Do you take time to write “thank you” notes to customers, friends, potential customers, your suppliers and the occasional person who’s done you a favor?   In today’s fast paced world, notes of appreciation seem to have gone by the wayside.
There are many ways to say “thank you” and to show your appreciation.  Take time to utilize one of them and organize this gesture into your schedule.

A sticky note attached to an invoice, a product, or something you’ve borrowed and are returning.
A note specifically designed for the occasion.
A note you’ve designed with your computer program.
A note you’ve made by hand
An e-mail
A phone …read more

After spending considerable time looking for addresses that I’ve jotted down from e-mail or the phone, I’m trying to develop the habit of “writing an address only once.”
Today I received an address from a colleague for someone I need to write a letter.  Instead of writing the address on a scrap of paper near the laptop, I got my note taker little notebook where I jot down odds and ends and reminders.  Then I immediately got an envelope and wrote it there.
Actually that was writing it twice but I didn’t have to spend considerable time looking for it when I …read more

We generally don’t think about planning or organizing our attitude.  However, resolve, no matter how tough your day or circumstances, to smile when you encounter your customers. 
Don’t tell them all your problems.  (Even if  it’s your best friend, there are more appropriate places to communicate problems than at your business where others may stop in.) 
Have your customers leave feeling better than when they came in…and hopefully they left after purchasing something.
Even when you answer the phone or communicate by e-mail, put enthusiasm into your messages and voice.  Let them hang up or sign off anxious to talk with you again because …read more

If you haven’t discovered text messaging on your cell phone or iPhone, you may want to consider it as a way to save time with phone calls. 
Generally, when on the phone, you get involved longer than planned unless you’re very self-willed.
With text messaging, you can send and receive messages at leisure and answer when you have time.  You also can access e-mail messages and send them with some phones with Internet access.  (One of my business colleagues does this instead of having her laptop with her all the time.)  Very rarely do the text messages require an instant reply so don’t interrupt …read more

Are you constantly on the cell phone when you’re away from home or your business? 
 Do you realize what impression you give if you always have the cell or a head set attached to your ear?  Or if you’re looking away from the person you’re talking with to check text messages or send them?
You tend to give the impression the people you meet aren’t important.  No, you’re not doing business with them at that moment, but they’re potential customers or may be talking to potential customers.

Decide to organize your cell phone calls and text messaging so that you don’t have to …read more

I was delighted to receive helpful comments for my post, Organizing My Addresses for Postal Mail. 
As I relate there, I don’t have my addresses organized in one place, so I’m continually wasting time hunting for them.
You may want to check out the above post and read what Christina and Jessica have to say.  Each one describes how she organizes her addresses.  Each has a different method.  I’m studying the replies to see how I can apply their suggestions to a method that suits me.
What about you?

I often don’t get my postal mail sent out in a timely fashion because I don’t have addresses handy.  I get the letters and cards written, often when I’m traveling, away from home, and in various spare moments. 
Then they will sit in my tote bag, on my desk, or my stationery box waiting to be addressed.  I have some addresses in a file folders, others in an old address book, more in a schedule book I carry in my purse, others on business cards, and still more in my husband’s computer.
Why can’t I take the time and get them all together? 
I …read more

Scrapbooking becomes more than a way to secure family memories and photos.  The techniques utilized in this craft can be put to good measure when planning a business portfolio, I’ve discovered.
I used a photo album type portfolio when I operated a quiltmaking business.  That was before scrapbooking was a big attraction.  However, this was ideal for showing off my work at that time.
Now I’m involved in party planning,  Not so much the actual hands-on, being present at the affair planning as providing resources for my customers and helping them do their own affair.  I also look at ways to keep their costs …read more

In 5 Tips for Organizing Your Social Media Strategy, I mentioned one of the ways to do this was starting a blog for your business or service. 
 Sometimes a blog can be an offshoot of your web site, if you have one.  In other  instances, you begin your online presence with a blog. 
Some possibilities for blog content to make it appealing.  Thus viewers will keep returning, and your business becomes a household name:

Include photos. 
Keep blog entries fairly short.
Use lists of tips and items to make for easy reading
Decide whether your blog will be product/service oriented or include some personal interaction.
Keep the posts from being dry and preachy
Include humor …read more

Organize yourself so that you have time to write well on your web site or blog.  Also, be coherent and understandable in your business correspondence, whether it’s e-mail, Facebook, postal letters or text messages.  This, of course, depends on who you’re corresponding with.  However, in general, you need to give the impression that you’re a competent and capable business person, not someone who conducts a business “hit or miss.”
Laura Spencer, at Writing Thoughts, has some thoughts about what could be wrong with your business web site: One most common problem that many companies overlook is the quality of the writing …read more