Autumn 2010 - Vol 4, Issue 3
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Greetings!
Portrait of Curtis Peters

This issue of The Dragonfly is a collaboration between our team in Canada and myself in Japan. Over the past few months, I've had the privilege to serve our clients and support our staff from places like Australia, China and Japan.

In this issue, I discuss some tools and strategies to liberate you from your office, and save you time and money as you work with distant partners.

Publishing newsletters and web sites from different countries is easy, and you'll no doubt find tasks within your company that can also be accomplished from a distance. Internet-based services, and the technologies that support them, have made remote work easy and comfortable. Entrepreneurs have caught on to the convenient, cost-effective solutions that allow them to operate their business from home and build a team of professionals who also work from their own homes.

Most companies can take advantage of distant collaboration over the Internet, enabling staff to complete tasks while away from the office. Even training a far-away contract worker is possible over the Internet.

While your team-member may not be as far away as China, these useful tips will help when face-to-face meetings are impractical, and at the moments you need to be away from the office.

Enjoy!

Curtis Peters
Operations Manager
Back2Front - The Web Site People

Get more from your web site!

There are many pre-built applications and services that can be added to your web site. Password-protected areas, e-learning, blogs, and many others exist as plug-in-standalone applications that can be added or linked to your web site. The list of options is constantly growing, so it is likely for you to find a plug-in that meets your needs before investing in a custom-built solution.

Do you need to manage a calendar and other content on your web site? There's a plug-in for that. Do you need to archive newsletters and monitor statistics? There's a plug-in for that too.

Visit our Extras page for examples of the plug-in support we offer and the pricing. Not sure what you're looking for or don't see it on our list? Contact us and describe what you're looking for-our experts will help you find the tool you need.
close up of Blackberry smartphone in use
Keep up with business emails while away from the office.

There are many business-related or personal reasons that can take you away from the office during the day. You can still keep up with your voice messages with mobile phones, but you can quickly fall behind on emails when you're on the road. And even though you can use the email account on your smart phone to receive mail, you'd prefer to send and receive emails from the business account printed on your business cards.

Here are some options to keep up with your business emails while you're on the go, while making it look like you're still sitting at your office computer.

Learn how to access emails on your mobile device
snapshot of the drop.io home page
Simple real-time sharing, collaboration, and more.

By now, you are aware that you can save time and money by collaborating with suppliers, clients and other members of your team over the Internet. Virtual collaboration tools are becoming easier to use and offer more features. In this article, I will review an easy-to-use, cost-effective collaboration web site that is packed with features and security to serve your business and personal needs.

As a busy entrepreneur, any business tool worth your time should be straightforward, cost-effective, and perform the tasks you require. My favourite tool for virtual collaboration has become drop.io. It is easy to use, affordable and versatile.

Easy to use

Getting started is simple. At the drop.io home page, simply choose a name for your account (this will also be used as the url for your drop site) and then select a file to upload. It's that simple-nothing to download or install, and no lengthy sign-ups. You may even select a password and expiry date for your drop site in the same step. And if all you need is a way to share files with your team, simply share the url with those individuals.

Free collaboration tools

For those looking for a cost-effective virtual collaboration solution, drop.io offers a generous list of free collaboration services, including:
  • voicemail: with your unique drop.io phone number, members from your team can call and leave voice messages on your drop.
  • conference call: with your unique conference phone number, you can collaborate in a real-time conference call.
  • presentations: everyone logged into your drop box can follow in real time as you navigate files and messages on your drop box.

The list of free services continues, plus larger storage space and access to specialty features, such as faxing. These can be purchased at prices that are reasonable even for small-business owners and individuals.

Versatile and secure

The beautiful and intuitive interface makes it very easy to upload notes and files. Additionally, you can even add items to the drop via email, text-message and social media like Facebook and Twitter. Everything added to your drop is automatically organized into groups and neatly displayed as lists on your drop. You access your files by simply scrolling to the item on the page and clicking to open or download it. The simplicity means you'll have no need for your technical support department or require special training to accomplish your tasks.

Your drop site is customizable, so you can secure your company brand by editing the colours and uploading your logo. Firefox and Outlook add-ons are also available, so you and your colleagues can keep working in a familiar environment.

Everything on your drop is accessible at anytime, so up-to-date material is instantly available to your collaborators, no matter where their office is located. Built-in security practices ensure that unintended parties will not stumble upon your information, and you can set a deletion date so that the information is gone when you no longer need it.

With a tool like drop.io, virtual collaboration is not only more efficient; it is fun. It may be a welcome upgrade to your current collaboration solution. Visit http://drop.io to learn more about their services and get started.
Back2front speaking engagements

Invite Back2Front to speak at your event!
From short information sessions to detailed technical web site presentations, friendly roundtable discussions or expert panels, our talks can be tailored to your needs. All sessions include some specific information about Back2Front – but none will be a Back2Front sales pitch.
Presentations are offered free of charge to qualified audiences. Contact us at presentations@back2front.ca to reserve your preferred date and time.
Here are a few of our most recent clients and their respective web sites:

gourmetbyken.com
Thanks to you, Louise and your team. I know it took a while but we are happy with the results."
- Desi Cabrera, Gourmet by Ken

moniquehowat.com
"Hi Carla,
I never thought I'd be able to say this but....PERFECT!!! I'm good! I thank you very much for wanting to take on the challenge and succeeding! This is great. I hope I have told you how much I appreciate your honest input...:) It has always felt like you've worked with me and you are exceedingly respectful with your comments and I appreciate it in a big way!!! You have helped me a ton!!!!"
- Monique Howat


Check out Back2Front's Our Clients page for more examples...
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There are many more internet-based services and strategies that will expedite your business operations, and many of them can be seamlessly integrated into your web site. Our experts at Back2Front regularly review the solutions that best serve our clients and recommend them as they are requested. Contact us for recommendations. Some of the most requested services are included on our Extras page.

As always, we appreciate your feedback. Write us to let us know how these articles have been helpful to you and with your suggestions for future articles.


Curtis Peters
Back2Front - The Web Site People
Email: curtis@back2front.ca
Phone: 1-888-227-9092 x 721
http://back2front.ca