Free Technology Tools For Your Small Business With the generous sponsorship of:

2 © 2009 Northern California SBDC, All Rights Reserved Overview  10 free apps covered in detail  Similar apps listed  Small selection of what’s available  Most apps provide full value when you move to a paid plan, but using free version is a great way to test it  You don’t have to spend a significant amount of money to have a fully functional, efficient IT applications infrastructure for your small business

3 © 2009 Northern California SBDC, All Rights Reserved Productivity/Collaboration Apps – Google Apps Business Benefits:  Full suite of productivity apps to replace historically expensive desktop applications  Integrate nicely with each other – saving you time in double data entry  Remain free irrespective of the number of staff in your small business  Provide 80% of MS Office functionality – probably most of what you’ll need unless you’re a power user  Can replace or provide a cheap supplement to existing desktop applications  Fully compatible with Microsoft File formats  Enable a ready made collaborative environment with full version tracking Important apps for small business:  Gmail  Google Docs and Spreadsheets  Sites  Calendar  Google Voice

© 2009 Northern California SBDC, All Rights Reserved Productivity/Collaboration Apps – Google Apps

5 © 2009 Northern California SBDC, All Rights Reserved Other Free Productivity/Collaboration Apps  Open Office:  Zoho:  IBM Lotus Symphony: y/home.nsf/home  AbiWord:  Central Desktop:

6 © 2009 Northern California SBDC, All Rights Reserved File Storage Apps- Box.net Business Benefits:  Free online storage for each member of staff (1GB)  Provides an easy, secure way to share files with staff, clients and vendors  You can track who has accessed and updated files  Folder hierarchy imitates desktop file storage for easy staff training & acceptance  Easy collaborative environment includes file commenting, discussions etc.  Platform neutral

© 2009 Northern California SBDC, All Rights Reserved File Storage Apps – Box.net

8 © 2009 Northern California SBDC, All Rights Reserved  Mediafire:  Filesanywhere:  Dropbox: Other Free File Storage Apps

9 © 2009 Northern California SBDC, All Rights Reserved Backup Apps – MozyHome Free Business Benefits:  Free online backup up to 2GB for home edition. Enough room to store your most vital business files  Easy, intuitive interface. Little or no training requirement  Backs up both open and closed files (this is a big deal!). Backups don’t have to be done overnight – continuous (no loss of productivity)  Very secure – 448 bit encryption  Automatic, according to your schedule  Backs up Outlook files incrementally (again, this is a big deal!)  Online solution has built-in redundancy, and is physically remote (important for earthquake regions)

© 2009 Northern California SBDC, All Rights Reserved Backup Apps – MozyHome Free

11 © 2009 Northern California SBDC, All Rights Reserved Other Free Backup Apps  Yuntaa:  File Hampster:  Comodo (Windows only):  Hinx Easy:  Syncback (Windows Only):

12 © 2009 Northern California SBDC, All Rights Reserved Conference/Meeting Apps – FreeConference.com Business Benefits:  Free, on demand audio conferencing and desktop sharing  No need for costly PBX functionality – no upfront investment  Meetings can be set up on-the-fly  Costs can be pushed to clients/suppliers. Obviates need to set up expensive phone bridges, or 800 numbers  Automated invitations. No need for an admin to “ring around”

© 2009 Northern California SBDC, All Rights Reserved Conference/Meeting Apps – FreeConference.com

14 © 2009 Northern California SBDC, All Rights Reserved Other Free Conference/Meeting Apps  Meeting Wizard:  Yugma:  Fuze Meeting:  Dimdim:

15 © 2009 Northern California SBDC, All Rights Reserved Unified Messaging Apps – Google Voice Business Benefits:  Aggregates all your numbers under one number – you can always be available for clients  Can call different numbers depending on the time of day  Set up “routing rules” depending on who is calling you – you are in charge of who gets through  Voic via – great way to “batch” your call replies for when it suits you  Set up different voic s for different customer contact scenarios for greater efficiency  Put “Web Widgets” on your Web Site – customers can call you without you revealing your number  Free local and long distance calls in US

© 2009 Northern California SBDC, All Rights Reserved Unified Messaging Apps – Google Voice

© 2009 Northern California SBDC, All Rights Reserved Unified Messaging Apps – Google Voice

18 © 2009 Northern California SBDC, All Rights Reserved Other Free Unified Messaging Apps  Skype:  K7:  YouMail:

19 © 2009 Northern California SBDC, All Rights Reserved Customer Relationship Management/Contact Management Apps - Highrise Business Benefits:  Easy to use and learn – little to no staff training required  Contacts accessible online in one place for all members of staff  Different levels of assignable “Group” security  Sales staff can record all interactions with a client  You can track deals in the pipeline and deal outcomes  Easy to export/import contact information  You can automate and track account/client follow ups (anf have them delivered via )  You can copy s to a “dropbox” and have them automatically assigned to a client/case

© 2009 Northern California SBDC, All Rights Reserved Customer Relationship Management/Contact Management Apps - Highrise

21 © 2009 Northern California SBDC, All Rights Reserved Other Free Customer Relationship Management/Contact Management Apps  Zoho CRM:  Saleforce CRM Personal Edition: pricing/personal-edition/  FreeCRM:  Keepm:  Tactile CRM:

22 © 2009 Northern California SBDC, All Rights Reserved Project Management Apps - Basecamp Business Benefits:  Online Project Management app accessible by anyone with a browser – including clients and suppliers with appropriate security  Open, transparent design promotes effective collaboration both internally and externally  Platform-agnostic. No need to standardize your infrastructure  Easy to learn, but powerful – not over engineered like Microsoft Project. You don’t pay for unneeded functionality, and not a huge training overhead for staff  Open API integrates with a massive number of Web based apps like Freshbooks/Cashboard, and a number of iPhone apps – obviates need for data re- entry, saving you time  Collaborative environment with version tracking replaces traditional project stores such a SharePoint – significant cost savings  Easy to set up Milestones, assignable To-Do’s, and keep participants on track via based task management. Provides better visual management of your important business projects

© 2009 Northern California SBDC, All Rights Reserved Project Management Apps - Basecamp

24 © 2009 Northern California SBDC, All Rights Reserved Other Free Project Management Apps  Gantter:  GantProject:  jxProject:  OpenProj:  Zoho Projects:  Viewpath:

25 © 2009 Northern California SBDC, All Rights Reserved Financial Apps - Freshbooks Business Benefits:  Financial time tracking, estimating and invoicing all in one app  You can send and manage invoices online or offline – get paid faster, and easily track who has paid  Track expenses and re-bill clients  Online time-tracking (allows you to track time at client’s place of work) – also integrates with iPhone app. Makes sure you invoice all billable time  Integrates with several online accounting applications allowing you to avoid inefficiency of dual data entry. Also integrates with Salesforce, Basecamp, PayPal etc.  Allows online management of contractors and clear, transparent recording/access for clients – helps you build client trust and avoid nasty invoicing surprises

© 2009 Northern California SBDC, All Rights Reserved Financial Apps - Freshbooks

27 © 2009 Northern California SBDC, All Rights Reserved Other Free Financial Apps  Cashboard:  Outright:  Shoeboxed:  QuickBooks Online:  Microsoft Office Accounting Express 2009:

28 © 2009 Northern California SBDC, All Rights Reserved Business Management Apps – Working Point Business Benefits:  Enter Client Data Once - Eliminate data entry errors  Become more responsive to client requests – one place to look for information on whole account  Streamline administration - Improve efficiency and boost productivity  Achieve a 360 degree view of your company using one integrated application  Link production to orders, sales accounts to inventory, stock replenishment process to inventory  Critical business information is online with redundant backup

© 2009 Northern California SBDC, All Rights Reserved Business Management Apps – Working Point

30 © 2009 Northern California SBDC, All Rights Reserved Social Networking Apps - Ping Business Benefits:  Allows you to update social networking site from a variety of entry points: Mobile Phone, SMS, MMS, IM, 3 rd party apps  Posts out same message to over 40 social networking sites, saving you the time of updating them all  Allows clients, suppliers, partners, to follow you on their social networking platform of choice

© 2009 Northern California SBDC, All Rights Reserved Social Networking Apps - Ping

32 © 2009 Northern California SBDC, All Rights Reserved Any Questions? RESOURCES: ~ Friends of the Santa Cruz County Library: ~ Santa Cruz Public Library Business & Company Resource Center: ~ Central Coast Small Business Development Center: ~ Downtown Association: ~ Santa Cruz Chamber of Commerce: Thank you to our sponsor!