This Blog has been Closed

Due to time constraints and the fact that I find it harder and harder to think of relevant subjects, this blog has now been closed.

Do you bring the candy?

I never leave the house without candy, and I will tell you why.
At school there were the popular kids, the unpopular kids and a few loners. It was easy to become popular, by bringing candy and giving it to the leader. That way you´d fast become popular as well - even if you had red hair or glasses. Glasses never stopped anyone from becoming influential. Being popular, by the way, is not the same as being good. Very often they were the ones who beat up on others, didn´t do their homework and who smoked. 

I see the same behaviour in grown-ups, in business and in politics. Alliances are made by way of sharing in the profit - candy. Presidents are elected by the shool kids who want lower taxes - candy - and are happy to compromise. The WEF in Davos is one big schoolyard. World leaders seeking business leaders to join for their causes. There has to be something in return, of course.

It doesn´t necessarily need to be a bad thing. If Bill Gates donates millions to polio vaccins and others join in to share a bit of the glory, it can do no harm.

I hated the schoolyard and remember being appalled at the behaviour of the popular kids and how good they were at making you feel small. Likewise I am appalled by politics. But if there is one thing I´ve learned about politics and human behaviour, it is that we don´t evolve beyond the schoolyard and that is one of the most useful things to know: I never forget to bring the candy.

What are your schoolyard experiences and what did you learn there?

What to Do with this Blog?

What to do with this blog. Now that my business is taking off and I spend most of the time doing actual paid work, the first things to be abandoned are my blog, my Linkedin and my Twitter.

At the same time I know that the social media have paid off and that I should continue. But in which direction? There are so many VA blogs around that are really good. I don´t think I can add a lot with my blog. LinkedIn I get completely bored with and I cannot think of anything useful to say on Twitter.

What I have been thinking of is something I've been wanting for a long time. Everyone has opinions, about politics, about people, about people's behaviour and general thoughts that ideally one would share with the rest of the world, but one generally doesn't.

This will give me something to Twitter about and who knows I might rebuild the will to blog.

Back to normal......................

Sometimes a quick-start is exactly what one needs. My first appointment this morning was scheduled for 08.00. Much earlier than I normally start. It got cancelled................but this gave me the opportunity to spend some time blogging. 

After a few weeks of doing very little, today is the day that everything gets back to normal. Back to blogging, back to twittering, back to LinkedIn. Back to work? No, I haven't stopped working. I even worked through Christmas. Not a lot, but still.

All this writing has paid off though. I signed on a big client who had not been referred to me, but found me via the internet. I'm so proud and happy that this has happened. It means that social media networking works.

A new client also means I have to take my own medicine and do more of this. So, back to work. My next appointment starts in 45 minutes and I still have some twittering to do.

Obligatory New Year's Post

Of course I want to write one, a year-end-year-beginning post. I see them everywhere and it's only to be expected that I would write one as well.

The past year has been one of major change. We changed country, climate, home, diet, lifestyle and work. Work involved a change of mindset, but only slightly. I read a lot about how people who go from employment  to self-employed need to change their mindset. From employee to business-owner. Some claim that only a paradigm shift makes a business successful.
I cannot get my head around that as yet. The motto of the last company I worked for was 'Enterprise First'. Clean, clear and basic. And that's what I felt like when working for this company. What I did was in the interest of the company, knowing full well that when I did well for the company, employees would also benefit.  
That's what I continue to do. I do well for my company and it will do well for me.

Hopefully 2011 will be a year of further change. I hope to expand my customer base and I hope to do this on the basis of the quality of the work I deliver.

I wish the readers of this blog the very best as well. May they prosper and be happy and healthy.

Holiday SingUp

Together with a few of my lovely colleagues we have made this video to wish everyone a Happy Holiday Season and a Prosperous 2011.

VAs for the Holidays

Glitter Graphics by missyemory

Take a Break from your busy schedule - some of my favourite music

Today's blog post is nothing more than a list of my very favourite music. My favourite ever ever ever must be Herman Brood's Saturday Night. But I like a lot of different music, Gene Pitney, Frank Sinatra, (old) BeeGees, Small Faces, TheThe and wonderful, wonderful Kenny Werner. I picked out a few of my favourites to share with you.

Herman Brood - Saturday Night

TheThe - Uncertain Smile - unfortunately no video, just the music

BeeGees - To Love Somebody

Rod Stewart & Stereophonics - Handbags + Gladrags

Gene Pitney + Marc Almond - Something's Gotten Hold of my Heart 

ABC - All of my Heart

Who can resist a bit of Abba

Rollng Stones - Midnight Rambler

Kenny Werner Trio

Miles Davis - Tutu

JJ Cale - Cocaine

George Michael - Freedom - because of Linda, Christy, Tatiana, Cindy and Naomi

Tom Jones - Sex Bomb

Blondie - Rapture

Chi Coltrane - Go like Elijah

Now, back to work!

Is the internet pushing us back in time?

Many of you know I live in Spain. I have written about it many times.

Many people I meet on the web and in real life think Spain is very old fashioned. The way to do business here is completely dependent on your network. You need family, relations and a strong network to find a job, or customers or anything to earn money. It is often called nepotism. This is the way it has been done for centuries. It seems to work, by the way.

But, since a few months I've had to rely on the internet for finding work. And after a few months I find that I am completely dependent on my network. I need family, relations and my network to find clients. Exactly the way it is done in Spain. And it seems to work.

I think about this a lot. Is the internet pushing us back in time, or is this the way things work in general? Is it that the world is now so big without boundaries that we fall back on things that served us well in the past to give us a sense of security.

Whatever it is, it is a different way of working and a challenge which I much enjoy.

How to Manage your Inbox Effectively

In my attempt to share some of my knowledge with others, I have made a short videoclip about managing inboxes. It is one of the issues I know many people struggle with. There are tools on the market that are supposed to help with managing the inbox, such as categories and flags, but I find they are lacking in effectiveness. Rather, they make reading the inbox even more complicated. I use a system which is based on scheduling and actioning. If done right, it means an empty inbox and does away with the need to remember things. Below is a short instruction video which explains the principles of the system.

This should give you a lot to work with. If executed well, it will help you manage your email. This way of working can be transferred to other areas such as tasks lists or snail mail. If you are interested, but feel that this video hasn't given you enough, please don't hesitate to contact us.

Twitter, tweet, tweet, tweet

I tweet, of course I tweet. If only to find out what Twitter is about and not to become a person who doesn't understand new media.
But what is it about? I do get useful information via Twitter, it has given me a chance to connect with people in my new country. It gives me news alerts and that's great. But still, what am I doing on Twitter?

Without doing anything my followers are up to a 137 (5 November at 09.38), and they just keep on coming in - I do have to block some of them. But, why do they follow me? They don't seem to read my tweets, or are they just not interested. And if they are not interested, why do they follow me? Is it just to get to a certain number of followers/following, and if so, why?

Yesterday when I reached a 100 followers I decided to ask them why they follow me. And the best answer (IMO) would get two hours of my time. Only one person answered. And if she remains the only one, she very deservedly gets 2 hours of my time.

As much as I'm trying to find parallels with the real world, I haven't managed to find one yet. Any comments much appreciated - don't hesitate to tweet.

What is the difference between an office and a home office

More and more do I get convinced that although there are advantages to being a business owner rather than an employee, the world doesn't really change.

In my home office I am completely reliant on my internet networking skills. Through the net I get in touch with many people in many different environments.
Just like I when I used to have colleagues. I met a few this week in a virtual meeting. And I meet them on forums.

And just like when I used to have colleagues, some of them are great and some of them just simply annoying. People you need and people you really don't need. People who know what they're talking about and people who just don't have a clue. The coffee lady has been replaced by the fun website which brings a little light entertainment during the day. The boss has been replaced by the client. The IT department hasn't been replaced at all, just different people.

The other thing I find is that I need my regular breaks. I need to have structure, very similar to when I was in the office. Work from 09.00-12.00, have a short break, work form 12.30-15.00, have lunch.

So what is the difference between an office and a home office: not much really. And that's an eye opener for me.

Fact checking and how the internet can fool you..................

Generally, whenever we said "it must be true, I read it in the newspaper" or "I heard it on the television" is now easily replaced by "I read it on the internet".

So, when we were in Seville yesterday - lovely city where we met with a friend - we went in search of the Apple store. We had read about it on the internet and even seen a picture. It was supposed to be near the Cathedral which was exctly where we met our friend.

Completely against my normal way of working, we had not written down the address. It wasn't necessary, we had seen it on the internet. We walked around and around, being pointed in this direction and that. Consulted the TomTom, but not an Apple store in sight.

When we got home later that evening (we did enjoy Seville for a while longer, since the weather was so beautiful), we looked it up again and found our page: Apple store in Seville **

So, just like when hearing it on the television or reading it in the newspaper, fact check whatever you read on the Internet.

                          Oiseau by Karel Appel
                              

** For those not speaking Spanish, the page says: My creation to show how nice an Apple Store would look in Seville.

Dealing with a difficult client

I thought it might be a nice idea to share some of the knowledge which has helped me reach the top of my profession. It's about dealing with a difficult client.
I asked around and it seems that people most often want to know how to deal with an unreasonable or difficult boss - and I have had some. As a Virtual Assistant I no longer have a boss. I have clients. Same difference.

My advice and my experience is:
The customer/boss is always right. Affirmative noises immediately create an atmosphere where agression is no longer necessary and the customer feels heard.
Create a relationship where you are equal to the one you serve. That relationship starts long before the client acts unreasonable or difficult. Right from the beginning establish yourself as a grown-up, as a person in your own right and as an individual who knows what she's talking about.
Listen. Listen. Listen. You might actually learn something. Be open to input.
Count to 10 before you answer (silence is powerful) and do not contradict, it will only make things worse.
Take ownership of the issue. Show that you care and that you want to do better.

Do all this whilst keeping your integrity intact. Show that you have values, put yourself at the same level as your client and you will be able to hold a real conversation about the issues. You will be able to resolve issues and work with a difficult client.

I pad

When I left my job to move to Spain and become a so-called Virtual Assistant, my boss gave me an Ipad as a farewell present. 
I hadn't wanted any farewells or farewell presents and had made that very clear. He insisted on giving me something and had thought this through carefully. They weren't for sale yet  in The Netherlands at the time and he went through a lot of trouble to get me one.

In the beginning I hardly used it. I downloaded ebooks and PDF documents that I read on my Ipad. My 3 year old nephew used it a lot to play games and look at Cars videos. At one point he was better at using it than I was.

But now, I've seen the light. I'm using it every day. To read my email, to Twitter, to LinkIn, to read the valuable courses which aid me very much in my work - they will be the subject of a later post. And I can do that without being bound to the house. Weather is still lovely here, so we are outside a lot.

In short, I love my Ipad and we are inseperable. My nephew still gets to use it around lunchtime, but for the rest it's mine. I've bought a lovely pink leather holder and carry it with me everywhere.

So, really, this is to thank my boss for such a thoughtful gift and to let others know that although it's a bit bulky and there is room for improvement, it's a very useful tool for a virtual assistant.

Surfing

We live close to Tarifa which is surfer's heaven. The whole town (small as it is) is about surfing. I wanted to take up surfing by decided I'm just too old, have no sense of balance and and a wetsuit just doesn't look good on me either.

What I do do is surf the web. When I worked in an office we were never really allowed to surf the internet, only the intranet. For work purposes of course it was necessary, but even sites that were useful were barred. Now I find that surfing the web is taking up a big chunck of my day and that it is really useful for my work. It's so liberating that I can do whatever I please because I'm my own boss. Here are some of the websites I like and visit every day.

http://www.workingnaked.com/
http://www.noded.biz/
http://www.virtualassistantforums.com/
http://mashable.com/
http://jezebel.com/

Out with the Old, In with the New

You will have noticed that most of my blog posts indicate that I struggle with new technologies and draw upon old technologies to help me. Indeed, I am old.

Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook are old to many, new to me. The challenge is to interpret the new media in a way that they work for me. This is most often a combination of the two. Find a new job via findvirtual.com, but speak to the client via phone or skype (also quite a new medium). Twitter with people in my new area, but the tweets concern things like the weather.

A good example of in out with the old and in with the new gone nearly wrong is my new haircolour. I always trusted my hairdresser. Since moving to a new country I haven't found a new hairdresser yet and decided to try dying it myself. Not exactly the result I wanted. But I'll live and am getting used to my new image. I leave you with it below.

Communication, Communication, Communication

As I said in my previous blog post, things are going really well for me. I have clients who give me a lot of work, 2 of them people I don't know personally and who have a different lifestyle. When one takes up a new task, the most important thing is understanding the task. 

In the Virtual Assistant world it is not unusual to communicate only via email. Communications in writing is not new, rather it used to be the main means of communications. But it most often was accompanied by face-to-face contact. A king looking for a new bride would perhaps not make the track to another country by himself, but he did send his aides to have a look.
Since computers, email and texting, written communications have changed. They have become faster and shorter. And with it the habit of thinking before writing has become faster and shorter.

This happened to me too with the 2 clients I mention above. It took a bit of emailing, misunderstanding on my part and frustration on their part before I decided to do the old fashioned thing and communicated face-to-face, that is via Skype. Face to face contact certainly makes it a lot easier to communicate. Facial expression, tone of voice - all these things get lost in email communications.

I have heard other VAs speaking about "intake" forms or "get to know" forms. I have not done that until now, sticking only to the business basic. The experiences I mention above have taught me that I have to invest more time in getting to know the client, and I will.

It is going the right way

Over the last week I have been very busy and things are going very well for me. I have a lot of work, my blog has got some comments (!!! - thank you very much comment posters, I really appreciate it) and Twitter is getting me some results.

Working virtually seems to be easier than I thought it would be. I say "seems" as I don't want to sound as if I've got it all under control. 

I did mention the tools that I use already in an earlier post. Skype is a great help, it easily connects me to my bosses. Exchanging views via email is also very doable. It takes some writing skills I find. In an email it is easy to just type away the way one would speak.  I take more time to reread my emails to make sure it is clear.
Other tools are for example DropBox to share documents and plain old-fashioned telephone.

I have a good feeling about this, and I'm continuing to learn about tools and effective communication. I hope you will be continuing to read my blog and post comments.

Networking also means meeting friends - part II

Today was a very exciting day in many aspects. We are trying to get our family to live together here in Spain. Today we found a very nice apartment for my Mum, right next door to our's and we live a stone's throw (literally) away from my sister. This is really good. It was a serious case of networking. My brother-in-law once owned a bar. One of his staff lived in this apartment building well over 5 years ago. We looked her up, she found the owner of the apartment and - coincidence or not - the apartment was vacated yesterday and is available now.

Another thing that is most exciting is that I've spent time on Skype with a colleague from overseas. She's a colleague because she is in the same business as I am, not because she's in the same company. We are both business owners, virtual assistants. Our field of expertise is different, but our challenges are the same.
We got together because we were both looking for a mentor/mentee. We found each other via a forum. She is in the US, I am in Europe, but borders and oceans don't bother us, since everything is online. It was a very pleasant conversation, and I am sure we will be able to help each other with what we are looking for.

When we moved here about 6 weeks ago I thought working at home might be lonely, especially in the beginning.  This time spent with a colleague showed me the possibilities of the 'virtual' world. The world has different dimensions and life is good! 

The Danny Brown Blog Challenge

Over the past few days I have been spending time again on finding out more about blogging, twitter, facebook, linkedin to grow my business.

I came across http://dannybrown.me/ and his 7 day blog challenge. It looks to be a good challenge and I wanted to comment on his blog post - which for the life of me I couldn't manage. The technicalities of posting a comment were beyond me I guess.

However, I will take him up on the challenge and find a new blog out of my normal blog routine, comment on it (if it will let me) and highlight them in some way, either on here or in a twitter or so.

I hope I will learn something through doing this. Learn more about the blogging world, learn how to use the Lifefyre, and who knows extend my network a bit.

Leaving you with a picture which incorporates my previous and my future life.