Kathie Thomas, who runs the VA Directory from Australia has posted interviews with clients that use a VA. Not just her clients, but Red Box clients too.
Read what a client of Red Box, Greg Burrus at TechOSS has to say about using Red Box Virtual Office virtual assistant services.
Click here to return to Red Box main site.
I’m loving Tim Ferris’s 4 Hour Work Week blog www.fourhourworkweek.com
Outsource your life and be free! I’d probably not be as polite as the Bangladesh women A.J. Jacobs has found!
It’s true that you have to be quite dedicated to living a life where 100 hours out of every week are all yours! Time has to be spent productively, doing what you want to do.
I remember leaving my last job in London and being asked, “What will you do with all your time?” What couldn’t I do? Well I caught up on reading, went walking, learnt a new language, made friends, swam, learnt how to knit again, entertained friends and family, DIY’d, learnt how to double dig and prune tomatoes… I could go on.
I may have had days of disappointment and dissolusion, but I’ve never been bored!
About the Author:
Emma Crabtree is the owner and sole-operator of Red Box Virtual Office, a off-site business support service. Red Box Virtual Office can enable you to free yourself from the day to day admin of your business so that you can focus on what you enjoy and what makes you money. Return to the main website to find out more
I mooch around the web from time to time, seeing what else is going on in the big wide world.
I’m not sure what this guy is hoping for, but it’s probably not a kick in the teeth. $1 an hour? Crazy, crazy, cray. http://www.getafreelancer.com/projects/Web-Promotion-Virtual-Reality/Virtual-assistant.html
About the Author:
Emma Crabtree is the owner and sole-operator of Red Box Virtual Office, a off-site business support service. Red Box Virtual Office can enable you to free yourself from the day to day admin of your business so that you can focus on what you enjoy and what makes you money. Return to the main website to find out more
Would you like for your company to get in the newspaper and not pay a dime? Then publicity is what you want to use! Publicity is FREE. There is no charge to have your press release printed. Imagine seeing your company in the newspaper and then think about how great you’ll feel knowing you didn’t spend a dime to do it!
Helping distinguish yourself from your competition to attract clients through your doors is a chief concern of every business. With so many marketing options available, sometimes the public relations aspect is overlooked. Public relations is the marketing function that creates publicity and goodwill within the community. It is done by educating the media about your business which, when done effectively, increases your credibility and visibility to attract new clients.
Self-promotion expert Julia-Isabel Davenport, MBA has 14 years public relations experience in corporate, non-profit and small business industries. Julia-Isabel equips business people by speaking to audiences, writing books, authoring articles for international trade journals, mentoring via telephone, hosting monthly Business Strategy Lunches™, recognizing deserving businesses with the Community Megastar Award™ and providing public relations services. She is a member of Meeting Professionals International, National Speakers Association and Toastmasters International. As the owner of Maximize
This is a great article from Kathie Thomas, VA guru and owner of A Clayton’s Secretary.
http://www.flyingsolo.com.au/p267014332_Outsourcing-and-offshoring-Is-it-worthwhile.html
Hiring an employee is not an option for some businesses, so, slowly but surely, they are coming around to thinking about outsourcing their day to day tasks or those projects that need to be done but would take up a large amount of valuable and profit making time.
There’s some questions in this article to ask yourself if you are thinking of hiring a VA and the article highlights some of the areas that VAs work in; it’s not all call answering and transcriptions.
About the Author:
Emma Crabtree is the owner and sole-operator of Red Box Virtual Office, a off-site business support service. Red Box Virtual Office can enable you to free yourself from the day to day admin of your business so that you can focus on what you enjoy and what makes you money. Return to the main website to find out more
This is quite an interesting article from the Australian press:
http://www.theage.com.au/national/internet-gets-set-for-a-domain-name-big-bang-20080624-2w66.html
Apparently, we’re going to run out of the current stock of web addresses i.e. the ‘dot’ bit e.g. .com or .eu by 2011. So in the future we could be seeing addresses in arabic, .love or actual businesses taking on the ‘dot’ bit. redboxvirtualoffice.redboxvirtualoffice? Mmm, a bit of a mouthful, wouldn’t you say?
About the Author:
Emma Crabtree is the owner and sole-operator of Red Box Virtual Office, a off-site business support service. Red Box Virtual Office can enable you to free yourself from the day to day admin of your business so that you can focus on what you enjoy and what makes you money. Return to the main website to find out more
I personally am very glad that the Panorama team at the BBC have taken task with Primark about their use of child labour. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/panorama/7471041.stm
The use of low paid, unpaid or child labour to manufacture our clothes is deplorable and we should constantly question where clothes are made and under what circumstances/environment they are produced.
It has been a decision of mine for a while now to try and only buy produce and clothes produced within Europe. Ok, so it would be very difficult not to buy ginger produced in China or Thailand, but there’s really no excuse for buying Chinese garlic or Argentinian lemons when I can get it from a local supplier.
The same goes for clothes. I try very hard not to buy clothes that have been produced outside of the EU, hoping that this will mean the garment has been made in healthy and sustainable conditions. I lapse sometimes, buying a dress from India last week, but it’s rare (and the frock cost in the region of €50).
However, having worked for NGOs in the past, I know that a child working may mean that a family can eat, so I don’t see a long or short term solution to this in closing down the possibility of children working per se. However, I do ask that provision is made for education and health care, proper sanitation and meals as well as ensuring that children work a sensible number of hours, rather than the 8, 10+ hours a day that we commonly hear about.
I personally fee that we as western consumers, having so many dizzing choices, should question where our clothes and food comes from, how it is being produced and under what circumstances, so that we can make the right choice, ethically and morally.
About the Author:
Emma Crabtree is the owner and sole-operator of Red Box Virtual Office, a off-site business support service. Red Box Virtual Office can enable you to free yourself from the day to day admin of your business so that you can focus on what you enjoy and what makes you money. Return to the main website to find out more
If you know that you need a VA, but you’re not sure of the budget, time or duties that you could commit, then starting out with a Red Box Virtual Office Service Pack could be the ideal way to go.
Choose from Service Pack 1, 2 or 3 depending on your needs or budget. As well as taking out a Service Pack with Red Box Virtual Office, you can also benefit from great rates on our other services, with up to 50% off!
Outsourcing your day to day administration is a great way to free up your valuable time, without it costing you a fortune. Sign up to a Red Box Virtual Office Service Pack today and receive your first 3 months at half price*!
*Conditions apply. Please contact us for details.
About the Author:
Emma Crabtree is the owner and sole-operator of Red Box Virtual Office, a off-site business support service. Red Box Virtual Office can enable you to free yourself from the day to day admin of your business so that you can focus on what you enjoy and what makes you money. Return to the main website to find out more
Do you get overwhelmed easily?
Do you feel like you are running around like a headless chicken?
Do you imagine having a work/life balance that is actually balanced?
Here are some ideas that could help.
1. Don’t take on too much
Not as easy as it sounds. I think we are designed as ‘yes’ people and saying no is somehow an admission of failure. But what is worse is agreeing to something and then not being able to deliver.
Make sure you put everything into a diary; time for work commitments, time for family, time for you. Colour code it! If you see too little or too much of one colour, you can make changes to balance out your time.
Feeling the freedom to say no is a great skill to have. It will allow you to have a balanced life.
2. Don’t do what you are not good at or passionate about.
It’s quite a basic point, but we’re mainly good at what we enjoy doing. If there are tasks that you are not good at or don’t enjoy, there are some alternative strategies:
· delegate
· get training or support
· don’t do it at all
· find an alternative way of doing it.
3. Do tasks when you have the energy
Trying to balance the books or do your VAT returns when you’re tired is asking for trouble! I undertake all those tasks that really need my full attention first thing in the morning. After lunch, I take a nap and my afternoons are spent filing! Set yourself goals that are achievable in a reasonable amount of time and then reward yourself; my current reward is a proper cup of tea in a china cup.
If you still feel overwhelmed and the paperwork is mounting, you can always consider hiring a VA! We’re here to take care of your day to day admin so that you can free up time, stop feeling overwhelmed and concentrate on your core business.
About the Author:
Emma Crabtree is the owner and sole-operator of Red Box Virtual Office, a off-site business support service. Red Box Virtual Office can enable you to free yourself from the day to day admin of your business so that you can focus on what you enjoy and what makes you money. Return to the main website to find out more
When you decide your business needs a new web site, one of the most important question is, “Who should I choose to create it?”
After all, your web site could mean the difference between success and failure of your business so getting it right is vital!
1. Ask them what they know.
Although there are tools which are readily available to assist in the process, effective web site design requires experience and understanding of many diverse areas
including: Graphic Design, Web Programming Languages, Web Site Accessibility and Usability, Search Engine Optimisation and Online Marketing to name a few.
Only through real-world experience can a web designer effectively create a web site that will be accessible, user and search engine friendly and look the same in different web browsers and viewing devices.
2. Make sure they ask the right questions of you.
It is vitally important that your web designer is able to quickly understand the needs of your business online and how to communicate that effectively to a wide Internet audience.
As so often in life, when you meet a web designer or a representative from a web design company, first impressions count. So during the meeting ask yourself:
Does the designer give the impression he is listening to and understanding what you have to say?
The process of commissioning a web site can often be an overwhelming process for some people. Consider hiring a designer with whom you have a good rapport and find communicating with easy.
3. What kind of experience do they have and is it relevant to your project?
Three years is a long time in Internet terms. More than four or five years is a seasoned veteran. Ideally, your site designer has a variety of experience.
4. Who have they worked for?
A web design company is only as good as their previous projects, so visit the designers’ web site and look at their portfolio.
5. Think long and hard about your budget
What is your budget and what is the typical cost for the designer’s projects? As a generalisation, the larger the company, the more they charge for their services.
Companies which create sites from a pre-packaged template often cost less but don’t provide you with custom solutions which may more closely meet your needs.
About Creative Access
Creative Access (www.creativeaccess.co.uk) is a web design and development company based in Chester, UK. The company was formed with two main aims, to create accessible, usable and visually engaging web sites while offering excellent customer service and good no-nonsense advice in plain English.
The company was founded by Derek Spurdle who has seven years I.T and web development experience and is a member of the Guild of Accessible Web Designers and active member of the Web Standards and Accessible web design community.