3Lunches is such a wonderful project and we are excited to get the word out to everyone!

Please check out our blog at:http://blog.3lunches.com/

or on Facebook:http://www.facebook.com/pages/3Lunches/93217039068?ref=ts

When I went to the B&N store nearest me on 8-23-09, I was told returns or exchanges with register receipts could only be made within 14 days after purchase. I explained I had just received the item and it was still sealed in their plastic wrap. No dice. They wouldn’t take it… even with the receipt, in NEW condition, and with me only wanting to make an exchange… it wasn’t even like I wanted CASH!!

Only then did I read the back of the receipt and it said with a GIFT receipt items could be returned or exchanged up to 60 days later! 60 days!!!

I always thought a receipt was a receipt!

I e-mailed B&N to give them a chance to make good on this but I am doubtful they’ll do anything or even care.

-Rob

He sounds like a broken record with no credibility. What we heard is nothing new.

it would be great to hear from you…

I would love to add a link to your blog entry to our twitter account if that’s OK?
http://www.twitter.com/GallantGifts

Thanks

Dan is certainly well spoken and shares from real world experience. If you are a small business, perhaps even a solo entrepreneur, Dan offers some practical advice to help publicize our businesses and make us more famous in our market.

Terry
http://www.YourTeleSeminarManager.com

Detroit is hurting and she could get a REAL boost by helping her hometown as she seems passionate about it.

And also offer a helping hand to them but if they dont want it then just let it go.

Sarah

http://www.craigslistpostingonline.info

thank you for this great blog.
Thank you very much for following me on Twitter, I am honoured.
God bless!
Dr.Larisa Varenikova
@DrVarenikova

Thanks mate! This is an excellent information. I’m new to all this but want to setup my first blog soon so I intent on using it for my own reference. Hope you dont mind….

This stuff does work. I follow you on Facebook now because you happened to send me that DM on Twitter.

I am So Lucky That I found your blog and great articles. I will come to your blog often for finding new great articles from your blog.I am adding your rss feed in my reader Thank you…

I never thought I will agree with this opinion, but you know… I agree partially now…

Some Supervisors tell us our beef is grain feed, others tell it is not, just a sample that things are gone awray. I could no longer lie to customers, I have morales and know the product had dropped, and feel sorry for the customers…Dealing with internet prices, mailers, Inbound calls, Retail stores prices as all are different.
The marketing department has no idea what the other departments are doing. It is like 5 different companies…I apologize as treated like a pion yet loved by the customers and keep giving your comments. Hopefully it will do some good.

Stuart

looking forward, Rob and thanks for the follow!

@memeshift

I follow the same code of Twitter-ethics. And ditto for most other social networking sites (Facebook included)

They don’t necessarily twitter but they do have a large pool of VAs so are able to handle multiple aspects of a business.

I’m afraid I don’t Twitter. But I do encourage anyone looking for a professional and qualified virtual assistant to do their research – just as they would if they are looking to hire an employee.

Not all VAs are alike – and anyone on the WWW can say anything about who they are, what their skill set is etc and you really have no idea if they’re telling you the truth. I’m not sure the number of followers they have on Twitter necessarily makes them the “best VA”.

Brad Pregerson’s comment is interesting … and not strictly correct. Not ALL VAs require monthly packages and they certainly aren’t all overpriced and/or based in the US. There are qualified virtual assistants all around the globe – however, the US accounts for most of them. If you add “Australia” or “the UK” or elsewhere to your Google search you’ll find there are loads of others.

Unfortunately his experience is not uncommon – hence another reason I began the AVBN: to afford clients a level of protection so they can be assured who they are getting is precisely who they say they are.

Price depends on a number of factors including: skill level, years in business, specialty, services offered, location … shop around. But bear in mind that if you are after a fairly specialist skill set you will need to pay for it. You wouldn’t expect to hire a plumber and pay him what YOU thought the job was worth, right?

Also bear in mind that you can call yourself a virtual assistant, but clients should make sure they are clear about how THEY define a virtual assistant. And in that way they can then find the VA who fits their needs.

Cheers
Lyn Prowse-Bishop, MVA ASO CAVB

I tried 3 VA’s and have gone with various companies that do the specific items of work I want done. They are cheaper and although companies the workers have made an effort to get to know what I want and how I want it done – far better than almost any VA I have ever met.

I will use specialists for my needs. I am learning as since 2000 I have given about 20% of my time pro-bono for those starting up as VA’s. I now know that if you want a good VA they MUST specialise in one thing and not be a general worker in all.

Also if you want a secretary, make sure one person is going to be doing the work and not a ‘group’ of people. Your input is even more important than theirs and trying to do that with a group of personalities is almost impossible.

I don’t know how many followers I have on Twitter but I have 4000 on my one website run just by me for free to support other VA’s. Di Chapman, The Award Winning Virtual Assistant

http://www.virtualassistantnetworking.com/newsletters/2009/010509.htm

I highly doubt I’m in the top on Twitter as I typically market my product reviews site over my Virtual Assistant job there. I would like to nominate myself though. I am a Virtual Assistant currently to Ben Curtis of RailsKits.com and BenCurtis.com. I have experience in marketing/market research and years of experience in the technology field as both Admin Assistant and IT support, and much more. I do have a full resume that I can send if you are interested!

Good luck on your search for a VA!

The key to working with a VA is clear, concise communication and to be aware that it’s still “You get what you pay for,” so be certain expectations are stated in advance; how much time should be billed for a particular task, when it should be completed, when reports should be submitted, etc. Get everything in writing and have a backup in place in case the #1 Virtual Assistant issue arises – they “disappear” on you. Once you find the right Virtual Assistant, you’ll quickly wonder how you ever got anything done without them.

Feel free to follow me at http://twitter.com/virtuallin

As much as I would like to nominate myself (or RT and have my fellow entrepreneurs, followers and clients nominate me), I have to agree with Tracey and Laurie. Not every client is a good fit for every VA. It does depend on the tasks you need. But, it also depends on their personalities. Example: If one person is very wishy-washy in their thinking process and the other is extremely detail-oriented, the two will clash.

There are a lot of VAs that offer an array of services (like mine). And then there are those that specialize only in certain areas. I offer basic admin assistance, professional assistance (ie. bookkeeping, transcription, project mgmt, etc.) and marketing/design/technical assistance (graphic design, web design/development, seo, marketing, etc.). I am able to offer my clients a broad range of services – sort of like a one-stop-shop. But, there may be someone looking for just a basic admin with only basic admin skills – they will be much less expensive.

So, finding the BEST VA is truly a personalized choice. Just as there is always a perfect love out there for everyone…there is a perfect VA out there for everyone.

To your success,

Susan McCool

Hope to see you following me – http://www.twitter.com/susanmccool

For me, she handles everything from bookkeeping and banking to filing in my office and ordering things. Highly recommended.

I have to say that with over 1,100+ followers in Twitter @vanetworking (majority of them VAs), I think I have the best bunch of VAs following me on Twitter and nominate myself in to your Twitterverse find

You can follow me and watch for #VAtip in Twitter to find a daily tip from me on how to excel with your Virtual Assistant.

I’m founder of the largest membership based social network for Virtual Assistants at http://www.VAnetworking.com (over 10,000 members) and I’m going to encourage you to pop by and download our free eBook on how to “Find the Ultimate Virtual Assistant for Your Business” together with a supplement teaching you how to post RFPs at VA networks. Pick up both free ebooks at http://www.VAnetworking.com/blog and if you need to hire a VA…please utilize the wonderful VAs at our network.

Warmly,
Tawnya Sutherland

Theresa is a super savvy and certificated in Internet Marketing and Social Media Marketing from VAclassroom.com and always goes out of her way to help me on projects and refer clients my way. She is a hard worker and the results show!

There is a whole group of Savvy Virtual Assistants on Twitter here http://twittgroups.com/group/virtualassistant.

http://twittgroups.com/group/virtualassistant

Good luck to you Rob if you do choose to contract a virtual assistant!!

In 2009 we’re off to gather inspiration from the world. In May, my husband and I depart in a small prop plane, flying 30,000 miles around the world to deliver 100,000 hugs and share $1,000,000 of abundance with the world.

Why are we doing this? It’s fun, it’s adventurous and just might get some folks’ minds off of doom and gloom long enough to see the possibilities in their own life. Only 256 men and 21 women have ever flown around the world in a small plane, and none have had the added components of this inspirational tour. It is our hope that as you follow this journey you’ll ask yourself, “If they can do this, what can I do?” And from that, your world will open to possibility.

We welcome you to follow the tour at http://GlobalHugTour.com.

Again, our congratulation to the winners listed above. We look forward to inspiring you!

Hugs,

Gail Lynne Goodwin
http://InspireMeToday.com

Raj

Thanks for the follow. It’s always good to connect with more dads on Twitter.

Excellent tips for anytime, but especially today.

One of my favorite affirmations is:
I choose to not participate in a recession.

My passion is to help small business owners experience heaps of profit & oodles of fun.

Wilma Woodson

I’ve been very puzzled by the number of people who have signed up to follow me. Obviously, I have a lot to learn about Twittering!

My cool customer service story: I’ve just started the daunting task of searching for a home to buy. My daughter starts school this year so finding a home in the right school boundary is paramount. The only site I found to do this in Colorado is cohomefinder.com.

Their search is fantastic! You can search by almost any parameter you want. They also hooked me up with a nice realtor who has access to my saved searches. The extra bonus: I emailed them to report a bug on their site and they called me back within a week to tell me it would be fixed and to ask how my home search was going!

P.S. I have nothing against McDonald’s except that even though I don’t like their food, I still end up eating there at least 3 times a month.

She not only put a rush on the hemmed pants but personally hand-delivered them — free of charge — to my home.

I’ve been a loyal customer every since.

On a 2006 Thanksgiving flight between San Diego and Oakland, I needed to entertain a cranky 4 year old. We constructed a collage using pictures from the in-flight magazine and some tape I had in my carry-on. SWA plane was the centerpiece, along with an Abraham Lincoln doll for the pilot (Skymall catalog), and several other characters we found. Whole thing was propped up on a wood stir stick stuck through the bottom of an inverted coffee cup.

Flight attendants were so tickled with this, they brought us “prizes” (a sick sack full of SWA-branded pens, playing cards, and other goodies they could find), comped my drinks (believe me, those were needed), and announced our achievement over the plane’s speakers. This amused me and thoroughly delighted the 4 year old… making what could have been a difficult trip into an exciting day and the highlight of the 4 year old’s Thanksgiving trip to her aunt’s house. Nothing else impressed her the entire time (much to her aunt’s chagrin).

Good post

I am new to blogging and twitter too. I have never been one to socialize much at a party or in group settings. Blogging, using social media in my marketing and now twitter is a real stretch out of the comfort zone.

I look to the names that are recognized in social media as a model in all my online efforts.

I am using twitter right now as a way to announce my new blog posts, both to my readers and to my Facebook friends on my wall. I do tweet a few people and can see how I can do more.

Perry Belcher has a good video on his take on social media and how he uses it for business. I have it on my list as content for a post.

Thank you for this post

Mark
@MarkAyers

Networking allows you to meet new people every day. It is not that you may sell them your services or products but it is the 10 people they know.

Lets go forward into 2009 and prosper.

wonderful…

Krissy
http://www.twitter.com/iamkrissy

I’m still feeling my way around social networking and am getting more comfortable with Twitter, but my philosophy refects my desire to be be a giver first and see where the relationship goes from there. Your perspective will be a help as I connect with people using Twitter.

I look forward to knowing you better. Wishing you the best in 2009

Welcome, and thanks for the follow. It’s totally find to send me a DM when you have something to say! Looking forward to getting to know you on Twitter.

-Rob

Keep on with the lack of dependency on material possessions! That’s cool. All it takes for me is a satisfying camping trip to realize all the things I have that I don’t need. It does nothing to get me to actually get rid of the stuff, but the sentiment is there!

Failures of ‘08:
Too much dreaming, not enough doing.
Overuse of StumbleUpon (If you don’t know what it is, don’t try it. You’ll lose hours of your life!)

Goals of ‘09:
Fix the failure of ‘08 by changing the Wouldn’t-it-be-cool-ifs and Someday-we-shoulds to I’m-going-to-dos.
Contribute more to the internets instead of just taking from them.

I drive a $5000 car and realize a $80,000 car won’t make me happier. This year I made all my own Christmas Cards and gifts. I found people liked them more than store bought stuff anyway. I’m planning on taking massive action and making myself more immune to distractions in business in 2009.

This is the year in which Esmaa the hermit gets kicked out of the tower and relearns social skills. I intend to complete both a non-fiction book and my fourth novel. Selah.

I don’t plan to expand at all this year, my resolution is to cultivate and maintain all of my existing sites. All my focus will go to adding interesting, well prepared content!

Happy New Year!

However, knowing one more way of how things don’t work, only puts you that much closer to knowing how things do work!

2008 Sins:

Too much unfocused and unproductive time wasted down the drain of time.

2009 Refocus:

Realizing the precious moments I have been given and treating each and every moment with the utmost attention! Focused force to drive my business to the next level and beyond!

Thanks for the post!

My greatest ‘historical’ inspiration is Christ. My greatest present day inspiration is Joyce Myer.

It is the inspiration of Christ, who has caused me to work diligently to help others understand and deepen their relationship with Him, to create ‘The Christian Success Institute.’ It is vital for us to know that God wants us to be successful so that we can convey His blessings to others. We can accomplish this through the diligent study of His Precepts and Promises.

Thanks for the opportunity to express this.

The man is so painfully honest and consistent in his beliefs that he has returned a portion of his congressional budget back to the treasury every year he’s been in office.

As a co-founder of a start-up, I strive to meet that standard every day and am thankful that people like Ron Paul, rare as they may be, are willing and able to teach by example.

Today, Ryan considers every day a gift, and lives life like there’s no tomorrow. Because Ryan knows that he’s living on borrowed time. That the heart pumping inside him has lasted twice as long than most transplanted organs. When I interviewed him earlier this year for a newsletter I write for Cleveland Clinic (http://www.clevelandclinic.org), he kiddingly told me he must be doing something right, because most hearts don’t last as long as his. Truth be told, Ryan works tirelessly to keep his body (and heart) in shape, exercising regularly, and competing in a variety of athletic events annually, including the US Transplant Games.

A big believer in giving back to the community, Ryan speaks often to children and adults about the importance of making a difference in the world, whether that’s through organ donation or working in a soup kitchen.

The truth is that Ryan is my inspiration. His fierce determination to live life to the fullest inspired me to become an organ donor this year. The fact is that there are so many people in need of organs, these days. And while I hope to live a long life, when I do die, I’d like to help someone else live a healthy, active, meaningful life. I hope this story will inspire some of your readers to give the gift of life to someone else when that time comes. While it’s admittedly difficult to think of what will happen to our body when we die, organ donation is a generous way to give the gift of life to someone in need. Signing up to be an organ donor only takes a few minutes, and can save dozens of lives: http://www.donatelife.net/index.php Won’t you consider, giving the gift of life?

A typical day includes a walk with the fluffy black semi-feral cat, review of some legal documents, reading, reading, reading, calls to check on one or two of his 8 adult children, and some media outlet to update him on his investments.

He’s been practicing law so long, people continue to come to him for insight not realizing, he’s not 70 anymore. His brain confirms daily that he’s as sharp as he was at 70 and daily ignores the clues his body gives to the contrary.

Just this weekend, he donned his tuxedo for some big deal in New Orleans.

I want to be like my Paw Paw, live, love, learn and have fun!

Since you have such a nice outline for your policy, I decided to create my own, based on it. Mine is more strictly business-oriented, since I don’t get into discussion of issues outside of my business. I’m also working on guidelines and training for businesses who want to empower their staff to work securely and efficiently, which will make use of this idea.

So, I invite others to view my Twitter Usage Policy and use any parts of it that they like by going to the link above.

Scott Wright
The Streetwise Security Coach

The person who has inspired me most this year has been Barack Obama. Everything from the way he has embraced social media to spread the word to his inspirational speeches. Despite the major challenges and obstacles he will be facing as president, his strong sense of hope for our country is contagious and makes us believe that together “Yes We Can” overcome these challenges. He has inspired me to soulsearch and make personal changes that will enable me to be the best I can be and inspire those around me.

SK

Guinness please.

-Rob

I just think it’s fair to let people know where I stand.

Thanks,

Rob

There was no rudeness intended. You simply don’t follow. If you read the above post, you will see that it is my policy. If you don’t listen, I can’t talk dialogue with you. If I was too efficient, I apologize.

-Rob

Here is the post: http://www.moneymakersportal.com/blog/how-to-pick-up-followers-on-twitter.html

Great to follow for anybody though.

I like how you made your twittering more official by creating this policy. It definitely shows a professional mind set and I am happy to be following you. I plan on checking out your site and look forward to learning something new.

Thank you , Matt

It’s been a pleasure meeting you. I may wonder off to meet others, but it’s great to have a familiar face to whom one can return from time to time. Now, can I buy you a drink? What are you having?

@CLeyerle

Merry Christmas,
Alan

twitter: @alanlhammond

@jon_aston on twitter.

John Corcoran
twitter.com/johnhcorcoran
Omni Law Group, LLP
http://www.omnillp.com