I have been reviewing various ways to store the information that is on my computer.  I’ve considered buying a external device, but haven’t wanted to spend the money.  I’ve looked at a few online services, and am still considering this option.

Online Backup is worth it if the amount I would have to pay (if anything) is reasonable and most important to me, the site storing the information must be secure.  See the little “iDrive Basic - 2 GB Free” image in this post? That is what drew me to take a look at iDrive.com.  2 GB isn’t enough to store everything that I have on my laptop by any means, but it’s enough to test the system.  Then, after testing and learning how things work, if I’m happy with it, I’ll pay the monthly fee, it’s really quite reasonable.  It would take me a couple years to spend the amount it would cost me to buy the external unit I was considering.  I use a laptop, and don’t have an iPhone, Blackberry or MAC, but understand that you can store information from them as well.

SO, I’m definitely giving this a try when I finish typing this.  Everything is explained so clearly at the site I’m most interested in with images showing you step by step how the service works online, quite impressive.

So don’t loose all that typing and the graphics you’ve done for that book or manuscript, or any other information on your computer, back it up.

Some months ago, I was helping my mother with her computer, she was having trouble getting to websites through her internet service. So I contacted her Internet service provider, and after entering information he provided to me, like magic, he began to work on my Mom’s computer as if he were seeing it on his screen, which he was, at least the parts he was allowed access too. I sat back and watched my Mom’s computer screen and could see everything that he was doing, he fixed the problem, and then I did whatever closing steps he required, and we were done. That was my first experience with PC Remote Access, the ability to access a computer that is not your own via the internet.

In this case, it was done to troubleshoot and fix a problem, but sometimes this is done for business purposes to access files, work together as a team on a project, and more.

My first question to the man that helped fix my mother’s computer was “how secure is this, are you able to get into all my mother’s files”? He assured me that it was very secure. If I had never had this experience, I probably would have little understanding about services like this, services that are offered by companies like Proxy Networks. They provide software that may be helpful to you in business, allowing one computer to access another, and in a sense, control that computer or have access to it’s files, for a period of time. Because there is 256-bit encryption available - the highest in it’s class, you can be confident that your system is secure.

To find out whether this software might benefit you and your business, please visit the live link in this post.

Sponsored, please see my Disclosure Policy

Books and eBooks aren’t the only things that are “in print” that people find useful, or enjoy. There’s many ways that the written word can benefit us, here’s just a few obvious ones:

• Birthday Greetings (today is my sister’s birthday!)
• Christmas Greeting Cards
• Business Cards
• Party Invitations
• Wedding Invitations
• Even things as humble as the return address labels on an envelope.

You can make each of these items a promotional piece by adding your logo, or something that matches the cover of the latest book that you have written.  Then personalize them to your liking.  This can be done for business purposes or your own personal needs.

I visited the link above, and loved the pricing, and had some fun trying to design a few things of my own.  There’s a very large selection of ways to promote yourself, your book or ebook, or your business.

I have a website right now that has a form on it that I’m not happy with. It wasn’t easy to put together, and because of it’s appearance, somewhat unprofessional looking, I don’t think it’s as appealing to people as it could be.

You may be experiencing the same thing…forms are important to websites…they are a way that you can gather the information that is most important to you so that you can serve your visitors in the best way possible.

This is why, within the next couple of days, I’m looking forward to trying a web form builder that I was introduced very recently. The pricing is good, you can do 2 forms free, but there will be ads on them; for about $9 a month, you can do 5 forms, etc., but I do have to take a closer look at all the details…and so can you.  

As I said, you can try it out right from the site, and there’s a nice video tutorial along with the trial to help you figure things out, but it looks very easy.

Whether you are an author trying to gather information for your next book, or from your readers; or a person like me who does book reviews and wants specific information about books to add to my site; or in a business that has nothing to do with books but requires gathering of information, the form-builder will be so helpful. It will also bring you contacts that you would never have met before without it.

Give it a try! I’m going to.

In a competitive job market, you need to have the tools to compete and beat the competition, and I’ve found just the place to help you do so.  I’ve spent quite a bit of time browsing an elearning site called learn.com.

This site is truly unique, and offers you the opportunity to watch your knowledge increase through their Skill Score® system. What you need to realize is that employers can also utilize the site to find potential employees, this is where your Skill Score® can work to your advantage.

While some will use the site to build their skills and make themselves more marketable, others can gain knowledge that will help them in how to use their computer, use common computer programs, or manage a business from home.

Another thing that those of you who are writers and publishers will be interested in knowing is that you can actually put together a course at the site, and receive a generous percentage of any income generated by your course.

Along with the skill-building courses at the site, there are accredited courses that you will want to explore.

Here are some terms that you will find at learn.com that you will not find anywhere else:

• An award-winning LearnCenter® learning and talent management suite
• A WebRoom® Web conferencing suite
• A PeopleCenter® application builder
• FormFlow® custom form creation

Presently there are 1,000+ titles in the learn2.com® online library.

You have spent many months putting down your dreams and plans for your book store, publishing company, or your book series, magazine or website. You do your best to put your presence out there, only to have your ideas stolen and used by a competitor.

Your business “brand” is what identifies your business..through your logo, your title, your name, your website, and anything else that makes your business uniquely yours. Once you have put in all that work “branding” yourself and your work, you do not want your ideas to be stolen or abused. This is where you might benefit from a trademark filing service to help you with your business plans. Such a service can help you in the following ways:

• They can help you find out whether the image or other aspect of your business you would like to use to “brand” yourself is available
• They help you register as well as renew your trademark.
• They can protect your trademark by monitoring it
• If there is an infringement on your trademark, or even your domain name, they will help defend you.

These are only a few of the services that are offered by thetrademarkcompany.com that  might be useful to you as an author or publisher, or in any business for that matter.

I love Twitter, in fact I love it so much that it’s one of those things that I have to make sure to keep in balance with the other things that have to be done to bring income into our home.

If you are not using it to make contact with people, you may want to give it a try as soon as possible, and if you are using it, I’d love to see how it is helping you in a comment.

It’s hard to imagine that there are some who may not know what Twitter is, but I’m sure there are, so here’s how to begin:

• Go to http://twitter.com and sign up for an account, use a username that fits with your “brand”.  For an author, it may be your name, or it may be the title of your latest book.
• Be sure, if possible, to use a picture of yourself, I like to see pictures of people, or their pets, or people with their pets, but that’s just a personal preference.  Your latest book cover may be another idea for a picture.
• Rather than my going on here, may I invite you to visit this link to a couple of posts I did on another blog about using Twitter with some tips.

After you get used to Twitter on the web, you may want to download an easy-to-use-and-install software called TweetDeck to manage your tweets…but first get used to what Twitter is all about, then TweetDeck will be a welcome tool, it really opened up Twitter to me in a new way, as you can see your tweets, replies, etc., in columns all at once…you’ll see what I mean when you get to that point in the journey.

To visit my Twitter page, visit http://twitter.com/happynutrition

Whether it is a book, eBook, product, or service, article writing has become a popular way to promote what you have to offer.  There are many article marketing sites, and each allows you to post your article with links back to your website or with contact information so that people can reach you if they are interested in knowing more.

There are a couple of ways that you can distribute your articles….you can use an article submission service and pay a fee, or you can make a folder in your bookmarks and bookmark your favorite article marketing sites and list them yourself for free…at least the ones that I have seen are free.

If you would like to add my free article submission site to your list, it is http://sellingwitharticles.com, and following is a list of articles from the site that will help you in writing your articles:

• Why You Should Write Articles For Your Business 
• Increase Website Traffic Writing Articles
• Beginner Tips for Writing Profitable and Traffic Generating Articles
• How to Write a Search Engine Friendly Article

These are just a few examples, if you go to “Selling with Articles” and put “Articles” in the upper right search box, and pick “Article Title” in the drop-down menu to the left of the search box, you’ll find many more helpful articles.