1. Computers. Computers have come a long way from cabinet-sized hard drives to small laptops. From storing information electronically to keeping us on budget and on time, computers are invaluable for running a homebased business.

2. Handhelds. You say Blackberry and I say iPhone. Either way the Internet, contact information, to-do lists and anything else we need to function every day is in the palm of our hands.

3. The Internet. Anything you need to know is only a keystroke away. Encyclopedias, phone books, printed manuals…who needs them?  More updated versions of almost anything in print is available online.

4. E-mail. Communicating with someone halfway around the world is as easy as staying in touch with your favorite local client. No more waiting for snail mail or overnight mail. If you need an answer from someone, you can have it in seconds.

5. Voice mail. Leaving a message with a receptionist is annoying and time consuming.  Being able to leave a voice mail message instead of dictating your name, number and purpose of your call makes communicating easier and is a more efficient use of time.

6. Cell phones. Isn’t it great that anyone can reach you anytime on your cell phone?  Isn’t it awful that anyone can reach you anytime on your cell phone? That’s why there’s Caller ID.

7.  Scanners. The paperless office is no longer a dream, but a reality. File cabinets around the world are breathing a sigh of relief because they’re not as full as before. Instead you can scan papers and store them electronically. Don’t forget to back up anything you scan and save.  3-in-1 machines (printer/scanner/copier) are the ideal space-savers.

8. Videoconferencing. Face to face meetings don’t have to include an expensive flight, hotel and travel expenses.  Instead you can meet with clients virtually and best of all, you can sleep in your own bed at night.
Is there any piece of technology that’s making working from home work better for you?

Challenge: Storing too much information on your computer.
Solution: Get in the habit of dumping files on your hard drive the same way you’d toss papers from your file cabinets. If you know you’ll never refer to a file again, dump it.

Challenge: You could lose data.
Solution: Don’t wait until your computer crashes to think about backing up your data; by then it’s too late. One of the best investments you can make is in a reliable backup system. Start with an external hard drive or an online data storage service.

Challenge: Managing an insane number of e-mails.
Solution: Read and respond to your e-mail in groups. Instead of checking your e-mail every ten minutes, check it less often and take action on the e-mails you open. Postponing e-mail responses is no different from shuffling the papers on your desk.

Challenge: Slow, outdated equipment.
Solution: Buy the fastest computer system you can afford. Even though you may think you can’t afford a new or updated system, ask yourself what your time is worth and how much time you’re wasting on old equipment.

I especially liked the tip about creating Tweetbacks for Wordpress. It combines the comments people make about you on twitter, with the people commenting about you on your blog. It’s a match made in heaven…or at least on the Internet.

• Often times when laptops are dropped the hard drives are jarred destroying the ability to access the information on it. It’s very important to 1) have a good backup 2) have a good tech and 3) encrypt your data – especially those of us who have portable devices such as laptops and thumb/USB drives.

• Almost all laptops have an additional plug in the back for an external monitor. If you don’t have a monitor, most new TV’s will work (which BTW is a great way of showing family pictures from your computer).

• Most laptops have a “Function key” usually marked “Fn” which is usually located near the left of the space bar. Notice the color, now look on your keyboard for a key with the same color and a picture of 2 boxes or a “crt/lcd” (usually it’s located on one of the number keys). Hold the function key down and tap that key. Although not portable, it will give you access to your system until you can get it repaired.

John brought up one final point that put everything in perspective: “In the big picture, be glad it’s only the computer that got hurt and you’re okay.” And that ended my pity party.

You never know when you'll need to fix your computer.

It turns out I’d cracked my LCD screen and a guy at the Apple Store told me Apple could fix it for $750. Really? I could buy a new Mac for a few hundred dollars more.

As I left the Apple store I remembered I’d met a Mac consultant, Chelanie Israel (aka Miss Mac), a few years ago. I went home, called Miss Mac and told her about my cracked screen. She said that she could replace the screen but it would be cheaper to send my laptop to Powerbook Medic. Someone who gives up business to help a client save money is at the top of my list. After I thanked her one too many times—I was going to save $500—she said that if I needed help again, she knew I’d call. She’s right.

Whether you use a small computer support service, a national chain like Geek Squad, or even a local high school kid to fix your computer, keep your computer guru’s phone number nearby. You never know when you’re going to need help with your computer, especially if your klutz ratio is as high as mine!

When I told a client that my twitter following was growing, she admitted that she had no idea what I was talking about. I explained that Twitter is a microblog that allows you to update friends and clients in 140 characters or less. That made it clear, right? Not so much. When I saw the confused look on her face, I realized I needed to find a better explanation.

If you don’t have a clear understanding of twitter or just want to watch another YouTube video, gather around, grab some popcorn and check out “Twitter in Plain English.”

When you’ve learned how to tweet and why, you may be inspired to sign up (it’s free). Then after you’ve joined the Twitter community, you’ll discover ways to spread your business message, be able to keep your clients and friends in the loop and maybe even improve your status with your kids (although mine still think I’m too uncool to tweet). I’ll take two out of three anytime.

SEO is about increasing traffic to your site, but figuring out how to use SEO effectively can be confusing and costly. “50 SEO Secrets for Mom Entrepreneurs” by Holly Klaassen, offers practical, quick, and effective tips for all entrepreneurs. She breaks down the mystery of SEO into 50 easy-to-use tips.  A few of them stood out.

• Get traffic from Yahoo. Go to Yahoo Answers and run a search for topics related to your business or niche. Provide helpful and well thought out answers to questions and include a link back to helpful information or articles on your site.

• Keep urls short. While your urls should be descriptive, they should also be fairly short. The shorter they are, the easier it is for people to remember them, cut and paste them into their blog or an email, or write on a business card.

• Go after “long tail” keywords. Rather than trying to be found with popular (and competitive) phrases such as “chocolates” (23,600,000 results in Google), try longer, more descriptive phrases such as “milk chocolate truffles” (510,000 results).

• Get traffic from Ezine articles. Try using Ezine articles for difficult keywords. Write an article using your keywords, and submit it for publication. Even if you can’t rank for your keyword on your own site, including a link back to your site at the bottom of your article will send referral traffic to your site.

The bottom line about Holly’s book? Her tips work.

Shredders are invaluable for protecting information.

The other morning while I was working in my home office, I heard a strange grinding noise. (Sounds like the opening line of a gory, horror movie!) I knew it wasn’t a lawn mower or a leaf blower or the neighbor’s go cart so finally I went outside to check it out.

Parked in front of my neighbor’s house was a huge truck with a shredder inside. My neighbor had trashcan loads of paper to shred and instead of wasting time shredding each piece, he had hired an on-site shredding company to do it for him. He could have just loaded up his car with boxes of paper and recycled them, right? Not so fast. There was the security issue—he had old tax information to shred—and then there was the possibility of identity theft.

I hadn’t heard of anyone working naked hiring someone else to shred their papers (my corporate clients have done that for years), but it made perfect sense. I’ve been through three shredders in two years because of my impatience at shredding. If a shredder can shred 8 sheets at a time, I shove in 12.

If I ever need to shred a massive amount of files, I’ll call in for shredding reinforcements or see if I can test my luck and avoid burning through a few more shredders.

Don't forget that you get what you pay for.

Before you spend any money on new equipment or on modifying your existing equipment, consider a few questions.

• Will the new equipment help you save time? A new cell phone may improve your productivity. A printer that prints more sheets than your current printer can cut your printing time and printing costs significantly.

• Can you afford to buy the latest, greatest, top-of-the-line computer or will you have to settle for a less expensive, less effective system? If possible, wait until you can afford the more reliable, better-performing system. You’ll save time later on. I still drool when I see people with the latest Mac. Guess I should have followed my own advice and not settled for my MacBook (although it works fine).

• Will you know how to use the equipment? If it’s going to take you six months to learn how to use something—or if you’re like me and you refuse to read manuals—be willing to pay someone to teach you how to use the equipment immediately. Either pay a high school or college kid to figure it out—trust me, they can do it—or use a professional service like Geek Squad.

You’ve heard of what not to wear. There are a few things not to do when you send an e-mail.

• Click “reply all” when the e-mail should go only to the person who sent it. If you write snide comments about someone on the distribution list and that person receives the e-mail, they won’t be too happy about it. Trust me.

• Forget to attach whatever you’re supposed to attach. After doing that one too many times, I now attach the document before I write the e-mail. So far so good.
  

• Enter pet names as contact names. One of my clients sent a group e-mail and included her husband’s e-mail address on the list. In her address book, his name is “too hot.” Really? Do I need to know that about him?

• Show everyone’s e-mail address instead of using bcc. In case you don’t know this, bcc stands for “blind carbon copy.” In other words, it means don’t let everyone see your e-mail list because 1) it’s annoying to scroll past e-mail addresses to read the message and 2) some people like to copy the addresses and add them to their own e-mail list so they can send you annoying spam e-mails.

With regard to my friend who sent me the original e-mail, I’m still contemplating the payback.