If you can not always be in front of your computer but you need to be connected to your email at all times because the world will crumble without you; then take it with you where ever you go. Having a desktop or laptop computer does not mean you have to always be in front of it to get your email.

Your cell phone is the one thing that you take everywhere you go. Depending on the phone you have you can get your email delivered right to the palm of your hand for as little at $10 per month (10MB). If you are a heavy email user that gets lots of files sent to you an unlimited data plan can be added for $30 per month.

Now here’s the technical part your cell phone is typically setup by default to use something called IMAP but more than likely your email client on your computer is setup to use POP which means what happens on your phone doesn’t happen on your computer. Changing the setup of your email client on your computer to use IMAP instead of POP can help to resolve that issue. So when you delete a message on your cell phone it will be deleted off of your computer at home and vice versa.

There are other more sophisticated email setups that can be applied when using corporate email such as ActiveSync and BlackBerry that keep your email, calendar, and contacts in sync between your phone and computer in real time.

Don’t let the stress of not being able to leave your computer get you down, go mobile!

The answer is tethering. What is it? Tethering, is the term when using your mobile phone as a modem to provide the internet connection to your computer. If you have your trusty laptop and a mobile phone with a data plan you are almost ready to start tethering. Only a couple of more pieces of the puzzle are needed.

First you will need the same USB cable that you use to sync your mobile phone with your laptop. Or if your phone and laptop both support BlueTooth you will not need the USB cable.

Secondly you will need the software to make it all happen. Quite a few mobile phone providers want to sell you an upgrade to your monthly service to do this but no worries you can do it for a one time software purchase of PDAnet for $34 from June Fabrics – PDA Technology Group. They support many of the PDA type mobile phones such as iPhone, Android, Windows Mobile, Blackberry, Palm OS Treo and Centro.

Once you have the software installed on both your mobile phone and laptop keep in mind that you are still at the mercy of your mobile data plan in regards to coverage area and performance. In one area you maybe able to make that Skype call via your laptop without any problems but that doesn’t mean it will work everywhere.

Let me know how this article has helped you.

If you find yourself in a financial pinch where you currently reside there’s no reason to go down the road of doom and gloom.   Re-examine your cost of living and your location.   You may not be able to afford the home you are in, and given the current real estate market this may not be the best time to sell to get out from under your investment but you could be backed into a corner.   Explore listing your home for rent as well as for sale.   There are other individuals that are in the same situation you are and may need to downsize. 

Once your home sells or a renter is found, does your current location allow you to cut your living expenses by half to two-thirds providing an effect of doubling your income?  If not, look into expanding your horizons.  Do you have the  job skills that allow you to relocate easily?  Do you work remotely?  With the advancements in technology working from home is more and more the norm which opens the possibilities as to where you can live.  Many are exploring the options of living in another country but are still retainging their US or Canadian based jobs.

There can be many advantages to moving to another country with a lower cost of  living such as more affordable health care with the same quality or better to having the exchange rate work in your favor making your dollar go even further on top of  it.  Not to mention, a once in a life time experience of learning a new culture and in many cases another language which can open other doors of being bi-lingual.

Thinking outside the box is where it all starts and where you go from there is up to you.  Are you going to buy your lemons  or pick them from your own lemon tree and make lemonade?

There is a service out there called www.SugarSync.com that will allow you to automatically back up your important files and keep them in sync with other computers with almost no effort.

My suggestion is to sign up for their free version to experiment which allows 2GB of storage and the ability to use it with up to two computers. Simply install the software on the two computers you want to keep in sync, specify the folders (Desktop, My Documents, Favorites, etc) and then using their management interface specify the folders to sync. For example on computer A I chose the Desktop folder to sync with computer B’s Desktop folder. This way if I save a file to the Desktop on either computer it will be there. Now keep in mind that you do need to make sure that you have an internet connection to make this all work. That doesn’t mean you have to have your computers on all the time. When you boot up your computer and are connected to the internet it will sync any new changes.

Should you be on the road and not have your trusty laptop with you, you can still access your sync files via a web browser on any computer. This also works well with providing the ability to share your files with others.

Be aware that not all online back companies provide the capability to sync and share files. Most are on a per computer license. Even though they may offer unlimited backup storage for a low yearly fee but does it fit your unique needs?

I’m not saying that SugarSync is the end all be all solution it does have its limitations. The top future improvements for the product are the support of Outlooks files (pst), mapped network drives and external drives. Hopefully I’ve given some insight into what other possible options to look for in an online backup solution.

Let’s address the fist point of quality.  What is Skype? Skype is a VoIP based phone system that relies on your internet connection to make phone calls.  In order to use it you must be connected to the internet and the connection needs to be high speed.   Being that high speed internet is becoming the norm and not the exception this allows you to make phone calls from virtually anywhere in the world.  In my particular situation I use it at home the majority of the time over a cable internet connection but I do go into the office a few times a month where they have a DSL connection.  At either location I have no issues with call quality.   When I fist started using Skype I would occasionally ask my prospects “how’s the phone quality, we are testing out a new phone system”.  Every response was favorable and they had no idea that I was using Skype.  Now I haven’t had the opportunity to test the dinosaur of dial up but my suspicions would be that the results are unfavorable.  In fact my new laptop doesn’t even have a modem to connect a phone line.  In those rare particular cases that I am not around a high speed connection I just use my cell phone.  Even then I can use a SkypeToGo number to make my calls using a local number even though the call is international.

The second point was reasons for choosing Skype.  Most of the time sales people like to be mobile so they’ve got their trusty laptop to be on the go.   Being that Skype is software based you can take it with you where ever you go.  At the very least  you should have your Skype headset with you as well.  So, not bad a laptop that you lug around anyway and a headset that weighs only ounces.  With other VoIP solutions such as Vonage and Packet8 you need to lug around a little box and a phone or phone/box combo.   That may not sound like much but you have to plug in the power cords and network cables.   What happens when you can’t plug in a network cable and only wireless is available, uh oh!    Since Skype is installed on your laptop no wires necessary.   Look mom no wires!!  At least till your laptop battery dies but it’s much easier to find an outlet than a wired network connection.   Also, if you think about when you go to a hotel, airport or hotspot what do they have you do?  They have you sign into a webpage to enable the wireless connection, try doing that with Vonage or Packet8 hardware.

I mentioned earlier about getting a Skype headset which is very important.  Since it is designed to be used with Skype this means they’ve done all the testing for you there’s no need to play Russian ruellet with headsets.   Make sure you get a headset that has a USB connection.   The USB headset can be assigned to only be used with Skype within the Skype application.  So when instant messenger pops-up or arriving emails make noises they won’t be blasted in your ear.   Computer noises are directed out the computer speakers and Skype calls are directed to the headset.  This also allows you to mute the computer speakers but not the headset.

There you have it just about as mobile as you can get on $8.95 to $18.95 a month to make those paycheck impacting phone calls.

If you are using traditional land lines packages are getting more competitive but Ma Bell still can stick it to ya for local and local toll calls.  There are more options for local toll and long distance such as www.totalcallusa.com which provides long distance calls at $.029 per minute.  Not bad at all but if you are like me and average 3,000 minutes a month that’s $87 on top of my standard phone service which is still well over a $100 a month.

If you have high-speed internet that provides many more options.  First is your standard VoIP options such as www.Vonage.com, www.8×8.com, etc. which average $25/mo. for unlimited calls to US & Canada.  With taxes and fees right around $30/mo.   They send you a little box to hook up to your internet connection, then connect your phone and use it just like you always have.

Next is something even cheap, cheap, cheaper and a little more virtual which is www.Skype.com.  All you need is a high-speed internet connection and a specific headset designed to work with Skype.  If you’re on the go, use a laptop and always have access to high-speed wireless then this is the option for you.  At $2.95/mo you can make unlimited outgoing calls to the US & Canada.  Need an incoming number no problem add $6/mo.  We’re up to $8.95/mo. for unlimited calling.   International you say  $18.95/mo. will take care of that.

The point is being a sales person is more of a challenge today and one way to combat the challenge is to save where you can.  Let me know what you’ve saved on your phone bill.