Web Worker Daily

How to Give Back When You’re Strapped for Time
5 Most Popular Posts on WebWorkerDaily This Week
Thanks to Our WebWorkerDaily Sponsors!
Gmail Adds Option to Ditch “On Behalf Of”
WizeHive Upgrades to Compete in the Crowded Project Management Arena
Make Microsoft Outlook More Social
Google Calendar Invoice Creator: A Simple Invoicing App

How to Give Back When You’re Strapped for Time

Posted: 31 Jul 2009 04:00 PM PDT

backpack and laptop Many freelancers and small business owners want to find ways to give back and be more socially responsible, but running a business can make it seem impossible to find the time to do anything other than the task immediately in front of us.

How can you find a way (and the time) to do more good in the world, while still keeping up with the demands of our businesses? One solution is to focus on one trait at a time.

First, make a list of all the positive traits you would like to have (generous, responsible, helpful, supportive, etc.).

Under each item, list ways you can incorporate more of that particular trait into your daily life. For example, if you want to be more responsible within your community, you might consider sponsoring an area youth program or volunteering to maintain a local park.

Finally, set aside time each day and week to devote to your commitment. Even 15-30 minutes a day can make a big difference. If you could commit to just 15 minutes a day, five days per week, at the end of the year, you would have contributed more than 65 hours of your time to improving the world around you. That’s more than a week and a half of your attention!

Many times, we put off getting involved and doing things that we really want to do because of the belief that there just isn’t enough time. On top of that, we think that the time we do have isn’t enough to make any kind of difference, but even small contributions add up. If we can find ways to give back in even the smallest ways, we can make big changes in the world around us.

In what small ways can you make a difference in the world around you? Share your tips for getting involved while still keeping up with your business and other commitments.

Image from Flickr by laRuth.

Market research you can use: Keep informed about Cloud Computing and IT Infrastructure. Learn more »

Posted: 31 Jul 2009 03:00 PM PDT

Just in case you missed any of them, here are the five most popular posts on WebWorkerDaily this week:

Multiple-Monitor Setups: Are Two Enough?

We’re looked at the productivity benefits of using more than one screen before, but Sam asks: are two enough?

Building a Team With Inexperienced Online Freelancers

Working with inexperienced freelancer brings a new set of challenges — Celine explains how to get them up to speed.

32 Ways to Use Facebook for Business

Facebook's not just for keeping tabs on friends and filling out quizzes — it can also be used as a highly effective business tool. Here, Meryl shares 32 ways to use Facebook effectively in your business.

34 Ways to Use YouTube for Business

YouTube can be used for so much more than just posting videos of sleepwalking dogs. Here, Meryl explains how to put YouTube for use in your business.

Recipe for a Successful Teleconference

Georgina outlines how to make sure your teleconferences go smoothly.

Netbooks or Netbooms. Find out at Mobilize 09 New ideas and new contacts. 1 day. Learn More »

Thanks to Our WebWorkerDaily Sponsors!

Posted: 31 Jul 2009 02:00 PM PDT

We’d like to say thanks to this month’s WebWorkerDaily sponsors:

Rackspace: Experience fanatical support.
Mozy: Back up your photos, music, and files with Mozy for as low as $4.34 per month.
WebEx: Web Conferencing and Collaboration Solutions

Gmail Adds Option to Ditch “On Behalf Of”

Posted: 31 Jul 2009 11:30 AM PDT

Up until yesterday, one of the really annoying things about Gmail was that if you wanted to use it to send email from an address other than your Gmail address (a company email address, say), it would add your Gmail address into the Sender header in the email. This would result in your email being displayed as being from “myname@gmail.com On Behalf Of myname@company.com” in some email clients, like Microsoft Outlook. That looks quite unprofessional, and made it hard to use Gmail to manage corporate email without forking out for a Google Apps account.

Well, yesterday Google added the option to send your email using your own SMTP server, meaning that it won’t need to add your Gmail address to the Sender header. In other words, no more of that unprofessional-looking “On Behalf Of.”

If you want to set this up in your Gmail account, first you’ll need to make sure that you have the login details for your SMTP server. If this is for a company email account, you might need to ask the IT department. Go into Settings->Account. In the “Send mail as:” section, you’ll see a list of your accounts. Click “edit info.”

Click “Next step” in the popup, and then select to send the email through your own SMTP server. Fields will appear where you enter your login credentials. SMTP login

Enter your username and password. Click “Save changes” and your email recipients won’t see “On Behalf Of” ever again.

Do you use Gmail for corporate email?

Market research you can use: Keep informed about Cloud Computing and IT Infrastructure. Learn more »

WizeHive Upgrades to Compete in the Crowded Project Management Arena

Posted: 31 Jul 2009 11:00 AM PDT

wizehive-logo These days, there seems to be a new product aimed at managing projects every week. Just in the last month or so, WWD has reviewed MissingLink Project Center, Zen, Zoho Projects and EasyProjects.net. Joining this parade is WizeHive, which has just released a new beta with several upgraded features.

I find a project management system indispensable. Like a lot of web workers, I’m always juggling multiple projects and clients, and such systems are the only way for me to easily track deadlines, time spent, and progress. So I’m always interested in new options, although my three-person company has been generally happy with ActiveCollab.

Thus, when I look at a product like WizeHive, I confess that I have some preconceived ideas as to how a project management system should operate. I’m not entirely sure that WizeHive would work for me, but it does include some good ideas, and the latest update offers some nice features:

Email and Twitter integration. The folks at WizeHive understand that some people prefer to use tools with which they are familiar, rather than navigating through a web site. Thus, it’s possible to post files and comments, and to follow discussions, directly from email and Twitter.
Desktop software. For people who’d rather have a standalone application, WizeHive offers an Adobe AIR-based client. I haven’t tried this, but it’s supposed to have the same functionality as the web app, and can be customized using the WizeHive API.
Easy setup. The first time you log in, you’re taken through a series of screens that help you set up the basics. These screens are well-written and easy to understand; much more so than many others I’ve seen.
Home screen. There are actually several home screens, depending on how many workspaces (sort of like meta-projects; see below) you create. Each workspace has its own home screen, marked “Recent Activity.” Here you can see messages and tasks from you or others related to the specific workspace. You can specify whether to show replies or not, and whether to limit the length of messages that are displayed. The resulting effect is somewhat like the Twitter web site. There is also a tab marked “All,” which shows activity from all workspaces.
Task management. I like the layout and customizability of the task screen. You can choose to view just about any aspect of tasks, and arrange the display to suit.
Version management. WizeHive automatically saves multiple versions of the same document; earlier versions can be retrieved if needed.
Backups. WizeHive told me that they do real-time mirroring, with another mirror every 15 minutes, plus document backups through Amazon S3. I like that approach, since project management data really is mission-critical.
Extendability. WizeHive has developed an API, and is working on an SDK, that will allow users to develop their own modules. It already has a “ratings” app for clients who need to conduct votes among project participants.

I haven’t decided if I like some features of the other WizeHive features, though. They may appeal to you more than they do to me.

Workspaces. This is one of the features that WizeHive is most excited about. It describes workspaces as being appropriate for people who have more than one company or organization with which they work. Thus, you could have a “Company A” workspace and a “Family” workspace, each with its own color scheme, layout and set of users. I’d probably want to make each project a separate workspace, which would cause the need to scroll the tabs at the top of the screen. Luckily, it’s possible to change the order in which the tabs appear.
Pages. Most other project management systems would call these “Projects,” but WizeHive has made Pages more open-ended. WizeHive pages can be created for aspects of a project, or they can be used to collect data on present or potential customers.
Email archives. I’m not thrilled about getting a daily update of activities from the program, but it’s easy to turn off. I prefer RSS feeds, which WizeHive also has.

There are also some limitations in WizeHive that I’d like to see addressed. Some seem to be simple bugs, which I assume can be fixed relatively easily.

Management of user profiles. Administrators can invite new users to share a workspace, and have control over whether they’d like the program to send invitations, or send their own. Users can create their own profiles, and add a significant amount of information. But administrators can’t edit other people’s profiles, so WizeHive can’t easily be used as a CRM solution.
Documentation. Given that the introductory setup screens are well-written and laid out, I was surprised that I found some parts of the help system to less than clear. It could be that the help hasn’t yet caught up with the new features, so let’s hope that it will improve.
Creating files online. WizeHive has options to create documents or spreadsheets online. These options redirect users to Zoho Writer and Zoho Sheet, respectively, but after creating and saving test documents, one has to close the Zoho window manually and refresh the WizeHive screen to see the updated list of files.
Uploading files. WizeHive now allows uploads of up to 50 files at a time. When I tried it, however, it crashed Firefox 3.5. Their one-file-at-a-time uploader worked, but the image preview function did not display either a small GIF or a small PNG.
Pricing. WizeHive is currently in beta (although it’s been available for over a year) and is free. The WizeHive folks told me that the plans listed on the pricing page are subject to change. Right now, they’re thinking of making the number of users for all plans unlimited, and charging for the amount of storage used and for some of the more sophisticated features. Hopefully, they’ll decide on their pricing structure soon, so that potential users can make informed decisions as to whether they want to deploy WizeHive.

Mike Levinson from WizeHive told me that he and his colleagues couldn’t find a project management system they liked. So they built one. The result is an admirable attempt at creating a very flexible system that can be used in many different ways, while giving users guidance in how best to make the most of it. However, I’m not entirely sure they’ve succeeded, as WizeHive reflects an idiosyncratic view of how to organize projects. WizeHive’s flexibility could be a great strength for some people; for others, a more structured product may work better. Nonetheless, WizeHive has potential, especially for those who haven’t used a project management system before. For those of us who are familiar with other systems, it definitely takes some time to get used to how the site is organized.

Have you used WizeHive? What project management systems do you prefer?

Market research you can use: Keep informed about Cloud Computing and IT Infrastructure. Learn more »

Make Microsoft Outlook More Social

Posted: 31 Jul 2009 09:00 AM PDT

Outlook-2007 While my first impressions of the next version of Microsoft Office, Office 2010, were quite positive, I did have one major disappointment. Why didn't Microsoft make Outlook 2010 more social? I was hoping that the venerable email application would gain support for social media.

While email is still king in many organizations, it would be useful to be able to access Twitter, LinkedIn ,and even Facebook directly from Outlook.

Even though Microsoft hasn’t officially added support for social media to the next version of the app, you can customize Outlook 2007 and add social features yourself. Here is a quick overview of some add-ins that can help you make Outlook more social.

TwInbox. I've just started running TwInbox from TechHit to keep up with Twitter through Outlook 2007 (previously called OutTwit; Simon has written about it previously). It has a really simple install routine. However, I do recommend you setup a new folder for tweets before you log in into TwInbox and pay attention to the options menu and specify that folder for your tweets otherwise Twinbox will flood your Outlook inbox with tweets. While Twitter clients like Twhirl are popular, web workers who live in Microsoft Outlook should appreciate this add-in’s clean integration and toolbar that makes all Twitter commands easily accessible. My initial experience with TwInbox is favorable and I look forward to exercising more of its features. It is available as a free download.

OL_Soc_TwinBox

FBLook. I was looking for an add-in to view Facebook from Outlook, because I find myself using Facebook a lot more lately. I found FBLook (also from TechHit). It enables you to update your Facebook status directly from an Outlook toolbar. You also have the option to view your friends status updates, and view notifications of new friend requests, messages, invites and pokes. FBLook is a free download. It requires you to log in to your Facebook account via a web browser during the installation process.

OL_Soc_FBLook

LinkedIn Outlook Toolbar. If you manage your contacts from Outlook, LinkedIn offers the LinkedIn Outlook Toolbar as a free download. I give high marks to this Outlook add-in for its ease of setup and directed approach for integrating LinkedIn contact management. The Build Network wizard enables you to specify where to search in your folders and email for possible contacts. You can search for contacts you communicate with frequently, create Outlook contacts from your LinkedIn connections, and select contacts to invite from your Outlook contact list to your LinkedIn network. The dashboard is another powerful feature of this toolbar, because it publishes updates from your LinkedIn network to Outlook 2007’s main window. There are also communications reminders for keeping in touch with contacts, emails that potentially needs a reply, and follow-up reminders.

OL_Soc_LinkedIn

While people are always going to need the core Outlook features of email, calendar, to-do list and task management, Microsoft has yet to embrace social media as an important online communications medium. The developers behind the tools surveyed in this post have provided some valuable features I would have expected to see in the new Outlook 2010.

Share your favorite Outlook add-ins in the comments.

Market research you can use: Keep informed about Cloud Computing and IT Infrastructure. Learn more »

Google Calendar Invoice Creator: A Simple Invoicing App

Posted: 31 Jul 2009 07:00 AM PDT

Google Calendar Invoice Creator-1 Like Simon, I use Google tools to manage just about everything I do. I keep most of my files saved as Google Docs. I use Google Calendar to schedule my time. I rely on Gmail to manage the several emails addresses I have. Having a fairly integrated set of tools makes managing my work a lot easier. I’m always looking for ways to use Google tools to manage a little bit more of my digital life, like using Google Calendar to manage invoices. A new, free Adobe Air application, Google Calendar Invoice Creator, provides the capability to do just that.

The idea is simple: If you’re already keeping track of the hours it takes you to work on specific projects in Google Calendar, the invoice creator can use the RSS feed from your calendar to automatically create invoices from your tracked hours. It’s easiest if you have a separate calendar for each project — rather than keeping all your projects and appointments on one calendar — but adding a new calendar to Google Calendar is a simple process.

Google Calendar Invoice Creator uses the titles of your specific “appointments” to group hours onto invoices for each project. It’s important to consistently use the same project names to keep your invoices updating correctly. As the application receives new information, it calculates the total hours you’ve worked on each project and generates an invoice for that project. You can create your invoices as either text or HTML files. In the HTML version of your invoices, you can control the layout for a more professional look. You can also create a summary report of how you’ve been spending your time.

There is certain information you’ll want to add to the system before you start creating invoices, like your hourly rate and your client’s details. Once that information is in the system, the application will be able to turn out invoices with minimal effort on your part. You can just attach individual invoices to an email in order to pass them along to the appropriate client.

There are some drawback to using Google Calendar Invoice Creator: It’s meant for just one user, so if you’re trying to generate invoices based on several people’s hours, it’s probably not the best option. Similarly, billing different tasks at different rates can be a bit tricky. More complex invoicing applications do have more features, such as the ability to send invoices directly from the application, and easy availability from any computer. It is also worth noting that this application is not an official Google product.

On the plus side, Google Calendar Invoice Creator can run on a variety of operating systems. It doesn’t take long to learn to use, unlike many more robust bookkeeping applications. As long as you’ve already figured out Google Calendar — not a difficult learning curve — coming to grips with Invoice Creator is easy. It’s also free to download and use. If you’re in need of a quick tool to crank out invoices, this application can be quite useful.