Small business, look big

I just finished writing a new book for Microsoft Press called Take Your Business Online, and it shows small business owners how to create, publish, and maintain a Web presence (free!) while managing business contacts, organizing files, tracking projects, and much more. The bulk of the service is completely free, which is great for those of us who keep an eye on the bottom line. There are also add-on services that enable you to add keyword marketing, create a shopping cart so you can add e-commerce to your site (selling directly on your site or linking to an eBay account). Click here to learn more about Office Live Small Business, and click here to see the book on Amazon.

Note: Don't believe the description. They aren't out of stock. We don't go to the printer until the end of this month!

Gratitude :)

This morning marks the anniverary of an important day for me, and I've been thinking about all the great people I've been blessed to work with over the last few years. Whether I've provided print or web content, editing, indexing, or layout (or the softer-but-vitally-important services of guidance, encouragement, training, and experience), I am deeply thankful to these clients for the great work (and many experiences) we've created together:

• Microsoft Corporation (Sheri, Theresa, Nick, and Aaron!)
  
• Microsoft Press (Juliana, Lynn, Val, Sandra, and Lucinda)
  
• Emergent Learning (Chris and Jen)
  
• ChaCha.com (Bruce, Ben, and Scott)
  
• Peachpit Press (Karen et al)
  
• John Wiley & Sons (everybody who worked on Fundraising for Dummies)
  
• Pearson Education (Hi Tyrrell!)
  
• Sony Digital Media(Chris and Rob)
  
• Earlham School of Religion (Tim and Jay)
  
• The Center on Philanthropy (Pat and Lilya)

And a whole boatload (or should that be Cooper-load?) of gratitude to Claudette, at Moore Literary Agency. Here's to continuing great work, good friends, and meaningful connections for us all. :) Katherine

Great business article!

I read the article, "Why Wait for Trouble?", by Ken Freeman, on strategy+business this morning, and it's just too good to miss. A former CEO and turnaround consultant talks about the simple diagnostics he uses to bring to light the imbalances in a company and help it begin to move in a healthier direction. Great ideas for anyone in small, medium, or large companies. (And a good reminder of the importance of awareness, accountability, and communication on all levels.)

Happy 20th, reVisions Plus!

April 1, 2007 marked the beginning of reVisions Plus, Inc.'s 20th year. It's amazing to me that 20 years has passed already! Here's a list of some of the bigger benchmarks during that time:

• Wrote and published more than 60 books (!) in technology, parenting, and business genres
  
• Wrote the documentation for Microsoft Office 2003 Small Business/Pro and Microsoft Office 2007
  
• Edited and/or developed dozens (and dozens!) of books for high-quality publishers
  
• Designed and packaged books for a number of clients
  
• Moderated forums on fundraising and technology
  
• Wrote dozens of articles related to culture, parenting, technology, and faith
  
• Blogged about just about everything under the sun!
  
• Have been blessed to develop client relationships all over the world with terrific, smart, and creative people

When I started this business 20 years ago, I hoped to be able to earn a living using my writing ability so that I could stay home and care for my kids the way I wanted to. That hope became a reality, and now we're starting on the second generation with baby Ruby! I'm very happy in my work and am grateful for the freedom, flexibiliy, and positive energy reVisions Plus brings me. Thanks to all of you for the opportunity to write for (and sometimes with) you; I look forward to us having (at least) another 20 years together! :)

Free e-book

Riding a wave of inspiration today (fueled in part by the super-simple theme formatting features available now in Word 2007), I prepared one of my parenting books for free download as PDF and am now making it available on the web. It's called Stay in Touch with Your Teen and it provides lots of stories, examples, how-to, and insight into the life of a maturing teen (and the parent who is trying to find some solid footing in the shifting landscape)! I loved writing this book and put a lot of time and effort into the research, writing, and rewriting (and rewriting). :)

The book is 200 pages long and takes up 1.5MB. I hope you enjoy it! Please pass it on to anyone you think might find it useful. :)

First Look Book wins award

[Update: January 29, 2007]
The First Look Office 2007 System book recently won a Distinguished award at the Society for Technical Communications. That's a great honor! My editor, Val (who is a talented photographer as well) sent the packet today. This book was one of the most challenging I've ever written because of the fast-changing nature of Office 2007 as it went through it's alpha and beta cycles. So many Office program managers took time to give me information, details, backstory, and interviews. It was a book unlike any other. I'm glad others are enjoying it too!

New content on Windows Vista

[January 2007] Have you tried Windows Vista yet? I've been doing a lot of writing about it, covering the launch events, campaigns, and release festivities. Most recently I created all the content for the Windows Vista Community site, which is timed to go live at the same time Windows Vista Consumer launch happens (at the end of this month). I'll post the link when the site is up and running.

Over on the Windows Vista site right now, the team is running the "Show us your Wow" campaign, inviting people all over the world to submit video clips, poetry, images, what-have-you to share a moment in their lives when they knew everything had changed (that's Bill Gates' definition of a "Wow" moment). Click here if you're interested in sharing your own moment or you want to review what others are submitting. "Wow" moments are all around us--the birth of our children, the accomplishments of important goals, transforming realizations, special relationships, new inventions, medical breakthroughs, and more. The message that Windows Vista will change everything is coming through loud and clear.