Archive for October, 2008
Not too long ago I signed up for the Verizon Wireless laptop data plan which provides access to the internet virtually anywhere. My first experience using the service was a 2-hour trip to east Texas, which if you know this area you’d know this is no small feat. And while I’m perfectly happy with the speed and coverage provided by Verizon Wireless I can’t justify the nearly $70 bill each month when I now have several extremely viable alternatives. Let me explain.
VIABLE ALTERNATIVE #1 (FREE WI-FI TO IPHONE USERS):
Just yesterday, AT&T announced that it is providing all iPhone users access to free wi-fi service at it’s more than 17,000 US locations. This means that aside from my always-connected iPhone via 3G and :gasp: Edge service, I now have the ability to perform more bandwidth-intense functions at a huge number of AT&T wi-fi hotspots.
VIABLE ALTERNATIVE #2 (FREE WI-FI TO STARBUCKS CUSTOMERS):
A few months ago Starbucks and AT&T announced a partnership whereby Starbucks would kick T-Mobile to the curb and make way for AT&T to install wi-fi in all Starbucks company-owned stores. With this came the benefit that Starbucks would now provide 2-hours of complimentary wi-fi to it’s Starbucks rewards customers. To become a rewards customer and eligible for free wi-fi service, you simply need to purchase a Starbucks gift card and register online. The only catch is you have to keep the card loaded with cash and use it at least once per month. Considering Starbucks is literarily a second home (or second office) for my partners and I while in startup mode, maintaining the rewards requirements is a piece of cake.
VIABLE ALTERNATIVE #3 (TETHERING TO AN IPHONE):
Although not officially sanctioned by AT&T nor Apple, the iPhone development community has several software options that enable a user to access the internet on their laptop via an active iPhone connection. The setup process is more involved because it requires jailbreaking your iPhone to enable loading of third-party applications onto your phone. While most of the steps are automated, I would only recommend this option to advanced users. There have been reports of speeds in excess 800kbs using AT&T 3G and obviously a bit faster if your iPhone is connected via wi-fi. If you’re interested in going down this route, check out the following links:
- iPhone Modem (see screenshots below)
- Jailbreaking Guide for Mac Users
- Jailbreaking Guide for PC Users
CONCLUSION:
Even though I will be forced to pay an early termination fee of around $150, this represents just two months of billing and significantly less expensive than riding out the balance of the contract. What other free (or close to free) options do you use, is there anything I missed?
MyCorporation by Intuit is offering a unique sale on it’s incorporation services. On November 11th, from 6am-6pm PST, you can incorporate your business fee-free. What does this mean? Well, just like hiring an attorney (which MyCorporation is not), there are handling fees to take care of the process of registering your company with the state.
We paid around $150 in fees to get the paperwork rolling for DotVita, LLC (Nectar’s parent) so this sale is not something to shake a fist at. That said, bear in mind that there are several other fees when starting a business (not covered by this offer):
- Each state has an actual filing fee for a corporation or LLC. Fees can range from around $100-$700 depending on the state, type of company, and how quickly you want your paperwork returned
- Expect to pay between $75-$250 per year for a registered agent service if you plan to form your company out of state.
- If forming a company out of state, note that you’ll likely need to obtain a foreign qualification certificate in your home state which for me was a surprising $750 charge in Texas. Do your homework first to find out your expenses.
To obtain the MyCorporation fee-free offer, call 1-888-MYCORP-1 (1-888-692-6771) or visit the website MyCorporation.com and mention code FREE149 to receive the $149 discount.
Source: Duct Tape Marketing Blog
If you’ve been following my activities lately you know that I’m neck deep in startup logistics along with my five fearless partners. We’ve endured several intense months of planning, development, design, and countless inane details that end up becoming vitally important if you neglect them. As the saying goes, with great pain comes great pleasure and we’ve had plenty of fun and excitement along the way. Nothing will be as thrilling as seeing our baby launch in less than a week. But as I sit in a plush Starbucks chair, I can’t help but think about the windy road that led me to this place today. I’m literally living a dream that was set in motion a few years ago when I made the decision to walk away from a cushy corporate gig to experience the American dream – owning my own business.
My tenure at RadioShack had surpassed 12 years and I was at my breaking point. I despised much of the management team who flushed any semblance of a positive working environment down the drain when the company fell on hard times. My work schedule was so hectic that I arrived several hours early and stayed several hours late just to read/respond to email and meet with my team who was getting as frustrated as me. My family saw me only briefly each weekend and worse yet, my mind was too focused on the chaos of work to give my loved ones the attention they deserved.
Prior to jumping ship, I crafted what has now become my definitive life goals. It started with several extensive brainstorming sessions to understand my inner passions and skills. I was certain I wanted to venture out on my own but didn’t have a clear direction. My entire career was in the retail/consumer electronics field spread over a half dozen distinct roles with no clear specialty. I didn’t particularly care for the retail industry as a whole but I came to conclusion that the best stepping stone would be to start a consulting practice focused on my core competencies at the time.
And so it happened. I gave notice in early January 2006 and started Identity Mark Consulting, a business that would run successfully for over two years and lay the groundwork for my future entrepreneurial efforts. As with most consultants, I traveled extensively which meant my family time was still pinched but my stress level dropped significantly and I thoroughly enjoyed the freedom and challenges of running my own business.
Throughout my time as a consultant I never lost sight of my ultimate goal of launching a technology startup which leverages the explosive growth of the internet. Early this year I began to map out several different business plans and identify those with the greatest propensity for success. One of these prospects involved a concept that is just now getting the attention of people worldwide – personal branding. I recognized that there are millions of people in the same situation as me…passionate but in the wrong careers, looking for more, and desperately need to reinvent (or reposition) themselves to achieve their goals. This personal branding idea grew into what we now call Nectar and I couldn’t be more proud.
In retrospect I can honestly say that developing a written set of goals was life-changing. I can’t imagine ever returning to my previous lifestyle and I’m thankful that I was blessed with the wisdom to capture my dreams and hold true to them. My advice to anyone stuck in a career path that doesn’t feel right, or worse yet, one that is highly detrimental to your health and well-being, is to make time to get a plan together. This isn’t a quick process (nor should it be) but with a plan of attack the odds become heavily stacked in your favor. I have two close friends who have followed this approach and they’ve turned their lives around in ways never imagined.
LinkedIn announced today that it’s added an applications feature inside the wildly-popular business social networking site. This means you can now add interactive functionality to spice up your personal profile page and hopefully drive more awareness on the site. Initial applications include WordPress (for embedding blog posts into your profile), Reading List from Amazon (share your favorite books), Box.net (for sharing files), SlideShare (for sharing documents), and several others. I would expect this application pool to grow extensively over the upcoming months.
Personally, I’ve not used LinkedIn as extensively as I have in the past because of my growing interest in Facebook. For me, Facebook has been a much more intimate affair and effective means of communicating while LinkedIn has always seemed a bit cold and distant. Sure, I have my 500+ contacts but aside from an occasional update, I don’t interact with these folks through LinkedIn. My hope is with the new LinkedIn applications functionality I will gain benefits that cannot be obtained through Facebook and therefore increase LinkedIn’s relevance for me.
While I’ve had a blog (or rather many blogs) over the years and currently run a successful for profit blog as a side business, I’ve admittedly not done the best job about blogging personally. This has mounted into a rather substantial issue considering my partners and I are launching a company next week whose primary focus is online personal branding. In my opinion, you can thoroughly strengthen your personal brand by maintaining a well-designed and content-rich personal blog.
So it is without further adeu that I present you with the new daveonkels.com site running on the latest stable version of WordPress. I opted to start with a premium theme rather than take the time to rebuild a free version to my liking. I heavily modified this theme to help ensure consistent blog posts and minimize my workload. For those of you interested, I’ve detailed the inner workings of the site below. And for everyone else, I just hope you enjoy the design and find value in my forthcoming posts.
Cheers.
Technical Details of DaveOnkels.com:
- Launched with WP 2.63
- Using WooThemes Ambience Base Template (heavily modified)
- Running on MediaLayer Litespeed Server (highly recommended for WP installs)
- Automatic Front Page Image Cropping Using TimThumb PHP Code
- Automatic iPic Watermark on Home Page When Using iPhone Photos (self-coded)
- Lightbox Thumbnail Viewing Using Lightbox 2 Plugin
- Lifestream Summary Using David Cramer’s Lifestream Plugin
- WP Super Cache to Minimize Server Load
- Gravatars Integrated into the Comments Section
Many thanks to Aaron Harp, my PHP and scripting mentor who helped get this site functioning.
