Dear [FIRSTNAME] [LASTNAME],

The JD Approach newsletter now has almost 400 subscribers. If you know someone who might like to receive this newsletter please forward it on and ask them to subscribe at our website; www.jdapproach.co.uk

The JD Approach Team

Website of the Month

JD Approach is based at G1, which is part of the property portfolio that is Spaces Sheffield.  We are proud to have produced this website to help promote our landlords.

http://www.spacessheffield.com

OOO

 

• In Calendar, in the Navigation Pane, select the check box of another calendar that you want to view.

• The calendar that you selected opens next to calendar that is already displayed.

• Repeat step 1 for each calendar that you want to view.

• On the Calendar tab ,
  click .

• The calendars are now in overlay mode and you can easily find the times when everyone is free.

Dates for your Diary

 

Wednesday 30th April 2008

South Yorkshire Women in Business

Metrodome Leisure Complex, Barnsley
The 2008 South Yorkshire Chamber Women in Business Networking Event with guest speaker Janet Street Porter.

10.20am – 2.30pm,
£35.00 plus VAT for members of Rotherham and Barnsley, Sheffield or Doncaster Chambers,
£45.00 plus VAT for
non-members
www.brchamberwib.co.uk

OOO

Monday 12th May 2008

Forward Ladies Cafe
Aston Hall Hotel

This is an informal weekly event for women in business, which takes place every Monday at Aston Hall Hotel.
There is also a free IT surgery from
JD Approach on the first Monday of every month - As this falls on a Bank Holiday for May we have moved our session on to the following week.

9.30am till 12pm
FREE
www.forwardladies.com

JD APPROACH NEWSLETTER

Several of our customers either send their own newsletters via office mailmerge or use one of the many online systems that are available for sending multiple email marketing campaigns and newsletters, however everyone seems to have an issue with their chosen method in some form or another.

We therefore decided that we could develop our own system allowing our clients to send their newsletters or email marketing campaigns through a secure site which is maintained and managed by JD Approach developers.

This means that our customers will have the peace of mind of knowing that they can call us and get friendly, local support at the end of the phone or by email whenever they have a problem or questions about their online campaigns.

The system will allow users to import Microsoft Outlook contact lists (and lists from other products in the future) and will also offer statistics on how each mailing has performed, such as how many people opened, deleted or forwarded your message, which links they clicked on and how long they spent reading it.

The new JD Message system is still in the testing phase and this is the first newsletter to be sent through the new site. We are now looking for customers to help us test it and in return we will provide the service for free until the full go-live point.

To find out more go to the JD Message website:
www.jdmessage.com

If you would like to help us with our beta testing and get exclusive free usage of the new system please contact deric@jdapproach.co.uk

Time For a Change of Office? 

Microsoft have dominated the office suite software market for many years but the introduction of Google Apps, the collection of free online software solutions offered by the new IT industry giants, is already causing ripples in the consumer market as more people every day switch to using Internet-based software such as Google Docs, which offers standard word processing, spreadsheets and presentation creation. 

But while it has the obvious advantage of cost saving, what else can it offer your business and is it right for you? 

Google Apps is a solution for people on the go who require access to up to date documents from several locations.  Documents are stored online so it is possible to access them from any computer (and many mobiles) with access to the Internet.  You can collaborate easily with others by sending a link to the stored document to the people who need to work on it with you.  Each of the collaborators update the same shared copy therefore no more emailing attachments and managing of multiple responses.   You can also set permissions for who can edit or view the documents.  You can also share contacts and calendars with other Google Apps users as well as publishing directly to your blog or creating a basic web page.  And the icing on the cake, no more lost files due to a corrupt hard drive or virus!! All that for free!

However, if you or your staff are power users and take advantage of the advanced features of Microsoft Office Excel and Word for instance, you may be somewhat disappointed and frustrated with the basic functionality of Google Docs, which for the moment at least only offers the more popular features.   And it may save you money in the short term on licence fees but don’t forget that everyone will need retraining and changing IT systems will impact on productivity in the workplace until everyone gets used to the new ways of working.  So unless you’re thinking of changing your software anyway, make sure you consider all this before deciding. 

Also, if you have problems with a slow or intermittent Internet connection, a purely online solution may not be ideal.  But you may wish to use a hybrid solution.  Create the documents offline using Word, Excel, etc then simply upload them to Google Docs if you need to share them with others.  Just be sure to check that everything looks and works as you expect once you’ve uploaded it.

Our conclusion: It may take some time and the addition of many of the features most of us have come to rely on before Google Apps becomes a serious contender for Microsoft’s crown in the business support software market, but it can certainly add value now as a complimentary solution when used alongside Microsoft Office or other office suites.  To find out more about it watch this short video from Google, which is quite unique in its “retro” simplicity or take a tour of Google Docs.  While you’re looking around the Google site make sure you take a look at all the other software applications they have for download and the beta test versions of new software by visiting  Google Labs.

If you’re interested in finding out more about Google Apps or other alternatives to Microsoft Office, such as OpenOffice, would like some help getting started using one of these solutions or deciding which software is right for you, call us for a chat, we’d be happy to advise you.

Contact training@jdapproach.co.uk to find out about the training courses we offer in Microsoft Office, OpenOffice and GoogleApps.

Find out more by calling us on 0114 2544 004 or visit our website http://www.jdapproach.co.uk

JD Approach Ltd, G1, 824 Attercliffe Road, Sheffield, S9 3RS