It used to be, before the telephone, before cellphones, before the Internet, sending notes was the norm – we sent them out to invite people to events, thank them for gifts, send out our condolences and even just to say hello. Even when doing business, everyone from shopkeepers to oil barons sent out cards to begin relationship and seal deals. These days, with all the technology available to us, it’s almost accepted to send out a text message that says “Nice 2 meet U. C u soon.”

Sending out cards and notes may seem archaic, but they seem to be coming back in vogue, perhaps because people hardly get that personal touch anymore (think about it – compared to a decade ago, how many birthday or Christmas cards do you get a year?) Cards can also be used for business – and will definitely put on a lasting impression to your clients.

Have no idea how to begin? Here are some tips to get you started:

Have an updated contact list – having a list will make it easier for you to organize your campaign, but make sure your information is complete and updated. It would be pretty embarrassing if you were to send the wrong card to the wrong person or not have it reach your important client.

Select your message carefully – if you’re sending out holiday cards, read the message carefully to make sure you won’t offend anyone (assuming you’re sending out a lot of cards.) You wouldn’t want to risk sending out something which can make you look bad, when your intention was the opposite.

Use titles – You may be on first-name basis with your clients, but using their titles on the front of the cards shows respect and gives importance to their achievements, so make sure you include that “Dr.”, “Mr.,” “Esq.” etc. with their names.

Spell Check! –  OMG, this is a biggie! Make sure you read each and every line and make sure every word is spelled correctly, lest you make some embarrassing faux pas.

Send them on time – get your holiday cards out early, especially for businesses. They may be leaving work early to take time off. For thank you cards, try to send them no more than a week after, or they may forget what you are thanking them for!

Remember, building relationships is the core of any business and key to its success. Taking the time out to do simple tasks can cement your reputation with the right people. Don’t always have the time to do everything yourself? Get a little help and still have that personal touch with Send Out Cards and it only takes a few minutes to choose, write and send your card. Click on the link today to find out more.

Click Here – Send Out Cards if you are looking for any of the above!

Prior to starting my Online Business Management company, I owned a Professional Organizing Service, called Completely Organized. I have always had a knack for sorting, stacking, and putting like things together, so it came quite easy for me to share my natural gifts with others through a business. The unfortunate part was that this was prior to Social Networking and my market was local, and they weren’t ready to pay someone to get them organized.

But I still have those skills and I use them in my business today. Now I have to be honest. I’m not always good at doing them, I know what to do and I talk a good game, but sometimes I just don’t manage to stay as organized as I would like. So in honor of “Organize Your Home Office Day”, here are a few things that will keep you organized and start and end each day with a clean desk.

• Start your day by reviewing your To-Do List (more about this further down)
• Tackle your priority tasks first
• Set times throughout the day to check email and respond. Close it down when you have finished
• Make phone calls in bundles (except for urgent calls)
• When working on projects, let the calls go to voice mail and return them when finished with the project
• Keep current files in a stack-file on your desk or nearby for easy retrieval
• When working with documents make a decision to only handle once – file, follow-up, or shred
• Keep all your tools handy, but tucked away, not on your desktop
• At the end of the day, review your To-Do list again. Congratulate yourself on your successes and progress. Start a new one with the top three priorities of the next day. These are the three things, that will make the biggest impact on your business if you didn’t get them completed.

Well, that’s my list. Hope you found something useful to help you get more organized. What are some of the things you do daily to stay organized?

Seems like there is something new coming out every day for Twitter. That’s fine with me. I love Twitter and all things Twitter.

So I thought I would share a few of the things I have found, and use, in case you haven’t already heard of them.

The first one is TweetLater.

With TweetLater, you can send a direct message to every new follower, schedule tweets and establish keywords and alerts for tweets that will come to your inbox in an email digest.

The ability to schedule tweets is a great tool, but to also include the other two features, TweetLater gets my vote for a Top Twitter Tool

Terri Brooks, Certified Internet Marketing Specialist
www.avirtualbiz.com
www.tastingtheinternet.com

My husband says, I have been “running the roads” a lot lately. That’s a southern thing if you don’t understand that phrase. But he is correct. I have been going a lot of places in the last couple of weeks and according to my calendar, I’m not going to slow down until around Christmas.

Now for a virtual professional, that’s a bit of a culture shock to actually go outside of your virtual world. But I love getting out of here. I love to visit and talk with people and network everywhere I go.

I shared a booth with one of my clients at the National Philanthropy Day luncheon in Knoxville last week and enjoyed catching up with old friends and making new ones. And of course, sharing my business and the services I provide for administrative support and online marketing. I walked away with a great list of people to follow-up with this week.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, the East Tennessee Veteran’s Memorial was being dedicated this past weekend and I was honored to be invited to a reception and the dedication ceremony. The Mayor’s were there, as well as other politicians, high-ranking military personel and many familiar faces from my time with the organization. The ceremony was incredibly moving and I was proud to be an American and to have been involved in the early stages of the memorial’s planning. And it proved to be a great place to network. I was invited to be on a local radio show and several people are interested in learning more about my business.

I’m looking forward to the next couple of weeks and the many networking opportunties to share what I do and how I can help other business owners with their administrative and marketing needs.

So Honey, I have a few more “roads to run.”

Do you love to network, but don’t have time to follow-up? You’re not alone. The majority of networkers love to mix and mingle with potential new clients at various events, but when they get back to their office, they toss those valuable business cards in a drawer and plan to follow up tomorrow. For most busy professionals, tomorrow brings its own new projects and before you know it, several weeks or even months have gone by with no follow up. Hundreds, or maybe thousands, of dollars in potential revenue has been laying in your top desk drawer!

We have the solution to keep you on top of your follow-up and make you a leader in business prospecting. Our Prospect Follow-up Service – Cards to Cash, provides a quick turnaround to those new business acquaintances and presents a professional image of your business.

Our package offers:

• Each business card scanned into a working database
• The design of a real Follow-up card with your logo or business card imprinted on the inside flap
• The card is mailed to the new prospect on your behalf
• One telephone call is attempted to the new prospect to set an appointment
• Business cards and database file will be mailed back to you for future reference
  

And the best part is that this service is very affordable, around the cost of a nice cup of coffee.

Are there business cards right now laying in your top desk drawer? Have you been too busy to follow-up with the contacts you made at the last Tradeshow? Contact us and we will get your name back in front of these potential new clients. Visit our website at www.avirtualbiz.com, or email to info@avirtualbiz.com.

If you are a small business owner or a solopreneur, just how many hands do you have? You have a great product or service and you are an expert in your field, but are you spending all of your time telling others about what you do and not really doing it? That’s called marketing folks! Congratulations, you have just become Director of Marketing for your company, but what about the work that needs to be done to keep the business going?

That’s where most of us get bogged down. We have a great idea or product. We decide to start a business to help others with our services and we begin the process of business cards, brochures, websites, networking groups, signing up for all the social media sites and talking to everyone we know about our great new business! But wait…who is doing the work? You are now in charge of marketing the business, AND doing the work. After a long of day of marketing, you get to put on the worker hat and spend the rest of your night doing the actual work. Sound familar?

There is a solution. You can outsource those marketing tasks and free yourself up to do what you really wanted to do in the beginning. You have an extra hand…just reach out and take it. Visit www.avirtualbiz.com to review virtual services available and for many other resources that can put you back in your business.

As a virtual professional, I am very thankful that I can get up every morning and make the long trip down the hall to my office…and I don’t spend a dime in gas!! When I first started this business gas was a mere $2.50 per gallon, which was bad enough, but to think of the millions of people whose job requires that regular morning fill up…I’m sorry.

Working as a virtual assistant or in some other type of home-based business is just one of the ways to relieve the pressure of today’s high gas prices. Another one is the ability to purchase items online. You can buy just about anything online, even greeting cards.

I have found an incredible system called . I log into my account, select the card I want, write my heartfelt text to the person I’m sending it to, upload my personal signature and click send. Taking maybe 5 minutes and no gas, out of my day! I can even upload photos, attach gift cards to places like Wal-Mart, Barnes & Noble, and Starbucks, or I can attach a wonderful basket of gourmet treats, including a box of mouth-watering brownies! It’s a one-stop shop!

I have found that I use Send Out Cards for my business to follow-up on leads, remind potential clients that I’m available to assist them and to thank my current clients for their trust in me and my business. I also use it to send cards to family and friends for birthdays, anniversarys, holidays and when someone is under the weather.

You know, most people have a kind heart and would send a card if they could remember to pick it up the next time they went shopping. With Send Out Cards, you can go shopping anytime; day or night and you have more than 10,000 cards to select from, right at your fingertips.

I love it so much, I’ll give you two free cards to send to anyone you wish. Just click here Send Out Cards and see what you think. And you don’t even have to start your car.