Are You Spending Too Much on Software?

As virtual assistants, we could spend thousands and thousands of dollars on the latest and greatest software available to efficiently and effectively take care of our clients and their needs. But be careful and spend your software money wisely.

There are many options available today in the form of free software – options which will sometimes allow you to complete the same tasks, but spend little to no money. I’d like to just list a few that were tested and recommended as the top choices in a national computer magazine.

File Sharing Programs –

• All Peers – www.allpeers.com
• uTorrent – www.utorrent.com

Office Applications –

• Zoho – www.zoho.com
• Google Apps – www.google.com/a/

Time Management –

• Backpack – www.backpackit.com

Online RSS Reader –

• Bloglines – www.bloglines.com

RSS Reader –

• Sage – www.mozdev.org
  

These are just a few of the thousands of programs out there. Check them out, check out others that your colleagues and business associates have used. Play around with them. See what work best in your situation.

You no longer have to pay a fortune for software to be able to complete certain tasks. Even my blogging software – thank you, WordPress.

Vickie

AirSet – A Survival Kit for Busy People

If you have been looking for a way to organize your home, your business, your life – look no further than AirSet (www.airset.com).

I have been using AirSet now for about three months and it is an amazing program! AirSet is a free, open source program that allows you to share calendars, contacts, files and lists with your team; coordinate work & home from one place and can sync with Microsoft Outlook, Palm or your mobile phone. Here’s a little information about each component of AirSet.

Calendar – You can add as many “groups” as you wish and color-code them. These could include Personal, Business, Family, Soccer, Church, etc. You are also able to share these with others who you specify as members of each group. It allows single events and recurring events and you can set two separate reminders for each event. You can share the calendar by either emailing it to the members or they can just log in on their own computer and see the calendars. You can set preferences as to who can make changes and updates. You can choose to view the calendar in Daily view, Weekly view, Monthly view, Yearly view or Organizer view. You can also set it up to send your daily Organizer to your email each morning so you can see at a glance all appointments and To-Dos and better prepare for your day.

To-Do Lists – You can make To-Do Lists for each group. You can set up tasks for each of your projects and set due dates, status, priorities, notes and even sort to your own preference.

Contacts – These too can be sorted into groups and color-coded. There are fields for contact info, special info, email addresses and they can be set for certain categories.

Blog – You can add a blog to keep the members informed of project updates and changes. Or maybe you just want to keep your soccer players up-to-date on who’s headed for the play-offs. You decide what you’d like on your blog and who can view it.

Links – There’s a place to add all your favorite links, whether they be personal or business.

Sync – All of this information can be shared, emailed or synced with Microsoft Outlook, Palm and your mobile phone (for a small monthly fee).

This is an amazing, free program. It is simple enough for the novice user but has all the bells and whistles needed for large businesses. I would definitely recommend this software for your organizing needs.

 

Vickie