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You’ll find a whole host of great new functions designed to make your life easier:

Time zones are now fully supported so the correct time shows when the file is sent

The improved spam filter support means your files should always arrive as intended without being delayed

New mail merge feature means you can send to multiple people at once and the emails will all be personalized

Receive a personalized confirmation email so you know when someone downloads the file you’re sending them (paid accounts only)

All accounts now have much higher limits for the same price - which means you can send larger files and they can be downloaded more often

Direct linking to files - paid accounts can share embedded links for extra speed

Receive files more efficiently by allowing people to select exactly which user they want to send a file to

Quickly send files up to 100Mb from the homepage for free, without having to sign up for an account

Easily and professionally send files up to 2Gb for just USD$5, without even needing an account

Send files faster - you can now send files without having to put them in your filing cabinet first

To discover the full range of benefits these improvements can give you login to your account now at: http://2large2email.com/login

or sign up for a new account at the new look website 2Large2Email.

You may be aware 2Large2Email has recently undergone some significant changes.

We have made improvements to a number of features on your account which will help you work faster and smarter.

This, the second in our series of three blogs, will show you how the new additions to the filing cabinet and contact/address book will give you a more streamlined and user-friendly space to work in.

The improvements to the filing cabinet are aimed at giving you more control over the way you store data in your account.

To help you control your online data filing you can now:

Rename files in your filing cabinet

Search files in your filing cabinet

Allow advanced sorting of files

Upload new versions of files to your filing cabinet

Upload new files or send files from your filing cabinet at the same time

View the streamlined new Flash up-loader to monitor the progress of your uploads

The contact management function has also been adapted to suit the busy lifestyles of our users.

To help you save time you can:

Search users and addresses

Advanced sorting of user addresses

Import address books from Gmail and CSV

Search sent items

Advanced sorting of sent items

Visit 2Large2Email now!

New Improved 2Large2Email is Out Now: 2Large2Email has had a makeover!

The addition of some great new features is sure to make your account much easier to use.

You’ll find changes in a few places so to help you become familiar with them we thought we’d give you a quick overview of what’s new.

This is the first in a series of three blogs designed to help you make the most of 2Large2Email.

Here are some ways your account has been improved to help you:

The entire account section has been totally re-written to make it faster to load and easier to use

New look - you can now send files faster and more simply

Cleaner more user friendly design - 2large2Email is now easier than ever to use

Recipients now receive a more intuitive, cleaner and professional email when you send them a large file

Now you can login using either your email address or your favourite username to make using 2large2Email faster and easier

New “how to” videos (Finished soon) just in case you need a helping hand or want a refresher

Forgot about your account?  You’ll get a reminder email if you haven’t used your account in a month

New account holders will now receive four “handy tips” emails after signing up to make file sending more efficient

To discover the full range of benefits these improvements can give you login to your account now at: http://www.2large2email.com/login

The internet is a common mode of conducting business today and most offices have internet connectivity in some form.

The convenience and flexibility of email has seen it labelled one of the greatest developments in modern business communication in recent history.

The benefits of email are widely acknowledged but the myriad uses of the internet in business are limitless.

Many companies exist solely on the internet and have no offices or shop fronts.

These companies can generate unbelievable levels of profit and many of them stand out as shining examples of the productive capacity of the online world.

But as with anything, there are dissenting voices against the internet focused around its effects on business productivity.

Many of these voices come from companies who see their productivity going down the gurgler because of the distractions the internet can cause their employees.

This is not totally unfounded and there is documented evidence that employees do waste productive time surfing the web instead of working to achieve outcomes.

There are so many examples of these arguments and their validity cannot be denied but a negative approach to the potential of the internet could cost a company just as dearly.

For many established businesses it is not possible to use the internet to achieve the success of online companies and many of them have no need to do so.

That said there is no reason email needs to be the end of the line for businesses when it comes to their online activities.

The internet provides a great platform for internal business management and web-based business applications have the potential to boost productivity markedly.

Web-based business applications are the new email.

They can serve functions that make your business more productive and professional and often come at a fraction of the cost of software and other management systems.

The idea that the internet is just for “pornography and pictures of cats” is becoming increasingly outdated: web-based applications are really giving the internet some purpose and productivity is the beneficiary.

I am a big Google fan. I love the way they turn markets upside down. Search has been revolutionised, they have ventured into the operating system market, and they are doing amazing things with library books to the Internet. That’s all great. I think though, the inner geek is shining through with their maps.

Yesterday someone from our Sydney office needed directions to get to a partner’s office on Miller Street, Chesterfield from North Sydney, Australia. Chesterfield happens to be a suburb not to far away from North Sydney but also a location in South Carolina, USA. I would think, if I were Google,  and two results came up for the same name I would either go with the closer destination or maybe offer an alternative.

Google Maps however thought it would be hilarious to have us kayak across the Pacific ocean to Japan. Ha ha. It’s all well and good to offer a great service but sometimes you just have to be a little bit more realistic.  We had a good laugh but decided we were not inclined to go paddling.

Side-splittingly hilarious, but not very helpful.

It has been touted for many years that paper would become a relic of times-gone-by and the world of electronic communication has made the process of modern business less reliant on the ancient technology.

Today, very few businesses use paper to send letters between offices or memos between employees and the reams of paper that used to pour through offices is now a thing of the past.

Sellerbyte is sitting at the forefront of this ‘paper revolution’.

Two of the company’s products Ecofiling and 2Large2Email are leading the way to an increasingly paperless world.

These programs remove the need for paper from many common tasks conducted daily in offices around the world.

While paper still remains a staple of the office environment for many applications, the number of tasks that can be conducted without paper has increased steadily.

Basic paper tasks, such as reading newspapers and letters, have already been made almost obsolete and the process is moving into more complex areas.

High level office tasks are now the target of software developers, like Sellerbyte, and the Ecofiling and 2Large2Email programs represent a rapidly expanding range of paperless solutions.

The revolution is dependent on this kind of software development and giving users a better experience with more efficient outcomes than the preceding technology is the name of the game.

The concept of a completely paperless world may sound impossible but it drives the innovation process and gives companies like Sellerbyte a strong incentive to continue the development of software which will facilitate the transition.

The process will be long - paper has been used for over two thousand years and is ingrained in the communication habits of all peoples – but all good things take time.

I’ve been doing a lot of contracts and agreements lately, and one thing I’ve noticed is that I’m using whole lot of paper. And I mean whole lot! Just yesterday I had to print four copies of a 20 page agreement.  Two for me and two for a supplier.

It strikes me as a waste, not only of paper, ink but also of valuable time. Even Web-based businesses often still require printed and signed contracts to be sent to their offices or legal departments before contracts take affect. This is crazy! I give much kudos to those companies with foresight and vision who are prepared to invest the time and money it takes to have online agreements in place.

I envisage a Web application that allows two or more parties to engage on a Web-based document with digital signatures, collaboration and security to enable agreements to be signed and authorised without printing a single page.   I imagine  the agreement could be e-mailed as a PDF attachment to all of the stakeholders. To be honest, I don’t think this would be too difficult. Of course, the legal enforce ability of such a contract would have to be confirmed before the parties engaged in its use.

Maybe such a Web application already exists? I don’t know of any that can be used on a per use, or subscription basis, but I’m pretty sure there will be a market for it in the future.

Yesterday, I got a new toy. It is called Dictate from MacSpeech and its speech recognition from Mac OS X. so today, I have decided to write a dialogue, or should I say speak a clog.

I am not going to make any edits or corrections to what the software detects as my voice. Sir everything on the screen will actually be what I have said, were at least the software’s interpretation of what I said. So when I installed the software it basically said that they had to train the software to my voice at ramming through a five-minute storytelling process. All I had to do was read a story that appeared on the screen. Apparently the software would recognize what I was saying and adapt to my voice pattern. And the more I use this software is the more accurate it becomes however you can tell that there are still quite a few little errors appearing from time to time.

People here in the office have asked me why I’m bothering spending the time with this new technology. Well, yesterday morning was the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back. One of our partners in China sent me an e-mail that required a significant and lengthy response to ensure that all the details and content was accurate and not confusing. I ended up spending about one hour typing a document that was in my head. In other words, I knew what I needed to write I just needed to type it and put it on the screen. In all it would have been over 1000 words. Afterwards I realised that I just wasted a full hour typing a document that would have taken about 10 minutes on a telephone call to convey verbally. One of the other guys here in the office is an author and he swears by DragonDictate for writing his books. After his encouragement and goading I decided it would be worth my time up front for a longer term benefit.

Considering the fact that our reply to about 250 e-mails a day, I honestly believe that accurate dictation software would really speed up the way they do business. I suppose even with the edits that I would need to make to a real story or e-mail that I was writing it would take me that long to go back through and make some grammar and punctuation corrections.   Obviously, reading back through this now, I can see that the software has made a few mistakes. I have to say no considering I only started using it yesterday it’s doing pretty well, even if it doesn’t understand is that the common words like the abbreviation for Web log.

I can only type at about 40-45 words per minute so even if this thing does create a few errors that I have to edit, I am still well in front.

I love technology, systems and all other practices that make businesses more productive and efficient. I have a feeling that by the time the software has properly adapted to my voice pattern (or I have learnt to speak properly) it will be more accurate, faster and a lot more reliable to use than to actually type documents and e-mail is. Maybe in a few weeks I will do another sample of text just to see if the software has improved its accuracy to make it an even better business tool.

By the way — this block of text only took me about  2 1/2 minutes to speak and would have taken me at least 15 minutes or maybe even 20 to type.

There are different kinds of businesses in the world. Some require lots of capital and lots work just to turn a buck. And then there are some businesses that seem to check all the boxes when it comes to being the great, simple business.

Here are a few things to look out for:

Low start up costs. This is important when you’re a new business because you want to keep your cash handy. Remember, cash is king. Most businesses go broke simply because they run out of cash to pay bills. For instance, someone who has just started a bookshop might not be able to pay the phone bill because they’ve just bought nine pallet loads of books. When we started 2Large2Email we decided to keep all the costs down as much as possible. We’re not funded by some deep pocketed VC - and actually, even if we were, it would be irresponsible not to treat it like our own hard-earned cash.

No physical product. Somewhat tied to low start up costs, not having actual physical product can reduce cashflow problems, which allows businesses to grow more steadily. I don’t necessarily mean having a services company but companies that can offer intellectual property (such as e-books, music, software) have a great advantage. Once it’s produced the costs can stay down.

Actually make some money. Strange concept huh? I have never been able to fully comprehend why the internet industry has evolved to be something that gives things away. What other industries do this? Petroleum? Grocery? Travel? I don’t think so! I’m all for offering free samples, trials and the like, but premium services and so forth can be justifiably charged for. If you offer something of value, people will respect the value and they will contribute financially. And obviously the long term benefits of revenue include profit, which is always nice.

Be scalable. If the business is going to grow, be ready to grow with it, but don’t put yourself in a position where the hundredth customer requires as much input as the first did. You need to develop systems to automate the processes of customer acquisition, processing and support as much as possible. Once this can be achieved you’re well on the way to allowing your business to work for you.

There are other factors that you can build into developing the right business strategy. Start with the basics listed above and build on them. I’d be delighted to hear ideas!

In 1942 Erwin Rommel commandered the German Panzer division that was sweeping across North Africa. With little opposition Rommel was routing his enemy and pushing towards Egypt. The British had nothing to throw at Rommel and the future looked dim. If the Germans were to reach Cairo the Allied war effort would be in serious trouble as the Panzers would open up the rich oilfields of the Middle East, giving the German war machine unfetted access to oil.

In mid-1942 British High Command took the decision to install a new commander for the badly depleted British Eighth Army. Immediately after taking control of the situation General Bernard “Monty” Montgomery changed the British tactics. Controversially Monty decided to stay and fight. He ordered his men to dig in and to make the defences impenetrable. It’s said that High Ranking Officers were physically sick when he ordered all fallback, retreat and surrender plans be burned. There was to be no option but to fight to the death.

In the current impending recession businesses need to make the same kind of decisions. Do they make a whole-hearted, brazen stance and aim to weather the storm, or is it better to cut losses early and leave the market before compiling too much debt?

From an outsider’s perspective, those companies that “stay and fight” might look stupid risking capital, reputation and goodwill. But the potential upside for the companies that are still alive when the economy turns is massive. They will have a database of customers, intellectual property, reputation and a few years of experience.

On the other hand, some companies don’t have this luxury. Imagine a listed company with shareholders making the same kind of stance! (I’m talking deliberately, not through negligence). Our parent company is publicly listed with shareholders all over the world. I’m pretty sure the majority of these people would be pretty angry if they lost all their money through a strategy as outlined above. Our little division that runs 2Large2Email is pretty aggressive but we’re also formulating plans to ride out this nasty financial crisis wave. We want to be around, helping people send their files, for many years yet.

So don’t expect 2Large2Email to hit the headlines because of some mad “dot-com-boom” style “get users at any cost” shennanigans like giving away cars or trips to the moon or whatever. We’ll just focus on running a solid little business that sends large files, thank you very much.

Note: In case you didn’t know, Monty and the Allies won at Alamein, driving Rommel from North Africa and depriving the Germans of the much sought-after oil. That’s a pretty big upside.