We Have Feelings Too. July 8, 2008
Posted by Terri Brooks in Business, Efficiency, Family, Health, Home-based business, Life, Networking, Online Marketing, Outsourcing, Technology, Virtual Assistant, Women Entrepreneurs, Women-owned Business, Work at Home, entrepreneur, holidays, marketing, respect, small business owner.1 comment so far
After a wonderfully long weekend where I didn’t step foot into my home-office, I re-entered my virtual 
workplace this morning and visited several of my local hangouts. One is VAnetworking.com. We have an incredible forum where we can share ideas, ask any question without the fear of feeling stupid and on occasion, VENT!
This morning as I weaved my way through the threads of the weekend, I came upon one by a fellow VA who had encountered a terrible experience with a client. As most of us in the US know, this past weekend was Independence Day…July 4th. We typically don’t work on July 4th. Which is exactly what this VA had in mind. Not to mention that she was feeling under the weather too. However, she had a client call her at 11 pm on July 4th! If she had been feeling OK, she would have been out enjoying fireworks at this time of night, but because she was sick, she was asleep. But wait…the story doesn’t stop there.
The next day, she was feeling better and went to see a movie with her children. This same client called her six times and the last time with some pretty colorful language included in the voice mail.
Needless to say, she is terminating the contract with this client. What this particular client didn’t understand or appreciate is that Virtual Professionals are real people with real feelings and real lives!! We are small business owners, who just happen to work from home. We can be the best partner a small business or entrepreneur can have. We are dedicated, hard-working, motivated and knowledgeable in our specific area of expertise. We respect each of our clients, their time and their business, and we expect that same respect back.
I’m very proud of my fellow VA, for taking a stand and not accepting this kind of behavior. She has no regrets and by sharing her ordeal with us, we can better prevent this from happening in our business.
Newsletters – Easy as 1,2,3 July 1, 2008
Posted by Terri Brooks in Blogging, Business, Efficiency, Email, Ezine, Ezines, Follow-up, Insurance, Internet Marketing, Journaling, Networking, Online Marketing, Outsourcing, Technology, Virtual Assistant, Women Entrepreneurs, Women-owned Business, Work at Home, Writing, blogs, email newsletters, marketing, non-profit.1 comment so far
I work for several clients that produce an email newsletter, or better known as an Ezine. I have helped them to set up the layout and design, and input content and images for publication. But…I had never done one for myself and my business.
Oh my gosh, can I just tell you how much fun I had? Of course I gave myself a deadline, which was yesterday, to have the first one out and that became a little stressful at 11 pm last night when I still hadn’t hit the Send button. But I met my goal and it was out of my inbox and into the outbox of more than 300 contacts in just a matter of minutes!
I searched for the best techology to use for my Ezine and I selected Constant Contact. They have more than 300 templates to choose from, great reporting features to see who opens your email, how many bounced because of bad addresses and who just didn’t want to hear from you. (That was a little tough, but I’m trying not to take it personally) 
In addition to the excitment of fulfiling a goal and utilizing a great tool, I have received many compliments, one much appreciated critique and several inquiries for my services. BINGO! Feedback, just what I was hoping for.
I know the next one will be much easier and I won’t put so much pressure on myself to make it perfect (which it wasn’t). But it was easy, fun and fast, three things we need more of. If you need to boost your business, consider Constant Contact it’s a great tool to market your business and services and if you don’t want to do it yourself or don’t have the time to do it, check with a Virtual Assistant to take care of it for you.
