When you are the one managing multiple calendars, this feature is a time-saver! Can you imagine looking at 10 calendars all at once trying to determine the best place to enter an appointment? I personally know people who have to do this daily and they just rave about this feature. It gives you the "big picture" which makes it easier to know who's available, what spots are open, etc.

Check out the video demo included in this post.

Ever wonder how to create an "Add This Event" link to your website for your own events? It's easy to do using Outlook!

You've seen them on other websites, right? When you sign up for something there's either a little icon or a link that lets you add the event directly to your own calendar. Now, you can do the same. It's so easy, you'll wonder why you didn't think of it before.

Check out the video included in this post.

While I LOVE Outlook and all it can do for managing your daily business information, one area that has always been lacking for me is in calendar printing options.

Never Fear - the Calendar Printing Assistant is here!

A free download from Microsoft, the Calendar Printing Assistant for Office Outlook 2007 is an application for people who need an easy way to print and customize their Outlook 2007 calendar information. It puts you in control of the tools you need and helps you plan and create designer-quality output.

A very cool feature is the ability to print multiple calendars in either side-by-side view or overlay mode. Awesome!

There are plenty of calendar templates to choose from, including a way to print your own yearly calendar with your custom picture. S-W-E-E-T!

They are authored in a documented, open XML file format, which makes them easily extensible to third parties.

Check out the video included with this post.

Click To Play

RECENTLY RELEASED!

Google has released a sync tool which provides an AUTOMATIC 2 way sync between your Google and your Outlook 2003 or 2007 calendar. It was easy to install and set up, plus it works! Just log into your Google calendar and you'll see it at the top.

If you don't want 2-way sync, that's cool too. You'll be presented with sync options.

Check out Google's article on it.

First, download the application and go through the installation process.  Once installed, there are 3 options you can choose from:

2-way sync, applies changes to both your Google Calendar and Outlook calendars with each other
1 way sync where Google Calendar events will be presented on your Outlook calendar
1-way sync where your Outlook calendar events are presented on your Google Calendar.

Check out the video below.

This is one of those unplanned and unscheduled video tips, and it was prompted by a simple email I received less than an hour ago. I immediately thought it would be a great example of how to utilize the new internet calendar functionality of Outlook 2007. It's just another way to show you how Outlook 2007 will help you to be more productive...plus it has the added bonus of taking you just a few minutes to do. In my book, that's always a plus.

Check out the video to see this shining example of the internet calendar (.ics) feature in Outlook 2007.

*Video available in both formats: m4v (for small portable media players) and wmv (for larger desktop viewing)

Enjoy your day!

Most of us are about keeping things simple.  Especially business people. So many things to remember, so many things to do, so many steps to take.

  *Video available in both formats: m4v (for small portable media players) and wmv (for larger desktop viewing)

If you work with a product or software application long enough, you figure out ways to make it work for you and the ways that you like to do things. Take billable time, for example. Specifically, keeping track of your billable time with clients, either for meetings or for working on their projects.

I've simplified this process by utilizing color coding for calendar items. Combined with the To Do Bar in Outlook 2007, I'm easily able to see what's coming up on my calendar that is of a billable nature...something that's always very important to a business owner.

For me, this is a process that I've integrated into my business by combining my Outlook calendar, Business Contact Manager 2007, and Microsoft Office Accounting. I track my billable time on my calendar, link it to customer record in Business Contact Manager, and create the invoice item directly from the calendar item. See what I mean? Simple and easy.

Also, as a bonus, you can assign multiple color categories to any item. What this means is that you can have something color coded as a billable item AND for a particular project. Again, the benefit of using colors for calendar items is the ability to easily see what is coming up on your calendar by using the To Do Bar on the right.

Now, take this same concept and apply it to other things on your calendar that could be color coded for easy visual identification on the To Do Bar.  Maybe billable items are not something you track. Perhaps you're more project focused. You'll benefit from color coding items on your calendar based on the project you're working on.  Using these simple features in Outlook 2007 can really help you identify the nature of what's coming up on your calendar.