Who can say they have never lost a file?
Every Virtual Assistant that has created files and documents on their computer has at one time or another experienced the frustration involved when they lose an important file. It’s even more aggravating when it’s a really important client file that you have spent endless hours working on.
Let’s start by taking a quick look at Dropbox and how it can ease your frustration of losing files.
First and foremost, you can download Dropbox for free on any Windows, Mac, Linux or Mobile operating systems. No matter how great your computer system is or how faithful it’s been to you in the past, it is a smart decision to back up files.
Dropbox allows you to:
* Store all of your documents, photos and videos
* Share your documents with others
* Protect your precious documents
With Dropbox, you can access your files from anywhere at anytime and don’t have to worry about your files being lost or damaged.
That’s enough to ease the worry and frustration that goes along with file storage and potential loss.
Sharing any of your documents with others is easy. All you have to do is send them an invitation to folders in your Dropbox and they can view those files on any computer just as if the file is actually saved on that computer. It’s a great option when it comes to having to share files with clients, co-workers, family members or others.
If your computer should crash and burn, your stuff is still going to be safe because Dropbox can be restored really fast. You can reverse mistakes and it allows you to remove files from the trash that you may have moved there and didn’t intend to.
Dropbox is fast and easy to set up. Storage for up to 2GB is totally free but you do have the option to purchase a storage package that will allow 50GB of storage for $9.99 per month.
Knowing there are options like Dropbox can definitely ease your fears of losing valuable files that you store on your computer. Added to that is the convenience of being able to access your files from anywhere, share your files with others and recover those files if you need to.
Other important benefits of Dropbox are the fact that it actually works with smart phones, iPads and other devices that connect to the internet. Accessing your saved files can be done from anywhere in the world.
The convenience, ease of use and security of knowing your files are ok is probably the biggest reason more people are turning to Dropbox for help with file storage.
If you are one of those computer users that have never suffered the frustration of losing one or more important files, consider yourself lucky. It’s better to be one step ahead and make sure you have a method of storing backup files. You could be the next one to lose a file that cannot be recovered. Starting all over isn’t always the only option.
DOWNLOAD DROPBOX HERE for Free!
We’d love to hear your thoughts on using Dropbox so please post your comments below.
I couldn’t live without Dropbox in my arsenal of tools for my VA business. And the cool thing about it is that its free to use. If I recommend it to my friends and they sign up under my referral link then Dropbox gives me more space to use. A win/win for everyone.
Susan, yes, I didn’t even mention the referral part of Dropbox to increase your free space with them. Thanks for the reminder 🙂
I’ve never heard of Dropbox before so will be checking it out and thanks! There are so many good free programs online today for VAs and look forward to your posts suggesting same.
We have a thread at our forum talking about software every VA should look at getting and you can view it here: https://www.vanetworking.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=23735
I’ve been using Dropbox since I first heard of it in the forum and couldn’t live without it!
Cool that you heard about it at our Free networking forum for VAs at https://www.vanetworking.com/forum
One on my hard drives died this week and if it weren’t for Dropbox I would have lost some important files. Love Dropbox!
I’ve had 2 hard drives crash on me in the past year so I hear you! It was handy to have some of my important documents close at hand via Dropbox while my computer was in the shop.
I don’t think I could live without DropBox. I use it daily to transfer files between clients. I also use it as a backup method to backup important files.
It is also great for traveling to easily transfer files from my home desktop and my laptop.
I think every VA should sign up for DropBox
Yes, it’s great when you are traveling as you can have all your important files with you just by the click of your mouse 😉
I like Dropbox very much but am loath to depend on it to the extent you describe and I am looking for cloud options to do that job. The reason I feel like this about Dropbox is that I recently heard about a security issue with it. Are you aware of security issues with Dropbox? http://www.smgvirtualpa.co.uk/securie-use-of-dropbox/
Stella, I’m also reluctant to trust just one process for backup purposes and combine Dropbox with other processes like Carbonite and my in-house server to keep backups of my important files.
As for security issues, I don’t think I’ll ever fully trust being in the cloud with anything and thus change my passwords frequently. Password hacking is where one of the biggest risks exist in the cloud. Many people use simple passwords, don’t change them often and will use the same one for many websites online which makes it easier for hackers to figure out your passwords. I believe in one case of a hacking issue with Dropbox it was because the user used the same password on Facebook or some other website as it did with Dropbox. Their Facebook account was hacked (yes even the biggies Facebook still get hacked) and because they used the same password for Dropbox, Gmail, etc…many of their accounts were hacked. Tip: Change your passwords monthly! 😉
With Dropbox, there was a bit of a security issue about a year ago from what I’ve read online but they were quick to jump on the problem and solve it. With over 50 million users you can rest assured that they don’t want to have any security issues and have a good team of developers working in that area on a full time basis.
You provide a great way via your blog post of further securing your files online and thanks for sharing, great idea!
Hopefully we can get to the confident point with all our programs in the cloud to fully trust the security backing them, we can only hope 😉
According to they webpage, Dropbox does use Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) and AES-256 bit encryption and now even have a two-step verification for an extra layer of security at login. You can read more about their security here.
Thanks for sharing your concerns 🙂
Hi Tawnya, I agree that Dropbox is an affordable tool to manage files. I’ve been using it for three years now. MAC users can easily adapt to the user-friendly interface and there are several cloud applications now that sync with it. A real bonus!
Great to know about the MAC compatibility, thanks!
I am using the Dropbox each and everyday. I use it for work, if I want to save some files to work on later in another laptop and I use it for my virtual business.
Files are shared so easily with my friends and with my virtual assistant that it’s a joke.
In my opinion the Dropbox should come pre-installed with every Windows installation on this planet. It’s just too useful.
***** 5/5 stars to the Dropbox
What a great idea! You should contact MS about that, who knows, maybe it would be a hit 😉
I started using DropBox for client work after my first hard drive crash. I never want to be without access to client files again. Costly lesson learned.
Clients and I happily use DropBox for templates, expense reports, ongoing projects, meeting agendas, travel itineraries, action items, status reports and frequently used mileage calculations.
This summer I will build some bridal check lists for the small weddings I coordinate. I’ll set up a folder for each wedding so the bride can have documents at her fingertips, including our church wedding policy, instructions for her photographers and florists and other helpful planning tools. DropBox can turn these into working documents for the bride – instead of email attachments that get misplaced and forgotten.
Sounds like you are making great use of Dropbox Helen 🙂
Dropbox has literally been a dream come true for my virtual assistance company. The way it allows to delegate work to my VA team is awesome. In the past something that took me 3-4 hrs of my time has been reduced to around 30 mins just because of the auto syncing feature in dropbox. Great stuff for any team be it Virtual Assistance or otherwise.