A few years back, personal coach Maya Talisman and husband Tom Frost, a jewelry importer and distributor, decided to move their his-and-hers businesses and four daughters from Portland, Ore., to Mazatlan, Mexico.

"We chose Mazatlan because we had been there on vacation and knew it would be a friendly, peaceful place to spend our first year abroad and learn Spanish," Talisman says. The family rented an apartment in the historic colonial district and enrolled the kids in school.

Talisman’s meditation books and courses are sold online while Frost’s company, Swell Products, distributes his brand of magnetic bracelets to hundreds of retailers across the United States. The bracelets are manufactured in China and shipped to the U.S. Frost employs a sales manager and part-time bookkeeper, who work from Oregon.

"That experiment worked so well that ten months later, when school was out, we moved even farther south, to Buenos Aires, Argentina," says Talisman.

How do they pick up their businesses and move wherever they want? By relying on technology, Talisman and Frost have created virtual headquarters for their companies and they operate with a roster of Web-based applications.

See this article by Joanna L. Krotz for some affordable tools and ideas that Talisman and Frost use --- and you could as well --- to harness technology’s power to save time and money.

Monte Enbysk

For many small-business retailers, the holiday season is a make-or-break mission, representing 60 percent or more of their annual sales. Smart marketing during this period is critical, notes Joanna L. Krotz, columnist for Microsoft Office Live Small Business.

Typically, the online buying season kicks in on Cyber Monday, which is the Monday after Thanksgiving and after Black Friday, when the brick-and-mortar holiday sales season begins. Still, in recent years, shoppers have also learned to wait further into the season in order to find online bargains and even lower prices. So the biggest online holiday shopping day is typically around December 12, when many online retailers stop offering free shipping.

As a result, you need to think about your holiday marketing with a one-two punch, Krotz says. First, prepare in advance and have your seasonal site designs and promotions ready to roll in November. But then, make sure to reserve some appealing offers and discounts for the late-buying crowd.

Check out Krotz’s practical, time-tested ways to attract buyers and boost sales during the online holiday selling season.

Also, here are five missteps that marketers often make during the holiday season. Jump these hurdles, Krotz says, and you’re more likely to celebrate the coming year.

Monte Enbysk

We’re currently hard at work on many new enhancements to the Office Live Small Business service, as well as readying the debut of the new Office Live Workspace service. In order to bring you these enhancements, we’re going to first upgrade some of our core platform technology. What does that mean for you? Well, much of this work will be done in the background and won’t be visible right away. But over the next several weeks, as these upgrades are rolled out, you’ll start to see improvements to the look and feel of the Office Live Small Business service. Shortly after that, some great new features will be added that will help you more easily and effectively promote and manage your business. Completing this platform upgrade smoothly and with little or no impact to you is a top priority and we don’t anticipate any issues. Should any arise, our team will be here to resolve them quickly and keep you informed. We hope you’re as excited as we are about the changes to come.

Thank you,

On behalf of the Office Live upgrade team,

Arun Rajappa

Over coffee last week, one of the new guys on our team confessed he couldn’t believe everything there is to know about Microsoft Office Live Small Business. We all just nodded. “Yep, it’s pretty amazing,” we agreed. And then a light bulb went off. Most people probably don’t know about all the bells and whistles that come with a subscription to Microsoft Office Live Small Business – or about all the great resources that offer tips and tricks on using them to build a successful online presence. So we started a list …

Getting Help from Us

·         FAQs  are always a good starting point for general information about our service.

·         Resource Center can help you master specific tasks, from laying out a Web page to buying keywords (and much more).

·         Articles and tips cover many aspects of growing a business online, from marketing and Web design to customer care.

·         On-Demand Video Presentations highlight basic Web strategies, developing effective content and using sound design principles.

·         Office Hours is a column written by one of our editors that focuses on Web-related issues for small business.

·         This Blog is where we routinely post announcements, tips and service updates – so come back often!

Community Learning

Microsoft has not verified the accuracy or validity of guidance users provide on our Community pages, but we fully support the lively exchange of ideas you’ll find there.

·         Microsoft Office Live Masters are knowledgeable users eager to share their expertise to help others get the most from Office Live Small Business.

·         Message Boards offer a place where you can engage with other users, ask questions, make suggestions and share ideas.

·         Customer Gallery  gives you a chance to check out sites other users create, ask them questions or showcase your site and request feedback.

What Outside Experts Are Saying

While we are not able to endorse these external resources, we thought you might find them useful. Book links will take you to Amazon.com.

·         Microsoft Office Live for Dummies is a nuts-and-bolts guide for getting up and running with our service. (Released July 2007)

·         How to Do Everything with Microsoft Office Live offers advice on using our service to create and maintain a dynamic online presence for your business. (Released July 2007)

·         Beginning Microsoft Office Live provides help using the basic functions of our service plus advice on improving Web site usability. (Released September 2007)

·         Microsoft Office Live: Take Your Business Online offers tutorials, case studies and real-world techniques to help take your business online. (Release date: Dec. 12, 2007)

·         CNet Reviews features a Microsoft Office Live mini-site with tips, user opinions and more.

If you know of any helpful resources we’ve missed, please use the Add a comment or Send a message link below to let us know. With your help we’ll keep our list updated and repost it from time to time.

See you online …

The Microsoft Office Small Business Team