Stephanie LH Calahan

MAY 27, 2011

How many social networks do you belong to?  How many different web sites are related to you personally or professionally?  I bet the number is more than five.  How are you managing all of those different urls? Do you even remember signing up for everything? Now, take a look at your business card, brochures or other social media profiles.  The other day I was in a meeting and saw a card that had the back covered with 2 different QR codes and the front had a few different u

Interviewing 217

Interviewing Management Facebook Business Cards 217

Eco-Office Gals

MAY 27, 2011

Although you may have never heard of it, workplace gardening has become increasingly popular over the past decade or so. Establishing a garden that employers and employees collectively tend to can promote new relationships and strengthen teamwork within a company. A workplace garden can also provide a sense of wellness among employers and employees, as the emphasis on healthy living is quite strong these days.

Purchasing 211

Purchasing Calendars Promotion Health 211

On The Job

MAY 23, 2011

If you have a child graduating from college this year, chances are good that you may see him or her move back home for a while because he or she hasn't landed a job. Twentysomething Inc. reports that 85 percent of graduates will go back to their parents' home, up from 67 percent in 2006. You may be frustrated, considering the big bucks you shelled out for your child to get a higher education.

Job Hunting 173

Job Hunting Cover Letter Clothes Etiquette 173

Eat Your Career

MAY 24, 2011

I’m not naming names but I’ve worked for some pretty difficult people in my life. Oh, who am I kidding? They were jerks. It’s probably just the nature of the professional world. Some people are cut out for management and some aren’t. But what do you do when you’re stuck with a boss who’s a real pain in the you-know-what? Below, I’ve listed a few of my recommendations.

Telecommuting 172

Telecommuting Gossip Mentoring Email 172

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

Virtual Moxie

MAY 24, 2011

14 years ago this month, I was enrolling my very first students for my Virtual Training Program (VTP) at AssistU. At that point, the program was 16 weeks long with an 800 page training library to go with it. I thought it was awesome, but I honestly didn’t know what might happen with this training I’d created, or with the new “profession” I’d envisioned.

Training 166

Training Learning UPS 166

Ian's Messy Desk

MAY 25, 2011

I posted the following list a few years ago. However, given natural disasters being dealt with in North America and around the world, I thought it would be beneficial to re-post these reasons to volunteer. Here in Alberta , wildfires have forced the evacuation of communities. In the most extreme case, the town of Slave Lake has be evacuated of its 7,000 residents.

Self Esteem 160

Self Esteem Lifestyle Skills Confidence 160

Small Business Labs

MAY 25, 2011

Each year MIT's Technology Review chooses 10 emerging technologies they think will have the greatest impact on the world.  This year's top 10 are: Social Indexing. Smart Transformers. Gestural Interfaces. Cancer Genomics. Solid State Batteries. Homomorphic Encryption. Cloud Streaming. Crash Proof Code. Separating Chromosomes. Synthetic Cells.

2011 154

2011 154

On The Job

MAY 26, 2011

I've been reading that it's better for your health and productivity to stand at your desk rather than to sit hunched over it like a gargoyle (who knew?), but I'd never really heard anyone personally vouch for it until my friend Eve at CareerDiva. Then, I got a tweet from Jeff Gothelf at The Ladders, extolling the virtues of standing at work. I called him and then filed this story for Gannett/USAToday: When Jeff Gothelf heard that standing while working at your computer had health benefits, he sa

Ergonomics 143

Ergonomics Cubicle Health Equipment 143

The Small Business Blog

MAY 26, 2011

My skype is down and now I hear it is down everywhere. The problems are fairly strange – on some of my computers, iPad and iPhone it works OK, on my main computer the software client does not connect. Their website Skype.com is down too?

159

159

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Interviewing

Ian's Messy Desk

MAY 24, 2011

Image via Wikipedia. A neat page of notes or a well-structured outline might not be the most effective way to capture and organize your thoughts. A page of something that looks like scribbles, complete with drawings, arrows and plenty of colour, may be just the “structure&# you need. A mind map is a diagram used to represent words, ideas, tasks, or other items linked to and arranged around a central key word or idea.

Forms 152

Forms 152

Eco-Office Gals

MAY 23, 2011

Having an eco-friendly office is fantastic and will really help to save the environment from global warming. So why not be as green at home as you are in the office? There are so many ways you can reduce your carbon footprint within the home and protect endangered wildlife, with minimal effort. Why is being green at home so important? If you have children, it’s a great idea to teach them the importance of protecting the environment from a young age.

Carbon Footprint 143

Carbon Footprint Equipment Environment Forms 143

Andrea Kalli

MAY 23, 2011

Hosting Online Contests for Link Building. . Online contests are among the most effective yet least popular link building methods, largely due to the frugality of many webmasters and the effort required in executing an effective competition. From planning prizes to contacting entrants, contests require work that many marketers just aren’t willing to provide. .

Social Media 131

Social Media Purchasing Google Facebook 131

The Small Business Blog

MAY 23, 2011

Word of Mouth – in my opinion not only the best way to gain new customers, but also the most cost-effective way, is always something to talk about, because happy customers are your word of mouth referral agents, totally free of charge.

159

159

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

Loosely Speaking

MAY 22, 2011

Season 2/Episode 14 Program Notes. Scroll to the bottom of this page and click on the “AZVAs the Podcast&# link to listen to the episode now. iPod users can find the episode in the podcast directory at the iTunes Store. Here’s that link ! You can subscribe to our newsletter VA Connections here: Contents of this episode: Discussion/Announcements/Tips: Tara and Katie discuss tips for creative and effective use of social media.

Social Media 125

Social Media 2003 2012 Email 125

Small Business Labs

MAY 27, 2011

The Wall Street Journal's Overseas Start-Ups Move In covers the trend of international technology startups moving to Silicon Valley.  The reason?  According to the article, they move "to get access to venture capital, top talent and other resources."  Interesting quote from the CEO of Trulioo on why he moved his company from Canada to Silicon Valley: "The speed at which things move is quite key," said Chief Executive Stephen Uford, adding that he

Twitter 124

Twitter International Facebook UPS 124

Professional Assistant Blog

MAY 27, 2011

Image by Marshall Astor. Y ou have an important meeting to set up and you've prepared the handouts and the PowerPoint presentation on your boss' laptop. The speakerphone and projectors are in the room. Everything is fine and dandy, until. uh-oh! The speakerphone isn't working properly! What do you do? I'm sure that this has happened to the best of us at some point in time.

PowerPoint 116

PowerPoint Management AT&T UPS 116

The Small Business Blog

MAY 22, 2011

Ever thought about your business or product as far better than any other product on the market? At some level you may acknowledge that you are subjective and biased, but then you reassure yourself that you compared your product to the competition and came out on top.

158

158

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

Step It Up VA Coaching

MAY 26, 2011

by Donna Toothaker. As Virtual Assistants and business owners, it is so easy to get lost in the day-to-day details of running the business that we do not invest enough time in growing it. Even if we set aside several hours a week, where do we begin? What areas of our business need improvement? Where can we be more efficient? In what ways are we succeeding?

Mentoring 109

Mentoring Goals Forms Networking 109

Small Business Labs

MAY 24, 2011

The Christian Science Monitor's Surging BRIC middle classes are eclipsing global poverty  does a great job describing the surging number of people entering the middle class around the world.  Key quote: "By 2030, the global middle class is widely projected to at least double in size to as many as 5 billion – a surge unseen since the Industrial Revolution.

2020 124

2020 2022 Environment 124

Professional Assistant Blog

MAY 26, 2011

Image by idogcow. Y ou send an e-mail to a colleague only to get an e-mail back stating that you should ask another person they mention. Don't you just love it when this happens? You ask a simple question and the person doesn't know the answer, but either thinks or knows another person knows the answer. Then they send an e-mail back to you stating that you should contact this person.

Microsoft Outlook 116

Microsoft Outlook 116

The Small Business Blog

MAY 24, 2011

Yesterday I read John’s book about asking for referrals. Only 24 hours later I get an email from Sorrell at the Islington Chamber of Commerce asking me to have a look at their website and what they are doing for small business.

Email 153

Email 153

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

Ian's Messy Desk

MAY 23, 2011

No matter who we are, there are behaviours or something about our performance that annoys our boss, co-workers or direct-reports. To find out what it is, ask. If you don’t ask, you may never be told. Once you’ve determined what that “hot button&# might be, determine what you can do to minimize the impact of that behaviour.

100

100

Small Business Labs

MAY 23, 2011

After a 5 month break, our coworking project blog - Coworking Labs - is back.  We started actively posting on the site again last week.  Our research focus for the next year is on the future of work, with an emphasis on the growing role independent workers and micro-businesses are playing in the economy.  We consider the coworking movement to be a leading indicator of this shift, which is why  Coworking Labs is back.  In the coming months we&

Learning 106

Learning 106

Brilliantly Better

MAY 24, 2011

Tweet I used to think that my company, Mirabilis Media, (the one I created when I was 30 year old and sold it 10 years after, for quite some money), was one of my biggest achievements. Honestly, I don’t think that way anymore. It was an achievement, but I start to doubt that it was my biggest one. By any mainstream standards, being successful with your own company is a great achievement.

Self Esteem 81

Self Esteem 2011 Environment UPS 81

The Small Business Blog

MAY 24, 2011

You think this is a selfish question? Typical of self-centered business people? Think again! Without the “What’s in it for me?- Factor&# there would be now business worth working for, in fact no business worth running. “ What’s In It For Me?The motivation to obtain and maintain business focus.

150

150

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

Small Business CEO

MAY 25, 2011

Start-ups to large enterprises are looking for ways to be greener businesses. Aside from the fact that your company does its share to preserve and nurture the environment, it is also good for business since it would allow you to conserve resources which means, more savings. We cannot control underlying forces which are responsible for price hikes of almost everything from gas prices to energy costs.

Budget 61

Budget Environment Equipment Travel 61

The Marq

MAY 23, 2011

Life Strategy A couple of weeks ago, while having drinks with a new friend, he made me realize I’ve alluded to changes in my professional life without coming out and saying what they are on this blog. He’d gleaned this off of my latest posts that’ve briefly referred to articles and books I’ve read. So, I’m clearing any ambiguity: I closed shop on iEngineer, LLC. at the end of last year after 15 months of operations.

Goals 48

Goals Learning 48

Brilliantly Better

MAY 23, 2011

Tweet Ok, I hear you guys. Especially the guy in the back, all pumped up, ready to write 10 posts each morning, to comment on 20 blogs in his lunch break and rock the world in the evening. I hear what you say: “A blog hiatus? As bloggers, aren’t us supposed to write day and night? Are you I-N-S-A-N-E? ”. Nope, as strange as it may seem, I’m not insanse.

Social Media 56

Social Media 2011 UPS 56