Weekend University is an innovative educational institution focused on practical in-person and online digital skills education. Their courses deliver practical knowledge from experienced practitioners, providing students with real world skills they can use the next day in their professional and personal lives.

WeekendU is lead by Dmitry Shapiro, a pioneer in the tech industry and one of the most well respected leaders in the online space. I can honestly say that this course revolutionized the way I use the internet. I’m more efficient, organized and the information I want is coming to me.  During the course I had my laptop open and implemented many of Dmitry’s recommendations. I immediately noticed my productivity skyrocket. My enthusiasm for this course is conveyed in the WeekendU Internet Power Video.

In addition to improving my own skills, I was empowered with technology and information that allowed me to teach others the same innovations I learned. Many of the talks I give and classes I teach are founded on the principals from this course.  Since I’ve been an evangelist for WeekendU’s education for the past year, it is now an absolute honor to announce that I’ll be an Instructor at WeekendU, along with Dmitry and other experienced technology and online entrepreneurs.  Please stay tuned for upcoming webinars and in person classes I’ll be teaching. WeekendU has big plans in store for 2010 and beyond.

The first course I’ll be teaching is Internet Power this Saturday February 27^th at UCLA. Dmitry will lead the class on finding information faster, organizing and managing information flow, leveraging power tools and I’ll be teaching a section on Social Media.

I’m giving away one complimentary pass to attend the course and as always offering you 3 ways to win. If you participate all 3 ways, you’ll be entered 3 different times. The winner will be chosen Thursday evening so you have a couple days to plan for Saturday.

1. Join my Facebook page and leave a comment my Facebook “Discussion”  about WeekendU

2. Retweet this blog post with the Tweet button on the top left of this post and make sure to include my Twitter name @MyMelodie in the tweet.

3. Leave a comment on this blog post telling me your biggest challenge with managing your internet use (ie: overloaded email inbox, difficulty finding relevant information, etc)

Additionally I’m offering my entire network $100 off this Saturday’s course.  So please let me know if you’d like a promo code.

Whether you’re a novice internet user or an online industry leader, I guarantee you will learn something valuable from this class. In fact we’re so confident  we offer  “100% Satisfaction Guranteed – Or We Will Refund Your Registration Fee” I look forward to seeing you on Saturday at UCLA!

You may think Personal Assistants are just for the rich and famous and cost a fortune. You may also be an excellent multitasker and see no need for a Personal Assistant. BlackBerrys and laptops have definitely improved our efficiency, but even the most organized business professional can appreciate a helping hand. I’m grateful for my helping hand and Personal Assistant, AskSunday. I began using the AskSunday 24/7 Assistance almost 2 years ago and can confidently say they’ve significantly increased my productivity by helping me accomplish tasks that are important and urgent but don’t require my specialized skill or knowledge.

AskSunday is a service that provides Virtual Personal Assistants. They offer various packages for their 24/7 Assistance that begin as low as $37/month. They accept requests via email, phone, and even Twitter! They also offer Dedicated Assistants that provide help at a higher level. I’d like to share personal examples of how AskSunday has helped me optimize my valuable time.

1. Reservations- Reservations may seem simple but when I need a specific type of environment for a business meeting that has tables and chairs set up a certain way, a specific location in the room, various food preferences, want to prepay the bill and don’t have a restaurant in mind because the meeting is in a location I’m not familiar with, I AskSunday and they deliver. They do the research and provide me with various options.They also provide alternatives and let me know if there may conflicts with my request. I get back to them with my choice and they confirm the reservation by telling me who they spoke with in case anything comes up.

2. Price Comparisons- There are many times when I want to buy a product and know I can easily spend 20-30 minutes price comparing online but don’t because I’m busy working on a more important task. Same goes with booking travel. With AskSunday I can find the most cost effective solutions for purchases and travel without investing any extra time. They look things up, send me the options then go through with the actual purchasing, always making sure to send me a confirmation.

3. Booking Appointments and Cancellations- There are many appointments we put off booking because it’s on the bottom of our to-do list. AskSunday will book health appointments, spa treatments and other personal appointments. Many often put off cancellations more than booking because we already went through the hassle of setting it up. We know it may take a while to get through and confirm the cancellation. AskSunday has also helped me cancel other things that are necessary but not priorities. I somehow get on mailing lists for many magazines and catalogs that I don’t wish to receive. They help me help the environment by canceling these extraneous subscriptions.

4. Data Entry- Have a stack of business cards that need to be entered in your address book? Evernote your business cards and AskSunday will enter them for you. Have other data that needs to be organized in an excel spreadsheet? No problem! AskSunday does this in your sleep!

These are just a few of many requests AskSunday has assisted me with. Additional resources I have learned from are two books that have tremendously enhanced my knowledge on first prioritizing my tasks- Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity and then outsourcing certain tasks and knowing how to determine which items to delegate – The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich

Now that you’ve read all about the possibility of having a Personal Assistant and how they have immensely increased my productivity I’m absolutely thrilled to announce that I’m giving away an entire month of AskSunday’s 24/7 Assistance’s Gold Plan! I’m very grateful to now have an opportunity to share my positive experience with one of you.

Here’s How you will win a complimentary month of AskSunday’s 24/7 Assistant service:
First you Must be a fan of Marketing Melodie’s Facebook Page to qualify. Once you’re a fan you can enter 3 ways. If you participate in all 3, you will be entered 3 different times.
1. Leave a comment my Facebook “Discussion” telling me how AskSunday will make your life more productive.
2. Retweet this blog post with the Tweet button on the top left of this post and make sure to include my Twitter name @MyMelodie in the tweet.
3. Leave a comment on this blog post with insight on what you personally do to increase productivity.

I will choose 1 lucky winner on Sunday December 13th, 2009. I’m choosing this date because it’s my birthday so there’s no better day to give away something very valuable to me! I wish everyone the best and success to increased productivity!

We love the tactile feel of a QWERTY keyboard (Typing QWERTY was fun I just had to do it again!).  When we’re on our phones we’re not shaking it frantically so a light saber can flash or dice can roll, we’re actually getting real work done. Our battery life is strong like the engergizer bunny (I’ve had my BlackBerry for 2 years, use it all day, every day and have never had it die on me) and if it does die down we can pop a spare in or recharge the original one back to full power rather than being forced to buy a brand new phone because the battery is no longer capable of being fully charged. Oh and three more words that have made it necessary for other devices to catch up on: CUT AND PASTE!

BlackBerry 8800

Let’s get into some useful tips that will significantly increase your productivity. I realized many BlackBerry users love their BlackBerry but don’t even know how it can be such an efficient tool. These tips will add value to your every use and give you a few more reasons to love your BlackBerry:

1. Chat With BlackBerry Messenger- I’m very surprised at how many peoeple don’t know about this function. It’s one of my favorite!  BlackBerry users get the familiar look and feel of desktop instant messaging right their phone. It supports group chat, tracks message delivery and provide status availability. This is the most efficient way for me to communicate with BlackBerry users. Some ask why it’s any different than a text message? There are no lag times, service charges or character limits that come with SMS. If you’re familiar with PIN messaging on BlackBerry this application will expand on that functionality and make your communication even quicker!

2. Retrieve Your PIN Instantly- Your BlackBerry PIN (Personal Identification Number) distinguishes your unique BlackBerry from all the others. You’ll need it for adding others to you BlackBerry Messenger list. Many of us have no idea how or where to retrieve our PIN. We can go through a list of steps to find this OR we can simply open up a blank message (SMS, email, messenger will all work) and type: “Mypin” then hit [Space] and your PIN will magically appear in the message. No need to waste time fumbling around to find it. Try it! You’ll be sending your PIN to everyone in your contacts!

3. Capitalize With One Key-  Need to capitalize a letter mid-sentence? Simply hold the letter key down for an extra second and it automatically turns to upper case. There is no need to push alt or any other button. This saves a lot of time if you type as much as I do on a BlackBerry and makes your grammar look proper!

4.  Quickly Enter Email Addresses: Typing email addresses slows us down as we have to use multiple keys for the [@] and the dot[.]  With BlackBerry you can easily avoid this hassle. When you’re in the email address field hit [space] when you need the [@] and [space]  again when you need the [.] BlackBerry automatically converts this into email address form. For example: melodietao[space]gmail[space]com.

5.  Filter Your Inbox: The BlackBerry inbox captures all of your activity which is great because you have one spot where you can find everything but when you have  tons of emails, text messages and phone logs it can get a bit overwhelming to scroll through it all.  When you’re in your inbox use simple commands for filtering.  [Alt] [S] lets you see your text messages [Alt] [O] takes you to your outgoing messages, [Alt] [I] takes you to incoming messages and the back arrow will always bring you back to your main inbox.

So what do you think? Do you already use these tips? If you have any other BlackBerry tips and tricks, please share them in the comments below. Let’s all work together to optimize the power of the BlackBerry!