August 26th

Posted by Patrice: Your Virtual Assistant at 12:25 PM 0

Celebrate National Dog Day and Women's Equality Day with us on August 26th! We are offering a discount of 20% off if you use code AUG26DY.

We would like to take the time to recognize the thousands of dogs out there that are rescued and rescue us each year. You may not realize this but dogs put their lives on the line every single day for us. We should make sure that we give them the recognition that they truly deserve.

Send us a tweet (@havemedoit) and let us know of a dog you feel deserves to be honored on August 26th and that dog may be the winner of a "goodie bag." The "goodie bag" will consist of dog food, treats, toys and a plaque to honor them on this day.

But that isn't all---we would also like to honor every single woman for Women's Equality Day. It has been a long fight and a continuous one for the equality for women. But we are proud of the passing of the Nineteenth Amendment ensuring Woman Suffrage in 1920 and Women's Strike for Equality in 1970 which in turn has established Women's Equality Day in 1971 so that we could commemorate these two great days.

Show your support by putting this ribbon on your website. Just copy and paste the code in your website's source code.

CODE --->

<script language="javascript" type="text/javascript"

src="http://quickribbon.com/ribbon/2011/08/b319aa752f03beca0b1b986216ed1

084.js"></script><noscript><a

href="http://quickribbon.com/">Quickribbon</a></noscript>

<---- END OF THE CODE

If you do not have a website then just create a tweet and make sure you send it our way so we can see it! For example:

'I support Women's Equality Day! @havemedoit'

If you tweet the text (or similiar) you will be entered into a raffle. If you put the ribbon on your site for the entire day, you will get a "goodie bag" of your own! It will consist of a gift basket full of things any woman would love!

VA Assessment

Posted by Patrice: Your Virtual Assistant at 10:13 AM 0

Browsing the web, I've come across many people that are happy that they've found out about virtual assistance, and are happy with their current VA company, but then there are those that are disappointed with their experience. If you currently have a Virtual Assistant, ask yourself the following questions:

1. Did the VA ask questions when he/she did not understand something clearly?
2. Did the assistant acknowledge work requests quickly so you knew what was going on?
3. Did the VA understand the task AND your underlying goal(s)?
4. In what quality are the tasks completed?  Are they doing bare minimum or going the extra mile?
5. Are the hours spent on your task reasonable?  Are you paying for the VA to learn?
6. Are the tasks done in a timely manner?
7. Do you get reports back and proper followup from your Virtual Assistant?
8. Are there errors in your copy?  How is the assistant's grammar and spelling?
9. How do you feel?  Are you confident in your Virtual Assistant’s ability to get things done or do you feel like you need to watch them every step of the way.  This improves with time, but if you do not feel like you can count on them, you should try another VA.

You should also always make sure that the communication between you and your Virtual Assistant is CLEAR. Define your tasks clearly and make sure you set realistic goals and deadlines. It is also wise to let your VA know what you expect.

Remember, working with a Virtual Assistant should always be a mutually beneficial relationship. Not one that creates more work, headache or stress for you. Also know that you just may have to find the right VA for you. This goes back to setting and stating your expectations. It's almost like shopping for a new home or car. If you only want a red car, don't buy a blue one.

If you've never worked with a VA before, here's WHY you should.

Questions? Concerns? Email me or leave a comment.

Virtual Greeters in NYC

Posted by Patrice: Your Virtual Assistant at 3:55 PM 0

(Article via justhavemedoit.com)

Wow, new technology is being introduced every day! Check out this article I'm sure you'll love especially if you are a store owner looking for new ways to engage your customers.

New York City -- Next-generation digital signage that uses the latest in holographic imaging and audio-visual technology to create the illusion of a real person is making its U.S. debut at Duane Reade’s new flagship in downtown Manhattan.

The technology, the Tensator Virtual Assistant, is provided by Lawrence, a Tensator Group Co. Completely customized for Duane Reade, it takes the form of a female greeter who welcomes entering customers and provides information on everything store-related. Currently, the greeter has seven different scripts, each of which speaks to a different store element.

“All seven run on a continuous loop,” explained Keith Carpentier, senior business development manager-retail, Lawrence, a Tenstaor Group Company, Bay Shore, N.Y.

Carpentier added that an updated, version of the Virtual Assistant is in the works, with more interactive and dynamic capabilities.

Duane Reade is the first retailer to deploy the Virtual Assistant technology. The other commercial applications to date have been in the United Kingdom, at London Luton and Birmingham Airports.

“Our Virtual Greeter is an essential part of the ‘wow factor’ we have built into our newest store and serves as ambassador of the new Duane Reade experience,” said Paul Tiberio, senior VP merchandising and CMO, Duane Reade. “The virtual aspect captures shoppers’ attention from the moment they enter the store -- engaging their visual and auditory senses.”

By Marianne Wilson

Important Pages on My Websites

Posted by Patrice: Your Virtual Assistant at 7:15 PM 0

While I like to think of all the pages on my site important, there are a couple that I would like to point out so that you can be sure to check them out so that you can benefit from all that my site has to offer.


One of the most liked pages is the 'Promotions' page. There I will put the main savings and events going on with HMDI. You will find promo codes, contests, bundles, and more all in one spot. These change frequently so it would be smart to check back often.

On the homepage, there is a section to sign up for my newsletter. So if you haven't signed up already, do it now! You will get a monthly newsletter with the latest promotions, tips and other helpful resources as well as exclusive savings promos that are only available to subscribers. Another great thing about the newsletter is the promocodes can be combined with other codes! Again, this is only available to subscribers so make sure you sign up.

Another helpful page is the Resources page where you can get more info about my Classes and Webinars, How-To articles and the Calendar.

If you have any questions or suggestions, please feel free to contact me.

Gift Ideas for Mother's Day

Posted by Patrice: Your Virtual Assistant at 12:32 PM 0

Mother's day is coming up and many people have trouble coming up with ideas for gifts so I compiled a few ideas that you may find helpful:

1. Clothing/Jewelry
You can buy an outfit or even just a top or a pair of shoes for example. You can never go wrong with jewelry---ask any woman! It would also be nice to customize anything so that 'Happy Mother's Day' or their name is engraved or added to whatever you get them. It will be the perfect addition to any gift, like a cherry on top.

2. Flowers/Edible Flowers
Many women love flowers, but some do not. If they don't really enjoy the real thing, they will be sure to love edible flowers made from chocolate and fruit!

3. Books/E-Books
For the mother that loves to read, you can never go wrong with buying them a new book or two. Make sure to purchase a good read that they will be interested in.

4. Candles/Home furnishings
Purchase fragrant candles and or home furnishings like frames, mirrors, or pictures to decorate the house with.

5. Whatever's Missing
Think about what she doesn't have that she needs or what is broken and buy it! This will be a surprising and very useful gift.

6. Help/The Gift of Time!
Another gift that any mother would love is the gift of help! Help them out around the house by cooking, cleaning, fixing or whatever they may need help with. If this mother has young kids, maybe you can babysit them while she gets some "me-time" or you could prepare her a great meal.

If this mother is a work-a-holic, they would absolutely LOVE virtual assistance! Purchase a package with hours ready for her to put her Virtual Assistant to work. Her VA can help her out in endless ways which will give her time to do other things like kick back and relax!




If you have any questions or need any help with the above tips, email patrice@justhavemedoit.com

How To Remember Things

Posted by Patrice: Your Virtual Assistant at 7:55 AM 3

Today you will probably forget a thing or two (hopefully not many more) so I've come up with tips and ideas to show you how to remember things more easily.

1. Engage
If you are truly interested in something, chances are you will remember it. Think about it, you easily remember that concert or game you are going to, but it may be more difficult to remember your account number for a billing account. If you aren't interested in whatever it is you are trying to remember, you should try to come up with a way for you to become interested in it.

2. Visualize
One of the best ways to remember things is to come up with a visual. For example if you need to remember your new co-workers name which is Daisy, you can mentally visualize daisies. When you sit something down, pause and look down at where you sat it down because your mind will take a snap shot of that place and when you think 'Where did I put my keys?' your mind will flash back to that image of you sitting them down on the counter.

3. Group
It has been recognized and proven that people can easily memorize large chunks of information if we group them instead. Think about phone numbers: 860-555-5123 or social security numbers: 000-55-1234

4. Associate
Try to associate what you are trying to learn with something that you already know. You can also use mnemonics to help remember things. Remember in high school when you had to remember PEMDAS?

5. Write
One of the ways I quickly remember things is to write them down. I may have to write it down two or three times, but it embeds it into my mind nonetheless. You can try first writing down what it is you have to learn. Then quiz yourself and compare the difference. Do this again until you have successfully remembered what you wrote down.

6. Summarize
If you read a paper, summarize each paragraph and then go over the summaries to remember what the paper was about.

7. Sleep
Getting enough sleep proves to help memorize things. Instead of cramming your head with info all night, make sure you get adequate rest.

HMDI's Payment Plan Options

Posted by Patrice: Your Virtual Assistant at 4:49 PM 2

As you should know, I offer each client the option to come up with a payment plan for each project. Great right!? I completely understand that everyone has a different budget and so I work with my clients to bring them the best virtual assistance experience.

Not sure how it works?
Say your project costs... $500.00 and you pay half before I get started. Normally, the other half is due once I have completed the project. But if you decide you want to come up with a payment plan, you may end up paying a set amount per day or per week until the total amount is paid off. If your project is an ongoing one, monthly payments are accepted as well.

There are no financing fees or anything like that. If you miss a payment, we can alter the payment plan so that your payments are for example due on a different day, or I will let you pass and give you a little longer to make the payment which is called deferred payments.

If you still have questions, please contact me and I'll go over everything in more detail with you.


Call: 1-206-666-7645
Email: patrice@justhavemedoit.com