The Best Year Ever: A note from the President

Posted on 28. Nov, 2011 by officebeam in Office Management, Officebeam

We all showed some thanks over Thanksgiving weekend and Officebeam hopes that everyone enjoyed the Holiday with much love, plenty of food, and the warm embrace of family and friends.

As we begin the Holiday Season 2011 all of us want to add the finishing touches to our ‘Best Year Ever’. Remember: don’t burn yourself out, take it one day at a time.

Part of our goal is to be here when people need help the most.  So we’ve decided to extend our special deal until the end of the year! Please take advantage of this offer– it’s our way of showing how thankful we are to be in business and work with amazing individuals, like you, on a day to day basis.

Enjoy the holiday season and let’s work together to make
this (and every year) ‘The Best Year Ever’!

–Aqeelah A. Rahim | President

Thank you Steve

Posted on 07. Oct, 2011 by officebeam in Officebeam

I never really realized how much Steve Jobs meant to me and my business. You take things and people for granted until they are gone or out of your life. I’ve used the Personal Computer for as long as I could remember– a Steve invention. It is truly apart of who I am and who I am destined to become. I can not really identify myself without a computer! It may sound crazy, but it is true. Using PC’s is how I run my business, my household, and my social life.

I say we need more innovators, more great thinkers, and more heros of our time. I say this for myself, my children, my family, friends and competitors. Don’t just think “outside of the box”, think beyond it!

RIP Steve Jobs.

Regards,

Aqeelah A. Rahim | Chief Virtual Officer

Question of the Day

Posted on 13. Sep, 2011 by officebeam in Officebeam

Today on LinkedIn, a group member posted this question:

“Do you think the role of Administrative Assistant has diminished?

I sometimes think that administrative support personnel are considered an unnecessary expense with so many management types are doing a lot of their own “paperwork”. For example, I worked at a place once where I had so much work my computer would crash. But as these account mgrs hired Jr. Assistants, I ended up with less work and more time to play.
What do you all think? Do admins need a specialty to get ahead/better pay/more respect?”

Here is what Officebeam had to say…

“Having a specialty will always give you leverage. In the last job I worked, I provided administrative support of a team of Project Managers. Most of them wanted to do their own paperwork. However there was a new policy implementable for mandatory document scanning . The project managers found this job tedious and difficult due to the document control system. The document control system basically gave a specific folder in the new system for every kind of document. Well, the project managers used over 100 kinds of document types. I made it my business to be the “go-to” person regarding document scanning. I even sat on the Document Scanning Solutions Committee.”

To see the complete conversation on LinkedIn, please follow by clicking here

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Fresh Look on Business Cards

Posted on 04. Sep, 2011 by officebeam in Officebeam

Today I spent most of the morning designing business cards for a client. He asked me who I went through to get my business cards printed and I explained that I used a company called Overnight Prints. I decided to post some information to share with other clients and anyone interested in knowing.

I use this printing company because the quality of their work is simply outstanding and turn-around time is fast too. I was scheduled to get my cards delivered in 3-5 days in. I was amazed when I received the cards early in the morning on the third day. They looked better than expected and the customer service experience was pleasurable. It’s amazing what the power of a friendly representative can do, because since then I refer all of my clients to Overnight Prints.

Now, there are other companies that I use for special projects and special orders, however in general Overnight Prints gives you more bang for your buck, especially when you need your product “like yesterday” as I like to say.

So to all of my clients who thank me for getting printed material to the in the snap of a finger, I want to thank Overnight Prints, because the make me look like a genius.

Officebeam offers custom business card design and logo creation. Be sure to ask about our special pricing for new clients. For those who want to handle their own design and logo creation or learn more about why I love Overnight Prints so much I’ve included a banner to take you to their site.

I hope that help! Tootles.

Happy Hour

Posted on 02. Sep, 2011 by officebeam in Meetings and Events, Office Management, Officebeam, Social Media Marketing, Virtual Administrative Assistant

No, it’s not martini time… it’s time to get down to business. When you have too much on your plate, Officebeam can take tasks off of your to do list in no time. Giving you plenty of time to celebrate!

Here are some examples of how the Officebeam Virtual Assistant can make any hour, Happy Hour.

1. Mail merge 100 letters
2. Data entry of 75-100 clients in Excel
3. Draft correspondence for client or project
4. Edit and proof a 10-page report
5. Create a presentation with MS PowerPoint
6. Research hotels, meeting facilities, transportation, and event venues
7. Article creation and PR Releases
8. Manage and update calendar
9. Research for a special project
10. Create PDFs’ of numerous documents
11. Research on price and comparison analysis of new technology, software, and techniques.
12. Complete purchase orders for office or home delivery
13. Compile data into a spreadsheet
14. Create an email template
15. Set, confirm, or cancel appointments, reservations, services, etc
16. Label, stuff, stamp and send a bulk mailing
17. Prepare dockets and personalized packets for a meetings, seminar or presentation
18. Prepare a budget, estimate, or invoice
19. Book and confirm travel, lodge, and transportation arrangements
20. Schedule teleconference or web conference along with email invitations/ reminders.

LinkedIn Goodies

Posted on 02. Sep, 2011 by officebeam in Officebeam

Today I discovered a feature on LinkedIn that I wanted to share with my readers and friends. I think it could be very useful in gaining new clientele, securing a job, or just to add to your paper portfolio. While I was updating my LinkedIn profile I noticed an option to share, print, and save as a PDF.

I’m sure some of you know this, but many may not be aware that you can print your profile or maybe just have never actually done it. It basicallylooks like a resume, but has awesome features that your standard resume may not include. I was most amazed because all of my recommendations were included in the populated PDF version of my LinkedIn profile. These days clients and employers are interested in your credability. So this is a great feature.

I thought to myself, “how neat”. So I wanted to share. To see how you look on paper view your profile then look under the first box where your links for twitter, Facebook, and your personal website appear. There will be an option to share, PDF, and print. Select PDF and your complete profile with recommendations appear in a professional layout.

I may be a little late with my discovery, but I’m sure I’m not the only one who hasn’t experimented with that option. I’ve had a linked in profile since 2008—three years later I find a great feature that has me wondering, “How long has that been there?” and I couldn’t wait to share it with you all.

Hope that helps someone out there. Be sure to check out the OfficeBeam LinkedIn profile. Thanks for reading!

10 Unique Holiday Cool Gift Ideas for Employees, Customers, and Partners

Posted on 30. Aug, 2011 by officebeam in Meetings and Events, Officebeam, Virtual Administrative Assistant

The Holiday Season will be here before you know it.Best to start planning now so that you have ample time to make your list, and plan your gift purchases. As a Virtual Assistant, I have had the task year after year to send off gifts for employees, gifts for business partners, and gifts for customers. This year, my gift to you is a list of some flattering ideas. Enjoy.

1. Send Out Cards. Ok, I know I said unique, and trust me… Send Out Cards is an online greeting card company that lets you send out two free greeting cards when you sign up. You can choose from hundreds of designs, or design your own. You can easily add money to your account to send more cards.

2. Stimulus Package. If your company is doing well, why not offer end of the year bonus as a gift for employees. Besides, everyone could use a extra cash and with the economy the way it is, your employees will definitely appreciate a stimulus package attached to their final pay check.

3. Company Gear. Everyone loves free clothes! Think warm and be sure to have scull caps, bomber jackets, scarves, and such. You can even add your logo to the gear, and get some marketing points scored!

4. Professional Massage. This is a great gift idea for anyone. Many massage parlors offer gift certificates. If it’s for one of your best, why not set up a mobile massage session, and have the masseuse come directly to their office! Massage Envy has over 800 locations nationwide and offers gift certificates.

5.Go Green. Purchase gifs made from recycled material. You can find some cool 100% recycled gifts online, like cool ornaments for $7 and cool stationary for about $20.

6. Retro Candy. This is a great gift for a small office– where snacking is very common. Why not bring about memories and fill the office with childlike joy. You can find retro candy online (Click Retro Candy to see what I mean).

7. Tote Bags. If you haven’t noticed, reusable cotton totes are the new thing. They are not only environmental friendly, but they can be very stylish and make great gifts! Adding your logo can also be good for branding and marketing ahead for 2010!

8. Professional Photo Session. Hire a photographer to take professional pictures of the key players on your team. So many people want to have pictures that look professional, but never take the time to do so. You can have the photographer take a picture of the team and individual team members. The pictures can be uses in email signature, professional social media pages, and company newsletters.

9. Reverse Role Banquet. Have management show their team a little hospitality. Employees spend an evening being served by their bosses, for once. Have a catering company come in and bring the food, while management acts as servers. This will offer your employees a night to remember. You may also want to give small gift certificates to everyone.

10. Sponsored Lunch. When your major customer, client, or partner is far away you have to get creative. One of my partners has an office of 50 employees. They always refer me to their customers and give me the best deals on my material. I decided to hire one of the best catering companies in their city. I coordinated the lunch with the office manager, and they set up a buffet styled lunch for the entire office. The buffet included salad, main course, dessert, and soft drinks. The catering company also served their office, and was responsible for setup and clean up. I received thank you emails and notes well into the next year!

Some other gift ideas include: Gift Cards (especially for gas), iPods, NetBooks, Air Cards, Bluetooth Head Sets, Company Logo’d Key Chains, 1/2 day off, and plants (or flowers).

Copyright (c) 123RF Stock Photos

Networking 6 Degrees

Posted on 09. Mar, 2011 by officebeam in Officebeam

Have lunch with a group. Try 6 degres of seperation style. You invite 1 guest to lunch and ask that they bring along someone. Their guest brings along a guest, and so on and so on. 4-5 people is a nice group. Make sure you invite someone does not share all the same qualities as you. You want to ask the same from the person you invite, in effort to make a diverse group. There should be some similarities, but you want to be able to tap into a unique demographic that you may not have complete access to. Try it! Let us know how it goes!

Moment…um (Momentum)

Posted on 23. Feb, 2011 by officebeam in Officebeam

For the past months I haven’t been blogging as much due to the projects that I am taking on simultaneously.

I’m taking online classes which are extremely challenging while handling a full work load, misc. projects, parenting, and such.

With that said, my goal is better time management for the month of March. So in March look for some of my tips and tats on Time Management and Time Improvement.

I recently went to a SkillsPath workshop on Managing Multiple Projects. I’ll share some of what I’ve learned at the seminar with you as well.

I’m looking forward to getting back in the social grove and sharing my experiences with my supporters and friends.

Happy New Year!!

Posted on 05. Jan, 2011 by officebeam in Officebeam, Uncategorized

“As the New Year arrives, I am steadily making changes to improve my customer service and my business practices. As I continue elevate my business, I wish all of my clients, supporters, and even competitors a great and prosperous year!

In 2011 let make it happen–together. ”

Sincerely,

Aqeelah A. Rahim