7 Simple, Tools, Resources, Ideas, to give your Micro Business a BIG business Image

[Katrina M Harrell-Biz Strategist]

Technology and the internet has done alot of good (and some bad I imagine) in image building for micro and small business. And it's certain that creating the best image for your business is important to compete. Now more than ever technology and the web 2.0 is beginning to level the playing field between big start-ups and micro, solo businesses. The NFIB published in the January/February Issue of MyBusiness Magazinethat many home-based and micro businesses are finding creative ways to give off a big business image in ways that are paying off! There are many ways a micro business can easily compete with larger more established businesses with a little creativity, cloud-computing and use of SaaS programs. Here is a short list of 7 such tools you can use NOW to improve your business image.


1. Outright.com - This simple cost effective tool is perfect for the Micro Business Owner (self-employed, sole proprietorship) who simply needs a step up from managing your bookkeeping in excel spreadsheets. You simply (and very easily) import your bank account, paypal, ebay, Freshbooks, information in and VIOLA! Your books are created! Another awesome feature is the Schedule C and Estimated Taxes tracking. Hands down the single most awesome and low cost accounting software for the solo-preneur who isn't ready for Quickbooks. Why the big business image? Easily tracking your money means more time to focus on developing your business.

2. Webs.com - Now for all you wordpress fans, I'm not knocking wordpress AT ALL, in fact our current website is being redesigned on a wordpress platform because it simply rocks. BUT, for those who are just starting out, and need a simple, drop and drag type of website, webs.com is a great solution. Our entire current website was created on Webs and didn't hurt business one bit! There are tons of fast and quick plug-ins, and some cool templates that fit almost any business.

3. ZohoCRM - I know many wouldn't argue with me at all on this. Zoho is one of the best solutions for Micro businesses to help manage your CRM. The free version is just enough for most micro businesses and there is even a Googleapps integration. Meaning you can easily add leads, notes and follow-up tasks directly from your gmail.

4. 48hourslogo.com - Your image is everything! Logos are oftentimes the first thing potential clients see and to be honest judge their decision to buy. There are many crowdsourcing options out there with various price points. When on the hunt for a new logo 48hourslogo.com was a great alternative for some pretty cool logos (check out my photos to see what I got from them) starting at $79.

5. ZohoProject - Wouldn't it be nice to show off to your clients how organized you are by nicely organizing and track your current projects in a neat and tidy little system? ZohoProjects offers a free and paid version but is a great way to collaborate with contractors, vendors, and clients on projects. Get more done!

6. Googleapps - Love this first because it's FREE. Email, docs, and up to 50 email addresses and more. There's so much you can do with GoogleApps that doesn't cost you a penny it's a shame if you're not using it! ;-)

7. Godaddy.com - By now I hope you aren't still using a yahoo.com, or gmail.com etc email for your business? Domain names are NOT expensive these days. The typical cost is $9.99 on godaddy (sometimes less sometimes more depending, yet still a small investment). Most potential clients won't even attempt to do business with you if you don't have your own email address. What's awesome is that you can assign your domain dns to Googleapps!

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Katrina M. Harrell is CEO & Founder of Your Simple Bookkeeper and Founder of the Micro Business Resource Center. For more than 60+ Tips, Tools, Resources to help you create a BIG Business image for your Micro Business, email us at [e-mail] to receive our newsletter and mailing list to be the first to receive our "The Secret Micro Business Bootstrapping Survival Kit™" When published in March 2011.

For more examples by Katrina of how your Micro Business can have a BIG Business image, check out the "Home Office, Home Run" article in the January/February issue of My....

[Phoenix - Operations Assistant]

oooooh - sparkly! I just found this and am wondering - with one umbrella and three different businesses, services and products, do any of the companies you address sync all three into one big pot? Or will I suffer the consequences & have to have separate CRM, Invoicing & etc accounts for all three?

My profile has changed to reflect what I'm up to these day - three separate identities & as time & $ permit, developing the umbrella to coordinate them all... or am I just a funk-wunkle & have something messed up? hmmmm... yeah - we should sit down....

[Katrina M Harrell-Biz Strategist]

Great question Phoenix!

To answer: It all starts with Google Apps! Are you a current google apps user? If not I think you should check it out. I had a great conversation with Ms. Lois LeSavoy and Mr. Dan Scala from Center For Excellence yesterday about Google Apps and I was sharing with them that it allows you to manage your business seemlessly as alot of these (and tons more) products integrate directly into Google Apps. The more IMPORTANT aspect of this especially from a start-up perspective is that it's FREE! LOL

If you've used Godaddy to purchase your domain names for each of your businesses (or not) you can set up your umbrella with google apps and have each of your businesses email direct into the one that's set up in Apps (gmail). Also, Zoho invoice allows you to set-up multiple businesses :-) so you can log-in (from google apps via your gmail) access your invoice and select the organization that needs to invoice. No need to have multiple logins for each entity.

This is just a great start, there's ALOT more you can do with just these seven tools, plus more so yes let's take some time to chat (and discuss how you can use your $25 gift card while we're at it!) I'm planning an event in April ( I know so far! but I need time to work the kinks out) that will help folks with this stuff. I'm going to show you how to create a BIG business image on "Negative Zero" (tm) Budget using 6 price points. Let me know if you're interested, I'm going to post it soon.