They say video is the Next Frontier for small business marketing. Are you recording?

Videos will be searched, categorized, crawled, archived, accessed and — eventually will replace the typed blog or other commentary for people more interested in having content as eye-and-ear candy than as an exercise in reading.

For that reason, I have a Pure Digital Flip Video HD. It takes sharp, snappy images in crisp HD clarity. I also have a library of home office videos (showcased at the top of this website). Each was taken with a Flip Video.

Small. Simple. Sharp. Easy to share. These attributes describe the evolution of today’s video camera — and what consumers are demanding in them.

These aren’t just for marketing. Contractors can shoot images from job sites. Teleworkers can video their home offices — as proof for their employers that they have a bona fide workspace. Of course, kids can use them for projects and parents can goof off with them (not while working, of course…) Read More »

In the world of computing, seemingly simple mistakes can have devastating consequences.

Laptop Lifts raise the laptop, netbook or Macbook - and protect from spills and overheating.

When we were on Home Office Highway, our technology was subject to all sorts of hazards.

Falls, spills, the heat of an RV all were potential problems. In fact, several times the MSI Wind netbook almost took a fall from the dinette table because RV vibrations set it into motion.

I discovered a simple solution: A few small strips of adhesive-backed silicon stuck to the bottom of the computer. Tacky with the rubbery feel of silicon, they hold the device snug in place.

Such is the premise of Laptop Lifts (www.laptoplifts.com). The product and its creator offer a plethora of PC protections — and lessons in entrepreneurship.

Slippage is just one problem laptops face. Low and close to the table, one spilled drink can soak and fry the device in a flood of fluid. The Laptop Lifts, though, raise the device a mere quarter inch, allowing safe passage for an otherwise disastrous deluge.

Read More »

Mark Hayes with Fox Atlanta and Ruth King with On The Ribbon Business Network were two of the hosts we visited with during Home Office Highway '09.

Home Office Highway was created to showcase the latest in mobile technology. Among the people we met and discussed Mifi, netbooks and various accessories with were Mark Hayes with Fox Atlanta Channel 5 and Ruth King of On The Ribbon business television.

From camping overnight in the Fox TV parking lot (so to be sure we wouldn’t miss the 7am call time) to driving through Atlanta to find Ruth’s office, it was a day of adventure.

Hopefully, we left behind some valuable insights, too.

Online Backup Keeps Home Office & Telework Data Accessible on the Road — and Safe From the Storm

By David Friend, CEO, Carbonite, Inc.

‘Tis the season — for hurricanes and summer travel.

It always amazes me how so many business owners completely neglect the safety of the data on their computers. Or will travel without access to their documents.

Consider this:  during hurricane Katrina, more than 35,000 businesses had their computers ruined. According to U.S. Dept. of Labor Statistics, 40 percent of all businesses that have data disasters never reopen. Some 25 percent of the rest fail within two years.

In short, when you lose all your home office’s or small business records and files, you’re cooked.

And if you’re traveling and don’t have access to your data, files and records, it might as well be locked in a vault somewhere.

It’s likely that more than two-thirds of small businesses do back up their data regularly, but it’s almost always to external hard drives, DVDs or tapes.  Unfortunately, these are usually stored nearby. So if the computer gets flooded, so do the backups.

And they’re inaccessible from any remote location.

That’s why it’s so important to back up online where your data gets stored in a completely different part of the country (hopefully somewhere well away from the hurricane belt). Read More »

Your industrious cottage can make remote work workable by Nancy Doniger for the New York Times.

The New York Times had a piece on the tools needed to make a second home or vacation getaway an industrious place. I lent a few insights.

For home office workers (entrepreneurs or teleworkers alike), top tips included:

– Wireless broadband. Internet is central to any effective home office or remote workplace.

– A computer. Netbooks and small laptops allow people to take their work anywhere — without dragging a luggable in tow.

– Cloud with Web-apps. “The cloud is the concept of working in an untethered environment, so all your documents are out there,” writer Billie Cohen quoted me as saying. Click here to learn more…

BlackBerry? Check. MP3 player? Check. Camera? Check.

Forty-two linear feet of wires, cables and cords attached to transformers to recharge all these devices? Uh… OK. No more.

Home officers and road warriors are entangled in lengths of wire — unless you use something to master the morass. Enter CallPod, and various products designed to keep the juice flowing…

Fueltank

Fueltank™ can simultaneously charge two small electronic devices NO OUTLETS NECESSARY. It contains a rechargeable lithium ion battery which has more than 7 times the capacity of a standard mobile phone. The Fueltank utilizes device-specific adapters – the same ones used for Chargepod® – so you can customize your Fueltank™ to meet the exact needs of you and your family. Proprietary voltage regulator technology senses the amount of power required to charge your devices. An LED fuel capacity indicators displays when the charging indicator button is pressed. www.callpod.com/products/fueltank

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The people at CoolTools recently reviewed several cool apps — ideal for the home officer-turned-road warrior.

According to writer Arthur Heafer, the Versacharger is a combo 110V AC and 12V DC USB converter to charge phones, PDAs, and various other electronics. Purchase additional USB connectors and “tips” as you go for specific gadgets. Some GPS units also can be charged with appropriate voltage transducers.

Heafer has used this charger over a year, mostly when traveling. It greatly reduces the amount of cables, chargers, wall wart and the like carried around. Heafer keeps all my devices (GPS, Palm T/X, cell phone) and charger in a small cloth, drawstring bag, along with a Ziploc bag for all the various tips (Add’l Tip: He uses a gold marking pen to write which tip goes with which device). Read More »

You’re a road warrior who travels the region, nation or globe.

You’re a business owner or teleworker who works from a home office. Your life is managed by a BlackBerry in the palm of your hand, or a clunky laptop that steals an inordinate amount of space in your carry-on or life.

Today, the tech of your life is shrinking. And your universe is expanding.

Enter remote computing. Parallel to the growth of “cloud computing” or the concept of information and software being accessed or delivered through the Internet available anytime, anywhere from any device, is the prevalence of netbooks.

Over the next few blogposts, we’ll look at the growing set of tools that make remote computing a reality for home officers, teleworkers, business owners – and even heads of households who rely on out-of-home access to keep their affairs in order. Read More »