Microsoft Office Live Small Business Community

SJR I have a pet dog blog, and am a experienced webmaster.  If you need help on anything for your pet website just let me know.

I'm patty from Easton, PA. I'm not sure if i would be considered an entrepreneur or not. I'm a home-based travel agent who is trying to get my business off the ground. I'm in the process of purchasing a domain (here if it ever lets me). i do have one website online and that's through my host agency. I can't be creative with that one so i'm hopefully  getting another one where "I" can design it.

Can't wait to hear from everyone!

patty

Pat's Travel Adventures

Hi all,

I'm the secretary at a Small Business Development Center. 

I recently started using Office Live to provide websites for our small business clients. Prior to this I would code their pages myself. OL's templates certainly make things easier, although being unable to meet basic accessibility standards is frustrating. So far I've been working with clients one-on-one, making their OL websites. Eventually I'll teach workshops using Office Live. These forums are the best thing about OL--there are so many helpful people.

It's been fun to see the variety of businesses represented here.  If any of you need help with some aspect of your business, there should be an SBDC office in your area . . . they're all over the country (US) and the counseling services are free.

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Carol

SBDC at Blinn College

test site where I try out stuff (a work in progress)

Hello fellow Mompreneurs and women in business!

My name is Krista Dunk - CEO & Founder of www.NWweddingplace.com.  Know anyone getting married in the Pacific Northwest?  Direct them to NWweddingplace.  Actually, we have great info for anyone, anywhere who needs wedding help!  I also love to write about love & marriage advice, business start-up ideas, and wedding topics too of course :-). 

We have a fun wedding e-newsletter as well.  If you, or anyone you know, would like to join the e-newsletter list, please click here - www.nwweddingplace.com/freenewsletter.htm.  We send just one - monthly.  If you are a Pacific NW wedding-related business, contact me today. We offer free basic listings of all wedding vendors in WA, OR & ID.  Nice!

Thanks all,

Krista 

krista at nwweddingplace.com

I'm in Poulsbo... but I know a great florist, Jodi in Duvall  www.WoodlandFlowers.com  and Geoffrey creates just the best cakes around  www.SigEvents.com

That looks like it was a really great event Karen!  Will they have another one next year?

Thanks! 

Heidi

Hi.  I'm Jessica.  I own Minute Maker Concierge.  It is a personal and business concierge and errand service.  I to am new to Office Live.  I knew I needed a web site and searched and searched on how to create one.  I found Office Live and love every bit of it.  I designed my web site and than my aunts and now I am working on another one.  It is great to see that I am not the only one who is new to this.  

Jessica

http://www.minutemakerconcierge.com

Hi Jessylon,

Welcome to the community! You bet, there are a lot of newbies in the community, as well as a lot of seasoned pros around here that are sure to give you any feedback and help you need.  Looking forward to getting to know you!

Hello

I'm Patricia, glad to meet everyone! Just starting my own home-based business after years of working on a military base many customers said you should start your own business so finnally i did.

Having a slow start though but am not letting that get me down. I need some help with creating an order form-but am pretty good at making graphics and vinyl.

Looking forward to getting to know everyone!

 Hello All,

My name is Cherie and I was very pleased to have found this discussion group.  This is a great time for us all to get creative to improve finances and it sounds like a lot of great women are doing just that! 

I'm a web designer and decided to try MS Office Live Small Business so I could recommend it to my customers.  Services are expensive and when I have a new customer who is just not sure where to start or what they really want to do online, this is a great place to star and learn.  I can still design a custom site and assist them in managing their marketing campaigns and they don't feel out of control.  

I've been a web designer for many years now and have a good clientel, but I still work a full time job as well. At first I was disappointed it didn't take off over night and allow me to work full time from home, until I realized how lucky I was to have the extra income and from doing something I enjoy.  I've learned to use my job to bring customers to my business and I've made great connections within the business community.  So, before you toss the old job out to start your own business, test the waters and use what you have to generate a startup clientel.   Your boss could be your first customer.

Good Luck to all!

Cherie

 My name is Maxine Pollard and MonePenny Solutions is my lifes work.  I have been an Administrative Assistant for over 10 years now and always wanted to cater to small business companies who wanted to keep their overhead down but still have top notch stablility when it came to things like invoicing, data entry, and every other office automations service that the big companies have without the cost.  I have helped so many people get their business up and running and finally realized that I have a market for my kinds of skills....The name of my company is designed after Roger Moore's very first Secretary, Lois Maxwell who, like myself was 007's go to gal.  

"If 007 couldn't do it without me, should you?" 

Hi my name is Margaret and i live in Edinburgh Scotland

I have a cardmaking and jewellery website so would be interested in expanding my site and maybe getting some sales,none so far.

This is my first attempt at a website so I would be open to any advice

thanks

Margaret

www.cardsmadejust4u.co.uk

Hi Margaret,

I am by no means an expert, but I've been on these and other boards enough to learn quite a lot from them. It's a beautiful site, and I love your cards. A few things I did notice, and it could be due to the browser I'm using (IE7), and the size of my monitor (17"), as I've realized that can affect how a web site looks, the same as viewing it with Mozilla.  And this is the first time I've really critiqued a site, but I just saw how much you'd put into yours and it reminded me of me and how difficult it can be, so here is my two cents.

1. On your fist page the body extends beyond the header. In my opinion, this wouldn't be terrible, if it were centered; but it looks odd wen the others aren't that way, and with the amount of text you have on your first page I think it will fit without extending beyond the header.
2. In the header, the underlined text quality greeting cards custom made makes it appear as if it is a link, so I would suggest removing that.
3. On your navigation bars where you have (1, 2, 3, ... ) you could name one Birthday Cards for Ladies, or something like that, and then have sub-headings underneat that one.
4. Also, your text isn't lining up with your pictures.on Birthday Ladies Cards pages 1, 2 and 3. It could just be my browser, but the others line up fine.
5. The text under the pictures is sometimes left, centered or right of the picture. Maybe make it consistent with all being centered with the AddToCart button.
6. Your Site Map page has a link that isn't to your site, yet the text says it is.
7. I noticed something else. The text on your home page appears off balance in the colors, font size, and bold or not bold. Might be too much for such a small amount on one page. Also, it doesn't mention how many cards and/or envelopes one gets for the price.

I wish you much success with your venture.

 Susan

Hi! My name is Lucy and I'm starting my own grant writing firm helping non-profit organizations find funding. I'm still in process of creating my website and I'm sure I'll have many questions. For now, just wanted to introduce myself.

My background is in project management, customer service management, and corporate training. I love to network and help others grow their business. We've recently moved to a small town and I feel so frustrated because my network of friends and co-workers is all back in Houston, far away. I'm a very collaborative person and really miss having people to bounce ideas off of and strategize with.

I'm hoping to find an online forum that will serve that purpose, so maybe this one will work!

Once I get the grant writing firm running smoothly I have a website idea for a project that would be purely fun. So I'm happy to see that we have some web design folks on here as well as graphic design represented. (My website idea would have an associated book with it. ;)  )

Nice to meet you all!

Lucy

www.skylightgrantwriting.com