Tech Tool Tuesday – Page 2 – Phil Bernstein's Advertising, Marketing, and Sales Training Blog

Three Ways To Quickly Convert Video Files: Tech Tool Tuesday for Salespeople

There are lots of video formats out there, and lots of devices to play them on. At some point, you’ll be faced with a video file that won’t play on your device. Here are three options to look at:

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Any Video Converter and Any Video Converter for Mac — Any Video Converter is freeware that converts videos from one format to another. There are also fancier paid versions for each operating system. I use the free Windows version to convert .mpg files, which don’t play on my laptop, to .wmv files, which do. Warning: some users have reported online that the free version plants unwanted programs on their computers. I have strong anti-virus and anti-malware on my machines, and haven’t had a problem. Your mileage may vary — as with all software you download, use caution.

Azul — As much as I love my iPhone and iPad, I am occasionally reminded that Apple and Microsoft don’t always play well together. For example, when I want to play a Windows Media file on my tablet. Azul is a media player for iOS devices. It has a lot of bells and whistles, but my primary use for it is to play videos when the iPad or iPhone’s regular player won’t.

Zamzar — a web-based alternative if you need to convert video files, can wait a little while for them, and don’t want to put a product like Any Video Converter or Azul on your device. Zamzar claims to support 1200 video and audio formats. You upload your file, specify the format you’d like to have the file in, plug in your email address, and wait. A short time later (usually within 10 minutes) you get an email with a download link. The basic version is free, but limits you to files of 100MB or less. If you have larger files, there are several paid plans.

[reminder]Got a favorite tech tool you’d like me to review?[/reminder]

29 (Mostly) Dirt-Cheap Apps, Gadgets and Downloads I Use: A Salesperson’s Toolbox

I’ve been selling long enough to remember the days when only senior executives had “car phones.” Back then, if somebody wanted to reach me they left a message at my office with the receptionist, and I returned the call after I got back.

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Now, I’m connected 24/7. Smartphone, tablet, laptop, desktop, Kindle. It’s rare that I’m not operating at least one of these devices, and sometimes more than one. It’s a challenge to manage a constant flow of information coming at us from all angles in a wide variety of formats.

I’ve written an e-book called A Salesperson’s Toolbox, featuring 29 apps, gadgets and downloads I use to stay on top of it all. Some only work on one platform; some work on all of them. Among the items are:

An online calendar service that lets me share my appointment availability with multiple clients, keep all of them automatically updated as my schedule changes, and avoid double-booking.
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Two great sources of fully-licensed stock photos — one free, and one dirt-cheap.
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A phone app that tracks my expenses and prepares reports — and makes sure I never lose a receipt.
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… and a $15 piece of software I use when I need to disconnect and get my work done.

At the time of this writing, I am using every single one of these regularly — and am always on the lookout for something better.

A Salesperson’s Toolbox isn’t for sale. The only way for you to get it is to subscribe to my free email newsletter. Here’s what you need to do:

If you are not already a subscriber, click on the button below, fill in your email address, confirm your subscription, and download your copy of A Salesperson’s Toolbox.

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Click Here to Get Your E-Book

Whenever I put up a post, I’ll send you an email so you don’t have to keep returning to this blog. You can unsubscribe at any time, and my feelings won’t be hurt… much.

Already a subscriber? Don’t worry…. there’s a button for you, too! It’ll let you send me a quick email, and I’ll send you back a link to the e-book.

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PS: Your work goes much faster when you have the right tools for the job.

Get A Salesperson’s Toolbox today, and be more productive tomorrow. You can thank me later.

Protect Your Data With a Personal VPN: Tech Tool Tuesday for Salespeople

How safe is your data when you’re online at Starbucks?

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Any time we log onto a public network in a library, a coffee shop, an airport or hotel, we’re putting our data at risk. Anything we send out can be captured by a nefarious stranger bent on misusing it. A Personal VPN prevents much of this malfeasance by encrypting everything before it goes hits the public airwaves.

Here, according to Lifehacker, is how a VPN works:

When you connect to a VPN, you usually launch a VPN client on your computer (or click a link on a special website), log in with your credentials, and your computer exchanges trusted keys with a far away server. Once both computers have verified each other as authentic, all of your internet communication is encrypted and secured from eavesdropping.

The most important thing you need to know about a VPN: It secures your computer’s internet connection to guarantee that all of the data you’re sending and receiving is encrypted and secured from prying eyes.

There are many free and paid VPN services available. I’ve been using Witopia for about three years. It’s easy to download, easy to engage, and works on a variety of devices. The first thing I do when I log onto a public network is turn on the VPN — it takes an extra 15 seconds, and is a reflex now.

Downsides: a VPN can cost some money (Witopia charges $50-$70 per year, with a license usable on two devices at once), and can occasionally slow down a network. It can be a pain in the butt sometimes on an already-slow hotel internet connection.

Having said that, the pain and expense of a data breach — somebody getting your passwords, credit card info, or Social Security Number, for example — are exponentially greater than what it takes to protect yourself. If you spend any time at all on public networks, a VPN is a no-brainer.

[reminder]What tools do you use to protect your sensitive information?[/reminder]

“Anti-Social” Web Blocking Software: Tech Tool Tuesday For Salespeople

Is the Internet a giant time suck for you? From a time management perspective, the Internet may simultaneously be the best tool and the the worst thief of time ever invented.

On the good side, you can find out information in minutes that would have taken hours, days, or weeks to uncover in the pre-online days.

On the other side of the coin, you can go to a television station website for purely business reasons…

…notice a link for “10 Startlingly Dangerous Cars”…
…read about dangerous cars…
…click on another link for ”Ten Screen Characters You Never Realized Were Based on Real People”…
read that article…

Before you know it, you’re watching a video of the monkey riding a motorscooter, 90 minutes has gone by and you have accomplished nothing. This exact scenario happened to, um, someone I know a while back.

For most salespeople, this is the deal: if it shows up in our peripheral vision and it’s cute, we’ll chase it.

salespeople chase squirrels — magnus* via Compfight cc

Luckily, there are companies who recognize that people like me represent a terrific market. Those companies make web blocking software – programs that can block specific websites, or sometimes online access entirely. I use two of them, both sold by 80Pct Solutions, and available for Mac and Windows:

Anti-Social is very useful when you need some web access to get work done, but you need to stay the heck away from rabbit holes. You choose the specific websites you want to block, (I’ve got nearly 20 sites on my list), and how long you want to block them – anywhere from 15 minutes to an entire day. Once you start the program, you can’t turn it off. At this writing it costs $15, and it saves me hours every day.

Here’s a quick video of how I use Anti-Social to block websites.

The same company offers Freedom. Freedom represents “the nuclear option” — the idea is that once you engage it, you cannot get online for anything. No websites, no email. You are completely blocked off. You choose the amount of time you need to be cut off from the outside world, and that’s it.

Unfortunately, at the time of this writing Freedom is not working properly. I have it on two different computers, and in both cases some websites — including Facebook — are accessible even with the software engaged. I have reached out to the company’s tech support department, and will update this post if and when I hear back.

What about mobile devices? To the best of my knowledge, there is no web blocking software that works on iPhones or iPads — the IOS operating system will not allow it. I don’t have any firsthand knowledge about Android — Android users, please enlighten us by leaving a comment below.

My solution to this is decidedly low-tech: my office is on the second floor, and when I need to get work done I stash my phone and tablet in the basement.

[reminder]What tools do you use to minimize distractions when you HAVE to get your work done?[/reminder]

PhraseExpander Text Expansion: Text Tool Tuesday for Salespeople

Typing the same things over and over is inefficient, time-consuming, and incredibly boring. In my consulting and training work, it’s part of the job.

If it’s part of yours, there’s a solution.

Photo Credit: Seattle Municipal Archives via Compfight cc

A while back, I learned about text expansion programs — software that automates repetitive typing tasks. Basically, you establish an abbreviation for a sentence or paragraph, and the software makes your computer type the whole thing. For example, you can set a shortcut so that typing “lq” makes your laptop write “Let me know if you have any questions.”

Of course, the first thing I did when I learned about text expanders was to look for a free one. For a couple of years, I used PhraseExpress, which is free for personal use. It worked reasonably well, but had two quirks that significantly reduced the benefit I got from using it:

PhraseExpress didn’t always work consistently. I would find myself typing “lq”, deleting it, and re-typing it two or three times before “Let me know if you have any questions” finally appeared.
It sometimes stopped working entirely, forcing me to close the program and re-open it.

A time-saving program that adds nearly as much time to a task as it saves is, at best, a mixed blessing. Even if it’s free. I was open to another answer.

Although it’s early in my ownership experience — I may have found one. Earlier this month, Andrea Nagar of Nagarsoft sent me a review copy of his program PhraseExpander. I’ve been using the Professional version for about two weeks, and while I’m still learning the ins and outs of the program, I’m very impressed with what it can do.

Like any good text expander, PhraseExpander allows you to use abbreviations for words or phrases — everything from short passages to multi-paragraph emails. You can establish “fill in the blanks” templates; abbreviations can also be used to open web pages and launch programs such as PowerPoint and Excel.

Here’s a quick screencast showing some of the ways I use the program. All abbreviations were established by me.

Direct link to video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6jgXeQGiM4

All of your abbreviations are kept in a database that PhraseExpander calls “glossaries”. A particularly nice feature of the Pro version is the ability to share glossaries among computers. If you install PhraseExpander on more than one computer (I have it on my “road” laptop, my “home” laptop, and a desktop), you only have to establish your abbreviations once — everything syncs in the cloud.

If there’s a downside, it’s the price — PhraseExpander is most emphatically not free. At $59 for the Standard version and $149 for Professional, it’s on the spendy side. There are cheaper text expanders out there, and free ones.

Only you can decide if you want to spend the dough. If you spend it, you’ll do it for the same reason that people pay a premium for an iPad: it’s worth it to get something that does exactly what you want. PhraseExpander just works.

Although there’s a bit of a learning curve to start, the program makes it easy to add and eliminate abbreviations quickly. The ability to sync between computers (in Professional) is a huge help to anyone running multiple machines.

In two weeks of heavy use, I’ve found PhraseExpander to be an extremely reliable, powerful tool — a huge improvement over the free competition. PhraseExpander will cost you some money; in return it will save you a ton of time and hassle.

Isn’t that what money’s for?

[reminder]What’s your favorite time-saving tech tool?[/reminder]