Following up on my post from last week about Amazon’s rumored Android tablet, two recent news items seem to lend credence to my speculation that the Amazon tablet is really part of a much larger push by the company to become the integrated device/content hub for your household’s digital entertainment needs. Read More
Category: Small Biz Go Mobile
Hire a Gopher with TaskRabbit and get help Getting Things Done
It’s a known fact that as a small business owner or entrepreneur, you are twice as busy at making your endeavor great as merely clocking in and out of a 9-5 gig everyday. In addition to taking care of business at ungodly hours of the day, you still have to do your regular home and family stuff. You probably can’t afford a full-time assistant and you can’t add extra hours in the day to run back and forth to your local office supply store.
TaskRabbit is a new service/mobile app that let’s you post a task, and have “TaskRabbits” bid on how much they will do the task for. You can check out TaskRabbit’s profiles and pick the one that best matches. You can save your payment information with your profile and securely pay when they are done with the tasks. Read More
Find what you need with Poynt
As a business person who’s often on-the-go, I often need to find something familiar in an unfamiliar place. Enter Poynt, a great “place finder” app; it’s free, and it has some great features that make it stand out in its field. First of all, the price is right. Poynt is free to get and free to use. Second of all, Poynt works well on just about all smartphone platforms, and has service in the US, UK, Canada, and many European countries. Read More
Microsoft Office 365 Brings Cloud Email, Calendar, and Documents to Small Businesses for a Low Price
Last month, Microsoft finally unveiled its new cloud-based enterprise productivity and communications suite, Office 365. With more and more small and mid-sized businesses embracing the cloud-based potential of Google Apps, it’s not particularly surprising that Ballmer & the boys decided to fire their own volley. What is surprising, though, is just how robust, well-executed, and affordable the new Office 365 manages to be; for small businesses feeling encumbered by their current software systems, Office 365 might be the solution. Read More
Kashoo Online Accounting Adds iPad App for Mobile Accounting
To be honest, The Kashoo Online Accounting service isn’t too much different than a Quickbooks Online, InDinerio or Outright for small businesses. With all of these services, you can set up an account fairly quickly and manage your money using the following features:
– Manage income/expenses
– Create and send invoices
– View financial reports
– Manage customer information
…and more without installing software on your computer. Read More
Loyalize Drives Mobile Engagement
We already know that Google+ wants your business, but does your business need social features? You betcha. Let’s talk about Loyalize. What is it? Well, Loyalize is an audience participation company that drives engagement across connected devices. What can this mean for your business? Basically, it means you can set up a fully-branded experience around your product. It also means that you can allow your customers to interact and participate with each other even when they’re not at the same physical location. Read More
Mario sits down with Evernote VP Andrew Sinkov
I’ve always been a big fan of Evernote but now after meeting with Andrew I am a super-fan. Evernote has so many possibilities for small business, entrepreneurs, journalists, researches, students, teachers and soooo many pother casual and business uses as well. Here is a quick vid of Andrew answering some of your twitter questions!
An Android-based Amazon Kindle Is Coming – What New Features Might It Bring?
For close to a year, rumors have been quietly circulating about the possibility that Amazon might expand upon its hardware offerings by introducing an Android tablet; on July 14th, these rumors grew much louder, when a Wall Street Journal article claimed that the Amazon tablet will definitely be released in October. According to the WSJ, the tablet would have a 9-inch screen, no camera, and would be entirely designed and manufactured by Amazon-contracted third-parties. Early next year, Amazon is expected to release an additional tablet, designed entirely in-house by Amazon. Questions, of course, abound: Is this a smart move for Amazon? What do they hope to gain from releasing their own tablet? Can they honestly expect to best Apple in the tablet market? Read More
Last Chance to Win a Business Consultation with @MarioArmstrong! Contest runs thru Friday!
Just a quick note that this is your last chance to enter our contest to win a business or tech consultation with Mario Armstrong. Ever wondered how the man himself can help you reach your goals? Want to ask someone about how the latest tech can help you? This is your chance! 3 entrants will be selected this Friday at 5pm for our contest to win a 20-minute consultation with Mario himself!
What on earth are you waiting for? Enter the contest today!
New AT&T Recommendation Tool Helps You Determine Your Businesses’ Telecommunications Needs
Well, here’s some good news for small business owners who’ve had difficulties integrating their company’s communications systems: AT&T has just unveiled a new recommendation tool for small businesses, which specifically tailors its service recommendations based on the unique size and needs of your small business.
Rather than attempting to patch together a complete suite of telecommunications services from various providers, or getting lost in a miasma of mixed residential and commercial offerings, the AT&T Small Business recommendation system provides you with an array of integrated service options, which should suit the needs of practically any small business out there. Not only does AT&T’s tool provide a thorough array of wireless, landline, and broadband options (including minutes-sharing programs with employees, wireless tethering, and support for multiple locations), it also provides options for technical support, data storage, web hosting, and even web design.
A brief video shows how the system works, but honestly, after using the recommendation tool for a few minutes, I found the recommendation system to be so intuitive and user-friendly that you can probably just skip the video and go right to the recommendation system itself. After answering some general questions about your company (e.g., whether it’s an existing company, or one that’s just starting up; industry type; whether employees are on the road, or working in multiple locations, etc.), the recommendation system will begin to ask some specific questions about the needs of your company (Does your company communicate via text messages? Do you email customers and employees from your mobile device?). Once you’re done (and it shouldn’t take more than a couple minutes to enter all the information), you’ll be provided with a comprehensive breakdown of AT&T’s recommended services for your company, along with a full pricing schedule.
This is really a fantastic offering for any small business owner looking to stay on top of their telecommunications services. Even if you company already has a full suite of telecom services in place, it’s worth taking a look at AT&T’s Small Business recommendation tool; you might discover some services you hadn’t thought of before, or you might find that there’s money to be saved by switching to a fully-integrated, single-carrier solution for your small business’s communications needs.