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
Virtual Caffeine 