Your+Future-Publicizing+Yourself+&+Your+Work

//Post information, resources, and tips for publicizing yourself and your work here.//

//Post free, online tools and resources that can help you function more efficiently at work here.//


 * //Brochures, Business Cards, Flyers, Newsletters//
 * //Conducting Meetings//
 * //CVs/Resumes//
 * //Fundraising//
 * //Productivity Tools//
 * //Reading//

=Books, Brochures, Business Cards, Flyers, Newsletters, & Other Publications=


 * [|CRAP Design Principles & Other Tips for Creating Eye-catching Banner Graphics]


 * [|Banner Generator]

Books
[|Blurb] - Inexpensive self-publishing with this free, downloadable software ($12.95 for 20-40 page, softcover book, $22.95 for hardcover). "Blog-slurping" - turn your blog into a book! Also does cookbooks, family history, portfolios, wedding albums, etc. user:chericem1

Brochures
[|Brochure Creator] - Design brochures and flyers by selecting themes and templates, editing the text, adding your own images, and printing. user:chericem1

Business Cards

 * [|Business Card Maker] - Design your own! user:chericem1


 * [|Business Card Design Tips]

Buttons

 * [|Button Maker]

Newsletters
[|Letterpop] - Fabulous, exceptionally easy newsletter creator filled with templates that allow one-click text editing and drag and drop photo placement. You can save them, print them, or publish them to a unique URL available online. You can have up to 10 different newsletters published on line at any given time user:chericem1

Posters
[|Motivational Poster Maker]

=Conducting Meetings=

[|Cmap] - Free, online collaborative concept mapping. Useful for brainstorming, organizing large projects, and planning events with large groups of people. user:chericem1

[|Evite] - This site allows you to design custom invitations that are visually appealing for various kinds of events, draft a guest list, send the invitations, and track the responses automatically. You can choose from pre-made themes and templates, or create your own. user:chericem1

[|Facilitating Meetings] - Helpful information re: how to prepare for, facilitate, and close meetings. user:chericem1

[|Group Facilitation Skills: A Toolbox for Effective Meetings] - This PDF contains 15-20 group process strategies that facilitators can use in professional development workshops and staff meetings to clarify issues, solicit input, create consensus, and make decisions. user:chericem1

[|Group Wise: The facilitator is the group's instrument] - Excellent article that summarizes the key language, roles, and purposes of facilitators, along with helpful discussion prompts.

[|Meeting Wizard] - A free, online tool that allows you to negotiate a date for an event, send out invitations, collect responses, and send reminders. . . all automatically! user:chericem1

[|Seven Norms of Collaboration: A Supporting Toolkit - PDF]

[|Skype] – Free software that allows you to talk to anyone in the world (up to 4 people at once) through your computer for free with a cheap headset mic (like the telemarketers wear) as long as the other person also has the software. Great for people who have limited cell phone minutes. user:chericem1

[|Yugma] - Free Web 2.0 videoconferencing software. (Read more about Tim Lauer's experiences with it here: [|http://edu.blogs.com/edublogs/2007/02/yugma_free_web_.html)] user:chericem1

=CVs/Resumes=


 * //CVs/Resumes//
 * [|Putting the CRAP Principles Into Action] - A one-page handout that visually illustrates how the use of key principles of graphic design can be used to create more effective resumes
 * [|Professional Teaching Resume Generator] - Useful for producing a draft, but the lack of control over formatting limits its utility in terms of a final copy

=Fundraising=

[|Firstgiving] - Online fundraising. . . quickly create a webpage regarding the cause of your choice, send the link to associates, clients, family, and friends, and track your progress! user:chericem1

[|Fundable.org] - Online fundraising: Solicit pledges, people pay via credit card or Paypal, but accounts are not charged until at least $1,000 is raised. Project does not have to be service-oriented. user:chericem1

[|Kiva: Loans That Change Lives] - Online small business loans. Kiva lets you provide a small ($25) interest free loan to a specific entrepreneur in the developing world empowering them to lift themselves out of poverty. user:ckendall

=Productivity Tools=

[|David Seah: Task Order Up!] - Phenomenal blog posting that touches on all sorts of issues that commonly plague businesses, many related to productivity and procrastination. The post contains links to free, innovative, practical tools that this graphic designer created based on fast food order systems to assist people in becoming more productive. The tools are beautifully designed, printable in black and white or color, available in multiple formats (ppt, html, pdf, b/w or color, different sizes, etc.), and could easily be adapted for use with employees. user:chericem1

[|De.licio.us] - This free social bookmarking site allows you to create an annotated list of online bookmarks to your favorite websites and to share them with others. Great for when you are working together to prepare presentations on special topics, for research and development groups, etc. You can set them to be private, shared with select individuals, or public. user:chericem1

[|FoxIt] - Free PDF reader that allows users to annotate PDFs via highlighting, text, or drawing tools, to fill out forms and save them, to view PDFs as text, etc. You can print the documents with or without your annotations. If you choose not to upgrade to a "for purchase" version, a small annotation stating that the document was prepared with FoxIt will appear in the upper right hand corner. user:chericem1

[|Getting Things Done with Google Notebook] - Quick overview of some of the ways a person could use Google Notebook to be more efficient and productive, complete with screenshots. user:chericem1

[|Google Calendar] - A superb way to keep groups organized. You can set up a personal calendar, a professional calendar, calendars for special projects, meeting calendars, and have them all feed into one calendar that you can use to print daily agendas for yourself. The calendar can also be shared so that your employees can access it, and you can insert it into your company's blog or website as well. user:chericem1

[|Google Docs] - Free, online spreadsheet and word processor like Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Word that lets multiple users on different computers edit a document simultaneously and save it online. Great for collaborative work on documents or spreadsheets among various group members. Combine this with [|Skype] for voice features too! user:chericem1

[|Google Notebook] – Lets you create your own running notebooks on the topics of your choice online. The notebooks can be kept private or shared, exported into Microsoft Word, etc., making them a great way for secretaries in various departments to take notes, keep track of sources, and communicate them to everyone else. This could also be a nice tool for keeping notes re: visits to clients that you've made, planning special events, etc. user:chericem1

[|Google Reader] - After creating a free account, you can use this service to keep track of the webpages to which you have "subscribed" (for free and very easily) using RSS technology. You can "subscribe" to blogs or websites that are informative for your business and easily keep track of who has posted new content. user:chericem1

[|Office 2.0] - Beautifully designed page with an extremely comprehensive, nicely categorized list of free, web 2.0 applications for businesses. user:chericem1

[|Picnik] - Absolutely fabulous, free, easy-to-use, extremely functional, online image editing software. Lets you rotate, crop, color, or edit photos and will soon offer special effects. Interfaces very well with Flicker. (Still in beta) user:chericem1

Wikispaces - Allows you to set up collaborative work spaces where multiple people can collaborate. Allows uploading of documents, files, images, and multimedia in addition to basic text, and includes discussion boards for every page, editing histories, revert options, RSS subscriptions, and the ability to review recent changes. Super for organizing large projects or keeping track of multiple committees. user:chericem1

=Reading=

[|Body Language: A Key to Success in the Workplace]

[|Communication in the Workplace - PDF]

[|Fifty-nine Smartest Orgs Online] - Links to successful non-profit organizations user:chericem1

[|How to Harness the Power of Web 2.0] - Very basic tips for beginners who are just thinking about how emerging technologies might support their business endeavors user:chericem1

[|Leading Answers] - A great blog dedicated to issues of agile leadership and project management. user:chericem1

[|Managerial Network Analysis]

[|Protocols & Other Resources - PDF]

[|Social Networking Goes Professional - WSJ.com]