No one wants to hear about someone else feeling icky so I’ll spare you the details of my last week’s bout with the stomach flu (let’s just say I’m not a few pounds lighter and VERY happy to be back to work on my business!).

But, I DO want to share a revelation I had while lying on the couch recovering.

The revelation is that despite having four virtual assistants, my husband, my mom and my brother working with me in my business, I am STILL doing too much of the stuff I shouldn’t be.

Read the rest of this post »

Last week, I had one of my usual Mondays. I got up, ate breakfast, meditated, went to work out, went to an appointment, had a nice long lunch with my honey out by the lake, ran a couple of errands, came home, took the dog for a long walk in the hills, read another chapter of

Read the rest of this post »

Often, when I am meeting a new client for the first time, the first thing they ask is, “What can you, as a virtual assistant, help me with?” While that question does not have a single answer (since everyone’s business is different), there are some mainstream ways in which a virtual assistant can assist you in your business.

Read the rest of this post »

For years I intentionally kept my business growth on a tight leash. My mind was swimming with big ideas, but I put them on the back burner because I didn’t want to write checks my body couldn’t cash. I was under the mistaken impression that short of cloning myself no one else could do what I could do… and since I’m a bit of a control freak … that meant I couldn’t take on projects that I didn’t have time to perform myself.

Read the rest of this post »

As a wrap up to this series on hiring help I thought I would share with you some of my favorite resources.

I always start a search for help by asking people I know who they would recommend. When I’m looking for someone to work for me locally then I let everyone I know what type of person I’m looking for and the tasks I need done. Every time I’ve done this I’ve had good success. I’ve never run a “Help Wanted Ad.”

Read the rest of this post »

I thought this was a brilliant idea!

I attended a board meeting last week for the Georgia Coach Association. Our focus for the evening was growing the GCA revenue budget so we could continue to support our growing membership community and provide quality programs, and more.

Our esteemed leaders started the meeting by asking each of us to share 1 idea we are doing to grow out own businesses. First, of all it totally set the theme and focus for the meeting - brilliant! And, we all took away some great ideas!

Read the rest of this post »

The type of tasks you should delegate will become obvious quickly. Below is a list of commonly delegated tasks. I bet you can add a few to this list!

Necessary Tasks You May Want to Delegate
1. Secretarial services
2. Research
3. Word processing
4. Microsoft® PowerPoint® presentations
5. Data processing/database management
6. Desktop publishing
7. Web design and maintenance

Read the rest of this post »

In Part I of this series I shared five critical elements of setting up a good working relationship with your support team — getting things off on the right foot. Now I’ll share my secrets for building and strengthening the relationship over time.

6. Pay on time! If the terms say pay within 10 days — why not pay in five? Your support team is the lifeblood of your business — what better way to let them know you appreciate and value their contribution?
7. Put away the fine-tooth comb. If you’ve done a good job of hiring a team member, you don’t need to fuss over how many hours for this or that. If you don’t trust them, you shouldn’t have hired them.

Read the rest of this post »

1. You can focus on building your business and making money

2. You can find someone who complements your style and actually helps you generate energy

3. You can work from any location. Contact is maintained through phone, fax and/or e-mail

4. You can delegate time-consuming responsibilities that are necessary but don’t necessarily generate income

5. You can find highly trained personnel to meet your specific needs and who know how to do the work (webmaster, bookkeeper, graphic artist, desk-top publisher)

6. You hire someone only for what you need or want done, whether it is personal or professional, as you need it or want it done

7. You can hire someone whose strengths can be used to balance your limitations

8. You have more time to pursue activities that energize you and feed your spirit, as well as your pocketbook

9. You don’t have to do it all or do it all alone

10. You’ll be glad you did!

To your continued success!

Four years ago this month, Solo-E hired its first contractors: 3 fabulous VAs. Between them they handled the details of hundreds of items of content for the website, scores of newsletters and uncounted correspondence with subscribers and clients. Two of them still work for me (the third took time off with her third child and is now pursuing a career in financial planning!)

Having a long and successful working relationship with a team of contractors is somewhat of an anomaly among solo entrepreneurs. In many ways I’ve been very fortunate to have such talented and caring people working for me. But I also recognize some critical pieces of making it work that can be planned for — because it’s not just luck! Read the rest of this post »