Do you experience problems installing and using software on Windows XP?

At home and in my home-based office, I use Windows XP. For security reasons, I don’t use the Administrator logon often. And I’m beginning to think that having the different logins is causing certain software to malfunction.

For instance, I purchased Cloudmark anti-spam software a few months ago and it worked fine for a while. Then all of a sudden, it made my Outlook freeze up and do other weird things. I contacted Cloudmark and they sent me what they thought would fix the problem. It didn’t. Several emails back and forth with their customer support and still no solution. I had to remove it from my system (after purchasing a year’s subscription).

Now I’m having a problem with my Mozy backup service. I haven’t been able to get a full backup for a week or two now. Their support team has sent me a couple of updates to try but I keep getting error messages when uploading the updates. And the funny thing is, they’re different error messages each time. The last update they asked me to try sent me to a web page that wasn’t even working.

I’m beginning to think that software that has to be installed from the Administrator login but used with a different login doesn’t work very well.

After I couldn’t use Cloudmark anymore, I found out about Ella — a free anti-spam software download. It didn’t work. I’m getting inundated with spam every day and I really need something that will work for me. The junk mail filter on Outlook doesn’t do any good either because these spammers are using different erroneous email addresses every day.

Speaking of not being able to use things I’ve downloaded, I can’t even download a font that I really want. It says it’s in my fonts folder but the only place I can use it is when I’m logged on as the Administrator and then it’s only one version of the font, not all five.

If any of you have any suggestions to my dilemma, I’m all ears. It gets frustrating after a while not to be able to use a product you’ve purchased or downloaded.

Are you missing important emails from clients?

I’ve found that sometimes, after corresponding a few times with a new client, my emails erroneously end up in their  Spam folder. Often they don’t even know I’ve responded to their emails unless I can reach them some other way.  How many important emails are you missing?

If you’re having this problem too, I may have a solution for you. I did some research for a client that was not getting my emails and found this information.

If you’re using Microsoft Outlook 2003 here are the instructions for adding someone to your “safe” or “white list”. If you’re using a different version of Outlook or another contact management program, you’ll have to do some research to find out how to white list someone.

I used my company, Brochures By Design, as the example.

If you’re using Outlook 2003 for your e-mail, you can make sure all Brochures By Design mail is delivered to your Inbox by letting Outlook know you consider it safe. There are a few ways you can do this:

• Open any Brochures By Design  e-mail, then add the sender or the sender’s domain to your Safe List.
• Find the address in the “From” line of your most recent Brochures By Design  e-mail and add it to Personal Contacts in your Outlook Address Book.
• Open any Brochures By Design  e-mail, then select Mark as Not Junk.

Keep in mind that these are three different ways to “white list” someone. You don’t have to do each one. Just pick the one that is most convienent for you.

Hopefully this will work well but Microsoft and Outlook are known for having “fixes” that don’t work. Good luck! 

Open Letter to Real Estate Professionals Seeking Virtual Assistance

I’ve gotten a few requests recently from real estate professionals that wanted to know how a Virtual Assistant could help them with their businesses so I decided to write an open letter to all agents that are considering using a VA. Here goes:

Hello, Ms. Realtor.

You were wondering how a Virtual Assistant could help you with your business; I’d like to respond to that.

A Virtual Assistant is an ideal partnership for real estate professionals because they only get paid for the work they perform. Unlike an onsite assistant that gets paid even if there is no work to be done at the moment, a VA doesn’t get paid unless they are actually doing work for you.

The biggest difference between an on-site assistant and a Virtual Assistant is just that, one is on-site and the other works remotely from his/her home office. They communicate with their clients via telephone, email, fax, etc.

Since your business is dependent upon going out and meeting people and showing homes, you don’t have the time to sit behind a desk doing routine administrative work. That’s not productive nor cost-effective. A Virtual Assistant can help you with Transaction Management, Listing Coordination, Marketing, Bookkeeping, Contact Management, General Administrative Services and just about anything you need to have done on a daily, weekly or monthly basis.

A Virtual Assistant is a professional already trained to do the type of work you require. Typically, they will specialize in a certain type of service and that makes them especially helpful. When you hire a specialist, you’re getting the expertise of someone that has been in the business for a long time and needs no training. They can “hit the ground running” so to speak. There’s no wasted time on training.

I specialize in designing marketing materials that get homes sold! I also specialize in professional writing services that include web copy, email drip campaigns, property descriptions for the MLS and Realtor.com and much more. For samples of my work, please see my web site at www.BrochuresByDesign.com.

I have a Master’s degree in Administration and over 15 years of marketing and administrative support experience. I am currently certified in the following:

·        Real Estate Support Specialist

·        Professional Real Estate Virtual Assistant

·        Master Virtual Assistant

·        Master Remote Professional

·         Military Spouse Virtual Assistant

·        Ethics Check

As I have done for all my other clients, I can help you successfully market your business by providing attractive, compelling, well-written marketing materials such as flyers, brochures, market update reports, relocation guides and much more.

Please let me know how I might be able to help you increase your business.

Thank you for the opportunity to showcase my services and help you understand the vital role Virtual Assistance has in building a lucrative real estate business.

Sincerely,

Evy Williams

Don’t You Just Love Advertising?

Ok, admit it! Some of you are more interested in the commercials during the Super Bowl than the game itself, right? Since my team, the Minnesota Vikings, hasn’t been to the Super Bowl since … ok, so it’s been a while, a long while — I’m not really that interested in who wins. What I watch it for are the commercials! They are usually so cutting edge (this is when they try out ideas and see how far they can go with them).  They’ve got a pretty captive audience and many, as I am, are there just to see what they’ve come up with this year. At over a million dollars for one 30-second spot, this can be risky but also profitable.

Think about last year’s Super Bowl commercials. Can you name any of the companies that sponsored the Super Bowl? I’ll bet you can name at least one and you can probably tell me all about the commercial. They’re memorable. And that’s brilliant marketing!

Think about your all-time favorite commercials. You remember them and the product they’re advertising, right? That’s an advertiser’s dream come true!

My personal favorites are the Budweiser, “We Salute You (fill in the blank).” My family and I can’t wait to tell each other about a new one we’ve just heard. That’s marketing genius! You get the audience to remember your product then they pass along the information about the commercial and your product! Marketing doesn’t get any better than this.

If you’re so inclined, think about your favorite commercials and whether they are effective or not. How do you judge their effectiveness? They should accomplish two things, 1. You remember them and their products and 2. You tell others about them. If your favorite product does these two things, their marketing people have done their jobs well.