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Who looks after your computer when it breaks down?
Who do you speak to when needing financial advice?
Who advises you about particular software to use, or where to get your printing done?

It is good to build a support network for your business as quickly as possible. This can be achieved by joining local business networks that are already in operation. In this way you get to meet other business owner/operators and find out who they rely on for stationery, printing, computer support, telecommunications, software and so on. Knowing that you have a ready group of suppliers means you can establish accounts to operate your business without necessarily having to pay out immediately upon needing something. Don’t forget that many of the supplies you use to operate your business could be charged to your clients as a reimbursable expense. This is particularly in the case of printing, stationery, postage and similar other items.

Where will you find these support networks? Try some of the following:

• Business Network International (BNI)
• Leads Club
• Local Chamber of Commerce
• Rotary
• Business Referral Groups
• Local council or country business groups
• Check your Yellow Pages for other membership based groups

Developing a support network around you as you develop your business will help bring in the expertise you need without having to engage employees to fulfil those roles that aren’t required on a fulltime or regular basis.

Tags: Networking by Kathie Thomas
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Blogging for business and personal reasons has now become very popular and I’ve read recently that there are tens of thousands of new blogs starting up each day. Why do people blog? Can be for any number of reasons:

• You may have a topic you are passionate about, whether business related, hobby-related, personal or whatever. Some use it for family news, and others as a diary for their wedding plans. Still others use it as a travel log for all their family and friends to keep informed.
• You may be a writer looking for an outlet (like me!)
• You can get a domain name pointed to your blog so could effectively use a blog for your own business website, many do.
• It’s a cost effective way to start your very own first website and you can then move onto something else once you have more understanding/confidence in how you want to develop it.
• Blogs have communities and a ready-made audience of people who are happy to view your blog and make comment, give advice, etc.

What are the benefits of having a blog?

• Blogs are hosted free of charge.
• Blogs have their own software so you do not have to know html coding.
• Because they have their own software you don’t have to have it saved on your site, so can literally log in anywhere around the world and update your site.
• A new blog literally takes 5-10 minutes to get started.
• You can use FTP so the blog can be hosted on your own webspace.
• There are hundreds, perhaps thousands, of free blogskins if you’re prepared to spend a little time learning about how to tweak things in html. Some are very easy to use, others a little more complicated.
• Blogs can be managed by more than one person in different locations – you just add them as members of your blog.
• Blogs are meant to be updated regularly and you can post a new article to your site just by sending an email – often websites are allowed to grow stale whereas the nature of blogs allow for regular content to be added in the form of articles or short notes without the need for a webmaster to do it for you.
• Many people have had books published because of their blogs.

Blogger has a chat community through Google, Wordpress has its own support forum and possibly the other blogging programs have too. But what if you want to do comparisons on the different programs, work out what’s best for you or find out some general information? Where do you go? I did a search at yahoogroups but found most discussion groups were either related to a particular blogging topic, or they weren’t very active, or had been taken over by spammers. So I have set up a discussion forum specifically for learning about, and advancing knowledge of blogging. If you’re interested, feel free to join us. Learn to blog http://groups.yahoo.com/group/blogginglearners/

So, what’s stopping you now from starting your own blog? KMT

Technorati tags: learn to blog, blogging

Tags: About Blogging by Kathie Thomas
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Recently one of the ACS team asked members on our chat forum about online facilities that would allow training via the internet to take place. She had an overseas client who needed training in the database program she was using for them and she was looking for something where the client could see what she was seeing on her computer at the same time. Sound like something of the future? Not at all! It can be done today and that’s what makes this industry so exciting – the possibilities continue to develop and opens new doors with the technologies that are available to us. But why don’t I let Tracey tell her own story? Click here for the full details.

If you are in an industry where access to the web plays a part in what you do, then it stands to reason that there is probably a chat forum or two where you can ask for advice, learn from peers and share what you know with others. It’s a great way to develop your knowledge and keep up to date with what’s happening out there, outside of your current working environment. Yahoogroups is just one of those communities but there are others too, such as Google Groups and more. My first introduction to the web early 1996 was through a community with Compuserve.

Many of these allow you to receive the chats via email so you can respond to the queries or discussions as they are happening. Some people don’t like receiving heaps of email though, so you can choose to go ‘nomail’ and log in at the website instead to view what’s been happening. Some forums have chosen to use php based programs and developed forums where you can only log in to participate – I belong to a couple like this but find I participate less because I much prefer the email method – for me it’s a case of ‘out of sight, out of mind’.

Wikipedia describes the online communities like this:

A virtual community is a group of people communicating or interacting with each other by means of information technologies, typically the Internet, rather than in person. Virtual communities are also known as online communities or computer-mediated communities (CMC).

This article is also posted at my VA Blog.

online communities, discussion forums, online training, new technologies, virtual assistants, VAs

Tags: Forums by Kathie Thomas
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If you’re a woman in business in Australia, then you need to know about Networking Women magazine. This new magazine was launched October 2005 (it was on my birthday and I’d elected to take the day off so spent it in town at business events and a launch that day!) and I was on the guest list to attend. Met some really interesting women and it was obvious that networking is not dead, but very much alive!

The second issue of this new magzine arrived in today’s post and has articles that will appeal to women in Australia in all walks of life – young and old, corporate and home, from both the city and rural areas. Each article is inspiring and tells the story of how each business began, speaks of dreams coming to fruition, of battles and struggles, and successes and future plans. Definitely worth reading. KMT

networking women, women in business, rural community, women’s magazine, business women

Tags: Networking, Women in Business by Kathie Thomas
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