A mobile journey to go mobile
In my previous post I detailed the mobile working tools I was using. Today I am going to make a change to that. I have upgraded my smartphone to a Blackberry Storm 2. I couldn’t be happier. As I’ve stated, living up here in the remote areas of Maine has some limitation. One of those [...]
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When I first picked up my Blackberry it was for keeping in touch with people through email and instant messaging while I was away from my computer. I did not think it would be instrumental in actually building my business. I did not really get into the actual running of a mobile business until I [...]
A mobile business is usually thought of as telecommuting. Someone would have an office, but can do a lot of their work on the road with a laptop computer. This makes them mobile. However, a mobile business that I am describing is one where there is no office computer. There is no office. There are [...]
In my previous post I detailed the mobile working tools I was using. Today I am going to make a change to that. I have upgraded my smartphone to a Blackberry Storm 2. I couldn’t be happier.
As I’ve stated, living up here in the remote areas of Maine has some limitation. One of those is poor cellular service. Add to that an even more limited selection of mobile phones, you have to make do with what you have. When I switched over to U.S. Cellular a few years ago I got myself a brand new Blackberry Curve. I really loved it. But, with all the new apps, new technologies, and me working from my mobile phone a lot more, I needed a little more functionality and power. Enter my new Blackberry Storm 2.
Some of the reason for switching was based on being able to work more effectively in a mobile world. But, I do have to admit, that at least one of the reasons was purely selfish on my part. First, the business aspect. My curve did not have Wi-Fi access. I had to rely on the 1x cellular service for web browsing. I got by with it, but it was a little slow. Wi-Fi is fast and the 3G network of Verizon works really well.
The touchscreen also adds to the functionality. My trackball was starting to give out and would stick once in awhile. This way I can easily access links and navigate web pages. And now, once I got use to the touch screen typing, I am much faster than with the little QWERTY keyboard on my Curve.
Now, to the personal part. I have been wanting a Kindle for some time, but never really took the chance to buy one. I know some people who have one and they really seem to love it. But, I wasn’t sure if I would use it enough. However, when the Kindle App for Blackberry was released I wanted to try it. The only problem… it wasn’t available for my Curve. That kind of made up my mind to switch – not only providers, but phones also.
I am so glad I did.
Although I’ve only had the Storm 2 for a few days now, I have been fortunate enough to be able to pick up two new clients. Both of them because I was able to immediately reply to emails that were sent. Yes, I could do this with my Curve, but it is much easier, faster with the Storm 2. I’m also able to participate in my social networks much easier also.
So, the newest addition to my mobile marketing arsenal is the Blackberry Storm 2.
When I first picked up my Blackberry it was for keeping in touch with people through email and instant messaging while I was away from my computer. I did not think it would be instrumental in actually building my business.
I did not really get into the actual running of a mobile business until I was forced to. I knew my Blackberry Curve could do a lot of things, I just never envisioned doing this much with it. But, I have to be honest. This is not the only mobile device I am using for the mobile business model I am doing.
To give you the best information I can about what I am doing, and how I am doing it, I thought I would give a little rundown of the tools that I am using. I have to state from the very beginning that these “tools” are not the top of the line. Since I live in an area that doesn’t have 3G, or high tech products, I have to settle for what is available. My point being…. you do not need the most expensive items to be mobile in your business. With that said, here is what I am using.
For most of my mobile work I use my Blackberry Curve 8330. Like I said, not the best Blackberry on the market, but it does what I need. I can talk to clients, set up business meetings, keep in touch with my family, and order pizza with the talk function. But, the functionality does not end there. I also use it a lot for email. Most of the time I will sit and answer email through the Blackberry instead of my computer. Along with email, I also have web access that allows me to use several applications for social networking, blogging, writing documents, and surf the web.
Along with my Blackberry Curve, I also use an ACER AOD250-1151 Netbook. I have a regular laptop computer, but for on the go computing, the netbook is much better. In fact, I almost prefer working on the smaller version more than the larger one.
That’s it for right now. I am looking at some other improvements as time goes by. I am still not quite sure how useful the iPad is going to turn out to be, but I might be looking into that when it is released. Until then, I have my Curve and my Acer.
Are you doing any mobile marketing? What pieces of hardware are you using in your day to day efforts at earning a living?
