Creative beginnings

I love birthdays! While I am partial to my own birthday, I also love celebrating the gift of life with new parents, small children, my family, and those who still give thanks for another year. A card, a phone call, a lunch together, or a gift all say, “I’m thinking of you. You are special.” And doesn’t everyone enjoy knowing how much they are loved and appreciated?

Why stop with birthdays? Each new day is an opportunity to show you care. Call or send a card just because you are thinking of someone. Acknowledge a business anniversary. Celebrate a promotion. Say “you’re in my thoughts and prayers at this difficult time” and really mean what you say. Give of your time or your talents. Express thanks.

May 2009 is Creative Beginnings Month. Like a birthday or the start of a new calendar year, it’s an opportunity to look ahead. How will you start (or continue) showing appreciation for others?

Create your Twitter landing page

Can you really tell a complete stranger (a prospective Twitter follower) how wonderful you are in just 160 characters? Some people certainly pique my interest with terrific tweets and fabulous photographs used as background images on their home pages. Others do not fare as well at first glance. You can do better.

 

Create a Twitter landing page and insert its URL into your Twitter profile instead of a URL for a sales page, Web site, or blog. Use this page to

·         Be honest about why you are using Twitter. (Let others decide if they want to hear about your products, politics, or religion.)

·         Tell about your interests and what you like to tweet about.

·         Encourage conversation by letting people know when you are most likely to be on Twitter.

·         Build trust by showing the world you are a real person and not a spammer or a bot.

·         Share your ideas about following those who follow you.

·         Add anything else you desire that reflects your personality, your favorite causes, your business, YOU.

 

Here is my example. What will you do for your Twitter landing page?

Pollen count

I really hope you or someone you love doesn’t need today’s tool. However, this tool is for you if:
• your eyes are so red they no longer match the color listed on your driver’s license
• your nose resembles a faucet with no shut-off valve and you wish you had stock in the Kleenex corporation
• your head could empathize with a kettle drum
• your coughing woke your significant other
• your skin itches so much you wish you could discard it like a snake
• you have to decide between sitting outside, enjoying the spring sunshine and flowers, and breathing.

I hope you choose the breathing option and then consult Pollen.com before planning your day. They provide pollen count information for your area along with weather forecasts provided by the NOAA (because weather affects allergies, too). You can sign up for allergy alerts, check pollen history to determine if the cough you’ve had for a week is allergy-related or something more serious, and download a PollenWidget.

I hope you feel better soon.

gethuman™

Do you hate wasting your time, trying to get out of an automated phone system loop to a human being who can help you? I know I do. That’s why gethuman™ is so appealing. Don’t pick up the phone to call customer service without checking here first.

 

This huge database provides confirmed contact numbers for over 900 US companies. I know several of my favorite offenders are on this list as well as some who understand customer service and send me directly to a person who speaks excellent English. Several dozen verified Canadian and UK firms are also listed. Founder Paul English has also added a more extensive list of unverified information submitted by users.

 

Step-by-step instructions are given to help you bypass the automated phone messages and reach a real person more quickly. Suggestions are also given to aid you when you reach a human operator who is difficult or impossible to understand. Users are encouraged to provide updates and corrections. 

Find articles

I love to read. I read for pleasure. I read while waiting for appointments and other people. I read to learn new and interesting things. I read early in the morning and before bed. I may even read when I could be working (one of the many advantages of being a business owner and virtual assistant).

 

I also enjoy sharing the joy of reading: the bedtime story for a child, the book that speaks to a need in a friend’s life, the magazine article meant for a business associate, the humorous tale for my cousin. I am thankful to have access to an excellent public library and enough literary resources to last a lifetime.

 

If you don’t have a good public library or you don’t know where to begin, try some of the articles on a variety of topics listed at BNET. What are you going to do to make your reading fun again?