At last week’s Business Startup Show , several visitors asked if they could use various website editing tools with Office Live. The answer is a resounding ‘Yes’. The beauty of Office Live is that you start with the basic templates, which are very easy to use.  If a more advanced website is required...

Now that the Beta of Office 2010 is publicly available, anyone can try the Office Web Apps on Windows Live as follows : 1) Download the Office 2010 beta , installing it onto your PC 2) Save a document to SkyDrive from Office 2010 : Open or create a document in Word, Excel or PowerPoint...

As of 1st October 2009, Microsoft Office Live Small Business will no longer offer free domain name renewals. For details of how this will affect your Web site and e-mail, or to learn how to renew your domain, please review the following list of frequently asked questions : http://smallbusiness.officelive...

An innovative recruitment company, called AvailableLocal.com, have just launched their services on an Office Live website at www.availablelocal.com . Their proposition is based around supporting sustainable local employment, in an attempt to drastically cut ‘job miles’. They’re building a network of...

As one of the best known fisheries in the South West of England, Manningford Trout Fishery is already enjoyed by a wide range of fishermen. Following extensive de-silting of the lakes in 2007, Manningford is now keen to accelerate the growth rate of its business. A professional website was a missing...

There’s been a lot of speculation about Google and Twitter recently – acquisition rumours, partnerships and so on. It does appear now that Google has recognised that Twitter is a serious player in Search, and even has some key advantages so far as real-time information goes. I have to say, as someone...

Never one to miss a PR opportunity, Richard Branson has cleverly released a very timely opportunity for entrepreneurs and Small Businesses, including those using Office Live , to upload short video pitches about their businesses to this page on Virgin founder Sir Richard Branson's blog (remember keep...

";" galleryimg="no"> Having started belly dancing ten years ago as a hobby, it has since become a passion for Claire Novis and she has eventually also turned it into a job. Claire now spends many evenings and weekends teaching classes, running workshops and performing around the UK. She does...

There’s been a lot of debate recently about the way in which news will be authored and delivered in future. Traditional newspapers are increasingly struggling to make ends meet as their readers go online for news and seem unwilling to pay for it there. Of course, once online, newspapers are competing...

I’ve been doing a lot of work on social media lately – for example, writing a book on it (about which I wasn’t going to tell you, but you forced it out of me). That’s how I came to be doing a talk on it recently. Some of the usual questions turned up, and they all involve how to manage an identity online...

Microsoft has recently released a white paper entitled “ Survive and Thrive – How Technology Can Help Small Businesses Compete ”. It’s a little US-centric but has some good pointers for Startups and Small Businesses, such as : Reduce time spent on paperwork Manage customer relationships to maximise...

I have just come across this article in The Guardian and it got me thinking – is this clever use of social media or just lazy journalism? To take a step back and look at the use of social networks in the media - It could be said that Twitter and similar blogging sites are destroying the traditional...

Most people are aware that Office Live Small Business provides free website and email. However, less well known is the fact that an online Contact Management system is also included, which for many small businesses can be the first step towards a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system. You’ll...

Over the years I’ve met some very talented people through work. Some great managers, inspirational leaders, passionate evangelists and enlightened marketers to name but a few. However, just when you think you know someone, they can surprise you with a ‘second life’ outside of their day job (and I’m not...

Belly dancing, photography and perfume We always love to hear about the wonderful ways in which businesses are using Office Live, so we thought it would be a great idea to share a few stories with you. And if you're one of thousands of other companies using Office Live, then please do get in touch (see...

If you’re an Office Live customer who has been using the adManager service, you’ll have been disappointed to have received notification that it’s to be discontinued . However, you can still very easily promote your website with Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising (also sometimes called search marketing)...

I came across this article in Computer Weekly, about how SMEs are using Twitter to save on marketing and recruitment costs. Whilst the sample size was only 500, if you take the findings that 17% use Twitter, then that extrapolates to a very large number when you consider that there are 4.6 million SMEs...

First of all, Office Live WorkSpace has added language support for Hungary, Romania, Lithuania, Serbia, Ukraine, Slovakia, Latvia, and Slovenia to use the localised service. WorkSpaces also get long-awaited FOLDERS, full cut/copy/paste and file storage is being increased to a very respectable 5GB...