Wislounge

Thoughts and opinions on web development

List Of Great Free Services To Create And Manage Invoices Online

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The commercial document transacted between the seller and the buyer which includes the billing is termed as invoice. An invoice is a very important aspect in any business and every small of big business need the invoice. However, the invoices in every business are different and have to be customized. One also needs to keep the record of the invoices sent and received to stay clear from any kind of messes.

The invoice in simple words is called a bill also. The document includes all the information about the services offered or the products sold to the customer by the owner. The entire information about both buying and selling firms and also the payment modes are included in the invoice.

With the growing boon of internet every business is now more and more encroaching on internet and thus many of the business persons prefer using the online invoice rather than the factual paper invoice. Online invoicing also has many other benefits. Keep on reading to know more about it. [Read more…]

6 Golden Rules of Starting a New Business

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It is not strange to see people sometimes in hurry start new businesses, generate capital and funds needed, rent or lease a shop, place orders for commodities, before long customers start trooping in, few weeks or months into it gradually a decline is experienced. Then before not so long there is a decrease in the number of customers coming and then maybe there is not enough funds to keep the business going and then business folds up. We see this often irrespective of the city or country, businesses fail when they are not properly managed. So how can someone start up their businesses and ensure they don’t get packed off or run short of customers?

Choose the correct business

The big question before starting out any venture is; What venture should I even engage in? Will investing money into such and such commodity be worth it? The truth remains that there is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ rule for success in business because while one law can work for a business it might be unsuitable for another. This is because every business is unique in their way and mode of running. However there are basic principles that if anyone makes his focus will always work. Understanding these secrets will change one’s views in business and guarantee success for the entrepreneur or business owner. This means that it doesn’t matter what venture one starts out, he will do well with an understanding of these principles. [Read more…]

Should You Consider Free Web Hosting Offers?

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So you need a web site for your business. You are even thinking of setting up a blog as well. You have an idea of how to go about it, but you need to find a web host to ensure reliable delivery of your data first. For many medium to big businesses, this is not a big deal. For businesses operating on a small scale, however, cutting costs as much as possible is more important.

Here’s good news for you: there are a lot of free web hosting options available. The question is this: is it worth saving so and so dollars each year and trusting something that is free?

The answer is not so simple. On the one hand, you do not have to spend any money on hosting costs. On the other hand, there are drawbacks for a service that does not cost you anything. Various web hosting companies rely on data center services for their infrastructure and this costs them money (among many other things). One way or another, they have to make up for the money they are not getting from the free web hosting packages.

One disadvantage can be the fact that your web site will be home to ads – ads that the web host company puts up. Now if you are running a business, those ads might get in the way of the user experience, perhaps ultimately negating your efforts in setting up a business web site in the first place.

Another disadvantage is the fact that free web hosting packages are not usually reliable. The last thing that you want for your business web site is to be regularly inaccessible because of down times. Worse, free web hosting packages usually come with inefficient support/customer service, if any at all. When you experience a problem, you might not be able to do anything about it at all.

Bottom line: if you need a web host for your business web site, you will be better off shelling out a little bit of money. It is worth it!

Why You Should Consider Outsourcing Data Center Operations

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Information is a prime commodity in this day and age. Every business owner appreciates the value of the data that is relevant to his daily operations. With the volume of data that a business has to handle, it is imperative that the system for storing and accessing the information is efficient and secure.

This is where data centers come into the picture. Essentially, a data center is much like a computer room where all the computer equipment used in managing data is kept. The servers, network equipment, and the like are all kept in this physical location.

Businesses have the option of setting up their own data center within their premises. As you can easily surmise, this has a lot of implications in terms of cost. You will have to invest in the physical equipment, which can be quite costly. You also need to allocate budget for the maintenance of the data center. This includes routine procedures as well as regular upgrading. Add to this the cost of manpower needed to run the data center.

That being said, it would be more cost effective for you to outsource your data center operations. There are many international data center services available today, meeting the needs of various businesses across sectors all over the world. These data centers already have the necessary set up in terms of hardware and software. They also provide service round the clock, ensuring that your data needs are met consistently.

Another significant reason to consider outsourcing your data needs is the fact that security is a very sensitive issue. For sure, you want your data to be accessed only by authorized parties. Data center services can assure you of high levels of security.

Fire, natural disasters, and similar events also pose a risk to businesses. If you keep your own data center, you need to take steps to ensure that your data will be safe in case of an emergency. When you outsource your data center operations, this concern is automatically dealt with as protection is included in the service.

At the end of the day, outsourcing your business’s data needs is the most efficient and practical option.

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/s_w_ellis/

Get Your Readers to Participate in Your Business Blog

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So you got convinced that your business needs its own blog, and you created one. You may have been at it for some time now, and yet you are not getting enough reader participation to suit you. Is there any way you can tweak things in order to get people to interact more? Here are three simple things that you can do to get results.

Initiate the interaction.

When writing posts, occasionally throw in a question at the end – something that will get responses from your readers. Your questions may vary depending on what you want to hear from your readers, but the basic idea is that you start the ball rolling. Needless to say, when people start leaving their comments, make sure that you respond in a timely manner. You can also invite them to ask their own questions, the answers to which could actually serve as material for future blog posts.

Hold a debate.

I got this idea from Robyn-Dale Samuda’s post over at BloggingPro. While he says that he rarely sees this technique used, it can be a way to spark the interest of your readers. By choosing a hot topic relevant to your business and wording your post so that it is clear to them that you want to hear what they think about the topic, you can get people to voice out their opinions.

Make it easy for readers to keep track of the comments.

It can be tedious to keep checking one blog post if someone has replied to a comment you’ve left earlier. Instead of expecting your readers to do this, look for a plug-in that will allow readers to subscribe to comments with a click of the mouse. This way, they will receive notifications in their Inbox.

What are your tried and tested methods of encouraging readers to participate in your blog?