http://www.isnare.com/?s=author&a=Patty+Benton Business Patty Benton Fri, 28 Mar 2008 00:00:00 +0800 http://www.isnare.com/?aid=164980&ca=Business “To give real service, you must add something which cannot be bought or measured with money, and that is sincerity and integrity.” ~Douglas Adams, Author In this age of ever-declining customer service, it’s important that we, as small business owners, take responsibility of our customer service skil... Business Patty Benton Fri, 28 Mar 2008 00:00:00 +0800 http://www.isnare.com/?aid=164981&ca=Business You’ve gone through the steps of setting up your business, getting all your licenses and insurance in place and you’ve designed your site or hired someone to design it for you…. Now, how do you get people to your site or to choose your site over one of the millions of others out there? An effective... Business Patty Benton Fri, 28 Mar 2008 00:00:00 +0800 http://www.isnare.com/?aid=164982&ca=Business “I’m thinking of starting my own Virtual Assistant business, but I don’t know where to start. How do I find out about state/local regulations? How do I organize everything? How do I think up a name for my new business? Where is the best place to advertise?” Does this sound familiar? Are you looking... Business Patty Benton Fri, 28 Mar 2008 00:00:00 +0800 http://www.isnare.com/?aid=164983&ca=Business Recently, we took a two week trip to visit family in Georgia and Iowa.  We spent a total of 6 days in the car driving.  Now first of all, any small business owner knows you can’t leave your business for 2 weeks and expect to find it running at full capacity, or sometimes even running at all.  Second... Business Patty Benton Thu, 07 Feb 2008 00:00:00 +0800 http://www.isnare.com/?aid=165180&ca=Business In my years as a teacher, organization was something that was lost on me. I was the teacher with stacks of papers on her desk, boxes of papers behind her desk (fondly called the “Fire Hazard”), and stuff piled on the tables around. Since leaving that profession, and entering the world of business, I... Business Patty Benton Tue, 20 Nov 2007 00:00:00 +0800 http://www.isnare.com/?aid=165179&ca=Business Opening a business can be frustrating and rewarding all at the same time. Unfortunately many potentially successful businesseses close their doors because they are not prepared for handling all the issues that arise out of running a business. No matter what your reason for opening your business, you... Business Patty Benton Tue, 20 Nov 2007 00:00:00 +0800 http://www.isnare.com/?aid=165337&ca=Business Business has finally started to pick up. Things are not steady, but instead you find at times that you have too many orders to fill or too many projects to complete. You can’t afford a steady employee, or even a part time employee (or you don’t want the hassle of IRS), but you don’t want to continue... Marketing Patty Benton Mon, 19 Dec 2005 00:00:00 +0800 http://www.isnare.com/?aid=24491&ca=Marketing Have you ever wondered what the purpose of networking groups online are? We all know they are for getting to know others with the hopes of someday obtaining a client or referral. But don’t they have more of a purpose? Aren’t they for finding other people to build relationships with to benefit your b... Business Management Patty Benton Mon, 19 Dec 2005 00:00:00 +0800 http://www.isnare.com/?aid=24493&ca=Business+Management As a business owner and coach, I come across the issue of building integrity and reputation on a daily basis. It is something I feel strongly about, as who can build a business without integrity and a good reputation. As business owners, we know that if we want repeat business and referrals (both of... Self Help Patty Benton Mon, 19 Dec 2005 00:00:00 +0800 http://www.isnare.com/?aid=24494&ca=Self+Help Could you do with another hour added to your day? How about 10? Well, unless you are magical, this isn’t going to happen (unless you hire a Virtual Assistant), so you need to learn how to squeeze every second out of your day. This doesn’t mean packing your schedule so full you are exhausted. It mean...