As an administrative assistant, when you communicate with others you are not only representing the intelligence of yourself, you are also representing the intelligence of your boss, your department, and your company.

Having excellent written communication skills is of the utmost importance. Misspelled words, bad grammar, or poor punctuation can make you appear less professional and, in turn, less intelligent.

Here is a quick quiz to test your knowledge of a list of 75 compound words. Some of the answers were surprising to me. It was a good reminder that if I am unsure of how to spell a word to look it up!

1. Air borne
2. Anti social
3. Audio visual
4. Back log
5. Blood pressure
6. Book keeping
7. Bull’s eye
8. By law
9. Catch all
10. Check book

Go to Quiz

This shortcut could come in handy if you’re on a network where your files are located beneath several layers on the folder tree. With one click you can go directly to the folder you need. Step-by-step instructions are on the Microsoft Help page.

One of the things I’ve learned throughout the years is to use the myriad resources on the Internet. Very rarely is it necessary for me to “start from scratch” on anything. One of the best resources for administrative assistants is the Microsoft website (if you use Windows and/or any Microsoft product like Office).

I hope you find this helpful!

I have a plan, and I think it’s a legit plan because I’m using Darren Rowse’s book as a reference. Not because I want to increase my blog’s traffic or become a famous blogger, but because I don’t want my blog to suck. So I enlisted some help from a Pro Blogger – indirectly, of course. I don’t actually know Darren Rowse.

I’ll share my website redesign plan here and work toward that goal. I’ll share things that I learn along the way, because sharing is what I like to do.

The Goal

Currently my blog is a mixture of blog posts about being an administrative assistant, pictures from my Facebook profile, and a calendar with my family’s birthdays on it. I want to move this website to a more public version of “Me, blogging.” If you search my name this website comes up first, so it should be an appropriate public introduction to who I am.

The Plan

1. Upgrade to WP 3.2 – I’ll need to back up my posts from this site prior to the upgrade. WordPress makes this simple for me with their Export tool.
2. Update Theme – There are literally thousands of WP themes to choose from. I am in love with my current theme, Notepad Chaos by Evan Eckard. I stumbled upon it a few years ago and I have yet to find a theme that I like better than this one. Fortunately, Evan offers this theme (and others) for free and also includes the layered Photoshop files. Evan rocks! Once I upgrade to WP 3.2, I’ll upgrade my theme to version 2.
3. New Pages – New pages will be: About page, Portfolio of my design projects, Bio page including my professional experience, and of course the Home page will be my blog posts.

Let’s Go!

I’m no marketing expert, but I can tell you there is an art to surveying. The quality of your survey will determine the quality of the data you’re able to collect. Here are some basic tips for creating a great survey.

Learn the system. Decide which survey system you’ll use. I recommend Survey Monkey. Learn the survey system’s options and restrictions so you can keep these in mind while creating your survey. Also, learn what type of answer choices they offer.

What’s your point? Think about the goal of your questions and how you will use the feedback you receive. Brainstorm all the questions you want to ask, and then start figuring out what is the most important topic for your survey.

Keep it short. People don’t have “extra time” to sit around filling out surveys. The shorter the survey, the more likely people are to fill it out for you. I recommend keeping it to 10 questions or less.

Stay focused. Choose a topic and stay focused on the most important information on which you need feedback. You can always send another short survey on another important topic in the future, provided you keep them short and simple. If not, your survey will likely be put off until the respondent feels they have “extra time” (which is never).

Be clear. Don’t make your audience think. People can skew anything you say, so don’t leave any room for interpretation. Be clear and concise when you ask your question.

Comments count. Include as many comment boxes on your questions as possible – let them tell you what they like/want/need, so you don’t have to guess. You may also get more feedback by allowing your audience to respond anonymously to your survey.

Offer a prompt. When asking for comments, you may get more dialog if you provide prompts within the question itself. For example, instead of asking “Do you have any additional feedback?” you can be more direct by asking “Please provide feedback regarding your experiences with the service (ease of use, relevance of communications, your perceived value of the company, etc.)” Credit: SYC survey

Find a Guinea pig. Crowd source feedback related to your survey before you send it to your target audience. Ask a friend, a colleague or a few of your employees to take the survey, proof read it, and give you their feedback. If they are confused, chances are your audience will be too.

I hope this is helpful. It is by no means an all-inclusive list of ways to create or improve your surveys. Survey Monkey has a blog about surveys which is chocked full of helpful info.

Happy surveying!

As an Administrative Professional, I need to have stellar written and verbal communication skills. While blogging is more of a personal form of writing than professional or business correspondence, it is good practice for organizing my ideas into complete thoughts. Thus, the reason I joined the 2011 WordCount Blogathon. I figure, if I write something every day for 31 days, that will definitely give me some practice.

The Blogathon is offering a few prompts this year and today’s topic is “My Top 5 Favorite Books on Writing.” The following are my top five.

1. The Huffington Post Complete Guide to Blogging by the Editors of the Huffington Post
2. ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income by Darren Rowse
3. 31 Days to Build a Better Blog also by Darren Rowse
4. The St. Martin’s Guide to Writing by Rise B. Axelrod
5. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey*

* This book isn’t specifically about writing, but it is great for learning how to set goals, prioritize your time and gain balance between your personal and professional life. I recommend it to everyone because you can apply these principles to every aspect of your life.

In the media world you’ll hear of a syndicated TV or radio show, meaning that it is broadcast across multiple stations around the country. In the Web world, syndication is usually mentioned in conjunction with “feeds,” as in RSS feeds.

What is an RSS feed?

An RSS feed is basically a stream of new headlines or postings from a website which has been organized so that your computer can fetch the latest info and bring it to you.

Do you have “breaking news” alerts that come to your inbox from your local newspaper or news station? Well, that’s pretty much an RSS feed.

People have been adding new info to their websites all along, but with RSS feeds you no longer have to login to the New York Times website every day to check the headlines – they will come directly (and automatically) to you. Plus, you can choose the type of news you want to receive (sports, world news, classifieds, etc.).

How do I use an RSS feed?

You’ll need to choose a “feed reader” which will be the place where the new headlines are collected from the websites of your choice. There are web-based (online) feed readers and software-based feed readers. With a web-based feed reader you can get your news from any computer, anywhere. Software-based readers, like Outlook, require software to be installed on each computer.

Netvibes, Google Reader, and Internet Explorer (which has a feed reader built in) are web-based readers. Microsoft Outlook 2007 has RSS reading capabilities, which makes it a software-based feed reader. If you have a smart phone or a laptop Outlook could work fine for you. My personal favorite is Google Reader, because I love everything Google.

Then, go to a website and look for a link to their RSS feed or the universal RSS symbol (left). Sometimes it’s listed prominently at the top of the page and sometimes it’s at the bottom in the footer, like on the New York Times’ page. Click on the link to subscribe to their RSS feed, choose which categories if applicable, and then choose your method of delivery (web-based feed reader, software-based feed reader or email subscription).

Check out this video for a quick lesson on RSS and then Subscribe to GeorgiaFogle.com to test what you’ve learned about RSS feeds!

Let the troubleshooting begin.

I quickly determined that the issue was with Internet Explorer, as the image showed up in Firefox and Chrome. So I did a Google search to see what documentation is out there.

Several places suggested it may be a permalink issue. I tried it just to make sure, but that was not the answer in this case.

Upon further searching I found the issue on the Microsoft Support page. These are all great suggestions, but still didn’t fix my problem.

So, back to the drawing board – the Photoshop drawing board. I thought maybe I should rename the file or try a different file format, that maybe WordPress was getting confused because I had uploaded several versions of the file to get it just right.

As I was re-saving the JPG image, I realized the error of my ways. The file was in CMYK color mode. D’oh! I changed it to RGB color mode, re-saved, re-uploaded and voila! Instant fix!

It’s like magic.

What tipped me off? When you do a “save as” in CMYK color mode you have far fewer file format options to choose from than RGB color mode. I noticed my list was much shorter and then checked how the mode was set. Hopefully this will be helpful if you ever encounter this issue.

There’s a self-evaluation (to check how much you remember from high school) and all sorts of fun activities, en Espanol.

Check it out! http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/spanish/

The site also includes helpful articles, business card templates and music files – also for free! There are a few ads on each page, but compared to other free template sites this one is weighted more to useful content than ads. I like that

If you like the site, be a good little girl and click a couple of ads to show your support (don’t go crazy, just click one or two).

The following rules were posted in the online class I’m taking at NSCC. I thought they were appropriate for general use, and I hope they are helpful to you. Because no one wants to be a noob on the InterTubes.

• Use an accurate subject line
  Always type a subject line for your e-mail or discussion board post that reflects the content of your message. Never leave a subject line blank. If you are in an extended online discussion the subject may change, and you should change the subject line. This makes it possible to revisit specific emails or posts at a later date without an undue amount of searching.
• Stay on topic
  If you need to change the subject, start a new post. Do not clutter up message threads with posts that carry the discussion in multiple directions.
• Use mixed case
  Do not use ALL CAPITAL LETTERS or all lower case letters. Using all caps is equal to shouting or screaming. It’s considered rude to shout online. This is one of the primary rules of online communication. It is especially rude to type entire paragraphs in all caps because it is extremely hard to read. Do not expect others to tolerate this behavior without comment.
• Use a blank line between paragraphs
  Adding a line of white space between paragraphs aids legibility. Reading online can be difficult. Do not make it harder.
• Remember the Human
  Forgive others for errors of spelling or fact. Before you take offense at something you read, consider that it came from a person, not a machine. Don’t send a message in the heat of the moment. Save it, review it later, and consider whether your reply conveys inappropriate anger. Remember that no-one can see your facial expression, or clenched fist, or sheepish grin, or outstretched arms. Your words might express the opposite of what you intended.
• Don’t be a “flamer” or “troll”
  Do not make personal attacks, no matter what the provocation. Do not respond to personal attacks directly. Contact your instructor instead. Do not post antagonistic or inflammatory messages designed to start controversy.
• Be brief, but be clear
  People are more likely to read a shorter message, and appreciate it when you are succinct. Do not ramble, but take time to be friendly. Messages that are overly brief can be interpreted as being terse. Refer to: “Writing for the Internet” for guidance.
• Check your spelling
  Review and edit your words before you send a message. Remember that this is a classroom.
• Be selective
  This site is password protected, but other sites are not. Consider any information you put in emails or on web sites to be viewable by anyone. This includes the instructor, future employers, and governments of all nationalities.
• Respect copyright laws
  Don’t use words or images created by others without permission. Don’t forward emails or use web site content without permission. Visit the Library of Congress’ Guide on “Copyright Basics” for some guidelines.
• Acknowledge others posts
  If you post a question and receive a reply, say thank you. If you receive an email, send a reply. At the least, send a message that you will reply more fully at a later date, and say what that later time is expected to be. Do not make someone wonder if you read the message they worked on so carefully.
• Do not send SPAM
  Online unsolicited advertising messages are called SPAM. They are the electronic equivalent of junk mail. They are not appropriate in email, are not appropriate on discussion boards, and are not appropriate in the classroom.
• Don’t forward chain letters
  If you receive one, notify your instructor.
• Remember you are not anonymous
  What you write in an e-mail and web site can be traced back to you. Messages might be archived and read years later. Don’t send anything you may regret sending later.
• Help the newbie
  Those who are new to the internet are sometimes called newbies. Remember that you were once new yourself and received assistance from others with more experience. Pass on the favor.
• Search before asking
  The information you want is probably posted somewhere already. Check out the FAQ pages and other content before you ask someone. If someone went to the effort to put a fact where you could find it, they expect you to look for it.