Cool Product of the Day

Not every business has the means to make an official website for online appointment booking.  Many small businesses focused around a specific community, such as small doctor’s offices, dentists, recreation centers, martial arts dojos, and hair salons, don’t find it economical to invest in a website when they have all the clientele they can handle come to them locally.  Still, with the growing emphasis on Internet-connected mobile devices and people more dependent on their technology than ever before, a web presence is becoming necessary even for these smaller establishments.  Enter Latiss, a cool product that gives community businesses a place on the web and the ability for customers to book online appointments.  Rather than create an expensive website when a company doesn’t have the extra cash or time, businesses using Latiss can still give customers the convenience of booking appointments and checking information online with little extra investment or risk.  Even business owners that truly have no experience with computers can use Latiss with only a little help from a PC tech support service.  Read more »

While universities are centers of education, they are also a business in many ways.  Reputation and student enrollment are major pieces of the puzzle when keeping a college successful.  However, both of those things drop when a college is unable to retain students from year to year.  Whether young people are dropping out of school completely or transferring to other colleges, it always hurts a school significantly.   Fewer students coming back means lower enrollment and therefore lower tuition.  Low retention rates also hurt a college’s reputation and make it more difficult to recruit new freshmen the following year.  Read more »

Accounting is one of the least engaging aspects of running a business, but without good accounting, any company will fall apart.  Computer technology has been a key tool of accounting for a long time, and now with cloud computing taking over the business world, a cool product that marries accounting with the cloud is helping people run their businesses.  Cloud-based services have exploded on the tech startup scene due to their appeal to consumers.  Cloud computer support services are easier to reach.  Cloud-based software is more convenient since it’s accessible from everywhere.  Cloud storage is beneficial since it doesn’t depend on a piece of hardware that needs multiple backups.  So, in theory, why wouldn’t cloud accounting also be a more convenient, easier solution for many small businesses keeping track of their finances?  The folks at Intacct believe that accounting software based in the cloud is part of the answer for small business and that is why they offer this cool product. Read more »

Hotels often live and die by their reputation.  The famous star rating system and referrals from previous travelers are what bring most people to the lobbies of hotels all around the world.  Reputation is key in the hospitality business and the opinion of a hotel’s guests dictates its reputation.  Now, there is a cool product in technology that helps hotels connect better with their customers.  GuestDriven gives hotels the tools to engage and provide for their guests to gain insight into what they need to improve their experience.  GuestDriven then also encourages guests to become brand ambassadors, spreading the good word about particular locations to other potential customers and improving overall business for the hotel.  GuestDriven accomplishes all of these goals through mobile technology.  Read more »

Before the Internet, people’s only real option for finding a respectable quality babysitter or nanny was most often simple word-of-mouth.  Times have certainly changed, as babysitters and nannies often advertise their services on sites like Craigslist.  However, the results from these general posting sites come out mixed at best.  Families are just as likely to get an awful sitter as a great one.  However, cool product UrbanSitter may be able to change the situation for families that seek babysitting help on the Internet.  Read more »

The percentage of Internet traffic that comes from mobile users steadily increases every business quarter and every year.  People engage with the web on their phones and tablets just as much as they do through a standard desktop or laptop.  In many cases, people use their mobile devices even more than their PCs or Macs. Companies need to do as much as possible to accommodate the growing mobile marketplace if they want to advertise their products, services or content successfully.  While major corporations have the resources to develop mobile applications  for themselves and their subsidiaries, privately owned small businesses find themselves at a disadvantage in the age of mobile technology These smaller companies often don’t have the internal business computer services and resources to easily develop mobile versions of their website.  However, thanks to cool product PadSquad, these companies have another option. Read more »

Storage can be a serious pain.  Whether it’s because someone is a college student and constantly moving back and forth between school and home, or because someone has recently moved to a smaller home in a new city on temporary basis, finding adequate storage options that are affordable and convenient is often difficult.  Storage centers often end up in remote areas due to the required space, and it is not always simple to retrieve stored material from them.  This reality is why so many people choose to have friends or relatives hold items for them if they live close by to the area.  It’s easy to pick something up stored in a garage.  Now, there is a cool product named StowThat that depends on a business model where anyone with convenient, extra storage space can rent that space to those who want to avoid traditional storage units. Read more »

Product reviews have been a staple of the Internet for a very long time, especially since Amazon popularized them as an ecommerce giant over the last decade.  Journalistic product reviews have also increased both in quantity and significance, as different technology blogs and news publications dedicate time and page space to them.  With more people having access to these types of reviews thanks to the Internet, the demand for them also increases.  This situation has led to review aggregator sites like Rotten Tomatoes, which aggregates movie reviews, and Metacritic, which aggregates reviews for forms of media.  Users frequent these review aggregator sites to get a good sense of what the public opinion is on certain media such a  movies, games, and music.  Now there is also a cool product that aggregates reviews of consumer electronics for the tech geeks who keep up with the newest devices.  This product is Reviewsor. Read more »

Many corporate executives once dismissed online video back in the early age of the Internet.  However, it has now become a viable alternative to mainstream television and media for many people.  Sites like YouTube, Hulu, DailyMotion, and others have all helped users create content viewed by thousands daily without the help of major corporations.  This shift in media has allowed many people to start producing content with only their computer and creative ideas.

One popular type of user-created content found on video sites is the talk-show format.  Many people record interviews, product and media reviews, and discussions on video sites.  Users usually post these talk shows on a regular weekly or monthly schedule similarly to television.  This emulation of the studio style talk show has managed to get many creators viewers and fans. Still, the quality of the video is lacking when compared to similar shows on television.  This difference in quality is not surprising with such high production value for TV.  The good news is that a cool product named Vumanity may be able to change that for many content creators on the web. Read more »

Busywork is one of the biggest time wasting activities for office workers everywhere.  Mindless data entry and repetitive tasks kill office morale, overall productivity and in general are a major drain on the workplace.  Processing invoices is one such tedious task that no one looks forward to doing at any small business that provides a service to its customers.  For most people, this sort of work is a necessary evil that they put up with only because that have to, given the situation. Read more »