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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!

 

Tools of the Internet Marketing Traveler:

Ok, so there are many things in this changing world that are hard to keep pace with. I am a true worldwide road warrior, and I need to have access, and the ability to work, from wherever I am.

So, what does work entail? I need to check my email (both send and receive), post to blogs, create websites (requires software that I need to have, aka, Frontpage), the ability to get and make phone calls around the world. On top of that, word processing capabilities are important too, as are a suite of graphics programs.

It’s all in the Laptop, or is it: As of yet, I can’t find all this on the web, which necessitates me travelling with a laptop (a trusty and light Thinkpad X60 – good batter power, great screen and keyboard). Lacking a built in video camera.  I will need to upgrade to get that plus faster wireless, and more security.

The problem with a laptop, outside the US, is that you learn how reliant you have become on your wireless broadband card. I can’t live without it. Wireless broadband (I use Sprint, but Verizon is also good), is the killer app of this decade (so far).  Simple as that – it has un-tethered us from our cubicles.

Unfortunately, global roaming wireless broadband is not available (yet), and the hurdles to it becoming available are vast (given the competing national phone companies). So, upon arriving out of the country, you are bound by hotel wireless policies, or the occasional free or paid access hotspot (usually a café). Not an ideal work environment.

In Sydney, my current “home” away from home, it’s even worse!  The prices are ridiculous for wireless access. It’s spotty at best, and really a hinderance to getting work done (and yes, this is a super-major metropolitan city). Actually, found it easier in Bangkok, and even to some extent, China, then I do here (who woulda thought). Very expensive for shoddy connections…Where’s my global wireless broadband?

All about World Phones: Oh, how I wish I’d gotten the unlocked Verizon Blackberry. Blackberries are the only phone to travel with, but you need a phone that can take SIM cards, plain and simple, if you are travelling worldwide. In addition, you need a camera BUILT IN to your phone, so you can have picture taking capabilities wherever you go (and ideally, some form of video as well). The days of carrying a camera and a phone have got to be over by now? My current blackberry has NO video or camera at all. Not good for a roving reporter such as myself…

Yes, I will upgrade my phone before my next trip to Eastern Europe. I have heard that there is a free Verizon unlock for the blackberries (even old ones) now online. Anyone seen it?

American Express Platinum: The major benefit of the platinum, apart from airport lounge access and a big bill, is it gives you access to over 900 offices throughout the world where you can WORK at. You can actually pay to set up an office anywhere in the world (about $150/mth), complete with high speed internet, and even receptionist (if necessary). If I were staying in Sydney, I would almost certainly get an office here using that service. As it is, I plan to investigate this option in Europe.

The problem of finding nice places to actually WORK when you are abroad can be plentiful. There are only so many cafes that make it comfortable to work for more than a few hours at a time.  How much coffee can you drink?  On top of that, in Sydney, it roughly costs $100/day to even BE online for any length of time during the day. Yes, that’s $100, through Telestra, at the whopping rate of $26 every 2 hours.

While internet cafes are everywhere, they do not have laptop hookups, which further necessitate a change in my future work patters.

The Future of Internet Marketing Road Warriors: I have threatened it before, but now, I’m ready to do it. I’m going to do a test, trading in my trusty Outlook and Outlook Express, for a full on boost of GMAIL. That’s right. I have NO LESS than 30 email accounts that need to be transferred (although I will only transfer the important 10, and the other 20 I’ll put through my admin staff). This is scary, since I am SO reliant on email to survive, and it’s a big job.  I’ll report back on progress…

Also, let’s say I could trade in my Laptop, to travel without one (not that I would mind you), what about entering all those sensitive passwords into a café computer? I don’t think so. You could wake up and find your 300k email list gone, and all your daily transactions settling to an account in Bolivia.

So, I want to move my email, and as many applications as possible, to internet based solutions. Google apps, and Gmail, look to be my future…but that still leaves some apps that require my PC (such as graphics, and web work). I can’t imagine travelling without one, but perhaps I can go lighter next time, and also get one with a built in camera for Skype. Perhaps the new Sony’s – but I’ve been a loyal Thinkpad user for so long, it’s hard to imagine my life without one…

VoiceMail to Email: Since it’s so difficult to sort out the phone situation, and so costly, getting your voicemails, no matter where you are, via email, is a great solution. http://www.grandcentral.com, promises to do just that. I can’t joint the Beta from here (outside the US). Currently, I use Skype to check my voice mails from abroad.

Wish List: I’m not sure this exists, but I’d like to embed my computer with worldwide location software, so if it was stolen, and the thief got online, I could not only locate them (and send authorities), but send a code to actually erase my hard drive (or completely encrypt it), without them knowing.

Leave a comment below, let me know of your road warrior experiences (Internet Marketers or not).

Next up: Article on Skype, WorldPhones, and tools for the Blackberry warrior, written by Dakin Ferris!