The free lunch: Free online business tools

They say there's no such thing as a free ride, but things have changed in the today's market and with Google, Skype and web 2.0 paving the way, you might be surprised at all of the free business tools that are available.

Free Faxing
FaxZero lets you fax up to 3 pages anywhere in the US or Canada for free. Just enter your email, the receiving fax number and attach the document. When testing the service, we attached a 4-page PDF document and it still worked fine. Try FaxZero for yourself by clicking here.
Paint.net
Don't want to pay for Photoshop, but need to edit your images? paint.net is perfect if you only need to use the basic functions, and best of all it's free. To visit paint.net and download the program, click here.
Free website, email and hosting
From Microsoft Office Live, this is a great new tool for small business and it's much easier than messing around in wordpress and godaddy to get your website running. Check out this Microsoft Office Live tool here.

Online project management
Although this site isn't as complex as MS Project or a sharepoint site, it provides the basic milestones, to-do lists, and updates to your project team. project2manage.com is great for getting your small projects done while keeping everyone on track. Try project2manage here.

Google "Me"

Ever googled yourself, only to find some random PDF documents from when you signed a save the whales petition in 1984, or when you came dead last in that 10K race. Wouldn't you love it if those weren't the only results making up your google reputation? Maybe have some input in what comes up under your name?

Google has created google profiles which help (slightly) manage your online identity, by letting you update your own profile which appears in the search engine results pages. Currently it shows up at the bottom of the page under 'profiles' and in US results only. What's cool about this is that it can also act as a central hub linking to your blog, twitter, delicious, flickr, picasa, youtube, and all the rest of web 2.0 that you are getting tired of logging into.

Google has made the move to create their next step in social networking here, and it looks like it could take off in a very big way.So go to google and type in 'Me'

Click here to read Google's blog on this.

VISION Conference 2009 is coming! Hosted by BCAMA

The Vision Marketing Conference returns to Vancouver, BC.
it's an annual event put on by the BC Chapter of the American Marketing Association, that always boasts a great lineup of speakers. This year focuses on growing a successful company and promoting BIG idea thinking. Some of the speakers include Ken Munro, the GM of Yahoo! Canada, Brad Gamble, Senior Director of Marketing at McDonald's Canada and Ken Schmidt, Former Communications Director at Harley Davidson Motor Company.
Click here for more to visit the invitation, or to register for the conference.

Microsoft Ad- Laptop Hunter Giampaolo

"I'm a PC, because I'm really picky" 

Microsoft aired the 2nd laptop ad yesterday, a followup to the "Lauren" ad from a few weeks ago.

The commercial runs on the same premise as the last, only it features Giampaolo, a fast talking technically savvy guy who seems to be a step up from Lauren, he even throws in a little backhanded compliment to Apple.

It's interesting to see Microsoft take the underdog position and attempt to chip away at Mac's cool factor. They started out the initiative last year with the "I'm a PC" campaign, and it looks like they are transitioning to the next level explaining "Why I'm a PC".

If you watched the Lauren ad and forgot why you shouldn't buy a Mac, this new one with Giampaolo is definitley a refresher, reminding people all around the world that Mac's are not worth the money. Although it's not amazing or entertaining, it's easy to remember the key points they are getting accross, which makes this ad a success. Go Microsoft.

Portfolio: Green IT DVD Toolkit, Microsoft Office Visio

Below is a sample of the Green IT 2 DVD Toolkit Brix worked on, collaborating with Microsoft Office Visio. This free toolkit is part of the global launch of the Green IT Campaign in Spring 2008. Other advertising materials in this campaign include; 12 print ads, email templates and web ads. You may also have seen this toolkit in Asia or Europe if you had purchased a copy of Visio, as the kit was localized in a few different languages!

Portfolio: 12 print Ads with Microsoft Office Visio

Below is a sample of the 12 global print ads Brix worked on, collaborating with Microsoft Office Visio. These ads are part of the worldwide launch of the Green IT Campaign in Spring 2008. Other advertising materials in this campaign include; A Free* Visio 2 DVD toolkit, email templates and web versions of the print ad concepts.