I hope you are enjoying this series Freedom to Work from Anywhere: Living the Mobile Life.
Many of my friends and colleagues run their businesses from all over the world and I have had a mobile business since 2003.
No matter if you are crossing over multiple time zones or simply want to be able to go to the park and work outside, creating your freedom is possible.
We've been exploring what they have put in place in their business that allows them to have the freedom to work from anywhere.
Today, we'll hear from Morgana Rae, Melissa Schmalenberger and Shelley Root Molitor.
Cafes with Awesome Wifi and My iPad
Basically my entire business is mobile. There's no reason for me to stay at home aside from convenience. It's easier to feed my cats when I'm here.
- I find a cafe with awesome wifi and that becomes my “office.” When in doubt, Starbucks can always be counted on for clean bathrooms and internet, anywhere in the world!
- For business, my Paypal app is probably my favorite, and my Square, for taking payments.
- And I'm always connected to Facebook, obviously.
- Fun travel apps are Skype (for calling home), SimplyNoise (great for sleeping in noisy places), Sit or Squat (find a bathroom), and CheapGas.
- My Kindle app is a lifesaver while traveling. I used to carry 12 paperbacks on ever trip. Heavy!
- For vlogging, nothing beats the camera on my iPad.
- For graphics, my favorite is Instaquote.
- Another life saver? Having VAs I can simply fax order forms to… so they can enter them into my system for me.
- ALWAYS make sure you have minutes on your SKYPE account, so you can call across the world when you need to. Here is an example of why: I was just checking my emails before going to bed (I'm on vacation in Georgia, just south of Russia, 12 hours ahead of pacific time) when I saw an interview request from foxbusiness.com journalist. So I called her on SKYPE, and we spoke for 20 minutes on the impact of money on relationships! Be prepared.
Thanks to Morgana Rae – Best selling Author ‘Financial Alchemy', life coach, speaker & alchemist.
Airports and coffee shops with free wifi….
I am writing my blog post in one now in ABQ while waiting for my plane. Plus a really good smartphone with a long battery life! I have a Windows Nokia Lumia 1020 with a 41 megapixel camera. I like having a good quality camera so that I can leave my Nikon at home and take client before and after shots, watermark and post to my social media sites. I like having a long battery life and having the full functionality of the Windows Platform on my phone. My calendar syncs with my Apple products as well. The photos are stored with some great features that I haven't seen in other smart phones…you can search by month or year. I often know what month I took a photo and I can simply click on that month and narrow my search down. I have Dropbox on my phone as well so I can easily send documents to my consultants while on the road.
Thanks to Melissa Schmalenberger – Managing Director Clever Container
I Don't Leave Home With Out My Journal, Evernote and My HTC
My biz journal is like a living biz plan/brainstorm book. It's divided by Money, Marketing, and Management. These categories plus a few more are the names of my evernote notebooks too. So, lets say I am brainstorming blog posts. I do it by hand, say 9 quick outlines under marketing. When I fill out a given article, I go write it in evernote before uploading/submitting it.
As a mobile must-have, my notebook is my “back of the napkin” solution, and evernote is where I store the project in progress or completed project. This is only a Marketing category example. Money example: snapping a picture of a biz expense to my Money notebook in Evernote at the moment of spending. Management example: maintaining a frequently requested/used links doc in Evernote, and up to date forms and procedures. Sharing a link to the appropriate item on the go.
Thanks to Shelley Root Molitor – Becoming a Mess-X-pert: ESTABLISHED WAYS to get F.ull O.f C.onfidence and U.nending S.erenity!
You Design Your Own Definition of Freedom
Many entrepreneurs think that there is just one way to do things. That is just not the case and one of the reasons I thought sharing what successful people around the world do would help you to figure out your own plan.
What Tips, Tricks, Strategy, Operations Setup Do You Recommend?
Do you enjoy a freedom-based lifestyle business? Do you enjoy working from more than one location? Or, do you want to get your business to a state where you can? I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments.
Until we talk again,
Live Fully — Love Openly — Laugh Often — Leverage Your Brilliance — Connect Authentically — Get Your Message Out — Serve with Impact — Prosper Everyday
Note: Mention of these products/companies does not mean that I personally endorse them. Each of my experts has shared what works for them and in some instances, I have not tried them personally. Also, some links are affiliate links (because I have tried them and love them.)
Danielle says
I love having a mobile biz! Livin’ the dream, baby! Thanks for the tips
Stephanie LH Calahan says
Hi Danielle – Woot! Glad you are enjoying your mobile biz.
Gina says
My big goal in life is to spend at least a few months a year in Italy, so these tips are going into my Evernote app. 🙂 We plan to “retire” part of the year in California and part of the year near Philly where my grown kids and grandchild live. I’ll need to use a lot of solutions to make that situation work, also. I’m curious what people do about mobile rechargers for your phone or iPad. Is it worth it to bring them? Aren’t they heavy? Weight really matters to me.
Stephanie LH Calahan says
That sounds lovely Gina! When you say mobile rechargers for the iphone or ipad are you referring to the backup battery chargers? I guess that would really depend on your access to electrical outlets. For example, if I’m going to a conference where I know there will be slews of people trying to get to an outlet then it is less likely I’ll have the time to charge up my devices fully. In those cases, having a backup charger is well worth the extra weight to me. (I travel with rolling bags.) However, if I’m going to be in locations where a simple USB charger and an outlet will do the job, then I wouldn’t bother with the extra weight.
Martia Nelson says
These things you listed make such a difference. For me the biggest two are the camera/video on my iphone/ipad and phoning from Skype to clients and colleagues around the world.
Stephanie LH Calahan says
Those are two of my favorites too Martia. Thanks for sharing!
Nina says
Being mobile in business is almost a standard. I would add attending events, seminars and conferences is also a part of the mobile activity, important for exchange of ideas and keeping in pace with the business energy.
Stephanie LH Calahan says
Thanks fir dropping by. Sure! Having a way to keep your business going while you are at an event is certainly important.
Andrea says
Loved the article. The freedom to work from anywhere is why we created YouRoam, where you can make and receive calls on your cell phone number anywhere in the world over WiFi or 3G. It is less expensive and has more features than Skype (your own number, Smart Caller ID, etc.). We would love to have you check it out while you are working abroad. Feel free to e-mail us for a free subscription.
Mila Araujo says
Stephanie, I greatly enjoyed this post – it was packed rich with tidbits of info. I’ve taken note of that phone- battery life is so important when you’re working mobilty and it’s nice to see this one with a powerful camera – I love the style of these interviews! I’ll add a tool that I’ve found incredibly efficient and fun to use, Redbooth. I started off using it with the designer on my marketing team, and quickly realized how powerful it could be – not only for mobile teams but also for its capabilit to organize various areas of projects and eventually I integrated my personal projects as well. With integrated chat, reminders – notes and updates (oh yes and file sharing) it’s been super cool. I strongly recommend anyone check it out- they have free and paid versions, if your managing a team you can have the paid version and let your ten join in on the free version too so it’s not imposing.
Another tool I recommend is hightail. I also use drop box but hightail is worth checking out as you can send very large files and I’ve noticed this to be particularly efficient for media files when sending to the media themselves. Often the files have to be very large and the upload download time (at least in my experience) has been faster plus it keeps a record of if the file was viewed. You can also create shared folders for team work. Particularly useful for accessing from multiple sites and among many team members. Again the primary user can have the paid version (if Necessary – I didn’t need to use the paid version for a long time) and the other tea members can use the folder on the free version. It also allows you to create folders for various clients to use while you can have your master account with access to everything there. Thanks again for this great read!
Stephanie LH Calahan says
Hi Mila! So glad that you enjoyed this post. There are a few others in this theme that you might like too. You can find them here: https://www.stephaniecalahan.com/?s=mobile+life
I have never heard of Redbooth. I’ll have to check that out soon! Thanks for sharing your tips.