Virtual Simplicity

Virtual Simplicity Blog is Moving

2009-12-09T17:35:00.000-08:00

The Virtual Simplicity blog has a new home and a new look. It has moved on to my Sally Around The Bay Blog and will mostly focus on topics around social networking.

Please update your feeds to the following Web address: http://sallyaroundthebay.com

I look forward to seeing you at our new Web home. I'm thinking about having a housewarming party with some prizes... more info to come soon.

You can also find us on Facebook at the Virtual Simplicity Fan Page.

Starting up a Business Economically

2009-10-17T09:51:00.000-07:00

Working with entrepreneurs and start-up companies there is something I see time and time again. I see people spend a whole bunch of money upfront on things that are not really necessary (in my humble opinion). People purchase fancy letterhead, stationary, brochures, logos, Websites and business cards. They put a lot of attention, focus and money on the impression they are going to make but what they don't do is put a lot of attention and focus on the service they are going to provide or who they are going to provide it to. More often than not I’ve seen entrepreneurs within the first year of business decide to change their whole focus which means the letterhead, the brochure and the business cards are heading to the recycling bin and the Website and logo are being completely re-done.

I’ve seen people buy all sorts of offices supplies – a new computer, a new fax machine, a fancy printer, a scanner, a phone system, pens, etc.

I’ve also seen people use all these "things" they must have as an excuse to not put themselves out there and really start their business. I hear things like, "I can’t go to that networking meeting because I don’t have a Website yet or I don't have brochures yet or my Website isn't done yet." I'll let you in on a little secret… Websites are never done!

If you are thinking about starting a business I say start with the basics. Get a Website or Blog and a simple professional looking business card. The letterhead, brochures, logos and fancy Website are not going to get you business. What is going to get you business are your skills at networking and connecting with others, the quality of service you provide and a way for people to find you (ie. contact info on Website and business cards).

What are you waiting for? Stop trying to be perfect. Stop making excuses. Stop wasting money. Remember you have a service to offer that most likely someone else needs.

Pic of office supplies via Flickr User nickjohnson
PS. Thanks to Mack Collier for explaining an easy way to give photo credit when using creative common photos from Flickr.

How Not To Get A New Client

2009-10-10T08:33:00.000-07:00

I am constantly giving the advice to entrepreneurs to network, network, network. I tell business owners to get out of their comfort zone and go out and network. When I say network I don't mean to go out and broadcast your services or to do hard sales. To me networking is about creating relationships, to get to know others and to let them get to know you. It is not about trying to get that person to be my next client. It's about making friends and building social capital. You never know who knows your next client or where your next referral might come from.

I recently had a networking experience that felt "icky" to me. How can I explain this? I met a man at an event, he heard me talking about Twitter and social networking (many of you know how much I LOVE to talk about this subject, I get a little passionate when doing so) anyway he asked me for my card and said he'd like to hear more about what I do. The next day he called and asked if I wanted to get together and have coffee to network some more. Being the networking advocate I am, I said yes.

When I arrived for coffee he introduced me to his colleague, explaining they had other meetings to attend today so she came along for this one as well. I thought great, I get to meet another person. They asked me all about Twitter, my blog, social networking and I blabbed on and on talking about being authentic, about how it's not about sales but is about relationships, they agreed and said they loved the concept because that is how they practice business.

About 15 minutes in to our conversation, I asked him why he wanted to meet today, if he just wanted to hear more about what I do or if he had any questions. Suddenly, his colleague took over and dove in to a total sales pitch trying to sell me a service I did not need, nor want. She went on and on, while the wheels were turning in my head and I was slowly realizing what was happening...

I was thinking to myself, did they even really care about what I do? were they here to sell me their services? I felt like a big dummy for going on and on about social networking. Maybe I was too presumptuous myself and should have spent a little more time at the beginning of the meeting to check in with them.

Meanwhile she is still talking about all the benefits of what they do and how much I will benefit from it. Then she said, "so tell me how we can help you?". I looked at her confused and said, "I'm not looking for help, I'm here today because he invited me. I'm not looking for X services, I don't need them. Thank you". I'm not going to bore you with the rest of the conversation but it just didn't sit right with me. We were all polite to each other but by this point I felt like they weren't being authentic, I felt they didn't really care about what I did, they just smiled politely and kept asking questions to keep me talking. I may be totally wrong, because they seemed like really nice people, perhaps they did care about what I do and they just have a different style of networking but I came out of the meeting feeling icky, which means I'm probably not going to use their services and I'm not going to refer them to my large network of friends.

I'm telling this story not to criticize these people but to share with any of you who may be wondering why you haven't "sealed the deal" lately. If you are having trouble "closing the sale" with clients maybe it is time to take a step back and look at your own approach to networking.

If you are going to invite someone for a meeting to try to sell them your services please let them know in advance. Maybe even find out if they are at all interested in your services. Time is precious these days.

My advice is to network, network, network but please be authentic when doing so.

After re-reading this, I realized I'm being a little hard on these people. I'm sure they are good, nice and caring people. I'm not saying people who do hard sales are bad people, just saying they may want to re-evaluate the way they look at networking and sales. It's totally fine to share what you do and talk about your business but that is different than trying to convince someone they need your services.

I'm stepping off my soap box now. Thank you for listening.

Urge to Purge Day 4

2009-09-18T18:30:00.000-07:00

Today I purged the information booklet from my health insurance (because I never read it anyway), I filed some papers I need to save for clients, found my Get Clients Now! tracking sheets... hmmm maybe I will start that program again. I finally took the sent faxes out of my fax machine and filed them.

I put away Poncho's (my dog) file (with all the Vet receipts and other miscellaneous Poncho info) back with the personal files in the other room where it belongs! I also put away my recipe file that got left in here after I emailed Becki the Crock Pot stew recipe.

It seems my blog ramblings about organizing my desk have inspired a few others to do the same. After day 1 of my urge to purge my mom sent me a picture of her desk saying my problem (of a clutter filled desk) might be genetic.

(Very clever how she took the picture with the picture of my desk on her screen)

Today my mom sent me a new pic of her clean desk. She wanted to note that the flower was placed there just for the picture because she would never actually leave a vase there where water could be spilled on her keyboard.

Something I've learned (remembered) in these 4 days of purging. Keeping your desk clean and organized in an ongoing process. You can't just clean your desk once and expect it to stay clean. You have to always put away what you take out. It's a good idea to set time aside each day to clear off the clutter. I don't know about you but my desk is like a clutter magnet. My desk was cleared off a few minutes ago but now it has my book, my purple pen, my water bottle, my wallet and my lotion on it. If I don't stop right now to put these things back where they belong they may soon take permanent residence on my desk top.

Day 5 I will tackle my In box.

Urge to Purge Day 3

2009-09-18T11:16:00.000-07:00

My desk is slowly getting more organized and starting to look better. I've actually been purging and putting away more than 5 things a day, but knowing I only have to do 5 things makes it easier. The latest items removed from my desk were a pile of receipts (entered in QuickBooks and filed away), a necklace, a belt, my sunglasses (reminder to self - this is my desk, not a closet!), a dime, a stack of business cards (either entered in my contacts or tossed), and a Community Class Schedule (no I'm not going to sign up for that great Spanish class that started 3 weeks ago).

Although I have put away and purged quite a bit, I'm still not happy with my desk. After taking today's photo I'm seeing what I need to work on next either the files and other stashed papers to the left or the so called In Box to the right (a.k.a. place to stick things I know I need to deal with but probably never will box). Notice Intuit QuickBooks Pro 2009 box... I don't know how many months it has been sitting there waiting for me to install the new version of Quickbooks. I could probably take those sent faxes out of my fax machine and file them too.

To reward my efforts so far I gave my desk a little gift. Yes I know adding things to my desk in the middle of clearing out probably isn't the wisest thing to do but whatever it makes me smile. I bought a friend for Robbie the Robot, a little purple and pink wind up butterfly. I also bought new purple pens because *gasp* I ran out of purple ink yesterday.

How is your purging going? Is your desk/office looking better?

Urge to Purge Day 2

2009-09-16T10:33:00.000-07:00

After yesterday's post I removed 5 things from my desk. It's starting to look a little better. Oh and I also made a deal with myself to not add any new things to my desk. Whatever I take out I will put away. Whatever needs to be thrown away or recycled will be. However, I'm noticing I didn't quite stick to my deal. Even though there is less stuff on my desk today than there was yesterday, I added a few things (a necklace, my sun glasses, a coffee cup and a glass of water). This purging stuff is harder to do than it sounds.

Yesterday I purged (actually put away) my pens, the little bulldog clip, sticky notes, kid's school directory and my check book. I purged an old sudefed pill that was in my desk drawer and has been in there for probably a year. Why was I saving a sudefed pill in my desk drawer? Who knows?

You may have noticed the little wind up robot on my desk from yesterday's photo or maybe you didn't because my desk was so messy he fell over.

The little robot is named Robbie. When I was in 4th grade I wrote a story about Robbie the Robot explaining that the reason my desk was messy inside was because there was a robot named Robbie that lived in there and messed it up every night while I was at home sleeping. My teacher thought this was so funny, he shared the story with other teachers, students and my parents. A few months ago in Diva Day I was complaining about my messy desk and remembered the story of Robbie the Robot. I shared the story with the group and someone suggested I get a robot to keep on my desk and remind myself not to be so hard on myself about my messy desk.

I'd like to introduce you to Robbie. However, now that I'm a grown up it is time for me to take ownership for my own mess. It is not Robbie's fault. I can't blame Robbie. Robbie is here to remind me to keep my desk clean. When he falls over it's a reminder to me that it's time to stop and clean up the desk again.

It's time for me to purge (or put away 5 more things). How are you doing with keeping your desk clean? Did you find any strange things on your desk or in your desk drawers?

The Urge to Purge

2009-09-16T10:20:00.000-07:00

Hi my name is Sally and my desk is a mess. (See picture to the left as proof). I have the urge to purge! I am a Virtual Assistant with a business called Virtual Simplicity and I help other people get and stay organized. With that profession you'd think I'd have a spotless desk wouldn't you? As much as I hate to admit it my desk is not spotless, it is messy! I struggle everyday with this. I want a spotless desk!

I recently met Jen from Inspired Home Office through Diva Day who explained to me that it is okay to have things on my desk. A desk in use is going to have stuff on it. So Jen's words gave me some encouragement but I still want that clean and shiny executive desk that I picture myself having. I want to walk in to my office and look at my desk and feel a sense of relaxation. Not walk in and get mad at myself for having such a messy desk.

In an effort to achieve the desk I dream of, the desk I preach about... I am going to start purging. I got the idea to purge 5 things a day for 5 days and thought it would be fun to invite others to join me. Is your desk a mess? Do you want to do the 5 things a day for 5 days purge?

There is a section in mine and Yvonne's book called:

"IDENTIFY THE PITFALLS TO SUCCESS AND AVOID THEM"

Pitfall #4 - Clutter

When you visualize a successful CEO’s office, do you see a messy, clutter-filled office with so much paper work piled up you can’t even see the top of the desk? Or do you see a spacious, clean, simple office with an organized desk and a big, shiny workspace?

Now look around your own office and desk. Does it look like the successful CEO’s office or is it a clutter-filled mess? Schedule a few minutes at the end of each today to put back what you have taken out (i.e. files, office supplies, etc). - Managing Your Thriving Business For Success.

I think it is time I start practicing what I preach. It's so easy to give advice and sometimes so hard to follow it.

I'm famous!

2009-09-09T15:59:00.002-07:00

Okay, well maybe I'm not famous... but I was interviewed on The Juice by Jory Des Jardins. It was fun (and kind of intimidating).

Being Authentic is Professional

2009-09-03T10:00:00.000-07:00

I'm on an authenticity kick right now. I mean I've always believed in being authentic, real and full of integrity but sometimes it's hard to figure out who my authentic self is. I guess I'm trying to find MY voice.

I just sent a proposal to a potential client. I have to admit I procrastinated on this proposal because I was feeling a little intimidated. Not intimidated about the work, because I know my team would do an awesome job on the project. What I felt intimidated about was how I was going to present my proposal. This potential client had received a proposal from a big company and she showed me the proposal to ask if this is something I could do for her. The proposal was very professional looking and presented in charts and easy to read.

For some reason, because I saw that proposal I felt like I had to submit a proposal that looked just like it. I don't do my proposals like that. I'm pretty simple and straight forward. I write out what I will do for you and how much it will cost. I don't add all the bells and whistles.

This morning I realized I wasn't being authentic by worrying about how my proposal should look. I realized I just need to send her my proposal the way I write them. It is then up to her to decide if she wants to work with me the person who sends simple and straight forward proposals or work with the company that sends the pretty, polished and formulated proposal. Whoever she chooses is probably the right person for her.

Are you being authentic in how you present yourself to your customers and potential clients?

Is your business THRIVING or just surviving?

How many different hats do you wear?

2009-09-02T17:59:00.000-07:00

As an entrepreneur you probably wear many hats. This piece is inspired by a post I just read on the OwningPink blog about living an authentic life. Lissa Rankin described the many different hats she wears and the importance of wearing the hats authentically.

The part where Lissa described wearing the mommy hat cracked me up. I guess I could totally relate to what she was saying.

"When wearing my Mommy hat, I’m supposed to instantly know how to relate to kids, carry organic snacks everywhere, show up at preschool gatherings looking rested, athletic, and unfazed by the fact that my kid puked all over me the previous night – not to mention bring unfettered volunteer efforts to every kiddie project."

Are you being authentic to yourself? Do you love the business you started? Do you get excited about the work you have to do? Sometimes we get so caught up in what we should be doing we forget to think about what we could be doing.

We think as a Virtual Assistant we should offer these services, but what if we hate these services whatever these services are. Say you hate doing bookkeeping but you thought you should offer it as a service because you are a Virtual Assistant and that is what Virtual Assistants do. Try replacing the word should with could and see how your perspective changes. I could offer bookkeeping as a service. Now check in with yourself and see how that feels. Does that feel right for you or does the idea of offering bookkeeping feel awful? If it feels awful then don't offer bookkeeping as a service. This can work the other way too.

Say you want to offer a service that is not traditionally considered a Virtual Assistant service. Other VAs might tell you that you should not do that but you know what? You can do it if you want because this is your business and you can do whatever you want! If you want to offer online classes in basket weaving as a service of your VA business then go ahead and do it. Be yourself, be authentic and next time you hear yourself saying, I should... try replacing it with I could and you just might be surprised at all the possibilities that pop in to your head. I first heard the idea of replacing should with could by Louise Hay in the book You Can Heal Your Life and it really resonated with me.

I Need a Virtual Assistant!

2009-08-23T13:42:00.000-07:00

Are you feeling busy and overwhelmed? Are you an entrepreneur? Do you wish you had more time to spend with your friends and family? When your friends call on the weekend and ask you to do something fun do you say, “I’m sorry I have to work this weekend”. Are you constantly telling your kids, “I’m sorry I can’t play with your right now, Mommy (or Daddy) is busy working?” Are you tired of working ALL THE TIME?

If you are an entrepreneur and feeling busy or overwhelmed maybe now is the time for you to consider hiring a Virtual Assistant. Think of all the things you have to do. Do you really want to do those things? Do you even have time to do those things? Wouldn’t you rather be doing the things you love and working on what you are good at? You didn’t get in to business to do all the admin stuff... did you? You got in to business because you are good at what you do and you should be doing more of that and delegating all the other stuff.

If this sounds like you and you are ready to take the next step, I’d be happy to talk with you about how I can help you. If I'm not the right person for you I'm sure I can refer you to the right person. Contact me at sallyk@virtualsimplicity.net

To find out more information about Virtual Simplicity visit my Website at www.virtualsimplicity.net

I look forward to hearing from you!

Virtual Assistant Information

2009-08-05T19:45:00.000-07:00

The 4th Annual Online VA Summit will be on Friday, November 6th from 8:00 am - 8:00 pm Eastern (US).

Become a fan of the IVAA (International Virtual Assistant Association) Facebook Fan Page to stay up to date with events and activities.

The IVAA 2010 Live Summit is going to be in Phoenix, AZ in April. Visit www.vasummit.org for more information.

Why I think you should use your real name on Twitter

2009-08-03T20:00:00.000-07:00

If you don't use your real name on Twitter...

I'm not sure who you are.
I forget who you are.
If I meet you in person I'm confused as to who you are unless you say I'm @TwitterIDSoandSo.
I start to wonder who I am talking to.
I don't quite trust you because I'm not exactly sure who you are.

If you already have a Twitter ID and don't want to change it because everyone knows who you are already then at least put your real name in your bio on your Twitter page. Why do so many of you not use your real name in the bio? And if you are all paranoid and don't want anyone to know who you are why are you even on Twitter? If you are cautious and worried about Twitter psycho's can you at least put your first name in your bio so I know you are a real person. If you are promoting your business via Twitter you could still put your real first name in the bio line so I know there is a person behind the business. I like people. I want to do business with people.

Thank you for listening to my Twitter rant.

PS. This post is not directed to anyone in particular. I have lots of Twitter friends who don't use their real name and even though I wish they would use their real names I still love them.

Virtual Assistant High Heels Day

2009-07-08T21:54:00.000-07:00

July 9th is the official Virtual Assistant High Heels Day!

Unlike, Tawnya Sutherland I do NOT miss wearing high heels. You can read here about how Tawnya was inspired to create Virtual Assistant High Heels Day.

I have never been fond of high heels. In fact, I am not even fond of wearing shoes period. Shoes hurt my feet. I only wear shoes when I absolutely have to. It was a joke with my family when I was growing up, "Sally, put your shoes on!". My high school principal used to seek me out and make sure I had my shoes on (because I never did). I walked around high school in stocking feet hoping no one would notice. The principal got to the point where he would stand and wait for me to put my shoes on (the ones I carried in my bag in case any person of authority insisted I wear my shoes). I remember one time walking around a mall with no shoes on and my mom kept telling me to put them on, I didn't put them on until the security guard told me I had to or we would have to leave. Darn liability laws.

The point is, I do not like shoes and I especially do not like heels but I hate to miss a out on something fun. So... I put my heels up high and took a picture and submitted it to the VAnetworking High Heels Day which also happens to be bringing awareness and support to the March of Dimes.

"If you would like to show your support in a monetary fashion, please also visit the March of Dimes website and submit your donation in Honor of Virtual Assistant High Heels Day."

People on Twitter Listen

2009-07-03T09:35:00.000-07:00

I think Twitter is such a sensation because people want to be listened to - they want to be heard. I often hear people say, “I don’t understand Twitter nobody cares if I'm going to the grocery store or taking a shower”.

What these non-tweeting people don't understand is that some people do care. In today's society most of us are glued to our computer screens. We don't pick up the phone as much as we used to because we don't want to bother the person and sending an email is easier anyway. Neighbors and friends don't just stop by now they send evites to plan a BBQ one month in advance.

Remember in the show, I Love Lucy how Ethel would stop by Lucy's everyday just to say hi and ask what she was doing? It seems people don't have time anymore to ask. I think Twitter is filling that void in our life!

Our friends, family, spouses and neighbors are all so busy they rarely stop to say, “how are you? or what are you doing?”

Many of us on Twitter have found it to be a very gratifying experience connecting us to other people.

I personally get all warm and fuzzy when I announce on Twitter I’m going for a hike with my dog and one of my followers responds saying have a great hike or asks me how the hike was. It feels good to be listened to, heard and acknowledged.

I try to explain to my non-tweeting friends that Twitter is not really about broadcasting yourself. It is more about building relationships. For the most part, my friends don’t get it. Although, I’ve noticed many of them have set up Twitter pages and are lurking still trying to figure out what the point is. If they would just take the leap, jump in and participate in some conversation they might understand.

Thanks to all my Twitter friends for listening.

PS. While I was writing this I tweeted that I was drinking coffee and getting ready for a hike, a Twitter friend @Ribeezie responded before I finished this post. I love my Twitter friends!

Superlicious Diva Business Day

2009-06-15T12:06:00.000-07:00

Last month I attended the online Superlicious Diva Business Day with Lisa Hunter. Wow what a great experience that was! I met lots of new entrepreneurial women and we had so much fun together. It was like a virtual playground. Lisa and the group reminded me to have fun while working and to take breaks to play. Even though we were having fun and playing we were also getting down to serious business, we did some brainstorming, talked about business ideas, and made some great connections. Lisa is lots of fun and very inspiring to be around. Lisa has been my coach in the past and she is one the people that helped inspire me to create the new blog: Sally Around The Bay. I always have so much fun with Lisa, I thought it would be fun to interview her about the Superlicious Diva Business Day.

Your Name: Lisa Hunter

Company Name: Inner Business Diva

Type of Company: A place for spirited, go-getting entrepreneurial women to make new business connections and thrive

How long have you been in business? I've had this particular business for 4 years. Overall, I've been in business for myself for 14 years!

Why/How did you get in to this business? I have the spirited, go-getting-entrepreneurial-woman gene myself, which means that I tend to have friends who are the same way. We have so much fun when we get together - the brainstorming, the inspiration, the connections and the goofball antics. I would feel so alone running my own business if I didn't have these women in my life. I also love facilitating new connections. So... I decided to make it official and create a network where spirited entrepreneurial women gather and then magic ensues.

Do you have fun running your business? Yes yes yes! I used to be on a very long path of working myself into the ground until I couldn't take it anymore. Then last year I decided that I would only say 'yes' to projects that feel fun and that energize me. Seriously, if fun isn't in the equation I don't do it. And the Diva Day network is about women connecting, but it's also about getting together and blowing off a little steam and getting kinda goofy. You know how you get a little goofy after you've been sitting in front of your computer for too long? Well you're totally encouraged to act on that goofiness on the network, and best of all, the other women "get" it.

What do you sell? What service do you offer? Two things: Superlicious Diva Business Day which is a network for the sassy, passionately-driven entrepreneurial type. Diva Day is just once a month, which I love because it makes the day really special, with lots of synergy. I'm also about to launch a new book/course: Sexy Time Management. It teaches you the art of tapping into your right rhythm and using that to guide your scheduling, rather than all those boring old time management tips that we've all tried, but that never seem to fully work for anybody.

What is your favorite product that you sell? Can't pick! It's like being a mom and trying to pick your favorite kid!

Do you have any specials right now? There's a special on your first Diva Day. Since the only way to find out if you like Diva Day is try it, I like to meet your risk by giving you an intro rate of $14 for your first Diva Day. And then the regular monthly membership fee after that is $19 if you decide you want to stay. You can try it out and cancel if you find it's not your cup of tea.

Any advice for new entrepreneurs, someone just getting started?
It really is important to keep things fun. The products/services that I've offered over the years have been progressively more and more fun for me. And I've noticed that I get more energy from my offerings, the more they include a playful component. I know that place well of being all serious and tired from owning a business, and it just doesn't feed the business or you. Now, incorporating fun is sometimes easier said than done, but I'll tell ya - if you can find even little ways, or if you can weave it into one of your products/services, your business and your soul will thank you!

Where can people find your product? My cute l'il ole website! The specific page for Diva Day is: www.InnerBusinessDiva.com/diva-business-day

What is the best way to contact you or to order your product online? If you're interested in Diva Day, there's lots of information on the site and if it feels right to you, then you can just sign up on the Diva Day page. If you have questions, then you can fill out the contact form on the page and I'll be happy to answer whatever you need to know.

Do you want to offer a special discount or offer to Virtual Simplicity blog readers? Hmmm, they can have the first TWO months for $14/month. And then $19 after that. They'd just need to send me a special email that they read your blog so that I can program the billing accordingly. And they don't have to commit to the ongoing, they can cancel whenever they want.

Thanks Lisa! I can't wait until the next Diva Day which I know is coming up soon!

Twitter is Magical!

2009-06-11T13:56:00.000-07:00

I like Twitter. My Twitter friends get this. My real-in-person friends don't. They think I'm weird. But I'm okay with that.

Ever since I first heard about TweetUps I wanted to attend one. A year or so ago I started asking if anyone was interested in a local TweetUp... no response. Since Twitter has grown so rapidly in the last 6 months I decided to ask again because this time I knew I had a handful of local followers. I got responses this time! People said yes they'd love to participate in a TweetUp. One woman @LissaRankin volunteered her office space at Clear Center of Health in Mill Valley. Others (@pobutler) offered to bring things. Lissa and I decided to co-host the TweetUp and to make it a potluck. We weren't sure how many people were going to come.

Last night I arrived at Clear Center with my vegetarian springrolls in one hand, sparkly water and wine in the other and walked in to be greeted by Lissa's coworkers, charming husband and adorable daughter. They were so nice and welcoming and told me Lissa was coming a little bit later. We rearranged the meeting space, got tables set up, put out our food and wondered if anyone was going to show up. They did! One by one people came walking in with food or drinks in hand. I think we had 20 people total. Four men, the rest women.

I wasn't sure what to expect with a room full of strangers but what I found was a room full of interesting, friendly people. It was probably the most relaxed and comfortable event full of strangers that I've ever been to. But I guess we aren't really strangers. We see each others tweets, we follow each others lifes. We carryon conversations.

I had a strange experience earlier in the day. A local business owner contacted me for something else and I wrote him back asking if he was on Twitter and invited him to our TweetUp. He wrote me back basically telling me he thought Twitter was a waste of time. He said if I can figure out how to make magic with Twitter then God bless me. Well guess what? I think I did figure out how to make magic with Twitter. Last night I was in a beautiful, warm, friendly office filled with wonderful people who I now consider friends. I would have never had this experience if it weren't for Twitter. It feels pretty magical to me!

Thank you to everyone who came to the TweetUp!

Photos from the TweetUp!

Social Networking Etiquette

2009-06-04T11:17:00.001-07:00

Just found this great video on the blog Social Media 101 explaining Social Networking better than I've ever heard it explained before.

So many people are still trying the "get rich quick schemes", the bullhorn shouting look at me stuff and the same old marketing techniques. I keep telling people it is not about that anymore. It is about creating relationships with people, building trust and being real.

Tara Hunt said in her book The Whuffie Factor: Using the Power of Social Networks to Build Your Business "Turn the bullhorn around, Stop talking and start listening."

If you are thinking about using Social Media to sell your next product or service please watch this video before doing so. Thank you.

Thanks to Scott of @UnMarketing for creating this video (and tweeting about it so I saw it).

Social Networking Overload

2009-06-03T22:21:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I attended WordCampSF. It was great, I learned a lot and now I think I am suffering from information overload.

Do you ever feel like you are running in a social network race? I do. But I don't know who I am racing? I think it is a race against time.

A race for information, a feeling of not knowing enough, feeling like you need to do more, read more, learn more. Trying to keep up with all the interesting tweets on Twitter. Checking out all the cool and informative links that people tweet. Staying on top of Facebook updates, becoming fans of various businesses, organizations and causes on Facebook. Keeping up with reading blogs, writing blog posts and commenting on blogs. Checking email, Skype, Yahoo and AIM. Read the news online. Watch a few YouTube videos, Blip some songs. Remember to check text messages on iPhone. Check Google alerts. Review Google analytics. Attend conferences about blogging and social networking, attend and/or coordinate Webinars and tele-seminars. Teach clients, friends and family about social networking. Re-learn how to use Wordpress. Contemplate moving this blog from Blogger to Wordpress. Try to keep up at Virtual Assistant networking, IVAA, and all the other great online forums and communities I am a part of. Check MySpace and other random social networking sites (occasionally). Organize a local TweetUp. Agree to do an interview about my blog. And, and, and... the list goes on and on.

Thanks for listening to my brain dump. The previous paragraph is a description of a usual day in the life of Sally.

This is the part where I should say what the moral of this story is… but I don't know what it is. I think the moral is sometimes I need to turn my computer off and just chill or do nothing. I think I’m going to step away from the computer and finish reading The Whuffie Factor: Using the Power of Social Networks to Build Your Business.

:-)

No wonder I can't sleep at night. Sheesh.

How Not talk to your potential Virtual Assistant

2009-06-01T20:52:00.000-07:00

I was catching up on my blog reading and came across Candy's blog where she posted this video (that Nina showed to her). I just had to re-post because I have heard things like this SO many times and it relates to my previous blog post.

(I can't get the video to fit properly in the post so please click the link to watch)

The Vendor Client Relationship in Real World Situations

Thanks Candy and Nina!

One Bad Apple

2009-05-25T07:57:00.000-07:00

One bad client is like a rotten apple in your fruit bowl. Last year at this time I had one bad apple in my bowl of clients. Her negative energy was spreading through me and in to my clients.

I was so stressed working with this one demanding and unappreciative client that it was affecting my whole business, to the point where I almost let the wrong clients go.

Pulling that one bad apple out of my business and cleaning up the rest has made such a huge difference in my business and my life.

I now love all my clients and love the work I do with them.

Also, removing the rotten apple made room for a big beautiful pineapple in my client bowl.

Lately, I've been focused on clearing out the clutter in my closets, in my email, etc. Sometimes it's good to look at the clients in your business and decide if you have any clutter (or bad apples) to clear out.

Every time I have let a client go a new one has arrived and my business has blossomed.

“When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us.” - Alexander Graham Bell

It is not that Simple!

2009-05-19T11:34:00.000-07:00

The word assistant sometimes has a stigma associated with it. Some people think assistant means you are less intelligent, not motivated or not successful. Actually, I'm not really sure what they think but somehow they think assistant means cheap labor. When I first became a Virtual Assistant back in 2002 I resisted the word assistant like it was the plague. I said, I am never going to be called an assistant again! I felt this way about the word assistant because of the way I allowed myself to be treated as an assistant when I was an employee. As a Virtual Assistant I was no longer an employee, I was a business owner. I started calling myself a Virtual Business Manager to avoid that icky word. But then I began networking online with Virtual Assistants and realized they were a great group of successful, powerful business owners. I learned it's not what you call yourself it is the respect you command. Yes, having a name like assistant rather than CEO stuck to your name does require more effort to command respect but it is possible.

I think of a Virtual Assistant as a partner to business owners. We partner with you to bring you success. We assist in your success.

I got a call today from a potential client. In the first 2 minutes of the call I could already tell she had a preconceived notion of what an assistant was. To her the work an assistant did was of less value than the work she did. She said something like, "Frankly, I cannot believe you are charging so much for such simple work. I've never paid an assistant that much and really think it is too high for the kind of work you do." First of all, this woman does not know the kind of work I do. She has never worked with me. She does not know me or any of my clients. She found me on google. How can she decide what my work is worth?

There is a reason I list my rates on my Website and that is to avoid talking to people who think it is okay to tell me I am not worth what I charge. I mean isn't it kind of rude to call someone and tell them they are not worth their fee? If you don't want to pay their fee don't call them.

I told this woman I only do high end, high quality work and I don't lower my rates. I suggested she contact a local college to find a student who might be willing to do the "simple work" for the lower pay.

I totally understand that small business owners and entrepreneurs are on a budget and that investing in a Virtual Assistant is a big deal. That is why I don't lock my clients in to a set minimum amount of hours. But I also know you get what you pay for. Do these people tell their doctors they don't think the 2 minute exam was worth $95? Do they tell their lawyers the 1 hour consultation is not worth $350?

What Virtual Assistants do is not simple work. If it were simple wouldn't everyone just do it themselves? Yes, probably you could do it yourself but then you wouldn't have time do what you love. What Virtual Assistants do is important work that needs to be done!

How to Create a Facebook Fan Page

2009-05-18T21:01:00.001-07:00

I set up and manage quite a few of Facebook® Fan Pages for my clients. The reason I do this is because creating and updating a Fan Page on Facebook® is not an obvious thing to do. It's a bit clunky actually and not everyone has the time or patience to figure it out. However, Mari Smith has made a video that walks you through step by step how to create a Fan Page. For those of you that want to do it yourself, this is a great video!

Adding an event to a Fan Page with the new Facebook® design is a whole new challenge. I had to spend some time researching how to add a new event to the Fan Pages I have been managing. I found this blog very helpful.

Calling all Virtual Assistants!

2009-05-07T10:16:00.000-07:00

It is time to start networking!

Are you a lone wolf or do you hang out with other Virtual Assistants? If you are a lone wolf I suggest you try networking with other Virtual Assistants. I have learned so much from my VA colleagues. Virtual Assistants are a special breed, we like to share, we like to learn from each other, we like to challenge each other and we like to see each other succeed.

I don't know if any studies have been done but my unofficial research says that networking with other Virtual Assistants will bring your business to a higher level of success.

Here area few great places to hang out if you are a VA:
VAnetworking
IVAA
VirtualAssistantforums

Oh and if you are a Virtual Assistant on Facebook please join the IVAA fan page. I am the new admin for the IVAA Facebook fan page. (So please become a fan to make me look good as the new admin) *wink*

If you are new to online networking here is must have ebook written by Angela Smith!!!

She shares lots of great tips and tricks for networking online.

Online Networking for the Newbie

This just added! I told Angela I was featuring her book and she offered my readers a discount!!! Thanks Angela - you rock!

Virtual Simplicity blog readers get $5.00 off the price of Angela’s e-book, "Online Networking for the Newbie." With this discount, you can pick up a copy of the e-book for only $9.95 or the VA Combo Pack (which includes the e-book and the Virtual Toolkit) for only $12.95. Just enter the following coupon code at checkout: SIMPLICITY.

Authentic Tweeps

2009-04-21T11:16:00.000-07:00

If you follow me on Twitter you may have noticed I don't have a lot of patience for AutoDMs. They annoy me. I feel they are not authentic. And I especially do not like the AutoDMs trying to sell me something. To me, Twitter is about building relationships, getting to know people and sharing information.

Example of annoying Auto DM: Thanks for the follow! Would You Like to Know How to Get 16,000 Followers in 90 Days. (Um, NO!)

Today I got an authentic DM from someone and I was so impressed I decided to tweet about it and let others know.

With the flood of new users and celebrities to Twitter I propose we try to remind people to stay authentic, be real, be yourself and don't just try to sell something.

In talking to @relocatedyank who also received an authentic DM today I came up with the hashtag #AuthenticTweeps. Let's spread the word about #AuthenticTweeps and teach these new users what Twitter is all about.

Okay, I'm getting off my soap box now.

Thanks for listening.

Clean Business

2009-04-12T14:27:00.000-07:00

Dusty Warren, owner of The Bath Nook runs a clean business. And by clean, I mean handmade beauty products. Since Dusty's soap is my favorite soap of all time I asked her if she would participate in an interview about entrepreneurs. She agreed! Learn more about Dusty and her fabulous soap products here.

Company Name: The Bath Nook™

Type of Company: Handmade Beauty Products

How long have you been in business? I’ve been in business for 7 months.

Why/How did you get in to this business? While I was a Virtual Assistant I found the Indie Business Forum. After spending some time reading through the posts I decided to target independent beauty manufacturers. The more time I spent reading through the posts, the more I got involved. I started a newsletter for independent manufacturers and joined IBN, but that wasn't enough for me. I was not satisfied on the inside.

The more I learned about making handmade beauty products the more I wanted to make a batch of soap. On September 30, 2008, I made my first batch of soap. The following month I had to make a decision to either target independent beauty manufacturers or make soap, but I couldn't do both. I didn't think it would be fair to other Indies if I made beauty products and also served as Virtual Assistant, so I decided to make soap.

I'm very happy with the decision I made, and I'm more satisfied than ever.

Do you have fun running your business? Yes. I absolutely love it! I love interacting with my customers and potential customers. I enjoy making all of my products and at the end knowing they’re beneficial to each customer.

What do you sell? I sell face & body soap, bath salts and gift boxes. Soaps and bath salts come in 4 fragrances: Oatmeal, Lavender, English Rose, and Sandalwood. Also I offer unscented soap and bath salt to customers that are sensitive to fragrances. Gift boxes are available in your choice of fragrance. Each Gift box includes: 1 full size bar soap, 1 guest size soap, 1 complexion brush, 1 loofah disc, and 2 oz. bath salt.

What is your favorite product that you sell? All of products are my favorite. However, I love selling the oatmeal soap because it’s my #1 seller. Not only do the women love it, but I have numerous men that purchase the oatmeal soap.

Anything else you would like to share about your business? A large percentage of products that you put on your skin are absorbed in the body. My products are geared toward people that want a bath and body product that is free of harsh chemicals, and also people with sensitive skin types that prefer a dye-free product.

All products are dye-free with 98% natural ingredients.

Any advice for new entrepreneurs, someone just getting started? If you are just getting started in the beauty industry I highly recommend that you do your homework. Not only should you research ingredients and then start making soap or any handmade beauty product, but study the laws that come along with the industry.

Where can people find your product? People can find my products online at www.thebathnook.com, and locally at International Barber & Style College (in store only).

What is the best way to contact you or to order your product online? Orders can be placed at www.thebathnook.com, or by email. The best way to contact me is by email at info@thebathnook.com.

Anything else you would like to add? Just for Virtual Simplicity blog readers – Receive 10% off your first order when you enter the discount code: VSB1546 (discount cannot be combined with any other discount).

Wow thanks for offering the discount Dusty! This would be a great *Mother's Day gift! - Sally

If you would like to be a featured business on the Virtual Simplicity blog please send me a DM on Twitter or email me at sallyk @ virtualsimplicity.net

*Update: All orders for Mother's Day must be placed by 4/30/09. Order now! http://thebathnook.com/

Time to Take Care of You

2009-04-06T19:10:00.000-07:00

As a busy entrepreneur that works from home, I sometimes forget to take care of myself. I take care of my clients and their clients, I take care of running my business, I take care of my family, I take care of my dog, I take care of coordinating schedules, making dinner, well let's just say I take care of a lot of things.

In taking care of all these people, beings and things I sometimes forget to take care of myself. If I don't take care of myself, I'm not going to be able to take care of everyone else.

In an effort to take better care of myself I have made a few changes to my routine. I now go for a hike with my dog (and neighbor) every morning before I start work. We hike for at least 1 hour everyday. I am thankful that I live where I live. My house is located right next to the trailhead leading in to the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.

I am also giving myself special treats. For instance, I'm now only using high quality soap that smells amazing. No more grocery store soap for me. I get my soap from The Bath Nook. The Oatmeal soap is my favorite! I'm telling you this is the best soap ever! My family loves it too.

One more thing I am doing to take care of myself is to have organic fruit and vegetables delivered to my home. Planet Organics delivers a $32 box of fresh organic fruits and vegetables to my house every other week. Yummy!

What are you doing to take care of yourself?

Women and Money and the Power of Social Networking

2009-03-30T10:38:00.000-07:00

Anyone who knows me personally knows that I am slightly obsessed with Twitter and Facebook. Most of those people think I'm strange too. But I digress. The point of this blog post is to share some exiting news! I am the featured fan at the Women and Money group on Facebook this week! One of the reasons I am the featured fan is because of the power of online social networking. I met Cathy Curtis (the owner of Curtis Financial Planning and the founder of the Women and Money group) through Twitter and then Facebook! Networking online can be a very powerful tool in building your business.

And the winner is...

2009-03-30T07:45:00.001-07:00

Drumroll...

Instead of bothering Heather with picking a winner. I used www.random.com and the winner is...

Baba from Baba's Farm Life!

Congratulations!

Baba - I will be contacting you so I can send you the book!

5MininuesForMom Thanks for the party!!!

Party Time!

2009-03-20T16:14:00.000-07:00

Hi, My name is Sally. If you are here from the Ultimate Blog Party - Welcome!

I'm not new to blogging but I am new to the blog party. I heard about the party from Heather at Desperately Seeking Sanity who happens to having a great giveaway on her blog today!

I'm a professional Virtual Assistant who specializes in social networking. I also coach and mentor new business owners.

I live in the San Francisco Bay Area.

I have 3 teenagers that keep me on my toes. Actually, one of them has recently started her own blog. I'm very proud of my little blogger.

Welcome to my blog!

You can also find me on Twitter @SallyK

Guess what? I have a giveaway! I'm going to giveaway the book The Sum of Our Days, by Isabel Allende. I will ask Heather to do a random drawing of all the comments on this post that mention the blog party! The drawing will end on the 27th.

Have a great weekend!

PS. Find me on Facebook at the Virtual Simplicity fan page.

PPS. I think I was supposed to list what I'd like to win at the UBP09. I've got my eye on the Target gift card. ;-)

Please Hire Me!

2009-03-13T09:17:00.000-07:00

Lately, I've been noticing a lot of new Virtual Assistants looking for work. Virtual Assistant's have been emailing their resumes asking to work for me. They've also been posting on the forums saying things like "Hi, I'm new and I want a job. Please hire me."

The amount of new Virtual Assistants on the scene has been growing like crazy over the last year. I'm guessing this is because of the way the economy is. People are losing their jobs and saying, "hey I could be a virtual assistant". What some people don't understand is that being a virtual assistant means you are a business owner and not an employee.

Like Candy of OffAssis t, I've been getting a lot of requests from new Virtual Assistants wanting work or information and I feel I haven't been responding to them as much as I could be. I am thankful for Candy's new vlog: 2 Minutes With a VA. I now direct people here who contact me for information.

2 Minutes With a VA is filled with some great resources for new VAs.

The request I get most often from new VA's is: How can I become a subcontractor? A great way to get started as a VA is to be a subcontractor. However, to be a subcontractor you first need to find a VA willing to try you out. Lanel Taylor has a great answer to the question: How does a Virtual Assistant become a subcontractor? You can listen to the answer here:
http://2minuteswithava.com/2009/03/how-does-a-virtual-assistant-become-a-subcontractor/

Control Your Privacy Settings On Facebook

2009-03-01T18:09:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Corine who commented on my last post with this video link and thanks to HappySlip for creating this fun video.

A few weeks ago, I posted this under my notes* in Facebook®.

Facebook is weird!

It's the one place where your past & present collide. Your personal and professional life overlap (well at least mine does). Your friends from middle school suddenly appear and post a ton of pictures of you from when you were 12. Your ex-boyfriends start appearing one at a time and now they are all in one place together. Your clients, employers, co-workers, ex-friends, new friends, kids, kid's friends, ex-husbands, lovers, acquaintances and strangers all together commenting on what you are doing at the moment. Friends from high school, people you don't remember from high school, people that remember too much from high school, your family, your neighbors... They are all there (here) together. People in your life that would never interact now have the opportunity to interact. It's just weird. Normally when you go for a job interview or are negotiating a project with a new client you don't show them your pictures from middle school, talk about your exes, or tell them what you are doing every minute of the day. I'm just wondering what this all means in the big picture of life? It's kind of strange and cool at the same time.

I'm not sure how I feel about having you all here together... so far it's a fun ride.

Would love to hear your thoughts about this big social experiment we are all involved in.

*notes in Facebook® is similar to a blog.

This got me thinking... I update my Facebook® page quite frequently and maybe I don't want every single Facebook® "friend" of mine to always be in-the-know of exactly what I am doing.

Did you know you can change your privacy settings so your "friends" don't get updated every time you comment on a picture, write on someone's wall or update your status? You can even specify certain "friends" to get limited updates from you. (You know those friends who it caused less drama to accept their friend request than to ignore it. If you have friends like that.) *wink*

To change your privacy settings in Facebook®

Sign in to your account
Click on the link Settings (located at the top right of your screen, next to your name)
Click the word manage (next to Privacy)
Click on the word Profile
Click on Edit Custom Settings under Status Updates
Where it says Except These People add in any of those special friends you may not want seeing your every move.

Please post your Facebook® questions here. If I know the answer, I will blog about it in future posts.

Become a fan of Virtual Simplicity on Facebook®!

If you are new to Facebook®, want to set up a Facebook® profile or page for yourself or your business and just don’t have the time or the patience to do it yourself… Virtual Simplicity can help you!

Facebook Facebook Facebook

2009-02-26T18:54:00.000-08:00

It seems like Facebook® is the subject of most of my conversations these days.

Hi, my name is Sally and I am a Facebook-~~aholic~~ user. I’ve been talking Facebook® with my friends, neighbors, clients, strangers, my mom, my kids, people on Twitter & Skype, basically anyone who will listen. It seems like everybody and their mother is on Facebook® these days.

Last night @CandieB and I even moderated a chat about Facebook® during the VAnetworking VAjot Chat.

Are you on Facebook®? If you are an entrepreneur and you are not on Facebook®, I believe you are missing out on some great networking opportunities.

For many (including myself), Facebook® is not intuitive and not very user friendly. I’ve learned a few basic steps that have helped me navigate my way through Facebook® and wanted to share them with you.

Notifications – Did you know that when you sign in to Facebook® there is a quick way to see what's new in relationship to you? Just click on the little white sign icon at the bottom right of your screen. If there is a red box with a number in it that means you have a new notification. This is the fastest way to see what has happened since the last time you signed on. It will tell you if someone has tagged you in a photo, if someone has written on your wall, etc
Fan Pages & Groups – Fan Pages are very popular on Facebook® right now. Most business have one or plan to get one soon. Does your business have one? You may already be a Fan of a number of pages but do you know how to find those pages again? The fastest way is to type the name in to the Search Box located at the top right of your screen. (This also works for finding friends quickly).
Ignore – Facebook® can be overwhelming. My advice is to use the ignore button frequently. If someone throws a sheep at you, sends you a drink, invites you to take a quiz or download a new application just hit the ignore key. Don’t feel obligated to accept everything that is thrown your way.
Etiquette - If you are going to throw something or invite people to play games, join various applications please hand pick who you are going to throw things at. If you must throw things at people please do so only to people that you know will enjoy it. Please don’t send/throw things to your entire list especially if you are using Facebook to network, you wouldn’t want to annoy a potential client.

If you are new to Facebook®, want to set up a Facebook® profile or page for yourself or your business and just don’t have the time or the patience to do it yourself… Virtual Simplicity can help you!

I Got Things Done Today!

2009-02-23T19:23:00.000-08:00

Seems Jaime Lee Mann and I woke up with the same feeling today... the feeling of being overwhelmed by the amount of emails in our in box.

Before turning on the computer today I pulled out the book Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity by David Allen to re-read. It's a great system that I usually follow. Somewhere along the line I dropped the ball and things started piling up. Maybe it was when I was sick in December, maybe it was my vacation in January, maybe it was I've been so super busy I forgot to take my own advice and plan my day. Whatever it was... my email in box and my actual in box on my desk were overflowing.

After turning my computer on today, the first thing I did was open my in box and blast through it. Just like Jaime, I sorted by who the emails were from and was able to quickly get through them. For the most part everything that was left in my in box was something that could have been taken care of in 2 minutes or less.

The 2-Minute Rule is one of my favorite GTD tips from David Allen. If you can do it in less than 2 minutes then just do it! Considering I had let 68 emails pile up in my in box (the kind that would have taken 2 minutes or less to deal with) I just doubled or tripled my time spent on emails because I read them when they originally arrived, decided to deal with them later, occasionally scanned them over the last few weeks, then re-read them today and finally dealt with them. Instead of the 2 minutes that I could have taken as the original emails arrived I probably spent over 3 hours dealing with those 68 emails instead of 1 hour or less if I would have just dealt with them when they arrived.

How do you manage your emails?

Like Nike says, "Just Do It!" (Like David Allen says - Do it, Delete it or Delegate it).

Ideas For Getting Out Of Debt Part II

2009-02-19T14:21:00.000-08:00

In Part I we discussed the first few ideas to be on your way to getting out of debt.

1. schedule a time each week to pay bills
2. create a designated place to put bills as they arrive (folder or a nice box)

Next step. If you don't know already... find out how much money you owe. Enter this information in an Excel document or on this form and total your monthly expenses.

If you have done all the steps so far you should have a scheduled time to pay bills each week, a designated place to put your bills when they come in and the awareness of how much money you owe. (If the amount you owe is huge - don't panic. Remember - knowledge is power. Nothing has changed, you still owe what you owe but now you know how much.)

More ideas and steps coming soon...

Ideas For Getting Out Of Debt Part I

2009-02-17T15:26:00.000-08:00

Do you want to get out of debt? If so, you need a plan. Debt does not go away magically. It goes away when you follow a plan to get out of debt. Over the next few weeks I'm going to be blogging about ideas and steps that might help you get out of debt.

The first step in getting out of debt is to become conscious about money. You need to know how much money you have, how much you make, how much you owe and what you spend your money on. The only way to get out of debt is to first get out of denial.

How do you normally pay your bills?

Do you have a set time to do this each week, month?

Where do you keep your bills?

If you don't have a scheduled time to pay bills then this is a great place to start. Schedule a date and time to sit down and pay all your bills each month. (Go put that date and time on your calendar right now!)

Are all your bills in one place? If not then it is time to get them all in one place. Start a folder for bills or get a box to put on your desk. Do something that works for you. Every time a bill arrives in the mail immediately put it in this new designated space.

That is all for today. More ideas coming in the next post…

BIG News at VAnetworking

2009-02-03T21:02:00.000-08:00

I went on vacation for just one little week and come home to find out this BIG news.

My favorite co-author Yvonne Weld is going to be partnering with Tawnya Sutherland at VAnetworking! Yvonne is going to be the president of the VAinsiders! Woohoo! I'm so excited about Yvonne and Tawnya working together! Watch out world!

Here is the press release:

Today, more than ever, we are seeing growth in the Virtual Assistant industry. As people fall victim to layoffs, work reductions and business closures they are finding there are very few opportunities for employment and, in an effort to survive in today’s economic strives, many are seeking ways to utilize their skills and work from home. Those starting Virtual Assistant businesses, in today’s competitive markets, are quickly learning that it takes more than just administrative skills to grow a thriving business and are continually looking for the tools and resources they need to not only build, but also maintain, a solid business.

Following in the footsteps of industry leaders before her, Tawnya Sutherland believed in the Virtual Assistant industry and wanted to help Virtual Assistants, both aspiring and practicing, by providing them with the tools and resources they needed. In 2003, she founded VAnetworking, which quickly became a meeting place where new and seasoned Virtual Assistants began to intermingle and share resources. Sutherland has learned to adapt as the Virtual Assistant industry has grown and continues to provide new resources, including the introduction of VAinsiders in 2006. It was this ability to adapt and grow that made her realize that there is so much more that the Virtual Assistant industry needs to realize its full potential.

In 2008, at an industry conference for Virtual Assistants, Sutherland met in person fellow Virtual Assistant, Yvonne Weld, after years of corresponding virtually. They began to share their ideas for Virtual Assistants and realized they not only shared their passion for seeing the Virtual Assistant industry grow and prosper, but they also worked well as a team, brainstorming ideas. Sutherland began to realize that a partnership was the best choice to fulfill her goal of becoming the premier resource that Virtual Assistants turn to when they have questions. “We want Virtual Assistants to realize their dreams sooner, to have the resources and tools they need to build a solid business, attract clients and become the successes they know they can be,” says Sutherland. “The ideas that we are developing now would make the industry leaders before us stand up and take notice.”

Sutherland is excited to announce that, beginning February 1, 2009, Yvonne Weld will be joining the VAnetworking.com team as VAinsider President. When asked about this partnership, Weld stated, “I am so thrilled to be working with Tawnya. When we get together, it is electric the ideas that flow between us and we are already implementing a lot of the ideas into programs and resources for Virtual Assistants. 2009 will definitely be the year to be a VAinsider.”

About Yvonne Weld
Yvonne Weld is the owner of Canadian-based Able Virtual Assistant Services, author of The Ultimate Guide to Creating a Thriving Business and the co-author of Managing Your Thriving Business for Success. Yvonne brings knowledge from a number of resources including personal experience (8 years in her previous employment as an Office Manager), education (graduate of several courses at the Small Business Centre, London, Ontario) and her love for information through reading and internet research. Yvonne also works with new and aspiring Virtual Assistants, through coaching and mentoring, to reach their full potential. To learn more about what Able Virtual Assistant Services can do for you, stop by http://www.ableva.com

About Tawnya Sutherland
Tawnya Sutherland’s professional background as a legal secretary, and then vice president of a computer company, formed the foundation for her foray into entrepreneurship over 10 years ago when she launched Mediamage Business Solutions. Today, Sutherland is a Certified Internet Marketing Business Strategist who helps business people turn clicks into cash. To learn more about Tawnya, VAnetworking and how to get your own business on the inside track to virtual success, visit http://www.VAnetworking.com

Thoughts for Improving 2009

2009-01-07T09:19:00.000-08:00

I got this email from a friend. I don't know who authored it but I like the thoughts. If you know the author please let me know.

1. Take a 10-30 minute walk every day. And while you walk, smile. It is the ultimate anti-depressant.

2. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day. Buy a lock if you have to.

3. When you wake up in the morning complete the following statement, 'My purpose for today is: ________ '

4. Eat more foods that grow on plants, and eat less food that is manufactured in plants.

5. Drink green tea and plenty of water. Eat blueberries, wild Alaskan salmon, broccoli, almonds & walnuts.

6. Try to make at least three people smile each day.

7. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip, energy vampires, issues of the past, negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.

8. Eat breakfast like a Queen, lunch like a princess and dinner like a college kid with a maxed out charge card.

9. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.

10. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.

11. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

12. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

13. Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present.

14. Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

15. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.

16. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: 'In five years, will this matter?'

17. Forgive everyone for everything.

18. What other people think of you is none of your business.

19. However good or bad a situation is -- it will change.

20. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch!!!

21. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

22. Each night before you go to bed complete the following statements: 'I am thankful for _____.' AND 'Today I accomplished______.'

23. Remember that you are too blessed to be stressed.

Happy Holidays from the Virtual Assistants!

2008-12-22T13:41:00.000-08:00

In case you are wondering Virtual Assistant's are NOT the timid or shy type.

I love my VA buddies from www.vanetworking.com! Thanks for putting a smile on my face today! You guys rock! (even if you can't carry a tune...)

Happy Holidays!!!

The Money Is Still Here

2008-12-12T17:55:00.000-08:00

I know we are in a recession, I know lots of people have lost jobs and many others are worried about losing their jobs. When I watch the nightly news I almost start to panic myself but I don't. The money is still out there in the world somewhere... we just have to find it. Finding it might mean shifting gears and shifting our attitude.

I don't know how many times this week I have heard clients and potential clients and others say things like I just want to survive this year, I just want to get through, I don't have to make a profit I just need to make enough to get by. I always stop them and say you can can make a profit. It is okay to be prosperous.

While watching the news tonight and hearing all the doom and gloom again a thought popped in to my head, "the money is still out there it's just a matter of getting it circulating again". And that thought reminded me of the book I read years ago called Who Moved My Cheese by Spencer Johnson.

I highly recommend reading the book.

Cool Client Profile & Cool Contest

2008-12-04T11:42:00.000-08:00

I am grateful for all of my clients! In an effort to let them know how grateful I am... I am going to start doing an occasional feature on each client.

This month's feature is on Toni Tierney. Toni is a fashion designer for children's clothing. I decided to pick Toni this month because of her mission and how it relates to the current state of affairs with the American economy.

"A passion of Toni’s is to help mothers be at home with their families. She feels strongly about this and as much as possible, hires mothers who can work from their homes to be with their children while making the pieces of clothing she designs. Her mission is to help parents be at home creating so a new generation of children can see their moms (and dads) working with their hands. Her ultimate goal is to help spread this philosophy across the country so people all over the United States can get back to their roots, slow down and bring back those traditional ways of earning a living." - www.tonitierney.net

In addition to fashion design, Toni has also just released a new line of art work for children's room.

In the spirit of giving I am hosting my first official blog contest. I am going to give away one adorable brand new outfit created by Toni Tierney. The winner can choose between an infant size 6 boy outfit or an infant size 12 girl dress (see pictures below).

To enter the contest you must be a US or Canadian resident (because of shipping costs) and all you need to do is comment on my blog and let me know which outfit you want to win.

Also, it'd be much appreciated if you tell others about this contest by blogging about it but blogging about this contest is not a requirement to win.

On December 10th, 2008 I will have my daughter (who never reads my blog) pick a number and whoever has the comment that matches that number will be the winner. (For example... she picks number 7 and you are the 7th poster then you are the winner kind of thing.) I will then post the winning number and ask you to contact me to let me know which outfit you want and to get your mailing address. Winner must respond by December 12th, 2008 or we will pick a new number. The package will arrive before Christmas if you want to use it as a gift.

Toni Tierney's adorable clothing is sold in baby boutiques all over the country.

Happy Holidays!!!

The Best Virtual Fax Service

2008-12-03T08:06:00.000-08:00

As many of you may know, I have had some issues with various virtual fax services. It is important to my business that I have a very reliable virtual fax service as I receive hundreds of faxes each month. It is also important that it is a virtual fax service so I don't waste paper.

I have been using Trust Fax for about eight months now and wanted to let you know that I've had no problems with it. It's been great! I can receive faxes from all different fax machines. The faxes arrive in my email in box as pdf attachments.

If you are looking for a virtual fax service you can trust. I highly recommend Trust Fax.

Just in case you are wondering... I am not getting paid for this recommendation. The Trust Fax people do not even know I've written this review. I think it is important to share when I find a good product/service because having reliable tools is very important to running a thriving virtual business.

Tis The Season

2008-11-29T12:10:00.001-08:00

www.freefoto.com

The Holiday Season is Upon Us!

It's the most wonderful (I mean busiest) time of the year...

A Virtual Assistant can help you with:

Creating Mailing Lists
Purchasing Holiday Cards
Addressing, Stuffing, Stamping & Mailing Holiday Cards
Researching Gifts
Ordering Gifts Online
Travel Arrangements
Getting Your To Do List Done!

What are you grateful for?

2008-11-26T11:07:00.000-08:00

I think everyday should be thanksgiving! Do you practice gratitude everyday?

I read an article in USA Today a few days ago that talks about how gratitude can make you healthier. The only catch is you need to practice gratitude on a daily basis not just once a year.

Do you have a gratitude journal? A gratitude journal is something as simple as a notebook where you write down what you are grateful for. The important thing is to make writing in your gratitude journal a daily ritual.

Read more about what others have to say about the benefits of gratitude and gratitude journals:
USA Today
David Steindl-Rast
Sarah Ban Breathnach
Deborah Norville

What are you grateful for? (Feel free to post what you are grateful for here)

Today I am grateful for my health, my family, my friends (local and virtual), my dog, my computer, my blog readers, Twitter, my company, my clients... and the list goes on and on.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Be a Model Twitizen: A Twitter How-To

2008-11-19T18:20:00.000-08:00

After my little Twitter rant yesterday I found this article from Yoga_Mam a which reminded me that Twitter is a great community building tool! Enjoy!

By the way, I know of Yoga_Mama and found this article because she is someone I follow on Twitter.

Be a Model Twitizen: A Twitter How-To
by LaSara Firefox, MPNLP, www.lasarafirefox.com,
(Follow me: http://www.twitter.com/Yoga_Mama)

I was skeptical at first, but now Twitter is my golden city. As a busy mom and entrepreneur, I can take a few minutes and digest a handful of posts from my favorite Twitter friends, or post a bite-sized delight about my own day – all condensed to 140 characters or less. Who doesn’t have time for that?

Yes, often those posts will contain a link that may lead to an off-site exploratory mission, but so far it’s the most organic and dynamic way I’ve found to keep to my finger on the quick-beating pulse of the magical and diverse interwebs, and at the same time keep a constant stream of interest in what I have to offer.

If you’re new to Twitter, or have yet to join the chorus, here are a few ground rules that will help you to make your tweets harmonious.

1. Follow me, and I’ll follow you…and vice-versa:
If I follow you, please do the community-oriented thing and follow me, too. That way it becomes a conversation, a collaboration, a community. For us dedicated tweeters, Twitter is about building relationships. Build one with me!

Most of us don’t tweet to hear the sound of our own voice. No one wants to be shouting into a well. Consider my follow an invitation into my world, as well as a tip of the hat to your skill in presenting a doorway into yours.

2. Write a good bio:
In the beginning, this tiny bio is all we know about each other. 160 characters of character. The bio is often an under-utilized aspect of Twitter. I’m encouraging a bio revival! Make me want to know you. (It’s great practice for your elevator pitch, too, right?)

I encourage you to include something about your openness to new followers, or the reason you’re on Twitter. I put “Follow me, I’ll follow you,” in my bio. If you only want people you already know to follow you, you can protect your updates. In addition, you could say “I only follow people I know.” This little step will save both of us time, energy, and pride.

In addition to the bio, there’s a spot for a url. Add a link to a place where I can find out more about you; your blog, your website, an article you’ve written, your facebook profile.

3. Building your “Twitterverse”:
The way to build your network is to follow people. Yet, you ideally want a good balance between following and followers. So there’s a rhythm to building your twitterverse. Here’s how mine goes:
a. Find prospective Twitter friends (see step 4 on some tips on that), and follow them.
b. Allow a few days for the prospective community member to follow me in return.
c. If they follow me back, I make personal contact through a direct message (aka, “dm”, see section 6 for more info) and all is good. If they don’t, I evaluate whether they’re worthwhile to follow without the benefit of a two-way conversation. If they are, I keep them on. If not, I unfollow them.

4. Finding your twitter-posse:
You want to follow people you find interesting. You want to be followed by people who will find you interesting. Whether this is for work, fun, community building, or all of the above, your skill in creating your personal Twitterverse predicts how rewarding your Twitter experience will be.

There are worlds of possibility in every moment, but even more so in Twitter. Bloggers, and moms, and marketers, oh my! Really, you can find followers and followees from all walks of life, and with interests that run the gamut. These people are going to be getting into your head, and introducing you to new worlds day by day. Choose accordingly!

First off, click on the Find People tab on your home page (upper right, see it? good!) you might want to follow your irl (in real life) friends. You can search them by name or e-mail address. You can also invite them to join twitter, if you think they’d enjoy the experience.

Next, you’ll want to choose a few terms that indicate shared interests. For me, those terms were mom, mommy, mama, momma, and the dad variations, too. Then yoga. You can either search by terms at http://search.twitter.com/, or you can use the Find People tab again.

When you search your terms, the search will bring up profiles that list terms in the Twitter user name, in a tweeter’s bio, or even sometimes in a tweeter’s tweets. I found pages and pages of members listed on most of the terms I searched.

I chose selectively from the tweeters listed. Some of the parameters I used to decide whether I should follow someone or not were;

The date they last tweeted - if someone hasn’t been on in months, what are the chances they’ll respond to a follow alert from a stranger?

What their most recent tweet said; for example, if the tweet said “Why the hell are all these strangers following me? Creepy!?!”, that member is not a likely candidate for community building!

Their bio, and whether it sounded like we’d be a good match.

Most often I would choose not to follow people with protected updates, but in rare cases I’d risk it and request permission to follow. I recommend that you judge that one on a case-by-case basis.

Another way to find like-minded tweeters is to go to a like-minded tweeters page, and follow the tweeters they follow, and those who follow them. You can see bios by placing your cursor over a tweeter’s name.

I would follow as many tweeters as I felt inspired to in one fell swoop (I think my “following” list got up to around 2000 once), and see who followed back. After a few days, I’d go back check out which tweeters had responded, and go through the evaluation of whether I would keep following tweeters who had followed back, or not.

Through this strategy, I built my list of followers up to over 700 in a matter of days.

5. Ethics for business (and personal) networking:
Some disagree with me on this, but I believe that even - or perhaps especially - if “you” are a business, you should follow in return. Yes, Twitter is free advertising, and it’s SMART advertising – JetBlue, Zappos, Vans and thousands of entrepreneurs can’t be wrong!

But, as always, there needs to be some buy-in. In this case, imnsho (in my not so humble opinion), the buy-in is this; I’ll pay attention to your posts, but I expect you to pay attention to mine, too. It’s a give and take, baby!

Besides, think of the marketing information you’ll be able to gather. Two-way communication with your demographic is just plain smart business sense.

Also, it’s not good manners to follow me, and then turn around and unfollow me when you think I’m not looking. I will come back and check from time to time, to see if those I follow are following me. (I do the same for those who are following me, too. I go and check my followers and make sure I’ve returned the follow.)

Not only that, there are tons of third party systems coming into being that are created to augment the Twitter experience. One of these even helps twitterers keep track of their follower activity. And, there are sure to be more of them as time goes by, and Twitter’s popularity continues to soar to new heights.

There are a few exceptions to the rule, but I generally don’t follow those who aren’t willing to follow me in return. I cast a line out, and if you grab hold I’ll hang on too. However, if there’s no resultant tug on the rope, I’ll reel it back in and cast in another direction.

If you have something amazing to say, and I just can’t live without your voice, I’ll stick around. But I tell you, it’s so much more fun when we can all sing out together!

6. A few easy commands that will be useful to know:
@username: this creates an automatic link to a tweeter’s profile, and alerts the user that you have sent a public post that cites them. If you’re replying to a tweet, including @username (like @yoga_mama) is great. It both promotes the tweeter, and creates a connection between you and the tweeter in question.

#tag: (like #gratitude, #palin, #debate, etc.) makes it easy to search an item, and get all the tweets that are relevant. It’s also is an easy way to see relationships between tweets by multiple tweeters.

rt, or retweet: when you repost someone’s tweet, it’s proper to add “rt @username” and then the retweet. Basically, it’s a way to give credit where credit is due. And again, it promotes tweeters who are tweeting things you appreciate or agree with.

d username message: direct messages are the way to send a private note to another tweeter. Remember, it’s “d(space)username(space)message”. You’re only able to “dm” tweeters who are following you.

In closing:
Twitter is a community. In some way more profoundly than any other networking site I’ve ever been part of, the tweeters I follow have worked their way into my heart.

Maybe it’s the often unguarded, haiku-like quality of the “microblogging” experience. Maybe it’s the frequency with which I see the words of a given tweeter. Maybe it’s the fact that the Twitter experience has the contour and context of a conversation drifting in through the kitchen window.

And this in a country (the USA) where we often don’t have a sister or best friend living next door, or a neighbor we could easily ask for advice on a moment’s notice. Much less, hundreds of neighbors, many of whom might send well wishes when you need them, and heartfelt advice when you ask for it. (Or, just like any family, sometimes even when you don’t!)

Twitter has brought us into one another’s living rooms. It’s allowed us to share our vacations, our kid’s Big Game, our successes and heartbreaks.

It’s opened a window into a community that never goes to sleep - tweeters live all over the world, as one tweeter tweets her last missive of the night, another wakes up to a brilliant new day. A community that is always willing to give a shout out, send a smile, talk about politics, and lift one another up in a challenging moment.

Remember this as you build your personal Twitterverse. You are creating a new world, from nothing. Build it, grow it, nurture it with intention and care. And you know, everything will be just right.

About the author:
LaSara FireFox, MPNLP, is a coach, trainer, and published author. LaSara helps clients find balance in their lives, and alignment with their personal and family-held values. She teaches and coaches internationally. She's wife to an outstanding man, and mom to two brilliant girls.

You can find out more about LaSara at www.lasarafirefox.com. While you're there, be sure to check out LaSara's weekly conscious parenting podcast; Yoga Mama Satsangha.

Has Twitter Changed Your Life?

2008-11-18T15:19:00.000-08:00

How has Twitter changed your life?

I blog less now that I have Twitter. I know I participate less in the forums too and I don't go to as many e-seminars/websinars/chats/tele-classes as I used to. I also use Skype a lot less.

Today I am feeling nostalgic for the good old days of online networking forums, Skype group chats and blogging. I miss having endless room to babble on and on and on and not being limited to 140 characters to get my point across. I also am missing the intimacy of private Skype chats and private online forums where everything I say is not put out there for the whole world to read.

Has Twitter changed your life? Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Twitter! In fact, I think I am addicted to Twitter. I am tweeting or reading tweets 24/7 thanks to my iPhone.

Today I just took a moment to step back from this fast paced world, breathe and think about the good old days of technology.

------
Did you hear about the awesome sale on our book Managing Your Thriving Business for Success! If you enter the keyword: productive you will get the book for only $9.95

Shameless Self Promotion

2008-11-12T17:45:00.000-08:00

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Learn how to stop procrastinating and start doing. Stop procrastinating and start thriving with a successful business. Learn how to prioritize what is important and to stop spending all your time in the panicked, urgent mode. Start spending your time in the relaxed and prepared mode. Learn how to break down a large intimidating project in to easy to accomplish tasks.

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This book will teach you the simple steps of finding success by geting control over your life and your business. We did it and so can you! This book teaches you how to customize a plan for your business, to keep you moving in the direction of success. Learn how to delegate and how to find the right people to delegate to. You don't have to do it all yourself. We offer great tips for creating a winning team.

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We will teach you email time saving tips. Simple techniques you can start using today to get organized. Get organized! Set up an effective filing system for your computer and paper files. Walk in to a clean office every morning. No more piles of paper on your desk.

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Stop being a doormat. Learn how to say no. Protect and respect your time. Learning how to set and communicate your boundaries is one of the most important things you must do to have a successful, thriving business.

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Vision Boards for Entrepreneurs

2008-10-25T10:59:00.000-07:00

Want to do something fun this weekend? Something that could help bring your business to where you want it to be?

How about make a vision board?

Do you have a vision board? If not, why not?

You probably have some form of a business plan and have at some point written down your goals but seriously how often to you review your business plan or look at your written goals?

A vision board makes your goals visible. If you hang your vision board in a prominent place in your office you will see your goals everyday even if you aren't consciously looking at them.

A vision board can be whatever you want it to be. It can focus on how many clients you hope to have by the end of next year, the kind of car you want to drive, a peaceful relationship with family members, the amount of money you plan to make in the next year, five years or ten years, etc.

Be creative!

It's all about you and what direction you want your life and business to take. Make it fun and something you would enjoy looking at. I made one back in 2006. It's on pink construction paper and actually has iridescent sparkles on it because the sparkles remind me to believe in magical things happening. It's time to update mine because I've met just about all the goals on it.

Besides putting pictures of things on my board I also put positive words on my board. Words like family, friends, peace, health, fun, prosperity... you can put whatever words you want to be the main focus of your life.

Have fun!

For instructions on how to create a vision board check out Christine Kane's Blog.

Just Had To Pass It On

2008-10-24T09:39:00.000-07:00

Jaime Lee Mann wrote a blog post for the VAnetworking blog that was so good I just had to share.

She does a great analogy on thinking bigger and getting out of your comfort zone.

Click here to read the blog post How Big is Your Bowl?

It has been awhile since I have picked a blog of the week so this week it goes to the VAnetworking blog!

Are you a member of VAnetworking?

WaMu now Chase - NOT impressed with customer service

2008-10-22T10:56:00.000-07:00

So my bank Washington Mutual went bankrupt but Chase took it over so all is well in my world because I still have my money. I was happy with Washington Mutual and have been very happy with them for years. I have my business and personal bank accounts with them. I was sad to see them go bankrupt. I was impressed with the smooth transition from WaMu to Chase, basically everything stayed the same. Everything that is but one key thing - Customer Service!

Chase, the thing I liked about WaMu was their customer service. I was not happy to see my latest statement that had a $10 charge on it for making too many transfers online. Apparently I am only allowed to make 6 transfers online in a one month period. I can go to the branch or the ATM and make as many transfer as I like but if I want to do it online I am limited to six. What is up with that and why did nobody ever tell me this before? Or was it written on one of those tiny inserts that come with your statement that you need a magnifying glass and a lawyer to read it and understand what it says. Okay six does seem like enough transfers but last month I had a lot of things going on (plumbing emergency, flat tire, etc) and I have multiple accounts with you and I like/need to move my money around sometimes. Yesterday, I called customer service and got a representative who confirmed that yes I did get that charge and then started reading that legal babble to me confirming that yes the $10 was a correct charge. I told her I was not aware of this new rule and asked her if she could please waive the charge this time as a courtesy. She said, "No I can't do that. It was not our mistake it was yours." I then asked to speak to her supervisor who basically said the same thing. No apologies, no courtesy waive of the charge, nothing. I told them I was very disappointed in the way they were handling this and that I was going to consider looking for another bank. He then said "okay". I said, so you are willing to lose a customer over $10, he said yes because it was not their mistake it was mine.

So this week I am going bank shopping. I'm sure in this economy most banks would be happy to have a new customer. I'm surprised that the new Chase/WaMu is not sorry to lose a customer.

If someone from WaMu/Chase were to waive the $10 fee and comment on my blog I might actually consider keeping my accounts there.

11/8/09 I've turned off the comments for this post because it's been getting a ton of spam lately.

Worrying About Finances?

2008-10-20T14:45:00.000-07:00

It's in the air. It's in the culture. It's everywhere. People are freaking out about money. People are using the excuse of the economy for everything.

Personally, I'm tired of all the negative chatter about money. Let's start some positive dialogs about money and finances.

If you are feeling scared or unsure what to do with your money at this time you might want to watch this Suze Orman video.

White Guys Can Dance!

2008-10-13T09:15:00.000-07:00

There has been a lot of talk around my home this week about the way white guys dance. I won't go in to details but my teenage daughter's went to a high school dance this week and we've been having some fun talking about the "white guy dance".

However, there is one white guy that can really dance! Have you seen this video? My good friend Coach Emily sent it to me today and I thought it would be a fun video to pass around this Indigenous People's Day (a.k.a Columbus Day).

Twitter Rant and Time Saving Tip

2008-10-11T11:55:00.000-07:00

Are you a Twitter addict?

I know many of you are on Twitter because I see your tweets. Here is a quick little time saving tip about Twitter.

Don't let Twitter take over your life! Twitter is awesome and it is fun! It's a great way to keep up with the masses and to meet new people. But... it can take over your life if you are not careful.

One little bit of advice I heard from someone at a VAnetworking seminar (I can't remember his name at the moment) was to treat Twitter like the water cooler at the corporate office. You know how you walk by the water cooler and hear the end of a conversation and join in if it is interesting. Well... that is what you should do with Twitter. Like the water cooler you don't get to review the last 15 minutes (or 24 hours) of the conversation that you missed you just get to jump in where it is at.

I hear many of you saying you are catching up on your Tweets. When I hear that I get nervous. I think oh that person is going to wonder where all their time went. The people that catch up on all their missed tweet's are probably the same people complaining they don't have enough time to finish their client work, they don't have enough time to spend with their family, and that there just never is enough time to do everything they want to do.

It's okay if you miss a few tweets.

Looking for Some Good News?

2008-10-06T09:09:00.001-07:00

I happened upon this Website yesterday. I think this is where I am going to start reading my morning headlines from now on. It's called the Good News Network. If you need a break from all the doom and gloom check out this site: http://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/

Lack or Prosperity?

2008-10-05T15:27:00.001-07:00

Where is your focus these days? Are you choosing to focus on lack or on prosperity?

Are you listening to the news everyday and freaking out? Or are you focusing on your business and on being prosperous.

If you lost a bunch of money in the market do you think watching the news, complaining and worrying about it is going to help get the money back?

At times like these I try not to let the mass hysteria get to me. Instead of watching the nightly news and reading the headlines I pick up books such as Barbara Stanny's OverComing UnderEarning or I read prosperity minded information online.

I'm not suggested that you put your head in the sand and live in denial. Just suggesting you pay attention to where your thoughts are focused these days.

Wishing you prosperity!

Stop the Negative Chatter

2008-10-03T16:36:00.000-07:00

I am seeing a pattern develop with many of the women I coach who are feeling stuck. The reason they are stuck is because they have been listening to the negative chatter in their head. No they are not crazy and they are not hearing voices, they are hearing the self talk that we all do.

What does your voice say? Have you ever heard it say anything like this?

I'm not good enough.
I'm so stupid.
Who do I think I am trying to run a business?
Nobody cares about what I have to say.
I can't do this.
I'm not smart enough.

Next time you hear yourself saying something negative to yourself say STOP. Tell that voice to be quiet. Take this one step further and replace that negative talk with something positive. Pick one sentence or phrase that works for you. Something like I am a successful business woman. I am smart. I think it was Heather Jacobson that first gave me this idea and she liked the phrase "I am a very intelligent woman".

In summary, stop the negative chatter and replace it with positive, affirming statements.

You are a successful business woman (or man)!

Referral Etiquette

2008-10-01T16:59:00.000-07:00

When someone refers business to you what do you do?

Do you thank that someone? Do you give them a referral gift? Do you let them know how things are going with your new client?

I'm just wondering what the etiquette is around referrals. When someone refers a client to me I thank them and send them a referral gift if the client signs on.

Since my business has gotten busier I've been referring clients out a lot. Some people thank me, some send me me a gift, some send money and others just respond with a quick thanks and never report back to me whether they got the client or not.

I personally want a thank you and an update if I refer someone to you and you get the client. I've had to find out from my clients, friends and acquaintances that they are working with the person I referred them to.

What are your thoughts on referral etiquette?

Where Did All The Money Go?

2008-09-13T10:54:00.000-07:00

I hear a lot of people saying they feel broke, they don't have enough money, they can't afford that right now, etc...

I'm wondering if they know where all their money is going? If they have taken ownership of their spending habits?

Money is always a sensitive subject with people so I don't want to my push myself on them with my thoughts and opinions but if they ever asked here are the questions I would ask them to think about.

How much money do you make each month?
How much money did you make over the last 8 months?
How much money do you spend each month?
How much money have you spent over the last 8 months?
What do you spend your money on?

Were you able to answer all those questions or find the answers to those questions? If so, great! If not, it is time to start looking at your finances. Wealthy and successful people know the answers to these questions. Struggling people usually do not.

The first step to getting out of debt and becoming financially independent is getting out of denial and facing your financial reality.

If you are interested in reaching financial independents here is the first step/challenge: track every penny you spend over the next 7 days.

Get a little notebook or create a spreadsheet in Excel.
Write down how much money you think you are spending each week
Start saving those receipts and tracking those expenses daily (without judgment).
After you do this let me know if you were spending more or less than you thought.

Did doing this exercise make you think more consciously about each purchase you made?

I'd love to hear your thoughts, questions or tips about facing finances.

Some things to think about (possible money drains).
On average...
A 12 pack of Coke costs $6.00 X 52 weeks = $312.00
Big Mac: $3.50 X 52 weeks = $182.00
Starbuck’s coffee: $3.00 X 365 days = $495.00
Credit Card interest average = 16% - 18%
Late Payment fees: $25.00+

Oprah's Soul Series

2008-09-11T15:06:00.000-07:00

Have you seen Oprah's Soul Series?

I found some of the interviews very inspiring.

Visit Oprah's Soul Series site see the interviews.

Attention to Detail

2008-09-10T09:56:00.000-07:00

How closely do you look at your credit card statements each month?

I comb through mine line by line every month and I often find unauthorized charges and mistakes. Usually little charges here and there... small mistakes that add up. I always take the time to call and get the charges corrected. This month, I'm thankful that I took the time to check my statement and balance my account. I found a charge of $295.00 that I did not make.

In August I stayed at a hotel in Orange County. The La Quinta Inn Costa Mesa. (By the way if you like to breathe don't stay there, it is located right on the 405 Freeway... literally.) You walk out the door of your room and your view is the freeway - the noise and the smog level are toxic. The service was great and the people were nice but the location is horrible!

Back to my credit card story... I paid for the hotel in advance via Travelocity. Everything went smoothly until now, when I opened my credit card statement. The La Quinta Inn charged me $295.00 on a random day during the middle of my stay. I called La Quinta they had no record of the charge and didn't know how to help me with the problem. I called my credit card company and they offered to reverse the charge and deal with La Quinta directly. My credit card company (United Visa - Chase Card Services) has great customer service. In the end after about an hour of phone calls, transfers and being put on hold I got my $295.00 back.

Just thought I'd share this story as a reminder to check and balance your credit card statements every month. You might be losing money you aren't even spending.

Feeling Overwhelmed?

2008-09-09T11:01:00.001-07:00

Are you feeling overwhelmed? Could it be because you are surrounded by clutter?

I've been noticing lately when I visit friend's that their homes & offices are completely filled with clutter. People often ask me how I keep my house/office so clean. I tell them I get rid of stuff. It's a lot easier to clean when you aren't constantly picking up stuff. Some people I know have so much stuff their stuff doesn't even have a home. If they wanted to organize they wouldn't be able to because there would be no place to put their stuff

Take a look around your office. Do it. Right now. What do you see? Are there piles of paper everywhere? Are there things in your office that don't belong? If so, how about scheduling 15 minutes today to de-clutter your office. See how much you can do in 15 short minutes.

Rules for de-cluttering:
1. Set timer for 15 minutes (and don't give me the excuse that you do not have a timer. You can use this one: http://www.timeme.com/timer.htm just reset the preferences to 15 minutes).
2. Stay in your office the whole 15 minutes. (I learned this trick from reading Elizabeth Hagen's book Organize With Confidence. She suggests anything that goes in another room to put in a pile to put away after the 15 minutes is up.
3. Toss/Recycle everything you do not need or love.
4. File any paper that needs to be filed.

Now that wasn't so bad was it?

Unplugging when you're "on" 24/7

2008-09-02T14:03:00.000-07:00

This post was written by my awesome coach Lisa Hunter who has given me permission to reprint.

Extraordinary Women Dilemma: You're beating yourself up because you can't seem to turn off when it comes to your business. Whether you're excited about a new project and you're thinking about it while you're out having dinner with friends or you're trying to have the day off and your thoughts are dominated by the next thing that you need to do for your business, it's a strange mix of guilt, excitement, sometimes-worry and always a constant ants-in-your-pants feeling. You've tried "letting go", but that almost never works and then you just feel like an over-obsessed spaz.

What There Is For You To Know: The general sentiment for us passionately-driven entrepreneurial women is that we need to "balance" and tone down the obsession with our businesses. We hear it from friends, loved ones and we beat ourselves up for it. But here's the thing: being passionately-driven about your business is great for your business! It's when you come from a place of seeing that never-ending drive as "bad" and then trying to stop it, that you get into trouble.

You see, there is nothing wrong with you when you take a day off and you're not able to stop thinking about your business. It may not be the experience that you want to have, but you are not a workaholic or failing at balance. This is why when you say, "I've got to stop thinking about my business", it doesn't work. Because you actually can't stop that flow and you don't need to. In truth, it's a wonderful thing for your business that all this juice for it is pulsing through you.

It is nice, however, to be able to take a break from it! So here's how without having to stop the flow...

Think Like An Electrical Outlet: Picture a standard electrical outlet - the kind that has two places to plug stuff in and shows up in every room of just about every house ever made. Think about how there is always electrical current available in an outlet. It's present 24/7 and you can tap into it whenever you want by plugging something in.

As a passionately-driven entrepreneurial woman, your thoughts, "obsessions" and constant focus on your business are the same as the current in that electrical outlet - present and flowing all the time. It's on-tap juice for your business 24/7! But as go-getting women, we tend to naturally plug into that current all the time. The thing to remember is that, just as you do for your toaster or any other appliance, you can unplug from the current at will. The beauty of unplugging from the current is that you are not trying to stop the current and you're not feeling bad that the current is still flowing. You are allowing the current to keep doing it's thing AND you're unplugging so you can take a break.

Try It On The Fly: Experiment this week with unplugging from the constantly-flowing current of energy that you have for your business. When you're with your family or friends and your business is dominating your mind, rather than trying to stop this juicy flow of business energy, instead imagine yourself unplugging from it. Know that, while you're unplugged, the current is still there - full of energy and forward movement and ready to go once you decide to plug back in.

It's the trying to stop the flow of thoughts and energy for your business that gets you into trouble. And thinking there's something wrong with you for not being able to stop it. But you can't stop it because it's naturally "on" all the time! You can, however, unplug for stretches at a time. Play around with it and let me know how it goes...

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* * * Go-getting women: Be sure to check out The go-getting entrepreneurial woman's essential 5-session series starting in October!

Women and Money

2008-08-31T14:29:00.000-07:00

What's holding you back from reaching financial success?

I learned a little history about women and money while reading Barbara Stanny's book, Secret's of Six-Figure Women.

Here are a few excerpts from Stanny's book:

Psychotherapist Olivia Mellan, coauthor of Money Shy to Money Sure says, "this fear of power is perfectly understandable. It's embedded in collective unconscious. Powerful women were burned at the stakes"

Did you know the word money is derived from the Latin feminine noun moneta?

"Moneta was the name of Juno, queen mother of heaven. Making money is part of our heritage, a legacy it's time to embrace."

Attitude of Gratitude

2008-08-27T16:13:00.001-07:00

I've been watching the Oprah Soul Series interview of Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor. She just said to have an "attitude of gratitude". I love that quote!

Have you heard of Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor? She is the Harvard trained neuroanatomist (brain scientist) who had a massive stroke and studied and remembered what was happening while having the stroke.

Here is the Youtube video from when she spoke at TED.
(It's about 20 minutes)

She had some amazing insights from her stroke experience that she talks to Oprah about during the interviews.

I am a Workaholic

2008-08-23T09:28:00.000-07:00

Hi, my name is Sally and I am a workaholic.

I'm not sure when it happened but it did! All I do now is work, work, work.

As much as I love the work I do I would also like to bring some balance back into my life.

I'm tired of saying no to friends and family every time they extend an invitation.

I'm tired of not having time to participate in my favorite online forums.

I'm tired of being a grouch.

And, I'm especially tired of not having time to blog!

It is time I start practicing what I preach. It's time to set new boundaries and communicate those with my family, friends and clients.

If you have been feeling anything like I have lately (or resemble the strange looking photo above in any way) I have a suggestion for you.

Stop multitasking!

I've found the days I am most productive are the days I actually take a few minutes to plan and not just follow the emails on a wild goose chase.

Let me explain the wild goose chase analogy. I have a couple of clients who feel every task they need assistance with is urgent and must be done ASAP. So, if I don't take the time to look at the big picture of my business and to look at each clients individual needs and projects I end up focusing on the squeaky wheels and not the wheels that are moving along quietly and smoothly. Hence, I end up on a wild goose chase trying to keep up with the "urgent" requests of those few clients and forgetting about the quiet, stable ones that plan ahead. My day ends and I feel no sense of accomplishment, just a whole lot of frustration.

Instead of diving head first into email I am now reviewing all my clients and projects to see what needs to be completed first and committing to doing that project first.

I then do that A1 priority project and don't check email or answer the phone until it is complete.

After I complete the project I check email and voicemail and follow up with anything that I have to follow up on and then review my projects again and decide which project I am going to fully focus on next.

I'm amazed at how much more productive and how many more billable hours I get in a day when I stop multitasking and start seriously focusing.

I'm excited to say I'm on the road to recovery and will keep you posted on how my work/life balance is progressing.

Let's not even discuss that I am blogging about being a workaholic on a Saturday... yes it's going to be a long road to finding the perfect balance.

We Got Our Groove Back!

2008-07-26T11:20:00.000-07:00

Thanks to blogging, Yvonne and I discovered that we have been following the same path but not together. We were both in a funk. My last post was all about how I forgot about my goals and how when I remembered them everything started falling in to place.

Then a few days ago Yvonne posted about the funk she was in and I commented on her blog saying, "Funny this post somewhat resembles my last blog post… seems we have been on the same funk cycle but we are back!" That comment prompted Yvonne to read my latest post and a big light bulb went off for her.She had also forgotten about her goals. She didn't exactly forget but she had reached all her goals and had not set new ones. So we spent some time yesterday reviewing our old goals and setting new ones. We got to pat ourselves on the back for reaching goals that seemed like "big dreams" a year ago. In Yvonne's process manual workbook, The Ultimate Guide to Creating a Thriving Business there is a section under the goal setting part which says "What dream do you dare to dream for your business?". Every time I review my manual I update that dream and date it. I'm thrilled to say I've actually achieved most of those things that I dared to dream a year ago. (Still waiting for the 2nd house on a beach - but I know that will come soon).

In celebration of Yvonne and I getting our groove back we are offering a special on our book Managing Your Thriving Business for Success. If you enter the code word: productive you will receive $10 off the cost of the book! If you are in a funk or have lost your groove we hope you will join us in getting your groove back and let us know about your light bulb moments.

For the next 10 days we will be offering this $10 discount. Go to http://www.thrivingbusinessmanual.com/managing and enter the code: productive to start getting your groove back today!

Goals – Don’t Forget About Them!

2008-07-11T18:00:00.000-07:00

I forgot about my goals. I am always talking about the importance of writing your goals and reading them everyday and then I went and forgot about mine. Lately, I’ve been in burn out mode, just doing what I had to do to get by. I lost all excitement for my business as you can see by the lack of blog posts in the last few months. I hired a business coach and do you know what she said to me on our last call? She said, “it sounds like maybe you met all your goals, and maybe it is time to make some new goals”. That was a big a-ha, light-bulb kind of moment for me. She was right. I had forgotten about my goals. I’d forgotten to even look at them.

Earlier this week, I was listening to an interview with Barbara Stanny, the author of Secrets of Six Figure Women and I got very inspired. In fact, I plan to buy her book this weekend. She talked about how once you make a decision on what you want and commit to it things will just start falling in to place. While listening to the interview I started writing my goals. Within 5 minutes of the interview ending a client who has been MIA appeared in my email in box wanting to start up work again. Then the next morning I got a new client with exactly the kinds of projects I love doing.

Then today while participating in the VA Revolution’s Process Manual Accountability class led by Yvonne Weld we were reviewing our business goals. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that I had met most the BIG business goals I wrote back in May 2007.

Just like Barbara Stanny said... things started falling in to place – serendipitously. All these events were a great reminder to me to practice what I preach.

1. Write down your goals.
2. Write goals in positive present tense (ie. I am a six figure business owner. My desk is always clean and organized, etc).
3. Read your goals everyday.
4. Update your goals as you meet them.

Don’t do what I did. Don’t forget about your goals.

Remember to dream!

Suggestion: Stop what you are doing right now and write down where you want to be a year from now. Think about what kind of clients you want to work with, how many hours a week you want to work, how much you will be making an hour. Remember to date those goals so next year at this time when you find that sheet of paper you can give yourself a pat on the back!

I'm off to go purchase this book! Have a great weekend!

Boundaries are a Necessity

2008-06-24T17:36:00.000-07:00

Running a Successful Business from your Home

Setting Boundaries when you work from home is probably the most important thing you can do for your business, your family and yourself.

Do any of these descriptions sound like you? If they do it is probably time for you to set some boundaries:

Workaholics: never get off the computer and loved ones feel neglected and begin to resent their business

Doormats: family, friends, neighbors and others needs are always coming first and our business ends up getting pushed to the back burner… which means the income stops flowing and once again our loved ones feel neglected because we are not providing the financial support we are capable of providing, we get bitter towards our family and begin to resent them because we have no time to focus on our business. When we say yes to being the president of the board or heading the auction at our child’s school what are we saying no to? Free time with our families, time to work on our business, what else?

Online Addicts: we become addicted to forums, chat rooms, blogs, emails, IM, online networking and volunteering, we don’t know when to say no. We think we have to do this to build our business, we feel guilty being away from our computer, afraid we might miss something, keep volunteering, chatting, posting hoping it will turn into business… what it really turns into is all of our time being eaten away, no billable hours to show and a resentful family and quite possibly a feeling of isolation. I’m not saying that any of this is bad, but there has to be limits… if you are spending 8 or more hours a day doing this and seeing no income or getting behind on client work, feeling overworked and stressed and know that your family is resentful, you may have a problem.

Before we can begin to set boundaries that are going to be of any success we first need to figure out our priorities in life.

Steps You Must Take to Run a Successful Business from Your Home

1. Know your goals and see where you want your business to be today and in the future

Knowing what you want is necessary before you can begin to set boundaries and limits. Do you know where you want your business to be in 1 month? 1 year? 5 years from now? How much money will you be making? How many hours a week will you be working? How much flexibility do you want in your schedule? What services do you offer? If you don’t know the answer to these questions…then before you do anything else you need to stop right now and take the time to figure it out. Sit down and brainstorm, write the story of your dream business. After you write your story, go back and read it and think about what steps you need to take to get to that point.

2. Figure out what your boundaries and limits are

Now that you know what you want and what you need to do to get it, you need to determine your boundaries. How are others going to respect your boundaries if you don’t even know what they are?

For instance, if you can’t get anything done because your kids or significant other’s needs always come first… you need to set some boundaries with them. This goes both ways, if you are neglecting your loved ones and spending all of your time on your computer you need to set some boundaries with your clients, colleagues and yourself about when work time is and when it is not.

Do you have office hours set so your clients know when it is okay to call and when it is not? Do you have certain times set aside when it is your time to work so your kids know not to interrupt you during that time (unless of course it is an emergency)?

3. Let everyone know your boundaries – communication is key!

Be prepared to repeat your new rules frequently to your kids, your significant other and your clients. They have all been used to the old you… it will take them some time to respect and understand the new you. Be patient and be firm.

Visualize a big line that you draw so you know when someone is stepping over it

Make a schedule

Make a plan

Create financial boundaries/limits

Be consistent

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Sally Kuhlman, owner of Virtual Simplicity and Yvonne Weld, owner of Able Virtual Assistant Services combined their knowledge and wrote the book, Managing Your Thriving Business for Success” which gives you the tools to successfully manage your own thriving business. For more information about getting organized, setting goals and managing your thriving business, visit http://www.thrivingbusinessmanual.com/managing.

Network Like Nobody's Watching

2008-06-23T16:28:00.000-07:00

After reading a post from the VA Revolution blog about Self Esteem, this quote got me thinking about last night: "They don't want to expose themselves to the ridicule of being seen as shy, nervous or ignorant. They would instead prefer to stay in their corners. "

This almost happened to me last night. I almost stayed in the corner. My friend invited me to go listen to some African drumming at a dance studio. When we got there I was surprised to see a dance class going on. I just assumed it was going to be a drumming performance. It was a drumming performance/dance class. The instructor, Naby Bangoura was an amazing dancer. It was obvious the 12 students in the class done this before. My friends and I stood quietly in the back of the room watching and listening. At one point the instructor noticed us, smiled and with a gesture of his hands invited us to join the class. We shook our heads no... and I literally backed in to the corner wanting to be invisible. Then I had a conversation with myself. I never dance because I don't dance good, I have no rhythm and that's just how it is. Other people have confirmed this belief. But then I thought, I've always wanted to dance so why don't I just go for it? Who cares what these people think? If they think I am a dork that can't dance, so be it.

My friends must have been having the same conversations in their heads because at the same time the 3 of us decided to go for it. We jumped in the back of the line and started dancing. Legs, arms, heads, everything moving. I decided I wasn't going to worry about what I looked like to others and just focus on what the instructor was doing and do my best to copy him. He was nice and even came over and showed us slowly how to do the moves. I danced for about a half an hour and I enjoyed it. I just assumed I looked like a dork out there and decided it was okay to be a dork. But when I was done a few people actually came up and told me, "wow you figured out those moves fast! and you're really good at this". Despite letting go of my worries about being a dork I have to admit I was happy to hear that I didn't make a complete fool of myself.

I realized that standing in that corner I was not invisible I was standing out like a person lacking self esteem. Actually joining the group made me blend more than standing in the corner did.

As Heather and Becki said, "In fact, lack of self-esteem stands out like a sore thumb at parties, meetings, conferences and social or official functions. Individuals with low self-esteem avoid introducing themselves to others. They prefer to stay in the shadows, away from the sights of others."

I'm glad I didn't stay in the corner and that I decided to dance like nobody was watching.

When you go to business networking events do you stand in the corner or do you get out there and dance (ie. mingle, introduce yourself, ask questions)?

"Dance like nobody's watching; love like you've never been hurt. Sing like nobody's listening; live like it's heaven on earth." - Mark Twain

I Challenge You To Build Up Your Business

2008-06-17T14:37:00.001-07:00

Virtual Assistants and clients often ask me, “how can I get more clients?” My answer is always a series of questions… do you network online or in person? do you follow up with your potential clients? I’ve found that a lot of people think if you put up a Website the clients/customers will come. In fact, that is usually not the case. A Website is a place for someone to go find out more information about you once they have met you somewhere else (either online or in person).

If you are trying to get new clients/customers I’d like to offer you a challenge this week. Follow up with at least one person before the end of the week. If you are not sure how to go about following up, I highly recommend reading The Art of Follow Up written by Jaime Lee Mann.

Be sure to let me know how the follow up went.

Virtual Assistants Worldwide Honor Two Colleagues

2008-06-10T17:44:00.000-07:00

Congratulations Tawnya and Kylie!

Virtual Assistant Social Networking Community Boasts Two Award Winners for 2008. There are many Virtual Assistants (VA) who have helped to not only build recognition of the VA industry but also to provide invaluable insight and assistance to their fellow VAs. VAnetworking has become a popular social networking community online since 2003 to many Virtual Assistants sporting over thousands of members. Founder Tawnya Sutherland states, "Inside VAnetworking we are just like one big happy VA family offering advice, support and answers to many business issues at any time of the day and even in the wee hours of the morning. As a family unit we share and work together trying our best to get the word out to corporate America about the benefits of hiring a Virtual Assistant".

It isn't a coincidence then that two members of this online social network just so happen to be winners of the most prestigious awards available to VAs.

For Tawnya Sutherland (founder of VAnetworking.com) and Kylie Short (Tilda Virtual Services), they received the biggest honor during the recent third annual IVAD (International Virtual Assistant Day) celebration. Sutherland was honored as the recipient of the Thomas Leonard International Virtual Assistant of Distinction award and Kylie Short was honored as the recipient of the Janet Jordan Achievement Award. The award ceremony was held on May 16th at the OIVAC (Online International Virtual Assistants Convention) and was attended, virtually, by dozens of VAs from around the world.

The Thomas Leonard Award recognizes a Virtual Assistant that has been in business for at least five years, and who has contributed to the industry in a way that leaves a positive impact on many others, helping them build successful businesses. The Janet Jordan award recognizes a newcomer Virtual Assistant who has been in business for less than 5 years and has reached a milestone in their short career in the industry. This milestone needs to be an accomplishment that has helped to boost their new business to an overwhelming success.

During her acceptance speech, Tawnya said "I have practiced my three 'P's of success within my own VA business and wish to share these ethics with the VA community. They are: Persistence, Passion and Populace. A persistence to never give up and keep pushing through your business plan no matter what obstacles stand in your way. A passion and solid desire to reach the vision you have for you and your business. And populace, the networking with likeminded people in the VA industry."

"To be awarded The Janet Jordan Achievement Award is the greatest honor and recognition of what I have built. I am humbled by this award even more-so as it has been awarded to me by my peers," said Kylie Short during her acceptance speech.

A long-time active member of the VA community, Tawnya Sutherland founded VAnetworking.com in 2003. In a few short years, VAnetworking.com has become the largest online global social network for aspiring and successful Virtual Assistants. Tawnya has had a huge, positive impact on hundreds of VAs over the years. Her most recent project benefiting VAs worldwide is The VA Talk Show which informs, educates and entertains virtual achievers around the globe. Tawnya is the producer and host of the popular Internet radio show. In addition to her Virtual Assistance forum and her thriving businesses, Tawnya is also the creator of the internationally acclaimed Virtual Business Start Up System: a comprehensive kit that provides all the information, tools and resources a person needs to build a viable Virtual Assistance business in just 30 days.

For Kylie, Tilda Virtual Services, which is named after her daughter, began as an answer to Kylie's desire to have flexibility in her life as she actively participated in raising her children and nurturing her family. Her passion to help others is fueled by the immense joy Kylie feels in being a business owner herself. As a virtual business owner, Kylie understands the special challenges associated with establishing an online presence. Tilda Virtual Services specializes in providing administrative, online marketing, e-newsletter design, Web site design and technical support to small business owners working from home.

The International Virtual Assistant Day Awards (IVAD) has been in existence for three years now and you may view past winners at their website at http://oivac.com/vadayawards.htm States Tawnya Sutherland, "It brings a glow to my heart to see that every winner of the IVAD Awards is a member of VAnetworking.com. Obviously we are filling a hole at our social network that every VA could use to help them take their virtual business to that next level of success!"

Tawnya Sutherland
http://www.VAnetworking.com

Kylie Short
http://www.tildavirtual.com.au

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Reminders

2008-06-09T17:15:00.000-07:00

6/10/08 Virtual Assistant Revolution Open House! Don't miss the party!

6/11/08 VA Networking Seminar - Creating The Spark - 3 Secrets to Creating Passion For The Work and Life That You Will Love

6/13/08 Jaime's Birthday! (Happy Birthday Jaime!)

6/16/08 Estimated taxes are due in the US

Virtual Assistant Revolution

2008-06-01T14:57:00.000-07:00

Join us at the Virtual Assistant Revolution Open House!!!

It's Not Easy

2008-05-30T15:33:00.001-07:00

When someone you love is in critical condition in the hospital it's not easy to concentrate. It's not easy to come up with a blog post. It's not easy to care about the mundane daily details of running a business. It's not easy to focus on client work. It's not easy to focus on your children when they are worrying about what they are going to wear to graduation. It's not easy to be your normal cheerful self. Basically nothing is easy. I found myself not wanting to do anything productive. But then I remembered that is what life is about... it's about the little details that seem unimportant. It's about being present in the moment. It's about getting up each morning and facing the day and hopefully making someone else smile at some point during that day.

Today was a better day. Although, it's not easy... I'm back!

I Believe in Miracles

2008-05-25T18:54:00.001-07:00

I've been gone for the last few days putting all my energy in to Grace. Grace is part of my extended (and very complicated) family. She was involved in the big crash on the Golden Gate Bridge the other day. I spent the night at the hospital with her the other night and have had the song I Believe in Miracles You Sexy Thing by Hot Chocolate in my head ever since. Please send healing thoughts and prayers to Grace.

What Are You Doing?

2008-05-20T16:19:00.001-07:00

What are you doing? You can answer that question over here at Twitter.
If you don't know what Twitter is, here is a great video explaining it.
I love my Twitter!

Blog Of The Week (Week 10) - Extraordinary Women Thrive

2008-05-19T20:15:00.000-07:00

This week I pick Lisa Hunter's new blog Extraordinary Women Thrive.

I'm so excited to see she has a blog that I wanted to share it with all of you!

Lisa is my coach and she is awesome!

She happens to be offering a special 5 session coaching package to spirited, go-getting, (possibly stressed out) women who want to thrive.

Prosperity or Poopy Thoughts?

2008-05-19T17:13:00.000-07:00

Are you having prosperity thoughts or poopy thoughts?

Stop right now and listen to that chatter inside your head.

What do you hear?

A. I'm a failure. I can't do this. I don't think I can handle this. I'm so stupid.

or

B. I am a successful business owner. I love learning new skills. I am smart. I can do this!

If you are hearing things like A then you are having poopy thoughts. Next time you catch yourself having a poopy thought stop right then and change that thought to a positive/prosperous one.

If you are hearing things like B - Congratulations! You are having prosperity thoughts! Keep up the good work!

You Can Heal Your Life

2008-05-18T13:00:00.001-07:00

Woohoo Louise Hay's book You Can Heal Your Life is now a movie!

That little book and Louise's wise words helped me through some very difficult points in my life. I can't wait to see the movie!

SPECIAL OIVAC DISCOUNT

2008-05-15T18:53:00.000-07:00

Now through Sunday (5/18/08) Managing Your Thriving Business For Success is on sale!

50% off! We are offering this special discount in honor of IVAD!

Enter the code: OIVAC to receive your discount!

Fast Track to Goal Setting

2008-05-12T15:40:00.000-07:00

Did you know if you write down your goals they are much more likely to happen?

Have you ever stopped to think about what you really want to do with your business?

How many hours a week do you want to be working?

How much money do you want to be making by this time next year?

What kind of clients do you want to work for?

How many clients do you want?

How much do you want your monthly income to be?

How about doing something for yourself this week? Or better yet, right now! Take a piece of paper or open a Word document and answer the questions above (or post your answers in a comment right here). Don't forget to write the date on your list of goals. A year from now I will bring this post back up to see how you did with your goals.

Happy Mother's Day

2008-05-11T09:54:00.000-07:00

Happy Mother's Day to all you hard working women out there!

“When your mother asks, "Do you want a piece of advice?" it is a mere formality. It doesn't matter if you answer yes or no. You're going to get it anyway.” - Erma Bombeck

"The best academy, a mother's knee." - James Russell Lowell

“When you feel neglected, think of the female salmon, who lays 3,000,000 eggs but no one remembers her on Mother's Day” - Sam Ewing

“I know how to do anything - I'm a Mom.” - Roseanne Barr

"We spend the first twelve months of our children's lives teaching them to walk and talk and the next twelve telling them to sit down and shut up." - Phyllis Diller

“Mothers of teenagers know why animals eat their young” – Unknown

"I'd like to be the ideal mother, but I'm too busy raising my kids." - Unknown

Today is the last day to get $10 off Managing Your Thriving Business For Success . Enter the word "productive". Offer expires at midnight tonight. Great book for business moms! Learn new ways to balance work and family.

Co-Authors Nominated for Prestigious Virtual Assistant Awards

2008-05-09T14:54:00.000-07:00

Bragging time... Thanks Yvonne for writing this press release!

Co-Authors of the book "Managing Your Thriving Business for Success", Sally Kuhlman and Yvonne Weld have each been recognized by their industry as nominees of these awards, Kuhlman for the Thomas Leonard International Virtual Assistant of Distinction and Weld for the Janet Jordan Achievement Award.

The Virtual Assistant industry is gearing up for the 3rd annual Online Virtual Assistant Convention (OIVAC), which will be held from May 15, 2008 through to May 17, 2008. The highlight of the event will be the International Virtual Assistants Day (IVAD) celebration on Friday, May 16, when the announcement of the winners of the prestigious Janet Jordan Achievement Award and the Thomas Leonard International Virtual Assistant of Distinction will occur.

The OIVAC website states that the Thomas Leonard International Virtual Assistant of Distinction is to "honor a Virtual Assistant who has been in business for at least 5 years and who has contributed to the industry in such a way that it has provided a positive impact on many others and helped them to build a successful business." The OIVAC website also states that the Janet Jordan Award is to "honor a newcomer Virtual Assistant who has been in business for less than 5 years and has reached a milestone in their short career in the industry. This milestone needs to be an accomplishment that has helped to boost their new business to an overwhelming success."

These nominations prove that Weld and Kuhlman truly know what they are talking about and they also give their book credibility. Many books on the market today are filled with repetitive materials that are unsubstantiated. In other words, not too many authors "practice what they preach". The fact that these authors have been nominated for these awards goes to show that they are truly running successful businesses and are being recognized by the industry as leaders and role models.

"My goal in writing the book was to share with business owners the elements of my business that have attributed to my success such as goal setting, boundary setting and good time management", Weld stated. "Many business owners struggle to determine why their business isn't working without first looking at themselves and the management style they bring to their business."

Kuhlman believes "most people can be taught good management skills and, by utilizing those skills, run a successful and thriving business." "We don't want others to make the same mistakes we have and wanted to provide a resource that would give entrepreneurs the tools they needed to run a successful business." Both Kuhlman and Weld have learned their management skills through trial and error and life experience.

About Yvonne Weld
Yvonne Weld is the owner of Canadian based ABLE Virtual Assistant Services which opened in April 2004. Yvonne brings knowledge from a number of resources including personal experience (8 years in her previous employment as an Office Manager), education (graduate of several courses at the Small Business Centre, London, Ontario) and her love for information through reading and internet research. For more information visit the Web site at www.ableva.com.

About Sally Kuhlman
Sally Kuhlman is the owner of Virtual Simplicity located in the San Francisco Bay Area. She has been providing virtual support to entrepreneurs since 2002. For over 15 years she has been professionally engaged in business management and administrative work. Sally has a bachelor's degree in Social Ecology specializing in Psychology and Human Behavior. For more information visit the Web site at www.virtualsimplicity.net.

About Managing Your Thriving Business for Success
For more information about Managing Your Thriving Business for Success and how to start organizing your time better, visit the Web site at www.thrivingbusinessmanual.com/managing.

About OIVAC
The 3rd annual OIVAC is to be held from May 15-17, 2008 and will include several training teleseminars and workshops as well as an opportunity to network with Virtual Assistants from around the world. For more information visit the Web site at www.oivac.org.

Goals Start With Ideas

2008-05-07T20:47:00.000-07:00

"Goals are a system of deciding what you want, planning how to get it, then taking action and working towards getting it. Many goals never materialize because people forget about them, We all get busy in our daily lives and forget to stay focused on the big picture. Keep a notebook where you can write down ideas, goals, inspirations, etc. Keep this notebook easily accessible and whenever a great idea pops into your head, write it down. If you write down your ideas you will have a much better chance of reaching your goals."
-excerpt from Managing Your Thriving Business For Success

$10 off now through May 11, 2008. Enter the code word: productive at Managing Your Thriving Business For Success

What's Your Excuse?

2008-05-07T10:46:00.000-07:00

Do you think you are too old to get started with an internet business?

If so, you might want to check out this new ebook: Put Your Old on Hold: A Baby Boomer's Unconventional Guide to the Making of a dot com business" by Karen McGreevey.

She's funny, she's witty and she knows what she is talking about.

What is an Affiliate and how can I be one?

2008-05-06T05:00:00.000-07:00

According to wikipedia, Affliliate Marketing is "is a web-based marketing practice in which a business rewards one or more affiliates for each visitor or customer brought about by the affiliate's marketing efforts."

Have you thought about becoming an affiliate for a product that you like but you're not sure how it all works?

Did you know you could be making money while you sleep if you are an affiliate?

It's easy to be an affiliate! All you have to do is sign up and then you get your own unique URL for whatever product it is that you want to promote. You can put this link on your Website, on your blog, or email it to your friends and lists.

If you haven't tried being an affiliate before how about trying with our book: Managing Your Thriving Business For Success? You can earn 30% commission on each book sold. To make things easier for you we have set up an affiliate tool box with a free affiliate manual to give you some ideas on how to get started. If you have any questions feel free to contact me directly.

To join our affiliate program click here. To learn more about it click here.

Bragging Rights

2008-05-05T14:32:00.000-07:00

I got interviewed at Virtual Assistant Forums this month! You can read the interview here.

In celebration of returning from FoVA and being interviewed at the Virtual Assistant Forums I'm offering a discount on the book Managing Your Thriving Business For Success. Just enter the code word productive to receive $10 off. This offer lasts through May 11th, 2008.

Thanks!

FoVA - Forum on Virtual Assistance

2008-05-05T12:27:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday I got on a plane in San Francisco and flew to Toronto for the Forum on Virtual Assistance. After a long day of travel and getting through security and feeling a little dazed and confused I walked through the customs door in to a sea of people. I was pleasantly surprised to hear my name being shouted out (loudly) by Patty and Yvonne. It was great to see Patty again and to finally meet Yvonne in person.

Yvonne & Sally

Considering I am incredibly jet lagged at this moment I'm going to post a few photos from the forum and wait for my head to clear up before attempting to post anything intelligent. These photos are from the socializing part of the weekend... I'll get down to business later this week and tell you about all the wonderful workshops.

When we arrived at the lovely Delta hotel we were greeted by Princess Terry.

We then went up to our room to get pretty before it was time for the cocktail reception.

(Left to right: Victoria, Jaime, Yvonne & Patt y)

Patty's husband won VA husband of the year again. He sent flowers to her hotel room (again).

Barb our fearless FoVA leader told us all about what we could expect from the conference.

Michelle told us a bedtime story.

Some of the VANA volunteers posed for a picture with Tawnya wearing their new sweatshirts.

(Sally, Patty, Tawnya, Terry, Yvonne)

Stay tuned for more photos and stories...

I'm Off To FoVA!

2008-04-30T15:25:00.000-07:00

I'm off to FoVA. I can't believe the date is finally here. I'm so excited to see my old virtual friends and meet new ones!

I was planning on blogging my way through the conference but after my phone call with AT&T today finding out the costs of using my iPhone while out of country I might just wait until I get back. I was told I will be charged .2 cents for each kilobyte I use. Can someone explain to me what that means? If I sit here and blog for a 1/2 an hour how many kilobytes is that?

Blog Of The Week (Week 9) - Desperately Seeking Sanity

2008-04-28T08:18:00.001-07:00

You may have noticed I haven't been picking a blog of the week EVERY week. I decided that was just too much commitment for me. Instead I'm picking a blog of the week whenever I feel like it.

This week's pick is Heather Jacobson's Desperately Seeking Sanity. Heather is a wonderful writer and I really enjoy reading her tales of motherhood. I also love the title of her blog. It is so right on with life...

Heather is the author of Making Dollars Out of Cents, Expanding Your Business One Subscriber at a Time and she is the co-founder of the Virtual Assistant Revolution.

What would you do with an extra $600?

2008-04-25T16:13:00.001-07:00

Are you a Starbuck's fan? Do you drop in to Starbuck's once a day to get your favorite tall non-fat soy caramel frapuccino or a double espresso macchiatto? How much does that cost? Let's say it costs $1.65. If you got one every day that would be $602.25 a year (not to mention the tip you might be leaving).

Checking Accounts

2008-04-22T20:09:00.000-07:00

Does your bank charge you a monthly fee to keep your checking account? If so, ask them to waive it or take your business elsewhere. With so many banks offering free checking accounts why should you be paying for one?

Where is the money?

2008-04-20T23:35:00.000-07:00

April always hits me hard. It's the month when all the big bills are due ( income tax, property tax, home owner's insurance, car insurance, etc...).

This got me thinking about money and how easy it is to waste. This also brought me a blog inspiration. The topic of conscious spending. Do you know where you are spending all your money?

1. Do you ever pay your credit card bill late? If you have paid it late you probably noticed the late fee in addition to an interest charge. Did you know you can call your credit card company and ask them to waive that late fee? Most likely they will waive that fee for you.

2. Do you have a storage unit? Why? If you have a storage unit I'm guessing you just might have more stuff than you actually need. Ask yourself why you are holding on to all that stuff. If you are paying $70 a month for storage that is $840 a year.

3. Do you drink soda every day? How many cans? A dollar a day on soda adds up to $365 a year?

4. I'm going to be adding weekly financial tips to my blog. Come back next week for more thoughts...

Where's Sally?

2008-04-13T10:24:00.000-07:00

Like Waldo, I have been hard to find lately. I know I am WAY over due for a blog post. To be honest I just have not had the inspiration (not to mention I've been incredibly busy).

I've been working with a coach and have made some big decisions over the last few weeks. One of those decisions was to create more balance in my life. I remembered that I did not go in to business for myself to be a workaholic that works around the clock including the weekends. I went in to business for myself to be in control of my own life. But something happened instead of me running my business, my business was running my life. Somewhere along the line I forgot to keep having fun. I just started working, working and working some more. What happened was I started saying yes to everyone. Potential clients would call and say can you do this or that for me and I would reply with a yes because I could do this or that for them. I forgot to ask myself do I want to do this or that for them? Do I have time to do this or that for them? Do I enjoy doing this or that for them? I just kept saying yes and the clients just kept coming.

This past month I made the tough decision to let some clients go. This was tough because I actually like all my clients but I don't necessarily like all the work I do for them. I decided to keep the clients whom I loved working with and whose tasks I enjoyed working on the most.

Ending a relationship is never easy. Saying goodbye is not fun. But knowing my boundaries and setting them has been a huge relief. I feel an incredible weight lifted off my shoulders. I have time again; time to think, time to plan and time to be creative (even time to blog). I am looking forward to attending the FoVA (Forum on Virtual Assistance) in May to be with my peers, to learn from them, to brainstorm with them and to come home rejuvenated and ready to take my business to a new place, whatever that place may be.

I'm also very proud to announce that I have been nominated for the Thomas Leonard award! I am honored to be included in the list of past nominees and winners.

"This award is to honor a Virtual Assistant who has been in business for at least 5 years and who has contributed to the industry in such a way that it has provided a positive impact on many others and helped them to build a successful business. If they have headed up a VA organization or activity; written a book or other publication specifically to help other VAs; been a mentor to fellow VAs; or in an impacting way that has helped the industry grow, we want to know." -OIVAC (IVAD Awards)

Thank you!

PS. It's sunny and warm here in Northern California. The wild flowers are blooming! To celebrate Spring we are offering $10 off our book this week. Enter the code "productive" (without the quotes) to get the discount.

MyFax.Com is NOT the Best Service for Virtual Assistants

2008-03-28T18:05:00.000-07:00

Being a Virtual Assistant I naturally use an online fax service. So my faxes arrive in my email in box instead of through my phone line. I love the idea of the internet based faxes and have been using them for years! Besides the convenience it is also better for the environment.

The company I have been using is Myfax.com and I was very happy with them (despite the $20 fee I was paying each month). Back in December something happened, I started having issues receiving faxes from some people.

My clients started getting error messages that said "A communication error occurred during the fax transmission. If you are sending, try again/or call to make sure the recipient's fax machine is ready to receive faxes. If you are receiving, contact the initiator and ask them to send the document again".

I tried faxing my Myfax.com number from my own land line fax and it wouldn't go through! I got the same error message. I had always been able to fax myself things in the past. So, I tried faxing to other Virtual Assistant's Online Fax services and it worked (except for the other VAs that had Myfax.com!). I spent HOURS on the phone with Myfax.com and then with Hewlett Packard because Myfax.com convinced me it must be HPs fault, then HP tried to tell me it was my phone company's fault. Nobody was taking ownership. I then tried faxing my Myfax.com number from two different Brother's brand fax machines and those wouldn't go through either!

On top of the HOURS wasted talking to customer support at Myfax.com, they started double billing me from that day. When they were trying to assist me (or convince me that they weren't the problem and it must be HP) they set up a new test fax number and assured me I would not be charged for that. The new test fax number did not work either and guess what... I got double billed $40 instead of the normal $20.

I contacted Myfax.com when I saw the bill and they said they would credit my account. I waited patiently for the credit, got my new credit card bill today only to find out no credit was issued and I was double billed again! They have over charged me $49.67 in the last two months and the service has been unreliable and my clients are getting frustrated that they can't get their faxes through to me.

I finally decided to cancel my account and sign up for Trustfax.com. So far, so good. Trustfax has been receiving my faxes without a hitch all week.

I've heard two other Virtual Assistants complain about issues with Myfax.com. They are having the same issue. People are not able to fax them consistently.

After I saw my credit card bill today with the double billing from Myfax.com I decided to call my credit card company and ask them for help. I was delighted to find out that my credit card company (Chase United Visa) issued me a refund and said they would handle the problem with Myfax.com! What a relief it was to get some great customer service. Not to mention that I am flying to the FoVA conference with the miles I have earned from my United Visa!

PS. I tried to send a fax to someone with efax.com earlier this week and that didn't go through either. It seems there is some kind of issue with HP and Brothers fax machines communicating with internet fax service numbers that start with 866. This is a new problem. I have a feeling me and the other two Virtual Assistants experiencing this issue are not the only ones having problems with Myfax.com (and maybe efax.com).

Blog Of The Week (Week 8) - The Viral Garden

2008-03-22T10:59:00.000-07:00

My pick for blog of the week this week is The Viral Garden. The reason I started reading Mack Collier's blog was because he lists the Top 25 Marketing Blogs each week but I keep coming back to his blog because he always has a fresh new look at what is happening in social media world.

Spring Is In The Air

2008-03-20T15:02:00.000-07:00

Since reading The E-Myth Revisited I've been spending a lot of time reflecting on my business and what direction I plan on taking it in over the next year.
Be on the look out for some exciting changes at Virtual Simplicity.

At times like this, when my brain gets on overload I often take a break, grab my dog and head for the hills behind my house (the Marin Headlands) that I am so blessed to live in walking distance of. Another reason I am thankful for being a business owner. This is where I often spend time reflecting on my business.

I was delighted to see the first sign of the spring flowers beginning to show!

Thank You

2008-03-16T10:49:00.001-07:00

Thank you Laura Monroe from Creative Agent Solutions for this great review on our book.

I was catching up on my Google alerts the other day when I was brought to Laura Monroe's blog where she wrote a review about the Thriving Business Series.

Thanks Laura, it was an honor to be written about by you.

Are You Working For A Lunatic?

2008-03-16T10:23:00.000-07:00

Did you quit your job and go in to business for yourself because you wanted to be your own boss? You wanted to have more time to spend with your family? More flexibility? More control over your own life?

Have you set up your business so it can run itself when you go on vacation, have a sick day or just want to take a day off?

Or does your business completely depend on you being there doing all the work?

"If your business depends on you, you don't own a business - you have a job. And it's the worst job in the world because you're working for a lunatic!" - The E Myth Revisited, Michael E. Gerber

Are you working for a lunatic or do you love your boss?

If you are working for a lunatic and are feeling stuck in the workaholic cycle and thinking to yourself this isn't what it was supposed to be like... I suggest you read The E Myth Revisited by Michael E. Gerber.

It's a Small World

2008-03-12T21:39:00.000-07:00

You know the saying 6 degrees of separation (or is it 7)? Either way, do you think those degrees of separation have changed with the internet? I do.

I just take for granted that I have friends ALL over the world now.

I agree with Dusty Warren that it is a small world in virtual land. Turns out one of my Virtual Assistant buddies that lives in Tennessee has a client that lives 7 doors down from me here in California.