May: Underwire Newsletter

Were you wondering what happened to the May Underwire Newsletter? Me too. Here it is.

Tech 101: Top Tech Tools for Business
Tech tools can be time savers and time trackers, unfortunately a tool has not been built to create more time in the day. No matter, there are some great tools available for freelancers, contractors and in-house staff.

I recently spoke at the Editors’ Association of Canada--BC Branch monthly meeting. Here are the 5 tools I recommended:

1. For organization: Basecamp. Basecamp is a project management tool.

2. For calendars: Google Calendar. Google Calendar has all the basic calendar functions you can imagine, but it also let’s you share
your calendar with others.

3. For money management: Bring in the cash with Blinksale. Blinksale is great for service-based businesses who need basic invoicing tools.

4. For large emails: YouSendIt.com. YouSendIt is good for file attachments that are too big to send by email.

5. For productivity: get Harvest. Harvest is how I track my hours. Sometimes you do not want to know, but when you do, Harvest is a good tool.

Read the full post for more information on Top Tech Tools, including the big top 100 list from Cogniview.com.

Word for the Day: RSS
I like to think of RSS as “Real Simple Syndication.” It is a way to subscribe to your favourite blogs and news sites, or any site that offers RSS subscription.

RSS is similiar to subscribing to an email alert or newsletter. But different. You need an RSS reader, which is sort of like your email inbox, but it is an inbox for your RSS feeds.

I suggest checking out the one-page primer on WhatIsRSS.com or watch the CommonCraft video from Lee and Sachi. They do a great job of visually explaining RSS.
Watch the video.

Read the full post on RSS.

Ask for Support
Is some piece of technology driving you mad? Are you a non-techie in need of support? Email me your questions for next month’s newsletter.

This month’s Ask for Support is an Excel tip for finding duplicate entries.
Find out how. Get the formula here.

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See Also:
Underwire Newsletter for April
Work Industries Blog
Monique’s Personal Blog

Monique’s Upcoming Events:
July 17:
SFU Summer Workshops: Book Marketing Online

July 27:
SFU Summer Workshops: Magazine Marketing Online

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