86 GB of Free Cloud Storage
My free Dropbox account is now up to 10.6 GB. I’ve written in the past how I got 7GB of cloud storage space for free, and a service called Just Cloud, offering unlimited storage for $150 for two years.
I wanted to follow up with something that I was having a tough time figuring out for myself.
I was running out of space on Dropbox, when I realized I was using Dropbox differently than it should be used, and I could use another service instead.
This is what I’m trying to explain…
I use dropbox to sync files across two home computers, my work computer and a laptop. Dropbox works perfectly for this, but the real feature of dropbox is having access to these files on any computer from anywhere.
I could use Microsoft Live Mesh to sync files across my computers, thus freeing up my Dropbox account for files that I want to access from anywhere. I’m not sure if this solution will be around for much longer though, as Windows is combining Live Mesh with their Sky Drive service when using Essentials. Apparently when using the software “Windows Live Essentials 2011” it still works, but I don’t know for how long. If you install “Windows Essentials 2012”, you loose the functionality of Live Mesh. To install Live Mesh alongside of Windows Essentials 2012 you can try to use this Live Mesh installer.
I can’t seem to find other applications that allow folder sync directly that don’t involve a cloud sync with a limited storage capacity for free. Perhaps PureSync, but I’m not willing to try this one out. The only other one I could find was FolderShare, but that is what Microsoft bought to create Mesh.
Update: Dec. 2012Windows has announced that Windows Mesh (file syncing) will stop working on Feb. 13, 2013 (Happy Valentines Day), so now I’m left looking for another alternative. While I found one, it’s not free. Cubby, by Logmein.com is offering a feature called “DirectSync” which syncs “unlimited folders across computers without using your cloud storage.” This is perfect. This is what Windows Live Mesh did. BUT the only way to use DirectSync is to purchase their paid solution. They offer 5GB free online storage for free, but the cheapest paid option is for 100GB for $6.99/mo (paid annually). Because they are still in beta, you can get it for 50% off at $3.99/mo (paid annually) at Cubby.com.
Here is a list of sync and cloud storage services that I found. Currently I am using Dropbox, Google Drive, Sky Drive with Live Mesh and Box for file syncing and cloud storage.
Dropbox – 2 GB Free
Google Drive – 5 GB Free – upgrade 25 GB for less than $2.50 a month
Microsoft Sky Drive – 7 GB Free
Box – 5 GB Free
att locker – 5 GB Free
Amazon Cloud Drive – 5 GB Free
https://pogoplug.com/cloud“>pogoplug – 5 GB Free now 7GB Free with my affiliate link OR unlimited cloud storage for $4.95 a month
LogMeIn’s Cubby – 5 GB Free
Apple iCloud – 5 GB Free
Ubuntu One – 5 GB Free
Sugar Sync – 5 GB Free
IDriveSync – 10GB Free
CX – 10GB Free
Open Drive – 5 GB Free
Team Drive – 2 GB Free
Syncplicity – 2 GB Free
Spider Oak – 2 GB Free
Zumo Drive – 1 GB Free
Keeping Sales Info Handy
I’ve heard about sales CRM software before, and actually had to look up what CRM stood for to write this (Customer relationship management). I knew the big companies used Sales Force, but found it geared for the big guys, and even the lower price points I thought I may be missing some feature because I wasn’t paying as much.
Ultimately I learned about another contender in this space called Pipedrive (referral link). I liked the interface and how easy it was to customize and use. We’ve been using it for about a month and it’s working out really well. There is apps for iphone/ipad, although they do not have the full functionality of the online interface.
Knowing what to A B test
I came across information about A B testing. A B testing involves two scenario web pages (usually a design change), that are equally presented in front of web visitors. You can then use analytics to track the behaviors of the two groups and see which design results in higher conversions or achievement of your goal. (whatever your goal with that page is).
Example:
You have a button that says “Register” for your web service. But you want to test “Sign Up” instead.
You can use a service to show half your users one page with the “register” button and the other half of your users one page with the “sign up” button. Then you see which one is better.
Once you determine the wording of the button, next you can AB test the color of the button, or the size of the button. You can keep doing this with all the things on your page until you have the ultimate conversion page, that utilized your real users, with measurable results. See Smashing Magazine’s Web Form Design Patterns for their stats on sign up forms.
But sometimes we don’t know what to test for. Which Test Won, is pretty cool paid service that lets you see what others are testing, and see which AB test performed the best on that company’s site, and may give you some inspiration for testing on your own site.
Gmail and HTML
Gmail doesn’t allow you to write html into it’s mail editor.
But I learned from http://lifehacker.com/197663/how-to-insert-images-and-other-html-into-gmail that if your html is rendered in a browser, you can then cut and paste it into the gmail editor.
Selling Kids Clothes is now Easy
We typically try to sell our kids used clothes at garage sales, and then at the end of the sale, we itemize everything and send it off for donation.
Most of the clothes our kids wear is in excellent condition when we are done with it, and they are typically quality items.
I hate garage sales, you never know what to price things, and the people that want to purchase are looking for the best deal, offering you a dollar for a $30 dress.
I thought about selling items myself on ebay, but with the fees, shipping and the huge hassle, I don’t think it is worth it.
I think I found a great new alternative though. A site I found called ThreadUP. This company sends you a bag, you fill it up with your clothes and mail it back (free shipping). Then they itemize, photograph, and sell your stuff on their website. Once it sells, they send you a check!
Awesome. Sounds simple, sounds like a better return than a garage sale. The next bag of clothes are kids can’t fit into, I’m going to try this service out.
Tipping Guide
I tend to tip for most things, and I think I do a pretty good job, but mostly this is due to years of my wife urging me to leave a bit more.
One of the things that I haven’t quite seemed to figure out is tipping for takeout food. Because we have small children, I will more often wait till the kids go to sleep and then get food from a restaurant to bring home as take out. This way we can enjoy a quite dinner without having to prepare the meal or clean up. I had always believed the tip at restaurants was for the service that you received during the meal. So do you tip when you pick up food to go?
I found this tipping guide, which states…
Takeout: Nothing is necessary. But if you receive some service, like a waiter packaging your food, then tip $1 to $2 or up to 10 percent. For sushi, tip 10 percent for its preparation, Hoffman says.
So typically for an inexpensive order I’ll tip $2, and at a nicer restaurant I’ll leave $4.
Happy tipping.
Finding the Right Price
Pricing schemes seem like a ridiculous game, but everyone does it.
Products are always priced as $19.99 instead of $20, and offered discounts such as a larger version for the price of the small version. Do these things really matter? Are we really tricked into buying things because someone has tricked us?
I found this article on 11 Ways that Consumers are Hopeless at Math that points out and explains some of these pricing schemes. I know when I need to price something effectively or sell something on commission I will be studying this trickery!
Unlimited Cloud Storage
Inexpensive cloud storage has been something I’ve been looking for for some time. I really appreciate my Dropbox account. But have spent some time investigating backup solutions that store online like Carbonite, as well as the new Dropbox competitors such as Sky Drive by Microsoft, and G drive by google.
So far I’ve stuck with Dropbox, mostly because they have ways way you can increase your free storage space allocation. I’m currently at a little over 10GB of free storage. The other big reason, is it works pretty easily, however Sky Drive and Google Drive have pretty much copied their method.
But when it comes to a large amount of cloud storage I’m at a loss. Even looking at Amazon S3 for cloud storage it was too complicated a setup and seemed expensive for a home user.
Recently I discovered JustCloud.com (which uses Amazon S3). I’m predicting this service is going to be a big hit. They offer an option for unlimited storage, across multiple computers for just over $150 for two years. That’s remarkably inexpensive when you throw in words like “unlimited”.
But this isn’t something you try out with a free account. You won’t get 5GB free, like the other services I mentioned above, but instead only 15mb of free storage space, and with their lowest tiered paid account, you get 1 GB free. So if you are going to use this service, go for the whole kit and kaboodle.