max Headroom Clone?

I try not to blog too much about what has already been talked about, but could only find one article on gizmoz.com, and since I have been playing with it extensively this morning, thought I would share a bit, and hopefully solicit some feedback.

So to start, what is gizmoz? In short - it is a service that will allow you to generate a talking avatar. You can upload a picture of your face and it will build a 3-D image. It also allows you to put voice to your digital communications. Personal service to the comical extreme. For most of us, once you complete the easy process of building your first (what they call) character-based visual expression, it may come out looking like a dysfunctional mini-clone; eerily reminiscent of the 80’s pop culture icon Max Headroom. So can their be a legitimate business application to this?

I have decided to experiment.

I have produced a short 20 second video clip (see the sidebar to the right) that can be played upon entering my website. From this point on, for the next month or so, I will monitor my analytics account to see if I can keeping more people on my site for longer. Take a look:

Now - I didn’t use myself, since I was trying to give this a hint of professionalism and no matter how many different pictures I used, I couldn’t get it to a point that didn’t make me want to reconsider this experiment. Maybe I am just digitally self conscious, but I’d rather use one of the provided (and admittedly better looking) provided pictures.

Does does this work? We shall see. I will have statistics next month, but in the mean time, take a look, let me know what you think, and if you could ever see using this as an application in your business.

Justin

inspiring design, llc.

202-552-1825

10 Steps to Promoting You and Your Business using Social Media

Oh, if I had a nickel for every time I heard “you’re too old for MySpace”. If I did, I wouldn’t have to try and grow my business at all, I would be retired. Problem is, people are quick to judge and I am short on nickels. In today’s online world, you either promote yourself and your business online in some capacity - or you fade away. Period.

Social media is not a fad. It is here to stay and it brings a profound change to your potential client’s experiences. Now, not tomorrow, is the right time to implement features that will make you and your business social media friendly and will allow you to implement networking and marketing techniques that will realize increases in traffic to your website, and your bottom line.

Step 1. In the immortal worlds of Pete Townsend – Who Are You?

Let the world know who you are and what you do. People don’t deal with unknowns well, and when you are just starting to build a web presence; you are exactly this, unknown. Create a personal website along side your business website. From your personal website, link to your many vehicles of online networking; such as Linked IN, Facebook, and MySpace (to name just a few). Today’s online entrepreneur has multiple online presences and you need a central hub to manage all of these. Promote your online presence from this centrally managed online personal page.

Step 2. Create Online Profiles…

So, you need to start somewhere, but where? Start by creating a Facebook and LinkedIn account, Facebook is the online leader in social media and Linked in is the premier networking site, with just these two, you are well on your way. Spend two hours a week in the beginning building your profiles, connecting with colleagues, associates, and friends, and publishing content to these sites. Below is a list of other website which will let you create free online profiles or communities - for after you get your feet wet with Facebook and LinkedIn and have the need for more…

· FaceBook

· LinkedIn

· MySpace

· Squidoo

· Meetup

· IconnectE

· ReferralKey

· Yahoo! 360

· Blue Dot

· Your Elevator Pitch

· Wetpaint

· Twitter

Step 3. Start a Blog…

This is free and easy. The obvious choice for the beginner is the Google owned blogger.com, but for a more serious approach that allows customization, you may want a custom setup of Wordpress, LiveJournal, or other software. This allows for customization and you can provide an easy bookmarking feature to social bookmarking sites like Digg and del.icio.us or other listed in step 4.

Step 4. Yes, It Is A Popularity Contest…

Provide an action button for direct posting of blog articles to Digg. Digg, and others like it, are community-based popularity website that combines social bookmarking, blogging, and syndication. A well dugg article can bring thousands of visitors (read: potential clients) to you.

· del.icio.us

· Reddit

· Furl

· Ma.gnolia

· StumbleUpon

· Shoutwire

· Shadows

Step 5. Short and Sweet…

Provide RSS feeds for your blogs, forum postings, websites, etc. An RSS feed provides easy access to your user base and allows them to quickly and easily navigate your information. Frustrated people often do not hang around long, and if they don’t hang around, they won’t learn about you or your business. Keep people happy and keep them on your site.

Step 6. Get it out there…

Publish all your feeds at Feedburner (or others from the list below). Much like Facebook, Feedburner is the premier RSS provided media distribution and audience engagement services for RSS feeds. They custom RSS feeds and management tools to bloggers, podcasters, and other web-based content publishers. Services provided to publishers include traffic analysis and an optional advertising. If you have something worth reading, you will be able “bank it” using their services.

Step 7. Going Viral

A Viral video refers to video clip content which gains widespread popularity through the process of Internet sharing, typically through email or IM messages, blogs and other media sharing websites. Now, not all of us have the potential for this, but we all have the mechanism. Remember, if you have a camera phone, you could have a viral video, which is posted, can drive traffic to your site, regardless if it is relevant to your business.

If this form of advertising and social media shenanigans is not for you, then take comfort, you can still provide video. Your video can be educational or service oriented and aspire to inform your clients or users on products and services you provide. Video is a medium maybe more powerful then the written word, but takes a bit more knowhow and thought.

Step 8. Spreading the Virus…

Provide embedded links to your remotely hosted videos from your blog, website, or social media sites. YouTube as well as others allow a community driven video sharing experience while keeping the load off of your server.

Step 9. A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words…

Use social photo sharing sites like Flickr and SmugMug to share pictures related to content on your site or blog. Use many of the techniques discussed earlier for social video sites.

Step 10. Sharing is Caring…

Provide a “Send Link” feature for all the services you provide to clients, your RSS feeds, your pics, (pretty much everything we covered above). This allows users to send an article, product description, etc. to a friend via e-mail. Free Advertising, and after all that’s what we are trying to do here right? Put in the work up front and let the internet and social media take over. It will take time, but it will be worth it.
These steps are not a get rich quick recipe, but a strategic formula for long term success in an overwhelming online world. If you have questions or comments, please leave them here or contact us.

Read more at inspiring design, llc.

This is an article in a weekly series - how to promote your business online.