Archive for May, 2010
Keep in Touch Program
Thursday, May 20th, 2010 | Send Out Cards | Comments Off
Have you considered setting up a keep in touch program? Making contact with those special in your life, or those clients who are precious to your business?
Many of us consider doing just that but don’t take it any further. Life is busy and all that, even with good intentions. Send Out Cards is the ideal solution for developing such a program. You can simply upload your database (or enter individuals as you meet them) and then set up a reminder system for sending cards to them, or even pre-set up cards to go out. I do a week’s worth at a time so that I’m not having to remember to do it daily.
If you don’t want to do this yourself but like the idea of such a program, then a Virtual Assistant would be the perfect solution to managing your “keep in touch” program on a regular basis.
Why not contact me today to discuss setting up an account or click here to trial the system for yourself.
Do you find Mail Merge a bind?
Friday, May 14th, 2010 | Database management | 1 Comment
Recently a Virtual Assistant posted to a forum a request for advice for a job she was asked to do for a client.
She had to give two quotes to her client. One for printing directly onto the postcards and the second to print labels to stick on the postcards. She wanted to find something that would print and merge at the same time. She also mentioned that the postcards were going to be printed at Vistaprint – they were doing their own design.
I emailed her offlist and told her about Send Out Cards. I told her she could do the following:
- Upload their own design to a postcard or choose one from the catalogue of over 15,000 designs.
- Upload the database for the client.
- Write the message on the card.
- Click to send.
This means she would save time and effort, and the client money. It would all be done easily for this Virtual Assistant without having to buy labels, set up the mailmerge, check the printed labels, stick them on the cards or be checking the cards as they came out of the printer. Plus they wouldn’t have to wait for the cards they designed to be delivered before they started the process.
Her response to my suggestion? It sounded like ‘a dream come true’.
Publishing a new book?
Wednesday, May 12th, 2010 | Book promotion | 2 Comments
If you are in the process of launching a newly published book and want to let people know about it, then postcards with a picture of your front cover is a good way to go about it.
As a published author myself I’ve gone down this path, using a service that would print the card and then have it delivered so I could handwrite on them, address them and post them out. Wish I knew there was another system available to help cut down on the time involved in waiting for the printed cards and then having to write on them and go to the post office to send them on their way!
Enter Send Out Cards. In the space of an hour or so, you can upload the picture of your book to the Picture Plus system, create your postcard and write on the back (in your own handwriting if you wish), upload your database and then select the people you want to send the card to. The system does the rest for you. No waiting for the cards to be printed and delivered, no need to spend time writing on them individually and then addressing them, no need to go to the post office or postbox after putting stamps on them. Send Out Cards will do the lot.
Contact me if you want to know more.
Special occasions for sending cards
Monday, May 10th, 2010 | Special occasions | 4 Comments
I noticed on my keyword data that people had been researching special occasions and reasons for sending cards, so I thought I’d create a post for that reason.
The obvious ones first and then the not so obvious.
Seasons worldwide:
January – New Year
February – Valentine’s Day
March/April - Easter
April – Office Professionals Day (formerly Secretaries Day)
May – Mother’s Day
May – International Virtual Assistants Day
June/Sept – Father’s Day
November – Remembrance Day (Australia)
December – Christmas
Other dates:
Birthdays
Anniversaries
Births, Deaths & Marriages
Baptisms and Christenings
First communion
Graduation
Other religious holidays and special events
Leaving a job (Farewell Card)
Going on a trip (bon voyage)
Shifting house
House warming
Thanksgiving
Congratulations
Sympathy
Thank you
Just thinking of you
I love you
And the list goes on. These are just the more common reasons for sending cards but you may know of others I haven’t listed. If so, feel free to add them in the comments below.
So SOC is an MLM, so what?
Friday, May 7th, 2010 | Send Out Cards | 2 Comments
Interesting when you get involved in a new business service or product and want to let others know about it and suddenly that dirty word is hanging in the air. Or should I say acronym? Sooner or later someone is going to ask, ‘yes, but isn’t it an MLM?’
Yes, Send Out Cards is an MLM, so what? Different businesses have different business models. Some you buy into and outright, others you can only sign up with and learn from an upline. How do people respond to franchises? Surely that’s a much higher fee to pay out, with a geographical limitation and a system to adhere to. Many will pay out thousands to buy a franchise but when they are considering an MLM they react very differently. Get over it!
A good business idea is a good business idea, no matter how it is set up. In this case the founder lost a brother and missed the opportunity to see him not long before the brother died. He decided he wasn’t going to miss a prompting again and wanted to help others do the same. In doing so he built a business.
MLMs, unlike pyramids which are illegal by the way, allow for those who sign up to grow bigger businesses than the ones who signed them up if they’re motivated to do so. A pyramid will only work in one direction and only the one at the top gets the real ‘success’. But again, as I said, they’re illegal and why would you want to sign up for one anyway? Trouble is too many misconceptions are out there about MLMs and consequently people look at them as something to be avoided at all costs. Get with the program!
Why not look at who’s behind different MLM programs, what motivates them, the people they attract and the type of businesses they run? What you will find is that the MLM system rewards those who put in the work. So if they show lots of people how the system works and some of those actually work the system too, all of those people will get rewarded. For those who choose to sign up but only use the product and not work the system, they will benefit through the very thing they signed up for – a great economical and time saving product where you can send out cards at low cost to people you care about. And if you want to, you can add further value to your recipients by personalising the cards with your own images, photos, handwriting and written text. You don’t have to use the 15,000+ cards they already have in the system.
So, if you’re running a business that requires you to make regular contact with your clients (like insurance agents, financial planners, business coaches, etc) Send Out Cards is the perfect option for you. You can set up your week’s worth or month’s worth of cards to go out in one sitting, prepare them all at your computer and set up the dates for each card to go out ahead of time. You can even set up a reminder system. AND you can do this without signing up to sign up others if you want to. In other words – you’re just using the cards at a wholesale cost. Doesn’t that make sense?
Get a Virtual Assistant to help you
Thursday, May 6th, 2010 | Database management | 2 Comments
Does this describe you and your business?
- Pieces of paper with names and addresses, phone numbers and/or email addresses written on them.
- Business cards in piles, or with rubber bands wrapped around them, or thrown in a drawer or box.
- Some entries in a spreadsheet or a database started but not maintained.
- Perhaps you have them all in your cell phone?
It does sound like you? How would you like this all sorted and entered into an online system that has built-in reminders and allows you to send cards and gifts to those you choose from the list at any given time? You would?
Then contact me today for assistance. A Virtual Assistant is exactly what you need to help you get your database sorted, along with a reminder system for making regular contact with those on your list. You do know that it is a good thing to maintain contact with your prospects and clients a minimum of once every 90 days, don’t you? Some choose to send newsletters and some choose to send cards. You can, of course, do both, and I can assist you with that!
Need to build a reminder list?
Tuesday, May 4th, 2010 | Database management | 1 Comment
Do you have an existing database or have the need to build one?
In your work, do you need to send out thank you messages, birthday cards, build a Christmas card list or similar?
Perhaps you want to develop a system thanking for referrals?
Whatever the need, if it means sending a postcard, card or gift then I can help you create the system. Fully organised online, you won’t need to organise the printing of cards or purchase of postage – I can handle the lot of you.
We can even upload your photo or business logo or other images to personalise the cards. Why not contact me today to find out how?
