Website/Social Media Transparency – Ok don’t laugh because I know I don’t have my prices listed on my own website.  Each of my client’s requirements are different so I don’t have a standard price.  Please just know that I do not charge $100,000.00 for a database.  If you do offer a service or product for a set price please list it on your website.  I was trying to comparison shop for Telephone/Internet services between Telus, Shaw and Rogers.  Shaw was the only one that had their prices clearly displayed.  The other 2 required a phone call to the customer service department which annoys me for 3 reasons: 

1. My time.  If it’s listed then I know in seconds if it’s even within my budget.  Also how much of my time is spent on hold and then providing my whole story about who I am and what I need to each competitor? 

2. Have I asked the correct questions or am I speaking the correct lingo?  I can’t even count the number of times I have purchased the wrong thing because I didn’t know what to ask.  If it's already posted then I know I haven't missed out and I just might be convinced to buy a product/service I hadn't considered before.  Win, win for everyone.

3. Lastly I always get the feeling that if I am not a savvy enough negotiator I am not getting the best price.  With Shaw I am at least confident that what I'm paying for my phone service, so is everyone else.  Equality can not be overrated.

Face to Face Networking  - If you are a business in Airdrie, the Chamber hosts something called Face to Face Networking sessions several times throughout the year for FREE! Yes Free – Even if you are not a member.  If you are unfamiliar with Face to Face it’s like speed dating for businesses.  You come in, you get to meet lots of other people and you get your 2 minutes with each one to do your “Elevator Pitch”.  You may not get a sale from it, but it's such a great way to advertise.  No cold calling, no expensive exhibitor fees and everyone walks away from the experience positive and better informed.  How can you go wrong with that?!

Vehicle Decals/Graphics – BEST bang for your buck in my opinion!  (As long as you are a courteous driver of course.)  You pay a one-time fee to have the decals placed on your vehicle and from then it’s a non-stop advertising bill board for your company wherever you go.  Try and compare that to actual bill boards, bus stop benches, newspaper ads...ect.  I have yet to run across an advertising technique that will generate more marketing return on an initial investment.

LOVE IT!  LOVE IT!  LOVE IT!  This is a fantastic tool for file sharing whether it’s just with yourself or with others.  Essentially it’s an online/virtual storage site where you can save your files to.  It’s FREE, it’s easy to set up and it automatically downloads the necessary short cut icons onto your desktop screen.   The website has a great little instructional video that explains how it works and it only takes a few moments to set up an account. 

Once you have an account you can set up various folders to store whatever files you would like.  You can invite people to share a folder with you giving them access to files saved in that folder; which is incredibly convenient if you have a large file that takes forever to send back and forth via e-mail.

Are you waiting for the catch?  Tons of spam e-mails, pop ups, endless advertising...?  To date I haven’t had any of that.  The catch is that you are only given 2GB worth of storage memory to start.  For anything larger you need to pay a small fee or you can earn more space by referring others.  As I do not store large amounts of music or media files in there, the 2GB has been more than adequate for the past couple of years. 

As I mentioned in an earlier post you get 25GB of free online storage space with any Hotmail or Windows Live account.  However the draw back with that one is that it’s private and doesn’t download the handy dandy icons on your desktop.   So I use the Drop Box as a quick fix for anything I need to get to right away and I use my Hotmail storage space for long term important things that I need to archive.

For practical uses for business I use it to share files between my laptop and the computer in my office.  I also use it to get to files when I am away from both computers.  As an example I was attempting to transfer a file to a client that I had saved to a USB Key, but it wasn’t working so I just logged into my web account and downloaded it from there.  I also know of a small business with several employees but no central office.  They all worked from their homes and used Drop Box as “Shared Drive” to communicate with one another. 

So for small businesses or even for personal use I think Drop Box is definitely worth a try.

Like many, I usually find that I go into Costco for one or two things and I always end up spending WAY too much.  Sort of like trying to eat just one of those 2 bite brownies, then before you know you’ve eaten the entire bag and you hate yourself for it.  However there are 2 things that I look forward to as a result of being a Costco member. 

First and probably most importantly...their GAS RATES!  If you haven’t been to a Costco location that sells gas you are missing out.  I am not just talking about a couple of cents.  They are consistently 5 to 8 cents cheaper than the lowest rate in town.  Even if I am on empty I will put $5 in somewhere else just to make it to Costco to fill up.  As I usually have to drive to client locations saving on gas is a high priority.

Then there is their Costco Magazine that they issue bi-monthly.  As a member I automatically receive a subscription and I have to say they have a surprising number of helpful hints that I have been able to apply to my small business.  Techie tips, financial planning, business trends and a number of services that you may not realize they offer. 

As an example I have had a Hotmail account since 1997 and it wasn’t until I read an article in their magazine that I found out I have 25 Gigabytes of free online storage space with my account.  Great if you need to back up some files.

Just to reiterate from my previous post.  I am not affiliated with or receiving compensation from Costco for posting this.  I just happen to use their services and I find them helpful so I am posting this in case anyone else would like to check them out.