Web 101

There are so many tools on the Internet that could help you and your business, and most of them you probably have never heard of. I am going to highlight a few of these tools for you, and it is up to you to explore them further on your own! Let me know in the comments section which tool you found the most helpful and/or interesting.

Google Docs
If you have a gmail account, you have started off in the right place. Google offers amazing programs that most have never heard of or had the opportunity to use. If you have your gmail email pulled up, go to the top corner of your screen and click "documents."

From the documents tab, click on "create." From there, you can create documents, spreadsheets, presentations, drawings, and the best feature...forms. Google forms is an amazing tool. You can create vendor event applications, surveys about your business, giveaways, and more. Add questions in a variety of formats. Share the forms by adding emails or just copy/paste the link wherever you want people to find your form. This is FREE and fun to do. Google also has a free website host. It is harder to use than most, but offered for anyone interested. Just search Google websites.

Weebly

I recently discovered weebly, a user-friendly website host. It is so easy to create a website now-a-days, and this host is FREE. You have the option of upgrading if you choose. Some elements of the design can not be used unless you have a pro account, but there are so many, you are sure to make a fabulous webpage by just using the free version. Check out the two I have made recently:

http://wakecountybusinessmoms.weebly.com

http://bootsnbucklesphotography.weebly.com

If you find yourself so busy during the day and do not have the time to sit down and make a website, feel free to email me and I will GLADLY make one for you. At $1 a page, this is steal. Most designers charge in the $100-$200 range to create a website, even if the host is free.

Creative Commons Licensed Photos

Have you ever found yourself in a sticky situation and were caught "stealing" someone's licensed photo or copyrighted image. It happens all the time. As a photographer, I get extremely disappointed when someone posts an image on Facebook or online with my watermark no where to be found. This is equivalent to saying, "Look at this photo, I don't know where I found it, who took it, or where it was taken. Feel free to use it too." Even if you do not have the intentions of offering your photos to someone who may steal it, it happens anyways. NEVER EVER put a professional photograph on the Internet UNLESS it has a watermark. Sometimes, it will still be stolen with a watermark, and in that case, severe legal actions can be taken. You do NOT want to be caught doing this. On the flip side, you do not want to be the one doing the stealing and using an image you searched on Google for your website, product image, catelog, facebook page, etc. If you search images on Google, copy and paste, or save to your computer, stop now. There is a better way, a legal way. Some images are licensed for creative common use, which means, the photographer says, "hey, I give you permission to use my photo." You can find these type of images on Flickr, by going to the Creative Commons area. You can also find these images by searching here. If you have any questions about copyrights or licensed images, please do not hesitate to ask!

Poll Everywhere

Have you ever wanted to take a poll or quick survey for your business to determine clients/customers needs and wants? I have a way! Poll Everywhere is a website created solely for people to use to take a poll of a group and get the results on their computer in a very timely manner.  The group taking the poll simply answers using text messaging, going online on a computer and answering, or through the website Twitter.  The answers of the group show up to the person taking the poll as soon as they are sent and received by the site. This website is very user friendly and has a lot of helpful information.  All you need to do is go to the website, sign up for an account, and then you can create a poll.  The website and poll creator is free to use as long as you are using it for a group smaller than 40 people.  If you are going to be polling any groups larger than that it will cost varying rates.  Once you have a poll set up than you just need to provide directions to your group on how they can respond to the poll.

Lastly, a few extra tips to help you on the web...

1. Take a screen shot of your screen if you want to post results of a random.org drawing, or anything you want your customers to see on YOUR screen. Press "print screen" on your keyboard, which basically acts like a "copy screen." Then paste into Paint or a word document and save the image to your computer. Print screen can usually be found near the scroll lock, insert, delete, or home buttons on your keyboard.

2. Design your own business cards at vistaprint or office max online. You can save the design or send directly to the store in your area where they print and have them boxed up when you arrive.

3. Check out these amazing, interesting, and fun sites I have come across lately:

http://www.wordle.net/ (toy for generating “word clouds” from text that you provide. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text.)

https://bubbl.us/ (brainstorming program)

http://mashable.com/2008/08/19/online-note-taking-applications/ (top ten note taking applications)

http://www.onlineuniversities.com/blog/2010/01/100-incredible-educational-virtual-tours-you-dont-want-to-miss/ (virtual tours such as Disneyland, art museums, famous cities)