Quick Tip Tuesdays

Here’s a great tip to change a pdf to a jpeg. This is especially great if you’re not a Photoshop whiz or design guru!

• Open PDF


• Open Paint


• Go back to PDF


• Press “print screen” on your keyboard


• Go to paint, Click Edit/Paste


• Save As what you want, where you want. As a jpeg or bmp or whathaveyou.


• Close down PDF and Paint


• Open the photo in whatever editor you have.


• Modify as required (crop, etc)


• File/Save As

And you’re done!

The Virtual Assistant I use for graphic design did not have the time to do this task for me, so I took a few hours and researched on the net and found out for myself. Now? I can add it to my list of services which means helping you with this sort of a task, or at least sharing the information in the form of a tip!

Subscribe to our feed at right for quick tips every Tuesday!

Scratchpad Secretaries. We're easy.

When I was starting this virtual assistant business I contacted various organizations and (I thought highly respected) individuals within the industry with a few questions. After all, I thought they were the experts.

Ok, if truth be told, I didn't actually contact them, I tried to contact them. I left emails, voice mails, Skyped them, but to no avail (granted I'm sometimes guilty of forgetting to change my Skype status to "away" if I'm not at my desk as well). Out of 10 contacted, only 1 got back to me.
ONE.

They're not easy.

A great quote I found the other day, "The difficulty lies not so much in developing new ideas as in escaping from old ones." (John Maynard Keynes) Yes, moving from corporate to small business owner takes a bit of a rewire of the brain, but one thing I'll always keep with me, one thing I've learned is the value of being accessible. Have various ways to be reached. Return phone calls! Return emails! And so I do this with gusto. Within 24 hours I'll get back to you if I'm not able to be reached on first try.

In this day and age, you've got to be easy.

Scratchpad Secretaries. We're easy.

11 reasons to LOVE Canada Day!

Have you ever wondered what having a virtual assistant was like?

Now's your chance to find out!

In honour of Canada Day, Scratchpad Secretaries is having a special promotion. Until July 15 we are offering five (5) FREE Two-Hour Testers of our services! That's right, I said FREE! Bundled with a free 30-minute consultation, this promotion is valued at over 100.00. And you're getting it for FREE!

Here is just a snapshot of some things we can help you with:

1. Blog creation & submission to social bookmarking sites
2. Brochure creation
3. Excel spreadsheets
4. Ghostwriting (blogs, articles)
5. Internet-based research
6. PowerPoint presentations
7. Proofreading and editing
8. Website updating and maintenance
9. Writing bios
10. Writing business letters
11. And more!

Feel free to check out our Services for a comprehensive list, and please, feel free to ask if there is something you need help with but don't see it on our list. There's a good chance we can do it!

Just think... not only are you saving two hours of your time AND money by taking advantage of this limited-time offer, but you could be making money with these two hours as well. Imagine what you can do with two free hours in your day!

Remember, we're only giving away five - one per customer - and only until July 15. So call us or email us today.

We look forward to helping you get your valuable time back!

The Day Outlook Saved my Sanity.

So Google saved my life, and now Outlook saved my sanity.

I'm getting spammed big time by a few websites. As a virtual assistant, I'm all for learning. Learning new skills, new secrets, new tools, so I signed up on a few different websites to receive a free ebook and a free newsletter, and two of them are sending me, seriously, 3 emails a day. It's annoying. It's spam. I clicked the unsubscribe button but it just took me to a blank page. I had to email them directly to get taken off their lists, but I'm still getting emails. ARGH. Perhaps they just didn't get the emails yet, that could be it.

Either way, I found a delightful tool in Outlook Express.

Go to Tools, Message Rules and the click on Blocked Senders List. Just type in their email address and voila! Their emails go directly to the Deleted file.

Got any tips and tricks for Outlook Express? Feel free to leave a comment!

Pink is the new Green.

It's easier to go green than you think. We're making small strides here at Scratchpad Secretaries, but they're strides nonetheless.

If there's one thing I can't stand, it's the smell of harsh chemicals. Wiping counter tops with Lysol all-in-one and then putting FOOD on there? I don't think so! There are many recipes on the net for homemade cleaning products, but I've been using a product for years that's just amazing.

Pink Solution.

It's a fantastic product. I use it to clean my bathroom, to wash my car, to clean the fridge, getting mildew off of the patio and steps, to get nasty stains from grubby hands off of door frames (that nothing else got clean, I might add), and anything else that pops up. It's totally non-toxic and biodegradable.

And I love it. I love the fact that it has no harsh chemicals, that it's biodegradable, that it doesn't hurt your skin (no gloves needed!), and that it's safe around pets (hopefully your child doesn't lick the baseboards when you're cleaning... but my dog used to!).

What are you doing to reduce your carbon footprint and lower your environmental impact? Ever think of hiring a virtual assistant? This alone will get you started on the right track. Call us for your free 30-minute consultation!

Scratchpad Secretaries is striving to become a green office. We will continue to post about the latest green products we've found, tips for saving energy and hints for lowering your environmental impact. If you have any tips or tricks, feel free to leave a comment!

The day Google saved my life.

I love Google. I mean I love Google. Did I tell you I love Google?

What's kind of funny though, is up until the end of 2007 whenever I heard various business owners and executives quote Google as their essential website, I never really got it.

Until I totally got it.

I've wasted so much time flipping from one Google application to another. From Google search, to Gmail, to Google Calendar, to Google Reader.. the list goes on. And having so many screens open! It was confusing and incredibly time consuming. And as a virtual assistant, I don't have the time! I'm busy helping you get your time back!

And then I discovered iGoogle. You can completely customize the page to suit your needs and wants. It's fantastic! I have everything I need in one place (now, if they only had a Google Submit to get my articles and blog posts directly to syndication with the simplest click of the mouse. Speaking of which, perhaps I should check out Google Labs to see if they have that up their sleeve.)

So, back to iGoogle. I have Google Reader up front and centre. This saves me probably 30 to 40 minutes a day right there. I no longer have to search my favourites for, well, my favourites. Techcrunch, Duct Tape Marketing, Seth's Blog, Entrepreneur.com, etc etc; I've set up Google reader to automatically show these sites when they're updated. I can quickly zip through for headlines that interest me. My finger is, literally, on the pulse.

Gmail: I've added Gmail to my iGoogle homepage. It saves me from trying to remember to check twice a day. It automatically shows me when I have new mail; I have it right in front of me. Same goes for Google Calendar. I simply click the link and it pops open for me. No more having to log in, open more windows, etc. It's right there.

I have some fun stuff to: local weather, local news, Facebook. There are so many widgets you can add to your iGoogle homepage, I'm still discovering them. It does take a while to set up, to get everything you want on your homepage, but boy, it's worth it! You get that time back in the first day.

How are you managing your time? Or is your time managing you?

This is just one small service that Scratchpad Secretaries can provide to help you get your valuable time back. Check out our list of services for further ways to help you ease your workload overwhelm!

If you pay peanuts, you get monkeys.

I'm all for bargains. Completely. Love 'em.

The best possible price for the best possible outcome.

But when that doesn't happen, when I don't get the outcome I had desired, I get frustrated knowing full well that I should have just went about it the right way the first time. Did some further research to save me the time and the money. Shopped around a bit more. Got on the Internet, found out what people were saying about this particular product. But I didn't. You know why?

Because it was $13.97 dishwasher detergent.

Last night I was unloading the dishwasher and to my dismay I found that about 1/4 of the dishes were not completely clean. So I ran it again, using the same detergent. This morning what did I find? Same thing. (Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice....) So I have about 100 pellets of high-phosphate detergent sitting under my sink and I don't know what to do with them. That's 100 pellets that I am probably going to get rid of. That's like opening my wallet and shredding money. Sure, it's only $13.97, but it's the POINT of it all. It's aggravating.

Here I am, focussed on going green and yet I bought this harsh detergent that was extremely disappointing and did not have the desired outcome, just to save a few bucks.

I've recently discovered that a very trusted brand has developed a line of green, and economic!, products and dishwasher detergent is one of them. I'm wanting to run out and purchase right now, but I'm going to do my due dilligence first. Research, and research some more. Find out what people are saying. Perhaps see if I can purchase a smaller quantity to test it out.

All of this made me think of you, of other business owners, of my clients and potential clients. Are you doing your due dilligence? Where are you spending your money? Are you getting the desired outcome? Why not?

Drop us a line or give us a jingle. Let's work together to see what's happening with your business; what's working and perhaps even what needs working on. Let's look and your processes and what can be expanded or streamlined. Let's brainstorm to get you headed back in the direction you originally set out on.

Let us Mind your business so you can Grow your business.

Want a test-drive? We have a 2-hour tester available to purchase at a discounted price. Visit our pricing and policies page for more information.

Want a 6 & 1/2 week vacation?

Thought that would catch your attention!

Wouldn't we all like six and a half weeks to ourselves over the summer. Heck, six and a half weeks anytime sounds delightful!

Hiring Scratchpad Secretaries for only five hours per week can give you 6.5 weeks back! You'll gain 6.5 weeks! Imagine what you could do with that. Imagine if you had 6.5 weeks to nurture your client relationships. To follow up on those hot leads that you just didn't have time for. To attend those trade shows you know you should be a part of, but just couldn't swing it with how busy you were. Or imagine how your golf game could improve. Or perhaps you could finally put that pool in the backyard.

Five hours a week. Only five hours.

What can we do to help you? What do you want to give us so you can use that 6.5 weeks in a more productive way?

6.5 weeks.

Imagine.

Blogging for Business

Are you not getting the attention you deserve? Do you need to get a new product in front of a crowd? Have an announcement to make but don't know how to tell the world? Don't even know how or where to start?

You need a blog. And we can help!

A blog is like an online dairy. It can be about, and be used for anything at all. It can be used for personal thoughts and opinions, news, reviews, keeping in touch with family... but we're talking about Blogging for Business.

Quite simply, it's a method of quickly updating content on your website. And the search engine spiders LOVE eating up fresh content! It automatically increases your exposure.

Automatically.

There are many ways to get your blog seen and read by people, not just via the search engines. There's a whole new world out there, Web 2.0, where people are collecting information and sharing it with their friends, contacts, etc. It's a digital word-of-mouth. And you know you can't pay for word of mouth.

At Scratchpad Secretaries, we can set up a Blog for you. Better yet, we can update it for you if you're too busy to write yourself. We can submit it to social bookmarking sites. We can add the RSS Feeds. We can make it happen for you.

Make sure you get noticed. Call us for your free 30-minute consultation!