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I hope you find my writing and business tips and observations useful. My business and blog are dedicated to helping businesses communicate clearly and reach their potential. Read, and enjoy!Tash

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Monthly Archives: September 2010

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Document codes

Published 9 September, 2010 | By TashWord

Do you manage a lot of documents? Do you worry about old versions getting confused with new versions?

This is why you see a document code on many documents, especially those from major organisations. They make it easy to tell one version from another at a glance – this is known as version control and can save a lot of problems.

Where do document codes come from?

There is no central system for giving documents codes – each business makes up its own system and introduces it as it is the business who needs to use the codes.

What does a document code include?

While there is no single coding system, most codes will include the date as that is the simplest way to determine how old a document is.

Other than that, it is up to you how the code is created. The complexity of your code will also depend on the number of documents you deal with – a few documents can be numbered 1 to 20 for example, but a large number of documents may be better divided into types and then given a number (e.g. F1 is form 1 and L24 is letter 24).

Tips for creating document codes

Here are a few tips from the systems I have created and used in the past:

  • include a version number so it is easy to refer back to previous versions. Particularly useful if two versions come into the same date period!
  • leave a gap between numbers so it is easy to add related documents later. For example, application form is F1 and change of address form is F5 so you can later add an increased cover application as F2
  • use dots rather than slashes to separate sections of a code – slashes can be misinterpreted by scanning software. So try 09.2010 instead of 09/2010
  • group like documents for simplicity, and consider naming them differently
  • if documents change fairly regularly, use month and year, not just the year in the codes
  • choose a consistent spot to place document codes – e.g. bottom left corner of the last page. It won’t work for all documents but it helps to have a starting point
  • record the document codes so it is easy to update them and to know which version is the most recent

Posted in business info & tools | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

7 tasks to delegate for your blog

Published 3 September, 2010 | By TashWord

Some time ago I wrote a post about building blogging skills based on a list by Chris Garrett (on a blog that is no longer live unfortunately).

One of his tips was to delegate, and this was picked up in the comments of that post so I thought I’d list some ways delegation can help your blogging:

  1. pay someone else to write some or all of your blog posts
  2. have regular guest bloggers in your blog. For example, I used to have a web designer include articles in my newsletter.
  3. use RSS feed to collect some relevant material to add to your blog (similar to a guest blogger but totally automated!)
  4. write the posts yourself but get someone else to enter them into the software, adding keywords, categories, etc
  5. have someone else manage your blog and website – software updates, adding new graphics, collecting stats, etc
  6. finding ideas – have someone else research topics your readers are interested in so you have a list to work from when it is time to write
  7. outsource multiple tasks so you have more time for blogging – think about your bookkeeping, filing, writing, graphics, negotiations and sales

While it isn’t something to delegate, I would also suggest keeping a notepad or computer document handy to note ideas at any time. Any time you think of something to blog about, write it down so you don’t have to spend time with bloggers block – and you don’t face the frustration of knowing you had the perfect idea yesterday…

How do you ensure you have enough time for blogging?

Posted in blogging | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Expert presenters

Published 1 September, 2010 | By TashWord

Do you think the Internet (and all the associated media that has followed) has changed our perception of an expert?

We all love ‘big names’ and are more likely to pay for a concert or conference with someone we know of than a complete stranger. And many organisers of events get caught up in finding a big name to draw crowds.

Yet I don’t think you have to be a big name to be an expert and some of the best presentations I’ve been to were run by people I hadn’t heard of before. Not every successful person is rich or famous, not all great business people own/work in the corporate world, not all talented people are widely recognised, and so on.

Getting back to my first question, is the net changing some of these perceptions? I think so as people in traditional ways were not recognised as experts or ‘worthy’ of teaching us can now share their knowledge and skills through articles, blogs, newsletters, tweets, webinars and more.

If you are thinking of attending an event, does the ‘size of a name’ influence you greatly? Would you Google (or use social media searches) the presenters to find out more?

Posted in business info & tools | Tagged , , | 2 Comments
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