Compression of Time

It seems that with all of today's technology, time is getting harder and harder to come by. I've noticed that we are all so busy checking email, tending children, working, and letting things like TV and Internet take up so much time - the chief complaint I hear from many people is, of course, "I don't have enough time."

Of course, I want people to hire my company. I have a small army of outstanding assistants on standby. We can free up a huge amount of time.

I've noticed, though, that one of the top reasons people don't have enough time is they let technology control them, instead of them controlling technology.

You don't have to check the BlackBerry every 5 minutes. Really. Set aside specified times to check your email - such as 5 minutes at the top of the hour or something.

You don't have to answer the phone every time it rings. That's what voice mail is for. Caller ID is a beautiful thing! Simply choose when to answer it. If you're in the middle of something, let it go to voice mail and then call back promptly.

You don't have to watch the news - a top gripe of mine! (I prefer to let someone call me when something important happens. That saves mental space for taking care of my clients and contractors.)

You do have to feed the kids. And your spouse too. There are ways to make that quick, easy, and almost homemade. Without going out to dinner!

The house must be cleaned. Oh, wait, never mind, you can outsource that too. (If you're in Utah County, and you're looking for someone to clean your house, let me know. I have some recommendations.)

Relationships are vital. I find myself having to attend many Chamber of Commerce and Corporate Alliance events, all of which use up a lot of time. This is a top priority for me, since personal virtual assistance is, after all, relationship based.

The trick to using your time effectively is prioritizing. My priorities do not include watching the evening news - most of what happens on the news does not affect me, and I cannot affect it, so I restrict myself to things I feel I can have a positive effect on.

With the flood of information available today, we can pick and choose carefully what to allow into our lives.

And hire a US based virtual assistance company to help with the rest!

Working With Kids During the Summer

Isn't summer great! It's so much easier for me, as a homeschooling, work at home mother, to handle my kids in the summer! But I'm the exception - I've worked from home since my kids were babies, and I've taught them what to do.

Here are some ideas!

Schedule your time. I'm more of an owl than a lark, so I plan to get a lot of work done in the late evening. A bit harder in the summer, when sunset isn't till 9:30 pm or so! I do a lot of work with my children in the morning - check through their chore charts, read to them, spend time snuggling before we get out of bed, talk to them about what I have to get done for that day.

Tuesday is my day to run errands for the business - so I let them know, "Today's Tuesday, so we're going to be in the car all day. I'll buy you a Happy Meal at McDonalds, and if you're good, I'll take you for a treat!" Kids are able to behave better if they know what is expected.

For days when I need to meet with clients, I either locate a good drop-in day care center, find a young woman (age 12 - 16) who would like to babysit, or arrange sitting with my oldest daughter who is currently attending Kaplan University online and is generally home during the day. I also spend time educating my clients that I am an at-home mommy, my kids are my most important clients, and from time to time, they may be joining me at meetings. (Kids are then instructed in how to behave in these meetings, and they bring books and coloring materials.)

I do most of my work in the afternoon, when my kids are outside playing. When they were younger, this was nap time. I also find that children need time for independent play, so from 1 - 5 I would expect them to play quietly with toys - or outside with friends.

There's no working once my husband gets home, until the kids are down and asleep. He's the biggest kid of all!

Which Services are Best for Virtual Assistance in the Construction World

Why, Busy Bee Virtual Assistance, of course!

Most general constractors who are small businesses are in desperate need of virtual assistance services. The guys come home from a very long day on the job (contractors around here put in 12 hours of hard, physical work a day) and the very thought of entering reciepts on the computer may be more than they can stand.

My husband works construction, and I've seen him fall asleep in his dinner. Face first. I kid you not.

Busy Bee has a secure server, where our client files are kept and backed up daily. We often provide bookkeeping services for construction firms, and are able to invoice customers, follow up on their payments, and take care of payroll as well.

If YOU are a general or sub contractor, let Busy Bee Virtual Assistance help you keep your business buzzing!

Is What You Pay a Virtual Assistant a Business Expense?

Of course it is.

Businesses are allowed to deduct the "ordinary and normal" costs of doing business, which includes labor. It doesn't matter if that labor is employee labor or contract labor. Virtual assistance may be considered a "professional fee", like that of attorneys, CPAs, and other professionals you may contract with in the course of your business.

If you're just starting a business, the start up costs may be deductible. (Well, they are, but to cover myself, I have to say "may be." Tax laws may change, talk to your accountant, etc etc.)

It doesn't matter if your administrative assistant is in your office or hers. Her labor is a business expense either way.

How to Take a Phone Message

I am always floored at the number of professionals I talk to whose assistants don't know how to take a simple phone message. I called a landscaping company recently, asked to speak to the contact person I was told to ask for, and was told they weren't there. The conversation went something like this:

Me: May I speak to A?
Answerer: No. She's not in.
Me: Is there a better time to call?
Answerer: No.
Me: May I leave a message?
Answerer: No.
Me: Isn't there a professional assistant I could speak to and leave a message with?
(Click)

I called back.

Me: I need to speak to A right now, or her professional administrative assistant.
Answerer: Um....Moooom!

Calling a home should never be this hard. Calling a business, even based out of a home, it's inexcusable. My clients had selected this business - if I had been choosing them, I would never have called back a second time and they would have lost a great client.

Here are some better options - even for teenagers!

"A can't come to the phone at the moment. She'll be available in about 15 minutes. Would you mind calling back then?"

Not ideal, since it requires the prospect to make a second phone call.

"A isn't available at the moment. Let me take your name and phone number, and I'll have her call you back. She should be available in about an hour."

Better! This one tells me a lot - I should expect her call in about an hour (and if I don't get a return call from her then, I know when I should call again).

Home based businesses require extra training of all household members. It's too easy to lose a potential client in today's market, and losing one due to bad phone manners is a tragedy, since this is something easily taught.

Upcoming Conscious Choices Class

I've blogged about this class before and how it shifted things in my life. My business has been growing more (after all, virtual assistance is relationship-based) after taking Conscious Choices.

It will be back in Utah on August 21, 22, and 23.

The website is at http://www.awakeandalive.org/, but I'm the one getting it put up - and I may be the end of the week getting it done.

If your are in Utah or willing to be, please feel free to contact me about the class.

Developing Excellent Customer Service

Contrary to popular belief, customer service isn't always about doing a perfect job for the customer every time (although that would be nice). Sometimes even the best VA may fail, drop the ball, or overlook something.

What to do? How do you retain your customer?

One suggestion may be to rectify the mistake, without incurring any further charges on their bill. I find it best to include the charges as well as a credit for the time I spent fixing it, so that they can see with their own eyes how hard I worked to make it right.

Occasionally I send flowers, a card, or another small gift as an apology.

The idea is to admit a mistake on your part, and then clearly show the client that you did what you could to make it right. It's not to argue with the client, it's to retain them.

Happy Independence Day!

For everyone in the United States, from the staff of Busy Bee Virtual Assistance - Happy Birthday, USA! May you make it another 232 years.

Getting Rid of Time Wasters

It floors me how often I see highly paid professionals wasting their time. So many business owners and busy professionals are busy with work that is not what they excel at, or what they make money at.

Dave Crenshaw, an aquaintance of mine here in Utah, loves to talk about "Time Liabilities." I call them Time Wasters. Like Dave, I've watched professionals spend their time on tasks such as filing, copying, preparing workbooks for workshops and classes, and so forth, when their time is much better spent on those things that are truly important to them, such as earning money or being with their family.

Some time wasters can be completely avoided. There is no reason you have to answer the phone each time it rings - that's what voice mail is for. You can schedule large chunks of time to work on projects, and return phone calls at scheduled times of the day.

Unless you're a bookkeeper, you should be doing a minimum of bookkeeping. Hire somone - like one of our talented assistants - to take care of your books for you. We can sweat through trying to get everything to add up down to the last penny, and in less time!

I sometimes tell business owners that we sell them back their time. There is a lot of truth to that. If we can handle the time-wasting, but necessary tasks of running a business, then you have more time to work on your business and earn more money. Or take a vacation. Or be with your family more.

Weight Management

I am so frustrated.

I am considerably over my ideal weight (no, I won't say how much, but it's more than 30 pounds). I don't look heavy, but since I used to be a bodybuilder, I am quite a bit heavier than I look. Lotsa muscle there.

I've tried everything - very low calorie diets, higher calories plus exercise, low carb, low fat, low protein, high protein, coconut oil, lots of cardio and weight training ... and nothing seems to work.

I drink lots of water.

I suspect it's an emotional issue (although I've generally stopped emotional eating). I'm currently NOT dieting, but adding more gentle exercise to my day. Walking around the block at lunchtime with my kids, parking further out in the lot instead of right by the doors, etc.

The last time I lost a lot of weight was when my divorce was finalized. I've suggested to my husband that we ought to get divorced so I can get my weight back down, LOL - he didn't think it was funny. However, upon thinking about it, I am beginning to think that NO ONE knows what we should eat to lose weight and keep it off. Every diet I read about contradicts every other. Or they go off on the politics of "organic" foods, which is an immediate turn off for me. I'm not willing to pay a premium for organic, at least not now.

I miss Dad's garden, darn it.

I'm working through some emotional blocks, to see if that will work. If not, I'll try the HCG diet. That's the only thing I haven't tried.

Networking for business

As a VA, I am often asked where my business comes from. I know many VAs get their business from their online contacts. I get mine by networking in real life.

In November of last year, I joined a wonderful organization here in Utah called Corporate Alliance. The point of Corporate Alliance is that all things being equal, people do business with people they know, like, and trust.

Now, I've dealt with people that (for one reason or another) I didn't like or trust, and the working relationship was awful. I couldn't wait to be out of the relationship. Fortunately, that seldom happens - but when it does, it points up that very concept.

Networking is simply a chance to develop relationships - something missing in much of our online world, where we hide behind our computer screen and "screen names." People want to know you.

If you're building a business, get in touch with your networking groups - the Chamber of Commerce, BNI, and others are willing to help you learn to develop the kind of relationships that will lead to a profitable business.

If you're not willing or able to invest the time required, which can be substantial, join forces with a virtual staffing company like Busy Bee Virtual Assistance. That way, 100% of your work time can be billable time.