Most recently, I took the time to integrate Campfire into some of my client and partner communications. And I honestly can’t say enough good things about it.

Campfire allows me to come together and file-share with a group of people. While together, we can all look at the same documents simultaneously while chatting via IM. It is perfect for group analysis of data, budget planning and pretty much any other function that requires group collaboration. The sessions are perfect for Q&As, as well as ironing out kinks and confusion, which avoids costly mistakes and wasted time.

Campfire offers a variety of plans and pricing options. You can chat up to four times per month, for free without any restrictions on length of time. If you need more “chatters”, the next plan, accommodates up to 12 people and is priced quite low at only $12 per month. That’s only a dollar per chat! And a huge bonus, it is both Mac and PC compatible with great support through Zendesk.

So, if you spend any amount of time on conference calls, I strongly urge you to take a look at this tool. It has made quite a difference in my virtual business operations.

It is for that reason that you want to keep traffic levels high, with return visits from both your target market AND the search engines. And the best way to keep them both coming back for more is fresh content.

That said, I’ve noticed an alarming trend over the last year, especially since many business owners are filled with concern over economic uncertainty. It seems many online business owners are cutting expenses and allowing their websites to become static, like brochure wear, filled with the same content for months upon months.

Aaaahhhh!!!

This is a big time no, no if you want to be taken seriously in the online marketplace. I’ve therefore recently trained a few budget restricted clients on the must knows of CSS/HTML and passed on some free tools I found so that they could prevent their blogs and sites from becoming stale.

If you find that you too are facing budget restrictions in this area, I would encourage you to check out the CSS typography tools below. They are great for people that only need to perform basic web updates and fortunately they are freely available to everyone.

CSS Type Set

TYPECHART

This one lets you flip through, preview and compare web typography while retrieving the CSS.

Obviously backing up can be achieved with CDs/DVDs or some form of external hardware, but I find that an on-line source is much more efficient. There are many companies out there offering on-line back-up, but my two favorites:

Carbonite: I have tried many (and many are good), but this is my FAVORITE. Mainly because you can just “set it and forget it” and color coded files let you know what is safe or not. An absolute breeze to use and very economical.

and

Mozy: Another great one, but a bit more work than Carbonite.

Whatever company you choose, just be sure to physically test out a restore…this is HUGELY important.

And, if you have any suggestions, please share them with us.

While it’s true you may occasionally experience a dropped call or hear a bit of an echo, all and all when it comes to VOIP technology, Skype has really stood out as a leader.

And for good reason.

If you operate your business in a virtual environment, Skype is just an all around great tool. Whether you need to hold a conference call, make a video call, IM or just make a standard call to an individual, you can do it all through Skype. And best of all, it usually costs you next to nothing (and in some cases it is completely FREE of charge).

Obviously Skype (as well as its competitors) and the VOIP technology is nothing new, but I am pretty excited about a recent find that I believe makes Skype even better. The CuPhone is a small plug-in that lets you answer and make calls via any cordless phone. It even carries over some of the Skype features, one major one being caller ID. A pretty economical purchase at $39 when you compare it to the Skype phones. Plus the convenience of having one device handle your VOIP calls and landline calls is great way to keep your work space uncluttered.