Remote Meetings and Training: Helpful Tips

In this economy, a business needs to watch every penny that goes out, and make sure that it is utilized properly. One of the big drains of profit are the expenses to fly your employees to different places to receive training or give training. The solution for this, is to provide training through the use of an online conferencing software such as webex , gotomeeting, or zoho meetings. The concept of online conferencing is nothing new, so I wont go in depth on what they do , but here are some tips to properly utilize these software packages:

1. Run a dress rehearsal - Avoid scheduling a meeting before you have had time to run through a "rehearsal" .  Go through each slide you are going to be presenting and each program to make sure that the flow of the meeting will go as expected.

2.  For large meetings use chat - Voice conferencing with over eight people can be really unproductive. For large meeting use the chat feature.

3.  Use prerecorded videos - If you present something to many people that that you have to repeat often, prerecord the section so that you maintain consistency.


Resources:

Webex
Zoho Meetings
Gotomeeting

Cloud Computing Series: with the Zoho Office Suite

There are a great deal of cloud applications out there that can run your office.  The most popular is the Google Office Suite, but there are more that are out there.  A much lesser known Suite of Office applications is Zoho.  Zoho has been out for years and has one of the most solid feels to their Web Apps.  Unlike the Google Suite , Zoho has been able to make their apps feel more like the desktop Microsoft Office Suite that it's resembling.  The only thing missing is a good mobile counter part, they have an Android app but it needs a lot of work to be usable .

Below are a list of some of the Office Applications that Zoho offiers:

Zoho Sheet

A very capable spread sheet program that resembles  Microsoft's Excel.

Zoho Writer

Zoho's version of their word processing software.

Zoho Show

This is a very basic version of the Powerpoint.









These applications will fit the need of most small businesses.  This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Zoho's software.

Which cloud-based business software packages have been essential to your business?  Please comment below.

Resources:

Zoho 

The Future of Computing is in the Clouds - Free Cloud Based Business Apps

If you are starting a business, an important aspect to consider is saving money.  A great way to save is to use business tools that are free.  There are number of free business tools out there that are all free or very inexpensive.  An added benefit to these free business tools are they are cloud based, so there is no way to lose your important documents and they can be shared on multiple platforms.

It is important to get use to these cloud services , because the future of computing is going to be cloud computing.  Google is on the forefront with their Chrome browser.  Below are list of free business tools that you can find in the Chrome "web store":

Evernote -

The note taking giant that is the perfect cloud app.  It works just as well as the Windows full app , but it is much lighter , and you don't worry about the constant syncing.

Google Drive Office Suite -

I have spoken on the benefits of Google Drive as it relates to the storage benefits.  What I failed to mention is that Google Drive is upgrade of Google Docs.  Google Docs is online productivity suite that offers Microsoft Office-like programs ie. Word , Excel , Access , and Powerpoint, in an online form.

Pixlr Image Editing


Why pay load of money for Photo Shop when you may just need to create a logo for your business or edit some product photos?  Pixlr is a great , light alternative for minimal image editing needs.

Free Website Templates with Zoho Sites

In the early years of the Internet, many people would spend loads of many to develop a website.  For a simple website , it would not be a shock if you spent over a $1000 for a basic site that just gave information. Today there are many low-cost options that are available to the entrepreneur.  One that I found very useful is Zoho Sites.

What sets Zoho Sites apart from other Website template / hosting solutions are the following:

• Very cheap , you can get a great webpage with a number of tools for $35 a year.
• A free option that provides you with a full website, with lesser features (which will be adequate for many).
• Easy to use tools that allows you to build a site without a developer.
• Free mobile site! (for Android and iOS) 

Zoho has been in the web app game for a while and they create some very stable business tools.  This Website design tool is no different.