Paperwork Overload - You Can Escape

A few years ago, I broke down and purchased a NEAT portable scanner and software to get the receipt monkey off my back. Let's face it - I'm a paperwork mess! Slips of paper are everywhere, stickies on my monitor and wall, wallets and purses overflowing with receipts, and tax time is a chiller.

Enter the NEAT thingy. I already had a scanner or two, along with OCR (Optical character recognition) software. Yet, I did not have a satisfactory method of maintaining receipts or business cards. At first I played cheap and considered only purchasing the software, but the idea of maintaining my mess while traveling just made sense. The beauty is that you have a visual of the receipt or business card, the items can be stored under any groups that you create, it easily transfers into a load of other programs (like Excel, TurboTax and Quicken) and it's totally acceptable by the IRS.

I have attended four conferences and over five business networking events in the past two months. The contact information can be overwhelming if you do not have a system in place to gather, sort, and search your collected information. You also have to document mileage and business receipts (I'm getting whoozy just thinking about it). Here's how I fared using (or not using) my chosen system

Exhibit 1: I attended the BEA (Book Expo America) at the end of May and I did not bring my scanner along with my laptop. Over half of the business cards I collected are still sitting on my desk. Most of my receipts for meals are piled high next to them. Have just been to busy to revisit.

Exhibit 2: I attended an Amex/Score SBA event in Washington, DC. I immediately scanned all cards (over 50) and was able to follow up with everyone within one day. Yea!

Exhibit 3: Just came back from FraserNet's PowerNetworking summit. I had my scanner and have entered all receipts and filed in the appropriate folder. I scanned half of my cards and will follow up before the week is done.

So, I'm better off with it. However, as always - a tool is only good when it is in use. I am changing my habits to better benefit my writing and business life. A little discipline and I might even have my taxes filed on time next year!

Tech Specs:
The NEAT system is comprised of a scanner and software. There is a desktop scanner with guides for 8" x 11", business cards and post cards. The smaller portable scanner is still available with software for both the PC and Mac platforms. Just over 10 ounces, it scans 3 to 4 receipts per minute in color or black and white, and is powered by your Laptop/PC's USB port. The Mac software is compatible with the Fujitsu ScanSnap models as well as leading scanners from Canon and HP (see Third Party Scanner with NeatWorks for Mac).

PC System Requirements:
Microsoft® Windows® XP or Vista® (32-bit and 64-bit)
Pentium® IV 1.3 GHz or later
1 GB RAM (2 GB highly recommended)
1 GB hard disk space to install
CD-ROM drive, Available USB port

Retail costs for the units with software are $499.95 for the desktop scanner and $229.96 for the mobile scanner. If you pass by a kiosk in an airport or mall, you can often get a 'twofer' price. The units are also available through Costco, where the price is much lower. The NEAT website also features refurbished mobile models for $99.

If this item saves you an hour or two a day, then it's more than worth it.




http://www.neatco.com/

Gone in 60 Months? No More Free Internet

So says Barry Diller at the Advertising 2.0 conference as reported by ZDNet.

Free Internet Dead in 5 years

“I absolutely believe the Internet is passing from its free days into a paid system. Inevitably, I promise you, it will be paid,” Diller said in a keynote discussion opening up the Advertising 2.0 conference held at his company’s futuristic glass building alongside the Hudson River in Manhattan. “Not every single thing, but anything of value. “

http://ow.ly/dxSV

Writers Rock A PDA

If you don't have a Personal Digital Assistant in today's fast paced world - how do you cope? It seems everyone has a cellphone and some of those will keep rudimentary calendar appointments and tasks, but for a busy (or soon to be busy) author the PDA is indispensable.

I remember the day when I first coveted a colleagues' Psion Organizer. Oooo - it held her little black book - but not much more. Good thing she didn't have many numbers in her rolodex. Later, Apple came out with the Newton handheld, a before-its-time idea the yet-to-be-connected world was not quite ready to embrace. The year the object of my digital affection was introduced was 1996. US Robotics presented us with the Palm Pilot and it was love at first sight. Two megabytes of RAM, AAA batteries and a green and black screen. Ooo, ooo and I CAN WRITE ON IT!!!! Graffiti was so close to my regular handwriting that I never had a learning curve using the Palm (accept after the Graffiti2 upgrade).

What is so wonderful about these units? How about storing information such as phone numbers, addresses, dates, notes, to do lists, appointments, calendars, passwords, websites, and recording your brilliant ideas when you get them just for starters? Every writing or business idea that I get is entered into my Palm surrogate memory. Saved until I transfer it to my PC and flesh the idea out into a story or blog. I became inseparable from my Palm(s). I upgraded with every new version and tried to spread the word by giving my older units away - a personal Palm evangelist.

My last 'pda only' was the Palm Tungsten T3, a slick unit that I eventually crashed into a tree while biking since I carried it everywhere. I was getting pretty tired of carrying both a pda and a cellphone anyway, so I moved over to the Treo 750p. It was a bit trying because this phone no longer used Graffiti, but the the convenience was unbelievable - along with the 24/7 web access just about anywhere in the states.

It's time for an upgrade and as a Mac lover I have resisted the iPhone onslaught for as long as possible. My lithium batteries are low and my anti-buy defense shields are weak. I have been patiently awaiting my next best writers tool. So what am I salivating over now? The Palm Pre. It is truly to 'die for' cute and that keyboard slide is just sexy. Like the iPhone it is not with my carrier (Verizon), but lucky for me - hubby is a diehard Sprint'er with a family plan. 

So what's the big deal? Why should a writer or small business person have a PDA? Here's my Top Ten List (+1):

• Create todo lists and mini-outlines for new writing projects on the go
  
• Schedule book signings and appearances
  
• Keep track of seminars and workshops
  
• Keep agent/editor/publisher contacts handy
  
• Immediately document ideas with memo or documents
  
• Cut and Paste article/story ideas and send to agents/editors
  
• Dictionary/Thesaurus
  
• Keep track of travel miles and expenses
  
• Update blogs and/or Twitter with SMS (text messages)
  
• Contacts can collect data from Facebook and other social networks.
  
• Get instant directions to appearances and book stores
  

It doesn't matter if you are a mega-selling author or a beginning self-publisher - a PDA will save you time and save your skin. This should always be the first virtual assistant that any author acquires. Do you have more ways authors and others in the lit field can utilize a PDA? Comment below.

Gotta go - my Palm is alerting me to a meeting.
:DW

Sprints' take on Now (those Tweeters are funny)

Let Your Files Speak To You On Box.net

As reported on Cnet.com:

Box.net has added iSpeech to its OpenBox platform, which lets users get integrated text-to-speech conversion on any text document they have stored on the service. Users simply have to add it to their list of used OpenBox services and it becomes a part of Box.net's contextual menus, meaning you only need to right click on the document and choose the text-to-speech option to get it going.

Box.net is a service that lets you share large files over the internet. Anyone who has tried to FTP or email a high resolution graphic or an entire book knows the frustration involved. This addition of a text to speech recognition service can only make the service much more useful.

While not free (unless you only have about 250 words in your novel . . . right!), this seems to be an important step into the direction that could really assist a huge majority of writers. You must have the iSpeech service to utilize this, so I think I will pass for now. However, I will definitely keep checking it out for updates.

Mini Movie Site Could be Great for Promotions

In this DIY world, many authors may choose to do a lot of their own grunt work. Xtra Normal is a site in beta that creates 'text to movie'. Their tag is "If you can type, you can make movies."

The site let's you make avatar starring movies (think The Sims or Second Life) and for the moment, it's free. Check out our tryout sample below that only to 20 minutes to build and save.
http://www.xtranormal.com/watch?e=20090421100108115

Great Twitter Explanation

Wondering what all of the fuss is about this 'tweet' thing? What is it and how does it affect you? This video from Current TV gets the point across and is very entertaining. Twitter is a great 21st century tool for writers if used correctly. 

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