VIDEO BLOG 6: – Typing Tips
(for a FREE FACTSHEET and more tips – please email us here)

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

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Well it’s been another weird but good week and one of the things that made it so was the fact that I was invited back onto the BBC Radio Scotland talk show “MacAulay & Co”, hosted by Fred MacAulay.  This time they wanted me to share some hints and tips about managing your email.

I would say this show is not geared towards business listeners but just the general listener who has the radio switched on at home who enjoys talk shows, getting snippets of information and sometimes participating in a phone-in.

As such I thought about what I was going to say and I had prepped a bit before I went on, about tips I could give to the average listener about their home email.  Some of these tips too can also apply to the business community.  Although I was on air for longer than the last interview, it was still fairly short.

I hope that the general public – and also anyone tuning in to listen here in my blog or You Tube page – will get something out of it.

If you have found it helpful and would like a FREE FACTSHEET containing more hints and tips about email, please email me here.

Watch/Listen here on You Tube

Happy listening!

Marj Beattie
Secretary4hire
Tel: 0141 530 9686
0844 884 2818

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I wasn’t too sure at the time how I came over live on air. I must admit, I do feel very self conscious about public speaking and before and during the interview, the nerves were jangling.  But I’ve been told I did very well, which is great to hear.

I arrived early at the studios and, not having been on that side of the River Clyde before, was really surprised at the size of the place.  It’s huge! Really impressive new building. After being given my pass, I waited in reception, then I was taken through security and upstairs to the studios.  Whilst I waited, I took this photo out of the window.  This is the view from the studios looking onto the SECC Clyde Auditorium – or “Armadillo” as it’s affectionately known in Glasgow – and along the River Clyde towards the city.  Not great quality as it’s from my phone camera and it was a rather grey dreich day outside!

I was then taken into the studio and it was all over far too soon.  Unfortunately the interview was cut short as they had Andrea Corr, of the Irish band The Corrs, being interviewed after me.

I won’t spoil the surprise of what was actually in the interview, save to say that my 2 objectives of raising awareness of the virtual assistant industry as a whole and raising the profile of Secretary4hire were achieved.  And I had fun, even if I didn’t get a shot on the typewriter!

Please feel free to comment.

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The subject matter in the show about typing. The gist of it is, they were doing an item about Edinburgh University now allowing students to use laptops in their exams and day-to-day instead of writing and most people aren’t properly trained to type. The BBC surveyor asked me all sorts of questions over the phone and I mentioned some funnies including the fact that I was “old school” in that when I learned on a manual typewriter with a wooden box over my hands so I couldn’t look at the keys, learned to touch-type slowly that way and when the box was removed, if the teacher caught you looking at your hands, he hit you over the knuckles with a ruler. He wants me to provide some tips to the listeners who aren’t properly trained on how to improve typing skills and share some experiences.

I said I would conduct a quick poll amongst as many VAs and also non-VAs/business owners as I could before the radio show.

The link to the poll is here

Also, if any of you wish to share any tips on how to improve typing skills it would be good to hear yours, as I’m in the middle of compiling my own.  Fill this in in one of the text boxes in the poll please.

Really excited about this as it’s great publicity not only for my business going out to a massive audience but also the VA industry as a whole.

Update as of midday 24 May: They’ve just been back on the phone firming everything up and apparently they have sourced an old manual typewriter and they want me to give a demonstration.  I’ve not even SEEN one of these for 25 years never mind used one!! Maybe it’s like riding a bike. Let’s hope so!

Thanks in advance for completing the survey and don’t forget to tune in to the show tomorrow at 10.30am

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0074hh3

Marj

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There will be a number of prizes to be won, including:-

* Mini “smartbook” netbook from @secretary4hire
* 1 hours coaching worth £300 from @HeatherTowns, author of The Financial Times Guide to Business Networking
* £200 design voucher from @Ces_Loftus of Creatively Minded
* Facebook Fan Page Design from @NikkiPilkington of NikkiPilkington.com
* 2hr Book Critique of manuscript or 3hr Skype guidance to kickstart your book idea from Robert Watson @drdrdr09
* 1 Hours Xero Training from Nicola Wilson @totally4B
* One months call handling from Call Team @CallTeam
* Logo design, web hosting and custom wordpress training from @SallyWalker of Sally Walker Creative Media
* One hours VA assistance from @cloud9va
* £25.00 Amazon Gift Voucher from @intelligentVA
* One hours CapsuleCRM training from HLS Business Solutions
* Spa pamper package from @HuntersHealth
* Eat That Frog and e-Myth revisited books from @SJABradley of Help Ahoy
* Custom WordPress training from WordPressWitch
* Office Stuff/Meyrick Jones Guide to Contingency Planning from @OfficeStuff
* One hours transcription from Burford Secretarial @BurfordVA

with more prizes being added all the time, so check back for updates.

If you are a budding or seasoned VA, one of our clients or someone in business who could benefit from any of these amazing prizes, stay tuned for the details of the competition, coming soon.
www.secretary4hire.co.uk
Tel: 0141 530 9686
Tel2: 0844 884 2818

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I’m now feeling refreshed after my month long holiday to Australia.  It was amazing and such a beautiful country that myself and my hubby are planning to go back again soon.  We have lots of relatives there and it was great to meet some members of the family for the first time and to see the others who have visited our Scottish shores once again. 

As many of you will know, my other passion (apart from Secretary4hire) is my music and my band and I got to indulge in the Aussie music scene quite a bit when we were there, as one of our relatives and her husband also has a band and a choir.  We had loads of fun jamming on the porch as well as the going-away jam session/shindig that was organised for us before we left in the house. Out went the sofas onto the porch and in came the drum kit, amps and PA. A fantastic night was had by all, not least by me, the last to leave at 7am!

Whilst in Australia, a lot of people were very curious about my “job”.  When I told them I was a Virtual Assistant, a lot of them hadn’t a clue what this was.  I explained it in layman’s terms and, as everyone is online, sent them to my website which showed in black and white and also pictures what I was conveying by mouth.  It turns out there’s a thriving VA industry in Australia.  Some of the relatives work in the media and they were extremely interested in the concept of what we do – not least due to the fact that our daytime is their nighttime and vice versa so a client in Australia can send their work to us during their daytime, we wake up here in the UK and complete the work and it’s back with them by the time they reach the office the next morning.

Secretary4hire has one ad-hoc client in Australia at the moment and this system works really well.  I’m going to be using my contacts and knowledge acquired whilst there to point out the attractiveness and benefits to other potential clients.  So if you are a small Aussie business looking for an excellent Virtual Assistant company to assist your business, contact us about the benefits of working with us.

All in all, it was a wonderful experience and we hope the future will include further clients from Down Under benefiting from the fantastic service that Secretary4hire provides.

www.secretary4hire.co.uk
Tel: +44 (0)141 530 9686
Tel2: +44 (0)844 884 2818

Marj Beattie of Secretary4hire has a little lie down with Skippy and family

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The new album/CD is available to download from their Reverbnation store and can also be purchased directly from Atlantic Soul or by contacting us here at Secretary4hire.

Why not have a look and listen to Atlantic Soul’s new album “The Hard Road” in their online shop?  The album is filled with great soul and party music and would make a fantastic stocking filler for Christmas.

The Hard Road – Atlantic Soul

Great stocking filler for Christmas

Price:

Download – Only $16 (equivalent to £10 Sterling) from the shop
CD in case with full colour front, back and inside covers – £11 (includes postage & packing) in the UK

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We are expanding our team of office professionals, focussing on the skill of audio transcription and typing services.

If you are a super fast audio transcriptionist, are the owner of your own virtual assistant or freelance admin/secretarial/VA business, with excellent speed, spelling and grammar, we want to hear from you.

Contact us here or on the “Contact Us” page

Please provide us brief details about yourself and your business – name, age, qualifications, experience, your business website address.

Candidates will then be required to sit a selection of tests to determine suitability to the tasks you will be required to undertake for a variety of clients.

Join the Swiss Army Knives of Business!

www.secretary4hire.co.uk
No calls please – contact via contact form ONLY
NO agencies

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We want you to participate in discussions with us, let us know if there’s anything you would like to see on our site and, most of all, let us know if there’s an administrative service you would like us to help you with that might not be listed on our Services page. Chances are, we will probably do that too!

Thanks for dropping by.

Leave us a comment.

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Read it as a PDF here on this blog or read it online here – “Tweeting Makes Man Seek Vital Medical Aid” in Patrick’s local paper

ThisIsCornwallCoUk_article_080710

Press – call 07854 408142 re Twitter story

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