Every month, I will provide a helpful tip that you can use for your next e-newsletter. But first, here are a few important things to remember when sending out an e-newsletter to your customers or clients:
• Be brief and informative.
• Maintain a regular schedule,
• Provide useful information,
• Use an online campaign manager such as Constant Contact or OnMarketer.
The first e-newsletter of the year should begin with a Happy New Year sentiment. Thank your customers for their support and loyalty and express gratitude in their future business. In this first edition, offer a promotion for the year or a portion of the year. Promotions can be in the form of a discount, coupon, or an introductory price to a new service. Remember it is winter and post-Holidays, so specials and price reductions are important to get customers in your front door.
Some examples of promotions:
• A CPA might offer a 10% discount for everyone who gets their Federal tax paperwork in by Feb 15th.
• A hairdresser can offer a "brighten up the darkness of winter with highlights" coupon.
• A home organizer can offer a spring cleaning promotion of an hour free with three paid hours.
The possibilities are endless and are easy to tailor to your individual business and your customer's needs. Don't forget to put a timeline or expiration date.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
What's Your Password?
Thought I would share some good points about passwords that help make them harder for identity thieves to figure out. It is time to stop using your pet's name - that is just too easy.
Lengthy - a good password is at least eight characters, longer if possible.
Multiple-Characters - be sure to include letters both upper and lower case, numbers, symbols and punctuation.
Don't forget it- to help with remembering, come up with an acronym for your password - Dinner at Amy's on Oct 25th. would be D@A's1025
Until next time,
Amy
www.amy munns.com
Providing smart solutions for everyday challenges. Specializing in time management, goal setting, prioritizing tasks for small business, busy professionals and active families.
Taken from: USAA Magazine Fall 2009
Lengthy - a good password is at least eight characters, longer if possible.
Multiple-Characters - be sure to include letters both upper and lower case, numbers, symbols and punctuation.
Don't forget it- to help with remembering, come up with an acronym for your password - Dinner at Amy's on Oct 25th. would be D@A's1025
Until next time,
Amy
www.amy munns.com
Providing smart solutions for everyday challenges. Specializing in time management, goal setting, prioritizing tasks for small business, busy professionals and active families.
Taken from: USAA Magazine Fall 2009
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Five Rules for Working from Home
I found this article in the Oct 2009 issue of Real Simple. Great tips on working from home and how to make the most of it. Here are the highlights and a link for the entire article.
1. Figure out if it's right for you.
2. Set up an ideal office layout.
3. Schedule your day.
4. Minimize "time sucks" - dare I say - even Facebook
5. Stay connected.
Hope your day is productive!
Amy
www.amymunns.com
http://www.realsimple.com/home-organizing/organizing/home-office/five-rules-for-working-from-home-00000000021581/index.html
1. Figure out if it's right for you.
2. Set up an ideal office layout.
3. Schedule your day.
4. Minimize "time sucks" - dare I say - even Facebook
5. Stay connected.
Hope your day is productive!
Amy
www.amymunns.com
http://www.realsimple.com/home-organizing/organizing/home-office/five-rules-for-working-from-home-00000000021581/index.html
Monday, August 24, 2009
Three Simple Solutions to Make Going Back to School Stress Free
While I realize there are parts of the country that have already started school, out here in the Pac NW, we don't normally start until after Labor Day. With this being my first official "back to school" year - TJ will be starting Kindergarten this year - I thought I would generate some ideas that will help make the transition from lazy summer to hectic school days a little easier. While doing some research for this blog, I found many resources for getting the kids back in gear for the school year. This article is aimed at the parents and caretakers of those kids. Since you are the ones driving the bus so to speak - I thought you could use some tips as well.
This blog post was brought to you be the letter "P".
1. Plan ahead and beat the crowds.
I was very impressed with the availability of resources that our school district offers online. One of these resources was the school supply list that I found in late July. It might have even been listed sooner, that was when I found it. Because they offer the list so early, it is easy both on time and your budget to start buying those supplies early and take advantage of good selections and the weekly sales. Keep track of the circulars for the various stores to take full benefit of the savings they offer. Stock up now for things that will need replacing and refilling later in the year. Start early to avoid the rush the week or even the night before.
Take an inventory of what you need before heading out the door. This goes for school supplies and school clothes. Have your children give you a fashion show by trying on all their current clothing to see what fits, what looks like it is on its way out and what is out. Make a list of what is needed, then hit the stores. This too will save you time and money.
If you are lucky to live in a state that offers "tax free days" for back to school shopping; create your lists early and stick a little money aside each week or month. When heading out, create a plan of attack, listing which items to be bought at each store.
Like doing your back to school shopping early, you can also avoid the crowds by getting your child's vaccinations and annual physicals done early. And no one says they have to have a haircut the night before school starts. A haircut still looks good when it is a couple weeks old.
2. Plan for the future.
Another item I was able to find on my school's website was the school calendar. Take a look at this, print it out and make note on your calendar what days are early release, parent/teacher conferences and days off. Do you need to make plans with your job to cover these days? My friend Rachel and I are hoping to create a "day off - child care switch". Instead of every parent taking each day off, set up a system with other parents to share the days off. In our set up, I will take her son one day off and she will take mine the next. This helps to eliminate the constant need for days off from your job too.
3. Practice
Summer means no routine, sleeping in and staying up late. A week or two before school starts, start adjusting bedtimes and wake-up times by 10 minutes each day. Do a dry run to the bus stop to see how long it takes your child to walk it. Or drive the route and have your child get in and out of the car at school to see how that takes. Add ten minutes to the time and you have the time you should be heading out the door each morning. (We all know the time warp that happens as we are heading out the door, allow for extra time for lost shoes, forgotten lunches and skipped teeth brushing.) Get into the habit of picking up toys each night, setting clothes out the night before and research quick and easy and filling breakfasts. Since TJ has never had to carry a lunch box, we are practicing some lunches with him. This is showing me what packaging he can and can't open. I am also "training" him to repack it so that everything that should come home - does.
So there you go - Plan Ahead, Plan for the Future and Practice. Three simple solutions to help back to school less stressful. Please feel free to share these ideas with friends and family. If you would like a hard copy of these steps, (for a small printing fee) send me an email, I will be happy to send one to you.
Until next time,
Amy
Providing smart solutions for everyday challenges. Specializing in time management, goal setting, prioritizing tasks for small business, busy professionals and active families.
Become a Fan on Facebook- Amy Munns Consulting
Follow me on Twitter - amymunns
amy@amymunns.com
www.amymunns.com
This blog post was brought to you be the letter "P".
1. Plan ahead and beat the crowds.
I was very impressed with the availability of resources that our school district offers online. One of these resources was the school supply list that I found in late July. It might have even been listed sooner, that was when I found it. Because they offer the list so early, it is easy both on time and your budget to start buying those supplies early and take advantage of good selections and the weekly sales. Keep track of the circulars for the various stores to take full benefit of the savings they offer. Stock up now for things that will need replacing and refilling later in the year. Start early to avoid the rush the week or even the night before.
Take an inventory of what you need before heading out the door. This goes for school supplies and school clothes. Have your children give you a fashion show by trying on all their current clothing to see what fits, what looks like it is on its way out and what is out. Make a list of what is needed, then hit the stores. This too will save you time and money.
If you are lucky to live in a state that offers "tax free days" for back to school shopping; create your lists early and stick a little money aside each week or month. When heading out, create a plan of attack, listing which items to be bought at each store.
Like doing your back to school shopping early, you can also avoid the crowds by getting your child's vaccinations and annual physicals done early. And no one says they have to have a haircut the night before school starts. A haircut still looks good when it is a couple weeks old.
2. Plan for the future.
Another item I was able to find on my school's website was the school calendar. Take a look at this, print it out and make note on your calendar what days are early release, parent/teacher conferences and days off. Do you need to make plans with your job to cover these days? My friend Rachel and I are hoping to create a "day off - child care switch". Instead of every parent taking each day off, set up a system with other parents to share the days off. In our set up, I will take her son one day off and she will take mine the next. This helps to eliminate the constant need for days off from your job too.
3. Practice
Summer means no routine, sleeping in and staying up late. A week or two before school starts, start adjusting bedtimes and wake-up times by 10 minutes each day. Do a dry run to the bus stop to see how long it takes your child to walk it. Or drive the route and have your child get in and out of the car at school to see how that takes. Add ten minutes to the time and you have the time you should be heading out the door each morning. (We all know the time warp that happens as we are heading out the door, allow for extra time for lost shoes, forgotten lunches and skipped teeth brushing.) Get into the habit of picking up toys each night, setting clothes out the night before and research quick and easy and filling breakfasts. Since TJ has never had to carry a lunch box, we are practicing some lunches with him. This is showing me what packaging he can and can't open. I am also "training" him to repack it so that everything that should come home - does.
So there you go - Plan Ahead, Plan for the Future and Practice. Three simple solutions to help back to school less stressful. Please feel free to share these ideas with friends and family. If you would like a hard copy of these steps, (for a small printing fee) send me an email, I will be happy to send one to you.
Until next time,
Amy
Providing smart solutions for everyday challenges. Specializing in time management, goal setting, prioritizing tasks for small business, busy professionals and active families.
Become a Fan on Facebook- Amy Munns Consulting
Follow me on Twitter - amymunns
amy@amymunns.com
www.amymunns.com
Friday, July 17, 2009
All I Really Need to Know I Learned While Waiting Tables
Well - maybe the title is a little mis-leading. But when it comes to time management, cleaning, organizing - I actually did learn a lot from waiting tables.
I was a server while in college - working at such fine establishments as Marie Calendar's, Houlihan's and Chili's. I loved it. It was fun, fast and good money. Everyone in the restaurant biz is friendly and outgoing, so it was easy to make friends and get along with everyone. Don't get me wrong - it is hard work. And if you have never waited tables, you might not truly appreciate all that the servers do besides bring drinks and clear dishes. It is work that requires you to be on your feet, everything is always greasy, walking on floors that always wet kind of work. The hours are long and late and dealing with cranky customers is just plain the pits.
At all three restaurants for which I worked, I was always trained to work my station as a whole. (A station is a collection of three to five tables.) For example -a good wait person will bring water to table fifteen, drop of the check at table seventeen, check in on entrees with table eighteen and get drink orders from table sixteen without leaving the section. The time it would take to run to the back and get the water, then run to the back and get the check, then run and get the drink order would result in too much wasted time.
Rachel Ray in her show Thirty Minute Meals shows a great example of how I would suggest taking the server's techniques and utilizing them in a home situation. If you have every watched this show, Rachel starts out with a trip to the fridge to gather items, then swoops by the back counter to get bowls and then a trip to the pantry to get spices all before setting anything down at her work area. The inefficient method might look like this - a trip to the fridge to get three items, back to the work area to put them down, a trip to the pantry to get the spices, back to the work area to put those things down, oh - don't forget the bowl, back to the counter behind her then a one-eighty back to the work area. It might result in a show called Forty-Five Minutes Meals instead.
Now you might be asking - why is Amy writing about this or how can I implement this line of thinking into my daily dealings? EASY! Just treat what you are doing as one job. For example - imagine you area picking up the house of clutter. By starting in one room, collect all the things that go in one area of the house and then deliver them. In my house, I have come up with a system of collecting items that are out of place then delivering them into their respective rooms. All the boys' toys, things for the upstairs bathroom, things that go on Tim's desk are carried away in one trip up the stairs and then delivered to each area. And just like a waitress uses a tray, I use a basket or sometimes my the bottom of my shirt to enable me to carry even more items. But picking up only TJ's things and taking them to his room, then back to get Joey's things and taking those to Joey's room, then once again back to get Tim's stuff for yet another trip upstairs - - I'm exhausted just writing it out.
The same concept will work for groceries. Instead of opening and shutting the pantry or refrigerator for every item, finish unpacking all the bags and make a pile of all the items that go in one area. Then put everything away at once. Same thing can be done by making a bathroom pile, a cleaning closet pile, etc and make one trip versus multiple trips.
Finally, the back of the house (kitchen and prep areas of a restaurant) is used to make beverages, collect dinners, ring up orders, etc. before a servers heads out the front of the house where all the guests and tables are. Find a nerve center in you home too. A place that everyone can drop things off that need to be tended to - things like receipts, mail, permission slips. Once these things have been dealt with - create another staging area for things to go "out". Save this area for outgoing mail, deposits for the bank, coupons, signed permission slips. As you are heading out the door, you won't have to run all over the house trying to remember what it was you had to do once you got out the door.
Once you start seeing your all the little tasks as a big picture you will begin to get the hang of it.
So - maybe the title was a bit misleading. I didn't get ALL I really need to know from waiting tables - I got all that in kindergarten. Remember this? http://www.peace.ca/kindergarten.htm
Until next time....Amy =)
I was a server while in college - working at such fine establishments as Marie Calendar's, Houlihan's and Chili's. I loved it. It was fun, fast and good money. Everyone in the restaurant biz is friendly and outgoing, so it was easy to make friends and get along with everyone. Don't get me wrong - it is hard work. And if you have never waited tables, you might not truly appreciate all that the servers do besides bring drinks and clear dishes. It is work that requires you to be on your feet, everything is always greasy, walking on floors that always wet kind of work. The hours are long and late and dealing with cranky customers is just plain the pits.
At all three restaurants for which I worked, I was always trained to work my station as a whole. (A station is a collection of three to five tables.) For example -a good wait person will bring water to table fifteen, drop of the check at table seventeen, check in on entrees with table eighteen and get drink orders from table sixteen without leaving the section. The time it would take to run to the back and get the water, then run to the back and get the check, then run and get the drink order would result in too much wasted time.
Rachel Ray in her show Thirty Minute Meals shows a great example of how I would suggest taking the server's techniques and utilizing them in a home situation. If you have every watched this show, Rachel starts out with a trip to the fridge to gather items, then swoops by the back counter to get bowls and then a trip to the pantry to get spices all before setting anything down at her work area. The inefficient method might look like this - a trip to the fridge to get three items, back to the work area to put them down, a trip to the pantry to get the spices, back to the work area to put those things down, oh - don't forget the bowl, back to the counter behind her then a one-eighty back to the work area. It might result in a show called Forty-Five Minutes Meals instead.
Now you might be asking - why is Amy writing about this or how can I implement this line of thinking into my daily dealings? EASY! Just treat what you are doing as one job. For example - imagine you area picking up the house of clutter. By starting in one room, collect all the things that go in one area of the house and then deliver them. In my house, I have come up with a system of collecting items that are out of place then delivering them into their respective rooms. All the boys' toys, things for the upstairs bathroom, things that go on Tim's desk are carried away in one trip up the stairs and then delivered to each area. And just like a waitress uses a tray, I use a basket or sometimes my the bottom of my shirt to enable me to carry even more items. But picking up only TJ's things and taking them to his room, then back to get Joey's things and taking those to Joey's room, then once again back to get Tim's stuff for yet another trip upstairs - - I'm exhausted just writing it out.
The same concept will work for groceries. Instead of opening and shutting the pantry or refrigerator for every item, finish unpacking all the bags and make a pile of all the items that go in one area. Then put everything away at once. Same thing can be done by making a bathroom pile, a cleaning closet pile, etc and make one trip versus multiple trips.
Finally, the back of the house (kitchen and prep areas of a restaurant) is used to make beverages, collect dinners, ring up orders, etc. before a servers heads out the front of the house where all the guests and tables are. Find a nerve center in you home too. A place that everyone can drop things off that need to be tended to - things like receipts, mail, permission slips. Once these things have been dealt with - create another staging area for things to go "out". Save this area for outgoing mail, deposits for the bank, coupons, signed permission slips. As you are heading out the door, you won't have to run all over the house trying to remember what it was you had to do once you got out the door.
Once you start seeing your all the little tasks as a big picture you will begin to get the hang of it.
So - maybe the title was a bit misleading. I didn't get ALL I really need to know from waiting tables - I got all that in kindergarten. Remember this? http://www.peace.ca/kindergarten.htm
Until next time....Amy =)
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