A few weeks ago, I wrote about how small businesses can cast a big shadow by using several marketing techniques, including buying into a virtual office for client visits and presentations. I want to make an amendment to that post, and include another, smaller way that small businesses can make themselves appear larger than life; hire a virtual receptionist service.
A virtual receptionist service can make a good impression for your business at a fraction of the cost of hiring, training and employing a live receptionist at your office. Some of the benefits a virtual receptionist service can offer includes: Read the rest of this entry »
As the holidays approach, many businesses stay open on December 24th, and 26th, even though these are not truly busy working days. If your company is staying open, one of the best things you can do on these days is to take advantage of the slow days by running your spring cleaning a few months early.
Here are some tips to help you clean up and get organized this holiday season.
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One of the challenges that small businesses face is staffing. A lot of the times, small businesses don’t use the standard hiring mediums of large corporations. Instead, they rely on networking and job referrals to find the right person for the job. An article on BusinessWeek.com’s website insights as to where to turn to find the top talent out there looking for a job. Here are their suggestions.
“Small businesses should enlist their current employees as recruiters, essentially selling friends and contacts on the benefits of working at their company,” says Chris Collins, associate professor of human resource management at Cornell University’s school of Industrial & Labor Relations, for BusinessWeek. “Take the price of that ad you were going to run and give it to the person who identifies the candidate who eventually gets hired,” he says. “You’ll probably get a better pool.”
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I am very excited! One of my favorite business authors, David Allen, is coming out with his third book, “Making It All Work,” a book that takes his popular “Getting Things Done” model to the next level. This new book focuses on helping people who fall victim to common organizational “syndromes,” such as the micro-manager, or the person who just does what is necessary to slide by, by offering a full-fledged road map for processing life and work in tandem.
Fast Company calls David “one of the most influential thinkers on productivity,” for his innovative steps to help us excel in dealing with our daily commitments, the unexpected, and the information overload that threatens to drown us. This new book addresses the following key points: Read the rest of this entry »
As I begin the process of working with a Virtual Assistant, I am now embarking on the journey of picking out the right one. Like real-world assistants, virtual assistants all have their own areas of expertise, and/or specialty, and it is important that you choose the right person for the job. Moreover, because this will be a virtual relationship, hiring a virtual assistant can be harder than hiring a real-world assistant, after all you may never meet this person face to face, or even have a phone conversation with them. The right virtual assistant should be a person whose skills and personality are a fit with yours, not just whoever has an opening or charges the least.
Here are some tips in choosing the right virtual assistant for your job:
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