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Dear {FIRST_NAME} Welcome to the June edition of the asklilach newsletter. You're probably familiar with the 80/20 principle where 80% of your results come from 20% of your efforts. The skill, of course, is to identify which activities are most effective for you and to concentrate on those. With that in mind, this month we're focusing on tips to help you identify that 20% to get you the results you want as well as a quick update on my visit to Downing Street. | |  | Downing Street Visit | |  Many thanks to everyone for their warm wishes in advance of my visit to Downing Street. I was invited after being short-listed for the national mothers@work awards. The awards ceremony took place last week and it was a thoroughly enjoyable day.
I was nervous in the build up to it but it was exciting too with an interview on Radio Mercury FM and JCOM as well as interest from the BBC. I've also received interest from other press and media on the back of being short-listed and am pursuing those opportunities. Although I didn't win it was a great experience and I met some interesting people, including a few famous personalities. It was also lovely to share the occasion with my family. | 
| | Business books - knowing what to read | | Time is precious. So, how do you know which business books to bother with? We've all been there - wading through a book which hasn't delivered on its promises. One aid to help you focus on the books you will get the most from is bizsum.com. It provides summaries of business books which are emailed to you direct. A free trial is available from the site. Reading the summaries to stay on top of business thinking, or to decide which books to read in their entirety, will save you considerable time.
| | Knowing where your profits are coming from | |  Once you are immersed in your business it can be difficult to look at things objectively to see exactly which customers are profitable and which aren't. The Chartered Institute of Marketing has a useful download to help you analyse your business income and costs to aid in identifying which customers, which products and services, and which channels are most profitable.
| | Don't let the task fill the time | |  It's not unusual to find that a task takes much longer to do if you don't set a deadline. You might want to ensure the job is perfect but, in today's fast-paced business environment, it's just as important to get the job done. So, set yourself a specific time frame for a job and aim to get it done as quickly as possible. If you get into the habit of being tough on yourself and to stop working on the project when your time is up then you will be much more focused and effective.
| | | New Guide launched by Equifax | | A free guide has been launched by Equifax to encourage small businesses to be vigilant about bogus businesses ordering many thousands of pounds of products on credit. The guide, Combating ID Theft and Fraud, gives information about the risks to businesses from fraud and the solutions. For more information click here.
| | Guest Top Tip | | Before you join a networking group, have a clear view of the return you want. Ask yourself what your business goals are and which goals that group is best placed to meet. Once you know what you want, understand how you can get it and what commitment do you need to put in. What questions do you need to ask people? How can you ensure that the other members know how they can help you and put that into action? Ultimately, you need to know what success will look like, how to achieve that success and how to recognise it when it comes along. Otherwise you will be wasting your time, and that of your fellow members.  Andy Lopata, Business Networking Strategist www.lopata.co.uk
| | | | | | Call minding - are you missing calls from clients or potential clients? If so then call minding could be the answer. Asklilach's call minding service is now offering a 24-hour service. For more information and to book a free trial then email: info@asklilach.co.uk Virtual PA training - anyone interested in setting up and running their own Virtual Assistant business can access training and mentoring as well as a range of other resources by visiting: www.virtualpatraining.co.uk or emailing: info@asklilach.co.uk 
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