In Part 2 of this series, I mentioned free services related specifically to blogging.  There are numerous other services available for free to low cost out there that are utilized by not just virtual assistants - but everyone in the business world.  I am not very experienced on most of these services, nor am I endorsing all of them.  The following are just the results of my research.  Please feel free to provide feedback in my comments section on your experiences and any other services you are aware of.

Conference Calls:  Free Conference utilizes long distance phone numbers.  1-800 numbers are available for a fee.  You may also buy recordings of the conference call for additional fees.

Press Releases:  MediaSyndicate, PRWeb  PRWeb provides you with the opportunity to make donations.  The more money, the better and more widespread the release.

Copyright:  Copyscape allows you to obtain copyright information on your Webpage, etc.

E-Newsletter:  Constant Contact is an email marketing solution that is free for up to 50 email addresses.  The fees increase to increase your email list.

Web sites:  GoDaddy.com  As you can see, GoDaddy.com is hosting my Web site for free.  I just have to put up with the banner at the top, which is perfectly reasonable for a start-up business.  It cost me less than $10.00 to register my domain for a year.  They provided template options for me to set up no more than 5 pages.  I got an email account that I can access online, plus this blog account.  I can purchase additional features for additional fees as I want and as I am ready.

Long Distance Calls:  Skype is a voice over the Internet service and is free to download.  A full year of unlimited calls in the US and Canada is $14.95.

Faxing:  eFax is an online faxing service.  They offer a package for free, but the best value for a functional home-based business looks to be the package starting at $16.95 that includes sending faxes by email, a local or toll free number, 1 year of online fax storage, 130 free incoming fax pages per month, and wireless access. 

SharePoint:  SharePoint is an online file sharing and intranet system.  My fellow Colorado VAs highly recommend the program.  Andrea Kalli is considered an expert and trainer for SharePoint.  For $19.99/month you can get 1 GB web space, 50 user accounts, 50 e-mail accounts, and secure online access from any location.  I pulled all my files for the UofVA course utilizing SharePoint.

Timekeeping:  TraxTime is for independent professionals, contractors, entrepreneuers, etc. to track their time on projects for their clients available for $39.00.

Remote Access:  LogMeIn is a secure source that allows others to remote into your computer for support.  I have heard of VAs using this to print reports directly from their client's PC to their client's printer.  There are different pricing packages depending on your needs.  You can try the basic remote access package for free for 30 days.  Then it's $19.75/month or $199.00/year for 5 PCs.

PLEASE NOTE:  All prices mentioned above are subject to change with their developers.  These are the listed prices at the time of posting the article.

Just a Few Other Recent and Related Articles:

~ "Why does anyone pay for a conference call?" by Jack Spirko with ComTech News
~ "Five Neat, Free Software Programs" by Douglas Hanna