I ran across this article on a “Year without Windows” (from Linux of course!)

All of our other business functions are covered with Linux. On the desktop, we use Moneydance for accounting. We use Microsoft Word under the CodeWeavers CrossOver Office, and OpenOffice.org for spreadsheets and presentations. We use the GIMP for graphics and Quanta and Bluefish for editing Web pages. We prepare our payroll with PayCycle. On the server side we keep media lists on MySQL using the phpMyAdmin front end. We wish we had an Access-like front end to MySQL so we could quickly write more complex apps. Finally, we use our own Jaya123 Web service to run order entry, reporting, and invoicing.

However, there was no acceptable way to do taxes on Linux. The software we tried did not run well under CrossOver Office, Wine, or Win2Lin.

This year we did our personal taxes online using TaxAct. For our corporate 1120 forms we used the IRS fill-in forms with the new Adobe Reader 7.0 for Linux. This was not as optimal as using tax software, but small corporate taxes are easy, and preparing them via fill-in forms was not difficult. Maybe next year there will be an online service for small business 1120 forms that works with Firefox under Linux; today most require Internet Explorer.

One great wish is for an Access-like front end to MySQL where we could put up quick-and-dirty data entry forms and create reports. Linux really needs a good (and inexpensive) report generator (like the proprietary Crystal Reports). Rekall, knoda, and others are works in progress and don’t come close to the robustness of Access. We can do a lot with phpMyAdmin, but it’s not the same. We miss being able to program a GUI application in a few hours using a really good IDE.

Our business is not that different from most others. We have products (books), services (consulting), and employees. If we can go Windowless, others can as well.

I understand her point. For most of us, blogs are “stream of consciousness journaling”… Twitter on steroids before there was Twitter.

With Blogger you can put “blocks” of links on the sidebar to summarize your key points and product offerings. You can adapt Word Press too using widgets or summarize what you’re about through the navigation bar. Or you can set up a static landing page to organize your offerings.

As Marcia suggests, unless we use these options, people can come to your blog and leave wondering “what the heck was this about?”

(And if you are just putting fluff and filler in your blog because you - rightly - are sick of “giving away” the proprietary information that people should be paying to learn, you might follow Marcia Yudkin’s lead and contain a “meat and potatoes, no-holds-barred blog inside your membership program!)

From Marcia Yudkin’s “The Marketing Minute”

The blog format, with its conversational tone and informal jottings, works well for attracting links from other bloggers and boosting search engine results. But in other respects it’s feeble and ineffectual.

The other day, someone requested I add his blog to my list of recommended resources, which hundreds of visitors to my site consult each week. “There is little decent, up-to-date how-to information on my topic,” he said.

I had a terrible time wading through his casual, day-by-day entries for either a summary or a starting point on his subject.

Much the same challenge reared its head when I considered a blog recommended by another consultant for inclusion in the bibliography of a book I’m revising.

Again, I couldn’t find my bearings and didn’t see self-contained, reader-friendly chunks of information comparable to articles, nor any truly helpful navigation.

“Nearly all the best stuff on the web now is in blogs,” replied the guy who contacted me.

Yes, that would be the Sheep Theory of effectiveness: If everyone does something, you should too. Not necessarily!

Margie Zable Fisher

Recently one of my clients had an opportunity to be interviewed by the Wall Street Journal. I “prepped” him for the interview, and I thought he would be a terrific source for the article. The reporter working on the story was eager to interview him as well.

Unfortunately, the interview didn’t go well, and it’s unlikely that my client will be included in the story. And though I’m not happy that things turned out this way, I thought I could use the experience as an educational opportunity for my newsletter readers.

Here are three ways to screw up an interview (and assure that you will not be included in a piece):

1. Focus on “What’s in it for me?” This is typical of many small business owners. They’ll say, “I only want a story if it focuses on me and my company and why my company is great,” or, “I don’t want to have me or other businesses I work with spend too much time on this if I don’t know what the end result will be and what the story will say.” Now, that’s exactly the wrong approach to take with a media person. The goal of the reporter is to write a great story. It is not to make sure you get terrific publicity coverage. In other words, if you’re looking to “sell” your story to the media, you need to focus on the needs of the media person who is interviewing you. And those needs can vary, and may require additional time and information, with no guarantee of any specific result.

2. Question how well the reporter has prepared for the interview. As I’ve said, it is the job of reporters to put out a story their readers/viewers/listeners will enjoy. Sometimes reporters do a lot of research prior to interviewing sources, and sometimes they don’t. Maybe they had information and misplaced it, or maybe they were busy with another story and forgot about it. Whatever the situation, be prepared to give the information from scratch. Remember, the media has the power to include you in a story (or not), so you need to be prepared to do whatever it takes to assist and educate the reporter – even if it means giving basic information that was available in “pitches” or at your Web site.

3. Act arrogant. Sure, you probably do know more than the media person, since you are most likely an expert in your area. But a reporter doesn’t need that “rubbed” in his or her face. Share your knowledge — don’t flaunt it.

Remember – if you get that golden opportunity to be interviewed by the media, make sure you provide the information they need without reservation. Be courteous, humble and forthcoming. That way, you’re sure to make a good impression, which can lead not only to a great story but to other media opportunities in the future.

Margie Zable Fisher is an expert in public relations for Small Business. You can visit her website here…

hi! i found an online course, Its free, it’s called _________________. i was wondering if you have hear of it, i just stated today with the cours. I’m really interrested in becoming a MT. I use to be a pharmacy tech but since i want to work from home and becoming a MT fells perfect. I have a 2 year old son and I love taking care of him so his the reason why i what to work from home . Also i got alot of info. by reading your page…Thank you

I answered briefly on that page, but here’s a longer answer:

I truly believe that any “free” medical transcription course is just a come on to get you locked into another course.  If you want personal help from real medical transcriptionists and want to learn the business, then you’re going to pay real money.

But I believe it’s worth it if you really want to work at home.  We GLADLY paid several thousand for the course and hundreds more for books and equipment and these have paid off well.

Home Medical Transcription isn’t a get rich quick scheme… it’s a home based occupation that calls for training to get a job and make money. I doubt any free course is going to take you very far!

I was talking to a marketer who’s been doing inserts in the insurance field over 20 years. It turned him from underpaid agent into a well to do business man. He basically no longer uses newspaper inserts. Why? Two reasons.

Fraud.

If a newspaper doesn’t have audited circulation, they can use the highest circulation on any given day in the last 10 years. So many are selling their circulation figures for September 11, 2001!

Actual daily circulation on the day YOU want to use the service will likely be much less, spelling the difference between success and failure.

Though he “made his name” in his particular niche from newspaper fliers, that’s “history”. He’s had to find other direct marketing outlets.

Even when the circulation figures are sound because they are audited, the PRICE became a limiting factor. Unless you’re willing to break even because you expect to make money in the LONG HAUL from repeat business… it wasn’t working for him.

Test it, but realize you don’t want to sink your whole marketing budget in this venue (or any venue).

Mountain View-based Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) said Friend Connect lets any Web site owner add a snippet of code to get social features up and running immediately without programming.

Among features that can be added are user registration, invitations, members gallery, message posting, and reviews, as well as third-party applications built by the OpenSocial developer community.

Visitors to any site using Google Friend Connect will be able to see, invite, and interact with new friends, or, using secure authorization APIs, with existing friends from social sites on the Web, including Facebook, Google Talk, hi5, orkut, Plaxo, and more.

Now just because it’s free and “Google” doesn’t mean it’s actually going to help you necessarily. The content generated should relate to your products and services and help you build traffic. I suppose we’ll just have to see some sites actually use the code and benefit. More hoopla? It’s hard to tell. I can see how this will be good for Google. But will it be good for you?

Related Link: Web 2.0 Tricks for your Small Business 

So I keep on the lookout for nice WordPress themes. Here’s a producer of Free Wordpress Themes I’ve come to like… and this is the latest free theme, one especially designed to help you integrate Google Adsense (or YPN I suppose) into your blog.

It’s called AdsPress and you can find it here.

The screen shot is a picture of the template in action.

Most people buy the distributor kit and HOPE something will happen. Usually it’s not that simple.

Do you have a set amount you are going to spend monthly? Do you have a system for getting new business?

Usually businesses find key ways to find new customers, pour time and money into those channels for getting business and never explore other options that might save money and be more effective. I’ve pointed out some of my marketing favorites below.

From the Virtual Assistant Blog

4-5% of your income should be spent on marketing for your business and the key word here is ‘business’. Running a VA practice is a business and as in all businesses, money does need to be invested into it, to keep it running, or to get it up and running in the first place.

Throughout the years of running my own VA business I’ve paid out thousands of dollars for Yellow Pages advertising, printing of flyers, some local newspaper advertising (although I don’t bother with that these days) online advertising such as Google Adwords and directory listings, my own website which includes hosting fees, and of course VA network fees. I do belong to a few networks and yes, I do pay fees. I also pay out for sponsorships for different events, like the forthcoming OIVAC next weekend. Even your business cards are part of your marketing expense - and they should be constantly given out, not left in a drawer at home.

Reply to: job-677739932@craigslist.org
Date: 2008-05-12, 1:52PM CDT

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Shawn Forgaard, a 37-year-old software company project manager, bought one home for his family to live in and nine more as investments. He stands to lose all the investment houses in the mortgage meltdown but says he has come away wiser from the experience.

Forgaard bought a house in Santa Cruz, about 60 miles (100 km) south of San Francisco, in 2000. Four years later, using $800,000 in stock options, he began snapping up investment properties, putting 10 percent to 40 percent down on negative amortization loans — in which payments do not cover the interest so that a borrower’s balance grows over time.

Forgaard said that some good has come out of the experience and that his family is optimistic. He is relieved that he no longer has to deal with 10 homes at once and now will pursue a lifelong dream of starting his own business.

I find it amazing… this is the ultimate in “leverage”  I suppose. He believed he’d have enough equity from the down payments to ride out the storm  or refinance.  Ouch.

Read it all here…