Small Business Labs
DECEMBER 17, 2018
Two companies that connect artisan makers with retailers and customers announced large funding rounds last week. The wholesale marketplace Faire raised $100 million while the wholesale and licensing business Minted said they raised $208 million. Both firms connect retailers, who are often small independents, with small and solopreneur maker businesses.
Office Dynamics
DECEMBER 26, 2018
Using figures of speech in our business writing makes it fun for us and entertaining for our readers. Truly my favorite figure of speech is the chiasmus (ky-AZ-mus). That’s when words in a sentence mirror each other. Politicians have made them famous (e.g., Ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country. – John F. Kennedy).
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Practically Perfect PA
DECEMBER 18, 2018
I hope you enjoy our key skills roundup for 2018. We focussed really heavily this year on increasing our content around the key skills Assistants need to develop in their role this year. We covered a lot of skills including minute taking, event management, organising business travel, project management and everything in between! Here are […].
Tips From T. Marie
DECEMBER 7, 2018
It's December, the time of year when our thoughts are drawn to holiday festivities and the purchase of gifts. As a small business owner, it's also the time when you need to think about what you are going to do about client gifting. Of course, before we dive into gifting ideas you'll need to make the decision whether or not you're going to give your clients gifts.
Speaker: Chester Santos
Forgetfulness is costing you time, money, and a ton of missed opportunities. In the age of automation, it’s easy to underestimate the power of a well-trained human mind. But memory isn’t just a parlor trick, it's a strategic edge. Human memory is one of the most underrated business skills. Whether you’re managing people, leading sessions, or having high-stakes conversations, remembering names, details, and concepts can be transformative in building trust, absorbing knowledge, and driving perform
Clutter Coach
DECEMBER 20, 2018
by Listen or subscribe here: iTunes ? Stitcher ?. Soundcloud ? YouTube ? Google Play You can leave a review here! Hi, gang! It’s almost the end of the year. I’ve been doing this podcast for two and a half years now. When I look at my stats I see that people are listening to the whole thing! Excellent. I purposely make it short and cut out the fluff so you won’t want to turn it off.
Eco-Office Gals
DECEMBER 18, 2018
When it comes to speed, internet users are divided into 3 major camps: people who think they need the fastest internet, people who don’t think they need much internet speed, and people who have no idea what they need. People who know how to measure internet speeds and performance will have multiple tools available and experience to rely on, but what if you’re just trying to make the right purchase without any formal training?
Administrative Professionals Pulse brings together the best content for administrative professionals from the widest variety of industry thought leaders.
Office Dynamics
DECEMBER 12, 2018
During a Facebook Live event Joan Burge, Founder and CEO of Office Dynamics International, had discussed her Naughty and Nice List for Assistants. This discussion highlighted many great things that can be practiced in the office as well as actions that should be avoided. In the middle of the live stream, Joan asked the viewers to give her some examples of naughty behavior practiced in the office as well as some nice behaviors.
Practically Perfect PA
DECEMBER 4, 2018
At some point, you will have been in a meeting and felt that no one was listening to you. Perhaps people were on their phone, looking confused, talking over you or ignoring you. It’s hard to continue speaking when it seems that people are switching off, disengaged or rejecting your ideas. So how do you […].
Stephanie LH Calahan
DECEMBER 15, 2018
One of the best ways to attract amazing clients and customers for your business is to powerfully demonstrate your knowledge, expertise and problem-solving abilities. Being a guest expert on podcasts, radio shows, and web shows is a great way to do that. Are you ready to say “Yes!” if a host invites you onto their platform? Pam Perry of Speakers Magazine invited me to share some tips you can use right now to be ready to make the most of your guest expert experience.
Laughing all the Way to Work
DECEMBER 14, 2018
I like to set a rule for the messages I receive from my boss. I have a new boss so had to figure out how to do this again and thought I should just write it down for the benefit of anyone else who may need it or for myself for the next time. I want any emails sent from my boss to go into a special folder. I also want it to make a sound when the email arrives.
Speaker: Victor C. Barnes, CPA, MBA
In the climb from contributor to leader, the rules quietly change. If you’re aiming for the summit, the air gets thinner—and what got you here won’t be enough to get you to the top (a concept first popularized by Marshall Goldsmith in his book What Got You Here Won’t Get You There ). What made you successful early in your finance career—technical accuracy, sharp analysis, flawless execution—won’t be what carries you to the next level.
Eco-Office Gals
DECEMBER 14, 2018
You don’t want your office building to look like a stereotype. The dismal aesthetic of gray on gray is a thing of the past, and you’re ready to embrace the future. You’re searching for advice you can implement to give your space a modern look and feel — something different than what you’re used to. But it isn’t as simple as choosing a new color scheme.
Small Business Labs
DECEMBER 18, 2018
Marketplace and Edison research recently released Americans and the Gig Economy, a survey of gig workers. The survey covered a lot of ground, including finding about 24% of American 18 and older are gig workers. This works out to a bit more than 60 million. The survey also asked a series of questions about economic anxiety. They found gig workers, on average, experience more economic anxiety than those with traditional jobs.
Office Dynamics
DECEMBER 7, 2018
I am very fortunate in that I get to read fabulous letters from executives touting the behavior changes they see in their executive or administrative assistants after attending our Star Achievement Series® course. I love reading these letters as 1) I see the training we provided truly worked, but more importantly, 2) I learn what executives appreciate—what executives look for in an assistant—and what executives value and observe.
Practically Perfect PA
DECEMBER 17, 2018
Welcome to the career development round up for 2018. This year we have written a lot of blog posts dedicated to the career development of our Practically Perfect PA readers! Career development round up for 2018 Here are some of our highlights and a video from our first Virtual Summit – Developing your business acumen on […].
Speaker: Kim Beynon, CPA, CGMA, PMP
The most overlooked, yet most critical, element of transformation is preparing people for change. Automation and AI aren't just technical upgrades, they’re cultural shifts which can challenge identities. That’s why change management isn’t a side project—it’s the foundation. In finance, where precision and process rule, navigating change can feel especially disruptive.
Clutter Coach
DECEMBER 6, 2018
by Listen or subscribe here: iTunes ? Stitcher ?. Soundcloud ? YouTube ? Google Play You can leave a review here! This is Podcast 108 and it’s about passive attention. Back in podcast 83 I talked about paying attention, about mindfulness. It’s a critical skill for being more effective and getting things done. It’s related to focus, but it’s a little different.
Eat Your Career
DECEMBER 3, 2018
Ah, ’tis the season of inspiration , my friends! Every December, I find myself spending a lot of time reflecting on the past year and planning for the new one. As I’ve shared many times before, I am a total geek for goal setting. It makes me feel unbelievably motivated and optimistic about the future. So, this time of year is my “happy place.”.
TED Talks
DECEMBER 3, 2018
Think about the most tired you've ever been at work. It probably wasn't when you stayed late or came home from a road trip -- chances are it was when you had someone looking over your shoulder, watching your each and every move. "If we know that micromanagement isn't really effective, why do we do it?" asks entrepreneur Chieh Huang. In a funny talk packed with wisdom and humility, Huang shares the cure for micromanagement madness -- and how to foster innovation and happiness at work.
Small Business Labs
DECEMBER 10, 2018
Crunchbase's Aceable Scores $47M, As Startups Look To The Future Of Education (And Work) covers the continuing growth of venture capital investment in Edtech. The article chart below (click to enlarge) shows some (but not all) of the bigger Edtech funding rounds in 2018. Key quote on why this is happening: College is more expensive these days, the way that we think about work and training is shifting, and existing positions are requiring more tech skills than ever before.
Speaker: Jason Cottrell and Gireesh Sahukar
Office Dynamics
DECEMBER 20, 2018
As 2018 comes to a close, we think of all the people we have served this year and are blessed to know. It has been an incredible year of meeting new people around the world and working with new organizations. We thank you for your time, energy, support, and friendship. We look forward to being of even greater service in 2019. In case you are not aware, we offer an array of educational and coaching opportunities ranging from our World Class Assistant certification course to online learning, webin
Practically Perfect PA
DECEMBER 5, 2018
Your boss comes to you and tells you that you need to book the travel for 100 people for a Winter getaway, and it needs to be done by next week… eek! Where do you even start? Well, there are two options: 1. Book it yourself. You could always waste several hours searching multiple websites […].
Small Business CEO
DECEMBER 3, 2018
There are good and bad ways with how to fund your startup business. Good ways offer capital so you don’t plummet at runway’s end. Positive funding terms let your business thrive without interference. Bad investments are a burden, with nightmare scenarios like losing control of ownership. Startup capital isn’t as large an undertaking because of agile operations.
Eat Your Career
DECEMBER 3, 2018
Ah, ’tis the season of inspiration , my friends! Every December, I find myself spending a lot of time reflecting on the past year and planning for the new one. As I’ve shared many times before, I am a total geek for goal setting. It makes me feel unbelievably motivated and optimistic about the future. So, this time of year is my “happy place.”.
Speaker: Frank Taliano
Documents are the backbone of enterprise operations, but they are also a common source of inefficiency. From buried insights to manual handoffs, document-based workflows can quietly stall decision-making and drain resources. For large, complex organizations, legacy systems and siloed processes create friction that AI is uniquely positioned to resolve.
TED Talks
DECEMBER 24, 2018
Trust is the foundation for everything we do. But what do we do when it's broken? In an eye-opening talk, Harvard Business School professor Frances Frei gives a crash course in trust: how to build it, maintain it and rebuild it -- something she worked on during a recent stint at Uber. "If we can learn to trust one another more, we can have unprecedented human progress," Frei says.
Small Business Labs
DECEMBER 11, 2018
We've covered the changing nature of retirement so often in our Baby Boomer section we feel like we're feeding a fed horse by covering it again. But it's an important trend and there continues to be a flurry of interesting articles on working in and/or delaying retirement. So. Quartz's Perennials, not millennials, will trigger the next wave of talent retention efforts provides a good description of the trend towards later retirement: "Increased life expectancy across t
Melissa Peoples
DECEMBER 27, 2018
[link] Stop Wasting Time In Outlook! Are you still using the default blank meeting invite in Outlook? If so, this video is for you! How often do you find yourself clicking inside the body of the invite and adding a meeting purpose, agenda, and meeting objective in your Outlook meeting invites? If you know how to manage meetings effectively, then every invite you send out has all three of those items inside the body of your invitation.
Practically Perfect PA
DECEMBER 20, 2018
During 2018 we delved into everything from influencing, productivity, resilience, rapport building and a whole load of competencies that Assistants need to thrive in the role. Here are just a few of our highlights from this year including videos from our recent Virtual Summit. Please enjoy our competencies for Assistants roundup for 2018. Competencies for Assistants […].
Speaker: Jennifer Hill
Payroll compliance is a cornerstone of business success, yet for small and midsize businesses, it’s becoming increasingly challenging to navigate the ever-evolving landscape of federal, state, and local regulations. Mistakes can lead to costly penalties and operational disruptions, making it essential to adopt advanced solutions that ensure accuracy and efficiency.
Small Business CEO
DECEMBER 19, 2018
Managing short term property rentals is becoming easier and more profitable with every passing year. With technology and automation, this shared-economy business model is both welcoming and lucrative. However, it’s a good bet if you’re reading this, you’re not looking for a side gig or a hobby. You can make a fortune running a short term property rental business by prepping as much as possible before opening the doors to your first guest.
Brilliantly Better
DECEMBER 18, 2018
Bruce Lee famously said once: “Be like water my friend, be like water. If you pour water in a bottle, water becomes the bottle.” I thought a lot about stability versus fluidity lately. If you look at these two concepts… The post On Being Steadily Fluid appeared first on Dragos Roua.
TED Talks
DECEMBER 18, 2018
Hard work, resilience and grit lead to success, right? This narrative pervades the way we think, says economist Darrick Hamilton, but the truth is that our chances at economic security have less to do with what we do and more to do with the wealth position we're born into. Enter "baby bonds": trust accounts of up to $60,000 for every newborn, calibrated to the wealth of their family.
Small Business Labs
DECEMBER 4, 2018
This is the time of year we normally release our annual coworking forecast. And this year would have been our 10 th annual forecast ( click here for our 2018 forecast ). But after a great deal of deliberation, we've decided not to do one this year. Don’t get us wrong. We’re still going to be researching coworking. We’re just no longer going to do an annual space and membership forecast.
Speaker: Chandra McCormack, CPA, MBA, NACD.DC
Technical degrees might open doors—but it’s the soft skills that keep them open. In the face of disruption, evolving workplace dynamics, and rising expectations of leadership, soft skills like communication, emotional intelligence, and presence have become core business essentials—not nice-to-haves. Inspired by stories from her father coupled with her own career journey, seasoned executive Chandra McCormack breaks down how to lead with impact, connect with purpose, and cultivate a workplace cult
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