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Friday, 24 October 2008

Blue Peter is 50

Blue Peter is 50 - what's your best memory?Just a bit of nostalgic fun! Blue Peter, that bastion of British children's television, is 50 years old this year and is the longest running children's television programme in the world! It has long been an institution in many a family home, making toys and puppets from empty toilet roles, lollypop sticks and sticky back plastic! It is good to see such an old intuition still popular in today's changing culture. In a similar vein, my mother has always said, be true to yourself. What nostalgic memories do you have, that are still good to hold onto today?

Labels: blue peter, virtual assistant, virtual pa

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Monday, 20 October 2008

Unemployment has risen - are you laying people off?

Figures have just been released for September and the number out of work is now 1.79million, according to government figures and the official unemployment rate is up from 5.5% to 5.7%. Are you having to let anyone go from your offices, are you cutting back on time yourself - or working longer hours for same or less payment?

Labels: unemployment, virtual assistant, virtual pa

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Friday, 17 October 2008

How safe is your money?

OK, its time to ask, ‘how safe is my money?’ Not only in terms of your personal finances, but also your business bank account too. Banking collapses were unthinkable until recently and then credit crunch bite, global market turmoil hit, and logic was turned upside down. A quick trawl through some financial websites, and the answer seems to be to ensure your money is in a UK registered bank or Building Society savings account, current account, small business account (with annual turnovers below £1 million) or credit union, but not savings stamps or hamper schemes. It is worth taking the timeout to investigate your own finances and their safety, and ask the question: how safe is my money?

Labels: money, virtual assistant, virtual pa

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Thursday, 16 October 2008

Networking - do you do more or less?

Networking is a great way to meet, build and develop client and colleague relations, but it doesn't come free. Along with the travel and associated costs, there is your investment in time to consider. Whilst they no doubt work, if handled correctly, it is worth considering the amount of networking that you undertake. In this current economic climate, are you planning to do more networking, or less?

Labels: networking, virtual assistant, virtual pa

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Anonymous said...: I love "Networking" and meeting new and interesting people. I was lucky enough to find a free marketing course advertised locally. I met some lovely people who were happy to play "business card swap" and all I paid was my bus fare!; 01 December 2008 23:30

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Wednesday, 15 October 2008

Football - feel good factor or distraction?

There are a host of football World Cup qualifiers playing tonight, and no doubt soccer fans will be glued to their televisions (if they have paid the subscriptions fees!). In England, there always seems to be a feel good factor when the team does well - but the opposite if they perform poorly. Does this affect your business, or is it just some light relief in these disheartening times?

Labels: england, football, virtual assistant, virtual pa

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Credit Crunch again - this time its comforting!

Apparently during times of economic downturn, consumers buy traditional toys such as teddy bears, wooden castles and spinning tops. Apparently, it’s all to do with reassurance and intrinsic value – teddy bears are about comfort whilst wooden castles symbolise security. What other comfort or security products will consumers look for this season?

Labels: credit crunch, virtual assistant, virtual pa

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Monday, 13 October 2008

The Credit Crunch - is it affecting you?

According to research for BACS (the payment clearance company) 64% of southern businesses have been affected by the economic turndown, compared to under half (48%) in the north. On a more positive note, my local Chamber of Commerce says that Hertfordshire businesses are 'demonstrating high levels of resilience' in face of an increasingly challenging economic environment. For me personally, all my clients continue to work positively and I am as busy as ever. Has the economic climate affected your business yet - or is the media hyping it up?

Labels: credit crunch, virtual assistant, virtual pa

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Friday, 10 October 2008

The world's biggest free seminar

When I was at school we used to look forward to those rare days when our schoolteacher would say 'ok everyone. Today we are going to learn from watching television'. Like I say, it was rare. But today it is more true than ever - and Youtube is one of the most powerful resources of them all. My approach to the VA business has certainly benefited from watching films of the great business trainers, such as Anthony Robbins, Zig Ziglar and Jim Rohne - people who have been adding value to companies for over 30 years and are now running virtual seminars from the comfort of my computer!

Labels: seminar, virtual assistant, virtual pa

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Wednesday, 8 October 2008

Growing pains, growing gains

One of the benefits of working for a large company is that the HR or training department often provides a whole range of self-development courses that you can try out when the mood takes you. This just isn’t the case for a small company when you are your own boss or one a very few employees. But ongoing training is important – just as it’s essential for a lawyer to do continuing professional development (CPD) or for a doctor to learn about the latest medical answers, it’s crucial for us to take the occasional day off work to improve our skills and knowledge. It might be a pain but it’s better for us and our clients.

Labels: virtual assistant, virtual assistant training, virtual pa

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Tuesday, 7 October 2008

Goal setting: How and when?

Goal setting is often talked about but how many of us do it regularly and actually keep to it? There's an old saying that goes "know where you come from and where you're going". Although we know our personal history and (hopefully) the history of our company, how clear are we about our goals? It's very easy to amble along in our work and allow the future to unfold as it goes along, but when we make specific plans and measure our progress against them, chances are that we'll be able to make some magic happen.

Labels: goal setting, virtual assistant, virtual pa

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Monday, 6 October 2008

Corporate Christmas gifts - necessity or pleasure?

The leaves on the trees are only just turning brown and gold, (they've yet to fall and disrupt the trains!) yet I have already had several catalogues and mailings for the annual gift-giving fest that Christmas has become. It feels too early to be thinking of such things, as we still have the best part of a quarter of the year to work through. However, I feel that I ought to be giving it some consideration, as no doubt time will run away with me - but this then means it becomes a task on my 'to do' list, rather than a pleasure of saying thank you to my clients for their continued work. What is the general consensus? Is corporate gift giving a pleasure or a necessity?

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Friday, 3 October 2008

Pride of Britain - what have you done today to make your self feel proud?

With the Pride of Britain awards on TV recently, it has made me think about doing things that make you feel proud. I have already previously blogged about the Olympics and how that can make you feel proud by association. But what about on a more local level - what are we all doing that makes us feel proud? I can easily point to my Virtual Assistant company, of which I am immensely proud, but it could be as simple as parents in the playground asking for my honey-cake recipe. What is you proudest achievement?

Labels: pride of britain, proud, virtual assistant

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Thursday, 2 October 2008

Downturn skills – motivation

One of the worst things we can do during a downturn in the market is to sit around and do nothing. I’ve always believed in being a self-motivator and as one business guru put it, ‘positive thinking is all well and good, but it’s useless without positive ACTION’. I was once taught that you should never leave the scene of a decision without taking a positive step towards realising your new goal. If we’re going to get through this credit crunch, those who survive will be the people who take charge of their own destiny. It starts with a single action…

Labels: credit crunch, motivation, virtual assistant

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Friday, 24 October 2008

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Monday, 20 October 2008

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Friday, 17 October 2008

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Thursday, 16 October 2008

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Wednesday, 15 October 2008

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Monday, 13 October 2008

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Friday, 10 October 2008

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Wednesday, 8 October 2008

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Tuesday, 7 October 2008

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Monday, 6 October 2008

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Friday, 3 October 2008

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