Networking All The Day Long November 18, 2008
Posted by Terri Brooks in Business, Family, Follow-up, Home-based business, Internet Marketing, Networking, Outsourcing, Radio show, Talk Show, Veterans, Virtual Assistant, Women-owned Business, Work at Home, entrepreneur, fundraising, marketing, non-profit, philanthropy, potential clients, prospecting, prospects, small business owner.Tags: Networking, Referrals
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My husband says, I have been “running the roads” a lot lately. That’s a southern thing if you don’t understand that phrase. But he is correct. I have been going a lot of places in the last couple of weeks and according to my calendar, I’m not going to slow down until around Christmas.
Now for a virtual professional, that’s a bit of a culture shock to actually go outside of your virtual world. But I love getting out of here. I love to visit and talk with people and network everywhere I go.
I shared a booth with one of my clients at the National Philanthropy Day luncheon in Knoxville last week and enjoyed catching up with old friends and making new ones. And of course, sharing my business and the services I provide for administrative support and online marketing. I walked away with a great list of people to follow-up with this week.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, the East Tennessee Veteran’s Memorial was being dedicated this past weekend and I was honored to be invited to a reception and the dedication ceremony. The Mayor’s were there, as well as other politicians, high-ranking military personel and many familiar faces from my time with the organization. The ceremony was incredibly moving and I was proud to be an American and to have been involved in the early stages of the memorial’s planning. And it proved to be a great place to network. I was invited to be on a local radio show and several people are interested in learning more about my business.
I’m looking forward to the next couple of weeks and the many networking opportunties to share what I do and how I can help other business owners with their administrative and marketing needs.
So Honey, I have a few more “roads to run.”
Kick Start Your Blog Posts November 10, 2008
Posted by Terri Brooks in Blogging, Business, Internet Marketing, Journaling, Online Marketing, Outsourcing, Technology, Virtual Assistant, Women Entrepreneurs, Women-owned Business, Work at Home, Writing, blogs, marketing, small business owner.Tags: blog ideas, Blogging, blogs, ideas, posts, writing blogs
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I don’t know about you, but when I get ready to write a new post on my blog, more times that not, I can’t think of a single thing to write about. I want it to be good, valuable information that you, the reader, will appreciate and apply to your personal or business life. So when I found this great site, I wanted to share it and let you check it out for yourself.
The BlogEnergizer is a site that offers some great ideas to “kick start” your blog posts and much more. I have already been “energized” just by visiting and now I have so many ideas for future posts. I’m excited about finding BlogEnergizer. I hope you will be too.
Take a look and let me know what you think.
Two puzzles in one box November 7, 2008
Posted by Terri Brooks in Business, Efficiency, Home-based business, Online Marketing, Outsourcing, Virtual Assistant, Women Entrepreneurs, Women-owned Business, Work at Home, clients, marketing, small business owner.Tags: puzzles, projects, unexpected, outcomes
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Have you ever bought a puzzle at a yard sale? And when you got it home and began putting it together you realized that you had two puzzles in one box?
That’s how projects can be. Maybe you get all the pieces from a client to pull together a great end-product, and things flow smoothly. But sometimes you get more than you expect and it takes a little longer to put all the pieces together. But as long as the client is pleased and you have a quality outcome, then the challenge is worth it.
I love a good challenge. That’s what makes my work as a virtual professional exciting. I love working for different groups of people and helping them with a variety of tasks and projects.
Sometimes you get exactly what you planned for, and sometimes you get even more!
A Virtual Shut Down October 20, 2008
Posted by Terri Brooks in 10392516, Business, Efficiency, Home-based business, Internet Marketing, Online Marketing, Outsourcing, Technology, Virtual Assistant, Women-owned Business, Work at Home, back up, back up plan, clients, computer hardware, computer repairs, marketing, potential clients, small business owner.Tags: backup plan, computer, computer problems, hardware, virtual, Virtual Assistant, virtual office
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Oh, that makes my skin crawl just typing it! But it happened to me last Friday. I had a computer tech out to my virtual office for some repairs and I noticed he kept rubbing his head and was on the phone quite a bit and finally I ventured in to ask how it was going and he said, “I have some news and some not so good news.” Those are just not comments you want to hear when someone is working on your computer, your livelihood!
So basically he was trying to do something that required my product key from my computer and it wasn’t accepting it, which made the computer unavailable for use. That’s my best description. I’m a virtual assistant, give me a database or some websites to design or social media sites to update and I’m your gal! But this hardware stuff is way over my head. I just know I turn it on in the morning and it usually does what I need it to do.
As I watched him drive away Friday afternoon with my computer on a gurney, my thoughts were, “will I ever see it again and will I ever work again?” Now I did have the good sense to recently buy an external hard drive and all of my client files reside there, and I have another laptop that came over on the Mayflower that I was able to check some emails and not feel so isolated from the world. So I knew I wasn’t completely dead in the water, but just the thought of reloading my programs and re-setting all of my passwords on my main computer just made me sick.
Well, there is a happy ending to this story. Late Sunday evening I got the call that my computer had survived the surgery and was doing well. I am happy to say I am writing this blog on it even now and I believe it is going to make a full recovery.
In my virtual world, having a virtual shut down is a potential death sentence to my business, but because of 
a few systems I had put in place I was able to have a little peace knowing that I could still function until all was well again.
What’s your plan when the “Grim Computer Reaper” comes calling?
Joe the Plumber’s Debate October 16, 2008
Posted by Terri Brooks in Business, Family, Networking, Technology, Virtual Assistant, Women-owned Business, debate, election, vote, voters.Tags: debate, election, presidential election, presidents, twitter, vote, voters
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OK, I will admit that I’m not really much into politics, but I have to say that the debates have been pretty interesting only because I log into Twitter and watch all the comments that come through. It is hilarious!!
In the last presidential debate the Twitter community was actually keeping up with how many times Sen. McCain said, “my friends.” This time it was all about Joe the Plumber. Who is Joe the Plumber? Maybe is one of the “my friends” club.
Anyway, I loved keeping up with the debate through Twitter. How about you?
Are you addicted to technology? October 14, 2008
Posted by Terri Brooks in Business, Efficiency, Home-based business, Internet Cafe, Live Streaming, Live Web Streaming, Networking, Online Marketing, Outsourcing, Radio show, Technology, Virtual Assistant, Web TV, Women Entrepreneurs, Women-owned Business, Work at Home, entrepreneur, marketing, non-profit, sales, sales professionals, small business owner.Tags: Technology, Virtual Assistant, WebTv
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I was asked that question today when I was the special guest on the Cherries For Life WebTV show at Cherries Internet Cafe in Knoxville TN. My answer…YES! MY name is Terri and I’m a technology junkie! There I said it. I love technology. Granted, I don’t always understand all of it, but nonetheless, I love it!
As a virtual assistant, I couldn’t work without technology. Check out my interview. I come on the show at 21 minutes in, if you want to fast-forward. But if you want some strange but yet unique trivia, just watch from the beginning.
Cards to Cash - Prospect Follow-up Service October 7, 2008
Posted by Terri Brooks in Business, Cards, Efficiency, Follow-up, Greeting Cards, Home-based business, Insurance, Online Marketing, Outsourcing, Referrals, Technology, Virtual Assistant, Women Entrepreneurs, Women-owned Business, Work at Home, career, clients, entrepreneur, marketing, non-profit, philanthropy, potential clients, prospecting, prospects, sales, sales professionals, small business owner, speakers.Tags: sales, sales professionals, tradeshow, business cards, Follow-up, scanned, service, Cards, Greeting Cards
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Do you love to network, but don’t have time to follow-up? You’re not alone. The majority of networkers love to mix and mingle with potential new clients at various events, but when they get back to their office, they toss those valuable business cards in a drawer and plan to follow up tomorrow. For most busy professionals, tomorrow brings its own new projects and before you know it, several weeks or even months have gone by with no follow up. Hundreds, or maybe thousands, of dollars in potential revenue has been laying in your top desk drawer!
We have the solution to keep you on top of your follow-up and make you a leader in business prospecting. 
Our Prospect Follow-up Service - Cards to Cash, provides a quick turnaround to those new business acquaintances and presents a professional image of your business.
Our package offers:
- Each business card scanned into a working database
- The design of a real Follow-up card with your logo or business card imprinted on the inside flap
- The card is mailed to the new prospect on your behalf
- One telephone call is attempted to the new prospect to set an appointment
- Business cards and database file will be mailed back to you for future reference
And the best part is that this service is very affordable, around the cost of a nice cup of coffee.
Are there business cards right now laying in your top desk drawer? Have you been too busy to follow-up with the contacts you made at the last Tradeshow? Contact us and we will get your name back in front of these potential new clients. Visit our website at www.avirtualbiz.com, or email to info@avirtualbiz.com.
An Email PackRat September 30, 2008
Posted by Terri Brooks in Business, Efficiency, Email, Home-based business, Insurance, Technology, Virtual Assistant, Women Entrepreneurs, Women-owned Business, Work at Home, entrepreneur, small business owner.Tags: Email, lost data, spam, Virtual Assistant
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As a virtual assistant and small business owner, I have many different clients throughout the year and keep up with them by setting up folders for each client in my Outlook. I have some clients that I only work for once a year for special projects, but I like to keep past correspondence to refer back to.
Well, that is a good system and a bad one. Because I keep everything, my Inbox gets rather large. I don’t know if it was because I have a large amount of incoming emails in my Inbox or if I got a nasty virus, but I was attempting to delete a spam email and all of a sudden it was like a large hand grabbed all of the 1200 emails in my Inbox and deleted them all. To say I was devastated, is a huge understatement.
Luckily, my client emails were safely tucked away in their personal folders, but there were several emails that I hadn’t had an opportunity to respond to and now they are gone and I don’t have any idea who they were from.
I tried to do a Search and Recover, but to no avail. I guess a good lesson, for me at least, is to make sure I do a back-up of my .pst files everyday and to clean out my Inbox more frequently.
How do you keep your Inbox tidy? If you have suggestions or ideas, I would appreciate hearing from you.
A New Way to “Watch” the Radio August 27, 2008
Posted by Terri Brooks in Business, Grand Opening, Health, Internet Cafe, Life, Live Streaming, Live Web Streaming, Radio show, Talk Show, Technology, Virtual Assistant, Web TV, Women Entrepreneurs, Women-owned Business, charity, entrepreneur, marketing, small business owner, talent show.1 comment so far
One of the first clients I contracted with when I started my virtual assistance business last year was Ingrid Gee. She is a sweet, petite blond that called me up one day and said, “I really need your help.” To say that the last year has been an adventure for us would be an understatement.
Through many obstacles and setbacks, she has developed an incredible new concept in the way we listen to 
Talk Radio, and it is about to launch in September. The Cherries Internet Cafe, will officially open it’s doors on September 8th in downtown Knoxville Tennessee. There will be nine live shows produced daily, and a “live” web feed will allow Internet users to not only hear the radio show, but to watch it in “real” time!
Visitors to the cafe will have the opportunity to bring in their own laptops and connect to the Free WiFi, or use one of the Cafe’s computers with full Internet connections. There will also be iPod and iPhone chargers at every booth.
Feeling a little hungry? They’ve gotcha covered! The Lunchbox will be providing tasty meals for purchase, as folks come down to view the live shows taking place behind a floor to ceiling 500 square foot glass studio. And if you’re not hungry, try a freshly brewed cup of tea at the Daisy Pot Tea Bar.
There will also be a daily talent, cooking, charity and health show, as well as several others. For more information about the shows and all the great fun taking place on Market Square in downtown Knoxville Tennessee, visit their website at Cherries Internet Cafe.
One of my responsiblities as Ingrid’s VA is to virtually plan the Grand Opening of this amazing Cafe. So if you are in the Knoxville area, stay tuned for a fun-filled week of Grand Opening specials and surpises.
Do you have Grand Opening ideas? I’d love to hear them.
