If you’ve ever tried to work remotely, you know that it can be a serious challenge. From staying productive to managing your time, every aspect of getting things done becomes much harder when you’re on the road.

Luckily, adding a few small, portable and affordable items to your remote working toolkit can make a big difference. Below, we’ve listed our six favorite essentials for staying as productive, effective and successful as possible as a mobile entrepreneur.

An all-in-one travel adapter

Nothing is more frustrating than flying into another country, checking into your hotel or Airbnb, and discovering that your laptop, smartphone charger and other electronic devices just aren’t compatible with the local electrical outlets.

Thankfully, this is a cheap and easy problem to solve. Pick up an international travel adapter (Lifehacker has a great list of the best ones) and for less than $25 you’ll be able to work with confidence in any country.

A small, reliable wheeled suitcase

If you’re visiting developing countries without good infrastructure, you can replace this with a reliable backpack. For first world and rapidly developing countries, you’ll get more mileage from a high quality wheeled suitcase.

For durability, it’s best to pick a hardshell suitcase. The Delsey Helium Aero Carry-On, which is available for just over $100, designed to provide incredible protection, and small enough to use as a carry-on suitcase.

A laptop computer power bank

While laptop batteries are getting better every year, they’re still not quite powerful enough to make it through a long bus ride or flight. A laptop power bank lets you charge your computer once it runs out of power, extending its battery life well into the 8+ hour range.

If you use a MacBook or similar USB-C equipped laptop, try charging it from a USB-C power bank on your next long flight, train journey or bus trip. Since there’s not much else to do, it’s easy to get an entire day’s worth of work done while you fly.

A world class rewards credit card

If you spend a lot on hotels, flights and serviced apartments, you’re doing yourself a disservice by not using a rewards credit card. Switch to a rewards card from your regular debit card and you’ll earn free stays, cash back and other bonuses, all of which add up quickly over time.

While American and Canadian digital nomads get the best perks when it comes to credit cards, you’ll be able to access good options in any country if you have a decent credit history and the right level of annual spend.

A great minimalist wallet

Bulky wallets making holding all your coins, banknotes and credit cards simple, but they’re also a major annoyance when you need to keep your everyday carry as light as possible. They also stand out big time in your back pocket, making them a magnet for pickpockets in busy cities.

The solution? Switch from a big, bulky wallet to a minimalist wallet and slim down your everyday carry by a substantial amount. This way, you can store your rarely-used cards in your backpack or suitcase and keep only the bare essentials on you for a slim profile and lower pickpocket risk.

Cheap, reliable in-ear headphones

While studio-style headphones might offer better sound quality, they’re too bulky for use on the road. A cheap, reliable pair of in-ear headphones will let you listen to your favorite podcasts and music while you travel without fretting if you lose them, break them or leave them in a hotel.

While everyone’s idea of “cheap” audio equipment is different, you’ll generally get the best value for money around the $50 price point. Options like the Sennheiser CX 300-II Precision and Sony MDR-NC31EM earbuds offer great sound and noise cancelling, both for around $50 each.

What are your mobile productivity must-haves?

Everyone has a travel accessory they just can’t live without. As a mobile entrepreneur or digital nomad, what are your mobile productivity must-haves?

1. Snapchat’s Mysterious Billboards and Facebook Ads

There’s no doubt that Snapchat’s creative branding strategy is working. Just look at yesterday’s record-breaking IPO that netted founder Evan Spiegel over 5 billion dollars. Snapchat has been able to establish a strong brand identity through the use of the their simple,  ghost logo and yellow color. By sticking to a single brand color and icon, they have associated the brand with these two things.

Snapchat used the ghost icon on a yellow background on billboards across major cities and in online advertisements, with no text. That might seem crazy not to mention the brand name or even a website – but it was so unconventional that it lead to word of mouth and social media conversations from people trying to figure out what the brand was. Was it a one-off success? No way. Snapchat did the same thing again when they launched “Spectacles” – a bright yellow vending machine with little explanation that sold special Snapchat enabled sunglasses.

You don’t need a million dollar ad budget or billboards to do the same. For example, you can order stickers with just your brand’s logo on them and hand them out to key locations (colleges, ski-mountains, subways). This is actually how Reddit – now a top ten website – gained its audience according to Fast Company.

The Lesson: A picture (or icon) is worth a thousand words.

2. Linkedin’s Light-Up T-Shirts

Flashion Statement created Linkedin’s unique light up shirts

When Linkedin wanted to show off their brand in a big way, they designed custom light up t-shirts with the company logo on it. But that’s not all – the shirts are sound activated and the logo animates like a gif! Then they gave this swag out to employees to rep a company parties, recruiting, and promotional events.

Much like Snapchat’s approach to billboards, Linkedin took an old medium and applied a 21st century approach.

The Lesson: Bring your logo to life with an animated logo

3. Google’s All Star Agency Promotion

A key part to Google’s program is the agencies that run their campaigns for Adwords clients. In fact,90% of Google’s revenue comes from advertisements. That’s why when Google wanted to get agencies to apply to their all-star program, they knew that they had to stand out. After all, they were trying to market to professional marketers! The campaign was going to be highly critiqued.

One year, Google sent a pizza box in the mail. Inside was a gift card to take your marketing team out for a piece of pizza on Google. The call to action was a clever pun about “delivering results” to your clients.

The next year they sent out an airline themed package in the mail. Inside there was a “boarding pass” that looked just like the real thing promoting a flight for the winner out to California.

The Lesson: Apply a new concept to an old advertising channel.

You don’t need to be a Silicon Valley giant to apply these concepts at your company. Just try using your logo on a different medium to cut through the noise and help your brand stand out!

This image is perfect for bloggers and journalists writing about a range of topics – from traffic jams, to Uber, to pollution, and city living.
Uber is the name of the company that offers pickup service to customers who need a ride. There are several different types of Uber services. This is beneficial to those who are having difficulties getting a cab or transport that would take them to their destination, especially during the wee hours of the night or during a busy day. What makes it different from other car hire or cab hire companies is that it doesn’t directly employ drivers. Anyone who pass their requirements could actually become an Uber driver, which then earns through a commission from the driver’s fee.

In this article, we will review the online service on several metrics to give the consumer an overview of the features and performance of the company.

What is LegalZoom?

LegalZoom is an online service that provides legal documents and services to the public. LegalZoom was founded in 2001 and is headquartered in Austin, Texas. What does LegalZoom do? Their services include everything from living trusts, wills, LLC and trademark registration to real estate, pet protection, accident and immigration law. Most people need legal advice regularly. The costs and complexities of the legal framework are often a major turnoff in many life decisions, especially when it comes to opening a small business. LegalZoom aims to provide an easy to use interface to help navigate the layman through the complicated legal proceedings of several important life events. In this age, where we get everything from our cab services to food from online sources, it seems fitting to get legal advice online as well.

How does LegalZoom work?

LegalZoom acts as a one stop resource for all your legal needs. To use their services, you fill out a couple of forms online, using their easy to use interface, and after a review, depending on your legal needs, they pair you with a reviewed and independent attorney. Their pricing varies with the complexity of your needs and the level of service you are looking for. Think of LegalZoom as a middleman. Their job is to connect you with the right attorney. However, not all services require an attorney. You can easily create an LLC on LegalZoom’s website without one.

How much does LegalZoom cost?

They have several options for membership plans that allow you to access their interface to fill out forms. The standard plan is $8 per month which gives you access to legal forms for download. Their plus plan costs $15 per month for a single month, $40.50 for 3 months and $72 for 6 months. These are their basic membership plans. Prices vary considerably for the kind of services you are looking for and the level of help you need.

Is LegalZoom legit for wills?

LegalZoom consider wills to be one of its specialities. There are several customer reviews that speak highly of their will plans, so LegalZoom is completely legit for wills. There are three plans for wills that start with $69 and go up to $149.

Should I use LegalZoom for LLC?

Forming an LLC is a great way for new and small business to shield its assets. This is where LegalZoom becomes really handy. It lets new entrepreneurs access a pool of resources for dealing with legal complexities and allows them time to focus on things that really matter to their businesses. The plans for LegalZoom LLC cost a reasonable amount. They start at $149 and go up to $359. LegalZoom LLC reviews contain multiple small business owners that really appreciate these things. Here's a quick overview of how the process works for starting a business:

Companies like LegalZoom:

There are a bunch of LegalZoom competitors. LegalZoom alternatives aim to beat it in pricing, services and number of plans. The most notable sites like LegalZoom are Nolo, Standard Legal, Ready Set Legal, Rocket Lawyer and lawdepot.com. LegalZoom seems to be the leader of the pack though as it is one of the oldest websites of its kind. One of the most frequently used alternatives to LegalZoom is in fact just filling out the forms yourself!

Is LegalZoom safe?

While not all of the LegalZoom reviews have been flattering, we have yet to come across one that accused LegalZoom of any form of malpractice. The company has been around since 2001 and is a fairly noteworthy and respected business. This site provides connections to independent lawyers. They never claimed to be a law firm and working with LegalZoom does not confer client attorney privileges to all of the communications that go through the website.

What are the pros and cons of using LegalZoom?

Pros:

• Provides laymen with a whole pool of legal resources
• Downloadable legal forms
• Several plans to choose from
• Member reviewed lawyers
• Free consultations

Cons:

• Several legal services are not provided at this time
• Some reviews of LegalZoom say that customer service does not respond in time

How good is legalzoom? LegalZoom Reviews:

LegalZoom has been reviewed a lot online. The Better Business Bureau gave it 3.8 stars out of 5 and a combined rating of A+ based on 9 reviews. Toptenreviews.com concluded that LegalZoom provides access to powerful tools for support services for creating and writing legal documents. Several other rating sites such as sitejaber.com lauded LegalZoom for providing several legal services online and making the navigation of legal complexities easier, but there were some issues regarding customer services. While most users were happy with the pricing, some had issues with the amount of help they were getting for their money and wondered if it would be better to just do all the paperwork by themselves.

Verdict:

Our verdict is that LegalZoom is a powerful and useful tool. For millions of people worldwide, it provides a simple interface to get around the complexities of understanding the law. It is particularly useful for small business owners in that it levels the playing field for them when it comes to choosing legal counsel.

Gone are the days of shaved-face boardrooms.

Today, more and more men are sporting facial hair, even at the upper echelons of business.

Unfortunately, many men have no idea how to properly care for their beard, so it lets them down, and makes them look less respectable and dependable as a result.

When you need every advantage to stay on top in the work place, either as a high level manager, or the CEO of your own company, coming into work with a poorly groomed beard is a death sentence.

But it can be information overload out there for the busy businessman, so we’ve distilled the most important tips into bite sized chunks, and presented them below.

1. Get The Basics Right

Your beard starts with your health, which means you need to be getting enough sleep, eating enough good foods (red meat and green veg are staples of a healthy, beard-growing diet), and exercising regularly.

Without a solid foundation, your beard will never live up to its potential.

But the basics also include general upkeep, too, which means you need to pay attention to the next few tips. You can’t just stop shaving and expect to have a powerful beard.

It’s important to keep it the right shape and length for your face. Each person is different, so we highly recommend you invest in a great beard trimmer with multiple length settings so that you can keep your beard from getting too crazy during the week.

2. Use A Conditioning Balm Or Oil Every Day

Even if you do nothing else, you need to be applying a beard balm or a beard oil each and every day.

This is the first step to taking your beard to the next level.

The oils in each product will help to moisturize, strengthen, and make your beard healthier.

They will also provide nourishment to the skin underneath your beard, which is often neglected by the newly-bearded man.

Get something with natural ingredients and apply each morning after you get out of the shower.

An oil is best if you have a short beard, or if you have a long beard that doesn’t require a lot of styling.

Balm is best if you have a mid-length or longer beard that you need to style because the balm contains wax to give you some styling capabilities.

3. Use A Beard Brush, No Matter The Length Of Your Beard

This one might sound strange to the short bearded guys, but a beard brush isn’t just for stroking through your yeard.

Not only does it do an excellent job at straightening and detangling a load of facial hair, but it is amazing for the health and cleanliness of your beard and face.

If you use the brush after you apply the leave-in conditioner that we talked about above, it will actually help distribute it throughout your entire beard, which significantly improves the ability of the product to work and turn your beard into something amazing.

However, a big hidden benefit is that it actually helps clean your beard, too. You see, oils and dead skin cells can get caught in your beard and cling close to your face. This is bad for both your beard and the skin of your face. The brush can get right close to the face and help to remove the built up oils, skin cells, and hairs that have fallen out.

A daily brush for even the short-bearded man can do wonders for the health and look of his beard, keeping him looking sharp and in control of even the smallest details.

4. Dial In Those Cheek And Neck Lines

Perhaps the most common mistake amongst beardsmen is the failure to properly craft the cheek and neck lines.

This is perhaps the easiest way to take your beard from a 4 or a 5 to a 9 or 10.

The cheek line should look natural, and should be at about the point on your cheek where your hairs become most uniform.

For example, you might find that you have a couple of small areas where the hairs are straight creeping up your cheeks, but you should try to find the lowest point along your cheek line and use that as the entire line. It will look significantly cleaner if it doesn’t look like you’ve got random hairs growing up towards your eyes.

As for the neck line, cutting your neckline along your jaw line is a serious mistake and can make you look absolutely ridiculous. It can even make you look heavier than you are, and is very unbecoming of a professional.

Your neck line should be at about the point where your head meets your neck, or about half an inch to an inch above your Adam’s apple. Find this point and shave a line across your neck from the middle to either side, curving it upwards slightly to meet the contour of your neck and head.

By following these simple rules, your beard will help elevate your status in the office, rather than distract people.

1. 1. Crowdfunding And P2P Lending Laws

In Title III of the JOBS Act has passed new regulations that changes how equity crowdfunding works. While the law spans hundreds of pages, it does aim to make it easier for investors and companies to exchange money online. The law covers both “crowdfunding” websites like Kickstarter as well as peer-to-peer lending websites like The Lending Club.

Previously, to invest in a startup you needed to be an accredited investor, with at least $200,000 per year income and a million dollars in assets. The SEC assumed that these type of investors were more experienced and able to understand the risk of complicated financial packages. Thus, they could invest in things not available to the

Under the new law one may invest $2,000 or 5% of annual income up to $100,000, whichever is greater. Individual with over $100,000 of income or net worth can invest 10%.

Companies using crowdfunding for the first time are not required to have a full financial audits if they are fundraising less than $100,000. This is a big win for crowdfunded startups, because the costs and legal fees associated with an audit are expensive.

A person to person loan is considered a type of security. P2P lending operators are required to register with the security and exchange commission  (aka the SEC), however investors are not required to register. The operator is required to keep the lender’s funds in a separate bank account for distribution to the borrower.

There are several differences between equity crowdfunding companies and a publicly held company. For one, you cannot sell shares in the investment at anytime as you could with a publicly held company. You are not allowed to sell for the first year, unless it is:

• to the company that issued the securities;
• to an accredited investor;
• to a family member;
• in connection with your death or divorce or other similar circumstance;
• to a trust controlled by you or a trust created for the benefit of a family member;
• as part of an offering registered with the SEC.

In addition, you will not receive as much financial information about a crowdfunding investment as a publicly traded company. They are still required to disclose earnings, but not everything.

2. 2. Copyright Law & The Digital Millennium Copyright Act

It’s important for online investors to verify that the website actually owns the copyrights to their content. Failure to do so can result in reduced revenue if the website faces a DMCA takedown request or even a lawsuit in extreme cases. A copyright is created automatically when a work of the mind is made, which includes but is not limited to articles, images, graphics, songs, and any other creative materials. It is not necessary for a the copyright holder to file for a trademark to legally own this work. The ownership is automatically assumed. Without the copyright holder’s express written consent you cannot make a “copy” of the image by placing it on your blog or social media.

Images

There are many types of image licenses. If no license is specified, the rule of thumb is assume you can’t unless the copyright holder gives you permission. One of the most common licenses is the creative commons license. This is a standardized license that allows for simple use of images. However, even under the creative commons license the copyright holder may require attribution to the image. Just because you found something one Google images doesn’t mean it’s yours to use! Make sure to read the license and include proper attribution. If the copyright holder says “all rights reserved” then you cannot use it at all. Stock image companies are notorious about enforcing image copyrights, charging extraordinary settlement fees for stolen images.

Music & Movies

If you are hosting or streaming music and movies on your website without permission, you are violating copyright law. Even if you are not selling them or monetizing on your website, simply the act of streaming is a violation without permission.

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (Commonly Referred to as the DMCA) is a law that was passed in 1996 to protect online copyrights. If someone is in violation of plagiarism or unauthorized usage of material, the copyright holder can file a DMCA takedown notice. If the blogger does not remove the content after receiving notice, the Blogger’s hosting company may take the website down or they could face a lawsuit. Section 512c of the DMCA removes the liability of websites that allow users to post content, however this liability is only removed for non-commercial websites. It provides an interesting challenge for investors in social networking websites and applications, because they technically could be making money from copywritten content shared by their users and it is difficult to police.

3. Privacy laws

If the website collect personal information, then it’s important to have a privacy policy. By collecting information, we mean by using forms, tracking cookies, or other user data from your website. Privacy policies should state the following:

• How you are collecting information
• What it is being used for
• How users can opt-out

Privacy policies for social networks are a hot

While there is no single privacy law, there are some important ones to keep in mind. The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) has specific restrictions on collecting information from children under the age of 13. These restrictions are complicated to enforce, so website often require users to be above the age of 13 if they are engaging in financial transactions or collecting data. This does not mean that data collection is illegal, just highly regulated for that age group.

Some states have passed specific laws regulated privacy. For example California requires a privacy statement to be prominently displayed on the website and Delaware has a similar version of this law. Because many companies are incorporated in Delaware for tax and legal purposes as well as in Silicon Valley, it is important to check for compliance of these laws during the due diligence process.

There are many types of marketing. They can really be divided up into 5 areas.

1. Direct – Direct Marketing includes items sent direct to consumers, like direct mail or calling them directly.
2. Online – Online marketing is a huge category in itself. Some examples of online marketing include affiliate marketing, social media, blogging, and pay-per-click advertising.
3. PR – Public relations, or “PR” is generally not paid for, though the lines are becoming blurred with sponsored stories. Some forms of PR include coverage in a newspaper, newstation, magazine, or website.
4. Personal – Personal marketing is generally executed one-on-one and is best for complex products. It involves building a relationship with the customer.
5. Traditional Advertising – TV and Radio are the best known forms of traditional advertising

Android Marshmallow is the current version of the operating system, which was released in August of last year.

Android Nougat is the newest version of the operating system that is set to release later this year. Although the date is unconfirmed it’s rumored to be released before October. You can re-use the image below as new versions of Android are released or as news breaks about the platform.

About Android

Android is an open source mobile operating system made by Google. The OS is used in many popular phones such as the Samsung Galaxy and is the biggest competitor with Apple’s iPhone O.S. In fact, there are more Android users than iPhone users worldwide. As a mobile operating system, Android is not only used for smartphones, but also for tablets. Some of the best tablets for college students use the Android platform. One reason for this is because it is open source Android tablets tend to be much less expensive than iPads. Open source software is also easy to build apps on and the approval process is not as difficult as it is for the iTunes store. Microsoft also has a mobile operating system called Windows Mobile. It hasn’t really taken off when it comes to smartphones, but the Microsoft Surface is a popular tablet for drawing.

While Apple has followed “cat” and “landmark” themes for their desktop releases they follow a boring numerical system for iPhone releases. Android follows a creative candy theme. The Alpha and Beta versions were unnamed, with the first official candy name being “Android Cupcake” for version 1.5. Here are some more images created by Blogtrepreneur that you are free to use with attribution.

Social media is an emerging field that connects users from around the world. Facebook has one of the largest networks, followed by Twitter and Instagram. Some newly popular social networks include the video sharing network, Vine and the image sharing network, Pinterest. As a blogger you should have a presence on social media. However, you do not need to be on every one of these networks. Focus your time on creating great content for one or two, versus putting the same old content on all of them. If you’re planning to start a blog, Facebook and Twitter are the best place to start sharing posts with your followers.

Did you think you can hide behind your computer as a blogger? Sorry! In today’s world bloggers need to be social butterflies! Share your followers content, comment, and interact with them. There’s a reason it’s called “social” media.

Vine, Periscope, and Snapchat are newer networks that are growing rapidly. The newest platforms tend to be mobile based and rightfully so – mobile internet usage has overtaken desktop usage. Between these newer platforms, YouTube, and Facebook Live there has also been a shift to video blogging, or as it is commonly known “vlogging“.

Facebook may be one of the “older” platforms but it has the most users out of any.

Facebook Live is a new platform that allows Facebook users to live stream. It seems to be a response to Periscope. However, it’s a little creepy… now Facebook is always watching you!