Practically Perfect PA

DECEMBER 22, 2011

Every PA / EA has a set of skills that enable them to do their job well, senior staff might not notice these unique attributes but we should and more importantly we should know how to use them to the best of our abilities. Assistants are the superheroes of the office, possessing extraordinary superhuman powers, their skills can go unnoticed until there comes a time when they are called upon to help protect their colleagues!

2012 186

2012 Skills Equipment Holidays 186

Office Dynamics

DECEMBER 18, 2011

A few years ago in late winter, I purchased a bunch of pussy willow stems at Costco. I took them home and plunked them into a large vase and added water. Because life was busy, I completely forgot about the stems. They were unseen ignored and neglected on a table in the dark entry while the kaleidoscope of life swirled around them. A few weeks went by.

2008 176

2008 Environment Purchasing Learning 176

Stephanie LH Calahan

DECEMBER 21, 2011

I have a secret to share.  I LOVE Gifts!  I love giving them and I love getting them. 'Tis the season. That means the SmallBizChristmas giveaway is back !  The fantabulous Michelle Shaeffer is hosting and she invited me to share a gift, along with 12 other entrepreneurs and small business owners. These gifts have been created especially with YOU in mind, to help you reduce stress, get organized, grow your business and more.

Gifts 175

Gifts Holidays Stress Training 175

The Small Business Blog

DECEMBER 19, 2011

When it comes to the day to day running of a business, it’s easy to let supply purchasing slide to the bottom of priorities, especially during rougher economic times. More firms than you would imagine take this approach, but that would be missing the point.

Purchasing 156

Purchasing 156

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!

Collaborate

Office Organization Success

DECEMBER 19, 2011

As the saying goes, “if you fail to plan, you plan to fail” and as business owners if you run your business without having a clear strategic business and marketing plan in place, then you’re destined to fail… sounds harsh, I know, but if you don’t know what the goal(s) are, how can you plan to get there? And it is this lack of planning and being clear on your goals that causes so many small businesses to fail.

Goals 153

Goals Promotion UPS 153

Eat Your Career

DECEMBER 20, 2011

No matter who you are or what you do, I’m willing to bet you know who Richard “Dick” Bolles is. Maybe the name itself doesn’t ring a bell, but the title of his book most certainly will: What Color Is Your Parachute? Sound familiar? Dubbed the “Job Hunter’s Bible”, this book is considered the gold standard of career guides. With a focus on finding and living your life’s purpose, this book covers every conceivable job search topic including networking, research, resume and cover letter

Interviewing 147

Interviewing Cover Letter Negotiating 2012 147

The Small Business Blog

DECEMBER 20, 2011

When looking for a property, you should ideally consult a property agency in order to secure the right property based on your requirements and resources. The same scenario applies to factoring. Factoring brokers are like the agency that aim to find the right financing solution to your business’ need. What is Factoring?

Agencies 153

Agencies Finance 153

Step It Up VA Coaching

DECEMBER 22, 2011

by Donna Toothaker. Are you a creature of habit? Do you avoid doing new things, or taking new approaches, in favor of the same, old “same-old?” Perhaps your routine is comfortable and predictable, and you feel quite in control of your work and personal life. You may say, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Sure, it ain’t broke, but is your Virtual Assisting business growing?

Confidence 147

Confidence UPS 147

On The Job

DECEMBER 21, 2011

I'll admit I multitask. Not all the time, but sometimes. But I may have really curbed my impulse to do it while working while taking a 30 second test in a story I did for Gannett/USAToday. While you may know that studies have found multitasking hurts productivity, the truth is you really haven't stopped trying to do more than one thing at a time, have you?

Twitter 136

Twitter Social Media Facebook Email 136

Advertisement

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.

Interviewing

Job Advice Blog

DECEMBER 19, 2011

I am a practicing career coach, and at every year-end, I summarize my annual accomplishments as measured by how many people I helped and what percentage of them landed. In practicing Six Sigma principles in my career coaching, one of the ones I especially take to heart is CIP, which stands for Continuous Improvement Process. [.].

Interviewing 130

Interviewing Skills 130

The Small Business Blog

DECEMBER 22, 2011

I saw a couple of news stories today that were reporting on new figures that have come out of Experian on the number of business insolvencies in different parts of the UK. The first (Huge rise in insolvencies, but London fares better than rest of the UK) was from Londonlovesbusiness.

152

152

Office Organization Success

DECEMBER 21, 2011

With so many different list building strategies available it can be a real headache knowing which one(s) to implement. Many business owners make the mistake of picking one or two online and/or offline marketing strategies, trying them for a couple of weeks, deciding that they don’t work because they’re not bringing in new subscribers, and then moving on to the next hot online marketing strategy that they’ve heard about.

126

126

Small Business Labs

DECEMBER 20, 2011

Those old enough to remember the movie The Graduate will no doubt remember the "plastics" scene.  It takes place at a college graduation party for the lead character  - Benjamin Braddock, played by Dustin Hoffman.  Braddock, who is totally lost about what to do next with his life, is getting career advice from the friends of his parents.  At one point a man walks up to Braddock and says "Plastics. enough said", and walks away.

Skills 121

Skills UPS 121

Advertiser: Aggregage

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!

Policies

Job Advice Blog

DECEMBER 18, 2011

This is one of the most dreaded interview questions, but if you understand the reason interviewers ask it and what they’re looking to uncover, you’ll see that you can certainly prepare for it. The question about your weaknesses comes fairly soon after the interview begins and typically after such a question as, What are your [.].

Interviewing 130

Interviewing Skills 130

The Small Business Blog

DECEMBER 19, 2011

The top 5 tips weekly post is always full of hints and tips for small, home & micro business owners. 1. Be aware that just because a candidate looks good on paper, it doesn’t mean they will be suitable in practice. Consider a structured assessment test to see if their skills meet your expectations. 2.

Skills 149

Skills 149

Office Organization Success

DECEMBER 21, 2011

All I can say this week is thank goodness for Amazon ! I’ve had parcel after parcel arrive this week with all of my Christmas shopping. And the best parcel has yet to arrive … from Goodwood’s British Market with all of our favorite English goodies from home! Did you see my email yesterday announcing the launch of my brand-new Business Planning Inner Circle ?

Goals 122

Goals Email 122

Small Business Labs

DECEMBER 21, 2011

We at Smallbizlabs hope 2011 was a good year for you, your family and your small business.  We're looking forward to 2012 and are optimistic that the small business economy will continue to improve. Happy Holidays to all.

Holidays 119

Holidays 2012 2011 119

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.

Training

Job Advice Blog

DECEMBER 23, 2011

During my work with job seekers or those contemplating a job/career change, I evaluate the amount of fear that drives—or paralyzes—my clients. To some extent, all of them exhibit fear originated by some threat—or so they perceive. For a person out of a job, that feeling is not only a perception but also, unfortunately, a [.].

Interviewing 122

Interviewing Skills 122

Professional Assistant Blog

DECEMBER 19, 2011

Image by cogdogblog. U nfortunately, I got let go from my job due to restructuring and am looking for work now. This was the bad news. The good news is that I now have free time to start my own business (if I don't end up finding something permanent) and hope that this new venture will take off like a rocket! Having said that, I am starting a Virtual Assistant business.

Calendars 116

Calendars Phones Microsoft Access Microsoft Excel 116

Virtual Moxie

DECEMBER 19, 2011

As we roll forward toward the Christmas holiday, I've decided to take the last two weeks off--including from writing VMoxie. I've said it before, blogging makes it possible for us to pre-load posts, so that we can continue to appear productive even when away from our businesses--but I don't find that smart because, to me, it sends a message that says we can't really be away.

Holidays 116

Holidays Email 116

Office Dynamics

DECEMBER 22, 2011

Merry Christmas to you! Our office will be closed for the holiday but know that we are thinking of you and wishing you happy holidays. Stay warm and enjoy good cheer with those you love the most this holiday season. Warm regards, All of us at Office Dynamics.

Holidays 100

Holidays 100

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.

Policies

Job Advice Blog

DECEMBER 18, 2011

This is one of the most dreaded interview questions, but if you understand the reason interviewers ask it and what they’re looking to uncover, you’ll see that you can certainly prepare for it. The question about your weaknesses comes fairly soon after the interview begins and typically after such a question as, What are your [.].

Interviewing 116

Interviewing Skills 116

Small Business CEO

DECEMBER 19, 2011

Here’s a good tip for all private middle market business owners looking to improve the value of their business: Act like a public company. According to Robert Slee, author of Private Capital Markets: Valuation, Capitalization and Transfer of Private Business Interests , private companies that structure themselves and act like public companies reap tremendous advantages regardless of whether they ever become a public company: Here’s why: When performing a market valuation of a private company for

Finance 62

Finance 62

Men With Pens

DECEMBER 20, 2011

It’s the middle of summer. You’re going camping, and you have the option of two campsites. One is by a running stream. The other is by a pond. Which do you choose? If you’ve ever had a run-in with mosquitoes before, you pick the stream. Running water doesn’t allow algae and rotten leaves to collect and rot on the surface, which means mosquitoes don’t have anywhere to lay their eggs.

Social Media 48

Social Media 2006 2011 Calendars 48

Office Dynamics

DECEMBER 21, 2011

As this years winds down to a close I wanted to share some thoughts with you. Did you know that opportunity comes to everyone? People often handle life as they do bad weather. They while away the time waiting for it to stop. Opportunity knocks all the time, but you have to be ready for it. When your chance comes, you must have the equipment to take advantage of it.

2012 100

2012 Equipment UPS 100

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

Networking

Job Advice Blog

DECEMBER 23, 2011

During my work with job seekers or those contemplating a job/career change, I evaluate the amount of fear that drives—or paralyzes—my clients. To some extent, all of them exhibit fear originated by some threat—or so they perceive. For a person out of a job, that feeling is not only a perception but also, unfortunately, a [.].

Interviewing 109

Interviewing Skills 109

Small Business CEO

DECEMBER 22, 2011

The other day while browsing through some new articles on BizSugar , I came across a submission about dress codes for your business. I followed the link to the original article posted at The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur blog. I expected to see just a standard written article on the subject but got way more than I expected. “Why Your Business Needs a Dress Code” is a compilation of 51 different entrepreneurs offering their opinions on acceptable attire for business.

Attire 60

Attire Clothes 60

Service Untitled

DECEMBER 20, 2011

There’s a December 25 deadline, so it’s not really optional whether or not we want to wait at a checkout line – that is unless we shop online. This year, according to a Deloitte survey, online shopping is up in the United States from one-third last year to one-half this year showing more consumers opting to stay away from shopping malls.

Holidays 44

Holidays AT&T Stress Phones 44