Hire a Virtual Assistant

It will save you time.
"Ultimately, time is the most valuable, nonrenewable resource that we have," Tim Ferriss

clipped from ap.google.com Web sites allow users to outsource virtual errands Most people are hesitant to consider having a personal assistant because they don't think they can afford it, Forker said. But she and others argue that tedious tasks and inconveniences can be eliminated for the same cost as cable TV. Ferriss, who works for a pharmaceutical company, estimates that the services are affordable to anyone who makes more than $30,000 a year. For someone who makes a salary of $30,000 a year, a day of their time would be valued at more than $100 — making outsourcing well worth the investment, according to Ferriss. "It's like having a three-day weekend every week, for the rest of your life," said Ferriss. "The payoff in terms of breathing room to focus on the things you want to do is incredible. according to research firm Evalueserve, which estimated revenue from such sites last year at $250 million and anticipated it would grow to $2 billion by 2015.

Second Life and the Government

I think every effort should be made to allow military members stay in touch with family and friends.

clipped from www.iava.org In an effort to reach out to a web 2.0 world, the VA Health Administration has opened up a branch office in Second Life. While I still find the whole thing creepy and weird, I think that the effort to reach out in new and innovative ways is the important point to take from this.  The VA is genuinely making an effort to improve its outreach and support to the growing and younger veteran’s population.

Second Life used by Studio Wikitecture

It is fascinating to watch the creative uses for technology.

clipped from jonbrouchoud.wordpress.com Wikitecture Wins International Competition: 3D-Wiki Used to Compose an Open-Source Entry Out of 566 registered entries from 57 countries, Studio Wikitecture won the overall ‘Founder’s Award’ <http://www.openarchitecturenetwork.org/challenge> for their open-source entry to a competition hosted by Architecture for Humanity on the Open Architecture Network. <http://www.openarchitecturenetwork.org/> In keeping with the collaborative spirit of the Open Architecture Network, their entry <http://www.openarchitecturenetwork.org/node/1434> for a tele-medicine facility in Western Nepal was chosen “for embracing a truly collaborative way of working using online crowdsourcing and Second Life as a way to create a highly participatory design approach.” instead of tracking text documents in a linear history as you see in Wikipedia, the ‘Wiki-Tree’ tracked versions of 3-dimensional models and saved them within a continually evolving 3-dimensional digital tree ‘canopy’.

Client Accountability

because we care

clipped from adayva.blogspot.com Tough Love & Accountability, or Four Golden Rules for working with your Virtual Assistant Golden Rule #1 ~ Pay Your Bill This is a matter of ethics, of respect, and of honor for the value brought to you and your business. Golden Rule #2 ~ Respect Procedures If you do not have time to follow the rules, this does not bode well for the partnership. Golden Rule #3 ~ You are a Client, not an Employer If you need someone solely dedicated to you and on call or under supervision, you probably need an employee. Golden Rule #4 ~ Communication, Communication, Communication Clients must be active collaborators and communicators.

Confidence levels & business success

Thank you Becki Noles for this boost of confidence post.

clipped from www.virtualassistantrevolution.com How Self-Esteem Impacts Our Confidence Levels Abraham Lincoln is a fine example of a man who believed in himself. He lost every election until he went to the Senate and stood for the post of the President. He did not allow his failures in professional and personal life to erode his self-belief. Had he done so, the history of the US would have been different. Nothing will change in your business life until you have self-respect, and the self-belief that you are as good as others. You must realize that you are not the only one who has strong and weak points; others too suffer from the same defects. The only difference is that the others project their strong points whereas you may project your weak points. All that you need to do is refocus your priorities. If you do this, you will find the elusive self-confidence.

Open Innovation

clipped from www.businessweek.com McKinsey's new article on open innovation I just read the McKinsey Quarterly’s just-published article, “What’s New in Open Innovation?” — it’s available online. Most of the article features an overview of what’s been going on in terms of businesses co-creating with customers and consumers. You know, “user-generated content” or “crowd-sourcing.” Sure, it includes some stale news, such as what’s been going on in Second Life. That this example seems so out-of-date a year after the media (BW included, of course) heralded it shows you how quickly what’s hot online, in terms of communities, can fade. Nuggets include the suggestion for establishing clear rules, such as making sure it’s evident who owns what in terms of a co-creation’s IP, and clear roles, in terms of asking certain groups to co-create a specific aspect of a product or service, rather than encouraging a chaotic free-for-all

Business presence in Virtual Worlds

It appears to me virtual world inhabitants expect everything to be free. I have yet to see profit from direct sales as a result of a business' existence in a virtual world.

clipped from www.clickz.com Advertising in the New New Media, Part 1 This hype brings to mind the old dot-com days when people tossed around lines like: "Well, we're on the cutting edge and you have to expect a lot of failures." Reading about the Virtual Worlds Conference and thinking about the utter confusion on the faces of many clients these days, it's time to determine the leading-edge approaches worth pursuing and what's pure hype. The 3-D social spaces promise to enable brands to engage customers by providing a place to hang out, to hold online product demonstrations, even to try out virtual products. Sounds cool, right? Yeah, in theory. An ongoing presence in a 24/7 virtual world, such as Second Life, requires time, money, and human resources. Plus, many folks don't take kindly to commercial invaders. And some may object to unsavory content. Finally, these sites tend to have a high churn rate, with a relatively small number of users making up the majority of the visits.

Best use of technology award

The key question that seems to go unanswered is: Is NBH making a profit or even just earning revenue from its presence in Second Life?

clipped from www.pressdispensary.co.uk New Business Horizons Wins ‘Best Use of Technology’ Award Founder and chief executive Alan Haymes explains the business model: “The cost of opening an office in Second Life – from acquiring the land to building the premises – can easily top £50,000: money that’s difficult to recoup quickly. Blue Horizon, on the other hand, can have businesses up and running within a few days for as little as £3,000 a year, with the shared benefits of a fully manned reception, conference facilities and even a nightclub. ” During its first year of operation, the park has attracted the Californian legal firm Plachta, the charity Macmillans Cancer Support and the rock band Oasis, among many others, and has hosted the launches of a ‘real world’ best selling book, ‘The Rules of the Game’ and the 2007 Oasis DVD, ‘Lord Don’t Slow Me Down’.

Glasgow Caledonian University & Second Life

Masters program for International Film Business

clipped from www.metro.co.uk Second Life for city university Glasgow Caledonian University is developing a digital alternative to real world learning through website Second Life. Ferdinand Francino, project manager, said the move will also make education more accessible. He added: 'Students won't have to travel, they'll have access to tutors and they will have all the materials they need.' The first phase of the project will deliver the university's forthcoming masters course in International Film Business.

Second Life & Education

This is an opportunity to share your expertise.

clipped from www.teach42.com Teach42 Education and Technology by Steve Dembo What’s the point of Second Life? I had a short conversation with our district technology director yesterday and Second Life came up. I was telling him how streaming video would be projected in SL and how cool it was … He cut me off when I was trying to explain how I thought it would be interesting to some of our teachers to see what SL was like. He asked me: What is the point of using SL? Can you please provide me with some talking points to help me in the future with “what is the point of using SL”. To be honest, I’m not certain that SL is the ideal platform for education, but I do think it’s the best we have right now and well worth exploring so we’re prepared to leverage it as well as future virtual environments. It provides a platform for live social networking, which is becoming an increasingly important skill in the business world. So in your expert opinion, what is the point of using Second Life in education?

Classes in Second Life for Educators

Some of the topics include
"working with at class in Second LIfe" by Bryan Carter (Bryan Mnemonic)

"Setting up an educational presence in Second Life" by Rhonda Trueman (Abbey Zenith)

clipped from infoisland.org University of Illinois and Alliance Library System offer courses for librarians and educators on virtual worlds The University of Illinois Graduate School of Library and Information Science and Alliance Library System are offering non-credit courses for librarians and Educators interested in virtual worlds. Here are the courses to be offered in July and August. For more information on the courses, dates, and to register, check the website at http://www.lis.uiuc.edu/programs/cpd/VW/edpres.html

Louisiana State University

from The Daily Reveille

clipped from media.www.lsureveille.com University establishes virtual presence in Second Life The University is interested in virtual worlds, said Stephen Beck, director of the Center for Computation and Technology Lab for Creative Arts & Technology and the head of the CCT's Cultural Computing focus area. The buildings were designed by Paulo Perkins, architecture senior, and David Hebert, University alumnus. Both students were architecture undergraduates when they developed and built the virtual campus. "Stephen Beck approached us and asked if we wanted to design it," Perkins said. "It took 80 days to build everything." "Not a lot is going on right now," Beck said. "Content is one of the things we don't have." clipped from media.www.lsureveille.com Universities such as Harvard, Stanford and New York University have a highly developed virtual presence and are capable of conducting lectures.

3D Modeling by Google

Can you upload your designs into virtual worlds?

clipped from sketchup.google.com Google SketchUp is 3D for everyone Google SketchUp is software that you can use to create, modify and share 3D models. It's easier to learn than other 3D modeling programs, which is why so many people are already using it. We designed SketchUp's simplified toolset, guided drawing system and clean look-and-feel to help you concentrate on two things: getting your work done as efficiently as possible, and having fun while you're doing it. SketchUp for Education 3D for students, educators and educational institutions. » Learn more about SketchUp for Education » Online tutorials and training classes » Learn more about Project Spectrum

Second Life & Drexel University Online

I think businesses and educational institutions should start shifting their attitude about Second Life/virtual worlds. Second Life has the potential to be a powerful tool.

clipped from www.prweb.com Drexel University Online Students Break Ground As the First to Defend "Real World" Degrees in Second Life Students in Drexel Online master's in higher education program made their mark in history by becoming the first in higher education to defend their thesis virtually through the popular social networking site Second Life. The first of six students held their master's defense in Second Life on June 5th and four more students are scheduled during the week of June 9th, 2008. According to the Sloan Consortium, more than three hundred educational institutions have established presence in Second Life. "Second Life is just another example of how Drexel University Online is using current and emerging technology to deliver instruction to its online students," said Dr. Hartman, academic director for Drexel University Online. Since the launch of the Master of Science in Higher Education (MSHE) in 2005, the program has more than tripled in size,

Affiliate Marketing..

I looked this up because I wanted to make sure I understood what "affiliate" marketing meant.
I think the premise is if I am going to evangelize a product then making me an affiliate is a way for a company to reward me for it.

clipped from blog.cristinafavreau.com Marketing Lingo Defined: Affiliate Marketing Affiliate marketing is a way for online merchants or advertisers (anyone who sells anything on the internet) to share their revenue with people who want to promote their wares. In order for this to happen: The advertiser must invest in and set up an affiliate program. The advertiser invites people (mailing list, joint venture partners, satisfied clients, anyone looking to make extra money on the internet) to join his affiliate program. If you accept his invitation: You must register (open an account) as an affiliate (make sure you understand the T’s & C’s before signing up). Once your registration is confirmed, you will be assigned a special URL (an affiliate link) identifying you as the referral source. Now, you’re ready to go out and promote the advertiser’s products and earn a little money in the process.

Thinking outside the box...

or in this case taking a lot of boxes and connecting them.

clipped from www.thestandard.com Sun creates virtual worlds for businesses, but graphics lag It’s called Project Wonderland and it’s a prototype for a virtual environment where business teams can meet and interact, but the enviroments so far lack polish and are graphically sparse. So far, the project aims to allow team members using multiple forms of communication to collaborate through video conferencing, call-ins, and online avatars. The current demos are something like a graphically dumbed-down version of Second Life, which the team admits isn't much to look at, but the back end is a powerful Java-based engine which coordinates mixed communication into one virtual meeting place. You can share documents, PowerPoints, and desktops as well, allowing a meeting to pretty much take any form imaginable within the virtual environment. the Java engine which reduces the complexity of managing call-ins, video-streamers, PowerPoints, and document sharing has real potential.

Helium

keeping my thumb on the pulse of what is out there. Just thought I would poke around. Anyone a member? Pros & Cons?

clipped from www.helium.com Welcome to Helium Every day, our diverse community shares on everything from politics to parenting advice, to the environment and more. You’ll find Helium rich with quality content, different points of view and expert insight. Whether you are doing research or discovering something new, looking for pet care advice or learning how to fly-fish, Helium is your one-stop shop to read what you need. Do you know home remedies to cure a cold, how to home school a child, or the best places to dine in your home town? Share your expertise! When you write at Helium, you help inform millions and build your portfolio. The Helium Partnership program can help raise awareness of your organization. You can build a library of custom content, raise charitable donations, elevate your issues and reach a new audience of millions.

blogtoplist

researching blog submission sites
This site does not give the number of search results. I did not see a search box. I don't think this is what my client is looking for.

clipped from www.blogtoplist.com Lansner on Real Estate Lansner on Real Estate covers news and views for and about the Orange County housing market from Orange County Register columnist Jon Lansner and other Register reporters.

Boing Boing

researching blog submissions sites

clipped from www.boingboing.net Long-exposure shots in St Petersburg, Russia turn people into ghosts