Build. Market. Outsource... Web Design and Development, Social Media, SEO, Internet Marketing and Outsourcing Blogs by Ben Francia.
FREE Email Hosting
13 Mar 2010 | No Comments | posted by Ben | in Web Hosting
Gmail is probably the most popular free email service on the net today. Here’s why:
- 10 Gigabytes of FREE space
- You can use the same login for all the other Google Services like Google Docs, Google Sites, Google Sites, Google Talk, Google Adwords, etc.
- It’s very reliable
- Very user friendly
- It’s FREE
There are even business people and entrepreneurs like myself who make use of Gmail for their business correspondence. They think that this is a practical thing to do because of the cost savings. I won’t mention any more the disadvantaged of using Gmail for business emails. But rather, I would just discuss the business advantages of using an email address with your own domain.
Having your own “Dot.Com” gives the impression of “Big Business”. It give’s the business person an image of professionalism and credibility. Why is this so? I think it is because most people think don’t know how to set it up and the costs involved. They think that to set if up involves big money and only companies with the budget can afford it. Other people who claim they know and are hesitant to do it simple just don’t know what it takes. In fact, it actually costs less than five hundred pesos a year to maintain your own custom email address, with your choice of domain name.
Introducing Google Apps! With Google Apps, not only will you get to use Gmail infrastructure to host your personalized email, but you can also get to use other suite of Google tools on the same account. Here’s a short video that shows how it works
Google Apps Standard Edition is FREE. You only need a domain name that costs $10/year.
If you don’t have a domain name yet, you can purchase it directly here from Google so you don’t have to worry about the technical stuff in setting it up. In my case, I purchased my domain benfrancia.com at GoDaddy.com. My email is hosted on Google Apps while my website is hosted on a different web hosting provider. Email me at me@benfrancia.com if you need help in setting up your email and website the same way.
Web Developers’ Arsenal
11 Mar 2010 | No Comments | posted by Ben | in Web Design, Web Development
Gone are the days when internet geeks would create web pages using the humble notepad (or VI for *nix users). Here are some of the most popular if not essential tools that each professional web developer should have: Read more..
Measure Twice, Cut Once!
2 Mar 2010 | No Comments | posted by Ben | in Web Project Management
Website planning is one of the key aspects of Web Development that is normally taken for granted. This is very true specially to people who want to build their own website. Its very easy for any business owner who wish to put up their own website to go to the first web developer that they have been referred to and ask them to design an “kick ass” website for them. The next thing you’ll know is that this guy starts building a website for them, without really understanding what the client wants and needs. There was no careful thought done in the objectives and goals why the client wants to put up a website. Sad to say, some of these web designers are just after the “buck”.
This is why I make it a point that I define with my clients that their overall objectives are in putting up their website. Funny thing is that most people don’t have a clue what their objectives are. This is where I step in. Read more..