Business Blog | Lilamitre-arte.com

This week during a coaching session, one of my clients shared her ongoing struggle with managing “breaks” throughout the day. Whenever she felt the need to get up from her desk and stretch her legs, she found herself in the kitchen.

As a result of this habit, she is now 20 pounds heavier, very uncomfortable and extremely unhappy with herself.

Unfortunately this phenomenon is all too common among entrepreneurs who transition from the outside work world to working from home.

Home business presents challenges not normally experienced while working in the corporate or “outside” world and managing breaks is a big one.

When you work outside of the home, a break might be spent by a water cooler, in a lunchroom, or outside on a bench chatting with a co-worker. When you do spend your break in the company lunchroom, you seldom find a fully stocked fridge and cupboards chock full of food at your disposal.

When you work from home, your break locations aren’t quite as extensive and because it’s very unlikely you would spend this time sitting in a bedroom or talking to yourself in the bathroom mirror, the kitchen is the most logical destination.

How you spend your breaks at home requires a little creativity and A LOT of discipline. By giving yourself options, setting limits, and creating healthy habits, it won’t take long for you to re-direct yourself when you find yourself drifting towards the kitchen.

Here are 7 simple options to get you started:

1. Grab your remote telephone, head outside for a lawn chair and call a friend. This not only addresses the “break” issue but also combats the feelings of isolation that often affect home-based business owners. The important thing to remember here is set limits for yourself. Institute a 15-minute break rule and enforce it, otherwise you can lose an entire afternoon.

2. Pick up your mail. Whether the mailbox is at the end of your driveway or just down the street, this is the perfect opportunity for you to stretch your legs and get some fresh air.

3. Play your favorite CD and listen to song that takes your mind completely off your work. Enjoy a cool class of juice or a tasty cup of tea while you immerse yourself in the music. If you’re feeling a little sluggish, pop a lively tune into your boom box and kick up your heels! There’s no better energy boost than a good boogie!

4. Take a walk around the block. Take your puppy with you and light two candles with one flame. Get to know your neighbors, keep your pet healthy, and enjoy the great outdoors.
Read the rest of this entry »

read comments (0)

A virtual assistant is an individual who provides business services to other professionals. They’re considered virtual because they perform their services from a remote location. Communications with their clients take place through telephone, fax, email, and snail mail. As a business owner, you can save time, money, and energy by hiring a virtual assistant. Best of all, you’ll have more time to do what you do best – running a business!

1. You do not need to provide a physical workspace. A virtual assistant works from their own home or office. This is especially convenient if you are running a business from home or if you have limited space at your own office.

2. You do not need to provide costly equipment. Virtual assistants use their own equipment to provide services to you. This can result is tremendous savings especially if the virtual assistant has access to equipment that you don’t already own. Also, you don’t have the worries of dealing with the maintenance and upkeep of office equipment.

3. You save valuable time not performing tasks you don’t have time for or are not able to do. As a business owner, the highest and best use of your time is to work in your business. Delegating important and necessary administrative tasks like web design and maintenance, bookkeeping, writing, shopping cart setup, and other tasks will allow you to spend time developing your business and building relationships with your customers or clients.

4. You do not have to deal with payroll, taxes or benefits. You can hire a virtual assistant as an independent contractor which frees you from spending time dealing with tax filings and compliance issues. You also have the added benefit of hiring them just for the task at hand, paying them at an hourly rate or by the project. This is much more cost efficient than having a full time employee who you might not be able to fully utilize.

5. You can accelerate growth by finally having the time to focus on the most important issues of your business. The administrative tasks related to running a business are overwhelming, even for a one-person business! The best way to grow your business fast is to concentrate your energies working on your business and leaving everything else to your virtual assistant.
Read the rest of this entry »

read comments (0)

In the Internet-driven world of today, contact centers have become a very resourceful facility for businesses around the world. Big companies are readily putting up contact centers to channel their customer care needs. Contact center consultants specialize in providing vendor-neutral information on various aspects of call centers, like call center software, operating equipment and relevant data systems.

Contact center consultants are valuable for setting up both small and big contact centers. They advise the firms on using the right technology, latest practices, and complete evaluation of the available resources. These inputs are very important for companies who want to evaluate and consolidate their present centers, and for those who are just starting out.

Like every organization, people form the core of these centers. Skilled, self-motivated people are what employers are looking for. Contact center consultants develop and improve the employee’s performance and increase the output of the center through agent error reduction, training and development. Counseling desks are regularly set up for stressed-out employees who are then encouraged to give their best.

Experts have realized that there are three factors which are responsible for the success of any contact center. First is people, as mentioned earlier, second is the business processes and third is the technology. All three of them are interrelated and susceptible to change. Contact center consultants thoroughly understand their client’s work environment and needs. They are ready to get involved as soon as the firms decide to improve the performance of their companies.
Read the rest of this entry »

read comments (0)

Online shopping is much easier with the virtual prepaid credit card. These virtual prepaid cards presented to attract a variety of security benefits and the protection of personal data to customers. These cards are primarily Internet-based pre-paid card account. A client can spend on the data card, money realized on the Internet as a standard credit card. The most important characteristic is that they are entitled to standard plastic cards. All transactions can be made via the Internet.

Importance of credit cards online

Many people simply the question of the use of standard credit card for online bill pay. Taking into account the information stolen or misappropriated, can clear the way to show problems with identity theft and fraud. In addition, be the restoration of a map a long process. Buyers of this reaction can buy them as confidential and anonymous. Some card issuers even offer the latest virtual technologies to improve security numbers and airtime card for purchases on the Internet to create more secure.

How does it work?

Prepaid phone cards online than any other card workload, even if the online training account. These accounts are cleared through the Internet and at the same time a minimum purchase of customers using your virtual card as if it is to have maps of normal load.

read comments (0)