Fainting Goat, Madison's Advertising, Marketing & Web Development Agency, offers Free tips for improving your business.

Sometimes, you CAN get a free lunch:
Fainting Goat’s picks for the BEST FREE Business Tools online, part I

Most widgets & gadgets are just that. But every now & again, something special comes along.. made even more so by the fact that it's free.

I. Free Communication Tools:

 

Skype.  There’s no surprise that the creators of Skype [who also invented the amazing file sharing software Kazza] made Time’s list of the 100 People who Shape our World [ Time Magazine May 8, 2006 ].  Skype is part of the VOIP (voice-over-Internet protocol) movement that is redefining the way telephone calls are made.

In short, if you become a Skype member [which is FREE], you can make phone calls to any other Skype user -- in the world.  For free.  VOIP calls are placed over the Internet, using the same underlying transport technology that a Web browser uses.

Have business partners in Africa?  Travel and call the office on the hour?  Maybe you have family members living out of state?

All you need to do is sign-up / download their free software, plug in your headset, speakers or USB phone and start calling people who also belong to Skype [you can use Skype to call cells or land lines, but you pay for those calls].  The computer-to-computer calls have excellent sound quality and are highly secure with end-to-end encryption. You don’t even need to configure your firewall or router or any other networking gear. It just, you know… works.

The next time your phone rings.. it might be your computer.

Brrring..... hello?

FreeConference.com Interested in hosting a 3-hour conference call with up to a hundred participants? You can set up calls via this Web site, and people join by calling a number that FreeConference.com specifies. These calls are rarely local, so use your cell phone (if it offers free long distance) to keep this service truly free.

WriteBoard For collaborative editing, you can't beat WriteBoard. It lets you create, edit, and share documents with others--directly in your browser. You can even compare versions to see changes.

II. Get Organized

Yahoo Calendar If you don't object to an occasional ad appearing next to your appointment book, Yahoo's calendar is one of the best available online. Its Time Guides let you easily insert holidays, local weather reports, and events from Yahoo Groups into your calendar; and optional software syncs your calendar with Outlook, Outlook Express, and Palm PDAs.

If you’re looking for a simpler calendar, Palm Desktop is a remarkably well-designed calendar and address book application.  No PDA required.

For the post-it note lover in your life:  SyncNotes runs on your computer, but allows you to view and edit your notes from any Web or WAP browser.

Furl lets you save your favorite Web pages in an online account that you can access from any computer. AND you can save the entire page--so even if the site becomes inaccessible later, you still have a copy.

For the Guy or Gal who wants it all:  EssentialPIM Free combines a calendar, contact manager, to-do list, and notes manager in a single program.

III. Just for the FUN of it

Google Picasa Forget the clunky image gallery software you got with your digital camera. There's no easier way to organize, touch up, and share photos than Picasa. Google Earth Turn the globe into your plaything. Like some cybernetic angel, you spin the Earth, tilt it, turn it upside down, or zoom in to take a closer look at almost anything: New York City, the Grand Canyon, or your own house. If you still take a hunter/gatherer approach to finding news--visiting one Web site after another--it's time to join the modern world. RSS news-feed readers are faster and easier. Abilon is a powerful, speedy reader offering a choice of views: You can opt for a three-pane view with feeds on the left, headlines in the middle, and articles on the right; or you can switch to a two-column view. It has a built-in tabbed browser, too. One tool lets you quickly and easily post items to your Blogger, LiveJournal, or Movable Type blog.

Fainting Goat
info@fgoat.com

608-223-9728