Virtual Zen

Quick Tip - How to Plan for Unplanned Travel

Make sure your passport is up to date.  If you don't have one, go ahead and get one even if you don't have any planned international travel in the near future. The standard passport application process can now take up to 12 weeks - "expedited" service can take up to 3 weeks. With tightened homeland security these days, even a quick day-trip to Canada with a favorite client, or a weekend jaunt to the Bahamas with a friend, now requires a passport. The good news is, once you have your passport, it's good for 10 years (for ages 16 and over) so it's worth the effort now, to prepared for any unexpected travel later.

M&M's Gone Wild - the word is out!

It's amazing how fast the word spreads when a good promotional item hits the market.  No sooner had I torn out the full-page, magazine ad for my reference file, when I started reading about "My M&M's for Business"; initially on the VACOC forum, and then in blogs such as The Virtual Wire. I actually first heard about personalized M&M's last winter when my brother bought some for his girlfriend.  I looked them up for my son for a Valentine's Day gift but they were a bit too pricey for a teenager's budget.  I really like them as a business promotion though. You can choose to customize the candy with either just your logo, just a message, or a combination of the two. And who doesn't love M&M's? Well, in case you didn't catch the buzz already, you can get all the details here.

Do Your Employees Waste Time at Work?

Yesterday, Reuters posted an update on Yahoo! to the 2005 survey done by Salary.com regarding compensation and work habits.  According to the survey, the majority of the people surveyed reported that they waste nearly 2 hours every day at work.  The biggest time wasters? Personal internet usage tops the list, followed by socializing with co-workers.

If you're a small business owner can you afford to pay your employees for downtime? Maybe. Maybe allowing these perks keeps employees happy at work.  Or, maybe you're losing money while your employees research their next vacation online.

This is just one of the benefits of working with a Virtual Assistant (VA). VAs are independent business owners and not employees. The fees you pay your VA are for 100% productive time spent on task. You don't pay her to check her email or shop online (unless, of course, she's doing this on your behalf). Plus, since VAs work off-site, they provide their own office space and equipment, and pay their own taxes. This means more savings for your small business. 

Next time you find yourself needing administrative support to free you up to focus on the money-making aspects of your business, before you hire an assistant, look into partnering with a VA instead. Who knows, you just might find that highly-skilled someone, who is a perfect fit for your organization. She/he won't waste time at work and you'll get great value for your dollar.

Finding Inspiration in the Butterfly

Sometimes inspiration comes from unexpected sources, and those who inspire us aren't even aware that they have.  When I started training with AssistU five months ago to help solidify the foundation of my VA business, I was assigned a  training buddy - a senior VA who had already been through the program. Her name is Pamela Keith and she's a wonderful and talented Virtual Assistant.  Her role was to check in with me from time to time to see if I needed any help outside of the class and to keep me motivated.

The first thing she did was to send me a card in the mail (what a joy to actually receive a "real" card in the mail).  It was this first of many cards she would send me that would impact me the most.  On the cover of the card was an illustration of a butterfly. The verse on the cover was by  Maya Angelou,

We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty.

Wow! This completely captured my thoughts and feelings at that moment.  I was going through a huge transformation from a stay-at-home Mom to a business owner. I was reigniting my love of learning; absorbing everything I could from every source I could find.  I was changing. I was going through a metamorphosis into a completely new and improved being, just like the butterfly.

As the end of my training approached, I decided to give myself a permanent reminder of this stage in my life. I had an amazing butterfly tattooed on my back. It's really beautiful!

Now as I prepare for my final exam this weekend; the most challenging and comprehensive exam in the VA profession (outside of advanced certification exams), I feel myself reflecting back on the journey I have taken over the last few months and how much I've grown both professionally and personally.  Thank you Pam, for the motivation and inspiration you have given me along the way! Thank you for my butterfly.

Stop Putting it Off - Get the Life You Want Now

The other day I received an article by email from SparkPeople.  It was written by their staff writer, Mike Kramer, and titled,"Turning Someday into Today, Weighing Some Tough Options". It started out:

"It’s time for some cold, hard facts:

• You’re not going to be able to read every book that you want
• You’ll never have time to watch all of your favorite shows
• The house will never be clean enough
• There will always be another errand to run
• The grass will continue to grow
• Everything you buy will need to be dusted, repaired, maintained or disposed of in some way

This is not a critique of any lack of organizational skills on your part, or a reason to give up altogether. Rather, it’s a statement of freedom.

When you know that life will still be waiting for you tomorrow—no matter what—it gives you the freedom to make today count as much as possible. "Someday" is right now. Anytime. And that can be exciting, if you let it."

The article continued to talk about making tough choices and at times, ignoring some things for the sake of more important things. While the focus of this article was on losing weight, it could really be applied to anything. Whether you are trying to get healthier, pursue that dream job, start your own business, spend more time with your family, or just do something nice for yourself; most of us find "excuses" why we can't go after what really matters to us. 

We plan and live for tomorrow, not today. We put things off until "the time is right". Problem is, sometimes we never get there. This point became clear to me this morning when my Mom sent me an email about my brother's friend, who finally proposed to his long-time girlfriend last month, and lost her in a car accident over the weekend.  I didn't know this woman but this still touched me.  Life is short - sometimes things don't go as planned. Sometimes our hopes and dreams never come to fruition; especially if we keep living for "someday".

Maybe it's time to make some tough choices, let a few less-important things slip, and focus on the life we want now, and not just the one we hope for in the future.

What's In a Name? Everything If It Stands For Your Business.

If a company is named well, the name should not need to be explained.  While I think the name I gave my company, Equalibrium VA, is a good fit, apparently it still requires clarification. Here's why ...

I was so excited the day I published my website; I emailed everyone I could think of and asked them to take a look.  After all, I was very proud - I had created it 100% on my own.  But it was my mother who had the best reaction. Immediately she called me and in the nicest way possible she asked, "you do know that you spelled equilibrium wrong don't you?"  I laughed and answered, "yes Mom, my company is called Equalibrium; it's spelled that way intentionally".  She sighed in relief knowing that all the money she and my Dad had spent on college hadn't been wasted.

When I named my VA practice I combined the words "equal" and "equilibrium".  Equal to denote partnership and equilibrium to reflect balance.  I wanted to express the concept that my clients would find balance through their partnership with me. That I would lighten their load of administrative tasks so they would have the time to focus on what's important to them. 

Anyway, I like the name and I'm sticking with it.  It expresses what I'm all about as a Virtual Assistant.  I do love my Mom, though, for the reality check.

A Look at Square Apples

Recently, I was flipping through the June issue of Fast Company Magazine and something caught my eye. It was a new book titled Apples Are Square by Susan Smith Kuczmarski and Thomas D. Kuczmarski. What struck me was that the excerpt said "Squared apples symbolically stand for a new way to lead in the work place and a new way to measure success - both personally and professionally."  It goes on to talk about "reshaping bruised work environments" into "dynamic, collaborative organizations."  Collaboration is a key element in Virtual Assistance but not one typically seen in the corporate world - this is why it jumped out at me.   According to the Kusczmarskis, the six critical values of leadership in their new "peopleship" model, include collaboration, humility, compassion, inclusiveness, values-based decisiveness and transparency.  Definitely a fresh approach to leadership! I don't know about you, but when choosing organizations to work with, those that focus on strengthening the individuals and enabling them to be recognized and valued, are companies I'd like to partner with.

A Blogger Who Doesn't Blog Isn't Much of a Blogger

We all have times when our business conflicts with our lives - keeping us from doing what we really want. Sometimes it's the other way around. For the last week or so, family obligations have kept my focus away from my fledgling blog and kept me from writing. I have a lot of ideas to share; now just to get them from my head, to my fingertips, to my keyboard, and out to the cyberworld.  Anyway, the balance is returning as is my focus, and I'm committed to being a better blogger. Now to get writing ...