10 Weeks of Free Tools Every VA Must Have - Week 10

A week ago, we discussed free audio and video tools for VAs: Audacity and CamStudio. Last but not least…

Week 10: Blogging for Virtual Assistants

Ah, blogging. It may not be the latest craze, but it is still pretty darned hot! If you haven’t jumped on the blogwagon yet, chances are that you probably will. Blogging isn’t hard, especially if you’re a natural storyteller. You just have to write about what you know and what you’re passionate about.

BlogBackupOnlineBlogBackupOnline: Have you ever lost months or even YEARS of blog posts due to a server failure, glitch, or corruption? Worry no more with BlogBackupOnline. Back up as much as 50 MB for free. You don’t even have to remember to do it, and there is no software or programming required.

WordPressWordPress: No matter what anyone else says, WordPress rules in my book. If you’re thinking about starting a blog, there is nothing easier than using WordPress to manage your posts. Plus, it’s free—which makes it even better. Many web hosts offer one-click installs, so there isn’t any difficulty installing a new platform on your server if you’re a non-techie. WordPress offers a simplistic dashboard to manage your posts, categories, plug-ins, blogroll, and more, all while offering instant RSS feeds across the Internet. Choose from thousands of free themes created for WordPress, or get help customizing your new blog if you want to incorporate your company’s branding into your latest venture, which I highly recommend.

I was planning to include my favorite WordPress plug-ins here, but I figured why not make that post another day—after all, I just wrote 10 weeks of posts, and I need a break! WordPress plug-ins coming soon…

This post concludes our series of must-have freebies for virtual assistants. I hope you enjoyed the series and found lots of new toys, and perhaps even something that you can’t live without!

10 Weeks of Free Tools Every VA Must Have - Week 9

Last week we discussed alternative software programs for virtual assistants, including 7-Zip, PDFCreator, OpenOffice, and ThinkFree. Next up…

Week 9: Audio & Video Made Simple (and free) for Virtual Assistants

AudacityAudacity: Audacity is a free, cross platform, open source audio program for editing and recording audio. Use it to record, cut, copy, splice, mix, and add effects, and then convert it to various audio formats such as MP3, WAV, MPEG, and more. Why not record an audio message for your website visitors?

CamStudioCamStudio: CamStudio is a free streaming video application that records the on-screen and audio activity on your computer. Turn your video files into streaming Flash videos (SWFs) that don’t take up half your server space. Create demonstration videos, tutorials, and more.

Do you use other free audio tools? Share with us! And don’t forget to check back next week for more free tools!

10 Weeks of Free Tools Every VA Must Have - Week 8

A week ago, I shared two great (and free!) form builders for VAs: Wufoo and JotForm. Now moving on to…

Week 8: Alternative software for Virtual Assistants—No Microsoft, Adobe, or Money Required

If only these programs were around when we worked in the corporate world! Well, they probably were, but we were simply unaware given that the big-name software companies were always updating, releasing new versions, and asking for way more money than was necessary. But we bought them anyway thinking that was our only option. Now you have a choice, and a free one at that. There are so many open source software programs out there nowadays. Thank goodness for the developers who believe you shouldn’t have to pay hundreds and thousands of dollars on software every one or two years!

7-Zip7-Zip: Compress, pack, and unpack your files with 7-Zip, an open source file archiver that boasts a higher compression ratio than PKZip or WinZip. 7-Zip supports many popular formats, and you don’t have to pay a dime to get it. I’ve been using 7-Zip for several months now and haven’t had any problems with zipping and sending my large image files to clients or associates.

PDFforgePDFCreator: PDFCreator from pdfforge.org is a free program that creates PDFs from almost any software program. Need to save multiple files as one PDF? With PDFCreator, it’s no problem. You can also create image files such as PNG, JPG, BMP, and more.

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10 Weeks of Free Tools Every VA Must Have - Week 7

Last week we discussed productivity and time management tools for virtual assistants, including BigContacts, Backpack, Jott, Remember the Milk, and Time Stamp. Now it’s time for…

Week 7: Forms for Your Virtual Assistance Website

Don’t you just hate building forms and monkeying around with all the code? Does the act of creating a form for your website leave you feeling clueless? If so, then I have the solution for you. Here are two simple web-based form builders that will have you building forms for everything in your business. Easy as pie!

WufooWufoo Form Builder: Hate using your web host’s form mail script or cgi bin? Then get on over to Wufoo to create your form, survey, or invitation without touching a line of code. Really! Wufoo automatically builds the database, backend, and scripts needed to collect your data fast. Need a contact form? No problem. Want to create a support ticket form for your clients? Done. The free version is limited to 3 forms, 10 fields, and up to 100 entries per month, but if you’re a non-techie VA who is just getting started or you just want to send a survey to current clients, Wufoo is just the right tool for the job.

JotFormJotForm: Another great web-based form builder is JotForm. JotForm features intuitive dragging-and-dropping and instant editing right from the form editor. Create web forms and collect submissions and payments from your website.

Have you come across any free tools for creating web forms? If so, share them with us. And don’t forget to check back next week for more free tools!

The Wonderful World of Web 2.0

Caution: DON’T READ THIS POST unless you have time to kill!

Now that you’ve been warned, I came across a super fantabulous site Friday night that literally blew me away. So much so that I can’t even bring myself to admit just how much time I spent (or wasted) viewing and checking out all the wonderful sites listed at www.Go2Web20.net, the complete Web 2.0 directory. Of course not all of that time was officially lost as I found some really great business tools I never would have known existed.

Go to Web LogoThere are over 1000 sites listed at Go2Web20.net and it’s easy to get a brief overview of what each one is about. Simply hover over the thumbnail image of a site or click on it for a little more detail including a link to the site’s homepage. You can even sort by name, date, or category to find exactly what you’re looking for and most likely, some you didn’t even know existed.

Go2Web20.net is a great resource that I’m sure will only get better as new sites pop onto the scene. Check it out when you have a few minutes…or hours. And don’t say I didn’t warn you!

Remembering 9-11

ribbon.gifToday marks the 6th anniversary of the devastating terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. The events that day horrified us as we watched nearly 3,000 people lose their lives while our entire nation seemingly stood still. That day changed our lives forever. I hope everyone takes a moment today to remember the lives lost, the friends and families of those that perished, and all those who spent countless hours on rescue and recovery efforts.

We remember 9-11 then, now, and forever.