How many of you use sites like People Per Hour (PPH), Elance and Guru etc?  Yes, I thought so!  And how many of you have been successful in obtaining work through them?  Me neither!  I’ve been contacted a couple of times after placing a bid, but I’ve never been successful in contracting work through them.

But still I persist.  Mainly because they are free to sign on to!  I also use them when I’m recruiting for clients.

I have some tips that you may want to consider using, either as a provider or as a buyer.  You may think, “What does she know if she’s not been successful,” but you never know and these may help you land a job.

As a Service Provider

1. Be specific in responding to the ad placed.  Two lines on how great you are doesn’t cut the mustard.
2. Set your bid at a reasonable level and consider justifying your bid.
3. Respond to individual points in detail.
4. Send (when possible) links to previous work you’ve undertaken or add files to your profile.
5. Be quick!  If there’s been 87 bids for a typing job, do you really want to be #88?
6. Sign up for email alerts on new jobs posted; it’ll save you time looking through each site individually.

As a Buyer

1. Think clearly about what or who you want to hire.
2. If the website doesn’t give you the catergories you need to be able to pigeon hole your requirements, list them in the job information section.
3. Be reasonable in setting your fee.  Either an hourly rate or by project and consider who is going to be reading your ad.  If you use PPH, for example, it’s UK based so the response is going to be mainly from UK based service providers.  They are not going to bid £1/hr for transcription work and you’ll be disappointed when no-one bids or you get a shoddy transcript.
4. Close your job after you receive 10-15 bids.  Are you really going to go through all 57 bids..?
5. Do choose your supplier carefully.  Ask for previous work and/or testimonials.
6. Shortlisting candidates makes it easier to finally select the right one and contacting them directly helps to get a feel for their skills and experience.  Do follow through, though and keep them up to date on what’s happening with the project.

Useful?  If you’ve got a thought on using these kind of sites, do get in touch.

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.  Find out more

I recently read Maggie Berney’s post on her reaction to the Radio 4 Woman’s Hour interview with Emma Walker, Justine Curtis  and eminent sociologist Dr Brendan Burchell.

While I didn’t hear the interview myself, the comments and reaction to this interview had me thinking.  I’d like to address a number of points that come up regularly for me and may be of interest to you, whether you’re working from home or not.

1. Missing personal contact with others.
I’ve said before that I do miss the water-cooler moments of a regular, office based job.  Saying that, however, there are so many forums and on & off line networks that one can join, being ‘lonely’ for me is not an option!  And if I’ve got Skype up, being alone can sometimes be difficult too!

2. Not being in a team or part of a work-based group.
Well, what’s not being part of a team when working with and for others is your bread and butter?  At least in my job, running my own business, I can pick and choose who I work with.  There are many examples I could give where I’ve felt as though I was excluded from the clique, (too high-school for words) and all the good gossip and office politics, as well as the hiring and firing, was done in the smokers room!  And I don’t smoke.

3. The client not being able to trust me & vice versa.
It is true that the majority of my clients, past & present, I have never met.  And this may be a restricting factor in hiring virtual personnel for some.  However, as someone who holds credit card details for a number of clients & has access to suppliers’ bank accounts, trust is something that is mutually developed over a period of time.  I wouldn’t ask a client to leave me his credit card details on day 1; instead I take the time to develop a relationship with them, showing them that I can be trusted in all matters and that hiring me & Red Box was a positive thing to do for them and their business.

It’s about mutual respect.  I have been stung a couple of times with late or non-payment from clients and so with new clients have a retainer system which is a win-win for all involved.

4. Juggling the work/life balance.
As you may know, I originally relocated to Portugal to regain my work/life balance.  It wasn’t as though I had a hugely stressful job; but I rarely saw my husband, who did.  We made the joint decision to move away from London and get our marriage back on track.  Having an incredibly supportive partner is a bonus and takes the pressure off being the bread winner/housekeeper/vet/personal shopper that many women face.  I greatly admire those who work from home and also have demanding children/parents/partner/friends/pets.  I’m not sure I would be as disciplined as needed to run a business from home and still be on speaking terms with my loved ones.

In the end, working from home is something that must be considered in the cold light of day and not something to rush into after a bad day in the office.  But it works for me and my family (all 3 of us) and for my clients, too.

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.  Find out more

It’s Christmas.  Again.  Where did 2009 go?  Almost in a blur did new year, my birthday, easter, summer fun and autumn rains rush past for us to arrive in December wondering where the year went and what one achieved.

It’s that time of year when you are expected to contact everyone you’ve ever known or done business with or shaken hands with and to send them ‘Seasons Greetings’ in one form or another.

But do you?

I’ve read some chatter about whether it’s absolutely necessary to send cards and gifts to clients and business contacts.  Do you at other times of the year?  It’s a great excuse to let old contacts know you are still around and still trading, but there’s always the thought that my card is just going to be read by some PA, stuck on a shelf and gather dust for 3 weeks and then hit the bin.  And maybe not even a recycling bin…

Do you send a ‘thanks awfully for being my client’ card & gift, but receive nothing in return.  Does that bug you?

I’ve had a change of attitude this year and instead of sending physical cards, I’m using an on-line e-card service to send my greetings.  I may just get stuck in an in-box, (although the majority of the recipients are subscribers to my newsletter, so I should be white listed and not treated as spam) and there’s no feelings of guilt as to how many trees have been chopped down in my name.

There may be an odd bottle or two going out to clients that have been with Red Box for a while, but I don’t have a fortune to spend that way.  So for less than lunch at Pret, and in less time than it takes me to walk to the post office, I can send my greetings and thank you’s to those that matter to me and my business.

How about you?

Festive greetings to you all!

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.  Find out more

I’ve been at this working from home lark for some time now, although my home seems to change from one year to the next.  Setting up Red Box was very much a necessity, as when Lawrence and I relocated to Portugal in 2004, neither of us had a job lined up, nor could we speak reasonable Portuguese to go and find one.

So although my view from my office window has changed (and is about to again!), the positives and not so positive aspects still apply:

The Good

• There’s no commute! How I do not miss the Northern Line.  Tooting Broadway to Tottenham Court Road, Monday to Friday, wind, rain and shine.
• I get up when it’s daylight and not before.  Ugh, winter mornings.  Need I say more?
• The dress code is my own. Okay, I was never the type to use a power suit, but coming to work in woolly slippers definitely has its advantages.
• Household Chores are spread over the week, not just the weekend. How I managed to keep a clean, tidy house, prepare meals, be sociable and have a full time job, I’ll never know.  Maybe somethings slipped…
• The rent on the office space is very reasonable. There’s nothing to pay in overheads above and beyond what I’m paying for utilities & I can choose which room to use as my office instead of getting the cubby hole at the back of the building.

The Bad

• There are very few water-cooler moments. I do miss the camaraderie of an office.  Some of my greatest friendships have been formed through work and it’s where I met my husband.
• Self discipline is key.  I’m not so sure this is a bad thing.  However, working for oneself and by oneself does mean that I have to be very disciplined about the hours I spend working and billing and what can be classed as ‘down time’.  If I don’t work, we don’t eat.  Simple!
• Household chores can be very tempting. If I’m having a bad morning or have no taste for a particular job, it’s very tempting to think, “I can put the washing on,” “didn’t the cat need to go to the vet,” “I’m sure I can get some groceries” and so on.
• Once immersed, it’s hard to come up for air.  If I’m loving a project, 2, 3 hours can go by without me stopping for a cuppa or taking a walk.  Not healthy by any stretch of the imagination.
• Weekend working. I did promise myself and Lawrence that there would be at least one day a week where there’s no work.  No emails, no phone calls, no just-taking-a-look-to-see-if…  Yeah, right!

The Ugly

• Me in my pyjamas at 10am. There’s no way that I am getting a webcam!

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.  Find out more

A short time ago I quoted for a job.  A nice looking start up company based in the UK, with what looked like enough daily tasks to keep me interested and enough contact with the owner and potential clients to help me learn about the business quite quickly.

So, I duly submit my proposal and quote and wait.

And wait and wait and wait.  Bearing in mind that I’ve been asked to quote, (rather than me banging on their door asking to quote for some work) I find this waiting rather irksome.

Just as I’m about to pick up the phone and ask what’s going on, I get an email.  Unfortunately, it’s not personalised, nor does it make any reference to the information I’ve already sent in.  It seems that I was one of “thousands” that responded to their solicitations!

There’s always so much noise about how we as providers have to keep on top of our game, answer emails in a timely manner, pick up the phone while we’re in the shower and be on call 24/7.  But I hear very little about the other side and how if you have asked for a quote or information about a particular company, the least you can do is say thanks.

That’s all I’m asking for.  A quick, ‘thank you, appreciate the effort, sorry not this time,’ email.  2 mins.

Am I being naive and asking too much?

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.  Find out more

Never has it been so easy and cost effective to build your brand with a global reach. Social Media Marketing has made it possible to get your brand infront of your targeted customers, where ever they may be.

Have you ever heard this, ‘People buy from people they like and trust’? So how do you build trust and likeability over the internet when you can’t go and meet your customers directly?

Let’s take a look at some popular and effective tools you can use today to start marketing your business on-line.

1. Twitter. Yes, you can use Twitter to expand your business profile. It is expected that Twitter will have 25 million active users by 2010 – and I’m sure some of those users will fit your customer profile! Other Twitter apps, like Twellow allow you to find people to follow based on their profile keywords. This means you can pick out your target customers or clients to follow and because you have done your profiling, they will more than likely follow you back.

So now you have a Twitter account, what do you write?

1. OK, well by providing great value, establishing your expertise, your authority and building relationships with your honesty and integrity you soon become the ‘Go To Person’ in your niche, your area of business.
2. By continuing to build a rapport with your followers, you will find a growing community who will listen to what you have to say. You can achieve this using other tools such as Facebook by setting up a Fan Page and brand it with your business.
3. Keep all your followers and community members in touch with your business by connecting your Twitter account with your Facebook Fan Page. This will enable your tweets to be posted to Facebook without you having to do it manually.
4. Lastly, keep the developing the relationship with a regularly updated blog. You can add audio and videos too which adds a face to your name and builds a social connection.

So, to build a good network of qualified potential clients or customers, try opening a Twitter account and follow those people who fit your customer profile. Don’t forget to add regular tweets to build rapport and establish your expertise. Connect your branded Twitter account to your branded Facebook Fan Page and post regularly to a blog using audio and video aswell as written words to strengthen your trust with those who follow you.

This has been written by Annabel Meade – a successful Forex trader and race car driver. She teaches how to be a responsible and successful trader through her Forex Training guide which includes some powerful trading tips and strategies. Follow the link to read Annabel’s Forex Trading blog for the latest news and reviews.

This resonated with me as I’m in the process of moving.  I’ve packed stuff I later find I ought not to have and the flat is in chaos.

I just hope it will all be okay at the other end.

A moving story

Before embarking on the journey, I wondered why moving is said to be one of the most stressful things you can do. Shove a few things in boxes, put them on a truck – how hard can it be?

Read More

Okay, I may be shooting myself in the foot here, but working with me & Red Box may not suit everyone.  I admit it!  (I talk too much about how great the weather is here..!)

So, if you’re looking to hire a Virtual Assistant, know that you want and need to outsource some of your day to day admin, where do you go?

From my experience, there are three main ways of locating your VA:

1. Google & Co. The search engines, are, as we know, a world full of useful information.  Search for ‘VA’, ‘Virtual Assistant’, ‘Virtual Office Services’ etc. and you should get pages and pages of hits.  You may want to narrow the field down a bit by listing particular tasks you want to outsource like ‘Web site management’ or ‘blog articles’.  If you need someone local to you, for whatever reason, put this in your search too.
2. VA Directories. From your internet research, you will probably see that there are a number of VA directories listed.  These are a great way of finding a suitable VA, as for the majority of directories, the VA will have had to go through some sort of vetting process.  The lists may be drawn up by location, skill set or experience.  Many directories will also have the option of placing a VA request, so that individual VAs can respond to your request and you can sort through the responses to find your best match.
3. Word of Mouth.  My favourite!  It’s a win-win for all concerned.  Ask around.  Do any of your colleagues, friends, family use a VA?  Can they recommend someone, or somewhere that you can look for a VA?  This is particularly useful if you are in the same industry and your colleague uses their VA in a similar way to how you might.

Hope this is useful!

About Us:
Emma Crabtree, Virtual Assistant and Chief Organiser, is the owner and sole-operator of Red Box Virtual Office, an 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. Go to the main website to find out more

Yes, it’s all about time and money.  Your time is money, right?

So why are you trying to run your business single handed, tying yourself to basic admin jobs that don’t earn you a penny and take up your valuable time?

I wrote last week that outsourcing takes planning and forethought and it does.  There’s no reason to throw baby out with the bathwater, now is there?  So once you have a list of what could be outsourced, the big question is, “How am I going to pay for this?”

But put another way, it is “What is my time worth?”

Say, for example, you charge yourself out at €50/hour.  That’s just an average figure for your regular clients.  If you’re in the office, completing your IRS return, or following up on emails, how long does that take you?  Two hours, four, 17?  So you do the maths.  Four hours at €50/hour is €200.  Wow!  You just didn’t make €200 today!

Now think about handing over that emailing to someone who charges €10/hour.  Even if they take the same amount of time as you, that’s only €40.  A ’saving’ of €160.  If you’re not having to take the time to complete your emails, what could you be doing with your time & how much could you be earning?

Think about that!

About Us:
Emma Crabtree, Virtual Assistant and Chief Organiser, is the owner and sole-operator of Red Box Virtual Office, an 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. Go to the main website to find out more

Although they aren’t THAT expensive, most newcomers shy away from the inevitable… You HAVE to  get an Autoresponder to be really successful. You see, your goal is to not only make sales, but to build up a list of followers to sell to time and again. You may form a bond with them, so that they become even more than just customers, but the point is, without them,  you can’t really be guaranteed to make continuous sales.  Your autoresponder will be the place where you email lists will reside, and  you will be able to send them messages from there.

The best Autoresponder for Internet Marketers has been touted to be Aweber. Aweber has the best deliverability rates, but their monthly charges have risen lately. You can still pay under $20 per month for their service, but as your list grows, your costs will grow quickly as well. Nevertheless, it is the Autoresponder of choice. A close second is Get Response. Get Response does not have the incredible deliverability of Aweber in tests that have been performed, but is good enough to get by.

Once you get your Autoresponder service become accustomed to it through the in-house tutorials they have for you. It is vital you understand it inside and out. You will be able to send out “broadcasts” or “blasts” as they are called whenever  you wish to your entire list of leads, OR you can schedule them to go out in timed
intervals known as “followups”.

Don’t skimp on this. If you get roped into another Autoresponder, you not only are likely to end up with one of these two down the road, but you may lose your list when you make the switch.

About Us:
Emma Crabtree, Virtual Assistant and Chief Organiser, is the owner and sole-operator of Red Box Virtual Office, an 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. Go to the main website to find out more