You know what little the guy says, “15 minutes could save you 15% or more. . .” I might adopt a similar catch-phrase, “15 minutes could save you hours and hundreds or even thousands of dollars.”

Most businesses NEVER take advantage of the many free and low-cost tools available to run, organize and promote your business. Even when they do, many features go underutilized or not used at all. This results in hours of wasted time, costly errors, incomplete projects, and often leads to unnecessary purchases of additional software and services.

I provide group and individual training and consulting on key business applications. The training is typically done remotely and allows me to demonstrate features by showing my screen or by viewing and controlling your screen. 15-30 minutes of consulting or training can result in hours of increased efficiency and a far greater understanding of what is possible with your applications.

To fully understand the potential productivity gains, see the “PRODUCTIVITY PROFILES” below.

If you have any questions on these topics, feel free to call me at:

818-584-6288 or 480-294-7752.

You can also reach me online on google chat at: cbtoolkit ( at ) gmail [dot] com
or on skype at: cbtoolkit

AREAS I AM HELPING PEOPLE WITH MOST OFTEN ARE:

Microsoft Office Assistance and Training:

• Microsoft Word, Advanced Excel Spreadsheets and Automation (Macros)
• Presentation Assistance: Powerpoint without boredom!!
• MS Publisher – newsletters both setup and content

Microsoft Access Database Development

• MS Access to SQL Server (DB Management & Administration)
• Customized Reporting

Social Media Development, Setup, Training

• Blogging (WordPress), Podcasting/Videocasting, Live Video Streaming
• Integrating Facebook, Twitter and Others into your marketing and business.

Google Applications Setup, Migration, Training

• Google has email and MS Office style programs with documents, spreadsheets, and presentations you can work on with others users simultaneously. FREE!!! In many cases.

PRODUCTIVITY PROFILES

Real-Estate Development/Sales/Commissions
The controller and accounting department for a client in Arizona had a complex Excel commissioning system that required several days of input and adjustments each month. The manual process was time-consuming and often resulted in errors. Using MS Access, in less than 5 days, I created a way to calculate and track commissions and even provide a way for sales reps to see 30 day revenue forecast. The system allows input from multiple computers and has been in place for more than 2 years with 100% accuracy.

Legal/Document Assembly/Automation
A law-firm had the need to create more than 200 contracts with specific language requirements based on various criteria. Their initial plan involved a team of associates and paralegals over more than 6 weeks – manually creating the documents. Working with them, I built an Access database to track all the criteria and the language libraries. 14 days after starting the project, we pushed a button and Microsoft Access opened MS Word and created all of the contracts in 20 minutes with 100% accuracy!

Real-Estate Sales/Free Google Apps
A real-estate office in Toledo has employees in an office and working from home. They needed an email solution and a way to easily share documents. I helped set them up and then remotely train them on Google apps where they now have their company email and shared documents, spreadsheets, and presentations – all for FREE!.

Mortgage Banking/Email Marketing
A mortgage lender, in Bakersfield, had been struggling for a couple hours to do a customized email message to selected Outlook contacts. I logged into his computer remotely and in 15 minutes we had his message sent and he has since used what he learned repeatedly to reach out to his prospects and customers.

Tea/Specialty Products/Marketing Materials
An entrepreneur friend and I connected on Facebook where she had posted being in “Microsoft Word hell”. I logged in remotely and 10 minutes later the formatting problem she had struggled with was solved and she had a greater understanding of how to solve several other challenges.

You can take the survey here:
http://bit.ly/bqKZdV

I’ll keep it open for the next week or so but I found some of the results interesting. There is great interest in how to stream video but only mediocre interest in social media.

Top topics:
1) streaming video
2) free utilities
3) how to stay current with technology
4) financial reporting
5) pc performance (surprised me a bit)
6) microsoft office (shouldn’t surprise me)
7) how to create a similar survey (funny)

Least interest:
1) remote access (this surprised me a lot because of how many clients want/need it)
2) networking my office/sharing data
3) social media (found this very surprising given the hulabalu)

Favorite learning method
1) Hands on/one-on-one
2) Live workshops

Least favorite learning method
1) A book or manual

It is part of my Songwriter & Social Media Tour, as I am playing music the night before and night after in Ruidoso as well.

If you want to find out more and register for the event, go to the eventbrite registration page at:

For more information, including content and contact information, click the link above.

* discount code for Ruidoso Chamber members. Contact the chamber.

Wrote a blog post over at IT Toolbox about digital communications.

I am starting to compile some ideas as part of a presentation on effective communications tools and strategies for business.

If you have specific ideas you think should be addressed, comment here or at IT Toolbox.

I will be presenting at the Arizona Small Business Association on Janauary 9th.  My topic was initially "Social Media" (blank) but that topic is too vast and intangible.  Instead, we will more specifically cover strategies and tools for creating engaging content.

Considerable time will be spent covering WordPress, its ease of use, and some examples of how a business might begin incorporating it into their marketing strategy.

Get information on the ASBA site:
http://www.asba.com/events/details.aspx?EventID=3708

Title: The Professional’s (non-technical) Step-by-Step Guide To Blogging & Podcasting for Free Using WordPress
Date: Tuesday, October 30th (10/30/2007)
Time: 12:00pm – 1:15pm Eastern Standard time
Price: $149.00 – regular price ($50 discount for early registration)
- additional discounts available for 5 or more tickets.

If you are a business professional, marketing professional, or small business owner, and have wanted to know the how and why of blogging – from a business value (non-technical) perspective, this webinar is for you.

75 minutes to proficiency – a de-jargonized, business-focused workshop to get you started RIGHT AWAY – without any programming!

At the completion of this workshop, you will:

• Understand RSS (subscription & syndication);
• Setting up your WordPress blog;
• Hosting your WordPress blog;
• Customizing your look with free themes;
• How to use customizable widgets – for added functionality
• Publishing audio & video content and making it available for iPod/device download
• Includes the following downloadable documents:
  (emailed to you after the webinar)
  • Step-by-Step Guide To WordPress (20 pages);
  • An Audio & Video Publishing Primer (10 pages) – 10 important questions answered before you ask them.
  • A text file with HTML customizations you can modify and use – and an explanation of where to use them & what they do.

ABOUT WORDPRESS:
WordPress is a free blogging software with powerful capabilities.  While this workshop uses WordPress, the features covered are largely the same for all blogging platforms.

This workshop is for the business professional.  You do not have to be a web professional or techno-genius to get started with professional content today.  This webinar answers the real questions about how to get your blog going – without any programming.

About your instructor:
Matthew Moran is the founder of Kreative Knowledge, an office automation and productivity consultancy.  Kreative Knowledge focuses on helping organizations use Microsoft Office and other applications to generate 100%, 500%, 1,000% and greater productivity gains through more effective training and through built-in automation features.

He is also the author of The IT Career Builder’s Toolkit and numerous articles on business, technology, and professional development.  He is the co-founder of The Technology Pro – a business and technology training & education company.

I wrote about this experience at IT Toolbox in this post.

The basic message… do we, in IT, turn design issues into user errors?  Something to consider.

Camtasia Screencast | Windows Media (10.3mb) | iPod (.m4v)

Windows Media (high quality) | Flash (not embedded) | YouTube