Just Push the Button!

Moved To Wordpress

2010-02-10T15:16:00.000-08:00

I have moved my blog to Wordpress. You can access it at http://www.buildyourvaskills.com

Time Is On Your Side...How Much Can You Learn in a Year?

2009-11-19T23:42:00.000-08:00

How much knowledge can you gain in a year?

One of the great joys of my life is mentoring. I meet with college students and help them figure out strategies to get through the hoops of getting that college degree. The last couple weeks have brought up a common theme that you as a business owner, virtual assistant or for that matter a human being can relate to:

“I feel like I have no time to….fill in the blank.”

Whether it is studying, learning a new skill, getting more information on a topic you are interested in or any number of items on your to do list, we all seem to have that problem.

The truth is you have the same amount of time as many other people that “rock it” every day; the President, George Clooney, Bill Gates, Edward Cullen…oh ya he’s fiction. The point is we all have the same amount of time and it is what we do with it that counts.

So if you really do feel like you have “no time” for your goals,
it’s time to get creative.

One thing I noticed as I talked to several students is some of them have a lot of drive time.Take for example if you drive 25 minutes one way to work M-F, that
is 50 minutes a day or about 4 hours a week. So what could you do with an extra 4 hours a week to learn something new? That is a whole afternoon or evening to do something else.

One thing you can do is what a lot of time management experts call the “Automobile University”. Study in the car. I am not saying to type on your computer or read a book or anything dangerous but to get creative.

One practice I have done for years is listening to books on tape and now mp3’s of seminars and coaching sessions. Sometimes I am truly amazed at how much I can listen to (even without torturing my family).

Let’s look at the numbers. Taking those 4 hours a week multiply that by even 40 weeks per year (you don’t want to be a total nerd after all!), that is 160 hours or 6.5 days! And those would be days without sleep!

To put it in perspective a 3 credit hour college course over 16 weeks is only 48 hours of total lecture time. While that does not include your outside class studies, you get the point. This simple exercise is like getting the content of about three 3 credit hour college courses, and you didn’t even do it all year in our example.

Be creative! You can do a lot with the time you spend driving, even if you commit to only one way. In our example that is 2 extra hours of study a week.

So quit making excuses and start getting creative! It really does work and with the wealth of information both free and what you pay for, there is nothing you can’t learn about and even become an expert in. I have friends that have learned foreign languages, started a new business, and changed the focus of their lives this way.

So here’s to moving forward… and learning all you can along the way.

To your success!
We make it easy for you to get all the information.

What you do with it is up to you!

If I can answer any questions or help you in any way just email me. I am looking forward to your success and helping you build your VA skills!

Have a happy and productive day!

Susan Snyder
Founder/CEO
buildyourvaskills.com
Email me!

PS- Go to http://www.buildyourvaskills.com and look at our current schedule of training. Find one that’s right for you and bring a friend!

PPS- The Inner Circle Coaching Program is filling fast! I have opened up a second group and I am limiting it to the first 25 so you get personal attention! Check it out and start or take your VA practice to the next level. http://www.buildyourvaskills.com/innercircle.html

Want to use this article? You have my permission but you must use the entire article and keep the site links in tact.

Tell me your thoughts.

Do you use this strategy? Will you? What are some other ways you get creative to reach your goals?

Three Steps Forward, Two Steps Back...Use Systems to Keep Moving Forward

2009-11-13T20:35:00.000-08:00

Lately I have been trying to figure out how to be much more efficient with my time. Part of the reason is that I am so busy and want to free up some time. Another part is I am looking to bring on more team members and I was interested in what it is that I actually "do" that I could delegate to someone else.

I found out something interesting as I have tracked very closely my tasks over the last month. Did you know about 90% of what you do every day you did yesterday or within the last week? As I think about it now I could have guessed that but you just don't think about your days that way.

I also found out I spent a lot of time figuring out what exactly I did the last time when a task was either very new, or very involved. That made me realize I needed to get much more intentional about making things easier to duplicate by making checklists or procedures.

Here we go again! You decided to be self-employed or an entrepreneur because you didn't want the constraints of an operations manual or procedures that were too strict. You want to be "free". I totally agree. So let's not get overly corporate and form a committee or anything crazy like that, but let's just use a little reason and make our work more efficient so we can enjoy a little free time or be able to pursue even more profits with our time.

Track your tasks

Boring I know. I was resistant because I am so busy, it was one more thing I had to do. Believe me though it will be enlightening. You will see exactly what is going on, how much time you are wasting, and how much time you spend reinventing your wheel.

Depending on your personality you can be as detailed as you want or just jot some notes. Keep specific clock time or just jot minutes. Do it a minimum of two work weeks. I did it for a month and it was very enlightening.

Analyze the Results

Now go back through what you wrote down. Make three lists:

1) Repeated tasks with how much time spent and how often they are repeated.

2) Tasks that were just one time but could be delegated if needed.

3) Tasks that will be repeated in the future but are infrequent.

Look objectively at each list. For repeated tasks analyze and prioritize those tasks into a list of what will be the biggest bang if you get it under control.

Make a Plan

With that prioritized list begin working on making a future plan. For each task decide:

1) Does it need a procedure outline?

2) Does it need to be delegated?

3) Does it need to be grouped/scheduled better?

Then work through each of the tasks as you normally would over the next few weeks. As you do the task the next time, act on the decision you made above. You can outline it, make plans to delegate it, or group and schedule it to make it more efficient.

Here are a few things I have outlined with a procedure task and am preparing to delegate to my team:

1) Office Supplies- I spent a lot of time figuring out what toner I needed and where to get it at the best price. This potential sand trap can be taken care of with a list of common supplies and where you got them last time. If you are running to the supply store, check the other items from the same place and pick those up if you need them as well.

2) List of Usernames and Passwords- I know you can relate to this one. I do not advocate writing out the specifics because you are just waiting for someone to find it then. Use a code. For example, I use the same basic username and password for everything but with variations. So I may add a number or a letter to the end. In the documentation I will just put the number or the letter as the password as a reminder. I do the same with the username. I also make notes on special situations with the sites. If you have to do anything special or figure anything out, chances are the next time you visit you will have to figure it out again.

3) Gift lists and birthdays- This is not my forte so I will make a list and remember to check it. Someone gave me a tip of buying and addressing all my birthday cards in one weekend at the beginning of the year. They said to place the mail date where the stamp goes and then put them in order. When the time comes, pop a stamp on it and put it in the mail. No promises but could be a good project for my assistant. (I will sign yours mom...)

The major lesson I learned with this exercise is I can do some simple things without getting too complicated that will help me to be more efficient. I also have more confidence that I can hand a task off if I need to and someone can just jump right in and complete it like I would.

Here's to moving forward...

Susan Snyder Founder/CEO

BuildYourVASkills.com http://www.pcstraining.net

Go to http://www.buildyourvaskills.com and look at our current schedule of training. Find one that's right for you and bring a friend!

Want to use this article? You have my permission but you must use the entire article and keep the site links in tact.

2009-11-07T20:07:00.001-08:00

Let's see how many people can do this. Every day this month until Thanksgiving, think of one thing that you are thankful for and post it as your status. "Today I am thankful for..." The longer you do it, the harder it gets! Now if you think you can do it then repost this message as your status to invite others to take the challenge, then post what YOU are thankful for today.

Facebook and Social Media: The New Water Cooler

2009-10-26T21:18:00.000-07:00

It used to be if you worked in an office the water cooler was the place to rant, rave, gossip and dish out the latest scoop on any topic out there. While traditional work places still have the water cooler, and you will still find a few people hanging out there, facebook and social media have risen up as the new way to get the word out, speak your mind and basically make a fool of yourself.

Thousands of people login everyday to air their dirty laundry and tell us everything we want (or don't want) to know about them. Reports of employers using social media activity to monitor employees are starting to emerge. Consequences of misbehavior could be anything from:
* losing a job offer
* not getting a promotion
* general lack of moving forward
* and in extreme cases, job loss.

What about free speech you ask? Aren't I allowed to say anything I want?

Well yes, and no.

You wouldn't tell everyone at the water cooler about the strange blemish on your bum, or that you really do hate your boss or that you sat around all day on Facebook and purposely skipped a training. My advice, don't do it on Facebook either.

Treat your social media accounts like you would the water cooler. Use your brain and discretion in equal parts.

Let's assume you want to give all your "Friends" a well rounded view of yourself. Follow these simple rules and you will be fine and your social media status will rise as well.

Mix it up- Don't always talk about sports or work exclusively. Many people who promote their businesses on social media do it to the exclusion of their personal life and vice versa. That is a mistake. You aren't all work and no play. Go ahead post pictures of your kids in their Halloween costumes, talk about your dog, show pictures of your office buddies, or celebrate figuring out a problem at work. These things connect you with your audience. They can more quickly come to know, like and trust you. Then when you need to make a business proposition they are ready to listen.

Use Integrity- Pretend like your boss, your clients, and your grandma will be reading what you post. If you wouldn't say it in front of them, don't say it on Twitter.

Watch the time- If you aren't supposed to be on Facebook at work, don't post during work hours, especially a hundred times. A couple times from your Blackberry maybe but again, use discretion.

Promote Away- If you are using social media to promote your business, do it. Give everyone a true vision of your work and your life and do it daily. Don't expect to put "Buy my stuff" on your status once a month and expect results. Don't abuse it and annoy people but you can network effectively and get great discussions started. Just like at the real water cooler.

One last thing- Please don't tell me about the blemish on your bum...enough said.

Susan Snyder
Founder/CEO

BuildYourVASkills.com

http://www.pcstraining.net

Go to http://www.buildyourvaskills.com and look at our current schedule of training. Find one that's right for you and bring a friend!

Want to use this article? You have my permission but you must use the entire article and keep the site links in tact.

Working Virtually: Avoid the Pitfalls of the Communication Blackhole

2009-10-16T09:43:00.000-07:00

The advantages of working with a virtual team and having virtual clients are many. Among those advantages are less idle chatter, no annoying co-worker popping by just when you are in a zone, and in general the quiet. That is also a disadvantage.

It is much harder to build a relationship with a team member and pick up on each other's silent cues and non-verbal communication. The only solution is to use virtual tools and to probably in your mind over communicate.

Here's some tools to avoid things being missed and to get everyone on the same page.

In the beginning- Setup and communicate with your team and with clients your best means of communication. Do you like email? Do you prefer the phone? Can you be reached only at certain hours? Make sure everyone knows how they are expected to communicate, how often, and when.

Email- While not perfect email is still the best method of communicating and documenting the work process. Make sure everyone "whitelists" you and adds you to their contact list. Make sure you add them to your contact list. Sometimes file size for attachments is an issue. Make sure you know if their service will block large files and find ways of dealing with it.

Telephone-Sometimes it is just easier to pick up the phone. I find it much easier to work out a complex question or if you feel you are not getting it. Frustration comes from not having all the information or not getting the emotions behind the written communication. Schedule periodic phone check-ins, preferrably weekly, so you can get that personal interaction and just clear the air.

Instant Messenger, Chat, Texts- These are great resources to talk out situations as well if one or more of you can't be on the phone for whatever reason. It is still hard to get a handle on true feelings if it is a sticky situation but the communication is real time and may be better than a disconnected email conversation. There are several programs out there. Make sure you know which ones everyone uses and try to get a concensus on what everyone uses.

Snail mail and fax- While very "old school" it still is necessary at times. Check into online faxing tools like efax and it will save you a ton of time and resources, but will give you a professional look with a real fax number.

Now that you have the tools in place, communicate with clients whenever you work on their projects. In the email include:

What tasks you worked on
If needed the hours spent
What you still need to do
Any questions you have
Any suggestions you have

When dealing with your team virtually consider these communication tips:

Consider a weekly team meeting, via conference call or skype.
Get a project planning software that everyone can update and have access to Basecamp, Microsoft Project, or another program will do the trick. This will foster greater communication and anyone can look at the project and know where it is at.
Treat your team like clients. Make sure you are communicating with them regularly to make sure they know your piece of the puzzle is being worked on and moving forward.
Let them know when you will be available, unreachable, and in general what your working hours will be.

Communicating virtually provides freedom and flexibility. It can cause problems if not done consistently, effectively and in a manner that really speaks to your team and your clients. Without the advantage of the spoken word and being present to pick up on non-verbal cues, you really have to make an effort to over communicate. What feels to you like over the top may be just right for the person you are keeping in the loop.

Susan Snyder
Founder/CEO buildyourvaskills.com

http://www.pcstraining.net

Go to http://www.buildyourvaskills.com and look at our current schedule of training. Find one that's right for you and bring a friend!

OK, I'm an Affiliate. Now What?

2009-10-09T00:11:00.002-07:00

Affiliate marketing is an on line marketing tool that you can use in tandem with other marketing tools to increase your exposure. Affiliate marketing is when you promote other's products to your customers and get a commission off any sales that you generate.

Sounds easy? Well it is and it isn't. Just because you are an affiliate of a great product won't make you the big bucks. It has to be a good fit with your customers, you still have to promote it and you are still responsible to your clients to bring them reputable products.

Here are some tips to making your affiliate marketing into the best it can be for you and your customers.

1) Know your market. If you are selling fishing lures and you put up an affiliate link for a travel adventure to the desert, you better have a good reason and tie in or you won't have any results. You must be tuned in to what your clients want and need.

2) Know the product. It is not enough to go find a product with a high sales rate, high commission offering and that sounds good. You must have knowledge of the product so you know if it is a good fit to your niche market. You must know you are offering your clients something that will deliver. If you aren't going to use it, why would they? If it ends up being a dud and you recommended it, your credibility will go down.

3) Know how to promote the items. It is not enough to put the links on your site, mention them once in and email and hope the checks start rolling in. Affiliate marketing has to be part of your overall marketing plan.

-How will these products be part of your product line?

-How long should I promote these items?

-How will I track the success/failure of these offers to my clients?

4) Have realistic expectations. I have clients all the time that are disillusioned with affiliate marketing. They have heard all the hype that someone put up a product and it has been generating $10,000 a month for them ever since. Well that simply is not the norm. It takes time to build a base of customers. If you are just doing affiliate marketing you have to build a great amount of content offerings, just like anything else, it takes work, it takes a plan, and it takes time.

5) Make sure you understand your part of the deal. You should not have to do any order fulfillment, tracking etc. That is the beauty about being an affiliate, you are their marketing arm. There are a few pseudo-affiliate programs that require you to do it all. Make sure you know what you are getting into and that your responsibility to the affiliate program is simply to drive customers their way.

6) Know that you are building your reputation. Don't just put anything on your site as an affiliate. Your customers know, like and trust you. They are looking to you to weed through the bad stuff and deliver the good to them. Have high standards and only recommend the best. If you don't know a lot about it be honest and say something like it was a recommendation to you, you are checking it out and would appreciate feedback from them as well. You are responsible for your recommendations. Take it seriously.

If you keep those things in mind you will be able to have a successful affiliate marketing program. You can generate income promoting other people's products. You can get the best of both worlds for your customers and create joint ventures with some other great business owners like yourself.

Susan Snyder
Founder/CEO buildyourvaskills.com

Go to http://www.buildyourvaskills.com and look at our current schedule of training. Find one that's right for you and bring a friend!

Whoa! It's 10:00 and I haven't showered! Time Management Tips for the Home Office

2009-10-09T00:11:00.001-07:00

Where does it go? Like Sand through the hour glass, so are the Days...

Have you ever been in this situation? You are typing feverishly on your computer getting ready for a presentation, the phone is ringing, the dog is barking, you have to get the kids to your mom's so she can watch them for the presentation...you look up...10:00! What! I haven't even showered!

If you are a work at home professional I am sure you have been right there. Some of us more times than we would care to admit.

First let me assure you I am no time management guru. What with kids, my business, client projects, phones, Facebook, kids, laundry, kids... you know the drill. So what is a busy Work From Home Pro supposed to do?

I also know many of you may not have kids, but we all have distractions. There is no one looking over our shoulder to make sure we are on task. No clock to punch in and out. It is easy to look up and the time be much later than you expected and the to do list to still be much longer than you hoped.

While I still have sometimes major issues in this area, I have found some strategies that work for me. Here are some tips to making your work from home time as productive as it can be.

1) Schedule your time. I know, you work from home for the freedom of time it provides. You can make your schedule look like whatever you want. THAT'S the freedom, no one will tell you how to schedule your time. Nor will you have to have a committee meeting to decide what to put on the agenda. You don't have to have it signed by your supervisor or any of the mundane hoops that contributed to your exodus from the traditional work place. But just like your money, if you don't budget your time, it will be gone and you will wonder where it went!

2) Build in breaks. Gone are the days of your mandatory 15 minute breaks. However, they are still important. They can serve as a reset for your brain, get your muscles loosened up, and keep your tummy from grumbling. Take a walk, call a friend, play with kids, whatever makes it feel like a break for you.

3) Schedule "POWER" Sessions. Whether they are 15 minutes, 30 minutes, or 5 minutes long, schedule chunks of time that you focus with intensity on a SINGLE task. You will be shocked at what you can accomplish in little spurts of time. Here's the rules:

* Turn off all distractions- No phone, no email, no twitter deck, no facebook, nothing that will interrupt your flow.

* Pick a single task and a single goal. You may not complete an entire project in a 15 or 30 minute slot but you can complete a task toward the project.

* Make it a length of time you can stay undistracted, short and concise. Two hours is not a power session.

* Set a timer and do nothing but work on that task until the timer goes off.

* Take a quick break

* Rinse and Repeat

4) Have realistic expectations. It will take some time to work out what works for you. In time you will determine how many power sessions in a day, how long they need to be for the tasks you do, and how many breaks you need. Don't try to save the world and build the new stadium in one day. Break apart your tasks, schedule them out in the day, and pat yourself on the back when you get them done.

5) Be Consistent- When you do discover strategies that work for you, practice them consistently, daily, weekly, monthly, yearly.

6) Be Persistent- When you fall off the wagon, get back up. You must evaluate what is working, what is not, and if you are being too hard or too soft on yourself. Ask for outside perspective if you are having a block in this area. Just keep trying.

7) Re-evaluate often- You don't have a manager giving you performance reviews. Give yourself one. Ask yourself the questions a manager would ask. See what works, what needs improving and set things up so you have success and not failure.

If you keep these ideas in mind you will be able to get a better handle on your schedule. You work from home for many reasons. Primarily you are working to make money and to build a business. If your time is not productive, you will be frustrated, your clients will be irritated and your business will grow slower than you want. Manage your time wisely.

To your success!

Susan Snyder
Founder/CEO buildyourvaskills.com

Go to http://www.buildyourvaskills.com and look at our current schedule of training. Find one that's right for you and bring a friend!

Making Sure Your Webinar Goes Off Without a Hitch

2009-09-05T13:38:00.000-07:00

So how do you avoid a large webinar nightmare? Keep it simple and automate as much of the process as you can.

Here is an outline of the process facilitators put the customer through:

1) Go to the sales page and sign up by adding items to Shopping Cart.

2) Checkout

3) Pay with Credit Card or Paypal

4) Signup for updates with Autoresponder updates.

5) Confirmation in your email so you can receive those updates.

6) Get the updates. Register with the webinar service.

7) Remember to get there on time.

Know your Audience

Here's a scenario: The audience is new to the concept of webinars, is a little bit older, and is scared of technology. There are a few that will navigate this maze quite well and have no problems. The others need pulling through the entire process.

If this is your first webinar, or your audiences, consider doing a few freebie talks to practice, and a few educational emails to help your audience before trying to pull off a 300-400 person webinar.

Keep the Instructions Simple

The tendency for facilitators is to give TMI (too much information). Keep the explanations to a minimum, especially with newbies. Bullet points, click this, click that, look for this, work much better than a whole "My Webinar for the Simple Minded" book. Take them step by step where you want them to go.

Provide the details with the big explanation on an FAQ page on your site.

Do Your Pre-event Work

Do everything you can before you start promotion.

1) Write all the emails, plan out the process

2) Test the shopping cart

3) Send out a few educational emails so they know what to expect

4) Anticipate questions and have processes in place to address them.

5) Make sure the dates are on everyone's calendar that is involved.

Another important aspect is getting your email address and any vendors white-listed on your client's address books. Decide the best method of getting that point across to your customers. So include it on your sales page, your thank you page and any other page you can.

Make one person in charge

If you are delegating, then delegate the whole process. Do not check up on every detail. It just complicates the process. Ask for reports at certain intervals or status reports if you are curious at any point but don't get involved with the entire process if you have asked someone else to do it. They are the specialist in the process, that's why you hired them. Let them deal with the customer questions so there is consistency and nobody falls through the cracks.

Keep the Process to a Minimum

Give all call links right away. If you wait this makes you out of sight out of mind. So get them everything they need up front. Have a checklist for them to print out if they like and check off as they go. Then they are confident in your process and they will be ready to go when they are thinking about it.

Follow these simple rules and your Webinar will go off without a hitch.

Susan Snyder
Founder/CEO buildyourvaskills.com

Go to http://www.buildyourvaskills.com and look at our current schedule of training. Find one that's right for you and bring a friend!

Automatically add to an Aweber List from Shopping Cart Sales

2009-08-25T12:45:00.000-07:00

I don't know about you but are teleseminars getting more and more complicated for you to setup and manage? As clients are picking the "best" parts of products to use, several of them are choosing different platforms to fit the different activities involved in hosting an online event.

For example:
AWeber for autoresponders
1ShoppingCart for the Shopping Cart
Add paypal as an option for payment
Build a custom sales page with custom buttons
GoToMeeting as the event host

While the end product is very good and as the client has picked the products for different features, sometimes keeping them all in sync and working together is a challenge. Add to the matter it might be a series of events and you can quickly have a lot of coordination to do.

The issue I want to address today is:

"How do you get the sales contact information over to aweber without having the client do another physical entry of their name and email address?"

Manual works up to a point but you want automatic and "brainless" whenever you can.

So Faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. It's a bird! It's a plane! No, it's the email parsing feature of aweber!

To set it up:
Login to the aweber account.
Go to My Lists and choose Email Parsers
Pick your shopping cart service, membership service, or leads service and that will activate the feature.

But Wait! This is only the aweber side. When you click the checkbox a listed help topic will pop down. READ it! It will give specific tips, cautions and steps to setting up the shopping cart side.

Most of the time it will be a generic instruction like: Enter the email address of the list in the notification of order area of your shopping cart. So if your list is called mymainlist the email address would be mymainlist@aweber.com. Some services require a few more steps but most are that easy.

So what does that do for you? When a purchase is made in your shopping cart it automatically emails notification to your aweber list. Then the first confirmation email is sent to the recipient. Nothing could be simpler and one less thing for you to setup.

Now if they could figure out how to get my desk cleaned off automatically I would be all set!

OK already! I'm giving in...

2009-08-18T07:39:00.000-07:00

OK, OK I am giving in... and for good reason!

I am not one to jump on the newest, greatest thing in technology. I like to let other people get the bugs out, see how the application and use goes and then use the best of the best.

What am I giving in on? WordPress!

I have been using Blogger for my main blog and while I like it, as I work with other clients on their blogs and websites I have been increasingly impressed with WordPress. I was looking for the best blog interface for my newest website, and am going to convert my buildyourvaskills.com site to WordPress.

There are several reasons I am doing that. Here are the main reasons.

Open Source Software

WordPress is an Open Source software which allows it to be used free of cost. You can use it on any kind of personal or commercial website without have to pay a single dime for it. It is built on PHP/MySQL (which is again Open Source) and licensed under GPL.

User Friendly

You don’t really have to be experienced to use WordPress on your website. Most hosting companies provide the utilities to install WordPress on your site at a single click of the mouse. The administration section is easy to navigate and its even easy to add articles/content to your website.

Themes Support

You will never run short of templates when using WordPress. If you don’t like the themes that come with the default installation of WordPress, you can hunt on the Internet and you will find thousands of free themes that you can download and use for your website. There are themes which can even make your website look like a regular site instead of a blog. Also I have clients that change their theme to fit the season, a product launch, their mood, basically whenever they want.

Plugins (widgets) Extend Functionality

WordPress plugins allow you to do just about anything that you want and can be installed quickly. For example, you want to customize the sidebar? Just look on Google and you can easily find the relevant plugin that will easily do the job for you.

Standards Compliant

WordPress is one software that follows all the Web Standards and keeps your blog or website compliant to all the rules that have to be followed when running a website. They provide timely updates and remind you when a new update is ready to go.

SEO Friendly

I am no SEO expert. I find I have no time to really concentrate on all but the simplest SEO techniques when updating my blog. Let's face it, I am doing good just to get it done. WP does it for you! Search Engines have to be definitely kept in mind when building a website. WordPress uses different functions which allow it to be search engine friendly. For example sending pings to other sites, making categories, tagging your posts, use of h1/h2 tags etc.

Large community Support

WordPress is used on more than 1% of the websites on the Internet in the world. There is a large user community backing the development of this software. So, whenever you face any problems, you can go through all the available WordPress forums and communities and find answers for all your questions.

You can customize if you are so inclined

If you just can't live with the standard theme and plugin (widgets), you can hard code WP to do anything you want. I don't suggest it but it's possible. Once you start you are opening a can of worms, but if you like that sort of thing, you can certainly do it.

And just a few more quick reasons:
-Wordpress can automatically ping all the RSS sites.
-Wordpress allows the use of Categories (VERY SEO friendly, and automatically found by search engines.)

So, you see the benefits of using WordPress now? And, you can add to this list by providing your feedback in the comments.

Follow Me!

2009-08-07T22:18:00.000-07:00

Susan Snyder

Create Your Badge

Track Facebook, Twitter & Social Networks in Google Analytics

2009-08-03T18:09:00.000-07:00

By Jeremy Shaffer

A cornerstone of any organization's overall social marketing strategy should be reliable web analytics - that is, accurate tracking of traffic coming from networking sites on which you're conducting marketing efforts. This will enable you to slice and dice statistics for those visitors, and hopefully align those numbers with your marketing goals!

Google Analytics will automatically track referrals from other websites, including Facebook, LinkedIn, and other networking sites. In your Traffic Source reports, you'll see your social network visits grouped under referrals from that site - sources like LinkedIn or stumbleupon. However, these sites are grouped in with all other referring traffic! What if you want to track statistics for incoming traffic from ALL social network sites? It'll be hard to do that if you have to sift through all your other referral traffic.

Grouping Social Network Traffic in Google Analytics

Google naturally defines traffic as being organic, direct, referral, etc - so what we're doing here is telling Analytics to place certain sites within a certain category, or "medium." Chances are, this is how your Traffic Medium report looks right now if you haven't applied any custom filters - visits are grouped by 3 or 4 mediums. Organic traffic covers non-paid visits from search engines, (none) means direct traffic (IE, a visitor typed in your website's address directly), and all your social networks are grouped under referral traffic.

We want a separate category for those sites though! Using a filter, we can tell Analytics to remove specific sites from the "referral" classification and group them under a new medium.

(Note: This technique involves creating a filter. Create a duplicate profile before proceeding - any mistakes can screw up your historical data. We'll install the filter on the new, duplicate profile.)

Once you've got the profile set up, click "Filter Manager" from the Overview Screen (the one that lists all your profiles), then "Add Filter".

Name your filter something descriptive, then select "Custom Filter" from the Filter Type drop down box. We are advanced analytics ninjas, so select the "Advanced" button and configure the filter like so:

Field A -> Extract A

In the first drop-down, select "Campaign Source". In the second field, you'll be entering which sites you'd like Analytics to automatically group into your new social networks category. For best results here, we're going to be using the Regular Expression character (directly below your Backspace key), which means "or" - this allows us to select multiple domains that traffic would be coming from. If, for example, you wanted all your referral traffic from Stumbleupon, Facebook, Twitter and EzineArticles to appear in this new, social-media-only category, you'd enter "stumbleupon|facebook|twitter|ezinearticles" (without the quotes) into this field. Adjust this to fit your needs.

Field B -> Extract B

These fields will be empty: in the first drop-down, select "-". Nothing in the second field.

Output To -> Constructor

In the first drop-down, select "Campaign Medium". In the second, enter the name of your new category - this can be anything you want, but make it simple and descriptive. "social" is always a good choice!

Radio Buttons

Field A Required: Yes

Field B Required: No

Override Output Field: Yes

Case Sensitive: No

You're done! After you've applied the filter, you should see a spiffy little line in your Traffic Medium report - in this example, "social" would show up, and by clicking on it, all your visits from Stumbleupon, EzineArticles, Twitter, and Facebook are in one, social-media-only category, separate from your Google Image referrals (man, that's a lot of cat pictures).

Now all your metrics in this category will accurately reflect social-media-sourced visitors only, without all your other referrals skewing the data. Analyze away!

Jeremy Shaffer, Web Marketing Specialist

BEM Interactive - Providing full-scope services in Website Design / Development and Web Marketing / SEO

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jeremy_Shaffer
http://EzineArticles.com/?Track-Facebook,-Twitter-and-Social-Networks-in-Google-Analytics---Social-Network-Marketing-Analytics&id=2657607

If you found this helpful and you want more great tips sign up for our free report on "Top 10 VA Skills Most Requested by Employers" at http://www.buildyourvaskills.com
or sign up for our Super Summer School Series to learn more skills to build your Virtual Assisting business. Join us on Thursday, August 13, 2009 at 10 a.m. CST for a great overview on Facebook. We'll walk you through how to set up a Fan Page and a group page (and explain the differences). Plus, we'll show you some quick tips to find potential clients!

Go to www.buildyourvaskills.com now to sign up for this course. Only $20 to attend. Can't make it in person? Don't worry! We'll have the call recorded for you to review any time!

Plus, just announced, our Inner Circle program!

Visit our main website at www.pcstraining.net for a full range of our services.

Susan Snyder
Practical Computing Solutions, LLC

August Referral Contest

2009-07-27T20:02:00.000-07:00

Help us spread the word about all the great things going on at http://www.buildyourvaskills.com! For the month of August, we will be having a referral contest where one of our members can win a great prize.

Here's how it works:
1. Tell all your VA friends (or VA wannabe friends) about us, and encourage them to visit our website at http://www.buildyourvaskills.com!

2. Make sure you tell them to sign up and receive our free report on "Top 10 VA Skills Requested by Clients" and enter YOUR NAME as the code. This will entitle you to one entry in the contest.

3. If your referral signs up for one of our Summer School Classes, you will get 2 additional entries.

4. If your referral signs up for our Inner Circle Program, you will earn 10 additional entries.

5. The person with the most entries WINS!

6. Contest runs 8/1 - 8/31/2009 (Winner announced September 1)

Prize:

Winner gets their choice of the following prizes:

• Excel 1 training E-Course. 4 weeks of video, assignments, feedback ($50 value) or

• One Month of the Inner Circle membership FREE($37 value) or

• 30 minute consultation with Susan! You can pick any topic and pick her brain. She's all yours for a whole 30 minutes! (priceless ;-))

Special Note: Once your referral signs up for the free report, they will also be eligible for this contest. So make sure you tell everyone you know to have the best chances to win!

Any questions? Please email me: ivette@buildyourvaskills.com

GOOD LUCK!

Twitter Use For Small Business Owners - 3 Ways to Get More Leads From This Site

2009-07-20T16:26:00.000-07:00

By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Yuwanda_Black]Yuwanda Black

Twitter use is proliferating among small business owners. However, most don't fully capitalize on it, for a number of reasons. Following are three specific things all small business owners should keep in mind to fully harness the power of this popular social media marketing site.

Twitter Marketing Tips and Strategies for Small Business Owners

Twitter Use Rule No. 1: Create a Plan. Many small business owners err in the initial stages of using this site because they don't put together a plan of how they're going to maximize their time there.

Think about it in these terms: would you spend $100,000 on an ad in a national magazine without first knowing who your target market is, the offer you're going to make them, how much it's going to cost, how you're going to deliver, etc.?

Of course you wouldn't. Then why would you tweet without knowing these specifics? It's a waste of time, money and energy.

You need a specific Twitter marketing plan before creating your account in order to capitalize on the time you're going to spend tweeting.

Twitter Use Rule No. 2: Stay on Topic. Once you start on the site, you'll notice that many of the message sent out are personal. Someone may tweet about their dinner plans, how ill their child was the night before, a hysterical (to them) phrase their pet parrot just learned, etc.

All of this is perfectly okay -- if you're speaking to your target market and this is what they expect to be hearing from you. HOWEVER, this is not the case for the vast majority of small business owners.

Remember, most prospects will follow you (your business) because they expect to receive useful tweets from you that have something to do with your area of expertise. They could care less about your [http://TwitterProductReports.com]Twitter use relaying dinner plans, info on your sick child or the babblings of your pet parrot.

Create a personal account if you must relay this type of information. But, keep your businesses' tweets about business. Specifically, relay information from your area of expertise that helps your customers achieve their goals.

Twitter Use Rule No. 3: Actively Seek Followers. Many new users of the site fail to do this. They send out tweets and wait for followers to come to them. But using Twitter is no different from any other type of marketing in that in order to make money (sales, generate leads, etc.), you must be proactive.

This means actively seeking out followers. This is the quickest and easiest way to increase your Twitter following.
Want to get more Twitter followers quickly and easily? Learn how in the article, [http://www.twitterproductreports.com/twitter-use-for-small-biz-owners.htm]Twitter Use - 3 Lead-Generating Tips for Small Business Owners, on TwitterProductReports.com.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Yuwanda_Black http://EzineArticles.com/?Twitter-Use-For-Small-Business-Owners---3-Ways-to-Get-More-Leads-From-This-Site&id=2604304

If you found this helpful and you want more great tips sign up for our free report on "Top 10 VA Skills Most Requested by Employers" at http://www.buildyourvaskills.com
or sign up for our Super Summer School Series to learn more skills to build your Virtual Assisting business. Join us on Thursday, August 6, 2009 at 10 a.m. CST for a great overview on Twitter. We'll walk you through how to set up an account, how to start following people, and getting others to follow you back. Plus, we'll show you some quick tips to find potential clients!

Go to now to sign up for this course. Only $20 to attend. Can't make it in person? Don't worry! We'll have the call recorded for you to review any time!

Plus, just announced, our Inner Circle program!

Visit our main website at www.pcstraining.net for a full range of our services.

Susan Snyder
Practical Computing Solutions, LLC

Why You Should Always Use Autoresponders Online

2009-07-13T20:16:00.001-07:00

By Darcy John

Autoresponders are huge time and effort savers. Which ultimately leads to you making more money as a business entrepreneur. They are at your 'front line' in internet marketing and often the first point of contact. They have many benefits for you apart from saving time and effort. I'll discuss them below.

Create Less Work & Effort For Yourself

Email marketing would be a real pain without autoresponders to drastically cut the work involved! They are the first point of contact with new subscribers. These are people who come to your site and like what you have to offer enough to 'want more.' So you want your response to be professional. This happens with these services. A new subscriber will immediately get a 'confirmation email' when they opt-in to your newsletter. They are then added to your list and will receive a sequence of emails depending on their specific time-frame. You initially set-up this up and it just keeps ticking over. You aim is that in return for the quality information you provide--they will one day become business partners or customers.

Your Full-Time Employee

Since you can't sit at your computer twenty-fours hours a day and keep track of everyone who comes and goes, it's important to utilize these autoresponders in your business. This way when you wake up each morning, you could have received some new subscribers overnight. Obviously getting them while you sleep is only one huge benefit, but the same applies while you are at work, at church or just out and about!This powerful workaholic service gets more interesting and profitable as your online business grows. Because as you increase the number of web-pages or website or blogs you have--so too, you increase the number of opportunities for subscribers to opt-in to your newsletter information.

Autoresponders Have Powerful Benefits

Many newbie marketers stay away from autoresponders because of either the price or failing to understand how they work. I understand only you know your financial situation, but in regard to how they work--actually using autoresponders is a simple process. It's as easy as creating an account, then add your messages, and then the service sends them to all of your faithful readers in the way and time-frame you select.

Granted there are other uses that come along such as setting up messages throughout the month. Then of course you have to think about what type of information you're actually going to be sending everyone. Will your autoresponders be plain and simple? Will you add a little "attention getter?" All things to consider and possibly use to your advantage.

Gain More Subscribers & Keep Them

You've probably seen videos or read about the "correct way" to utilize autoresponders. Unfortunately, if you see more than one it can send you into a state of confusion. So to end all of the dismay you select a service that will deliver your requirements by delivering more subscribers, more conversion rates, and enough money to more than justify using the service. It's something only you can decide to do yourself; look at what others have done and the available information.

Use the resources available at article directories to find good articles for your newsletters. Article directories are good at letting you know when new category articles are available. You need to satisfy your subscribers with quality information. In this way you ensure that your emails get opened and read. Also it helps your subscriber retention rate. You have to 'hold' them as long as you can--if you want to make money through your list.

Just remember, you don't want to send out too many throughout the month because they will be quick to unsubscribe. All you need is a healthy and safe 1-2 messages a month to get started. You'll find the right number that you can deliver--without sharply boosting the unsubscribe rate. My experience is to under do it--don't push too hard! However the main goal is to help you take advantage of autoresponders and make money online. Then again, you have to take the first step in understanding it all.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Darcy_John
http://EzineArticles.com/?Why-You-Should-Always-Use-Autoresponders-Online&id=2568267

Paste Function Button

2009-07-06T18:39:00.000-07:00

Thanks for joining us this week to continue our discussion on Excel Functions. This week we are reviewing the Paste Function button.

The Paste Function button is really the easiest way to enter unfamiliar formulas into a cell. All you need to do is answer some basic questions and the Wizard puts the values in the correct parts of the function. This is a great tool to use for basic formula calculations.

To use the Paste Function button in Excel 2007:

Enter a brief description of what you want to do, and then click on the "Go" button to the right of the description box. This will narrow down the possibilities allowing you to find the specific function you want.
A drop down box of functions will display for you to make your selection
You can also select a category of functions or the name of the function itself
Click OK when done
A window will pop up for you to enter the values for each argument in the function by either typing in the appropriate cell addresses or by using the mouse to click on the cells
Press OK to display the results of the function

You can also type the function directly into the cell you want the results to appear. You can type in all lowercase or uppercase. (Tip: you will need some experience in using the formula to write the formula correctly and avoid calculation errors.)

Click th ecell you want the function in
Type "=" to begin the formula
Type the function name in either uppercase or lowercase
Open parenthesis "("
Enter the appropriate arguments using the keyboard or mouse
When the argument is complete, close parenthesis")"
Press Enter to display the results of the function

We hope you have found these tips helpful. If you need additional help writing formulas or need any other Excel expertise please contact us! We can help you become more proficient in Excel and all other Microsoft Office applications. We specialize in virtual training for small or large groups. We would be happy to talk to you about all your training needs!

If you found this helpful and you want more great tips sign up for our free report on "Top 10 VA Skills Most Requested by Employers" at http://www.buildyourvaskills.com
or sign up for our Super Summer School Series to learn more skills to build your Virtual Assisting business. Plus, just announced this week, our Inner Circle program!

Visit our main website at www.pcstraining.net for a full range of our services.

Susan Snyder
Practical Computing Solutions, LLC

Excel Functions Deciphered

2009-06-29T20:52:00.001-07:00

Have you ever opened an Excel worksheet and wondered, what all the extra function buttons were for? Is there really any use for anything other than the SUM function? Well actually there is!

The definition of a function is a calculation tool that performs a predefined operation. Most of us are already familiar with the SUM function, which adds the values of a range. Did you know that Excel provides hundreds of functions? Below are the categories and a brief example of the type of functions they calculate:

• Financial - Calculate loan payments, depreciation, interest rates and internal rate of returns
• Date and Time - Display today's date and/or time; calculate the number of days between dates
• Math and Trig - Round off numbers, calculate sums, logs and least common multiple; generate random numbers
• Statistical - Calculate average, standard deviation and frequencies; find minimum and maximum; count how many numbers are in a list
• Lookup and Reference - Look for a value in a range of cells; find the row or column location of a reference
• Database - Perform crosstabs, averages, counts and standard deviation for an Excel database
• Text - Convert numbers to text; compare two text entries; find the length of a text entry
• Logical - Perform conditional calculations
• Engineering - Convert binary to hexadecimal and binary to decimal; calculate Bessel function

Each function has a syntax which tells you the order you must type the information, where to put commas, parentheses and other punctuation. Example: The syntax for SUM is SUM(range) and must be entered as =SUM(A2:A5).

The best way to enter unfamiliar formulas into a cell is to use the Paste Function Button. All you have to do is answer some basic questions and the wizard will put the values in the correct part of the function.

Visit us next week on how to use the Paste Function Button!

If you found this helpful and you want more great tips sign up for our free report on "Top 10 VA Skills Most Requested by Employers" at http://www.buildyourvaskills.com
or sign up for our Super Summer School Series to learn more skills to build your Virtual Assisting business.

Visit our main website at www.pcstraining.net for a full range of our services.

Susan Snyder
Practical Computing Solutions, LLC

Keeping all your system tray icons showing in XP

2009-06-26T07:19:00.000-07:00

Windows System Tray (Notification Area) is located in the lower right hand corner of your screen, down by your clock. It show things like your anti-virus program, firewall, volume control icon, and others, depending on your configuration. The System Tray will "hide" icons you aren't using from time to time, or just ones that don't "register" as being used. But sometimes you may want to see them anyway! You can keep them all from hiding with a little setup

Step 1 Right Click the lower right hand corner of your system tray as shown in the image below.

Step 2 Choose Properties from the drop down menu that appears, as shown below:

Step 3 The following window will open. Click Taskbar tab. If you want all the icons to show all the time, Uncheck the Hide inactive Icons button. If you want to pick and choose which to hide/unhide, then choose Customize.

Step 4 The window that appears will look like the one below. Find "Volume" in the list, click it once, then click the little blue arrow next to it to open the drop down menu of choices, and choose "Always Show". Now click OK

Step 5 You are all done! You can use the same steps listed here to change the behavior of other icons in your System Tray too!

Thanks for stopping by!

Susan Snyder
Practical Computing Solutions, LLC
Contact us today!

http://www.pcstraining.net or our newest website http://www.buildyourskills.com

What to Ask Webinar Providers to Get the Deal That is Best For You

2009-06-23T13:48:00.000-07:00

By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Graham_Johanssen]Graham Johanssen

Big savings can be made for all businesses big and small using the technology of webinar providers. This is can be done instead of the traditional face to face meetings which can cost all involved time and money which could be used in other areas. As well as helping the environment with less travel carbon emissions, webinars are giving businesses the ability to contact more people world wide more effectively. Webinars can never replace all of the 500+ meetings some large company managers have to attend in an average year, but they can replace a great deal of them.

The number of webinar providers has increased over the last few years due to the high growth in the usage of webinars by those in the corporate world who have the foresight to see the massive potential to get in touch with any number of people world-wide simultaneously. As such some webinar providers with their fancy wording in their advertising campaigns are making offers that appear too good to be true. So how can you select the best from the rest?

When looking through the list of prospective webinar providers, there are a few questions you can ask which could save you a lot of money in the longer term.

1. Including the phone calls how much will a conference call cost? Advertised free conference calls can at times be more expensive than paid services due to higher call rates.

2. When does the charging start? When the first person dials up or when the host arrives? Some participants can ring in up to 10 minutes before a conference call even starts.

3. Are you charged for people who are booked in for the call but fail to show? Webinars are pre booked when many participants are expected, but not everyone will show up. Make sure you are not charged for no-shows.

4. Are charges separated into local & international on a conference call. Can you get an itemised break down of calls so as to make sure you are not charged at the highest rate for all calls.

5. If any premium prices seem to be high, question them. What is so special about that service? Check with to one or two other reputable services to find out if they offer the same and what is their rate.

Shopping around and asking webinar providers these questions will make sure you are not being taken in by fancy mass advertising propaganda that could cost you a great deal if tied up in a contract.

There are many webinar providers around for you to examine. So to save you time please [http://www.squidoo.com/Webinar_Providers]visit my web site to find out who passes all these questions to give you great service.

Graham a retired army veteran specializing in communications. A keen interest in computer technology, fitness, health and wellness. He uses FREE webinars to keep in contact with family, friends and network marketing team that are spread around the world.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Graham_Johanssen http://EzineArticles.com/?What-to-Ask-Webinar-Providers-to-Get-the-Deal-That-is-Best-For-You&id=2316302

Interested in finding out more about learning more about hosting and setting up Webinars? Sign up for our preview class on Thursday, July 10, at 10 a.m. CST. Only $20 for a one hour preview class with time for questions. However, if that time does not work for you, the recording will be available so that you can listen at any time!

Sign up today at http://www.buildyourvaskills.com/

Susan Snyder
Practical Computing Solutions, LLC
Contact us today!

http://http://www.pcstraining.net/ or our newest website http://http://www.buildyourskills.com/

5 Reasons Why Hosting a Teleseminar is Great For Business

2009-06-23T10:39:00.001-07:00

By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Alicia_Dunams]Alicia Dunams

If you are an information marketer, you are probably well aware of the power that a teleseminar can hold when it comes to building your list and generating profits. Hosting a teleseminar is one of the least expensive ways to get the word out about your products and services while offering valuable information to your listeners.

5 important reasons why you need to host a teleseminar now.

Reason #1: Lead generation source. Teleseminars are a lead generation magnet! Do you want to build your list? Teleseminars are one of the best (if not THE best) ways to start generating leads by giving them free valuable information in a no-pressure format. (If your message doesn't resonate with them, they can simply hang up.)

Reason #2: Direct connection. When you are hosting a call, you have a direct connection with your listeners (potential customers). Create a compelling topic and write a well-thought out script so you can leverage this connection for a high conversion rate of buyers!

Reason #3: Build your brand. When you host a teleseminar, you become the voice for your brand. Building a brand makes your business worth more and creates customer confidence (meaning your potential for sales increase).

Reason #4: Message portability! Teleseminars can be listened to anywhere a phone can go. Whether a caller is driving in his car, working at the office or working out at the gym- your teleseminar can be playing in his or her ear!

Reason #5: Build customer loyalty. By giving your callers valuable information for free, you are building a list of followers who will want more of you until eventually they will have to buy!

Now that you can clearly see how powerful teleseminars can be, it is time to come up with information that your target market wants and set up your call. Take 4-6 weeks to create an Opt In page, write your follow up emails, find a guest to interview on the call, draft a script and create your backend offer. Once you have completed these tasks, it will be time to promote your event and get ready for the leads to start pouring in!

Alicia Dunams is the co-founder of See You On The Call, a free teleseminar listing email service.

List your teleseminar for FREE now at http://SeeYouOnTheCall.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Alicia_Dunams http://EzineArticles.com/?5-Reasons-Why-Hosting-a-Teleseminar-is-Great-For-Business&id=2274330

Interested in finding out more about learning more about hosting and setting up Teleseminars? Sign up for our preview class on Thursday, July 10, at 10 a.m. CST. Only $20 for a one hour preview class with time for questions. However, if that time does not work for you, the recording will be available so that you can listen at any time!

Sign up today at http://www.buildyourvaskills.com

Susan Snyder
Practical Computing Solutions, LLC
Contact us today! http://www.pcstraining.net/ and our newest website http://www.buildyourskills.com

Why HTML is Still a Must Have Skill For Website Owners

2009-06-22T13:44:00.000-07:00

By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=John_T_Anderson]John T Anderson

Is learning HTML still necessary these days?

Surely, you may think, with web editors like Dreamweaver that do all the background coding for you, people don't need to learn such things anymore.

The fact is, even with all the best tools in the World, there will always be times when you want to "dip into" your HTML code and make some changes. For example, many sites (such as YouTube) allow you to embed videos into your own pages - they'll provide the code, but you need to know where to put it.

You could outsource basic HTML tasks, but even a simple task (like adding a hyperlink) could cost you dozens of dollars to outsource. Wouldn't it just be easier to spend 30 seconds doing it yourself... and with the ability to change it back if you don't like it?

The good news in HTML is one of the easiest computer languages to learn. In fact, that's why it was developed - to let novices add to the new "world wide web" of pages. Now, two decades after its invention, millions of people have learned the language.

While you may have been put off after trying to lift one of those 400 page textbooks off the shelf of your local bookstore, the basics can be learned in just a few minutes.

HTML is built around the idea of "tagging" - you wrap text you want to format in particular ways with simple codes. For example, if you wanted to make some text bold, you just wrap it in <> tags (e.g. this is <>bold< / b >)

The important thing to realize is that HTML is not difficult, and you shouldn't be put off. If you're able to use the Internet, you should be competent enough to code your own HTML. With courses like One Hour HTML, it's possible to have a good understanding of the language very quickly and easily.

So don't lock yourself out of your own site - unlock HTML, and discover that you may be a little smarter than you think!

John Anderson runs several websites, and helped contribute to One Hour HTML ( http://www.onehourhtml.com), a unique course that helps you learn the language of the web in under 60 minutes.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=John_T_Anderson http://EzineArticles.com/?Why-HTML-is-Still-a-Must-Have-Skill-For-Website-Owners&id=2373377

Interested in finding out more about learning HTML? Training for this software is available at very reasonable prices -- we can save you time and money. Sign up for our preview class on Thursday, June 25, 10 a.m. CST, only $20 for a one hour preview class with time for questions. However, if that time does not work for you, the recording will be available so that you can listen at any time!

Sign up today at http://www.buildyourvaskills.com

Susan Snyder
Practical Computing Solutions, LLC
Contact us today! http://www.pcstraining.net/ and our newest website http://www.buildyourskills.com

A Simple Guide to Online Fax

2009-06-01T10:04:00.000-07:00

A Simple Guide To Online Fax

Author: Titus Hoskins

While most people have heard of email, there are many web users who have never heard of Internet or online fax. This is the equivalent of sending faxes via the web rather than through the old traditional facsimile machine in the office.

Like email, web faxing is a relatively new phenomenon which simply means using the Internet and your email system to send and receive your faxes. In order to use online fax you have to sign up for an account with an Internet fax service provider, who will supply you with a Toll-Free or local fax number you can use. Your faxes are sent as email attachment, usually in TIFF or PDF format.

Your online fax service provider acts as your intermediary to handle and process all your faxing. Keep in mind, with an Internet faxing account you don't need an extra dedicated fax phone line because everything is done via the web. However, you can still send faxes to and from the old traditional fax machine, your online provider will act on your behalf to process your faxes.

With an Internet fax service you are generally given an online site (interface) where you can log-on to send and receive your faxes. This web account will also store your faxes so that they are available to you at all times. How long and the amount of faxes you can store will depend upon which service you choose, so it pays to do a little homework first before you sign up to any one service.

These fax providers will also have different monthly rates but the average cost is around $10 a month, but there are much cheaper quality services you can get, especially if your faxing requirements are very minimum. Some services are as low as $20 a year or you can also get a pay as you go service.

Why are millions of individuals and companies switching over to this new way of faxing?

There are many reasons: online faxing can be much cheaper especially when you factor in the low start-up costs and the cost of a separate phone line. Online fax is paperless so it is seen as more environmentally friendlier than regular faxing. It also uses no inks, toners and there are none of those messy annoying paper jams. No more missed faxes because of busy signals. You can also send many faxes simultaneously. Web faxing can also be much more secure than traditional faxing since your faxes can be encrypted. Plus, all your faxing is completely mobile, you can send and receive your faxes anywhere, anytime - as long as you have Internet access and these days that's just about everywhere on the planet.

This new way of faxing is much more convenient since you can use laptops, PDAs, cell phones... to send and receive your faxes. It is also extremely easy to use, as simple as using email, anyone can do it. Furthermore, online faxing is seen as the wave of the future, connecting all your faxing with computers and the web.

Plus, we must not forget about the whole concept of competitiveness when speaking about online fax. If your business or company depends heavily on timely faxes for bringing in sales, closing deals or communicating with clients; then having a fax service that's available 24/7, 365 days of the year (regardless of where you're located) is a definite advantage to have in your corner. Sometimes it may just be a matter of keeping up with your competition who might already be using web faxing in their own businesses.

Your next obvious questions should be: can your business or company afford NOT to have it? It's your call!

About the Author:

For more information on Internet Fax Services use this handy online Comparison Guide: online fax Or if you want more detailed information on Internet Faxing try here: internet fax services Titus Hoskins 2009. This article may be freely distributed if this resource box stays attached.

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com - A Simple Guide To Online Fax

Hope this helps anyone considering this option. As always, if you have a comment or suggestion for our blog, please contact us!

http://www.pcstraining.net

Practical Computing Solutions, LLC
Susan Snyder

Associating File Types

2009-05-27T18:53:00.000-07:00

Associating File Types
By George Skarbek

Often many users see the message "Windows cannot open file, needs to know which program created it" when trying to open an e-mail attachment. You can also get the message..."this file does not have a program associated with it for performing this action create program in control panel...options"...what do does on look for? As well as mail attachments giving problems, it is possible that you have un-installed a trial version and now when double-clicking on a file you obtain the same message. So do you solve problems such as these?

Both error messages are because someone has sent you a type of file that your software does not recognise. To find out what program is needed you must look at the file extension, which are the last three characters of the file name after the dot.

Most likely this will not be shown in the default Windows installation so in order to see that extension type in Windows Explorer, you must click on Tools, Folder options and remove the tick from "Hide extensions for known file types"

The actual association is performed from Windows and the actual wording on the dialogues boxes will vary a bit depending on version of Windows. So to finally associate or to re-associate a file type, perform the following steps:

Highlight the wanted file with a mouse left click

Right click on the selected file

Select Open With then select Choose a Program

Select the required program from the list and check the "Always open with this program"

To identify what program is associated with what file extension, you should visit one of the many Internet sites providing this information. One such site is http://filext.com.

George Skarbek will be familiar to many computer users as the writer of a popular Q&A column, which has appeared in major newspapers every week from 1996 to 2009. He has also appeared on TV news programs as a computer expert and published four computing books. His latest, 'Computer Guide', compiles the answers to the most common IT questions, solving troublesome problems about everything from email to where to find the best free software on the web. With easy-to-follow instructions and detailed tutorials, Skarbek makes even the most complicated problems easy to solve. In addition, his book offers over 80 quick and easy hints and tips that are guaranteed to save you time and boost your productivity. Read a sample chapter at http://www.skarbek.com.au

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=George_Skarbek
http://EzineArticles.com/?Associating-File-Types&id=2281054

PDF to Word Software - Every Business Needs One

2009-05-11T18:53:00.000-07:00

By Hamlin Lyle

PDF is a popular file format that is widely used for creating documents of different types and not without any reason - the basic reason behind the popularity of PDF file formats is that the files in this format are well-formatted, printable, and portable. On the other hand, MS word is the most popular word processing software in the world. It is installed on almost every computer, especially on those that have windows operating system. A PDF to word software allows a user to get the best of both software - the features of PDF and the editing ease of a Word file. This makes a PDF to Word software a must for businesses, some other factors that contribute towards making a PDF to Word software absolutely necessary for businesses are:

1. Preserves document Layout: A PDF to word converter software retains the layout of the original document. The retained elements include all formatting, tables and images, fonts and styles, image placement, columns, hyperlinks, and underlines.

2. Batch conversion: A PDF to word converter software allows you to convert a number of documents in one go saving a lot of productive time. Converting a single document at one time makes the conversion very tiring and time consuming and thus these converters result in ultra- quick PDF to word conversion.

3. Partial conversion: To go a step further, they ensure that you do not have to convert the whole document (when your need is to convert just some parts of the original PDF file). The batch conversion feature allows you to specify page numbers to be converted.

4. Multilingual conversion: PDF to word software allows you to convert documents in different languages, this feature is particularly helpful if your readers are from those parts of the world where English is not the primary language. Converting in different languages helps in increasing your readership area.

5. Allows content reuse: Content once converted can be reused again. If you need to use your content from a converted document to create a presentation or report, you can do that easily; all you need to do is copy and paste the data.

PDF to word Software coupled with word to PDF software opens a whole new world of opportunities for businesses. The effective use of this software will give a new push to your sharing, collaborating and publishing endeavors.

Hamlin Lyle is a web designer who has more than 5 years experience in designing brochures, flyers, business stationary, websites, etc. This article is about significance of a pdf to word converter in business promotion and branding. Please visit http://www.quickpdftoword.com for more information on Pdf to Word Converter.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Hamlin_Lyle
http://EzineArticles.com/?PDF-to-Word-Software---Every-Business-Needs-One&id=2271921

Problem: File Names do not appear in Windows XP

2009-05-04T11:41:00.000-07:00

How frustrating it was to open a folder of pics from my last trip and to be trying to rename the files to something other than Picture1014 and to find there were no file names displayed!

Argh!

Not sure of the cause but if you run across this issue, here is the fix:

* With the folder in question opened, select the Thumbnails view mode. Now, close the folder.

* Now, open the folder that contains the folder in question. (if it is the desktop, the procedure is the same). Hold down the SHIFT key while DOUBLE-CLICKING the icon of the folder in question. Now, things will be normal. Sometimes it will not have all your normal toolbars or other icons. If that is the case, close the folder again and then open without using the SHIFT key.

Hope that helps!

Have a great week! If you have any questions or suggestions for this blog, please let us know!

http://www.pcstraining.net

Practical Computing Solutions, LLC
Susan Snyder

Staying Competitive in the Current Job Market

2009-04-27T21:03:00.000-07:00

It's all over the news right now...tips on how to keep your job in the current market. Well, here's another article, with sort of a twist.

Now here's a summary of the things that all "experts" can agree on:

Networking - talking, lunching, twittering, etc. with colleagues who are in your field. Helps keep a pulse on the current trends, and keeps you fresh in their minds as a go-to person, a fellow expert.

Volunteering for extra assignments - with all the downsizing there's still a ton of work to be done, but with less people. If you volunteer to help with some of the work, you will be viewed as an asset, a team player, a person to keep. Great idea, but makes networking harder to accomplish. (Not impossible though.)

Keep up to date - immerse yourself in all your company's current activities. If you are not directly involved in a project, still learn all you can about it. Then try to figure out a way to "get in". Yes, more work, but the more visible you are, the more valuable you are.

Now, all this sounds great, you think. But, you are already over worked, under appreciated and missing time with your family and friends. How can you get more done in less time? The trick is to work smarter, not harder.

One way you can do that is to sharpen your computer skills. Are you an Excel whiz? Can you create a spreadsheet that automatically updates information? Write formulas that give you a snapshot of performance with the click of a button? Create graphs that are ready within minutes for that last minute, emergency meeting?

If you answered "no" to any of these, do not panic. We can help! We specialize in training of all Microsoft Office products and more. We can help you become more efficient...more viable...more competitive in the current job market.

Think about it, who wants to let the "Excel Expert" go?

We have a couple of convenient and affordable options to help you become more computer savvy - no matter what your need is.

Option 1 - let us know what you need help with so we can customize a class for you. Have some co-workers or friends that can use the help too? Even better, the more the merrier!
Option 2 - Coming soon: 12 week courses in Excel. Learn the basics in Excel 1 that will teach you formulas and formatting shortcuts. Gain the confidence you need to volunteer for that next project. Excel 2 and 3 will teach you more advanced techniques that will help take your performance to the next level.

So, how is this convenient?

If we customize a class for you, it will be based on your schedule, when you're available. If you sign up for our 12 week Excel course, you will be emailed a lesson and short assignment each week that you can complete during your lunch hour at work, or at home. The weekly assignment will only take about 20 - 30 minutes and help you put that new skill to work right away.

So, how is this affordable?

In both cases, there is no travel time, no time away from the office, so no additional costs. This alone saves lots of money. The 12 week course will be available in 3 monthly payments. If your company does not reimburse the training costs, it may qualify as an unreimbursed business expense (see your tax expert for more details.) We will provide you with the detailed receipt you need.

For more information on any of these programs, please send your request and contact information to: ivette@pcstraining.net or ivette@buildyourvaskills.com

Have a great week!

Practical Computing Solutions, LLC

Susan Snyder

http://www.buildyourvaskills.com

http://www.pcstraining.net

Create a Shining and Glowing Orb in Photoshop - Easy Photoshop Techniques

2009-04-20T10:09:00.000-07:00

By Michael Caskey

You know the cool graphics ABC uses to advertise their network and shows? It's a floating orb-like ball that positively shines with crystal clear clarity. They also throw some pixie-dust-like-confetti on it, behind it and all around it that gives it motion. It's absolutely beautiful and brilliant.

If you're designing for print or online (without having the option of animation) you can closely replicate the orb for your clients using Photoshop. And you can do it without any fancy third-party filters.

Here's how...

Step 1
In your document, create a new layer and draw an oval using the marquee tool (hold the shift key down to keep the oval a perfect circle). Fill the oval using the GRADATION TOOL (use the radial setting); try light blue to dark blue on the outside edge. When filling the oval with the gradation, try offsetting the starting point to the top left and draw to the bottom right. This will give you a highlight in the top left quarter of the oval.

Step 2
From the Photoshop LAYERS PALLET filters (click on the little 'fx' at bottom left of the pallet) and select 'INNER GLOW'; Blend Mode: Multiply (or try other blend options for different results); select a darker blue color and in the ELEMENTS section vary the SIZE slider to your desire. Click OK.

Your oval now has a darker edge but the lighter area at the top left is intact.

Title this layer, 'orb'.

Step 3
Create another layer above the 'orb' layer. Draw another oval using the oval marquee tool - but make this one about 30% smaller.

On the TOOLS MENU, change the top color square to white and using the GRADATION TOOL set at square blend, fill the smaller oval with white to transparent (transparent at the bottom). Don't blend all the way to the bottom of the oval - stop about 3/4 down.

Click off the marquee oval to set the gradation.

Title this layer, 'highlight'.

(You now have two layers)

Step 4
Select both layers and using the ALIGN options on the top menu bar, center vertically the two ovals.

Allow some space between the top of both ovals - you'll want to be able to see the back oval with the front oval slightly down from the top.

Step 5
Using the TRANSFORM CONTROLS, grab the center bottom handle of the oval on the 'highlight' layer and drag up to about 1/3 of it's size. Do not hold the shift key down - we want the 'highlight' oval to be flatter in appearance.

Now rotate the 'highlight' oval so it is roughly over the lightest area of the main (or 'orb') layer. EDIT à TRANSFORM à ROTATE.

Step 6
Create a new layer and draw another flattened oval a little smaller than the 'orb'. Give this oval a feather of 3 pixels (if you're working at 72dpi - 10-14pixels if you're working at 300dpi). Fill it with a darker blue color - almost black. Deselect the oval and position it below the 'orb' and slightly to the right. Change the opacity to 25% or to taste.

Title this layer 'drop shadow'. You can apply blur from the FILTERS top menu if you desire. Also, if seems to large or small or the color isn't right just try it making the shadow again.

(This is your third layer)

And that's it!

You have just created a floating orb like ABC uses for their programming. You can add confetti or pixie dust or swirls if you want. Of course, with trial and error you'll learn to paste images into the orb and using the WARP TRANSFORM controls you can sculpt the graphic to appear distorted on the edges. Or you can copy a background image with the oval selection and paste that copy into a new layer -just repeat from step 2 to achieve that 'LOST' ABC logo look... Do whatever you want because...

Hey! You're the designer!

Free and easy Photoshop techniques and tutorials from a veteran graphics design industry professional specializing in freelance design that is On Time, On Budget and Good. Go to http://www.art4hire.org/ for more information.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Michael_Caskey
http://EzineArticles.com/?Create-a-Shining-and-Glowing-Orb-in-Photoshop---Easy-Photoshop-Techniques&id=2190665

Hope this helps you put a cool spin on your next project! Feel free to contact us anytime if you have any questions or suggestions for our next posting.

http://www.pcstraining.net/

Practical Computing Solutions, LLC

Susan Snyder

Have a great week!

Email - How to Make it More Gain Than Pain!

2009-04-13T21:24:00.000-07:00

By Peter Kenworthy

1. Decide when to check e-mails

Check e-mails periodically rather than continually. Turn off 'new e-mail' alerts and decide when to check for new mail. For some people once or twice a day will be sufficient; others may need to check every two hours. The stress and inefficiency of responding to every new email as it arrives should be obvious - batch opening is more efficient and less stressful.

2. Delete - deal - delay

Emails are best managed by the 3D rule:

Delete anything irrelevant, out-of-date, redundant or simply rubbish

Deal with emails that need a quick response and file as necessary in the right email folder, or delegate by forwarding to the right person

Delay in reaction or reply if it will take time or research -set up a #Pending folder which can be opened later (the # sign puts it at the top of the folders list).

3. Use abbreviations in the Subject line

It helps everyone if they know immediately if an email is for information (FYI), for action (FYA), a response to something previous (RES) or just a quick message (QM) written in the subject line.

4. Use Attachments sparingly

Use hyperlinks to documents if they are on the shared network drive, rather than attach. It ensures each recipient accesses the same version of the document. If it's not on the network, large documents should be zipped up (compressed) and small documents may be better pasted into the body of the email itself.

5. Create a weekly e-bulletin

So many inboxes get cluttered with the circular emails sent to everyone. A weekly e bulletin which collates as much as possible is not as big a task as it may seem. Or use the intranet.

6. Use Message options

Learn about options available when sending messages, especially time-expiry so that it never reaches people's Inbox if it's irrelevant after a certain time e.g. warning of Fire Alarm Test or missing item.

7. Give people training in good email practice

It is easy to assume that everyone knows how to use email. It may not even be checked as part of induction. People need to know how to set up new folders so they can organise their emails systematically and how to integrate Mail with Calendar and Tasks. Bring in external trainers to run workshops if necessary or use on-line courses.

In summary:

Resist checking emails continually

Respond with the 3D rule - delete, deal or delay

Use Subject line abbreviations, hyperlinks and message options

Provide e-mail training

For more information see www.emailhelpdesk.co.uk

Peter Kenworthy is the Director of 3D HR: Three Dimensional Human Resources, providing advice, consultancy support and facilitation so that people flourish in the workplace and therefore the organisation is more successful.

http://www.hr-adviser.co.uk

Peter writes a monthly comment on people management issues in his blog Flourishing People

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Peter_Kenworthy

http://EzineArticles.com/?Email---How-to-Make-it-More-Gain-Than-Pain!&id=2111244

Thanks for reading today! I hope this helps you as much as it helped me get a handle on this huge area of clutter in my work day.

Contact me any time at http://www.pcstraining.net

Practical Computing Solutions, LLC

Susan Snyder

Designing And Using Outlook 2007 Electronic Business Cards

2009-04-07T22:10:00.000-07:00

Found this article and thought it would be helpful to you all.

Designing And Using Outlook 2007 Electronic Business Cards

Author: Bill Mann

The exchange of business cards is a time-honored ritual in the world of business. Starting with Outlook 2007, Microsoft aligned itself with that tradition (and with other email products) by adding simple, user-friendly support for electronic business cards. Even better, Outlook's electronic business cards use the industry standard vCard (.vcf) format making it simple to exchange cards with other people through email.

That said, please be aware that while Outlook makes it easy to work with electronic business cards, designing quality cards is a whole different story, and the province of the corporate marketing folks. That side of things is clearly out of the scope of an article on Outlook. What we'll do is talk only about the mechanics of creating electronic business cards here. It'll be up to you to come up with a design you are proud of.

Creating Your Own Electronic Business Card

As soon as you create a new contact, Outlook automatically creates a very basic electronic business card for it. These cards are nothing more than lists of the basic information you entered for that contact, such as their name and address, along with whatever picture, if any, you have assigned to that contact. What follows is a high-level view of the steps necessary to create better cards to that replace the plain and frankly dull default ones.

To create an electronic business card for any given contact, follow these high-level steps:

Open the contact you're going to design a new card for. You'll see the current version of the card on the right side of the contact window.

Right-click the current version of the card. In the shortcut menu that appears, click Edit Business Card to open the Edit Business Card dialog box.

You'll see numerous options and controls for modifying and controlling every aspect of the business card. Fortunately, Microsoft has simplified things by including an image of the business card here. That image changes as you use the controls in this dialog box. This allows you to see the results of each change right away. That also means you can easily undo changes you don't like and freely experiment with all the design possibilities.

Once you've finalized what information you want visible on the card, move over to the top of the Card Design section and work your way down. Experiment with the settings to find a design you like, or follow the directions from corporate to give your card the approved look. If you have a particular picture you want to include on the card stored on your computer, click the Image button and insert it. Click Background to apply a background color to the card.

Repeat the previous two steps in any order to refine and tweak your card design until it's exactly the way you want it. Click OK when you're done designing.

Working with Your Own Electronic Business Card

Your new business card design will now be visible in Business Card view and whenever you attach it to a message you're working on. To attach your electronic business card to a message, first position the cursor in the message at the location where you want the business card to appear. Then click Insert Business Card in the Include section of the ribbon while you're editing the message. The card appears at the location of the cursor in the body of the message. The card is also attached to the message in .VCF format so the recipient can easily save it.

About the Author:

Learning how to design and work with electronic business cards is just one of the subjects covered in the fourth lesson of the 6-week online course, Introduction to Outlook 2007. If strengthening your Outlook 2007 skills in this time of uncertain job prospects makes sense to you, I urge you to visit http://IntroToOutlook2007.info to see if the course is available through a school near you.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/e-learning-articles/designing-and-using-outlook-2007-electronic-business-cards-814581.html

Don't forget to check us out at http://www.pcstraining.net

Be looking for some awesome new things in the coming weeks!

Outlook messages don't show in Reading Pane

2009-03-09T19:28:00.000-07:00

This one was a stumper for quite a while. Then when I found the solution it was so easy. Why hadn't anyone else found the solution? I don't know but I am posting the details here in hopes it helps someone else from not wasting a lot of time.

User is trying to Search on her bosses shared email Inbox on an Exchange Server. It will pull the listing of the emails but the reading pane Displays "This item cannot be displayed in the reading pane. Open the item to read its contents"

Can read in the inbox, no problem.

Searching the forums for a solution, nothing seems to stick out.
I have recreated a new Profile. Done a search it works!
Exit get back in to test
It doesn't.
Tried with cache and without cache all the same result.

What worked:
While holding the Ctrl-Key down open Outlook.
This opens in Safe Mode and disables all add-ins.

I could see the messages in Safe Mode so I knew it had to be an add-in or another program running along side Outlook.

Go to Tools/Options/Other
Click the Advanced Options button
The COM Add-Ins button showed a Google Search Toolbar. I disabled it and voila it worked.

So Google Search Toolbar attaches itself to Outlook as well and must be disabled.

Hope that helps!

How to Take a Screenshot with the Snipping Tool in Vista

2009-02-09T12:11:00.000-08:00

How to Take a Screenshot with the Snipping Tool in Vista

from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit

"Capture a portion of your screen so you can save, annotate, or share the image" is the tag line of the Snipping Tool, a new feature for some versions of Windows Vista to capture a screenshot of any object on your screen and save, annotate or share the image. The Snipping Tool is a huge improvement from built-in screenshot functions used by older Windows operating systems by offering a clean, simple and user-friendly functionality.

Steps

Open the Snipping Tool. Click Start>All Programs>Accessories. The Snipping Tool window will open and a white overlay appears over the screen.
Select the type of snip. Click on the arrow next to the New button and and choose from the options.
- Free-form snip. To draw irregular shapes and lines, such as triangles and circles.
- Rectangular snip. Draw a custom and precise line by dragging the cursor around an object to form a rectangle.
- Window Snip. Capture the browser window or dialog box in a snip.
- Full-screen snip. Capture the entire screen, such as desktop background.
Capture the snip. Use the mouse or tablet stylus to drag around or select an area or program for snipping.
Save, annotate and share the image. The snip will be automatically copied to the mark-up window. The toolbar hosts options for saving, creating, copying, e-mailing and editing the snip.
- To save a snip, press the Save Snip button. In the dialog box enter a name for the file and choose a format if need be.
- Annotations in the Snipping Tool include the ability to draw/write with a customizable pen, use a highlighter and clear selections with the eraser. These are simple to use tools for minor edits.
- To share a snip, click the arrow on the Send Snip button and select an option from the menu.

Video

Tips

To turn off the white overlay projected on the screen when the Snipping Tool, click Options. Clear the check box Show screen overlay when Snipping Tool is active.
To assign a shortcut key to the Snipping Tool, right click the Snipping Tool icon, click Properties and select the Shortcut tab. Enter your preference in Shortcut key.
Snips can be saved in a range of formats including HTML, PNG, GIF and JPEG. These can be chosen upon saving the snip.
Windows Vista's Snipping Tool is highly customizable. As well as the annotation options, you can also change the color of the ink (border) used to capture snips. Go into Options and choose a color from the drop-down menu under Selection by clicking on the arrow. The standard ink color is black. Ink colors can be removed as a standard feature by clearing the box Show ink selection after snips are captured.

Related wikiHows

Sources and Citations

lifehacker - Windows Vista Tip: Take screenshots with the Snipping Tool

Article provided by wikiHow, a wiki how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Take a Screenshot with the Snipping Tool in Vista. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

Holiday Travel Questions

2008-12-02T13:00:00.000-08:00

Q:
You've talked about laptops going through airport security before, but what about other electronic devices, such as flash drives and CDs? Can those be damaged when going through the security line?

A:
That's a great question and it couldn't have come at a better time! With Christmas and New Year's right around the corner, I'm sure a lot of you will be traveling via airplane to go visit your family and friends. And along with everything else, you'll probably be taking certain devices, such as your digital camera, cell phone, MP3 player or even possibly a flash drive. No matter what you take with you, it's vital to know what you need to do to keep all of those things safe while you travel. Keep reading for some helpful suggestions!

The biggest concern when it comes to traveling with your electronic devices is the airport security line. It's always been a fear that when you send your media through the X-ray machine, everything you have saved will be erased or damaged. For example, if you send your digital camera through, will all of the pictures you have saved be demolished? Or, how about your MP3 player or iPod? Will all of your songs be erased with one quick swipe? It's scary to think about that happening, but luckily, it rarely does.

Fortunately, most airports think about that kind of thing beforehand. Airport X-ray machines actually emit an electromagnetic energy, which is not magnetic at all. Therefore, they cannot damage or destroy any electrical equipment. This goes for laptops, CDs, DVDs, PDAs, memory cards, floppy disks, flash drives, external hard drives, MP3 players, iPods, digital cameras, cell phones and just about anything else you can think of. So, just to make sure we're clear, let's go over all of those in a little more detail. Here we go!

CDs, DVDs - This includes all of the different types of CDs and DVDs, including R and RW. Any type of optical disk cannot be affected by an X-ray machine and they will not be damaged or erased when passing through.

Laptop, PDA, other types of computers - These types of devices are not sensitive to X-rays, which means they will not be affected. The same goes for all of the components within them as well (motherboard, graphics card, video card, etc).

Flash media - This includes any type of storage device you may use for your digital camera. Memory cards are not sensitive to light, which means they will not be affected when passing through an X-ray machine. As you probably know, film can be damaged when hit with light, so if you were to X-ray a film camera, the images would be erased. (You do remember traditional film cameras, don't you?!)

Floppy disks - Floppies are affected by magnetic charges, but since airport X-ray machines don't carry any magnetic energy at all, they will be safe. Unless you run a magnet over the metal area on your floppy disk, the data you have saved will not be destroyed.

Hard disk drives - This category includes flash drives, thumb drives, external hard drives, etc. These all work very similarly to a floppy drive, so even though they're sensitive to magnetic charges, an X-ray machine will not affect the material you have saved on them.

Other electronics - Finishing up, this one includes MP3 players, iPods, digital cameras, cell phones and any other devices you can think of. Unless the manufacturer of your device states an item is affected by X-rays, the data you have saved will not be lost. Certain products may be different, so make sure you read through your user manual before taking anything like this through an airport X-ray machine.

Now, before I end, I want to make sure everyone knows we're talking about an X-ray machine and not a metal detector. They are two different things and airports usually have both. Metal detectors can sometimes damage electronic devices, so you'll want to make sure you let the security personnel at your airport know you're carrying a sensitive device. If you do that, they should be able to hand check your items for you so that you don't have to risk putting them in danger. Make sure you're always aware of which machine you're going through and how it will affect the items you brought with you. If you do that, your flying experience will be as smooth as silk. Happy holiday traveling, my friends!

Don't Open Junk Mail

2008-10-29T20:47:00.000-07:00

Junk mail, or spam, is email that tries to sell you fake products or pornography, offers you ways to make lots of money, or promises to get you out of debt. The point is to make you want to click on the links inside it, which can put viruses on your computer, sell you bad products, or take your money. Email messages that do not show your email address in the “to” or “cc” lines are often spam.

Protect yourself from spam:

Do's:

* Do delete spam without opening it.
* Do set the spam blocker in your email program to medium or high. (Be sure to check your junk mail folder in case it accidentally catches mail from someone you know.)
* Do use anti-virus software.
* Do keep security patches up-to-date.
* Do install a firewall.
* Do reject all email and instant messages from people who you don’t know.

Don’ts:

* Don't open spam.
* Don't click on links in spam. These links can lead you to a Web site that might put a virus on your computer.
* Don't reply to spam as this gives the sender your address.
* Don't open any email attachments from anyone you do not know. These emails and attachments may contain viruses or spyware

Report Spam

The danger in reporting spam is that you might open it and accidentally click on the links inside. Many services recommend you simply delete it. However, you can forward spam to your Internet Service Provider or the Federal Trade Commission. But do not open the spam and send it back to spammer, since that gives away your email address.

Another Costly Mistake: Thinking you can fix technology problems on your own.

2008-10-19T19:03:00.000-07:00

When you work for a company, an Information Technology (IT) department helps you with computer problems. When you work for yourself, you become the IT department. Small business owners may find themselves trying to play around with a quirky program or fix a technical issue that's slowing them down. This is wasted time and money.

It takes a non-technical person at least twice as long to diagnose and repair a computer problem. Don't spend hours on an issue only to find out you still need professional help.
You can often compound the problem. If you make it worse, it will cost you more time and more money.
A professional consultant can become your IT contact. If money is an issue, find a creative agreement that benefits you both.
If you remember where your time is most well-spent in your business, you'll never waste another moment on a technical problem you can't fix.

What to Do When

2008-10-05T17:30:00.000-07:00

It's hard to know what to do and when to do it. Here is a brief outline of suggested maintenance items for either you PC or your MAC.

COMPUTER MAINTENANCE SCHEDULES FOR PC AND MACS

DAILY
System Updates
Macs are set to automatically check for updates, but PCs are not. If you have a PC, you need to set the update checker or download updates as necessary. When you set your computer up properly, the update checks twice a day.

Back-ups
You should have a back-up plan and stick to it. You can set your computer to automatically back-up files every day or you can do it manually. If you have ever said, "I'll do that tomorrow." Tomorrow may be too late!

Downloads
Be careful about the files and programs you download from the Internet and E-mail messages. Many PCs get run down and crash simply because people are downloading files that carry viruses. Be careful -- you could crash your computer or download something that causes you to lose important files.

TWICE-A-WEEK
Anti-Virus Updates
Most anti-virus software packages automatically check for and download anti-virus updates. Once you set up your computer, it will happen several times a day. Most anti-virus manufacturers update their software once a week, unless a big virus makes it necessary to update more often.

EVERY TWO WEEKS
Defragmentation
When you "defrag" your hard drive, you check to make sure everything is working properly and your machine is running at top speed. This is more important for PCs.

Disk Cleanup
On Windows systems, Disk Cleanup deletes old Internet files, temporary files, and other things that clog up your hard disk.

Spyware/Adware Removal
Many applications on Windows' computers come with extra programs that benefit advertisers. If you have three or more of these programs on your computer, it slows the machine down. Most of the time, you won't even know Spyware and Adware are running! Make sure you get a Spyware/Adware removal program.

2008-09-21T21:11:00.000-07:00

Right Toys Wrong Time

I get this question all the time—“Should I buy the latest version of…?” you fill in the blank.

Whether it is the latest version of software or the latest gadget, it is tempting to keep ahead with the cool factor or wonder if it really will be the next best thing since sliced bread.

Buying the wrong amount of technology

Ads for new business tools, gadgets, and software can be tempting. You may want a faster computer with more memory, but do you need the latest and greatest? Can you get by for a few more months or even another year before investing in a new system? If your technology is working for you now, stick with it.

I usually say you can skip the first upgrade but probably shouldn’t skip two.

Here are a few reasons why:

• Prices are highest and manufacturers' glitches are common with brand-new products. Don't jump on a software upgrade or computer system the minute it's released.

• Holding onto a clunker because it still works is not smart business. If your technology is very slow or you have software and hardware breakdowns regularly, you're costing yourself time and money -- your two most valuable business resources. (I just had a client that just upgraded from a Windows 95 machine! He is in techno shock! Plus we couldn't get some of the data converted.)

• Find a balance. You need a computer system that functions well, programs that help you do business, and user-friendly gadgets that save you time. Do your homework, ask your business colleagues and friends, and comparison shop.

I fall into it too, but let someone else take the hit and do all the testing for the manufacturers. Knowing most of you don’t have your own full-time tech person you will save time, money and quite possibly your sanity!

Keep living the dream…

Share your comments on this topic so others can benefit from your experience as well.

Starting off not to fail

2008-09-15T09:46:00.000-07:00

This is probably my most common call that I take on a weekly basis. "My computer is dead, (I have a virus, whatever..) can I retrieve my business files?"

Yikes! We've all had that sinking feeling. It will probably happen to you if you haven't experienced it yet. Months of work, years of pictures, and weeks of bookkeeping lost in a moment.

Call me paranoid but I experience it everyday so I make backups automatically every day. If you have been "meaning to get to it". DO it today!

Failure to protect sensitive and/or important business information.
The information on your computer can be more valuable than the equipment itself. Protect your important data from loss, theft, and exposure with the following tips.

Make two back-up copies of all software and important files. Keep one set of back-up materials off-site. Try to get a copy off site at least once a month. Tornados, floods, fire or theft doesn't keep your on-site copy safe.
Use password protection or a lock that prevents your system from being turned on by unapproved users.
Install anti-virus software to automatically check for computer viruses that can corrupt or destroy your files.

I use two external backup drives. One that I keep plugged in to my server all the time and it backs up daily overnight. The other I bring back on-site make a backup and then take back off-site.

Back in the day a DVD would back up everything but today you need bigger media.

Pictures are another subject. I went totally digital about 7 years ago. My kids don't even know what a film cannister looks like. I do back them up similarly but those are "memories" I can't replace. I am extra paranoid about them. I do use DVD's to make permanent backups and store one copy off-site.

There are other resources that can backup your files online and would "kill two birds with one stone." These are monthly subscriptions and you would pay as you go for storage and for the amount of storage you use. Just search for online back up services and you will find a multitude of companies to explore.

It will happen to you, its just a matter of time. So get about the business of protecting your business with a good backup plan.

Share your thoughts and any tips you have that you use.

2008-09-06T08:21:00.000-07:00

This blog will (after I get the rest of the redesign done) become a weekly newsletter on helping small business work smarter not harder. My business is dedicated to helping the small biz not recreate the wheel but actually use it. Many small businesses are so buried in work and are doing things the way the always have, they don't utilize the tools that are right at their fingertips. Some require no money to begin using, some may require a little training, but most require a little forethought and a small business can make huge strides in productivity with just a little direction.

I will be writing a articles every week on just those subjects so be looking for them.

Keep living the dream!