Remember when the fax machine seemed like the greatest workplace invention ever? Then along came e-mail, and who would have guessed something so fast and so efficient could also be so cheap? It does make you wonder what The Next Big Thing will be – and in fact there are some who will tell you it’s here now in the social networking services popping up all over the Web.

If you think of social networking as something high school and college kids are doing on MySpace and Facebook, you’d be right, of course. But the whole social networking phenomenon has evolved and today professional folks are using these and more business-focused networks such as LinkedIn and Ryze to connect and build relationships with potential customers, clients and partners.

Many take it even further, engaging in what Joanna L. Krotz refers to as “social media marketing” to promote their expertise – and in doing so – their products and services too. In her Office Live Small Business column, Krotz discusses how this marketing trend taps into the rising influence of user-generated communities like the social networking sites – but also blogs, wikis and bookmarking sites.

So is any of this right for you?  If a key part of building your business is making connections, social media marketing may be worth exploring. It won’t cost you a lot of money, but it will take an expenditure of time to get started. Krotz’s column offers a lot of good information to help you do just that.

See you online,

Monte Enbysk

Turning away spammers, scammers and others unwanted solicitors is an ongoing fight for all of us. One of the new tactics for eluding these intruders is private domain registration. Any domain registrar selling domains today typically offers this type of registration, including the registrar for Microsoft Office Live Small Business. If you’re not familiar with private domain registration, here’s how it works.

Say you browse to a domain registrar’s Web site and order the domain name fourthcoffee.com.  As part of the registration process, you are required to provide your name, e-mail address, phone number, and mailing address. The thing to understand is that all this personal contact info is made available on the Web in something called the WHOIS (as in “who is”) database.

Numerous Web sites will let you submit a domain name to the WHOIS server. The server will promptly return the domain owner’s e-mail address, phone number, and other contact details. It’s a useful service—and pesky marketers especially love it.

With private domain registration, however, the registrar substitutes alternative contact information for yours. Solicitors mining the WHOIS database will typically find your registrar’s contact info when they submit your domain name.

It’s important to know that you don’t surrender ownership of your domain just because your contact information is obscured. The registrar’s records will still record you as the owner and maintain your actual contact information.

Registrars charge a fee for this service. If you obtained your domain through Office Live Small Business, you pay $6.95 a year for private domain registration for any .com, .net or .org domain you own. To order it, sign in to your service and from the Home page, click Add/Manage Services, Web Site and E-mail, and then the sign up link next to Private Domain Registration. Because we think private domain registration is such a good idea, private registration is now included in the cost ($8.95 per year) for any additional new domains you purchase in the future.

Will private registration solve all your problems with solicitors? Probably not. But I know that if it keeps just two dinner-interrupting telemarketers from calling me each month, it will pay for itself.

See you online,

Skip Chilcott
Microsoft Office Live Small Business Team

Have you noticed that we revamped the Reports area in Office Live Small Business? If not, log into your account and click Reports when you get a chance. We’ve added new features that may help you attract more site visitors and turn them into customers. For instance, now you can follow day-to-day trends in your Web site traffic and see results of your keyword advertising campaigns at the same time. Those are great insights to have when you’re trying to make marketing decisions.

Let’s take a quick run through Reports so you’re aware of the valuable information you can get in just a couple clicks.

Visitor Report

Information on visitors coming to your site will help you make decisions regarding the reach/attraction of your site. You’ll see statistics on:

·         New Visitors – those who came to your site for the first time ever

·         Repeat Visitors – those who returned after visiting your site previously

·         Visits – the number of times individuals came to your site

Here’s an example of how you might use this information: If you find you are attracting lots of New Visitors but not many Repeat Visitors, it may mean you need to make the content on your site more engaging.

Site Usage Report

Like a shop owner who watches what people do once they enter his shop, this information tells you what visitors do once they come to your Web site. Information varies depending on your site, but you might see:

·         Views – the number of pages visitors viewed during a given time period

·         Conversions – the number of times a specific action was taken (such as signing up for a newsletter or requesting information) during a given time period

·         Conversion rate – the ratio of conversions to the number of visits

Referring Sources Report

Here you can learn who is sending traffic to your site and the quality of these visitors. For example:

·         Source – the name of the referrer sending the traffic

·         Source type – including search engines, online ads, direct links and partner referrals

·         Visits – the number of times people came to your site through a particular source during a given time period

Keyword Reports

Whether you use our adManager tool to place keyword ads or rely on organic searches, you can get great information about the keywords people are using on search engines to find your site. Details include:

·         Keyword – the actual keyword an individual used to get to your site

·         Search engine – the name of the search engine used and if an ad listing was involved

·         Visits – the number of times people were referred by a particular keyword to your Web site

There’s even more, but now you can see why Reports is such a valuable tool – and how it will become even more useful as you grow your Web site and introduce new features.

Good luck,

Sharad Nandwani

Want some great (and free!) exposure for your Office Live Small Business Web site? If so, consider this: We're looking for a few very special success stories---in other words, small businesses that have gone from good to great using Office Live Small Business services. For example:

§   Have your sales soared since you took your Web site live?

§   Have call volumes increased significantly?

§   Has our search marketing tool attracted more prospects than you ever dreamed possible?

If you think you’ve got a compelling story to share, the first step is to send us an e-mail with a brief summary of what Office Live Small Business has helped you accomplish. If it sounds like a good fit, we’ll interview you about your experience with our services and how Office Live Small Business has changed your business for the better. Then we’ll write up your story and send it to you for review.

We’ll use these success stories on our Web site and in conversations with the media to illustrate the exciting ways customers are using Office Live Small Business to boost sales, improve communications or increase efficiency.

We like to think it’s a win-win.  We get a great story---and you get great exposure for your business, for free. So e-mail us today!

Regards,

The Office Live Small Business Team

We think you’ll be happy to know about improvements we’re making to your Office Live Small Business service—especially since many of the suggestions came from customers like you. (And we thank you for that!)
You’ll find enhancements across all three of our services—Office Live Basics, Essentials, and Premium. We’re making the tools and services easier to use, adding some great new features and functionality, and enhancing the Office Live Home and overall site navigation.
The upgrade process began January 5th and will last four to six weeks. Be sure to check out the complete list of improvements at every service level available on our Web site.
Service interruptions
While we implement new features and functions there will be periods of time when various aspects of the service will be unavailable. We are doing everything we can to minimize the impact to you, but we want you to be prepared. We hope you’ll find that the improvements we are making are well worth any inconvenience.
If you have any questions or experience any problems, please contact our Support Team at http://support.officelive.com/.
See you online …
The Office Live Small Business Team

Visit the Microsoft Office Live Small Business Web site

There’s plenty of advice out there about what items to post on your Web site, says writer Christopher Elliott. But what kinds of information should you never publish?

Posting inappropriate, confidential, or incomplete information on your site can have negative and potentially embarrassing results, Elliott says. You could lose clients, employees—even your business.

In his days as an investigative reporter, Elliott says he used to count on companies carelessly posting information that could be used in a story. His favorite: He once unearthed a confidential PowerPoint presentation on computer security that detailed how to hack into a laptop computer wirelessly. You don’t need to own a laptop to appreciate the irony in that.

Read his 12 things you should never put on your site.

Monte Enbysk

Monte Enbysk

It seems as though blogs are now being written and talked about by most everyone.

Well, maybe not everyone. But there are a growing number of influential blogs coming from businesses of all sizes. Your competitors may even have blogs, which, as a result, could be prompting you to consider starting a business blog of your own.

If you don't have one, how do you get started and make the most of it?

See writer and blogger Jeff Wuorio’s eight ways to get started.

Monte Enbysk

It really doesn't take much to make a home office today. Just clear some space, hook up a computer and phone, and—presto—you have your home office.

That may make for a decent home office—even a perfectly good one. But it won't make it into a great office, one that's as comfortable and productive as you can make it.

See these six ideas from veteran writer and home-office pro Jeff Wuorio to help you make your home office great.

Monte Enbysk

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

Are you heading to Las Vegas for the National Association of Realtors (NAR) Expo next month? If so, stop by Booth 3219 and meet some of the Microsoft Office Small Business team. We’d love to share some of the exciting ways real estate professionals are using our services. Plus we’ll give you a chance to win the amazing grand prize package we’ve put together just for the NAR event.  EACH DAY during the show we’ll award a grand prize worth over $3,800* that includes:

·         ASUS pink laptop ·         Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate ·         Microsoft Office Small Business 2007 ·         Windows OneCare (1-year subscription) ·         Office Live Premium (1-year subscription) ·         Fujitsu ScanSnap  color scanner ·         $500 of Web design services from Website Pros

 Other great things are happening in Booth 3219, too. For instance, we’ll show how Microsoft Office Small Business  can help you and your team manage customers and sales opportunities more effectively and create impressive sales and marketing materials in-house.  We’re also teaming up with Fujitsu  to demonstrate how you can scan documents directly to your Office Live Small Business account.  And last but not least, the folks at Website Pros will join us to show you how to create, update and advertise a professionally designed business Web site.

So be sure to stop by Booth 3219. We’re looking forward to meeting you!

Office Live Small Business Marketing Team

* Please go here to see the contest rules

So you want your Web site to make you look big. More power to you.

But the business experts I talked to recently say small is cool with customers too. Small businesses, they say, have a personality, flavor, and sensibility that big businesses can’t match. And when it comes to what you put on your Web site, they urge: Don’t be afraid to tout your smallness.

"Small businesses can have more fun with their sites, more so than large corporations," says Alice Bredin, president of Bredin Business Information, a Cambridge, Mass., company that helps large business-to-business companies market themselves to small businesses. "A small-business site needs to include something that reflects the creativity and personality of its owner."

Maybe you’re a couple working side-by-side in a spare bedroom, or a fourth-generation entrepreneur working to someday hand it over to a son or daughter. Maybe you’re putting yourself through grad school. Or you operate from a remote site in the hinterlands and you use only recycled materials. Presented well on a home page and/or an “About Us” section, all of these may have unique selling points to customers.

"People want character; it has meaning," adds Kelly Cutler, chief executive of Marcel Media, a Chicago-based Web advisory firm.

Tip No. 1 for giving customers what they want in a Web site, these experts say, is Tell Your Story Online --- as interestingly and compellingly, and honestly, as possible. Point out to customers why you are unique, and worth their time and attention. But be concise; you don’t need to write a book.

What else do customers want? See this Office Live Small Business article.

Monte Enbysk

We all hate getting spam in our inbox.  Unwanted e-mail is a nuisance that keeps us from getting work done.

So at Microsoft Office Live Small Business, we want to make sure we continue to do our part to reduce the amount of unsolicited e-mail clogging inboxes – both yours and ours! We’ve launched an effort to add to our ongoing fight against spam – and what you need to know is that it will temporarily change the way the e-mail service works for some of you when you send messages to multiple recipients. Here are the details:

• Temporarily (while the system figures out you are not a spammer) some accounts will be limited to sending e-mail to a maximum of 10 recipients at one time.
• Temporarily (while the system figures out you are not a spammer) some of you may be required to solve Human Interactive Proof challenges (where you type the numbers and letters you see in the picture, aka as HIPs). This test helps prevent automated programs from creating accounts and sending spam.

As you continue to use the mail system, and “gain” a favorable reputation for not sending spam, it will increase the number of recipients that you can send a message to.

That’s basically it. We hope you’ll agree that any temporary inconvenience is worth it if the end result reduces spam.

Sincerely,

Microsoft Office Live Team