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Many of you probably use Gmail, either for business or privately. Either way, it pays to make life easier for you when you want to find an email. Excel is also a common software to use, so read on for some great tips.  Gmail Tips - Labels You probably use labels in Gmail, which basically act as folders. How to create labels for your emails The easiest way to create a new label is to click on the big + sign on the left-hand side of your screen. This opens the basics for your new label: the name and where to nest it under (your “filing cabinet” structure). When you create names for your folders, be aware that they are sorted alphabetically by Gmail. If you want to sort them differently, an easy way to do this is by naming your folder i.e. 001 Finances, 002 Private, etc. How to colour the labels Once created, you can click on the three overflow dots beside the label to select colours and a lot of other things.  Excel Tips - shortcuts Ctrl + Semi Colon This enters today's date as a value and formats the cell as dd/mm/yyyy. Double-click format painter This will enable you to copy formats to more than one cell Alt + Enter This inserts new lines within a cell. It can be used to make lots of info simpler to read and look less cluttered. Hold down Ctrl and drag the sheet to copy your worksheet Much quicker than right-clicking the sheet name, selecting 'Move or Copy', selecting a position, then ticking the 'Copy' box. Excel tips courtesy of Traci from Excel Ace Limited
If you have any difficulties with those tips, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with me, I’m sure I can help you!
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Please avoid the following words and/or phrases:
1. alot Alot (one word) is a common misspelling of a lot (two words). "[W]e all may write alot one day," says The American Heritage Guide to Contemporary Usage (2005), but for now "keep in mind that alot is still considered an error in print." 2. and etc. Because the abbreviation etc. (from the Latin et cetera) means "and so on," and etc. is redundant. In any case, avoid using etc. in your essays: often it gives the impression that you simply can't think of anything else to add to a list. 3. anywheres Huckleberry Finn can get away with saying, "There warn't a sound anywheres," but on formal occasions drop the terminal s. If anywheres appears anywhere in your dictionary, it's probably labeled "nonstandard" or "dialectal." 4. could of (arrrrgh!) Don't confuse this nonstandard form with the contraction could've. Could of (along with should of and would of) can and should be replaced by could have (and should have and would have). 5. hisself This alternative form of the reflexive pronoun himself is commonly heard in certain dialects, but in formal writing steer clear of hisself (and theirself as well—though both were regarded as good usage in Middle and Early-Modern English). 6. furtherest The comparative form of far is farther or further. The superlative form is farthest or furthest. Nothing's gained by combining the two forms. 7. irregardless This double negative (ir- at the beginning and -less at the end) may not deserve Bryan Garner's label of "semiliterate . . . barbarism," but he's probably right that in print it "should have been stamped out long ago" (Garner's Modern American Usage, 2009). Use regardless instead. 8. its' Its is a possessive pronoun (like his or her). It's is a contraction of it is or it has. That leaves nothing for its' to do—so toss it. 9. let's us Let's us means "let us." To avoid repetition, write lets ("She lets us play in her yard"), let's ("Let's play in her yard"), or let us ("Let us pray"). 10. nohow If you have the know-how to write, you don't need to be told to avoid nohow. Instead, use in no way or not at all. So, do you use any of these? Contact me, if you need help with your writing! The goal of a copy-edit is to address flaws on a very technical level - to make sure the writing that appears on the page is in accordance with industry standards. It's like an incredibly high-end proofread. Read on for more details. A copy-edit
So, to make a sweeping and totally reductive generalisation, the job of a general editor is to help you tell a better story, and the job of a copy-editor is to make sure the grammar on every page is correct.  Contact me now to discuss your needs! Are you a good writer?
Some people are just great at writing, whether it is an email, a novel, or a business plan. If you are not the most confident writer, then read on. Here are some tips for you to help with your writing Some experts say that the font of your document should be Times New Roman, as that is easier to read when there is a lot of text. Font size should be 12 pt, and spacing between lines 1.5 Spellcheck - computer vs human After doing the computerized spellcheck, read again to see the things the computer doesn't know, i.e. the difference between ‘their', ‘there', and ‘they're'. Changes If you change a word at the last minute, make sure to read the whole sentence again, or even the paragraph, as it might be possible that you changed the intended meaning with just one word. Breathe Let your story breathe … Give it a break, then proofread it. This will allow you to view your writing with fresh eyes. Zoom In Zoom into the document to make the writing larger – DO NOT change the font size! That will change any formatting you had done previously or that you are doing now. Reading Read out loud – if it sounds weird, there is probably something wrong and needs to be changed. Also, you immerse yourself even more into your story and find subtle inconsistencies. Comma, semicolon, full stop
When you read out loud, you will hear those differences. Wear Out Your Dictionary Once you have a dictionary, use it as much as possible. When you sit down to write and need a particular word, pause to consider the key ideas you want to convey. Start with a word that's in the ballpark. Look it up and go from there, exploring synonyms, roots, and usage notes. Be Patient With Your Writing If you can't find the right word for one sentence, check out the internet and see if you can find it. Even then, a word may be elusive, refusing to emerge from the mind one day only to arise from the subconscious the next. Be prepared to rewrite today what you revised yesterday. I hope these suggestions help you to be as confident in your writing as possible. You can also contact me if you need some help. With everything (or nearly everything) happening on social media these days, we might forget how to write formally. And with that, I don't mean old-fashioned kind of language but just generally using "real" words.
Read on for more details. 1. alot Alot (one word) is a common misspelling of a lot (two words). "[W]e all may write alot one day," says The American Heritage Guide to Contemporary Usage (2005), but for now "keep in mind that alot is still considered an error in print." 2. and etc. Because the abbreviation etc. (from the Latin et cetera) means "and so on," and etc. is redundant. In any case, avoid using etc. in your essays: often it gives the impression that you simply can't think of anything else to add to a list. 3. anywheres Huckleberry Finn can get away with saying, "There warn't a sound anywheres," but on formal occasions drop the terminal s. If anywheres appears anywhere in your dictionary, it's probably labeled "nonstandard" or "dialectal." 4. could of (arrrrgh!) Don't confuse this nonstandard form with the contraction could've. Could of (along with should of and would of) can and should be replaced by could have (and should have and would have). 5. hisself This alternative form of the reflexive pronoun himself is commonly heard in certain dialects, but in formal writing steer clear of hisself (and theirself as well—though both were regarded as good usage in Middle and Early-Modern English). 6. furtherest The comparative form of far is farther or further. The superlative form is farthest or furthest. Nothing's gained by combining the two forms. 7. irregardless This double negative (ir- at the beginning and -less at the end) may not deserve Bryan Garner's label of "semiliterate . . . barbarism," but he's probably right that in print it "should have been stamped out long ago" (Garner's Modern American Usage, 2009). Use regardless instead. 8. its' Its is a possessive pronoun (like his or her). It's is a contraction of it is or it has. That leaves nothing for its' to do—so toss it. 9. let's us Let's us means "let us." To avoid repetition, write lets ("She lets us play in her yard"), let's ("Let's play in her yard"), or let us ("Let us pray"). 10. nohow If you have the know-how to write, you don't need to be told to avoid nohow. Instead, use in no way or not at all. So, do you use any of these? Some people are just great at writing, whether it is an email, a novel, or a business plan. If you are not the most confident writer, read on. Here are some tips for you to help with your writing Font size Some experts say that the font of your document should be Times New Roman, as that is easier to read when there is a lot of text. Font size should be 12 pt, and spacing between lines 1.5 Spellcheck - computer vs human After doing the computerized spellcheck, read again to see the things the computer doesn't know, i.e. the difference between ‘their', ‘there', and ‘they're'. Changes If you change a word at the last minute, make sure to read the whole sentence again, or even the paragraph, as it might be possible that you changed the intended meaning with just one word. Breathe Let your story breathe … Give it a break, then proofread it. This will allow you to view your writing with fresh eyes. Zoom In Zoom into the document to make the writing larger – DO NOT change the font size! That will change any formatting you had done previously or that you are doing now. Reading Read out loud – if it sounds weird, there is probably something wrong and needs to be changed. Also, you immerse yourself even more into your story and find subtle inconsistencies. Comma, semicolon, full stop
Wear Out Your Dictionary Once you have a dictionary, use it as much as possible. When you sit down to write and need a particular word, pause to consider the key ideas you want to convey. Start with a word that's in the ballpark. Look it up and go from there, exploring synonyms, roots, and usage notes. Be Patient With Your Writing If you can't find the right word for one sentence, check out the internet and see if you can find it. Even then, a word may be elusive, refusing to emerge from the mind one day only to arise from the subconscious the next. Be prepared to rewrite today what you revised yesterday. I hope these suggestions help you to be as confident in your writing as possible.  An Example of Line-Editing and Copy-Editing on the same original passage Original: "The rising light of the sun was quickly brightening. Dawn was turning into morning. Alex finished reading her copy of the "New York Times" and put the paper down on the table, and then grabbed her ipod and put on Beyoncé's Crazy in Love and went out for her mourning run." The result after a line-editor has helped the author to rework it so that it reads more fluidly: "The dawn light brightened, giving way to morning. Alex tossed the "New York Times" onto the table, grabbed her ipod, and then put on Beyoncé's Crazy in Love as she headed out for her morning run." Notice, the line-editor caught and fixed a couple of technical errors, i.e. the typo on the second use of "morning". The result after the passage has been copy-edited for grammar and usage: "The dawn light brightened, giving way to morning. Alex tossed the New York Times onto the table, grabbed her iPod, and put on Beyoncé's "Crazy in Love" as she headed out for her morning run." The order in which editing and proofreading should be done:
 If you need help with any of these, contact me :)
Are you visible to your clients?
A lot of businesses or professionals develop their websites and other communications and forget to implement a simple and obvious way for others to contact them. That’s what today’s blog is about. Some ways to make yourself and your business more visible are:
I hope these suggestions help you to be as visible as possible to your clients! Learn how to be a good leader to improve your team's engagement and success. Anyone can sit in a corner office and delegate tasks. There is more to effective leadership than that though. Effective leaders have major impacts on the team members they manage as well as their company as a whole. Employees who work under great leaders tend to be happier, more productive, and usually more connected to their organisation. This has a ripple effect that reaches your business’s bottom line. Read on for some thoughts. Signs of poor leadership If you look around and see that your team members have become disengaged or stagnant in their work, it may be a first sign of not leading your team effectively. It might be time to reassess and reform your strategies. Some signs to look out for are:
Some ideas to change this and become a better leader are:  Keep a positive attitude As much as leaders wish their team’s day-to-day operations could run smoothly all the time, sometimes they run into the occasional obstacle. Whether it’s a minor miscommunication or a major error, the way you handle a negative situation says a lot about your leadership skills. “Look at three positive things about a problem before you identify what makes it dissatisfying. The more you look at the positives in a problem, the more positively people react with one another.” (Robert Mann) A positive environment is more likely to create a more engaged and productive workforce.  Teach employees instead of giving orders An effective leader knows how to show others what is required, rather than simply telling them. Leaders should coach their team members toward a more collaborative, committed work environment. If you are controlling people to do certain things in certain ways, you’re not going to get the level of engagement that you’re looking for. Coach them, this is about helping the people you lead recognize the choices they have in front of them. It makes them take ownership of the direction of the project. Don't simply bark orders at team members, rather, as a good leader, encourage growth by teaching. People won't grow if leaders never teach them anything.  Set clear employee goals and expectations
Setting clear goals and employee expectations for your team is key to employee success. When setting these objectives, encourage employee questions and feedback. Include them in the process, this can increase engagement. If a leader wants to motivate and inspire their team, they need to keep their team in the know about their vision. This will help employees to understand the end result they’re working towards as a unit. When goals are clearly set, everyone can track progress and identify achievements in a tangible manner. Don’t let team member goals go static. Revisit them from time to time to modify or rearrange them as needed. This will let your team members know that you are present and aware of what they are working on. Learn how to be a good leader to improve your team's engagement and success. Learning to be a good leader can greatly impact the success of your team, your organisation, and yourself. To be an effective leader, you must understand your own motivations, strengths, and weaknesses. Great leaders connect with their team by facilitating open communication, encouraging employee growth and development. Read on for some ideas.  Engage in honest, open communication One of the most important elements of effective leadership is creating an open line of communication with your team members. Your own honesty and transparency should serve as an example for your team members. With the responsibility of being a team leader there comes the importance to be straightforward. Your business and its employees are a reflection of yourself. If you make honest and ethical behaviour the key value, your team will follow. Great leaders are able to suit their interactions and communication styles to each situation and team member, based on individual preferences. They take the time to get to know which communication mode is preferred by each team member (text, email, phone, or face-to-face). They are also great listeners and are authentically interested in other people. When you display active communication skills and transparency this can build trust among your team. It is important though to be genuine. There’s genuine, and there’s fake. Be the genuine one!  Connect with your team members Leading a group of people requires a mutual sense of understanding and trust between the leader and their team. To achieve this, leaders need to learn to connect. Look at it this way: being a “more human” leader requires positivity, purpose, empathy, compassion, humility, and love. This will put you on the road to genuine connections with the members of your team. When you build a real, personal connection with your teammates, the trust necessary to build a strong culture of accountability and exceptional performance comes naturally. If you know your team members’ personalities, interests, strengths, weaknesses, hobbies, and preferences, this will give you some insight into their goals and motivations.  Encourage personal and professional growth
Be the cheerleader of your team! This is an important part of being an effective leader. You need to be invested in their success and growth. A small budget (could be very small) to dedicate to the growth of your employees pays off hundredfold. There are so many options today, like on-demand, virtual (and) in-person learning, there’s a great opportunity to continue learning new skills or further developing existing ones. Empower your employees to take the time to learn. Employees like challenges and feeling the satisfaction of overcoming them. If it’s a tough client, a difficult sale, a hard situation, or whatever the case, it’s always good to let them take on these challenges. When leaders believe in their employees and give them the opportunity to learn and grow, they might be surprised at how much they can accomplish. Don’t be afraid to delegate tasks and encourage freedom and creativity. |
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Admin Magic 4 U
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