The Virtual Company: Online Tools You Need to be a Virtual Entrepreneur By Dave Rigotti of Freezing Hot

About This Presentation In this presentation, I cover some of the online tools and services that have helped me become an virtual entrepreneur, in the following categories: Communication, Legal, Project Management, Billing / Accounting, Printing, Web Site, Marketing

In this presentation, I cover some of the online tools and services that have helped me become an virtual entrepreneur, in the following categories: Communication, Legal, Project Management, Billing / Accounting, Printing, Web Site, Marketing

Communication http://www.masternewmedia.org/images/direct_communication_marketing.jpg

/ URL: http://www.skype.com/ and http://get.live.com/messenger/overview What: Voice communication and chat Cost: Free My Take: Both Skype and Windows Live Messenger, have become the international de-facto standard for chat and communication. Both have great connectivity and Skype’s video chat is unparalleled.

URL: http://www.skype.com/ and http://get.live.com/messenger/overview

What: Voice communication and chat

Cost: Free

My Take: Both Skype and Windows Live Messenger, have become the international de-facto standard for chat and communication. Both have great connectivity and Skype’s video chat is unparalleled.

URL: Http://www.freeconference.com/ What: Free conference calling Cost: Free + My Take: Users will have to listen to a short blurb in the beginning, but the service works great. Time limit is set at 4 hours and there can be up to 150 callers. 1-800 numbers cost extra.

URL: Http://www.freeconference.com/

What: Free conference calling

Cost: Free +

My Take: Users will have to listen to a short blurb in the beginning, but the service works great. Time limit is set at 4 hours and there can be up to 150 callers. 1-800 numbers cost extra.

URL: Http://www.efax.com/ What: Fax by email Cost: Free + My Take: While I rarely use the service, some clients need to fax documents, so the free plan is great. I receive an advertising email every few weeks and can’t pick the fax number. Note: I’ve heard bad things about canceling paid plans.

URL: Http://www.efax.com/

What: Fax by email

Cost: Free +

My Take: While I rarely use the service, some clients need to fax documents, so the free plan is great. I receive an advertising email every few weeks and can’t pick the fax number. Note: I’ve heard bad things about canceling paid plans.

URL: Http://www.aweber.com/ (aff) What: Email marketing Cost: $19 / mo + My Take: Reliable email marketing that has great templates and customer service. Standard features, like autoresponders and “reply to”, are included. Best of all, Aweber integrates with Wordpress (any RSS feed, really) with their “blog broadcast” feature and Feedburner.

URL: Http://www.aweber.com/ (aff)

What: Email marketing

Cost: $19 / mo +

My Take: Reliable email marketing that has great templates and customer service. Standard features, like autoresponders and “reply to”, are included. Best of all, Aweber integrates with Wordpress (any RSS feed, really) with their “blog broadcast” feature and Feedburner.

Legal http://www.smallbusinessassist.com/files/images/how-to-find-lawyer-small-business.jpg

URL: Http://www.legalzoom.com/ (aff) What: Legal documents Cost: Varies My Take: The best service for filing for LLC, DBA, and other legal forms required by the Government. Fast and inexpensive compared to going through lawyer. I’ve used them for both a DBA and a LLC.

URL: Http://www.legalzoom.com/ (aff)

What: Legal documents

Cost: Varies

My Take: The best service for filing for LLC, DBA, and other legal forms required by the Government. Fast and inexpensive compared to going through lawyer. I’ve used them for both a DBA and a LLC.

URL: Http://www.echosign.com/ What: Automated e-signature collection and management Cost: Free + My Take: Great easy-to-use service, with built in templates (e.g. NDA) and option to upload docs. It’s fast and secure. Free accounts can have 5 docs / mo. signed, with restrictions lifted on paid accounts. Integrates with SalesForce and eFax.

URL: Http://www.echosign.com/

What: Automated e-signature collection and management

Cost: Free +

My Take: Great easy-to-use service, with built in templates (e.g. NDA) and option to upload docs. It’s fast and secure. Free accounts can have 5 docs / mo. signed, with restrictions lifted on paid accounts. Integrates with SalesForce and eFax.

Project Management http://traumwerk.stanford.edu/LifeSquared/L2%20meeting%20Monday%20May%2022th_005.jpg

URL: Http://www.basecamphq.com/ What: Collaborative project management Cost: Free + My Take: A product of famed 37signals. Intuitive user interface, integration with Freshbooks, and document sharing means that everyone working on a project is on the same page and knows what they need to do. The free package is very limited.

URL: Http://www.basecamphq.com/

What: Collaborative project management

Cost: Free +

My Take: A product of famed 37signals. Intuitive user interface, integration with Freshbooks, and document sharing means that everyone working on a project is on the same page and knows what they need to do. The free package is very limited.

Billing / Accounting http://www.bized.co.uk/images/accounting.jpg

URL: Http://www.freshbooks.com/ What: Invoicing and time tracking Cost: Free + My Take: Free account is extremely limited with only 3 clients, but the service is very feature-rich and customizable. Great support and you can also send “snail mail” invoices. Has Basecamp integration. Also consider http://curdbee.com/ .

URL: Http://www.freshbooks.com/

What: Invoicing and time tracking

Cost: Free +

My Take: Free account is extremely limited with only 3 clients, but the service is very feature-rich and customizable. Great support and you can also send “snail mail” invoices. Has Basecamp integration.

Also consider http://curdbee.com/ .

URL: Https://www.iacez.com/ What: Accounting and bookkeeping Cost: $14.95 /mo + My Take: One of the simplest accounting and bookkeeping programs available. Allows you to easily track sales, generate reports, and it integrates nicely with Freshbooks. Read my exclusive review .

URL: Https://www.iacez.com/

What: Accounting and bookkeeping

Cost: $14.95 /mo +

My Take: One of the simplest accounting and bookkeeping programs available. Allows you to easily track sales, generate reports, and it integrates nicely with Freshbooks.

Read my exclusive review .

Printing http://www.ohgizmo.com/images/printing%20press.jpg

URL: Http://www.vistaprint.com/ (aff) What: Printer Cost: Free + My Take: Decent quality, with exceptional prices for a great value. Business cards are popular and their “foil” feature helped mine stand out. Often have deals for free products, which is great for sampling. Don’t sign up for their email newsletter, unless you want an email every 2 – 3 days.

URL: Http://www.vistaprint.com/ (aff)

What: Printer

Cost: Free +

My Take: Decent quality, with exceptional prices for a great value. Business cards are popular and their “foil” feature helped mine stand out. Often have deals for free products, which is great for sampling. Don’t sign up for their email newsletter, unless you want an email every 2 – 3 days.

Web Site http://www.sensorik-auto.com/Turck/Connectivity_files/index_Connectivity.jpg

URL: Http://www.godaddy.com/ (aff) What: Domain name registrar Cost: < $10 / yr + My Take: After more than 500 registrations, GoDaddy is still my registrar of choice. While the checkout is clunky and fragmented, their customer service and prices are industry best. Be sure to look for coupons . I don’t recommend their hosting at all .

URL: Http://www.godaddy.com/ (aff)

What: Domain name registrar

Cost: < $10 / yr +

My Take: After more than 500 registrations, GoDaddy is still my registrar of choice. While the checkout is clunky and fragmented, their customer service and prices are industry best. Be sure to look for coupons . I don’t recommend their hosting at all .

URL: Http://www.liquidweb.com/ (aff) What: Web hosting Cost: $14.95 /mo + My Take: Not the cheapest web hosting, but they have great update and industry leading “heroic” support. Own their datacenters and are located in Michigan. Also consider http://mediatemple.net/ .

URL: Http://www.liquidweb.com/ (aff)

What: Web hosting

Cost: $14.95 /mo +

My Take: Not the cheapest web hosting, but they have great update and industry leading “heroic” support. Own their datacenters and are located in Michigan.

Also consider http://mediatemple.net/ .

URL: Http://wordpress.org/ What: Web publishing platform Cost: Free My Take: No longer just a blog platform, I use WordPress for all my sites. There are great plugins and templates available and the rich-text editor means just about anyone with Microsoft Word experience can use Wordpress. It’s easy to install and works with (just about) any LAMP host.

URL: Http://wordpress.org/

What: Web publishing platform

Cost: Free

My Take: No longer just a blog platform, I use WordPress for all my sites. There are great plugins and templates available and the rich-text editor means just about anyone with Microsoft Word experience can use Wordpress. It’s easy to install and works with (just about) any LAMP host.

URL: Http://wufoo.com/ What: Web forms Cost: Free + My Take: Great for contact forms and collecting leads. Free account is great; paid accounts add features like upload space, SSL encryption, and Paypal, Google Checkout, and Authorize.net integration.

URL: Http://wufoo.com/

What: Web forms

Cost: Free +

My Take: Great for contact forms and collecting leads. Free account is great; paid accounts add features like upload space, SSL encryption, and Paypal, Google Checkout, and Authorize.net integration.

Marketing http://jimdowling.typepad.com/simple/images/2007/12/17/whisper.jpg

Word of Mouth URL: Http://[yourdomain].[ext] What: Referrals Cost: Free + My Take: Word of mouth marketing is the best way to generate leads. In my experience, they are much cheaper and a higher percentage convert into a client. Provide a great service, wow your customers, and they will repay.

URL: Http://[yourdomain].[ext]

What: Referrals

Cost: Free +

My Take: Word of mouth marketing is the best way to generate leads. In my experience, they are much cheaper and a higher percentage convert into a client. Provide a great service, wow your customers, and they will repay.

About Me I’m Dave Rigotti , the owner of Freezing Hot , a small Internet marketing company in Toledo, OH. I’ve helped billion dollar (and many smaller) companies develop social media, blogging, and search engine marketing strategies. Email Twitter LinkedIn

I’m Dave Rigotti , the owner of Freezing Hot , a small Internet marketing company in Toledo, OH. I’ve helped billion dollar (and many smaller) companies develop social media, blogging, and search engine marketing strategies.

Email

Twitter

LinkedIn

Presentation Legal Information Disclaimer This presentation is intended for educational purposes only and does not replace independent professional judgment. This presentation was written based on my own trials and I personally have experience with every tool or service listed. Be aware, this is a general guideline only and you should do your own due diligence. Dave Rigotti and Freezing Hot do not endorse or approve, and assumes no responsibility for, the content, accuracy or completeness of the information presented. Disclosure Some of the links in this presentation are affiliate links. If you do not wish to use them, please copy and paste the displayed URL in your browser. Copyright This work is copyrighted under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 .

Disclaimer

This presentation is intended for educational purposes only and does not replace independent professional judgment. This presentation was written based on my own trials and I personally have experience with every tool or service listed. Be aware, this is a general guideline only and you should do your own due diligence. Dave Rigotti and Freezing Hot do not endorse or approve, and assumes no responsibility for, the content, accuracy or completeness of the information presented.

Disclosure

Some of the links in this presentation are affiliate links. If you do not wish to use them, please copy and paste the displayed URL in your browser.

Copyright

This work is copyrighted under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 .