If you've got a filing cabinet--or desk--overflowing with documents, or if you want more thoughtful file management in general, a scanner can save you space, time, and ultimately money.

The basic process uses OCR (optical character recognition) software to digitize documents, typically turning them into searchable PDFs. That software is often bundled with the scanner; just look for a device with an automatic sheet-feeder for big jobs. Otherwise, you'll have to keep manually adding pages.

TeamViewer lets you connect between employees--and contractors or customers--to share online presentations, whiteboards, transfer files, and more. It's a virtual meeting environment that can save you time and costs versus face-to-face communication.

While the home version is not supported for business applications, it's a free download and includes the same features; check it out to see if TeamViewer will help in your situation.

Aside from cheap tricks to reduce paper and ink costs, you can take a broader perspective of your company's use. Print Job Manager records who prints what, how much, and provides other details about where you can cut back. Sure, it's an incremental step to savings, but for bigger businesses especially, those bits can add up.

Your biggest initial question is if a Print Job Manager can save money, since you'll pay for it per-user or -computer. Prices scale fairly well to small installations, but I think you'll only recoup your initial investment--and then some--with dozens of employees. Regardless, if your office seems to have a high volume of printing, check out the 30-day demo to see if it'll fit your needs.

Backups are only as good as how you make and keep them. For best results, you'll want redundant backups, including one offsite to protect from a major disaster. But instead of paying monthly fees to store data inside a hollowed-out mountain (which sure tempts the super-villain side of my personality) you can have nearly the same level of protection with no ongoing fees.

Form a backup-exchange plan with another business or friend to cut costs. You host their backup, and they host yours. This data criss-cross should be enough for most small, and many medium-sized businesses.

Your medium- or small-business can live or die by its marketing. One of the greatest angles costs you no capital. Establish yourself as an expert in your field by offering advice through websites and magazine trade articles. Readers will migrate to your business, and you can point potential customers back to the articles for an extra marketing push.

To get the best results, find publications and topics that fit. I know a therapist who has written about meditation for spirituality and yoga websites. He uses mindfulness in his practice and has built up a stream of clients who have found him through those articles. Consider these tactics for nearly any other service-based business.

Corporate discounts let employees buy cheaper movie tickets, phone plans, and more, but they're for companies with thousands of employees, right? Wrong. Depending on the program, businesses with about 35 employees will often qualify, but I've seen programs for small businesses of just a few. Plus, you can establish your own relationships with local businesses, both promoting yourself to their employees and saving your workers cash.

Corporate discounts succeed by increasing overall sales for a third-party company, while offering your workers a discount. You'll promote the savings in an office bulletin board or HR handout, and you should be able to give employees these benefits at no other cost.

As I prepare to launch an online business, I'm encountering the typical startup steps. Branding and naming are important; of course you should pick an identity with an open domain name. (Visit any registrar, or even Wolfram Alpha to check.) But take precaution against having to change your name later by entering a trademark search, too.

I feel silly mentioning that a free website isn't as good as an attorney who will research and file your claim. But if you see that someone already has a trademark on your name before you even launch, you can save a lot of headache.

In some situations, you might need multiple computers, so you'll just need to get a new keyboard, mouse, and display each time, right? Instead, try a more effective--and cost-effective--ways to use two systems. Here area few ways to get multiple-system benefits without the full multiple-system cost.

Virtualize
If you just need to check web design within different versions of Windows, for example, you could run those operating systems in virtual machines. In this case, you'd just use a single computer, but the VM software allocates your hardware resources so that you can install another operating system at the same time.

IT management and help desk software can help maintain the technical side of your business, but costly packages designed for big companies don't scale well to smaller businesses. I've already mentioned the free Spiceworks IT Desktop, but a couple other alternatives might serve your business at no cost.

Illient's SysAid runs on Linux and Windows servers, with its free version supporting up to 100 clients and two administrators. Paid versions are available for bigger organizations or SaaS users, although the free edition has no ads. The free edition even includes phone tech support for six months.

Many hotels still charge money for Internet connections, and just because you pay an extra $10 a night doesn't mean that it'll work well. Instead of paying--or before you click that approve button--try finding a free network nearby, even in the hotel lobby.

On a laptop, use an application such as inSSIDer to constantly scan for open networks. I've even found signals from coffee shops or cafes that reach into a lobby, but you might have to walk outside the hotel to find a suitable signal.

Sometimes, paying more in the short term can save money in the long run. I lost sight of my big-picture travel plans when comparing hotel rates.

While covering the E3 tradeshow, I saved about $40 a night by staying two miles away from the Los Angeles Convention Center. The closest hotels charged a premium on which I passed.