Another Google Gadget that I like

So, there are a lot of things that I like to keep track of online. I keep track of publicity and how often a few clients get mentioned (as well as a couple of friends and colleagues), there are a few political items that I am passionate about,  I also write blogs for a couple of other people/businesses.  So I like to try to see what other people are saying, doing, writing about etc.  Google offers a great alert system, you simply log in http://www.google.com/alerts and type in the words you want to keep track of.  As in most searches if you’re using a proper name you’ll want to put it in quotes, for instance “Total Resource Connection” will get items about us,  – Total Resource Connection  – will get many more results because it will pick up any of the three words.

So really, what is a virtual assistant?

Virtual assistance seems to be one of the fastest growing industries that I am personally aware of at this time. Many virtual assistants work out of a home office. Which is perfect as a lot of our clients are busy, on the run people who don’t really want someone in their office – in fact they may be working out of a home office as well. So what is a virtual assistant? In a nutshell, we are off site assistants.

One of the biggest pluses, and what my current clients love the most about me – besides my sense of humor and modesty, is the quick turnaround time on projects. My clients as they get to know me, know that I’m a night owl. So it is not at all unusual to get an email or a call as my client is finishing up for the day and realizes they have a project that didn’t get done (or started) and by the time they are in their office in the morning the project is complete and in their email inbox waiting for them, or if it is a longer term project they at least have it out of their mental clutter and know when they can expect it.

We’ll cover more later on the virtues of virtue assistants. In the meantime check this out http://freelanceswitch.com/rates/ it will tell you how much you need to be making per hour to break even or make a profit. Nifty little tool.

After you’ve played with that calculator for a bit, think about the time that you spend doing things administratively that you don’t have to. Instead of outsource, think of “off desk source” – what are some items that you would like to “off desk source.”

I’d be happy to discuss any of those items with you. One of the things, I enjoy about being a virtual assistant is the virtual networking I get to do with other virtual assistants. If you need something that we don’t provide as a service, let me help you find a reputable person that can.

Here’s to a prosperous day!

Organizing yourself

Seriously! Who knew there were so many ways to get yourself organized? If you do a google search for “Organizing tools” there are more than 17,300,000 sites that show up. I am always on the hunt for that ONE magical idea, program or process that will suddenly make everything fall into line. At the end of the day though, what is needed is time to put things in their place, and to move, one by one the items off of my desk.

Sometimes I think I need my own virtual assistant to take care of the little details for me that I take care of for my clients. Think about it, if you could get one or two items off of your desk that take up the most time, but are the least rewarding what would they be?

For a couple of clients, it’s me answering their phone. Even though, I’m sometimes on the phone and have to return a phone call, I guarantee a return phone call within an hour. We all have those special clients. They are definitely worth having, but they require a little too much hand holding. I can take those clients and be a buffer – they still feel like they are getting special treatment, but my clients have freedom to not have to address every little thing with them.

Other clients have me screen their email. I forward on what needs to be addressed personally, respond to some with the appropriate answer, and to others respond to expect more follow up shortly. Of course there are some private issues that are better handled by the client personally, those go to a private inbox, separate from the main business email account.
There are many ways we can help you get more organized or add more time to you day. Check us out at www.totalresourceconnection.com for more information.

Favorite Online Gadgets

One of the things that I notice is when I am doing research online, I sometimes get lost in the “well that looks interesting” maze. What should have been a 15 minute search becomes a lost hour or more because I end up surfing.

Here are a few great tools that I’ve found while surfing that are applicable to most anyone that runs their own business (and some even work for employees too).

This nifty little tool that Google has created is amazing. It’s the Google Notebook. It allows you to highlight text on a web page that you want to save, right click and add it to your notebook. It saves the text along with a link back to the site the text was on. The notebook can be categorized to easily organize your information, so if you’re researching a particular topic and want to save snippets of information, this is a great way to go! On a scale of 1-5, this definitely rates the highest 5 possible.

Jotcloud is another organizing type tool. They bill themselves as “the sticky note of the web”. Basically, you keep your sticky notes online instead of on your computer, phone, walls etc. Now, we all know that sticky notes aren’t the best place to keep information, but it is kind of a clever idea to be able to jot little things down that may not deserve a complete file in your office, plus you have access to it anywhere. My favorite part was the demo is in Japanese. No, I don’t read, speak, or understand Japanese, but I got the idea of the demo and understood their program better after watching it. Scale of 1-5, this is a solid 3. Sometimes you just need to jot things down. If you’re one of the anti-google folks, this may work for you.

We all need a little humor in our day. While I would not endorse being dishonest, there are times that we just need to end a conversation. We’ve tried “Well, I’ll let you go now.” Or the more to the point “you need to let me go now.” or even, “Hey, we’ll have to pick this up tomorrow” but that person is still chatting with you on the phone. Here’s a perfect site that gives you the back up of sound effects to really get off of the phone. http://www.sorrygottago.com/

Now, back to work. Many start ups, and others have limited space, but we sure have a lot of gadgets. I personally can’t have another gadget on my desk, credenza (or floor) so I love efax.com. All of my faxes come to my email where I open them and only print out the ones I need. Plus, the bonus of no more extra paper filing. I can file it all in that email folder, or by client. If you’re just receiving faxes, you can sign up for free, to send faxes it starts off at less than an extra phone line per month. This is also a good option for anyone that would like private faxes sent to them.

Finally, are you still doing your email campaigns through Outlook? Check out www.icontact.com for your email, newsletters, and blogging campaigns. Their program is incredibly easy to use, you don’t need to know any HTML, they even have templates that you just add content to. It lists bounced emails, and gives fabulous statistics that you can see who has opened your marketing message (and how many times), unsubscribers, and many more stats.

Blogging 101

I don’t know about you, but it seems like every where I turn, or at every click online, I’m being marketed to, both subtly and very in my face. It almost seems like you can’t visit websites without being forced to give an email address and your name to just look at what might be an interesting article.

Blogs seem to be different. You can build on a blog, it isn’t like email that can be directly filed into my deleted folder, or get lost in my junk file. It’s more of a conversation, by cross linking, and commenting on other sites, you build your own network based on what interests you and what you would like to focus on in your interests and your business.

As I look at blogs though, and somewhat voyeuristically see conversations; I’m reminded of my daughter who sees something shiny and drifts far away from whatever conversation, song or activity she was just involved. Yet the benefits are real if you can engage your reader.

What are the actual benefits to blogging?

According to a recent article in entrepreneur.com, “a blog allows your business to engage with current and potential customers in a direct, informal, no-pressure way. You can communicate the strengths of your product or service, the expertise of your top executives and the breadth of your company’s experience in ways that traditional marketing and advertising don’t allow. This can help engender a better understanding of your company as well as inspire customer loyalty.

Because of its collaborative nature, a blog can help you gain insight into customers’ needs and interests. You can then use this information to develop new products or services or fine-tune existing ones.

A blog can make your company appear more “alive” and approachable. A website promoting your products or services is an essential marketing tool. But a blog, in effect, gives your company a personal voice, which also can help boost customer loyalty.

Blogs cost little, if any, money. Some public blogging sites are free; others charge only nominal fees. Also, blogs are often extremely easy to set up and update, with virtually no training required.”

If you don’t have the time , creativity, or desire to create your own blog, but you’d like the exposure, consider outsourcing it. Many Virtual Assistants (including us) offer this as a service.