This content from: Duct Tape Marketing

Is the Online Business Manager a VA on Steroids?

Marketing podcast with Tina Forsyth (Click to listen, right click and Save As to download - subscribe now via iTunes

For this episode of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast I visited with Tina Forsyth, author of Becoming an Online Business Manager: Playing a Bigger Role with your Clients (and Yourself) Forsyth wrote her book to help train, initially VAs, in more advanced roles of helping business owners “run” the business.

Here’s her official definition of the Online Business Manager: A virtually based support professional who manages online based businesses, including the day-to-day management of projects, operations, team members and metrics.

However she likes to look at the role from a bit of a different angle - what is the purpose of an Online Business Manager beyond ‘what they do’?

The role of the OBM boils down to one simple thing: To free up the business owner so that they can focus their time and energy on the things that only THEY can do in their business.

What she found after writing her book was that yes, lots of VAs and marketing assistants wanted this information, but lots of business owners started to contact her as well to learn where they could get an OBM. Recently she started training would be OBMs in a 16 week certification program.

For the business or individual stuck with too much to do and no way to manage it - the OBM might prove to be a solid answer.

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This content from: Duct Tape Marketing

Is Our Work a Product of Our Environment?

Marketing podcast with Scott Belsky (Click to listen, right click and Save As to download - subscribe now via iTunes

For this week’s episode of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast I visited with Scott Belsky, founder of Behance, a company that develops products and services that boost productivity in the Creative Professional Community. Scott’s first project was the creation of the wildly successful Behance Network, the leading place for creatives to hang out and learn more about enhancing their business.

We spent most of time talking about the impact that our work space has on our ability to create and be productive. The idea for this show originated from some time that Scott and I spent attending a meeting at a very creative workspace in New York City called Meet at the Apartment. Meet at the Apartment is a study in the impact seating, lighting, color and placement can have on one’s ability to think creatively vs. work efficiently.

Scott shares some research that suggests the need for businesses to consider creating different environments for different kind of work. There was a day when companies created cubes for admin workers and the creatives got the fuseball table. Turns out that cubes are not such a bad environment when you need to slam something out, but a space with high ceilings and lively images on the walls is important when big strategic thinking is required.

I know that I am much more productive when my office and desk are uncluttered and neat. I’m more creative with Motzart but crank paperwork with James McMurtry on the stereo. I often take a field trip to a public library branch when I get stuck.

The world of office design is dominated by interior designers more schooled in the visual aspects of office space, but my feeling is there is an opportunity for the growth of more off site spaces like Meet at the Apartment as well as space design that’s all about the different kinds of work we need to do.

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This content from: Duct Tape Marketing

USA Today’s Ask an Expert Steve Strauss on Duct Tape Markting

Marketing podcast with Steve Strauss (Click to listen, right click and Save As to download - subscribe now via iTunes)

Small business owners have lots of questions, particularly it seems, as business gets harder to come by during lean times. So, for this episode of the Duct Tape Marketing podcast I thought I would go to someone who spends a lot of time answers small business owner’s questions - none other than USAToday’s Ask an Expert Steve Strauss.

Steven is one of the country’s leading small business expert. An internationally recognized lawyer, columnist, and speaker, Steve is also an author of 15 books. Steve’s business column, Ask an Expert, appears weekly at USATODAY.com

I asked Steve a lot of questions including:

• How he chooses questions to answer for his column
• Is this a good time to start a business?
• Best ways to approach starting a business?
• What “shoe string” ideas should you be using?
• What’s the value of social media for small business?
• What is the best use of time and effort for your small business?

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