Sunday, September 30, 2007

Positive thoughts for Sunday

A friend just emailed this to me. I don't know who the author is but wanted to share this to get the week started off on a positive note.


Most beautiful rainbow

As we grow up, we learn that even the one person that wasn't supposed to ever let you down probably will. You will have your heart broken probably more than once and it's harder every time.

You'll break hearts too, so remember how it felt when yours was broken.
You'll fight with your best friend.
You'll blame a new love for things an old one did.
You'll cry because time is passing too fast, and you'll eventually lose someone you love.
So take too many pictures, laugh too much, and love like you've never been hurt because every sixty seconds you spend upset is a minute of happiness you'll never get back.
Don't be afraid that your life will end, be afraid that it will never begin.
-author unknown


Saturday, September 29, 2007

Where do you network online?

There are so many places to network online... one could get overwhelmed with the opportunities.

Where do you network online?

My two favorite places for virtual assistant networking are VANA and the VARevolution.

I dabble in other forums: IVAA, Ryze, LinkedIn, Myspace, Twitter, Facebook, Olivia and a bunch more... to be listed another day.

Where is your favorite place to network? Why?

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

5 Ways to Make Delegating More Effective

I know a lot of Virtual Assistants are so busy these days that they are finding the need to sub out some of their work to other VAs. Here is an article you might find helpful when it comes time to delegate. As VAs we are great at taking on other people's work but many of us find delegating our own work a challenge. We have no problem asking our clients to delegate work to us but then when it becomes time for us to delegate work to others we find all sorts of excuses.

5 Ways to Make Delegating More Effective
by Erin Blaskie

In my profession as a virtual assistant, I am in the front of the delegating lines and I see firsthand what works and what doesn’t. Oftentimes, new clients will ask me to coach them a bit on delegating work to our company and I am always happy to do so.

If you are currently delegating work to others or you may do so in future, here are five ways to make your delegating experience more effective.

(1) Set Deadlines

This often gets overlooked but it’s the most important part. If you need something back by week’s end, specify that when you delegate the task. Although your virtual assistant may be a magician when it comes to getting your work done, he/she is not a mind-reader. They need to know, from you, when you need the work done.

(2) Prioritize

If you are giving your virtual assistant many tasks, let him/her know which item needs to get done first. One of my own clients will often note when something takes precedence over the rest of the work she’s delegated to me. This helps me to know what she needs back quickly and what can wait until closer to the set deadline.

(3) Be Clear

When you delegate something, be clear in your message. It may be something that is easy for you to do because you’ve done it often but you’ll need to remember that when delegating items from your business, they may not be things that others are as familiar with. So, be clear and be available if/when your virtual assistant makes requests for items he/she needs to complete the task.

(4) Check Skills First

Too often I’ve seen people delegate out a task to someone that went above their knowledge level. When this happens, the person may take longer than expected or may have difficulty with the project. A lot of people want to please their clients so they may hang on to a task thinking, “I’ll learn this and get the work done” but that only delays progress. Check with the person first to make sure he/she has the skills required to complete the task.

(5) Give Advanced Notice

The last tip I’ll give you is to make sure you are giving enough notice. If you delegate a 5-minute project in the morning and want it done by day’s end, that may be okay for that person’s schedule but if you drop a full blog-design project in their lap and request it back within 24-hours, that may not always suit their schedule. It is better to give as much notice as possible so that you both benefit.

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Erin Blaskie is a virtual assistant and the owner of Business Services, ETC. Erin supports business owners with their daily operations - helping them fr*ee up their time so they can get back to doing the ‘life’ stuff or focus on the revenue generating items. Feel fr*ee to contact her via her website at http://www.bsetc.ca or at info@bsetc.ca.

Vitual Assistants in the News (again)

Another article about Virtual Assistants. This time on ABC News.

Sunday, September 23, 2007

Five Reasons I Love Being a Virtual Assistant

Do you love running your own business?

I'm starting a new game of tag or meme. Please tell me five reasons why you love being a Virtual Assistant?
  1. Having time to spend with my family and friends.
  2. Being in charge of my own destiny.
  3. Choosing who I work with and when I work with them.
  4. Getting to know lots of virtual friends who have turned in to real friends.
  5. Working with the most awesome clients!
Now it's your turn. I'm tagging Yamisi Daniel, In Touch VA; Crystal Pina, Visions Virtual Assistance; and Yvonne Weld, AbleVA.

Please link back to the person who originally tagged you so we can have fun seeing how far this travels.

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Lorelle is Speaking at the VA Revolution!!!

I just found out that Lorelle VanFossen is speaking at The VARevolution!!! I'm a member of the Rev. Yay! I saw Lorelle speak at WordCamp this summer and loved her (and blogged about it). I can't wait to hear her speak again on Thursday afternoon. Virtual Assistants: if you are not a member of the VA Revolution this might be a good time to join!

Thursday, September 13, 2007

Virtual Assistants on CNN!!!

CNN talks about Virtual Assistants!
How to Earn More from Home

Thanks Darrell from Right Hand Man Virtual Assistant Services for posting this article in VANA: "The hottest, friendliest, informative, Education and Resourceful network for Virtual Assistants!"

Sunday, September 09, 2007

More LinkedIn

I was catching up on reading my favorite blogs today when I came across Jennifer Gniadecki's podcast on Using LinkedIn. Thanks Jennifer!

Tuesday, September 04, 2007

LinkedIn

I joined LinkedIn!

Are you a LinkedIn member?
I am and I decided to join because two different people in one week invited me. I thought, I better check this thing out.

Just curious... if you are a LinkedIn member what do you think? Do you like it? Is it good for networking? I see a lot of the movers and the shakers from the Virtual Assistant industry in there so I know it must be good. I'd love to hear about your experiences with LinkedIn.

Here is what PC Magazine had to say about it. "More of a well-heeled social club than a friendly free-for-all, LinkedIn is the most exclusive site we reviewed." - PCMag

Sunday, September 02, 2007

Comfort Zone

Are you stuck in your comfort zone? To be a successful business owner you must at some point get out of your comfort zone. If businesses thrived while people were in their comfort zone, we'd all be rich.

If you ever hear yourself saying... I don't do that. Or I'm not comfortable doing that... well guess what? You probably need to do just that...

Is your business stuck? Are you wondering why you haven't gotten a new clients in a long time?

I think it was Albert Einstein who said “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”.

What have you done lately to get out of your comfort zone?

I read Jaime Lee Mann's book, The Art of Follow Up and did some of the steps she suggested (that were outside of my comfort zone). Guess what? I got some new clients.

Saturday, September 01, 2007

Pay It Forward

Oprah did a Pay It Forward challenge with her audience recently. She gave them each $1000 with the condition that they were supposed to use it to help someone outside of their family with it.

If you want some feel good stories that might inspire you this weekend check out the videos here:

Oprah Pay It Forward Challenge


Imagine if we all did the pay it forward thing once in awhile...