Magic Satchel, Inc. » breaking news

Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose.

Kim — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 03:31:16 +0000

Another CNN piece on the economic crisitunity.

Professionals are realizing the prescribed path of a college degree leading to a lucrative job may no longer exist, as the volatile economy takes a toll on some of the soundest professions, such as banking and law. Almost every day Fortune 500 companies announce more layoffs, leaving remaining workers left to fear they may be next.

Some small businesses owners say launching a new venture in tough times is better than doing nothing.

“It may not be as glamorous or as prestigious as what you had been doing before you lost your job, but it may well save you.”

via Bad economy? Do what you love – CNN.com.

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Telecommuting trumps temping

Kim — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 08:04:31 +0000

I’m still amazed corporations aren’t luring top talent like this in droves- staffing firms can serve a purpose, but focused virtual workers and virtual assistants are infinitely more economical for big and small companies in this economic flux period. And, as the writer below keenly observes, perhaps when the dust settles we’ll all be left with more efficient employment options.

If you haven’t sourced a good Virtual Assistant yet, now is a great time to find someone who truly can service the needs of your business.

It all makes me wonder: As the recession continues, might we see more telecommuters? These are talented, hard-working people flocking to temp agencies. It woudn’t be surprising to see many of them decide to go into business for themselves, and to set up their home offices. Many might turn themselves into freelancers, hiring themselves out for consultants for businesses that have already slashed their payrolls of full-time employees.

And when the recession ends, these workers might decide that they like the life of a work-at-home telecommuter. They might realize that going into a traditional office every weekday is a drag.

I certainly hope so. The more employers who understand the benefits of telecommuting and employees who work from home, the better.

via Chicago Telecommuting Examiner: Temp jobs on the rise. Will we see more telecommuters, too?.

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An efficiency that’s not possible in most physical offices…

Kim — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 02:01:08 +0000

“I had an admin assistant that wasn’t doing a very good job and wasn’t working fast enough,” Lee recalls. “To take on other projects, I needed to find other resources.”

So she started e-mailing out work for the GlobeTask team to do – PowerPoint presentations, online research requests, weekly reports on Web traffic, and a laundry list of various tasks she used to rely on her in-office administrative assistant to perform. She was soon able to offer her employee to someone else in the department and rely on GlobeTask for her daily workflow.

“Pretty much anything that could be done online or via e-mail, I farmed out to them,” Lee recalls. “There’s an efficiency that’s not possible in most physical offices.”

I read so many articles selling the concept of Virtual Assisting as a career path. What stuns me is that more articles don’t focus on the potential benefits for existing business owners who need a VA.

I’ve had the unpleasant experience of working for employers who couldn’t afford the staff they have, and would cut and rehire staff as funds fluctuate. The costs in retaining and retraining staff are high, and I empathize with employers who struggle to make payroll each week. Musical Office Chairs is no fun for anyone, and it kills morale.

A virtual assistant is a better option because not only are they generally more experienced, all you pay for is the work we do for you. Not benefits, not breaks, not staffing bounties. And when business is slow, we can help you pick it up or be waiting when you need us again.

via Firms using “virtual” office assistants worldwide to get the job done

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Virtual Valentine’s Day ‘09

Kim — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 06:30:35 +0000

Your Virtual Assistant is on moderated assisting duty whilst I spend a long weekend celebrating Virtual Valentine’s Day.

I don’t want you to get bored, so please:

Make a baby with anyone via VW;

Stay hype on the stimulus situation and just say no to coffer looting!

Become an expert on Artisinal Ice Cream.

Add some steampunk cred to your desktop with these cool icons!

And bring chapstick.

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Er… Don’t You Guys Have More Pressing Worries?

Kim — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 05:16:09 +0000

From the files of “Really? …Really?” comes this distasteful, dated and pointless initiative. So many things wrong- I’ll just post an excerpt and you can post your own conclusions. May I also add… >facepalm

Earlier this week, the Bank of England held “Dress for Success” day. On that day, they sent out a memo to female employees detailing just how they should dress for success, important now more than ever in These Economic Times, the worst financial crisis Britain’s dealt with since the Depression. WWD obtained a copy of the memo:

“Look professional, not fashionable; be careful with perfume; always wear a heel of some sort — maximum 2 inches; always wear some sort of makeup — even if it’s just lipstick.” Shoes and skirt must be the same color. No-no’s include ankle chains — “professional, but not the one you want to be associated with;” white high heels; overstuffed handbags; an overload of rings, and double-pierced ears.

Female Bank of England Employees Must Wear Makeup and Heels — The Cut: New York Magazine’s Fashion Blog.

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Study: 1 in 4 ‘Net Users 55 or Over

Kim — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 03:46:18 +0000

In my last office gig, I heard time and time again that internet marketing wasn’t worth pursuing because the demographic we served (Boomers) didn’t “get computers.” I suspected that the 50+ crowd was being underestimated technologically, and it turns out they’re gaining ground.

I came across this piece and wanted to share it- it breaks down the numbers of internet users by age. Just under half of users are over the age of 45, with 24% (1 out of 4) of those users over 55. Still think it’s not worth targeting Boomers and beyond?

Generation Xers, Baby Boomers, and even “G.I.” folks dominate their own niches when it comes to the online world, according to a new report from the Pew Internet and American Life Project.

Gen Y (also known as Millennials) make up the largest single group in the Internet-using population—30 percent—and more than half of the adult Internet population is between the ages of 18 and 44. However, Pew notes that surveys taken in 2006 and 2008 indicate that other groups are growing rapidly, with the largest increase in Internet use coming from the 70 to 75-year-old age group.

via Older ‘Net users giving youngsters a run for their money – Ars Technica.

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Google makes the PC obsolete? Really?

Kim — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 21:55:45 +0000

Really. Following on from the superior e-mail service and awesome MS Office killer GDocs, Google is now after your hard drive. Especially for those of us in the virtual service business, this is very, very cool.

The long-rumoured GDrive is expected to be launched this year, according to the technology news website TG Daily, which described it as “the most anticipated Google product so far”. It is seen as a paradigm shift away from Microsoft’s Windows operating system, which runs inside most of the world’s computers, in favour of “cloud computing”, where the processing and storage is done thousands of miles away in remote data centres.

Home and business users are increasingly turning to web-based services, usually free, ranging from email (such as Hotmail and Gmail) and digital photo storage (such as Flickr and Picasa) to more applications for documents and spreadsheets (such as Google Apps). The loss of a laptop or crash of a hard drive does not jeopardise the data because it is regularly saved in “the cloud” and can be accessed via the web from any machine.

The GDrive would follow this logic to its conclusion by shifting the contents of a user’s hard drive to the Google servers. The PC would be a simpler, cheaper device acting as a portal to the web, perhaps via an adaptation of Google’s operating system for mobile phones, Android. Users would think of their computer as software rather than hardware.

via Google plans to make PCs history | Technology | The Observer.

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Use Facebook Wisely: 30 Great Apps

Kim — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 06:45:43 +0000

By now, most tech-savvy marketing strategies include some social media marketing. This cool Mashable post highlights 30 new applications to do more for your business with Facebook.

And none of them involve saving the rainforest through the exchange of virtual plants, thankfully.

Think LinkedIn is the only place for business? Facebook is growing rapidly and it’s becoming a destination for businesses and business professionals alike to establish a presence. Here are over 30 Facebook applications to help promote, network, communicate, collaborate and accomplish more with your business.

via 30+ Apps for Doing Business on Facebook.

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Barack Obama’s Inaugural Address, full transcript

Kim — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 21:31:31 +0000

Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.

via Transcript – Barack Obama’s Inaugural Address – Text – NYTimes.com.

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It’s official!

Kim — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 17:09:05 +0000

Welcome to the White House! We’ve been waiting!

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