Category: Entrepreneurship

Use StayFocused to Block Time Wasting Websites To Make You More Productive

by Katherine Elsasser

StayFocused browser extension blocks websites to increase productivityWe’ve all logged into Facebook and mysteriously lost 45 minutes down the rabbit hole of status updates and liking photos. In theory it’s not a big deal, but all those tiny procrastination moves add up to lost time and productivity when you could be getting work done. It takes a lot of willpower to restrain yourself from checking Twitter (or whatever your distraction of choice may be), so there are a few options to take all the choice out of the equation. StayFocused is a browser extension for Chrome that simply blocks sites you specify, so you can’t be tempted.

Browser extensions work kind of like plugins, and they quite literally take advantage of the browser’s engineering to extend its technological capabilities. They’re all as simple as a quick download from the Google Chrome Web Store. Keep in mind this only work for Chrome, but you can use the Chrome browser on either a Mac or PC.

After you’ve downloaded the extension, there are a couple of productivity-boosting options. The first is called the “Nuclear Option,” which in this case means blocking certain sites all the time, or even only allowing certain sites all the time. If you’re willing to allow yourself a little time to goof off, you can also set the browser to allow for certain amounts of time that can be spent on various sites. For example, you can set a maximum amount of 20 minutes for Facebook. After your twenty minutes are up, you’re locked out. No more Facebook until the next day.

There are ways around it, of course. You could switch browsers or disable the StayFocused plugin altogether. So yes, you will still need some willpower to stay on task. But it’s a lot less than you might need otherwise, and it can’t hurt to limit (or at least just track) how much time you’re spending on sites that aren’t job-critical.

 

Get a Free Credit Score and Monitor Your Credit Report With Credit Sesame

by Katherine Elsasser

credit sesame for free credit scores and free credit reportsThere are a lot of services out there that promise a free credit report, but are actually scams – remember all those free credit report TV and radio jingles? Everyone is entitled to a free credit report once a year through the website annualcreditreport.com, but if you want to know your actual credit score – the number that rates your credit-worthiness – you’re going to have to pay extra. Enter Credit Sesame, a new startup that will let you get both your credit report and credit score for free.

Credit Sesame has partnered with Experian to provide your credit score, so you won’t know what the other two major credit ratings agencies (Equifax and TransUnion) think, but it’s a good start. Credit Sesame will also offer you loan and credit card advice about the debt you already have, and can send you updates about changes to your credit report. If you’re actually in the market for a loan or credit card, they’ll send you offers from bank they think match your financial needs: if you choose to go with one of those offers, Credit Sesame makes a commission. That’s how they can provide their other services for free, but they promise that the offers will truly be helpful to consumers.

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Synergyse: Google Apps Training for Small Business Users

by Katherine Elsasser

Synergyse Google Apps training for businessGoogle Apps for Business is quickly becoming a viable alternative to standard email and IT solutions, especially for small businesses looking to move more of their workflow to the cloud. But for many people it can be tough to transition to a new way of working, especially if they’re deeply familiar with older programs like Microsoft Word and Outlook. New startup Synergese aims to take the pain out of transitioning (and lighten the IT burden) by providing real-time Google Apps training right inside the browser window. Synergese’s CTO Majid Manzarpour worked at Google training users in Apps, and two other founders are also ex-Googlers, so they’re approaching the businesses with expertise and experience in training.

As of now, Synergyse is offering training in Gmail, Google Calendar and Drive, the three building blocks of scheduling and document sharing within the Google ecosystem. Unlike a more traditional video tutorial, lessons take place inside the browser, allowing you to learn by interacting with program you’re looking to learn. It’s a more intuitive and interactive approach that allows quicker learning, but lessons are scheduled at your own pace, so there’s no rush.

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3 Best Cloud Apps for Mobile Small Business Users

by Mario Armstrong

Cloud Apps for Small Business ProductivitySmartphone Apps That Help You Get Faster and Smarter Online

Last week I discussed the best cloud apps for managing your contacts and business cards, but what about everything else you do while on the go? Can you use the cloud to be more productive in other areas? Of course you can! There are apps that leverage the cloud to do almost everything you do online, and they can help you do it smarter (and faster!). Here are a few of my favorites:

1.   Cloud file storage

No matter what line of business you’re in, there are surely dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of files you need to manage. Wouldn’t it be great to have access to them everywhere you go? Thankfully, the prices of cloud storage are falling every year, and it’s becoming simpler than ever to point an app to your documents folder and let it sync to the cloud and across your devices.

Stop carrying around flash drives and never be caught in a meeting without access to a crucial document ever again!

If you’re a small business or entrepreneur, one great solution I like is to switch your business over to Google Drive, which provides both document storage and editing of all your docs, spreadsheets, and presentations in one place. Fully compatible with other office suites but available on every device you can think of, Drive is a great way to promote team collaboration on important documents and make sure your company has all of their important docs in one place.

But larger companies that may be more resistant to switching over to Google for all their document needs, either Dropbox  or Box.net can help. You can get several gigabytes of storage on either service for free so you can try them out, and since both offer apps for every mobile device out there, you can have your documents, pictures, and more easily synced across all your devices and never be caught without a crucial file again!

Continue Reading This Post at the AT&T Networking Exchange Blog –>

 

What is AT&T Premier?

by Katherine Elsasser

If you follow this blog at all, you will have noticed we talk quite a bit about AT&T Premier, but you may not be familiar with what the Premier program actually is.

AT&T PremierEssentially, it’s AT&T’s program for small business. They do have services for large business, but that’s not our focus, and besides, lots of big businesses have IT departments to take care of services for them. AT&T Premier fills in the gap to help with mobile solutions for small businesses to help streamline your tech so you have one less thing to worry about.

In order to access Premier, you have to qualify first. But once you do, the service offers Premier-only discounts on phones, devices and plans. It’s basically a portal where you can shop for services and devices online, but also manage any accounts you already have, including for employees. So if you have a small business that’s providing business phones for employees, you can manage everyone’s account at a glance, and set up limited-access profiles so they can see info they need (but not info you’d rather keep private).

One great thing is to be able to see all the mobile devices offered by AT&T in one spot, with Premier-specific prices, so you can decide which mobile device is right for you. Refurbished phones are included too, if you’re looking to get a serious discount. Plus there’s $25 off any phone activation.

The AT&T Premier portal also offers tips on getting more out of your mobile devices so you can manage your business more efficiently. There’s customer support targeted to the small business user, and general knowledge and advice specifically tailored to the small business audience.

Want to know more about AT&T Premier? Want to see if you qualify? Go to the Premier site for more information.

This is a sponsored post from AT&T. 

Mario Armstrong’s CUBED — Pronto Forms

by Mario Armstrong

It’s not often I’m told that when visiting a business I need to pack some old boots! But business today isn’t all clean office environments and suits—it’s dirty work too, like Veteran Compost in Aberdeen, Maryland. Justen Garrity, founder of Veteran Compost, is a veteran of the Iraq war who came back after the crash to find there were no jobs and no real sources of employment left for him. Working a day job and on the weekends while going to school at night, Justen built an amazing business collecting food scraps from local businesses and turning them into compost for local farms to purchase.

Like a lot of businesses, Justen tracks almost everything on paper—pickup times, compost temperatures, almost everything is written down and stored in manila envelopes. While this is fine for a business that’s just getting started, as your business grows you have more and more information you’re trying to process and handle. Enter Pronto Forms from AT&T. Pronto Forms is all about eliminating paperwork and digitizing all of the forms your employees fill our so that you can store everything in a single location and access it quickly and easily. Employees can even capture photographs or signatures on the go! If you’re on the fence, the cool thing is that you can try Pronto Forms for free for 30 days and see if it will really work for your business.

Mario Armstrong’s CUBED — AT&T Connect

by Mario Armstrong

In this episode of CUBED, I visit Barb at Clapp Communications, a boutique public relations agency. Barb is having trouble communicating with a team split between two offices, one in Baltimore and the other in Charlotte, with employees constantly traveling all over the map to meet each other and to meet with clients. Does this situation sound familiar? These days, offices are much more decentralized and connecting everyone on your team regularly and reliably can be difficult.

Enter AT&T Connect. Connect is an integrated audio, web, and video conferencing solution that can help to bring your team together and help you work more efficiently when everyone can’t be in the same place at the same time. With low per-minute costs and deep integration with Outlook, AT&T connect provides conference tools no matter what platforms and devices your business uses, whether its PC, Mac, Android, iPhone, iPad or Android. But it’s more than just a Skype alternative—AT&T Connect brings in tons of features like whiteboarding, shared presentations, and file sharing to make an AT&T Connect meeting just as productive and useful as a real world one. Plus, if some colleagues or clients can’t make it to the meeting, the whole thing can be recorded and shared via email! How great is that?

Anyone can learn to code – why I’m backing code.org

by Mario Armstrong

The fact is, anybody can learn how to write computer code. It isn’t like basketball or football. where you either have the talent or don’t—learning to write code is something that can, and SHOULD, be taught to everyone in school. The problem is, not all students have access to computers and the training materials or teachers necessary to actually learn how to do it. That’s why I’m getting behind code.org, an organization dedicated to getting programming curriculum and technology into every single classroom.

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How the New Microsoft Office 365 Can Work for Small Business

by Katherine Elsasser

Microsoft Office365 from AT&TThe idea behind the new Office 365 is that there are two key needs for small businesses these days: mobile accessibility and streamlined IT. After all, time spent dealing with tech headaches is time you’re not actually working on your business. Office365 seeks to streamline your tech by providing all your productivity apps through one cloud-based service, and can include the Microsoft Office Suite so many of us have come to rely on.

Exchange Online
Exchange email is probably not a new idea for you. The trouble is, running an exchange server for email is complicated and not cheap. Microsoft has figured out how to have exchange email live online, so you can sync and manage email, calendars and contacts across devices. There are even shared calendars, just like the real (now old-fashioned) deal.

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