Cube Escape

Self Employment - Entrepreneur Lifestyle - Business Tips and Tricks

Pursing the Entrepreneurial Dream

A couple of years ago, I decide that my pursuit of climbing the corporate ladder was fruitless. It wasn't for me...not what I wanted. I craved freedom. I've learned a lot about becoming an entrepreneur, and I'll share what I've learned with you. Getting control of your life again isn't a pipe dream. Financial, professional, and creative freedom can be yours.

The iPod Touch Should Be Renamed the AwesomePod

I picked up a 16gb iPod Touch this weekend. I got it basically to be a PDA with great music capabilities. I wasn’t really sure how the PDA functionality of it would compare with a traditional PDA. After using it for a few days, I can already tell that it will be invaluable as a business tool.

If you have employees, get these for them instead of some other device. If you are on your own looking for something with some basic PDA functionality, get one of these. It can’t do it all yet, but with the release of the iPhone SDK, it’s only a matter of time before it can.

Not only have I been listening to my music collection on my iPod (AwesomePod, really), I’ve been listening to marketing podcasts, checking up on my business projects via wifi hotspots, and keeping all of my “todo” notes in one little place. Now that my “notes to self” will be in one location, as opposed to scattered and lost, I’ll have no choice but to get stuff done.

I highly recommend this product as a business tool. It’s not just for entertainment any more. Business training podcasts, videos, and applications can make you (or your staff) better at what they do. I’m already getting some good ideas listening to business podcasts. I think the device will pay for itself quickly.

Check them out here.

. 09 Apr 08 | Business Gear, Business, Paperwork | Read on | Comment (1)

Equip Your Business with Apple Computer Systems

Businesses need computers. It’s just a fact of competing in today’s market. You need computers, and those computers need to be fast and reliable. Slow computers slow down your work, and computers that crash make you want to throw them out the window. I know… I used MS Windows systems for years.

Get a Mac. If you work by yourself, get a Mac. If you have employees, get a Mac for everyone. Since the introduction of OS X, Macs have been top-class systems for just about any use. The only problem has been software. A lot of commonly used software wasn’t on the Mac platform, or didn’t work quite right.

Well, times are changing, and with the new incarnation of OS X, Leopard, smooth sailing is ahead. The OS is light, powerful, and flexible. The dual core Intel processors are fast and can handle any application out there today. Application compatibility is at what seems to be an all-time high.

Some arguments against the Mac are founded in ignorance of the current product, and also the business market dominance of Microsoft products. Now, let me back up a step and say that Windows-based systems aren’t horrible. There are many great applications on the platform, and Microsoft has come a long way in keeping their product from crashing all the time. But they’re just behind in the game. Leopard blows Vista away. There’s really no competition.

Another argument I’ve heard is that Macs are expensive and PCs are cheap. Well, that’s not exactly true. If you judge this argument on price tag alone, sure the PCs are cheaper, but that’s not really the whole story. Those cheap PCs are cheap for a reason: They are built with cheap parts. The cases are not sturdy… the motherboards crap out more often because of lax production… basically the parts are like buying an “economy” car instead of a nice Acura or similar. Better parts, better car. Better parts, better computer. That’s the Mac. And when you compare similarly constructed PC systems with the Mac, the price argument goes away. In fact, Mac blows the PC away in this category. Take the middle ground MacBook that currently costs $1299. You get so much for your money it’s almost embarrasing for the MacBook’s competitors. Use the link below to check out Macs current offerings and see what I’m talking about.

Everything considered, the Mac is the way to go for business, creative, and personal computing. In my opinion, the only area in which the Mac is still lacking loads of software is gaming. But even that is changing rapidly. For more details and to see just what Apple systems can offer you and your business, click the link below. Learn, choose, buy, and be more successful.

Apple Computers

. 03 Nov 07 | Business Gear, Business | Read on | Comments (0)

Adventures with Business Cards

I must say that I’m quite pleased with Avery and a recent product of theirs.

You see, I went to Staples with a very simple MS Publisher standard TEMPLATE to make some business cards. I was ready to give in on some of the coloring options (like make the artistic brackets the same color, as opposed to the current black on the left and gold on the right). I could go with all black, or even drop the brackets all together.

Before you accuse me of printing ignorance, let me say that I do understand that professional printing is very different from desktop publishing. However, what I was told wasn’t exactly acceptable.

Here’s a paraphrase: Hmmm. The best I could do is 4 colors for $115 (1000 cards), but we don’t have that shade of green, or the gold, and they won’t do the fade [a simple gradient that my 8 year old kid can replicate].

The result: I left and went to Wal-Mart. I picked up another color ink cartridge for my printer, and then headed over to the printer paper section and found my saving grace. Avery now puts out a thicker weight business card sheet, with NO PERFORATIONS. Anyway, I just printed a test page, and only a trained eye could tell the difference between my cards and the “economy” cards from a professional printer.

The card sheets are #28877. Head over to Avery or to your local office supply store and check them out. For those of us on a very tight budget, being able to print some quality business cards on demand is a nice strategic advantage.

Disclaimer: These cards may not be new, but they’re new to me. I also won’t be held responsible if you buy the product and then print extraordinarily ugly cards.

. 18 Aug 06 | Business Gear | Read on | Comments (0)