Holistic Business

I’m in the process of going through my myriad of newsletters I subscribe to.

I have to admit, it’s gotten out of hand and I can’t keep up with them all.

So, I decided to whittle them down a bit.

Now, to unsubscribe, there is usually a nice little link and you just have to click on it, get redirected to a Web page, and confirm. Usually, then you get a confirmation page that you have been unsubscribed.

Well, one I just unsubscribed to made me jump through the following hoops:I clicked on the link and went to a Web page.

1. I had to TELL them my email address (so I had to go look because I have so many and don’t always remember which one I use for what reason)
2. I had to click on submit
3. I got a message saying I would get an email asking me to confirm that I wanted to unsubscribe (I thought I just did that)
4. I went to my email and again, visited their link and said *YES* I really DO want to unsubscribe
5. THEN - I got another email saying OK, now you have been unsubscribed.

Geez, leave me alone already. I had 2 emails to delete just due to unsubscribing!

I took at look at what auto-responder system they use and I had never heard of them, but will remember the name now.

So, some advice, before you sign up with an auto-responder, check into what their process is for unsubscribing.

Believe me, if I ever come across their newsletter sign up again and start to reconsider, I’ll remember this and stop myself.

Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later.

I received my first file that was saved on the new Windows Office 2007 System. Crud!

For those of you that don’t know - I’m on a Mac. Double crud! But - I do love my Mac!

I do also have a Windows based PC I not so affectionately refer to as my coffee grinder/lear jet because of all the noise it makes.

So, I didn’t even notice at first that this document has a .docx extension until I can’t open it. I didn’t want to have to fire up old Bessie and I felt certain there would be a way for me to open it.

After a quick online search I came across the answer as to how to open it and thought I’d share it here.

1. save the file to your desktop (or elsewhere, this is just easier I think)
2. click on the file name and replace the .docx with .zip
3. unzip the file
4. open up your Safari browser
5. choose -> File -> Open File
6. locate the folder on your desktop
7. locate and click the “word” folder
8. choose the “document.xml” file

You should now be able to read the text in your browser window. It won’t be pretty or formatted but you will at least be able to view the text.

What would be best is if users of the new 2007 applications continued to save under the old 3 digit file extensions (even those on a Microsoft PC won’t be able to open them unless they’ve kept up with all the Compatibility Packs) but that probably won’t happen.

I did read that a fix for Mac users is due out early Spring, but in the meantime hopefully this will help.

If you need help opening Microsoft 2007 files on your Mac, drop me an email.

I’ll spend some time on the old coffee grinder in the next few days and post for all of you on PCs that may not know exactly what to do when it comes to the updates and such to be able to open these files.

Advances - gotta love them . . .

Technorati Tags: love my Mac, Microsoft 2007 files on your Mac

I’ve been receiving and reading Betty Crowson’s newsletter, The Joy is in the Journey, for some time now. I always find inspiration and heartfelt advice.

February’s newsletter really hit home and I had to write about it and thank Betty.

Among other topics in this month’s newsletter, Betty writes about grief.

The month of February is a tough one for me. Both my parents and my brother-in-law passed in February. Dad 16 years ago, Mom 13, and my brother-in-law 2 years.

One of the points Betty makes is that you need to give yourself permission to grieve. I can so relate to this. I can remember being concerned that I was not “getting over” the death of my mother as quickly as I thought I should. Once I stopped worrying about it and just going with my feelings, things started to look up. Even all these years later, I find myself overcome at times of jubilation and tragedy that I don’t have Mom to turn to. Even for no apparent reason sometimes. The difference now is that I allow myself to go have a good cry and pamper myself a bit.

So, I wrote Betty a personal thank you for her inspiring writing and wanted to pass along the link to her Web site and newsletter sign up. I only recommend things I totally believe in - and this is one of them.

I also want to suggest to everyone - when you receive a newsletter and really connect or gain from something that is written - let the author know. I’m sure they appreciate it and really want to know what their readers find the most helpful. I know I would.

Thanks again Betty!

The Joy is in the Journey

Technorati Tags: Betty Crowson, The Joy is in the Journey,

I’m very conscientious about reusing and recycling. I want to share some of my tips for running a environmentally responsible office. Of course, these are all things that are much easier to do in a small home-based office, but larger offices should be able to find ideas to carry into their day to day routine as well.

• Make it easy. Have a good size container right next to your garbage can for paper recycling - and use it! Ask yourself before you throw something in the garbage if it really belongs there. When you are paying bills (if you are still getting the paper version) the envelope and all inserts should go right in the recycle bin.

• When it comes to paper - reuse as much as possible. If you consistently print a lot out for proofing, reading, etc., when you are done with it and you don’t need to keep it - have a spot to put it. The next time you need to print something out for the same reason - print to the other side. You may need to experiment to see which way it feeds through your printer and may want to quickly put a highlighted line through the already used side to avoid confusion.

• If you have an overabundance of paper waiting to be reused on the other side, take some sheets, cut them in quarters and put near your home phone for message taking or use them for grocery lists, reminders, and other times you just need a little something to write on.

• Once you’ve totally exhausted all print use of the paper, decide if it has confidential information and needs to be shredded. If it does, start a pile of “clean” (nothing with messy ink, no credit cards, etc.) paper for shredding.

• After shredding, put a bag with your gift giving items to use for filler in gift bags. By putting bill inserts and other colorful paper in this pile you’ll have a nice mix of colors and textures.

• Printer cartridges - I think most office suppliers now offer a credit towards new cartridges when you bring the used one back. Now, you may sit there looking at the cartridge and thinking “this thing is so small how bad can it be for me to throw in the garbage?” Well, consider this:

55.6 percent of American consumers throw out their empty printer cartridges instead of recycling them, a Harris Interactive poll released today shows. Those cartridges add more than 40 million pounds of unnecessary waste to our nation’s landfills. The cartridges take more than 1,000 years to decompose.

(read more here)

When I recently purchased a new printer, I bought 4 cartridges each of black and color. I have a spot for the spent ones and when I put the last new one in the printer, I go off to Staples with whatever old ones I have, buy replacements and get $3 off on each new one in exchange. You can probably do this through the mail as well, I just happen to ahve a Staples less than a mile from my house (as a virtual assistant that makes me very happy.

• Have another smaller container for the non-paper recycling. I know the HP printer cartridges I use come in a recyclable plastic holder. When I do need to install a new cartridge everything but the foil type bag is recyclable. The cardboard, the inserts, and the holder.

I can already hear some people that may be serious recyclers in their home environment saying “I don’t have the time for that! My time is money!” Well, of course it is. But, it’s up to you what you do with that time and I firmly believe the trade off could be tremendous if more people took this seriously. It’s really not that time consuming, after a bit it’s second nature. There are probably other things you do that are a truer waste of your time.

Operating a holistic business is much more than what you do, it’s also about how you do it.

I know I always feel a sense of pride on garbage day when I see how little we put out and on recycling day how much is sitting at the curb.

Technorati Tags: environmentally responsible office, virtual assistant, holistic business

This is going to be a great tele-seminar. I can vouch for the AudioAcrobat software that Pat’s company has produced. It is extremely easy to use and produces great results. I conducted several tests - calling in on landline phone, cell phone, with and without headset, etc. and all the recording sounded marvelous!

This is not what the entire seminar is about, just wanted to mention that it’s a great product and a wonderful way to get your voice and your message on your Web site and/or blog, record podcasts, coaching sessions, or tele-classes, and receive testimonials from clients.

To register for the seminar go here.

Anyway - here are the specs (you need to sign up ahead of time):

Using Radio PR to Promote Your Business
with Pat Lynch of WomensRadio

DATE: Thursday, February 15, 2007
TIME: 5pm PST / 6pm MST / 7pm CST / 8pm EST
LENGTH: 60 minutes (please call in 10 min. early)
COST: FREE!

You know you need to employ PR (public relations) to promote your business, but it was not exactly your major in college, so to speak.

Besides, you are so busy just handling the details of your business.

And then you have those snooty people in the media who make you feel like a pebble on the beach. You’re not even sure what to do first or how much time and money to spend to get it done. You’ve heard you can get publicity for free, but that assumes you know something about publicity, PR and the media. Where do you start?

Start with this one-hour tele-seminar!

Pat Lynch started her own PR, advertising and marketing firm in Atlanta at the age of 25, and was the first women to do so in the South. Pat is going to share some:

–practical advice on getting started
–methods of ramping up to be the media expert, and
–taking advantage of on-the-ground radio as well as the new Web world–Web radio and blogs, too!

No matter what your level of media sophistication, you’ll get something from the fast-paced trip to help you use radio PR to promote your business.

About Pat Lynch, WomensRadio
During her 34 years in advertising, marketing and public relations, Pat was an innovator in the use of media. She began a media company for women in 1996. The first project was WomensRadio. In 2002, she launched WomensCalendar and WomensCalendar eNewsletter that reaches some half million women leaders each week.

In 2004, her company launched two new media services: Press Your Point, a powerful, yet inexpensive press release service; and AudioAcrobat, a unique and very easy-to-use audio recording and streaming service. In 2005, her company launched the all-new Women’s Radio with it’s “hub” of 30 minute-long programs.

Pat is a frequent speaker at women’s events, not only about the use of media, but more importantly, about her favorite subject “Speaking Up.”

This free tele-seminar is being offered to the business community by the Virtual Assistance Chamber of Commerce.

Technorati Tags: AudioAcrobat, Pat Lynch, WomensRadio, Virtual Assistance Chamber of Commerce