The Chronicles
July 2012
Last November, I was asked to write a testimonial text which will be part of a book intended for (college) students wishing to undertake a career in Real Estate. Through my chronicle of last month as well as the current one, I am sharing with you my contribution to Chapter 8 of the book titled: "S'organiser pour être efficace et plus rentable" (Organizing oneself in order to be efficient and more profitable) ...
Part One:
To reread Part One of this text go to -
http://www.monamilordi.com/english/reviews/2012/06.html
Part Two:
With regards to the Macintosh system, the choice is therefore clear. You will need a main Mac OS computer (Desktop or Laptop) where all your data will be centralized and where you can create your Administrative, Prospecting, Marketing, Advertising and Promotional, and other (e.g. Financial), tools. You will want a Smart Phone and/or Tablet (iPhone, iPad) to gain access to your information from anywhere and at anytime giving you the possibility of being proactive. An obvious advantage of this is being able to answer your prospect/customer's questions instantaneously. When it comes to the Microsoft system, things are not so straight forward. The Windows 7 and 8 Desktop or Laptop OS is extremely user-friendly and the programs installed within it well known and well used worldwide. However, it is a different story for the Smart Phone and Tablet. Even though Microsoft has launched these devices with the Windows OS, the best and most popular option remains the Android Operating System (Linux) owned by Google.
Google is an excellent example of the homogenization of processes. You have G-Mail (e-mail and contact manager), Agenda (calendar), Picasa (photos), Google Docs (the equivalent of Microsoft Office's Word, Excel, Powerpoint ...), Sites (Website creator), Google+ (the equivalent of Facebook) and a host of other services, all for free and all interrelated to be easily accessed by any of your devices since all of your data is hosted on their Cloud (as does Macintosh with its iCloud service).
Cloud Computing is a new and emerging “hot” term but definitely not a new concept. Cloud Computing is where your applications and files are stored on a large, centralized supercomputer or network. You access your data (e.g. contacts, calendar, documents, photos) using your home computer, your Smart Phone and/or Pad. Without knowing it, many of you have already been using Cloud Computing and for a rather long time. You have undoubtedly heard of the expression Web-based e-mails. G-Mail, Hotmail and Yahoo are the best examples. These e-mail boxes are not located in your computer but are housed at those respective companies. This is why they are accessible, with your User Name and Password, from any Desktop/Laptop computer, Smart Phone and Pad across the world, as long as there is Internet availability. It really takes Computing to a whole new level as it simplifies most operations.
You will understand therefore that the most important aspect of the modern-day use of computers, whichever form it may take, is the security of all your precious data. With the time and effort you have dedicated to setting up an efficient organizational system, it is IMPERATIVE that you back-up this data, for example on an external hard drive. You must perform this task on a very regular basis and keep said back-up in a safe place. Thus, your organizational system will not be time consuming to maintain and will be easy of access and use - you will remain efficient and your business profitable.
You can purchase this French book by going to -
http://www.michel-champagne.com/
Take good care of yourselves,
questions.monamilordi@gmail.com
This article originally appeared in Main Street – The Laurentians' English Language Community Newspaper.
