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

I’ve discovered that sometimes clients get nasty when they’ve never seen you. I can’t tell you how many rude emails I’ve gotten IN ALL CAPS, and unfriendly demands come through via text, email, and even over the phone. It’s amazing that I never have that problem when I’ve seen my clients face-to-face via Skype or otherwise.

I though about it and it hit me, I guess it’s sort of the same thing that bill collectors or customer service representatives experience when they are on the phone at a call center. How many of us have gotten ugly with someone we’ve never met and know that we don’t have to face?

I think its very important to connect visually with clients. When doing business, remember we are still human (even though highly dependent on technology) and we still have a natural tendency to want to use our eyes to see how things are. Our visual perception is there for us to interpret information, don’t forget to show people who you are, especially if it will make them more comfortable with doing business with you.

Of course Officebeam is on Skype. You can find the owner Aqeelah on Skype doing EST business hours, just search for “Aqeelah.Taheerah” and someone from Officebeam will be available to chat with you live.

We can’t wait to meet you!

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

On Site Social Media

“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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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.

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.

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!

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).

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