The new online “market me” tool VisualCV is addicting. I keep adding and tweaking. It’s just fantastic. I’ve added the VisualCV badge at the top of my blog sidebar (and copied it below for easy clicking). Take a look. Give me feedback. Start one of your own!

Guy wrote a post pointing to other examples. See here.

Use it as your online resume, a marketing tool for your consulting service, an announcement for an event, or well, anything you can think of.

Popularity: 100% [?]

Looking for business advice online? There are dozens of websites aimed at helping small businesses and entrepreneurs. Some of them answer quick questions, others develop long-lasting mentoring relationships, and a few help entrepreneurs raise capital. Here is a list of sites I found in the WSJ you can check out.

Score.org

IdeaCrossing.org

GoBigNetwork.com

IMantri.com

MicroMentor.org

Popularity: 93% [?]

This is the small company Web. Just about every tool you need is available as a hosted service (or soon will be), and if you do a little research, you can find them for free.

It used to be difficult and expensive to work on your own. Who hasn’t been frustrated downloading and fixing software? And the cost, yikes! There have been so many applications out of the price range of the average consultant, artist, or small business owner. Those days are gone.

Ad supported services have made free the new keyword of choice. And the marketing strategy for new Web companies to offer a “beginner” version for free makes collaborating and staying organized easy and cost-effective for even the smallest company.

Following are some services that I’ve tried. There are many, many more — so just do a little searching for the tool that you need.

Highrise (37 Signals) - contacts organizer and action item reminders

Jott - voice to text for reminders, action items, or updates to yourself or your contacts

FreeConference - free teleconferences (US and Canada)

Wetpaint - create a public or private wiki and collaborate with people any where in the world. (I did at MarketingReinvented.com.)

Vyew - web conferencing

Popularity: 19% [?]

You can tell Jeb Blount loves what he does. Like most hyper-energized people, he just can’t sit still. Last year he started a social site dedicated to sales people, and has over 100,000 registered users today. Not bad for someone who’s just doing something he calls fun.

Jeb has taken a smart and strategic approach with SalesGravy.com. He didn’t set out to make it financially successful right away, so the site isn’t crammed with ads. It’s focused on people. When you join and set up a profile (which is generally a way to promote yourself and your skills), your picture is posted on the front page. People quickly find you, and friend you. And you immediately feel a part of this group.

There’s a bookstore, sales resources, podcasts, blogs, member chat, and a dozen additional services provided on the site. Jeb encourages users to write articles that offer helpful information to other readers, making user-generated content a core part of the site. All in all, it’s one of the better social sites with a clear audience, focus, and great services.

Popularity: 19% [?]