Ever needed someone to take care of some of the "stuff" that seems to land on your desk? Get rid of your junk mail before you even see it? Pay your bills? Take care of your bookkeeping?
What about extra help on a special project? Seasonal help when things get going? That little extra push while you're growing your business?
A Virtual Assistant can help with nearly any administrative-assistant task. We've typed and edited books; done transcription; and run clients' lives (well, almost).
How could you ever work without one?
Monday, August 30, 2010
Friday, August 27, 2010
How Dare We Earn A Profit
I was reading on Twitter and someone posted, "#youlostmyrespect when you tried selling me some [stuff] and ur obviously trying to make a profit POW"
Are we not supposed to make a profit? Are we not supposed to sell? What's wrong with earning money?
I understand the poster's frustration with the constant stream of marketing messages. Yes, it's frustrating for me too, to be bombarded with nothing but marketing, marketing, marketing all day long. I'd really like it if some of these marketers really took some time to connect with me on a personal basis. (I send a lot of personal tweets - you can follow me @donna84062 on Twitter.) I like getting to know people. And I like to do business with people I know and like.
That's why I started blogging to begin with. I wanted potential clients and VAs to have a chance to get to know me. The real me, as a mom, as a VA, as a bookkeeper, and what I really think of business.
What I see, increasingly, is a resentment towards those of us who are (at least striving to be) successful.
There's nothing wrong with making money. Money is a vital part of our society, and the more money you have, the better a life you can live. Not only that, but you can use a portion of that prosperity to help others become successful as well. You can't feed the poor if your pantry is empty.
Part of earning money is selling. You have to sell. When you go into a job interview, you're selling your skills and abilities. (In fact, as a VA, I'm selling the skills and abilities of my team.) Politicians try to sell us on their points of view (OK, maybe that was a bad example). Students sell their professors on the idea that they learned something. There's nothing wrong with selling. Nothing happens in this economy until a sale is made.
Profit is the portion we've earned after expenses. Profit is, to me, a high ideal! That is definitely something that fits the idea "if some's good, more's better." Bring on the profit! I admire business people who make large profits in their businesses. That means they are doing their job correctly and the marketplace is rewarding them for it.
Profit is the reward for creating and selling something of value - the reward for being a productive member of society.
Are we not supposed to make a profit? Are we not supposed to sell? What's wrong with earning money?
I understand the poster's frustration with the constant stream of marketing messages. Yes, it's frustrating for me too, to be bombarded with nothing but marketing, marketing, marketing all day long. I'd really like it if some of these marketers really took some time to connect with me on a personal basis. (I send a lot of personal tweets - you can follow me @donna84062 on Twitter.) I like getting to know people. And I like to do business with people I know and like.
That's why I started blogging to begin with. I wanted potential clients and VAs to have a chance to get to know me. The real me, as a mom, as a VA, as a bookkeeper, and what I really think of business.
What I see, increasingly, is a resentment towards those of us who are (at least striving to be) successful.
There's nothing wrong with making money. Money is a vital part of our society, and the more money you have, the better a life you can live. Not only that, but you can use a portion of that prosperity to help others become successful as well. You can't feed the poor if your pantry is empty.
Part of earning money is selling. You have to sell. When you go into a job interview, you're selling your skills and abilities. (In fact, as a VA, I'm selling the skills and abilities of my team.) Politicians try to sell us on their points of view (OK, maybe that was a bad example). Students sell their professors on the idea that they learned something. There's nothing wrong with selling. Nothing happens in this economy until a sale is made.
Profit is the portion we've earned after expenses. Profit is, to me, a high ideal! That is definitely something that fits the idea "if some's good, more's better." Bring on the profit! I admire business people who make large profits in their businesses. That means they are doing their job correctly and the marketplace is rewarding them for it.
Profit is the reward for creating and selling something of value - the reward for being a productive member of society.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Generate Click Income and Save Money Too!
Well, Gentle Readers, if you like to make money on the Internet, I may have just the thing for you.
If you're like me, you get really screaming tired of all the pie-in-the-sky promises. Maybe you're a business owner looking for an additional revenue stream, or you're a mom who's been reading this column to see about becoming a VA. Either way, you've got more bills than income, you want to reverse that, and you don't know how.
I think I've found something that will work for you. What I'd like is a few people to test drive the application and give me some feedback.
It's a free application called the Shopping Genie. You can download it here. Just click on "Get the Free App." It takes just a few seconds to download. Once it's downloaded, go to "options" and enter your city.
It only shows up when you're using a search engine. Google, Bing, Yahoo, whatever one you like best. The Shopping Genie helps bring together great online deals in real time, so you can save money on things you buy anyway. You can find restaurant coupons, great online deals, and you can use the information you find to price match. It saves you time searching for the best prices, and money on the deals you can find.
Give it a try, and then contact me back and tell me what you think.
If you're like me, you get really screaming tired of all the pie-in-the-sky promises. Maybe you're a business owner looking for an additional revenue stream, or you're a mom who's been reading this column to see about becoming a VA. Either way, you've got more bills than income, you want to reverse that, and you don't know how.
I think I've found something that will work for you. What I'd like is a few people to test drive the application and give me some feedback.
It's a free application called the Shopping Genie. You can download it here. Just click on "Get the Free App." It takes just a few seconds to download. Once it's downloaded, go to "options" and enter your city.
It only shows up when you're using a search engine. Google, Bing, Yahoo, whatever one you like best. The Shopping Genie helps bring together great online deals in real time, so you can save money on things you buy anyway. You can find restaurant coupons, great online deals, and you can use the information you find to price match. It saves you time searching for the best prices, and money on the deals you can find.
Give it a try, and then contact me back and tell me what you think.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Save time and money when you shop online!
Save time and money for you and your VA clients when you shop online! This is my free gift to you.
Go to www.myshoppinggenie.com/donna84062.
Click on the "My Shopping Genie" free application.
Download the Classic Version 4.0 (license 52411).
Do a search on Google or your favorite search engine, and the Genie will magically appear at the bottom of your computer screen like a tool bar. It disappears when you leave the search.
Switch the "options" button to your city location and look for deals in your area.
You can use the Genie to compare prices, find restaurant and grocery coupons!
It's safe, it's easy, and it saves you valuable time and money online. Isn't that what we all want?
Go to www.myshoppinggenie.com/donna84062.
Click on the "My Shopping Genie" free application.
Download the Classic Version 4.0 (license 52411).
Do a search on Google or your favorite search engine, and the Genie will magically appear at the bottom of your computer screen like a tool bar. It disappears when you leave the search.
Switch the "options" button to your city location and look for deals in your area.
You can use the Genie to compare prices, find restaurant and grocery coupons!
It's safe, it's easy, and it saves you valuable time and money online. Isn't that what we all want?
Tuesday, July 06, 2010
Are Your Systems In Place?
If you want to build a business that will work when you don't, you need systems. You need to be able to make money while you sleep or vacation on the beach.
I've heard it explained that 95% of small businesses fail in their first 5 years, while 95% of franchises succeed. The systems make all the difference.
When a business owner purchases a franchise, they are told how to market their business, how often to run the ads, what they can and cannot say, what software to use, what to track, what to say at a sales presentation. When he's starting from scratch, he has to figure all this out for himself.
But when the systems are in place - for everything to do with your business, so every customer gets the same experience - everything runs smoothly. It's well worth putting out the effort to work ON your business, not just IN your business, if you're in it for long term success.
A VA can help you get those systems in place.
I've heard it explained that 95% of small businesses fail in their first 5 years, while 95% of franchises succeed. The systems make all the difference.
When a business owner purchases a franchise, they are told how to market their business, how often to run the ads, what they can and cannot say, what software to use, what to track, what to say at a sales presentation. When he's starting from scratch, he has to figure all this out for himself.
But when the systems are in place - for everything to do with your business, so every customer gets the same experience - everything runs smoothly. It's well worth putting out the effort to work ON your business, not just IN your business, if you're in it for long term success.
A VA can help you get those systems in place.
Friday, July 02, 2010
Lack of Focus
I'm struggling right now (and have been all week) keeping focused and on task. Now, I get paid per project, not per hour - but it's still frustrating to me. For one thing, if I were focused, I could be done by now. And I could get more projects done.
I think it's part of the nature of the beast. I'm doing a lot of scanning. The scanner is slow. I'm bored. When the scanning is done and I'm "actively" working again instead of spending my time waiting for the computer to do its thing (surfing the Web while I wait) I get a lot more done.
*sigh*
In the meantime, I'm looking forward to a fun July 4th weekend.
I think it's part of the nature of the beast. I'm doing a lot of scanning. The scanner is slow. I'm bored. When the scanning is done and I'm "actively" working again instead of spending my time waiting for the computer to do its thing (surfing the Web while I wait) I get a lot more done.
*sigh*
In the meantime, I'm looking forward to a fun July 4th weekend.
Thursday, July 01, 2010
100th Post!
Wow! I'm tickled! It's taken a while to get to 100 posts. Thanks for joining me on the journey!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)