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| www.itsvirtuallydone.com |
An ezine of invaluable business tips for independent business professionals.
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In
This Issue: Welcome |
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It's time to bring you up to date on a few items: Last month I told you that I would be on vacation when my ezine was distributed, and indeed I was. I successfully "kidnapped" my husband to NY for his early birthday present. We had a great time and I highly recommend this tactic for a great surprise. Sunflowers: I have failed at my attempt to grow giant sunflowers this year after going through three bags of seed. It turns out that the culprits were mice, not birds. Next year! |
"In
looking for people to hire, you look for three qualities: integrity,
intelligence, and energy. And if they don't have the first, the
other two will kill you." |
Who hasn't been tempted by a good bargain, even if it comes with a rebate offer? You say to yourself, "I'll turn in the rebate." And if you're like me you do, dutifully. And then you wait and wait.
I made the mistake of moving households and starting a business at the same time. I had bought some office equipment that had great rebate offers. It wasn't easy getting them to send the rebate somewhere other than the address I originally gave them. Furthermore, I had my mail forwarded to a P.O. Box, and some rebate checks will not be mailed to a P.O. Box period.
The assumption in the rebate world is that you are trying to defraud them. After having great difficulty getting some rebates, I avoid them. If I have a choice between a rebate and a store credit, I take the store credit to save the anguish of applying, waiting, and then tracking down my rebate.
I confess that I still succumb to the rebate siren. I had been thinking about getting the contact management software "ACT" for a long time. Amazon offered it with a $10 discount plus a $100 rebate. I couldn't resist. This time, however, I hedged my bets:
- I paid extra for shipping so that the product would arrive quickly thereby enhancing my ability to apply for the rebate sooner rather than risk missing the deadline.
- I followed the directions meticulously.
- I paid to mail the envelope certified, return receipt requested.
- I saved copies of all my documentation especially the part that shows how to contact them if there is a problem.
Sure these measures cut into one's rebate amount, but when I am to receive $100, I don't take chances.
As of now I can say that I've never been cheated out of a rebate. That doesn't mean that I haven't had to work really hard to get them. I just kept going up the chain of command until I get the help I need. The store where you purchase the item can be helpful as well. Fry's administrative staff made the difference for me once and advocated my case with the vendor.
I recently checked on my rebate at www.wheresmyrebate.com and had learned that my $100 rebate had been refused. Reason: P.O. Box. There's nothing on the rebate form about not using P.O. Boxes. I called them and gave them my street address, which is an unsafe location to mail a check by the way, and my rebate will supposedly arrive 8 weeks from the date I called (not the date I originally submitted my rebate.)
Good luck out there getting your rebates, and I'll let you know if I ever get my $100.
Are your clients falling through the cracks?
When you get so busy that you are not able to keep up with the workload, that's a sure sign that you need a virtual assistant. If you are a small business, you know how important it is to your clients to get your personal touch. Stick to that, and leave the details to me. Contact me at: kristy@itsvirtuallydone.com
In addition to running a spy-ware program, consider running an adware program as well. I had two knowledgeable people recommend Ad-aware 6.0, a freeware program, within a month, and I knew that I had to act. Then I read an article in the business section in the paper that confirmed this recommendation.
What does it do? I'll use Lavasoft's words, "Ad-aware is THE award winning, multi-trackware detection and removal utility ...that will comprehensively scan your memory, registry, hard, removable and optical drives for known Datamining, aggressive advertising, Parasites, Scumware, Keyloggers, selected traditional Trojans, Dialers, Malware, Browser hijackers, and tracking components."
Ad-aware saved my colleague from having to reformat her hard drive. I use this product weekly. Get Ad-aware: www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/.
Next month look for
the following topics:
--Backing up
the easy way
--Quick tip: Word's reviewing toolbar.
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