As you may know, I was sick over Christmas and New Year. How sick? Well, Christmas was a wash out and I missed New Year, managing to get my ‘happy new year’ texting in around 10pm before I went off to bed. Sick enough that there is still a bottle of pink champagne in the fridge. Emma, get well soon!

I am ‘grateful’ that I was sick over the holiday period. My clients could do without me for a couple of weeks while their clients took a break. But what to do if I get sick at any other time of the year? Would they wait for me to get better? For how long? Would they hire someone in the interim and take me back when I was well again, or would it be ‘So long, Crabtree, thanks for the memories…’?

I’m going to survey my clients.

In the meantime, please leave your comments and let me know what you do when you have to take some time out. And what insurance is there for the little, little, little people?

Oh, and why is there a picture of my dog here? Well, because he really is the best medicine!

About the Author:
Emma Crabtree is the almost-always-fitting-fit 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.  Find out more

I didn’t know this until I read Nikki Pilkington‘s blog yesterday, but the EU has a new directive that came into force on 25 May 2011, which deals with the data collection through Cookies. Oohps. If you really want to read them, they’re here

It’s enough to say I have no idea what Portugal’s stance is on this. What with the euro ‘issue’ and our country’s ever increasing debt, Cookie violations may not be on the top of their list of ‘stuff to do.’

However, it’s something to bear in mind as there’s bound to be a lawyer that is sniffing out big, fat cheques on this one.

Basically, if you’re running a WordPress site from anywhere in the EU, or another site that collects user data, you need a ‘We use cookies, hope you don’t mind’ pop-up before they can access your site. A bit of a bore for users? Maybe. Will we see a drop in traffic to site? Who knows. But I think users will appreciate this ‘heads up’ and see it for what it is (over and above EU bureaucracy..!)

My thanks to Sarah Arrow at Birds on the Blog for putting this plug-in together. You can get yours here, for £10.

And, curiously, some days I miss the commute!

I know. Those of you that have to do this daily grind will wonder at me. And for the most part, I love not having to schlep out to the bus stop in all weathers, wondering whether the #57 will turn up on time (or at all). But occasionally, I do miss that commute, the dear old Northern Line. And here’s why:

1. ‘Me’ Time – There was rarely a day when I didn’t have a book with me. My bus and train journeys were an ideal time (unless strap-hanging) to read, catch up with the papers or snooze. Not having a commute means that now I have to consciously think about some reading time and that usually means going to bed and getting in a couple of chapters in before shut eye.
2. Catching up with the neighbours – My commute was part of my social life. The #57 provided an ideal opportunity to see and speak with neighbours and friends, catch up on the local gossip and discuss Mrs. Pettigrew’s latest dye-job.
3. The Great Ads on London Underground – I don’t have a great deal of  experience of using any other underground network apart from London’s.  It kept you entertained, for sure. It was the best way of learning which new exhibitions you should see, which films were on release and which bands would be at The 100 Club the next week.
4. Shopping – Between Tooting and Tottenham Court Road there are some seriously good shopping opportunities. Not just being able to pop into M&S, but stopping off at the organic butchers in Balham, picking up hand made cards in Clapham…
5. Meeting friends after work – Or for lunch. Having to commute meant that I could easily meet people in various places for cocktails or supper and was appropriately dressed. My dear friend Lottie and I would frequent a greasy spoon off Tottenham Court Road. I miss that.

So while I don’t miss the commute per se; the life-sapping heat, the over packed trains or the hell that will be the London Olympics 2012, I do miss the opportunities that it brought and the friendships that were nurtured over Zones 1-3.

About the Author:
Emma Crabtree is the owner and sole-operator of Red Box Virtual Office, an off-site business support service.  Though, if you ask nicely, she will come and see you at your place. 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

An email landed in my inbox yesterday bragging that they could get an hour’s worth of Virtual Assistant writers for $1.56. An incredibly cheap way of getting your job done, it would seem.

I didn’t click through the links, but the email did contain the following:

“getting a VA to write and submit articles at $1.56 per hour… you need to see the 5000 Visitors per DAY traffic stats…”

Really, how can anyone, anywhere, market their services for $1.56 an hour? And what kind of person are you to take up that offer?

Where are these people working, what kind of environment are they in? How old are they? Is English their first language and how good is their writing?

Because when I try and compare my products and services with someone from India or China, I’m never going to win on price. I have a certain standard of living to maintain, a certain level of health and safety and a number of 4-legged beasts to feed. I always have to sell Red Box on quality of service each and every time.

When you outsource to ‘developing’ economies, do you think of just the bottom line and not consider the sustainability of your actions?

About the Author:
Emma Crabtree 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.  Find out more

But first, Linked In have a decided that they are going to share your information in whatever way they wish. It says this:

“LinkedIn may sometimes pair an advertiser’s message with social content from LinkedIn’s network in order to make the ad more relevant. When LinkedIn members recommend people and services, follow companies, or take other actions, their name/photo may show up in related ads shown to you. Conversely, when you take these actions on LinkedIn, your name/photo may show up in related ads shown to LinkedIn members. By providing social context, we make it easy for our members to learn about products and services that the LinkedIn network is interacting with.”

Did I miss something? This may be old news to you, but it was new news to me!

If you’re not that comfortable with Linked In using your name & photos for external advertising, you can uncheck the box. Here’s how:

1. Top right hand corner of your Linked In page is your name, with a pull down arrow. Click on this and then ‘Settings’
2. This brings you to your settings page. From there click on ‘Account’
3. Next, click on ‘Manage Social Advertising’. You can then uncheck the box.

I’m not sure whether having my details next to an ad run by Linked In is a problem or not. While I think about it, though, I’m going to take myself off-line on this one.

A colleague of mine who has been in the business since I was in nappies (well, not quite, sorry Kathy!) has a great affiliate program for her book, Worth More Than Rubies. Selling through her website with a secure shopping cart, she thought she was doing everything by the book. And this is a woman who dots her ‘i’s and crosses her ‘t’s before releasing anything…

So how distraught must she have been to find that her website, affiliate program, book and shopping cart were all the target of one, not-so-little fraud?

Read the full story here. If you have your own affiliate programs and/or use a shopping cart to sell your products, it may be worthwhile to keep this story at the forefront of your mind…

How do you generate ideas for your blog and where do you have them?

I ask, as I seem to be getting my inspiration for writing as I walk Teddy in the mornings, through the Roman ruins at the back of our house. I should take a note pad, or even better than that, a dictaphone (something to record my voice on for those of you under the age of 21). I wonder if I could record my thoughts on to the video setting of my camera?

Anyhow, I’m walking & thinking but of course by the time I get home, those thoughts have been usurped by what I should have for tea. Any ‘light-bulb’ moments have well and truly been deleted by the time I get to my desk and get to sit in front of the iMac.

And then what to blog about? Where do you research what’s hot and what’s yesterday? Are you paying someone to blog for you and is it working out? Would you like to guest blog for me if you think it would help you and/or be of interest to the readers of the Red Box Blog?

Answers on a postcard please…

About the Author:
Emma Crabtree is the owner and sole-operator of Red Box Virtual Office, an off-site business support service.  An erratic blogger, Emma does like stream-of-consciousness writing and adding her 2 pennies to other people’s posts.

As you may know, I set up Red Box so that we had money coming in to help pay for the bills and supermarket runs when we moved to Portugal. I had no long term plans for Red Box to become as successful as it has, though I’m not moaning that RBVO is a nice little business with me at the helm and covers more than the food bills these days (with a little left over for shoe shopping…)

When I first started out, I would scrabble around to bill 3 hours a week, let alone cover costs for phone, internet and chocolate biscuits. Now I seem to be working full time and I’m not sure how that happened. When Christmas came around I did wonder if I would have enough to cover Santa’s sherry, but 5 months on and I couldn’t be busier. Old clients are poking their noses over the barricades to see if the recession has moved on, long-standing clients are asking for more hours and new clients are literally queuing out of the door.

So I seem to have ended up working full time, things are good in the Crabtree-Huntingford household, but I’m feeling guilty:

1. I didn’t move to Portugal to let the day go by without getting into the garden.
2. I rarely see my husband these days and as he is working evenings, we are a bit like ships passing in the night.
3. I’m thinking that getting Teddy was a mistake, that I can’t spend as much time with him as he deserves (if only so that I can train him not to destroy my slippers).*
4. My on & off-line social networks are taking a hit as I can’t find the time to manage them, let alone write the ‘thank you’s for my birthday presents.
5. Running errands out of the house & doing chores at home have taken a back seat so we’re living in a state of unsustainable untidiness.

Is it just me, or is this the state of mind of 21stC female entrepreneurs the world over?

About the Author:
Emma Crabtree is the owner and sole-operator of Red Box Virtual Office, a off-site business support service.  Emma didn’t mind her life in London, but loves being in Portugal more.

*This thought goes as quickly as it materialises!

40 years ago, my father was rudely pulled from watching Sportsnight to join my mother and me, while, apparently, I was so drugged up that I didn’t eat for 3 days.

Where did the saying ‘Life Begins At 40′ come from? If life really does start from Friday, what have I been doing for the past 39 years if not living?

There’s so much still to experience, but I:

• have travelled far and wide
• have had my heart broken
• have lost loves & found the one
• am a best friend
• smile at the simplest things
• still laugh like a drain at the least provocation

I have no idea what the next 40 years may hold, or whether I’ll get that far intact. As long as each new day amazes me, I get to cry at ‘An Affair to Remember’ when I feel like it and have at least one bottle of bubbles in the fridge at all times, I may think that 2011 was the ‘start’ to a great, great life.

About the author
Emma Crabtree is 40 and proud of it!

I haven’t written a piece in such a long time that I feel as though I owe my loyal readers (all 5 of you) a little ‘hello’ at least.

You know I write from the heart about my own business (and sometimes personal) frustrations and achievements, but what is a girl to do when she a) has nothing to say or/and b) doesn’t have the time to write?

Does one:

1. Write nothing, with the knowledge that people may forget me?
2. Write something, however banal or trite?
3. Post links to other people’s blogs?
4. Get guest bloggers to fill the silent void?
5. Wait until I have something that I think will make you smile/think/respond/act?

Answers on a postcard, please, to… Or alternatively, you can just comment here!

About the Author:
A frustrated blogger, 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.  Just don’t ask her to blog for you!

Find out more