Word processor: Using online word -processors all kinds of documentation can be done for free by SME’s such as creating business plans, project reports and various other business documents.

Spreadsheet: This can be used for a number of data-handling operations such as record keeping, creating tables, conducting basic data analysis and creating charts.

Presentation: Presentations can be prepared online for purposes such as marketing,brand-building and business promotion.

Form: Online forms can be created for various purposes and can be mailed to others.

Drawings: Organizational charts, flow charts, design diagrams and many more drawings can  be prepared easily for free by using online drawing editors that are cost-effective.

Data -storage: Online data storage facilities are available where  data and information can be saved  on a web -server and can be accesses through internet anytime.

Data back-up solutions: Free online and off-line  data back -up solutions are available where important data can be effectively stored in an external media or a remote server to prevent loss during a natural disaster or system failure.

Calenders/Planners: Users can create events, make schedules using online calenders and share calenders with teams and groups. They can view their calender by day,week or month . Such a facility  helps an enterprise to plan their activities better by eliminating confusion between co- workers about the upcoming tasks.

Examples of  Online Tools For Documentation and Data management

• Google Docs( docs.google.com) : Free , web-based word processor, spreadsheet ,presentation, form, drawings and data storage service.
• Google Calendar: Free time- management web application . Lets users create events, manage multiple calendars with teams and groups.
• Picasa: It is free software for organizing , editing and printing photos.
• Docstoc Embed: Allow to showcase presentations , PDF’s , word documents and spreadsheets on blog or website.
• Docstoc One click : Allows one to upload any documents to docstoc by right clicking  on the file  from the desktop.  One can send large email documents (upto 50 MB) without attaching files , mainly as weblink.
• Docstoc My Docs: Fastest and friendliest way to store , preview and manage documents online . One can store all documents in their own customised, personal online folders for anytime, anywhere access.
• Contactoffice.com: Personal and/or shared office tools,such as calender ,address book, documents,notes,tasks,forums, meetings,bookmarks, webmail etc
• Editgrid.com: Free advanced online spreadsheet with templates and collaboration features.
• Thinkfree.com: Free online web service,word processor,spreadsheet, presentation program, blog etc.
• Calculator.com: Online calculators  for currency conversation, time calculations, unit conversations, business ,finance, etc.
• Icebrrg.com: Lets anyone easily build online forms for websites and blogs with no requirement for programming , software or special skills. Only a web browser is required and they handle the programming and hosting.
• PDF Convertor: Free online web-based PDF converter.(freepdfconvert.com)

Downloadable Tools

a. Free Word  Processing Software

• Open Office (openoffice.org) : Complete professional freeware office suite ,with professional word processor, spreadsheet, etc. Versions available for  Linux,Windows,Solaris.
• Software Office(softmaker.com): A Microsoft Word-compatible word processor and a Microsoft Excel -compatible spreadsheet on windows for fee.
• Page Plus: (freeserifsoftware.com)
• Scribus ( scribus.net): Word Processor for small business.
• AbiWord(abisource.com): For business owners
• TeeChart Office:(http://www.softpedia.com/get/Office-tools/other-Office -Tools/TeeChart-Office.shtml): Freeware, open source charting ad plotting tool with hundreds of charting styles and multiple configuration parameters. Includes importing data and exporting charts to several formats( JPEG, PNG, GIF etc). Versions available for Linux and Windows.
• PDF Creator (sourceforge.net/projects/pdfcreator): Free ware, opensource, easily creates PDFs  from any Windows program. Use it like a printer in word, StarCalc or any other Windows application.
• hellopdf.com: Free PDF to word Doc Converter.

b. Free tools from Microsoft for viewing documents(http://www.micosift.com/downloads)

• MS Word Viewer: It cn be used to view, print and copy Word documents on a computer that does not have Word installer.
• MS Powerpoint Viewer:  It allows one to view and printfull-featured presentation created in power Point 97 and later versions for those who do not have Powerpoint installer.
• Excel Viewer: Viewer for MS Excel spreadsheets for those who do not have MS Excel installed.

Internet-based technologies, especially electronic commerce(e-commerce),offers SMEs the opportunity to cut business transaction costs and find new customers and suppliers, especially in markets they have not easily been able to reach before-either internationally or regionally . Apart from finding new customers, it also helps SMEs in serving existing and new customers better,offering more value to them. This goes a long way in building brand recognition, customer loyalty and therefore higher sales.

a. Business -to -Business (B2B) E- commerce

By becoming a member of an online B2B e- commerce site,an SME can have a low cost ,highly functional and easy- to- use channel for its sales operations. These are cost- effective marketplaces which provide SMEs with free listings in their directory. It also enhances their visibility in the product catalogues for importers ,exporters,manufacturers,suppliers.They offer a wide range of services that can be availed for free and then upgraded to premium accounts for better listings, visibility and responses. Apart from helping businesses in getting direct trade leads, online marketplaces also support their communication neds through online chatting tools. Both buyers and sellers can benifit by services offered by B2B e-commerce sites.

Potential buyers can freely navigate through the e-commerce sites to search for products and suppliers. If they find a product of their interest , they can send a query and directly contact the suppliers. The other effective way for buyers to find the required product is to register free and post unlimited buying leads – which are like wanted ads that tell the suppliers. These sites also offer instant messenger service that lets the buyer chat and send files to trading partners in real time.
As for suppliers,most of the e-commerce sites offer to create free websites for registered SMEs to display their products. However, premium members get customised listing for their products and better visibility in keyword searches. Through an e-commerce application a whole ordering process can be tracked from payment to delivery and bring greater efficiency in customer service. They can search for buyers and contact them directly or through instant messaging services. All sellers can reply to posted buyer’s leads. Both sellers and buyers also
get free personalised trade alerts daily /weekly in their inbox that notifies them of latest opportunities ,new offers and new product and company listings. Some of the B2B sites also enable SMEs to join discussion groups with their peers across the globe , and thereby share information and experiences. This is valuable especially to enterpreneures who are geographically isolated from peers in the same business and helps create business networks.

b. Business -to-Consumers (B2C) E-Commerce

There are numerous B2C shopping sites that offer fresh and used consumer goods and products for sale online . These online platforms follow highly customer-centric practices that include free home delivery of the products, multiple payment options (such as cash on delivery, internet banking , credit card , cheque pickup and EMI options) , product reviews and price comparisons. Sellers and manufacturers can register for free by filling up an online form and can start displaying their products and services on these online platforms . however, free registrants might face some restrictions in terms of number of products they can display on these sites. Some of the e -commerce platforms also offer auction services,which enables the sellers to sell their products at dynamic prices based on supply and demand. Theses sites offer either either manufacturer’s or seller’s warranty and therefore require sellers to supply quality products to ensure brand value.

Examples of online Tools for sales

II. Downloadable Tools
There are free ERP tools specially designed for SMEs that can support n efficient management of entire sales process. As the coverage of these tools is more comprehensive and not limited to purchase or sales,they will be discussed in later posts. To keep yourself abreast with our news and posts, subscribe to our monthly newsletter.

Free and cost -effective online applications are available for all typical business processes of SMEs. However,there are a number of operational processes that are more technical in nature and are industry specific such as designing,production,quality control and safety. Even though there are online software applications to support these processes,there are specialised tools meant for specific industries and purposes. In line with our focus, we have developed a series of posts which present some of the more generalised areas of business operations of SMEs and highlight how internet-enabled technologies can help them in increasing efficiency and achieving faster growth. In this post we will focus on the Marketing tools which are available for SMEs

A. Marketing

Some of the biggest challenges that SMEs face are reaching out to the target audience for their products and services and locating new markets to expand their businesses. Most of the SMEs find it difficult to allocate funds for marketing due to budgetary constraints and depend on goodwill ,personal-contacts  and word-of-mouth for their sales.The general trend is to invest in tangibles such as plant,machinery and office space. However, with greater availability of information loyalty of buyers cannot be taken for granted and systematic marketing and brand building by using the internet as a medium,comes as a boon in such a scenario.

a. Business to Business (B2B) Marketplaces

SMEs generally find it difficult to advertise their products and services in paid media such as newspapers, banners and television. It is also not possible for them to meet large number of potential clients physically in order to market their products, which makes targeting international buyers even more difficult.    B2B marketplaces can provide solutions to many of these issues that restrict SMEs from expanding their market. There are several online B2B marketplaces that offer a wide range of services specifically targeted at the SME sector . These services can be utilised for various aspects of marketing either for free or by spending some nominal amount. These are platforms where both sellers and buyers can leverage the power of internet to have worldwide visibility,interact and conduct business. These portals also support their communication needs and help them display an array of products in variety of ways. Some of the major services offered by B2B portals include:

• Listing of the enterprise:  SMEs can  list themselves in the directory of enterprises on these portals and provide details about their products and services . This service is provided free by most of the B2B portals.  Although these are usually  restrictions in terms of numbers of products that can be uploaded for free ,there are B2B portals that allow suppliers to upload unlimited number of products and services . These portals are great platforms for suppliers to interact with potential buyers and have been very successful for export oriented SMEs. Both national as well as international players looking for specific products can be members of the directory. Any potential buyer searching for similar products or services can view the offerings and contact the suppliers through mail or phone.
• Sales leads: These refer to some specific product/service requirement of a potential buyer posted on the portal. This lead can be used by listed enterprises to sell their products as per their requirement.
• Web-site building: Those SMEs that do not have a website of their own can access this facility to build a simple website for free that can be  used as an interface to reach out to prospective buyers.
• Tenders: A large number of local , national and international  tender documents are available on these portals. These can be accesses for free and the bidders  have to incur costs only while applying. At present , IndiaMART is the only portal in india that offers free tender service in the market.
• Trade shows: These portals regularly update the members regarding various local, national and international trade shows where they can participate and promote their products.
• Latest news on the sector: The SMEs can keep track of various activities and policy changes  in both domestic and international markets and get up-to-date  information about sector’s performance.
• Value-added services: These are generally paid services offered  at a much lower rate than the market . For instance, partnering with a payment gateway for online money transaction,accessing MIS software ,taking help from a recruitment consultant for getting employaable candidates are some of the value-added services offered by these B2B portals.
• Building Credibility and Bridge Trust Gap: In order to make a purchase decision by global buyers ,they need relevant,unbiased information about the business status of  the sellers. Most B2B portals have processes in place to check authentication and data validation of the supplier. They offer various credibility products by which suppliers can establish their credibility and win confidence of buyers  from across the globe. These products highlight suppliers legal, statutory and infrastructure capability information and add authenticity to their online profiles/websites.

b. Social Media Marketing

Free world-wide visibility through participation in online social media such as social networking sites ,blogs,online platforms for pictures ,video and presentation  sharing and free press release  distribution is becoming an increasingly effetive way to gain exposure for small business owners, who have neither the time nor resources to devote to an all out marketing campaign. It is a simple way to keep current and potential customers  informed of new developments and capabilities. It is worth mentioning that content shared through online social media also helps in search engine optimisation and provide it greater longevity. There are various ways for SMEs to promote themselves through online social media marketing.
Some are mentioned below:

• Professional and social networking: There are two ways of promotion on these platforms. One way is to book  space for advertisement on these sites,which is either free or involves a nominal charge. Another way is to create a profile about the SME that looks and behaves like user profiles to connect and engage with the prospective clients and business partners across  the world. SMEs can promote themselves by posting sales,discounts,or specials on their web profiles/pages. For instance sites such as “Facebook” and “Orkut” can be effectively used to converse and interact with existing and potential consumers and business partners to build mutual rapport and trust.  These sites are fantastic tools in giving brands a voice and a personality. To  achieve this, one needs to put forth a unique personalised style while interacting with potential customers. Some  of the sites offer free business listing for SME services. For instance,” ibibo city adds” is a case in point that enables small businesses to find and publish information or communicate with one another . Another option is to buy the premium ad space, which appear on the profile page of other users . SMEs can choose to either pay for clicks or pay for views. Here, the business groups can target their exact audience with demographic and psychographic filters.
• Blogs: Online writing though blogs can  be used to share thoghts, ideas and concepts. SMEs can take advantage of this online tool to share their knowledge and service offerings. Blogs are short bursts of information , and can include treasures that drive traffic to the main business website or attract prospective customers . Simple, pre-formatted blogs can be created for free through various websites . SMEs can include a link to the blog in every email sent to the company. SME s should aim to post regular updates on blogs related to product features , business perform,ances and new service offerings.
• Video sharing: Online platforms such as “You tube” , present a lot of possibilities for businesses looking to market themselves by expanding their web presence . A video about the product features or service offerings by an SME can be uploaded in such a website and the relevant link can be emailed to the potential clients to present expertise  or a video version of the capabilities brochure . SMEs can also ask their satisfied customers to sit in front the video camera and provide a reference   for future customers. Youtube makes it easy to upload videos to the web for easy sharing and even easier searching.
• Presentation sharing: There are websites such as ‘slideshare’ using  which presentations can be uploaded online for free and shared with clients or business partners . SMEs can upload presentations regarding company profile , capabilities and products. The best way to do this is to post a web-link of the presentation to the prospective clients.
• Picture sharing: Websites such as ‘picasa’ and ‘flickr’ ,can be used to upload and share pictures and images. These are efficient and secure ways of promoting businesses by SMEs by sharing pictures , banners and  images for various purposes such as upcoming events, product offerings, marketing brochures and sales offers.

c. Visibility through search engines

Having online presence through a website of its own is one of the basic requirements for an
organisation to appear in any online search result through online search engines such as “Google”or ”yahoo” . Many SMEs which do not have a website can take advantage of online website-building applications that can be used for making simple websites for free.

“Search engine optimization “ is a method by which SME s can optimize their websites so that they can be properly captured by online search engines when potential buyers , investors or partners search for enterprises producing a specific product or offering a specific service. This is a completely free service .

Besides, there are paid services where the enterprise can choose to appear in online search
results with certain taglines and pay on the basis of either the number of clicks on the ad which
leads to their sites or the number times the ad is displayed. For instance the global search engine giant, “Google” has a programme called “AdWords” through which text ads can be breated that can appear when certain keywords are searched by people online. In 2009, through a special offer to SMEs, Google Adwords platform to start advertising online with a budget as low as Rs200 a day and increase it as per their business demand.

Importance of micro,small and medium enterprises(MSMEs) as one of the most vibrant sectors of the economy is widely accepted. It has created tremendous employment opportunities and currently employs over 60 million workers. It is estimated in terms of value,the sector accounts for about 45% of the manufacturing output and 40% of the total exports of the country.

In recent times, the integration of information and communication technologies, especially the internet,has revolutionised operations across businesses. Some industries  such as travel, hospitality, international trade,business services,banking and finance have completely transformed their operations and service delivery models by leveraging technology.

However,the benifits of internet are highly underutilised in India. Even in cases where internet and IT are used,these are restricted to a few basic processes such as communication and documentation or industry segments. Even if one ignores micro-enterprises ,which are  extremely small in terms of size and investments and have a limited scope of using internet and technology,there is a considerable small and medium enterprise(SME) sector where the adoption of technology can be much more comprehensive . A recent study by Assocham predicts that by 2012 ,the SME sector is expected to contribute 22% to India’s Gross Domestic Product ,up from 17% at present. This paper primarily focuses on the SME sector as potenitial gainers from greater adoption of internet and internet-enabled services.

There are two categories  of tools and value added services that can be accessed using the internet:

1. Products and services that can be downloaded into a user’s computer and used either off-line or on-line. This requires the users  to have a computer with necessary specifications as well as basic operating system and software installed in the computer beforehand.
2. Products and services that can be used online  in real-time by accessing internet irrespective of the computing device used or the location of the user. In fact,there is  now a  move towards a new  technology called cloud computing where all the software and hardware requirements to use applications are handled by a remote server. This technology, which is currently under development globally , is expected to gradually shift the entire desktop operations into an internet environment, by enabling users to access and work on their remote server with installed software programmes; all with a web-browser  and a good internet connection. This will further increase the ability of internet to generate value for enterprises by increasing their productivity and thus,will enable them to grow their businesses.

It is however important to recognise that processes such as communication and documentation with more immediate use technology have witnessed the maximum innovation. Similarly, even in  the case of small scale business ,there have been industry  segments such as travel, resesarch, accounting and book keeping and business services, where technology had a direct role to play in increasing productivity. In such cases,the adoption of internet-based technology solutions has been relatively high.

Therefore,to appreciate the potential impact of these services fully,these services have been analysed under different business processes across the SME value-chain . Further,these processes have been categorised  as operational  processes and functional processes . This also allows us to put in to context the current adoption,future potential and scope for improvement in productivity.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Facebook has already crossed the humongous mark of 500 million and it has proved that world is going social now-a-days. Therefore, social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Linked-In etc are the places where you can find your target customer/client.

So we design a full social image of your company/product using the perfect platform as per your requirement. AdXpresso offers comprehensive social media marketing services to get maximum benefits out of your social media investments, such as branding, targeted traffic and a larger footprint online.

	Budget	Standard	Premium
	3 months	3 months	3 months
Facebook
Account Creation
Facebook Contacts	25 per week	50 per week	100 per week
Daily Status Updates	1	5	10
Integration into Facebook profile	-
Twitter
Account Creation
Custom Twitter Background	-	-
Daily Tweets	1	5	10
Daily Retweets	1	5	10
Linkedin
Account Creation
Slideshare
Creation	-	1	1
Sharing	-	10 sites	20 sites
Flickr
Account Creation
Sharing of images	-	10 sites	20 sites
Blog
Creation of WordPress Blog	-
Weekly Posts	-	1	2
Blog Promotion	-	-
Setup of RSS feed for visitors	-	-
Social Media Account
Social Media Account Creation	25 social media sites	50 social media sites	100 social media sites
Video Optimization
Creating Videos
Submission of Video	10 per month	30 per month	50 per month
Press Rel & Social Bookmarking
Press Release Creation	-	1 per month	2 per month
Press Release Distribution	-	25 per PR	50 per PR
Social Bookmarking (100+ sites)	100 per month	200 per month	400 per month