Why I became a VA and more about ME!

Why I became a VA and more about ME!

Aug 27, 2018 | Email Marketing, Outsourcing, Telesummit, Time management, Virtual Services

Over the weekend I decided to make a list of topics for blog posts for my business. While doing so, I thought it might be nice for people to really know who I am, outside of business as well as inside. To be honest, I’m an open book. But this will be fun! And if I fail to mention something you are curious about, PLEASE ask me in the comments!!! xoxo

A little background. I grew up in a small town in Eastern Montana. It is a farming/ranching community. And I only THOUGHT it was small. Fast forward through school years and I moved to an even SMALLER town. I would say we have MAYBE 150 people. I joke that I think that number includes cats and dogs…..maybe even chickens? Who knows.

Our daughter is in high school, and she has 5 other students in her Junior Class. We have NO second graders this year. We know pretty much everyone who lives here. Our nearest Wal-Mart is 90 miles away one direction, 120 the other. And we love it! Wouldn’t trade it for the world…(not now anyway….years ago……that’s a whole other story…lol….live and learn!)

This is one of the few years we only have one child in our home. I’ve only given birth once, but we have had several kids in and out of our home. First, we raised two nephews for 5 years. Before the second one graduated, we decided to do foster care. And you know how they say, we don’t really know how long you’ll have these two little boys(ages 2 and 3) but it shouldn’t be too long. Two years later, we ended up giving them back to their mom. (side note….2 years later they are back in foster care in a different town….) After that we’ve had a few other foster kiddos. Most very temporary. One for 5 months who was just a baby, 3 months old. A charmer, I tell ya! We would have kept him forever. But of course, he went back to his mama, too. And from what I understand, she’s doing very well with him! A blessing for sure! Last year we added an exchange student from Turkey. We had her for 10 months and every one of us enjoyed her! We miss her every single day. So enough about kids…..even if they’ve never lived with me, I “claim” quite a few:-)

So onto the “interview”…..:-)

What do I love about where I live? 

It is a small and close-knit town and it is safer than the bigger towns!

How did I end up where I am today: 

Necessity. I live in a small town and there are very few jobs, and I love having the flexibility of working from home to be more available for my family. Before that, I ran a local cafe. It wasn’t something I loved, so I looked for something else to do. A friend I had made years before online had extra work and needed help, so I started there, and just started learning more and trying more things. Now, I have been in my business for 9 years and can’t imagine another way of life! I love helping small businesses grow and succeed!

What do I enjoy doing, outside of work?

Reading, watching tv with my family, cooking. We found out my daughter and I have Celiac Disease so cooking has taken a big, new, adventurous turn! It is getting better, but it was pretty depressing to start out with!!!

What type of work am I best at?

This is a hard one….I love doing almost everything I do, so if I had to choose a few, one would be working with blog posts, working with coaches and telesummits.

What is my favorite way to communicate?

Emails are the best. But I also love Slack!

I hope this post shows that I love what I do. I love my clients. I love learning new skills. If you sign on as a client of mine, you are signing on also, as a new friend! Your business means a lot to me. If YOU aren’t successful, I am not successful. 

You can see more about me on my LinkedIn profile.

If you want to book a chat with me click here!

 

 

 

Webinar or Telesummit… What should you choose?

Webinar or Telesummit… What should you choose?

Aug 5, 2018 | Telesummit, Virtual Services

In the last 6 months, I have supported 3 people with their teleseminars and watched several webinars. I know a lot of people don’t quite understand the difference between the two. Here I will try to explain it…

Webinar:

A seminar that people listen to and/or watch on the internet via your computer or phone. Typically 1-2 hours. Teaches you something. 

Pros:

  • Less expensive
  • No special equipment
  • Easy to produce
  • Can attract a large number of participants
  • Very visual
  • One to two presenters
  • No traveling

Cons:

  • Internet speed must be adequate to allow particpants to view without issue.
  • Body language is missing typically because the presenter is using slides. Audience misses nonverbal cues.
  • No editing. If you have issues such as Power Point crashing, you may lose your audience.

Telesummit:

An online multi-speaker event. It gathers several experts in a certain field to talk about a specific topic. A host interviews them and the online event is launched over the course of a series of days for a large audience.

Pros:

  • Email list grows with help of the expert speakers
  • Gives you more valuable content
  • Connects you with like-minded people
  • No traveling

Cons:

  • Takes longer to set up
  • Typically need to hire help to get all the moving pieces to be in place
  • Requires more paid platforms

Telesummits are my choice. They are a great way to grow your new business and have a lot of valuable content to share or sell.  You could easily add 2-3000 people to your email list, in turn helping to grow your business. And never forget the value of having so many experts on as well as in your circle!

The month of August, I am running a sale on my telesummit packages. Click here to check that out!  I am booking into 2019, so let me know if you want on that list! The sale is good as long as the summit is BOOKED in August, it can happen up to June 2019.

Also, know that I will custom build a package for you if needed!

If you have more questions or are interested in any Virtual Assistant work, please contact me here.

Top 7 Cloud-Based Storage Options

Top 7 Cloud-Based Storage Options

Jul 26, 2018 | Virtual Services

Cloud-based Storage. Have you used it yet?

Sharing & storing documents is something we deal with on a daily basis as virtual assistants. If you don’t have a cloud-based storage set up, you need to! I remember when I was always scared that if my computer crashed, I would lose everything! Now, I’m not saying you still won’t lose some things…programs or what have you. But, all my pictures of my family and all my documents to and from clients are all readily available and seriously helps with the stress levels:-)

Here are a few of the best:

Do you use something different? Share it below! Honestly, I only use Dropbox and Google Drive, and at this point in my business, I wouldn’t trade either one of them! BUT everyone has different needs and that’s ok! Use what works for you. If you need any help or have questions about using cloud-based storage, Click here!

6 Proofreading Tips To Improve Your Writing Now

6 Proofreading Tips To Improve Your Writing Now

Jul 23, 2018 | Virtual Services

Why Is Proofreading Important?

Proofreading is not fun. It is not exciting. It takes time. But it is vitally important to do especially if you are a business owner. It could be the difference between someone hiring you….or not.

Proofreading is essential because:

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It helps you to catch embarrassing mistakes

You may catch something you forgot to put in the article. When you proofread, you are making sure it makes sense.

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It helps keep your readers attention

If your writing is not clear, you could lose your reader’s interest. Losing their interest means losing your audience.

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It improves your tone

Your writing should communicate your feelings and knowledge about your subject. You don’t want your views to be anything but what you intended.

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It shows you take pride in your work

It shows you care about your work and that it is of the highest quality. That you take your job seriously.

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It improves your accuracy

If the facts in your writing are not accurate, someone will catch it. And your credibility will take a hit.

Is There A Difference Between Editing And Proofreading?

Yes! Proofreading is not the same as editing. Editing is a bit bigger of a project. When you edit, you may be organizing the content differently. You could be modifying the entire document. Proofreading is just detecting and correcting errors like spelling, punctuation, grammar, and paragraphing.

6 Proofreading Tips To Improve Your Writing

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Just Walk Away

Walk away from your work and take a break before you proofread, even if it’s just for a few minutes. Looking at it with a fresh set of eyes will help you to make sure it is error free.

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Read It Outloud

Read it out loud. Slowly. This way, if something is tripping you up, you’ll catch it. If it trips you up, it will probably be tripping everyone else up as well.

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Read It Multiple Times

Don’t just go over it once. You should read it aloud at least 3 times and have someone else read it as well. Maybe split it up to where you are looking for spelling errors the first time. Grammatical errors in the second and the third time, just a little bit of all of it!

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Use A Dictionary

Dust off the dictionary, keep it handy and use it!

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Check For Commonly Misspelled Words

Make sure you double check words like their and there; two, to and too. There are many words in our English language that sound the same yet are spelled and mean differently.

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Track Errors You've Made Before

Track errors you know you’ve made before. Be aware of where you have had troubles before.

When In Doubt, Hire It Out

If proofreading isn’t something you like to do or if you just don’t have the time, hire it out! It could make all the difference in your finished piece. Whether its a report, a blog post or even your website!

If you want to chat with me about this or any other VA work you have questions on, please Click Here.

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A Marketing Plan…..Do you have one?

A Marketing Plan…..Do you have one?

Jul 16, 2018 | Virtual Services

What is a marketing plan?

Wikipedia says a marketing plan is a comprehensive document or blueprint that outlines a business advertising and marketing efforts for the coming year. It describes business activities involved in accomplishing specific marketing objectives within a set time frame.

A marketing plan is a crucial part of ANYONE’S business. It is where you outline your strategy and the tactics you should use. It is ideal to start with creating it for a specific time frame, like one year for example.  Now, it WILL change over time. Your business will change and mature daily. So you have to be ready for those changes.

You create a marketing plan so that you have a roadmap showing you what directions you need to go to reach your goals. It will help you find clarity to who your target market or ideal client is. It provides you and your team the focus and direction you need to again, meet those goals!

A marketing plan should be based on your goals. Where you want to be in 6 months. 12 months. 5 years.  Here is what you need to do to create it:

Research: Do your due diligence. Gather as much data as you can about what and where you are marketing.

Collaborate: Collaborate with top influencers in your industry.

Strategies: What pain point are you looking to solve? You have to provide solutions for your audience. Use these with your advertising.

Budget: Keep inside of your budget. There are so many inexpensive ways to get your story and business out that you don’t have to spend thousands right off the bat. Start small.

GOALS: Set your goals! Seriously SET THEM! It can be how many people are following you. It can be profit in a 3 month period. Whatever. Just make them and WORK TOWARDS THEM!

Track your results: Set up a spreadsheet for your social media numbers. Your email list numbers. Profit/Loss. Evaluate and tweak when you need to! Don’t let this be something you “will do later.” If you want to be truly successful, it is a must!!!

So, get moving. You can do this! And if you need help, contact me! Helping businesses succeed is one of my FAVORITE things to do!! xoxo

Calendar Management Tips

Calendar Management Tips

Jul 9, 2018 | Virtual Services

Do you feel like you NEVER have enough time? That you forget meetings because you didn’t look at your calendar. OR you forgot to write the dang thing IN your calendar. Been there. Done that.

You are definitely not alone. It can be a challenge for sure. A battle some would say! It doesn’t HAVE to be that way! Seriously!

Here are my Top 10 Tips to Calendar Management:

  1. Review your calendar at the beginning of your week. Some like to do it Sundays so they have a grasp on the upcoming week. Some prefer Mondays. It all depends on what works best for you!
  2. As soon as you book a meeting with someone…schedule it immediately! Make sure to have your calendar app on your phone in case you aren’t at your office.
  3. USE REMINDERS. Again…DO it! My daughter even knows to put it in my phone as a reminder so it GETS DONE. (Don’t have the husband taught yet….work in progress!)
  4. Don’t let meetings go over. 30 minutes is plenty of time for the majority of meetings. Maybe 45…but don’t let it go over. Be mindful that you have to stay ON schedule.
  5. Sometimes, you just HAVE to say no. Why that one small, little two letter word is soooo hard to say, I’ll never know. But I’m guilty as well.
  6. Color coding is not only handy for quick glances, but it makes everything look a little brighter! And fun!
  7. Schedule everything in. Your dog has a haircut that you have to take him to….SCHEDULE it. Your daughter has a volleyball game…schedule it! Schedule your lunches! You need to hit the gym…..yep…you guessed it…SCHEDULE IT!
  8. If you have an assistant(or even your family) share that calendar. It helps everyone stay on track!
  9. Keep your calendar uncluttered. No back to back meetings. No overlapping appointments. Make sure its doable, or don’t schedule it!
  10. At the end of each day…check out the next day. Make sure it all makes sense so you aren’t scattered. If you need to move or cancel something, do it!

You can do this! And if you need help….call a VA! 😊