What are five great things about you?

Alan Klayman from my local Chamber of Commerce posed that question recently on LinkedIn.  It really got me to thinking, especially since I attended a seminar last week on creating your business plan and all of the things that you need to think about while preparing your business plan – like how you want your clients or customers to see you.

List five great things about yourself – five things that YOU think are great about you.  Then ask the same question of  your family and friends.  Compare the list and choose the five that you would want your clients / customers to know about you.  What are you doing to let them know those things about you?

Today people still want to transact business with people they feel they know and can trust.  There is a lot being said about community – Mike Henry, Sr., of the Lead Change Group has spoken much about that and will be releasing an article about it on his newsletter shortly.  Wouldn’t you rather work with someone or purchase something from someone you feel you know and can trust?    Of course you would!

With our communities becoming more and more virtual, there are two things happening:  (1) the world is becoming a much smaller place, and (2) we are transacting more and more business with people we have never met.  No longer are you able to drive down to the store who sold you something when you’re dissatisfied.   On the flip side, word of mouth is much larger in the virtual world.

How do you get to “know” people you will probably never meet?  It all goes back to community – you need to build one.  The people who are on Twitter who don’t bother to build that community and just advertise (spam) their messages, just don’t get it – and will never build good community.

Back to the great things about you:  Let people know about your great things! Worried  about bragging?  Well, you may just need a Virtual Assistant to help you write the perfect press release, marketing materials or publicity campaign.  Just sayin’ …

Happy New Year!

Resolutions . . .

Personally I don’t make New Year resolutions – personal resolutions, that is.  It can be like setting yourself up for failure.  Although I did make a New Year’s resolution not to iron any more – about 20 years ago.  It’s gone quite well, actually.

But seriously, resolutions for your business – especially in this economy – is a necessity! 

Following are my top ten Professional New Year’s Resolutions:

1. Recession?  What recession?  Ignore that part of the news.  I personally am choosing not to participate in this recession.  We all know it’s going to be over eventually – hopefully sooner than later – and if you tend to be a bit on the negative side to start with, you really need to ignore the hype!  Stay positive and make sure your business plan for 2009 is in line with current business trends and remember:  concentrate on keeping the customers / clients you already have!!
2. Grow your business.  How?  By freeing up more of your time to work on bringing in more business!  Hire a Virtual Assistant (of course) to do the things that are taking up your time needlessly.  We’ve talked about all the benefits of this before! 
3. Get and keep your name out there.  Are you doing the marketing that you should be?  Keeping up with a blog, doing press releases, email campaigns to keep in touch with your clients, designing flyers, mailers, etc., etc.?  No?  Costs too much?  Keeping your name out there is priceless!  People will remember your name if they see it enough, and you will earn their trust.  If your name disappears, you know the old saying – out of sight, out of mind.  And who can you get to help you with all of this?   (call me)
4. Expand your marketing/advertising budget.  Pretty much, see No. 3.  I know you’re afraid to spend money right now, but try to trim your budget elsewhere.  Like, say, hiring a Virtual Assistant to help you rather than hiring additional staff (payroll taxes, benefits, equipment, maintenance, etc., etc.).
5. Use your talents.  Ever spend so much time on your clients and customers that you forget about your own business needs?  A very common mistake.  But if you’re not keeping up with your own marketing and you’re a marketing firm, or your website needs updating and you’re a website designer . . .  you get the picture.
6. Increase your networking.  Never underestimate the power of networking.  And that means helping out others as well as yourself.  See my guest blog at http://joshuadelung.blogspot.com/ for more networking tips.
7. Volunteer.  I know, I know.  You’re so busy trying to get your business either off the ground or keep it growing, how are you ever going to have time to volunteer?  Volunteering your time – and it doesn’t have to be a huge amount of time – is another way to get your name out there and be recognized, increasing the trust factor.  Find something that you’re passionate about.  It will make you feel really good about yourself.
8. Testimonials.   Ask your good customers/clients for testimonials and put them out there for people to see.  Your website, blog, email marketing campaign, etc.  Again, build trust.
9. How do you look?  I’m not trying to get personal, just trying to get you to look at yourself with regard to your business.  If you’re in a business that doesn’t necessiate a suit and tie, how do you dress at a casual function?  Consider a collared and/or buttoned shirt with your logo on the left pocket area.  Always double-check that you look neat.  That first impression thing does carry weight.
10. Green!  Take a look at your business and see where improvement can be made towards going green.  Not only is this great for the environment, you can announce to the world that you’ve gone green!  I love that it’s finally  cool to be green, speaking as a tree-hugger from way back!  Don’t know how to go green?  Contact me.  I’d be happy to review your business with you and offer suggestions.

There you have it!  Ten simple ways to give your business a boost in 2009.   Have any others you would like to share?  Love to hear from you!

I wish you all a happy, prosperous New Year!

With Thankgiving behind us, and Black Friday,

have you given thought to what you would be giving everyone this Christmas?  Here I could go into how Christmas is not about shopping, how I grew up celebrating Christmas on December 6 when St. Nicholas would come and put either candy or coal in my shoes which were placed at the end of the bed . . . but I won’t.  Because let’s face it – we all know what Christmas really should be about.  About giving to others — but does that mean buying stuff?  Of course it does.  Or does it? 

Gratitude

I just got a wonderful email from a friend that I just loved.  It was basically that you shouldn’t just have gratitude for what you’ve GOT, but for what you GIVE.  Ties in pretty good with Christmas, I’m thinking.

gratiis – Latin for “out of kindess” or “to please”

tude – a condition, state or quality

So instead of keeping a gratitude journal on what you’re thankful for receiving or having (yes, some people keep one), keep one of all the little and big things you do every day that you GIVE.  For example, hold the door open for someone and smile.  Pass along any good information to someone lately?  Say kind words to someone?  Resist the urge to respond to someone surly with the same?  Just remember:  everyone is dealing with their own “stuff,” and it may not be good stuff.  Try to smile and say something kind to everyone – it may just be what they need at that particular moment. 

Free Stuff to Give

• A smile                                 I wouldn’t mind a smile, hug, kind word or greeting from this guy:)
• A hug                                                                                                
• A kind word
• A greeting
• A wave
• Your time  (priceless!)

Inexpensive Stuff to Give

• Change to a Salvation Army bell ringer
• Baked goods that you’ve given your time (free) to make
• Some sort of crafty thing you’ve made from stuff around the house

Necessary Stuff to Give

A good backup system.  PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE – tell me you back up your stuff!!  Of course you do, I apologize for even thinking that you don’t.  So maybe you KNOW someone who doesn’t have a great backup system.  I tend to be a little phobic about backing up, so I have an external drive I back up to, and I back up on line.  There are tons of them out there from a little expensive to ridiculously expensive.  I use Carbonite and so far I love it.  It just keeps running in the background, so there’s no down time.  Gotta’ love that!

But there’s also:

Mozy – I’ve heard good things, but I obviously can’t endorse it since I don’t use it – you’ll have to do the research on this one yourself.  But I just found out there’s a coupon – ONLY GOOD UNTIL NOVEMBER 30, though.  Sorry – just found out about it.

Here’s a link that will give you online backup reviews.  Not a bad read.

So you’re saying B-O-R-I-N-G – maybe, maybe not.  Like a lottery ticket – boring until you win – or in this case, until you crash!  You’d be a hero!

Charitable Stuff

How about donating in someone’s name?  Last year for Christmas I sat down with my granddaughter (I happen to be a very young grandmother, BTW), and explained to her how people in other countries didn’t have food like we do or the resources to raise animals or grow vegetables.  We looked through the Heifer International catalog together and she picked a cow that she wanted to donate.  After I explained to her that GG (that’s me) couldn’t afford to give a cow, she chose bunnies.  What a wonderful gift to give on behalf of a client, too.  Just make the donation and send them a card with the donation that you’ve made in their name.  They will remember you for that, I’m sure, and you’ve just got another entry for your journal!

This would be a great time to mention how invaluable a Virtual Assistant could be to you this season.  I have a client that gave me a budget, a list of people to send to and, after asking him a few questions as to what types of things he wanted to give, I have plenty of time to search for and have delivered the perfect holiday presents for his clients.  He spent 15 minutes giving me the information and instruction – now he’s finished!

Here are some more great links:

http://www.justgive.org/give-now/gift-cards/index.jsp

http://www.changingthepresent.org/

Habitat for Humanity
http://www.habitat.org/donation/gfth/

Philabundance:
https://www.philabundance.org/takeactionnow/tan_financial_tribute.asp

Marines – Toys for Tots
https://secure3.convio.net/tft/site/Donation2?idb=1689888040&df_id=1233&1233.donation=form1

So don’t kill yourself fighting traffic — not to mention the money on gas, parking, tolls, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY – the emissions!!!! — and searching for that perfect gift for everyone – look into your heart and at the ideas above.  Of course, if you had a wonderful VA like me, this would be your easiest holiday season ever!!

Have a great weekend, everyone!

In Pursuit of Happiness Week!

(Scroll down for The Business Side)

Yep!  And today is Marine Corp Day; tomorrow - Veterans Day; Thursday – World Kindness Day; Friday – Loosen Up and Lighten Day; and Saturday – America Recycles Day (which just happens to be our monthly day to recycle where I live).

The Personal Side

Everyone is in the Pursuit of Happiness, it seems.  And we should be in the pursuit of happiness every single day because remember – happiness sometimes comes to us in surprisingly easy ways, but the days that it doesn’t plop itself down in front of you, you have to dig a little.  As for the surprising ways, take a second to watch this video by Flossie.com.  Hysterical!!

Someone very close to me was telling me how depressed she was, what a horrible life she’s had, etc., etc.  It is my belief that I’m a very compassionate person — but not for people who wallow in themselves.  If you’re not happy, I told her, it’s because you don’t want to be happy.  Happiness comes from within, and some days we need to search a little harder than others.  I’ve certainly done my share of searching.  (And I certainly was not referring to “clinically depressed” – entirely different)

Some people that are happy right now without searching are everyone who voted for Obama, of course, and apparently Arnold Schwarzenegger is, too!  But seriously, I have heard there are people out there who are not happy about Obama winning – to a scary fault.  If you know someone like that, please beg their patience to see what happens.  If we can at least push aside the divisiveness of the last eight years, we’ve already made huge gains.

I was told a very long time ago that “if you think YOU’VE got it bad, you should see . . . “  At the time I didn’t understand, but now that I’ve lived life a bit more, I completely understand!!  There is ALWAYS someone, SOMEWHERE that is suffering more than you.  You are not entitled to happiness just because – you are not ENTITLED to anything!  You need to be positive, look at life as the beautiful thing it is, and know that every person you meet is battling their own battles, so be kind!  The best saying I’ve heard in this regard is an old Indian saying, “Never judge a man until you walk a mile in his moccasins.”  If we all lived with that adage, the world would certainly be a better place!!

So, thank a Marine today!  Have compassion for a Marine’s family – he or she may not be home for the holidays.  Or worse, may never be home again.

Thank a Veteran tomorrow!  See above.  And hopefully the new administration will improve benefits to our armed forces.  They are fighting for US!!  They deserve to come home to the best treatment and health care available.  If only they had the same care as the politicians that don’t make sure they get the best care.

World Kindness Day – self-explanatory.  It’s what you learned as a toddler when you mother said, “be nice!” when you weren’t sharing your toys or weren’t playing nicely.  Just smile more to people and watch their face.  It will certainly look much happier immediately!  Why, they may even pass on that smile to someone else who needs it!

Loosen Up and Lighten Day – another self-explanatory day!  I know someone who should live life more often like that – do you?

America Recycles Day – should be EVERY SINGLE day!  Come on – use your head!  Where do you think all your trash goes??  RECYCLE!!  I watched the Rock Solid guys guys install a recycled paper countertop recently.  Very cool.

So for pursuit of happiness week, celebrate the above days, and I guarantee you’ll be on your way to a higher level of happiness!

The Business Side

Are you happy with your business?  Your life?  Are the two intertwined so much that you can’t tell them apart?  What if you had a cost-effective way to help you manage your business which, in turn, would give you more time to enjoy your life?  Believe me – I know from personal experience - that your life can change in a second, and everything you are working so hard for, that you thought you would get to in time, can abruptly change.  To help you HERE and NOW, without waiting for some time in the future to enjoy life, a Virtual Assistant (VA) can assist you at a fraction of the cost of an in-office assistant.  With:

• no payroll taxes
• no benefits
• no equipment to maintain
• no office space to provide

you truly can have peace of mind when you develop a professional relationship with a VA.  My clients are content in knowing that they can email me or call me any day with requests: 

• Dictation (from notes, correspondence to a large proposal)
• Research (anything you need to find or find out about)
• Personal tasks (Nickey, can you find me Chinese lessons, send flowers to someone, find me a car to rent, etc.  . . . ?)
• Email management (ask me how I can help you lessen your time combing through emails)
• Scheduling (maintaining a calendar, scheduling meetings, travel arrangements)

Let me help you enjoy life a little more by lessening your workload.  You should be concentrating on your business, not all the little tasks that go with it!  Give me a call to discuss what I can do for you to make your life happier – this is the perfect week for it!

Emerson said:

“To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; to leave the world a little better; whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is the meaning of success.”

He really knew what he was talking about, didn’t he?  I was reminded of this Emerson quote from another blogger that I subscribe to – one of the very few I subscribe to – Jonathan Fields.  Check him out if you get a chance.  He has a wonderful style of writing, and in a down-to-earth way, he portrays everything that I feel is “success.”

Speaking of successful, I have a client who I really admire.  He is an environmental engineer by day, and kayaking instructor by (every spare second he has).  He is working and making the money that is required of a business, and also doing what he loves.  And in doing what he loves, he shares that love with other people, giving a lot of people a way to de-stress, stay healthy and learn something new.  He also does a lot of pro bono stuff for non-profit organizations and the like, too.  Isn’t that what we all want to do?  Do the stuff we need to do, but make a dent in the world.  To leave the world a little better . . .  We don’t have a lot of time here – live life to the fullest and be proud of what you do.

Just a little reminder as to what we should be striving for in our lives . . .

The Business Side

To be successful in business, you need a Virtual Assistant (you knew THAT was coming, didn’t you?).   If you intend to do most of the things to which Emerson was referring, you’ll need to have some help getting everything done so you can find the time to become personally successful. 

I know most that most business people use dictation equipment.  But for the ones that don’t, allow me to suggest that you do.  You need not sit down with notes and do formal dictation (lawyers).  Get yourself a hand-held portable or MP3 and dictate your thoughts.  There are hands-free or blue tooth models available that you can just sit in a cradle in your car.  If you’re like me, I think of the most interesting ideas and solutions and things I need to do when I’m driving in the car.  You can’t write them down – safely, that is.  So flip a switch and start dictating your thoughts, ideas, to-do lists – anything your mind wants you to remember.  You get back to your office and:

• plug in your hand-held device to your computer 
• upload the file
• email the file to me
• I type it and return it to you

Presto!  You have your thoughts written down right there in front of you!  Now it’s up to you after that step what you do with that information . . . 

I actually have a client who does just that.  Once he opens the emails and reads through it, he deletes what he doesn’t want, copies and pastes into another email what he wants me to do for him or tickle for him, and then saves the rest for later.  Taking it a step further, I then go into his email once a week and organize the emails into a real to-do list which he double checks that he’s taken care of everything he needed to for the week.

That, my friends, is organization.  And you haven’t killed one tree in doing it!

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!  Talk to you soon!

Happy Father’s Day!

_______________________________________________

Success

Now, there’s an eye-catching word.  Success.  Successful.  It’s what we’re all striving for, whether it be successful in a business we’re running, a successful relationship, a successful personal goal.  Let’s look at the meaning of the word success more carefully.

The dictionary says:  suc·cess –noun

(I’ve always hated when they use a form of the word to define the word – that’s really not that helpful in most circumstances.)  While we are all looking for success in our lives in different ways, I believe that to be truly successful is to be content and happy with yourself.  Because if you are truly content and happy with yourself, you will have attained the highest success possible and will be successful in all areas of your life.  To be successful in business means different things to different people.  If you have started a business, are doing what you love and are paying the bills – that to me is success.  Why do some people attain that level of success and continually strive for more?  Because they’re driven, that’s why.  Once they are happy with the step they’re on, they will reach for the next step.  Jonathan Fields is a blogger that I stumbled across awhile ago who writes great blogs.  (I invite you to go to his site and read about him – you’ll see what I mean.)  From what I’ve read about him and from him, I would say that this man is a complete success.  He seems balanced in what he does in all aspects of his life.  That, my friends, is success.

Now don’t get me wrong — there is NOTHING wrong with being driven.  I am driven.  But I feel you need to be happy – or at least content – with being driven.  If you wake up every morning with an anxiety attack about what you need to do today and you’re overwhelmed to the point of being frozen – you need to slow down!  Or at least get better organized.  (Hey!  You might need a VA!)   But just remember – we only have this one life for as long as we have it, and we just don’t know how long that will be.  Don’t waste your life –chase after your dream of success, whatever that dream may be.  You’ll know it when you’re there – it’s a feeling of peace, happiness and contentment – a balance in every part of your life.

The Personal Side

Anyone caught up on their gardening?  With all this rain we’re having, the weeds are growing faster than my veggies, herbs and flowers!  That’s how you know a weed, btw – it’s the one that’s growing better and faster than anything else, and when you pull on it, it’s harder to pull out than something you’ve planted.  Well, I have been pretty much out of commission in the way of gardening for the past week or more due to a bad back.  I was rear-ended over 20 years ago – sitting in the back seat, of course – and every few years my back reminds me of it.  So weird that this is still going on after this long.  Strangely enough, it started with a case of poison ivy (I’ve never gotten poison ivy in my life) that got really, really bad.  So after being on prednisone for 10 days and feeling like I was in my 20’s again, I apparently over-did “it.”  Whatever that means.  And then went to an event last Sunday where I sat on metal bleachers for hours.   So Monday I felt that familiar pain – took Advil and ignored it pretty much.  Tuesday a little worse; Wednesday – holy crap!  So I called my chiropractor, Dr. Mike , who is awesome!!  I was better Wednesday afternoon, but got cocky and by Friday I couldn’t hardly move, sit, stand, lie down – it was great.  So I went back to him Friday and he really helped.  He actually listens to you and doesn’t do anything crazy.  He says he’s no miracle worker, but I disagree.

Anyway, my weeds are starting to flower, and I’m seriously considering letting them and telling people they’re a new type of annual or something.  I know people who would believe me.   So I know what I’ll be doing every spare second this week – hope you fellow gardeners are in better shape than I!

The Business Side

I feel very successful.  (see above)  I LOVE my clients.  I have carefully chosen them (meaning I have only responded to RFP’s that are the type of clients I’m looking for) and of course there are the word-of-mouth clients that have found me.  I am a success in that regard.  I can’t wait to get out of bed in the morning to come down to my desk to see what’s happening for the day.  And all day I get emails from my clients asking me to take care of this or that – and it’s different for everyone.  The multi-tasking involved in my every day life is just wonderful!  Never a dull moment, never boring, and never a rude client – ever.  And why are my clients happy with me?  Because I never let them down.  I would do anything humanly possible to make whatever they need happen. 

Wouldn’t you like to have a relationship like that with a Virtual Assistant and have them say those things about you and how happy they are to work with you?  You can.  Contact me.  I’ll be happy to discuss your needs with you and how we will work together to get “it” done!

 Special Thanks

Speaking of success, a successful businessperson is someone who stands behind his/her product or services.  Recently I had a chance to see someone do that up close and personal.  I started purchasing my printer cartridges from Sheldon Pride of Cartridge World.  I’m all for saving money, but the real thing that convinced me to give it a try was the environmental aspect of it – the cartridges are refilled and DO NOT just get thrown in a landfill.  Recycling at its best!  So I pop in a cartridge in my new printer and – presto!  My printer is printing, but a blank page.  In an absolute panic (because I was in the middle of a time-sensitive job),  I emailed Sheldon.  He emailed me back in a short time asking me what the problem was and then called me (I’m sure I wasn’t clear in my email).   He literally jumped in his car, ran to his store and picked up more cartridges AND DROVE TO MY HOUSE!!  It turns out it wasn’t the cartridge at all, but my new printer needed to be told it had a new cartridge.  He showed me how to do that – very patiently I might add – and was on his way.  Can you imagine that??  I was so grateful to Sheldon and his amazing service, I’ll be ordering cartridges from him forever – and you should, too!  And his comment?  I stand behind my product.  What a guy!  What a SUCCESSFUL guy!  Thanks again, Sheldon!

The Food Critic

This month I have a sort of odd restaurant review in that it’s a “diner” and not actually a restaurant.  I personally love diners in general for certain times – like breakfast.  Today for Father’s Day we went out with my parents and my one daughter, her husband and three kids.  And where did we go?  To the A&N Diner in Sellersville, PA.  What a great place!  It is always open and always clean.  The wait staff and hostesses are always friendly and provide great service.  Our family has been going there for breakfast for years – the food is absolutely excellent!  And the second best part?  Nine people for $59.  Well, I guess eight people since the little guy is only just shy of a year, but STILL!!  I just had to recommend them – a place you wouldn’t think of writing a critique for, but a great place to go – especially for breakfast.  Check them out!

The flowers and trees are in full bloom – so what are you doing this time of year?  Gardening?  (check out my gardening tip)  Planning a vacation?  or are you stuck at home because of the ridiculous gas prices!  From what I’m hearing, the gas prices are not actually keeping people at home, but it is affecting the way they travel or where they travel.  Visit a travel advice site and see what’s hot – Travel Advice.   This link will take you to a podcast of a travel advice site.  (And by the way, there’s nothing like a VA to help you plan a vacation – find you a list of hotels to choose from, attractions to see while you’re wherever – you know – stuff like that!)

The Personal Side

The real estate market stinks.  No big surprise to anyone as the media has beat us over the head with it for quite some time now.  And what did I just do?  That’s right folks – my house is on the market.  This is a very traumatic experience for me as this is the first home I bought almost 24 years ago.  I’ve made this home my very own over the years with my girls’ projects, pictures, and great (what I think are great) “finds.”  Well, there’s nothing like getting your house ready to be shown and everything is just where you believe it should be, and then you hire an interior designer to come and stage your home.  OUCH!  But if you are going to sell your home, please hire Felisa Armento to come tell you what to get rid of and what to move around.  She was awesome!  Did you ever watch that mother/daughter realtor team on HGTV go into people’s homes and tell them their house looks awful?  Well, she was NOTHING like they are.  She was gentle yet firm and gave her opinions and thoughts – and not judgmental in the least.  She spent 2 hours at our home (probably because I was getting in her way) and it’s never looked this good.  A little empty for my taste, but I’m hoping that’s just what a buyer wants to see.   Know anyone who would like to buy a beautiful twin home in a great neighborhood?   Visit the website if you’d like to see my home.

But back to traumatic!  The first couple came to look at my home, and I, of course, was there at my computer.  U – n – c – o – m – f – o – r – t – a – b – l – e!  I was just trying to be invisible, but I couldn’t help but hear the whispering.  And it didn’t sound very reassuring, nor was the fact that they were in and out in about 20 minutes.  (sigh)  I want someone to buy my home that will love it as I did and take care of it.  I’ve put so many years of improvements, sweat and tears – lots of tears – to even fathom the thought of it being purchased to be a rental (which my realtor mentioned to me).  My home has been shown 2 other times – the first one actually liked it, the second didn’t, and the third said she could buy a brand new end-unit townhome for another $10,000 with a basement and garage (which my house doesn’t have).  So I told my realtor that she should go buy that brand new townhouse.  The house you buy should be the one you walk into and say – yes!  this is the one!  That’s what I did with this one, and boy did it need work to make it my taste.  It seems that nowadays people actually want to move in and live in a home without making it their own.  If you watch HGTV, you’ll see people actually not buy a house because they don’t like the paint color or wallpaper.  Pullleeeezzzz!!!   They don’t want to paint or repair or replace . . . What’s the point in having a home?  We painted and remodeled and put on additions and put down carpet, ripped up the same carpet, put in tile floors, hardwood floors, built-in shelves, and on and on.  (It’s worth it – the location couldn’t really be better.)  And when we move, we’ll do the same there, too.  Well, probably not all of that – I’m older now.   But there’s nothing like that feeling of accomplishment. (Check out the website and look at the cabinets I was whining about in an earlier blog!)  We’re not professionals and I did almost pull all my hair out, but it’s done now and the trials and tribulations of doing them are completely gone when you see the finished product. 

But I’d love to hear from anyone who’s sold and bought a home – this is the first time I’ve done this and I really would love to hear your stories, advice – whatever!

The Business Side

I’ve been talking about why, when and where you should hire a VA.  I’ve covered how environmental it is to hire one and how you can reduce your carbon footprint by hiring a VA (not to mention the incredible money savings involved).  Instead of rehashing everything I’ve said before, here’s another article in Entrepreneur.com that has some good pointers on looking for just the right VA and why you should hire one.  Remember, the most important thing is to have a good, trusting relationship with your VA which is what I enjoy with my clients.  Here’s another article I just came across trying to get home the same message.  If you’re looking to get some typing done for $2 / hour in India, I’m obviously not your VA.  And could you feel like you have a trusting relationship with them?  Would you even know who was doing your typing?  Could you call that person and speak with them about it?  Outsourcing can be a good thing with the right VA, but it could be a very bad thing if you’re trying to outsource like, say, your phone company did.

My ideal client has the following traits:

• willing to communicate

Oh – I guess that’s the most important trait!  Because when you can communicate with your VA and let her know what it is that you’re looking to get done, the rest is simple!  There is nothing that can’t be accomplished with good communication.  So as I’ve said before – what are you waiting for?!? 

Virtual Assistant – got one?

Advice

Speaking of advice, I’ve decided to add an advice “column” as part of my regular blog – business, personal, environmental, gardening.  Ask me whatever you’d like – if I don’t have an answer, I’ll direct you to an appropriate resource.  So let’s hear your questions!!

The Food Critic

I recently went to the Cock N Bull Restaurant in Lahaska.  It’s been around forever and I’ve heard about it for years and years.  But I never went there – and most likely won’t go back.  Although the restaurant is visually pleasing, it is apparently a family dining experience.  Evidenced by the table right behind us with kids that wouldn’t stop screaming.  That’s not entirely true – they did stop after about 1/2 hour or so.  Just before I asked to move tables.  But I’m not sure that would have helped – as loud as their screams were, they had to have been heard throughout the dining room.  And, you know – it doesn’t have to be that way.  My kids would NEVER EVER have behaved that way in a restaurant!  And another table came in on the other side of us with more kids, and we never even heard them.  But I digress . . .  That is not why I wouldn’t want to go back, of course – it was the food!  I started with a baked brie (my favorite) and which the waitress said was their specialty.  Not really.  The crust was mushy and the brie was not the best brie I’ve ever tasted.  It was supposed to come with raspberry sauce and almonds, but I asked for it without that.  I wanted to taste the brie – not some sweet sauce.  Maybe the sauce is what makes the brie taste better there.

Then we both had mahi-mahi with rice and wilted spinach.  My favorite type of food (besides cheese) is seafood.  I’ve never met a fish I didn’t like (except sea urchin); however, I tend to go for the more tasteful fishes.  I’ve had mahi-mahi before and thought it delightful – not so much here.  I actually didn’t even finish it because it tasted like . . . absolutely nothing.  I could not discern one seasoning – although it looked beautiful - but the fish itself was just blah.  I don’t waste eating on food that has no taste.  I did, however, eat the rice and spinach because I was hungry – also very tasteless.  How can you make spinach tasteless?  I just don’t get it!

Then came dessert.  OK – I’ll try again.  I ordered an apple dumpling – hold the vanilla sauce.  Now I’m not sure what exactly I would do in a restaurant setting to serve an apple dumpling and keep the crust crisp and delicious . . . neither do they.

And our waitress – while not terrible by any stretch, was not personable.  She was professional, efficient and quick, making me feel like I was taking up too much of her time.  I know it’s not easy waiting on tables – because I did it many years ago, and I loved it.  But no matter how rushed you are, each and every customer should feel special.  I’m very critical of waitstaff.  When there’s a great server, the whole dining experience improves tremendously.

So all-in-all it was a disappointment.  I’d love to hear comments from anyone who’s eaten there and had a different experience.  Who knows – maybe I’d give them another shot if I heard enough good experiences from other people.

Aren’t those two words to make you cringe!!  It makes ME cringe, anyway.  I have no love for cleaning.  But isn’t spring a great time to “clean” other things in your life?  Think of all the wonderful things that happen in Spring – the weather, the new plant life, lawns are green again, trees are budding – it’s as if everything is awakening to another year.  And now that we’re past the dreaded April 15, there’s nothing but pure joy ahead of us.  Now those of you who are not sharing in my opinion of the pure joy thing, let’s try to adjust your attitude a bit.  Even if there is something going on in your life right now that is stressing you to the max, remember:  you are the only one who can lessen that stress.  Don’t wait for circumstances to change on their own or that you’ll just wake up tomorrow stress-free.  YOU have to make the effort, take whatever steps necessary to destress yourself.  We are all so busy we fail to take the time we need for ourselves, which I find pretty amusing in the narcissistic society we live in today.  And those of you who are more on the side of “the glass is half empty” need to destress the most.  Now I’m sure you’ve all read countless articles of how to destress, all the “how-to’s” and self-help advice out there (really, click on these links, they are good articles), but what I’m referring to is your attitude on life.  I completely agree with the different ways to destress – yoga, meditation, a healthy lifestyle – they are definitely something easier to change than your attitude and will work wonders to improve your mental state.  But I’m still talking about your attitude on life.  While some of us are glass half-full types naturally, I really understand that there are the half-empty people out there who are just who they are.  As I’ve lived more life (graceful way of saying aged), I’ve definitely become even more laid back about a lot of things which isn’t a bad thing.  Because it’s all in my attitude.  I’ve gone through some pretty stressful things in the past year, and I’d be lieing if I said I didn’t have bad days.  EVERYONE does.  But if you can keep a great attitude – which sometimes takes talking to yourself and telling yourself that tomorrow will, indeed, be better – those bad times will pass much quicker.  Those of you who know me know that there have definitely been some difficult times in my life – those of you who don’t know me would be amazed.  (Maybe I’ll finish that book I started some day.)  But my whole purpose in this paragraph is to tell you, you CAN be a happier person. 

Here are a few things to use as your mantra:

1. At least I’m not living in Iraq.
2. I have my health, a roof over my head, and plenty to eat.
3. I have someone who loves me; I love someone.
4. I have at least 1 good friend I can count on.

Now I say #1 tongue-in-cheek, because when I said that to someone recently, I was told – I wouldn’t live in Iraq.  What I mean is what if you were born in Iraq and your country was in a civil war and you didn’t have enough food, electricity, sewer service and you didn’t know if you or anyone you knew would be alive by the end of the day.  And you know what?  I’ve heard interviews from people who are living in Iraq who way they are living in hell, but they are dealing with it.  Wow.

No. 2 – I lumped all 3 in this one because you may have to modify that a bit, i.e., if you are in poor health, etc.  My heart goes out to you if you are in poor health – that must be a trial in and of itself.  But I have known people in poor health – even people who were dying – who have kept their sense of humor and a good attitude.  And that is my hope – that if I am ever in a situation such as that, that I am able to keep my sense of humor.

No. 3 – Never underestimate the power of love.  Family, friends, spouses, significant others – your dog, cat, bird!  Shower love on whomever you can, whenever you can. 

No. 4 – Friends can be extremely important in your life.  Friends you can count on, that is.  I’ve had plenty of friends that actually weren’t as good a friend as I thought.  But I have friends that I know I can count on for anything!  And what a great destresser it can be to talk to your friends.  If you profess that you don’t have any friends - go out there and meet people and start a friendship.  Friendships take time to develop and to nurture – be a good friend and you’ll get a good friend.

Find your mantra and use it.  Improve your attitude on life.  You will be a much happier person.  Remember:  every day you’re miserable is a day of your life you’ve just wasted.

The Personal Side

Last week I was a speaker at a women’s meeting.  I wasn’t scheduled to be the speaker – the scheduled speaker had a family tragedy and couldn’t make it.  So the day before I got a call from a member of the group and asked me to speak about virtual assistance.  It’s not new to the net, but you’d really be surprised how many people have still not heard about it.  I’m going about trying to change that. 

I have to tell you – I had a blast!  I talked briefly on women in leadership and all the crazy surveys, studies, etc., etc., on present-day women and why it’s taken so long for women to be in leadership rolls.  I could have spoken for hours on the subject!  And afterwards I met some really neat women who came up to me to ask me about VA’s and to tell me how much they enjoyed my little talk.  Fun stuff.  Getting up to speak in front of a room full of women I didn’t know would have been daunting to me a decade ago.  Now it was just another thing to experience in life – my attitude was properly adjusted.  If an opportunity comes up for you to do something a little outside of your comfort zone, why not consider doing it?  Adjust your attitude and go for it!

The Business Side

I feel as if I’m repeating myself, but why don’t you have a VA yet?  Don’t wait until you’re drowning!  Hire one now to be able to call on when you need her.  This goes along with destressing – we are all so very busy in our lives, why not get help?  Whether it’s getting help with the little personal things you are having trouble keeping up with because you’re too busy running your business, or you need help with your business tasks:  correspondence, email management, administrative tasks.  Wouldn’t it be great to be confident in passing along some tasks to your VA to handle for you?  Why should you be taking your time to do certain tasks that your VA could be doing?  Be an entrepreneur and join the throngs of businesspeople who have found their very own VA to help keep their business running efficiently — and DESTRESS.

Don’t be a procrastinator – find one now!!

Great site to visit – article on eMediaWire about Virtual Assistants.

VA’s are finally getting recognition!  Visit here to read an article on WebWire “Virtual Assistant Tops Today’s Show Work at Home Business List.” And Canada will be having its first Virtual Assistant conference.  Wish I could go, but I can’t even make the annual conference for the IVAA this year – I’m going to try for next year, though.

I’ve thought a lot about how a VA can benefit the environment, but was not able to find as many articles as I thought I would on the subject.  I found plenty of articles on global warming of course, the latest being the ice-shelf-hanging-from-a-thread-story.  Side note:  whether or not you agree on how we are affecting global warming, you surely must believe by now there IS global warming!  Don’t get nervous – today is not about global warming, I promise.

But just to use common sense, just look at our ridiculously crammed roadways during rush hour!  I’m willing to bet that 25% of those cars need not be on our highways.  (Did you know that 75% of all statistics are made up on the spot?)  While I’m not suggesting that we should turn our society into people who stay in their houses and over time forget how to interact with other people, I am suggesting that if more people would work from home there wouldn’t be as much:

• pollution from cars
• noise pollution
• accidents (statistics again)
• stress-related health issues from commuting

Not suggesting that everyone should become a VA (just hire one), I know I’ve found that you can get more accomplished at home than in an office.  When I worked in an office I was constantly being interrupted by the phone, emails, my boss, other employees . . .  I don’t know how I got anything done!  That’s why I ended up working nights and weekends — and I could get a full day’s work in a half day on the weekend.  Until someone else came in to work and thought it was a great time to chat (sigh).  But I thought at the time if I had the appropriate hookup at home and could work from home, I’d get 50% more work done (I love statistics).  And I did try the PC Anywhere hookup.  That works just fine if you’re one of those tortoises on that high speed internet commercial where they love things S-L-O-W.  That was stressful to me because when I click on something or try to download a file, I expect it to be NOW.  We’re so spoiled with high speed internet, aren’t we!?  Thankfully there are better programs than that available now. 

Back to my point . . . if employers would invest in setting up some of their employees to work from home just one or two days a week, think of the savings – to the employer, the employee and to everyone else who has to commute.  This is my idea:  You say to your boss, “Boss, I would like to work at home two days a week.  I’ll gladly take $1 or $2 per hour less on those two days and I feel I’ll be more productive.”  You say to yourself, why in the world would I take an $8 or $16/day paycut?  You’d have to do the math, of course, but I’ll bet unless you work very close to home you’re spending more than that in gas and car repairs (I think the mileage reimbursement is currently $.485 / mile), not to mention tolls, time wasted traveling, etc.  Your boss gets a slight $$ savings which will add up over time if you include payroll taxes and the like, you get to stay home and not waste that money, you get to be more productive because you have the serenity of your home office, and for two days a week you’re not polluting with your car.  That, my friends, is a win-win situation. 

And you’d be that one person that’s made a difference.  It’s like that in anything we do – people argue that one person usually doesn’t make that much of a difference, but if that one person multiplies into 100, 1000, or 10,000, then all of a sudden, it’s a big difference.  We’ve all heard these suggestions:  if half of the population drives 1 day less a week, uses no plastic bags for a week, watches 10 less hours of TV per week, etc., etc.  But really!!  It DOES make a difference!  Give it a shot!

VA’s take that to the enth degree.  They work from home all the time and, therefore, are helping the environment by not polluting with their cars.  It’s not a world-saving thing to do, but it’s a start.  And if you hire a VA to help you with things, you are helping the environment as well!

The Personal Side

Kitchen cabinets are almost finished. We went to hang the last one and of course it doesn’t fit.  I must admit the rest of them look awesome, though.  Upstairs bathroom is almost finished, too – new tile floor, new countertop and sinks, new bathtub fixtures – looks pretty good!  Painter is here painting the dining room – WHAT?  I hired a painter??  Yes – I could watch all the DIY and HGTV programs in the world – and STILL not become a good painter.  I’ve been painting rooms for over 23 years (that’s how long I’ve lived here), but it’s very OK – not great.  So since I LOVE my dining room and it’s the first room you walk into – it seems to be the most earthy room (the chair rail is unfinished barn boards and the windows and doors are framed in it) – I’ve hired a professional.  I did all the prep work, of course.  That doesn’t sound like alot, but as with everything I’ve done in this house, nothing is easy.  You see, about 8 or so years ago I thought it would look great to paint the room with texture paint – the kind that has the gravel in it.  And it did look really nice (except where the wall meets the ceiling and I messed up).  So guess what?  Yep!  I had to sand the entire room to smooth out the gravel.  Why not paint it in gravel again?  Because of all the smooth spackled spots to repair the walls where the house had settled and where the original dry wall guys did not do a good job.  Like I said:  nothing’s easy.  So Mike is here from Scott Gribling Painting.  Mike is the nicest guy next to Scott – so professional and friendly – and he’s doing an awesome job!  I would highly recommend calling Scott if you need anything done – and btw, his specialty is all kinds of texture painting, too.  Check out his website!

The Business Side

Hire me.  OK, ok – I’ll say more than that (I wasn’t going to, though). 

Having a Virtual Assistant helping you manage your workload is a cost-effective was to bring you peace of mind.  In thinking of hiring a VA, there are certain things you should look for in a VA.  You should make sure that a VA you are considering hiring is experienced at whatever you are looking to have accomplished.  Look at his/her resume as if you were going to hire that person to work in your office.  Speak with them on the telephone – not just by email.  Choose a local VA if you would like to meet that person first; however, most VA’s never actually meet the people for whom they are doing work — and that arrangement is based on trust.  If you are not the trusting sort, give your intended VA a small task to perform and judge the way they handle that task.  Did they simply complete the task as requested or did they go the extra mile:  did they give you options; i.e., you say:  make me a hotel reservation in (city) for (date).  An experienced VA will ask questions:

• are you traveling for business or pleasure?
• will you need a flight or travel arrangements?
• how many people will be staying in the room?
• are you attending a convention or meeting?  what convention/meeting and where is it?  is the room being booked with a group?
• what type of room are you expecting?
• do you have any special needs – internet service, a desk in your room, etc.
• do you require a restaurant or a pool in the hotel?

Then the experienced VA will respond with a list of hotels in the area with room rates for all the types of rooms offered at each hotel, including whether or not they have a pool, what type of restaurant(s) are in the hotel, amenities provided – and whether or not the rates are different if booked through the hotel or online.  You choose from the list and she then makes the reservation.  It’s a good little experiment to see how thorough your VA is.

Ask your potential VA some general questions:

• what time he/she would have available for you each week;
• how much notice is needed for a larger job (be prepared to give some details);
• are they generally available for last-minute jobs;
• do they have the background you are looking for in a VA (legal, medical, corporate);
• do they need to have a certain background to perform the work you are looking to get done?     

Come up with a list of parameters that you are looking for in a VA.  Start looking for a VA NOW — BEFORE you are so crazy behind you say don’t have the time to find one.   Post a job on virtual assistant sites such as IVAA.org or DVVAA.org if you don’t know how to find one.  As I’ve said before – you NEED a VA!!  Wouldn’t it be great to have a VA you trust that you can just email tasks – do this, do that – and it gets done just like that!  Searching and finding the right VA for you will be the thing you’ve ever done – trust me.

Recommended Sites

See The Personal Side above for Scott Gribling Painting and visit his website. 

Have a great weekend!

Even if you don’t realize it yet, you really do need a Virtual Assistant.  In this blog I’m going to go over some of the scenarios with which you could utilize a Virtual Assistant – today I’ll concentrate on small business owners and entrepreneurs.  Now if you don’t have any stress and you’re able to handle everything in your life and it all gets done – I want to meet you!  I feel like I need a VA sometimes.  Because, of course, I’m doing everyone’s else’s stuff and my stuff gets the appropriate back burner.  (Like the kitchen cabinets . . . )

as always, feel free to scroll down to “The Business Side”

The Personal Side

I have met a lot of people recently – could be all the networking events.  I really do enjoy networking and meeting new people.  And it’s interesting to find out what they do (and how I could help them, of course), but it’s really interesting to tell them what I do.  First I test the waters and say I’m a Virtual Assistant.  I’d guestimate that 75% of them have no idea what I’m talking about, they smile and nod politely, which is just fine because then I get to tell them!  The other 25% who know what a Virtual Assistant is either has one, knows someone who has one or has just read an article about VA’s.  I, of course, would love to insert here how environmental VA’s are (not counting driving to the networking events – carpool if you can!).  I will do a future blog on all the societal benefits of working from home.  Anyone who knows me knows that I have been referred to as a tree hugger since I was in high school.  Back in the – insert decade, I’m not going to -  I started to spout about global warming and what the industrial age has done to our planet, the ozone layer, etc., etc.  Most people looked at me like I had two heads, my mother would just say,”are you going to get up on your soapbox again?”  My father would just gently chuckle.  And the sad part is I still get the same reaction today from more people than I would care to admit.  It’s inconvenient to be environmental. (hey!  reference to Al Gore and I didn’t even realize it!)  Don’t get me wrong – I am not the quintessential environmentalist.  I still use plastic bags – but I try to reuse them if they haven’t had something gross in them.  I bought the cloth shopping bags from Giant and I forget them in the car sometimes.  But I will not allow chemicals on my lawn, and my brick patio would look much better more often if I would treat the weeds.  I’ve tried vinegar and lemon juice, boiling water – but the best thing is just to weed wack the patio.  I have been a staunch proponent for decades about not using chemicals outside that will eventually get in our water sources.  I do truly believe we are poisoning ourselves and our children with the use of chemicals on our plants and in the animals we eat, as well as the additions to our preserved food.  You see, my teenaged daughter had cancer a couple of years ago – a rare cancer usually found in people over 55.  She’s absolutely fine now, but what the heck?  My girlfriend’s daughter recently had  thyroid cancer . . . we’d better find a cure to cancer very soon since our children’s children will be the ones to suffer from our lack of responsibility.

But I draw the line at becoming a vegetarian – I LOVE seafood and chicken.  Never met a piece of sushi I didn’t like - except for sea urchin, of course.  (It has the consistency of snot.)  I would prefer if the chickens were free range and killed humanely and we hadn’t poisoned our fish supply with mercury and other chemicals, however.  OK, ok – I’m done – my mother’s voice just got inside my head.

BTW – anyone see the commercial where the tree walks across the pasture and hugs the environmentally friendly house; two guys are standing in the pasture – one looks at the other and says, “house hugger.”  I LOVE that commercial!!

 The Business Side:

Your business is doing great!  Calls are coming in, products are going out - services are being provided, the phones are ringing non-stop, you’re getting 500 emails a day . . .  but you’re so overwhelmed with everything that you’re not taking care of the details that are necessary to run a successful business.  Remember:  you’re in this to make money and time is money – don’t waste it!  It’s not unusual for me to hear, “I’m so busy I just can’t get all my emails answered in a timely fashion,” “I’m so busy my invoicing is falling behind,” “I’m a week or more behind on correspondence and the piles are growing on my desk.”  These are really just a few of the things I am constantly hearing from people I run into.  I ask them – have you thought about hiring someone to help?  “No – I can’t afford to hire anyone else and I don’t have the room or the time to set up extra equipment for someone else!”  Why put yourself through that?  And yes, you CAN afford to hire a Virtual Assistant!  I don’t know what YOUR time is worth, but I’ll bet it’s way more than $25 – $35 an hour!  And not having time to do your invoicing?  If that’s true – no wonder your cash flow may not be where you need it!  And there is nothing worse than piles that accumulate on your desk – after a while you’ll forget something important that will cost you.

There are typing services out there – all over the world.  If you just need to dictate and have someone type it – you need a typing service.  But that is NOT what a Virtual Assistant is all about.  When you develop a relationship with your VA, it’s exactly the same as having your own personal assistant who is right next to you.  A good VA learns about you and how you would like your work done.  It’s a learning process, of course, but one that is well worth it.  Please take a second to check out a couple of articles found in Entrepreneur.com.   Still can’t figure out what a VA can do to help you?  See this article – Top 10 Reasons to Hire a Virtual Assistant.  Or this one!  Do yourself and your business a favor – make the time to hire a good VA – then you’ll be on your way to getting your business (and your life) in order! 

Miscellaneous Stuff

I met this really nice guy at a networking event.  His name is Will Quinn of Quinn’s Office Furniture & Design.  I’ve been wanting to get a little side table/work station/file cabinet piece of furniture thing for some time but couldn’t find just what I wanted.  Will, who I’m sure has much bigger fish to fry, went out of his way to find me a cabinet (after trying to understand what I was talking about) and actually brought it to a meeting we attend so I wouldn’t have to pay shipping.  Wow!!  Big thanks to Will.  I now have a great desk surface with shelving for my files and supplies at an affordable price.  You should really check out their website – great furniture!  Some day I’ll hopefully get him to design and furnish an office for me (how do you insert a dream cloud here?)

The Food Critic

Ok – went out to eat last night at a place I’ve been to before once.  Geryville Publick House owned by Greg and Terri Lepore.  Greg is also an attorney as well as a bar owner, and I used to work with him over 20 years ago!  It was great catching up with him after all these years.  Nice.  The bar is a historic building which he refurbished and it looks great!  The bar is one of those nice, heavy wood bars with stone walls – really beautiful!  We started with a cheese and fruit plate and tuna appetizer.  The cheese plate had a sliced apple and grapes, small rounds of bread and 3 different cheeses that complimented each other nicely.  The tuna was chopped in small squares – raw – and seasoned perfectly over greens.  Nicely done!  I had a burger – yes, I eat ground red meat a few times a year – and it was fantastic!  Nice, warm, casual atmosphere.  If you’re in the mood for great food in a beautiful bar served by very competent and friendly waitstaff, go to the Geryville Publick House! 

ok – that’s it – I have to go work on the cabinets again, or still, or whatever . . . some are even hung up now and they look great!  I’ll put a pic on here for you when they’re actually finished.  Have a great weekend!