Stories by Elsa Wenzel

Useful sites for small business

Whether you're running a business out of your den or from a penthouse in the sky, you don't have time or money to waste on second-rate tools. These well-designed services and resources are among the best the Web offers for small and midsize businesse...

New Point-of-Sale Strategy Boosts Service and Security

The tools used to ring up sales have come a long way since the cash register. The first point-of-sale (POS) software for Microsoft Windows emerged in the early 1990s. POS systems have since evolved from souped-up cash registers that did nothing more ...

Moving to the cloud isn't for everyone: What to consider

Turning to Internet services instead of in-house servers appeals to companies seeking lean, mobile operations. The "cloud" is a hot buzzword, but moving the bulk of your infrastructure and data there isn't right for every business. Most small compani...

Building a better business backup system

As with buying insurance or taking vitamins, committing to data backup is a hard sell. Everyone knows that storing records safely in more than one place protects the health of a business, but many companies fail to establish backup systems that will ...

Google Apps suite gets 10 times bigger

If you've been using Google Apps for work and other Google services for play, then you know the annoyance of juggling two accounts within one browser. That hassle ended Thursday as Mountain View brought more than 60 services into the Google Apps fold...

Hands-on with Microsoft Office Mobile 7

Microsoft's release of Windows Phone 7 brings updated mobile-formatted Word, Excel, and PowerPoint programs, and OneNote Mobile, to your fingertips. The touchscreen-friendly revamp of Office Mobile is radically different from version 6.5. And files a...

Google's yellow search box looks to the cloud

Google's business search box will sift through data in the cloud and behind company firewalls with the Monday release of Google Search Appliance 6.8.

Facebook Ads secrets from an insider

Many people log on to Facebook primarily for fun, but businesses are increasingly turning to the social networking site as an advertising gold mine. By placing ads on Facebook, you can zero in on a select portion of some half a billion users accordin...

'Limitless' whiteboarding tool enables online meetings

A unique online presentation tool on Thursday began letting users in multiple locations work on the same page at the same time. With Prezi Meeting, up to 10 people can access and edit Flash-based presentations made in Prezi.

Save Serious Money With a Business Energy Audit

Sluggish sales and hard-to-get loans may blight the business landscape, but cutting energy waste can bring a big payoff to a small company. To shave liabilities off your profit-and-loss statement, aim to slash your power consumption instead of your w...

Off-the-grid gadget chargers provide power in a pinch

Keeping mobile phones and other portable electronics charged is a hassle if you make frequent business trips or work in multiple locations. Inevitably, your smartphone's battery dies far from a power source just when you need to make a crucial call o...

Spam: America's unwelcome export

America: The land of herbal Viagra pitches, offers for graphic teen pornography, and low-interest-mortgage hard sells? That's the global face of the United States, thanks to spam, say Web experts from around the world.