ISSN 1939-2834
Vol. 1, No. 39 | December 31, 2007

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In This Issue:

• From the Editor
• TECHNOLOGY: To Update or Not to Update, That Is the Question
• Next Month's Free Teleseminar on January 17, 2008
• Find a Qualified Virtual Assistant Today

From the Editor

The new year is a time of wiping the slate clean, resolving to accomplish new goals, and giving things in your business a spit and polish. This is the perfect time of year for upgrading software, and Sandy Johnson is here this week to help you decide which way to go.

Have a safe and happy New Year's Eve. Give yourself and your loved ones a big hug from us, and we'll see you in 2008!

Cheers!

Danielle Keister
Founder & CVO
Virtual Assistance Chamber of Commerce

To Update or Not to Update, That Is the Question

While there are numerous suites available (basic, home and student, standard, pro, etc.), I personally opted for Ultimate because I wanted to tinker around with Groove, OneNote and InfoPath. For this conversation though, we'll just stick with the basics as they apply to the most common applications liike Word, Excel and PowerPoint. (If you want to dive into some of the newer applications in the Office Suite like Groove or InfoPath, check out Microsoft's website.)

So what's new for 2007? THe first thing you'll notice is that the overall user environment is a little different with all the 2007 applications (it is a new version; they gotta switch things up a bit!). I must say, it's taken me some time to figure out where most of my favorite icons/commands are. For example, instead of clicking "file" to access print or save options, you now must click an MS logo icon. Sure, things look and feel different, but the basics are still the same. It just takes a little time to get used to it.

Of note are some behind the scenes changes to Office that users should definitely be aware of. Office now used an XML format for files, which reduces the overall file size. (HINT: Word 2007 documents asave as "yourfilename.docx" rather than "yourfilename.doc"). This new feature is great if you send a lot of large files via email. However, it does cause some compatibility issues with older versions of Office. If you update to 2007, you do have the option to save files in the old 97-2003 format. If you're on an older version of Office, a compatibility pack is available from Microsoft.

The best new features of Office 2007 are those that simplify the use of other modern technologies. One such example is that Word 2007 is blogger-friendly. You can now create new blog posts and publish them directly from Word. Just enter the login information for your existing blog(s) and off you go! For those of us who type out our blog posts in Word first, this is a great convenience. When you're done typing, rather than saving the file, it's imported to your blog platform where you can make additional adjustments. When you're ready to publish the post, simply click the "publish" button inside of Word and you're done. This feature is compatible with most of the common blog hosts including TypePad, Blogger, Sharepoint and Wordpress. For me, that feature alone made it worth the the cost of updating.

RESOURCE: For more information on Office 2007 applications and their various features, visit the Microsoft website.

About the Author: Sandi Johnson is the founder of Virtual Yours LLC, a Virtual Assistant practice specializing in supporting creative professionals by taking over the administrative tasks sucking up their time and blocking their creative energy, thus enabling them to once again pursue their passion with zeal. Sandi is a member of the Virtual Assistance Chamber of Commerce, as well as managing editor of the Technology section of the VACOC's weekly e-zine, Gritty Business Buzz.

FREE Teleseminar on January 17, 2008: Find Your Inner Consultant – 5 Steps to Learning the Art of Intuition

Everyone is blessed with intuition, and with practice and dedication to learning, one can excel and strengthen this innate gift. Join us on Thursday, January 17, 2008, when Intuitive Artist Jennifer Crews guides us on an internal journey to finding our own inner consultant and learning how to strengthen and utilize this invisible intelligence in business and all areas of our lives.

RESERVE YOUR SPOT TODAY: Go here to register >>

- A D V E R T I S E M E N T -

FIND YOUR NICHE IN 2008! Become a Trained Author’s Assistant when you learn how to “Tame the Publishing Process.” Next session starts January 9. Gritty Business Buzz readers receive an automatic $50 discount. Class size is limited to 15. Check out some of our graduates at AuthorsAssistants.com. Click here to get the details and the discount.

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Find a Qualified Virtual Assistant Today!

You don't have to live in overwhelm. You CAN get just the help you need without having to hire in-house staff. Find yourself a great Virtual Assistant today, and go from struggling by yourself to getting things done and thriving on the road to success.

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Virtual Assistance Chamber of Commerce, PO Box 7101 Tacoma WA 98417. You are on our list because you are a registered subscriber or signed up for one of our programs. To change your subscription, see link at end of email notification. Gritty Business Buzz is a trademark of the Virtual Assistance Chamber of Commerce. All logos and names are the copyrights of their respective owners.

© 2007 Virtual Assistance Chamber of Commerce. All U.S. & International rights reserved.