J&S Tech Designs: Updates & Happenings
It has been a busy month for J&S Tech Designs, we are working on several project implementations and have several new websites just about ready to launch. With all that we wanted to pass along some great information on services and solutions found on the Internet that you may or may not be aware of.
Coordinating An Event: Tungle
As I sat in my office one morning, a flood of emails began to pour in. One of the committees that I am on was trying to organize a meeting. Subject: Leadership Meeting, Wednesday, June 20, 2009 @ 7:30am can you make it? I clicked Reply-All, of course, and said I could make it. I put the event on my calendar and went back to work. The hours went by and finally most everyone had responded. There are seven of us on the committee four people could make it three couldn’t so another date/time was selected. How about Thursday in the evening? That was good for a two of the three who couldn’t do Wednesday, but was bad for some of us who now couldn’t do Thursday. Has this happened to you? As it was happening to me, I knew there had to be a better way! There is (as always) a glitch - everyone has a different type of calendar. Some folks use Google calendar, some use Microsoft Outlook, some people are stuck in the 20th century and still use a Day-Timer and some just fly by the seat of their pants and wing it. (you know who you are…) So how do you coordinate all of those scenarios and get consensus among such a diverse group? You use Tungle. Tungle is an online calendaring tool with a simple to use interface that allows you to schedule meetings with a diverse group who may/may not have electronic calendars. If you have ever struggled trying to organize an event, you must check out this service from Tungle. Believe me, you’ll be glad that you did. Oh, did I mention that it is a FREE service?
Click here to view an online demo of Tungle in action!
Click here to view my online schedule and see a live Tungle account in action!
Getting Connected: LinkedIn
Are you LinkedIn? Better yet, are we connected via LinkedIn? If you don’t have a LinkedIn account, start one today and get connected to your colleagues, friends, alumni and past business connections. In today’s economy you can’t afford not to, you never know where that next lead or connection will come from and what better way to connect than with the power of the Internet. LinkedIn is no Facebook, you won’t be playing games, trying to find your perfect mate or uploading pictures of your vacation. This is for serious business connections and serious online social networking. You attend power networking events, right? Then why not create a profile on LinkedIn today and get connected to the people you want to network with. It’s quick, easy and again it is FREE!
Click here to view my LinkedIn profile and please connect with me today!
Staying Connected: Twitter
Next month’s newsletter will focus on Twitter and I will be giving you some tips and tricks that you can use immediately to help you stay connected with your power networking group.
Click here to view my Twitter feed and be sure to follow me!
Wheatland Wear: Zazzle eStore
We have a client who wanted to have some merchandise created for their organization that they could sell, make a small profit on, and not have to stock or ship any inventory. They wanted to offer several different products, like t-shirts, coffee mugs, mouse pads, hats, bumper stickers, etc, but they didn’t want the responsibility of becoming a retailer. It was a tall order, but we thought we could help them. We began by looking at several options. We really wanted to work with someone locally, but we couldn’t find a way to have a simple, easy to use online retail storefront without any up front commitments or minimum quantities. So after a bit of research, I discovered Zazzle. Zazzle allowed me to upload the client’s artwork, create their products for them, customize the eStore, and set the prices. It then allows individuals, like yourself, the option of ordering one t-shirt or bumper sticker without my customer ever getting involved in the process, except of course to move funds they make from their PayPal account to their bank account. And it allows the buyer to customize their purchase with color, size, and a host of other options to make it perfect for them. If your business needs specific promotional materials for upcoming events or unique products to promote you, I would always suggest that you work with a local provider like Name Droppers in Naperville, as personal service and expertise is key when trying to build or establish your brand. But if you have a need for unique customization, no product overhead and individual online order processing, then Zazzle might be the way to go.
Click here to check out the Wheatland Wear eStore and be sure to buy a t-shirt or bumper sticker.
I’m in Jail: Help Me!
No really, I need your help! I will be put in “Jail” on Wednesday, August 5th and I need your help to raise funds to bail out. You see a good friend of mine, (and when I say good friend you know you who are, ?) decided all on her own that it would be a good idea to give my name to the Muscular Dystrophy Association for an event that they are holding at which they are locking up executives and business owners around Naperville. On Wednesday, August 5th they are coming for me and the only way for me to get out is to raise enough bail - otherwise who knows what will happen? So please, take a quick minute and give a few dollars to a very worthy cause that will help children. You can also give money to keep me in “Jail” if that is your thing, but I will find out who you are so watch out!
Click here to donate some money to a very worthy cause, the Muscular Dystrophy Association, and help me get out of “Jail”.
J&S Module Highlight: Advanced Newsletter Module
You probably receive several newsletters from several organizations. Thank you, by the way, for taking the time to read ours! Anyway, you probably have seen or at least heard of Constant Contact, Reach Mail, Express Email Marketing, and a host of others. What you don’t know is that all of those services cost money and their users pay every month to send you their newsletters. J&S Tech Designs has a DotNetNuke module that sends out our newsletters and newsletters for some of our clients. The reccurring costs for our service is in line with other services out there, but the best part is that you only have one database for all your partners, customers, and clients right within your website. The same account and profile information that you have on file within your website is the same information used for email distribution. Oh, the best reason to use this over any of the other services, is that your newsletter will be automatically saved on your website for archival purposes. It’s a great way to add new content your site without having to do double entry. You must have a DotNetNuke Content Management driven website to take advantage of this integrated newsletter module and if you have a J&S Tech Designs website, then like Cialis, when you’re ready, it’s ready, to add this functionality I mean. As for everyone else, there are some great services out there to help and assist you with your email needs.
Click here to let us know if you are interested in the Advanced News Letter Module for your website.
DotNetNuke Feature Highlights: Event Calendar
Does your organization have events coming up? Do you want to advertise them on your website quickly and easily? Do you want to be able to maintain your event calendar yourself without contacting your “web guy” every time you want to make a change? The DotNetNuke Event Calendar is the best way to make this happen. If you have a need for event management, registration, planning, scheduling, etc. you should talk with us about what the DotNetNuke Event Calendar can do for you. This is one of our most popular modules and it is so easy to use and maintain. There is security built in so that if you have multiple people adding events they can’t change each other’s events. You can color code events, add links, make them reoccurring, allow for users to export them directly into their own calendaring software like Google, iCal or Outlook. We have modules to allow an upcoming list of events to be displayed on your home page in a well-contained module. You have events list, weekly views and/or monthly views. We can even customize the calendar to coordinate with the theme of the website.
If you are a current customer and you want to learn more, be sure to check out the members section of the J&S Tech Designs website for more information on the Event Calendar module. If you would like this functionality on your website, give us a call and see how we can bring you this cool functionality and so much more!
If you’ve read this far then hopefully you have enjoyed our monthly Newsletter. Please feel free to pass it along to anyone/everyone who you think might be interested. Tell them to subscribe on the J&S Tech Designs website and they will get their own copy of the newsletter delivered to them automatically each month.
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We are always looking for ways to help and give back, if there is a topic that you are interested in learning more about please let us know and we will try to get it into the next newsletter. We appreciate any feedback and would love to discuss your needs for website development. We continue to grow our business through word of mouth so if you know of anyone who could use a new website please pass our name along or if there is someone who you think might appreciate a call from us please let us know that as well.
Thanks again, and we will be back next month with some great Twitter Tips & Tricks!
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