How to Promote a Small Business Using Free Online Tools

Promoting a small business on the Internet seems straightforward, but many small business owners and marketing managers overlook important online tools that can transform a simple web presence into a powerful Internet traffic generating instrument. The most useful online tools available for promoting small businesses are easy-to-use and completely free, with the exception of the time invested. Save your advertising dollars to use on printed publications and real-world trade shows and discover surprising opportunities that are just a few mouse-clicks away.

Register for a free Google account by visiting the Google home page and providing the necessary personal information. Provided with the free Google account are several key items that will be useful for promoting your business. Gmail is a free web-based email service that may be accessed from anywhere an Internet connection is available and it has a great anti-spam filter. Google Documents is an important application because it includes a word processor which may be used to create and save documents online. For the best results using Google Documents, try the free Google Chrome web browser, which may also be downloaded from Google's home page.

Write simple, but informative articles about your small business using Google Documents. Articles may be about products, services and any interesting news or updates that are taking place within the company. Save each article as its own document. These articles are very important and will be used to provide content for other websites. Because the articles were created and saved online, each will be easily accessible when needed. Write several articles every day in order to build a collection of information, and have someone proofread each one for spelling and grammar errors.

Take pictures in and around the company using a digital camera. Photograph products, employees (with permission) and services as they are being provided by the company. Upload the photos from the digital camera to Picasa, which is also accessible through a link in your free Google account. These pictures may be used in conjunction with the articles to present a powerful representation of your small business and what it can do for the customer. Content is crucial to attracting visitors; it will be useful to have this collection of articles and pictures to draw upon as you build an online presence for the company.

Register a free Facebook account for your business. Sign up for a business page using the link toward the bottom of the page, which says "Create a page for a celebrity, band or business." Be creative and personalize the Facebook profile page for the business using your collection of pictures and articles. Refer new and existing customers to the company's Facebook page both over the phone and through links in email messages so that you will slowly build a following of loyal friends and customers. Designate time each week to update the company's profile page in order to keep the content fresh and relevant.

Create a personalized blog using a free blogging website. The same Google account login information may be used to access Blogger, which is owned and operated by Google. Tailor the topic and content of the blog to closely match the message that you feel will convince visitors to contact your company. If you already have a company website, use links from the blog to direct visitors to that site; otherwise direct them to the company's Facebook page, which should present all of the necessary contact information.

Promote both the Facebook profile page and the company blog using other free online resources such as Reddit, Twitter and Squidoo. Regardless of how many online accounts are created for the company, the most important component is always the content provided. Without premium content, your company's online presence is just another obstacle in the customer's way to finding the information they seek.

Warning:
Do not create empty profile pages and on-line persona that leave visitors with too little information. Consumers search for products on the Internet because they want to learn more about them. If you can satisfy a visitor's need for information, your company stands a better chance of converting that visitor into a paying customer.

How to Enhance Your Freelance Articles Using Google Documents

As a freelance author writing articles for eHow, it is important to constantly improve your writing skills with each new project so that your work stays fresh and relevant. Use Google Documents as a tool to help you enhance your articles in several important ways.

Sign up for a Google account if you do not already have one. Google offers a valuable collection of free products that may be used to enhance your experience on the Internet in several crucial ways. One tool specifically, Google Documents, is a handy resource for eHow article writers. Create an account with Google Documents. Once your account has been set up, you may access Google Documents by visiting the main Google website and signing in. To the upper left of the Google logo, you will see several links and the word "more" with an arrow pointing down. Click "more" and then select "Documents" to access your Google Documents account.

Create a new document with the title, "Article Ideas" or something similar. As you think of new ideas for articles, type the proposed title into that document, one title per line, and save it. When you have time to write the article in its entirety, you can use the list that you compiled to remind yourself about your earlier ideas. When the article is published, remove the title from the list. Spend some time brainstorming ideas for a rainy day when you may have more time to write than you do creative topics. Set a goal to have at least one hundred article ideas on that list.

Create a second document with the title, "Article Categories." This document will contain the title and URL of each article that you write for eHow. Copy and paste the article title first, and then on the next line, paste the URL. Leave a blank line between articles so that they may be easily distinguished from one another. Once you have all of the titles and links entered into the document, arrange them into categories and type the category title in bold above each section. Some examples are "Family, Automotive. Financial, Technology, etc." This list will be valuable when it's time to add resources to your articles. If you write a new article about an automotive topic, paste that title and URL at the end of the existing titles for that category and then choose at least three relevant titles and links to add to the "Resources" section of your article. If you use a web browser like Google Chrome which utilizes tabs, it is very easy to switch back and forth between your Google Documents account and the eHow website.

Maintain copies of all of your articles by pasting them individually into Google Documents. This will provide you peace-of-mind in knowing that you have a backup copy of each article stored safely online where you can access it at any time. Create a folder in Google Documents called "My Articles" and move them into it. You could also create sub folders based on the articles categories. By grouping your articles into categories, you can see which topics you write about most frequently. This will help you to determine your strengths and also show you areas where you may want to produce more content in order to achieve maximum exposure. Only do this, however, if you're knowledgeable in those areas and you have something important to share.

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How to Magnetize and Demagnetize a Screwdriver

When working with small screws it is very handy to have a magnetized screwdriver to pick up and hold the screws while they are installed. Be sure not to use your magnetic screwdriver near a computer hard drive!

Find the strongest magnet that you can. The magnet found on the back of an old audio speaker is perfect for this. Hold this magnet in one hand and the screwdriver in the other.  Touch the magnet to the base of the metal shaft of the screwdriver and pull the screwdriver until the tip reaches the magnet.  Repeat this several times to make the magnetic field stronger. Place some screws on a flat surface and test your new magnetic tool. The screws should stick to the screwdriver, making them easy to pick up and retrieve if dropped.

To demagnetize the screwdriver, do the same steps above, but in reverse. Place the tip of the metal shaft on the magnet and push the screwdriver until the magnet reaches the base of the shaft. Repeat several times and the screwdriver should no longer be able to pick up the screws.

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