At work, we have an army of administrators who manage all aspects of our company from HR, Finance, and IT. At home, it’s just my wife and me. In my opinion, automation is the only option. I just refuse to do manual processing. If it’s not automated, I’m not going to do it. I don’t have the resources to hire a team. Instead, I’m taking advantage of some really cheap and some free services.

Email and Calendar: Google ($0.00)
I’m surprised on how many people do not use Gmail. The search function makes organizing by folders a thing of the past. I just archive everything and when I need something, I just key in my search terms.

Document Management: Evernote ($45 a year)
I’ve been using Evernote seriously for a week now and have made a commitment to build the processes necessary to ensure that all inputs gets scanned and entered into Evernote. The search function is priceless. All my documents are piled in a to-do bin. Once a week, I spend a few hours scanning and shredding, then tagging and labeling. On the road, I can access those files on the web and on my iPad/iPhone.

File Storage and Sync: DropBox ($0.00)
DropBox is my go to service. I keep my files in the “cloud” which is synced to any machine that I have DropBox installed, including my iPad and iPhone. The greatest feature is redundant backup on multiple machine and automatic syncing. There’s also a file history and a history of deleted files. This came in really handy when I inadvertently deleted some files.

Printing and Scanning: Lexmark Prestige Pro 805 ($250 + $4.99 ink)
I rarely print and if I do, it’s with my Lexmark wireless printer. I bought this because it comes with $4.99 black ink cartridges; the color still costs an arm and a leg. It has duplex printing as well. I really use this because it has built in apps to pre-program functions to scan directly to Evernote.

Home Network: Apple Airport Extreme ($199)
My home network is connected by the Apple Airport wireless router. I have three networks. First, one is for guests. When I have visitors, they can access my guest network using a password. They have full Internet access but not to my home network. I then have two more, one dedicated to 802.11N and one for all others. Both of these networks are password protected and connect to my printer and networked drives. These are simply older external hard drives. Eventually I’m going to upgrade to a Terabyte drive to store files.

These are just some of the tools I use. In a future post, I’ll map out my workflow. Do you have any recommendations on other services?

I just received my Alkr Messenger bag from a company in Germany. They were formed in 2009 to address a missing market, the gadget geeks. I own an iPad, iPhone, laptop, and various other accessories I carry to work remotely. I was looking for a bag that would carry and protect all my gear. The laptop pocket has a feux fur liner to protect the equipment.

The main compartment is huge. I can store several days of clothes in there if needed. The bag is designed to be snug on the body for urban travel. It’s very soft and doesn’t hold it shape like a regular briefcase bag. If you’re looking for that, check out their briefcase bag.

I’ll check back in after a few weeks of field use and report on the quality.

Here’s the box it arrived, including the import sticker.

This is the messenger bag front. The white horizontal line is the front outer pocket. I love being able to reach for my frequently used items without having to open the bag.

It has a really unique blue inner lining.

Here’s the logo.

You know a bag is good when it has a pocket dedicated to holding an iPad. Awesome!

I received my Square credit card reader in the mail last week. Square is an innovative company that has created mobile software and hardware for individuals and companies to accept credit card payments. Traditionally, accepting credit card payments required long applications to the credit card companies, installing software and hardware, and a long and tedious process. With Square, users simply sign up and receive the reader in the mail. Mobile apps work for most major cell phones and the Apple iPad.

The experience is seamless. The merchant enters in the name of the product, snaps a picture of it, and swipes the customer’s credit card on the reader. The customer then signs his or her name with their finger. A receipt is then mailed to the customer with the picture, description, and a map of where the purchase occurred. The merchant receives funds from Square after a processing fee of around 2.75% plus 15 cents per transaction. Most importantly, there’s no upfront activation fee, or any other recurring fees with traditional credit card agreements.

While a storefront may not necessary switch to Square, this opens up the door for freelance consultants, artists, and individuals. I’m personally looking forward to accepting credit card payments at my next yard sale.

Square is available for iPhone, iPod touch (2G+), iPad, Nexus One, Motorola Droid, Motorola Droid X, HTC Droid Incredible, HTC Evo, HTC Hero, HTC Desire, Samsung Galaxy S series, and the LG Ally.

Rework is written by the founders of 37 Signals, the creator of project management software Basecamp. It’s concise, with a choppy blog like feel to it. The book is a collection of essays written by the founders on management and business principles that guide their work. One of my favorite guidance is to avoid the work harder than everyone else mentality. Instead, they recommend working smarter.

People are always asking questions. How do I do this and how do I do that? I always have an answer. Usually, if I’m on a phone call, there will be a few moments of pause and then I have the answer. If it’s over email, it’ll take a few minutes as well. Below are a few examples of scenarios I’ve answered and how I knew that answer.

• How do I record a Skype call?
• How do I setup a pivot table?
• How do I make chocolate chip cookies?
• How do I get rid of this page break in Word?

Let me Google that for you by using these easy steps:

1. Open your web browser.
2. Go to http://www.google.com (this should be your home page).
3. Type in your questions (literally if you must).
4. Click on links until you get an appropriate answer.

I’ve used Google to do many things such as:

• Searching for a phone number to screen calls (telemarketer?)
• Typing in “do I need to repair my tie rods in my Chevy Malibu” to make sure if I really need the service at the car shop
• Making Windows 7 run faster
• Clear vs Comcast

Please learn to use Google. It’s how every guru, ninja, specialist, expert that you know find out their answers.

After going back and forth with several options for building out my personal document management system, I opted to sign up for a premium Evernote account. Before this, my options were:

1. Do nothing and digitize documents on an ad hoc basis – too chaotic and disorganized.
2. Store digital scans on Dropbox – files are not searchable.
3. Use Google Docs – limitation on PDF file size and clumsy upload process.
4. Install local document management system – requires maintenance and backup.

By upgrading to the Evernote premium edition, I go from 40 mb upload a month to 500 mb. Additionally, I can now upload any file type and search within a PDF. I have a Lexmark Prestige 805 multiprinter at home. It’s wireless and has a built in Evernote function that with one click will scan and email the PDF to my Evernote email upload account.

My workflow goes as follows:

1. Input into Evernote using scanner, iPhone app to snap an image, or clip using the web tool.
2. Periodically, log into Evernote and tag and categorize my files.
3. Search when I need info.

The key feature that was the selling point for me is the ability to search everything. Evernote includes built in OCR to recognize text from PDFs to images, including handwritten notes. When you’re looking for a document, you’ll find that search is the lifesaver. Instead of sifting through piles and piles of documents, I can simply use a few keywords and narrow things down.

Enterprise software, systems, and processes often are overly complex for no particular reason. Perhaps it’s to create job security.

Below I’m highlighting a few online services that can replace existing enterprise software. While I do enjoy using them, it’s not a recommendation. You should define your specific business requirements before implementing these systems.

Financial Management – Freshbooks

Rather than hiring a team to install expensive financial management software like SAP/Oracle, General Dynamics, etc., considering trying online versions such as Quickbooks, or Freshbooks. These online systems include simple billing, timekeeping, and payroll functionality.

Office Productivity – Google Apps

Maintaining a Microsoft Office environment is also really expensive. You have to maintain servers, keep IT staff onsite for maintenance, and continually update software. Instead, try using Google Apps for documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and email. What’s more important is you don’t have to worry about file storage. Most importantly, all documents are searchable using Google search technology.

Document Management – Shoeboxed

This is a really neat service. Mail in your documents like receipts and business cards using the provided pre-paid envelope. They’ll scan, run OCR and have a human validate accuracy, and integrate your data to your other systems.

So What?

These are only a survey of the options out there. These services can really disrupt the traditional model. There are hundreds of alternatives to the traditional systems out there.