Archive for: Organizing Options

What goes around comes around

Linda Samuels

When I signed up for Twitter four years ago, I had no idea how much it would help me to expand my network. I’ve received referrals and inquiries, books and products to review, guest blogging opportunities, and connections to people I now consider friends, even though we’ve never met in person. One of those people is Linda Samuels, author of The Other Side of Organized.

Linda is a regular participant in the Professional Organizers Blog Carnival, and was kind enough to write a guest post for me about how she fulfilled her dream of writing a book, so when she invited me to take part in her ”Ask the Expert” series, I didn’t hesitate for a moment. If you’ve ever considered enlisting help, whether from a virtual assistant such as myself, or in any area of your life, I hope my answers to Linda’s questions will enlighten you and perhaps even encourage you to take that next step.

You may not realize that the topic for August’s Professional Organizers Blog Carnival was Top Ten Lists. Linda’s submission was titled 10 Best Sources for Organizing Help, and much to my surprise and delight, not only did she include the Professional Organizers Blog Carnival on her list, she cleverly used that opportunity to announce my upcoming appearance on her blog.

Linda and I are very different kinds of people: my personality type is ISTJ while hers is ENFJ, yet despite that, or perhaps because of it, we get along nicely and learn much from each other. Our relationship reminds me of that old song:

We belong to a Mutual Admiration Society.

Is there someone in your life who inspires and supports you? I’d love to hear about it!

Deals for Black Friday and Cyber Monday

piggy bank savingsSo far, we’ve been blessed with pretty mild weather here in Southern Ontario, and it’s easy to forget that it’s only a month till Christmas. That means crowded stores and parking lots for the next few weeks, whether you’re shopping for gifts or simply the regular day-to-day needs of your home and business.

You can avoid the madness by doing at least some of your shopping online, and some e-tailers are making it even easier by offering special deals for “Black Friday” or “Cyber Monday.” Here are just a few that might be of interest:

Calendars.com – Save up to 60% on all orders (plus free shipping in continental USA)

Everyone needs a calendar, and this site offers an extensive selection of both wall calendars and desk calendars for everyone on your shopping list – including yourself!

momAgenda Day Planners – Save 20% on all orders (plus free shipping in continental USA)

  • Save an additional $10 on orders over $75 with coupon code MOM10OFF75
  • Save an additional $10 on orders over $65 with coupon code MOM10OFF65

These beautiful planners were designed especially for mothers, but are great for other busy women too. Read my review of the myAgenda Day Planner here.

Mom PLR eBooks – Save 25% off all PLR (excluding sale items and monthly membership options) with coupon code BLACKFRIDAY

If you’ve ever wondered if private label rights content was a good source of information products for you to resell on your website or use in your blog, here’s your chance to find out without spending a whole lot of money.  Although the focus is on the mom niche market, many of the topics would apply equally to other audiences.

HostGator – 50% off your first invoice

HostGator provides excellent service, and if you sign up with them today, you’ll pay even less than their usual low prices.

iThemes All Access Theme Pass – Save 28% with coupon code FREESHIPPING

I was introduced to iThemes in 2009 through one of my clients who requested my assistance setting up their Flexx Blog Theme which she had purchased for her new WordPress site. I was so impressed at its flexibility and how easy it was to use that I purchased the All Access Theme Pass, and it was one of the best investments I’ve ever made for my business.

The package includes over 100 themes, including my personal favourite, Builder. With Builder, you create your own layouts, even using different layouts for different sections of your WordPress site.

PluginBuddy Developer Suite – Save 28% with coupon code FREESHIPPING

This is another tool that’s been really valuable in my website design business. The suite consists of a number of my favourite premium WordPress plug-ins including BackupBuddy, Billboard, Slideshow, LoopBuddy, and many others – not to mention any new ones that are released in the coming year.

WebDesign.com Premium Annual Membership – Save 28% with coupon code FREESHIPPING

One of the reasons WordPress is so popular is that it’s so easy to use, but if you really want to make the most of it, you need to delve beyond the basics. Since I joined WebDesign.com last year, I’ve completed a number of their courses, covering such topics as Event Management and Calendars, Designing for the Mobile Web, and How to Write Better SEO Content. Courses are offered every week, with new topics being developed continually.

What’s really great is that members have access to every course that’s ever been offered, so not only do you not have to miss out if a particular session doesn’t fit into your schedule, if there’s something you need to know for a current project, you can simply download the slides or watch the video for that topic.

These are just a handful of the great sales on right now, and of course there are thousands more. I have dealt with all of the businesses listed above and am pleased that they will pay me a commission if you buy anything through my links, but would be happy to recommend them regardless.

If you’re offering a deal on your website right now, feel free to promote it in the Comments section!

Tips and Products for Organizing Your Desk

Is your desk cluttered with paper?Today is ACCO Brands Canada’s fourth annual Organize Your Desk Day, a national program designed to assist small to medium?sized businesses help their employees organize their work spaces and become more efficient and effective every day.

In honour of this special day, I’ve compiled a few resources to help you organize your desk.

Dealing with paperwork is a major component of organizing your desk, and Hellen Buttigieg, Certified Professional Organizer®, Life Coach and Gemini-Nominated HGTV host, suggests some great products to help you, whether you are a piler or a filer. Hellen actually suggested one of my own personal favourites!

Professional organizer Heather Burke of Ottawa, Ontario, offers another great tip for getting paperwork off your desk, especially if you work in a small office or home office.

While clearing your desk, you will probably come across some documents you no longer need to keep. Find out what to keep, what to recycle, what to shred, and how to choose a shredder from Geralin Thomas, a Certified Professional Organizer in Chronic Disorganization in Cary, North Carolina.

Professional organizer Clare Kumar of Toronto, Ontario, shared some workspace organization tips with Better Living host, Val Cole. Catch the video and learn about a really great contest on Clare’s Streamlife blog.

What’s your favourite desk organizing tip?

Getting Organized Magazine - Wide Banner Ad

Tips for Organizing a Business Event – and an Invitation to one

Are you an entrepreneur, small business owner or independent consultant in the Golden Horseshoe area? There’s a networking opportunity this month that you shouldn’t miss! (If you’re from outside the area, please keep reading, as you’ll find some tips for organizing your own local event below.)

The Golden Horseshoe Virtual Assistants Group will be hosting their 4th Annual Special Evening Event on Thursday, October 27th at Alloro Restaurant in the Burlington Hotel & Conference Centre. I hope you’ll come out and join us for a three-course meal, guest speaker Sheeba Varghese and, of course, a chance to network with local virtual assistants and other professionals. Because seating is limited, pre-registration is required.

GHVA Members at 3rd Annual Special Evening Event

GHVA Members at 2010 Special Evening Event

Whether or not you can attend, you can promote your product or services to our members and guests by donating a door prize. All donors will be recognized on the GHVA Sponsors page for one year and will have the opportunity to submit marketing material to be distributed to all participants. Please let me know if you are interested.

I had no experience planning business events before organizing our first one in 2008. Since then, I’ve learned a few things which I’m happy to share with you today.

Date

If your group is holding the event, ask the members what dates will work for them. If you’re hoping for guests to come from great distances, avoid the winter months when weather may interfere with travel. Find out what else is taking place in your area. You probably won’t have a date all to yourself, but be aware of major events that may draw people away from yours. (Last year we made the mistake of scheduling our Special Evening Event during Small Business Week, and lost a few potential attendees to trade shows in two neighbouring cities.)

Location

If you hold your event in a hotel meeting room, you will probably have to pay for room rental on top of the cost of your food. Unless you’re planning a large group, this may force you to charge more for attendance than many people will be willing to pay. A better choice is a restaurant with a private room. I’ve had a lot of success locating suitable venues using MenusOnly.com, which covers the Hamilton and Burlington areas, and you may find a similar guide for your region.

Menu

Most restaurants that cater to groups have a special events menu where each guest can select one of three different meals. Sometimes you will have a choice of menus at different prices. Since some of your guests may have dietary restrictions, make sure that special requests can be accommodated.

Speaker

If your event is being held by an association or other organization, there may be a good speaker among your members. If not, or if you’d prefer an outside speaker, ask your members for recommendations. Some speakers are willing to waive their regular fee in exchange for the opportunity to promote their products or services to your group.

Door Prizes

If you’d like to have door prizes, contact your group members and other people in your network to request donations. Many will be happy to offer a small gift or a gift certificate for their services as a way of promoting their business. We’ve always been blessed with a great response, and have generally received enough donations that every person in attendance has gone home with something. Use a spreadsheet to keep track of the donations you’ve been offered, and mark it off when you receive them. You can use this list to follow up if something doesn’t arrive when expected, to thank your donors after the event, and to connect with them again before subsequent events.

Price

Consider whether your goal is to make money, either for your group or to support a charity, or whether you only need to break even. When calculating how much to charge for registration, figure out how much the meal will come to after taxes and gratuity are added on. Be sure to also factor in any costs for room rental, speaker fees, a meal and/or gift for your speaker, and any other expenses related to hosting or promoting the event. Even if you don’t need to generate a profit, you may want to charge a little extra to ensure you don’t lose money if you don’t sell out.

Documentation

Each year that I’ve organized the GHVA’s Special Evening Event, it takes a little less time and effort, because I already have a system in place. Set up a folder on your computer for your guest list, donor list, email templates, and any other documents you use or create while planning your event. This will make your life so much easier next time! And, if you decide to pass the reins over to someone else in the future, you’ll be able to share your system without spending hours explaining what you did.

Since event planning is not my area of expertise, please add your own suggestions in the Comments section. Maybe there’s something I missed that will make next year’s event even easier!

6 Easy Ways to Simplify Your Life

Janet and her father on the beach in Nova ScotiaDuring the summer months, many of us change our routines to a slower pace than the rest of the year. Wouldn’t it be nice to be that relaxed all the time?

I don’t have the power to make it summer all year round, but since the first week of August is Simplify Your Life Week, I’m going to share a few of the things I do to keep it simple.

  1. Only buy what you need. This saves both money and storage space. If you’ll only need something once, or even once in a while, consider renting it instead.
  2. Clean out your wallet. Do you really need all those credit cards? One for business and one for personal use should be ample. Now that the major departments stores accept Visa and MasterCard, there’s really no sense having separate cards for each store. Same with rewards cards. Keep the ones for the stores you shop at regularly, and trash the rest.
  3. Use an online bookmarking service like Delicious. You’ll be able to access your bookmarks no matter what browser or computer you’re using, including your mobile phone, and you can tag them with whatever keywords make sense to you, making it easy to find information when you need it again.
  4. Use a password manager like Roboform. It allows you to generate unique, random passwords for each of your online accounts, and stores them securely so you don’t have to write them on a sheet of paper or remember them all.
  5. Keep your inbox under control by unsubscribing from newsletters you don’t read. Better yet, use a separate email account for subscriptions and only check it when you’ve got the time and the desire to read.
  6. No matter what season it is, remember to take time to get away from your day-to-day activities, even if it’s only for a few hours.

In the comments, please share what YOU do to keep it simple. If you don’t, what’s stopping you?