Since we launched the Small Business Web last March, we’ve had over 40 amazing, like-minded companies join our mission to provide powerful, affordable software to small business owners. As we’ve grown, so has our Small Business Website. We’ve given it a pretty new look and made it a bit easier to find things.
This week, I’m at the Web 2.0 Expo in New York meeting with the Small Business Web founders and other small business owners to see what’s next. We’re even planning a Small Business Web-up for Wednesday night to talk small biz – please stop by if you are in town and would like to meet up for a drink!
Want to be a part of the Small Business Web? Join the Google group or, if you have an API, sign the manifesto! We’re taking over the Internet, one small business at a time.
Last week, Stephanie and I presented the first BatchBook webinar specifically about integration with our partners from The Small Business Web. The webinar, The Small Business Webinar: Using BatchBook’s integration partners to achieve contact management bliss, was a hit and we received many requests for an archived version. We’re pleased to announce it has been added to our Screencasts page (and is also embedded below).
Screencast: The Small Business Webinar: Using BatchBook’s integration partners to achieve contact management bliss
Tomorrow (Thursday September 10 at 2:00 ET), we’ll take a break from our regularly scheduled webinar to bring you a special one. This webinar, called The Small Business Webinar: Using BatchBook’s Integration Partners to Achieve Contact Management Bliss, will focus on how you can enhance your BatchBook experience through our integration partners.
The webinar description:
Join Stephanie Sweeney and Adam Darowski of BatchBlue Software as they demonstrate how to use BatchBook’s integration partners to achieve contact management bliss! You’ll see how easy it is to send emails to your customers, keep track of outstanding client invoices, import business card and other contact data, even monitor support questions all from the comfort of your BatchBook account.
With our integration partners, we’ve made it easier to manage your contacts, your way.
Last month, I celebrated my two year anniversary with BatchBlue. I can’t believe it’s been two years already. I can’t believe it’s only been two years.
I also had a birthday right around that time, so the oh-so-thoughtful Sean figured that made it a perfect time to upgrade my laptop. So, I went from the older white MacBook to the shiny new aluminum one. While I love the new computer, it is with some hesitance I let the white one go. The thing has been essentially an extension of my body for the last couple of years. And let’s just say, it’s been well loved:
This was the first laptop I ever stickered up. Each sticker has a story and now is as good a time as any to share them.
Belle: Before we had our lovely Providence office, we were a completely virtual company. Living rooms became conference rooms. One day, I got up from sitting on the floor at Pam’s house. I had a Belle sticker stuck to my butt. Pam has three kids, so this isn’t very surprising. The laptop was already well-stickered at this point, so on it went.
BatchBook: Well, that’s us silly!
Twitter: When Saul Colt sent me an autographed FreshBooks sticker (see #8), he also tossed in an extra Twitter sticker. While there may not be many things I like more than Twitter, Saul Colt is one of them.
WordPress: I’m a big WordPress fan, and Matt Mullenweg gave this sticker to me at SXSW 2007 after I said something nice to him. I saved the sticker until I finally had something worthy to stick it to.
HubSpot: As the developer of a marketing website, I love HubSpot. So many things that were previously trial and error have become well oiled machines (SEO keyword selection, inbound link monitoring, etc.). HubSpot even interviewed Michelle and I for a case study (and released a portion of the interview for their inbound marketing blog). The fact that I just linked to them with their favorite SEO keyword shows you what I learned from HubSpot!)
SimpleBits: Similar to the WordPress sticker, I had this one for a while (since 2006) before applying it to something. SimpleBits is the design shop run by Dan Cederholm in Salem, MA. I got the sticker (and my trademark SimpleBits shirt that I always seem to be photographed in) at a Carson Systems workshop with Dan. Dan’sbooks and his blog heavily inspired the approach I take to design. And he’s a swell guy to boot.
Creative Commons: Michelle gave this one to me, and Creative Commons is a wonderful thing. Personally, I often pretend it’s a CC Chapman sticker.
FreshBooks: As mentioned in #3, this was given to me Saul Colt (that’s his autograph!). At the time, he was the Head of Magic for FreshBooks. Now he holds the same title for Zoocasa.com.
iStockPhoto: Like HubSpot, iStockPhoto just makes my life so much easier. Specifically, I’ve written before about how Kemie (an iStockPhoto contributor) is essentially an honorary member of the BatchBook design team. I got this sticker from the nice iStock team at SXSW in 2008.
bata: When Stephanie went to Japan, she had a little sticker set to help her learn the language. One of her favorite words in Japanese was bata (butter). It kind of became an inside joke and the sticker found it’s way on my laptop.
Firefox: Along with the WordPress sticker, I got this one at SXSW in 2007 and saved it. While I use Safari for browsing, Firefox simply can’t be beat as a development browser.
Kidoinfo:Kidoinfo is a Rhode Island-based site for parents run by our friend Anisa. Anisa has built an amazing resource for local parents. It’s so handy to quickly find something to do on a rainy day!
Barcamp Austin III: Michelle and I made it for the very end of Barcamp during SXSW in 2008. Barcamp is an “unconference” (meaning it is essentially a “user-generated” conference put on by the attendees themsevles). We missed out on the sessions, but we did get to hang out for the incredible live karaoke band Karaoke Apocalypse. That was the night my respect for Chris Brogan and Laura Fitton shot throught he roof.
DEMOfall07: The very last one is the very first sticker to grace the MacBook. When we launched our public beta at DEMOfall07 in San Diego, this laptop was the demo unit. It’s just a simple inkjet label with the company name, station number, and date & time we presented (which actually changed, so it’s not totally accurate). But it might be my favorite of all the stickers.
We’ve been busy these past few weeks hooking up on the backend with many of our favorite web services for small businesses. One of our favorites is FreshBooks, the professional invoicing and time tracking tool.
Since a picture is worth a thousand words, then a screencast must be worth at least a thousand and six. Here’s Adam’s latest screencast explaining how the integration works. HINT: It’s way cool.
We’ve been long-time customers of FreshBooks and really love both the product and the company. We hope this integration will make it easier for you to manage all of your contacts and view their invoices from one place. Here’s a post on the FreshBooks blog talking about the integration as well.
