Archive for tips
Facebook Overwhelm? Create friend lists!
Posted by: | CommentsAre you overwhelmed by the amount of updates coming through your Facebook news feed? Do you even care what your boss had for dinner last night? A way to avoid overload on Facebook is to create friend lists. That way you can view the updates of who you want to view and filter out everyone else.
Here’s how to create a friend list on Facebook:
From the Home page → Click on Friends (located on the left side of the screen) → click +Create a List button at the top right. Name the list (ie. High School Friends) then select all of your high school friends and click on Save List.
You can create as many lists as you need. Next time you log in to Facebook to check your news feed check by friend list. You can have a list for family so it’s easy to quickly see what all your family is up to. Another one for work, etc. The newly created lists will be located under the Friends link on the left side of the home page.
If you want to delete a friend list on Facebook follow these steps:
Click on Account → edit friends → On the left column find the category “Lists” → click on the list you want to delete → then click “Delete List”
Privacy Lists on Facebook
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For the last three weeks I’ve been attending the Social Media Success Summit and learning lots of new tips and tricks.
The fabulous Mari Smith, the Queen of Facebook told us 500 million active users have logged on to Facebook during the last 30 days and 250 million log on every day for an average of 55 minutes. Just one good reason why a business owner would want to be on Facebook.
Also learned from Mari that you can accept strangers as friends on your personal Facebook profile and still maintain some level of privacy. You can let all friend requests in but limit their view of your profile. I knew this but I did not know you could create a list of people to limit. The way this works is instead of individually entering each person you want to limit access to in to your privacy settings you can just add the whole list under your privacy settings. All you have to do is create the list and add every person to the list that you want to have limited access to your profile and then add that list under your privacy settings.
You might be saying why don’t I just ignore the friend request? Well, you can but what if that friend request is from your mom, your boss or your neighbor and you really don’t want to offend them?
You have choices:
- You can ignore their friend request and deal with the “why’d you ignore my friend request on Facebook?” questions
- You can stop posting updates you wouldn’t want them to read (good idea but most people don’t do this)
- You can allow them in as your friend but limit the amount they will see on your profile
Here’s how:
First you need to make a list.
- To make a list click on the Friends link (located on the home page, on the left, under your profile picture)
- Click +Create a List button (located to the right above your list of friends)
- When the box pops up: enter a name for your list and start typing in the names of your “friends” that you want to add to your list
- After you select some friends for this list click on the blue Create List button
You now have a list!
If you want this list to be given special privacy settings you need to do the following:
- Click on Account drop down menu (located at the top right of your Facebook profile page)
- Click on Privacy Settings
- Click on Personal Information & Posts
- Click on Posts by Me, Photo Albums (whatever you want to keep private)
- Click on the drop down menu to the right of the setting you want to edit where it says Everyone, Friends of Friends, Only Friends, or Customize. Click Customize.
- Then start typing the name of your list. My list is called Not Sure which means I’m not sure if I want to let this person in to my full profile yet. After I get to know them a little bit I might take them off the Not Sure list and give them more access.
Facebook Etiquette
Posted by: | CommentsSince Facebook is one of the world’s largest countries now and we are all living in it together… Here are a few things that might help keep the peace.
- When sending a bulk message on Facebook to a bunch of your friends: Please (PLEASE) think twice before doing this. Did you know when you send this message to your 20 best friends, every single time one of those people responds to that message, we ALL get the response. Mulitply that times 20 plus all the back and forth responses and that is a lot of messages in my email box that I don’t need to read nor want to read and it takes my precious time to delete those unwanted messages.
- When sending a long and salesy message from your personal profile or fan page this feels like spam to me. I did not ask for you to send me an email about your services or what you sell. I became a fan of your page because I want to support you or because I’m interested in your businesses but I did not sign up to receive messages from you. There is no unsubscribe link in Facebook messages so if I keep getting unwanted messages my only choices are to unfriend you or unfan your business.
- Farmville and all ville apps on Facebook: If you play those games, enjoy, have fun but please turn off your notifications. I really don’t want to know if you just bought another pink pig or watered your green beans today. I have never played Farmville so I don’t know if this really works but it is worth a try. I looked up how to stop Farmville from sending notifications and found this How To Stop Farmville From Sending Notifications on Yahoo answers. Can someone please verify that this works? (If lots of your friends are playing Farmville and you don’t want to know their status you can always click Hide when you see one of their Farmville udpates. Clicking Hide on the right side of the update will Hide all future Farmville updates.)
Thank you for listening to my tips rant. 
Have a nice day.
Starting up a Business Economically
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I’ve seen people buy all sorts of offices supplies – a new computer, a new fax machine, a fancy printer, a scanner, a phone system, pens, etc.
I’ve also seen people use all these “things” they must have as an excuse to not put themselves out there and really start their business. I hear things like, “I can’t go to that networking meeting because I don’t have a Website yet or I don’t have brochures yet or my Website isn’t done yet.” I’ll let you in on a little secret… Websites are never done!
If you are thinking about starting a business I say start with the basics. Get a Website or Blog and a simple professional looking business card. The letterhead, brochures, logos and fancy Website are not going to get you business. What is going to get you business are your skills at networking and connecting with others, the quality of service you provide and a way for people to find you (ie. contact info on Website and business cards).
What are you waiting for? Stop trying to be perfect. Stop making excuses. Stop wasting money. Remember you have a service to offer that most likely someone else needs.
Pic of office supplies via Flickr User nickjohnson
PS. Thanks to Mack Collier for explaining an easy way to give photo credit when using creative common photos from Flickr.
Urge to Purge Day 4
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Today I purged the information booklet from my health insurance (because I never read it anyway), I filed some papers I need to save for clients, found my Get Clients Now! tracking sheets… hmmm maybe I will start that program again. I finally took the sent faxes out of my fax machine and filed them.
I put away Poncho’s (my dog) file (with all the Vet receipts and other miscellaneous Poncho info) back with the personal files in the other room where it belongs! I also put away my recipe file that got left in here after I emailed Becki the Crock Pot stew recipe.
It seems my blog ramblings about organizing my desk have inspired a few others to do the same. After day 1 of my urge to purge my mom sent me a picture of her desk saying my problem (of a clutter filled desk) might be genetic.
(Very clever how she took the picture with the picture of my desk on her screen)Today my mom sent me a new pic of her clean desk. She wanted to note that the flower was placed there just for the picture because she would never actually leave a vase there where water could be spilled on her keyboard.
Something I’ve learned (remembered) in these 4 days of purging. Keeping your desk clean and organized in an ongoing process. You can’t just clean your desk once and expect it to stay clean. You have to always put away what you take out. It’s a good idea to set time aside each day to clear off the clutter. I don’t know about you but my desk is like a clutter magnet. My desk was cleared off a few minutes ago but now it has my book, my purple pen, my water bottle, my wallet and my lotion on it. If I don’t stop right now to put these things back where they belong they may soon take permanent residence on my desk top.
Day 5 I will tackle my In box.
Urge to Purge Day 3
Posted by: | CommentsMy desk is slowly getting more organized and starting to look better. I’ve actually been purging and putting away more than 5 things a day, but knowing I only have to do 5 things makes it easier. The latest items removed from my desk were a pile of receipts (entered in QuickBooks and filed away), a necklace, a belt, my sunglasses (reminder to self – this is my desk, not a closet!), a dime, a stack of business cards (either entered in my contacts or tossed), and a Community Class Schedule (no I’m not going to sign up for that great Spanish class that started 3 weeks ago).
Although I have put away and purged quite a bit, I’m still not happy with my desk. After taking today’s photo I’m seeing what I need to work on next either the files and other stashed papers to the left or the so called In Box to the right (a.k.a. place to stick things I know I need to deal with but probably never will box). Notice Intuit QuickBooks Pro 2009 box… I don’t know how many months it has been sitting there waiting for me to install the new version of Quickbooks. I could probably take those sent faxes out of my fax machine and file them too.
To reward my efforts so far I gave my desk a little gift. Yes I know adding things to my desk in the middle of clearing out probably isn’t the wisest thing to do but whatever it makes me smile. I bought a friend for Robbie the Robot, a little purple and pink wind up butterfly. I also bought new purple pens because *gasp* I ran out of purple ink yesterday.
How is your purging going? Is your desk/office looking better?
Urge to Purge Day 2
Posted by: | CommentsAfter yesterday’s post I removed 5 things from my desk. It’s starting to look a little better. Oh and I also made a deal with myself to not add any new things to my desk. Whatever I take out I will put away. Whatever needs to be thrown away or recycled will be. However, I’m noticing I didn’t quite stick to my deal. Even though there is less stuff on my desk today than there was yesterday, I added a few things (a necklace, my sun glasses, a coffee cup and a glass of water). This purging stuff is harder to do than it sounds.
Yesterday I purged (actually put away) my pens, the little bulldog clip, sticky notes, kid’s school directory and my check book. I purged an old sudefed pill that was in my desk drawer and has been in there for probably a year. Why was I saving a sudefed pill in my desk drawer? Who knows?
You may have noticed the little wind up robot on my desk from yesterday’s photo or maybe you didn’t because my desk was so messy he fell over.
The little robot is named Robbie. When I was in 4th grade I wrote a story about Robbie the Robot explaining that the reason my desk was messy inside was because there was a robot named Robbie that lived in there and messed it up every night while I was at home sleeping. My teacher thought this was so funny, he shared the story with other teachers, students and my parents. A few months ago in Diva Day I was complaining about my messy desk and remembered the story of Robbie the Robot. I shared the story with the group and someone suggested I get a robot to keep on my desk and remind myself not to be so hard on myself about my messy desk.
I’d like to introduce you to Robbie. However, now that I’m a grown up it is time for me to take ownership for my own mess. It is not Robbie’s fault. I can’t blame Robbie. Robbie is here to remind me to keep my desk clean. When he falls over it’s a reminder to me that it’s time to stop and clean up the desk again.
It’s time for me to purge (or put away 5 more things). How are you doing with keeping your desk clean? Did you find any strange things on your desk or in your desk drawers?
The Urge to Purge
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Hi my name is Sally and my desk is a mess. (See picture to the left as proof). I have the urge to purge! I am a Virtual Assistant with a business called Virtual Simplicity and I help other people get and stay organized. With that profession you’d think I’d have a spotless desk wouldn’t you? As much as I hate to admit it my desk is not spotless, it is messy! I struggle everyday with this. I want a spotless desk!
I recently met Jen from Inspired Home Office through Diva Day who explained to me that it is okay to have things on my desk. A desk in use is going to have stuff on it. So Jen’s words gave me some encouragement but I still want that clean and shiny executive desk that I picture myself having. I want to walk in to my office and look at my desk and feel a sense of relaxation. Not walk in and get mad at myself for having such a messy desk.
In an effort to achieve the desk I dream of, the desk I preach about… I am going to start purging. I got the idea to purge 5 things a day for 5 days and thought it would be fun to invite others to join me. Is your desk a mess? Do you want to do the 5 things a day for 5 days purge?
There is a section in mine and Yvonne’s book called:
“IDENTIFY THE PITFALLS TO SUCCESS AND AVOID THEM”
Pitfall #4 – Clutter
When you visualize a successful CEO’s office, do you see a messy, clutter-filled office with so much paper work piled up you can’t even see the top of the desk? Or do you see a spacious, clean, simple office with an organized desk and a big, shiny workspace?
Now look around your own office and desk. Does it look like the successful CEO’s office or is it a clutter-filled mess? Schedule a few minutes at the end of each today to put back what you have taken out (i.e. files, office supplies, etc). – Managing Your Thriving Business For Success.
I think it is time I start practicing what I preach. It’s so easy to give advice and sometimes so hard to follow it.
How Not talk to your potential Virtual Assistant
Posted by: | CommentsI was catching up on my blog reading and came across Candy’s blog where she posted this video (that Nina showed to her). I just had to re-post because I have heard things like this SO many times and it relates to my previous blog post.
(I can’t get the video to fit properly in the post so please click the link to watch)
The Vendor Client Relationship in Real World Situations
Thanks Candy and Nina!
How to Create a Facebook Fan Page
Posted by: | CommentsI set up and manage quite a few of Facebook® Fan Pages for my clients. The reason I do this is because creating and updating a Fan Page on Facebook® is not an obvious thing to do. It’s a bit clunky actually and not everyone has the time or patience to figure it out. However, Mari Smith has made a video that walks you through step by step how to create a Fan Page. For those of you that want to do it yourself, this is a great video!
Adding an event to a Fan Page with the new Facebook® design is a whole new challenge. I had to spend some time researching how to add a new event to the Fan Pages I have been managing. I found this blog very helpful.
