Update - the virtual business
I wrote a few weeks back about all the nifty services we’re using to get mergelab off the ground. At the time, I left out one that I’d signed up for but wasn’t sure about, and I included one that we have since ditched.
The one I left out of my last post was Earth Class Mail, which is sort of like a traditional PO box except they notify you in email when you have new postal mail, and you go to their website to tell them what to do with it: options include scan, ship, recycle, shred. ‘Scan’ is what you want most of the time when you’re getting started, though I can see where the others will come in handy once the junk mailers get a hold of the address.
I was skeptical at first, and the setup process is a bit of a pain because you have to fill out a Form 1583 and get it notarized to allow them to handle mail on your behalf. But once you’re past this hurdle, it’s pretty cool…it’s one of those services that has surprised me because the real benefits I’m gaining are more interesting than what I thought initially.
At first I figured it was just a temporary convenience, a way to have an address that wasn’t my house, etc. But here’s the real benefit: you get scanned PDFs of all the mail you receive. Even if I wanted to make backup electronic copies of all the important mail I get, there’s simply no way I would open every piece of mail and put it through my scanner.
Now if I get a piece of mail I want to forward one to my lawyers - boom, just forward them the PDF. I want to make sure I won’t lose copies of various legal docs and registrations and licenses and such? Bundle up the PDFs and burn them on a CD-R. It’s one of those things that enables sharing behaviors that I might not have bothered with otherwise, because I’m too lazy to find a fax machine or an envelope and a stamp.
The service that has been ditched, at least for now, is Amazon EC2. Not a huge surprise given that Mark and I had been complaining about EC2 performance earlier. We finally reached the threshold of annoyance to move over to ServerBeach, and even though I’d be told by lots of people (especially this guy) about the wonders of ServerBeach, I must say I was pretty blown away at my buying experience. The guy I spoke to on the phone totally knew his stuff, and I was provisioned a few hours later the same afternoon. Wow.
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