Book Review: Bootstrap Marketing by Mike Morrison

Apr 9, 2012 by Helen

I sat and read this book in one session, I was enjoying it so much I didn't want to put it down! But it's a business book I hear you cry, yes, but it's a business book written for the small business owner in a small business owners language. Everything about this book fits into what I have been trying to do and share since I started my business. Mike talks about collaboration, about sharing knowledge, and does it without sounding like a guru or one of those 'expert' books that make you feel you're doing everything wrong and can only succeed by sending the author money for their fantastic programme. Read More ... read more

Generating Business from your CRM

Apr 4, 2012 by Helen

I was recently asked to talk to a local WiRE group about CRM Systems, and how to generate business from them. It's quite hard to do CRM justice in just a short presentation. It normally takes me an hour's webinar just to introduce the features of Capsule to viewers. However, I managed to compile a short presentation which I have turned into a video. I will be running a new series of Capsule webinars in the near future, covering both an introduction to Capsule and a more detailed on on the new Social Media integration, MailChimp integration and Data Tags. Do let me know if you would like to be added to the mailing list for any of these events by using the form on my contact page. Read More ... read more

This week I will have hit 50,000 tweets

Mar 30, 2012 by Helen

That's no mean feat in just under three years on Twitter, although I confess, I pretty much ignored it for the first six months. I am often asked - how? It seems simple enough to me but I guess that it's not as clear to people who still don't quite get the power of Twitter. Quite simply I love Twitter. And Twitter obviously loves me as over 90% of my business can be traced back to Twitter; I even wrote a book on 'How to get started on Twitter and generate business'. I received a phone call this week from one of my followers who wanted to pick my brain on Twitter. He has a client he wants to become more active on there and wanted to know how I thought it could work for them. So, in honour of my 50,000th tweet (it could well have already been posted by the time you read this) here are my top ten tips on Twitter for business. Read More ... read more

What are allowable expenses for employed and self-employed people and what can be claimed against tax?

Mar 28, 2012 by Helen

Guest Post by Steve Knowles The rules for claiming expenses are complicated and vary according to whether you are self-employed or an employee.  Here is a brief guide to what constitutes an expense in Read More ... read more

Virtual Assistants run their own business so we do understand yours

Mar 14, 2012 by Helen

I recently hosted a twitter meet up for fellow Virtual Assistants on Twitter using a fab new tool I have been introduced to called Twebevent, it allows you to schedule a meeting, and to then follow the Read More ... read more

Do you really need that fax machine?

Mar 14, 2012 by Helen

I called at the vets today for some cat food and overheard the receptionist advise another customer that the card machine had to wait until the fax had finished receiving. It was a problem that they had. Of course, having my Virtual head on all the time, when it came to my turn I asked her if she had ever heard of fax to email and she hadn't. It made me realise that a lot of my readers might not have heard of it either Read More ... read more