Content Farms

Some websites have been artificially created for consumption. These websites are often referred to as “content farms.” Whether they are full of advertising or direct you (using affiliate links) to other sites to buy things… they are created to get lots of web traffic, but provide little, if any, value to its visitors. The visitors are lured into reading these articles or web pages because they usually rank very high in search results in Google. They achieve high ranking by evaluating the search terms used most and stuffing their content full of them.

No Soup Recipe for You

For example: if you searched for “pea green soup recipes” and clicked on one of the first sites listed, you may find an article that is titled: Pea Green Soup Recipes with the first sentence of the article boldly asking something like: Did you ever wish you had your mom’s famous pea green soup recipe, your uncle’s pea green soup recipe, your neighbor’s pea green soup recipe? The article may use the search query terms “pea green soup recipe” so many times that you start to feel nauseous. But you keep reading to find the recipe – which never appears anywhere. There may be a link to a great cookbook; maybe ads appear next to the article offering cookware or peas! This web page was artificially created for consumption – to get you to go somewhere to spend your money.

Cheap, Low Value Content

It may have been crafted automatically using writing software that churns out articles based off of one piece written by a real person. Or, it may have been written by a person who was paid a few bucks for it or the website owner himself – who may actually hate pea green soup!

Google Nation

Why do we click onto these sites? Because we are patriots of Google Nation. We trust Google Nation to provide sites that are relevant to our search terms ~ we trust Google to know what we want to find and take us there. But when Google Nation starts to hear its subjects start complaining that they are not getting relevant results; that they are feeling sick from eating this internet fast food; that now the spam is whole web pages, not just emails in our spam folder ~ Google Nation listens.

Panda

So Google unleashed their latest algorithm (referred to as Panda). An algorithm is a set of instructions that are repeated to acquire a solution. So Google internally changed its instructions to itself a bit to weed out these bogus sites from the search results.

Bamboo Sites

The result: the Panda does not like the Wonka grass. The Panda likes the “bamboo” sites – the sites that have structure and value; sites that can grow quickly, yet organically ~ without the artificially-infused high fructose content. Maybe a site developed by someone who really does like pea green soup and may even have a recipe for you.

Bamboo Content for You

This “bamboo” content is what I would like to help you create for your business. You respect the knowledge you have and should share it with your market. I can help you craft the words with appealing and interesting results to provide value to your site (as long as it isn’t about pea green soup. I don’t really like that stuff.)

Contact Off~Site Secretary today for more information about content creation for your business.

From the “Ask Melissa” Page ~ Jessica asks, “How can I link to Websites in my Word document?”

© Oleg Pidodnya

Link to a Website…

In Word (any version) and most other editing programs, select the text that will “anchor” the link. Most often this “anchored” text is underlined and colored blue. Just highlight the desired word or words by left-clicking your mouse and dragging over them.

Access the Link Box…

Your next task will be to access the hyperlink box. To do this you have many choices:

• Right-click over your selected text and choose Hyperlink, or
• From the top menu, choose Insert, then Hyperlink, or
• Cntrl + K, or
• Click the icon resembling a globe with a chain link

Insert Link; Insert Hyperlink…

In any case, you are looking for the option of inserting link or hyperlink. When the hyperlink box opens, you will need to enter the website URL into the field that requests it. Some programs show “http://” in the field. The easiest way to make sure the link is correct is to navigate in your web browser to the desired website and “copy” the URL from the within the address bar.

“Paste” the URL into the field in your Link box and click OK or Save.

Final Step…

IMPORTANT TIP: Save your document and check your link. Clicking the link should pop open your browser to the correct website (or open an additional tab or window, if your browser was still open.)

Hope that helps, Jessica. Thank you for your question.

You, too, can “Ask Melissa” your computer-related questions.

How many file cabinets do you have for your business? How much space do they take up? Are there worn paths in the carpet leading to and from the file cabinets? Are your file cabinets locked?

Save Money

An electronic document management system can mean monetary savings. The cost of file cabinets can be eliminated… the space those cabinets would have occupied can be used more effectively… Off-site storage of paper documents can be quite costly! Off-site storage of electronic documents is easy and the cost is nominal.

Save Time

Consider how much time it takes for you and your employee(s) to physically find and retrieve paper documents… how many footsteps it takes for the round trip. Even one minute multiplied by the number of file-trips can be a large block of time in the span of one day, one week, one month! And then there is that worn carpet path…! Having the documents available electronically means those document-fetching round-trips can be eliminated.

Document Management and Imaging Systems

Having a secure, robust and well-organized filing system for your electronic documents makes your office efficient and economical. Your electronic documents and storage media can be made secure  – confidential and unalterable. Your electronic filing system can be managed from anywhere, especially with the help of a virtual assistant.

For more information on Electronic Document Management, contact Off~Site Secretary, Your Premier Virtual Assistant.

Did you ever need “just one thing” from your local supercenter and end up spending an hour in the store? One day, when I needed to pick up a gallon of milk, I noticed how very far away from the entrance it was. As I passed through each aisle and around every turn, I found numerous additional “things” that ended up in my cart. Why did I take a cart? Because it happens every time I enter without a list or a plan ~ when I let myself lose focus on the destination and reason for being there. (On occasion, I have even forgotten the milk!)

This Seems Familiar

Do you know where the same thing happens? On my computer screen!! I boot up the computer just to do “one thing” “real quick” and an hour later, I can’t remember what that was exactly!

Oh, Look at This

On my way to print that placement letter, I notice the new email icon and stop off there to browse. The catchy subject lines become just like the catchy end-cap displays at the store. Makes you think of something else you need in the next aisle (I mean, email ). Then it’s a short little click to the internet and “poof” ~ everything you need and a whole bunch of stuff that you don’t!

Think, Think, Think

The solution for both “experiences” is the same ~ when I anticipate the visit should be quick, before entering I take a deep breath and think. I ask myself:

• What do I need?
• How long do I have?

If I think my focus might stray, I write it down and hold the note in my hand or stick it near my keyboard. I also take shortcuts… I will occasionally share my computing shortcuts in upcoming blog posts. Watch for these upcoming tidbits and don’t forget the milk.

If you are struggling with a specific computing task and would like some advice, ask your basic computing question on the Ask Melissa page.

When you need some of your computing distractions to be tended to by a professional, Contact Off~Site Secretary ~ your premier Virtual Assistant, today!

One important transferable skill to carry in your basic computing basket is effectively doing a web search on Google. Punching in a few words and getting about 138,000,000 results in 0.09 seconds means you have a ton of information at your fingertips. Most of the information is relevant to your words in some way, but probably not the way you intended. How can you refine your search?

Choose the Right Query Terms

To query Google means you are requesting to view web pages that contain your specified word or set of words. (Remember, Google is not human, so you do not need to phrase your query in the form of a question.) Include words that will appear on the web page, but not common words, i.e. those, the, have, a, is, etc. A few descriptive words will do the trick.

Meet the Operators

There are a few symbols that you can add to your search words when sending your query to Google that can refine your search. These symbols are called operators and we will cover two basic ones in this article.

“To Be Exact”

Using quotation marks to enclose the phrase or group of words tells Google you want to search the web pages that have your search exactly as you just entered it. This is especially effective when searching someone’s name. If you search for your name without quotation marks, you will find pages showing someone with the same last name and further down the page someone with the same first name. If you search for your name with quotation marks around it, Google will show you pages that list exactly your name. Try it!

Quotation marks are also effective when you want to search for an exact phrase. You are telling Google not to just look for the individual words spread out on a page, but that you want to see pages with the exact phrase as is.

Subtract the Other Kind

If you are looking for information on the Baltimore Oriole bird and do not want to see web pages for the baseball team, enter your search as: Baltimore Orioles –baseball with the minus sign directly before the word baseball with no space. This tells Google to look for pages that do not include reference to baseball. This filters out most of the baseball themed sites from the results.

Using the minus sign and quotation marks can refine your search results.

Thanks to Patty M ~ she asked for help with Google searches. Ask your basic computing question on the Ask Melissa page.

Need help managing your internet searches? Don’t struggle alone! Contact Off~Site Secretary ~ your premier Virtual Assistant, today!

Do you fret and become anxious when you need to send an important email? I have received (and unfortunately sent) emails that did not convey the message accurately or effectively. I have learned from other’s (and my own) mistakes and now understand some keys to unlock your email’s potential. We have already explored how to address the email; let’s now examine the body.

Key #1: Your Point!

What’s the point ~ I mean really… why are you writing the email? You should have only one topic per email. The email body can contain breakdowns within the topic – but should center directly on that single subject. This point/topic/subject should be concisely stated as the Subject of the email.

Key #2: Your Expectations

What outputs or results do you need to have from this email? Is your audience supposed to actively do anything with or about the message; is it meant to be an informational / passive message? Are you trying to persuade, convince, command, demand, instruct….

Key #3: Assign Responsibility

Your message should include a call to action whether it applies to individuals or a broad audience. The reader should clearly understand what is required. If you expect Bob to organize a meeting,

Don’t type this:

We should all get together sometime before we need the water.

Type this:

Bob – Please organize a meeting with Jack, Jill, you and me to discuss options regarding fetching the water, including routes and travel times.

These 3 Keys in your emails form the skeleton of your email body – giving it the strength to stand up alone. The following tips can be used to refine and enhance your message.

Grammar and Spelling

Sometimes, in these blog articles, I take liberty with the English language and grammar In business emails ~ not a good idea! Business emails need to convey a professional image. Typos and grammatical errors distract your readers and portray the author as lazy. Sloppy emails often result in a negative impression.

Tone

The tone of business emails has trended toward business casual. Striking a balance between the formality of a letter and the more relaxed approach of a phone call can be a challenge. Brevity is good ~ letting your thoughts wander down the yellow brick road is not; yet, short sentences can appear terse or snippy!

Humor

Some people try to use humor to achieve the business casual tone. Unfortunately, unless you are well known by the email recipient, humor does not translate well in emails. Making the reader ask, “What did he mean by that?” can lead to misconceptions and words typed in humor that are taken literally can be disastrous! Maybe someone typed (in jest), “Just have Jack and Jill run straight up the slippery slope to get the water.” (but forgot to put the “haha” afterwards!!)

Before sending the email out into cyberspace, review and re-word as needed. And don’t forget your contact information in your signature.

Need help managing your emails? Don’t struggle alone! (I can write them for you.) Contact Off~Site Secretary ~ your premier Virtual Assistant, today!

Even though email correspondence is a necessary tool for business communication, it can cause a quagmire of confusion if improperly addressed.  A quick tour of the three address fields may help clarify the task.

The To: Field ~ Your Front Row

This is the predominant address field ~ the front row of the concert. The people included in this field should be the ones who need to hear the message the loudest. The field should only include the people who are expected to act on the message (maybe not stand up and sing/shout/mash, or anything) but expected to respond to the message, to update you on the message topic.

The CC: Field ~ The Cheap Seats

This is the secondary address field ~ the concert “cheap seats.” They can hang out in the back and choose their own level of involvement and interaction. The people included in this field should not be expected or required to reply to the message. They should be responsible for determining their own level of responsibility to how the message applies to them and can respond if clarification is needed ~ fully invited to observe the conversation and jump in. (Stands for carbon copy – remember those?)

The BCC: Field ~ The Box Seats

Ah… the Blind Carbon Copy! You know how there are those “box seats” ~ where sometimes you can see who is in there, but sometimes you wonder who is watching? The people included in the BCC: field can see who is in the To and CC fields, but they cannot see others listed in the BCC field. They can “reply all” if they want to become visible to the others in the To or CC fields; or they can respond only to you the sender ~ keeping their identity unknown. This is the field that should be used when you want zero visibility to others email addresses – for privacy or whatever other reasons you may have for concealing them.

Responsibilities

Clearly defined responsibilities can help the concertgoers email recipients manage their inboxes effectively ~ saving time and streamlining responses. If everyone is listed in the To: field on a message where a task is being given, it often results in zero responses with nobody taking on the task. The reason is often ~ Oh, I thought so-and-so was handling that. I didn’t know that you meant for ME to do it!  ~

The next article will cover some additional methods to clearly define responsibilities within the body of the email.

Need help managing your emails? Contact Off~Site Secretary ~ your premier Virtual Assistant, today!

By: Melissa Rahko, Your Off~Site Secretary

On this last day of February, here’s hoping Old Man Winter has used up his time on the calendar for this season! After beginning last week under official “Snow Day” status, I observed how nature is capable of bringing a business to a standstill.

Winter! Gotta Love It

It starts as a small flurry of flakes, looking pretty and bright. Then the wind kicks up and all of the fallen and falling flakes mix together. Looking out the window is like looking into a blender on whip mode. After the storm passes, you are snowed under and need to get out from under nature’s blanket. Whether it is a forecasted storm or an unexpected “Snow Event,” businesses with the best contingency plan in place are usually open for business first.

Save Time and Energy

Here at home, our snow blower saves us time and energy from hours worth of shoveling. It can be a physically dangerous situation without the help of specialized equipment. Suffering from strained muscles or worse can cause a slow-down for days or months.

Your Administrative Snow Day

How does your business handle “administrative” snow events? Maybe there are certain times during the year when you feel “snowed under” in your business activities ~ or maybe an unexpected flurry of activity causes your business to go into “Snow Day” status.

Outsource to Your Virtual Assistant

One great way to avoid “straining” your business is by turning to your “administrative snow blower;” your Virtual Assistant! Why suffer through the time and energy of handling your busy times alone? Your VA can get you out from under quickly and safely.

Off~Site Secretary Can Help

Need a VA? Contact Off~Site Secretary ~ your premier Virtual Assistant, today!

In the previous article, we discussed URLs and how your computer uses them to navigate to a resource.

However, many URLs that are embedded in links within web pages have been hidden or cloaked and sometimes they are “shortened” which makes it difficult to know where the link will lead. It kinda makes you wonder, “What’s with the mask?”

In the real non-computer world, masks are used for many different reasons. A few examples of the four biggest reasons for wearing a mask are ~

For Protection:

Medical masks that protect both the patient and the medical provider

Respirator masks that filter dangerous fumes or smoke for workers who encounter dangerous surroundings

Masks that form a physical barrier for people who may be met with flying objects

For Entertainment:

Theatrical masks used in plays and movies

Masquerade masks for parties or Halloween

To Enhance Performance:

Sports masks with intimidating designs or logos

Ritual masks that help convey spiritual meanings

To Disguise:

Camouflage masks for hunters to blend into the surrounding

Identity concealing masks for those involved in unlawful pursuits

URL Masking Comparison

The same types of physical masks can be compared to the URL masks that we face using the internet today. An example of a mask used for protection would be how Craigslist handles communication between users. Your email URL is masked and not disclosed to the other party, which is a protection against spammers.

For Entertainment

Likewise, URLs can be shortened to allow for more room in a Tweet on Twitter or to make linking easier. These masks are usually in place just for convenience and not intended to be a permanent concealed identity situation, though there is the potential to land in some unintended areas of the internet through these links. Others use this type of “Entertainment” masking because they like to play jokes on their friends, leading them to unexpected websites with their masked links.

To Enhance Performance

Many internet-based businesses use affiliate links to promote their favorite products or services and to bring in passive income. One way to enhance performance of these affiliate links is to make sure they do not get hijacked. Unfortunately, it is an unsavory practice used by some to steal the affiliate link and redirect it to their own affiliate account, thereby stealing from the person who spent the time and research to promote products and services. By masking the affiliate link, the unsavory thieves may not be able to hijack it for their own benefit.

To Disguise

And finally, when a URL is disguised to keep you from knowing where it will lead to, it can take you through a wide open door to identity theft by sneaking a Trojan horse onto your computer.

Be Safe Out There

If you use safe-surfing methods, virus and spyware protection, and good common sense ~ you can avoid any problems from masked URLs that have malicious intent. One of the services that Off~Site Secretary offers is a computer maintenance package that keeps your virus and spyware protection up-to-date and active. Please call or email if you would like to learn more about it!! www.offsitesecretary.com/contact.html

Off~Site Secretary answers this one:

“I didn’t know what to say when someone asked me what my “Earl” was!”

What is U.R.L?

The acronym URL stands for Universal Resource Locator, which is “geek-speak” for ~ the path your computer takes to get to a specific piece of information. It is like an address that also specifies the vehicle you need to get to your destination.

Most Common URL

There are different types of URLs, but the most common one used and recognized by the average computer user is the web address – usually beginning with “http” or “https”. When we see something like ~ http://www.offsitesecretary.com/ ~ we understand that it is a web address which is also a URL. This one is “my” URL, because I purchased the domain name offsitesecretary.com. To “visit” my “home”, you need a special “vehicle” to drive down the right “road”.

On and Off the Super Highway

The “vehicle” you need for a web address URL is a web browser ~ Firefox, Internet Explorer, Opera, etc. Your computer can then hop onto the “super highway” ~ the www part (world wide web) and take the correct exit off the “super highway” down the much less traveled path to my “home”. Welcome to Off~Site Secretary. When the last element listed in the URL is the .com, .org, .net, etc. then the “resource” that the URL ends up at is the website’s homepage.

Not Only to the Front Door

The cool thing about URLs is that they can bring you to the “side door” of my website as easily as the homepage. If the domain name is followed by a backslash, additional words or letters or numbers and lastly another “dot” designation ~ .html, .htm, etc. ~ a different webpage or file within the domain will open. For example ~ http://www.offsitesecretary.com/about.html ~ will open my “About” page in Off~Site Secretary’s website.

How About the Guest Cottage

The URL can contain even more information to direct the web browser to look deeper into the website. Again, using “my place” as an example ~ this blog is in an additional folder of my website. The “News” folder in http://www.offsitesecretary.com/News/2011/02/what-is-url/ is where my entire blog is stored with this article’s URL pointing specifically to the “what-is-url” file. Since the blog is in its own little compartment, I like to think of this blog as the “guest cottage” behind the quaint, little Off~Site Secretary house.  Again, the URL can bring you directly to the “front door” of my blog as easily as the “front door” of the main site.

The URLs for my website are easy to interpret and understand. In the next article, we can look for URLs that don’t appear to match the normal pattern. Understanding why some URLs are shortened or altered is important to understand for safe web surfing.

Until then, feel free to wander down the path to my “house” or “cottage”.