Office Boutique

I have always felt that a note to a friend, employee, customer or supplier is a really nice to thing to receive and even better if it comes with your signature and some hand written personal notes added.  It can get your message across in a personal and warm way.

With this in mind we have recently ventured into selling business greeting cards to help our customers to be more organised within the office at home or at their business. Our online shop is called Office Boutique and can be found at Etsy (the marketplace for handmade items). The shop site is www.officeboutique.etsy.com  We design and hand finish the cards. Please order via Etsy or get in touch if you require a customised item.

We will also be venturing into selling social stationery paper products and bespoke office stationery paper products for business, if there is something you would like us to source or stock please get in touch.

Happy Birthday PowerPoint – 25 years old!

PowerPoint has been around for 25 years as this interesting article from the BBC News Magazine Website shows

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8207849.stm

We compile some PowerPoint presentations for our clients and try to give them that extra polish.  As shown in the article PowerPoint is not universally loved and this can be because slides have too much text content.  The best PowerPoint presentations contain music, movement, video, images and minimal text.  Keep the text for your handouts (and hand them out at the end or in various stages otherwise your audience then start shuffling the papers of the full handout while you speak!)

The best presentation is where the focus is on the speaker and PowerPoint is there to act a backdrop highlight.  If we can help with any of your presentations in any way please get in touch.

Stylish Office Stationery

I am thinking of gifts in advance for Christmas (yes I know it is early but I also have to think for some of our clients as well!). 

I recently came across the stationery and paper product line by Cavallini & Co, a company based in San Francisco, USA who produce very stylish but functional paper stationery.  As gifts for clients/friends or maybe for your own personal use they create a striking impression.  Here is an image of one of their sticky notes which has a Paris design.

Cavallini Paris Sticky Note

You can see their full range on their website http://www.cavallini.com with details of where you can buy them (they don’t sell directly to the public).  Maybe selling stationery is something we should start to add to our service and product line at Your Admin Assistant?  We do currently source stationery for clients but perhaps it is something to consider that we sell direct as a stand alone service.

In the meantime I recommend a look at their product range, it will help you complete your admin tasks in a more beautiful way!

What Makes A Good Business Supplier?

What determines a good supplier, for me there are 5 simple criteria that we work to:

• Quotes a clear price
• Supplies the work on time
• Acts in a cheerful, honest and helpful manner
• Over time helps the customer with any process improvements
• Conducts business confidentially and fairly

Since Your Admin Assistant started over 3 years ago we have worked with some customers that have been with us since the start so we must be doing something right!  Over time I think we have become more of a business partner with our earlier customers helping them to grow and improve with their business.

If we can help your business improve and flourish with any of the work we do please get in touch.  We are happy to provide testimonials from happy clients.

What Is In A Name?

In doing some work for a client this week I came across an intriguing business website called “Men With Pens” – www.menwithpens.ca Their main business service is copywriting which was started by 3 guys hence the title!

When I started Your Admin Assistant I wanted a name that customers would be able to quickly identify as to what we do, it has had this effect and I think we have gained business from it.  There is however one downside and that is because of the name we are generally towards the bottom of any directory listing!

I remember I also considered Your Perfect Secretary however I decided against this idea.  After all we are all human and the odd error could happen and I can just imagine the conversation from someone to me, if an error did occur, along the lines of “I don’t think you are my idea of a Perfect Secretary”.  Not much escape from that is there when the call comes?

Finally another website I came across over a year ago which has an interesting name and has quite a cult following particularly in the US  – www.cookingforengineers.com  It is a fascinating and informative site for anyone who has an analytical mind and likes to cook hence again the title!  From time to time I myself like to visit the site for ideas and it has good reviews on kitchen equipment and tools.