1. Introduction
If you’ve been reading this site for any significant amount of time, you know that we have a big focus on the value of data and communication. That is because it is a key part of any business anywhere.
And it is probably the most important part of any business anywhere. So what are the different ways to send data and communicate in business?
We’ll get to a lot of them, but let me start with just one:
Letters.
A single word can be used as a verb if you want to send an email. But there are other ways which can be used as verbs:
– Send emails (of course!) – Send texts – Send voice mail messages – Send faxes – Send voice recordings – send photos and videos – share documents via social media channels (Facebook) – share documents via video conferencing services – share documents via cloud-based document sharing services (iCloud Share, Dropbox, Box etc.) – share documents via web 2.0 platforms like WordPress, Joomla etc..
2. Communication
I have a lot of file transfers to do, but I don’t want to constantly change the program I use to send files. The following is a list of some of the most commonly used tools that can be used to communicate and transfer files using the pomodoro technique:
- Gmail / Google Drive : This is a great and very secure way to share your files with others. Unlike Dropbox and other cloud file storage services, you don’t need any special client applications or even an internet connection for files to be accessed through Gmail. It can be very convenient if you want to share large files among several people, but this software also has a number of limitations (such as the inability to share large amounts of data across multiple networks). However, do note that if you frequently use your computer for work or personal purposes, you should use Dropbox instead.
- Dropbox : While it is an extremely secure and reliable way of sharing large files, this is not really suited for many business users because it only allows one user per account. This may create problems when working with one-off projects like video editing (i.e., one user needs his own copy while another wants the entire movie), but if you are sending a file based on your own creative ideas, this may work well enough (especially if both parties have Dropbox accounts).
- SendGrid : This is a web-based email service that allows you to send emails using different formats including HTML, XML and plain text (again, no special client applications required). It also works on mobile devices.
- Sendero Mail : SenderoMail uses email protocols such as SMTP (for email), POP3/IMAP4 (for mass mail) and IMAP4/EDEIMAP1 (for browsing through webmail services) in order to facilitate its users’ email communication with other SenderoMail users without needing additional clients or servers in between them. It supports over 40 different email protocols allowing users to communicate both directly with each other via their mail userid or by relaying each other’s mail using the SMTP protocol. It also has features like HTML formatting for easier reading on screen for those who prefer that look-and-feel over plain text versions of emails.
- Email2Mailinglist : Email2Mailinglist makes it easy for people who want access to your mailing list only through an email address rather than from within their own software programs such as Outlook/
3. Data sharing
This is a list of the different ways people communicate, for both humans and machines. Things that are communication-friendly are highlighted in green.
This post was originally meant to be part of a series on data sharing, but I don’t think it would work as well as it did before.
There are many different ways to send files and communicate in business, from the very basic sharing of files and data (eg: email) to more complex ways like public file share sites (eg: Dropbox) or group chat applications for teams (eg: Slack).
The common thread is that data sharing is a shared activity between people who want to share something.
Something you can do with your data:
Share files, news, photos, documents etc. With your team or customers at work. In groups. With your family and friends outside of work. As a virtual meeting room (eg: Google Hangouts).
Things that aren’t communication-friendly:
Share data with people you don’t know or trust Share data in places where there’s no security or privacy implications Share data without giving out the source Share data without giving out any context Data sharing between machines like browsers and mobile devices Data sharing with third parties like service providers and advertisers.
Which are better than others? Which should you choose? The answer depends on which type of person you want to be with your product more than anything else: what kind of person will you be working with? What kind of team will you have? How strongly do they care about privacy vs security vs whatever other factors might matter to them in the moment? How good at communication will each team member need to be?
And how much time does each one need to spend thinking about what they’re doing when they’re working on their own projects? There’s no one-size-fits all answer here… but there is one thing that I can tell you – if any one team member isn’t comfortable communicating in this way then they should try not using it! See this post on whether or not certain teams can consider using Slack as an office chat tool (it’s interesting – I think it’s something we’d all find hard to live without).
4. Technical ways of data sharing
Some people believe that the world is full of unfriendly people who want to keep you from your business. They are wrong. Some people think that the world is full of unfriendly businesses who want to keep you from your business. They are wrong. Some people think that the world is full of unfriendly software companies who want to keep you from your business. They are wrong too.
The kinds of relationships that matter to your company aren’t necessarily those with competitors, or third parties, or governments – they’re with other businesses and clients and partners, and they’re more personal than anything else because they are more intimate:
- Your customers – the way people come into contact with you and how you approach them
- Your employees – where you work (and what type of work)
- Other businesses and clients – how you interact with them in different ways (e.g., being open about asking for feedback)
In fact, we may not know all that much about ourselves other than what we tell others about us (e.g., “I’m a friendly guy like everybody else”). The way we talk about ourselves may be different from how we talk about others, but why should that matter? I once spent an entire day talking to a customer about himself without ever saying anything about himself or his company.
It was fascinating to watch him listen as I went through his whole life story in just a few minutes on his behalf! He told me his career path as a farceur in a circus, but he seemed genuinely interested in hearing my take on it all; he didn’t ask me any questions because he was so absorbed by my story he forgot to ask me any questions! She didn’t even have time to say “thank-you!” before I left him alone at last. But then again maybe he had just forgotten…
So it may not matter whether I know who you are or what you do when I talk to you; it matters more if I care what happens next after our conversation and help shape it towards something desirable for us both as outlined above. We will probably be able to do this together: because we both have a need for information which might otherwise go unmet or unprocessed (we both value transparency); because we both have something in common which someone might appreciate (we both like coffee);
5. Non-technical ways of data sharing
Email is the building block of your communication, and so it should be a primary target. But email is not the only way to send data; there are other ways to share non-technical data, as well.
There are two types of communication channels which you can use to share data:
But if you don’t want to make it public, how can you avoid the pitfalls of using them? That’s where microblogging or social media comes in: Twitter can be a great (and free) way to increase your social media reach and LinkedIn can help you connect with contacts that haven’t yet joined your company. Microblogging is simply creating a blog and sharing what you’re working on on it; Facebook is a similar service, but it’s not just for business anymore. The biggest advantage of microblogging vs Facebook or Twitter is that it’s public (unless specified otherwise) — which means that anyone can read what you post without having to sign up themselves. If you don’t want to place yourself as an advertiser, this may be enough; but if you do want some control over who sees what content from whom, then check out services like Tweetdeck .
You can also easily share files with options like Google Drive and Dropbox . This depends on whether your company has an online backup service: if not, consider opting into them instead (if your company does have one). If so, there are several good options for online backup services for free or very low cost: Backup Buddy , CrashPlan , Carbonite , Backblaze .
6. Conclusion
Going back to the topic of business communications, there are many different ways to send files and communicate in business.
While it is true that Slack has a huge list of features that can be used for regular communication (like file sharing and multi-channel publishing), it isn’t the only tool out there that offers file sharing. And while FileZilla is a great platform for file sharing, it is not the only one.
What’s important is to understand what differentiates each of these tools from the other. Which one you choose may depend on what your unique needs are in terms of how you want to work with others and how you want to share files with them. If your company uses a number of tools or services, perhaps you should explore them all — but don’t jump into one just because they offer something you thought was unique to each service. You need to understand what each tool has to offer so you can decide which one suits your needs best and get started with that right away.
There are also some differences between people sending data and files: – The way we say things directly affects our communication style (for example, if I send an email from my Android phone I will probably speak very softly).
– Some people prefer writing by hand rather than typing; other people like using their phones for texts too (they may save on data charges).
– There are different preferences for how long we communicate when we use different kinds of dialing methods (i.e., calling vs SMS).
In these examples, I have added icons for each style in the following chart:
I hope this will help illustrate some differences between people who send data and those who communicate via files: – People who only use social networks like Facebook tend toward direct messaging . They tend not to write emails or text messages at all and prefer text messages over calls or SMSes as means of communicating once they have already opened their account with Facebook/Twitter. – People who prefer writing by hand tend toward direct messaging as well (i.e., this person prefers writing letters rather than emails) . Direct messaging includes both written email messages as well as written texts sent through Facebook/Twitter accounts etc. – People who prefer dialing versus texting tend toward dialing (i.e., this person prefers calling vs texting) . Dialing includes both texting as well as calling within an app like WhatsApp or Signal etc…
