Today’s world is an amazing place. We can buy groceries without ever leaving the house, pay bills without writing a check, and even earn a living from the comfort of our own homes. Neighbors everywhere are asking themselves, “What does that guy next door do for a living? He never seems to leave the house!”

With more and more individuals and companies conscious of the environment and our carbon footprint, many are choosing virtual options for their workforce. In addition, as the cost of maintaining brick-and-mortar offices continues to rise, entire companies are moving into the virtual world. Whether you are working from home for your employer, running a home-based business, or working as a freelancer, the key to success is creating an efficient virtual office.

Click here to find out how to build your virtual office...

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“Wow!” is the word that comes to mind when I think about what happened to our business in recent weeks. We asked our friends, colleagues, and business associates to vote for us in an online business contest. The first time we did this, we were randomly selected out of all the entries in the area and won a $500 grant in the Intuit’s Love a Local Business contest, which we had reported to you previously.

We then found out that in order to be eligible for further consideration for their grand prize, we would have to get additional votes, so we sent out a second request to everyone. This time, they selected 5 local grand prize winners and the judging was based on the content of the customer comments provided. This time we won a $1000 prize and it was directly related to the wonderful things our customers said about us.

We are truly honored to serve the businesses in our local community and it means so much to us that our efforts have made a difference. We will continue to provide the best possible services in support of you and your businesses. So thanks again to all who voted. And thank you for choosing Cybertary to help you in your daily business endeavors.

On Friday, March 12, we attended the Love A Local Business event sponsored by Intuit.  They had a great turnout and we got to meet some wonderful people from Intuit including the woman who designed the whole Love A Local Business web site. By attending the event we made ourselves eligible for the next level prize of $1000.  We won't find out if we won that for a couple of weeks.

We even got a small mention in the Sacramento Bee Business section on Thursday, March 11 about our winning the first grant prize - see the article here: http://www.sacbee.com/2010/03/11/2598289/intuit-begins-small-business-aid.html

We again want to thank all of our friends, colleagues, clients and families that voted for us in February, however, we need your help one more time. Even if you previously voted we would be so appreciative if you would vote one more time during the month of March for the possibility of us to win the National Grand Prize of $25,000 in local advertising and $9,500 cash to invest in our business.  To be eligible for the national grand prize, the votes have to occur in the month of March and it is ok if you already voted - they will still count.

It’s easy to vote, just follow this link and it will take you directly to our voting site: http://lovealocalbusiness.intuit.com/fan?b_id=13852&cid=ad120x60

Many thanks for supporting us on this! Feel free to forward to any of your friends who would be willing to vote.

Deborah Stafford, of Stafford Realty Group, is a realtor who until last year had not been tracking her business finances with a bookkeeping tool. She knew that to truly understand how her business was performing, she needed to put her finances into a tool like QuickBooks. However, as a busy business owner, she did not have the time to set this up, learn a new system, or keep up the ongoing maintenance. Additionally, she was facing tax season, and she needed to get her previous year’s books in order for her accountant.

Cybertary came up with a plan that would simplify her financial tracking.

First, they assisted her with purchasing and installing QuickBooks on her computer, and set up her company’s QuickBooks files. Then, Cybertary entered in all the transactions for the previous year and reconciled all the accounts. This provided her a complete picture of how her company was performing and where her money was being spent.

For ongoing maintenance Cybertary completes her monthly QuickBooks reconciliation by remotely accessing her computer. This way she always has access to the latest and greatest QuickBooks data on her computer.

All this has relieved Deborah of worrying about her bookkeeping. Tax time is so much easier now since all her reports and files are available at the push of a button. And most importantly, Deborah can see how her company is performing financially so she can make smart and timely business decisions.

Deborah had this to say about her experience - "Cybertary has really helped me get my bookkeeping in order. I now have a P&L that I can use to tell me how my business is performing. By giving Cybertary some of my 80%, I am now better able to go after my 20% areas of focus.”

Here is some exciting news for the Cybertary franchise system.  Cybertary has been recognized as one of the winners of the Franchise Business Review's 2010 Franchisee Satisfaction Awards.  The Franchise Business Review interviews franchisees to determine their satisfaction with their franchisors. 

This acknowledgement of course mirrors our feelings about our franchise and we feel blessed to a part of such a phenomenal organization.

To check out the article, click here.

Manage your Day

Now you are tracking your time and you have your lists of priorities the final step is to take control of your day instead of letting it control you.

Take a break from responding to messages: One of the biggest pitfalls is constantly checking voice mail and email. We don’t realize it, but next time you “quickly” check your email, time yourself using one of the time tracking services noted above. You may be surprised how a few clicks can turn into ten minutes. This might not sound like a lot of time, but if you check your email ten times during the day, that’s nearly two hours! Instead, try setting aside a small block of time in the morning and one in the afternoon to check and return messages and utilize your email autoresponder to send automatic replies and manage expectations of those who communicate with you via email.

Change your meeting habits: Although well-managed meetings can be very productive, many meetings can be time wasters. It takes time to gather relevant items, get to the meeting space, wait for the late-comers, and exchange pleasantries, not to mention the time it takes in advance to schedule and plan the meeting and exchange emails to find a time that works for everyone involved. Try a productivity tool like MeetingWizard to arrange and schedule your meetings, making the planning process easier and more efficient.

Write it Down: As business people we are constantly busy and our minds are usually in overdrive. Some of our most clever ideas come at the most inopportune times – when travelling on the subway, rushing to a meeting, or while driving. Utilize Evernote to capture your thoughts, organize, and retrieve them later. Using your computer or phone, Evernote is always there so you can put your thoughts, things you see, things you want, and things you need into one place. This tool can save you time and save your sanity – no more scrambling to remember that inspiration you had but didn’t have a chance to write down. You can even record voice memos!

Simplify your password management: Keeping track of your passwords should be a simple task. However with all the tasks we can now perform online requiring user names and passwords, and with security risks at an all-time high, the number of passwords we need is often times more than our brains can handle. Lastpass, a secure online password manager, automatically fills in saved log-ins and forms with the click of a button. You will never again have to click on the “forgot password” button and wait for the confirmation email!

Tomorrow morning when you’re sitting at your desk with that first cup of coffee in hand, think about the 80:20 rule… 80% of your efforts will generate 20% of your results and 20% of your activities will produce the remaining 80% of your results! Then, start utilizing these time management tools and tips to help better manage your time and get more productive time out of your day.