Underground Web Designs Blog

As a small business owner funds are tight, so the last thing you want to do is invest in lots of new software. Fortunately, you may not have to.

A growing movement in the online world is the Open Source Movement. Open Source developers write programs, plugins, and internet scripts and distribute them, and the source code used to create them, for free. Chances are you’ve already heard of some of them. For example, Wordpress is open source, as is Open Office (an open source clone of Microsoft Office).

As a small business owner open source software can be a tremendous asset. Because it is free it gives you a chance to spend your limited resources elsewhere, instead of investing in expensive software. However, open source software isn’t without it’s drawbacks. Here are 5 things you should always check when investigating a promising piece of open source software:

1. Does it have the features you need? Because open source software is developed by individuals or small organizations, it often does not have all the same features as similar commercial applications. If you don’t need those features, then this isn’t an issue. But don’t take the time to download, install, and learn a new software if it isn’t going to meet your business needs.
2. Does it have good documentation? Another result of the part-time nature of open source development is that even some of the best open source softwares do not have complete documentation. When looking at a new open source project, take a good look at the documentation offered and try to get a feel for whether it will answer your questions about using the software. Other things to look for are project forums, wikis, and FAQ’s. All these places can provide answers to questions you may have, or allow you to ask your own. If you can’t find enough documentation for an open source project, it may be worth looking elsewhere. No matter how good a program is, it’s worth your time if you can’t figure out how to use it.
3. How easy is the program to edit? What do programmers have to say about the code? One of the greatest strengths of open source programs is that the source code comes with them. This means that if you find a piece of software that you really like, but need just one more feature, chances are good you can hire a programmer to add that feature for you. Be aware, however, that some programs are written better than others. If the source code you get is messy, inefficient, or just hard to understand it may not be worth your money to hire a programmer to make even small modifications.
4. How does it communicate with other programs or formats your business uses? Even if a program does exactly what you need it to do, it may not communicate with other programs your business has to use every day. For example, a word processor would not be much use if it could not read and save Microsoft Word Documents. If there are programs or certain formats that everybody in your business or industry uses, be sure the open source program you are looking at supports them.
5. Finally, What do other users think of the program? Take some time to browse the web and look for reviews, critiques, or discussions about the software you’re looking at using. Sometimes open source programs may look good, but be filled with bugs. Others may work, but have poor user interfaces that make it hard to work with them. The best way to get an idea of whether an open source program is worth using in your business is to find out what others are saying about it. If you find lots of positive reviews, especially from people in a similar industry to yours, than you’re likely on the right track. If all you find are complaints, steer clear.

Open source software is a great thing for small businesses. It’s free, easy to acquire, and usually works well. Don’t just dive right in though. Make sure you understand what it is you need, what the software is capable of, and whether or not it works as advertised before you invest your time and effort into installing and using it. Even if it doesn’t cost you any money, poorly made open source software can still cost you time and effort. So do your research before you download!

No one denys the wisdom of diversifying your investments. By investing your money in several different ways, in different places, you may not be guaranteed a good return, but your chances of loosing everything suddenly are drastically reduced. 

The same could be said for your website.

Most business owners put up a website because they expect it to help them make money. Unfortunately, many people don’t use (or just don’t know about) all the ways that their website could be making them money. Because of this their website is like a single investment in only one company. It’s great if that investment does well, but if it goes bankrupt you’re going to loose money.

Instead of placing all your eggs in one basket, look at these other options your website might be able to use to bring in some extra money and diversify your web presence:

• Google Adsense and onsite advertising.
• Affiliate programs.
• Online contests
• Forums and community sites (with ads).
• An e-mail mailing list or RSS feed.
• A free give-away with a powerful upsell.
• Social media (youtube, facebook, delicious, etc)

You’ll notice that not everything on that list will make you money by itself. The biggest key to being successful online is not to focus only on money, but to diversify your efforts. Have a strong focus, and then try many things to accomplish your goal and build your brand. By spreading out your efforts to gain traffic, build your brand, and yes, make money you may not become an overnight millionaire, but chances are you’ll slowly build a successful site.

When running a bricks and mortar business your marketing options are limited by time, manpower, and cost. Online you have much more freedom to explore different ways of advertising your business, making passive revenue, and communicating with your market. So do a bit of research and try something new. You may be surprised at the results.

(Watch future articles for more details on setting up an affiliate program, google adsense, and more).

Most small business owners don’t see the point in having a blog. Heck, most small business owners don’t even have a website. They know they should, they’ve just never gotten around to it. Usually having a blog of their own hasn’t even crossed their mind. But every small business owner should have a blog, and here are 5 powerful reasons why:

1. Traffic, customers, leads, clients, etc. Whatever you call people who do business with you, having a blog will bring you more of them if you do it well. As a blogger you have a chance to write to the largest audience the world has ever known, in a way that they can find YOU. If done correctly a blog can build you a following of people who believe in you and what you do. This following will do almost anything you tell them too… and will most certainly buy anything you sell them.
2. Interaction. Remember that group of people who follow your blog and are interested in what you do? Well, ask them questions and improve your product. Who says you have to pay a big company to do market research? Here is a group of people that has found and followed you — they’re interested enough in what you do to act. Now ask them questions! Ask about your products, your business model, what they think you could be doing better. Then do it. One of the surest ways to success is to do what your market wants.
3. It’s free. Everybody likes free advertising right? Besides a bit of your time to write in it, Blogging is free. Anybody can have a simple Blogger blog set up in about an hour, and then you’re ready to go. If you have a website even better… your web master can set up a Wordpress blog for you in about 15 minutes.
4. The blog itself can make you money. Once you have been blogging for a couple of months and are beginning to get decent traffic, put Google Adsense on it. It’s not hard, and you can soon be making  some extra money from the traffic your blog draws. At the very least it will soon pay for the time you spend blogging.
5. It’s easy. It takes maybe half an hour a day to write a blog — and that’s if you do it every day. Once you’ve gotten going writing every couple of days is still plenty. When you consider the huge benefits that blogging can have for your business, how can you afford NOT to blog?

The most important thing that most people miss about blogging is that it doesn’t have to be work. Write about what you’re passionate about, what you believe in. We all have things we’d like to share with the world, a blog is your chance to actually do it. And if it benefits your business and makes you some money on the side, who’s complaining right?