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Web-based services help cut costs without cutting effectiveness

Sep 03, 2009

Guest post from Luc Vezina

Read any book or blog (including this one) that offers advice about working from home and you’ll find one of the first recommendations is the importance of controlling your costs. Whether you’re starting up your own home-based business or working out of your home for someone else, the less you spend on up-front on technology, the more money (and sanity) you have left for yourself.

One cost-effective strategy that can help you in that area is moving away from buying technology that requires software and/or hardware, and instead signing on for Web-based services. These services offer a “pay-as-you-go” model that eliminates the need for huge up-front capital expenditures, high maintenance costs, and ongoing support costs. All while assuring the technology you’re using has all the latest features and upgrades.

Here are three ways Web-based services can help you work better for less:

No IT costs - When you buy a business application you have to install it onto a computer or server – either by yourself (if you’re tech-savvy) or more likely by bringing in an expert. Once the application is up and running, you’ll probably need an IT person to keep it running at peak efficiency. If there is a significant software upgrade there is another cost, and you again have to call on a technology expert. If you’re using a server and it goes bad there’s an additional cost to replace the hardware. Moving to the Web-based model greatly reduces your overall expenses. That big up-front cost for hardware and software is replaced by a small monthly fee. In most cases you can easily get the service running yourself.
Free maintenance- The maintenance happens behind the scenes, saving time and money while assuring you’re benefiting from the software’s latest features. Should a technical issue arise, one call to the supplier’s tech support group generally solves the problem at no cost to you.
Use them for nearly everything - This move to Web-based services isn’t just for “outlier” applications anymore. Core applications such as your office productivity suite are now moving away from the traditional hardware/software model to being Web-based. The reason is simple: since keeping applications running is the service provider’s primary business, they dedicate considerably more time and resources to that function than you can on your own, resulting in greater uptime. You can focus on your own business, and leave the tech stuff to the experts.

While home workers choose to go that route for a variety of reasons, no one does it so they can spend more time trying to keep their computers running. Web-based services give you a way to avoid all the geeky stuff – and save money in the bargain.

Luc Vezina is product marketing manager for MyFax, a provider of Internet faxing services for individual home users, small businesses, and large corporations. MyFax has won a number of awards in head-to-head competitions for ease of use, reliability, and best overall value. He can be reached at lvezina@protus.com.

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Technology

Productivity Starts with Equipping Your Home Office with Reliable Technology

Dec 12, 2008

We talk about productivity a lot here on Home Office Warrior. In fact, you will notice we have an entire category devoted to the very topic. And Kris is doing an outstanding job by providing some awesome post. Lord knows I need to listen to and read everything she talks about in my own home office.

What I want to talk about in this post may not be your typical GTD productivity tip or hint. However, I do think some of those working from a home office are truly missing a major part of being productive. You can have and use all of the best and greatest planners and graphs you can find. But if you are skimping on the actual tools in your home office you are not going to be productive.

The very first thing you have to have is good reliable technology in your office. Don’t skimp on your computer. Spend some money on this very important tool as it is without a doubt one of the most important ones you will use every single day. The excuses I hear are usually the same. “I can’t afford to get what I want.” “Oh, the one I have will get me by.” “This one works OK.” And on and on and on.

How productive can you really be if you are spending more time fighting a slow and sluggish computer? How productive can you really be if you are spending your time keeping that old computer working? I have had my MacBook now for right at 2 years. It still works and works well. It could “get me by.” And, it is paid for. But, I could be more productive with a new model MacBook Pro. Or better yet, a Mac Pro desktop. I am going to get the MacBook Pro because I like to take my office with me when I am out of the office.

And yes, the MacBook Pro is going to cost me some dough. Do I have the spare money just sitting around, most likely not. Do I have to have the tools that make me the most productive, yes and so do you.

I don’t know how many of you know anything about farming and the cost of machinery. I like to equate buying office technology to buying farm equipment. Productivity and being efficient is the key to modern day agriculture. If a farmer is not using the more advanced and most reliable equipment, he is not going to be producing at his/her fullest ability. The same applies to those of us who work from a home office.

Usually, those of us who work from a home office don’t have employees. (Thank God). And we have to rely on our tools to get done what needs to be done. We can not afford to just get by. Get the best technology you can for your home based business which will do the job you need to do.

Remember one thing, how is it going to look if you are competing with a business that has employees and you both are working on a new project and you run into a snag because your tools fail you. Equip yourself with the tools so you can compete and be successful.

We will discuss more about what you need to equip your home office in future posts. In the meantime, please, please leave your comments on what other tools you feel you have to have to compete and be productive. Also, I know this post is going to generate some negative thoughts on your part. Tell me what you are thinking. If you disagree, tell me in your comments. I do not hold any ill feelings to any of our readers who disagree. In fact, we grow and change when someone has a different view.

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Technology

Top iPhone Applications for the Home Office Warrior

Oct 10, 2008

This post is long overdue as I have had my v.1 iPhone now for over a year. Like my other Mac computers, the iPhone has become an essential tool in my business. What has made the iPhone even better was the release the summer of iPhone 2.0 and the App Store. I have way too many applications on my iPhone, but I just can’t help myself.

I have been trying to decide over the last month or so what applications on my iPhone I could not live without and below is what I have come up with. Please add to it in the comments if you have some you feel I missed.

Evernote: This great applications lets you capture any moment or idea as it happens, wherever you are. And it has cloud-based sync so you are always sync’d to your desktop. I use it to take notes, take photos of stuff I want to file away. It also works great for taking a snapshot of a business card and then organize them with Evernote. You can even record a quick voice memo. It has so many uses, and some of them you don’t even know about until you dive in an use it.

Air Sharing: With this handy little app, you can take files with you on your iPhone and access them anywhere. You simply drag-drop files between your iPhone and your computers. And you can view documents in many common formats. What I liked best about this app, it was so easy to set up and then run.

Jott for iPhone: As you have read here before, I love Jott and it is also one of those essential tools. Jott is the ultimate mobile notepad for the iPhone that turns your voice into notes. Capture to-dos as quickly as you can say, “get new whiteboards for office.” Jott transcribes your voice into text and place the resulting notes in your lists.

beejive: This is the instant messaging application I am using on my iPhone. I can stay connected with all the people I IM with. And it works with all my accounts too.

Things: Is my task manager of choice for the iPhone. Things talks about how easy it it to use and they are exactly right. And best of all, it now sync’s with my MacBook so my task are always up-to-date on my iPhone and my computer. It is another one of those must haves in my book.

1Password: 1Password takes care of all your online passwords. And it sync’s with my iPhone so I can use it to autofill al those passwords I may need while using my iPhone to access accounts or websites. It securely stores your information and logs you into websites automatically with a simple tap. I no longer have to remember any passwords, with the exception of the Unlock Code for 1Password.

Instapaper: With this application you can read saved web pages on the go, even offline. I use Instapaper on my MacBook to mark items I want to read later. Just one of the bookmarking tools I use. And I can sync my iPhone to this list of reading so when I am out of the office waiting, I can open up one of items in my list and read it right on my iPhone.

TwitterFon: TwitterFon is a simple, fast twitter client for your iPhone. I have tried many of the apps for twitter on my iPhone and I like this one the best. It gives me what I want in a twitter client for the iPhone. No fancy features or useless functions. I get my friend feeds, replies and direct messages. Each has its own tab.

I could keep going and list even more applications I am using on my iPhone. However the list above are those I would not be without for now. In a future post, I will list some more and if you leave your suggestions in the comments, I will include a “Reader’s List of iPhone Applications” too.

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Technology

FaxIt Nice — Another Web Based Application

Oct 02, 2008

Online Fax - Email To Fax - Fax To Email - Internet Fax Machine - No Monthly Fees __ FaxIt Nice.jpg I just used faxIt Nice to send a fax out of my home office. And I have to say it worked great. No matter how much we talk about the fact faxing is really very old fashion, there are still those who use it. And faxIt Nice gives you a great way to send faxes without the need for a fax machine.

Give it a try if you ever need to send a fax. Its user interface is easy to follow and it is one of those web apps that just works.

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Technology

FTTH - Fiber to the Home Conference

Sep 20, 2008

This is where I am heading for a couple of day, the 2008 FTTH Conference & Expo. The conference is being held in Nashville at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center.

I will be giving a talk on Monday concerning technology and the end user. Mainly from the perspective of someone who works out of a home office in a rural area. How such technology makes that possible and how without it, we can not be competitive with those in the city. Then I will be doing some one on one visit with some providers and will be on a focus panel too. Should be interesting to say the least.

The one point I plan to hammer home is the fact we have to have such technology, mainly high speed Internet services in the rural area for there to be continued economic growth. It has to be reliable and priced right. And it has to work.

If any of you have anything you would like me to bring up or look for, please leave a comment to this post. This should be a fun and educational time for me and I do plan to tweet and blog about it too.

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