Creative Mind Consulting

Fabulous Friday Web Freebie: Jing

Courtesy of my friend and excellent technical writing colleague, Mary Jo Koplos, a Fabulous Friday Web Freebie named Jing. 

Jing is a free web tool that allows you to create screen captures from your desktop (or laptop of course) and then upload them to the web. The app also allow you to generate short screen casts, which could come in very handy for the technical writers out there. They do have a Pro version that will let you add a webcam capture as well. 

So what could you do with Jing? 

• Demo software to clients, colleagues or friends

• Post annotated maps to your wedding reception on Facebook or Twitter

• Screen capture your marketing plan to share with your business advisor

• Narrate (in writing or audio) a series of nature photos

• Create a short (5 min or less) business overview for your website

• Upload your video into Snaggit or Camtasia Studio for further editing

Another powerful web 2.0 tool...for free. If readers decide to use Jing, would love to hear some stories about how you put it to use!

Fabulous Friday Web Freebie: WiseStamp

Another Fabulous Friday Web Freebie - this time to dress up that drab email signature. 

I use Gmail, and love the convenience of having my email readily available no matter what computer I'm using. But, their email signature block is a bit...restrained, shall we say.

Now, I don't want flashing lights and twirling buttons. Professional, yet more personal is my goal. In the course of doing some social media research, I came upon a nifty web tool called WiseStamp.

WiseStamp is a browser extension which allows you to create and use webmail signatures with a bit more pizzaz than the usual. Add social media profiles, logos, blog posts, quotes, bookmarks, etc. to Firefox, Chrome, Yahoo Mail, Hotmail, etc. 

They have specific versions for each browser, so be sure you download the correct one. It takes just a few minutes to set up and customize. 

I like the way my new sig looks, and love the social media profile buttons as well ~

Jane Neumiller-Bustad

Fresh, creative ways to connect businesses to customers through innovation, web optimization and social media strategies 

Cell: 612-730-4322
Email: jane@creativemindconsulting.com
Site: www.CreativeMindConsulting.com

Connect with me via social media: 

Fabulous Friday Web Freebie: Time to Note CRM

In my continuing search for the "perfect" customer relationship management (CRM) software tool, I recently discovered the Time to Note web tool via the new Google Apps Marketplace site. I've been test driving it over the last couple of weeks and am impressed with what I see so far. It's a lightweight, easy-to-use option for small businesses and project teams. The basic version is free, which will take you up to 250 contacts. 

Time to Note is a sleek, elegant tool, with a clean interface and minimum of clutter on the dashboard. Your main view contains links to the Dashboard, Contacts, Tasks and Projects - with a running To Do list off to the side. 

You can add contacts one at a time, or import them via a CSV file. Contacts can be exported, or happily enough...synchronized with Gmail/Google contacts. Once in the system, you can add notes, to do's or project tasks to a contact. 

The Task feature allows you to create simple tasks, which I find most useful if I'm waiting for something in relationship to a Contact - like waiting for a return call or email. There's no ability to create nested, or subtasks, at this point, nor can you reorder them...a frustration. 

The Projects tab holds your project's contacts, notes and to do's, and is collaborative as well. You can invite different people to different projects, and you can all keep up to date on the next steps for a project. As a collaborative platform, it compares well with products like Basecamp, although it offers less features. 

You can add files to Contacts and Notes, which is handy, and there is a new Dropbox feature for attaching emails to either Contacts or Projects.

The customer support is currently excellent. The site's creator, Lucien Baciu, uses a Google group to log questions and comments. He is very timely with his responses, usually within an hour or so. As the site grows that could become an issue, but for now it's easy to get questions answered. 

There's another Fabulous Friday Web Freebie for you ~

Comments always welcome....

Fabulous Friday Web Freebie: Tom's Planner

How about a "Fabulous Friday Web Freebie" to kick off the weekend?

I've explored a number of online project management tools, and I have a new one to add to the mix: Tom's Planner.

This is a visually appealing product, and one that looks quite easy to learn and adopt. Project Management software is a very useful tool, particularly for the linear minded...or for those in jobs which require that type of mindset.

However, while Microsoft Project is the gold standard - it is complex tool, and overkill for many people who end up using it anyway. Online, cloud computing web sites are a great alternative for many smaller projects or organizations.

I like the fact that Tom's Planner allows you to jump right in a create a project plan, without needing to go through a complex registration process. That let's you "try before you buy" quite easily. 

They currently offer a free version, with plans to move into a paid status once their beta testing is complete. From their web site:

What happens after the beta? We plan to release Tom’s Planner and turn it into a paid service post-beta launch once we’re confident enough that there are no bugs. Once Tom's Planner is released out of beta, it is our intention to extend all actively used beta accounts for a minimum of one additional year without any obligations. This will enable all Tom’s Planner beta users to continue to work with and use Tom's Planner for free for at least one more.

If you give it a try, let us know your thoughts in the Comments. 

Incredibly Useful Free Tools to Maximize Your Training Mission

My presentation last week to the American Society for Training and Development, Twin Cities chapter (ASTD-TCC) is uploaded for your viewing pleasure (SlideShare made it extremely easy to post):

Two Exciting Presentations Upcoming....

Just finished preparing presentations for two upcoming conferences -

"Lessons from History: Ethical Leadership" for the

American Institute of Architects 2009 Minnesota Convention

and

"Using Incredibly Useful Free Web Tools to Maximize Your Training Mission" for the

the American Society for Training and Development 2009 Regional Conference

Really looking forward to both. Here's the text of the workshop bulletin for the architect's conference:

Just as ancient structures or historical buildings inspire current design trends and architectural constructions, historical characters have much to tell us about modern leadership and ethical behavior under difficult circumstances. By looking at several key Revolutionary War leaders and the challenges they faced, we take away insights that inform our relationships with colleagues, building partners and clients. This program will emphasize four key concepts underlying ethical leadership development: casting a vision, character formation, overcoming adversity, and continuous learning.

The intersection of leadership, history, technology, social media and democracy is a fascinating, and I hope to do more exploring in this area.

Fabulous Web Freebies - Evernote

Have you ever wanted a portable file cabinet for the Internet? A spot where you could gather together great articles, inspiring quotes, yummy recipes, to-do lists, etc?

I have a Fabulous Web Freebie recommendation for you to consider - Evernote. Evernote is a free online application that allows you to capture a wide range of information, store and sort it, and then retrieve it when you need it later.

You can grab web pages, snippets from emails, videos, photos, etc., and file them away for future reference. Tags and notes can be attached as well for easy retrieval. You can even take a picture with your cell phone and send it to Evernote - and it has a text recognition feature that I'm just starting to explore....

Lots of web applications do that, right? What makes Evernote innovative and different? 

I love the fact you can access Evernote via the web, from your desktop (Windows or Mac), or through your cell phone/PDA/Balckberry. Your notes are accessible, sync'd from one platform to another...easily accessible at any time. 

Currently, I use it is as a note clipper tool, to augment my set of bookmarks. I'm slowly migrating more and more of my ideas into Evernote, and am considering using it as a to-do tool.

Fabulous Web Freebies - UpMo

UpMo is an innovative career management tool with a twist - they have created "portfolios" of successful professionals, and the site encourages you to pick a role model and use his/her career trajectory to help chart your own job path. 

This is a good site for tracking your career progress, seeing possible next steps, and setting up an action plan to move toward your objectives. You can develop a plan of attach for your job search, rather than randomly grabbing whatever job opens up. However, in this economy many people are going to have to "grab" what comes along, so it will be interesting to see if those are considered "detours" along the way.    

UpMo sees itself, in part, as a personal brand management tool, and there aren't many of those available yet. It's also on hunt for successful professionals in a wide range of career fields, so even if you don't think you could make use of their tool features...you might consider contacting them as possible role model.

UpMo is a fabulous web freebie for at least a little while yet...it's free to sign up for now, but after they leave beta they will have a range of fees to use the service.

Fabulous Web Freebies - Picnik

Ever wanted to upload a photo to the web, but you needed to make some tweaks...and you don't own an expensive photo-editing software tool?

A fabulous web freebie to the rescue!

Nothing to download, no need to register. Go to Picnik.com and click the "get started" button. In a flash you can upload a photo, edit, add cool visual effects, or create a collage.    

Need to resize a photo to make a Facebook or LinkedIn mug shot? A couple of clicks and you're done? Remove red eye from a close up? One click. Change the color cast of your snapshot, change it to black and white...even make it look like it was taken with an infra-red camera (I don't know why you'd want to do that, but some people must!). Click, click, click and your photo is ready for the big time. Collages, scrapbook pages, greeting cards. Super fast and super easy.

Save the photo back to your hard drive and you're ready to go.

When I need to make quick some adjustments to photos, Picnik is the way to go. They have premium memberships available if you need more features, for about $25.00 per year.

Fabulous Web Freebies - FreshBooks

Time for another Fabulous Web Freebie, and this one is very cool.

FreshBooks is an online time tracking and invoice management tool, and it is very easy to use.You can set up a list of clients and with a couple of clicks, create and email an invoice. The invoice templates are professional and make a small business look like a larger organization.

The service also allows you to track your time, which for many consultants, freelancers, solo-preneurs or small business people is a very valuable feature. Accurate time tracking helps you charge appropriately for your time, while also helping you improve your level of customer service to clients. You can validate any question they might have about your billing, as well as improve the accuracy of your records.

They have a free version, which limits you to 3 clients. For a micro-business that might work, but if you are in the business of continually getting a new stream of clients you'll probably need to upgrade. The next level of service allows 1 person to support up to 25 clients, for $14.00 per month.        

Another nice feature is that you can support subcontractors with this service. They can track time on client projects and submit their time to you as the project manager. 

If you've been struggling with finding an appropriate invoicing and time tracking tool, give FreshBooks a look.