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How much could you do on your phone for business if you had to? #vatip 
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Get your backup computer ready to go if you need it. #vatip Gotta Tweet!
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Hi and welcome to The Business of Being a Virtual Assistant. I’m your host and virtual co-worker, Tiffany Parson, and today you’re listening to and watching episode number 132.
I could not wait to get back to the podcast. The minute I hit stop, I thought of all these other things that I should have added on the previous episode. So I said, you know what, it’s okay. We can have a part two to last week’s episode, which was when the backup to the backup needs to be backed up or doesn’t work, whatever the cutesy title I had for it.
Anyway, I was so flustered last week when I recorded that episode. All is good. Everything is in Dropbox. I am no longer computer dependent! In fact, we could exchange computers and I would live. I would be just fine.
I want to give you four additional quick tips to go with last week’s episode.
If you missed episode number 131, make sure you take time out to listen to that episode. Of course, we will link it up in the show notes. If you’re right there with YouTube, you know, just go back to episode number 131. If you’re on iTunes, it will be easy to go to the episode before.
Now, I’ve got my notes here on my desk and I’m just going to check them off. Make sure I don’t miss a thing, so I’ve got them close by.
1) Something I didn’t even think about. The fact that I couldn’t log into my computer was frustrating. I only had two options. My user and guest. Here’s my new tip:
Add a second admin user to your computer.
I mean, once I figured that out, it makes a lot of sense. You never know what may happen. You might forget your password, or like me, have a situation where some keys aren’t working, and you could at least try your backup user to see if that one will work. So have a second admin set up on your computer or all your computers, however many you have.
Just make sure there’s more than one admin user and make sure it’s an admin user, not just a regular user account. The admin will have the same permissions as your main account. If you need to change your Apple ID or anything like that, reset passwords, that backup will be able to do the same thing. So creating another user account.
2) This one is obvious too. I didn’t do it, so don’t feel bad.
But you’ve got the backup computer. Keep it updated.
Just because you’re not using it does not mean it doesn’t need to be updated. It does, even if you haven’t turned it on in months. Trust me, right now, well, not right this second, but after you finish listening to this short episode, I want you to run to your backup computer, turn it on, and make sure everything is updated, the browsers, the operating system, everything.
You know, I think maybe if I had kept mine updated, I would have, you know, that would have helped. I don’t know. I think mine may just be too old. I mean, I have my backup model is a MacBook Air. It’s the first or second one. It’s late 2010, so it’s pretty old now. But anyway, go run to your backup after this and make sure that it is current. Everything, so if you have to use immediately, it would be up and running, ready to go.
3) Have a backup plan for WiFi.
This is separate from your computer. You need a backup plan for WiFi. I am headed on vacation for a week and I don’t go anywhere without my computer. I don’t go anywhere where there’s no WiFi. However, I’m always aware that WiFi may be slow or something may happen. You just never know.
Now, the beauty of this, if you have an iPhone, you can use your phone as a hubspot. Make sure it’s good to go on that. That you have no problems. Test it out before you leave, even if you’re staying in town. Maybe you’re going to a local coffee shop or somewhere and you’re going to hang out there for a little bit. Make sure if you had to use your own WiFi, you could. So go ahead and test it out.
Years ago, I used to use a Verizon Jetpack. It was like a little round kind of thing and it was its own WiFi system. It had its own password, user, all that stuff. It was its own hubspot and so I would use that. Then when I learned that my iPhone could be its own hotspot, there was no use for it anymore. So now I have my iPhone. That means make sure your phone is charged up, everything is current. It’s all good, and at a drop of a hat, you could use it if you needed.
You don’t want to be dependent on somebody else’s WiFi.
Just like we’re location independent, we are computer independent now after these episodes, and you are WiFi independent so you could be anywhere and have some WiFi.
4) Think about this. Not really a tip, but a thought.
How far can you go, if you had to, with just your phone?
I mean in reference to your virtual assistant business. How much could you do on your phone right now? You might not have your email set up. You might not have your passwords there. Looking at it the way it is right now, if you had to go a day with just your phone, could you do that? I don’t know. It’s something for you to think about, something for you to check on.
My email is there. Passwords are there and locked up secure apps. I’ve got Zoom app on there, WordPress app, all the social media apps. Everything is there. I’m trying to think of what else. There are certain things I wouldn’t be able to do. I wouldn’t be able to, well, it would just go slower. Let’s say it like that.
I wouldn’t want to have to use my phone for client projects. But if I had to, I could. It would just be a very slow process. But you just never know what could happen. If you had to, if your only contingency plan was your phone for a day or two, could you survive? Get it all set up.
I know sometimes we want to separate personal and business on our phone and not have our emails there and all that stuff. That is nice. It’s sweet. But you are a business owner. You need to have it on your hip. It needs to be accessible in your purse, wherever you keep your phone. You need to be able to do what you need to do in case of emergency. Not all the time. This is in case of emergency.
Could you switch gears and use your phone if you absolutely had to?
Now, you’ve got some homework cut out for you. That is the first thing is to make sure you go and backup – get your backup laptop updated. Make sure it is ready to go. If you don’t have one, what is your computer backup? Do you have another computer or something in the house or at somebody’s house that you could use?
I used to use my mom’s computer was my backup computer way, way back in the day when I first started my business. So we had – there were at least two computers in the house. Now, we’ve got a couple of computers, not counting the one that’s not working, couple of computers, iPad, so there are other backups.
Even my Kindle if I absolutely had to. But I love my Kindle for games and reading. I don’t want to have to do any work on the Kindle because it’ll totally change just the way I feel, and Netflix and Hulu on Kindle. But if I absolutely had to, I could use it as a backup.
That’s your first thing. Get your backup computer ready to go. Get it up and running, ready to go.
The other thing that is action, oh, creating that additional admin user. Then thinking about if you had to do some things on your phone, if you had to spend a day or two on your phone, would you be able to survive?
Now, if you missed all the tips, that’s why you’ve got a rewind button to go back, see exactly what I said. If you just want to read it and find it real quick, check out the show notes on TiffanyParson.com.
I look forward to hearing even more stories. Share with me how you’re working out with your backup systems or a funny story that you had, maybe similar to mine with some keys not working and you’re just, you know, working it out.
Let me tell you what I’m doing in the meantime. I will go to a website. I might copy the letter R. Use that. Have the letter E close by, the 3, the #, whatever I need to do so I can work it out until I’m able to get it all fixed.
You just do what you’ve got to do to keep the ball rolling.
If you have any questions, let me know. Find me on Facebook at Facebook.com/TiffanyParsonBiz, or Instagram: @TiffanyDParson. Same for Twitter: @TiffanyDParson. If you’re on YouTube, go ahead and drop your comment now. If you’re listening riding in the car, hold tight. Reach out to me when you get to a safe spot.
Thanks so much for listening and watching. You have a wonderful and fabulous day.
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