Bundling Internet + Office 365 with your ISP

 

Some internet service providers will bundle Office 365 with their services. If you're exploring internet options and if you have not yet purchased Office 365, contact SOL Communications to see if you could get a better deal through bundling this service with your next internet upgrade.

Scheduling Appointments the Efficient Way

 When someone wants to set up a meeting with you, what is your procedure to ensure getting everyone on schedule? One typical strategy for this is sending emails out and asking everyone what dates they are available to meet.

Considering the explosive growth of Office 365, if you have a Business Standard subscription you can use the Bookings feature to let clients and partners know when you’re available. The app allows you to have privacy regarding the details of your day while making your calendar public for scheduling purposes. 

To find out if you have Bookings, log into your 365 Account by going to Office.com and check the following on the top left corner:

You should see “Bookings”. There are many resources via Youtube and other websites that explain how to use it, but I highly recommend it. 

Once you have your calendar set up you can add a personal link to your email signature, or prepare an email signature that is specific to your calendar link. 

Moving forward you can quickly say: “Here is a link to my calendar. Choose whatever day works best for you”.

If you need to schedule a meeting with John Andreu, see my calendar.

Purchasing Direct vs Going through SOL Communications

As a telecommunications consultant my job is to help a customer choose the best option for their business. While it is true a direct sales rep will also have your best interest at heart, you'll learn over time that with a telecom consultant (also known as a telecom agent), you'll find the relationship takes you further because your telecom agent can sell more than one supplier, while your sales rep will only be attempting to convince you of purchasing their product. This difference is small in the short term, but huge over a long term relationship. But make no mistake, both relationships are important. Whether you have a relationship with your sales rep or your telecom agent, a sense of mutual trust is essential and your business can do great things with either relationship.

I would like to use Verizon as just one example of the benefits of using me as your telecom agent. Here you can see the link to Verizon's LTE Business Internet - a very popular form of internet for those customers that don't have many options on their street. You can purchase this exact service - with no difference - from SOL Communications at the same price. However if you purchase through SOL Communications, you've hired for free a consultant that is with you for the entire relationship of that contract with Verizon. At any point in time if you have a question or you need support, I will, on behalf of your small business, take the reins on communicating with Verizon whenever you're not able to, or join conference calls to be at your side of the table when discussing service. By purchasing the same exact service at the same price through SOL, you've hired me for free to be your guide throughout the life of the contract with Verizon and to help you with any aspect of your interaction with them (from billing, support, to technical). In many ways, you've hired for free a virtual assistant that manages your telecom expenses by managing the relationship with the vendors. This is time saved.

My role as telecom consultant is to work with you to find the best carrier solutions for your business. I ensure you're always getting the most efficient and reliable services for your budget, process, and needs - whether that means continuing with the existing provider, or switching.

And it's in the ability to switch you to a better provider - with no loyalty to the provider but only to you - that is the larger difference between going direct and going through SOL.

If wired internet solutions (cable, DSL, fiber) are unstable, unavailable, or too expensive in your area, find a good 5G / 4G LTE Router. These routers have the ability to provide back up internet from the cellular carriers. Just insert a SIM (from your preferred carrier) into the router to access the 5G or 4G LTE network.

SOL Communications can help you find the right carrier (AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile) and the correct router equipment (Netgear, Cradlepoint, ect) for a dependable backup solution. Sometimes the router is bundled into the monthly solution. You have a business to run; Let's keep your internet running 24/7 with no interruption.

xfinity vs Comcast Business

SOL Communications is able to sell Comcast Business internet. xFinity is for residential locations. 

With xFinity you have up to a terabyte of data usage each month. With Comcast Business it's unlimited. Last, you don't get an IP block with xFinity only a default dynamic IP address. A static IP would be valuable to customers who run a Web or mail server, run applications that require external access, or use a virtual private network (VPN) for security.

Email me if you want me to check pricing for Comcast business internet. 

John@SOLcommunicationsLLC.com

I don't know what I'm doing + I know everything: Why starting a business never has a clear path

I decided to start my business for reasons that relate more to freedom than anything else. It has never been about the money. 

The name SOL means "sun" in Spanish. My father is from Spain and my mother was born in Columbia. Having two parents that speak both Spanish and English fluently, and who worked hard when they moved to this wonderful country of the United States to ensure a better life for me - their first born son - I felt it necessary to give an ode to the language by having such a word in the title of my business.

SOL obviously has the more pejorative acronym. The meaning I wish my business to take 

- Being the only one of the kind

- Unsurpassed, unique, matchless

- Pertaining to one individual or group to the exclusion of all others; exclusive

A business that works with SOL Communications should feel as though all purchasing activity need only flow through SOL as their broker. All voice and internet decisions are made through SOL to ensure the best decision is made. If I can accomplish this by taking care of one customer at a time, eventually this will build the momentum needed to share my business narrative with others. 

I grew up in Connecticut and went to a college that I myself would not be impressed by if I heard a friend tell me they went there (Post University). I graduated with a bachelors degree in Marketing and a minor in Sociology. Over time, and at least for me specifically, the degree in marketing was far more valuable both monetarily and in terms of growing my love of technology. 

As a millennial born on 8/4/84 (I love the rhythm of that date), I grew up enjoying many different activities that are typical of any young boy, but I would be lying if I didn't add "videogames" to the list. Often it is the case that expressing your "love of videogames" comes with a certain amount of chagrin. It is akin to the feeling one has when they've divulged that they ate McDonalds for lunch. But I am not sure why this is the case for videogames. If you look at the video game environment (Roblox, Minecraft, Call of Duty, Halo), you will find an ecosystem of interaction (some good, some bad) of multiple people from multiple locations enjoying themselves in a virtual world. And with NFTs and the metaverse becoming a reality, us millenials - who have no fear of this new world - are here to guide those who were born on or after the year 2000 into it. My love for gaming helped shape my love for technology. I will always be a gamer at heart.

I also enjoy music. Many would say I'm a talented singer. I play drums and dabble in guitar and piano, but I have a great ear for harmonizing. Friends of mine who do not regularly karaoke will, for a particular night, indulge themselves when in my presence. Music itself is another industry that will be shaped by NFTs and metaverse. As I write this I think about all the new business owners who will be younger than me and who will base their tactics of growth by using the metaverse in a way I cannot imagine. I will be here to guide them on their journey of "owning a business without owning a car" (which also sounds like a great title to another blog post). That comment, by the way, is in recognition of the coming autonomous vehicle market.

This blog will be a hodgepodge of documenting my journey as an entrepreneur. I will tell real stories which omit certain details due to privacy. Readers will visit this blog because they find value in the practical nature of how I explain technology and business tactics. I hope they will also visit because of my wittiness and erudite manner of writing.  

I have shared various pieces of my personal background with no method on how to conclude this post. The title of this post will tell you most of it. I have no idea what I'm doing, and yet I know everything.

Someone I know - who I'm close to - will read this post and consider themselves the exact audience member I intended to communicate with. And you know what's funny about all this? I may never hear about the achievements that were associated to the reading of my posts - whether here or on social media in general.  But that doesn't matter. I am going to document the journey of being a Telecom Agent in the midst of a world where autonomous vehicles, drones, 5G, internet of things, cloud, metaverse, and NFTs all become an incredible asset and means of achieving wealth. Make no mistake; there are going to be people who live through this bonanza of technological growth with high levels of fear. So moving forward I make the commitment that whoever chooses to work with SOL Communications does so with the knowledge that I will not be fearful of new technology and I will protect and guide my clients through it so that they encounter the innovation they need to grow their business.

I started my business to have freedom; freedom to express myself without the influence that comes with being under a corporate body. This is not to say that working for a company is any less virtuous than becoming your own boss. And entrepreneurship, though depicted as cool from many social media outlets, is not for everyone, nor is it a walk in the park. When I say "I don't know what I'm doing" I mean to say that for many people the most difficult part is starting. I will run into things which I could not have prepared for. But by waiting too long I could also be missing opportunities to grow which can only happen in the stage of what's unknown. The unknown can only be accessible by taking a risk. It was a risk to start my business because I was leaving behind a great salary and commission. But I knew ultimately this was the way forward and that if I started later, I would regret it. 

There are people reading this who believe they could start their own business but don't know how to start. Part of my jump had to do with not caring whether I had every "duck in a row". I knew it was important to start and that I could do it. In many ways I have been entrepreneurial-minded since high school because I was always fascinated by those who managed their own small business. I hope to motivate other people younger than me to start their own when the time is right. One piece of advice I would give is to have mentors everywhere. To do that, you must be an apprentice. Don't act like you know everything. Like the quote says: "If you're the smartest person in the room, you're in the wrong room." 

My strategy will be different yet similar to others in the same industry; As a Telecom Agent my job is to help customers navigate the complexity of the telecom world. However I hope that documenting my journey offers a different flavor of openness unseen in this industry. In addition I believe documenting my journey will help businesses take on new ideas previously not thought of. At the end of the day my goal is to help a small business grow more profitable than they were before. I hope you follow me on this exciting journey.

I will continue to use Facebook and Twitter as the primary location for getting updates out on what's happening at SOL Communications. By following my Facebook or twitter posts, you'll be up to date with everything.

Facebook: www.facebook.com/SolCommunicationsLLC

Twitter: www.twitter.com/JohnAndreuTech

Sincerely,

John Andreu

Owner & Founder of SOL Communications