Press clip from the Ellen DeGeneres Show!

This is the unedited copy of the Ellen DeGeneres clip sent by our PR firm. Check around the 4:19 mark for the gift bag giveaway; we were chosen to be included in the baskets that went to such A-list celebrities as Justin Timberlake, the Jonas Brothers, Josh Duhamel, George Lopez, Greg Kinnear and Luke Wilson! They all received virtual assistant services courtesy of Scratchpad Secretaries.

Enjoy!

How to Pitch. Part Three.

In the first two posts about pitching, I talked about pitching on topic, keeping it simple, playing nice and talking the talk. Below is the final post of the three-part series - pitching your concept, your idea, your product.

1. Keep On Keepin' On! In other words? Don't give up. Ever. This is your business, your baby, you've got to shop it! Work it! Own it! Remember, it's rumoured that JK Rowlings pitched Harry Potter over 100 times before it was finally signed. Consider your product your own personal masterpiece and keep on pitching! Keep On Keepin' On.

2. Network, Network and more... Social Network. Do you follow the key players on Twitter? Do you get urgent queries fast, like, yesterday? Here's someone to follow on Twitter: @skydiver. He's the man in the know. He posts queries three times a day from his HARO list as well as tweeting urgent queries. Get to know him, get to see what he's about. He's got a fantastic system going. (But pitch on topic or he'll throw you off the list! He's quick like that - and serious. It's a good thing.) There's more places to network with reporters and PR folk than Twitter, but if you want news and opportunities in real time, it's a great place to start.

3. Make it personal. How are you different - what can you do differently to grab their attention. To get their interest? I had an opportunity to pitch Sarah Ferguson, The Duchess of York, at an event earlier this year. What got her interested was the fact that I'm a female with a new start up, heading down the entrepreneurial road. Make sure you know who you're dealing with, what their interests are, and off you go!

This could be a much longer list and an ever growing and ever-changing list. It's just a few ways to approach reporters and potential customers. Talk with other successful entrepreneurs. Network with them, network with PR people. Find out what has worked for others. Do your homework.

And feel free to follow me on Twitter at @scratchpad.

How to Pitch. Part Two.

In part one of our three-part Pitch series, we outlined three ways to begin to perfect your pitch. Today, we'll outline three more. Baby steps to help you on your way to the perfect pitch!

1. Jump in, the water's fine! In other words, don't be afraid to pitch. You've got nothing to lose. This is your business, your marketing initiative, your concept, whathaveyou. So pitch away! Pitch with confidence, pitch often and pitch well.

2. Don't assume anything. You might think it's pretty obvious that everyone under the sun has an email signature that includes their contact information. Because it is pretty obvious. And everyone does have an email signature that includes their contact information. But email programs are laid out differently (ie: Gmail piles them up at the bottom of all emails - very annoying when you've got a long string of messages going), and people are laid out differently. People simply may not scroll down to find your contact info, especially if it's lost in a long string of messages! Have it clearly in the body of the message somewhere. Clearly. Link to your website, link to your email, have your name standing out. Don't forget this. Introduce yourself properly.

3. Play nice. Get a rapport going with the firm/reporter/whomever you're pitching to. I'm not talking about buttering them up - they'll see right through that - but be nice. Be professional. If you see something that will fit with what they're looking for... send it along! They'll remember you. Don't inundate, but you can send along a lead or two.

Coming up in part three: Keep On Keepin' On!

Any ideas or suggestions that have worked for you? Leave a comment, we'd love to hear from you!

How to Pitch. Part One.

Ever wonder just how to pitch your concept, idea, product or service? You see people pretty much calling out to you directly to sell them, but you really have no idea how? Or you pitch like mad, but you get nowhere?

This begins a series on pitching. A "3.3" series. Three points, three posts.

1. Pitch on topic. Don't waste people's time. They're busy enough, they don't need additional emails and various other correspondence that are off base and off topic. And they'll black list you. And they'll tell their friends. Trust me.

2. K.I.S.S. Yes, it should go without saying, except it never does. Keep It Simple Stupid. End of story. Don't drone on and on. Save that for later! Write a nice and precise paragraph on why your concept/idea/product is bang on with what they're looking for. Or with what they don't know they're looking for yet! A few sentences on what your brainwave is. A few sentences on why they need it, or better yet, why they will WANT it and why they must HAVE it.

3. Talk the Talk. Speak their language. Don't go overboard with industry acronyms and jargon, that's just plain ridiculous. But do get to know them before pitching. Know their market. Know what they're after, or, what they don't know they're after yet. I was pitching a hot PR firm out of LA not long ago. I used totally different languaging than when I pitch corporations. More relaxed. More funky. More targeted. And it worked. It was a smashing success.

Coming up next in the series: Jump in, the water's fine!

Check back regularly for updates and new pointers. Feel free to leave comments with ideas and suggestions. What's worked for you? What hasn't worked for you? Fill me in!

Ninjas. They're everywhere.

Gmail has introduced themes!

What fun. A passive way to insert a bit of joy into your inbox. There are about 30 different themes you can choose from. From geometric designs, right up to Candy and, well, my personal fave, Ninjas.

The gang at Google never disappoints.

Switch it up! Enjoy!

How to use a VA. Pt. 2

Last week we talked about five ways to use a Virtual Assistant for administrative and secretarial assignments. Today in Part 2, we'll address five more tasks and projects you can easily outsource to a virtual assistant. Feel free to contact us for details on how we can help, or leave a comment with further suggestions!

Let's get right to it:

1. Blog updates. Are you currently on tour? Have speaking engagements criss-crossing the country? Want to write some "words from the road" to keep your fans updated? Have funny backstage stories to share? Or do you simply want to keep an on-line diary of your travels to keep your family and friends in the loop? Blogging may be your answer! We will happily update your blog on a daily/weekly basis, or as often as you'd like with pictures and stories and even the latest press coverage, whatever is happening that you'd like to communicate. Don't have a blog? Let us set it up for you!


2. Holiday & Thank you cards. Have a few hundred (or thousand) cards to send that you would like to personalize? Or just a few thank you cards? Let us do the work! We have delightful penmanship. We can even send the cards from our office. And we can set up reminders for upcoming celebrations in your life so you'll be prepared for the next round. It's time for you to relax and enjoy the holidays, let us do the work on your behalf!


3. Internet-based research. Have an upcoming role you need researched? Are you a costume-designer and need some in-depth design mysteries solved? Looking for that perfect prop? Do you have an idea for a new business or a side business but no time to investigate and research? Relax! Let us do it for you. We can provide comprehensive internet-based research and reports directly to your inbox.


4. Vacation coverage and workload overflow. Do you have an existing team to help you manage your time? Already work with a personal assistant you just couldn't live without? We often work directly with your existing staff to aid in vacation coverage, research, special projects, and workload overflow just to name a few. We step in when the going gets tough. And the tough gets going. On vacation.


5. Website maintenance. Ok, so your website is up and running. And there it is. Just sitting there. You have absolutely no time at all to update it, to keep it fresh. You're simply too busy. That's what we're for! Let us do that work, let us worry about keeping it fresh and interesting, while you can get back to doing what you do best! We can simply update with newsflashes, update the blog, post the latest press releases and tour dates, the list goes on. Don't neglect your site - let us stay on it!

There it is, neatly wrapped up for you. Five more tasks to delegate to a virtual assistant - to us!

Have an idea of something else you'd like to get off your plate? Give us a jingle and let's see how we can work together to help ease your mind...and schedule!

How to use your VA. Pt. 1

Have too much to do and not enough time to do it? Don't know what exactly you can clear off your plate, but know that something, anything, must be done to give you more time?

Well, here's a couple of quick tips on what you can delegate to us to help ease some of the workload:

1. Email screening. Do you have hundreds - or thousands - of emails sitting in your inbox? Let us clean it up for you! There are various programs available where we can work remotely and directly with your system to get rid of spam, unsubscribe you to lists you ended up on (or subscribe you to what interests you!), and create a filing system that automatically puts email in the folders they belong. We can also continue to manage your inbox after it's tidied up.


2. Mail screening. Believe it or not, people still get snail mail. And some people we work with get thousands of pieces weekly. Let us screen your mail. We can simply have it redirected to our offices and look after it all for you. Everything from autograph requests and endorsement inquiries to managing and screening fan mail, to simply weeding out the junk...we look after it all.


3. Calendar and schedule maintenance. Are you one of those people who finds themselves missing important meetings or trying to juggle your personal appearance schedule when you really have more important things to do? That's where we jump in! Let us look after the details - we'll even set up systems to remind you of what's coming up. We can work directly with you or with your personal assistant/management team to get you to where you're supposed to be. And on time!


4. Online reputation management. We are your eyes and ears on the Net. We'll watch for news about you and your business and strategize on response messaging.


5. Social Media Management. Twitter, Facebook, Myspace, the list goes on. Do you have a piece of real estate where your audience is? Where your fans are? Where your target market hangs out online? We'll make sure you do. We'll set up profiles in the top networking sites and can even manage on your behalf.

See? Not so hard to delegate after all. Anything else you may be wanting to let go of? Give us a jingle to discuss!

Stay tuned for part two where we discuss 5 more tasks you can easily delegate to your virtual assistant.