As a Virtual Assistant who supports business owners with marketing, news distribution, or just keeping in touch, I have watched bulk e-mail services become the most popular method of communication.  These sites offer more than just a quick way to reach many people at one time.  Tracking reports provide much needed information about the performance of a campaign over time.  Some sites offer a way to segment your contacts into sub-groups for sending focused communications.  All of these sites require one basic prerequisite-a successfully uploaded list of contact records.  An e-mail campaign will not produce favorable results if the contact records are not complete and free of errors.

Have you ever mailed, emailed or attempted to call one of your contacts, only to find that the address or telephone number was incorrect?  After perhaps a few colorful metaphors you began the daunting task of obtaining the correct information.  You put on your sleuth hat and searched the Internet, made telephone calls or sent emails asking for help.  You spent precious time trying to reach the contact another way or through a mutual colleague. 

Surely you have received correspondence, by either mail or e-mail, with your name misspelled.  Or perhaps you didn’t receive an important invitation or notice because the sender had your previous address or telephone number.  There is a certain amount of confidence that is broken when you trust a company or individual with your contact information and you find that it was entered incorrectly or not maintained.

While there is limited control over online list building tools, technology has addressed a few issues such as the opt-in to avoid spam issues and the double entry of the e-mail address to guard against typographical errors.  Whether your “List” is created manually or through list building services, errors just happen.  Corrections however, can be a challenge.  At some point your contact records will need repair and you will pay with either your time or by hiring someone with the appropriate skills to do that for you. 

In order to get the most out of your “List,” take special care as you update your contact records. Or, hire an expert to update your records for you.  Do all that you can to keep them free of unnecessary punctuation, typos, and extra digits in street addresses or telephone numbers.  With a correct contacts list your communication project or marketing campaign will have a greater likelihood of a higher response rate.

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Tags:  contacts, contacts list, bulk e-mail marketing, e-mail marketing services, contact records, online list building, response rate, marketing campaign, virtual assistant

About the author:  Debbie Plummer, Owner and Virtual Assistant at Plum ExecuServices, specializes in Administrative Support and has over 25 years of experience in the corporate administrative assistant field.  Prior to starting her own business, Debbie provided executive support to presidents of companies in the Dallas/Fort Worth area in the home security and health/nutrition/fitness industries.  To learn more about working with a Virtual Assistant, contact Debbie through
her company website at PlumExecuServices.com.

Would extra hours in your workweek be of use to you?  Of course they would.  Perhaps you could visit that potential client or write that business proposal.  Maybe you could schedule time for exercise, go to lunch with a friend, or spend some quality time with your family.  The possibilities are endless and the number of extra hours you can create for yourself is up to you and your determination of the tasks you are willing to delegate to a Virtual Assistant (VA).

Here is how you can create extra time for yourself:

1. Identify the administrative tasks that are quick and easy for you to accomplish.  Usually these are the tasks you enjoy doing the most, e.g. updating your schedule or answering your personal
   e-mail.  Making a list of the tasks you enjoy will help you with the next step.
2. Determine which administrative tasks you do not enjoy or challenge you, e.g. typing projects are tedious to some.  If one isn’t an expert in word processing, a typing project can require extra time to accomplish.  Another task along the same lines would be data entry, such as the update and maintenance of your contact database. 
3. Of the administrative tasks you do not enjoy, determine the amount of time required each day, week or month to complete each one.  Add up the time and convert it to hours.  These hours represent the time you spend completing tedious office work.  Work that could be effectively accomplished by a skilled professional.
4. To help you determine which tasks can be accomplished offsite, contact a VA for an initial consultation.  A good VA will ask the right questions about your business and will have the expertise to create a plan of action in order to relieve you of the office jobs you avoid. 
5. Make the transition.  Hire an VA, set that plan into action, and put to good use the extra time you have created for yourself. 

It’s that simple.

About the author: Debbie Plummer, the Owner and Virtual Assistant, Administrative Support specialist at Plum ExecuServices, has over 25 years of experience in the corporate administrative assistant field. To learn how you can benefit through a partnership with a VA, see www.plumexecuservices.com/about.

For some strange reason, there are certain words in the English language that are frequently misused. We are going to deal with just two of them today; affect versus effect.   It’s not difficult to see why these two are commonly misused because they have very similar meanings; this makes it really easy or difficult, whichever way you want to view it.  It makes it really easy to misuse them or really difficult to determine which way that you should use them.  Today’s mission is to show you how to properly use these two words so that we can minimize misuse as much as possible.

How many times have you seen these two words improperly used?  Would you even notice if they were misused?  How many times have you yourself been guilty of misusing them?  These like a lot of other common words have been misused for many, many years and most people probably do not understand why.  What is the source behind misuse of common words in the English vocabulary?  I would like to go on record to say that maybe if people would take more time and define the meaning of words, then the misuse would not happen as frequently.  Before we proceed, let’s define each individual word because in order to truly understand how to properly use a word in a sentence, you must first understand the concept of the word.

Webster defines effect as ‘something that is produced by an agency or cause; result; consequence.’ And affect is defined as, ‘to act on; produce an effect or change in.’ Now if you noticed, the word ‘affect’ is defined with the word ‘effect’ included!  There are a few common words that have their opposing words included in defining them.  That is something that has always seemed to amaze me, how can some words be defined by other words being included?  I have always tried to be very careful when using these two words in a sentence and more often than not, I myself have been guilty of misusing these two words.

So how do you get to a point that you are no longer misusing these two words in sentences?  Well when you figure this out, be sure to shoot me an email! (Smile and give your face a break) Seriously though, if you take your time, redefine the words, and really think about what it is that you are really trying to say, these words, like all of the others, will no longer be a problem for you.  Taking just the word ‘effect’ and dissecting it, it is defined as pretty much the result of something, so you know that whenever you use this word, you will be speaking of the result of something.

For example, you can use the word in this sentence, ‘the young boy began to walk very slowly from the apparent pain in his leg but the doctor assured him that this was the effect of the medicine that was injected into his hip.’  Now, let’s dissect the next word, ‘affect.’  Notice this definition deals with action.  So an example sentence using this word would be, ‘the woman behind the counter has no idea how much her smile has affected every patient not to notice how long they were waiting to see the doctor.’  When you understand the concept of a definition, then using the words in any sentence will no longer become a problem for you because you understand what needs to be expressed.

That was the crash course in conceptual understanding of commonly misused words so how will you approach all commonly misused words from this point forward?

About the Author:  Tameka (L.A.) Anderson,  owner of L.A. Say Inc., is a creative writer and interpersonal relations consultant.  She is a graduate of the University of Phoenix where she studied Criminal Justice and Communications. L.A. has been a writer since the age of 9.  Her writing background includes several copyright stage plays, published web content, articles, and published poems.  2010 will debut her first of many published books.  Contact L.A. at info@lasayinc.com or at www.LASayInc.com.

First of all, what is “Internet-iquette” or as most like to call it, “Netiquette”?  We will define Netiquette as the proper way and technique one uses in order to approach, relate, and communicate with others by way of Internet.  Whether it’s via email, blogs, twitter, myspace, facebook, or any other social media networking sites, understanding the proper way in which to communicate with words is very important.  One must be extremely careful in how they use their words because by you not verbally speaking them, it is much easier to be misunderstood and misinterpreted.  One of the greatest misinterpretations is the one that is written!

Seeing how Internet is the most popular and most effective way of communication these days, how does one get around being misunderstood when they are communicating via Internet?  There are a few steps that you must take to ensure that you use proper etiquette as it relates to communicating without verbally using your words.  The keyboard is a very important instrument in communicating because in one keystroke and two or three words, you can totally change the way someone thinks about you.  Using ALL CAPS is something you do not want to indulge in often as using caps is viewed as speaking loudly about a matter, a.k.a. shouting.  Who in the world likes it when someone else shouts at them?  More often than not, most people detest shouting so why would you shout in your text?  Unless you and the person which whom you are communicating with via Internet are on an intimate, very personal first name basis, take EXTREME caution in using caps (pun is definitely intended here).

Next, what you want to always do is read, read, and re-read the message before publishing it to the web.  Not only will you need to read it, you must read it aloud.  This will ensure you do not have any punctuation errors or misspellings, and more important than anything else, you are not offensive to people.  It is almost impossible to not offend someone at any given time but you want to use as much discretion as you possibly can in order not to offend the majority.  It would be better if someone read a typo or misspelling of a word than if you offended anyone with the content of your words.  Now having typos or misspellings are not good things either and we will discuss that later, but for sake of argument, typos or misspellings would be the lesser of the two evils.

The next thing we must mention is about having typos and or misspellings.  We are all human and therefore to make mistakes is natural but that is not an excuse to be lazy.  In our wonderful world of modern technology, we have spell check and some programs even have grammar check as well.  Even though you may be typing the word “work” but in context you needed to type the actual word “word”, this is where reading it aloud would be most helpful to you.  Because once you use the spell check, you will not be alerted that there is a misspelled word because the word was spelled correctly; it was just not the correct word you would use in your text.  Some people (mostly writers) find it very offensive when they read typos because for some reason, we believe that it is just rude.  How in the world would you like someone to read something you wrote and you have so many typos involved?  Do yourself and everyone around you a favor, proofread!

After reading these wonderfully helpful hints, how would you rate your Netiquette?  If it’s not that great, what steps would you take to make it better?

About the Author:  Tameka (L.A.) Anderson,  owner of L.A. Say Inc., is a
creative writer and interpersonal relations consultant.  She is a graduate
of the University of Phoenix where she studied Criminal Justice and Communications. L.A. has been a writer since the age of 9.  Her writing background includes several copyright stage plays, published web content, articles, and published poems.  2010 will debut her first of many published books.  Contact L.A. at info@lasayinc.com or at www.LASayInc.com

Step 1 – Make the decision to go paperless. Sounds simple enough but, going paperless will require some changes in how you keep records. Conduct a quick survey of how you file your important papers. Get used to reading documents on your computer instead of printing out and filing for your record.  As a general rule before you print a document, ask yourself, “Is this document already on file where I could acquire a copy if needed?” Document files you want to keep but do not require printing, can be copied or moved to special directory on your computer.

Step 2 – Invest in a quality scanning device and document view software. Quality equipment does not necessarily mean it’s expensive. There are affordable scanning devices available. Consider a single multi-page scanner unit or an all-in-one printer, scanner, fax machine equipped with an auto document feeder. Speaking from experience, the units with a document feed are much more convenient due to the hands free operation. My all-in-one officejet has three dpi settings for my choice in the quality of the scan and file format choices of PDF, JPG, email PDF or JPG, or text.

To view and print your scanned pages, the most commonly used viewing software for PDF files is Adobe Reader. You probably already have a version of it on your computer. If not you can download it for free at http://get.adobe.com/reader/. In order to add, delete or rearrange pages in a PDF file you will need to purchase a version of Adobe Acrobat. Additional free and prepaid services are provided online at http://acobat.com.

Step 3 – Set up a Scanned Document directory on your computer. Before you start scanning you will need to set up a filing system on your computer that is comparable to your paper filing system. Add folders under your Scanned Document directory in the same order or make changes as needed. If you file your records by date or category, it is easy to move directories around on your computer.  Note: As you begin to file your scanned documents on your computer it is important that the file name describe the document in as much detail as possible for ease in finding the document as needed.

Step 4 – Start scanning. Scan every document, letter, magazine article, record, etc., that you would normally store in a filing cabinet. Small pieces of paper can be taped or glued to a full sheet of paper for scanning. Instead of making paper copies of letters, memos and legal papers, scan the final document and save them to your computer.

Step 5 – A backup system is a must have. It is important that you have a reliable backup and data storage device for your computer system. Computer systems do fail and for your legal records to be safe, you must have a back up system.  Backup storage devices are not expensive and could be a life saver when it comes to your business and personal records.

Step 6 – Destroy the original. In order for your scanned document file to be considered your legal record, you must not keep the original document in paper form. After scanning and insuring that you have a valid copy of the document, you must destroy the original. However, it is permitted to have a set trial period in the beginning, where documents are saved in paper form and electronically until a reliable backup system is in place and you are comfortable with the scanned record system.

Soon you will realize the benefits and ease of paperless record keeping. You will spend less on paper and filing will become a thing of the past.

About the author: Debbie Plummer, the Owner and Virtual Assistant, Administrative Support specialist at Plum ExecuServices, has over 25 years of experience in the corporate administrative assistant field. To learn how you can benefit through a partnership with a VA, see www.plumexecuservices.com/about.

Research, research, research – How many times have you purchased an item only to find it later at a lower price or in another brand with better features?  Of course it is virtually impossible to see into the future for dates of the “big sale” but, buying at the best price at the time just makes good sense.

Are you like many others out there: short on time, patience and the gasoline budget to shop locally? In this digital day and age, there is an abundance of  resources to shop online.  Web sites for the major department stores, warehouse outlets, and price comparison sites offer the buyer a plethora of information.  Most sites have detailed item descriptions and photos.  Others offer side-by-side feature comparisons and rebate info.  The comparison sites provide you with a list of retail stores with the item in stock along with the price.

However, there is one little drawback to shopping online.  It is time consuming.  For most people the holidays seem to sneak up on them every year.  If you start now, you can avoid the holiday rush. 

Think of your virtual assistant as a Virtual Holiday Helper.  One who will do the research for you; find the item and site from which to purchase; send you the link to make the purchase or make the purchase for you.  And voil’a, another item to cross off of your shopping list.

A virtual assistant who offers Internet research and purchasing services knows where to find a good deal.  He or she will know the sites that offer free shipping or gift wrapping and specialty sites that offer nice seasonal items such gift baskets, fruit, goodies and flowers.  Items can be drop shipped to you or directly to the recipient with a personalized message inside.

The holidays are a wonderful opportunity to spend quality time with family and friends.  With the assistance of your “Virtual Holiday Helper” you will have your shopping finished early with little effort and have time to enjoy the reason for the season.

About the author: Debbie Plummer, the Owner and Virtual Assistant, Administrative Support specialist at Plum ExecuServices, has over 25 years of experience in the corporate administrative assistant field. To learn how you can benefit through a partnership with a VA, see www.plumexecuservices.com/about.

During my career as an administrative assistant, there were many times when a telephone call or
the visit of a colleague was untimely or a huge interruption.  Patience is a virtue they say but also an important part of my job.  In my position, I was the first voice or face experienced prior to that of the
person I supported.  Attitude was the key, as I smiled and graciously worked through the interruption. 
All that could be resolved was handled pleasantly, and I could return to my work.

How many times have you called a customer service department with an issue and you had to tell your story more than one time in order to get to the person authorized to take action on your behalf?  The transfer to yet another customer service representative or department was not only frustrating, but time consuming.  And, a third transfer was just annoying.

Technology has improved the process of measuring how service
is provided to customers.  Telephone calls are timed and recorded for training purposes.  Companies with large call centers provide employees with a script.  Supposedly, a script ensures that proper pleasantries are exchanged, an apology is offered and the “right” questions are asked, e.g. “have I provided you with excellent customer service today?”  Most people do not have the time to answer “no” to that question.  It would require more time to explain why.

Complaints are opportunities.  It is the good customer who asks for help.  Unfortunately, studies show that an unpleasant experience with a company’s service will often cause the customer to leave the business relationship.  Forgiveness is not common, the customer just moves on.

A positive mindset is what exceptional customer service is all about. Being helpful and willing to take possession of the challenge is a substantial relief to a customer. Taking the time to listen and collect all of the facts is imperative to resolving the issue(s).  Otherwise, one could jump to the wrong conclusion.  After all, the customer has a story.  In most cases, telling their story helps the customer to feel better. They do not wish to hear excuses–they just want their problem corrected. It is important that the customer be reassured that the representative/company truly cares; and, secondly, that action on their behalf will follow as quickly as possible.

It is such a good feeling when I walk into my bank and my bank officer still calls me by name. And it’s nice when a teller, other than the one completing my transaction, asks me if I have been helped.  Or, the cashier at the market works my name into the “thank you” as my member discount card is returned.  One can only hope that as service providers are we coming full circle.  Back to just good old fashioned customer service–a concept that my college professor worked hard to instill in me and continues to serve me well in my business as a virtual assistant today.

About the author: Debbie Plummer, the Owner and Virtual Assistant, Administrative Support specialist at Plum ExecuServices, has over 25 years of experience in the corporate administrative assistant field. To learn how you can benefit through a partnership with
a VA, see www.plumexecuservices.com/about.

During my years of administrative support, I have found people to be in one of two categories when writing and the use of the comma.  There are those who are nervous about the use of the comma and avoid using it as much as possible.  Or, there are those who are fearless and put in a comma whether the sentence needs it or not. 
As a virtual assistant, I am somewhere in the middle between these two categories. I like the comma.  It breaks up long sentences and sets apart lists of things.

Herein constitutes a problem.  If you are a fearless comma user and your client is a nervous comma user, you just might not agree on the proper use of it in the work you are doing.

For example: Using commas to separate words and word groups with a series of three or more. Seems simple enough but, what if the abbreviation “etc.” is used at the end of a series of three or more in a sentence?  Does a comma belong before “etc.,” after, or in both places?  My humble opinion is that a comma belongs in front of the word and after.  However, to be sure, I researched this one.

There appears to be more than one school of thought on the answer to this question.  The general consensus is that a comma belongs before the abbreviation “etc.” and after.  The exception is when “etc.” is used at the end of a sentence.

Examples:
1)  For Sunday dinner Mom cooked fried chicken, whipped potatoes, gravy, etc., and the food was so good that I ate too much.
2)  We planted a garden this year with corn, black-eyed peas, tomatoes, etc.

On one occasion I proofread a report that included the use of “etc.,” at the end of a series of three or more, without commas many times within the document.  Being a perfectionist and after doing some research, I brought this particular comma preference to my client’s attention.  In this instance I was fearless and added commas around each “etc” and highlighted the changes for my client to see.  My client disagreed and the commas were removed.  It was certainly my client’s right to have the final say. And, because there appeared to be no iron-clad rule, I let it go.

In a nutshell: trust your virtual assistant to know the rules of punctuation. As a virtual assistant it is my duty to point out punctuation errors or verbiage that is grammatically incorrect.  It is an integral part of what I am paid to do – polish your written masterpiece until it shines for you and your colleagues, peers, friends, mentors, etc.

About the author: Debbie Plummer, the Owner and Virtual Assistant, Administrative Support specialist at Plum ExecuServices, has over 25 years of experience in the corporate administrative assistant field. To learn how you can benefit through a partnership with a VA,
see Virtual Assistance 101.

The old saying “When life gives you lemons…make lemonade,” remains true and has become a positive response to bad news lately.  So, to make lemonade or sustainable income, as it was in my case, the first thing I needed was a quick inventory of what I had.  Next, a list of what I needed.  And lastly, coming up with a plan to get me where I wanted to be.

Inventory

The inventory list consisted of skills, equipment, tools, etc., that I owned and would enable me to accomplish what I did best, administrative support.  No better way to remind yourself of your skill set than a quick update of your résumé.

I had a home office, desk, computer, fast internet access and a printer.  Through social networking I maintained contact with previous managers, mentors, colleagues, relatives and friends.  There was a plethora of information on the web and I had several friends that were entrepreneurs in their own right.

Needs

As in the past I needed a job that provided me with ample income.  Did I want a position at a company? The majority of the support I had provided to executives over the past five years could have been accomplished from my home office. What about starting my own business?  If I started my own business, what would be fair compensation for my services?

After a little soul searching and research all of the questions above were answered. I found that I could start my own business offering administrative support as a Virtual Assistant (VA).  The start-up capital required would be reasonable due to the fact that I already had a fully-equipped home office established.

Other than the obvious, like a business name, bank account and a dedicated telephone line, there were only a few things that were necessary to get started.  For my computer I needed accounting software and an electronic fax service.  There were legal documents, applications and registrations to acquire and file.  A company logo, business cards and stationary needed to be designed for marketing, networking and correspondence.  And lastly for my virtual business, I needed a hosted website.

Plan

My plan began with advice from those who were already in business as VAs.  After some in-depth research and planning, my needs list turned into a chronological “To Do” list. Immediately I took action on the items one by one.

The company name required the most research because I wanted a name similar or exactly the same as the URL for the website.  With an estimated 4,000 VA businesses in the U.S., and a worldwide industry growing at a remarkable pace, the name required the most consideration.

Once the business name was determined, the remainder of my plan fell into place.  Everyone I came in contact with at the bank, telephone company, county or state offices, mirrored my enthusiasm for my new business.  That’s not to say there were no challenges.  But I overcame these challenges and, in doing so, I gained a lot of knowledge and experience from them.

Starting my own business doing what I enjoy and do best – providing administrative support – could be considered “Fate” but in my case it is also a “Choice.”  My career of “Choice” was Administration.  And it is a blessing that my “Fate” is continuing my career of choice as a Virtual Assistant.

About the author: Debbie Plummer, the Owner and Virtual Assistant, Administrative Support specialist at Plum ExecuServices, has over 25 years of experience in the corporate administrative assistant field. To learn how you can benefit through a partnership with
a VA, see www.plumexecuservices.com/about.