The Environmental Virtual Assistant

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!

Nickey Hollenbach
Personal Touch Concierge Service, LLC
484-919-0637
www.ptconciergeservice.com

Let it Snow!!

Hi everyone!

The Personal Side 

As I’m sitting here nice and cozy inside my house with a nice fire going and a cup of coffee on my desk while it’s snowing outside, I am once again reminded how much I just LOVE this Virtual Assistant thing!  I turn my head for a moment to gaze out the window at the beautiful winter wonderland and once again thank God for lots of things:  my health, my family, a roof over my head – and most of all – that I still have the peace of mind to take that moment to look out the window and appreciate the beauty of nature.

Why so happy this morning?  Well, not all that long ago I would have been up early (same as now), but ran outside to shovel, clean off my car, let it run to warm up and waste gas, and then hope and pray some idiot on the road was not driving if they didn’t know how to in this weather.  All to get to a work environment that was run inefficiently, the employees unappreciated, the boss subject to temper tantrums – just to finally get back home feeling wiped out and frustrated because of all of the above.  Don’t get me wrong – I actually love pressure and time deadlines.  That’s when I’m my most efficient, so I didn’t mind the daily deadlines and the long hours.  It’s when you know everything could be run so much more efficiently, you see the wasted money and no one will listen to your suggestions – either because they feel they know best or maybe they just feel threatened if someone else knows best?  I’m not sure, but I think some of you reading this know exactly what I’m talking about.

But here I am – warm, safe and snug sitting here at my computer.  And as you’re reading this, I sincerely hope that anyone driving in snow this morning made it to their destination safe and sound.  And I hope you get home before the freezing rain starts!

The Business Side

You already know what I’m going to say.  Did your in-house staff make it in this morning?  If they did, will they stay until the end of the day or will they leave early to make it home before the ice gets too bad and the ride home is a nightmare?  And how much time will be wasted talking about the drive in, the drive home and the weather in general?  And will you pay them for the whole day?  (Of course you will – you’re not an ogre!)  How much actual work was done for the day? 

I’m not telling everyone they don’t need office staff in-house in certain situations.  You may need a receptionist, a file clerk (or combination) to handle the physical paperwork in your office.  But what if you really had something you needed done today and your administrative assistant couldn’t make it in?  What would you do?  If you had a Virtual Assistant (like me), not only could I pick up overload work for your in-house assistant and work with her, but today wouldn’t even be an issue.  One telephone call or email with instruction and it would be taken care of in an efficient, cost-effective manner.  You would pay me for actual work done, and it would be returned to you by the end of the business day – to your office or your home – wherever you are and wherever you need it.  I have to put in a disclaimer here:  you can’t give me a 3-hour project to do by the end of the day at 4:00.   I’m not a magician – but if it were an emergency you could most likely have it by the next day.  That’s why the best clients a VA can have are clients that communicate and work WITH their VA.  It’s a wonderful thing!

Just Because

I recently went to see Cyrano at the Academy in Philly.  It was wonderful!  The actors were great and I loved most of the voices.  Not to mention it was a favorite childhood story of mine.  But what I really wanted to let you know if that if you’re ever in the area, please stop in for dinner at Estia – directly across the street from the Academy.  We walked in without a reservation – it was a Wednesday night – and we were warmly welcomed by the hosting staff.   (Almost all of the hosting staff – but I did get the one hold-out to smile with my outgoing charm 🙂  )  The restaurant was decorated very tastefully and was not overdone.  We were ushered to a table next to a wooden rail, up a step from the rest of the restaurant.  With our bird’s eye view we were able to casually watch everything going on a bit below us.  The wait staff was very cordial and professional. 

Next to us on our little riser were stone columns with flowing-type material covering the lights above which gave a beautiful billowing appearance as if you were outside on a perfect day with a slight breeze.  There was no breeze, of course, but that’s what was created in your mind’s eye.  Our waitress was absolutely wonderful, handing me her little flashlight so I could read the menu – yes, I forgot my glasses AGAIN!  As if that weren’t enough to make your dinner wonderful, then came the exquisite food.  I ordered calamari which was stuffed with different Greek cheeses.  You were served 4 whole calamaris on a beautifully decorated plate – plenty for an appetizer.  Then came the Mediterranean salad – which we shared – also wonderful with the feta and olives.  For dinner we each ordered Chilean Sea Bass (I know – you’re not supposed to order that any more because we’re eating too many of them and killing them off – but this was special!)  each prepared differently.  One was prepared with a red sauce and vegetables; one just grilled with a delicate lemon and herb taste – I don’t want to say “sauce” because it was not a sauce – on wilted spinach.  I wish I had the words to describe to you how delicious the fish tasted – it melted in your mouth and I wanted to make every single bite last as long as possible to appreciate every flavor it encompassed!   I would highly recommend this eating establishment – stop by if you’re in the area and give yourself a real treat.

That’s my restaurant critique.  Who knows when I’ll visit a restaurant that I love that much again.

Oh, and for those of you who remembered I was supposed to be blogging on VPN’s, my computer person has not had a chance to get the information to me yet.  I promise it will happen eventually.  Thanks for keeping up!

Oh, and no – my kitchen cabinets are not finished yet (sigh) – so I’ll let the HGTV.com site up for awhile yet – it may be up here quite some time actually.

 Nickey Hollenbach
Personal Touch Concierge Service, LLC
www.ptconciergeservice.com