This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Mavenlink. All opinions are 100% mine.

Having quite a bit of business experience on a personal level, I know exactly what it means to master efficiency and time management. We have an amazing amount of technology right at our fingertips to make our lives more manageable, and bring our levels of success to a whole new level. Although I have changed my business style, and stick to a simple method of choosing affiliates to take care of most of the business details for me, not everyone will have my own level of experience to handle all the little details and truly succeed.

I can see the tremendous value of utilizing a company whose main focus is exclusively on improving the interactions between businesses and their consultants. Mavenlink is the first company to do just this, and they have not disappointed me with their level of insight and professionalism. I am really quite impressed how they have managed to create an intuitive technological platform which embraces the consulting lifecycle, while managing all business relationships and transactions so that your projects have a greater opportunity for success.

For Businesses

From a business aspect, you can invite Colleagues to your Workspace, and the ability to invite other colleagues to a workspace gives you the option to create the following actions.

~ Collaborate with other team members to get buy in or feedback.
~ Provide immediate visibility to management, peers or direct reports as to progress or updates on a particular project.
~ Get help completing your obligations, if any, related to the project deliverables.

You will be notified of all key communications that occur within the Mavenlink system via email, so you don’t have to worry about missing something that happened on a project or live in front of your browser. Whether you’re on the road, in a meeting, or checking in from a vacation, your email will provide you with a comprehensive view of your important to-do’s and updates originating within Mavenlink.

For Consultants

Since Mavenlink provides services and a workspace for both businesses and consultants, you may be pleased to know that all client communications, project notifications, due dates, and deliverables related to your working world is captured in one place: your Mavenlink dashboard. As you begin working within the system
whether with new or existing clients, you will quickly realize the advantage of a single view of your client-facing activities.

Just imagine bringing your online resume to life with actual work samples, robust project histories, live references, and a robust feedback system. Mavenlink’s profile offers a true reputation building model for professional service providers.

Featuring Mavenlink’s Comprehensive Platform

Mavenlink’s built-in, all-inclusive system guides you, your clients, and your team down a clear path from proposal to final payment.

~ Maketing & Lead Generation
~ Proposals
~ Negotiation
~ Contracts
~ Collaborative Workspace
~ Invoicing & Payments
~ Reputation Management
~ Business Networking

It is quite obvious that we all need to be up to speed, keeping up with the times, and Mavenlink is here to deliver the innovative technologies and services that will forever change the way people work together. I really like their Free Trial on all Plans, with no credit card required, and would like to encourage you to check it out for yourself.

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of eSmart Tax. All opinions are 100% mine.

I decided to go online to check around and find out how easy it would be to file my son’s taxes for him, so he would not have to pay a huge fee to have someone else file for him. I discovered it is really quite easy to file our own taxes, as we are given step by step instructions, and this saves time as well as money. I also like the fact that at places like eSmart Tax, we can actually figure out our Federal taxes and file for free!

eSmart Tax, the premier online tax preparation service powered by Liberty Tax Service, is offering two ways American taxpayers can file their federal return online for free this year: the always-free Basic edition and the free Deluxe edition for persons with the last name of Johnson.

And get this. If your last name happens to be the second most common name in the United States, which just happens to be Johnson, then you and 2,121,489 other Johnsons file free!

Featuring eSmart Tax Deluxe Edition Which Includes:

~ Federal Tax Preparation and e-File – All the forms you need are right here, along with easy-to-follow, step-by-step instructions that make free e-filing effortless.

~ e-File State Taxes – Only $5.95!

Seriously, even though my name is not Johnson, I would definately offer up my recommendation to those millions of Johnson’s out there, to just take a few moments and see what eSmart has to offer. It is totally free to check out, and just takes a few moments. I am not one to pass up a good opportunity, especially when it is so simple, and something which will save me precious time and the costly fees of hiring someone out to prepare my taxes. I always choose my best and greatest option.

How do I feel about Facebook? I will happily admit that I find it a wondrous thing to touch upon the glimpses of my family and friends whenever I wish; to bring their worlds a bit closer to mine, as I journey through time on this beautiful planet. I think it is pretty cool to touch base with people whom I would otherwise only see upon occasion, as they live so far away. I feel it brings us all that much closer, visiting in the virtual realms.

Surely there is simply not enough time each day to catch up on everything, yet it truly does not matter. Just a little peek here and there is enough… and more than enough most days! This is just how it is with Social Networks of this type. Especially if one is divided between business and pleasure.

The only downfall that I can see at this time, is that other people can find back doors into our private lives, wall posts, and even our pictures if we do not look through every aspect of the privacy settings. Not sure why, but Facebook makes it pretty tricky for those who are unaware of how to set everything within their account to keep their privacy within each of our own personal bounds. I would suggest looking through account settings very carefully to be certain that you are very clear on which information you wish to be seen, and by whom. It is not simply cut and dry, so do not be fooled into a false sense of security. Either pay close attention, or be very careful about the information you put forth to be viewed by others on the internet. It is nearly impossible to retrieve that which may become viral, in a short amount of time.

With that said, I am still happy to visit my peeps as often as time permits. Life is simply too short, and it is really nice to catch up with friends and family, giving us less separation and more of a sense of being part of the bigger world. Speaking of which, I would like to take a few moments to hop on over to my own Facebook and see how everyone is doing today.. Enjoy!

It really does make sense to see the FBI in action throughout the virtual realms of online social media. What better way to get the word out on the most wanted than through Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, just to name a few. These social medias present a powerful force when it comes to hearing about breaking news as it happens (Twitterers know all about this one), and getting the word out when danger rears it’s ugly head.

“To reach out to the public, we need to be where people are—and we know tens of millions of people spend their time in social media sites,” says John Miller, head of FBI Public Affairs. “Adding our fugitives, missing kids, threat and scam warnings, and other information into these sites is an extension of what we’ve done for decades—enlisting the help and support of concerned citizens around the globe to keep communities safer.”

Here are a few places in which we can follow the presence of the FBI in the Social Media’s…

• Facebook, where you can follow our news, check out our photos and videos, and become a “fan” of the FBI;
• YouTube, where you can watch our videos and connect back to our main website for job postings and other content; and
• Twitter, where you can receive our tweets on breaking news and other useful information.

The FBI is exploring a presence on SecondLife. Jonathan Cox—along with graphic artist Scott Carmine—designed the FBI’s first virtual billboards for sites like Second Life and sees them as the wave of the future. “Unlike 10 years ago, almost everyone today has had an experience connecting online through virtual media, whether through a gaming console or popular sites like Second Life,” Cox said. “The ease at which information can be transferred, ideas can be exposed, and technology can be shared in virtual worlds will hopefully lead to the arrest of a fugitive or the location of a missing child in the near future.”

You can learn more by visiting The FBI in the Virtual Realms of Social Media to get the whole scoop and more news. Modern technology sure does add a whole new realm of possibilities when it comes to connecting with the people around the world.

I just love it when I discover something new on my most avid of interests. Of course, as the title of this blog implies, I am totally into all aspects of the Virtual realms! My friend Jordi over at Hiperia3D News (whom I have the utmost respect and admiration for) has a bit of information to share about the brilliant Richard Garriott, also known as Lord British, who is the creator of the Ultima series, among his many other accomplishments. You may visit Jordi’s post here… Richard Garriott On Motherboard: VBS.TV’s New Technology Video Series.

Having played Tabula Rasa, Richards first adventure into the realms of MMORPG’s, I can attest first hand to the amazing talents of Lord British (aka General British in the lands of Tabula Rasa). Although Richard and his team had to put Tabula Rasa aside for other projects, I strongly feel he will bring some very interesting Virtual fantasies to the table, to satisfy the adventurous spirits of those who feel as I do.

Well then, if you wish, you may visit Motherboad – Richard Garriott (a set of 3 videos) to get a glimpse into the magical wonders in the life of Lord British. He has an amazing array of objects he has collected over the years, and is a master of many inventions and innovations which dazzle the mind with the imaginative interplay of virtual realities and modern wonders. Enter the realms of the world of Richard Garriott who likes the quote by Arthur C. Clarke “Any technology sufficiently advanced is indistinguishable from magic”. I agree with this to a large degree, and feel the virtual realms are a wonderful aspect of Life. Bring on the wonders to fire up my imagination!

Okay, today I am going to treat my visitors to a little rant. I love to roleplay online. It is fun, challenges my intellect, and gives me the opportunity to morph into a different persona for a little while. Let’s just call it one of my favourite little escapes from a real world which can sometimes drive a girl just a little insane. This is how I balance out my Life, and I love it! My adventurous nature positively thrives on seeking new ways to add excitement to my lessons and teachings on this planet.

Well then, my greatest pet peeve in this area is when I run into non-roleplayers. Perhaps I should explain my distress… My current fantasy escape is Warhammer Online, as mentioned before on this blog. I chose a roleplaying server so I can enjoy what I love to do best with this sort of MMORPG. There are rules pertaining to the roleplaying server, so I feel people should abide by these rules and take their fun elsewhere if they either have NO IDEA what roleplaying is, or if they are just hanging around to bug the serious roleplayers. We pay good money to enjoy our experience!

Life tends to bring along some seriously messed up fools to make our paths just a bit tricky. Humans seem to believe their world is the ONLY world that matters, and it just feels good to mess up someone elses day. Luckily for me I am good at ignoring fools, and I know how to react in most situations while I go trekking along my merry way. It just bugs me upon occasion, and I would like to extent a heartfelt request out into the Universe asking the freaking non-roleplayers to find another server to goof off on!

Whew! Now that I have that off my chest, I am off to haunt the lands of Warhammer Online with my graceful, yet fierce persona. I have more than one role to play, so it is quite interesting to discover new aspects of my own nature as I travel through lands blighted with evil, and surrounded by deadly foes. I am a true roleplayer, and I hope to run across those of like mind upon my journeys.

Cheers!

As we advance into the age of technology it is important to upgrade our business strategies. We can save a lot of money and time in the long run by investing our valuable resources in modern techniques to enhance our virtual presence. Imagine how much time we can save if we are able to enter virtual office spaces to conduct business, hold conferences, share files, offer presentations, and do all of this face to virtual face with webcam technology giving us that personal edge? This is truly how business should be done, if we hold business interests and offices in different places around the country, or around the globe.

I can see the many virtues as offered by companies such as Meetsee Virtual Office. The future is now, and what a dynamic and time-saving way to create a virtually professional atmoshpere! It is exciting to imagine a world where we do not have to rush around wasting time and energy to make meetings. Productivity would be vastly improved! And business can be conducted from virtually anywhere one can connect. One can still chat and socialize so co-workers can get to know each other, even if vast distances separate them.

What can one do with Meetsee?

Meetsee is your own personal virtual office filled with rich ways to communicate, share content, collaborate on documents, and build rapport with co-workers. With Meetsee you can:

~ Create and personalize your own virtual office, avatar, and profile.
~ View rich presence so you know when to connect with co-workers.
~ Share files, presentations, and even webcam in a virtual meeting room.
~ Integrate with your existing tools and services

About Halcyon Worlds

Halcyon Worlds, Inc. is a privately funded virtual worlds platform company based in Atlanta, GA. Meetsee uses the Halcyon Worlds platform to address the intangibles associated with the virtual office like building trust and camaraderie and connecting remote workers to the people and content they need. Since the company began in 2005, Halcyon Worlds has been dedicated to providing the industry’s most flexible and comprehensive interactive platform for isometric virtual worlds.

Final thoughts…

Truly, such virtual spaces are going to become more popular as the need to pick up the pace in business increases. With the demand to stay on top of advancing technologies and modern business techniques, we will need the mediums to keep up with the highly competitive business world. I feel this is a fascinating aspect of the realities in this Virtual World we live in.

One of the most fascinating and exciting aspects about the 21st century is the speed of our online and mobile experiences. We just seem to move so much faster and our activities have reached a level of hyper speed that simply blows my mind. I really want information for my blogs, my family, and my over active curiosity and imagination right NOW! I do not like to wait, and when I am on a mission to find something out or to connect with the world, I demand the best to get me what I want. Since I am always on the move and never seem to stay in one place for too long, I really need that which will satisfy my needs with a reliablility I can count on. Active and super fast communication is what I am talking about here. The world moves at a much faster pace these days, and when there is news or information that needs to be known or shared we need to rely on the BEST.

Well then, in comes Clear. Clear offers great choices for super fast mobile internet whether you are an occasional, frequent, or unlimited user of mobile, home or business internet at an affordable price. For now they have the Portland, Oregon area covered, but who knows what the future holds. Since I live in Portland, this is something I would love to get my hot little hands on… errrr… or at least take advantage of to jazz up my mobile speed!

The Clear Network is powered by WiMAX, which is specifically designed for highspeed Internet data usage. Which in less techy type individual talk means it is really, really fast! Unlike WiFi, it reaches miles not feet, so you can go anywhere and do anything at speeds as fast as at home or the office. This is exciting to me, as a person on the go. My choice is simple, and as they have industry leading partners like Intel, Motorola, Google, Samsung, and Nokia backing them up, they have the means to provide leading edge devices, and new applications that’ll bring the internet and mobile user an overall Internet experience that’s second to none.

In Clears own words…

No cords, no hotspots, no slow cell phone connection. Stream movies while you wait at the DMV, blog from the stands of your kid’s soccer game, download music at the bus stop, snap photos of your dogs and upload pictures of them while they play in the park – all with a super fast mobile Internet connection from Clear.

They won’t be tied down, and as they grow they will be active soon in…

* Las Vegas, NV
* Grand Rapids, MI
* Atlanta, GA

You can just bet they won’t stop there either. I can imagine they will be so popular that their growth will be as lightning fast as their mobile speed! The WiMax network, a step beyond 3G, provides unmatched network capacity to deliver next generation Internet access and applications. Soon there will be Clear choices for everyone looking to power up their mobile activities in tune with the times.