Discover Virtual Assistance ... Busy Bee Virtual Assistance

Spend a Little, Save a Lot

2010-09-08T09:00:00.001-06:00

I am located here in beautiful Utah, the do it yourself capitol of the world. People here are taught to be "self sufficient" and labor under the mistaken belief that they need to know everything about business to run one. Not only that, but that they need to do everything in their business to be successful.

Well, self sufficiency is great, and I'd like the government to try doing some of that. But in business, it can be deadly.

Today's marketplace is highly specialized. Your average auto mechanic, for example, knows a lot about fixing cars, but not much about bookkeeping, record keeping, taxes, marketing, bloggging... you get the picture. And yet all this stuff needs to be done for the health of the business and the peace of mind of the owner. And there's just not enoiugh work to keep someone there full time. Or even part time. What do you do?

Hire a virtual assistant.

A VA can partner with you in your business and do the thankless, invisible tasks behind the scenes that help keep your business running smoothly.

True, the hourly rate for a VA may be substantially higher than many business owners are used to paying. In return, however, you get someone who can accomplish those tasks quickly (MUCH more quickly) and efficiently. After all, a VA is a professional in her field. She may have several clients on retainer, competing for her time - so it's in her best interest to get the work done and out as quickly and efficiently as possible, reducing the business owner's final cost and contributing substantially to his bottom line. Isn't your business and your peace of mind worth that?

Don't let yourself get overwhelmed with the details of your business. Get a Busy Bee VA to take care of your business needs!

What can a VA do for you?

2010-08-30T17:16:00.000-06:00

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?

How Dare We Earn A Profit

2010-08-27T17:22:00.000-06:00

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.

Generate Click Income and Save Money Too!

2010-08-26T14:01:00.000-06:00

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.

Save time and money when you shop online!

2010-08-12T10:55:00.000-06:00

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?

Are Your Systems In Place?

2010-07-06T21:50:00.000-06:00

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.

Lack of Focus

2010-07-02T14:06:00.000-06:00

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.

100th Post!

2010-07-01T08:00:00.000-06:00

Wow! I'm tickled! It's taken a while to get to 100 posts. Thanks for joining me on the journey!

Creating a Business Strategy

2010-06-30T08:00:00.000-06:00

If you've fired your boss, you need to know what to do next.

Absolutely the first, the most vital, is to make a business plan.. BEFORE you open your doors, preferably, but as soon after as possible. This is your roadmap to success.

This is where you decide what you want your business to look like in 10 years.

Now,before you panic, remember, it's your plan. You can change it. (I've seen plans change and adjust 10 times in as many months.) The idea is to have a plan.

What are you selling? Be very specific. Is there a market for it?

Where will you get your clients? What's your marketing plan?

How much do you expect to make? Why? Where did you get the figures?

Be as specific as you can all the way through your plan. As your business grows, you'll be better able to deal with the growth if you have already planned for it.

Plan your work. Work your plan. Adjust your course if necessary, and you'll find success.

A VA Can Help Your Marketing Efforts

2010-06-29T08:00:00.002-06:00

Well, now that I've talked about the importance of marketing, how can you utilize a VA to get all that done? Your marketing list may include emails, newsletters, direct mail flyers, power point presentations, social media (Facebook, MySpace, Twitter), blogging....

Well, at least I hope it includes all those things. In any case, once you have your plans in place....how are you going to make sure everything gets done in a timely fashion? After all, these things, while simple, are time consuming.

This is easy. You hire a VA.

A virtual assistant can schedule tweets, write blog posts, prepare and write your email newsletters, prepare your direct mail pieces and get them mailed, and much much more.

She can plan things for you so that things actually get done!

Good intentions are great, but they won't bring clients to your business. A good VA can.

Work ON your business, not IN it

2010-06-28T08:00:00.004-06:00

One of the problems I've had with my VA biz for years is that, when I get a client or two, I stop marketing. It's too easy to get caught up with the needs of my current client and avoid doing the marketing tasks that are vital to my continued success. After all, anyone who wants to be a VA is probably really good at the "back office" work, and not too great on marketing.

Web developers do the same thing, for the same reasons.

It's vital to the long term health of your business to be consistent and relentless in your marketing efforts. Ceasing marketing when you have a client is just asking for trouble. You want a consistent, long term business, not one that goes in fits and starts - and that means a consistent, long term approach to marketing.

How Habits Can Help Your Business Grow

2010-06-28T08:00:00.000-06:00

Have you ever thought about how important habits are to your business? We go into the office at 9am out of habit, stay till 5 out of habit, and habitually perform certain tasks in certain orders. We get into the habits of morning routines - get up, get in the shower, blow dry hair, brush teeth, put on make up, etc etc.

We can take these habits and harness them to improve our businesses.

Ask yourself each morning as you begin your work day, "What can I do today to build my business?" And then create the habits that will make your business profitable.

Develop good work habits. When I'm doing client work, I disconnect from the Internet. I almost have to - it's too distracting if I'm connected. I can do more work in less time by staying offline.

If you're easily distracted, maybe you can even put your phone on Do Not Disturb while working on a project. You get your voice mail and return calls at a time more convenient for you.

Simply creating one good habit a month can go a long way toward creating the business of your dreams.

Go for it!

Are You a Victim?

2010-06-24T09:00:00.002-06:00

The victim mentality is so alive and well in our society, I thought it would be well worth talking about here. I talk about it some on my other blog, but since I have heard so much from a business view, I thought I'd talk about it here as well.

So what does it mean to be a victim?

I think part of it is that things happen to you. There's no personal responsibility. It just "couldn't be helped." Think about it. Have you ever heard (or heard yourself saying) any of the following?

"These things just happen to me."

"I can't get a job because I'm a woman / black / Asian / Hispanic / gay / *your minority of choice here*"

"It's all HIS fault."

"I just can't get a break."

Horsefeathers. Sometimes it seems that way, but the fact is, we all create our own opportunities, either consciously or subconsciously. Bad things may happen, but we choose our attitudes and our responses. We don't have to be a victim about it.

I used to be a lot worse about "victim speak," but with awareness, I've gotten better. I choose my actions. I choose my re-actions. Sometimes I do forget, but I'm human. When it happens, I simply pull myself together, keep moving forward, and make new choices.

I choose to come from a place of personal power.

One of my common statements is, "Don't whine to me about why you can't. Tell me how you will. Can't is a four-letter word." In fact, it is rare that someone truly CAN'T do something.

I didn't want to work outside the home and leave my children in day care. So I started a business. And when that suffered some reverses, I found a mentor.

There's always a way to get what you want. I got a mentor because I knew what I wanted - I just didn't know how to get from here to there. And I knew there was a way, because people do it all the time, against worse odds than I will ever face.

So.... tell me how you CAN.

If At First You Don't Succeed....

2010-06-23T09:00:00.001-06:00

Brian Tracy once said, "You only have to succeed the last time." There's a lot of wisdom in that sentence (ever notice how these great speakers can distill so much into one line?)

I am a lousy salesperson. I've been involved in several MLMs and never made a penny. Lost a bunch of money, in fact. I've been in real estate and I think I had one closing. Ever. My first attempts at work were selling Girl Scout Cookies door to door back in the day. When I was 10, I also tried selling greeting cards and other items door to door. I think I talked my mom's friends into buying a box once in a while. I've been working for money since I was old enough to figure out what money was good for.

But I'm not good at selling. I'm good at doing the technical, behind the scenes work. I majored in computer science because I wanted a desk and a computer, and to be left alone to work. Did I mention that selling is not my strong suit?

Now, I'm also very entrepreneurial. My parents owned their own business when I was a kid, and that was the only time I can remember when we ever had money. I'm kinda bright, I can put 2 and 2 together and figure out that if I want to be successful, I need to own my own business.

Greeting cards. Fail.

GS Cookies. Fail.

Babysitting. I did well with that - but we moved away from my client base and I never enjoyed that degree of success again.

Clerking for my grandma after we moved. No money it it - I earned $2 per day, plus she'd buy me a Pepsi, but I got to be with Grandma. I didn't have a chance to know her before we moved to Kentucky. That is where I began learning customer service, bookkeeping, and inventory. I also learned to count change back - a lost skill these days.

I worked a number of teenager jobs in fast food. My pay was always dependent on someone else's choices for me. I had no say. It didn't matter how hard I worked, I didn't get any more than the empty-headed ditz who didn't do any work but was a favorite of the manager.

I finally got fed up with someone else deciding what time I would get up in the morning; how much time I could spend with my kids; and arbitrarily capping my income. I started Busy Bee.

I'm now unemployable - but I ran into the problems I had before. I'm not good with sales or marketing. I'd get one client and devote my time to them. And then, when they moved on, I was stuck with no clients and no income.

Remember, you only have to succeed the last time.

And if, at first you don't succeed, look at what didn't work, and find out what to do to make things work better.

The way I work now, I work as many or as few hours as I want. I don't have to worry about sales or marketing. My income is not capped. If I don't get my work done, I have to work until it is. If I get done early, I can go home early.

Success!

Motivation

2010-06-22T08:00:00.000-06:00

"People often say that motivation doesn't last. Well, neither does bathing. That's why we recommend it daily".-Zig Ziglar

What a great quote. In fact, most things in our lives have to be done daily. Bathing, tidying up the house, cleaning. Making sales calls, providing support for clients - it's all cyclical and is part of growth.

Motivation can seem fleeting. I am not sure why we think it only needs to be done once. It is better to make it as much a habit as showering. Many of my business friends will write affirmations on their bathroom mirrors to remind themselves of their dreams and goals. How empowering is it to begin your day with the motivational statement, "I am a powerful person, and I make things happen!"

What moves you? Money speaks to most of us - but if it's not the money, maybe it's the things money can buy. Create a vision board with photos of your dreams on it. Remember, the things that motivate other people may not motivate you at all.

Think of "sound bites" that get you going.

Envision yourself as a successful business person with whom people fight to do business. This has worked very well for me - I went to a networking meeting with this attitude, stood in the middle of the room, envisioned myself as fully in my power, and within about 5 minutes I had 20 people trying to get my attention.

"Every day, in every way, I am getting better and better." What do you need to do TODAY to improve your business? It's overwhelming to think of what needs to be done over the next 5 years. Sit down and make a plan - where do you want to be 5 years from now? 3 years? 2? 6 months from now? What has to happen for that to become a reality for you? How much money do you need to make? How many clients do you need? How many sales calls do you need to make to reach that goal? Be sure to work ON your business as much as you work IN your business. A plan is vital. It's OK to change things up later, but if you fail to plan, you plan to fail.

Motivational music will work well. Find music that motivates you to get out and do what needs to be done. The guys might like music from the "Rocky" movies - the ladies may get more motivated by music like Destiny's Child's Survivor or Independent Woman. What gets you excited?

Go for it. Get excited this morning. And tomorrow morning, And the day after that. Make it as much a habit as brushing your teeth. You'll become successful, as well as happier and more energetic.

HCG Weight Loss News!!!

2010-06-21T13:34:00.001-06:00

I am so excited! I just contacted my friend Dr. Tom about the homeopathic HCG I take for weight loss. I've lost 40 pounds already, and I only have 20 to to to reach my goal weight. He gave me some great news!!! I'm going to be able to distribute this fantastic product - and it's only $40 for a bottle.

A bottle is almost 2 rounds worth - about a 40 day supply. This is a fantastic deal!

I seldom get this excited about anything, and certainly not about weight loss products. The only time I've lost weight in the past is on the "divorce diet" (starved myself because I was too depressed to eat) or the "vodka diet" (drink enough alcohol, it kills your appetite as well as your liver). Not healthy, not at all. Either that, or it was from working out, hard, twice a day, five days a week....and not eating. Or eating 6 small meals a day, which means you're obsessed with food all day long. Since I live in Realityland, I wasn't able to do that for long.

HCG has given me the tools I need to lose the weight, and I'm keeping it off. (If you can't tell, I'm a size 14 in the picture on the left - an 8, nearly a 6 on the right.)

Contact me if you're even remotely interested in HCG - if you want information, or want to purchase the product. I'd love to hear from you!

Social Media Marketing

2010-06-21T08:00:00.001-06:00

I often look for ideas for blog posts on Twitter. I keep up with friends on Facebook. And of course, I blog a lot.

Social media is quickly becoming indispensable for promoting your business online. If you don't have a blog - and, my personal challenge, if it's not updated often - your prospective clients will have a harder time finding you. Google, still the king of search engines, loves fresh content.

So I blog every day, and then I post my new blog post to Twitter (which cross posts to Facebook) in an effort to drive traffic to my sites. It's not fast - but day by day, in little ways, waves made in the social media can become a tsunami of interest. This is where viral marketing takes place. And, we all should know by now, viral marketing is where it's at.

A VA can help you manage your social media marketing quickly and effectively. We can write blog posts, manage your blogs, twitter for you, and edit videos to post on You Tube. We can help with email marketing campaigns, put together your ezines, help write the articles, manage your opt in lists, send ezines out in a timely manner, and adjust links on your Web site to ensure everything runs smoothly.

A consistent effort will produce consistent results. A virtual assistant can help make sure it happens.

Wisdom

2010-06-19T22:49:00.000-06:00

"Wisdom is the ability to see into the future, the consequences of your choices in the present." ~ Henry Ford

I've often heard people go straight to "victim talk" when something bad happens to them. "I didn't know, it was someone else's fault, blah blah." What foolishness! Most of the things that happen to us in this life are the results of our choices.

"I didn't know I'd get lung cancer." Who forced you to pick up the first cigarette? You chose the cancer, whether you care to realize it or not. Yes, some people smoke for decades and don't get it, but this is an easy thing to look at.

"I didn't realize I'd get fat." Um, honey, skinny people don't sit and emotionally eat. They don't stuff their feelings with Bavarian cream eclairs. When you chose the eclairs, you chose to pay a price. If you don't want the extra weight, then go work out extra, or diet a week to slim back down. But understand, you're paying a price.

"I don't know why my business isn't growing." What are you doing in your marketing that can be changed? Are you working ON your business or IN your business? Are you just going with the flow, or are you being proactive in your business?

The movie The Secret talks about the law of attraction. But the other half of attraction is doing the work that allows the good stuff in. It's not all positive thinking, it's also positive doing.

In Order to Succeed...

2010-06-18T08:00:00.000-06:00

"In order to succeed, your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure." ~Bill Cosby

I'm not sure how much I agree with this statement. I know I've gone out and really worked hard at business after business - from selling Girl Scout cookies for my Junior troop when I was 8, to selling greeting cards door to door shortly thereafter. I've been successful at babysitting (began at age 12) but not much else yet. Sales and marketing are just not anything I'm spectacular at. I don't know that I was ever afraid of failure per se, but I do know that I would finally get frustrated after door after door after door and quit.

I didn't get my first taste of success until I started babysitting.

Let me emphasize, I started trying to earn money for myself from the time I was about 6. It took all that time for me to get big enough to start babysitting - which is to say, to provide a service for which there was a great demand. In the late 70s, I'd make $20 a night - a princely sum then, especially for a 12 year old!

On the other hand, I was the only girl in my troop who couldn't sell Girl Scout Cookies. I ended up eating a whole case and my mom had to pay for them. *She* was mad, but it makes a good story decades later.

If at first you don't succeed, though, try try again.

I've managed to obtain clients through sheer determination and a ton of hard work. I don't like making sales calls, but was strongly encouraged to do so by my dear friend Michael. I wanted to look good for him (being a failure in his eyes would be pretty painful) so I talked to everyone I knew and some I didn't, and finally got a client.

Over the years, I've learned a lot of what doesn't work. And a lot of what does work is persistence. I can't tell how many times I've quit three feet from gold - so close to my dreams I could taste it, but I allowed myself to get discouraged.

If you want your business to grow, you have to be prepared to do things you don't really like to do. That's really what sets the successful apart. They're willing to do things they don't like to do in order to obtain a long term payoff. They pick up the phone and call instead of shuffling papers and filling time with busy work, and they make sure their time is filled productively instead of allowing "busy work" to take over.

Sales is my difficulty. However, I decided that being successful was much more comfortable than simply not making the sales calls I needed to. Accountability helped - when I had to tell someone how many calls I made and how many appointments I had gotten, I managed to pick up that phone and call. (Amazing how heavy a few ounces can be, isn't it?) And I found success right where I didn't think I would.

Being a VA, doing the "back office" work, especially if you look for work largely online, can be very isolating. I've gotten my best clients locally. They've been well worth the extra effort I put out to speak to them face to face and work with them more closely than I could have if I'd relied on online sources alone.

Goal setting

2010-06-17T08:00:00.001-06:00

"You can't hit a target you can't see, and you can't see a target you don't have." - Zig Ziglar

Part of the reason I'm blogging about this is that I'm bad at it. I dream huge dreams. I just don't put the foundations beneath them. And that's the other half of goal setting. First, dream big dreams. What means success to you? Is your target a big house? A cool sportscar? Vacation in Cancun? It's OK to borrow someone else's dreams while you're figuring out what yours are. Try dreams on for size.

My friend Michael loves Cancun, for example. I've never been there. If/when I go, I will like it for my own reasons, and not his. I won't know if I like Cancun until I have a chance to go. I love to scuba dive, Michael doesn't - so my experience of Cancun will likely be very different from his.

On the other hand, I homeschool my kids, and I'd love to buy or rent one of those huge motor coaches and tour the US. He and his family would probably hate that. Or maybe the kids would love it and Michael and Dana would hate it, I don't know. We all have our own dreams that suit us and our families.

Then, figure out how to get from where you are, to where you want to be. There's always a way to get from here to there. What are your mileposts? How do you know when you're on the way to your target? Maybe it's an amount made per week, or number of clients in your business. Perhaps you want assistants to help you grow - at what point do you hire them? When do you want to make $100 a week? $1000?

How much are your current bills? How much do you need to earn to sustain your current lifestyle? How much do you need to add to your income to move to "the next level", whatever that looks like for you?

Once you know what you want, how do you reach it? Do you need to blog on 5 blogs about different subjects every day? Do you need to do any social marketing? How many clients can you reasonably care for? What marketing options work best for the clients you're trying to reach? Marketing consists of figuring out what works and what doesn't, and then putting your efforts into what does work. But until you know what target you're trying to hit, you may end up just spinning your wheels.

Self Sabotage

2010-06-16T08:37:00.002-06:00

I really have trouble with sabotaging myself. It seems like every time I'm "3 feet from gold," I do something to damage the hard work I have put in.

Most of my most valued relationships have required a hiatus of some sort, where we're not speaking to each other. After about 6 months, it seems like I can pick the relationship back up and it's ok again.

As a VA, I'm not much of a marketer. (In the bookkeeping company, I work for an amazing man who gets the clients - I get to do what I do best, which is operations.) I tend to get ONE client, take very good care of that ONE client, and when that client moves on to other things, I have NO clients. Self sabotage again. I've dropped the ball on my own marketing activities.

Ironically, I take care of marketing, blogging and tweeting for my clients. I guess it proves what you hear - the shoemaker's kids go barefoot, and the efficient VA doesn't do her own marketing. My clients' books are pristine - mine are a mess.

I can't be the only one out there who does this. I've been known to sabotage myself just before anything great happens in life. I'm to the point now that I am beginning to understand *that* I do it, but not why.

Any thoughts or ideas?

Working with Your Unique Genius

2010-06-15T08:00:00.000-06:00

One of my favorite business books is The E-Myth by Michael Gerber. He talks about the three parts needed to create and build a mature, thriving business - the Technician, the Manager, and the Entrepreneur.

Most business owners are not really Entrepreneurs. They are wonderful Technicians, who are overcome with an "entrepreneurial seizure" -- they fire their boss, and go to work for someone even worse. Themselves.

Suddenly they are confronted with all the things business owners need to deal with. Accounts Payable. Accounts Receivable. Entering all those transactions into bookkeeping software at the end of the day. Invoicing. Not to mention payroll, managing employees, taxes, creating a business plan.... All of a sudden, their business isn't so fun any more. What to do?

I recommend working with your unique genius and outsourcing the rest.

H/t to Michael Hanks for his mentorship.

On site or off site?

2010-06-14T08:00:00.000-06:00

One of the things I am finding is that there's a lot of work available for VAs that aren't averse to traveling to a local business's office. Many, many business owners simply want the opportunity to work with an assistant face to face. There's filing and organization to do, and many of them are willing to pay a fuel surcharge for the chance to have someone in the office a couple of hours a week.

Now I know that's not necessarily "virtual", but I live in the heart of "do it yourself" country, and if it makes my clients happy to see my sweet smiling face once a week, that's OK. These clients want to know who they're doing business with and that they're benefiting me.

I'd like to hear what other VAs out there think about that. (My take is money is money. On site or off, it all spends the same.)

Weight loss

2010-06-12T20:56:00.000-06:00

Yes! I talked about weight loss earlier in this blog. Now I can recommend a product, as I've ~~lost~~ released (never lose weight - you might find it again) over 40 pounds.

I used a 2 prong attack - weight and cardio training at EXL Fitness with Mat the Trainer, and a homeopathic HCG available through my friend Tom Johnson.

The HCG can be obtained by contacting me. It's only $40 for a 40 day supply. And then you follow the protocol in Pounds and Inches to the letter. It's not a forgiving protocol - but I lost a pound a day. I am slim, trim, and about 20 pounds from my high school weight, but at nearly the same measurements. It's well worth the effort!

It's been a while....

2010-06-12T19:28:00.002-06:00

I've found myself busy with other ventures. I haven't had a chance to post here in far too long! Off to catch up with things in the VA world, starting with VANetworking.com.

I am planning to update my RealWorkAtHomeSolutions.com site, update blogs, do some bookkeeping, and start on information marketing.

I was also recently divorced - it was final early this year - so I've suddenly gone from needing a part time income to developing a full time income sufficient to support my little family in a way to which I'd like to become accustomed.

Glad to be back! Watch this space - more posts coming!