Magic Satchel, Inc. » enviable innovations

Twitter + Overstock= Social Media Win

Kim — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 14:47:22 +0000

Watching companies having to interact with customers and potential customers or run the risk of being internet hated-on has been interesting. Sites like Consumerist make it so one bad interaction with the public can be forever etched into Google Search Results.

One of my favorite things is when companies are really nice without having to be. I started following Overstock.com’s twitter feed because I like shopping and secret deals, and I got a DM from them. Confession: I almost never read DMs because they’re all generally copy-pasted. I don’t mind them or hate them or what have you, I just ignore them. This one caught my eye.

Thanks for following us! Best of luck with Magic Satchel!

Okay, that might not seem like a big deal. But in that short sentence, Overstock communicated to me that they’d taken the time to check out my Twitter feed, and crafted a personal reply.

Have I ever bought anything from Overstock? Not yet. Will I now? Like, as soon as possible.

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Virtual Assistants: Everything but the coffee

Kim — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 04:12:53 +0000

And with a VA, you’ll have more time to nip out to Starbucks. This article, via the Examiner, goes through some more basics of finding and using a VA.

My favorite points from the article, quoted below, address the versatility of a Virtual Assistant versus having on-site staff.

I will admit that previously visions of Sci-Fi men and women danced through my head at such a statement only months previously. So how does it work? A virtual assistant is more than just outsourced administrative help. Many assistants offer services to include; hiring, recruiting and marketing. What this means for a sole proprietor or small business is the opportunity to outsource your entire human resource or marketing department in a cost-effective manner. This person acts as an independent contractor thus avoiding payroll costs. Additionally, most virtual assistants will let you know ahead of time how much a project will cost and work with you to stay within budget. In difficult economic times, predictable expenditures and the ability to offload non-revenue producing activities is not just necessary-it’s critical for survival.

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Inspiration, Incoming

Kim — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 06:42:42 +0000

Virtual assistants, virtual workers, home office pioneers- your space is really your space, and these are some inspirational home-work spaces. Check it out!

WebWorkerDaily » Archive 5 Inspirational Workspaces «.

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Taking your ops virtual: now’s the time

Kim — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 04:43:15 +0000

It’s a scary time right now for everyone- starter-uppers, employees, employers. But another great article on using the current economic climate as a springboard for your dream career comes via Smarterware.org- an interesting case for making the leap now.

Leaving your full-time job in the midst of a recession is either a really stupid or really smart decision. Since I just made the move myself, I’m going to make the case for smart.

If you can swing it, a recession is an ideal time to stop being an employee and start doing your own thing. Your plans to go freelance, start your own business, or take a sabbatical shouldn’t be on hold right now because of the economy. While the fear mongers might be saying you should be grateful just to have a job at all, I challenge you to expand your vision.

Now’s a fine time to take a risk because there’s just not much to lose.

via Why Now’s a Great Time to Stop Being an Employee (If You Can*) | Smarterware.

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Welcome to the age of Gigonomics

Kim — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 08:14:43 +0000

Interesting piece on Web Worker Daily on how smart talent is adapting hard and fast to the changing economy and career trajectory they inevitably face. This post dubs the phenomenon “Giganomics.”

Most of the web workers I know tend to be college educated people with reasonably good incomes, and I suspect that most of the people described in the group above are web workers. Many web workers, and I include myself in this group, would never have become freelancers or otherwise left traditional jobs to telecommute from home without the rise of ubiquitous online technology. Fifteen years ago, many of the careers that web workers now enjoy didn’t even exist or would not have been possible given the technology available prior to the early to mid-1990s. While some early versions of the technologies we now take for granted existed back then, the adoption was still very low. Many companies weren’t online at all, and email was used by some people, but not everyone.

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Everyone, pack it in with the business cards- Lego wins

Kim — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 06:24:06 +0000

I just got my new business cards from Moo this week, and I was very happy. They are all black, made of lovely partially matte paper, and alternate colorful backgrounds you might find draped in fine coated cotton across provencal-style farmhouse kitchen tables in the visual merchandising at Anthropologie. They come with sleek little deck of cards holders that coordinate with your card color. The printing was gorgeous, the logo crisp, the modern fonts clean and bright in white against the rich black background. These were the cooooolest business cards I’ve ever seen!

But no. Enough of my life is not consumed by Lego as it is, Lego had to go and totally steal my hot new business card thunder by trumpeting the coolest business cards of all time. And what’s worse, they are.

Getting under my bare feet every time I step away from the computer is one thing, Lego, but now you’ve gone too far. In fact, due to you, I have a new tag- “enviable innovations.”

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