Living an Upbeat Life
Just like set menus from restaurants wherein different kinds of foods are served - from appetizers, to main dishes, to desserts - life also has its menu for an upbeat life. Different people have their own individual menu that makes them cheerful and optimistic. Find out what they are; they may help to keep your life meaningful, enjoyable, inspiring, and interesting. Consider the following:
Help the needy, the poor, the handicapped, the ailing, the broken-hearted, the homeless, the lost, and the environment. The list can go on. When you help the needy - in services, monetary value, or other forms (lending a shoulder to cry on or an understanding ear to listen to other people’s problems) - the returns are ten folds over. However, don’t expect anything in return. Just the contentment you experience in your heart is an incomparably satisfying feeling. Giving something wholeheartedly without expecting anything in return is divine. Imagine yourself as the person on the receiving end. You can’t wait to return the favor once you get the opportunity to do so.
Another way to enjoy life is to listen to music. Play your good old favorite songs and sing along. Sing your best. Sing carelessly or out of tune - whatever it takes to make your heart contented and whatever makes you laugh. Just hum the tune if you don’t remember the words. Sing until you laugh heartily. The idea is to cheer up. Do this in private with your close friends or relatives though. You don’t want to annoy your neighbors.
The sound of nature is also music. The sound of river flowing, the gust of wind on a tree branch, waves on the seashore, and birds chirping are as natural as nature can be, and the way music should be. The sound of nature can make you optimistic because it is a beautiful and serene sound.
Let’s face reality. Life has its share of troubles, disasters, and misfortunes. Bad news exists and it disturbs the mind. Totally ignoring it may not always be the answer to approach life in a realistic manner. However, you can always find ways to avoid being affected by it to maintain the dominance of life’s beauty.
A party without humor and laughter is a dull one. The same is true in real life. Fill your life with lots of humor and laughter to keep it upbeat. The more spontaneous a humorous situation is, the more natural it is, and the better it can liven up your spirits.
Look at the lessons that can be derived from misfortunes. Mistakes allow you to learn and see opportunities hidden behind adversities. Always find meaning from every event in your life. See through the shell game and value every lesson that you learn.
Turn Your Page Titles Into a Marketing Hub
Article content is one of the most important parts of a website. Most people know that articles need to have newsworthy content as well as catchy and interesting titles. However, what people often forget is page titles.
Page titles are different from your article titles because they can title a page that contains multiple articles. If you are not optimizing your page titles, start now. Because the two titles serve different purposes, you can optimize both to increase traffic. The two titles can be the same or different as long as they relate to the content at hand. Page titles are the first thing that the search engines see. Therefore, the better the page title the more likely search engines will correctly classify your page under the right keywords.
Although searchers see the page title second, it is important to maintain good titles. This is because many surfers will still decide on whether or not to link to or bookmark your site based on your page title. Page titles are the default text for bookmarks and also store in surfers’ browser history. When viewers bookmark your site, they want the page title to be short and descriptive. Otherwise the bookmark will be useless to both of you and you will lose a return visit.
Often times RSS generators turn your page titles into headlines. Therefore, if your page title is not descriptive or relevant, you could lose viewers. Many people who link to sites often use the page title as their anchor text, which helps Google rank relevant keywords for your site.
Now that we’ve established the importance of page titles, here is how you to make them successful. Keep your page titles short and descriptive using only one or two keywords. Anymore than two keywords and you run the risk of overloading search engines and getting your page blocked. Pick a title for every page of your site. Yes, every page. This will force the search engines to look at every page instead of marking one or two pages as duplicate material.
Write plainly and cut extraneous phrases. The road to success is a simple one. Do not stuff your titles with tons of keywords and unnecessary phrases. The words “click here” are virtually useless in today’s online marketing, cut it out and replace it with something that has more weight. Instead of “Click Here for a FREE Consultation,” use “FREE Consultation.” Let’s say you are writing an article about how to save money teaching abroad. A good title would be, Get Paid to Travel the World and Help Children.
With the Internet, fast paces and small attention spans are dominant. Therefore, create a title that is simple and to the point. Be creative and try to stir up emotion or intrigue within your readers. Remember, you have two, not one, chances to do so with both page and article titles.
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Your website can become an effective marketing hub for your business. To learn more about the power of Direct Response Web Marketing, log on to http://www.websuccessteam.com/whydirectresponse.htm Bob Speyer, Co-Founder, President . Contact the Team today for a complimentary consultation to your web success!
Strategies To Maximize Time
There is no denying in the truth of the saying, “Time is gold.”
You never seem to get enough of time. Even if you are given thirty hours in a day, you still won’t be able to get enough of it. Somehow, some things will come up and you will end up wanting more time. Time is a precious commodity. Once it’s gone, it cannot be recovered.
The fact is: when you are busy, time flies swiftly. But when you are not, time seems to be at a stand still. This is true when you are killing time because there is nothing else to do under the circumstances.
How do you maximize the use of your time? It would be worth your time to consider the following strategies:
1. Check your schedule at the start of the day. Review it in its entirety. You may notice that portions of your day may be hectic, while some may not be too frenzied. Distribute your activities evenly throughout the day.
Keep note pads handy so you can keep track of your schedule. It also helps to remind you of your tasks and commitments. Note pads and schedule notebooks help you avoid overlapping of activities. In case of overlaps, determine which one is priority.
After spreading your schedule for the day and you still feel overwhelmed by the number of tasks to be accomplished, you may have to forego some of them. Re-schedule other tasks for another day.
What you are actually doing is very much like cleaning a closet. When your closet is in order, you avoid being accidentally hit on the head by falling objects upon opening its door. Also, if it is in order, you will likely find spare spaces available.
2. Request for a re-schedule in advance. This is especially true when another person will be affected. Show courtesy by doing this is advance. This leaves time for the person to adjust to the new schedule. Who knows? You may be doing the other parties a favor. They may be in the same predicament as you are, and they will not be aware unless you make it known to them.
3. Be creative. Time is an element when simple creativity can be put to practice. For example, you need to do the laundry but at the same time, you also have to finish a big project. Perhaps, what you can do is to set your washing machine to do the laundry while you work on your project.
You can even do the cooking at the same time by using a slow cooker. It cooks food by itself. You can even check your email or Twitter. Four tasks are combined to one. All it takes is scheduling and a little creativity.
4. When you have to do a certain task for the first time, it is natural for mistakes to happen. However, a first time task doesn’t have to be a blunder. If there is no clear direction on how things should be done, take time to plan it out before you take action. This saves time, energy, and money.
5. Visualize the possible outcome of your objective. Seek out alternatives. Choose the better of two or more alternatives. If there is only one option, do it just the same. Some tasks may appear difficult when you think about it, but not necessarily when put into action. The same thing is true the other way around.
Time is something you could never have enough of. You become wise when you choose to maximize it.
Does living your dream look like you thought it would?
Are you doing what you love?
Is your virtual assistance business filling you with joy or stress? Do you love your clients or do they drive you crazy? Are you offering services that you’re great at and you know you do extremely well? Or are you constantly doubting yourself about the projects you do? Does your target market still fit? Or have you outgrown it?
If your business doesn’t feel good to you, sit back and take a hard look at it.
How’s your target market? You might discover after working as a VA that your original target market doesn’t fit anymore. This can happen. You might get into a few projects and realize you don’t actually enjoy the work like you thought you would. Or, you might have taken on clients outside of your target market that suit you much better.
It’s okay to change your target market! It’s okay to let those energy zapping clients go! It’s hard to imagine when you’re a new VA that you can let a client loose, because you are really enjoying the income, but if it drains you of energy and you hate it, weigh your options. I’ve never had it happen where I’ve let a client go and didn’t get a bigger better one to fill its place. You can always search for subcontracting jobs with other VAs to help fill in any gaps in your regular client work until you make up the hours you ‘let go’.
You might consider reviewing your service list every few months, as well. As you work on different projects for different clients, you’ll find you are always adding skills to your repertoire. At the same time, you’ll discover some services you never want to provide again!
When you’re your own boss, you have the right to change things that aren’t working for you. You’re not someone’s employee anymore – nobody is forcing you to do work you don’t love. Don’t kill your spirit by doing things you don’t love.
You started your business to fulfill your dreams. Is this what you imagined?
Leadership Call w/ Bea Fields, Michael E. Gerber, Dave Buck and More
Mega Teleclass: The Future of Business From the Minds of Ten Top Professionals
Date: Monday, July 14, 2008 from 7:00-8:00 p.m. Eastern
What happens when you get ten top professionals on a call together to discuss the future of business and leadership? You walk away inspired to change the way you think, live and operate in business. Join Bea Fields as she shares this open call with her partners from EDGE: A Leadership Story for a call you don’t want to miss. Fields will be joined by Michael Gerber, Michael Port, Corey Blake, Dave Buck, Carol Dickson-Carr, Eva Silva-Travers, Kimberly George, and Roger Dewitt. Each professional will be asked a question they have never been asked before about the future of business, and you don’t want to miss their answers. This is BIG!
Learn about the presenters here.
Office Hours & Distractions
Because Virtual Assistants work at home, there are many things to distract us. In “training” ourselves to use our time wisely and to communicate with members of our family, friends, etc., we can concentrate on our business during office hours and then spend time with others when you’ve turned the office lights out for the day.
Distractions we may have and suggestions take care of them:
- Telephone calls: We receive phone calls from family, friends, telemarketers, etc. every day. Let your family and friends know that you have a business from this time to this time and they can call you after hours. When you are in your office working, don’t answer your home phone. Let the answering machine get it. If you receive calls from telemarketers, which is always annoying, put your number of the “Do Not Call” list. This helps tremendously. Also, make sure you do have a separate business line so that you can answer those calls. If you’re doing client work though, don’t even answer your business line. Let your business answering machine pick it up.
- People stopping by: You may have individuals stopping by your home just to say hi or sell you something. Again, let your family and friends know your office hours. Let them know they can stop by after work. Don’t answer the door. You might want to put an “in-box” or business mailbox next to the door for salespeople/clients to drop things off.
- Television: Since you do work at home, it’s nice to work and watch TV, right? Well, what work are you accomplishing? The TV is just another distraction that you don’t need. You’re going to be watching more TV and doing less work for your clients. If you need some noise, turn the radio on. You don’t have to stop what you’re doing because you can listen and work at the same time. Soap operas do not help you grow your business.
- Home: It’s nice to work at home because you can do the laundry, the dishes, vacuum, etc. Unfortunately, you’re not working for your clients. Set specific time aside to do these things. It will help if you have home schedule and a work schedule.
- Emails: Schedule a certain time(s) to check your email - that doesn’t mean every 30 seconds. How about 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.? That way, you spend quality time on your emails and quality time on client work during the other time.
- Children: If your children are old enough, set up a small area in your office and have them help you with things like filing, putting stamps on envelopes, etc. If they’re too small to assist, make up an area in the office with toys for them to play with. Schedule certain times when you can take a break and spend time playing or reading to them. Another option would to work a lot during nap times and in the evening when they’re sleeping.
It’s going to be the death of me
My Inbox, that is!
Is this you, too?
You have Microsoft Outlook. You can see your email come in and immediately have to check it out. So you stop what you’re doing to go see who it’s from and what it’s about. While you’re rummaging in your Inbox, all your other tasks go by the wayside. Especially if some email message has a task that must be addressed as soon as you read it.
It’s driving you nuts.
Me, too!
So what are we going to do about it?
This calls for some drastic action.
Did you know MS Outlook 2003 has some really great features to manage your email? In fact, one of the results in “MS Office Outlook Help” with the search feature of “Rules and Alerts” - “About Managing Messages with Rules” - has the following solutions for setting “Rules and Alerts”:
“Rules (rule: One or more automatic actions taken on e-mail messages and meeting requests that meet certain conditions, along with any exceptions to those conditions. Rules are also referred to as filters.) help you manage your e-mail messages by performing actions on messages that match a specific set of conditions. After you create a rule, Microsoft Outlook applies the rule when a message arrives in your Inbox or when you send a message. For example, you can automatically:
* Forward to your manager all messages sent by Judy Lew when they arrive in your Inbox.
* Assign the category Sales to all messages you send that have the word “sales” in the Subject box.
* Flag each meeting request or meeting update you receive from your manager.
Rules fall into two general categories: notification and organization. Notification rules alert you in some way when you receive a particular message. For example, you can create a rule that automatically sends an e-mail message to your mobile telephone when you receive a message from a family member. Organization rules perform one or more actions on a message. For example, you can create a rule that moves certain messages to a folder or flags them for follow-up on a particular day.
You can also run one or more of your rules manually. Running rules manually allows you to selectively apply them to messages already in your Inbox or in another folder.
You can add exceptions to your rules for special circumstances, such as when a message is flagged for follow-up action or is marked with high importance. A rule is not applied to a message if any one of the exceptions you specify is met.”
That’s it!
The other part of the solution is that you must be willing to set boundaries… you may need to make them known publicly. Perhaps you will do this via your Web site or in a handout you provide for your prospects and clients.
But then, of course, you must stick with your decision and the schedule you’ve chosen.
For instance, you might elect to check your email in the morning prior to beginning your regular work day, at noon and again at the end of the day before you leave the office. Of course, you’d also want to set time aside to respond to them. Then, too, you might run into situations that require you to respond outside the regular time set-aside for your email management.
Seems pretty simple!
I don’t know, though. I find I may have a bit of difficulty. Since by not checking my email regularly, I still often tend to think I’m going to miss something!
Hmmm.
I wonder if there’s an “email-anon” for “email-holics!”
Why Do New Virtual Assistants Seem to Want Everything for Free?
Over the past two years we have gotten awesome feedback about our free ebook, 25 Ways to Revolutionize Your Virtual Assistant Business. I’m a little biased, but I think that it’s an awesome resource, as do others and judging by the emails that Dale, Heather and I get every month we remain quite pleased with it even after 2 years.
Yesterday we received this email:
I had expected to find real, concrete information about starting a VA business such as: how much HTML do I need to know to start doing websites, how much should I charge, what do I do about taxes, etc. All I’m getting is fluff!!!!!!!
Hey, I think I’ll start a blog and talk about this kind of stuff!
We responded to this person directly, but the more I think about the direction of new VAs, the more perturbed I become.
When did everyone start wanting everything for free? Did we forget the old adage “it takes money to make money?” I personally spend about $2000+ every year on continuing education for my business. If I’m not up to date on the latest and greatest for my target market, what good am I as a Virtual Assistant? It’s imperative that all VAs continue their education at every turn. Not only does it benefit you, but it benefits your clients, and in the end it makes you more marketable as a VA.
I was a Virtual Assistant before I realized what a VA was. Then when I first heard the term “Virtual Assistant”, I researched the heck out of it to double and triple check to make sure that it suited me and what I was doing in my business. If think you have the skills to be a VA, do a little research about the industry. Buy one of the VA industry surveys here or here.
I love this question:
how much HTML do I need to know to start doing websites
Uh, it depends. If you don’t know how to create a professional website, don’t do it. Spend the money to make money and hire a professional to do it. If you want to learn the upkeep of a website take a class, either online or through your local community college. If you think you have to do website design or coding to get clients you don’t. I know plenty of VAs out there who would never think of offering this service. You can’t be all things to all people, so if you don’t have the skills, don’t take on the task.
how much should I charge
Uh, it depends. What are your expenses? What kind of skills are you bringing to the table? What specialty skills do you possess? What is your cost of living? Do you live in New York City or in New Dheli India? Who are you targeting? If you target the work at home mom crowd, I’m going to have a totally different response than if you were asking me about top producing real estate agents. Rates vary across the board, across the country and across the sea. If you want a free rates calculation spreadsheet, let me know. Or again, buy one of the VA industry surveys here or here to learn more about what other VAs charge.
what do I do about taxes
Uh, it depends. (Do you notice a pattern here?!?!) What State do you live? If you reside in Canada, what Province do you live in? If outside of North America, what country do you live in? Are you a sole proprietor, LLC, S-Corp, C-Corp, etc.? Talk to a CPA or your country’s equivalent, because you will be hard pressed to find another VA who is going to give you financial advice like this.
As many of us know, it can be extremely difficult to provide concrete information that works for everyone because there are too many variables. Do your research, hire professionals to help you. Above all, take your business seriously. If you do, you will be richly rewarded.
One last thing, does the table of contents say that the book is going to delve into the above topics? No, it was designed as a “pump you up” ebook, with lots of motivation to propel you in the right direction.
Getting Through a Temporary Setback
You finally figured out what you want to do in life. You’ve realized that you don’t want to work for others anymore, you want to work for you. So you opened your own Virtual Assistant business. You jumped through all the legal hoops to register your business, got your Web site up and running and may have even had a few clients come through your door.
Then life happened.
Whether it was a spouse’s job change, family crisis, health concerns - whatever the case, you need to head back out into the corporate world to find a job. You try to avoid it at all costs by pushing yourself to get more and more clients, but it’s not happening fast enough. Luckily, you are able to find employment but want to make sure it’s as temporary as possible to get back to your business full-time. But how do you keep going with your business when you’re working 40 hours or more a week for someone else and taking care of a family?
It’s doable - very doable in fact. But you need to be prepared for some seriously hard work and long hours.
The first thing you absolutely need to make sure you do is take care of yourself. Yes, you are going to be putting in some very long days and most likely working quite a bit on weekends as well. However, you need to make sure you are still getting some sleep each night and making time for your family. Be aware of how you are feeling each day and take some time for yourself when you begin to feel stressed and overwhelmed. It’s okay to take a day off for yourself now and then to rest and re-energize - it will help keep you healthy and motivated. It’s not easy to work long hours to set up a business when you are sick and not feeling well!
Set up a schedule and daily to-do list for yourself. Include not only the hours you work at your job, but also the times you are going to work on your business and even write in time to spend with family and relaxing. Many VAs’ schedules revolve around their families, which means they work during children’s naps, after everyone is in bed and before everyone else gets up in the morning. Getting yourself organized each day, right down to scheduling what item on your to-do list is completed when, will ensure you are much more productive while you are working on your business.
Also, make sure that you do not quit your job before you are truly ready. Make sure that you have a good-sized safety net in place for just in case (many recommend at least three months’ worth of your current salary) and wait until you have a few definite clients in place to take the leap. After all, you are going back to work because you need the income; you don’t want to find yourself in this situation all over again after another few months. Making sure all your ducks are in a row before you quit will ensure that you do not find yourself struggling and needing to find a new job yet again in the near future.
Most importantly, do not be hard on yourself. You have not failed as a business owner, as it can be sometimes easy to think. It is simply a temporary setback in plans, and it has happened to many VAs and other business owners. There is absolutely nothing wrong with needing to find employment while you are working on your business. Things come up in life that are unavoidable and not finding a way to support your family would be worse than getting a job. The important thing is to make the most out of the opportunities you are given and learn from this experience. You will not only come out stronger, but you will appreciate your future business success that much more.
Into every life a little stress must fall.
As moms, stress creeps into our everyday lives and most of the time we handle it well. However, when the stress reaches higher than normal levels on a regular basis, your health can start to be affected. Most people think of moms as invincible super heroes and moms even label themselves as supermoms. We may think we are invincible but it’s not true. Stress and good health is a recipe for disaster.
Stress is our body’s response to outside stimuli. Sure that sounds innocent enough, but it doesn’t really paint an accurate picture. When you work from home the day to day activities of not only running a business but also a household can take its toll. The sink is full of dishes, the family laundry is piled high, toys are scattered all over the floor, kids need to be fed, have to start dinner and that’s just some of the household duties that moms wake up (and go to bed) to everyday. Add client work in the mix and it’s enough to make any moms blood pressure rise. This is stress.
If you continue this routine for days, weeks or months even something is bound to happen. Stress can make even the sanest person irrational. Stress needs an outlet and if you don’t find an appropriate one, believe me it will find one for you. Usually the first person who makes a comment (probably a harmless one you took the wrong way) to you gets to meet your inner stress monster.
Stress can cause ulcers, migraine headaches, and depression. It can also lead to poor eating habits. Overeating or eating the wrong things can lead to obesity, diabetes, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure. These illnesses can lead to heart disease and stroke. Can you see where I’m going here? Basically, we’re talking about a premature death. Let’s face it, that is not an option. We want to be here for our family which is why we work so hard in the first place. These conditions can be avoided when we take better care of ourselves. Enlist the aid of your spouse, parents, sisters, brothers, and friends. So often we associate asking for help with being weak. When in all reality it takes strength to ask for help and even more strength to accept it.
As moms, we have to protect our health. What that means is giving ourselves permission to be human and not some superhero brandishing magical powers with her own comic book series. Just be mom…the one who works at home and takes care of her family. The wife, mom, sister, aunt, friend who may leave dishes in the sink or have a pile of laundry to do or may order out because the day flew by and she didn’t make anything for dinner. Be THAT mom…you may not be perfect but you’ll be alive and well. You will have conquered your inner stress monster…now that took SUPER POWER!!!
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