I love the product but I really think it is geared towards the above listed entities.  I can think of several low cost if not free options to solve problems for smaller business. HOWEVER, if you are a trainer (even an independent trainer or job/life coach) it may be the thing for you!  There are several tools that make it worth it and cost effective.

Independent trainers/coaches with little I.T. experience can have the application hosted by Adobe, done!  Then all you have to do is learn the application.  Other larger companies can host the software on their own servers and integrate your office director (MS exchange or other) with the application and you have your entire director at your finger-tips.

It is very practical larger companies can cut travel and training cost tremendously with this software.  There are also helpful tools that allow you to create surveys and quizzes and analyze the data.  This is great to help the instructor determine how to adjust their curriculum. 

You also can integrate your Power Point slides with video and audio.

Small businesses and independent contractors with less need to teach and more of a need to conduct meetings online, you may want to look elsewhere, nevertheless it is still great software if you are the right person.

Review the product yourself http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobatconnectpro/

I can think of at least 2 of my clients that could use this product!

Much the same way a power company connects homes and businesses with electricity, Facebook is a “social utility” designed to facilitate connections between people as well as businesses.

Accordingly, it can be highly useful as a business tool. This article addresses various ways that businesses can market using Facebook.

I’ve noticed that many companies use other parts of the platform (Groups and personal profiles, in particular) to set up a presence, but they never bother to create a Public Profile.

One possible reason may be that Facebook lists Public Profiles under the advertising category, which may lead people to believe it is a premium feature. It’s not. Businesses can set up a Public Profile at no cost.

Facebook Public Profiles, which mimic user profiles in design and function, allow users to express their support of your business by adding themselves as fans. They can write on your Wall, upload photos and videos, and join other fans in expressing opinions on topics introduced in discussion groups.

You can send regular updates to fans, and, unlike personal profiles, which are limited to 5,000 members, the number of fans you can have on a Public Profile is unlimited. In addition, you can set up a business page without having to provide a personal profile.

One of the best reasons to have a Facebook Public Profile is that it can be indexed by search engines. That is no small consideration, because Facebook is one of the most highly trafficked sites on the Internet.

If getting noticed on Google and other engines is an important part of your online-marketing strategy, then using Facebook Public Profile makes perfect sense. After you set up a Facebook Public Profile for your business, make it your base of operations from which all other forays into the network extend.

Facebook Events

Another useful Facebook feature, one that can be launched directly from your Facebook Public Profile, is Facebook Events. With it, you can let fans and others know about upcoming events and activities your business will be hosting.

A restaurant can use Facebook Events to promote appearances by musical acts. A B2B company can promote upcoming webinars or workshops. Nonprofit and civic groups can enlist support for fund-raising activities.

Remember, activities that Facebook members engage in are reported in the newsfeed, so word about the events can spread quickly and virally.

Facebook Groups

Facebook Groups allow you to create or participate in as many as 200 affinity- or geography-based groups. Each can serve as a viral channel for extending your presence within Facebook, and each can be used as “fishing pools” to help you find prospects and build relationships.

Before you set up your own group, however, participate in two or three groups to learn how they operate. As with Facebook Events, use Facebook Groups to supplement your business page, not act as a substitute for it.

Facebook Ads

Facebook Ads resemble Google AdSense ads in that they are primarily text based, but they do allow inclusion of a small graphic.

You can opt to include Social Actions, which are stories about a user’s friends that are related to and displayed alongside your advertisement. Whenever a user takes an action associated with the ad, that user’s avatar and screen name will appear along with the ad on the friend’s profile pages. That result implies endorsement, so use the component wisely.

The problem with using ads on Facebook Ads or other social networks is that members rarely click on the ads. The average click-through rate for Facebook Ads is estimated to be an abysmal 0.008%. That means for every 10,000 times an ad appears, it is clicked on only 80 times.

People don’t visit social-network sites to view advertising; they visit to be social. Still, Facebook Ads provide another way to extend your presence on the site, so they may be worth considering.

Facebook Apps

One of the first things you’ll notice when you begin participating in Facebook is the bevy of widgets (what Facebook refers to as “applications,” or “apps” for short).

The apps, created by third-party developers, number into the scores of thousands and cover every conceivable category, from games to music to travel to just plain fun (and just plain stupid).

It’s easy to get caught up in the hype, but sooner or later “app fatigue” sets in. My son, a veteran “Facebooker,” told me to forget all those extras and concentrate on the basics: the Wall, photo galleries, and status updates. That’s good advice, if you ask me.

Some applications can be used to promote your business inside Facebook. One way to do that is by developing branded applications, or “appvertisements,” that connect your company and the people you wish to reach in a more useful, meaningful way.

For example, Buddy Media, a company that develops branded applications, has launched dozens of campaigns for leading brands. Its data shows measurable success in engaging users.

“In particular, users spent an average of 2 minutes and 35 seconds engaged with our branded applications per visit, or 75 times greater than the time consumers spend interacting with traditional banner ads and five times greater than the time spent watching a typical TV commercial,” said Buddy Media CEO Mike Lazerow.

You don’t need to develop applications yourself.. You can incorporate many of the business-oriented applications already available in the applications directory, such as business cards, networked blogs, and testimonials, to help promote your business.

It’s worth looking through the business category to see which applications might be useful for your business.

Where this backup should be preserved?
Put it on a disc! In most cases your site can fit on one DVD that will make it easy to restore if necessary. You can also store this on a jump drive or another machine; however it is strongly encouraged to keep a backup on disc too.

How frequently should a backup should be taken?
If your site is not changing over a period of time then I will say take backup only once and keep it on your floppy or hard disc or data disc or DVD wherever you like. In case you need to restore it, just do it and see your web site up and running.But if your site is changing over the period of time then it becomes very important to take regular backup. Web sites like amazon.com have very tight backup schedules and very expansive backup infrastructure.

Should I back up my Database?
…..HECK Yes!!!

What type of backup should be taken?
There are two types of backup: incremental and full. This depends on what type of backup tools you are using. There are many backup tools like oracle provides their utilities to take different type of backup.

• Incremental Backup - The backup’s controller compares the existing backup to the data that you wish to backup. If it is an exact match between the two, then no additional files will be backed up. However, if you have added or edited any file, these files will be updated in the backup, thus the incremental name.
• Full Backup - Here all files are written to the backup, even if they already exist in the most current backup.

Who should backup my site?
Graphico Design of course!!  Go Daddy $159, Rebuild your site $800 - $1500, Spend $35 for a back up disc from Graphico Design…Priceless!!!

Conclusion:
So now you decide how do you want to take your backup but I will say if you are web site owner then its is your religion to take regular backup without a failure otherwise…..results are very serious Talk to Graphico Design.

 

 

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Content Management Systems:
Benefits -

• Great for multiple users and keeping web content consistant throughout the site.
• Good for pre-programmed widgets such as calanders and other tools that can be added to the site at the drop of a hat.
• Low Cost

Drawbacks -

• Can be a bit constraining to design and have some technical glitches with Explorer. (of course what language doesn’t

Flash:
Benefits -

• Fantastic for design looks and transitions.
• Very astheticly pleasing to the senses.
• Wow factor.

Drawbacks -

As of yet, there are no Search Engines that can read flash so it is completely useless unless combined with other types of coding. (There are rumors that the people at Adobe are working on correcting this - in which case Flash would be the champion) 2. Higher cost for programming.

more later…