Tishia Saves Time and I have been having this wonderful cross blog conversation here lately.  I am really starting to learn a lot about Tishia and what it is like to be in a VA business for a couple years.  You can see Tishia’s answer to the last question I asked HERE.  And if you would love to see what we have been talking about join us in the beginning HERE.

Tishia asked me a great question this week and I really had to do some thinking on it.

We all learn from our mistakes. Think back to when you first started your business until now. What is the one mistake that made you cringe when it happened but you learned a valuable lesson from it?

I have made alot of mistakes since I started.  I has been a struggle on and off since I started.  But I would not change anything.  I love my job and my business.   But I do have one mistake I am still struggling with.

Book Keeping.  I have not been keeping track of my books very well.  I am a organized person with every other aspect of my business but some times I let my books fall way behind and then it takes me even longer to catch them up.  Book keeping is alot harder then I thought it would be.  I can keep anyone elses books but I slack on my own.

Thanks for the Great question Tishia.

Tishia, do you make your clients sign agreement forms? 

I bought new curtains for my office and I only got three and I should of got four. So I need to go back and one more curtain. Next week I will post before and after pictures of my office. I am making over my office. WOOO HOOO

I am back from vacation and ready to get motivated.

Monday: Contact possible clients and see if they are still interested.

Tuesday: Tackle it Tuesday (see my tackle it Tuesday to see what I am doing.)

Wed: Work on  Newsletter for August

Thursday: Get my cross blog with Tishia Done

Friday: Go to get longer usb cable for printer so that I can finish remaking over my office.

An administrative professional who outsources his or her talents and expertise to business whether big or small for either on a small term or perhaps even a long term basis.  Most virtual assistants or VAs as they are know have several years of experience in the corporate world and bring that experience to their business and clients.  Virtual assistants who have left the corporate world often keep up with technology and education to be able to provide their clients with the best and most professional va services available.  Virtual assistants provide expert yet flexible administrative support via the technological advances of today such as email, phone, and instant messaging just to name a few.

Virtual assistants are not employees.  They are small business owners who do business with other business owners to support their business goals and needs.  As small business owners themselves, virtual assistants understand your business needs and provide professionally, timely, reasonable priced services.  Client satisfaction is the key to the succes of a virtual assistant business therefore you can expect solid and reliable service on a continual basis.

Virtual assistants can be hired for a single project if needed but to truely get the most from their services an ongoing business relationship is the optimal option.  Virtual assistants can become more familiar over time, with how your business works and therefore will be able to better support you and your business’ success.

Though “work-at-home secretaries” existed in the 1980s, the technology was not available for the industry to be truly virtual.  The true virtual assistant began to emerge in 1995, after the explosive growth of the World Wide Web (WWW) in the mid-1990s.  Through the Internet, faxes, and the telephone, these pioneers  proved time and again that they could fully support their clientele virtually, from their home offices.

Today the virtual assistant industry continues to grow.  The many small business owners and entrepreneurs of today’s business world have found virtual assistants to be an invaluable resource to their businesses.  Virtual assistants have come a long way from being “work at home” secretaries.   They can be writers, proofreaders, editors, database creators, researchers, marketers, web designers … The list of possibilities goes on and on.  Business people no longer have to do everything on their own.  They are hiring virtual assistants to take care of tasks they no longer have time for, or that they don’t enjoy doing.

With the current trend in business outsourcing the role of virtual assistants will become more significant.  As technology continues to develop and business needs grow, a virtual assistant may soon become a vital part of every successful business.

Monday Motivation;

Last week

• Write my introduction for my newsletter
• Write my article for my newsletter
• Figure out how many more clients I will be able to take on next month
•  Get client binder all together and ready to go on vacation ~ I have it over half done.
• Inform clients of vacation (if you are a client don’t worry I will still be available.

Well Not too bad if I must say so myself

This Week

• Make sure business is ready to go on vacation with me
• Send out Newsletter on July 1st
• Keep Promoting Newsletter
• Send out Monthly invoices
• Finish Client Binder to go with me on Vacation
• Pack up Business to go on Vacation

Twitter I love this site because I do a lot of Networking here and have gained some of my clients here also.  It is a great place to make not only friends but also some great clients.

 Girly Website Hosting if you are looking for reliable awesome great website hosting this is the place to go. They have awesome customer service and very affordable packages.

Skimbaco This is great upscale childrens boutique. You have to check it out to really get  the quality of their products.

Girls and Biz Are you a girl dreaming of starting and running your own business? Do you have that entrepreneurial spirit? Do you want a business that you can run successfully? Then you have to check this site out.

Tisha Lee of Tishia Saves Time and I have been talking back and forth for a couple months now.  I am really learning a lot from her because she has been in the VA business for a couple years now and has been asking and answering some really great questions.  If you want to read our blog conversations you can go Here on my site and Here on Tishia’s site.  Tishia answered my last question and turned around and asked me a awesome question that I was thinking about posting so Thank you so much Tishia.

Now that your kids are out of school for the summer, how is this going to affect your schedule? Will you make changes to accommodate your kids being home or will you still work the same hours you have been?

Tishia once my kids got out of school things really did change alot around the house.  I had to sit down and figure out how many hours I had to work in a week and also had to figure out how I could make those hours week with the kids home all day.  But with some tweaking and figuring I think I have it all figured out.

My husband works 2nd shift so he leaves for work at 2 pm and comes home at 12 pm.  So his time with the children is in the morning.  So after I finish my morning routine I go to work at 9 am and work until 12.  At that time I do lunch and my afternoon routine.  I then spend 12-2 with my hubby and kids.  At 2 I set my youngest up to work on her summer home school and I work.  I work on light things though because I help her with her work and we go out and do a lot of our home school work outside.  I then shut down my business part of the computer at 5 pm.  And do not work on anything else client related the rest of the night. So really there are only  a few little tweaks to my schedule but it is enough to meet the needs of my family and my business.

Great question Tishia.  Thank you so much.  And here is my question to you:

When you struggle to find content for our website blog what do you do?

As a VA we hear many questions.  We hear great questions and don’t always have time to answer them.  So I figure if I posted them then I would not only answer them for the people who have asked but also for the potential clients that are coming to visit and consider me as their VA.

1.What is a virtual assistant?

A Virtual Assistant, also known as a VA, is an administrative professional who  assists other professionals from a remote location. VAs are contractors, not employees. They can be contracted for small, one-time only projects, or large projects that span several months. VAs save their clients time and money by providing their own equipment, training, and office space.

2.How will a virtual assistant benefit me and my organization?

Contract a VA and you’ll have more time to develop your organization, spend with your family, or to just relax.  Our virtual assistant services help you reclaim the time you lose each day on administrative tasks.  You free up your valuable time to focus on more important things - like running your business!

When you contact a virtual assistant, you’ll save money.  Virtual assistance saves you money because VAs work only when you need them. You pay only for what you need done and only when you need it done.  You do not pay for benefits, holiday time, overtime or sick days.  They supply their own office, equipment, software and expertise.

You can develop your organization while we take care of your administrative tasks.

3.Who uses virtual assistants?

All kinds of busy people use virtual assistants.  Small and medium businesses, nonprofit organizations, entrepreneurs, speakers, coaches, teachers, traveling business people, doctors, lawyers, real estate agents, and busy individuals use virtual assistants to get more time out of their days.

4. How do I know a VA will do a good job of my projects?

When you hire a virtual assistant, our job is to make your day better.  Your satisfaction is key to the success our business, so you can expect solid and reliable performance on a continuing basis.  You can trust a virtual assistant will take care of your business needs as if they were our own because our business is helping YOUR business succeed.

5.How will my virtual assistant communicate with me?

Communication is vital to developing and maintaining an effective relationship with your virtual assistant.  We communicate via telephone, fax, or email.  All of your communication with us will be answered within one business day.   If everything is going well, communicating once a week is usually sufficient.

You may also communicate with your Virtual Assistant via:
- instant messenger programs
- text messaging
- conference calls and webcams
- online chat rooms
- virtual help and remote assist programs

6. Can I afford a virtual assistant?

Visit our Virtual Assistant Rates and Retainers page to find out how affordable and flexible we really are.

The real question is, can you afford not to have a virtual assistant?  Time is a valuable commodity, and in short supply.   When you hire a VA to handle time-consuming tasks, you’re literally buying back your own time.  Think of what you could accomplish if you had just a few more hours in your day!

7. How do I pay my virtual assistant?

We accept PayPal

If you are interested in our monthly retainers, the full monthly payment is due at the beginning of each month.  Visit our Virtual Assistant Rates and package pages to find out more.

8. What does contracting a virtual assistant commit me to?

You are committed only to the project or time period for which you contract our services.

Your virtual assistant’s potential is best realized in an ongoing business relationship.  However, we also understand that your organization’s needs will change and develop over time.  You may need us one month and not another, or you may require our help for one project and never need our services again.

We are flexible and can easily accommodate your changing needs.

I have really did not get much of my List from last week.  I was not very motivated in my business and if I want to step up my game and get my business where I want it to be then I need to get more motivated.  There are some things that I noticed last week that really causes me to waste time. And wasting time does not help at all.  It makes me waste time.  And wasting time does not make me money at all.

Last Weeks List:

• Make a daily work schedule and stick to it
• Get your client binder all set up
• Write one article for newsletter going out on July 1st
• Advertise more about my newsletter

Yah that is it.  That is all I got done.  Nice huh.

This Weeks List:

• Write my introduction for my newsletter
• Write my article for my newsletter
• Figure out how many more clients I will be able to take on next month
•  Get client binder all together and ready to go on vacation
• Inform clients of vacation (if you are a client don’t worry I will still be available.

I officially opened my doors for business on January 1st, 2008.  Although I did have one client before that.  Who I must stay is still with me today.  I was so scared when I launched my business.  I was nervous and worried that I would not get any customers.  I was afraid that I would not get the word of mouth out there about myself and I would just be sitting on the computer all day hoping, wishing, and praying for customers.  But that is not what happened.

The one client I had told another person about my business, and that person told another person about my business and what a good job I did and pretty soon I was full of clients.  I have a nice handful of retainer clients that I love to death.  My clients keep me busy and I have to say that for once in my life I truly love what I do and who I work for (because I am the boss).

6 months.  That is half a year that my business has been going strong and I continue to grow.  I have some projects I am personally working on to grow my business in 2008.  I work with two wonderful coaches.  Aurelia from Real Life Coaching is my Life Coach and Cara from The Household Helper is my organization coach.  They keep me on my toes and keep me pointed in the right directions.  Thank you both so much.  You have helped me grow personal and in my business.

SO here is to another 6 months of wonderful business.