November/December 2007 - Issue #60

• Intro
  
• Article - Part 2
  
• The Office Corner
  
• Grammar Question of the Month - Squinting Modifiers
  
• Tech Tips by Terence Kierans - From Access to Excel
  
• Writing Corner
  
• Word of the Month - Frangible
  
• Recommendations
  
• Judy's Corner
  
• Judy's Photo Gallery
  

* Happy Holidays! Got a minute? Check out the website makeover that Kelly Ward and I did for 4 Paws for Ability.org. This organization, which provides service dogs for (mostly) children with disabilities, rocks.

* Comments by subscriber Peg Ridgway, who wonders if anyone else has come across this: For the last year or so, I have been receiving mail addressed to my P.O. Box 218 which is really intended for PMB 218 (private mail box at a nearby Mailboxes Etc location). We are both in the same zip code. The owner of the PMB continues to list her official address as "P.O. Box" rather than PMB, causing her mail to first be deposited in my official post office mail box. Of course, I always write on the envelope "Not P.O. Box 218" and redirect it. But wouldn't it be better if PMB box owners would realize they are not renting Post Office boxes and use the PMB instead?

P.S. Sometimes the mis-addressed mail contains the Mailboxes Etc. street address. It still ends up in my box, because the same zip code and "P.O. Box" are used. A simple "PMB" might solve the problem.

Judy, if this sounds like I'm complaining, it's only because I've checked with the Post Office and the Mailboxes Etc. places and there's nothing more they can do.

By Michelle Ulrich

Part 2. Your Ideal Client and Your Message

In Part 1, we discussed how to know your passions and your niche (type of work or industry). In Part 2, we'll analyze the qualities that make up your ideal client.

Your Ideal Client

Get as specific as if you were describing your best friend, or the neighbor next door.

Now grab a yellow pad and describe your ideal client.

Okay, now, your ideal client should be clear in your mind. Example: "My ideal client is between 30-60 years old, a female author, coach, and/or speaker, who shares my values. She is both financially and healthfully fit, in addition to respectful of my spiritual boundaries."

Your Message

Time to write out your 30-second message, read it aloud to yourself, read it aloud to your family, then your friends, then your colleagues, and finally, to strangers who could be your potential clients. Rehearse it in the mirror to see how it looks, record it to hear how it sounds, and keep improving until you feel you've nailed it and it doesn't sound rehearsed. Find passion in your voice when saying what you do; others listening will become excited, too.

Example: "I specialize in working with authors, coaches, and speakers who struggle to keep up with e-commerce and new technologies. I take the struggle off their shoulders, relieving them of the stress. I implement their needs to help them grow their bottom line without having to learn all the new technologies themselves."

Try this for your business.
"I specialize in working with __________________________________
who struggle to keep up with ____________________________________.
I implement their needs to help them grow their bottom line without having to ____________________________________________________."

You are now prepared to go forth and prospect for clients. You know your passions, niche (type of work or industry), who your ideal client is and you also have a clear message. Now, you can help others to be empowered to help you find and refer the right clients to you without hesitation.

Go with passion and excitement-it's yours for the taking!

About The Author:
Michelle Ulrich is the founder of The Virtual Nation™, an educational destination for Virtual Professionals around the globe. Michelle is a community college instructor teaching a Virtual Assistant certificate program online. Aside from coaching and teaching, she is also a speaker and soon-to-be author on the subject of Virtual Assistance. She maintains her private practice where she specializes in working with authors, coaches, and speakers who struggle to keep up with e-commerce and new technologies. Find her websites at www.michelleulrich.com and www.thevirtualnation.com.

1. TYPO TOOL AND MISSPELLING GENERATOR
http://www.syndk8.net/cgi-bin/mistertypo.cgi

2. PAGE NUMBERS, NOT LETTERS: By Jacci Howard Bear
http://desktoppub.about.com/b/2007/11/20/page-numbers-not-letters.htm?nl=1

3. SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION: FREE ONLINE COURSES
http://www.sba.gov/services/training/onlinecourses/index.html

4. THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS OF WEBSITE COPY by Michel Fortin
http://www.michelfortin.com/the-seven-deadly-sins-of-website-copy/#more-439

Q. I've heard of misplaced modifiers, but what are squinting modifiers?
A. They are words placed in such a way, says Gregg Reference Manual, that they can be interpreted as modifying either what precedes or what follows. Example: Traveling abroad frequently becomes exhausting.

Gregg wonders if "frequently" modifies "Traveling abroad" or "can become exhausting." It gives several examples of better writing:

1. Frequently traveling abroad can become exhausting.
2. Making frequent trips abroad can become exhausting.
3. Traveling abroad can frequently become exhausting.

FROM ACCESS TO EXCEL
You can easily create formatted Excel sheets from Access data using a built in Access function - "Office Links".

To use this feature, select a relevant database object and click Tools/Office Links/Analyze It With Excel.

The worksheet created by Excel will include some minor formatting applied to the field headings that appear in row 1. However, be aware that some of the formatting in your original Access database will affect the worksheet cell formatting as well.

As an example, if you export from a datasheet, the gridline and font attributes are carried over to the worksheet.

If you use the "Office Links" feature to export data behind a form then text box shading and font properties will be applied. The final result in Excel may not exactly match your Access data; colours may get changed and bold formatting is lost.

You will find, however, that less work will be required to get your Excel version of the data into an easily readable state.

TASK PANE (PAIN)
Starting with Word 2002 a new user interface feature called the task pane has been included. This is an area at the right-hand side of the document showing different tasks you can accomplish, if desired.

Whenever you start Word, it helpfully(?) displays the "Getting Started" task pane. Should you not need help getting started, you may find it a nuisance to have to repeatedly close this task pane after starting Word.

Relief is at hand. You can instruct Word to not display this particular task pane by:

1.	Choose "Options" from the Tools menu. The "Options" dialog box will be displayed.
2.	Select the "View" tab.
3.	Uncheck the "Startup Task Pane" check box.
4.	Click OK.

The next time you start Word, the "Getting Started" task pane should not show up.

Should you experience any problem or if you want even greater control over all your task panes, refer to the following page at the Word MVP Web site: http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/Customization/ShowTaskPane.htm … and as a Christmas bonus:

FAST ADDRESSING
If you want to send an email while surfing the web, there is no need to open your email program. Just type in mailto:, without the quotes, in the browser location box, where a Web site URL normally goes. Then, without spacing, type the email address of your recipient. Press "Enter" and your email application message window will open with the email already addressed for you.

Terence Kierans
Cyberspace Virtual Services
tkierans@virtualservices.com.au
http://www.virtualservices.com.au/
We keep your project on the boil, while you sleep

1. HOW TO DRAW PERSONAL EXPERIENCES OUT OF A RELUCTANT INTERVIEWEE
http://www.concernedjournalists.org/node/240

2. SOUNDS FROM SILENCE: If they don't answer right away, let the question hang.
http://www.concernedjournalists.org/node/246

3. CONTENTED.COM: A site for sore writers
http://www.contented.com/

4. WRITING QUESTION OF THE WEEK
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/purdueowlnews/

fran-gi-ble
Pronunciation:*fran-j*-b*l
Function:adjective
Etymology:Middle English, from Middle French & Medieval Latin; Middle French, from Medieval Latin frangibilis, from Latin frangere to break — more at BREAK
Date:15th century

: readily or easily broken
synonyms see FRAGILE
–fran-gi-bil-i-ty \*fran-j*-*bi-l*-t*\ noun

*By permission. From Merriam-Webster's Collegiate(R) Dictionary at www.m-w.com by Merriam-Webster, Incorporated.

1. PASSION AS A STRATEGY, PLUS OTHER MARKETING TIPS TO BOOST YOUR BOTTOM LINE by Beth Goldstein
http://www.businessknowhow.com/marketing/ultimatetoolkit.htm

2. WHAT WE'RE READING: adventures in the world of children's books
http://www.ucalgary.ca/~dKbrown/wwr/index.html

Time to focus on holiday activities, and look forward to the new year. I'm going to TRY and have all my bookwork in order by the end of the year. How about you?

It's also time to count our blessings. I love looking at a cup half full. No matter how hard or how often we're hit by emotional missiles, we need to remember that life is full of possibilities. Never give up!

Alice's Orchid, Holualoa, Hawaii November 2007

image

Vorfeld Apricot Hibiscus Holualoa, Hawaii November 2007

Sunset over Kona, from Holualoa, Hawaii November 2007

Monarch Butterfly, Desert Botanical Gardens, Phoenix, October 2007

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