Here are some of my favorites:

Box.net - online file sharing

http://www.google.com/a/smallbiz/ - Google Apps... many great biz tools here

MyHours.com - http://www.myhours.com/ - Time Tracking

Pando - http://www.pando.com/ - Sending large files via e-mail

RoboForm - http://www.roboform.com/php/land.php?affid=bsetc - Stores passwords and forms that you fill out often...

Time and Date - http://www.timeanddate.com/ - You can check out calendars, holidays, etc. here... Great for scheduling around major holidays

Audio Acrobat - http://bsetc.audioacrobat.com/ - manage your audios, podcasts, etc. You can record telephone calls, teleseminars, etc. for easy storage

Feed Demon - http://www.newsgator.com/NGOLProduct...odID=FeedDemon - managing your blogs

Basecamp - http://basecamphq.com/?referrer=businessservicesetc - Client management and great if you have a team of virtual assistants

1ShoppingCart - http://www.marketerschoice.com/app/?pr=6&id=96539 - the most popular shopping cart and autoresponder system amongst internet marketers and the software I use for shopping cart and marketing

1001 Fonts - http://www.1001fonts.com/ - free and paid fonts

Stock Xpert - stock photography - http://www.stockxpert.com/

Basement Ventures - http://www.thebasementventures.com/ - free teleconference lines

GotVMail - toll free phone numbers with multiple extensions - http://gotvmail.com/land.php?sp=25288&img=3&kbid=3848

Ad Impact - http://www.adimpact.com/?aid=2501 - create post-it notes for your home page to help direct traffic where you wish

Bluehost - best web hosting company EVER - http://www.bluehost.com/track/eblaskie2/

Icebrrg - https://www.icebrrg.com/ - create online web forms

And then non-web-based software I always use:

- Adobe Professional 8
- Adobe PhotoShop, Illustrator & Page Maker
- Dreamweaver
- Smart FTP
- Microsoft Office
- Mozilla Firefox
- Skype, MSN Messenger & Yahoo Messenger
- Audacity for audio editing

Hope this helps!!!!

__________________
Sincerely,

Erin Blaskie of Business Services, ETC

Thats a great list Erin. I'll be sure to check at least some of them out. I am interested in finding a good online storage systyem, so I am particularly interested in box.net. That will ge on the check into today list.

Thanks for sharing your list Erin. There are several on there I'm going to check out.

My list is fairly short, but here is what I use most often:

Microsoft Office (mostly Word and Excel)
QuickBooks Pro 2007
MyHours.com - free online time tracking
Airset.com - free online group collaborative tool (calendar, upload folders, task lists, message board, etc.)
Adobe Photoshop Elements 5.0
Adobe Pro 8
Microsoft Office Live - Email, online calendar
GoToMyPC.com - remote access

I should have done more research and taken better advantage of some of the free software out there before purchasing a couple of them, but some of them were products I had used at previous employers and was familiar with. Luckily I did buy most of it off Ebay for a fraction of the cost of buying retail.

I'm truly amazed at everything I have learned so far since becoming a VA. It has really opened my eyes up to a whole new way of doing things and a whole new world of technology. I always thought I was up on this kind of stuff until I came here! LOL I have been having the most fun, since I started this adventure, learning new ways of doing things, playing with new software, networking and meeting new people, learning how to build a website... maybe I'm just a big nerd but I'm having a blast!!

__________________
Rebecka Melson ~ Virtual Business Services

Does anyone have a favorite desktop publishing program? Also is quick books the best/easiest accounting program? I use print shop pro microsoft office and AVG antivirus.

Thanks

John Runer

I just downloaded Open Office and its pretty easy to use and all of my MS Word documents work on it to. I really like the program especially since its in my price range - FREE .

Free is something my budget works with! I am glad to now it works with office.

John Runer

Has anyone used Thunderbird for email use? I'm looking at free software on this website http://www.designrific.com/blog/2007...-and-open.html and I am wondering if anyone has used Thunderbird?

If you do check out that website - number 23 is a pretty cool thing. Its a brainstorming software that helps you map out your ideas. That sounds pretty cool.

Another website that is free that I just came across is http://www.highrisehq.com/. It looks like it is a CRM website. If someone has tried it, please let me know. Thanks!

snjordan14,
I have used Thunderbird & Firefox for years and LOVE them both. Thunderbird also now has an add-in calendar that makes it more like outlook. Works great. You can contact me if you have any more questions about either of these.
I'm happy to help,
Christina
Vital Office Solutions