Hi Everyone,

Yes it is THOSE Fainges, being cheap again and sending an electronic
card.

This time with a difference, we have taken a really el cheapo mic and
camera and done a really el cheapo video.
http://www.zippyvideos.com/2552140072738996/webxmas/*annalisamara

Still, it's the thought that counts, right?

Season's greetings to you all, whatever you are celebrating this time
of year.

Karen, Keith & Jessica.

************************************
Visit http://shayton.net to read
the first chapter of Destiny Sets
or Tamal's Journey online.
************************************

Business Computing Tips

By K&K Fainges kfainges@...


Last week we mentioned Ebay, but what if you are worried about putting
your details on the web? That's where paypal comes in.

For no fees, you can transfer money backwards and forwards completely
safely. For fees lower than most, you can also set up a merchant
account that allows you to take debit and credit cards as well, even
through email.

A great low cost way to test a business on the web.

***********************************************************************

Please feel free to pass it on to your friends, just let them know I
wrote it.

Karen Fainges holds a Bachelor of Business, and a Grad. Cert of
Vocational and Educational Training. All this is nice but it's the 14
years of having to make sales or starve that makes her think she has
really learnt what does and doesn't work. A tutor for all ages, she
specialises in helping people get started on the long road to technology.

"It has to be practical, it has to be cheap, and it has to work."

Business Computing Tips

By K&K Fainges kfainges@...



Lots of people use Ebay for buying things. Some even use it as a sort
of online garage sale.

You can use it to sell your product without having a store front.

It can also be used to get a rough idea of what the market may bear
for pricing.

If you list your product a few times, and it never gets above $1, then
either there isn't a large market for it, or people don't see a lot of
value in it.

if it explodes in a flurry of bidding, well, you are on a winner.

Visit www.ebay.com  or the Australian version at www.ebay.com.au for
all the details for selling your things online.

There is a whole section for ebooks too. Check out some ideas for how
to publish your own book using ebay and paypal on
http://shayton.net/10_steps_to_self.htm



***********************************************************************

Please feel free to pass it on to your friends, just let them know I
wrote it.

Karen Fainges holds a Bachelor of Business, and a Grad. Cert of
Vocational and Educational Training. All this is nice but it's the 14
years of having to make sales or starve that makes her think she has
really learnt what does and doesn't work. A tutor for all ages, she
specialises in helping people get started on the long road to technology.

"It has to be practical, it has to be cheap, and it has to work."

Business Computing Tips

By K&K Fainges kfainges@...



Ever had one person in the office get a cold, then everyone goes down
with it? That's a virus.

Ever had one person get a great new toy, then it seems like everyone
has got one? That's viral marketing - peer pressure for dollars.

You tell someone, then they tell someone etc. plenty of people have
used it very successfully, Amway, Amazons, all the way through to
Neopets and Yahoo. The Blair witch Project is a fine example of what
happens when viral marketing works well. So how do you get it to work
for you?

Well there is a lot to it, and type in the phrase viral marketing into
a search engine and watch for the huge glut of information. Basically
it boils down to making your product or service really easily to
gossip about.

Find a hook, like loosing weight, or becoming a stunning beauty or
actual practical stuff and then let people know. Then give them an
easy way to pas the info on to the next person. Make it in an email
that can be forwarded, give them a link for their website, whatever
you like.

Go on, type it in to a search engine and have a look.

***********************************************************************

Please feel free to pass it on to your friends, just let them know I
wrote it.

Karen Fainges holds a Bachelor of Business, and a Grad. Cert of
Vocational and Educational Training. All this is nice but it's the 14
years of having to make sales or starve that makes her think she has
really learnt what does and doesn't work. A tutor for all ages, she
specialises in helping people get started on the long road to technology.

"It has to be practical, it has to be cheap, and it has to work."

Business Computing Tips

By K&K Fainges kfainges@...



On the internet, instant messaging allows you to chat with your
friends and family anywhere in the world, real time. That means at the
same time with no delays. If you have a video camera and a mic, you
can even see them and hear them. The best bit of it all is that it is
free once you are online.

So which instant messenger is the best? Good question.

Just about all of them are free, and most offer the same thing. So,
personally, I use Trillian http://www.ceruleanstudios.com/.

The reason - it let's you use all the other ones at the same time and
take half the space on your system.

That way, no matter which one your friends signed up for, you can
still chat with them. It doesn't have all the wonderful features, but
it does let you message, which is the whole point really.

***********************************************************************

Please feel free to pass it on to your friends, just let them know I
wrote it.

Karen Fainges holds a Bachelor of Business, and a Grad. Cert of
Vocational and Educational Training. All this is nice but it's the 14
years of having to make sales or starve that makes her think she has
really learnt what does and doesn't work. A tutor for all ages, she
specialises in helping people get started on the long road to technology.

"It has to be practical, it has to be cheap, and it has to work."

Business Computing Tips
By K&K Fainges kfainges@...


Promotion is the part of marketing that most people think of, and it
brings it all together.

For example, where can you find what you want (product) when you want
it (place) at the right price?

This is an advert we've all heard for 100 different products and
services in one form or another.

So when you think about marketing your product or service, think first
about all those other marketing questions and it will all come
together in your promotion.

There is a flip side to this too.

If you offer a discount and your price is already cut to the bone, it
is going to send you broke. If you offer a voucher and you are on the
internet, how are they going to get it to you?

Most of marketing is common sense, but when you are busy and assume
things, it's easy to miss the obvious.

The best guide will always be, write it down, make sure you do know
exactly what it is you are doing. Then half your problems are solved.

***********************************************************************

Please feel free to pass it on to your friends, just let them know I
wrote it.

Karen Fainges holds a Bachelor of Business, and a Grad. Cert of
Vocational and Educational Training. All this is nice but it's the 14
years of having to make sales or starve that makes her think she has
really learnt what does and doesn't work. A tutor for all ages, she
specialises in helping people get started on the long road to technology.

"It has to be practical, it has to be cheap, and it has to work."

Business Computing Tips
By K&K Fainges kfainges@...

Place is where your customers can buy your product/service. In a store
it includes things like making sure you can be found, that the place
sets a good first impression.

On the web, it is exactly the same. Are you in the search engines, are
all your links working, does it say what you want it to say.

Colours that don't clash or lose definition on the screen, making it
really obvious how to actually buy, making it easy to get to your
order screen, ensuring the site actually loads in all the different
types of browsers out there, all these factors are "place" in today's
modern world.

***********************************************************************

Please feel free to pass it on to your friends, just let them know I
wrote it.
Karen Fainges holds a Bachelor of Business, and a Grad. Cert of
Vocational and Educational Training. All this is nice but it's the 14
years of having to make sales or starve that makes her think she has
really learnt what does and doesn't work. A tutor for all ages, she
specialises in helping people get started on the long road to technology.
"It has to be practical, it has to be cheap, and it has to work."

Price

  _____________________________________________________________________

Business Computing Tips

By K&K Fainges kfainges@...



Price seems easy at first, but it can be a complicated process. How do
you pick what to sell your product for?

What do the competitors charge? Too expensive and you drive customers
away. Too cheap and they may think the quality is low. Plus freight
prices, tax, whether to offer wholesale rates, all these decisions
need to be made. And unfortunately, there is no hard and fast rule.
Many introduce a product at one price, then adjust it until the market
is happy.

The internet has added a new dimension here too. Many products now
have a sliding scale of prices. For example, say the product is a
book. you can offer a few chapters or a report for free. Then offer
the book at a discounted price in ebook form. This means no costs to
you once it is set up and a much lower price to the customer.

Then hard copy sales can be encouraged, either through from yourself
or through a bookstore.

***********************************************************************

Please feel free to pass it on to your friends, just let them know I
wrote it.

Karen Fainges holds a Bachelor of Business, and a Grad. Cert of
Vocational and Educational Training. All this is nice but it's the 14
years of having to make sales or starve that makes her think she has
really learnt what does and doesn't work. A tutor for all ages, she
specialises in helping people get started on the long road to technology.

"It has to be practical, it has to be cheap, and it has to work."

Business Computing Tips

By K&K Fainges kfainges@...

Product is more than just the Wz123 part you sell, it is the need you
are filling for the customer.

For example, take toothpaste. For a long time, it was almost a generic
product. It was all the same. But then someone thought of putting it
into a tube, adding mouthwash, making it so you couldn't lose the lid,
a whole range of changes.

That is because they realised that their product wasn't toothpaste, it
was people wanting a quick and easy way to look after their teeth.

You need to do the same. What need are you filling. If you have a
website for your product, is it quick and easy to get around and to
order. Do they have choices? Do they want choices? Ask around your
customers, better yet, find someone that didn't buy & ask them why.

It is not just the product, it's the box it comes in and the colour,
the whole package.

***********************************************************************

Please feel free to pass it on to your friends, just let them know I
wrote it.

Karen Fainges holds a Bachelor of Business, and a Grad. Cert of
Vocational and Educational Training. All this is nice but it's the 14
years of having to make sales or starve that makes her think she has
really learnt what does and doesn't work. A tutor for all ages, she
specialises in helping people get started on the long road to technology.

"It has to be practical, it has to be cheap, and it has to work."

Business Computing Tips

By K&K Fainges kfainges@...



I was asking a friend what to write for my marketing/computer
newsletter this week and
he said, 'What is marketing?'

Good question really, not a lot of people really know.

You ask most people and they tend to just think about advertising but
there is so much more. Marketing is all about making the most of your
business by considering the four P's; product, place, price and promotion.

With the advent of the internet, almost every one of the 4p's becomes
advertising anyway. The lines have really blurred. We will cover each
one in more detail in later newsletters, but for now, lets give an
example.

Think of a website. If it has an easy name to type in, and good
placement on the search engines, then more people visit it (place).

If the product has links back to other products, then you can sell
more of your products to the same person (product).

If the price is right, especially if it offers free bonuses or
samples, then more people will pass it on to their friends, (price).

And all this is promotion without one bit of what people normally
think of as advertising.

***********************************************************************

Please feel free to pass it on to your friends, just let them know I
wrote it.

Karen Fainges holds a Bachelor of Business, and a Grad. Cert of
Vocational and Educational Training. All this is nice but it's the 14
years of having to make sales or starve that makes her think she has
really learnt what does and doesn't work. A tutor for all ages, she
specialises in helping people get started on the long road to technology.

"It has to be practical, it has to be cheap, and it has to work."

Business Computing Tips

By K&K Fainges kfainges@...


We covered adding a picture last week, so how about music?

Adding music to the page is a lot like adding a picture, same
copyright, same technique. But you can also add music to the background.

How? Well, if you are using an online webpage builder, there is
normally a button to push. The hard part is finding the music to
upload to your site.

Type, 'download music' into your browser and you will find a ton of
sites offering music, even for free. But be careful, the longer the
piece of music, the longer it will take to load. And remember to make
sure it's legal.

If you are using FrontPage or Dreamweaver, the process is a little
more difficult, but there are great sites for helping you learn how to
use those programs. for example
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=297477 for FrontPage. All I did was
type FrontPage load background music into a search engine. Try it out.

http://www.24help.info/showthread.php?t=2334 gives a great run down on
what the various types of files means for you.

Have fun with it



***********************************************************************

Please feel free to pass it on to your friends, just let them know I
wrote it.

Karen Fainges holds a Bachelor of Business, and a Grad. Cert of
Vocational and Educational Training. All this is nice but it's the 14
years of having to make sales or starve that makes her think she has
really learnt what does and doesn't work. A tutor for all ages, she
specialises in helping people get started on the long road to technology.

"It has to be practical, it has to be cheap, and it has to work."

Business Computing Tips

By K&K Fainges kfainges@...


Sometimes while browsing, you see a great pic. How do you use them on
your website?

First, ask permission. Copyright counts on the internet. Most people
will say yes, especially if you add a link to their site. It's not
only good manners to ask, it's the law.

To reuse a pic, you have two choices, you can link your site to
theirs, or you can save the pic to your hard drive, then up load it to
the web again as part of your site.

For the long term, the second option is better, even if it does mean
using save up on your server. It means that you still have the pic if
they decide to close or move that site.

To save to your hard drive, most pics will allow you to right click on
them, and then left click on 'Save Image As'. Make sure you put it
somewhere you can find it again.

Now to put it on your site. If you are using an offline editor, say
Word, FrontPage or Dreamweaver, all you need to do is click on INSERT
then PICTURE or IMAGE then FROM FILE.

When you then upload the site, make sure you upload both the page and
the pic or it won't work.

If you are using a web-based webpage builder, most will have a File
manager or Upload wizard. That will get the pic from your computer to
the internet. Then you can add the image to the page through their
HTML or build a page wizard.


***********************************************************************

Please feel free to pass it on to your friends, just let them know I
wrote it.

Karen Fainges holds a Bachelor of Business, and a Grad. Cert of
Vocational and Educational Training. All this is nice but it's the 14
years of having to make sales or starve that makes her think she has
really learnt what does and doesn't work. A tutor for all ages, she
specialises in helping people get started on the long road to technology.
"It has to be practical, it has to be cheap, and it has to work."

Business Computing Tips

By K&K Fainges kfainges@...

Everyone is an expert in something, and now, thanks to the internet,
we have access to a wider market than ever before. So why not cash in
on your expertise?

Creating an ebook used to be hard and expensive, but now, with
applications such as Open Office http://www.openoffice.org/ you can
convert a document so it can be read in Adobe Reader with just a few
very simple mouse clicks for fr*e

It's easier than you think. There are a lot of sites to help. Try
http://www.web-source.net/info_products.htm

**********************************************************************

Please feel free to pass it on to your friends, just let them know I
wrote it.

Karen Fainges holds a Bachelor of Business, and a Grad. Cert of
Vocational and Educational Training. All this is nice but it's the 14
years of having to make sales or starve that makes her think she has
really learnt what does and doesn't work. A tutor for all ages, she
specialises in helping people get started on the long road to technology.

"It has to be practical, it has to be cheap, and it has to work."

Business Computing Tips

By K&K Fainges kfainges@...


The internet has a stream of useful information, but often it's a
case of finding it.

For the small business owner in Australia it's
http://www.smallbusiness.gov.au

It has links to just about everywhere you need to go and everything
you need to know.

**********************************************************************
Please feel free to pass it on to your friends, just let them know I
wrote it.

Karen Fainges holds a Bachelor of Business, and a Grad. Cert of
Vocational and Educational Training. All this is nice but it's the 14
years of having to make sales or starve that makes her think she has
really learnt what does and doesn't work. A tutor for all ages, she
specialises in helping people get started on the long road to
technology.

"It has to be practical, it has to be cheap, and it has to work."

Business Computing Tips

By K&K Fainges kfainges@...

Training is now a part of life.

In this constantly world, we all need to keep up to date. but how do
you fit it in?

Well, there are a lot of options available now.

You can take a course at uni, TAFE or through a private trainer, you
can do courses face to face, online, over the phone, and through the
mail.

So how do you find out your options?

In Australia, they have created a one stop shop for all training done
through a registered training office.

www.training.com.au

Well worth a visit.

**********************************************************************

Please feel free to pass it on to your friends, just let them know I
wrote it.

Karen Fainges holds a Bachelor of Business, and a Grad. Cert of
Vocational and Educational Training. All this is nice but it's the 14
years of having to make sales or starve that makes her think she has
really learnt what does and doesn't work. A tutor for all ages, she
specialises in helping people get started on the long road to
technology.

"It has to be practical, it has to be cheap, and it has to work."

Business Computing Tips

By K&K Fainges kfainges@...


A New Year. A new resolution.

Hands up everyone that just recycled the ones from last year.

Well, doing the NoWriMo, I found that setting a deadline worked
wonders for me. Not because I knew everyone was watching, asking me
how I did etc (although that helped.)

The main thing that helped was that the deadline meant I had a
definite goal to work to. So many words a day for so many days.

I also had a definite marker to say that I had won, that I had done
something to be proud of.

Try that for yourself. I will clean a room a day until the house is
sorted out (this is of course only possible if you send everyone else
off on holidays.)

Break your goals down, think, what do I really want? Then work out
how you are going to get there. And go for it. Even if you have to
eat take out to make time.

**********************************************************************
Please feel free to pass it on to your friends, just let them know I
wrote it.

Karen Fainges holds a Bachelor of Business, and a Grad. Cert of
Vocational and Educational Training. All this is nice but it's the 14
years of having to make sales or starve that makes her think she has
really learnt what does and doesn't work. A tutor for all ages, she
specialises in helping people get started on the long road to
technology.

"It has to be practical, it has to be cheap, and it has to work."

Business Computing Tips
By K&K Fainges kfainges@...

To Do lists are traditional, especially at this time of year, but
remember, they need to be realistic. Don't give yourself too much to
do and then feel guilty because you were only human.

It is better to achieve one thing a day than to worry about six
things you didn't get done.

A good To Do list should have consequences on it.

    ---------------------------------------

To Do

What, When, What will happen if I don't
    ---------------------------------------

Remember, if nothing will happen, don't put it on the list. Save your
time for things that must get done.

Having said that, Making me happy is a good solid consequence. It
deserves to be on any list.

**********************************************************************
Please feel free to pass it on to your friends, just let them know I
wrote it.

Karen Fainges holds a Bachelor of Business, and a Grad. Cert of
Vocational and Educational Training. All this is nice but it's the 14
years of having to make sales or starve that makes her think she has
really learnt what does and doesn't work. A tutor for all ages, she
specialises in helping people get started on the long road to
technology.

"It has to be practical, it has to be cheap, and it has to work."

Business Computing Tips

By K&K Fainges kfainges@...

You will be glad to know, Nano is over, and yes, I did make my 50,000
word quota.

So, that got me thinking about dreams. I am on a list from
www.howmuchjoy.com.

Suzanne Falter-Barns sent out a fantastic idea about a dream folder.
Visit her site for the full thing, but here is my version.



The Dream

No restraints, no money concerns, no hassles, what would the perfect
world be?

__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________


How could it turn into a nightmare? What is the worst that can
happen? Sometimes, it really isn't that bad once you think about it.

__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________


Finding Support

Networking is not just for work, who can help you make your dream
come true?

Who        How                When   Follow-up

__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________


Stopping the Bad

Who can stop you from making the dream happen?

Who?
How
What am I going to do about it?

Me  By not letting myself get started I will find one small thing I
can do, and do it.
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________


Small Steps

"The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step." - Lao-Tzu

What      How              When       Follow-up
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________


A Treasure Map

A picture says a thousand words, so map out your dream. Stick in
pictures, draw a map leading to the X.













**********************************************************************
Please feel free to pass it on to your friends, just let them know I
wrote it.

Karen Fainges holds a Bachelor of Business, and a Grad. Cert of
Vocational and Educational Training. All this is nice but it's the 14
years of having to make sales or starve that makes her think she has
really learnt what does and doesn't work. A tutor for all ages, she
specialises in helping people get started on the long road to
technology.

"It has to be practical, it has to be cheap, and it has to work."

The most current issue of K-tips is unfortunately held up.

I have decided to take part in the Nano challenge
http://www.nanowrimo.org/

This means writing 50,000 words of a novel all in one month. So I am
putting other things on hold.

My pen name is annalisamara if you want to check how I am doing on the
word count.
Any comments, encouragement or chocolates are gratefully received.

If you would like to read the totally unedited slapdash work as she
is, visit
www.users.bigpond.com/sagatech/destiny.htm (I have cheated here and
added in stuff I have written before November to show you where it
would fit in the story.)

Please take this month to review past issues and maybe suggest some
topics for when the madness is over.

Our archives for more recent issues are held at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/fainges-announce

See you in December.

Business Computing Tips

By K&K Fainges kfainges@...

So you might keep hearing about Blogs. What are they? Why use them?

Well, basically, they are very quick and easy websites that let you
keep a diary online without knowing any coding. You can just type
stuff in.

Want to set up an area where you can let people know about the new
tax laws? Or just the latest TV show you love?

It's all there and free.

Check out www.blogger.com, or type blog into any search engine, you
will find a ton of options. Blogger let's you follow the bouncing
ball and set up your own fr*e blog by just clicking on your choices
all the way through. It takes about 5 minutes.

http://shayton.blogspot.com/ is a quick example I put up there today.

Feel free to add comments to see how the process works.

Or start up a blog of your own.

*********************************************************************
Please feel free to pass it on to your friends, just let them know I
wrote it.

Karen Fainges holds a Bachelor of Business, and a Grad. Cert of
Vocational and Educational Training. All this is nice but it's the 14
years of having to make sales or starve that makes her think she has
really learnt what does and doesn't work. A tutor for all ages, she
specialises in helping people get started on the long road to
technology.

"It has to be practical, it has to be cheap, and it has to work."

Business Computing Tips

By K&K Fainges kfainges@...

Ever feel like you are answering the same questions over and over
again?

Well the solution is easy. Set up a stock letter with all the most
frequently asked questions (the web does this all the time on the FAQ
page, now you know what the letters stand for.)

Everything people tend to ask can go in:
* Opening hours
* Payment Methods
* How does it work?
* How quick can I get it

You get the idea. Then you can just copy in the headings and
information that the person asked for. That allows you to keep it
personal and stops the customer having to wade through information to
get to the answer they actually wanted.

For example: say someone wanted to know when you were open.

I would use my standard letter, changed like this. Anywhere there are
brackets < >, this is where you adjust it.

Hi <Fred>

Thank you for <emailing/writing>. We appreciate your business.

<Our opening hours are 10-10 7 days.>

A lot of people also want to know some more things about us, so I've
included the answers to the top 10 below. I hope this information
helps and we see you soon.

Karen

The 10 things People Want to Know

1 goai[gjaof[g

2SDfjsd'f.....

*********************************************************************
Please feel free to pass it on to your friends, just let them know I
wrote it.

Karen Fainges holds a Bachelor of Business, and a Grad. Cert of
Vocational and Educational Training. All this is nice but it's the 14
years of having to make sales or starve that makes her think she has
really learnt what does and doesn't work. A tutor for all ages, she
specialises in helping people get started on the long road to
technology.

"It has to be practical, it has to be cheap, and it has to work."

Business Computing Tips
By K&K Fainges kfainges@...

Keeping your accounts, especially in these days of the BAS and GST
can be a landmine for new businesses. The old shoe box just won't cut
it any more.

So what do you do if you haven't got the budget or skill to use one
of the accounting packages?

Well, you can use the free program E-Record given out by the ATO
www.ato.gov.au It does most things you need, and is pretty easy to
set up. The general guide though, is when in doubt, ask your
accountant. I would add to that, always double check. Never take one
person's word for anything.

The other way to do your books is to just do up your own accounts on
excel. Can I hear the arghs from here?   

Go to the library and get a current, Australian book on book-keeping.
Check out what accounts they keep.

Most real book-keeping is just a list of money coming in and going
out so you can keep track. The main thing is to watch the GST. I have
done a simple one that would only work for reporting on a cash basis,
not accrual, but it would get the job done. Gives you an idea anyway.
The main thing would be updating the formulas to make sure they went
down the page far enough and you would need to do a new one each
month or put a new total line in.  To download the sample, click on
http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/fainges-announce/files/

*********************************************************************

Please feel free to pass it on to your friends, just let them know I
wrote it.

Karen Fainges holds a Bachelor of Business, and a Grad. Cert of
Vocational and Educational Training. All this is nice but it's the 14
years of having to make sales or starve that makes her think she has
really learnt what does and doesn't work. A tutor for all ages, she
specialises in helping people get started on the long road to
technology.

"It has to be practical, it has to be cheap, and it has to work."

Business Computing Tips

By K&K Fainges kfainges@...

Now regular readers would know my proofing is not perfect. But there
are proofing methods out there to help. The most obvious is the
spelling and grammar checker. It is not infallible though.

For example, 'I sea you are out their' contains two errors, neither
of which the spell checker would pick up.

The most infallible way of proofing your work is to get a fresh eye
to read it. That might mean waiting a day or two and reading it again
yourself, or getting a friend to proof it for you. Perhaps offer to
proof their work in return.

Many of us need to print out something to see the errors. Don't ask
me why it works, but it does. Try to get used to reading it on the
screen though. After all, you could save a tree.

The most effective way I've found of proofing though is the old
Kindie proofing technique. Run your finger over the words and read
them one at a time - out loud. It sounds silly, but it forces you to
read what is actually there, not what you think you typed. And a lot
of punctuation errors can be caught by reading out loud. The general
guide is to breath for a comma and wait one beat for a colon or semi-
colon. If your voice changes, it's often a new thought, so a full
stop is needed. If your voice goes up, a question mark. If you sound
really amazed or forceful, an exclamation mark.

*********************************************************************

JUST FOR FUN

AN OWED TO THE SPELL CHEQUER
by Dr Jerrold H. Zar of Northern Illinois University

I have a spelling checker,
It came with my pea sea.
It plane lee marks four my revue
Miss steaks aye can knot sea.

Eye ran this poem threw it,
Your sure reel glad two no.
Its vary polished in it's weigh.
My checker tolled me sew.

A checker is a bless sing,
It freeze yew lodes of thyme.
It helps me right awl stiles two reed,
And aides me when eye rime.

Each frays come posed up on my screen
Eye trussed too bee a joule.
The checker pours o'er every word
To cheque sum spelling rule.

Bee fore a veiling checker's
Hour spelling mite decline,
And if we're lacks oar have a laps,
We wood bee maid too wine.

Butt now bee cause my spelling
Is checked with such grate flare,
Their are know fault's with in my cite,
Of nun eye am a wear.

Now spelling does knot phase me,
It does knot bring a tier.
My pay purrs awl due glad den
With wrapped word's fare as hear.

To rite with care is quite a feet
Of witch won should bee proud,
And wee mussed dew the best wee can,
Sew flaw's are knot aloud.

Sow ewe can sea why aye dew prays
Such soft wear four pea seas,
And why eye brake in two averse
Buy righting want too pleas.

*********************************************************************
Please feel free to pass it on to your friends, just let them know I
wrote it.

Karen Fainges holds a Bachelor of Business, and a Grad. Cert of
Vocational and Educational Training. All this is nice but it's the 14
years of having to make sales or starve that makes her think she has
really learnt what does and doesn't work. A tutor for all ages, she
specialises in helping people get started on the long road to
technology.

"It has to be practical, it has to be cheap, and it has to work."

Business Computing Tips

By K&K Fainges kfainges@...

Last week we covered the urgency matrix -
http://www.users.bigpond.com/sagatech/planning.html.

So, now we know what is urgent, how do you convince other people? how
do you shut your door, especially if you don't have one?

Do you have a boss that drops 'urgent' jobs on your desk at 4:30? How
do you train him or her to plan? One technique is to look for a
pattern. If every week a report needs to be done by Thursday
afternoon, get everything ready to be signed off by Wednesday. Face
it, they are probably going to dump it on your desk anyway, why not
do it when it suits you.

Or show them your to do list. Say, 'these are the things I have to
get done, which would you rather I didn't do in order to get this
done? Sometimes it is legitimate and the boss can make the call, but
get a record of them saying it, maybe their initial. If it is not
legitimate, they might just realise what is more important.

Another problem is often the chatters. Socialisation is important,
but set aside time for it. Say to them, I have to get this done, how
about we have a tea break at 3pm and talk then when I can concentrate
on what you are saying.' Be firm and don't accept, 'but it will just
take a second'. It never does.

**********************************************************************
Please feel free to pass it on to your friends, just let them know I
wrote it.

Karen Fainges holds a Bachelor of Business, and a Grad. Cert of
Vocational and Educational Training. All this is nice but it's the 14
years of having to make sales or starve that makes her think she has
really learnt what does and doesn't work. A tutor for all ages, she
specialises in helping people get started on the long road to
technology.

"It has to be practical, it has to be cheap, and it has to work."

Business Computing Tips

By K&K Fainges kfainges@...

Never had enough time in the day?

Getting everything done can be hard, but here is something that might
help. Called an urgency/priority matrix, it helps you plan out the
day.

First get a piece of paper. Draw a big plus sign (+) on it. Then mark
the top left corner URGENT. The one next to that mark IMPORTANT. Then
the bottom corner is Not Urgent and the one next to that Unimportant.

Go to http://www.users.bigpond.com/sagatech/urgency_matrix.htm for an
example.

Give yourself 3 minutes a day, either planning at night for the next
day, or in the morning, and set out what needs to be done that day.

Then list it on this grid.

Some things are urgent AND important, like say paying a phone bill
that is due today.

Some things are urgent, i.e. you have a deadline, but not really that
important, say picking up the gourmet cat food. You have to get to
the shop before it closes, but the cat can eat something else if you
don't get there.

Some things are important, but not urgent. Like talking to your kids.
You need to talk to them every day, but not right now. (More on this
later.)

Some things are just not urgent or important, like dumping spam
email. So here's the big hint, if you are getting enough time in the
day, stop doing these things! It sounds easy, but often that is where
we lose the most time each day. We call it faffing. Ask yourself, do
I really need to be doing this or am I just faffing.

Things move around on the grid. For example, dumping spam can become
both urgent and important if your account is starting to get too full
and you could lose emails. More importantly, you can ask, will the
world really end if I don't iron the tablecloths. The real answer is
probably no.

Most of all, you need to think what it is that you really are aiming
for. If a happy family life is your top goal, then talking to the
kids should be your number one priority and should be in the top left
hand square. Don't be tempted to move it because it doesn't sound
like a REAL task. It is very real to your kids.

**********************************************************************
Please feel free to pass it on to your friends, just let them know I
wrote it.

Karen Fainges holds a Bachelor of Business, and a Grad. Cert of
Vocational and Educational Training. All this is nice but it's the 14
years of having to make sales or starve that makes her think she has
really learnt what does and doesn't work. A tutor for all ages, she
specialises in helping people get started on the long road to
technology.

"It has to be practical, it has to be cheap, and it has to work."

Business Computing Tips

By K&K Fainges kfainges@...

Help used to be more of a hindrance. It has gotten better, but you
still need to know how to use it or it will drive you crazy.

First of all, how do you get rid of the paperclip when its being
obnoxious?

In the Help menu, the second option is Show Office Assistant. Take
the tick away by clicking on it and the annoyance should disappear.
Sometimes, you need to put it on and take it off a couple of times
for it to work.

If you want to turn the animation or sound off, but keep the
Assistant itself, then go to TOOLS => OPTIONS. On the General tab
(Click on the word general at the top) you will see places to take
the ticks out there.

Help is basically easy to use. Simply type in the thing you are
having problems with and hit search. If you can't find it in the
standard help, try going online (click Help Online on the help menu),
it has a lot more to offer.

If all else fails, I go to the index and scroll through looking at
all the names, sometimes the answer is right there, but I don't know
what to call it.

This is the long way! Try all the other ways first, but it does work.
Most importantly though, when you find it, WRITE IT DOWN somewhere,
so you don't have to hunt for it again.

Printing out the help files you use all the time and clipping them
together as a little help book never hurts either. The print button
is on the help file itself, don't use the normal one.

Ever searched help and nothing came up? I don't mean you didn't get
an answer, just nothing came up. The help file acts like a separate
document, and just like other documents, it can be minimised.
Sometimes the Help file goes straight to the task bar and never
appears on the screen. To get it where you can see it. Look right
down at the bottom of your screen, you might need to run the mouse
right down to the bottom and wiggle it about a bit. This should show
the task bar (the bit that shows all the things you have open. Click
on the one marked help. This will bring it up where you can see it,
but it might still not be something you can read. Hit the maximise
button (on the help file that cam up, top right hand corner, looks
like a small square next to a x) That should make it expand enough to
read. And don't forget to scroll, often the good stuff is down the
bottom of the screen.

Next Week: Something new

**********************************************************************

Please feel free to pass it on to your friends, just let them know I
wrote it.

Karen Fainges holds a Bachelor of Business, and a Grad. Cert of
Vocational and Educational Training. All this is nice but it's the 14
years of having to make sales or starve that makes her think she has
really learnt what does and doesn't work. A tutor for all ages, she
specialises in helping people get started on the long road to
technology.

"It has to be practical, it has to be cheap, and it has to work."

Business Computing Tips

By K&K Fainges
kfainges@...

The WINDOW command in Word's menu bar, covers how many word documents
you can see on the screen at once. Though you can do the same from
the desktop, the WINDOW commands let you have two or more documents
open at the same time so you can compare the two. it's great for
taking notes etc.

NEW WINDOW is just the same as hitting FILE NEW for all practical
reasons. ARRANGE ALL brings all the Word documents up at the same
time, so you can put read all of them at once. You can have them
layered across the page, or sitting side by side, it is a very
personal choice.

SPLIT let's you compare two parts of the same document. To remove the
split once you have finished, click on WINDOW=> REMOVE SPLIT.

Next Week: Help Commands

**********************************************************************
Please feel free to pass it on to your friends, just let them know I
wrote it.
Karen Fainges holds a Bachelor of Business, and a Grad. Cert of
Vocational and Educational Training. All this is nice but it's the 14
years of having to make sales or starve that makes her think she has
really learnt what does and doesn't work. A tutor for all ages, she
specialises in helping people get started on the long road to
technology.
"It has to be practical, it has to be cheap, and it has to work."

Business Computing Tips

By K&K Fainges kfainges@...

The last heading under TOOLS is OPTIONS. Now this will vary a great
deal depending what else you have on your system, and what version of
word you have, but basically, if anything is ever really annoying you
with Word, here is where you fix it.

Click on each tab in turn and look at all the options available. It
may take a while to find what you are after.

GENERAL covers the basic setup of Word. The main thing I tend to
change here is the 'recently used file list'. this lets you open the
last thing you were working on. If you like, you can set it to any
one of the last 9. This come in very handy if you are working on
something with a lot of different articles in it.

VIEW allows you to change the look of the screen, but not the
document. If you can't see the margins or ruler, or the setup looks
funny, look here.

EDIT gives you options on how Word changes your document. Then main
one here is OVERTYPE. This means that if you make changes, it types
directly over what you have. Taking out that tick allows Word to move
the text over while you put new stuff in. It is the same as pressing
the INSERT key on your keyboard, but it will force it to act the way
you want if Word is not accepting the keyboard controls or doesn't
have an INSERT key.

PRINT allows you to set up stuff like Duplex printing and updating
fields before you print. Fields are things like the date (if you set
it to automatically change to today's date.)

SAVE let's you do great things like Autosave and make backups.

FILE LOCATIONS is where your files end up when you save. If you are
having trouble finding them, check here.

COMPATIBILITY is if you are changing from WORD to say WORD PERFECT a
lot. It lets you tweak the changes so your documents stay pretty much
the same

USER INFORMATION is you name and address so any wizards, like the
mailing wizard can fill it in automatically.

SECURITY if you want to add passwords etc

SPELLING AND GRAMMAR is pretty obvious. The main benefit here is
being able to turn off any spelling or grammar check that the
computer always gets wrong.

Luck last is TRACK CHANGES. This is for if you are editing your work
(or someone else's, and you want to track the changes you make. It is
a great idea. it lets you see any mistakes you are making constantly,
and let's you change you mind about changes.

Next issue: Windows and Help

**********************************************************************

Please feel free to pass it on to your friends, just let them know I
wrote it.

Karen Fainges holds a Bachelor of Business, and a Grad. Cert of
Vocational and Educational Training. All this is nice but it's the 14
years of having to make sales or starve that makes her think she has
really learnt what does and doesn't work. A tutor for all ages, she
specialises in helping people get started on the long road to
technology.

"It has to be practical, it has to be cheap, and it has to work."

Business Computing Tips

By K&K Fainges kfainges@...

Taking a break from all the menu items we've been doing, I was asked
a question about sending emails out using Outlook.

Ever wanted to send out an email to all your customers, but not
unknown how to separate them from your friends in your address book?

Outlook has categories, you can even add your own. When you enter a
new outlook in your contact list, push the button marked category
(often down the bottom) and chose the one you want. Then when you've
been good and added categories to all your contacts:

1 Go into your Contact folder. (On your outlook bar)
2 Go to View in the menu, and click on 'view by category'.
3 Highlight all the addresses in the category you want (click on the
top one, hold the shift key down & click on the bottom one).
4 Right click in the highlighted area and click on Move to Folder.
5 Move them all to a new folder in contacts (click on contact then
hit the new folder button. Give it the name of the category and makes
sure the Folder contains box shows 'contacts')
6 Open a new distribution list. Hit the Select Members button.
7 Where it says show members from, change that to the new folder name
you just made. THEN
8 Add all the names (same click on top one, shift key, click on
bottom one.)
and Viola.
One distribution list for that category.

Now you are free to send out an email to that list, confident that it
is going only to the people you want it to go to.

Two important things to remember: 
One: spam laws are quite tight, don't email to anyone that hasn't
given you permission in writing (on an email counts).
Two: put the distribution list in the BCC section, not in To, or
everyone will get everyone else's address. Not good.

**********************************************************************

Please feel free to pass it on to your friends, just let them know I
wrote it.
Karen Fainges holds a Bachelor of Business, and a Grad. Cert of
Vocational and Educational Training. All this is nice but it's the 14
years of having to make sales or starve that makes her think she has
really learnt what does and doesn't work. A tutor for all ages, she
specialises in helping people get started on the long road to
technology.
"It has to be practical, it has to be cheap, and it has to work."

Business Computing Tips

By K&K Fainges kfainges@...

The next tools have been covered before:

Mail merging
http://www.users.bigpond.com/sagatech/mail_merging.htm

and Macros
http://www.users.bigpond.com/sagatech/macros.html

Customise lets you add some extra flexibility to word, mainly to the
toolbars. Toolbars are set up with all the normal things that people
do, but there are times when you find yourself doing the same thing
over and over, but it's not on the toolbar.

Marcos allow you to add a button, but there are a lot of macros that
have already been added that you can chose from the list.

TOOLS=>CUSTOMISE on the Toolbar tab, allows you to add a whole new
toolbar by clicking on the NEW button. if you click on the Command
tab, there is a list of common commands you can add on. you do this
by clicking and dragging them up to the toolbar you want them on.

For example, say you are always swapping font over to ARIAL. Then you
can add that font to your Formatting toolbar and make it all so easy.

You can also add keyboard shortcuts that let you do things without
having to reach for the mouse. Just click on the Keyboard button. Be
careful not to use a shortcut that is already being used though.

The Options tab, lets you chose some of the ways you want things set
up. The big one for me is that you can chose to have menus show all
commands and get rid of those silly double arrows that drive me mad.

Next issue: The last Tool - Options

**********************************************************************

Please feel free to pass it on to your friends, just let them know I
wrote it.

Karen Fainges holds a Bachelor of Business, and a Grad. Cert of
Vocational and Educational Training. All this is nice but it's the 14
years of having to make sales or starve that makes her think she has
really learnt what does and doesn't work. A tutor for all ages, she
specialises in helping people get started on the long road to
technology.

"It has to be practical, it has to be cheap, and it has to work."