January 10, 2012
Posted by Maggie Langley, OfficeHounds Virtual Assistant Services. Posted In : Productivity
January 10, 2012
Posted by Maggie Langley, OfficeHounds Virtual Assistant Services. Posted In : Get organised
September 17, 2011
Business Karma - do good things to support other businesses and good things will come to your business. Please vote for Room92 to win the public vote in a business competition. It's good for your business Karma. Lynn Taylor is a small business. Help make a Social Media Miracle happen. Vote before the 20th September.
Posted by Maggie Langley. Posted In : Social Media
August 26, 2011
 Get a grant of up to £150
towards the cost of annual Networking Planet Membership
You may be eligible for a
match-funded grant of up to £1,000 from Sustainable Routes. Sustainable Routes offers a grant of up to
£1,000 (match funded) to businesses who want to reduce their business travel or
make it greener.
Networking Planet Membership
costs £300 + VAT per year (only £25 + VAT per month).
Am I eligible?
If your business has traded for 2 years with
a turnover above £75,000 and is based in the South East of England - Berkshire,
Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes, Hampshire and Isle of Wight, Kent and
Medway, Oxfordshire, Surrey and Sussex, you will be eligible to apply.
What’s the catch?
Cutting CO2 emissions is not usually top of
the business agenda so Sustainable Routes is helping businesses reduce travel
costs and environmental impact. Show the Sustainable Routes team that Networking
Planet can help reduce your company’s CO2 emissions and you should be able to
claim the grant*. In some cases you might be asked to speak with your local
authority travel team to discuss your staff travel planning needs.
How do I apply?
You can apply online now by filling in a short application form at
www.sustainableroutes.co.uk
and you will immediately receive a Travel Efficiency Plan and Grant Application
Form. The Plan will suggest smarter or
greener travel options. Having reviewed
the options you then apply for the grant.
* Please note that funding is subject
to eligibility
Posted by Maggie Langley. Posted In : Networking Planet
August 19, 2011
1 Make 2 columns on a sheet of paper. 2 Label one column Task Was Essential to do Today. other Could have waited until Tomorrow. 3 Each time you complete a task no matter how small, mark it down in one of the columns. (If it's a particularly large task circle or highlight the mark. Then you can easily identify tasks that required more sustained concentration vs a quick task.) Anytime you complete a task related to an email (can be a reply or an action requested of you in an email), write down the letter 'e' instead of the usual mark.The aim is to count the amount of activities, don't waste time writing any detail.
At the end of your work day see how many tasks and emails you have in the Could have waited until Tomorrow column. Repeat this activity each day until you can eliminate large non-urgent distractions from your work day. Then continue to reduce the amount of smaller Could have waited until Tomorrow column. Work toward only making and answering phone calls and responding to emails at set times. If you complete these tasks during their allocated time slot, you can count it as a Task was Essential to do Today.
The purpose of this activity is to help you identify how much time you are spending on non-essential tasks. The activity itself will make you more aware of how you are spending your time. Getting 'quick' activities like answering emails out of the way is a bad habit. We all have to work hard to fight the email beast.
Posted by Maggie Langley. Posted In : Top Dog Tip
August 19, 2011
1 Once a week, look at your to do list (e.g. Wunderlist), Customer Relationship Management system (e.g. icomplete) or Notes(e.g. Evernote).
2 Identify 5 essential tasks to complete by the end of the week.
3 Do whatever it takes to get those 5 essential tasks done.
That's just one essential task each work day, allowing you plenty of time for distractions.
Top Dog Tip - If you're not a 'plan in advance' kind of worker, there's a good chance, you'll underestimate the time it will take to complete your essential tasks. Don't let this stop you. Simply acknowledge you underestimated the task, make some progress on each of your 5 essential tasks and carry them forward as essential tasks for the next week!
At least at the end of the week instead of disappointedly saying , Oh great, I worked so hard but my task list is still huge, you can cheerfully say, I finished my essential tasks.
I'd love to hear how this works for you. Please stop by my Facebook page Twitter Linkedin profiles or send me a good old fashioned email and let me know if this works for you or suggest your own tips.
Posted by Maggie Langley. Posted In : Top Dog Tip
August 10, 2011
Laptop meltdown - Sugarsync to the rescue! On Sunday, my laptop wouldn't turn on. After a bit of nail biting, swearing and disbelief, I finally accepted it wasn't going to come back to life. Tragic loss. We had become so close. Fortunately, for me, all of my business related files were backed up with Sugarsync. I highly recommend you get Sugarsync. It allows me to easily share folders with my clients. I have had both a laptop PC and Mac. I can work on either computer anytime and access all of my files. If I have a face to face meeting with a client, I can even access my files on my mobile phone or by logging into my Sugarsync account on their computer. If you haven't backed up your files, get Sugarsync! It's free.
Posted by Maggie Langley. Posted In : How To
July 26, 2011
If you run a bricks and mortar business and are interested in Social Media, I suggest that you read Forgotten Foursquare a new blog on the OfficeHounds sister site Social Media Virtual Assistant
Posted by Maggie Langley. Posted In : Social Media
June 24, 2011
If you use Gmail, your search results will be 'personalised' by Google. If you are signed in, your results will really be tailored to reflect what you have previously clicked on. Even when you are not signed into a Google account, your experience will still be personalised based on past search information linked to a cookie in your browser.  I don't think that most users are aware that Google is doing this for them. Is this a good or a bad thing? What do you think?
Posted by Maggie Langley. Posted In : Thoughts
June 17, 2011
This is a quick reminder of the event that I'm running on the 26th June. Jules Serkin or Pressup Group kindly wrote the following Press Release for my event. Please see her handywork below. Get in touch with Jules to find out how she can help you get your business news featured in the local paper.
Social Networking: The Trilogy
#hashtags anyone?
Social media and e-marketing whizz Maggie Langley, founder of Whitstable-based OfficeHounds Virtual Assistant Services, will be giving her best tips for getting the most from the world wide web on Sunday 26th June, 2:30 - 5:30 pm, at the Horsebridge Arts and Community Centre, 11 Horsebridge Road, Whitstable.
The Business Growth Trilogy is a three part approach to growing your business through Social Media for maximum exposure, Email Marketing
for message consistency and CRM (customer & lead relationship management system).
"You don't have to be a computer genius to figure out how to use it to increase traffic to your website,'' says Maggie. ``Social Media is a useful way to make connections and get exposure for your business. Some people just jump in and start using it without knowing its real power for business.``My course covers everything from Twitter - learning how to search for and connect with your target market using #hashtags - to email marketing for consistent communication."
One marketing tool allows users to add 2000 subscribers to their mailing list and send 12,000 emails per month free of charge. Lessons in CRM help to manage calendars, tasks, contacts and important emails and documents relating to contacts all in one place.
Posted by Maggie Langley. Posted In : OfficeHounds Offer
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About Me
| Maggie Langley |
| Founder | Virtual Assistant, Officehounds |
American ex-pat living in England with hubby & hounds. Love helping businesses to get organised and offload those time consuming tasks that my Virtual Assistants do efficiently.
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