Free Business Cards on the Web

I found a company on the web today from a person who was visiting my office. He handed me a "personal" business card and said that he found the cards online and they were free... I like free.

The name of the company is Vista Print and their website is www.vistaprint.com and it's worth taking a look at if you are in need of printing your own business cards. Vista also prints other products like stationary and envelopes.

By simply entering your contact information you can build a business card with Vista Print's online tools within about 60 seconds. The first 250 business cards are FREE and you only pay $5.25 for shipping. Not bad if you're starting your own little business or just need another solution for your business card supplier. If you need your job rushed, they can do a 3 day turnaround. From my experience with printers - 3 days is quick.

As you begin to finalize your transaction and sneak off the site with 250 FREE cards Vista Print throws all of these other items at you that may want to add to your order, and since you've entered all of your contact information, they personalize each item and you see how they would look with your name on them - things like notepads, stationary etc.

It may sound crazy, but it didn't bother me a bit to have to go through what might seem like a gratuitous add on sale display to someone else. To me it was like I was shopping for office supplies... and who doesn't like shopping for office supplies? Show me someone who doesn't like Staples or Office Max and I'll show you someone that isn't actually ALIVE.

Vista Print may have a solution for you. Check it out.

TK

Ventura Technology Briefing

Thanks to everyone who attended our Sales Technology Briefing in Ventura County (held in conjunction with our Becoming a Top Producer seminar.) Here is a list of the products, services and websites that we reviewed during our event:

Results Seminars
www.closemoresales.com
This is our official site that tells you where we are going with our events and what's happening in our group. Check it out!

Nightingale-Conant
www.nightingale.com
NC is THE name in the personal development industry. Check out their website and you'll discover an entire world that you didn't know existed... dedicated to improving your sales career and your life!

Bankrate.com
www.bankrate.com
Everyone who deals in interest rates and financing should bookmark this site! What is happening on a daily basis in interest rates is kept up to date for you by Bankrate.com.

Send Out Cards
www.sendoutcards.com
This is a cool site dedicated to helping you stay in touch with your clients. Pick the cards that you want to send and this group lets you customize the card and even sends it for you. This is a truly automated BUT personal process. You have to see it to believe it.

Stuffbak.com
www.stuffbak.com
This was our featured site. Stuffbak makes a label product that you can attach to all of your personal effects (keys, mobile phones, PDAs etc.) This is a no brainer. Buy these and put them on everything before you lose it and some nice person keeps it because they don't know who the heck you are!

Google
www.google.com
Have you heard of this company? Duh. Of course you have... but are you using:Google Alerts?Google Desktop?Google News?Google Gmail?Google Earth?Google Calendar?Remember, it's all FREE and all capable of assisting you be more efficient.

Anchor Free
www.anchorfree.com
This is the website that lists different locations in Ventura that offer FREE access to Wi-Fi.

Broadband Access:
Verizon www.verizonwireless.com
Sprint/Nextel www.sprint.com
TMobile www.tmobile.com

Business Card Scan Product
www.cardscan.com
This is the cool business card scanning product that can scan cards directly into your Outlook or other contact management software. You can type in 100 calls in 4 hours or scan them in 10 minutes. You pick!

Start Your Own Blog
www.blogger.com
Good for staying in touch with clients and getting your presence on the Internet. Remember - this one is FREE.

Remember... 5 things in 72 hours!

TK

June Tech Review - Apple Video iPod

Last year I amassed too much money into my PayPal account in an attempt to buy tickets to the USC vs. Notre Dame football game. I won the tickets I was after, but the payment end of things didn't work right... I paid twice and still had to send the seller a check.

The result... my son Chris and I saw one of the greatest football games in college football history. I also had about $1,500 bucks in my PayPal account that had to be used up. So I went on a shopping spree.

One of the items I picked up was the Apple 30 GB Video iPod. Have owned a number of MP3 players and an iPod Nano I wanted to check out a full-sized iPod and see what all the hype was about. Was "video" and 30 GB really that impressive and really needed? The answer - a resounding YES!

First and foremost, the 30 GB unit does a complete backup of my music library. I don't have to management my sync list like I do on my Nano... hook it in and my entire music collection is not only backed up and safe, but ready for me to use. How long does it take - let me check - 40 seconds to back up 16 GB of content. Not bad... (of course it's only updating new content such as recent music purchases and Podcast updates.)

In all of my previous music players I had to pick and choose what content I wanted to sync and what had to be purged. Not every song could come along for the trip. 30 GB fixed that challenge.

What's the other cool feature of the video iPod? The video. Not only do I have my music, I have some of my favorite shows such as LOST and 24. The screen is small but when you put the iPod like 8 inches from your face - looks like a big screen - no joke.

I need to figure out how to get movies onto the iPod. Does anyone know how to do that? If I could take just one or two classic flicks on every trip I could be occupied the entire time!

TK

Motorola Q Hits the Market

After lengthy delays the “Moto Q” has hit the market and is available on the web from Verizon Wireless and only Verizon Wireless. Once again a really cool phone is locked up by one major carrier – I hate that!

Beyond my disgust for the evil workings of the mobile phone industry and my Motorola stock shares laying stagnant for the last six months - I think the Q is a winner.

It’s thin (like a Razor), doesn’t have a stylus (like a BlackBerry) and runs Windows Mobile 5.0 (like a lot of other new devices.) Back to thin… it’s as thin as a Mont Blanc pen at .45 inches. Only the BlackBerry 8700c comes close. The Treo 700 units are bricks compared to the Q.

Unfortunately what the Q lacks in thickness it makes up for in length. The Q is 3 feet long… okay not true. The Q is long though, measuring over 4.5 inches in length it’s just a hair too big. I took an eraser to it and it looks better like this:

Even though it is “super-sized” the scroll wheel makes operating the Q with one hand a possibility. Just like a mouse on a desktop or a touch pad on a laptop, all smart phones are going to feature a scroll wheel for easier navigation.

Of course one feature that you get with Windows Mobile 5.0 is the mobile versions of Outlook, Word, Excel and a host of third party software that has been, and will be, developed in partnership with Microsoft. This is a huge advantage over BlackBerry devices. Word and Excel files transfer easily and require no third party software assistance.

I like the mobile version of Windows Media which easily plays music files and video. I wouldn’t ditch my iPod if I started using the Moto Q… but it would be nice to always have a few tunes in your pocket.

QWERTY key board and high speed access to the net make the Q a player in the smart phone marketplace. It’s $199 with a two year service agreement with Verizon. $110 a month gets you 1350 minutes of talk time and unlimited data usage. I’d give it a try.

TK