SmallBizResource Blog -- Internet

Microsoft Office Live Small Business Gets Big Upgrade

Posted by Fredric Paul Monday, Feb 11, 2008, 07:03 PM ET

In a bid to get more small busineses to do business online, Microsoft is making key components of its suite of online small business services free -- and no longer requires a credit card to get started.

I spent some time last week talking to Michael Schultz, director of marketing for Office Live Small Business, about the changes to the suite of Web design, hosting, Web business, and email services announced today. He talked about the new e-commerce capabilities, better analytics, improved email marketing capabilities, and new pay-per-click advertising tools.

But I was more interested in the word FREE. In a move designed to get more small businesses (typically those with fewer than 10 employees) hooked, users now get a free site, free hosting, free design tools, and some 30 free business applications, including a content manager and online workspaces. Microsoft will even give you a free, private, custom domain for a year (it's $14.95/year after that) along with 100 ad-supported email accounts with 5GB of storage each.

But what really impressed me is that (apart from the domain name) you don't have to give Microsoft a credit card to get started. Of course, you have to look at ads on the site (though there are no ads on your customer-facing pages) and many other services and transactions do carry fees.

But to me, no-credit-card-to-get-started is a big deal, and should make Office Live Small Business much more attractive for small companies. Similarly, getting a domain name free for a year -- Microsoft's Schultz assured me that users could take the domain with them at any time -- also seems like a very good deal.

Finally, while the suite now works with Firefox, Schultz didn't have much to say about Microsoft's proposed buyout of Yahoo -- which offers some similar services -- might affect the suite.

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