Assistance From a Distance

Going to Holland

assistancefromadistance — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 15:03:54 +0000

As most of you know I have a special needs son and when a friend at Church shared this story with me I thought I would share it with everyone else. Sometimes life does not turn out the way we dreamed it would be, but if we take a moment to catch our breath and really look at what we do have we most assuredly will see blessings. I love you B.J. and I love my place called Holland.

Going to Holland by Emily Perl Kingsley

I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability –

To try and help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it,

to imagine how it would feel. It is like this…

When you’re going to have a baby, it’s like planning a fabulous trip – to Italy.

You buy a bunch of guidebooks and make your wonderful plans.

The Coliseum, The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice.

You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It’s all very exciting.

After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives.

You pack your bags, and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands.

The stewardess comes in and says, “Welcome to Holland!”

“Holland ?!? ” you say. “What do you mean Holland ?? I signed up for Italy!

I’m supposed to be in Italy. All my life I’ve dreamed of going to Italy.”

But there’s been a change in the flight plan.

They’ve landed in Holland and there you must stay.

The important thing is that they haven’t sent you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place,

full of pestilence, famine and disease. It’s just a different place.

So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language.

And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.

It’s just a different place. It’s slower paced than Italy, less flashy, than Italy.

But after you’ve been there awhile you catch your breath, you look around…

and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills…and Holland has tulips.

Holland even has Rembrandts.

But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy…

and they’re all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there.

And for the rest of your life, you will say,

“Yes, that’s where I was supposed to go. That’s what I had planned.”

And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever, go away…

because the loss of that dream is a very Significant loss.

But if you spend the rest of your life mourning the fact that you didn’t get to Italy,

you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things…about Holland.

PowerPoint and YouTube!

assistancefromadistance — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 16:59:35 +0000

Great news, PowerPoint 2010 will allow you to upload a video from YouTube and place it right in your presentation.

Simply login to YouTube (www.youtube.com) and select the video that you want to insert in your presentation.

Click “Share” and copy the string that appears in the “Embed” box. as shown below.

Now open your PowerPoint presentation and click Insert from the menu and then select Video.

Click “Video from Web Site” and paste the string in the text box.

That’s it. Click OK and you’re ready to go!

Include powerful video in your next presentation.

Customize Quick Access Toolbar

assistancefromadistance — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 17:30:06 +0000

This is a great shortcut tool. In Microsoft 2007 applications you have the ability to customize your quick access toolbar. Placing these icons on your toolbar makes printing, previewing, spellcheck and more common actions right at your fingertips.

At the left hand corner of your toolbar are arrows that is a drop down menu for your quick access tools as shown below:

Simply click the menu and select the quick tools you would like displayed. For more commands, click the “more commands” to display more quick access tools to display.

Zooming in and out on a webpage

assistancefromadistance — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 12:21:41 +0000

Keyboard shortcuts can save you a lot of time in applications like Word and Excel. Did you know that web browsers are no different. If you ever find yourself on a website with text that is too big or too small, you can simply press control (Windows) or command (Mac) and the + key (to zoom in) or – (to zoom out). This shortcut is handy on high-resolution screens or if you simply want to see more of a webpage without scrolling around too much. What keyboard shortcuts do you use the most?

Microsoft Excel Tip – Sequential Numbering

assistancefromadistance — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 11:23:55 +0000

Sequential Numbering

If you need to number something within Microsoft Excel let the software work for you with a formula. Place the first number you want to start with usually 1 and assuming the number you are starting with is in cell A1 write the formula =sum(a1+1).

RE-WIND Sometimes instead of “Undo” we

assistancefromadistance — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 13:00:28 +0000

RE-WIND

Sometimes instead of “Undo” we need to just re-wind. One of my friends had her Microsoft Outlook stop working because of an email virus (we assume). You just can’t ‘undo” that can you. But you can restore your computer to an earlier date, sort of re-wind time. If you click on your start button and select accessories, then system tools you will see an option for system restore. This will give you the option to restore your computer without losing any documents only installed programs. So next time you need to re-wind time on your computer try it.

Building Strong Virtual Relationships

assistancefromadistance — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 17:39:43 +0000

I read an article on International Association of Administrative Professionals (IAAP) website that I thought was very interesting about building strong virtual relationships. It is true, sometimes it can be difficult switching from an administrator sitting in your office to using a virtual administrator whom you can’t see. But learning how to effectively communicate is the key to building a strong virtual relationship.

Here are a few tips that may help.

•Establish parameters. Get it in writing what you want to accomplish, by when, and who is responsible. The relationship is dependent upon trust.

•Give virtual partners priority. Once everyone involved understands the goal of what is to be accomplished, it is easy to prioritize. Each party will know when it is necessary to drop whatever they are doing and immediately respond to my requests. When our mutual needs take priority, it keeps the work flowing smoothly and builds credibility and rapport.

•Communicate clearly. Choose appropriate wording for the subject line; spell out your expectations – FYI only, action required, and so on. Keep each e-mail to one focal point. If you mix questions on two separate projects it provides an opportunity for things to get lost or misscommunicated. If it is necessary to send one email about several issues, try using bullet points, it gets to the heart of the matter quickly and leaves a greater impression since the elements are visually displayed.

•Make it personal. When you begin a relationship, exchange photos and/or short bios telling who you are and what you do. It’s a point of reference for the future. Take note of special occasions, like birthdays, holidays, births, deaths, and upcoming vacations. Have conference calls whenever you need them.

•Keep in touch, even when the project is over. You never know when another opportunity to work together will present itself. You’ve invested time and energy in building this partnership, don’t lose it – use it.

Using these tips may make transitioning to a virtual administrator a little easier.

Happy Valentines Day

assistancefromadistance — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 15:03:08 +0000

I love history so it makes sense that I would watch the history channel. I did not know that there is also a website History.com

Today they have some interesting things about Valentines Day that I thought was really great, videos and more. If you enjoy history then you will want to check it out today, perhaps it will give you an idea for something special today for your valentine. Enjoy!http://www.history.com/topics/valentines-day

Written Communication

assistancefromadistance — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 02:08:30 +0000

Communication is a very important aspect in the work place especially with the written word. When preparing written communication make sure that you think through what you are communicating.

Many times emotions can show through on the written word when the words are bold, ALL CAPS or in red. If the written word is bold you are telling the reader to pay attention! If the written word is in all caps not only are you telling the reader to pay attention but it might be received that you are raising your voice just a bit. If the written word is in red it could be received by the reader to pay attention because you are upset.

If you have a need to bold, use all upper case lettering or show your words in red, make sure that the message is composed in a way that the reader does not get offended. This will not accomplish anything. If you need to communicate in this manner, the best way is to communicate verbally.

Why Use Social Media?

assistancefromadistance — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 14:46:50 +0000

Having an online presence such as a website is great especially if you have the right keyword searches so that you can be found.

Have you heard the saying

Visibility + Credibility =

Profitability

This is where social media can help. People want to do business with people they know or people that knows someone they know especially on the web. I don’t know about you but I want to know that person is credible and will provide the product or service I am looking for.

I’ll use linked in as an example. Do you ever see a TV commercial, magazine ad for linked in? Yet, there are over 900 million people on Linked In. Why? Because they started with visibility people who know people began to use it and saw it was credible and told others, and they told others, and so on, word of mouth because someone I trust told me Linked In was a good thing and was credible, I set up an account. They established credibility and now Linked In is know as the new online business yellow pages. But it did not happen overnight. Just like anything else, you get what you put into it.

So you can see that Social Media gives you a different type of presence than your website. This is where you develop relationships that will lead to more opportunities. The more visible you are the more people remember you and the content of what you say and the testimonies you receive provide your credibility. Be careful on social media, don’t just sell, sell and sell, remember you are developing relationships so here is where you can share your expertise by sharing tips, and you become the expert in your industry. Once you start it is important that you are consistent and maintain your presence, if not, this presence will do the exact opposite. This is why it is important to create a strategy, Daystar Media can help you develop that strategy and teach you all about Social Media. I strongly suggest that you create a strategy before you develop an online presence for two reasons (1) You could become part of the millions of other people that create a profile and do nothing with it – why is this bad? Because eventually this information becomes obsolete or outdated and where does this leave your credibility? (2) If you do not have a strategy you will be just rambling without a focus, people do not know you so what you write becomes who you are, so have a plan that will benefit both the reader and you.

Once you have established a strategy and online presence and you realize the hours it will take to maintain this presence, it might be time to consider a virtual assistant that can take care of all your social media needs and more. Visit our website at www.assistancefromadistance.com