How To Use Your Cell Phone As A Wifi Hotspot
Too many things run on wifi these days – even cameras! But practically for an entrepreneur, it would certainly be nice to use your existing hardware to connect your netbook, iPad, Kindle or whatever devices from anywhere. I know I would love to have this option and so set out to find out what is available out there.
This is one area where Windows Mobile phone owners have a leg up. Considering how many applications and services these days are iPhone and Droid only, this really came as quite a surprise. Here are my findings.
iPhone
I suppose this has to do with the draconian rules Apple places on app developers and what type of apps it will allow on iTunes. But there are very few options and the options I found require you to jailbreak your phone. I don’t think many want to do that but if you are sort of techie and motivated, here are two apps you can try.
Windows Mobile
Like I said, this platform has the most options and pretty painless process as far as I can tell. No hacking the phone at all and that’s always good.
- PdaNet ($34)
- WMWifiRouter ($19.99)
- WalkingHotSpot ($24.99)
- HTC CM Wifi Internet Sharing (free). I don’t recommend this though especially if not on an HTC phone or if you don’t care for geek speak it is free but quite technical if things don’t go right.
Droid
- Droid Wifi Tether (free). I don’t run around Droid circles nor own one (yet) but sounds to me like some hacking involved.
- PdaNet (18.95 for a limited time). No root access or hacking involved.
Blackberry
- PdaNet ($29)
And there you have it. Before you do some serious Wifi sharing, make sure you understand the implications and how much access you have on your data plan too.
Quick And Easy Ways To Share Info Clips With A Team
One of the many hats I wear is a Girl Scout troop co-leader. Even though it is a volunteer position, we are part of a large non-profit organization and that doesn’t make our day-to-day business challenges that different from for profit organizations.
For example, one of my biggest challenges is to properly share information with my troop leader and new co-leaders. This is very much like the core team in our business.
Throughout the year, we are always on the look out for fun venues and activities the girls can participate in. Museums, farms, skating rinks, tours or cooking classes. There are also ideas we suddenly think of when we’re out and about. For example we get news of organizations that need help, community service projects, craft ideas and all that… stuff.
Personally, I store these snippets and bits of information in Evernote. When I find awesome links to venues and information online, I clip it and store it there. I also have Evernote on my phone so when I am out and about, I can snap a photo, record audio or enter a text note and have it automatically synced.
Another option that works similarly is Springpad. However, Springpad is organized more like a social notebook. You can also see what your friends have shared. Evernote on the other hand is more personal. Both let you control access to your notebooks. But there is one big thing that Springpad has – which is alarms. You can work around that and still get email reminders for Evernote.
I still have not decided which to recommend to our leaders but am leaning heavily toward Springpad because it is organized in a more fun way and it has apps like meal planners, reusable grocery lists and household project planners that I believe will make it more attractive to women and therefore make it easy for them to adopt.
To be sure, you can do all that with Evernote but you will have to structure it yourself – part of the beauty of Evernote – I think that’s why in the beginning I had such a difficult time getting people excited about it.
For general business/work setting, I think Evernote is awesome for teams to share snippets of code, ideas, suggestions, information, audio, files when working on a project. Evernote also operates on a large variety of platforms – Windows, Mac, Android, PalmPre, iPhone, Windows Mobile and more which makes it tops in my opinion. Give it a go – if you haven’t already. Click here for an Evernote review.
Photo by sanja gjeneroHow To Record Skype Calls
In our office, all long distance including calls out of the country are done via Skype. And why not. It is cheap and for the most part, gives you pretty clear calls.
I also particularly like Skype for audio interviews because it means I don’t have to hook up extra hardware and deal with a tangle of wires – blech. Thankfully, there are many options to record Skype calls.
Total Recorder. This is the software I use and have been using for a while now. I purchased a license for this not only for Skype but because it can also record anything you hear. Which means even webinars and streaming audio can be captured. Quite versatile and I always like software that can help me do more than one thing.
Pamela. This is a Skype plugin or Extra as they call it, that works exclusively with Skype. Most of my podcasting friends who conduct more interviews than I do love and absolutely recommend it.
There are more of course. I have not had the opportunity needed to test these since we already have a good working solution but I’ll list them here for your convenience.
HotRecorder (Win)
Skylook (Win, a plugin for Outlook)
CallBurner (Win)
MP3 Skype Recorder (Win)
Call Recorder for Skype (Mac)
Photo by Richard Styles10 Critical Questions To Ask A Web Designer
Building web sites is not rocket science, but it is job that requires many skills you can’t learn overnight. Not if you want a good looking, yet functional and efficient web site. It is certainly a full time job on its own. So having this important task outsourced is smart.
On the other hand, when you’ve never done the job before, it can be a little difficult to know what to ask of your web designer. This list of questions should help you out.
What skills do you or your team posses? HTML, CSS, Drupal, WordPress, MySQL, PHP, CGI, Ruby on Rails?
You may not fully understand what all that alphabet soup means and can do, it is important to have a rough understanding what this designer and their team is capable of. Web design today is no longer about HTML and static web pages of the 90’s. There’s interactivity and connectivity. You can make a site be as simple as a brochure or as complicated as your own social network with paid memberships on the side. The more complicated a site is, generally, the more your needs gravitate toward a Web Developer than a designer. Someone who can actually program or hook up the more technical things in the back end.
Developers usually have more technical skills like PHP, MySQL, CGI and Ruby on Rails. Designers generally are more on the artistic side, with graphic skills, strong HTML, CSS and even some Javascript. By asking them this, you’ll get a better feel whether they have the skills to build the site you have in mind. Sometimes you end up with someone who is good overall though that is rare, unless you are working with a team of people.
How quickly can you provide a first draft of the site and how long does a job like this normally take?
A pretty standard question but important nonetheless if you are in a hurry or on a budget. The faster you need it, the more you pay. Also, it helps you prepare your own promotional schedule. Don’t take this literally if you’re fuzzy with what you want. That will stretch the project out longer when you change things as you go. Tighten up the vision for your site, discuss this with the designer. The more focused you are, the faster you’ll complete the site – and generally pay less too.
What is your working procedure and how will you communicate your progress?
Way too often I hear of designers and clients falling out because of the failure to communicate. And this can happen both ways. The client leaving everything up to the designer until it is finished and finds out that’s not what they want or the designer not communicating how much more work that ‘one little tweak’ the client asked for is going to take.
Personally, I don’t like to work with clients who are too hands on and questions my every move, however it is important the client checks in once a while. Both parties should have a pre-determined check-in time throughout the project just to see if everyone is still on the same page as you progress.
How much support comes with this package deal?
Designers usually build packages around an estimated number of hours, including some support. Do not expect to pay $500 and have people work indefinitely for you, answering questions or tweaking things here and there forever (like asking for a tweak one year down the road and expect it to be a freebie). The awesome designers I know often won’t mind an extra few minutes here and there but they aren’t working for peanuts either.
You have to know that sometimes, what looks like a small tweak to you takes hours of work in the background, to build up before that tweak you asked for can even be applied. A good designer will tell you up front if this will be a problem. This goes back to the scope of the project. Don’t be fuzzy. Be clear what you want. This way you will find working with your designer a whole lot more pleasant and you keep everything under budget.
What kind of after support do you offer?
Sometimes, you just can’t help it. You need more help. It could be immediately following the completion of the project or some time after. Ask what kind of rates you’ll be getting. This again should be motivation for you to keep the scope of your project clear.
What is your normal procedure if the job does not turn out satisfactorily?
When a job is fairly large, paying an up front lump sum is not a good idea. Sometimes people just bail out on you despite your best efforts and research. Other times you may find you don’t really work well together. Because we are spoiled by generous refund policies of other products we consume, we often want to demand a full refund. While there are cases where this is acceptable and OK, but when it comes to web design or any service that you are using up someone else’s time, that’s something they cannot take back.
On the other hand, you don’t want to be paying full price for a design you don’t want. Hash these out before you start. One of the best ways to work this out is to agree on a payment plan. Percentage down to start work and additional payments upon reaching pre-agreed milestones.
What software or technology will you be using to build my site and will I be able to use and update it myself?
I once had someone build an app for me and then ditched me altogether. Now, I have an app built upon technology that very few people are familiar with. It is difficult and very expensive to find a replacement to pick up where he left off. Ideally, you’d want them to use something more in the main stream versus a software that only 10 people in the world know how to work.
Does it cost extra for this software or does anything you recommend to build this site going to require additional license purchased?
This is so crucial to your budget. When you ask this, you will know if the package includes everything or you’ll have to fork out licenses to third parties to get the job done.
We would like the domain name administrator to be in our representative’s name and email. Can you arrange that?
This is so important. Some unscrupulous designers or companies actually hold client sites hostage because they are listed as the Administrators of a domain. When a client wants to leave for another designer, they make the clients pay a transfer fee to release their domain. When a domain is not in your name and contact, no matter what you say, registrars are not going to hand it over to you. Insist this be in yours or a representative’s name and email address.
Can I see a portfolio of previous sites built. Or is there a demo of a site similar to what you will be building us?
This will help you see if a designer tends to gravitate toward a certain flavor in their designs or if they are quite versatile. One is not necessarily better than the other. Sometimes, if you have a clear vision what you like your design to be, it could be better to go with someone who excels at the look and feel you are aiming for. Also demo sites allow you to get a feel of what you’ll bring home at the end of the day.
I’ve worked many sites for clients on various projects. If out of this there is one take away you should get is, be clear about the scope of your project. Don’t generalize. If you don’t know how to express yourself, find examples for the designer to see and tell them what you want and don’t want from those examples. More information is better than inadequate or no information. This always makes a job smoother and least stressful.
Photo by Carl Dwyer
This Can Help Cure The Workaholic Habit
Most entrepreneurs I know love what they do. That make sense. Entrepreneurship is a lot of hard work, a lot of believing in things that others don’t see or understand and sometimes, the financial stakes are high. We have to love what we do or we’re plain crazy 
Well… maybe we’re a little bit of both.
The biggest problem with this is, it makes us prone to the workaholic habit. We stay up till odd hours, put in more a week than we’ve ever had being an employee. Yet, I remember telling one of my friends lately, “It doesn’t feel like work, it feels like play”. Not all the time of course, sometimes, we need to do what we don’t like but that pretty much sums up the sentiment of many entrepreneurs I know. In this day and age, working long hours also means we’re on to the computer a long time.
But alas! Getting the will power to turn that computer off is like swimming against the current to say the least. So… why not let the computer do it for us.
Did you know there are programs that can automatically power down your computer at a certain time?
Set the hours you want to work, let the computer safely power down at a certain time therefore forcing you to finish up and go enjoy the fruits of your labor with your family. Of course you have to maintain discipline not to power it up again or power up another gadget. Generally, I think powering down your main computer has a psychological effect – that you’re done for the day. At least it does for me, and often does the trick.
Some people have also told me that if they set themselves a fixed number of hours to work, they’re usually more productive because they know that’s all the time they have and at the end of it, they have to pack up. Automatically shutting down the computer kinda gives you that kick in the you know where.
If you want to break the workaholic habit and give it a try, here are some small software you can try to help and they are from CNET so the download should be clean.
What You Can Do To Solve Tech Issues On Your Own
Unlike larger businesses, most of us are solo entrepreneurs. Which means, we wear many hats throughout the day. Some of us outsource a chunk of that work so we can concentrate on the things we are good at and that is very smart indeed. Trouble is, no matter how large or small your company is, we all have limited budgets or at times, limited people who can work on an issue for us. In order to get things moving we can either hold till those resources are available or attempt to move it along by finding solutions ourselves.
If you do not have a technical person to call upon or have very limited resources to hire help, here’s what you can do.
- Search the support forum. Many software paid or free, have user community forums where you can get help from. In some communities, help can come faster than the official support because of a strong and loyal user base.
- Copy and paste the error verbatim into Google or your favorite search engine. That’s how I find my solutions (and learned new things).
- Look it up on Youtube. Youtube is not just for laughs. There’s a ton of how to material there and this is a great option for those who learn better by visual walk throughs. While you are there, swing by the TechBasedMarketing channel for quick and easy how-to’s to common web tech questions.
- Ask your followers. You’ll be surprised how many smart people are among your social network and customers.
- Ask in relevant forums. Some entrepreneur forums have special sections for tech questions and help.
- Bring your questions and issues to our live helpdesk. Every Thursday night at 9 PM U.S. Eastern time, I hold a helpdesk ‘open house’ where we take questions and help people through Internet business tech issues. Follow me on Twitter or Facebook Page to receive instructions how to join me.
photo credit: fRandi-Shooters
It’s Not Too Much Data But Whether You Can Find It
This takes me back to the time I was working for someone else. Not long after I joined them, they began re-structuring the IT departments of all their companies world-wide. Up until then, each company had their own system that made is very hard to exchange information between each other and also report back to headquarters. 
On a smaller, everyday level, the re-structuring made perfect sense too because it would allow each department to be able to generate reports that they want and still be able to share information freely. I was working in the marketing department at that time and it was super frustrating when I asked for a specific drill down or a report that turned the data another way and wasn’t able to get it.
They had the data. Lots of it. It just wasn’t accessible. So yeah. They needed better tools.
How does this all factor in to our small business? Well, one of the things that whole episode taught me is you should always collect data on your business lots of it but what’s more important is, being able to find and manipulate it so you can use it to draw a good picture of where you are, where you want to go and having the information when you need it.
Simple things like having a filing system on your computer may seem mundane and pointless but it really does matter. If you constantly throw your downloads into a virtual pile somewhere on your computer, you’re never going find it when you want it and you’ll waste precious time trying. It’s hard to get things done like that.
Maybe you have a desktop search utility installed and figure you’ll be able to find it later using that. But truth is, search is only as good as the organization of it. Remember the good old computing rule – GIGO, Garbage In Garbage Out.
If you don’t know where to search, you can’t find it or you can but it’ll take a long time. I don’t know about you but I have hard drive sizes in the Terabytes across the network. I’m not sitting around all day long to wait for the computer to find that one article I wrote.
If you don’t know the name of the file or the file type, all that makes it even harder too. So here’s the challenge for you. If you don’t already have a filing system, create one now. It’s not fun, it’s not sexy and doesn’t make your adrenalin pump but it can be just important to your success.
Photo courtesy of Guillermo Alvarez
