We will regularly be posting new videos which cover WordPress, Facebook, Outlook and many other questions that we regularly get asked.  If you have a particular burning need for guidance in something that falls within our realm of expertise, please feel free to add a comment to this post and we’ll endeavour to cover it in future tutorials.

In the meantime press play on the video player below to seer how easy it is to change your Facebook Page tab icons.

Enjoy!

There are so many themes available these days that it can be very difficult to know what to look for and what to steer well clear from. As a rule I choose not work with free themes as I find that their functionality and reliability generally leaves a lot to be desired.

I invest in premium themes from a few reputable providers and am totally enamoured with the Genesis framework, which is why it’s probably no surprise that my five favourite WordPress themes are definitely skewed in Genesis’ direction!

1. Landscape: A stunningly sophisticated theme for photographers to showcase their talent. Give your photos an exceptional home with this first class theme.

2. Associate: A very stylish corporate theme with a strong emphasis on quality imagery on the home page to reel your prospects in and give them a great first impression.

3. Bee Crafty: A gorgeous theme perfectly suited to craft businesses, DIY or even gift shops who want to beautifully present their wares with a lovely photo showcase.

4. Enterprise: Perfect for businesses wanting a corporate look and feel with this streamlined design.

5. Private Lawyer: Don’t be put off by the name – this nice, clean theme would suit any professional business and comes packed full of options.

None of these tickle your fancy? As a bonus, I’ve also included my five favourite WordPress theme providers where you are bound to find something that’s just right for you:

1. Studiopress
2. Woo Themes (If you’re looking for a beautifully designed online store packed full of features you can’t go past Woo for stunning eCommerce themes. They have so many great ones that I couldn’t choose which ones to include in my Top 5 – I love them all! Check out Sliding, Shelflife and Coquette)
3. Natty WP
4. Templatic
5. Press75

I recently decided to join a gym and as I toddled off for my very first session I was more than a little nervous about the whole experience. As this was my first visit I expected to be personally greeted and shown around the facility, shown how to use the equipment and basically made to feel welcome. Did this happen? NO!

I wandered around the club clearly lost and uncomfortable, spent 45 minutes fumbling with the equipment and trying to do something resembling a workout, and then gave up and – feeling completely inept – left and headed to my car.

This is where things got even better. Tucked under the windscreen wiper of my car I discovered a scribbled note that was both abusive and utterly offensive. Apparently, in my nervous state I had managed to enter the car park from the wrong entrance (although on closer inspection afterwards no entry/exit signs, or in fact directional signage of any sort could be found) and this person had taken it upon themselves to scrawl a disgusting note rather than politely approach me and point out the errors of my ways.

So, what do you think, is this any way to treat a paying customer?

I certainly would never treat one of my clients this way, and I would like to think that this is not becoming the norm. With so much competitiveness in the market at the moment, shouldn’t we be looking to attract and retain as many customers as we possibly can?

Basically, it’s internet based computing which means that you have no software to install, infrastructure to maintain and you can have access to your documents, files, emails, calendar etc from wherever you are in the world (provided you have access to the internet, of course).

Chances are you are already working “in the cloud” one way or another (think systems like Hotmail, Flickr and YouTube).

As a solo-entrepreneur I use many cloud computing applications and they make my life so much easier.  There’s something reassuring about knowing that all of your files, data and information is securely stored and you can pick them up and access them wherever you happen to be – not to mention the savings in time and money!  They are particularly useful to the travelling business person because you now don’t have to lug everything around with you – just pick up your laptop and off you go.  Everything can be accessed at the click of a button.

So, here I share with you my top eight cloud computing apps:

1. Google Apps:  Particularly Google Calendar, which I synch with my iPhone (and you could even share it with your VA so she can help keep you on track!) and Google Talk (instant messaging).
2. Dropbox – A fantastic tool for storing all your documents and files online.  You can add it as a folder inside your ‘My Documents’ and it acts like any other network drive – except all the data is also stored/backed up on line.  You can also share any or all of the files with other people.  Hands down my favourite cloud computing app J
3. Toggle – For time tracking.  In my business particularly I need to have the best, most reliable time tracking software and Toggle ticks all the boxes for me.  With downloadable apps that work on Mac, PC and iPhone I can track my time wherever I am.
4. Skype – The cheapest way to make bulk calls.  I particularly love the video calling and screen sharing functions.

5. Xero – I’ve only recently started using Xero to manage my finances and I’m sure I haven’t yet discovered all of the benefits but I’m loving what I’m seeing so far!  Online accounting, online banking and the ability to create and send invoices automatically and get paid on line = love it.
6. Remember the Milk – Think of it as an online ‘to do’ list.  I use it to remind me when bill payments are due, to renew domain names – even birthdays!  With the ability to use it from your phone and to share your tasks it’s definitely a keeper (plus it’s free!)
7. Zoho CRM – a complete customer relationship management system for managing Sales, Marketing, Customer Support, and Inventory activities in a single system. Very easy to use and full of features it allows you to grow your business and have a complete view of your customer interactions.
8. Evernote – Is like an online scrapbook/notepad/post-it-note – Capture all of your thoughts, ideas, and inspirations, into a single place. These could be text notes, webpage clips, PDFs and more (and it’s free!)

What are your favourite cloud computing apps?  Do you have one that you absolutely swear by – if so, we’d love to hear about it!

1. Use a ‘To Do’ list. I always find it so much easier to plan and prioritise my days if I have a list of all my ‘to dos’ in front of me. Whether it be handwritten in a notebook, through Outlook’s task feature or an online system such as Remember The Milk, you will feel so much more organised once you’ve started.
2. Subscribe  by RSS to all your favourite blogs and read through a feed reader (i.e. Google Reader, and Outlook also has an RSS function) instead of physically visiting the site all the time.  Why not start with this blog?!
3. Manage your customer relationships with one of the many CRM systems available – Zoho, Salesforce and Highrise are all great options.
4. Have a dedicated space for your home office. This may not always be possible but you will work best if you can separate your business and home life – and all the noise and interruptions that come with it.
5. Start Now! Don’t procrastinate and put off until tomorrow what you could start today.

Well, those are all the words of wisdom I have for you this week.  I hope you have found something here that you can implement to make your life a little easier.  Stay tuned next week where I will share another five productivity tips, and of course, please feel free to comment if you have any that you would like to contribute.

1. Use a time tracking service to see where your time is going so that you can identify ways of using it better.
   There are many systems available, but my favourites are Toggl and TimeStamp.
2. Automate your social  media as much as possible by scheduling tweets and updates.  Granted, you can’t automate everything, but you can schedule the tweets and updates that you regularly put out.  i.e. you can schedule regular business marketing/promotion updates (of course, ensuring that these aren’t all you’re tweeting!), links to articles and websites that would like to share etc.  There are a few systems available but my favourites are TweetDeck and Sendible.
3. Set up Google Calendar and synch it between all your computers and iPhone so you always know where you are meant to be.  You can also set your VA up with access so they can manage it for you!)
4. Identify your productive hours. What hours of the day do you have the least distractions and are more able to fully focus on work?
5. Recognise if you need help: There may be times when you are on a tight deadline or you cannot physically complete the set task on your own.  Recognise the instances when you need a little extra support, and outsource or delegate when the need arises.

Well, those are all the words of wisdom I have for you this week.  I hope you have found something here that you can implement to make your life a little easier.  Stay tuned next week where I will share another five productivity tips, and of course, please feel free to comment if you have any that you would like to contribute.

Well, there a couple of ways to combat this problem when working with a Virtual Assistant and here I give you a few options to keep better control over the time you spend using a VA so as to avoid any nasty surprises come invoice time:

1. Make sure you know what you want and communicate this clearly to your VA to eliminate any misunderstandings. There’s nothing more time consuming that constantly having to go back-and-forth over a document and make a mountain of amendments because the intent wasn’t understood by all parties.
2. Set a budget and make sure you communicate what this is so that there are no nasty surprises come invoice time. There are a few ways that you can do this:

• Set a time limit for each task: This works well if your tasks are large project-type tasks, however could be hard to manage – not to mention tedious – if you have many small, day-to-day type tasks
• Set a weekly budget: Define how many hours you can afford to spend on your VA each week. Your VA will let you know once you are nearing the budget limit and you then have the choice to scale back the work you give her for the rest of the week, or raise yor budget.
• Set a monthly budget: This works similar to the weekly budget, however if you spend all your budget in the first half of the month, you could find yourself with no support for the last weeks of the month – not exactly an ideal situation!
• Monitor time closely through frequent reporting: Negotiate a reporting timeframe with your VA (whether this be daily, weekly or fortnightly) whereby you are given a report at your nominated frequency on the number of hours used, thus keeping you constantly aware of what you are using and avoiding a shock at the end of the month.

Keep in mind that your VA is a professional business owner and will be more than happy to help you manage your budget the best way that works for you.

1.    Have a dedicated space for your home office
This may not always be possible but you will work best if you can seperate your business and home life – and all the noise and interruptions that come with it.

2.    Position your workspace so that you are not facing the wall, or have your back to the door
Instead, have the wall at your back to give you support and by facing an open area you will increase your positive energy, hence increasing your creativity and productivity.

3.    Check the quality of your air and lighting
If you’re not getting enough natural light and breathing in stale air, you won’t enjoy working in your office no matter how much you love your job.  Consider upgrading your lighting and bring in some pot plants to help purify the air.

4.    Declutter, Declutter, Declutter!
Nothing drains your energy like endless piles of clutter.  Set aside time on a regular basis to give your home office a good tidy out.  Remove everything from your desk, give it a good clean and replace only the things that you absolutely, definitely, must have close to you.  You’ll be surprised how much more energised you will feel after having done this.

5.    Make your office an enjoyable place to be
Let’s face it, you’re going to be spending a lot of time in your home office, so it should be an environment that you enjoy being in.  Surround yourself with your favourite colours and items that make you feel happy, creative and successful.

6.    Don’t forget about the ergonomics
The most important things you can do to set up your office ergonimically are: a) Invest in a decent chair, and make sure you know how to adjust it to suit your body, b) Put the things you use most closest to you to minimise constant reaching and bending, and c) Take regular breaks – get up, stretch and move around.  For more ergonomic tips, check out the Ergonomics in Australia website.

Have you recently been through a home office re-design or setup?  I’d love to hear about your experience and any tips that you make have for further enhancing the creativity and productivity of the home office.  Drop me a line at melissa@mjsvirtual.com.au because I’d love to hear all about it!

It got me thinking… what are the dos and don’ts of business card design? Even in this digital age, almost everybody (that I know of anyway) still has business cards and how they are designed and printed can really affect how the people you hand them to will view you and your business. What message does your business card send?

Do

• Use consistent branding. Colours, logos and fonts should be consistent and reflect your business branding.
• Go for a gloss finish. It looks best, feels best and makes your colours “pop”. You could also consider embossing or foiling, but remember to keep it simple.
• Double check your proofs! Make sure you check that all information is correct, particularly spelling and email/web links.
• Make sure all your business information is included. As an absolute minimum you should include: company name, personal name, address (either physical or postal), phone number (landline, mobile, or both if you prefer), fax number, email address, website address. You could also consider including social media addresses, company tag line, list of services or your photo.

Don’t

• Use fancy fonts that can’t be easily read. Keep it simple, clean and use a font that is easy on the eye.
• Get too caught up in fancy paper sizes; too small and they’ll get easily lost, too big or a strange shape and they won’t fit into standard business card holders (yes, some people do still use them!) and you run the risk of your card getting discarded.
• Forget about the back of the card. Why waste all that valuable space on the back of your card? It’s calling out for you to use it! You could include a list of your services, a special offer or turn it into a loyalty card for your clients!
• DIY. Yes, it may be cheaper and you may think you have the skills to do it, but leave it to the professionals – you’ll end up with a much better quality card and it doesn’t have to break the bank. Do your reseearch and you’ll find that there are many cost effective options available to you.

Do you have any other hints that you would like to share? Or maybe you have a business card supplier that you swear by. Like to share? Drop me a line at melissa@mjsvirtual.com.au because I’d love to hear all about it!

Have you thought about the practices that you could put in place in your office, or place of business, to reduce, reuse and recycle?

If you have then great!  But if not, I have compiled a list of the top 15 ways that you can make a positive contribution to the environment and save a little money along the way!

1. Purchase recycled or environmentally friendly office products;
2. Say NO to plastic bags in favour of reusable bags;
3. Recycle your printer and photocopier toner cartridges;
4. Recycle your old mobile phones (see www.mobilemuster.com.au for a list of drop off points in your area);
5. Use scrap paper for notes instead of throwing it in the bin;
6. Set your printer to print double-sided;
7. Before you hit the ‘print’ button, think about whether you really need a hard copy of the document;
8. Make sure you have access to paper, cardboard and co-mingled recycling services and recycle EVERYTHING possible;
9. Turn off computers and lighting when not in use;
10. Activate sleep mode on your computer to switch off the screen after 10 minutes;
11. Switch off all office equipment when leaving the office at night;
12. If taking your own lunch to work, use resuable plastic containers instead of cling wrap or throwaway plastic bags;
13. Stop using Styrofoam or paper cups for your coffee!  Either make your own coffee, using your own mug, or purchase a travelling mug and take it to your favourite takeaway coffee shop with you;
14. Purchase rechargeable batteries;
15. Use rewritable CDs or, even better, purchase a flashdrive for storing your files.

Now this list is by no means an exhaustive list , but it’s a good place to start!  Do you have any other suggestions for ways that we can reduce, reuse and recycle in the office?  Why not drop me a line at melissa@mjsvirtual.com.au and I’ll be sure to include an update for our readers!