Productivity Tip for Setting Priorities

Well, it's my turn. I was tagged!

Jennifer Gniadecki tagged me to come up with a "the ultimate productivity tip". The original tag came from Ben Yoskovitz on the Instigator Blog.

I think I've found a good one about setting priorities, which is very important in any business. SCORE has quite a number of tips for small businesses. Here are their 5 tips to setting priorities:

1. Use a paper-based, electronic or computerized list to keep track of your tasks, instead of relying on your memory. A list will give you a clear idea of what you need to accomplish.
2. Which tasks could you handle another day? If you would face no consequences by moving a task forward, move it ahead another day or another week.
3. Know the difference between important and urgent. Important means a task needs to be done while urgent means it must be done immediately. Knowing the difference between the two will make prioritizing easier.
4. Realize that you can't do everything. This will help you to realistically prioritize your tasks.
5. Determine if postponing the task would affect other projects you are working on. Tasks and projects can have a domino effect. If you do one task, yet fail to do another, you may have wasted effort on the first task.

So, now that that's all done...it's time for me to start some tagging. I am tagging Heather Jacobson and John Herman. I look forward to seeing your tips!

Here are the rules from the Instigator Blog:

1. Write a post on your best productivity tips.
2. Include links to other people that have written posts, or include their tips in your post with proper attribution.
3. If you use Technorati Tags, then tag your post “ultimate guide to productivity.”
4. Tag others in your post to spread the meme. Tag as many people as you like!
5. If you link back to Instigator Blog and email Ben, he’ll be sure to include at least 2 links back to you.

Virtual Assistants - New Way To Work At Home (on NBC)

I'm not sure if everyone watches TV, so I thought I'd point out the Virtual Assistants are in the news! This is all thanks to Karen Reddick, MVA.

Karen was on the NBC Today Show and presented Virtual Assistants worldwide very professionally.

If you missed Karen on NBC, why not see what you missed here.

Thank you Karen.

Also, take a look at the press release:

NBC Today Show Showcases Colorado Virtual Assistant

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Karen L. Reddick, MVA
Tel: (720) 870-6435
E-mail: Karen@VandEServices.com
Website: http://www.vandeservices.com
CENTENNIAL, CO (April 2007) – Six years ago if anyone had told Karen Reddick that the growing industry she has been working hard to promote would finally receive its day in the limelight with a segment on the NBC Today Show, she wouldn’t have believed it. It’s a dream come true to see the industry she is passionate about get national attention. Reddick is a Virtual Assistant (VA) who helps small businesses successfully run their businesses virtually from her home office. When an NBC correspondent got wind that there was such a business, they became intrigued and decided to pursue the story. NBC flew to Reddick’s home office in Centennial to film a typical day at the office. They also set up a crew at one of Reddick’s client’s office 850 miles away in the St. Louis area to show how easy and efficient working with a VA can be. The piece is scheduled to air in May.
Reddick, owner of V-And-E Services, is a former executive assistant and originally conceived the idea for her business in October 2001 immediately following 9/11. Starting her new career was her way to put family first and be home for her then pre-teenage daughter. Reddick helps clients by working remotely and uses the latest technology to deliver creative administrative support and technical business services to busy professionals. Projects are often handled over the phone, by fax, e-mail and instant messaging.
Most attractive to her clients is perhaps the fact that Virtual Assistants are responsible for their own taxes, training, healthcare, insurance, and overhead costs that make hiring an in-house employee expensive. Reddick states, “My clients pay only for the time actually spent working on their projects. They don’t pay for my coffee breaks, visits to colleagues or other things that happen in a normal office environment. This is a great benefit for them to pay on an as-needed basis.”
Reddick is also the author of The A-Z Guide: The Best Ways to Work With a Virtual Assistant, which shows businesses exactly what a VA can do for them. In her A-Z Guide, Reddick starts with the letter A and highlights typical services such as administrative assistance, ad campaigns, appointment setting, auto responders; B--bookkeeping, branding, brochures, bulk mailings; C--concierge services, copywriting, contact list management and so on. It clearly helps businesses and virtual assistants see exactly what a VA can do for them and highlights tasks they might not have even considered.
“I think this industry will just continue to grow,” Reddick adds. “This used to seem like a radical concept; and now hopefully with this national recognition it will allow other business owners to realize how using a Virtual Assistant can streamline their administrative tasks and save them time and money.”
As proof that the industry is growing, Diana Ennen of http://www.virtualwordpublishing.com recently landed an interview in Reader’s Digest, where she was able to spread the news of the Virtual Assistant Industry. The article talks about making money while working at home, stating “If you possess word processing, transcription, bookkeeping, public relations, or website design skills, you may want to try employment as a virtual assistant. Ennen is quoted as saying, “There is so much work for VAs that the field is thriving. It is absolutely booming.” And Ennen believes this with all her heart.
Look for this segment airing on NBC sometime in April. Stop by Reddick’s site at: http://www.vandeservices.com for additional information on the VA industry and her services.
About V-And-E-Services: V-And-E-Services specializes in “taking the administrative weight off the shoulders” of the small business owner and/or entrepreneur so they can concentrate on making their business grow. Visit http://www.vandeservices.com for more information. Reddick also offers a weekly newsletter entitled Grammar Tips From The Red Editor, a division of V-And-E-Services. http://www.theredpeneditor.com.

Expect Success in Your Home-Based Business

By: Diana Ennen

That’s right! Don’t sit back and hope that clients will come your way and that this business might work for you. Expect it! Go in with a winning attitude. An attitude that no matter what obstacles come your way, no matter what challenges arise, you will meet them. Not only will you meet them, you will face them and grow in strength by overcoming, and rising above them. Expect Success!

Let's look at where you are in your business. Some of you are seasoned work-at-home moms with thriving practices, while others have just entered into the arena. You want what those pros have. Well -- don't just want it—Except it. Make this your motto. Start each new project, or each new marketing venture, with this new attitude, and with this new motto—Expect Success. Before long, it becomes second nature to you. You start automatically assuming the outcome will be successful.

Now, in starting a business there are some steps you have to take. You'll find the first one is the big one. It's the Attitude Step. You need to make the transformation from "employee" or "stay-at-home mom” to successful entrepreneur. The mind-set changes right from there. Expect Success!

Next we're on to some of the business basics. A successful entrepreneur professionally chooses the name that best suits their business. To do this, they visualize that name on their business cards, on their signature line, on the bottom of the letter, with the name President directly right above it. Expect Success! Now, more motivated than ever, our successful entrepreneur needs to choose that all important domain name and get ideas for a website. They research the net for days, weeks, writing down all the fine qualities they see in other web sites. Never copying! Merely researching, constantly thinking of ways to be different and unique makes it work. How they can combine their own strengths and skills to fit into their business, which will then be listed on THEIR WEB SITE. They read. They write. They Dream!

At this point they start seeing that "Yes, it will happen." In their research they have found the organizations, associations and listserves that the other entrepreneurs in their field are active on. They have seen the common denominators of those that are successful. They too get involved. They look for additional training courses, if needed, and sign up for the ones they know will help them meet their goals. They develop their marketing plan and design their promotional materials. They read everything they can on starting a business. They have a plan, and they EXPECT SUCCESS!! They now see that the future of their business is just within their reach. They share with others their excitement, and then they await the time they can finally say, “I'm ready!” EXPECT SUCCESS, and it can be yours.

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Diana Ennen is the author of numerous books including Virtual Assistant: the Series, Become a Highly Successful, Sought After VA, Words From Home, Start, Run and Profit from a Home-Based Word Processing Business & the Home Office Recovery Plan. She specializes in publicity and book marketing and is president of Virtual Word Publishing http://www.virtualwordpublishing.com and http://www.Publicity-VA.com

The Virtual Alternative - Why A Virtual Assistant And Not An Employee?

By Yvonne Weld
A Virtual Assistant is a business owner who provides administrative support and specialized services to assist businesses and executives with their overflow. A Virtual Assistant can handle any task that is usually handled by an in house employee, but unlike an employee, a Virtual Assistant shares your goals to succeed in business; they only succeed if you succeed. But why would you want to work with a Virtual Assistant instead of having the physical presence of an employee?

No Hidden Costs
A Virtual Assistant takes care of all the usual employee related costs including such things as wage related costs, vacation pay, sick days, statutory holidays and benefits. Not only that, when you hire a Virtual Assistant, you are no longer required to pay overhead costs associated with an employee such as providing a computer and the associated software programs or even a desk. With an employee, these costs can add up to 50%-100% over the hourly rate of pay you are paying your employee. With a Virtual Assistant, what you see is what you pay; if the Virtual Assistant charges $35 per hour this is the price you pay.

No Time Commitments
Virtual Assistants can provide you with services on an as-needed basis. If you only require 1 or 2 hours of service this month, that is all you pay for. Where would you find an employee who is willing to work for just 1 to 2 hours per month? In most areas, labour laws require you to pay your employee(s) in 3 to 4 hour blocks of time. So even if you could find someone willing to work for just 1 day per month, you may have to find enough work to keep them busy for those hours or pay them even though they are not being utilized.

Experience/Expertise
Most Virtual Assistants specialize in a niche area where they have experience and/or expertise. This allows you, as a business owner, to work with a highly skilled and experienced person no matter the task at hand. As a business owner you could easily utilize the services of several VAs, each with their own specialty. You could have one VA handling your bookkeeping, one maintaining your Web site and another still planning your corporate events and meetings.

No Wasted Time
Productivity inefficiencies are a huge concern for employers these days. Many employees, when asked, admit to wasting their employer’s time on such things as personal matters, surfing the Internet and socializing with other employees. With a Virtual Assistant you only pay for the time they are actually working on your job. When they are talking to their mother on the telephone, surfing the Internet or socializing, it is on their time and not yours. Many Virtual Assistants take this one step further and dedicate blocks of time completely to your job and will not even answer phone calls or emails during that dedicated time. When they are working on your project it has their complete and absolute attention until the task is completed.

Fellow Business Owner
Perhaps the most important consideration when comparing Virtual Assistants to employees is that unlike an employee, a Virtual Assistant is also a business owner like you. Both you and your Virtual Assistant are interested in achieving success because as your partner they only succeed if you succeed. VAs, more than employees, understand what it takes to run a successful business.

Remember, however the biggest advantage to working with a Virtual Assistant is that you are not limited by the talent pool within your geographical area. Thanks to technological advances, your Virtual Assistant can be the person that best fits your needs and personality, regardless of whether they are in the next state or province, on the other side of the country or even in a completely different country than you are.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Yvonne Weld is the owner of Canadian based ABLE Virtual Assistant Services specializing in providing administrative and bookkeeping support to busy entrepreneurs. She is also the author of The Ultimate Guide to Creating a Thriving Business which provides a step-by-step guide to documenting your business. For your free audio teleclass on the areas you should consider when documenting your business and for more information about The Ultimate Guide to Creating a Thriving Business, visit the Web site at http://www.thrivingbusinessmanual.com.

Yvonne Weld is the owner of Canadian based ABLE Virtual Assistant Services and the author of "The Ultimate Guide to Creating a Thriving Business". For more information visit http://www.thrivingbusinessmanual.com

Reader's Digest - May 2007 Issue

I'm really excited that the Reader's Digest has spotlighted the VA industry. It's nice to see Virtual Assistants and the industry is becoming more recognized.

Lend Assistance

If you've got word processing, transcription, bookkeeping, public relations or website design skills, you may want to try life as a virtual assistant. That broad title refers to people with expertise in a range of services, including administrative support and legal and medical transcription, says Diana Ennen, co-author of Virtual Assistant -- The Series. "There is so much work for VAs," Ennen says. "The field is thriving, absolutely booming."

Though some work might require daytime hours, much of it can be done at night or on the weekend. Hourly rates range from $35 for basic transcribing to up to $100 for Web design.

Online forums and websites can be good places to gather how-to information from experienced assistants. Try the Virtual Assistant Networking Association (vanetworking.com), the International Association of Virtual Office Assistants (iavoa.com) or the International Virtual Assistants Association (ivaa.org).