Dropbox

I’ve changed the way I handle distributing documents to my clients to make it easier and more convenient for both of us. I now use Dropbox to share documents. This means you can access your documents either through a web link or through your own Dropbox account at any time 24/7, without the attachments cluttering your inbox or having to wait on me to resend them.

I chose Dropbox because:

1. It’s popular and well-tested. A number of my clients already use it.
2. It’s really easy. It’s literally just as easy to get your docs as with an email attachment, with several added benefits.
   • Keeps your inbox uncluttered.
   • Access your documents anywhere, anytime without having to wait on me.
   • If you have a Dropbox account, it’s even more secure than emailing docs because it encrypts the document as it goes from me to Dropbox to you.
3. You do NOT need a membership to use Dropbox. If you don’t have a membership, I’ll just send you a link to your documents. The link acts just like an attachment (see below).
   • Security: Your docs are not browsable or searchable. A person must know the link to be able to access the docs. However, the traffic is also not encrypted (you access the docs through an http address, not a secure https). Note, email isn’t encrypted either.
4. Basic membership with Dropbox is free. If you want to encrypt traffic between your computer and Dropbox, you can sign up for their basic membership – it’s free. Let me know and I’ll change your docs’ location so they’re no longer available through a web link, but only to you through a secure https connection.

I will email you with links to the document(s), or notification that they’re ready for viewing in your Dropbox account.  Click on the link. It will open a tab in your browser and then give you to option to either Open (and it will open right away just like an attachment) or Save, whichever you wish.

Create an account for yourself at Dropbox.

Even aside from sharing and collaborating with clients, Dropbox is a very cool service that let’s you automatically backup important documents and sync them across multiple computers and operating systems.