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What have I done in 2008 (not 2009), that really impacted my business - either at a core profit level, or a core efficiency level. Here’s my Top three things I’ve done that have had a huge effect on my business. If you’re starting a business, or growing your business, these might make a big difference!

1) Apple, Gmail, and the Ultimate Shift in my tools and resources…

Ever seen those Apple commercials? Ever wonder if maybe they were right? 2008 was the year of the Apple, and while I still use my PC for certain things, my switch to Apple, and Apple products, proved hugely beneficial to my business!

I can get into specifics about why Apple versus PC, and why, and what tools I use on each, but I’ll save that for a longer, specific post. Suffice it to say, this was a huge time saver, and my business works better on Apple. now have 3 Imacs, 2 Powerbooks … and no headache.

2) Gmail and Google’s paid suite of business tools.

I may live to regret this, but since I was on PC, I used Outlook. Outlook is a horrible program, but I was so stuck in it. So many years wasted… so many emails lost…

Outlook is… quite possibly, the devil.

With my switch to Mac, I made the switch to Gmail, which was very difficult, laborious, and to my way of thinking, a waste of time. Yet, no single thing has catapulted me in productivity than switching to Gmail, and Google Docs, spreadsheets, etc…

Yes, I may live to regret this, putting so much faith into one company, but the paid version (pay the paltry $50 per person), is amazing beneficial to me, my employees, my company, and our productivity.

They simply work, and they work anywhere.  I can travel, and be completely connected to my business. Does anyone still actually use Outlook? I feel like I was a late adopter of Gmail, but it has catapulted me to a better Internet Lifestyle (work and play together).

3) Focus on fewer sites…

We have hundreds of websites. Yes, hundreds. Sometimes it feels like even more!

In 2008, we trimmed it down. Fewer, larger sites were the word of the day, and guess what? It’s working! Follow our lead … this is the wave of the future.

Ever notice how hard it’s getting to rank in Google? Yep - big sites win. Focussed sites win. I’m not saying the ocassional sales letter site can’t garner an easy 20-100k, but if you’re around for the long run - think big, and think, single or small group of sites.

What about link farms? Blog Farms? Etc…  Been there, done that!

Save those for the people whom want to work harder than you do!  You simple won’t need them if you work on creating a big site, with big content, and big community. That’s a fact!

What’s your top 3-5 business changers? What have you done in your business to blow up your productivity or bottom line? We’re getting our 2009 list ready, but would love to get your thoughts and insights first.

What are your game changers?

Is it a dream, or a nightmare? Well, if my one major con of switching actually took place, it could be a nightmare, but for now, over a month into it, it’s a dream among dreams. It’s Heaven…

Ok, this is the one month report, and there are some brilliant tidbits in here…Basically, it’s changed the way I do business, and perhaps, even the way I travel. While there are negatives, as I will point out, this is the wave of the future. It’s technology working the way that it should - something windows and Microsoft could never actually accomplish.

Typically, I would start with all the "Good" things, but since the list of "Cons" is so short, I’ll start there. If you’re new to this article of how I moved from Oultook to Google…start with the two prior posts, Moving Outlook to Gmail, and then A Gmailer’s Reflection on Outlook.  I should probably title this, How Google took over my world….

Preface - I am not a huge Google fan, just relaying my results.

CONS:

I have put all my faith in Google!  They handle my Mail, Documents, Calendar, Newsreader, and … Advertising, Analytics, oh lord, we won’t even cover that here! If anything were to fail over there (and it will someday, quite likely), I’m in a heap of trouble!  It’s way too much faith in a single company. You’d have to be crazy to do it … or perhaps, simply crazy not to?  Really, it’s what you’ve trusted Microsoft to do for years, that has never worked, and led to endless dilemma and heartache, and wasted work. Agreed?

Secondly, there’s not enough easy offline access to your mail/files/etc… Google Gears needs a lot of work! I can’t access a lot of this stuff when I am not online. That’s a big problem!

Um, that’s about it. Sure, there are tons of features that are missing (like simply beaing able to move to the next message when deleting or archiving the current one), that make you CRY in agony against Gmai, but the plain, inescapable fact is…

PROS:

It works.

It’s Fast. Instant search, Instant Messages.

It’s Intuitive.

It’s Time Saving. Threaded Messages and Labels!

It’s all on the web (no more switching between computer…you always have access).

As hard as it is to admit, none of those things happened for me with Microsoft products. It was slow, rarely worked, I’d constantly lose things, have constant freezes, and rarely get work done.  So, what have I actually learned, and what can you learn from my switching my Outlook to Gmail:

Lesson #1: I wish I had tried it earlier!

If it doesn’t work, try alternatives. Give it a shot, and see if it works for you. Honestly. I’ve saved time, headaches, and no longer have to worry aobut searching my email, or finding things. All answers and emails are a second away. It used to take me 20 minutes to check my email via outlook in the mornign (30+ accounts), now it’s seconds (or immediate). Major difference!

It makes me envy the people whom switched before me, and how much more productive they’ve been, whilve I’ve hassled with lost mail, endless start times, and unretrievable messages!

Lesson #2: Integration Works…

I didn’t plan to have my calendar using Google Apps, but it happened. It’s easy, and while it lacks functionality I’d like (cel phone alerts, etc…), it’s a s imple way to share my day with my assistants. I now have 3 assistants, and the calendare is very helpful. Along with the Newsreader (and taking care of my 100+ feeds), it’s a great way to stay on top of things. The newsreader in Outlook 2007 was a mess for me, but I never planned on switching, but it was just so easy. Now, after the fact, and years of other products, all the Google stuff appears seamless and easy…

Lesson #3: I can travel. Did you hear that? I can travel, without a laptop!

This one I’m still getting my head around! I can, for the first time in 10 years, travel without a laptop if I desire, and still be up to date. My email, docs, calendar, reader, etc… are all online, and instantly accessible from anywhere. Oh my god! The ramifications of this are huge. I leave to Prague in one week, and the thought of not taking my computer never even entered my mind. Now I have to think, what do I need my computer for? Am I going to write so much that I need it with me?  My main needs for comptuer and travel were… email. Skype is a close second as is web surfing and site maintenance. However, my main reason has always been email.  Can I actually travel without one? With just my Blackberry? I don’t know! But it’s got me thinking, let me tell you.

And now, my blackberry works better too, only checking one email account - but we’ll leave that topic for a later post.

Now that Gmail has IMAP, you can import all your mail. It’s easy, but incredibly time consuming. 5 gigs took about…3 days or so.

Anyway, don’t want to ramble. Hope my experience help you as well!