Archive for Technology
Planning and Organizing Ideas With OneNote and Dropbox
Posted by: | CommentsI suspect I’m not terribly different from most entrepreneurs. I’ve got a lot of balls that I’m trying to keep up in the air. Not only that, I continually get new ideas. Some of 
them are crap, but some of them are actually things that I plan to implement. I’ve tried a number of ways to keep my planning, my projects, and my new ideas organized.
One of the things I do is use binders. Each project has its own binder, as does planning. This has been a relatively useful way to keep track of ongoing work (when the labels don’t fall off the binders).
New ideas were little harder to track. For a while I was doing the Post-it note method. Every time I got a new idea I’d write it on a Post-it note and stick it up on the wall next to my desk.
This didn’t work for two reasons. One, after a while the Post-it notes just became visual noise; I just didn’t see them anymore. The second reason is the mental clutter they caused me. Although I can block out the content on the Post-it notes, I still knew they were there. Although I wasn’t consciously aware of it, it was causing me constant stress.
I moved away from the Post-it notes to whiteboards. Now whenever a garden idea I could just write it on the whiteboard. The nice thing about the whiteboard is it’s one continual surface so it’s less visually cluttering than Post-its.
However, the whiteboard method isn’t perfect either. It’s great for recording an idea as it occurs to me, but what do I do later? Eventually the whiteboard gets full. I needed some way to deal with the ideas.
Then I thought about Microsoft OneNote. This is a software program that comes as part of Microsoft office. I knew it was part of the package but hadn’t looked at it. Last week I decided to open it and take a look. I’m glad I did. Read More→
A Review of Hootsuite (vs TweetDeck)
Posted by: | CommentsA tool for managing Twitter, Facebook & other social media
Monitoring your connections, updating your status and just staying on top of your social media presence can become a challenge as your numbers of connections grows, particularly when you have more than a couple of hundred connections.
Even for just Twitter, if you want to be able to connect with people and follow what they say, eventually logging into Twitter.com just doesn’t do it.
That’s where a tool like Hootsuite comes in. I’ve been test-driving it for the past couple of weeks and so far I like it.
What I like about Hootsuite
I really like the pop-up profile. It saves me having to switch over to web browser when I want to see who the tweeter is. It also allows me to Follow, Unfollow, DM and add to a list just from the profile, as well as showing their most recent Tweet.
The “show conversation” button is awesome. It appears below any Tweet that is a reply to another. No more Twitternesia for me, where I forget what I said to the person replying to me. But it’s not just for my @conversations. When other people I follow are having a conversation the button appears so I can view the entire thread.
Speaking of Twitternesia, the Sent Tweets column on Hootsuite is great. Then I can remember what and when I said things, ‘cause I can’t remember.
Scheduling Tweets is pretty cool. Now let’s be clear, I’m not a big fan of automation on social media. It’s about networking and conversations with individuals; you can’t automate that. But I have these bursts of Tweeting where I’m reading blogs and finding cool links so I Tweet a whole bunch at once, which may be annoying to followers or may cause others to miss some interesting material. Read More→
7 Cheap Tech Support Ideas for the Solopreneur
Posted by: | CommentsOne of the biggest drawbacks to being a solopreneur is the lack of tech support. When you work for a large company, these is usually an IT department. When your computer won’t work or your network is down, you know exactly who to call for help.
When you work from home, or even if you have an office or storefront, it’s not always so clear who to call when you have a problem.
Whether it’s a hardware or software program, you feel like you’re on your own. Plus, if you’re bootstrapping you may not want to spend the money on help, particularly if you think you can fix it yourself.
Of course, what looks like a quick and easy problem can rapidly turn into a full day (or many days) problem if you’re like me and know a little bit, but not quite enough.
In fact, in many cases, unless you can get the problem solved in less than an hour, it’s probably a good idea to get help so you don’t waste days on technology rather than running your business. Believe me, there’s nothing more frustrating than coming to a Friday afternoon and realizing your entire week has been spent on technology problems rather than on making money.
So where do you turn for help with computer problems?
Family
In my case, I’m lucky. My husband is very knowledgeable about computers. He used to set up networks and do repairs professionally. He set up our in-home computer network and can usually problem solve most hardware problems.
However, since he’s my husband and not getting paid, tech support is kind of like mowing the lawn or taking out the trash. It may be high on my priority list but it’s not necessarily high on his. That’s the drawback with family help; you can’t just call them on demand like you can when you hire someone.
Teenagers
If you’re not lucky enough to be married to a computer whiz, look to teenagers in your neighbourhood or local high school. There are a lot of teenagers who are very tech savvy. If you can locate one nearby you may be able to hire them for considerably less than a pro. Some may know hardware and networking, while others may be a whiz at programming and setting up websites.
Just a word of caution: a teenager might know the technology but they likely don’t know much about marketing so don’t rely on their advice when it comes to designing your website. They’ll try to convince you to use the latest cool tools, but cool may not be what sells.
Freelancers
If there are no kids nearby (or your problem occurs during school hours) check out some freelance computer repair people. While the large computer stores may not do house calls, sometimes a freelance person will. Often these people are doing it as a sideline to a full time job while others may be doing it as a full time business. Check the local chamber of commerce, other business people or even the computer stores for recommendations.
Your local computer store
Check your local computer stores. Some do have good tech support people. They may have inexpensive service plans for small businesses. Phone around and take a close look at independent computer stores. They may be a little more flexible than the chains. They may even have someone who can walk you through a solution over the phone.
Virtual help
Look for virtual help. There are many virtual assistants and other professionals online who can help you. There are a number of software tools today that allow your virtual tech support to go in and change settings and fix software problems remotely. Ask other business people who they use.
Barter
If you have a product or service a computer professional might need, consider setting up a barter arrangement with a local computer professional. This can be a cost-effective way to get the occasional help you need. This kind of arrangement works best for problems that have quick and dirty solutions. However, a barter arrangement is somewhat like using a family member for tech support. What may be a red alert problem for you may not make it in the top ten for the other person.
Google and YouTube
If you’re really convinced you can or need to do it yourself, check out YouTube. If it’s not too complicated an issue, you may find a video that walks you through the process. This is particularly true for popular software programs.
Google is another good source. I know just enough HTML to get into trouble, however, with the help of Google I’ve been able to find sources that allow me to go into my blog and chance the code enough to change the font, colours and some basic formatting without messing things up too much. Often just by Googling exactly what I want to do, I can find a blog post that will walk me through the process step-by-step.
Plan ahead.
If you really need your computer to run your business, if you can’t go a day without accessing email or the internet, then get some tech support in place before you run into troubles. Then you know exactly who to call in the event to trouble.
Andrea J. Stenberg
How do you keep your computer up and running? How do you manage your website? If you’ve got a story about what you do, or have done in the past, please share your experience here by leaving a comment.
Seven Ways To Use Skype in Your Business
Posted by: | CommentsTable of contents for How to Use Skype
- Seven Ways To Use Skype in Your Business
Skype is a free service (with some paid upgrades) that lets you make voice and video calls over the internet. For many people, this
free service is attractive because if you are in North America and have family or friends overseas, this can save you a lot of money.
However, if you run a business, long distance is often just the cost of doing business. I don’t really see the point of cheaping out when you have a business. Phone (even long distance) is essential.
On the other hand, free long distance isn’t the only reason to use this service. Many people laugh when they hear this, but the people I Skype with most often are local. In fact, one of them is only a 15 minute walk from my home office.
So why do we Skype?
We use it as an Read More→
Skype Explained Visually
Posted by: | CommentsWhen I was doing some research for a blog post about Skype, I came across this video. If you’ve never used Skype, it explains how it works and what you can do with it.
Or you can go to YouTube and watch it.
And keep your eyes open for my next post about how I use Skype. It’s a little different than how others use it.
Andrea J. Stenberg
