A New Way Of Computing And Connecting With Customers

Business-Building Tips From Terry Brock

The world of computing for mobile professionals is changing — for the better.  I’ve just experienced some new technology that can help you establish, build and enhance relationships.  These technologies assist as you are traveling to 1) stay in touch with customers, 2) keep your data safe and secure and 3) reduce costs. Not a bad combination, huh? Well, here is an approach I’m using that might work for you in your work.

Brilliant, New Method For Portable Computing

I’ve been using my Sony VAIO P-series computer (the VGN-P588E) for writing memos, articles, and documents of all kinds.  I also have PowerPoint available on it for a back-up when making presentations on the road (really nice!). And of course, it has full access to the Net so I can get a lot accomplished in airports, hotels, meeting rooms and more.

This little jewel weighs less than one pound, is small enough to work comfortably on even the tray table of tight airline seats (yes, I’ve tried it even in the middle seat on a Southwest Airlines flight!) and the battery life goes for over 4 hours.

Now, I have an even better way to enhance this experience.  I just received the new Corsair Survivor GT 32GB USB Flash drive from the company to review. I can insert the drive into one of the USB ports on my P588E and run most any program. When finished with the task I can safely remove my Survivor GT and the data is safe from even the best hacker prowling the Net!

I’ve also used the Survivor GT on my MacBook Pro seamlessly. This means I can transfer PDF files, documents and even videos and audios back and forth from one platform to another with no problem. I’ve referred to myself as “platform agnostic” in the past and a device like this one from Corsair makes it even more possible. The company’s literature doesn’t say that it supports Mac, but I’ve seen it work beautifully for me.

The 32GB unit I received is water resistant (nice) and is encased in aircraft-type aluminum for durability (you’ll smile about that if you’ve even been on a particularly rugged road trip!).

Now, Corsair has a USB flash drives with 128GB of capacity. This is a lot more storage than many computers had just a few years ago.  Think about the ramifications of this!  You can have most of your main programs and essentially all of the important data you need on a road trip with you in your pocket.  It can be safe, secure and easily used on just about any computer that will run the programs.

If you’re making a presentation in the company’s office across the country and just don’t want to bring your large laptop, bring along the large-capacity USB flash drive with all the data and you are good to go (literally!).

I haven’t tried a 128GB drive as of this writing.  However, when I get one with that capacity (or the newer 256GB drive! — yes, I’m excited!) I can see using that as my “main computer” plugging it into the appropriate computer. This can be one I have with me or another safe computer (yes, check with those wonderful IT professionals to get good anti-virus protection software).

This will free you up with more time to build quality business relationships and spend less time on computers that can crash, etc. Oh, and for safety, it might be good to have not one but two of these same-size, large-capacity drives. If you lose one, it would be very helpful to have an identical back-up residing back home in a safe location!

(Corsair 32GB Survivor GT, Cost is less than $100 on the street, http://corsair.com/)

Build Relationships Online By Sharing

Collaboration and sharing are hot in computing. This is what is driving social networking. As we like to say, “None of us is as smart as all of us.”  Sharing information you gather online is critical for this.

In the past it has been a challenge to share website information. When you see a great website or web page and even bookmark it, that site can change or be taken down before you get to share it with others.

The procedure of sharing now is easier with a new service called iCyte. You can share documents, websites and more with a group of your choice. With iCyte you can grab the content of a web page and keep it exactly as it is when you see it. You don’t have to worry about it being changed as you will have it exactly as it was when you saved it.

You can share information and collaborate with your select group that you choose. This is a great way to leverage technology for building relationships. Visit their website at www.icyte.com and watch the helpful video that explains how it can work. You can sign up for free to test it.

This is a great tool to extend the power of the Net for mobile professionals. You can access the data online using Internet Explorer or Firefox from your Windows, Mac of Linux-based computer.

Building relationships with customers is the key to business success. With tools like these, you can enhance your abilities and build more quality, profitable business relationships.

Copyright © 2009, Terry Brock and Achievement Systems, Inc. Terry Brock is an international marketing coach and professional speaker who helps businesses generate profitable results. He can be reached by e-mail at terry@terrybrock.com or through his website at www.terrybrock.com. Join the Twitter adventure with Terry through his Twitter address: @TerryBrock