Keyboard Karma ~ by Helen Crozier

Saasu how did I ever live without you?

Last month Valerie Khoo included some of my preferred web applications in a newspaper (online and hard copy) article. Saasu was up there in the top three. I've got to say that it's given me a large chunk of my life back. I no longer dread doing invoices to take with me to a client. Previously I hated using MYOB so much that I wouldn't raise the bill. Then I might also delay doing it after the client visit. Insanity! Now because of how delightful Saasu is to use I actually look forward to seeing just how quickly I can raise the documentation needed to ensure cash is flowing.  Thank you Saasu. You are a dream. For those not in the know Saasu is online accounting with an almost facebook type interface. It's a Sydney based company and the support is tremendous. I celebrate the day I stumbled upon this service and seriously have done away with any thoughts of ever needing a book-keeper. Zoe Freeman of zfWeb and I were discussing Saasu over lunch recently and we were of the same opinion. It makes doing your books fun!

www.saasu.com

Tungle puts your calendar on steroids to seriously help!

I'm so loving the latest answer to scheduling nightmares - a free website called Tungle. I've not seen such a feature rich service with all the doodahs and gadgets in a long time. Sign up for free at www.tungle.com.

The complete feature list is below:

Calendar & Contact Syncing
Outlook, Google Calendar, Apple iCal and Entourage for Mac (beta).

Calendar Sharing
Share across calendar and company boundaries. Your choice of free/busy or full details.

Create a personal link to your public free/busy calendar where others can schedule meetings with you.

Propose multiple meeting times
The more you propose, the easier it is to get your meeting booked.

Double-booking prevention
Schedule over times proposed in other invitations. Tungle will adjust to prevent conflicts in your calendar.

Invite anyone – No sign up required!
No matter what calendar or platform – all they need is email and a browser.

Quick links (Outlook & Google)
One-click start from your calendar or email inbox.

Time zone auto-adjust
Propose times and relax. Tungle will auto-adjust for invitees in other time zones.

Auto-add to calendar
A meeting gets booked and it’s added to your calendar. Simple as that.

RSS feed
Get your meeting updates in real time

I can't tell you how easy it is to set up and use. There are now widgets that you can add into your blog (as in above) or Facebook - the green 'light' indicates that you are available and Tungle keeps an eye on your calendar in real time turning red when you are busy. You can have your own 'tungle me' link which in my case is www.tungle.me/helencrozier. I chose as well to buy an easy to remember domain so now whenever I say "go to www.bookhelen.com" clients and friends will be taken to my tungle availability page as I've set up a redirect.

Bliss! I'm just waiting and hoping patiently for a working hours box to set up in the options. I don't like the calendar showing me as 'available' when I am actually asleep -people in other time zones might not realise that and could give me a call in the middle of the night!! Tungle promised me it would be possible to specify availability hours in the next major release.

Until then jump on board and enjoy the freedom of not playing telephone/email tag when trying to get someone to commit to an appointment!

Millionairess League E-Book: Be inspired!

Hot off the press from the inimitable Sarah Prout....I am  honoured to be included in the group....
Great reading at only $15! 

The Millionairess League eBook

Need a good dose of business inspiration? Are you curious to see how other women make money online?

This is your chance to get a snapshot into the minds of successful online businesswomen. Discover their favorite websites, invaluable online resources and the exciting projects they are currently working on.

Be inspired by their passion, creativity, success and flair for online adventures.

In The Millionairess League eBook you'll discover:

• How Social Networking can transform your Business.

• Secrets, Hints and Tips to Online Success.

• Definitions of Empowerment, Inspiration and Business Fulfillment.

The 30 businesswomen profiled cover the vibrant spectrum throughout various stages of business development. This ranges from the start-up phase, fuelled by excitement, to booming online empires.

Within the 95 PDF pages is a wealth of information from women that answer a series of questions such as:

What is your business/personal mission?

Who do you admire professionally and why?

 

THE MILLIONAIRESS LEAGUE (30 Online Business Adventures) IS FOR ANYONE THAT ENJOYS READING MOTIVATIONAL PROFILES OF SUCCESSFUL BUSINESSWOMEN.

It showcases women in various fields of interest such as publishing, share trading, property, iPhone app development, Law of Attraction, community building plus many more!

Explore the world of possibility and inspiration from empowered online entrepreneurs.

What is the 'cloud'?

photo: Code Poet

You might be seeing a lot of the term 'cloud computing' in your travels but aren't completely sure what that means. It is purely a rather nice name for any software or service that you use which is online rather than downloaded solely to your computer. For instance if you use Google Mail, Calendar, Documents you are 'in the cloud'. If you use Microsoft Outlook for mail, calendar and Microsoft Office for document work you are not 'in the cloud'.

Why the shift to cloud computing? It's the portability that sells it. It's the notion that you don't need to be chained to the computer at your desk to get work done. If you work in the cloud you can leave that cumbersome laptop behind and roam as free as a bird because you can check in on a computer at your client's office, the local library, or even on your iPhone/Blackberry etc.

There are thousands and thousands of cloud sites clamouring to be your online support system helping you with task/project management, customer relationship management, billing, etc. The choice is daunting but thankfully there are also many helpful sites and people (such as yours truly) that do the legwork for you - testing, reviewing and writing.

Would it make your life easier if you sent your business to the sky?

Inbox Zero is sticking!

If it takes 30 days to make a 'habit' I'm so close that I'm nearly cracking out the champers for this one! I've tried lots of systems and tools in the past but to be honest after 2-3 weeks those systems and tools start to wear thin and the backlog builds up. THIS TIME seems different and the reason is clear. I have some serious synchronisation going on - where ever I'm working. Previously I was downloading emails into Outlook because it was my preferred method of dealing with email. I tried and liked Taglocity for sorting the emails and putting them into folders but it truly wasn't the simplest system around. More and more frequently I was finding myself out and about and needing to deal with emails - yes I could read and answer emails on the iPhone but then when I got home the emails would be downloaded again into the desktop. Double handling (yuck) and I didn't have the facility to be able to sort the emails into their appropriate folders.

Now since I've signed up to Google Apps for my domain all that has changed. This costs $50US per year to host and what a bargain. Sometimes it's a little fiddly to set up but once it's done you are in for a treat. I collect all my email into one google email bucket (personal and business). I can use google's coloured labels which replicate in Outlook as 'folders'. I'm going for minimal folders however to keep it simple:-
@action
@data entry
@print
@read
@reply
@waiting.

I then have a folder for each of my top 5 projects and one for expenses (which probably isn't necessary - I could do a 'search' for invoice, receipt and that would bring up all emails accordingly - it just feels safer!)

Now here's the great thing. Whenever I handle an email in any of the three places - Outlook, Google Mail or the iPhone a magical synchronisation happens and I never have to double handle anything!! If I have spare time and I'm with my iPhone I can check AND process email at the same time - either replying or filing or reading and deleting. When I'm at my desk and feel like a bit of Outlook work I can get in there and click on the @reply folder and knock of some answers to people. Finally if I'm on anyone else's computer I can log into gmail and work from there.

To think we had to deal with Microsoft Exchange etc before this was happening - at a cost of thousands of dollars... (Of course calendars, contacts and documents are also available to work with in this way.... bliss) I'm putting together documentation on how to put this all together very soon so stay tuned!

Enrol three in The CalmTechCoach/Little Elf Action Management Workshops and receive this labeller!

Here's a great opportunity to get a head-start on organising your office/home office. Karen Koedding (A Little Elf) and I are holding the second of our Action Management Workshops at Alexandria in Sydney this Wednesday 18th 2.00-5.30pm.

If you enrol three of your friends/contacts/colleagues not only will they get a 15% discount on the cost of the course but YOU will receive the above Brother PT-80 Labeller which retails for $60.00!

1. Read more about what is covered in the workshop here.
2. Get them to enrol here (they must enrol on the one booking to get the discount)
3. Send their names to me at helen at the calmtechcoach dot com and we'll send you the labeller.

Thanks for your help (I've had a passionate relationship with a Brother label machine for YEARS now and wouldn't part with it in a pink fit!)

10 absolutely fabulous women - seven of them are on Twitter so start following!

Since joining Twitter in October I've been very lucky to connect with some incredible women. This has led me to provide a list of links to their sites on the left hand column of this blog. If you are low on inspiration or motivation to get you moving towards your purpose or at least finding out what might be your purpose I would strongly suggest that you follow these girls on Twitter.
@JulieAnnStor, @londoncowgirl, @valeriekhoo, @cheyannebrae, @sarahprout, @Ellifordyce, @sammutimer

I've also included three women who I can't seem to find on Twitter (alert me if I've just not been thorough enough in my searching please).
Carla Coulson, Petrea King and Paula Constant.

Ladies, you are as exquisitely beautiful as the water lily I photographed in the grounds of the Alhambra, Spain in September. Your courage, insightfulness, compassion, generosity and drive inspire me to overcome any barriers I have created for myself so that I too might make the journey towards business and personal success, completion, creativity and philanthropy. Thanks to Elli Fordyce who recorded her first CD at 71 I now know there is no age barrier to my dreams but having connected with these wonderful women I feel that I am being drawn to my purpose at a far greater speed. Thank you!

I hope the readers of this post will also benefit from learning about and connecting with these women also. Follow and learn but this is by no means an all inclusive list. I shall be adding links to other ab fab women in due course!

Organising help from the Calm Tech Coach and A Little Elf starting this Thursday!

SMALL BUSINESS ORGANISING

A Little Elf and The Calm Tech Coach can help you get organised in your office!
Climbing over stacks of paper?
Is your current paperwork covering your desk?
Don’t know how to get started?

Agenda / Program

• 2 different ways to manage your Action/To Do paperwork - also known as the papers currently covering your desk

• Using Outlook to manage your Action/To Do items electronically- task list, calendar, email methods

• Filing methods and what every office needs to be functional and effective

• Questions and solutions time - please bring photos and specific questions, plus your laptop

Presented by
Karen Koedding is Australia's first and only Certified Professional Organiser. Karen is a member of NAPO and AAPO, the professional associations for Professional Organisers. Her background includes degrees in Accounting and Interior Design along with 15+ years of experience as a licensed CPA. www.alittleelf.com

Helen Crozier is known as The Calm Tech Coach. Helen is a technology coach and a member of AAPO. She is passionate about helping people find simple but smart ways to use computers, software, digital devices or websites in order to make their lives easier in these crazy hectic times. www.thecalmtechcoach.com

Home Ideas Centre
61 – 63 O’Riordan Street, Alexandria, Sydney
$98.00 +GST (includes afternoon tea) 10% discount for 2 attendees 15% for 3 attendees
All seminars: 2pm - 5:30pm
Thursday 22 January 2009
Wednesday 18 February 2009
Thursday 19 March 2009

Book Online Here!

Outlook Express? Not for running a business

I often find clients who are using Outlook Express for their email and using it to try to run a business. Outlook express comes pre-installed on most Windows PC's but some people don't realise that if they have purchased Microsoft Office (not the Home & Student version) that they have Outlook installed. This is by far the superior tool for running a business. Outlook Express has very few features and is not suitable for using as a contact database. Outlook gives you so many more features - calendar (including meeting requests), tasks, notes, categories. Even if the client doesn't have Outlook installed I suggest they purchase a standalone copy of it and export their emails plus contacts over from the express version. It is a move I have never seen regretted!

Women in Small Enterprise

Had a delicious and fun lunch today at Alchemy in Mosman with the Women in Small Enterprise (WISE) group in Mosman - run by Michelle McCallum from Colour Design Studio. I knew a few of the girls there but met some new ones as well and we had great fun telling eachother what we did, what we were celebrating and also recommending a good book to read. I was really happy because I grabbed 11 of my favourite books and gave them all away. Everyone seemed to get a book that they were very pleased with - good karma!!

I'm looking forward to catching up with and even writing about these very entrepreneurial women in the very near future!!

Blog vs Website

Back from a fun AAPO (Australasian Association of Professional Organisers) Chapter Meeting (thanks Susanne, Less Mess and Sarah, Heavenly Order). Great time to just chat about what's going on with us all and learn from eachother's experiences. I was chatting to a couple of the girls about their plans for web presence and they were thinking of putting a small site together. They asked me how I did my 'site' and I explained that it's just a Typepad blog ($89US/year) - very economical really. I pointed out all the obvious things about flexibility, google's love affair with blogs, etc. Yes a blog 'is a website' .... but with Typepad's (or Wordpress's) 'page feature' you really can make your own site without spending hours and hours learning Front Page or Dream Weaver.

Here's a thoughtful article on the issue.... Thanks Trish Jones!

Clients! Sometimes they do listen!

Busy week with work and trip preparation but had a pleasant experience when I caught up with a client on Wednesday. Had not seen her for several months and the first thing she wanted to do was show me her empty in box and neatly organised Outlook Task lists. She was very proud but also happy that the system was still working for her that we initially implemented some 3-4 years ago.

Her business had grown and we spent a solid session linking calendars & task lists between employees and computers using a variety of synchronising technology.

Very successful and satisfying for the both of us!

Palm Centro: pretty, smart & affordable!

 
Hallelujah! Last week Palm released a snazzy 'smart phone' with Telstra for the absurd price of $299. I've been a fan of the Palm Operating system for years - mainly due to it's simplicity and stability. I've been a little irritated by the dominance of Windows Mobile Palm phones being released. Prematurely there were nasty rumours that the Palm Operating System was on it's last legs. Hopefully with the Centro making a well-received appearance that rumour is just rumour!

Reviewers on the whole have been favourable. There's a lot of 'smart' in the phone for the price. What they didn't like is the small keys - I've had that complaint about my Treo 680 as well but for female users I'm thinking that should not be such a problem!

Sydney Morning Herald Review

APC Mag Review

Currently available with Telstra on a pre-paid deal the Palm User's group have said they imagine post-paid Telstra clients could also take the phone. One user reported that to unlock is $100 now, $60 in six months time. Not too bad.

In terms of keeping your digital life organised it's a very useful and affordable device, synchronising to Microsoft Outlook.  I'm not in the market for a new phone right now but I'll be happily pushing clients in either this direction or that of the soon to be released iPhone.

Here's the blurb from the Australian Palm Website...

Your life, all in one place.

The Palm® Centro™ smartphone gives you a complete organiser and still fits right in your pocket. It's amazing what a little organisation (and a little Centro) can do.

Contacts

Keep your friends' numbers, addresses, and more with you wherever you go. Even enter a friend's birthday in Contacts and it automatically shows up in your Calendar. (Very cool.)

Calendar

Carry your calendar so you never miss a meeting, event, or party. View your day, week, month, or year at a glance.

Tasks

Make a to-do list and take it with you. Then check off items when they're complete, so you can keep track of what you did—and what you still need to do.

Memo

Store random information like hot spots in Vegas or names of movies you'd like to rent. Say goodbye to carrying around crumpled scraps of paper in your pocket or purse!

Sync

Save a copy of all those names, numbers, appointments, photos, and videos by syncing with your computer. You know, just in case.

If you purchase one and would like a 'get to know your centro' session - you know who to contact!

Saasu - sensational web financial software

With the financial year-end looming it's time to evaluate the systems you use to keep your finances in order.  Tonight I introduce Saasu - a refreshing alternative to MYOB which might appeal to business owners wanting to enjoy the freedom of being able to manage their financials on the web where-ever, when-ever.

Saasu provide a superb online accounting software solution for businesses of any size - from solo to mega-corporates. I had a chat with Founder, Marc Lehmann  and Development Leader, Jusa Chin at CEBIT Australia (where I might add they collected the Business Advantage award for the second year running) and I'm so impressed by the attitude of these guys. You get the feeling that no matter what you ask for they will move mountains to provide for you should there be something missing in their product.

I've had a free account with Saasu for over a year - I am very attracted to it and just need to sort out some background accounting issues before I change over from the ancient and very unfriendly MYOB. I can't wait to move over to Saasu. You pay quarterly or annually and enter your financials onto your file on the web. No more panic regarding computer crashes. No more emailing data files backwards and forwards to your accountant (he/she will have access to the live file when ever required). No more angst over whether or not to upgrade to the latest version (is it worth it, do I need to???) - Saasu are constantly updating their software and finding new features to add to the service.

I LOVE the Saasu 'Catch' for instance.... a genius way to capture little pieces of financial information/action items....

The new data capture tool that is as easy to use as internet search. Just type a few words and hit go and your information is saved in Saasu as a To Do.

From the To Do screen you can turn that snippet of information into a contact, a note, an invoice, a payment, an expense claim, a time sheet or more.

If the convenience of an online accounting system is appealing to you I'd strongly suggest you sign up for a free account at www.saasu.com - it really is an astoundingly simple way to manage your clients, inventory & financials.  Saasu's angle is to help business owners save time and I really think they've totally achieved this to the 'nth' degree so are very deserving of the CEBIT award.

Tomorrow I will write about Taxstar - the brilliantly simple book keeping software for individuals and families which will save money on accountant's fees (no more shoe boxes!!).

CEBIT Australia 2008 - some hidden gems!

Had a busy five hours today at CeBIT... trawling the aisles looking for new & useful technology.  Snazzy thing at the entry - I used for the first time an m-ticket - when I registered an sms was sent to my phone with a code. I held the phone up to a scanner at the door showing this code and voila out printed my 'badge' to get me into the show. Bluetooth download of the exhibitors catalogue failed unfortunately because it wasn't compatible with my Palm Treo 680 :-(

I had a great day there - met some nice people face to face that I  had previously spoken to on the phone (Zoho, Saasu) and saw several interesting products. I was of course in my element but have to complain about one thing.... this is of course not to CeBIT generally but more to the 'industry'.... There were approximately half a dozen (I wasn't really counting) exhibitors who decided that having sexy looking women in short shorts and low cut singlets (in the middle of winter... ) were imperative to increase brand awareness leading to increased sales. I have to say I was gobsmacked. The first stand I chose to checkout was a mobile phone protection product. One of these young women handed me a sample... what was in it? A condom for a mobile phone. I kid you not - upon opening at home (much to the amusement of my son) I found it to be PINK and RIBBED... Momentarily I had to rub my eyes and make sure I hadn't accidentally strolled into a SEXPO!!! The strange thing is though.... there were actually women visitors.... quite a few of them. Are the companies using this strategy completely ignorant that there are intelligent women in the IT industry making important decisions? I end my gripe now but you know what I mean and exhibitors... you know who you are... come on next year try something different ok? It's not a car show..... please!!!

What/who did I like?

Wacom's bamboo tablets - these plug in via usb and convert your PC into a tablet
Mhits - a free service that lets you make a payment to anyone with an Australian mobile phone (check them out on new inventors 4th June)
Zoho - the guys were so friendly and helpful - they've offered to set up a chat session later in the week to iron out any issues I have with Zoho Projects
Saasu's Marc Lehmann was equally responsive and informative regarding his terrific online accounting product
Mint's portable payment system was very enticing as was the.....
PocketSurfer2 proudly demonstrated by Derek Kopfe.

In the very near future I will review and pass on more info regarding these exciting products .... (no not the mobile phone skins come on now.....) so stay tuned....

Oh I forgot to say... I had to traipse through countless VOIP and Cable/Router stands to find these gems...it amazes me just how many players there are in these markets... how do they survive when they all seem to be doing the same thing?

Plaxo is a godsend if you use multiple computers or webmail accounts

Plaxo is free software that synchronises information between different computers and/or webmail accounts. How often have you needed the contact details of someone but it was on 'the home pc' or 'the office pc'? Plaxo automatically synchronises contacts, appointments, tasks & notes almost instantaneously between the different locations. Your information can also be accessed via the web & if you update your own contact details the address books of your Plaxo network will also automatically update with the changes. Use it to take control of your partner's calendar so there are no excuses for missed events! Sign up for an account at Plaxo.com

I want what Tim Ferriss is having!

Tim Ferriss is this famous, famous guy who proposes we can all escape the 9-5 (who does 9-5 anymore anyway?), live anywhere and join the new rich. He went from $40,000 pa and 80 hours per week to that much per MONTH on 4 hours a week!! I have known about this book for well over a year but for some strange reason I've resisted it. Don't ask why I can't explain!! Anyway after reading Leo Babauta from Zen Habits great email ninja post on Tim's blog I was determined to just get the The 4-Hour Work Week and read it. I hadn't seen it on my travels so had not even browsed through the pages so thought I would need to order it from Amazon. Not so. I was in Dymocks this morning and jumped with excitement when I saw it on the shelf - it was a totally different cover to the 'normal' one - this one's a bit strange - but when I flicked throught a couple of the chapters I could hardly contain my enthusiasm. Strange what a holiday can do sometimes. You always get a mini-fresh start and outlook on life so perhaps it was just good timing. I saw a chapter called "The Low Information Diet" and I was just dying to read it.

Thing was I had other committments today. Poppy my youngest turns 13 tomorrow - the same day we have a guest arriving from Ireland so she had her 'celebration' today. Movie, Yum Cha then Waterworks with 3 friends. As I strolled through my seaside suburb escorting them from one place to the other I felt incredibly grateful. It was one of those deliciously warm days and many people were still on their holidays. Groups of Europeans sitting at picnic tables playing cards. Dads off work taking their 'tribe' for a swim. Tourist after tourist snapping away. Still who could blame them. The sea was turquoise and truly it felt good to be alive. I was catching up on my missed out vitamin D from the holiday up north and at the same time carrying Tim's book inside my bag thought smugly that I was making a good shot at the 4-hour work week. Returned from holiday Wednesday afternoon. Conference call Thursday morning with my own Tech Coach, Sandra de Freitas. Wrote and sent out my newsletter Thursday evening (2 hours). Browsed technology section of department store for new products this morning (30 minutes - cut short by bumping into a friend and having coffee to discuss pros/cons of buying a mac laptop for her daughter's 18th birthday). Not bad.... 3.5 hours! Seriously I am retiring for the night now and am afraid I will be so taken by this book that I will do what others have done... devoured it in one sitting!! I think we all deserve an easier life and look forward to reading Tim's plan.......

Philips VOIP8411 - skype/landline phone - perfect!

I've been waiting for this phone to arrive in the country and was super excited to take delivery yesterday. The Philips VOIP8411 is beautifully designed and easy to set-up. Connect the phone's station to your router via an ethernet cable. Also connect the base station to power and the phone line. The base station for the phone can be placed in a different location and only requires power. After charging has taken place when the phone is switched on it will ask for your Skype userid and password, plus country and area code. After verification you will see your list of contacts on the colour display. You can use your landline of course in the normal way but it would make more sense to make sure you always have Skype credits to make international calls to non-Skypers because the international Skype rates are extremely competitive. Calls to your Skype contacts are free - it's great to be able to see who's online and available to chat without being near the computer. I forgot to mention that you don't even need a computer to do this. Most likely anyone who has a broadband connection and router WOULD have a PC but it's not necessary to have it switched on at all to use the phone's Skype service.  The phone is a joy to use and has very pleasant ring tones. My aim would be to provide an extra handset for each teenager in the house and encourage them to communicate through Skype as opposed to the ever-addictive MSN and MySpace requiring PC's to be ON!  ET says 'no-one has Skype so how would that work?' - so that might require some persuasion. I'm going to set up a personal Skype address which I can log into during non-work hours so my friends and family can reach me on the phone even if I've shut down the computer for the night.  I think it's absolutely brilliant and shall now be campaigning all my contacts to set up Skype. Price? RRP $299 but online for $278.

One small business/many computers

Took the big step on Sunday of moving my business out of my dining room alcove (with posh roman blind to hide it) to a more professional office. The force behind it was Poppy finding it difficult to study for exams with a computer in her bedroom - and the exams were this week so as soon as I mentioned the plan she asked if we could do it asap. So now I've got my ailing ACER at the office, ET's computer and Poppy's imac on my old work desk here and I'm trying to get everything co-ordinated in between seeing clients. The intention is that I will set up a system that synchronises all my necessary files between all the computers I use - for this I will employ Beinsync. Contacts/tasks & appointments will be transferred with Plaxo. Blogging is done via Typepad online and newsletters are similarly handled by AWeber . This is the grand plan - and I will be very pleased once it is all running smoothly.

10th ABN Seminar & Expo Day Report

After almost a week of rain today the sun came out and I was indoors at the Australian Business Women's Network Seminar & Expo Day. It was held at the Australian Technology Park (cool place) and I found it to be an extremely worthwhile day.

Tall Tim Pethick of Whatif? Innovation & the nudie founder opened the event.

Scott Farquhar, cofounder & coCEO of Atlassian Software Systems was the first keynote speaker. This guy emphasised the value of having a youthful company and told us that in order to keep good staff 'life at the company' has to be fun. He spends a fair budget on company events - to celebrate the end of the 2006 financial year the company put on 'Mission Atlassian' with an adventure race around Sydney solving clues in teams.

Karaline Loiterton from the Wedding List Co spoke next. I really liked the idea that she also makes using her service 'fun'  when they set up their gift registry by including an Aston Martin as one of the gifts that can be chosen by the happy couple!

Next I chose to attend a workshop run by Alison Rush from Google titled How to Effectively Connect with Customers through Digital Media. She covered how to set up pay for click advertising. She also spoke about Google Analytics - the free service you can sign up for which will tell you EVERYTHING you need to know about visitors to your site - and showed us how to put our businesses on to Google Maps (which I've done but it takes a few weeks to appear).

After lunch Laurel Papworth, Online Communities Expert delivered a compelling presentation Using Web 2.0 - YouTube, Blogs and Social Media to Innovate your Marketing. Was it last year or the year before that there were predictions that 'blogs were dead'? Not so... the blog seems to be a critical tool to get your expertise out there. Her advice was to be 'authentic' and 'transparent'. I've been reading Laurel's blog off and on but have now subscribed - it's a must read.

James Stevens from Roses Only spoke next. I liked his story. You see it's not only the mortgage that 'drives' him but he really gets a kick out of seeing a woman walking down the street with a Roses Only box. One of his business dramas was when he realised that he didn't have the rosesonly.com domain registered and most definitely needed it in addition to the rosesonly.com.au. He thought he was going to have to pay an extraordinary amount of money to buy it from the owner but luckily the registration lapsed and his IT department was able to secure it. Phew!!! It is a smart idea to register both the .com and .com.au domains when you are securing your domain - not only does it catch the incorrect entries but it prevents others from staking a position in your patch when you don't want them there!

Finally Amy Lyden, founder of Bow Wow Meow (name tags for pets) presented. In 2007 Amy sold her business and is now consulting with businesses and their online strategy. She spoke about the 3am Angel who comes when you are stressing about something going on or not completed. Nice that she calls that visitor an Angel - I could think of less polite names! She also gave us a list of steps to take when getting ready to sell your business. I had a fleeting thought. Wouldn't it be wonderful to be so organised that not only was our house always 'ready to sell' but also our business. That way if we wanted to make a great escape we could without all the usual stress that comes with those moves. Getting everything nice and in order now ... for us ... rather than racing at the last minute for the new owners.

Excellent expo. Chatted to some interesting exhibitors as well but that will be in a separate post.

Putting my desk on the 'declutter diet'

OK I've got this silly little idea but here goes let's try it out!! I remember that when there is a weight challenge it is suggested that you put on your fridge (heaven forbid the clutter police might not like that) a photo of yourself at the weight you loved being. I always have in mind a particular photo taken about 15 years ago or so ..... wearing a red dress... as skinny as a bean... but I digress!! Anyhow the theory is that if you often look at the desired end you will somehow beat a path to that goal. This theory has in fact worked for me before so I trust it a tiny bit :-).

So.... I took a photo of my desk today after I'd spent another couple of hours 'sorting'.(Hint: click on the photo to get full size) I'm really happy now because I got rid of a filing cabinet that was always for the life of me making me feel cramped and closed in. The feng shui was obviously terrible. Today after reading Lissanne Oliver's great new book Sorted I was inspired to ditch one of the filing cabinets.  Really it was only containing 'stuff' that could well be placed elsewhere. I decided to try Lissanne's idea of using ring binders for reference material.(I met Lissanne at the AAPO conference - she really was a true breath of fresh air!) How simple!! Why didn't I think of that. It's not like I own a load of reference material anyway. MOST of it is online or stored on my computer. Yes... I decided I could try that out and give myself just a little bit more space.

After offloading and re-organising I'm pleased to say it feels great. I was so happy with the area available for work on my desk that I decided to take a photo of it as it was today.... my nice 'skinny', 'decluttered' desk.... You will see below the result. It's not the most gorgeous office the world but I do feel like I could get some productive work done there. I know where to put stuff.. I know where to find stuff... and that ladies is the best feeling! The final thing I did at the end of the afternoon was to make the photo of my 'tidy' desk the wallpaper on my computer desktop (second photo!!). The theory is you see that when my desk gets out of control - as it will - as it does in the normal 'flow' of work... if I look at my computer I will see the desired state and be motivated to get back to that!.

Here's hoping..... more posts will follow with a bit more detail about the individual items that for the moment seem to work for me... help me maintain a small degree of 'calm'....

Very keen to see other 'desks' and 'desktops'.... please email me and tell me what works for you oh and thanks Lissanne, your book is wonderful!
 

Melbourne AAPO Conference : Top Quality Speakers

Well the AAPO conference was brilliant. Congratulations to everyone involved - it really was fabulous - the venue, content and organisation were all tremendous.

Two of my favourites (and there were more) were

Yvonne Adele (Ms Megabyte) who presented
Popcorn Thinking: Creative Thinking Workshop
Creativity Crushers
Raw Ingredients
Popcorn Thinking
Yvonne in person is as vibrant as her hair and I had been so looking forward to hearing her. She did not disappoint - recommend catching her in person as soon as you can - read more on her website www.ideasculture.com

Robyn Pearce (Certified Speaking Professional) inspired us organisers to get on with creating a market for our business with virtually no money.

She is a kiwi time management specialist, author and speaker and very charismatic. I think I could listen to her all day (if I had the money!!).

Robyn's website www.gettingagrip.com is well worth spending time on.

Even though I've only been a member of AAPO for just a matter of weeks I'm so pleased I invested the $$$ and time to attend the conference. It was just great to spend time with so many motivated, articulate and creative women wanting to do well in their own businesses. I'm looking forward to developing relationships with many of them and already can't wait till next year's conference!

Melbourne AAPO Conference

Well Mama Bird has flown away from the nest finally (why did I leave it so long to do that?) and I'm in Melbourne for the second AAPO (Australiasian Association of Professional Organisers) conference. Wow... I'm actually so excited I can't sleep which is why I'm posting to my blog right now. The program is dynamite and I can't wait to be totally inspired. Plus... it's just a great opportunity to get together with professional sorter outers who have brilliant minds. Melbourne is such a great city. It's four years since I was here and boy am I crazy not to come more often. It screams Europe... the buildings are beautiful, the shops to die for and the people seem so friendly! I've had a great day - and am so full of eager anticipation for what I will learn, who I will meet etc. I can't thank my friend Carol from Get Organised enough for suggesting I come.  Great thing about having this conference to come to was that it gave me a 'deadline' - a date by which I had to have a few things sorted out eg a signup box on my blog so visitors can subscribe to Keyboard Karma, a better description about what services I offer etc. Without the deadline I suspect I might not have finished these essential items. Anyhow enough burning the midnight oil - I need some beauty sleep. I promise to report back as soon as I can. See who's presenting here.

Google Calendar

While I realise I am not the first to say this there is an abundance of free tools available which are just so incredibly useful - and I am pleased to report that after a few hours playing around with Google Calendar today I realised that it was just the perfect solution for a friend in need.

They have a business running in two locations and therefore two appointment books. Everything has been done manually so far with book, pencil & eraser. I mentioned that there is inherently nothing wrong with a paper system. However my brain was often spinning and trying to figure out a more efficient way of running the shop. Google Calendar looked hopeful. I set up two gmail accounts - one for each clinic. I shared each calendar associated with the account and then also set up an account which showed their personal/social commitments. Great!! Now online they could enter all the client appointments, view what was happening in the other clinic, figure out quiet times when it was possible to google chat, and even email new clients meeting requests with the address of their clinic and a link to Google Maps giving them directions on how to get there! Voila.... sometimes the answer is so obvious it's staring at your face!!

I was so in love with Google Calendar after spending a couple of hours on it I decided I neeed to synchronise it to my Outlook Calendar (for the purpose of sending it to my Treo) so I even found the software that does that automatically. Google really is gorgeous and I can't wait to see what they bring to us next!