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Who’s to say whose time is more important?

I am really fed up with the amount of telemarketers who call, using the predictive dialler method. I mean, telemarketers at the best of times aren’t my favourite callers but when I answer a call only to be left with a dead line and having to wait to find out who called me is a gross disrespect for my time and I don’t like it. I know they might think it’s only a short period of time but it adds up over the days and the weeks and is disruptive. I don’t care if what they are calling about is important and perhaps I might be interested in what they have to offer, but it starts them off on the wrong foot immediately and I usually let them know that. I mean, why should I answer a call and then have to wait for the other person to come to me? I feel it’s rude and a disrespect for my time - and I am a prospective client, aren’t I?  What do you think? KMT

predictive dialler, waste of time, telemarketer

Tags: Business Operations, Technology by Kathie Thomas
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It’s funny the things you adopt in life and say over and over but don’t realise that others might find it catchy and feel it’s a great thing to live by. I’m talking about the subject heading of this post. This has been my motto for most of my life. I’ve written about it and tell it from stages when I’m speaking but until just now never really thought about doing something with this phrase when asked if they could quote me. I had responded to someone via email and the topic was on leadership.

We were discussing how corporations might develop their leadership and I was asked if I thought that leaders are made through training and rules on leadership behaviour or is it something inbuilt? My response was:

My own personal experience is that leaders will find a way and make use of whatever is within reach, or find a way to reach it, to get to where they are going. If corporations make available resources to assist that, then that is a good thing - yes perhaps they do need to target or identify those demonstrating leadership qualities but my guess is that many with those qualities will soon make themselves known anyway - they don’t sit in the back row just watching life, they want to get involved. My motto is ‘I’m a doer, not a viewer’ and have been like that all my life.

For the most part I feel that leaders are born and that they will make use of whatever surrounds them to develop their qualities and abilities. That’s not to say that others can’t learn to be leaders - they can if they hang around the right people and continuously educate themselves through life, but it may just be that they had something inside themselves anyway and they just needed the right word, the right person, the right ‘thing’ to become a catalyst to send them to the front.

Conversely I know people who have been targeted for leadership roles, sent to training, offered promotions and higher pay, but have knocked it all back reverting back to what they feel most comfortable in - a role of following, rather than leading. KMT

what makes a leader?, leadership qualities, follower, ‘doer not a viewer’

Tags: Business Operations by Kathie Thomas
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I was driving to a breakfast this morning not far from home. It’s Saturday and normally I wouldn’t be going out, especially not early in the morning - it’s my day for relaxing at home but this breakfast was special because I was a sponsor for the event.

Sponsorship is often an overlooked opportunity for gaining exposure for your business. Whenever people hear that word they immediately think $$ - lots of it - and dismiss the idea but it really is one worth considering. Not all sponsorships require lots of dollars and some accept payment in kind or in time.

As business operators many of us are well placed to use our skills and abilities to contribute to local events, as well as events online. A recent online convention, the OIVAC had a steering committee (all voluntary) and a list of volunteers from around the world all pulling together for a common cause. On a local level it gives you the opportunity to get in front of local business people and others for a short time - enough for them to notice that you exist.

Today the audience was mainly church members in the older age group, with only a handful of business people, however many sought the opportunity to come and speak with me and all got a copy of my brochure in their packs and my business card as they went out the door at the end of the event. Some wanted to know how I service clients and I was able to give them more detailed information. I also offered a give away - a book called The Business Mom Guide Book and the man who won it knew of of a lady who would benefit from the book. He specifically asked me if I was in the book and I was able to show him the listing at the back with my name as I am one of the contributing authors.

Further I was able to renew old acquaintances with some people I hadn’t seen in a long time and make new acquaintances - particularly with some key people in my community and the local council. Now they know who I am! I wasn’t looking to get business immediately - I was simply looking to get my business name into their minds so that next time they, or someone they know, has a need, my name is what comes to mind for them as the solution.

Whilst many who read this blog might by nature carry out work or services that is virtual by nature, it certainly should not dismiss or shove aside the opportunities that surround us on a local level which gets our face in front of others and for a short time, exposure for our businesses that doesn’t have to cost the earth. So, next time you hear of a community event that is coming up why not look to see if there are sponsorships available, or even offer a helping hand - it will be very much appreciated by the organisers and they will come back to you again and again when seeking support. I know, because today’s event I’ve been sponsoring for the past 3 years! KMT

virtual assistants, VA business, sponsor, sponsorship, exposure, local business

Tags: Networking for Business by Kathie Thomas
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Have you noticed all the different communities available now for bloggers? So many places to list your blog to attract visitors and readers, or dare I say it? Fans. Particularly since I’ve been hanging around LinkedIn I’ve been learning about other places to list my blogs, and to mix and mingle with other bloggers. LinkedIn has a bloggers discussion group and I’ve learnt heaps from them. If you missed my post on Linked in, then please go and read it now.

Going back to the blogging communities, I’m going to list some of them here for you to go and check out!

Blog Catalog – great place to list all your blogs in one place. They have a new discussion forum here and it’s a great place to get to meet other bloggers.

Bumpzee – this has a growing Australian list of bloggers here and I’m still just setting up my profile.

Digg – important to understand what this one is about and that you don’t ‘digg’ your own blogposts as that’s a quick way to get ‘buried’. Now, I’m still learning the terminology and my time has been limited over the past few weeks so I know very little still, but it’s worth going to check it out.

Mybloglog – another place where lots of social bloggers hang out, and travel from one blogger’s profile to another, leaving comments and joining your ‘community’.

Squidoo – love this one and am still exploring. I was going to list all my blogs in the one profile but then decided to categorise them so have 3 ‘lenses’ set up instead. Their list of ‘topics’ seems to be limited though – I’d like to see a bigger choice and perhaps that might happen with time.

I have two other lenses too:

http://www.squidoo.com/faithinworkplace

http://www.squidoo.com/kathiemt/

Stumbled Upon – still working this one out but you can do random visits of blogs and let people know which ones you like and don’t like. There is a toolbar you can install to your browser for use.

This is not an exhaustive list and I’m sure I will find others too, but thought it will help your blogging journey!  KMT

virtual assistant, blogosphere, LinkedIn, blogging, blogger, VA blogs

Tags: Blogging by Kathie Thomas
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If you read my VA Blog you will know that I’ve not been able to get much work done in this past week.  I experienced a computer crash and it took some time to get back on track again.  It wasn’t the reformatting of the hard disk or the reinstalling of the software that was the issue - they’re pretty straightforward and can be done in just a few hours.  It was all the other things, the extras, such as re-setting up usernames and passwords, re-establishing my rules for Outlook, bookmarks for my browser and a number of other things that I didn’t have a backup plan for.  Needless to say, that’s now been changed and it took me over 3 days to finally get back in order.  It also meant spending the weekend tweaking things so I could be ready for work on Monday.

So, do you have a back up plan - not just your data, but for all the extra bits and pieces?  Don’t assume that those things will be backed up with your data, often it’s not.  Why not pop over to read about what I had to do to get back on track again - hopefully it will save you some time! KMT

computer crash, reinstall software, usernames, passwords, bookmarks, back ups

Tags: Business Operations by Kathie Thomas
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