Internet provides powerful networking opportunities that allow users to effectively target their audience by logging on to social sites like LinkedIn, Digg and more . Take advantage of these tools by asserting your company's presence online and reaching more potential customers, business partners and employees.

Social-Media/Social-Bookmarking Sites

Share your favorite sites on the Web with potential clients and business partners by commenting on, uploading and ranking different newsworthy articles. You can also create a member profile that directs traffic back to your company's Web site.

1. Reddit: Upload stories and articles on reddit to drive traffic to your site or blog. Submit items often so that you'll gain a more loyal following and increase your presence on the site.
2. Digg : Digg has a huge following online because of its optimum usability. Visitors can submit and browse articles in categories like technology, business, entertainment, sports and more.
3. Del.icio.us: Social bookmark your way to better business with sites like del.icio.us, which invite users to organize and publicize interesting items through tagging and networking.
4. StumbleUpon: You'll open your online presence up to a whole new audience just by adding the StumbleUpon toolbar to your browser and "channel surf[ing] the Web. You'll "connect with friends and share your discoveries," as well as "meet people that have similar interests."
5. Technorati: If you want to increase your blog's readership, consider registering it with Technorati, a network of blogs and writers that lists top stories in categories like Business, Entertainment and Technology.
6. Ning: After hanging around the same social networks for a while, you may feel inspired to create your own, where you can bring together clients, vendors, customers and co-workers in a confidential, secure corner of the Web. Ning lets users design free social networks that they can share with anyone.
7. Squidoo: According to Squidoo, "everyone's an expert on something. Share your knowledge!" Share your industry's secrets by answering questions and designing a profile page to help other members.
8. Furl: Make Furl "your personal Web file" by bookmarking great sites and sharing them with other users by recommending links, commenting on articles and utilizing other fantastic features.
9. Tubearoo: This video network works like other social-bookmarking sites, except that it focuses on uploaded videos. Businesses can create and upload tutorials, commentaries and interviews with industry insiders to promote their own services.
10. WikiHow: Create a how-to guide or tutorial on wikiHow to share your company's services with the public for free.
11. YouTube: From the fashion industry to Capitol Hill, everyone has a video floating around on YouTube. Shoot a behind-the-scenes video from your company's latest commercial or event to give customers and clients an idea of what you do each day.
12. Ma.gnolia: Share your favorite sites with friends, colleagues and clients by organizing your bookmarks with Ma.gnolia. Clients will appreciate both your Internet-savviness and your ability to stay current and organized.

Professional-Networking Sites

Sign up with these online networking communities as a company or as an individual to take advantage of recruiting opportunities, cross-promotional events and more.

1. LinkedIn: LinkedIn is a popular networking site where alumni, business associates, recent graduates and other professionals connect online.
2. Ecademy: Ecademy prides itself on "connecting business people" through its online network, blog and message-board chats, as well as its premier BlackStar membership program, which awards exclusive benefits.
3. Focus: Focus is a business destination where business professionals can help each other with their purchase and other business decisions by accessing research and peer expertise. Most importantly, Focus provides open, quality information for all businesses that is freely available, easily accessible, and community powered.
4. YorZ: This networking site doubles as a job site. Members can post openings for free to attract quality candidates.
5. Xing: An account with networking site Xing can "open doors to thousands of companies." Use the professional contact manager to organize your new friends and colleagues, and take advantage of the Business Accelerator application to "find experts at the click of a button, market yourself in a professional context [and] open up new sales channels."
6. Facebook: Facebook is no longer just for college kids who want to post their party pics. Businesses vie for advertising opportunities, event promotion and more on this social-networking site.
7. Care2: Care2 isn't just a networking community for professionals: It's touted as "the global network for organizations and people who Care2 make a difference." If your business is making efforts to go green, let others know by becoming a presence on this site.
8. Gather: This networking community is made up of members who think. Browse categories concerning books, health, money, news and more to ignite discussions on politics, business and entertainment. This will help your company tap into its target audience and find out what they want.
9. MEETin.org: Once you've acquired a group of contacts in your city by networking on MEETin.org, organize an event so that you can meet face-to-face.
10. Tribe: Cities like Philadelphia, Boston, San Francisco, New York and Chicago have unique online communities on tribe. Users can search for favorite restaurants, events, clubs and more.
11. Ziggs: Ziggs is "organizing and connecting people in a professional way." Join groups and make contacts through your Ziggs account to increase your company's presence online and further your own personal career.
12. Plaxo: Join Plaxo to organize your contacts and stay updated with feeds from Digg, Amazon.com, del.icio.us and more.
13. NetParty: If you want to attract young professionals in cities like Boston, Dallas, Phoenix, Las Vegas and Orlando Fla., create an account with the networking site NetParty. You'll be able to connect with qualified, up-and-coming professionals online, then meet them at a real-life happy-hour event where you can pass out business cards, pitch new job openings and more.
14. Networking For Professionals: Networking For Professionals is another online community that combines the Internet with special events in the real world. Post photos, videos, résumés and clips on your online profile while you meet new business contacts.

Niche Social-Media Sites

Consider linking up with one of these social-media sites to narrow down your business's target audience. You'll find other professionals, enthusiasts and consumers who are most likely already interested in what your company has to offer.

1. Pixel Groovy: Web workers will love Pixel Groovy, an open-source site that lets members submit and rate tutorials for Web 2.0, email and online-marketing issues.
2. Mixx: Mixx prides itself on being "your link to the Web content that really matters." Submit and rate stories, photos and news to drive traffic to your own site. You'll also meet others with similar interests.
3. Tweako: Gadget-minded computer geeks can network with each other on Tweako, a site that promotes information sharing for the technologically savvy.
4. Small Business Brief: When members post entrepreneur-related articles, a photo and a link to their profile appear, gaining you valuable exposure and legitimacy online.
5. Sphinn: Sphinn is an online forum and networking site for the Internet marketing crowd. Upload articles and guides from your blog to create interest in your own company or connect with other professionals for form new contacts.
6. BuzzFlash.net: This one-stop news resource is great for businesses that want to contribute articles on a variety of subjects, from the environment to politics to health.
7. HubSpot: HubSpot is another news site aimed at connecting business professionals.
8. SEO TAGG: Stay on top of news from the Web marketing and SEO (search-engine optimization) industries by becoming an active member of this online community.

General Social-Media Sites

The following social-media sites provide excellent opportunities for businesses to advertise; promote specials, events or services; and feature published, knowledgeable employees.

1. Wikipedia: Besides creating your own business reference page on Wikipedia, you can connect with other users on Wikipedia's Community Portal and at the village pump, where you'll find conscientious professionals enthusiastic about news, business, research and more.
2. Newsvine: Feature top employees by uploading their articles, studies or other news-related items to this site. A free account will also get you your own column and access to the Newsvine community.
3. 43 Things: This site bills itself as "the world's most popular online goal setting community." By publicizing your company's goals and ambitions, you'll gain a following of customers, investors and promoters who cheer you on as you achieve success.
4. Wetpaint: If you're tired of blogs and generic Web sites, create your own wiki with Wetpaint to reach your audience and increase your company's presence online. You can easily organize articles, contact information, photos and other information to promote your business.
5. Twitter: Is a social networking and microblogging service that allows you answer the question, "What are you doing?" by sending short text messages 140 characters in length, called "tweets", to your friends, or "followers."
6. Yahoo! Answers: Start fielding Yahoo! users' questions with this social-media Q&A service. Search for questions in your particular areas of expertise by clicking categories like Business & Finance, Health, News & Events and more. If you continue to dole out useful advice and link your answer to your company's Web page, you'll quickly gain a new following of curious customers.

Job Sites

If you want to secure high-quality talent during your company's next hiring spree, you'll need to maintain a strong presence on popular job sites like the ones listed below.

1. CareerBuilder: Reach millions of candidates by posting jobs on this must-visit site.
2. The Wall Street Journal's CareerJournal: The Wall Street Journal's CareerJournal attracts well-educated professionals who are at the top of their game. Post a job or search résumés here.
3. CollegeRecruiter.com: If your firm wants to hire promising entry-level employees, check CollegeRecuriter.com for candidates with college degrees.
4. Monster: Post often to separate your business from all the other big companies that use this site to advertise job openings.
5. Sologig: Top freelancers and contractors post résumés and look for work on this popular site.
6. AllFreelance.com: This site "offers self-employed small business owners links to freelance & work at home job boards, self-promotion tips" and more.
7. Freelance Switch Job Listings: Freelance Switch is the freelancer's online mecca and boasts articles, resource toolboxes, valuable tips and a job board.
8. GoFreelance: Employers looking to boost their vendor base should check GoFreelance for professionals in the writing, design, editing and Web industries.
9. Yahoo! Hot Jobs: This site is often one of the first places that job seekers visit. Post open opportunities and check out informative articles and guides to gain insight on the hiring and interviewing process.
10. Guru.com: Build your company's repertoire with top freelancing professionals by advertising projects on this site, otherwise known as "the world's largest online service marketplace."

The original source of this article is InsideCRM.com, part of the Focus network of sites. I was in the middle of compiling my own and stumbled upon this great list. We hope you find it useful.

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This initial IAH 6.0 release came out in January but after a bit of a rocky start there are some final touches just released this morning with IAH 6.0.3.6127 that clear up any of the minor hickups that have been identified. We are also excited about the new features in the 6.1.0 release currently in beta testing. For a full road map as of today look below the release. This release is really a milestone in our 3 year history of working with info@hand. It is a lot of software (bang for the buck) and when used and deployed with careful thought this really levels the playing field by offering an affordable solution for SMB's. This can be a big enabler to improve competetiveness with larger companies. Much of our consulting services are centered around helping you get the best value from this software and to help your people use the system features effecitively. If you do it right you can future proof you business by building it around processes and tracking it for real time business intelligence. This can allow you to respond quickly to your customers and trends in the marketplace.

 

Long Reach Releases Version 6.0 of Flagship info@hand
Customer Relationship and Business Management System (CRBM):

Key Additions Include Teams for Enhanced Data Access Control, All New AJAX'd Calendar,
Project Gantt Chart, Partner Portal Support, New Dashlets, and Much More

ONTARIO, CANADA – (January 31, 2009) – The Long Reach Corporation has announced the release of the next generation of their flagship product, info@hand, a Customer Relationship and Business Management (CRBM) System for small and medium-sized businesses. (Try it here: Login using username=admin, password=admin.) The application is one of the first to blend first class Customer Relationship Management (CRM) features with extended business management capabilities for Accounting and ERP, e-Commerce, Project & Resource tracking, Customer Service, and Human Resources.

info@hand differs from conventional CRM products in that it offers key features that enable small and medium businesses to out-manoeuvre larger companies by capitalizing on their ability to react more quickly to client requests and changing markets. info@hand does this by eliminating common bottlenecks in finance and administrative areas. For example, it allows customer-facing personnel to create quotes or invoices quickly for clients, and then synchronize them later into the familiar QuickBooks accounting system for tracking by administrative staff - combining a quick response with a responsible audit trail.

Other features setting info@hand apart from the myriad of CRM products offered today include comprehensive project management capabilities such as timesheets, project costing and invoicing as well as the new Gantt module in version 6.0; fully integrated customer service management with an automatic assignment mode that pairs cases with the most qualified technicians; and strong international support including the ability to generate quote and invoice PDFs using the full UTF-8 character set needed for many languages including Japanese, Chinese, Korean, and Thai.

Some of the key new capabilities of release 6.0 of info@hand include:

• A completely new calendar module with more dynamic AJAX-based displays and operation. Click and drag to create a new meeting and set its duration. View all calendar-related information super-imposed on a single display, with optional filtering of Meeting, Call, Task, Project Task, and Event information. Also includes support for loading holiday packs - users can choose to see the public holidays for the region where they are located.

• A new system for managing data access control within info@hand - Teams and Roles combine to manage User access to info@hand data with more flexibility and precision than ever before.

• Mass invoicing for all Accounts of Cases and Projects with outstanding billable hours.

• Support for Partner mode access within the Self-Service Portal - allowing sales channel partners to register new Leads, and check all Lead, Account, Opportunity and Invoice data associated with them in your info@hand system.

• Added support for Safari browser.

• Project Gantt Chart.

• iCal synchronization.

• Google Calendar synchronization.

• eStore Integration Enhancements - Product Catalog items support HTML product descriptions, two-level categories, product attributes.

• Support for pre-paid blocks of support time on service sub-contracts, and tracking hours remaining.

• Report on Sales Taxes collected by Invoice range.

• Report on Gross Profit generated by Invoice range and by sales person.

• Report on Projects' Profitability.

• Users may add multiple items to a quote/invoice at one time, via selected checkboxes on popup form.

• Print multiple selected Invoices in a single operation.

• Drop-shipment support for Purchase Orders.

• New dashlets for Quotes, Sales Orders and Invoices.

• Push-button copy of address information from an Account to selected Contacts at that Account.

• Added client Phone/eMail information to Invoices and Packing slips to speed interactions with shipping suppliers.
  

Pricing for info@hand is simple compared to other CRM products. info@hand is sold for a one-time customer fee of 185 Euros (about $255 US) per user, which includes specific software for mobile access (info@hand Mobile) and the info@hand Self-Service Portal with eStore (which provides clients with access to automated sales and service 24/7). Also included in the standard price are the info@hand Plug-in for Microsoft Outlook, and info@hand PBX software for integrating with Asterisk/Trixbox/Fonality/Skype/X-Lite IP telephony solutions.

An online demo of info@hand is available via their website. A 30-day free trial of the info@hand On Demand (subscription) service is also available. Customers may then decide to implement info@hand as On Premise software running on the customer’s own server or at their ISP, or as an On Demand service.

About The Long Reach
The Long Reach Corp. specializes in software solutions that equip small- and medium-sized organizations with integrated online business information while improving their cost model and streamlining their internal business processes. The company’s flagship product, info@hand, is a web-based system that blends best-of-breed CRM with extended business management features for Accounting, ERP and eCommerce. info@hand provides “Instant Business Information, Anywhere” at every desk within an organization, or remotely via PC, Mac or handheld devices. The privately held company was founded in 1997 and is based in Ottawa, Canada.

Roadmap for development as of today:

Recent and Future Releases:

info@hand Release 6.0: [Shipping Now!]

• A completely new calendar module with more dynamic AJAX-based displays and operation. Click and drag to create a new meeting and set its duration. View all calendar-related information super-imposed on a single display, with optional filtering of Meeting, Call, Task, Project Task, and Event information. Also includes support for loading holiday packs - users can choose to see the public holidays for the region where they are located.

• A new system for managing data access control within info@hand - Teams and Roles combine to manage User access to info@hand data with more flexibility and precision than ever before.

• Mass invoicing for all Accounts of Cases and Projects with outstanding billable hours.

• Support for Partner mode access within the Self-Service Portal - allowing sales channel partners to register new Leads, and check all Lead, Account, Opportunity and Invoice data associated with them in your info@hand system.

• Added support for Safari browser.

• Project Gantt Chart.

• iCal synchronization.

• Google Calendar synchronization: 2-way.

• eStore Integration Enhancements - Product Catalog items support HTML product descriptions, two-level categories, product attributes.

• Support for pre-paid blocks of support time on service sub-contracts, and tracking hours remaining.

• Report on Sales Taxes collected by Invoice range.

• Report on Gross Profit generated by Invoice range and by sales person.

• Report on Projects' Profitability.

• User may add multiple items to a quote/invoice at one time, via selected checkboxes on popup form.

• Print multiple selected Invoices in a single operation.

• Drop-shipment support for Purchase Orders.

• New dashlets for Quotes, Sales Orders and Invoices.

• Push-button copy of address information from an Account to selected Contacts at that Account.

• Added client Phone/eMail information to Invoices and Packing slips to speed interactions with shipping suppliers.

info@hand Self-Service Portal & eStore 3.5: [Shipping Now!]

• Add Partner Portal Capabilities - Partners can add new Leads, and review data on their Leads, Opportunities, Accounts and Invoices.

• eStore Integration Enhancements - Sync Product Catalog items with HTML product descriptions, multi-level categories, product attributes.

info@hand Self-Service Portal & eStore 3.6: [Shipping Now]

• Changes from the older SOAP API to the new json API for enhanced performance.

info@hand Finance for QuickBooks 1.4: May '09

• Synchronisation of PO's, Bills, Outgoing Payments and Accounts Payable Balances to QuickBooks.

• Synchronisation of info@hand Booking Categories to QuickBooks Service Items.

info@hand Release 6.1: May '09

• Significantly Faster - Up to Twice as Fast on Many Screens. Optimized for Both High Latency and Low Bandwidth Situations

• Improved Compatibility With Web Standards and Browsers (Safari 4, Firefox 3, IE 8)

• Improved Integration With External Email Clients (e.g. Outlook, Google Email)

• Integration with Google Contacts: 1-Way info@hand => Google

• Integration with Google Maps

• Integration with Google Docs: 2-way

• Vacation Planner & Sick Days Record Integrated with Calendar and Employee HR Records. Tracks Employee Vacation and Sick Day Totals and Entitlement Automatically

• Auto BCC Email Feature

• Enhanced Bug Tracker: Supports Multiple Software Products, Each With Their Own Dropdown List of Versions

• New Stocks Dashlet

info@hand Release 6.5: July '09

• Expenses tracking: File general business expenses, or link them to customer Cases or Projects.

• Time tracking enhancements: Book time to vacation or sick days, and general office activities. More familiar timesheet data entry format.

• Project management enhancements, including sub-tasks.

 

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In the coming weeks we are spending a lot of time trying to see where our company can fit into the Platform as a Service model (PaaS). We have so much tooffer our customers by offering a complete technology solution and complimentary consulting, support and training services. In addition to a great network of consultants, powerful hosting infrastructure and technical team we have a complete eCommerce/Social Networking CMS -to- Full featured CRM -to- Accounting and ERP for a full transaction life cycle management system.  The Customer Relationship Business Management (CRBM)  info@hand leverages powerful connections to the Joomla CMS and synchronization integrations with Inuit's QuickBooks and Microsoft's Outlook. Since Info@hand is based on the open source SugarCRM project and the Joomla CMS has over 4600 extensions the technology side of this platform is virtually unlimited with configuration, extendibility and scalability options.

We have found he hard part of all of this is communicating the vast power of such a technology platform "Integration" or "System Consolidation" combined with our expertise into a nice easy to understand message that folks can swallow in a single sound bite.

I think Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) is getting close to a model we can go after as we shape CNP Integrations to meet the challenges in the ever changing and crowded marketplace.

Here is an article we found that explores this concept a little further;

The success of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) has inspired a new generation of Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) players to emerge, seeking to gain a higher ground in a rapidly evolving ‘cloud computing' environment.

Growing acceptance of adoption of SaaS alternatives to legacy on-premise software applications has created a new competitive battlefield among a combination of established software vendors and upstart SaaS providers.

Salesforce.com, a pioneer in the SaaS market, was among the first to recognize the opportunity to resell its internal SaaS development and delivery capabilities to third-party software developers and enterprise customers via its Force.com PaaS portfolio. Google Engine and a wide array of niche players have also followed suit. And, now the line of demarcation between PaaS and cloud computing vendors, such as Amazon's EC3, is quickly blurring.

In just the past few weeks, three more companies-Jaspersoft, ExpenseWatch.com, LongJump-have announced new platform strategies and solutions. These follow previous offerings from SaaS vendors like Bungee Labs and SpringCM, as well as established software and system vendors such as Oracle, Progress Software and IBM.

Microsoft also recognizes the opportunity and is trying to play catch up by promising its own development platform, Azure, in the next year or so.

Here's a quick list of the essential ingredients which a platform player has to have in place in order to win a meaningful share of the market,

• Easy to use, 'standards' oriented development code

• Reliable and secure development environment

• Automated and flexible procurement capabilities

• Name recognition and brand equity

• Customer base and channels to market

• Developer/Partner network

Put these assets together and the PaaS vendor can help third-party vendors and enterprise developers accelerate their SaaS development cycles, consolidate their go-to-market requirements, and reduce their overall costs. The PaaS vendor also gains a powerful competitive advantage by reinforcing the value of their core SaaS solutions by surrounding them with a wider assortment of third-party enhancements and complementary enterprise deployments.

However, if a platform player can't offer a combination of these attributes they have little hope of survival. The most recent example of this Darwinian reality is Coghead, which was an early entrant into the PaaS arena that failed to win sufficient market penetration to stay afloat. As a result, its intellectual property was recently acquired by SAP which is hoping that it can use these assets to accelerate its success in the SaaS market.

Given that a further shakeout of the PaaS market is inevitable, just as it is in the broader SaaS and cloud computing industry, it is essential for software vendors and enterprise developers to carefully consider which PaaS supplier to select to meet their needs.

Marketing 101 suggests that there are four P's that are critical to success-packaging, pricing, positioning and place. In the PaaS market, I believe there are five P's which will determine the survival and success of today's suppliers, and their customers.

• Primacy - Is the PaaS vendor's offering pivotal to their overall success?

• Proprietary - Is the PaaS vendor's development environment open or proprietary?

• Portability - Can you migrate your solution from one PaaS environment to another?

• Positioning - Does the PaaS vendor's sales and marketing efforts enhance your position in the market?

• Profitability - Does the PaaS vendor have a sustainable business model to ensure their long-term success?

Keeping these questions in mind will help you determine which PaaS vendor is best suited to satisfy your corporate objectives, whether you are a software vendor or enterprise developer.

Jeff Kaplan is Managing Director of THINKstrategies (an independent consulting firm focused on the business implications of the on-demand services movement). He is also the founder of the SaaS Showplace.

 

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