April, 2015

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Wind Girl and Building a Better Clothespin

Loosely Speaking

Since it’s breezy to outright windy here throughout springtime, I’m realizing that we really could do with a clothesline. Between our endless sunshine and air movement, our clothes would dry in no time.

Clothes 154
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The Appification of Small Business

Small Business Labs

The Appification of Small Business is a new research report from Intuit shows the extent to which small businesses have moved to the cloud, a trend they forecasting to continue (disclosure: Emergent Research contributed to this report). Key findings include: The small business market is a lucrative developer opportunity – Small business owners currently spend $630 annually on software solutions, In addition, 85 percent of small businesses are willing to invest more in the

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Thank you for joining our Admin Blog-a-thon, what’s next?

Office Dynamics

Wow, what a fabulous April! Did you have the most incredible Administrative Professionals’ Week this year? Here’s a recap of just some of the amazing things that went on this year in celebration of you, Administrative Professionals: Executive Secretary Magazine sent out daily gifts from a variety of organizations specifically for administrative professionals learning benefit.

2015 116
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How to Hire More Innovative Thinkers

On The Job

Edward D. Hess, author of “ Learn or Die ,” is interviewed by Anita Bruzzese about how individuals and organizations can change their attitudes and practices to embrace more critical and innovative thinking. He discusses a roadmap into how companies can use science to build leading-edge learning organizations. AB: You note in the book that becoming a learner – whether it’s as an individual or an organization – is much more complicated than just learning to think better and make better decisions.

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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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Planning music for business events

Practically Perfect PA

All business events, from client socials and staff parties to corporate awards dinners, benefit from a considered soundtrack. When it comes to organising a work event, the expectation for the music extends beyond your a personal playlist. Your selection of band or DJ, scheduling for the event and the invited attendees all need to be co-ordinated. Get it right and it will be a runaway success and raise the bar for future events.

More Trending

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Calendar Control: How to Organize Your Calendar for Greater Efficiency

Productivity Bits

Anyone who has things to do probably tries to make use of a calendar. Of those calendars, Google calendar online is probably the most versatile. You can set your schedule […] Thank you for subscribing! Please grab my free productivity ebook! If you're not reading this from Productivity Bits - Smart Productivity and GTD Hacks , please read the original post here Calendar Control: How to Organize Your Calendar for Greater Efficiency.

Calendars 149
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The Rise of the Dependent Contractor

Small Business Labs

It seems like every day there is a new article slamming sharing economy platforms and marketplaces for their labor practices. Recent examples include: NPR's In Sharing Economy, Labor Laws Fall Short  US New's The Not So Nice Sharing Economy. SF Weekly's Codependent Contracting: Couriers Demand App Company Accountability. Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich's How the New Flexible Economy is Making Workers Lives Hell.

Legal 155
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5 Steps Towards a Much Needed Break

Office Dynamics

Guest Post by Adam Timm, Speaker at 2015 Annual Conference for Administrative Excellence. Regular breaks are a great way to stay positive and uplifted throughout the day… you’re not working through your breaks, are you? Does this sound like you? – You normally work through your break periods. – You eat your meals at your desk or miss lunch entirely. – You head into work early and you leave too late. – You bring work home at night and sometimes over the weekends.

2015 191
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5 Apps You Can Use Right Now to Become More Eco-Friendly

Eco-Office Gals

It’s easy to talk about eco-friendliness. We’ve all been doing it for decades. Some of us haven’t moved beyond adding a recycle bin for plastic and aluminum. Even that is no great boast in states like Oregon, that require such measures. Some have taken it a step further by making home improvements such as adding solar panels, ceiling fans, and low-flow shower heads.

Medical 116
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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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Diary management for PAs and EAs

Practically Perfect PA

While the role of a PA or EA is constantly evolving, diary management continues to be a fundamental task. PAs spend at least a third of their time managing diaries, so it’s essential that you’ve mastered this aspect of your job. This guide provides tips to help you on your way. Own the calendar. Problems often arise when both you and your boss adjust and maintain your boss’ calendar.

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Top 10 Reasons to Hire an Organizer

Clutter Coach

by Originally posted 2011-08-09 10:40:47. Republished by Blog Post Promoter Is getting organized on your to-do list? You’re not alone. Unfortunately, for most folks, it just stays on the to-do list, year after year. See if any of these scenarios sounds familiar. If they do, I can help. You want to have guests over without stashing things in the bathtub and praying no one looks behind the shower curtain.

2011 109
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4 Pitfalls of Workplace Friendships -- and How to Fix Them

On The Job

Most of us develop friendships at work, but sometimes these relationships go off the rails. When that happens, it's often a slippery slope because having a disagreement with a friend at work can cause you professional problems, as well. Andrea Bonior, a licensed psychologist, offers some potential friendship pitfalls and how to deal with them in her book, "Friendship Fix.

Phones 121
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Seth Godin's Freelancer Course

Small Business Labs

I can't imagine any clearer signal that the freelance economy is happening than having one of the most successful business authors of past decade or so - Seth Godin - release a training class on becoming a freelancer. The class is available on Udemy at a cost of $57.   According to an interview with Godin on the Gaping Void blog , here's reason he's done this course: This is the golden age for freelancers.

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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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Growing New Habits

Office Dynamics

Good morning and welcome to the last week of April. Brian Tracy is a favorite author, speaker, and consultant who I have admired for two decades. I’d like to share something with you that he said and then build upon it. “Success is 95% habit. Successful people are those who have developed good habits and follow them over and over. Unsuccessful people have poor habits or don’t have good habits.

Skills 177
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Setting Yourself Up For Failure by Trying to be All Things to All People

Virtual Moxie

After last week's Moxie , several of you wrote to ask me to explain what standards are, and what the benefit of having standards is, in an easy-to-understand way. I'm always happy to do that, so here goes: When you created your Virtual Assistance practice, chances are some of the reasons you did it were: more freedom, more control, more time with friends and family, more choices.

UPS 158
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A business case outline for an internal PA network

Practically Perfect PA

People are undoubtedly the best asset of every firm and having a PA network will help confirm that PA’s are an important and integral part of the organisation. We are after all brand ambassadors for our bosses, our company, ourselves and ultimately our profession. The overall concept is to share best practice and information and to create a unified sense of collaboration between all Assistants.

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Info Product Creation: How To Create Your FIRST Info Product in 7 Easy Steps

Office Organization Success

You can create your first info product in as little as two hours when you follow these steps below. But first, let’s look at why having an info product as part of your business model is so important. It’s simply a smart move for a solo service professional to have at least one other income stream (if you can add several income streams to your business, even better!).

Promotion 176
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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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What day is it again? Oh yea, Administrative Professionals Day

The Office Professionals Place

If you walked around your office today and asked, “What day is it?” The response would undoubtedly be, “It’s Wednesday.” And that is correct, but many may have forgotten that today is also Administrative Professionals’ Day. All those except administrative professionals, of course. We know it as a day to celebrate those who make an impact by assuming managerial-like responsibilities in a work environment that nowadays, require more than just a typing skill and pleasant phone etiquette.

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2.7 Million Independents Work in the On-Demand Economy

Small Business Labs

According to a new report from MBO Partners -  Independent Workers and the On-Demand Economy  - about 2.7 million American independent workers report using at least one on-demand economy platform or marketplace as a source of work or income. The study defined the on-demand economy as including: online product marketplaces provided by firms such as EBay, Amazon and Etsy and others (Craigslist was excluded).

Elance 168
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Peer Synergy: 5 Powerhouse Strategies For Creating Administrative Peer Power

Office Dynamics

Coming together is better than fighting for your own agenda. When you are trying to create change, whether in a process or for the administrative community in your organization, it is much easier to be persuasive when there is a group. There is strength in unity. Whether there are two administrative professionals in your office or 200, joining forces with your administrative peers will contribute to greater success for your organization.

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How to Grow Your Business and Not Burn Out

On The Job

'Scaling a business can be thrilling and exhilarating – but it also can be exhausting. It’s not unusual to hear those in the midst of growing a department, division or small business talk about how they’re working 60 to 80 hours a week, rarely seeing their friends or families. They may even admit they’re not sure they’ve brushed their teeth in the last week.

Stress 118
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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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Re-designing meetings

Practically Perfect PA

Many assistants are involved in their organisation’s big internal meeting. It could be the executive staff away day, the annual sales conference or it could be a stand alone conference for internal staff and clients. As we all know these large meetings are a huge investment in time and resources for our organisation. As well as the actual spend, taking senior staff away from the office has a large opportunity cost and organisations should do everything they can to make sure that the time s

Agencies 122
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What’s the Secret to Business Success? Get Comfortable Being Uncomfortable

Step It Up VA Coaching

'by Donna Toothaker. The fears and excuses that people have when it comes to their growing their business is always a big topic with my coaching clients. They want to have great success. They have the skills, the knowledge and the desire to have that success, but they also have these fears that keep them from making it happen. I understand; I get it.

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Responsibility Without Authority Sucks

Virtual Moxie

'I was talking with someone about his relationship with his Virtual Assistant. He was saying how much he really wanted to give her a whole lot of his projects and processes and have her be 100% responsible for getting everything done or making sure it got done (including stuff that other people were handling, and including things he was responsible for getting done).

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Coworking in India

Small Business Labs

'I'm just back from a trip to India where I had the opportunity to visit several coworking spaces. Coworking in India is growing quite rapidly, with more than 100 spaces across the country and new spaces popping up on a regular basis.   A recent Quartz article,  India’s freelance boom is creating a crop of creative co-working spaces , nicely summarizes why this is happening: In a country with the youngest population in the world, and an economy in constant flux,

Elance 146
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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