tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33709626006730215212024-02-19T14:57:24.425+00:00Intelligent Help on HandCost effective business solutions, delivered by remote assistance from The Away PA.The Away PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08971254515288203050noreply@blogger.comBlogger26125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3370962600673021521.post-45979859746689952352010-03-15T08:13:00.004+00:002010-03-15T08:36:22.286+00:00An Extra Pair of Hands Whenever You Need Them<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXsNaux8jFijk6ecyM89HvmQh95-R8xuHMqz05mmUeHvUwuXY4aaSXTz5mJW0ePFfxGVUNVHUryuBY8eAxgKbKpNjzmcE0G6Z5JMalLZrfxO_nosbCoGj02tc-cfgP2lmGcFXBS7cdDwMd/s1600-h/j0305909.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 142px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXsNaux8jFijk6ecyM89HvmQh95-R8xuHMqz05mmUeHvUwuXY4aaSXTz5mJW0ePFfxGVUNVHUryuBY8eAxgKbKpNjzmcE0G6Z5JMalLZrfxO_nosbCoGj02tc-cfgP2lmGcFXBS7cdDwMd/s200/j0305909.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448776064504491746" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">Is there anybody out there who couldn't use an extra pair of hands? Who needs help with getting the bills paid on time? Organising an electrician, plumber, decorator, etc to carry out work at home? Someone to answer the phone? Make your appointments? Type up your reports? Research holiday destinations and organise your travel - both home and abroad? Someone to manage your expenses and file your returns? Someone who can help you write your literature, blogs, flyers, who can help you with mailing campaigns or follow up calls. Sounds good?<br /><br />Well, a <a href="http://www.theawaypa.eu/services.htm">virtual assistant service</a> can place all this help at your fingertips. A perfect solution for anyone with too much to do and not enough time to do it in.<br /><br />Think of it like hiring a temp from an employment agency - only you'll never have to do that again! A virtual assistant is self employed and bills only for actual hours worked - no paying for coffee breaks, holiday leave, sick leave or employment taxes. Because a virtual assistant works remotely (ie not in your office) the use of web based tools like instant messenger services, <a href="http://www.head-office.net/Email.htm">email</a>, <a href="http://www.head-office.net/Features.htm">online calendars</a>, <a href="http://www.head-office.net/Features.htm">task managers</a>, <a href="http://www.head-office.net/Features.htm">online filing</a> etc are used to help you work with your assistant. Schedule changes, project reports, customer service alerts can all be performed immediately. A virtual assistant can help bring the impression of size to your company.<br /><br />Find out more about <a href="http://www.head-office.net/virtual_office-how_does_it_work=%21.htm">working within a virtual office</a>.<br /><br /></span></span><span style="font-size: 78%;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153); font-style: italic;">The Away PA provides an "on demand" secretarial and business support service in conjunction with it's online office "Head Office". To find out more about how you can take advantage of a fully supported office, anywhere, any time, visit the <span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);"> </span><a style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);" href="http://www.head-office.net/"><span>Head Office</span></a> website or <a style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);" href="http://www.theawaypa.eu/">The Away PA </a>Website or email <a href="mailto:info.headoffice@theawaypa.eu">info.headoffice@theawaypa.eu </a>or telephone 08450 527565.</span></span>The Away PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08971254515288203050noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3370962600673021521.post-9588697838372616762010-02-24T10:28:00.006+00:002010-02-24T11:08:28.385+00:00Share your Diary and More<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh76jeINnOJXhXiHMqZFHeOE12o4fZl487xn-IWF_8uZ9m2u9cLavORiZdh5Evce4VVD1jOEaF1dXX30OutwkkHzDg5lq4JLjRi_BECts7dvj8jDybQVqqnSb-eRod4fN301jUD-7A7C8uR/s1600-h/TAPA+single.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 128px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh76jeINnOJXhXiHMqZFHeOE12o4fZl487xn-IWF_8uZ9m2u9cLavORiZdh5Evce4VVD1jOEaF1dXX30OutwkkHzDg5lq4JLjRi_BECts7dvj8jDybQVqqnSb-eRod4fN301jUD-7A7C8uR/s200/TAPA+single.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5441764459350241314" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">Sharing your weekly diary/calendar with a remote or virtual assistant/secretary can be a great asset to your business. There are various tools on the web which enable you to do this, for example <a href="http://www.head-office.net/">Head </a></span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><a href="http://www.head-office.net/">Office</a> and <a href="http://google.com/calendar">Google Calendar</a>.<br /><br />Keeping track of projects with one of these tools, or other similar available online systems, can go a long way towards helping you organise your business and keep things running smoothly - and you can utilise a virtual or remote assistant/secretary to help you.<br /><br />These <a href="http://www.theawaypa.eu/diary.htm">diary</a></span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"> / calendar systems allow any number of people to see when events are happenin</span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">g within your business and to make notes on a project's status. You can also use these systems to assign tasks to your remot</span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">e / virtual assistant and track progress.<br /><br />In order to manage your projects effectively, you will need to ensure that each project is properly defined with accurate deadlines and milestones. It would be prudent to also allow contingency timings as a "cushion" in the event of unexpected delays. The online calendar systems will provide daily reminders, due dates and the current status of each project. As each stage of the project comes together, colleagues and teams will need to collaborate with each other to drive the project forward. These tools allow people to commun</span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">icate effectively, with the ability to work away from the office location, on site, from home, etc.<br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">These online "e-office" systems, eg <a href="http://www.head-office.net/">Head Office</a>, also allow you to share files easily. Technology is </span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">great, but when something goes wrong - for example lost emails, computer crashes, etc - the impact can be significant on your business. With these systems, files can be stored and shared online - if one person downloads a file and loses that copy, the last or latest version of the file can simply be downloaded again.</span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><br />Being a</span></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOPMHnX5xD_KEyNrx9RWhxIsifwMNqMn17tPqlnPHRg2Y9AK0Qtpqp7sE3al4v-o7jNoF2Jq6ko_pI2FkpJj6N9rXBS5UHc3xlC_GyD8F1nwjRBt-x5ERnF_MzJi8rVB_pC2CUcrwkIOpe/s1600-h/j0401797.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 90px; height: 60px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOPMHnX5xD_KEyNrx9RWhxIsifwMNqMn17tPqlnPHRg2Y9AK0Qtpqp7sE3al4v-o7jNoF2Jq6ko_pI2FkpJj6N9rXBS5UHc3xlC_GyD8F1nwjRBt-x5ERnF_MzJi8rVB_pC2CUcrwkIOpe/s200/j0401797.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5441764088220976418" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">ble to share your "e-office" (<a href="http://www.theawaypa.eu/diary.htm">diary</a>, files, <a href="http://www.theawaypa.eu/email.htm">email</a> (if you require email monitoring by your secretary/assistant) ) makes it extremely easy to work together with someone if you are a home worker or travel a lot in your business. It also allo</span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">ws you to share information with business partners and clients.<br /><br />The Away PA is a small business support specialist focussed on the needs of the individual entrepreneur and small business. Find out how a remote / <a href="http://www.theawaypa.eu/services.htm">virtual assistant</a>/secretary can transform your business and save you <a href="http://www.theawaypa.eu/time-busting.htm">time</a>.<br /><br /><br /></span></span><span style="font-size: 78%;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153); font-style: italic;">The Away PA provides an "on demand" secretarial and business support service in conjunction with it's online office "Head Office". To find out more about how you can take advantage of a fully supported office, anywhere, any time, visit the <span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);"> </span><a style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);" href="http://www.head-office.net/"><span>Head Office</span></a> website or <a style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);" href="http://www.theawaypa.eu/">The Away PA </a>Website or email <a href="mailto:info.headoffice@theawaypa.eu">info.headoffice@theawaypa.eu </a>or telephone 08450 527565.</span></span>The Away PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08971254515288203050noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3370962600673021521.post-31084501095821949972010-02-12T07:19:00.004+00:002010-02-12T07:37:06.274+00:00A Creme PA Service<div class="post-content clearfix"> <p><span style=";font-family:Calibri;font-size:small;" >Virtual Assistants are a crème service similar to that of the old fashioned personal secretary of years gone by. Today's online personal secretaries (Virtual Assistants or VAs) can help entrepreneurs and professionals expand their respective businesses in a very cost effective way. </span></p> <p><span style=";font-family:Calibri;font-size:small;" >In today's technologically developed world, Virtual Assistants are not limited to the old concept of simply completing routine administrative and secretarial tasks. Instead, the role of the VA today has become much more extensive. These online personal assistants are not only able to handle all your business administration processes but can also handle many other business requirements, such as creating dynamic and interactive Powerpoint presentations, developing complex Excel spreadsheets, writing and designing advertising, writing blogs, email marketing , debt recovery, designing company branding, building websites, as well as the more routine appointment scheduling, travel itinerary planning, email support etc.</span></p><p><span style=";font-family:Calibri;font-size:small;" >With mobile working becoming more prevalent a VA service makes a perfect support system to this style of working. <br /></span></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-size: 78%;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153); font-style: italic;">The Away PA provides an "on demand" secretarial and business support service in conjunction with it's online office "Head Office". To find out more about how you can take advantage of a fully supported office, anywhere, any time, visit the <span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);"> </span><a style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);" href="http://www.head-office.net/"><span>Head Office</span></a> website or <a style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);" href="http://www.theawaypa.eu/">The Away PA </a>Website or email <a href="mailto:info.headoffice@theawaypa.eu">info.headoffice@theawaypa.eu </a>or telephone 08450 527565.</span></span></p><br /></div>The Away PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08971254515288203050noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3370962600673021521.post-84586045641046261362010-01-04T09:24:00.002+00:002010-01-04T09:30:19.280+00:00Consider Social Media for effective Company Branding<div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>Brand-building is very important when selling products and services. Effective brand building needs the concerted efforts of everyone involved in your company, irrespective of the efforts of brand managers and people responsible for really driving the brand and for establishing the image of the company. Anyone who represents the company must hold onto the business’ values and beliefs to maintain the business’ reputation and project a solid image of the company.</p> <p>A Virtual Assistant can represent your business in a number of ways. Consider using social media for brand-building and take advantage of the services of a virtual assistant to deliver consistent branding messages through Twitter, Facebook, and other similar social media accounts. </p> <p>Social media will let you send messages to your target market that will reinforce the kind of image you want to project to the public. Because social media are capable of reaching a wide audience, they can be used to help you establish and propagate your brand. The more people you are able to communicate with the more people will also understand what your business is about, what products and services you sell and what value you provide. </p> <p>Twitter provides an effective tool for you to communicate with hundreds and thousands, millions even, of people from all around the globe. Other social media will also give you that opportunity. However, using social media for branding and other tasks is time consuming. Consider hiring a Virtual assistant who can dedicate the required time for your social media tasks to support your branding efforts on line.</p><p>To find out more about branding using social media and how a virtual assistant can help you achieve this, contact <a href="http://www.theawaypa.eu/" target="_blank">The Away PA.</a> </p><span style="font-size: 78%;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153); font-style: italic;">The Away PA provides an "on demand" secretarial and business support service in conjunction with it's online office "Head Office". To find out more about how you can take advantage of a fully supported office, anywhere, any time, visit the <span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);"> </span><a style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);" href="http://www.head-office.net/"><span>Head Office</span></a> website or <a style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);" href="http://www.theawaypa.eu/">The Away PA </a>Website or email <a href="mailto:info.headoffice@theawaypa.eu">info.headoffice@theawaypa.eu </a>or telephone 08450 527565.</span></span><br /><br /><br /><div class="zemanta-pixie"><img src="http://img.zemanta.com/pixy.gif?x-id=2eee3006-7db1-8149-8c6e-8e7e73be4ebf" alt="" class="zemanta-pixie-img" /></div></div>The Away PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08971254515288203050noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3370962600673021521.post-12780624747119131992009-12-17T13:40:00.002+00:002010-01-04T09:28:23.798+00:00Harness the Power of the Internet to Expand and Improve Your Business<div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>In little more than a generation, the Internet has revolutionised the way that we conduct our lives and do business, and <a target="_blank" href="http://www.virtualmissfriday.com/"> </a><a href="http://www.head-office.net/">virtual offices</a> and <a href="http://www.theawaypa.eu/">virtual office services</a> have emerged to help us bridge the gap. In recent times this growing<br />trend has picked up momentum, and we now turn to the web through various modes<br />of communication to fulfil so many different tasks. </p>Methods of communication have made great progress and as postal services will testify, <a href="http://www.head-office.net/Email.htm">e-mail</a> has now become the communications method of choice. Within many businesses, certain employees may be offered the choice to work from their homes. Costly travel and accommodation expenses are being reduced as organisations elect to utilise teleconferencing for necessary salesand client meetings. All these developments suggest the true strengthof the internet and its ability to make us communicate virtually and far more efficiently.<br /><p>As technology is revolutionising the way we do business, the world of virtual assistant services has emerged to fulfil a clear need. In our evolving global markets, an online office and the services of a virtual assistant can make sense from a number of different perspectives, and we suggest below some reasons why you might consider their selection:</p>For either a start-up concern or an established business, the cost of expansion can dig a sizeable hole in a company's financial reserves. While it is hard to acquire new businessto begin with, it can be far more difficult trying to set aside<br /><p>additional resources to bring in another capacity to service newly acquired clients and customers. If you have to deal with the hiring and training of staff, especially if it’s for short-term projects, you are likely<br />to encounter obstacles. At the least you will experience a ramp up period during which the employee will likely not be up to speed, and you may also run the risk of discovering that the person is truly not up to the job, or simply does not fit in. A virtual assistant can fulfil all your admin requirements instantly and free your resources to work on some other pressing problem.<br /></p>The harried entrepreneur quickly finds that he or she cannot be amicro-manager and cannot assume responsibility for everything. There is only so much that one can do in a typical day and you may already have experienced that these days can extend to cover all daylight hours and more. Virtual assistant services are ideally placed to free management from non-essential activities. Imagine a scenario where all routine admin tasks are covered by an efficient, readily available and reactive virtual assistant. By focusing on core values, direct customer satisfaction and new business development, the entrepreneur can concentrate on bringing more money to the table.<br /><p>As expenditure has taken on a whole new meaning during our recent economic difficulties, it makes sense to trim all overhead costs as much as possible. With competition very much in mind, the organisation that is able to reduce overheads while taking advantage of an online office and/or virtual assistant services will be much leaner, fitter and able to trade more efficiently, as we emerge into more profitable times.</p><span style="font-size: 78%;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153); font-style: italic;">The Away PA provides an "on demand" secretarial and business support service in conjunction with it's online office "Head Office". To find out more about how you can take advantage of a fully supported office, anywhere, any time, visit the <span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);"> </span><a style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);" href="http://www.head-office.net/"><span>Head Office</span></a> website or <a style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);" href="http://www.theawaypa.eu/">The Away PA </a>Website or email <a href="mailto:info.headoffice@theawaypa.eu">info.headoffice@theawaypa.eu </a>or telephone 08450 527565.</span></span><br /><div class="youtube-video"><object height="312" width="425"><param value="true" name="allowfullscreen"> <param value="always" name="allowscriptaccess"> <param value="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=6801213&server=vimeo.com&show_title=0&show_byline=0&show_portrait=0&color=c40000&fullscreen=1" name="movie"> </object></div><br /><br /><div class="zemanta-pixie"><img src="http://img.zemanta.com/pixy.gif?x-id=2eee3006-7db1-8149-8c6e-8e7e73be4ebf" alt="" class="zemanta-pixie-img" /></div></div>The Away PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08971254515288203050noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3370962600673021521.post-27891159394641865612009-12-15T07:02:00.002+00:002009-12-15T07:04:17.723+00:00Reports Hail the End of the Recession<div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p><span style="font-family:arial;">In the last two years, millions of people have lost their jobs due to the slowdown in the UK and global economies. Many companies were left with no choice but to lay-off employees after the economy suffered a major downturn at the beginning the last quarter of 2007. Many companies who had to borrow money to expand had to close some of their office and branches. There were also companies that could no longer afford to keep many of their employees. The recession has proved a cruel reality for the business world in the last two years.</span></p> <p><span style="font-family:arial;">Reports recently published are hailing the end of the recession, and it is expected that there will be new businesses opening and many existing businesses will start to bounce back in the next few years. Companies that are running on low manpower or have had to let go of employees in the last few years can choose to temporarily hire virtual assistants to manage and deal with administrative tasks and general business processes.<br /></span></p> <p><span style="font-family:arial;">Virtual assistants provide various administrative and other specialised services for clients. They can be very effective support teams for businesses that have had to lay-off employees during the tough economic times. With the help of virtual assistants, a company can continue to run its business operations smoothly, despite only a skeleton number of permanent employees.</span></p> <p><span style="font-family:arial;">Virtual assistants can be the perfect solution for transition periods within the company, as companies slowly recover from an ailing economy. Instead of immediately hiring permanent employees, companies can simply hire virtual assistants on a temporary or short term basis to work within the business.</span></p> <p><span style="font-family:arial;">Even the strongest companies who have not necessarily suffered from low manpower can still benefit from the services of virtual assistants. Many virtual assistants offer specialised services such as SEO, web design, debt recovery, database management, etc. Virtual assistants are incredibly flexible and are in a good position to help businesses, whether they just need simple administrative services or more specialised services, or whether they just need additional manpower during peak seasons and tough economic times. Companies should not overlook the valuable resource that virtual assistants can provide.<br /></span></p><span style="font-size: 78%;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153); font-style: italic;">The Away PA provides an "on demand" secretarial and business support service in conjunction with it's online office "Head Office". To find out more about how you can take advantage of a fully supported office, anywhere, any time, visit the <span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);"> </span><a style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);" href="http://www.head-office.net/"><span>Head Office</span></a> website or <a style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);" href="http://www.theawaypa.eu/">The Away PA </a>Website or email <a href="mailto:info.headoffice@theawaypa.eu">info.headoffice@theawaypa.eu </a>or telephone 08450 527565.</span></span><br /><br /><div class="zemanta-pixie"><img src="http://img.zemanta.com/pixy.gif?x-id=b3045dfc-e9c9-8059-bb6d-8f0ff8662f80" alt="" class="zemanta-pixie-img" /></div></div>The Away PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08971254515288203050noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3370962600673021521.post-5125571802217905892009-12-07T09:59:00.004+00:002009-12-15T07:03:51.420+00:00What is a Virtual Office?<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-family:arial;">A virtual office network is an office environment that is accessed by way of the web at any time and from any place. A virtual office network provider utilises the power of the internet </span><span style="font-family:arial;">and technical expertise to offer the user a simulated work environment where the user can access facilities similar to that provided by a more expensive exchange server, such as intranet, company email, shared calendars, shared files and work processes by way of a PC or laptop/netbook and web connection.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;"> So, for example, an employee or work colleague could be out of the office due to business, or may even work from home, but yet is still be able to communicate or transfer data to colleagues and others at the workplace within the office environment. This makes a virtual office an effective tool to add value to your business and make it more systematic and effective.<br /><br />What makes the virtual office so attractive is that all this is achievable with minimum to zero investment in infrastructure, with the service provider </span><span style="font-family:arial;"> managing the design and development of the virtual office network and taking care of the maintenance and support.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;"> <span style="font-weight: bold;">The Benefits of Virtual Office</span></span><br /></span><ul><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-family:arial;"> The client does not have to bother with costly and time consuming upgrades since the client hires the virtual office service from the provider and the maintenance of which is the responsibility of the service provider. </span></span></li></ul><ul><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-family:arial;"> The flexibility that a virtual office</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> network provides is unparalleled, as employees only need a laptop/netbook and network connectivity to get in touch with the main office. This functionality is important for mobile businesses and where business activity is conducted from various locations or from home. </span></span></li></ul><ul><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-family:arial;"> Often security is seen as a constraint in the domain of virtual office networks as corporate data is confidential. However with development in technologies, service providers today utilise highly sophisticated tools,<span style="text-decoration: underline;"> </span></span><span style="font-family:arial;">password login systems and authentication management which makes the system more secure than accessing it from your workplace. </span></span></li></ul><ul><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-family:arial;"> The package that a virtual office network provider can offer includes the deployment, along with support for planning, designing and maintenance. Subscription is on a "pay as you go" basis in the form of a monthly fee.</span></span></li></ul><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 0, 204);font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-family:arial;">To find out more about the virtual office service provided by The Away PA, visit: <a href="http://www.head-office.net/"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 204, 204);">Head</span> <span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);">Office</span></span></a>.<br /><br /></span></span><span style="font-size: 78%;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153); font-style: italic;">The Away PA provides an "on demand" secretarial and business support service in conjunction with it's online office "Head Office". To find out more about how you can take advantage of a fully supported office, anywhere, any time, visit the <span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);"> </span><a style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);" href="http://www.head-office.net/"><span>Head Office</span></a> website or <a style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);" href="http://www.theawaypa.eu/">The Away PA </a>Website or email <a href="mailto:info.headoffice@theawaypa.eu">info.headoffice@theawaypa.eu </a>or telephone 08450 527565.</span></span>The Away PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08971254515288203050noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3370962600673021521.post-22029486344235374802009-12-03T12:15:00.004+00:002009-12-08T12:21:00.567+00:00New Year brings New VAT Rate<div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-family: arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);font-family:Verdana;font-size:12px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;font-size:85%;" >Starting from 1 January 2010 new VAT rates apply, shifting from 15% in 2009 to 17.5% in 2010.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-family: arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);font-family:Verdana;font-size:12px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;font-size:85%;" ><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-family: arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);font-family:Verdana;font-size:12px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;font-size:85%;" >HMRC has provided a <span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);"><a href="http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/vat/forms-rates/rates/rate-changes.htm"><span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; text-decoration: underline;">detailed guide</span></a></span> along with several PDF documents linked from the same web page to help businesses that need to be particularly careful with the shift. These businesses include:</span></p> <ul style="font-family: arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);font-family:arial;" ><li style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Verdana;font-size:12px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;font-size:85%;" >Retailers</span></li><li style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Verdana;font-size:12px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;font-size:85%;" >Businesses that issue VAT invoices</span></li><li style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Verdana;font-size:12px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;font-size:85%;" >Businesses operating beyond midnight on 31 December 2009</span></li></ul> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; min-height: 15px; font-family: arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);font-family:arial;font-size:12px;"><span style="font-size:85%;">For each of these categories HMRC provides a separate PDF document available online. There are also certain types of services that require special attention to the changing VAT rates. They include:</span></p> <ul style="font-family: arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);font-family:arial;" ><li style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Verdana;font-size:12px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;font-size:85%;" >Services you start before 1 January 2010 but finish afterwards</span></li><li style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Verdana;font-size:12px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;font-size:85%;" >Continuous supplies of services</span></li></ul><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);font-size:85%;" ><br /></span><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-family: arial;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;">Author: The Away PA</span></p><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153); font-style: italic;">The Away PA provides an "on demand" secretarial and business support service in conjunction with it's online office "Head Office". To find out more about how you can take advantage of a fully supported office, anywhere, any time, visit the <span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);"> </span><a style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);" href="http://www.head-office.net/"><span>Head Office</span></a> website or <a style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);" href="http://www.theawaypa.eu/">The Away PA </a>Website or email <a href="mailto:info.headoffice@theawaypa.eu">info.headoffice@theawaypa.eu </a>or telephone 08450 527565.</span></span></p><br /><div class="zemanta-pixie"><img src="http://img.zemanta.com/pixy.gif?x-id=d9b6886e-b27e-8f7b-854c-f18e6dd387af" alt="" class="zemanta-pixie-img" /></div></div>The Away PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08971254515288203050noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3370962600673021521.post-50942030611054593742009-12-03T12:11:00.003+00:002009-12-03T12:17:19.152+00:00The Perfect PA is Flexible, Hard-Working and Invisible!<div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);font-family:arial;" >As PCs make us all more self-sufficient, few small businesses seem to need the full-time help of a Personal Assistant or administrator. But what happens at those times when there's just too much work, or a special project requires dedicated help? - A virtual PA or remote assistant is what is needed!<br /><br />Virtual PAs can work outside regular office hours, provide fast turn-arounds and when time is short, it's possible to have a whole team of people working on a project. The team at The Away PA offers an impressive and broad range of business skills: database management, internet research, editing and proof-reading, mail merge, general secretarial support, travel planning, and more. We can also assist with multimedia presentations, desktop publishing, web page design, and design for print work, and even the development of a full corporate identity.</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);"><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);font-family:arial;" ><br />A virtual PA is especially useful in times of need but it's also possible, of course, to employ one on a regular basis to deal with mundane administrative tasks that might otherwise waste valuable business time. Regular mailings, database management, web maintenance, invoicing - any of the dull, repetitive tasks that eat into workaday productivity can be safely outsourced.<br /><br />To find out more visit: <a href="http://www.theawaypa.eu/" target="_blank">http://www.theawaypa.eu</a></span><br /><br /><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;">Author: The Away PA</span></p><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153); font-style: italic;">The Away PA provides an "on demand" secretarial and business support service in conjunction with it's online office "Head Office". To find out more about how you can take advantage of a fully supported office, anywhere, any time, visit the <span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);"> </span><a style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);" href="http://www.head-office.net/"><span>Head Office</span></a> website or <a style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);" href="http://www.theawaypa.eu/">The Away PA </a>Website or email <a href="mailto:info.headoffice@theawaypa.eu">info.headoffice@theawaypa.eu </a>or telephone 08450 527565.</span></span></p><br /><br /><div class="zemanta-pixie"><img src="http://img.zemanta.com/pixy.gif?x-id=de6c7117-d03d-8144-aee1-f98d777fb1d8" alt="" class="zemanta-pixie-img" /></div></div>The Away PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08971254515288203050noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3370962600673021521.post-49058571671137948512009-10-30T07:59:00.004+00:002009-12-03T12:16:41.791+00:00Working with a Virtual Assistant Saves Time - Your No.1 Resource<p style="font-family: arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 102);">Are you a small company with limited resources and perhaps with a limited, or no workforce? If this is the case, then maximizing time may be a problem. But as a small company, you needn't be discouraged - instead you can find ways to maximize your time.<br /></p><p style="font-family: arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 102);">Hiring a virtual assistant is one of the easiest ways to gain a workforce and the added time needed to complete the endless task list of any business owner. With a virtual assistant, you, the business owner, no longer need to work those extra long hours. The time consuming tasks can be outsourced to your VA so that you can focus on other, more important, revenue generating activities.<br /></p><p style="font-family: arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 102);">Having a VA means that you are not limited to what you can achieve within the working time given to you. You will have an assistant that can help you do more in your business. Having a VA to assist you can mean a lot of good things for your business including less stress for you, better products and services for clients and better profitability for the business.</p><p style="font-family: arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 102);"></p><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;">Author: The Away PA</span></p><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153); font-style: italic;">The Away PA provides an "on demand" secretarial and business support service in conjunction with it's online office "Head Office". To find out more about how you can take advantage of a fully supported office, anywhere, any time, visit the <span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);"> </span><a style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);" href="http://www.head-office.net/"><span>Head Office</span></a> website or <a style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);" href="http://www.theawaypa.eu/">The Away PA </a>Website or email <a href="mailto:info.headoffice@theawaypa.eu">info.headoffice@theawaypa.eu</a><br />or telephone 08450 527565.</span></span></p>The Away PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08971254515288203050noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3370962600673021521.post-73653366048793045902009-06-30T07:15:00.006+01:002009-10-30T08:38:45.921+00:00Remote Working with a Virtual Desktop<p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); text-align: left;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Many people don’t know about a rather new technology called "<a href="http://www.head-office.net/">Virtual Desktops</a>" which gives SMEs access to enterprise class technology, allowing staff to work from anywhere, as if they were in the office.</span></p> <p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><strong>How do Virtual Desktops work</strong>?</span></p> <p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">With the traditional model you have a PC on your desk and all of your programs and data are stored in this PC – you could call this a physical desktop. With a Virtual Desktop programs and data are stored centrally and you access this “Virtual” desktop remotely using the internet with a connection device</span><span style="font-size:100%;"> such as a laptop, another PC or a mobile device.</span></p> <p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">It doesn't matter where you are, if you can access the internet you can access your hosted desktop – and work.</span></p> <p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><strong>How much does this level of IT cost?</strong></span></p> <p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Actually, virtual desktops can save your business costs. Plus it is a per user, per month package. With this type of outsourcing your company can scale easily, and only pay for what you need.</span></p> <p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><strong>What are y</strong></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.head-office.net/"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 120px; height: 87px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlYT1Rmoexgs01pUdIURED9LgfmbiwOhHuEWa_ye2g5tb1z6TPXUWF5cB9sh3KJh0vdQ_-aVBzmdBTh5q6otLT38eVSxecuiZRawCoWQH7qKDIw9F6HJ4O7v-0uyL4SFRvyyyDsyfkja68/s200/HeadOffice+logo-cropped-Q.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5353003726546225218" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:100%;"><strong>ou waiting for?</strong></span></p> <p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Virtual Desktops are cheaper, more reliable </span><span style="font-size:100%;">and more secure and, you can use the same desktop in the office, at home, i</span><span style="font-size:100%;">n a hotel or on holiday. Contact <a href="http://www.head-office.net/Contact_Us1.htm"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Head Office</span></a> to find out more!</span></p><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span></p><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;">Author: The Away PA</span></p><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153); font-style: italic;">The Away PA provides an "on demand" secretarial and business support service in conjunction with it's online office "Head Office". To find out more about how you can take advantage of a fully supported office, anywhere, any time, visit the <span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);"> </span><a style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);" href="http://www.head-office.net/"><span>Head Office</span></a> website or <a style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);" href="http://www.theawaypa.eu/">The Away PA </a>Website or email <a href="mailto:info.headoffice@theawaypa.eu">info.headoffice@theawaypa.eu</a><br />or telephone 08450 527565.</span></span></p>The Away PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08971254515288203050noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3370962600673021521.post-42675569704592659492009-06-25T05:51:00.005+01:002009-06-30T07:33:12.942+01:00Why collaborate with a Virtual PA?<ul style="font-family: arial;"><li>Collaborating with a Virtual PA brings value to you, your business and your clients.</li><li>Collaborating with a Virtual PA gives you all the benefits of working with a partner without giving up ownership of your business.</li><li>Collaborating with a Virtual PA brings another point of view, another opinion and another mind to the table.</li><li>Collaborating with a Virtual PA allows you to keep an eye on the whole of your business whilst being able to focus on those areas of your business that needs your particular expertise.</li><li>Collaborating with a Virtual PA gives you the freedom to delegate those areas of your business where your particular expertise isn't needed and to just one just individual rather than a host of individuals.</li><li>Collaborating with a Virtual PA expands your personal productivity, giving you more opportunity to grow your business.</li><li>Collaborating with a Virtual PA saves you money - not because working with a VPA is cheaper than hiring an employee (which it is), but principally because a VPA saves you money tackling the work that doesn’t require your expertise, at a cost effective rate.<br /></li><li>Collaborating with a Virtual PA enhances your image with your clients as well as with your business.</li></ul><span style="font-family:arial;">If yours is a small business and your uppermost concern is cost, it might be "penny wise and pound foolish" to ignore the value a Virtual Personal Assistant can bring to your business.</span><br /><br />Author: The Away PA<br /><a href="http://www.theawaypa.eu/services.htm">http://www.theawaypa.eu/services.htm</a><br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153); font-style: italic;">The Away PA provides an "on demand" secretarial and business support service in conjunction with it's online office "Head Office". To find out more about how you can take advantage of a fully supported office, anywhere, any time, visit the <span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);"> </span><a style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);" href="http://www.head-office.net/"><span>Head Office</span></a> website or <a style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);" href="http://www.theawaypa.eu/">The Away PA </a>Website or email <a href="mailto:info.headoffice@theawaypa.eu">info.headoffice@theawaypa.eu</a><br />or telephone 08450 527565.</span></span>The Away PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08971254515288203050noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3370962600673021521.post-9930996734262851232009-06-16T07:07:00.005+01:002009-06-30T07:33:46.327+01:00Ceate Effective Sales PresentationsDo you often need to make sales presentations, but usually don’t have the time to create outstanding sales presentations? Have you considered hiring a Virtual Assistant or freelance PA to help you? A Virtual Assistant can help you prepare your sales presentation and include materials for hand-outs to help you make a good impression with clients and customers.<br /><br />Preparing a good sales presentation complete with a visual aids and hand-outs can take a lot of time.<span> </span>If you are a “solopreneur” running your business on your own, creating a good Powerpoint presentation may be something you simply don’t have the time for - <span></span>sometimes you’re just too swamped to put all your good ideas into action.<span> </span>It is important that a presentation is clear and compelling.<span> </span>With a competent Virtual Assistant, who specialises in Powerpoint presentations, you can have your ideas fleshed out in video or Powerpoint without having to spend precious hours on it.<br /><br />All you need to do is discuss your ideas with your Virtual Assistant, provide the necessary information and let your VA do all the work! Having your Virtual Assistant create a presentation for you means that the presentation will be professionally-done and will be able to convey the message that you want to express. Outstanding presentations can help you build a good image with customers.<span></span><br /><br />Don’t struggle with finding the time to put together an outstanding sales presentation- simply hire a good administrative assistant to take care of the details of presentations, brochures, hand-outs and other sales materials for you!<br /><br />Author: The Away PA<br /><a href="http://www.theawaypa.eu/">http://www.theawaypa.eu</a><br /><br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153); font-style: italic;">The Away PA provides an "on demand" secretarial and business support service in conjunction with it's online office "Head Office". To find out more about how you can take advantage of a fully supported office, anywhere, any time, visit the <span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);"> </span><a style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);" href="http://www.head-office.net/"><span>Head Office</span></a> website or <a style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);" href="http://www.theawaypa.eu/">The Away PA </a>Website or email <a href="mailto:info.headoffice@theawaypa.eu">info.headoffice@theawaypa.eu</a><br />or telephone 08450 527565.</span></span>The Away PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08971254515288203050noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3370962600673021521.post-32058445015440333352009-06-14T09:03:00.008+01:002009-06-30T07:34:14.571+01:00Want to cut operations costs? Then maybe you should think about moving away from Microsoft OfficeBeing a Microsoft Office Trainer, I guess maybe I shouldnt' be advocating a move away from Microsoft Office, but to be honest, busnesses today may need to think who really needs Micrcosoft office and who could benefit just as well with any one of a number of other free offerings in order to reduce costs.<br /><br />For years Office used the menu/toolbar, metaphor that so many of us have grown up using. There's nothing wrong with change per se, but when Microsoft moved to the ribbon metaphor a couple of years ago, they changed the way people interact with the software completely. That meant the new version required companies to train their users to find the things they had previously understood instinctively - at a cost.<br /><br />Even before the release of Office 2007, there were numerous options such as <a href="http://docs.google.com/">Google Docs</a> and <a class="t" href="http://www.zoho.com/" target="_blank">Zoho</a> to name just a couple of online alternatives and <a class="t" href="http://www.openoffice.org/" target="_blank">OpenOffice</a>, the open source office suite. Google has a low-cost enterprise version of Docs available and Zoho is a full-blown, low-cost suite of <a href="http://www.theawaypa.eu/tools.htm">business tools</a>. OpenOffice offers all of the tools you most need in your office suite: word processor, spreadsheet and presentation program, FOR NOTHING!<br /><br />The downside of these tools is you have various degrees of compatibility with Microsoft Office users (and when 80 percent of the market is still using MS Office, that's an important factor), but if you keep it simple without advanced formatting options (such as animations in presentations), exchanging documents between various products works fine most of the time.<br /><br />Let's face it, most users keep it very simple and for them, you could choose one of the free or low-cost alternatives. You don't have to give up Microsoft Office completely, just reduce the number of licenses. You can still have MS Office licenses for users in your accounting department, for example, who absolutely need Excel and its advanced features, but you can move everyone who <a itxtdid="8877354" target="_blank" href="http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry4439.html#" style="border-bottom: 0.2em dotted rgb(43, 101, 176) ! important; font-weight: normal ! important; font-size: 100% ! important; text-decoration: none ! important; padding-bottom: 0px ! important; color: rgb(43, 101, 176) ! important; background-color: transparent ! important; background-image: none; padding-top: 0pt; padding-right: 0pt; padding-left: 0pt;" classname="iAs" class="iAs"></a>really only need, say, simple wordprocessing tasks and an occasional presentation to the alternative.<br /><br />Microsoft Office isn't going anywhere any time soon, but if you're looking for ways to cut your operations costs, it makes a lot of sense to look at moving those employees who don't really need every bell and whistle under the sun to an alternative package, while providing a limited number of of Microsoft Office licenses for those users that absolutely need it. It's a smart approach and it could save your business of money.<br /><br />Author: The Away PA<br /><a href="http://www.theawaypa.eu/">http://www.theawaypa.eu</a><br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153); font-style: italic;">The Away PA provides an "on demand" secretarial and business support service in conjunction with it's online office "Head Office". To find out more about how you can take advantage of a fully supported office, anywhere, any time, visit the <span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);"> </span><a style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);" href="http://www.head-office.net/"><span>Head Office</span></a> website or <a style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);" href="http://www.theawaypa.eu/">The Away PA </a>Website or email <a href="mailto:info.headoffice@theawaypa.eu">info.headoffice@theawaypa.eu</a><br />or telephone 08450 527565.</span></span>The Away PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08971254515288203050noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3370962600673021521.post-42648157834752635372009-06-05T21:42:00.003+01:002009-06-30T07:35:09.946+01:00Intelligent Help on Hand<span style="color: rgb(51, 153, 153);font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-family:arial;">http://www.theawaypa.eu</span></span><script type="text/javascript" src="http://widgets.clearspring.com/o/46928cc51133af17/4a298332b21fbcd7/46928cc5c90da50/49ba0ed7/widget.js"></script><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 153, 153);font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-family:arial;">email: info@theawaypa.eu</span></span><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 153, 153);font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-family:arial;">Tel: 08450 527565<br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><br /></span></span></span><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153); font-style: italic;">The Away PA provides an "on demand" secretarial and business support service in conjunction with it's online office "Head Office". To find out more about how you can take advantage of a fully supported office, anywhere, any time, visit the <span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);"> </span><a style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);" href="http://www.head-office.net/"><span>Head Office</span></a> website or <a style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);" href="http://www.theawaypa.eu/">The Away PA </a>Website or email <a href="mailto:info.headoffice@theawaypa.eu">info.headoffice@theawaypa.eu</a><br />or telephone 08450 527565.</span></span>The Away PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08971254515288203050noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3370962600673021521.post-42040957036949709952009-05-20T07:38:00.003+01:002009-06-30T07:35:46.876+01:00The Perfect PA is Flexible, Hard-Working and Invisible!<div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);font-family:arial;" >As PCs make us all more self-sufficient, few small businesses seem to need the full-time help of a Personal Assistant or administrator. But what happens at those times when there's just too much work, or a special project requires dedicated help? - A virtual PA or remote assistant is what is needed!<br /><br />Virtual PAs can work outside regular office hours, provide fast turn-arounds and when time is short, it's possible to have a whole team of people working on a project. The team at The Away PA offers an impressive and broad range of business skills: database management, internet research, editing and proof-reading, mail merge, general secretarial support, travel planning, and more. We can also assist with multimedia presentations (see our own fun promotional presentation on <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5W-QvToH9Mk" target="_blank">YouTube</a>) , desktop publishing, web page design, and design for print work, and even the development of a full corporate identity.</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);"><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);font-family:arial;" ><br />A virtual PA is especially useful in times of need but it's also possible, of course, to employ one on a regular basis to deal with mundane administrative tasks that might otherwise waste valuable business time. Regular mailings, database management, web maintenance, invoicing - any of the dull, repetitive tasks that eat into workaday productivity can be safely outsourced.<br /><br />To find out more visit: <a style="color: rgb(51, 153, 153);" href="http://www.theawaypa.eu/" target="_blank">http://www.theawaypa.eu</a></span> <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);font-family:arial;" ></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);font-family:arial;" >or email: <a href="mailto:info@theawaypa.eu"><span style="color: rgb(51, 153, 153);">info@theawaypa.eu</span></a></span> <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);font-family:arial;" >or telephone <span style="color: rgb(51, 153, 153);">08450 527565 </span></span><br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153); font-style: italic;">The Away PA provides an "on demand" secretarial and business support service in conjunction with it's online office "Head Office". To find out more about how you can take advantage of a fully supported office, anywhere, any time, visit the <span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);"> </span><a style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);" href="http://www.head-office.net/"><span>Head Office</span></a> website or <a style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);" href="http://www.theawaypa.eu/">The Away PA </a>Website or email <a href="mailto:info.headoffice@theawaypa.eu">info.headoffice@theawaypa.eu</a><br />or telephone 08450 527565.</span></span><br /><div class="zemanta-pixie"><img src="http://img.zemanta.com/pixy.gif?x-id=8e03d121-754f-8eec-b4ab-f89f84765612" class="zemanta-pixie-img" /></div></div>The Away PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08971254515288203050noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3370962600673021521.post-75853993895006924912009-05-12T07:11:00.007+01:002009-06-30T07:36:23.468+01:00Engage a Virtual Assistant / Off Site PA<p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">You probably are a sole trader or an entrepreneur who started a small business sometime back. However, being on top of your game you have been growing consistently and growing fast. A typical problem that arises in such situations is that your focus now gets divided. In the initial stages, due to limited exposure and work, you could handle all the functions single-handedly or in-house. With the business expanding, the non-core functions start sapping away a lot of your time and energy distracting you from expanding your business - which should always be your prime objective.</span></p> <p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">The dilemma that many small and medium businesses face at this point is whether to employ an administrative assistant or secretary. You may not have the financial resources to afford one, especially given that as a full time employee you will have to pay a salary plus taxes, etc., but at the same time, you know that you cannot carry on without <span style="font-style: italic;">some</span> help to deal with your administrative work. In such cases a Virtual Assistant, or off site PA is your best option.</span></p> <p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Virtual assistants are resources that you can exploit online and who can help you with a lot of your routine work. They can be a substitute for an on site personal secretary. Virtual assistants are equipped to handle your appointments, schedule meetings, manage your calendar, sort your emails, filter out spams, send out notices, advertisements, brochures, and deal with general correspondence. In short, they can handle all the less important jobs on your behalf professionally and leave you to take care of the important ones. Imagine the time that you can save with such services and the time and energy you can dedicate to your core business.</span></p> <p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Another excellent advantage with VAs is the payments. You can either hire a VA on a monthly subscription plan or pay for a one-off project by the hour - the key is you only pay for actual time spent, and VAs will utilise specialised software to record this time and can provide detailed time log summaries to support their charges.<br /></span></p> <p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Lastly, VAs are highly professional and organised, who usually have worked for some years at senior level in their career and specialise in providing such services. Reputable and highly rated VAs would have a track record of successful client engagements and good knowledge of their duties. They would also employ the best practices in the business giving you the optimum service. So what are you waiting for? Go look for a VA, and save hours from outsourcing your trivial work!</span></p><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-family: arial;">For more information about VA services, visit: <a href="http://www.theawaypa.eu/">http://www.theawaypa.eu</a> or email: <a href="mailto:info@theawaypa.eu">info@theawaypa.eu</a>, or telephone 08450 527565.<br /></p><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153); font-style: italic;">The Away PA provides an "on demand" secretarial and business support service in conjunction with it's online office "Head Office". To find out more about how you can take advantage of a fully supported office, anywhere, any time, visit the <span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);"> </span><a style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);" href="http://www.head-office.net/"><span>Head Office</span></a> website or <a style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);" href="http://www.theawaypa.eu/">The Away PA </a>Website or email <a href="mailto:info.headoffice@theawaypa.eu">info.headoffice@theawaypa.eu</a><br />or telephone 08450 527565.</span></span></p>The Away PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08971254515288203050noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3370962600673021521.post-6312173893551080332009-05-10T22:36:00.005+01:002009-06-08T00:28:11.611+01:00Why are you doing everything yourself?<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-family:arial;">Owning your own business requires wearing a lot of hats. But it seems that when many people leave their jobs to "go solo", they think they must work completely solo as well. They insist on doing everything themselves - even tasks that perhaps they know they're not really very good at.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">They try in vain to design websites and brochures, write copy or manage mailing lists and personally respond to every call or mailing. Pretty soon, they find themselves running around like the proverbial "headless chicken".</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">What eventually happens is that their love for their work - the reason they started their own business in the first place - drowns in a flood of administrative trivia. Freelance PAs, Virtual Assistants, or self-employed Girl-Fridays - whatever you want to call them - can take care of all that "busy work" for you. What could you delegate?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Try keeping a log of all your activities for the next week or so, then sit down for a thorough review and decide which activities are TRULY ones that only you can do. As for the rest.......</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Here are some examples of what a remote assistant (virtual assistant) could do to help you:</span><br /></span><ul style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);font-family:arial;"><li><span style="font-size:85%;">Respond to customer emails and make follow up calls</span></li><li><span style="font-size:85%;">Schedule business appointments, interviews, travel</span></li><li><span style="font-size:85%;">Keep your book-keeping up to date, reconciling banks statements, paying bills, tracking expenses, etc</span></li><li><span style="font-size:85%;">Internet research</span></li><li><span style="font-size:85%;">Organise seminars / speaking engagements / handle registrations</span></li><li><span style="font-size:85%;">Create sales reports</span></li><li><span style="font-size:85%;">Write blogs and other articles</span></li><li><span style="font-size:85%;">Design powerpoint presentations</span></li><li><span style="font-size:85%;">Personal stuff such as researching holiday destinations, purchasing gifts, organising workmen.</span></li></ul><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-family:arial;">You'll have more free time to focus on marketing and growing your business, developing product ideas and income streams. You'll think much bigger and have much more creative energy. So what are you waiting for?<br /><br />To find out what kind of projects can be completed by a virtual assistant in just one hour, visit: <a href="http://www.theawaypa.eu/one_hour_projects.htm"><span style="color: rgb(51, 153, 153);">http://www.theawaypa.eu/one_hour_projects.htm</span></a><br /></span></span>The Away PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08971254515288203050noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3370962600673021521.post-52884764720853034542009-05-07T11:48:00.005+01:002009-06-16T07:21:30.597+01:00Cloud Computing - IT Modernisation and Lower IT Costs<div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><span class="experts_view"><span style="font-family:arial;">Cloud computing is a great solution for small to mid size companies. Cloud Computing, otherwise known as hosted services, web services, Software as a Service (SaaS) and managed services, allows IT modernisation and scalability, and access to enterprise class systems. There is no better time to look at cloud computing services to save IT costs, enhance business services through technology and gain a market edge.</span></span><a href="http://ezinearticles.com/?Cloud-Computing---IT-Modernization-and-Lower-IT-Costs&id=2293791"><span class="experts_view"><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span></span></a><span class="experts_view"><span style="font-family:arial;"><a href="http://ezinearticles.com/?Cloud-Computing---IT-Modernization-and-Lower-IT-Costs&id=2293791" target="_blank">Read more ...</a></span><br /></span><br /><a href="http://www.head-office.net/">Head Office</a> is a an affordable hosted internet office and is a good substitute for a traditionally networked Microsoft Exchange environment.<br /><br />To find out more about software as a service and the Head Office internet office solution, visit: <a href="http://www.head-office.net/"><span style="color: rgb(51, 153, 153);">http://www.head-office.net</span></a>, or email <a href="mailto:info@head-office.net"><span style="color: rgb(51, 153, 153);">info@head-office.net</span></a> or telephone 08450 527565<br /><br /><div class="zemanta-pixie"><img src="http://img.zemanta.com/pixy.gif?x-id=efe226b6-e299-866e-a2b2-6adb79d8b9b3" class="zemanta-pixie-img" /></div></div>The Away PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08971254515288203050noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3370962600673021521.post-56367431253246779162009-04-28T19:32:00.008+01:002009-06-08T00:32:54.333+01:00How does spam find it's way into your inbox?<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-family:arial;">Having recently been plagued with a swathe of spam, I decided to investigate how and why I was receiving these unwelcome messages.</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />People who send spam - spammers - collect email addresses in different ways. One way is by good old fashioned guesswork. This is more high-tech than it sounds, using specially developed software to generate likely email addresses by putting together known forenames and surnames, often using webmail domains such as @hotmail.co.uk. Another type of software beloved of spammers uses technology similar to that used by search engines. Instead of picking out keywords, it scours the web for email addresses posted in newsgroups and on websites. They may also buy email address lists from other spammers, or from unscrupulous companies that misappropriate personal information users provide online when they sign up for a service. This is illegal in the UK but proving where a spammer obtained an address is nigh-on impossible!</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />Spam often contains offensive material and images and can contribute to online fraud, including phishing scams (where an email that appears to have been sent from the receipient's bank, for instance, asks them to "confirm" their account number or email). <span style="font-weight: bold;">To effectively identify and protect yourself from spam, it is imortant to know why it is sent and what its hallmarks are. </span> Often they try to sell you something fairly improbable and <span style="font-weight: bold;">beware of emails from senders you don't recognise offering things like discounted medication or cheap software!</span></span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />Some spam messages appear to be complete gobbledegook and are often little more than strings of random words that convey no coherent message. This is because <span style="font-weight: bold;">some spam is sent to check if your email address is real </span>and in use. These typically contain a tiny image embedded somewhere in the body of the message that isn't visible to the recipient. The image is stored on the spammer's website and when the message is opened or viewed in the preview pane of an email application, that email application visits the website to retrieve the image. This tells the spammer the message sent to your email address has been viewed and the address is active. This is valuable to the spammer, eithe to use or to sell on to other spammers.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">It is also possible to harvest email addresses from <span style="font-weight: bold;">email chain letters</span>. As well as emails promising luck if you send them to five friends within the hour, there are those promising a free iPod if you forward them to 10 people, as well as those warning of fictitious viruses and improbable personal safety warnings. As the forwarded email addresses become embedded in the email's history, this will provide a bumper crop for the spammer behind it.</span> <span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" ><br /><br />How to spot spam</span></span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />Identifying spam amongst the legitimate emails can be quite difficult because spammers commonly use a technique known as "<span style="font-weight: bold;">spoofing</span>", to retain their anonymity. Spoofing makes it appear that an email has been sent from a completely different email address to the one it has really been sent from. The spammer changes the information attached to the email - called the header - that shows where it originated from, to make it look like the email has been sent by someone else. Sometimes the email address is non-existent, but sometimes the spammer will have guessed at an email address that is actually in use. The first time the real owner of the email address discovers this is when they receive irate messages from strangers demanding that they stop spamming them.</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />Be aware that it's not just the name at the beginning of an email address - the John.Smith bit - that can be spoofed. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Looking for a credible or recognised domain - the bit after the '@' - in the From: line of an email isn't enough to guarantee its authenticity</span>. Spammers are also able to spoof domains, which is why in a phising scam, the fraudster can pose as a company the recipient does business with.</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />There are, however, various <span style="font-weight: bold;">hallmarks of spam emails</span> that can be used collectively to help identify spam. In unsophisticated cases, the email address in the From: field is often a bit of a mess, containing an email address that is often just a random string of letter and numbers folowed by a webmail domain, eg </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >sf3ffwr23w@hotmail.com</span><span style="font-family:arial;">. Also, look out for email addresses that appear to have been sent from different email addresses, but have identical subject lines or ones that make no sense.</span> <span style="font-family:arial;">While the majority of email programs have built-in spam blockers, there will be the odd piece of digital dirt that repeatedly breaches security and makes it into your inbox. In this case, the most effective means of prevention is to block emails arriving from a specific sender or domain. <a href="http://intelligent-help-on-hand.blogspot.com/2009/04/how-to-block-emails-arriving-from.html">See how to do this</a>. </span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><a href="http://intelligent-help-on-hand.blogspot.com/2009/04/how-to-filter-email-and-prevent-junk.html"><br />How to filter your email.</a><br /></span></span>The Away PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08971254515288203050noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3370962600673021521.post-68491073907105552882009-04-28T09:00:00.005+01:002009-04-28T09:21:36.134+01:00The Phenomenon of Twitter<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-family:arial;">When I first noticed the presence of Twitter on the web, it was via an interest I had in a particular blog - the author added "follow me on Twitter", and out of curiosity I clicked on the link, read her profile and the few postings displayed at the time. My immediate thought was "what rubbish, it will never catch on" and immediately forgot all about it!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">BUT.... there are already believed to be around 12 million Twitters at the time of writing, and I am one of them - now an incurable addict!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >So What is Twitter and How Does it Work?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">At its simplest, Twitter allows users to do two things: post short messages about what they are doing, and to read other users' updates. It's easy to set up a Twitter account and it's free. It's best to use your real name so people you know can find you easily. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Accounts can be made private so only friends the user has authorised can see them - this is a great way to collaborate with colleagues on a project and keep in touch in a more immediate way than by, say email. Links can be included to documents and/or project workspaces. You can also choose to go public so you can be found and generate a list of followers you don't know as well as those that you do.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">If you find friends on the service then you can choose to follow them and you will be shown their updates as they happen. When someone decides to follow you, an email is sent to the address you registered to let you know. Users can block people if they don't want them as a follower.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Like most social networking sites, the settings page lets users customise the look of the profile page by changing the background picture or adding a photo.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">For users of Twitter one of the most appealing features is the range of ways updates can be posted and received. Updates can be posted from a mobile phone and Twitter users can sign up to receive updates from people they are following via RSS feeds, social networking sites such as Facebook and various widget applications, such as Twidget.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Despite the musings often being completely insignificant, and sometimes even banal, Twitter has been credited by some as providing an essential tool in breaking news. It is argued that Twitter has allowed journalists to pick up on stories they have have had to wait for on the news wires. The site was credited with being the first to break the news about the plane that crash-landed in the Hudson River in New York, after a passenger on a nearby ferry posted a picture.<br /></span></span>The Away PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08971254515288203050noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3370962600673021521.post-56292808142021547532009-04-20T17:22:00.009+01:002009-06-08T00:42:13.435+01:00Are you guilty of "Death by Powerpoint"?<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);font-family:arial;font-size:6;" ><span style="font-size:100%;">The term "Death by Powerpoint" denotes a presentation that has the effect of killing audience interest, instead of inviting lively curiosity: the presentation induces boredom and drowsiness, and instead of communicating key messages, it may leave the audience decidedly unattentive, and looking forward to the coffee break! Where the presenter hopes for a healthy response to his delivery, in reality, apathy and disinterest prevail in the auditorium.</span></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb9P20YEuYXCTygSwCBNbZcfuyC7bUiIvwE3EGNY8Dh7QqFb7EDG0RI3Oga8XUkGNVY6Ice2BZvXhMuCEHD2ImyR1WcliyA5vPhyphenhyphenfhkaWX9YDgoZS0HxevIwHLgsOe2mkha73Zsh9YAEf8/s1600-h/sleeping+audience.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 132px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb9P20YEuYXCTygSwCBNbZcfuyC7bUiIvwE3EGNY8Dh7QqFb7EDG0RI3Oga8XUkGNVY6Ice2BZvXhMuCEHD2ImyR1WcliyA5vPhyphenhyphenfhkaWX9YDgoZS0HxevIwHLgsOe2mkha73Zsh9YAEf8/s200/sleeping+audience.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5326825830808169378" border="0" /></a><p><!--[if !vml]--></p><!--[endif]--> <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);font-family:arial;font-size:100%;" >Perhaps you have a</span> <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);font-family:arial;" >presentation that's overly busy, filled with complex charts and diagrams, and crammed with lots of bulleted text? It’s sad to say, that this is the state of a great number of today’s presentations, but many people simply don't know how else to present their message.</span><br /></div><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);font-family:arial;font-size:100%;" ><br /><a href="http://www.box.net/shared/u38e58yuid">Read more</a> ....<br /><br />Need help with a presentation? Contact: <a href="mailto:info@theawaypa.eu"><span style="color: rgb(51, 153, 153);">info@theawaypa.eu</span></a> or telephone 08450 527565.<br />Visit us at: <a href="http://www.theawaypa.eu/DTP.htm"><span style="color: rgb(51, 153, 153);">http://www.theawaypa.eu</span></a><br /></span>The Away PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08971254515288203050noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3370962600673021521.post-63284541255982111222009-04-18T12:39:00.003+01:002009-06-08T00:43:58.538+01:00A study into spam has blamed it for the production of more than 33bn kilowatt-hours of energy every year, enough to power more than 2.4m homes.<div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);font-family:arial;" >Did you know, the Carbon Footprint of e-mail Spam report estimated that 62 trillion spam emails are sent globally every year. </span></p> <p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);font-family:arial;" >This amounts to emissions of more than 17 million tons of CO2, the research by climate consultants ICF International and anti-virus firm McAfee found. </span></p> <p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);font-family:arial;" >Searching for legitimate e-mails and deleting spam used some 80% of energy. </span></p> <p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);font-family:arial;" >The study found that the average business user generates 131kg of CO2 every year, of which 22% is related to spam. </span></p> <p> <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);font-family:arial;" ><b>Unwanted traffic</b></span> </p> <p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);font-family:arial;" >ICF say that spam filtering would reduce unwanted spam by 75%, the equivalent to taking 2.3 million cars off the road. </span></p> <p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);font-family:arial;" >However, the ICF goes on to say that while spam filtering is effective in reducing energy waste, fighting it at the source is far better. </span></p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);font-family:arial;" >The Spam Report follows only a few days after Symantec's bi-annual Internet Security Threat report, which found that spam had increased by 192%, with bot networks responsible for approximately 90% of all spam e-mail.</span><p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);font-family:arial;" >The vast majority of spam is sent via botnets. </span><br /></p> <span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 153, 153);">Author: <a href="http://www.theawaypa.eu">The Away PA</a></span></span><br /><br /><div class="zemanta-pixie"><img src="http://img.zemanta.com/pixy.gif?x-id=00718a14-ce2b-8a83-a407-b41eafc81f0d" class="zemanta-pixie-img" /></div></div>The Away PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08971254515288203050noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3370962600673021521.post-30985128752432011132008-12-02T00:51:00.003+00:002009-06-08T00:46:42.754+01:00Are there any steps I can take to recession proof my business now?<strong> </strong> <p style="font-family: arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 102);">There are a number of steps you can take to make sure your business stays healthy during a recession. Make sure you pay particular attention to the following:</p> <p style="font-family: arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 102);"> <strong>Cash is king</strong> </p> <p style="font-family: arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 102);">Manage cash - if you're out of cash and out of credit, you're out o<a itxtdid="7362033" target="_blank" href="http://www.startups.co.uk/6678842909762797609/batten-down-the-hatches.html#" style="border-bottom: 0.075em solid black ! important; font-weight: normal ! important; font-size: 100% ! important; text-decoration: underline ! important; padding-bottom: 1px ! important; background-color: transparent ! important;" classname="iAs" class="iAs"></a>f business. You need a good 13 week cash forecast, generated NOT from the income statement but from a detailed understanding of receipts and disbursements. Monitor trends in your cash flow to keep on top of any sticky situations. </p> <p style="font-family: arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 102);"> <strong>Collect with passion</strong> </p> <p style="font-family: arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 102);">On a related point, manage receivables aggressively. <a itxtdid="7362143" target="_blank" href="http://www.startups.co.uk/6678842909762797609/batten-down-the-hatches.html#" style="border-bottom: 0.075em solid black ! important; font-weight: normal ! important; font-size: 100% ! important; text-decoration: underline ! important; padding-bottom: 1px ! important; background-color: transparent ! important;" classname="iAs" class="iAs"></a>Businesses are holding on to their cash longer than before, resulting in late payments. These late payments are having a ripple effect through the SME community. Receivables will trend up, and some of your customers may become troubled as well. Don't keep extending credit.</p><p><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 153);font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Taken from an extract written by Doug Richard. </span></span><em><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 153);font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Doug Richard is a former Dragons’ Den panelist, entrepreneur, investor and contributor to </span><a style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial;" href="http://www.venturenavigator.co.uk/" rel="nofollow">VentureNavigator</a></span><br /></em> </p> <p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >The Away PA can manage your debtor list. <a href="http://www.theawaypa.eu/BusEnt/Debt.aspx"></a>For more information email <a href="mailto:info@theawaypa.eu">info@theawaypa.eu</a> or telephone 08450 527565</span>.<br /></p>The Away PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08971254515288203050noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3370962600673021521.post-17456795413656255662008-12-02T00:16:00.013+00:002009-03-29T15:10:11.326+01:00Why it's important to take advantage of a Virtual Office when you're a small business<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);font-family:arial;" lang="EN-US">If you find you spend significant time on administration and fielding basic enquiries that add relatively low value to your business, you may find these can easily be outsourced, allowing you to spend more time on developing and implementing sales strategies. It has been my experience that one person start-ups get lost in the administration and there is no-one to drive sales*. This is where a virtual office can be useful. <o:p> </o:p> </span> <p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);font-family:arial;"> <span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:arial;">What you ca</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:arial;">n do is consider the cost and compare to the extra sales you could generate if some of your t</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:arial;">im</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:arial;">e was freed up.</span> <span lang="EN-US"> <o:p> </o:p> </span> </p> <p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);font-family:arial;"> <span lang="EN-US">You are absolut</span><span lang="EN-US">ely right to be considering the option of a virtual office rather than committing to an expensive lease and hiring a full-time resource. Failing to maintain enough flexibility in your cost base during the early stages of your business is a common fatal error. This may prove more expensive in the short-term, but will provide you with </span><span lang="EN-US">valuable flexibility to scale up as your business grows.<o:p></o:p></span> </p> <p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);font-family:arial;"> <span lang="EN-US">The last point to consider is your credibility. In the early days you do need to work on credibility. The appearance of being large, stable dependable </span><span lang="EN-US">is important. An office and help is part of this. I on the whole would probably lean towards a virtual office so you can be free to pursue growth opportunities.</span></p><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102); text-align: left;font-family:arial;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:85%;">Extract taken </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:85%;">from an article written by </span></span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span lang="EN-US"><em>Brad Rosser who is a serial entrepreneur and former right-hand man of</em></span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span lang="EN-US"><em> Richard</em></span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span lang="EN-US"><em> </em></span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span lang="EN-US"><em>Branson</em></span></span></p><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102); text-align: left;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span lang="EN-US"><em style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 153);">*Head Office provides an easy to use, powerful CRM database which can manage and track your sales effort. For more information email:</span> <a href="mailto:info.openoffice@theawaypa.eu">info.headoffice@theawaypa.eu</a> <span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 153);">or telephone 08450 527565 </span></em></span></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUq4LPNTKOYwHJ_mosfQ5GPZgqCE-PqgMDkJWImW4yU9RyfXTCm67fegKyic_b9nUdK5pSQAmcQ4N7T6dyqjE-Wy0UOphVuKasGCCUSWcoIUv2OBZYLIBlDtPjLjFbfKnzlPly2FH2SMK6/s1600-h/HeadOffice+logo-cropped.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 139px; height: 101px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUq4LPNTKOYwHJ_mosfQ5GPZgqCE-PqgMDkJWImW4yU9RyfXTCm67fegKyic_b9nUdK5pSQAmcQ4N7T6dyqjE-Wy0UOphVuKasGCCUSWcoIUv2OBZYLIBlDtPjLjFbfKnzlPly2FH2SMK6/s200/HeadOffice+logo-cropped.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5318610884858546114" border="0" /></a></p><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102); text-align: left;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.bradrosser.com/" rel="nofollow"><em><br /></em></a></span></span></p><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102); text-align: left;font-family:arial;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd3I1IJS-rTfcMbfe8kb7rUCDRS5Em4rbFxOwxEC0SefArXN1kJC6Kea_wNMzterlga7Hq8ZM7yA5G94fpKU2Yig4mofO3_WeKUl1r5u__5qrr0HkSrhT-cB3492JacY-Nisq6xhj_LMhe/s1600-h/OO+Key+LogoFull-cropped.jpg"><br /></a></p><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102); text-align: left; font-family: arial;"><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.bradrosser.com/" rel="nofollow"><em><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span></em></a></span></span></p><p face="arial" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102); text-align: left;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.bradrosser.com/" rel="nofollow"><em><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span><br /></em></a></span></span></p><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.bradrosser.com/" rel="nofollow"><em></em></a></span></span></p>The Away PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08971254515288203050noreply@blogger.com0