Blog Recognized by VANetworking May 27, 2008
Posted by Terri Brooks in Blogging, Business, Internet Marketing, Networking, Online Marketing, Virtual Assistant, Women Entrepreneurs, Women-owned Business, Work at Home, blogs.1 comment so far
What a great surprise when I received a congratulatory email from another virtual assistant today regarding my blog. The Virtual Assistant Networking Association (VANA) has recognized my Blog as the “Blog of the Week.”
What a great honor and I so appreciate the recognition. I love posting to my blog with helpful resources and tips to assist busy professionals, small business owners and Internet business professionals with their daily operational tasks.
Thanks VANA!
Caught in the Catch-Up? May 27, 2008
Posted by Terri Brooks in Business, Efficiency, Email, Family, Internet Marketing, Networking, Online Marketing, Outsourcing, Technology, Virtual Assistant, Women Entrepreneurs, Women-owned Business, Work at Home, Writing, non-profit.7 comments
Don’t you love those long weekends? Just looking forward to some time off, relaxation with the family or friends, going to the beach, lake or mountains?
Don’t you just hate coming back to the office to find a foot of mail in your mailbox; 500 emails, 450 of them spam and of course the weekly meeting that takes longer than usual because of the long weekend stories?
I’m with you, except it’s my business to go through the mountains of mail, the never-ending emails and I have several meetings throughout the day with various clients. I have one client that has re-routed her informational email account to me to monitor and moderate. This alone had 150 spam emails in it when I came back into the office today. And I Love it!
The good thing is that I’m caught-up. Not only with my personal emails, but with my client’s emails as well. This is just one more way a Virtual Assistant can help busy people stay caught up. By giving the task of email and calendar management to an off-site, virtual professional you don’t get bogged down with email messages that really don’t contribute to your bottom line. Although email is very important in our society now (and I couldn’t personally live without it) it is a time consumer and before you realize it, you have spent 2-3 hours working on responding and sending emails.
Before the next holiday (July 4th, is just around the corner), think about outsourcing this task to a Virtual Professional. We can help you stay caught-up and make coming back from those long weekends or vacations as pleasurable as the time-off.
How Do You Pronounce That? May 14, 2008
Posted by Terri Brooks in Business, Family, Internet Marketing, Journaling, Life, Networking, Online Marketing, Writing.add a comment
How many times have we said that? How do you pronounce that?
While talking on the phone with clients, I am always taking notes to make sure I follow-up and keep track of the tasks I need to do for them. Many times they will communicate a word, that I am just not familiar with. So the famous question pops out, “How do you pronounce that?” And then the next one is, “How do you spell that?”
Well, I have found the coolest site to help you out! I stumbled upon this incredible website today and I love it! The Free Dictionary.com I was doing some research and typed in the word Mushroom and up came The Free Dictionary. It not only gives you spelling, many different definitions, translations, thesaurus and the best part is that it Pronounces the word for you!! Yep, it sure does. I was blowned away! I could play with the site all day, but that doesn’t make me any money. However, it can save me a great deal of time now that I know about it and I thought you would like it too.
Go check it out. It will (mush·room To multiply, grow, or expand rapidly) your vocabulary!!!
Stay in the Game, It’s Almost Your Turn at Bat. May 11, 2008
Posted by Terri Brooks in Business, Internet Marketing, Networking, Online Marketing, Referrals, Virtual Assistant, Women Entrepreneurs, Women-owned Business, Work at Home.Tags: coaches, Home-based business, mentors, speakers, virtual assistance, Virtual Assistant, women, Women Business Owners, Women Entrepreneurs, work at home moms
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Whew, what a difference a day makes. This is for all of us Virtual Assistants, or any entrepreneur, who has been discouraged and fearful about starting or continuing our business.
I lost a very good retainer client recently. He had been with me almost from the beginning. I felt it coming and he was very gracious about it and hopes to hire me back at some point, but nonetheless, I lost him and the regular income. But, I didn’t loose faith. I feel strongly that I’m in the exact place God wants me to be and the next day I spoke with two potential clients and then someone called, completely out of the blue, for a potentially large project!
Then I was talking with another VA about maybe subcontracting with her, which would be great and later in the day I received a call from a direct referral that she had sent me. That one call (about 15 minutes) resulted in an immediate Five New Clients!! YEA!! They wanted me to start immediately and it is a niche that I have been playing around with for a few weeks. I am so excited! I’ll be assisting Women Entreprenuers and Coaches with their Internet Marketing and building their online presence.
So, no matter what field your in, stay in the game, it’s almost your turn to bat. (Can you tell I’m a former softball player??) Don’t give up…that next client is just around the corner.
Don’t forget to Publish May 9, 2008
Posted by Terri Brooks in Business, Family, Life, Virtual Assistant.Tags: Blogging, blogs, Business, procrastination
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I wrote a great post yesterday and was so proud of it and feeling good only to find out today that I forgot to click Publish. Duh!! I previewed it and tweaked it several times and then just forget to post it on my Blog.
I think that applies to many things in business and life. We just forget to click the Publish button. We work on our business plan, we get our marketing plan ready, we have our business cards printed and then never click Publish. Or, we decide to go on a diet only to jump in the middle of a whole chocolate cake!! Or we want to start saving for a vacation or retirement and go out and buy a new car.
Why is that? Are we not committed to our business strategy? About losing weight or saving money? No, I don’t think that’s it at all. In my case, it’s the old adage, “I’ll get to that tomorrow.” I procrastinate on really important things and forget to click Publish.
Next time you become passionate about something, whether it be business or personal, be sure you click Publish, otherwize that great idea will never get posted!
Chocolate, Sweet Chocolate May 9, 2008
Posted by Terri Brooks in Business, Family, Life, Networking, Referrals, Virtual Assistant, Work at Home.Tags: Giving, Home-based business, Networking, Referrals, Sharing, Virtual Assistant, women, Women Entrepreneurs
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I love Thursdays, because it is almost the weekend and time to spend with my sweet hubby! But today is an especially sweet Thursday because a fellow VA sent me a Sweet Surprise! (Are you gettin’ the picture?)
One of my clients was looking for an additional Virtual Assistant and I recommended a fellow VA that had the specific skills my client was looking for. It proved to be a perfect match and my friend was hired. She was truly grateful and told me that she believed it was a gift from God that she received the job. I was so thrilled for her and her business and the fact that we would be working on some projects together.
Well, today FedEx pulled into my driveway and produced an incredible box of Ghirardellia chocolates!! It was a thank you gift from my fellow VA and I was completed shocked and excited!
Giving and serving others is what we are called to do in this world. It was my pleasure to recommend her. A network group that I belong to says, “Give First…Share Always.” This is a great motto to live by and you might just get chocolate in return!!
Take care of the most important client you have – You. May 7, 2008
Posted by Terri Brooks in Business, Family, Internet Marketing, Online Marketing, Virtual Assistant, Work at Home.Tags: business owners, entrepreneurs, sales, sales professionals, small business, small business owners, Work at Home, work at home moms
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As a home-based business owner it takes all my energy to keep up with my current client’s needs, to search for new clients and keep up with the ever-changing technology I need to support my clients. As those of you know who work from home for others, this is sometimes exhausting to keep up. I basically work longer hours in my home office than I would in a traditional office, but that’s the price you pay for making your dream of business ownership come try.
The problem I have detected is that I don’t treat my business as a client and I allow my operational needs to get pushed to the back of the pile. I give my clients the best of me in supporting their needs, but then my accounting stacks up for a couple of months before I post it. Well…no more! I pride myself on being organized and efficient, which I am for my clients, but starting now, I’m going to take care of that one client that will always be there, pushing and supporting me through the ups and downs…my own business. A big factor in starting my own business was that I would never fire myself. So, I have to take care of it just like I do all the other very important clients I have.
Do you giveYour business the same great service you give your other clients? It doesn’t matter what field you are in. Maybe you are a busy sales professional and you’re great at selling, but terrible at the paperwork and follow-up. To support your business you might take a look at hiring an assistant to do those administrative tasks. Why not hire a Virtual Assistant? It could prove to be a great strategy for the continued growth of your business.
It’s Back to Business…Virtually That is! May 5, 2008
Posted by Terri Brooks in Business, Family, Health, Life, Virtual Assistant, Work at Home.Tags: Health, Home-based business, virtual assistance, Virtual Assistant, virtual office, Work at Home, work at home moms
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Well, I fell like I haven’t been on the computer for a week. Actually, that’s true because I had Gall Bladder surgery last week and closed my “virtual doors” for the week. You know when you have a home-based business it is very hard to close those doors and not go into the office for just a “minute.” Now I won’t say that I didn’t wobble in and look at my emails on Friday and Saturday, but I was very good and didn’t respond to anything and certainly didn’t do any work. There is just no telling what crazy things my brain would have sent through my fingers!!! Yikes!!
Anyway, I’m back in the office today. Catching up on emails, talking to some of my clients and just getting back in the groove.
This is just another example of how a home-based business can accomodate you in just about any situation. If I were working in a traditional office, I would still be on sick leave, until the doctor releases me in a couple of weeks. However, being in a virtual office, in my Big Orange shorts, (I live in Tennessee) and my Kenny Chesney t-shirt (he’s my 2nd cousin) and my house shoes, nobody cares what I look like and if I have to take a few minutes to rest during the day. As long as I get the job done for my clients in an efficient and effective manner, then everyone is happy.
Have you thought about working from home? It is definitely worth the research. It’s certainly not for everyone, but for me…it’s the BEST!
