i like the bell method as well- i used a giant jingle bell with my shepherd mix and she was always good about using it to tell me when she wanted to go out (or if she was bored- so eventually i stopped using it)...but she also would come "tell" me if she needed to go by sitting and "talking" to me. my chihuahua has never had any inclination to tell me when he needs to go, and if i dont get the idea, even at the age of 10, he'll still sneak off to potty somewhere in the house. fortunately, his control is pretty good so it's not a major issue. my 6 mo english mastiff pup is very good about doing her business outside, but again, it hasn't occurred to her to tell me if she needs to go out. and she's so ashamed of herself if there is an accident- which fortunately she only has ever had if she has stomach upset. i sure don't hold it against a dog that makes a mess in the house if they have diarrhea, although i'm still not happy to clean it up... I'm on the lookout for another big jingle bell to use with her.
i also agree with the schedule- even on weekends we adhere to a pretty strict schedule of outside time. 7am, noon, 5pm and about 9pm are the weekday potty times, and weekends don't vary by much. 8am at the very latest, and usually the dogs are out and about with us during the day so we just need to make sure they have a potty break before bedtime. that being said, my dogs aren't tiny anymore...a schedule of feeding and watering and going outside is pretty important for the really little guys who pretty much need to poop as soon as they eat.
for what it's worth, it sounds ridiculous, but when my dogs go outside and do their business i praise them. they get "good potty" (see, dumb sounding) for peeing outside and "good pooper" for #2 (again, i sound like the parent of a 2 year old) but when we travel, it is super nice to be able to tell the dogs to go potty or poop and suddenly from the confusion of new smells and sights they get that bolt of recognition like "OH! i know what you want me to do out here!" - it's also handy during nasty weather to be able to tell them what you want them to do and speed things along