As technology progressed so did the fax machine and its limitless possibilities. I was recently reminded of the reason why faxing to a dedicated fax machine is virtually a thing of the past when I was asked to send some documents to an “old school” attorney recently. The first thing he told me was to “wait … don’t send anything until I can switch on my fax machine.” Of course, being the polite person that I am, I said “sure.” He called me back in about 5 minutes to tell me that the machine was on and to proceed with the fax transmission. On my end, I pressed the send button on my computer and waited patiently for him to call me back to inform me that he’d received my fax. 10 minutes … 20 minutes … 1 hour. Finally, 2 hours later he called me back and said that he had to use the “fax machine” to take a call. In other words, the fax was on the same line as his phone number. Over the course of 5 days, we played this game of fax tag.

Let’s fast forward to the 21st century. On my end, I’ve been able to send and receive faxes by email for years. But, then again, I’m a technology geek, so I tend to adopt technology early. Mind you, though, sending and receiving faxes by email is not rocket science stuff. If you can turn on a computer, open your email and attach a file, you can send a fax via email. Those are literally the steps you take to do this 21st century task. And, the receiver of the fax has no idea that the fax was not sent via a regular fax machine. Conversely, receiving a fax to your email is just as easy. The fax is sent by the sender to your “fax number”, which essentially turns it into an email attachment. If you can read an email and open an attachment, you’ve just figured out how to get a fax by email.

What are some of the benefits of a solution like this? Let’s see let me count the ways. Firstly, I’m a big proponent of everything virtual … virtual phones … virtual office … virtual assistant, and yes, virtual faxes. One of the biggest benefits of getting your fax via email is saving on the massive amounts of paper faxes generate. Virtual faxing is good for your pocket book and good for our planet. In other words, print only what you need. Another great benefit is the ability to be anywhere on the planet. You can literally be on the beaches of Hawaii and receive your faxes. Isn’t that a lovely thought? Finally, and this is by no means an exhaustive list, you don’t have to hang up on the person you’re talking to in order to send or receive a fax … keep on talking!

What are the downsides to receiving faxes via email? For one thing, there is a monthly fee associated with it. But, the costs are minimal, some as low as 7 bucks a month. What about signatures? I’ve scanned my signature into my computer. So, I simply cut and paste my signature onto a fax document and voila, I’m done. I hate paper and love the freedom to be anywhere I want to be, unshackled by a physical device. Now, isn’t that worth the prices of a couple of What are the downsides to receiving faxes via email? For one thing, there is a monthly fee associated with it. But, the costs are minimal, some as low as 7 bucks a month. What about signatures? I’ve scanned my signature into my computer. So, I simply cut and paste my signature onto a fax document and voila, I’m done. I hate paper and love the freedom to be anywhere I want to be, unshackled by a physical device. Now, isn’t that worth the prices of a couple of Starbucks Frappachinos a month?

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Some of the services small business firms should consider trying are those that they already use on a daily basis. For example, at a minimum, every small business needs telephone service, accounting for income and expenses, advertising and marketing and, increasingly, some type of web or social media presence. There are plenty more services small business owners can expand into as their business grows, but this a good start.

Telephone service is a basic necessity. You can’t conduct business without being able to communicate with your customers. Some business owners will opt for the “traditional” services of AT&T, Comcast or other standard telephone providers. Others might forgo a separate line and just use their mobile phone as the “business” number. While these options make sense for many, there are a number of other great alternatives which work really well and are downright cheap.

These telephone services small business firms should consider work on a concept called VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol). Basically, they run using your existing Internet connection just like the old telephone companies worked using old telephone lines. In fact, in my business we use several different VOIP services from Skype to MagicJack to RingCentral.

We use different services for different reasons. Skype is great for calling people within your sphere of contacts that are already using Skype. Calls made to and from users who both use Skype are free. Calls made to a land line or mobile phone costs money but is relatively cheap on a per minute basis. MagicJack is great because you get a dedicated phone number from your choice of area codes. It has advanced features for voice mail, call forwarding and even three-way calling for $39 the first year and $19 per year thereafter. While it works by being plugged into your computer, you don’t have to have it plugged in for the features like call forwarding or voice mail to work.

Slightly more advanced telephone services small business owners should consider fall under the category of virtual PBXs. They allow you to have multiple extensions, custom greetings per extension, call transfer voice mail, “hunting”and a whole lot more. The service we use is called RingCentral. It’s great for us because we literally have a virtual team that reside all over the world. We give our customers an 800 phone number and / or a local number if they desire. The client calls in, enters an extension, and voila is then connected to one of our staff. For what this service provides the value can’t be beat.

Accounting is surely one of the basic services small business companies need to have. Some really small companies might use Excel to track their income and expenses. However, another great FREE option to Excel and other Microsoft Office products come from OpenOffice.org. Their productivity tools compete very effectively with MS Office, but don’t cost you a dime. More complex accounting needs, though, can be easily accomplished with Quicken’s online QuickBooks service. You can use this service for as little as $7.96 per month. Not exactly free, but darn near  for such a sophisticated and battle-tested service.

And, what about web site services small business owners should consider? The traditional print ads from newspapers to brochures and flyers are increasingly moving online. The number of people who search for companies through the yellow pages has dropped off precipitously. Replacing this advertising / marketing model is the search and discover mode of And, what about web site services small business owners should consider? The traditional print ads from newspapers to brochures and flyers are increasingly moving online.

The number of people who search for companies through the yellow pages has dropped off precipitously. Replacing this advertising / marketing model is the search and discover mode of Google, Yahoo and Bing search. If you don’t have a website to direct people to, you’ll be a big disadvantage compared to your competition. There are a plethora of free or downright cheap services that allow you to build a simple web site, including one from Homestead, which is now owned by Intuit. I used this product for many years until we hired our own in house website developers. It’s as cheap as $5 per month.

As explained, services small business companies can use today vary from sophisticated accounting systems to telephone service to web site design and hosting. There is simply no better time to be a small business entrepreneur like today … technology is abundant and prices have never been better.

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One of the keys to success for any business is constant communications with your client. If you’re in sales you know all too well the importance of picking up the phone and calling your client on a regular basis. Of course, it’s also useful to drive or fly to meet your clients in person, as well. But, with the high cost of travel these days and the amount of time out of the office, sometimes you can accomplish an “in person” meeting by going online.

Online meetings are so easy and cost-effective these days, that it should be part of every small business’ toolkit. Here’s an illustration of how they work. Essentially both you and the client meet at a designated web “space.” This web space is a private area that only you, the client and other designated parties have permission to enter. Any of the parties can display their screens, collaboratively navigate web sites, share documents and even draw on the screen. In fact, you can also give control of your computer to the other party(ies) in order for them to point to something on your screen and vice versa.

Online meetings can also be useful for working with your team members or employees. Let’s say that you are working on spreadsheet budget and one of your employees lives an hour from the office or perhaps even in another state. With online meeting software, you can both be looking at and modifying your budget in real time just as if that person were sitting right next to you.

Online meetings can also be useful for training purposes. In my small business, I have team members in northern and southern California, as well as a few abroad. Every week, we all get online to train each other on new research techniques, marketing tools and even technical support.

Speaking of technical support, one of the side benefits of some of these tools is the ability to support someone remotely. On occasion one of our colleagues has a problem with email access or similar problems. We are able to join a meeting, have that person give the keyboard and mouse control to one of our technical staff and voila … problem solved. This is remote access feature is extremely valuable.

The cost of one online meeting will literally pay for itself by saving you the cost of travel. This is easily illustrated by how much it cost just to go from northern California to southern California, not even including hotel and meals. If you were to drive from San Francisco to LA for example, you could easily spend $200 in gas alone. Alternatively, flying might cost you about $300 and then add another $150 or so for hotel and then meals.

If you are a small business and you work with others; whether clients, employees, partners, etc., you cannot afford NOT to investigate using online meetings, especially if you can try them for free!

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There are a number of reasons why web site advertising is so effective. The most compelling reason is that the way people find businesses today has shifted dramatically over the last few years. It’s estimated that 70% or more of people now search for local businesses through online search engines, rather than the traditional methods.

Previously, people searched local listings in the newspaper and the yellow pages. These forms of discovery used to be very effective, especially since there really wasn’t much competition. However, the Internet and search engines such as Google, Bing and Yahoo have changed the game dramatically. These changes are not just about a local company listing, but also about the company’s listing in context to another company’s listing.

Here’s an example of context-related web site advertising for local businesses. Someone looking for a “Turkish restaurant in NYC” would likely key that phrase into one of the major search engines. Google might display 7 or more restaurant profiles matching those criteria. But, in addition to the restaurant profiles, there would likely be links to their websites, restaurant reviews, and perhaps even 3rd party websites offering discount coupons. This is an example of how the search engines provide substantially more value than a static “print” advertisement.

Website advertising for local businesses also has the distinct advantage of precise marketing analytics. Small, local businesses don’t have the luxury of wasting advertising dollars guessing which of their campaigns was successful. With website advertising, every click and ultimate purchase can be tracked right down to the exact wording that drove the customer to the company’s website. In addition, company’s can rotate ADs to determine which one motivates the most number of people to “click through.”

By now, many people have heard of the phrase “getting on the first page of Google.” Statistics suggest that 80% of people searching on the Internet do not go past the first page of search results. These results include both the “paid” advertising slots and the “free” or what is typically called “organic” slots / results.

Just as in the traditional advertising world (print, radio, TV), website advertising for local businesses requires a thoughtful approach to strategy. For example, in the old cable TV world, one might ask “How large of an audience will see my AD?” or “Can I target only three metro cities, instead of the whole county?” The same thought process is necessary for website advertising. The differences; however, are mind-boggling.

For example, with website advertising you can literally put an AD up “on demand.” No more back and forth negotiating or proofing / re-proofing with the cable company. You can precisely target your ADs to a county, city or even zip code. And, you can turn an AD on or off in seconds.

This is just a primer on why website advertising for local businesses is so compelling. There are a thousand more examples of the advertising power of this new channel. The $64,000 question is “Are you ready for the Internet?”

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It’s no wonder that celebrities, entrepreneurs, news stations and more are moving to online media marketing. This new media allows direct interaction with and between publisher and consumer. No other media exists that combines the speed of implementation with the analytical horsepower of “near immediate” feedback.

The California governor candidates are an interesting test case to see if they can repeat the success of the Barack Obama campaign. There have been many politicians who hopped on to the technology bandwagon after they witnessed firsthand the ferocity at which President Obama took the oval office. The famous words printed in The Book of Job “Speak and ye shall hear” are aptly appropriate to describe the Internet social networks.

The use of technology has completely changed the landscape of political campaigning forever. In the old days, California governor candidates would have produced and mailed campaign brochures, gotten their message printed in newspapers and scheduled speeches. Oftentimes this required months of planning and hundreds of thousands of dollars or more.

Today, the use of social networking sites and blogs literally allow you to speak and be heard … or “write and be read.” Of course, this strategy depends heavily on having enough friends, fans, and followers to make a difference. This is precisely why celebrities like Oprah, Britney Spears, and Ellen DeGeneres hire experts to make all this magic happen.

The field of California governor candidates are no slouches either. In fact, a couple of them have reached “celebrity” status themselves. Gavin Newsom has 1.1 million Twitter followers and Jerry Brown somewhere in the 900,000 range. These numbers put the politicians on par with real celebrities like Paula Abdul (ex-American Idol) and John Legend.

It’s interesting to note that, at least at this moment, there is an inverse relationship between campaign spend and online marketing “success.” The two Republicans who have spent the most amount of money, Meg Whitman ($900,000) and Steve Poizner ($100,000) have the least number of votes by a factor of several thousand percent! It’s too early to tell what this really means. Is it because they need a new team of technologists or is it just that they have the wrong message?

Whatever the answer, these California governor candidates have a huge challenge on their hands. With a budget deficit of $26 Billion, an unemployment rate of 12% an unfavorable business environment, and California’s education tanking, employers and families will pick up stakes and move elsewhere. No matter how you slice it, no amount of technology is going to create a quick fix to California’s problems.

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