Home Available Services News and Blog! Contact Us
Gov. Pat Quinn will sign an amendment to the Illinois Vehicle Code that prohibits writing, sending or receiving text messages while driving, said the governor's spokeswoman, Marlena Jentz. The bill does make texting exceptions for drivers who pull over to text or shift their car into park or neutral to message while stopped in traffic.
Illinois will join a growing list of states looking to curb accidents linked to texting. Oregon and New Hampshire banned texting drivers in July, and Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, North Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, Washington and the District of Columbia already have laws in place. Four U.S. senators announced their plan to push for a federal ban on July 29. U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said the Obama administration will convene a summit to discuss how it can end accidents caused by distracted drivers.
Despite the ongoing efforts to address the dangers of texting while driving, studies have not shown whether the laws affect accident rates, said Jonathan Adkins, communications director at the Governor's Highway Safety Association.
The nonprofit association comprised of appointees from each state's governor's office has closely followed the texting while driving saga. But Adkins said that because of several factors that potentially play a role in an accident, to know whether texting caused an accident would require a subpoena or an admission by the driver.
In New York and New Jersey, the impact has been measured by an increase in driving tickets, but too few states track that data, Adkins said.
"With drunk driving it was important to pass tough laws, but the laws won't really have any effect unless they're enforced and the public knows about it and it's properly adjudicated," said Barbara Harsha the association executive director. "So passing a law isn't the solution, it's only part of it."
http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/08/06/illinois.texting.ban/index.html
Build a website and clients will come - a common misconception and a typical mistake that many large organizations as well as small businesses and startups make. There is more to just building a website and putting yourself out on the web. For some it can be more damaging than positive. The WORLD becomes your audience and your presentation and online presence has a much wider and more fickle set of viewers. Your business may be exceptional, your services, ratings, products first class but you have 5-10 seconds to make an initial impression and to hook users into looking further.
Does throwing lots of money at the problem help? In most cases not. Flashy designs and wow factor tend to frustrate more than impress. Finding an organization with focussed skills to neatly market your site and business profile is tough - the choice is huge, the costs vary as does the quality of the end result.
How can you stand out from the crowd, Google/Bing/Yahoo index millions of sites, how do you get to the top of the list or at least visibility on the first results page? Does throwing money into Google Adwords and sponsored results work? If you have deep pockets then yes, for most of us not so.
So what is the solution, how can you get online to start with and then build on your presence to get an edge and start gaining extra opportunities and business.As a new start, small business or the more popular supplemental income business startups, there are so many tools available to you to start working on your business development. With any business, especially now with a down economy and a lack of funds available, cost is a major issue. Not an issue here as a lot of tools are free as well as good advice on how to build your site and build your rankings.
Tools I can recommend are as follows:
Microsoft Office Live - a complete business solution for online business ranging from free hosting of your website,design tools, email accounts and domain name management. Couple this with one of the best online communities for help and support from like minded business owners you have a strong and FREE solution for getting online and building a professional presence.
Google Analytics - the best free solution online to manage your reporting of visitors, trends and sales opportunities.
Online Shopping Carts - want to start selling online there are various tools integrating eBay, Paypal, Office Live and more.
If you need design work done for your company branding, business cards, letterheads, brochures and more then it is important to realize that this needs to be right and consistent from DAY ONE!
Build your brand:Buy your domain names - yourcompany.com - YOUR .com site and email addresses. Nothing is more offputting than seeing a website or a company presenting itself with @yahoo.com @aol.com, @hotmail.com as a contact email address.
Get a professional logo and website header created - use this header and other graphics to present a common theme across your website, business cards, postcards/mailers, letterheads, etc.
Build in analytics or use the existing reporting tools in your web solution, document changes, advertising and other key measurables and see how your site and visitors perform. You need visibility and accountability when it comes to investing in your business and advertising.
What bang are you getting for your buck?
That is a sizable bang for no bucks!
If you need assistance with getting started or promoting a professional image online then use the network you are a member of (http://thenetworklive.ning.com)! Ask around for help and advice here. If you want to hand it over or get a more hands on approach from others who have been through this process many times and helped others kick start their online presence then contact me via email here or visit some of the links:
Business in a boxLooking to put your Small Business on the Web?Enhancing your Small Business with TechnologyOffice Live Hints and TipsCommon Mistakes and Getting Started
Article from The XStream Network Live - http://thenetworklive.ning.com
Well it had to happen sooner or later. Reports are in that Conficker has started with new updates to upgrade and protect itself and also install fake anti malware tools. Software is being installed tricking you into buying junk software to remove issues that are not there.
With the latest update there seems to be a lifetime too – it will deactivate on May3rd – I presume this will give them some time to work out their next scam.
More information here on Network World.com
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2009/041009-conficker-awakens-starts.html?netht=rn_041009&nladname=041009dailynewspmal 1:41 PM GMT | Read comments(0)April 08Conficker virus simple detection test and removal tool
I thought this simple test may prove useful for checking your PC’s for the Conficker virus.
Click here to visit a webpage that checks the main antivirus websites to see if you are blocked i.e. infected.
The test is a series of images – if they do not display there is a chance you are infected.
If infected check the second link for clean up tools.
http://www.joestewart.org/cfeyechart.html - Check for Conficker
http://www.sophos.com/products/free-tools/conficker-removal-tool.html - Removal tools and information
Whilst Conficker did not turn out to be the April Fool’s Day disaster as portrayed in the media it is still a significant threat.
Please pass this on to anyone who may find this useful.
Information from DigitalEdge/DarkReading.com 10:02 AM GMT | Read comments(0)February 19More on saving money on software for your Small Business
Most of the software we need for day to day operation works out expensive and is always out of date due to the new latest and greatest (and usually more expensive!) versions!
It is good to find tools that can do the same job for little or no money at all!
Take printing to PDF files. It used to be that you needed Acrobat to do this, now you have support within applications like OpenOffice and Microsoft Office to save PDF format files.
For those other times you need to print to PDF e.g. website orders, other applications that do not have PDF support check out CutePDF – free for non-commercial and commercial use:
http://www.cutepdf.com/Products/CutePDF/writer.asp 8:12 PM GMT | Read comments(0)February 05Does Open Source Software offer Small Business cost savings?
With everyone worrying about the bottom line and finding ways to cut costs or operate in a more cost effective manner, does OSS or commonly thought of as FREE software really offer an alternative to Microsoft’s product range?
In many areas Microsoft has reigned supreme for years. With the Open Source movement gaining strength there is a slow but steady rise in adoption rates of alternative wares.
Windows in its many incarnations is not the only operating system that can get the job done. More small businesses are looking at Linux as a means of saving costs. Not just because it’s free but because the functionality and usability are now on par (and in some cases streaks ahead) of today's Microsoft tools. If Linux could come together as one version sold as an everyday release rather than 50 different versions based on so many varied requirements then I believe adoption would be much higher than it is. Ubuntu is probably one of the most successful and installed bases of Linux. Ubuntu and other distributions are now to a point where you can sit a Windows user down in front of a Linux machine and they can be productive almost immediately. Integrating Linux machines into your existing infrastructure has also become a lot easier as has security patch management and application installation. No longer do you have to resort to command line compiling and editing files to get programs installed or drivers updated – it’s not gone but with better hardware compatibility and improved usability it is greatly reduced. So will Linux be more popular than ever in this current environment? Is Mac OS a viable alternative? I think not based simply on the cost of Apple hardware and the lack of choice in hardware. Time will tell I guess but there is certainly the question to be asked these days – should Windows or Microsoft be the default answer to our problems?
Spending $100’s of dollars on Microsoft Office is sometimes hard to justify when you are a small business and probably a large percentage of your work is electronic via email. There are many alternative solutions ranging from online tools like Google Docs to full-blown Office suites like StarOffice, OpenOffice or KOffice. These applications offer as much complexity and on the whole seamless compatibility with their Microsoft counterparts. In some cases like Star/OpenOffice the ‘old’ interface is far more welcoming and requires less re-training than the new Office Ribbon interface. Microsoft does offer some compelling functionality though especially for the smaller businesses to tightly integrate Office and their business tools. Office Live which seamlessly integrates with Office versions 2003 and 2007 spans both the local office and also moves into business to business communication. Using tools like Office Live Workspace even ‘Mom and Pop’ small businesses can offer the same services and be as reactive as Big Business. Creating and sharing project workspaces either across your own virtual company if you’re distributed staff-wise or working with people around the world there is no doubt that tools like Office Live Workspace reduce the time, complexity and hassles of working in a connected world. The cost for this level of sophistication and professional presentation of your small business services? Zero. Tools like this set Office and Microsoft apart from the Open Source alternatives. This makes your investment in Office almost a no-brainer if you have those levels of requirements.
Email is the core of communications. Often companies are running their own Exchange servers requiring internal or external expertise, extra software to handle spam, virus protection. There are now viable alternatives to running your own in-house server. Simply using hosted email via your domain provider or ISP is one option, using tools like Office Live and other third party email clients is another option. Many need the Groupware functionality rather than simple email. There are options for Hosted Exchange where you can have someone manage your email services for you, including spam and virus protection. There are also Open Source alternatives to Exchange as a means for running an in-house server based groupware solution. The choices are endless and the costs variable based on the level of complexity you want and desire to own or rent your servers and services.
Does running Open Source save you money? The jury is still out on that one. Some say simply FREE software rules and save money, they ignore the running costs and support costs of not running something that is completely integrated and mainstream. Investing time and effort in using the vast support services run by companies and volunteers costs money so does running FREE software actually cost in? On the flipside, spending $$$ on Microsoft products may cost you more when you only use about ten percent of the functionality of the suite. 2:16 PM GMT | Read comments(1)January 26Check out the Office Live Small Business Blogs here
http://myofficelivecommunity.com/discuss/blogs/officelivecommunity/archive/2009/01/22/will-the-nation-s-smallest-businesses-get-new-respect-in-2009.aspx 10:13 AM GMT | Read comments(0)A fantastic resource to share – Small Biz Survival
Check out this great Small Business Network:
http://www.smallbizsurvival.com 9:30 AM GMT | Read comments(0)Welcome to the start of our mission
We would like to welcome:
Deb Bankes from Socios Pizza
A veteran small business owner with years of business experience and also huge enthusiasm when it comes to helping others. Deb has been an active member on the Office Live for Small Business community forums and has fantastic ideas for helping others.
Deb is partnering with me on this mission to build a network of like-minded individuals to better small businesses.
http://pizzasocios.com
Kari DiRoberto from Kari’s Covers.
A small business owner looking to expand when the time is right. Looking forward to networking with like minded and other businesses in a similar situation.
http://kariscovers.com 9:24 AM GMT | Read comments(0)