I develop on Windows. Whether that’s good or bad, I am happy with it. Until now I’ve been a subscriber of the Microsoft Action Pack which basically is yearly MSDN-like subscription service with the latest versions of all their popular software (from their OS’s to the complete Office suite). It has been created for Small IT Businesses and enables them to recommend Microsoft products to their customers.

But earlier this year Microsoft announced they would require subscribers to take an exam to prove their knowledge of the products. I must admit I can understand this policy change.

However, I am not interested in taking an exam with them and since I cannot renew my subscription, I am evaluating my options. And I have to do this quickly as my subscribtion expires on November 15th. Since I only really use Windows XP, Office and Visio I’ve summed it up like this:

• Windows XP: I have an OEM license that came with my PC’s, so basically that’s fine. No new versions, but I currently don’t feel a need to upgrade. I’m not (yet) ready to use Ubuntu to run everything so I’ll stick with XP for now.
• Office (Outlook, Word, Excel): I can narrow this down to Outlook (which I use heavily). Basically I have two options: use Gmail or buy Office. If I don’t buy Office, other applications can be replaced by open-source variants.
• Visio: I don’t use it that often so I’ll probably find a way around it.

So basically it’s Gmail or Outlook. The battle:

I already mentioned a complete move to Ubuntu. The biggest issue is: it will require several hours to get everything set up and be productive. Time I don’t have at the moment. Although I don’t want to exclude it completely as I’ve really started to enjoy Inkscape lately (and used GIMP in the past) which overcomes some barriers. I haven’t found a replacement for Adobe Fireworks though.

I’ll post an update after November 15th. Any suggestions are highly appreciated!

Edit: I almost forgot! Jeroen reminded my about the sync with my cellphone. After some panic, Lifehacker to the rescue.

Many freelancers and small businesses don’t like to write quotes and proposals. Depending on the project, me neither. I especially dislike getting into it. Once you get going, it doesn’t seem so bad.

In my case one of the reasons is that I like working on actual projects better. Since I have more than enough work to do, quotes mostly just get pushed back to the last hours of the day.

Lyndoman from Cornwallseo doesn’t like them either.

But don’t despair! There is someone who does. Steven from Zion (Dutch) told us multiple times he likes it at least as much as coding. And according to him, if I remember correctly, he has an extremely high success rate of 80% (where mine is below 50%). Being pickier about the projects you accept and the time you put into your quote of course has an effect on this.

But why not start www.IWriteYourQuote.com? The one that writes the quote gets 20% (with a low border for small projects) if it gets accepted. You can end up with something like Elance, oDesk or crowdSPRING, but it doesn’t have to be that big.

Lets say the unlikely occurs: you have too much spare time and you want to come up with a great idea to build your next “web 2.0″ project around. Of course you need an idea that will (at some time) generate revenue. I mean: everything but the next Twitter.

This could get you going: have a look at subjects you’re interested in yourself. The obvious ones: your hobbies, your education, your work,… or something you’ve always wanted to do. It’s a good thing if you already know a lot about the subject. That cuts costs in getting content and of course shines off in the actual result.

Some guidelines when picking a subject/sector:

• An outlined niche is always good: the bigger the audience, the bigger your project will be.
• It’s easier when your audience is already accustomed to the web, but there may be less competition in “emerging” markets.
• Evaluate competition but do not let them dispose a perfectly good idea.

Take that subject and have a look where money transfers from one person or company to another. If no money is involved, it may be good to stay away (watch out for the Twitter-syndrome).

Now think about what you can create to:

• Improve/enhance the way “business” is done.
• Raise the income that is made out of each action.
• Make the whole process easier.

Depending on the subject you chose, that should not be that hard at all.

And that’s it: if you picked a good subject you should already be motivated and full of ideas. Just find a nice URL and get going!

Some examples of projects along this line: flickr, Adwords, eBay, Basecamp, Blinksale, Copilot, SeoMoz,…

When you have finally built the next best thing in Web 2.0-land and are looking for more customers, visitors, subscribers,… maybe this approach can help you.

You have probably built your project with a specific audience in mind (if for some unexplainable reason you did not, take time to think of that now and evaluate if everything still aligns!). Now use the web to get lists of that target groups’ contact details.

Let’s say your customers are small businesses. Try looking for lists of their certifications: they always like to mention their contact details (just like you need to do yourself). Or if you are looking for people that like to travel, use social networking sites to pull out lists of people that indicated they like visiting specific countries.

The concept is: there are lists of contact details for almost everything. Think about where your prospects gather. The only thing you need to do afterwards is go through them and contact them. As personal as possible. It doesn’t harm to get a good copywriter (Dutch) to create an attractive e-mail or letter of course.

Even with an average success rate of 5%, that can be more rewarding than “lazy” alternatives like Google Adwords because you are 100% certain the people you contact are your audience.

Let’s just hope they take the bait!

Steven pointed me to Guy Kawasaki who wrote a short but inspiring post about entrepreneurship in general.

Venture capitalists like Guy seem to be rare or unexisting in mainland Europe as far as I know. You have business angels who do invest but rarely in Web 2.0 entrepreneurs.

Well… it may be even better to do it all by yourself if you can. And on the web, you can.

A recommendation to get even more motivated: Getting Real by 37signals.