Ah, as the old Staples ad goes - it’s the most wonderful time of the year! Back to school time that is (see Staples video) and that means my kids are back in school and its time for me to ramp my work hours back up. I’ve made a commitment though to take off early on Friday afternoons so that I can pick my boys up from school and take them for ice cream or somewhere else special. And guess what - Outlook is going to help me keep that commitment - read on to find out how… Read More
24th Aug 2010 | Comments (0) | Arrow Tips, Calendar, Front Page
In Arrow-Tip #61 Publishing KPI Metrics in Microsoft Excel we discussed compiling data in and Excel spreadsheet and then publishing the data on SharePoint from there. In this post we will discuss the places on SharePoint we house data that feeds the Excel Spreadsheet. Read More
3rd Aug 2010 | Comments (3) | Arrow Tips, Excel, Front Page, Management, SharePoint
Recently I had the pleasure of spending a few hours with recent University of Texas graudate Hunter Nelson. Like many recent graduates, Hunter is in the process of exploring internships and applying for graduate MBA programs so we spent a few minutes discussing how he is marketing himself. Hunter mentioned a great online tool he is using called Wix and I could instantly see the potential for many great applications for Arrow-tips readers. Whether you are searching for a new job, applying to a university, or just looking to add to your client base, Wix looks like a great opportunity to promote yourself. So, I asked Hunter if he would write a guest post for Arrow-Tips readers on how Wix has helped him. Enjoy! Read More
2nd Aug 2010 | Comments (1) | Arrow Tips, Guest Posts, Social Media
When my new twitter pal Alex Coles tweeted several great examples of how she uses Outlook to stay organized for her favorite hobby genealogy, I asked her if she would create a guest post for Arrow-Tips readers. You’ll notice a few points that I’ve made in past Arrow-Tips (great minds think alike), but I thought you might enjoy learning how someone from a different perspective benefits from Outlook. Enjoy and don’t forget to check out Alex’s website listed in her bio below! Read More
7th Jul 2010 | Comments (0) | Arrow Tips, Calendar, Contacts, Front Page, Guest Posts, Inbox, Tasks
Probably the least well know not to mention the most misunderstood folder in Outlook is the Journal folder. My new twitter pal Veronica inspired me to put together this post on my top 5 favorite uses for the Outlook Journal folder. Read More
4th Jul 2010 | Comments (1) | Add-ins, Arrow Tips, Contacts, Excel, Huntress, Journal, Management
I’ve talked a lot about attaining Inbox Zero in the past couple of months, but what are some of the biggest challenges to maintaining it? Vacation or the occasional work or personal crisis are two situations that can lead to temporary setbacks, but again those can be overcome with some of the same tactics used to attain Inbox Zero in the first place. But what about those every day emails that seem to stick in your Inbox either because you don’t know where to put them or you’re worried they will fall through the cracks if you move them? Read on to discover my Inbox Zero epiphany regarding these tricky messages. Read More
24th Jun 2010 | Comments (1) | Add-ins, Arrow Tips, Contacts, Front Page, Huntress, Inbox, Inbox Zero, Tasks
Recently I was chatting with my friend and founder of DRE Software, Inc. Donald Hatter about collaborating online from a sales perspective. It just so happens that his company has a great new tool that I thought Arrow-Tips readers might find interesting so I asked him to discuss the need he saw in the market and the BCN solution his company developed. Enjoy and please give Donald some comment love! Read More
22nd Jun 2010 | Comments (0) | Arrow Tips, Front Page, Guest Posts
In Arrow-Tip #56 and #57 Creating Metrics to Illustrate KPIs Parts I and II, we discussed the metrics that my client Gulf Coast Welding (GCW) Corp. decided to track. After some agonizing over where to house the data (to be discussed in the next Arrow-Tip) we decided it was easiest to compile the data in a Microsoft Excel workbook and then publish it to SharePoint from there. So here is how we set up the Excel workbook: Read More
20th Jun 2010 | Comments (1) | Arrow Tips, Excel, Front Page, Management, SharePoint
Last week my 10 year old son announced that he wanted to learn how to earn his own money and asked me if I could help him do it. We sat down and brainstormed on ways that he could earn money including selling fruit from our back yard, walking neighbors dogs, and teaching other kids how to fly radio controlled airplanes.
My son has a true passion for all things airplane so we decided on the last option. He has a great natural ability to fly remote controlled planes and a well cultivated understanding of how they work. In fact, he probably knows more about airplanes and fighter jets than most adults. But of course, he’s got to convince people besides his doting mom that money spent with him on flying lessons is a good investment. I started thinking about how I would advise a client in this situation and decided that he needed a blog to establish his credibility. Read More
19th Jun 2010 | Comments (2) | Front Page, Social Media
I often mention both here on Arrow-Tips and in my live seminars that one of the reasons I became an Outlook evangelist is my hatred of paper files. A frequent retort is something along the lines of “what if your computer crashes - where is your back up?” To which I confidently reply that my Outlook files are backed up on the MailStreet Exchange Server (I use Mailstreet owned by Apptix for hosted Exchange services) and my other computer files are backed up using an online backup service. I can’t begin to describe the huge risk you are taking if you do not have some type of back up procedure for your computers. But after my interview with Cathy Connolly, President of PackRat Solutions I can tell you some of the great benefits of using an online backup service and what to look for when choosing a service provider. Read on to see what Cathy had to say. Read More
14th Jun 2010 | Comments (3) | Archiving, Arrow Tips, Guest Posts, Product Reviews
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