Anyway, here are a few external video laptop video cards.
Hope you find the links useful.
This little baby is a great adapter for a second Monitor for your laptop.
We have had two previous installments for this series. If you just found this post and have not read any of the other installments you should read the first post before continuing on here. The opening article can be found here. Basic Steps Towards a Streamlines and Secure SOHO Technology Environment (part 1) .
If we follow the general outline from the first article we should now be talking about automation of your business processes. When we think of automation we generally tend to think it is about Robots doing the work of humans. Like the Automobile plants where Robots spray paint cars and weld parts together. Yes this is automation. However, automation takes on many forms. A spread sheet where you enter numbers and a calculation is performed for you is automation also. We don’t always think of this as automation because we are so used to spreadsheets in our day to day business lives. However, if you think about it, it is truly automation. Even though you have to enter the numbers the spread sheet is programmed to do the calculations for you as soon as you enter the numbers. You can also change the numbers and see what the outcome will be. You do not have to do the calculations your self. This comes in handy for doing budget analysis. Most small businesses have some sort of budget spread sheet and they often juggle numbers around so they can get the most efficiency out of their cash flow.
I gave the above example so you would start thinking about the automation of processes you may already have in your business. This is a preliminary step in seeing what other processes you can automate and integrate into a streamlined process that will leverage Technology to help you become more efficient. More efficiency could be used to allow you to accomplish more for your business or it could be used to free up some time so you can finally take that much deserved vacation you have been waiting for since you started your small business.
After reading the above you probably want to start making a list of things that you need to automate. Prime candidates are processes that are repetitive and accomplished in exactly the same manner each time. This could be preparing brochures and mailing them. A good way to automate keeping in contact with your clients is fax blast of your brochures. I am finding more and more that e-mail is just too flooded with spam for most customers to take seriously. Unless of course you can send millions of Viagra letters each day so.
OK, enough of the sarcasm from me, ha ha . Seriously, I think people are starting to respond much better to faxes these days especially from trusted business contacts. There is not much fax spam and you do not have to worry about your e-mails getting caught in someones spam filter. Also most fax systems give you a delivery report. You will know if a fax was successful or not. If it was not successful you will know if the number was busy or just not a good number. This helps you maintain a clean contact list.
In one of my shorter post I listed a few fax services . These are fax services where you can e-mail a document prepared in a word processor and the service will fax to the telephone numbers you provide. Many services are very cost effective. If you get the right CRM (Customer Relationship Management tool) you can possibly automate faxing to your customers on a regular basis. An example would be that you decided to run a special offer to customers who have purchased something from you in the past 3 months. You want them to know this is a special offer exclusively for them to show your appreciation for their support. You create a document in your favorite word processor mention the produce or service, the special offer for instance 20% off, and give them a special coupon they can cut out or mention. You query your CRM for customers that meet your parameters and the system faxes to each customer that meets your requirements and alerts you if the customer has no fax number for you to fax to. In this case you would e-mail or better yet make contact with the customer personally by telephone number and mention the special offer and request their fax number. Once this is all programmed in your CRM you can have the special run once each month (or whatever periodicity you want). This would be an automated process that runs with the need for human intervention.
Got the idea? Simple you say but these CRM softwares are expensive. Not true. Some are expensive but if you tale a few minutes to do a search on google you can find many free and low cost alternatives. You just need clarity on what you are trying to accomplish.
BTW. I would appreciate your comments and suggestions. Also if you have needs for your small business let me know. I will try to take the most common request people make and blog about it and hopefully an answer will appear to your question or need.
Thank you for reading. Remember this blog is for the technically challenged. There are very few dumb questions. Feel free to ask about whatever you are interested in.
Also just like the previous post in this series, I believe that the subject of automation is just too deep for one post to cover it. I think I will also need to revisit this topic and expand it. Perhaps I should make each one of the key topics we are discussing a category on this blog and hopefully others will read, benefit, and share their success stories with every one and we can all benefit from the knowledge of what worked for others.
Straight from Amazon.com
I like the part that references using your network and VoIP telephony instead of an expensive PBX. This goes with my last post on using SKYPE for your voice and Video conferencing.
The quick, easy guide to networking your PCs—and making the most of your network!
Own more than one PC? Now’s the time to network them. Networked PCs are more powerful, more convenient, more cost-effective, more fun … and networking is easier and cheaper than ever! In SOHO Networking, one of the world’s most practical and experienced PC and networking professionals gives you all the help you’ll need. Step by step, you’ll learn how to choose equipment, set up your network, share your resources and Internet connections, and keep “prying eyes” out—whether they’re inside your house or half a world away. Best of all, you’ll learn how to do more with your network than you ever thought possible!
If you answered ‘Yes’ to any of the above then you should Download Skype and create a FREE account.
This is definitely one free software and service that will give your Small Office or Home Office an edge.
I have used Vonage and other web based telephone solutions in the past but none have been as reliable or as flexible as SKYPE!!!
There is free calling and conferencing between SKYPE users. Free Chat tools. There are also free 3rd party add on products being released constantly.
Do your self a BIG favor and get to know this software. The applications for the SOHO user are unlimited. WWW.SKYPE.COM
Tell us what your SOHO challenges are and we will help you find a solution.
Send an e-mail to solutions@soho-411.com let us know how we can help.
Here are a selection of Laptops Available from Amazon.com
It has come to our attention that many SOHO users want a simple method of setting up a home network.
Well with Windows7 it is easy. Now We realize that many of you have older versions of the Windows Operating system but we felt that you have to start somewhere.
I discovered the following video on YouTube.com that shows just how simple it is to set up a network with windows7.
If you have other versions of the Windows operating system and need help please let me know and I will try to find simple directions for you to follow.
Sit back watch this video and try it yourself. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9TC-1MZTV4&feature=channel
Thank you Windows Videos Guys!!!
I was just asked by someone today which hard drive should they purchase to upgrade their computer.
Basically my response was just buy the cheapest one that will work for you. I said this because the Hard Drives produced today are generally of very high quality. Gone are the days where you had to do all kinds of prep work to prepare your hard drive for use. I cannot think of a hard drive available to the consumer that is not a good quality. If anyone out here knows of a specific brand to stay away from please let me know.
Anyway there are two ways you can add hard drives to your system. One way and probably the easiest way is to just add a usb hard drive. These hard drives come in a case and all you have to do is plug them into your computer’s USB port and you are off. The only word of caution here is to try and avoid installing programs to hard drives that you know you will be unplugging from your computer. I only say this because you computer dynamically assigns a drive letter to each usb storage device you plug into your computer. My computer always assigns the letter F: to the first usb storage device I plug in. If I plug in my thumb drive it is a F: If I then plug in my usb hard drive the hard drive is a G:. If I plug them in a different order then the drive letters for each device will be different. If your external USB hard drive receives a different drive letter that the one it had when you installed your program then this will cause your programs to fail.
Other than that the USB hard drive is a great alternative to store your data. It will be portable and you do not need any expertise to install it. It is truly a plug and play technology.
I have added a link to Amazon to some drives I use. However, like I said, “If you can find something less expensive USE IT.”
In the first installment of this multi-part article we discussed the key components of an Information Technology Infrastructure. You can read the first post here: Basic steps towards a streamlined and secure soho technology environment Part 1.
In this post we will review “Connectivity”. This is a pretty self explanatory term and it refers to the connectivity of your SOHO environment with the rest of the world. Usually through the internet but also within your Local Area Network if you have a network. Many SOHO environments really do not have a LAN (Local Area Network) In many cases it is just a single PC connected to the Internet through an Internet connection provided by your ISP (Internet Service Provider). My home ISP is Verizon and they provide me with a DSL connection through my Telephone. There are several types of connections you will probably have to decide between. The most common being DSL or Cable. New Fiber Optic connections which are super high speed like Verizon’s FioS are becoming available all the time and are a very good choice if you can afford them. However, this is relatively new technology for the average consumer and may not be available in your area. I know we just had FioS installed in my complex and everyone is excited about it.
In any case there is a lot to learn about the different types of connectivity available to you. Every day more choices emerge with more bells and whistles.
A good place for you to read about what types of connections are available in your area and how others rate the services are:dslreports.com .
The next point of connection in the connectivity of your SOHO would be the Gateway or router. Most people have a wireless router or gateway that is easily purchased at any computer store. You can pick one up from Staples or BestBuy. I think I purchased mine from WallMart. There are several very good robust brands on the market that are priced below $60.00us. I prefer the LinkSys because I have used it for years and it was good enough for Cisco to purchase. You can get some idea and see some comparisons at http://compnetworking.about.com/od/broadband/tp/dslcablerouters.htm.
This site has a good basic listing of the most popular routers and the price. Also they have some very good information on how to setup your own wireless network. Just remember that most of these wireless routers will work right out of the box but are not secure. It is very important for you to set up a secure wireless network which requires a password to connect. This password is called a key and you usually only have to enter it once per laptop or PC. However, it makes it more difficult for others to get you private information.
If you have problems the Linksys company will support you and walk you through the setup once you get your router home. Just call the support number that you will find in the instructions and they will be glad to help you.
Well this is a very basic overview of connectivity and I think we will have to return to this subject more in detail later.
WordPress is a free blog software.
You can download it at http://wordpress.com .
Wordpress is a very powerful easy to implement blog/website builder.
To make things even easier you can get cheap hosting at
Godaddy.com that comes with a free word press installation.
Basically, all you have to do is click and give a few instructions and the software is installed on the web server for you.
There are many Themes available for WordPress for free that make for a very flexible web package.
If you can type you can put up a web site with little or no HTML coding.
As a matter of fact this site is hosted on Godaddy and uses the wordpress install there.
There are a few things that you have to do like purchase a domain name and a hosting package but Godaddy makes it easy
and offers a low cost blog package. I spent a little extra money but I have a friend that purchased a domain name at Godaddy for 9.99
for 1 year and purchased the word press blog hosting package for 4.99/mo.
Of course you get deals for buying for a year or more.
My friend got her WordPress site up in a few hours and she has no IT or web programming experience.
The Godaddy Support is also helpful.
If you are interested in some good development books try the following Books.
