I started my geek days as a Mac user. Since I worked primarily in web and graphic design, my Mac was a perfect fit for me. Over time, though, as my service offerings expanded, and I started to rely on more Windows-friendly software, I switched back to a PC.

Then last year, I decided to become a bi-platform professional. I kept my Dell XPS desktop and got a MacBook Pro as my portable machine. It was one of the best moves I could have made for my business, and I have found that I am most productive and efficient when I use both computers in tandem.

One immediate benefit of the dual systems is that the setup lets me avoid file format issues with clients who are on Windows platforms. I don’t have to worry about saving in a compatible mode or testing conversion of my files before sending work off to my clients.

Of course, my Mac gives me the best-of-the-best when I’m designing. Plus, it’s just more visually appealing to me when I work on my Mac. While I tend to favor my Mac for these reasons, I have found having constant access to a both computers lets me take advantage of software that works in only one of the platforms. There isn’t really any software out there that I can’t use in my business.

On a logistics level, having two machines available to me at all times means I can double the number of apps I can have open at a time without overloading either machine. And I do! Plus, I can use my PC for running things I don’t want to check all the time – like HootSuite for keeping up on Twitter – so I know it’s there, but it’s not getting in the way of my other work.

One thing that makes me most productive is the backup system I have in place. My files on both computers are automatically synced as I work, so if I need to bounce around from computer to computer, I don’t have to worry about wasting time transferring files. I think I would be slower and less efficient without my current setup…but what do you think?

Do you or would you ever consider using both platforms in your business?

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Want in on a secret?  I upgraded my phone this month from the Pearl (which I loved) to the Storm (which is out of this world).  Seriously, if you thought I was a BlackBerry fan before, you just wait.  I know I mentioned wanting to upgrade to the Tour but, honestly, when I was in the store playing with it I didn’t like the Tour at all.

So, last month I talked about one RexWireless app that I love and I promised to tell you about another.  Well, as promised, here’s my other favorite app from them…RexConnect.

Here are a few examples of how I’ve used RexConnect (and why I can’t live without it)

1. Say your mom calls you and says she wants to send a card to your cousin but she doesn’t have her address.  You tell her no problem.  Pull up your cousin’s contact information, click “RexConnect”, choose the e-mail (or text) option and send the contact info off.
2. Say you get an e-mail about the location, time and date of a meeting (or party) you’re attending and you don’t want to lose the address (or other important information).  Easy, in the e-mail click “RexConnect”, choose calendar and insert the e-mail in that day/time on your calendar.  It will show as an appointment with the e-mail body in the notes section.
3. Say you need to keep track of the day and time a call was made.  You go to your call log, click “RexConnect”, choose ToDoMatrix, and enter it in the necessary folder.

The send contact information feature alone makes this app a must-have for me (seriously).  The others are just added bonuses in my book.  In essence, you can be in pretty much any app and send that information to another app.  It’s awesome.  I love being able to add things to my calendar, ToDoMatrix, send e-mails/texts easily with a quick click of a button.

Next month I’m going to discuss some super important apps that will help make your BlackBerry experience more enjoyable.  And, if you have an app that you absolutely love be sure to contact me through my website and share.  I test all apps out personally before I’ll rave about them but I love trying new apps so it’s never a problem.

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I belonged to a local networking group that touts allowing only “one person per profession”.  When a competitor of mine visited the group, I told them that they would not be able to promote the specific services in conflict.  They said, “No problem.”

On their next visit, they again promoted those services, so I took our president with me to tell them that they could not offer those services that conflicted with mine.  Problem solved, right?

Imagine my surprise when they were inducted a few weeks later without my signature in the approval section of the application for just this situation.  I asked why I hadn’t been contacted, and was told that the president told them it wasn’t necessary.

It seemed like they’d stopped promoting my services, but soon I found out that they did on weeks I was not in attendance.  Then I overheard reviews from members for my services as being performed by the other member.

I submitted a formal written complaint to the president and vice-president explaining the situation and came up with what I thought were our only alternatives, my competitor could start another chapter, they leave, or I leave.

Nothing happened for three weeks, so I asked them to meet with me after the meeting.

Yeah, they got my letter…no, they hadn’t done anything.  Since I was getting ready to leave for surgery, and a leave of absence they’d already approved, I told them they must get it taken care of, as I would have no way to monitor the situation after I took leave.

I was appalled with their solution.  The following week EVERY member received a memo from the vice-president saying that this person was getting referrals that belonged to me, and that everyone should ask me before referring them any business.

Oh, my God!  I wanted to crawl in a hole somewhere and die.  Now they’ve taken what should have been handled one on one with the conflicting party and made me out to be, “Oh whoa is me” Jeannine.

Needless to say, the conflicting party was very upset and voiced some very angry words about how this was handled.  I made it very clear that I agreed.

Now everyone felt like I was picking on my competitor.  As you may have already guessed, my referrals were all sent their direction.

Unethical – you bet!  On the conflicting party’s part for not adhering to the rules and heeding the warnings, on the leadership team’s part for not having handled it properly, quickly, or discreetly, and on the rest of the membership for not trying to understand the conflict, and supporting a long-time “charter” member who had served three times as an officer.

I took my leave of absence, and started utilizing that time to market my business in other ways. Since I left the group I’ve put on many new clients, making me realize that this group truly wasn’t the right place for me.

When I received an invoice for meals and dues several weeks later, I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised.  Bet they miss my referrals.  I was almost always the group leader!

Ignoring my personal feelings, I penned a cordial letter letting them know that it just wasn’t working for me as a good option for marketing my business.

I first heard that they weren’t doing very well.  Then about 4-months later, they disbanded. How could they have been successful  when they don’t use good business ethics as the foundation for the organization.

Jeannine Clontz, owner of Accurate Business Services, a VA practice, is an author, writer, speaker and VA Business Coach specializing in providing professional business coaching to established and start-up virtual assistants (VA’s).  For her FREE audio CD “What’s Holding Back my Business Success?” or a 2-month trial in her group coaching program visit:  http://www.VAbizcoach.com; or contact her at: coach@VAbizcoach.com.

©Copyright Accurate Business Services 2009

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Well, it finally happened. I have migrated my mobile phone experience from a Windows-based smartphone (T-Mobile Dash) to Apple’s iPhone 3GS. Partly because my Dash was over 2 years old and acting up a bit, partly because I turned 50 last month and my husband surprised me with a trip to the AT&T store, and partly because I just wanted to see for myself what all the fuss was about. One thing you may not know about me is that I’ve been a Microsoft fangirl from way back, so making the switch to an Apple mobile device was something I’ve resisted up until now.  Overall, I’m really having a fun time with my new iPhone. It’s definitely different. The whole touchscreen thing is new to me and I’m slowly getting used to it. At first I really missed having buttons, but now…not so much. I was also worried about not knowing how the AT&T cell service in my area would be compared to the awesome T-Mobile cell service was, but fear not… it’s just as great.

The first thing I noticed was that it is physically bigger than the Dash. That’s OK. The feature that has put me over-the-top in love with the iPhone from the very beginning is the screen size (aka workspace). Holy Moly! Where have you been all my life?!?!

Something I discovered that you can easily do is to add a new desktop icon to your favorite websites, thus completely customizing your iPhone to access the sites you most commonly visit. While you’re on any webpage in the browser on your iPhone, click on the plus sign and select Add To Home Screen. OMG!

And can I just go on the record to say that the web browsing experience is FAR superior to that on my T-Mobile Dash.  Since this is not a Dash-bashing post, I’ll simply say that my iPhone will not strictly be a mobile tool for me to get my email anymore. It’s so much more. Plus, I do understand that there’s a new T-Mobile Dash on the market, however… the call of the iPhone was too strong for me to ignore. Dang it! I just wanted one, OK!!?

The other thing I love is the application store. I feel like someone handed me a credit card and told me to shop-till-I drop. There are free apps a-plenty to choose from. While I’m not a big fan of using iTunes, I’ll suck it up as I walk down each virtual aisle and get to pick and choose what bling I want to get for my new toy business tool. Finding new applications is fun, but a bit time-consuming. I have always been a huge fan of “top 10″ and “Best of” types of articles, so Mashable has become my new BFF when looking for iPhone application lists. I’m having a lot of fun exploring the applications for social networking, too. These make it really easy to interact with the various social networks away from my computer.

Since this is my first iPhone blog post here, I’d like to share an application that has me as excited as my puppy gets when he thinks I have a treat in my hands — the Facebook for iPhone 3.0. All I can say is WOW! I’m in Facebook Business Page heaven. Forget about looking at my Facebook profile, it’s the integration with Pages that has me seeing stars.  Just days before it became available, I read an article about the new version of this application and couldn’t wait until it was approved. While there are some missing features that people are wanting, I’m quite happy with the new functionality to work with the Facebook Pages I’m an admin for.

Other social networking applications I’ve installed and are exploring are TwitterFon, Nambu, LinkedIn, and Wordpress (Thank you, Mashable!). I’m also exploring various ways to work with my ping.fm account, including something I just found called Pingle.

In upcoming blog posts I’ll be exploring more of these social applicatons and more, then sharing my experiences with you.

What about you? Any iPhone users out there that have an application you’ve discovered that makes you all giddy or gives you that warm fuzzy feeling inside? I’d love to hear from you!

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