Emily Raij, Maupin House
I’m not going to write about resolutions or the economy, but I would like to offer a round-up of new, budget-friendly (free!) tools we’ve either used at Maupin House or are in the process of learning more about. As always, if you have feedback on anything or want to make your own recommendation, please post a comment.
- Free file sharing at www.MediaFire.com. MediaFire lets you upload, share, and store files up to 100 MB each for free. The free access doesn’t even require you to sign up or download any software. You can create unlimited folders and have an unlimited number of uploads and downloads, so this is a great, user-friendly way to share large files that are too big to email (book files, ads, media files, etc.). Uploading is fast, so files are generally available for downloading the same day. Upgrading to the paid MediaPro service lets you share larger files up to 10 GB each and offers more security and service features. Business packages allow even larger files and provide additional support.
- Free file conversion at www.Zamzar.com. Need to turn a PDF into a Word doc or an mp4 into an mp3? You can convert five different types of files quickly and for free with Zamzar: document, image, music, video, and other formats (such as compressed files). Free access lets you convert files of 100 MB or less and run five concurrent conversions simultaneously. Paid options allow for larger files, online storage, and faster conversion times. As with MediaFire, you don’t have to sign up or download any software, and files are usually converted within a day.
- Free online document publishing at www.Issuu.com. Documents you’d normally find in print, such as magazines and catalogs, can be turned into online publications you can share, integrate with your Website, and get reader statistics on. You will need to sign up and have Flash on your computer, but uploading and using Issuu is free. The paid IssuuPro offers more professional design features and Google optimization (for higher search engine rankings). Issuu might not replace your print catalog just yet, but it’s a nice way to share your products online and expand your audience.
- Free e-commerce Web platform at www.magentocommerce.com. Magento is an e-commerce platform, or online store, that is said to offer more flexibility than other open-source (free, shareable) or even paid e-commerce programs. Some of the most talked about features of Magento are that it’s easy to customize for your business, has an active community of users that share ideas and support one another, and allows retailers to manage multiple stores from one location. You can start with the basic free version or pay to upgrade for more support and options.
- Free info on XML at http://toc.oreilly.com/startwithxml. XML is a specification for creating custom mark-up languages; in other words, it’s a way to encode information using tags (much like HTML) so that it can be shared and adapted. XML is a pretty technical thing, but it affects publishing and other information-driven industries by allowing documents to be used over the Web—such as turning an InDesign book file, Word doc, or PDF into an e-book that can be read online. XML has the potential to expand content, providing more ways to share (and sell) information. O’Reilly Media has a great site on this evolving trend at http://toc.oreilly.com/startwithxml/ and covers such topics as where the workflow begins—with the author, the editor, or the designer. Most of us non-technical folks might not be ready to start using XML, but we can at least begin thinking about the type of content we have and whether we’d like to be able to adapt and share it.
Nice tools — thanks for sharing!
Have you looked at Google Documents for free file sharing or Google Calendar for a group calendar? All you need is a (free) Google email account. Each can be found just by searching their name.