After reading the 4 Hour Work Week, I wanted to experience a mini-retirement.  This was obviously going to be impossible with the way Connected Web Solutions functions but I thought why can’t I have a mini-retirement where I can still get work accomplished?  And so, here I am living in Costa Rica for 3 weeks running the business as though I were at home.  This is not the easiest thing in the world in terms of meeting with clients and potential clients but in terms of development and maintenance it has been perfect.  Communication has been fine thanks to some tools I would like to mention.

1. Skype
2. Syncplicity
3. Google Chat
4. Blackberry (As a modem)
5. Thunderbird
6. WordPress

Skype – Since before CWS was founded in 2006 we were using Skype.  Skype is a free VOIP solution to speak to other Skype users for free.  Skype also has a multitude of services …

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Since I had no background in anything business related, when I started CWS I had a lot of catching up to do.  In the last 2 years I have read a handful of business, marketing, and entrepreneurial books.  I am sure that some of you have heard of these before but I was able to take something important from each of them.

The 4 Hour Work Week
Thanks to Tim Ferriss and this wonderful book I am proud to say that CWS will be working from Costa Rica for a month in 2009.  This book is all about automating your business or finding ways to be able to work from home even if you have a typical office job.  The tips recommended in the book are absolutely brilliant and have helped in a myriad of ways for CWS.  Taking “mini-retirements”, finding virtual assistants, tech solutions, and tons more.  This is …

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Since creating our company blog in August I have noticed some significant advantages to having a well-maintained company blog.  Some of these may be very small but each one has had a positive effect on Connected Web Solutions.  While these may not be 100% accurate for everyone and their company blog but I am sure there are more than enough reasons to persuade you to give business blogging a chance.

1. Our site traffic has doubled - Granted we were not getting millions of unique visitors a month but this is still a very important statistic.  Maybe that 1 article you write will generate 1 more lead for your company that could turn into the next big client that does business with you for years!
2. Our clients know that we are actually working – A simple blog post about current or past projects can keep clients aware that you do not

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I would like to mention the importance of conferences for someone in the web/tech world here in this post. I was fortunate enough to attend South-by-Southwest (SXSW) last year and had an unbelievable experience. I was able to listen to the big-wigs of the industry speak at various panels and key-notes. I was even lucky enough to speak personally with Tim Ferriss (4 Hour Work Week, author), Frank Warren (Post Secret, creator) and Tony Hsieh (Zappos.com, CEO). The most important and beneficial parts of the conference were the time between the lectures and panels. I was able to meet, network, and speak with so many different kinds of people surrounding, not only the web world, but film and music people as well. I was able to relate to them with similar interests in anything from running a company to how the new Nokia cell phone could …

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CWS has clients spread throughout the northeast. A certain one of these clients is about 100 miles away. We provide them with office hours twice a week which ends up being about 6 hours of driving weekly…without traffic. Regardless of how much music is on your iPod you can only sing Britney Spears hits for so long.

Here is where podcasting has completely changed my life and my business. I have found a podcast for almost every facet of my life and business. So if you find yourself stuck in a boring commute, download some of these podcasts. From current web design news to reviews of the latest indy movies and upcoming videogame releases…you can find what you want from one of these.

Boag World

THE BEST WEB DESIGN PODCAST! I wish I found this before I started my company. Hosts, Paul Boag & Marcus Lillington, have a vast knowledge …

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