Sat.Jan 11, 2014 - Fri.Jan 17, 2014

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What should be in our job specs?

Practically Perfect PA

'More often than not job descriptions for assistants are sketchy at best leaving us with more questions than answers. What does “and anything else that might be needed” actually mean? What are “ad-hoc duties’? How flexible does an assistant need to be and what does “juggling multiple priorities” really involve? Along with these generic phrases assistants’ job descriptions can also be poorly written, focussing on a standard set of skills rather than the real role responsibilities.

Skills 211
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Visibility Blocks that Keep You From Having a Great Podcast

Stephanie LH Calahan

'A few weeks ago we started talking about visibility blocks.  Visibility blocks are those sometimes conscious, but often unconscious, things that keep us from really showing our true brilliance.  Visibility blocks keep us from fully serving our ideal clients.  They keep us playing small and there are a number of them! Today, I'm diving into the world of podcasting and sharing why you might want to consider starting a podcast as well as exposing some blocks that may be keepi

AT&T 185
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Whenever You See Two Options, Choose the Third

Virtual Moxie

'Some time ago, there was a client who came through the Registry at AssistU for a referral to our fabulous Virtual Assistants. When he’d narrowed it down to the few he wanted to talk with, he sent each a laundry list of questions he expected her to answer prior to his setting up a time to talk with her. Here’s that list: 1. Your Business a. How long have you been a VA?

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Do you shy away from the term Emotional Intelligence?

The Small Business Blog

'As a convert to the idea of emotional intelligence; based on the realisation that I messed up a good few things because I didn’t get it, I now find that I have to exercise it the most when I meet people who are resistant to the concept. Unfortunately this mostly seems to be with the… Read the full article here: Do you shy away from the term Emotional Intelligence?

UPS 164
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SME Relationships: Proven Solutions for Seamless Collaboration and Success

Speaker: Tim Buteyn, President of ThinkingKap Learning Solutions

💢 Do you find yourself stuck in never-ending review cycles? Are you wondering if your Subject Matter Expert actually got that last review request? Are you having trouble trying to decipher impractical or conflicting feedback? 💢 If any of these scenarios sounds familiar, you may benefit from a crash course on managing SME relationships!

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Practically Perfect PA Visits: The Hay Adams DC

Practically Perfect PA

'The Hay Adams has welcomed some very very famous guests over the years, including Amelia Earhart in 1928, just recently the press junket for the 3rd season of Homeland, not to mention the Obama family prior to the inauguration in 2009. Last week they welcomed me through their historic doors. This was my first visit to Washington DC and I was absolutely thrilled to find The Hay Adams just across Lafayette Park from the White House.

Travel 198

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Economic Insecurity and the Decline of Babies

Small Business Labs

'After declining for the last 4 years, the U.S. birth rate flattened out in 2012 relative to 2011 with just under 4 million babies being born in both years.  This maintains the number of U.S. births per 1000 women aged 15-44 at 63, its lowest level since records have been kept. But they may go even lower in 2013. As the chart below shows, preliminary numbers from the U.S.

2013 156
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Work – Quote of the Week

The Small Business Blog

'“The most important motive for work in school and in life is pleasure in work, pleasure in its result, and the knowledge of the value of the result to the community.” That quote was by the legendary physicist Albert Einstein. His work gave him great pleasure, but the benefits of the things he did eventually… Read the full article here: Work – Quote of the Week on: THE SMALL BUSINESS BLOG.

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An airline loyalty programme that benefits assistants too!

Practically Perfect PA

'Most of us organise travel for our executives and most of our executives are considered frequent flyers. I’ve found over the years that it is always worthwhile getting my executives to sign up to an airline loyalty and rewards scheme. Although part of our job is to find the best deals when it comes to travel I strongly believe it is also our job to ensure our managers are travelling comfortably and have the best experience they can.

Travel 185
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Recruiting With Social Media Can Backfire

Office Dynamics

'This is a guest post submitted by Mariel Norton & Rachael Pegram in collaboration with Lakestar McCann. . Why using social media as a means of recruitment can backfire. Last year it was reported that 4.2 billion people use their mobile device in order to access social media sites, and with Facebook home to over 1.15 billion users, it’s fair to say that the world and its dog (world’s cutest canine Pomerian pup Boo has over 8 million likes on Facebook) are pretty active on the social networki

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Elevating the Virtual Interviewing Experience

Sharing your authentic self in a virtual interview can be an unwanted challenge. How do you break through the digital barrier when conducting a virtual interview and share your exceptional self? Think in unconventional ways to elevate the virtual interviewing experience.

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Eight Ways to Eliminate Paper and Clutter in Your Office

Ian's Messy Desk

'The post Eight Ways to Eliminate Paper and Clutter in Your Office appeared first on Ian's Messy Desk. Working at a regional head office, we see a lot of paper. We were recently involved in a capital project to build a new program facility. When the HVAC system was installed, someone thought we might want the user manual for the system: a 400 page PDF document.

PDF 144
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Infographic: Contact Forms

The Small Business Blog

'Most businesses have some type of contact form on their website as an alternative to posting their email address publicly. This form will have been designed to collate all the information that is required to deal with a customer query or follow up on a potential lead. But how much did you think about the… Read the full article here: Infographic: Contact Forms on: THE SMALL BUSINESS BLOG.

Forms 153
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How to manage your boss while they are on the road

Practically Perfect PA

'Business travel is tricky for everyone involved. Our boss actually has to make the trip but we have to organise them remotely and sometimes in a different timezone. There are many aspects of a trip that can go wrong from delays, to cancellations to misplaced booking confirmations and we are not there to support them through these issues. We have to plan every aspect of the trip with the hope that our manager can deal with any unexpected problems… something they might not necessarily be used to!

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Boomers and The Life Reinvention Myth

Small Business Labs

'The Dangerous Myth of Reinvention is a fascinating essay by Marc Freedman, CEO and Founder of Encore.org.   For those not familiar with Encore, here's how they describe themselves: Encore.org is building a movement to make it easier for millions of people to pursue second acts for the greater good. We call them "encore careers" – jobs that combine personal meaning, continued income and social impact – in the second half of life.

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Mandatory COVID Vaccination Policy Template

New vaccine mandates and testing policies will affect employers with more than 100 workers. Get Paycor’s free, customizable vaccination policy template to communicate critical details and new requirements to your employees. Get Paycor’s Template today!

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How One Bank Invests in Millenials

On The Job

'Many businesses today have expressed frustration with younger workers. They claim they lack the proper business skills and other professional abilities that will help make them good employees. However, some employers aren''t content simply to complain about Millennials'' lack of skills but are being active in addressing them. BOK Financial Corp. (BOKF) with banks in eight states and headquarters in Tulsa, Okla., has had a financial training program in place since the late 1960s.

Etiquette 128
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The Pros and Cons of the 4 Major Green Certifications

The Small Business Blog

'Green certifications are useful in promoting a business’s green credentials to your customers, prospective clients and employees. But which one is right for an SME? In this article I have summarised the pros and cons of four mainstream green standards and environmental certifications. ISO14001 – The Environmental Management System The most recognised environmental certification is… Read the full article here: The Pros and Cons of the 4 Major Green Certifications on: THE SMALL BUSINESS BLO

Promotion 151
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A Lesson In Thinking BIG!

Office Dynamics

'Hello Monday Motivators ! I imagine many of you are just getting back to work after the BIG freeze in the Midwest and east. I hope you will take time to read this Monday Motivator as I delve into this month’s theme, BIG thoughts. Remember in last week’s video, I told you I was going to challenge you like never before and dig deep. So if you are looking only for fluff, I’m sorry to disappoint you, but no fluff this year.

2014 109
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Almost 1 in 10 Cubans Self-Employed

Small Business Labs

'Cuba, one of the last bastions of communism, is experiencing a self-employment boom.   In 2010 Cuba liberalized a number of laws and made starting a business easier and more appealing. This led to a three fold increase in the number of self-employed Cubans over the last 3 years.  According to Cuba's  first deputy minister of Labor and Social Security : At present, 444,109 Cubans are self-employed in one of more of the 201 existing modalities, compared to 157,300 thre

2012 127
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Is Training the Right Solution?

Speaker: Tim Buteyn

Let's set the scene: you’ve identified a critical performance gap in your organization and need to close that gap. A colleague suggests training, but you suspect there’s something going on that training can’t address. How can you determine if training is the right solution before you commit your budget and resources to a new training program? In this webinar, you will learn how to determine if training is the right solution using the Behavior Engineering Model.

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Building Your First Team – How Do You Know You’re Ready?

Step It Up VA Coaching

'by Donna Toothaker. Building a team to support you and your business can be a pretty overwhelming idea. Where do you find good team members? Will you have enough work coming in to keep them busy, and to pay them fairly for their time? All reasonable questions; and all have reasonable answers. I asked myself the same questions and many others when I first started thinking about building my own team.

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Why new recruits should paint fences

The Small Business Blog

'Last week three guys who recently established a business in London wanted my thoughts on the recruitment of their first member of staff. Whilst they were naturally concerned about the costs associated with employment, greater uncertainty surrounded the management of the new recruit?“We’ve got to make sure the new person knows how to do… Read the full article here: Why new recruits should paint fences on: THE SMALL BUSINESS BLOG.

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Organizing and Creativity

Clutter Coach

'Originally posted 2012-12-04 20:19:52. Republished by Blog Post Promoter Creative people often shun organizing. Putting their supplies away and having a clear desktop are for accountants, not artists. Inspiration can strike anytime and materials must be out and ready (all of them). Many creatives don’t produce a whole lot, though, and that’s because they are focussing all their attention on the muse and the flow of ideas , and not enough on how to get those ideas into the world.

2012 100
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Rural Populations Continue to Shrink

Small Business Labs

'Is Rural America Struggling? provides an excellent summary of the economic and population issues facing rural America.  Key quote: rural America’s job growth is stagnant and the population is in decline. In fact, it’s the first time such a population decline has been recorded in the nation’s rural counties. The article chart below shows the long term relative decline in non-metor (rural) U.S. population versus metro areas.  Interestingly enough, even rural resort areas are seeing sl

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Revitalizing Dry Content: A Lesson in Engagement

Speaker: Tim Buteyn, President of ThinkingKap Learning Solutions

We’ve all been there. You’ve been given a pile of dry content and asked to create a compelling eLearning course. You’re determined to create something more engaging than the same old course that learners quickly click through, but how do you take this “boring” content and create something relevant and engaging? Many instructional designers will say, “Boring in means boring out.

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The 33 Days Newsletter Challenge – Day 11

Brilliantly Better

'Today is the eleventh day of the 33 days challenge. The question for today was: “Who’s your most dangerous enemy…” Let’s see the answers. A.A. “My most dangerous enemy is a SHE. I feel a little beet mean to call her ‘enemy’ but it seams the right call, after all. Actually, she wants to be [.].

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Why You Should Invest in a Reliable Email Service

The Small Business Blog

'Could you imagine how your company – or any other company, for that matter –would run in today’s world without email? Just trying to imagine such a world would give most people migraines. Email systems are critical to the operation of just about everything today, particularly businesses. An efficient, robust email system is the lifeblood… Read the full article here: Why You Should Invest in a Reliable Email Service on: THE SMALL BUSINESS BLOG.

Email 148
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5 Tips to Having The Best Terms of Service

Small Business CEO

'This is undisputed, really — a growing successful company needs direction, plain and simple. Without it, you’ve got a corporation just going wherever the wind blows, and sometimes that wind will blow clear across the ocean, into a monsoon, with crashing waves, and the ship gets way too torn up to see the light of day. It’s not a pretty sight.

Legal 69
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A Productive Life: Integrating Habits

Productivityist

'The following is the second in a series of guest posts on leading a productive life by Bojan Dordevic. Bojan is an Internet marketing professional with a passion for all things productive, and is the co-founder of Alpha Efficiency Magazine (I make an appearance in the second of issue of said publication). You can invite him for a Hangout on Google+ and follow him on Twitter or App.net.

2014 61
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Brain Fog HQ: Memory Enhancement Techniques for Professional Development

Speaker: Chester Santos – Author, International Keynote Speaker, Executive Coach, Corporate Trainer, Memory Expert, U.S. Memory Champion

In October, scientists discovered that 75% of patients who experienced brain fog had a lower quality of life at work than those who did not. At best, brain fog makes you slower and less efficient. At worst, your performance and cognitive functions are impaired, resulting in memory, management, and task completion problems. In this entertaining and interactive presentation, Chester Santos, "The International Man of Memory," will assist you in developing life-changing skills that will greatly enha