My addition to today's quote

Be a star! 
Shine and sparkle and throw your light on the people around you!

What's on my mind during the Christmas period?

Meet Roselande! Isn't she just cute, with these white and blue bows in her hair? She's a girl I foster in Haiti. I pay for her school expenses so that she can receive a full and decent education. It makes me feel very warm inside to know this GIRL now has a chance for a "normal" life and to become "someone" in her society. She sends me drawings and letters in Creole. I send her letters in Flemish, that are translated to her. Such a nice thought for Christmas. Let's all "foster" someone and feel the love....

We registered for the SME Expo and Conference

FAS registered as a visitor to the Small and Medium Enterprises Expo and Conference from December 13 - 15 at the DIEC.


Will we meet each other there?

The Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) Expo and Conference  in its 2nd edition serves as your global connection to explore business opportunities, learn the latest SME market trends, establish contacts, enhance export/import, network, explore business opportunities, exchange views & ideas and an opportunity to display products and services as well as acquire latest technology and promotion of contract manufacturing and investment. SME Expo & Conference is a gateway for SMEs globally to accelerate their business networks. In short, it brings together people interested in doing business with each other – it connects buyers with sellers and start-ups with investors.

Link: http://www.smeexpo.com/

HAPPY 39th ANNIVERSARY!

Wishing the UAE a great 39th anniversary!  We are happy to join in the celebrations and grateful that we have the opportunity to live and work here.  Many more successfull years to come!

EID MUBARAK from Marleen

Although I was brought up catholic, I am always eager to learn about the Muslim Holy Days (holidays J) and other religions too.  

I like the “days off” because it gives me a chance to slow down a little, but I would like to know what is the meaning of EID and to which occasion it is held.  The decoration and illumination in town bring me in a festive mood (not just for Christmas like at home) and make me want to join in the celebrations.  

Thank you Dubai for letting me experience another joyful event that helps me broaden my vision about the world and all the people, cultures and religions in it! 

Isolate yourself for a moment during those days and ask yourself whether you spend enough time with your kids, partner, parents, neighbors, colleagues, friends.:

ENJOY THE HOLIDAYS, EID MUBARAK!

PAs / EAs of Dubai

Ladies and Gentlemen, PAs / EAs of Dubai. 

Wouldn’t you like to meet your colleague assistants and exchange thoughts and ideas?  Aren’t you dying to do a bit of anonymous – positive - gossiping about your boss?  Aren’t you wondering how other PA’s deal with difficult people or with problem situations?   

I suggest a coffee meet up for all of us, like-minded assistants, at a venue on the Marina Walk or JBR Walk.  First meet up could be held on Saturday 27^th November, am.  Please let us know whether you are interested and if you would like to join or not.  


Suggestions and comments very welcome!

The 'Power Of 3'

I had the pleasure of attending “the Power of 3” training last Thursday.  

Do these ladies have passion and energy!!??  The three top leading ladies in the world in their field, Marketing, Media and Mindset.  I modestly listened to their stories and to their advice and felt very happy to be able to take part in their event. 

If they can make their dreams come true, so can we.  Think of what you would really like to do and of what you excel in (the same in most cases).  For me, that means, sharing my professional experience with others in the same field, and render services to both “job searchers” and “companies”, to the satisfaction and benefit of all parties.  What do you think?  Is this a goal that we can achieve by working together?

Opportunities Out Of Adversity...

My move to Dubai and setting up my own company were not entirely of my free choice.  

I got laid off in Belgium during the famous bank crisis and found it difficult to get another job, because the job market was at an all-time low and employers were cutting costs (read labor costs) all around.  As an additional obstacle, my experience (read my age) is no longer appreciated by Belgian employers because 1) that is simply the trend of today and 2) it is much too costly.  Fortunately, Belgium has a truly great social security system in place, so I was receiving an unemployment fee for doing nothing.  Isn’t that awesome??

 

Well, not for me, I had this irresistible urge to get out there and do what I’m good at, share my experience with others, get some action, be creative.  

The result is now visible, my very own Freelance Assistant Services agency, a new concept to Dubai and the other Gulf Countries.  We outsource staff to clients who have special needs for assistant support such as temporary, part time, special occasions, ad hoc, events, fairs, etc.  The assignment is entirely tailored to the requirements of the client in terms of place, time and duration, and the nature of the assignment.  The assignment is entirely tailored to the wishes of the candidate (place, duration, part time) and to his likes and skills.  You will be hired on a consultancy agreement basis and, unless the employer decides otherwise, a visa will not be provided.

If you’re looking for freedom in your professional activities, if you want to work when and how it suits you, if you’re willing to work on a consultancy contract basis, if you’re fluent in English à keep those C.V.’s coming!!  

info@marleenvermeulen.com.   I’m currently setting up a database so that the person fitting best in each vacancy can easily be found.

Passion...

For the last 25 years I have been working as a Personal Assistant, in various fields such as Public Relations, Marketing, Sales, Event Organization, or quite simply for the Big Boss himself.  You might say, I know quite a bit about the job, about what it takes to be a good PA, about the right job attitude, about tips and tricks, about making the boss’s life easier, about being discreet and modest.  

That is why I took the decision to share that knowledge with all kinds of secretarial and administrational staff and, most of all, to help them finding their place in the right job.  The right person in the right job!  Isn’t that what it’s all about?  Feeling happy and comfortable in the place where you earn your daily bread.  Feeling satisfied because you can be a small part in a big turning wheel, and the wheel couldn’t turn smoothly if your part was missing.  Feeling enthusiastic about helping your boss, your colleagues, your customers and about contributing to a successful profitable business.  

But what is most important, dear readers, is PASSION!  Do what you are good at.  Go to work every morning with a smile.  Be helpful and serviceable and…  know that someone relies on you.  Passion about having an eye for detail, for making pieces fall into place, for overseeing the big picture, for feeling absolutely exhausted but ecstatic because you did it again!  You made your assignment a success.  What a great fulfillment!  

Let’s help each other in achieving happiness, satisfaction and joy in our jobs.  Away with boredom, with frustrating situations, with unpleasant tasks.  Do what you are good at and help people on the way, time will fly and you will go to bed every night with such a satisfactory feeling that it will make your heart ache. 

PA’s in Dubai: a satisfying job at your own pace.

Employers in Dubai: only enthusiastic people in your workplace.

Guest Blog: Don’t make your blog a slog!

John McGrann - CEO Drive Social Media

Everybody’s doing it or threatening to do it. Some are personal blogs and some are written about interests or hobbies. These are relatively straight forward and it’s easier to write about things we like so much. Business blogging tends to be dreaded a little more. It shouldn’t be. It’s time to take a more relaxed view. Don’t make you’re bog a slog.

There are five areas to address to overcome any anxiety:



• Fundamentals of business blogging
• Getting Started
• Using a blogging platform
• Attracting followers
• Business benefits of blogging

It’s useful to understand some of the fundamentals around business blogging. These are best highlighted in answering a number of questions:

• Can it be used as a marketing tool?
• Are there any personal benefits?
• Who is my audience?
• Is it cost effective?
• What’s the difference between a website and a blog?
• What is a blog?
• Does the Google search engine like blogs?
• What are the common mistakes of business blogging?
• Any good tips?

We’ll try to find answers to these questions in my next blog post.

The first step is always the hardest. So how do we get started? Is there any help available? What are those first few steps? For many people the biggest issue is what to blog about. We’ll go into more details later. But for now writing about your expertise or those subjects you are passionate about will inspire you more. Tell great stories – we all love story tellers. Also try to answer those issues that commonly arise from customers and employees for example. More later...

Do you need to be a geek to set up your blog? I’ve set up a few blogs at Blogger.com – a popular blogging platform. The answer is no. You can set up a nice design with images, embedded videos and social media links without any technical skills. More later...

Once we have a blog set up and we are posting content how do we get people to follow our regular posts? It’s all about creating good content, interaction with other bloggers, leveraging your connections on social media sites and utilising specialist blog search engines. More later...

Is it all worth the time and effort? As a social media marketing tool business blogging can add value is several ways. The benefits come from the interaction with stakeholders, building trust with prospective buyers, search engine optimisation and sharing with your network. More later...

We’ll have a look in more detail at all five areas to address to overcome any anxiety business blogging in the next few posts.

Would you like to be known as a thought leader in your industry?

A simple yes or no please.