Are you using Web-based applications to get work done?

Web-based applications are part of "cloud working" meaning that you can use the Web and the Internet for major work tasks and can securely save files online. Companies that provide these applications are offering what is called Software as a Service (SaaS).

Here are a few of my personal favorite applications that are entirely Web-based and why I like them.

1. Freshbooks - http://www.freshbooks.com
Freshbooks is a Quickbooks-like Web-based invoicing application. You can generate invoices, track payments and even receive payments online from clients, and manage both your company's income and expenses.

2. 5pm - http://www.5pmweb.com
I recently switched from Basecamp for managing my company's projects to 5pm. The cost difference for me went from $24/month for Basecamp to $28/month for 5pm. The main features that won me over are the ability to update task progress and note the amount of time each task takes to get things done for our clients.

3. Google Docs - http://docs.google.com/
I simply can't work without my Google Docs. I share documents with team members every day such as allowing multiple people to access the same spreadsheets to track our marketing efforts as well as instructions on how to handle more complex tasks. Plus I can access my docs from any computer when I don't have mine with me and also access them on my iPhone.

4. Zapproved - http://www.zapproved.com and 5. Backboard - http://www.getbackboard.com
Do you find that you need to make decisions but have to consider the input of many others on your team or your vendors or clients? Two sites address this decision-making process. Zapproved works for just about any decision - just create the proposal that needs the decision, send out an email, and track the decision-makers' input to come up with consensus. With Backboard, upload graphics files or show a web site or integrate any kind of content that needs direct input from others to come up with an approved version. Track comments and versions and nudge decision-makers to provide their input. Decision-making amongst many has never been so easy!

6. InstantConference - http://www.instantconference.com/
I like the fact that InstantConference gives me a number and pin assigned to me so I can use any time rather than having to schedule a call. Like with most free conferencing services, everyone does have to call a toll-free number for calling in but there are no additional costs for a simple conference call.

7. Skype - http://www.skype.com/
I've really been getting a lot of use out of Skype. My new business partner is in Denver and I'm in Alaska so we conduct weekly video conferencing on Skype. I recently met with an editor who is based in the UK via Skype. I also attended an event with fellow Twitterers that was held in another city by logging into Skype and having a laptop placed in the event room where people could come up to speak with me. I'm now working to set up Skype on a friend's computer to be able to attend a women's networking breakfast.

These are only a few Web apps that can save you time, money and headaches.

What are YOUR favorite Web apps and how do they work for you?

What are you worth?

That’s a question many entrepreneurs aren’t sure how to answer. What value should you place on the services you offer? How do you make sure you’re charging enough – but not too much?

According to Belinda Fuchs, this is a question many women entrepreneurs grapple with on a larger scale than even they may realize. Fuchs is a wealth coach who is president of OwnYourMoney.com, a financial coaching and education company dedicated to teaching women entrepreneurs how to “create the life of financial freedom they deserve.”

She says the question has as much to do with personal values as it does with monetary value.

“Determining how much to charge for products and services is one of the most significant challenges that business owners face,” Fuchs said. “The ‘value’ is often intricately linked to personal belief systems around money, success, and wealth. The extra challenge for women is that these belief systems often have a non-supportive component, which confuses and often limits pricing structures.”

These beliefs — which Fuchs categorizes as “supportive” and “non-supportive” — can either help you achieve more wealth or hold you back.

Supportive beliefs provide encouragement, empowerment and positive feelings.

Non-supportive beliefs can lead to disempowerment, helplessness, hopelessness, and undervaluing your goods and services.

“Once you identify these latter beliefs, you can learn how to control them and make more conscious, objective, and smart financial decisions,” Fuchs said. She added that there are two separate questions at play here:

1. What can I charge for my services in the marketplace?

2. What am I worth?

“Deciding what to charge can be based on an unemotional analysis considering market factors, such as demand, supply, experience, and especially value created,” Fuchs said. “What you are ‘worth’ is a much larger, loaded question. An individual’s worthiness is created from the inside out, not the other way around. It’s your positive self-worth that leads to your positive net worth.” The key, Fuchs added, is to ground your outlook in positive, supportive beliefs and choose to “own your money.”

It’s important not to under-value your goods and services. With the economy in the shape it’s in, it may be tempting to discount your services in order to generate sales, but Fuchs warns against this.

“You notify the market that your services are now valued lower and worth less,” she said.

Fuchs offers these alternatives to lowering prices:

• Choose to repackage your services and products, moving away from an hourly or per-unit model.
  
• Get creative on marketing techniques, including boosting your joint venture efforts, using new interactive media, and increasing both in-person and social networking.
  
• Increase the value you provide to specific niche groups within your target market. The tighter the niche, the faster you can get rich! Are you under-valuing your goods and services? What challenges do you have when setting prices?

Are you under-valueing your products and services? What challenges do you face setting prices?

As if your life weren’t hectic enough already, the holidays are over, which means you're recovering from holiday madness and catching up at work.At the start of another new year, it’s important to set and maintain boundaries — something that can be difficult all year ’round.

Getting into some good time-management habits now can help make 2009 a productive - and manageable - year.

Here are a few quick boundary-setting tips to help you hold on to your time this year:

• Structure your time. Multitasking is all well and good, but time, like money, needs to be budgeted. You wouldn’t use your business account to pay your mortgage; likewise, you shouldn’t be using your work time to take care of personal commitments (and vice versa). Focus on one commitment at a time so the people you’re helping – whether it’s a client or your kids – know they have your full attention.

• Plan your schedule early and stick to it. Let your employees know what your company's goals are this year. The sooner you can let your employees know what’s expected of them, the better they'll be able to set their own priorities and focus on concrete goals.

• Create physical separation between work and personal time. If you work at home and you haven’t set up a home office yet, now’s the time to do it. Make sure you have a space that’s all your own, dedicated just to your business. Be very clear with your family that when you’re in that workspace, you need to be focused on work, and other issues need to wait.

• Define your boundaries to others. If a client wants to set up a meeting at a time that will conflict with something important — like your daughter’s choir concert — it’s okay to say, “I have an important family commitment at that time. Can we set something up earlier in the day?” Be flexible but firm.

• Get comfortable with saying “no.” Easier said than done, right? Especially with so much catching up to do post-holidays, you have to learn to draw the line. If you take on too many tasks, you won’t be able to do any of them as well as you’d like to. Better to turn down a project than to take it on and realize you’re in over your head.

A new year gives you the opportunity to start fresh with some better time management habits so you can actually get things done.

About half of all small businesses nationwide are owned by women, but according to an article published in the New York Times this fall, only about 3.4% of federal contracts are going to woman-owned small businesses — despite the fact that in 2000, Congress decreed that 5% of government contracts must be awarded to woman-owned companies. So what’s the holdup?

Part of the problem, it seems, is that women entrepreneurs have had a hard time navigating the federal contracting system, which can be confusing at times. Organizations such as Women Impacting Public Policy (WIPP) and the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) have started programs to help women business owners work their way through the contracting system.

If you think you’re ready to seek out government contracts, there are a few things you need to do to make sure you’ll get access to those opportunities:

• Take advantage of programs offered by organizations such as WIPP, NAWBO and the Small Business Administration (SBA) to help women entrepreneurs navigate the government contracting process.

• Get your business certified as woman-owned by a group such as NAWBO or the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC).

• Register your business with the federal government’s Central Contractor Registration database.

There’s a legislative component to this question, though, too. In October, the SBA announced that the 5% rule applies to only 31 of the 140 industries eligible for government contracts. A number of politicians, including then-Senator Barack Obama, voiced their belief that all 140 industries should be required to award 5% of contracts to woman-owned businesses.

There is also some pending legislation in the Senate that may impact procurement opportunities for women. In February 2008, Senators Olympia Snowe and Elizabeth Dole introduced the “Small Business Women’s Procurement Program Improvement Act” (S. 2608) to help ensure that woman-owned businesses are, in fact, awarded the percentage of contracts dictated by Congress in 2000. That legislation was still in committee at the close of the last session. Other lawmakers have expressed concern that the government has not prioritized awarding contracts to small businesses, notably Sen. John Kerry, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship.

Congress reconvenes this month, with the economy in the foreground. If you’re concerned about making sure your business has access to government contracts, now’s the time to contact your elected officials and let them know. Visit www.senate.gov to get information on pending legislation affecting opportunities for woman-owned businesses, as well as contact information for all 100 senators.