<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?><?xml-stylesheet href="http://www.blogger.com/styles/atom.css" type="text/css"?><feed xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom' xmlns:openSearch='http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearchrss/1.0/' xmlns:georss='http://www.georss.org/georss' xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9809762</id><updated>2010-05-12T21:22:54.931-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Virtual Assistant Blog by The Virtual Link</title><subtitle type='html'>The Virtual Link Virtual Assistant Blog 
details the thoughts and works of Anna Baron, 
who has been a Virtual Assistant since August of 1997.</subtitle><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9809762/posts/default'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.thevirtuallink.com/blog/virtual-assistant-blog.htm'/><link rel='hub' href='http://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/'/><link rel='next' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9809762/posts/default?start-index=26&amp;max-results=25'/><link rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#feed' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.thevirtuallink.com/blog/rss.xml'/><author><name>The Virtual Link</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03127613743184793761</uri><email>anna@thevirtuallink.com</email></author><generator version='7.00' uri='http://www.blogger.com'>Blogger</generator><openSearch:totalResults>52</openSearch:totalResults><openSearch:startIndex>1</openSearch:startIndex><openSearch:itemsPerPage>25</openSearch:itemsPerPage><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9809762.post-1511361136196376845</id><published>2009-03-02T17:34:00.003-06:00</published><updated>2009-03-02T17:47:24.168-06:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='virtual assistant'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='virtual assistant forums'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='how to be a virtual assistant'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='coaching'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='mentoring'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='connecting2give'/><title type='text'>Paying It Forward</title><content type='html'>My coaching web site, VAstartup was asked to participate in &lt;a href="http://www.connecting2give.com/2009/02/24/virtual-assistant-week-march-16th-mark-your-calendars/"&gt;the Connecting2Give event with Virtual Assistant Forums which highlights Virtual Assistant week in March&lt;/a&gt;.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Part of this event is the giveaways! And you could win!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As a part of this event, VAstartup has donated 2 copies of our &lt;a href="http://www.vastartup.com/virtual-assistant-boot-camp-ebook.html" target="-blank"&gt;Boot Camp for Virtual Assistants ebook&lt;/a&gt; to the event. You could win a copy of my ebook or one of the other ebooks being given away by other industry leaders. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Don't miss a chance to win one of these fabulous ebooks that gives you insight into the virtual assistant industry and how to start your own business!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight:bold;"&gt;But it gets better than that...&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As a Virtual Assistant who's been in business for 12 years now, I thought "What more can I do?" and that's when it hit me.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight:bold;"&gt;I'm finding a newbie to mentor for 30 days!!  :)  That's right - and it's more than just coaching!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The winner of this giveaway will receive:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;*  One free copy of my &lt;a href="http://www.vastartup.com/virtual-assistant-boot-camp-ebook.html" target="_blank"&gt;Boot Camp for Virtual Assistants ebook&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;*  Daily &lt;a href="http://www.vastartup.com/coaching-at-vastartup.html" target="_blank"&gt;Virtual Assistant coaching and mentoring&lt;/a&gt; via email and phone as needed&lt;br /&gt;*  A free &lt;a href="http://www.vastartup.com/marketing-tools-for-virtual-assistants.html" target="_blank"&gt;5 page web site&lt;/a&gt; designed by me  &lt;br /&gt;*  A free blog template to match your web site  &lt;br /&gt;*  A &lt;a href="http://www.vastartup.com/marketing-tools-for-virtual-assistants.html" target="_blank"&gt;free logo&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;*  A free &lt;a href="http://www.vastartup.com/marketing-tools-for-virtual-assistants.html" target="_blank"&gt;business card design&lt;/a&gt;   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The winner will be announced on April 1st. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;For those of you who do not win, there can only be one winner, be sure to follow the progress of the future virtual assistant as she blogs and vlogs about her start-up process.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;If you've been thinking about becoming a Virtual Assistant - or know someone who is -  now's the time to make that leap!  &lt;a href="http://www.vastartup.com/connecting2give-coaching-contest.html"&gt;Visit VAstartup for additional information&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/9809762-1511361136196376845?l=www.thevirtuallink.com%2Fblog%2Fvirtual-assistant-blog.htm' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='related' href='http://www.vastartup.com/connecting2give-coaching-contest.html' title='Paying It Forward'/><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9809762/1511361136196376845/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=9809762&amp;postID=1511361136196376845' title='18 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9809762/posts/default/1511361136196376845'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9809762/posts/default/1511361136196376845'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.thevirtuallink.com/blog/2009/03/paying-it-forward.htm' title='Paying It Forward'/><author><name>The Virtual Link</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03127613743184793761</uri><email>anna@thevirtuallink.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='18203660080816087664'/></author><thr:total>18</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9809762.post-7509857972768528680</id><published>2009-02-27T10:18:00.005-06:00</published><updated>2009-02-27T10:37:32.062-06:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Internet Marketing'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='how to be a virtual assistant'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='training'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='certification'/><title type='text'>VA Classroom</title><content type='html'>I frequently get inquiries by other virtual assistants looking to niche in Internet marketing.  I often get asked where someone can go to learn more about training as an &lt;a href="http://www.vaclassroom.com/aw.aspx?A=31"&gt;Internet marketing Virtual Assistant&lt;/a&gt;.  Previously, I've just given them links to the most popular web sites and blogs out there that can explain Internet marketing to these individuals.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Now I'm happy to be able to recommend &lt;a href="http://www.vaclassroom.com/aw.aspx?A=31"&gt;VA Classroom&lt;/a&gt;.  VA Classroom is now offering &lt;a href="http://www.vaclassroom.com/aw.aspx?A=31"&gt;Internet marketing certification&lt;/a&gt;.  Their training programs are top notch and packed full of good information to help you specialize in Internet marketing.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I've also had the pleasure of getting to know Craig Cannings, the owner of &lt;a href="http://www.vaclassroom.com/aw.aspx?A=31"&gt;VA Classroom&lt;/a&gt; and he's a pretty stand-up guy.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So go and check out &lt;a href="http://www.vaclassroom.com/aw.aspx?A=31"&gt;VA Classroom&lt;/a&gt; if you're looking to learn more about Internet marketing.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.vaclassroom.com/aw.aspx?B=10&amp;A=31&amp;Task=Click" Target="_Top"&gt;&lt;img border="0" src="http://www.vaclassroom.com/aw.aspx?B=10&amp;A=31&amp;Task=Get" alt="Virtual Assistant Training" width="400" height="51"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/9809762-7509857972768528680?l=www.thevirtuallink.com%2Fblog%2Fvirtual-assistant-blog.htm' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='related' href='http://www.vaclassroom.com/aw.aspx?A=31' title='VA Classroom'/><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9809762/7509857972768528680/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=9809762&amp;postID=7509857972768528680' title='8 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9809762/posts/default/7509857972768528680'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9809762/posts/default/7509857972768528680'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.thevirtuallink.com/blog/2009/02/va-classroom.htm' title='VA Classroom'/><author><name>The Virtual Link</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03127613743184793761</uri><email>anna@thevirtuallink.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='18203660080816087664'/></author><thr:total>8</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9809762.post-4832561512748768646</id><published>2009-02-18T11:35:00.003-06:00</published><updated>2009-02-18T12:20:40.885-06:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='virtual assistant'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='web content specialist'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='freelance writer'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='blogs'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='blog consultant'/><title type='text'>A Wicked Writer</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://wickedwriter.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/wickedwritertree.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 290px; height: 414px;" src="http://wickedwriter.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/wickedwritertree.jpg" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;Angela Allen Parker is quite possibly one of the funniest people I know.  I adore her.  She's witty, intelligent and well, wicked!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Angela is &lt;a href="http://wickedwriter.com/" target="_blank"&gt;a fabulous writer&lt;/a&gt;.  She is the owner of &lt;a href="http://wickedwriter.com/" target="_blank"&gt;Wicked Writer&lt;/a&gt; where she offers her services as a &lt;a href="http://wickedwriter.com/" target="_blank"&gt;freelance writer&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href="http://wickedwriter.com/" target="_blank"&gt;web content specialist&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href="http://wickedwriter.com/" target="_blank"&gt;blog consultant&lt;/a&gt;. Saying that her work is amazing is an understatement...in fact it's almost an insult!   Yeah, she's THAT good!  ;-)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight:bold;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-style:italic;"&gt;I've said it a thousand times before, and I'll say it again, the girl literally makes my toes tingle when I read her writing.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I've known Angela for years through &lt;a href="http://www.ivaa.org" target="_blank"&gt;IVAA&lt;/a&gt;.  She was the former president of IVAA and is a co-founder of &lt;a href="http://remoteprofessionals.com" taget="_blank"&gt;Remote Professionals&lt;/a&gt; and I can tell you that she's the epitome of professionalism...and quite honestly, she's probably &lt;a href="http://wickedwriter.com" target="_blank"&gt;THE biggest geek&lt;/a&gt; I've never met in my life...except Bill Gates maybe.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I've been fortunate to know Angela on both a personal and professional level for several years...but truth be told, I love the personal level the best!  I really enjoy days like today when I share a giggle or two with her on the phone - and Angela you KNOW what we were giggling about!!!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Thanks for the smiles today &lt;span style="font-weight:bold;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-style:italic;"&gt;you wicked little girl...&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/9809762-4832561512748768646?l=www.thevirtuallink.com%2Fblog%2Fvirtual-assistant-blog.htm' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='related' href='http://wickedwriter.com/' title='A Wicked Writer'/><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9809762/4832561512748768646/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=9809762&amp;postID=4832561512748768646' title='3 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9809762/posts/default/4832561512748768646'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9809762/posts/default/4832561512748768646'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.thevirtuallink.com/blog/2009/02/wicked-writer.htm' title='A Wicked Writer'/><author><name>The Virtual Link</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03127613743184793761</uri><email>anna@thevirtuallink.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='18203660080816087664'/></author><thr:total>3</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9809762.post-5135392595211564331</id><published>2009-02-13T13:15:00.003-06:00</published><updated>2009-02-13T13:59:46.800-06:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='taxes'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='turbo tax'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='quickbooks'/><title type='text'>Tax Time - Quickbooks/Turbo Tax</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.thevirtuallink.com/blog/uploaded_images/41p7ghFmkxL._SL160_-754276.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 160px; height: 160px;" src="http://www.thevirtuallink.com/blog/uploaded_images/41p7ghFmkxL._SL160_-754273.jpg" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Ugh, it's tax time again isn't it?   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Years ago I started using &lt;a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001ECGT8A?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=vast-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=B001ECGT8A"&gt;QuickBooks Pro &lt;/a&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=vast-20&amp;l=as2&amp;o=1&amp;a=B001ECGT8A" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /&gt; for my &lt;a href="http://www.thevirtuallink.com/virtual-assistant.htm"&gt;virtual assistant&lt;/a&gt; business.  It's easy to use, generates professional invoices and reports, and makes balancing the books a breeze.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Another thing that I love about &lt;a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001ECGT8A?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=vast-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=B001ECGT8A"&gt;QuickBooks Pro &lt;/a&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=vast-20&amp;l=as2&amp;o=1&amp;a=B001ECGT8A" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /&gt; is that it works seamlessly with &lt;a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001GL8UJK?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=vast-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=B001GL8UJK"&gt;TurboTax&lt;/a&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=vast-20&amp;l=as2&amp;o=1&amp;a=B001GL8UJK" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.thevirtuallink.com/blog/uploaded_images/41qtyaouPrL._SL160_-717224.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 106px; height: 160px;" src="http://www.thevirtuallink.com/blog/uploaded_images/41qtyaouPrL._SL160_-717222.jpg" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001GL8UJK?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=vast-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=B001GL8UJK"&gt;TurboTax&lt;/a&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=vast-20&amp;l=as2&amp;o=1&amp;a=B001GL8UJK" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /&gt; imports my information directly from &lt;a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001ECGT8A?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=vast-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=B001ECGT8A"&gt;QuickBooks&lt;/a&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=vast-20&amp;l=as2&amp;o=1&amp;a=B001ECGT8A" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /&gt; with just a click of a button.  Another thing that I love about &lt;a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001GL8UJK?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=vast-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=B001GL8UJK"&gt;TurboTax&lt;/a&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=vast-20&amp;l=as2&amp;o=1&amp;a=B001GL8UJK" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /&gt; is that will review your returns and check them for possible errors or items that might flag an audit.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;To further simplify my life, I transmit my returns online and have my refund direct deposited into my checking account.  It makes tax time a lot less painful!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As a &lt;a href="http://www.vastartup.com/coaching-at-vastartup.html"&gt;virtual assistant coach&lt;/a&gt;, I always encourage VAs to use &lt;a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001ECGT8A?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=vast-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=B001ECGT8A"&gt;QuickBooks Pro &lt;/a&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=vast-20&amp;l=as2&amp;o=1&amp;a=B001ECGT8A" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /&gt; for their businesses.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;No matter what type of entrepreneur or small business you are, &lt;a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001ECGT8A?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=vast-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=B001ECGT8A"&gt;QuickBooks Pro &lt;/a&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=vast-20&amp;l=as2&amp;o=1&amp;a=B001ECGT8A" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /&gt; and &lt;a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001GL8UJK?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=vast-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=B001GL8UJK"&gt;TurboTax&lt;/a&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=vast-20&amp;l=as2&amp;o=1&amp;a=B001GL8UJK" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /&gt; will make your life a lot easier!&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/9809762-5135392595211564331?l=www.thevirtuallink.com%2Fblog%2Fvirtual-assistant-blog.htm' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9809762/5135392595211564331/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=9809762&amp;postID=5135392595211564331' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9809762/posts/default/5135392595211564331'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9809762/posts/default/5135392595211564331'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.thevirtuallink.com/blog/2009/02/tax-time-quickbooksturbo-tax.htm' title='Tax Time - Quickbooks/Turbo Tax'/><author><name>The Virtual Link</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03127613743184793761</uri><email>anna@thevirtuallink.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='18203660080816087664'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9809762.post-1193691278245368557</id><published>2008-12-05T10:34:00.005-06:00</published><updated>2008-12-05T10:56:55.607-06:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='gifts'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='gps accessories'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='client gifts'/><title type='text'>Client Gifting</title><content type='html'>I finally finished buying my client gifts for this year!  As you read previously, I am taking a different approach to holiday gifting this year - no flowers or chocolates this year, I've put a lot of thought into the gifts that I'm giving to show my clients just how much I care...while at the same time making sure that the gift I give them causes them to think of me at least once a day!  :)  Pretty sneaky eh?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=vast-20&amp;amp;o=1&amp;amp;p=8&amp;amp;l=as1&amp;amp;asins=B000LRMS66&amp;amp;fc1=445566&amp;amp;IS2=1&amp;amp;lt1=_blank&amp;amp;m=amazon&amp;amp;lc1=445566&amp;amp;bc1=000000&amp;amp;bg1=FFFFFF&amp;amp;f=ifr&amp;amp;npa=1" style="width: 120px; height: 240px;" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" color="#ffffff" border="0" scrolling="no" align="right" frameborder="0"&gt; &lt;/iframe&gt;Earlier this week one of my real estate clients was complaining about what a hassle his GPS system was.  The mount was a "pain" and when he got in and out of his car, hiding the unit from would be burglars took far too long.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So I started digging around and lo and behold I found this, the &lt;a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000LRMS66?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;tag=vast-20&amp;amp;linkCode=as2&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=9325&amp;amp;creativeASIN=B000LRMS66"&gt;Garmin Portable Friction Dashboard Mount.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=vast-20&amp;amp;l=as2&amp;amp;o=1&amp;amp;a=B000LRMS66" alt="" style="border: medium none  ! important; margin: 0px ! important;" width="1" border="0" height="1" /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This is the gift that says "I hear you!" and "I care enough to find a solution for you."  I hope he likes it!&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/9809762-1193691278245368557?l=www.thevirtuallink.com%2Fblog%2Fvirtual-assistant-blog.htm' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='related' href='http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000LRMS66?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;tag=vast-20&amp;amp;linkCode=as2&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=9325&amp;amp;creativeASIN=B000LRMS66' title='Client Gifting'/><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9809762/1193691278245368557/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=9809762&amp;postID=1193691278245368557' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9809762/posts/default/1193691278245368557'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9809762/posts/default/1193691278245368557'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.thevirtuallink.com/blog/2008/12/client-gifting.htm' title='Client Gifting'/><author><name>The Virtual Link</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03127613743184793761</uri><email>anna@thevirtuallink.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='18203660080816087664'/></author><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9809762.post-3902530442100042249</id><published>2008-12-01T14:30:00.005-06:00</published><updated>2008-12-01T15:25:00.240-06:00</updated><title type='text'>What Not To Do</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.thevirtuallink.com/blog/uploaded_images/catfight-712890.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 114px; height: 112px;" src="http://www.thevirtuallink.com/blog/uploaded_images/catfight-712889.jpg" alt="" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;WOAH!  &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I've been a Virtual Assistant for 11 years now and I've seen a lot of "discussions" on the value of Virtual Assistants and how they can bring sanity back into the life of their clients.  Now some of these discussions have gone on in forums, yahoogroups, between VAs, blogs and VAs...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But for the first time ever, that I've seen anyways, I've found a blogger who has &lt;a href="http://www.brazencareerist.com/2008/11/18/should-you-hire-a-virtual-assistant"&gt;a Neanderthal approach on how to look for a Virtual Assistant&lt;/a&gt; and two VAs slinging mud back and forth at each other and another using profanity in his comments section on the blog.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And it ain't pretty.  (yeah, I said ain't)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;If anything, &lt;a href="http://www.helpvirtual.com/"&gt;Kate LaFrance&lt;/a&gt; makes some really good points.  She's an established VA that's been around the block.  And while her comments were strong, because she's passionate about the industry, it certainly did not call for Kelly's attack.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I do wholeheartedly disagree with Kelly about the "assistant" comment (&lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;Let me be clear, we are "assistants" and we appointed ourselves that title.&lt;/span&gt;)   Just because we assist someone does not negate the fact that we're important to their business nor does the word "assistant" indicate we are of less value because we assist someone.    There wasn't much else I disagreed with other than her comment directly to Kate that was pretty unnecessary.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And as far as &lt;a href="http://www.internetgirlfriday.com/"&gt;Jennifer Goodwin&lt;/a&gt;, she gets my laugh of the day award for her &lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;"ARE YOU F*%&amp;amp;#$%^ KIDDING ME?&lt;/span&gt;" comment...that's exactly what I thought reading his blog post.  And yes Jennifer, I agree with you too, but um, maybe in a more professional manner.  ;)   Maybe it was you calling him a "Jackaaaass" at the closing was going a little too far?  ahahaha  loves it!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But the bottom line?  Now this Neanderthal's ideals on how VAs aren't worth over $19 per hour just got a boost from the cat fight on the comments area.  I'm not sure how many people reading those comments will hire a VA or be willing to pay more than $19 an hour now.   &lt;shaking head=""&gt;*sigh*&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;... and NO I won't work for Mr. Neanderthal...because of his attitude and because he cant' afford me!   :)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/shaking&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/9809762-3902530442100042249?l=www.thevirtuallink.com%2Fblog%2Fvirtual-assistant-blog.htm' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='related' href='http://www.brazencareerist.com/2008/11/18/should-you-hire-a-virtual-assistant' title='What Not To Do'/><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9809762/3902530442100042249/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=9809762&amp;postID=3902530442100042249' title='7 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9809762/posts/default/3902530442100042249'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9809762/posts/default/3902530442100042249'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.thevirtuallink.com/blog/2008/12/what-not-to-do.htm' title='What Not To Do'/><author><name>The Virtual Link</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03127613743184793761</uri><email>anna@thevirtuallink.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='18203660080816087664'/></author><thr:total>7</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9809762.post-1245359722637524286</id><published>2008-11-25T13:15:00.002-06:00</published><updated>2008-11-25T14:52:06.911-06:00</updated><title type='text'>Holiday Shopping for Clients</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.thevirtuallink.com/blog/uploaded_images/thinking-793122.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 175px;" src="http://www.thevirtuallink.com/blog/uploaded_images/thinking-793115.jpg" alt="" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;So what are you getting your clients for Christmas this year? &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I normally send a traditional holiday arrangement or chocolates.  So cliche and unmemorable.  This year I decided to really focus on something that my clients would truly appreciate. Something that says that I listen.  And at the same time, something that assists them or fixes their problems.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;AND something that makes them think of me...and often!  mwuahahaha   !  :D  Yeah, it sounds all evil and all, but it's not.  Don't let the evil mwuahahaha scare you...it's creative gifting...not evilness!    I promise!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;One of my clients mentioned just last week of having too many accessories, and not enough USB ports on her laptop to plug them into.  So I decided that this year, I'm getting her a &lt;a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000ZD3XYC?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;tag=vast-20&amp;amp;linkCode=as2&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=9325&amp;amp;creativeASIN=B000ZD3XYC"&gt;Usb Squid, 4-Port Hub&lt;/a&gt;.  I know she will just squeal when she opens it.   I could spend 5 times as much on a proper box of chocolates but I'm sure she'll appreciate this gift of 4 extra USB ports instead of 4 extra pounds!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And yesterday another client mentioned how hot his laptop has been getting lately.  I had the same problem recently and had looked at some &lt;a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000JEA8QS?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;tag=vast-20&amp;amp;linkCode=as2&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=9325&amp;amp;creativeASIN=B000JEA8QS"&gt;Ventilated Laptop Stands&lt;/a&gt; to help keep my laptop cool.    I'm sending him one too to see if it helps.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So yeah, that's just two examples of how I'm doing it a little different this year.  I'm spending a lot less for these gifts but I'm hoping my gifts are more memorable and useful.    I think this year for once my clients will seriously appreciate my gifts!  I'm excited!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Oh, and in case any of ya'll are wondering, I sure would like a &lt;a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001DLTDQC?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;tag=vast-20&amp;amp;linkCode=as2&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=9325&amp;amp;creativeASIN=B001DLTDQC"&gt;Bose® SoundDock® Series II digital music system for my iPod®....in black&lt;/a&gt; which you can get incredible deals on at Amazon.com this week during their Black Friday Deals!!!  :)    &lt;span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"&gt;** hint hint  wink wink **&lt;/span&gt;  &lt;img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=vast-20&amp;amp;l=as2&amp;amp;o=1&amp;amp;a=B001DLTDQC" alt="" style="border: medium none  ! important; margin: 0px ! important;" width="1" border="0" height="1" /&gt;  ha ha&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.amazon.com/b/?node=384082011&amp;amp;tag=vast-20"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 301px; height: 121px;" src="http://www.thevirtuallink.com/blog/uploaded_images/blackfridaydeals-761897.jpg" alt="" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/9809762-1245359722637524286?l=www.thevirtuallink.com%2Fblog%2Fvirtual-assistant-blog.htm' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='related' href='http://www.amazon.com/b/?node=384082011&amp;tag=vast-20' title='Holiday Shopping for Clients'/><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9809762/1245359722637524286/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=9809762&amp;postID=1245359722637524286' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9809762/posts/default/1245359722637524286'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9809762/posts/default/1245359722637524286'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.thevirtuallink.com/blog/2008/11/holiday-shopping-for-clients.htm' title='Holiday Shopping for Clients'/><author><name>The Virtual Link</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03127613743184793761</uri><email>anna@thevirtuallink.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='18203660080816087664'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9809762.post-1413961983038431296</id><published>2008-11-12T09:03:00.006-06:00</published><updated>2008-11-12T09:45:18.595-06:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='virtual assistant'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='how to be a virtual assistant'/><title type='text'>Start a Virtual Assistant Business</title><content type='html'>I get several inquiries each week on &lt;a href="http://www.vastartup.com/virtual-assistant-boot-camp-ebook.html"&gt;how to start a virtual assistant business&lt;/a&gt;.  Many of those who contact me have been burned by work at home scams previously and many think that virtual assistants are yet another scam...well, it's not!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Check out the IVAA - &lt;a href="http://www.ivaa.org"&gt;International Virtual Assistant Association&lt;/a&gt;.  There are hundreds of virtual assistants, both newbies and established VAs who belong to this organization.  Also, &lt;a href="http://www.google.com/search?source=ig&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;rlz=&amp;amp;=&amp;amp;q=virtual+assistant+article&amp;amp;btnG=Google+Search&amp;amp;aq=f"&gt;Google for virtual assistant articles&lt;/a&gt;.  You'll find that reputable print and online magazines are touting the value of working with virtual assistants...places such as ABC news, Business Week, Inc.com, Microtimes, MSNBC, Realty Times, USA today and more!  In fact Good Morning America and other television shows have interviewed virtual assistants.  It's not a scam nor is it a gimmick.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But, let's keep it real.  Not everyone is cut out to be a virtual assistant.  The success of your business is based solely on your drive to be successful.  When you become a virtual assistant, not only do you have to setup your business, you are also responsible for marketing it, keeping the books, networking, etc.  It's not easy - but it IS doable!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;There are many services that a virtual assistant can offer, you have to search to find what you like to do and figure out what industry your services are a good match for.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;For instance, I have over 10 years of in-house experience supporting executives, so naturally I launched my business &lt;a href="http://www.thevirtualsecretary.com/"&gt;The Virtual Secretary &lt;/a&gt;offering administrative assistance.  This included screening voicemails/emails, basic correspondence, working on presentations and proposals and planning conferences/meetings.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As my business developed, I found that I really enjoy providing services as a marketing virtual assistant, therefore I launched &lt;a href="http://www.thevirtuallink.com/"&gt;The Virtual Link&lt;/a&gt; to focus on marketing services.  At TVL, I offer services as an &lt;a href="http://thevirtuallink.com/internet-marketing-specialist-assistant.htm"&gt;Internet marketing specialist&lt;/a&gt;, and work as a  &lt;a href="http://thevirtuallink.com/virtual-assistant-for-coaches.htm"&gt;Virtual Assistant for Coaches&lt;/a&gt;     &lt;a href="http://thevirtuallink.com/virtual-assistant-for-speakers.htm"&gt;Virtual Assistant for Speakers&lt;/a&gt;, and most notably as a &lt;a href="http://thevirtuallink.com/real-estate-virtual-assistant.htm"&gt;real estate virtual assistant&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Other virtual assistants specialize offering services in areas such as database management, podcasting, paralegal, transcriptionists, etc.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The point is to do what you like to do - and to do it well.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;If you're considering &lt;a href="http://www.vastartup.com/"&gt;starting a virtual assistant business&lt;/a&gt;, you may want to consider reading my ebook, &lt;a href="http://www.vastartup.com/virtual-assistant-boot-camp-ebook.html"&gt;Boot Camp for Virtual Assistants&lt;/a&gt; to guide you through the steps of starting your own virtual assistant business.  In addition this ebook also provides you with a list of services that clients are looking for assistance with to help you determine if you have any skills to launch your business with.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Additionally, I also provide &lt;a href="http://www.vastartup.com/coaching-at-vastartup.html"&gt;virtual assistant coaching&lt;/a&gt; services by the hour so that you can ask me questions about starting your business, get help with determining the services you should offer.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And on a side note, as many companies are laying off employees, those same companies are turning to outsourcing work - while the economy and job security is crashing, virtual assistants are getting more inquiries and clients than ever before!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;If you're interested in becoming a virtual assistant or need help marketing your business, contact me, let's chat!&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/9809762-1413961983038431296?l=www.thevirtuallink.com%2Fblog%2Fvirtual-assistant-blog.htm' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='related' href='http://www.vastartup.com' title='Start a Virtual Assistant Business'/><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9809762/1413961983038431296/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=9809762&amp;postID=1413961983038431296' title='10 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9809762/posts/default/1413961983038431296'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9809762/posts/default/1413961983038431296'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.thevirtuallink.com/blog/2008/11/start-virtual-assistant-business.htm' title='Start a Virtual Assistant Business'/><author><name>The Virtual Link</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03127613743184793761</uri><email>anna@thevirtuallink.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='18203660080816087664'/></author><thr:total>10</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9809762.post-7765658645831483494</id><published>2008-11-11T10:36:00.004-06:00</published><updated>2008-11-11T11:27:26.058-06:00</updated><title type='text'>Veterans Day and Heroes</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.thevirtuallink.com/blog/uploaded_images/e1-717917.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 232px; height: 320px;" src="http://www.thevirtuallink.com/blog/uploaded_images/e1-717900.jpg" alt="" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;Who is your hero?  And why?  My hero is my brother.  Ranger Ethan Graves.  Today it's only fitting that I show him some respect on my blog.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I find it disheartening that so many people overlook a day like today, Veteran's Day.  Those people have either (a) never served in our armed forces and/or (b) never had a close loved one who's served our nation.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;My brother served his time in the Army and has been in the reserves for a few years.   In 2006 they took him out of reserve duty and stationed him in Afghanistan.  Remarkably during that year as a Squad Leader, he brought ALL of his men home alive.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Amazing actually considering the fighting he was involved in.  The number of ambushes they endured.  The number of times they were called in to go rescue other troops who had been ambushed and were under fire and needed help getting out.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;During his time there, he hit 3 IEDs.  It's amazing he survived one blast, let alone 3.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The results of his time in Afghanistan landed him with a collapsed vertebrae disc and another one that is slowly collapsing.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;He's been home since 2007.  He's in extreme pain, sometimes he can't stand up.  The pain is excruciating.  The military sends him to doctor after doctor - and rather than fix his back, they'd prefer to dope him up on pain pills and muscle relaxers.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And throughout all the pain...he soldiers on.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I nearly lost my brother not once, not twice, not even three times.  The IEDs were just 3 events he went through.  Taking your troops into the midst of a full-out war zone to save others is not an easy task.  But a necessary one.  And one that he did well.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Most American's are thankless - because they just don't know.  They don't comprehend.  That or they just don't care.  And for that, I pity your ignorance.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.thevirtuallink.com/blog/uploaded_images/e2-734067.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 134px; height: 200px;" src="http://www.thevirtuallink.com/blog/uploaded_images/e2-734065.jpg" alt="" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;There are so many brave men and women who put their lives on the line daily for your freedom, for our freedom.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The United States is the land of opportunity, where you can lead your life as you choose.  Find a soldier today and thank them for the gift of freedom that they give you.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Ethan - I love you.  I thank you.  My kids thank you.  You're their hero too you know.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And to all those other soldiers, thank you, from the bottom of my heart.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/9809762-7765658645831483494?l=www.thevirtuallink.com%2Fblog%2Fvirtual-assistant-blog.htm' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9809762/7765658645831483494/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=9809762&amp;postID=7765658645831483494' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9809762/posts/default/7765658645831483494'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9809762/posts/default/7765658645831483494'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.thevirtuallink.com/blog/2008/11/veterans-day-and-heroes.htm' title='Veterans Day and Heroes'/><author><name>The Virtual Link</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03127613743184793761</uri><email>anna@thevirtuallink.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='18203660080816087664'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9809762.post-5713404435706531298</id><published>2008-10-07T15:40:00.003-05:00</published><updated>2008-10-07T15:51:53.281-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Business Week'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Google'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='article'/><title type='text'>Google's Method for Ranking "Influencers"  Wait, What?</title><content type='html'>Did you know that Google has a patent pending for ranking the most influential people on social networking sites?  According to &lt;a href="http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_40/b4102050681705.htm"&gt;an article in BusinessWeek&lt;/a&gt; it's true.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Okay, so if I understand this correctly, we will receive a ranking  much like our web sites have a PageRank determined by Google. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Wait.  What?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Will it also be called PR ranking?  As in people ranking?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I can't wait to check this out.  According to the article your ranking will be based on social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook and will track not just you but the people you "know" on social networking sites. The more well-connected you are, the better your rank?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;c-r-a-z-y.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It'll be interesting to see how this pans out...I'm off to get better connected I guess.  :)&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/9809762-5713404435706531298?l=www.thevirtuallink.com%2Fblog%2Fvirtual-assistant-blog.htm' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='related' href='http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_40/b4102050681705.htm' title='Google&apos;s Method for Ranking &quot;Influencers&quot;  Wait, What?'/><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9809762/5713404435706531298/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=9809762&amp;postID=5713404435706531298' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9809762/posts/default/5713404435706531298'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9809762/posts/default/5713404435706531298'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.thevirtuallink.com/blog/2008/10/googles-method-for-ranking-influencers.htm' title='Google&apos;s Method for Ranking &quot;Influencers&quot;  Wait, What?'/><author><name>The Virtual Link</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03127613743184793761</uri><email>anna@thevirtuallink.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='18203660080816087664'/></author><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9809762.post-4912696916166927976</id><published>2008-10-03T12:06:00.003-05:00</published><updated>2008-10-03T12:31:58.607-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='virtual assistant'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='projects'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='clients'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='real estate virtual assistant'/><title type='text'>Clients Clients Everywhere!</title><content type='html'>&lt;span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"&gt;Holy Guacamole Batman!&lt;/span&gt;  I can't believe my current client workload...but first, let's backtrack some.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Earlier this year, I kind of got into a funk about the constant merry-go-round of clients that I get.  I get a client, do their site, and they're in and out in less than 4 weeks.  It's feast or famine around here constantly.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It causes anxiety when you know some projects are getting ready to close and there aren't any leads on the horizon for new work.  Such has been my life for the past, what 7 or 8 years?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So I decided to pull away from web site design and revert to retainer clients once the kids got back into school in August.  I need to fill my practice with clients that need ongoing assistance in order to reduce my stress level some.  This was my goal and I started focusing on marketing to these kind of clients at the end of August.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So here I am the first week of October and I'm drowning in work! &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;One speaker client that I had on a 20 hour a month retainer now needs about 15 hours per week! &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;A commercial real estate company is about to sign for 40 hours per month for Internet marketing.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;This week an associate of mine requested help with social marketing work for an organization that has over 10,000 members....um yeah, Batman, you read that right - over 10,000 members!   Dude if only 1% of those members need help that's still 100 clients!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Another associate of mine contacted me this week and requested 40 hours per month for Internet marketing help for one of her clients.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Oh, and now my speaker client has referred me to a family member who is a consultant for brokers and real estate agents!&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;br /&gt;My head hurts thinking about it all. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I'm not complaining mind you, but I also have an &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"&gt;ebook&lt;/span&gt; I'm working on and some training modules that I've been putting together over the past month or two. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Oh and did I mention that I started taking classes up at the community college this semester? &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And yes, I'm still doing &lt;a href="http://thevirtuallink.com/real-estate-virtual-assistant.htm"&gt;real estate virtual assistant&lt;/a&gt; services such as web sites, &lt;a href="http://www.vastartup.com/coaching-at-vastartup.html"&gt;training Virtual Assistants&lt;/a&gt; and trying to run &lt;a href="http://www.geekgyrls.com"&gt;&lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"&gt;GeekGyrls&lt;/span&gt;.com&lt;/a&gt; but I can't give my babies (projects) the attention they deserve because, well, there's no more time left in my day!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;:)  &lt;span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"&gt;When you make a decision to do something, believe it and you can achieve it.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Oh, and does anyone know where I can get a Virtual Assistant?  I need help!  &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2"&gt;LOL&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/9809762-4912696916166927976?l=www.thevirtuallink.com%2Fblog%2Fvirtual-assistant-blog.htm' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9809762/4912696916166927976/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=9809762&amp;postID=4912696916166927976' title='4 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9809762/posts/default/4912696916166927976'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9809762/posts/default/4912696916166927976'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.thevirtuallink.com/blog/2008/10/clients-clients-everywhere.htm' title='Clients Clients Everywhere!'/><author><name>The Virtual Link</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03127613743184793761</uri><email>anna@thevirtuallink.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='18203660080816087664'/></author><thr:total>4</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9809762.post-1249578209316165828</id><published>2008-09-22T12:52:00.002-05:00</published><updated>2008-09-22T13:11:27.132-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='outlook'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='how to be a virtual assistant'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='email'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='real estate virtual assistant'/><title type='text'>MessageSave for Outlook</title><content type='html'>I often get frustrated with my Outlook due to the staggering number of client folders and the number of messages in each folder.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Quite often the messages that I receive have large file attachments with pictures, brochures and information which leaves my Outlook file quite large.  I like to have the email messages for future reference.  I never delete old messages because it's a kind of a CYA (cover your bootie) for me.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I recently ran across a fabulous little program called &lt;a href="http://www.plimus.com/jsp/redirect.jsp?contractId=1640498&amp;amp;referrer=thevirtuallink"&gt;MessageSave from TechHit&lt;/a&gt;.  With &lt;a href="http://www.plimus.com/jsp/redirect.jsp?contractId=1640498&amp;amp;referrer=thevirtuallink"&gt;MessageSave&lt;/a&gt; I am able to archive the entire Outlook folder with attachments to my client file on my hard drive.  The process was so easy it was a little scary!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Now I'm able to easily archive any client folders over 6 month old and my Outlook program isn't quite as large any more!  Check out &lt;a href="http://www.plimus.com/jsp/redirect.jsp?contractId=1640498&amp;amp;referrer=thevirtuallink"&gt;MessageSave from TechHit&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/9809762-1249578209316165828?l=www.thevirtuallink.com%2Fblog%2Fvirtual-assistant-blog.htm' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='related' href='http://www.plimus.com/jsp/redirect.jsp?contractId=1640498&amp;referrer=thevirtuallink' title='MessageSave for Outlook'/><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9809762/1249578209316165828/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=9809762&amp;postID=1249578209316165828' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9809762/posts/default/1249578209316165828'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9809762/posts/default/1249578209316165828'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.thevirtuallink.com/blog/2008/09/messagesave-for-outlook.htm' title='MessageSave for Outlook'/><author><name>The Virtual Link</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03127613743184793761</uri><email>anna@thevirtuallink.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='18203660080816087664'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9809762.post-4509809337528921916</id><published>2008-09-20T11:54:00.004-05:00</published><updated>2008-09-20T12:04:54.475-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='gooder group'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='thevirtual link'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='anna baron'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='rainmaker ecentral'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='real estate virtual assistant'/><title type='text'>Rainmaker Trained Virtual Assistants</title><content type='html'>Dan Richards of the &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"&gt;Gooder&lt;/span&gt; Group released an announcement this week in regards to their new Virtual Assistant Directory for Rainmaker &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"&gt;eCentral&lt;/span&gt; trained Virtual Assistants.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;If you're a real estate professional who's not using Rainmaker &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2"&gt;eCentral&lt;/span&gt; (what?  are there really successful &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3"&gt;REPs&lt;/span&gt; not using Rainmaker?) take a look at all Rainmaker has to offer. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Rainmaker &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4"&gt;eCentral&lt;/span&gt; is a 4-in-1 integrated system that includes lead-capture web forms, plug-in website content and automated drip e-mail which helps you generate more leads...enrich all your websites...and follow up every prospect without lifting a finger.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;When you're ready to sign-up for your account - be sure to find a &lt;a href="http://www.goodergroup.com/VAs/vaintro.asp"&gt;Rainmaker Certified Virtual Assistant&lt;/a&gt; (like me, &lt;a href="http://www.thevirtuallink.com"&gt;real estate virtual assistant&lt;/a&gt; Anna Baron of &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5"&gt;TheVirtualLink&lt;/span&gt;.com) and you can save $100 off your set-up costs!&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/9809762-4509809337528921916?l=www.thevirtuallink.com%2Fblog%2Fvirtual-assistant-blog.htm' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='related' href='http://www.goodergroup.com/VAs/vaintro.asp' title='Rainmaker Trained Virtual Assistants'/><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9809762/4509809337528921916/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=9809762&amp;postID=4509809337528921916' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9809762/posts/default/4509809337528921916'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9809762/posts/default/4509809337528921916'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.thevirtuallink.com/blog/2008/09/rainmaker-trained-virtual-assistants.htm' title='Rainmaker Trained Virtual Assistants'/><author><name>The Virtual Link</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03127613743184793761</uri><email>anna@thevirtuallink.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='18203660080816087664'/></author><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9809762.post-5707994970566139498</id><published>2008-08-23T22:07:00.003-05:00</published><updated>2008-08-24T09:51:39.129-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='email marketing'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='ezine'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='online marketing'/><title type='text'>Aweber E-mail Marketing</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href="http://www.aweber.com/?301173"&gt;&lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"&gt;Aweber&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt; is perhaps one of the most power e-mail marketing tools that I use, not only for my business but for my clients as well.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.aweber.com/?301173"&gt;&lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"&gt;Aweber&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt; is an email marketing tool with all of the essential (and powerful) marketing features that will enhance your online marketing efforts. Whether you are new to email marketing or a seasoned veteran looking for advanced tools and systems to enhance your current marketing efforts, &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2"&gt;Aweber&lt;/span&gt; is by far the most powerful online email marketing system I've used.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Perhaps my favorite feature of &lt;a href="http://www.aweber.com/?301173"&gt;&lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3"&gt;Aweber&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt; is the ability to create multiple databases for your marketing efforts.  By using multiple databases, you are able to customize your drip mail campaigns for more effective results in your online marketing efforts.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Best of all, you can &lt;a href="http://www.aweber.com/?301173"&gt;try &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4"&gt;Aweber&lt;/span&gt; out for 30 days absolutely free&lt;/a&gt;!  Visit the &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5"&gt;Aweber&lt;/span&gt; web site for additional information.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/9809762-5707994970566139498?l=www.thevirtuallink.com%2Fblog%2Fvirtual-assistant-blog.htm' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='related' href='http://www.aweber.com/?301173' title='Aweber E-mail Marketing'/><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9809762/5707994970566139498/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=9809762&amp;postID=5707994970566139498' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9809762/posts/default/5707994970566139498'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9809762/posts/default/5707994970566139498'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.thevirtuallink.com/blog/2008/08/aweber-e-mail-marketing.htm' title='Aweber E-mail Marketing'/><author><name>The Virtual Link</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03127613743184793761</uri><email>anna@thevirtuallink.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='18203660080816087664'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9809762.post-3749558046042759238</id><published>2008-08-19T11:01:00.002-05:00</published><updated>2008-08-27T22:40:02.264-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='geekgyrls'/><title type='text'>GeekGyrls</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.thevirtuallink.com/blog/uploaded_images/gglogo_white-781459.png"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://www.thevirtuallink.com/blog/uploaded_images/gglogo_white-781442.png" alt="" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;Take a peek at my new forum called &lt;a target="_blank" title="GeekGyrls Forum" mce_href="http://www.geekgyrls.com" href="http://www.geekgyrls.com/"&gt;GeekGyrls&lt;/a&gt;.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;GeekGyrls is for anyone geeky.  You speak geek - we want you!  Graphic designers, web designers, SEO gurus to programmers and coders.  It's not just for &lt;a target="_blank" title="real estate virtual assistant" mce_href="http://thevirtuallink.com/real-estate-virtual-assistant.htm" href="http://thevirtuallink.com/real-estate-virtual-assistant.htm"&gt;real estate virtual assistants&lt;/a&gt;, such as myself, nor is it for just the typical &lt;a target="_blank" title="virtual assistant" mce_href="http://www.thevirtualsecretary.com" href="http://www.thevirtualsecretary.com/"&gt;virtual assistant&lt;/a&gt;.    &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;If you're a geek, we want you! We need you...and deep down inside...you want us to!&lt;/p&gt;Be sure to review the &lt;a target="_blank" mce_href="http://www.geekgyrls.com/our-first-contest/the-first-contest/" href="http://www.geekgyrls.com/our-first-contest/the-first-contest/"&gt;$100 contest&lt;/a&gt; for those who join and refer people to the forum.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/9809762-3749558046042759238?l=www.thevirtuallink.com%2Fblog%2Fvirtual-assistant-blog.htm' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='related' href='http://www.geekgyrls.com' title='GeekGyrls'/><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9809762/3749558046042759238/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=9809762&amp;postID=3749558046042759238' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9809762/posts/default/3749558046042759238'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9809762/posts/default/3749558046042759238'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.thevirtuallink.com/blog/2008/08/geekgyrls.htm' title='GeekGyrls'/><author><name>The Virtual Link</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03127613743184793761</uri><email>anna@thevirtuallink.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='18203660080816087664'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9809762.post-1487146445959148414</id><published>2008-08-18T08:23:00.002-05:00</published><updated>2008-08-18T08:29:55.320-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='virtual assistant'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='resources'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='tips'/><title type='text'>ReadNotify to Confirm E-mail Receipt</title><content type='html'>&lt;p&gt;As a Virtual Assistant I sometimes run into issues with clients and colleagues who claim  to have not received an invoice or an e-mail I had sent.  After several instances of this, I began using a service called &lt;a title="ReadNotify, email receipt" href="http://www.readnotify.com/?from=fuk1c5ou1ujb7" target="_blank"&gt;ReadNotify&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a title="ReadNotify, email receipt" href="http://www.readnotify.com/?from=fuk1c5ou1ujb7" target="_blank"&gt;ReadNotify&lt;/a&gt; is a chep and affordable service ($24-$36 per year).  More than once it has been a resource to prove that e-mails were indeed received.  Sometimes this can be offensive to the client, but my experience is that the clients that are getting upset are the ones who are indeed receiving my e-mails, sometimes multiple times, and simply ignoring them.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Here are some of the features of &lt;a title="ReadNotify, email receipt" href="http://www.readnotify.com/?from=fuk1c5ou1ujb7" target="_blank"&gt;ReadNotify&lt;/a&gt;.  They tell you:&lt;/p&gt; &lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;date/time your e-mail was been opened&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;how long the e-mail was open or read&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;tracks and forwarding of your e-mail&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;notes if attachments web URLs were opened&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;To test out their service, &lt;a title="ReadNotify, email receipt" href="http://www.readnotify.com/?from=fuk1c5ou1ujb7" target="_blank"&gt;sign up for a free account&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;span style="text-decoration: underline;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a title="ReadNotify, email receipt" href="http://www.readnotify.com/?from=fuk1c5ou1ujb7" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/9809762-1487146445959148414?l=www.thevirtuallink.com%2Fblog%2Fvirtual-assistant-blog.htm' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='related' href='http://www.readnotify.com/?from=fuk1c5ou1ujb7' title='ReadNotify to Confirm E-mail Receipt'/><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9809762/1487146445959148414/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=9809762&amp;postID=1487146445959148414' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9809762/posts/default/1487146445959148414'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9809762/posts/default/1487146445959148414'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.thevirtuallink.com/blog/2008/08/readnotify-to-confirm-e-mail-receipt.htm' title='ReadNotify to Confirm E-mail Receipt'/><author><name>The Virtual Link</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03127613743184793761</uri><email>anna@thevirtuallink.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='18203660080816087664'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9809762.post-5548830069558415836</id><published>2008-08-17T11:22:00.002-05:00</published><updated>2008-08-17T11:28:03.614-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='ezine'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='make money online'/><title type='text'>Boosting your business with an ezine</title><content type='html'>&lt;p&gt;&lt;a title="Alexandria Brown" href="http://www.mcssl.com/app/aftrack.asp?afid=823382" mce_href="http://www.mcssl.com/app/aftrack.asp?afid=823382" target="_blank"&gt;Alexandria Brown&lt;/a&gt;, the &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"&gt;Ezine&lt;/span&gt; Queen, has a couple of amazing newsletters that I have read for years.  Her newsletters are a fun read and I almost always pick up some useful nugget of information to apply to my business.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Recently I purchased &lt;a href="http://www.mcssl.com/app/aftrack.asp?afid=823382" mce_href="http://www.mcssl.com/app/aftrack.asp?afid=823382" target="_blank"&gt;Boost Business with your Own &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"&gt;Ezine&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt; and wanted to share with you just how  impressed I was with this product.  The information and resources that I found in this product has helped me apply new techniques to how I do business online. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;If you haven't heard of Boost Business with Your Own &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2"&gt;Ezine&lt;/span&gt; Head then head on over to &lt;a href="http://www.mcssl.com/app/aftrack.asp?afid=823382"&gt;Ali's products page&lt;/a&gt;.  While you're there, check out her other cool tools to make money online with.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;And don't forget to sign up for the newsletter!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/9809762-5548830069558415836?l=www.thevirtuallink.com%2Fblog%2Fvirtual-assistant-blog.htm' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='related' href='http://www.mcssl.com/app/aftrack.asp?afid=823382' title='Boosting your business with an ezine'/><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9809762/5548830069558415836/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=9809762&amp;postID=5548830069558415836' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9809762/posts/default/5548830069558415836'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9809762/posts/default/5548830069558415836'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.thevirtuallink.com/blog/2008/08/boosting-your-business-with-ezine.htm' title='Boosting your business with an ezine'/><author><name>The Virtual Link</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03127613743184793761</uri><email>anna@thevirtuallink.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='18203660080816087664'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9809762.post-4065031212310080481</id><published>2008-07-28T10:04:00.003-05:00</published><updated>2008-07-28T10:12:34.132-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Cuil - a new search engine</title><content type='html'>A few months ago, I was really excited about SearchMe (&lt;a href="http://www.searchme.com/"&gt;www.searchme.com&lt;/a&gt;) , a visual search engine that had been launched. I still think it is a cool concept but to date, it has not taken off as expected.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Today I saw an article on Cuil (&lt;a href="http://www.cuil.com/"&gt;www.cuil.com&lt;/a&gt;) regarding a new search engine developed by Anna Patterson. Anna Patterson developed and later sold her Internet search engine to none other than Google. She has now launched Cuil (pronounced cool).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I took the new search engine out for a spin and honestly, I am not sure what I think about it yet.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;For instance, when you Google the term real estate virtual assistant you will generally find Cheryl Allin (&lt;a href="http://www.virtuallin.com/"&gt;www.virtuallin.com&lt;/a&gt;), REVAnetwork, The Virtual Link (&lt;a href="http://www.thevirtuallink.com/"&gt;www.thevirtuallink.com&lt;/a&gt;), Kim Hughes, Assistant for Real Estate, VA4RE, and others. None of these companies appear on the first page of results for this search engine. The first company to appear is Amber Drake with Essential-Admin.com on the second page followed by Kathy Goldman and Ruth Ann Macklin.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Another thing that kinda irritates me is that my graphic for the Boot Camp for Virtual Assistants ebook seems to appear several times next to results for companies that are not related to mine and do not sell my ebook? Which is confusing.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I am sure the search engine will get the kinks out of its system as it gets fine tuned, but be aware of Cuil as it is predicted to do quite well.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Here is the article if you are interested in reading it:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://money.cnn.com/2008/07/28/technology/cuil.ap/index.htm?cnn=yes"&gt;http://money.cnn.com/2008/07/28/technology/cuil.ap/index.htm?cnn=yes&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/9809762-4065031212310080481?l=www.thevirtuallink.com%2Fblog%2Fvirtual-assistant-blog.htm' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='related' href='http://www.cuil.com' title='Cuil - a new search engine'/><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9809762/4065031212310080481/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=9809762&amp;postID=4065031212310080481' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9809762/posts/default/4065031212310080481'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9809762/posts/default/4065031212310080481'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.thevirtuallink.com/blog/2008/07/cuil-new-search-engine.htm' title='Cuil - a new search engine'/><author><name>The Virtual Link</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03127613743184793761</uri><email>anna@thevirtuallink.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='18203660080816087664'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9809762.post-4018695868393094624</id><published>2008-07-25T09:59:00.002-05:00</published><updated>2008-07-25T10:18:05.262-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Service Providers...</title><content type='html'>No matter what industry you're in, if you provide a service, there's at least one person out there that appreciates you, depends on you, looks forward to seeing you or getting what service it is that you offer.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This week it's been pretty evident that I have come to depend on certain people being in my life and when they're not, my week just doesn't function as well.  And from my lips to my hips to my toes, all of my service providers have decided to go on vacation on the same week!   ARGH!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;My lips: &lt;/span&gt; My favorite barista, Coral, up at Starbuck's is on vacation this week in Florida.  People, love your barista and they will love you back!  Every morning after boot camp, M-F like clockwork I am there around 6:40am.  No longer does she ask what my order is, just rings it up, and 4 out of 5 times, she's noticed me walking up and has started my drink before I even get to the counter!  She's priceless I tell you!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I can always count on Coral to razz me about how crazy I am for getting up at 5am to go workout and to tell me about her morning or how her previous evening went.  Funny, funny lady and always has a story to tell.  I've come to count on this girl - without my daily venti caramel machiatto w/ 4 shots and extra caramel, I simply could not make it throughout the day.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;My hips: &lt;/span&gt; My boot camp instructor Chris for some odd reason thinks HE needs a vacation!  Seriously?  And while he's left an equally narcissistic replacement who's a mini-nazi such as himself in charge (her name is Diane and I love/hate her by the way) it's just not the same.  I like goofing off &lt;span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"&gt;with&lt;/span&gt; Diane at boot camp, challenging each other, giving Chris a daily dose of crap together...but when he's gone like this and she's in charge, it's a much different story.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;My toes: &lt;/span&gt; I need a pedicure.  And guess what?  Even my nail guy (yes, mine is a guy  LOL) is on vacation!  What the heck?  Tony is ALWAYS working.  I know he hasn't seen his family in Vietnam in 2 years but he took a whole month off of work to go home!  I mean, seriously?  A whole month?  You don't understand - this man is amazing - my nails never break, the designs he paints on my toes are THE coolest ever...  Pfft, I can have one of "the girls" do my mani/pedi...but it's just not the same.  Plus, Tony is always humming and singing along to the tunes on the radio - I keep telling him I'm going to put his butt on American Idol and he just laughs.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So there you go - from my lips to my hips to my toes, this week, I'm missing my people!  A lot!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And in the future, if you all could coordinate your vacation schedules to NOT be on vacation at the same time, it would save me a lot of grief!  :)  Miss ya'll!&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/9809762-4018695868393094624?l=www.thevirtuallink.com%2Fblog%2Fvirtual-assistant-blog.htm' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9809762/4018695868393094624/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=9809762&amp;postID=4018695868393094624' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9809762/posts/default/4018695868393094624'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9809762/posts/default/4018695868393094624'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.thevirtuallink.com/blog/2008/07/service-providers.htm' title='Service Providers...'/><author><name>The Virtual Link</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03127613743184793761</uri><email>anna@thevirtuallink.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='18203660080816087664'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9809762.post-8662276250916092794</id><published>2008-07-21T07:16:00.002-05:00</published><updated>2008-07-21T07:23:04.567-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='virtual assistant'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='real estate virtual assistant'/><title type='text'>Monday, Monday</title><content type='html'>&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Is it really Monday already?   &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As a &lt;a href="http://thevirtuallink.com/real-estate-virtual-assistant.htm"&gt;Real Estate Virtual Assistant&lt;/a&gt; working from home and loving it, at least I don't have to face the road rage out there today...I'm sitting here at my desk sipping my Starbucks coffee and deciding where to start...so much on the to-do list.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Here's a video for the rest of you facing the Monday morning blues...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;object width="425" height="344"&gt;&lt;param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/twNzS_TPftg&amp;amp;rel=0"&gt;&lt;param name="wmode" value="transparent"&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/twNzS_TPftg&amp;amp;rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="344"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/9809762-8662276250916092794?l=www.thevirtuallink.com%2Fblog%2Fvirtual-assistant-blog.htm' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9809762/8662276250916092794/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=9809762&amp;postID=8662276250916092794' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9809762/posts/default/8662276250916092794'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9809762/posts/default/8662276250916092794'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.thevirtuallink.com/blog/2008/07/monday-monday.htm' title='Monday, Monday'/><author><name>The Virtual Link</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03127613743184793761</uri><email>anna@thevirtuallink.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='18203660080816087664'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9809762.post-104508787992883858</id><published>2008-07-11T17:40:00.002-05:00</published><updated>2008-07-11T18:14:36.142-05:00</updated><title type='text'>The Calvinator</title><content type='html'>At what point do you tell yourself that you've lost your mind? That your actions sabotage the possibility of ever getting work done again?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;My son, Calvin, turned 5 yesterday.  He wants to be in a band so he asked for some drums and a guitar for his birthday.  Well, he got the drums.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I put his drums in the unfinished media room, upstairs, all the way in the back of the house.  I'm in my office, downstairs, all the way in the front of the house...and it's like I'm in the room with him.  Seriously, what was I thinking?  The media room is getting ready to be sound proofed and a door added to it to block out some of this noise!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;He did melt my heart when he smash-face hugged me today and said I was the best mom ever.  I think it's more like the craziest mom ever.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Here's a video of his first day on the drums...I think he has potential...and yes, I am the best mom ever!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;object width="425" height="344"&gt;&lt;param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/X5vZmNcsPWU"&gt;&lt;param name="wmode" value="transparent"&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/X5vZmNcsPWU" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="344"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/9809762-104508787992883858?l=www.thevirtuallink.com%2Fblog%2Fvirtual-assistant-blog.htm' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9809762/104508787992883858/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=9809762&amp;postID=104508787992883858' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9809762/posts/default/104508787992883858'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9809762/posts/default/104508787992883858'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.thevirtuallink.com/blog/2008/07/calvinator.htm' title='The Calvinator'/><author><name>The Virtual Link</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03127613743184793761</uri><email>anna@thevirtuallink.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='18203660080816087664'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9809762.post-5735632968275290322</id><published>2008-07-08T08:27:00.004-05:00</published><updated>2008-07-08T08:47:43.498-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='katie baird'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='geekgyrls'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='how to be a virtual assistant'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='coffee'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='loose ends'/><title type='text'>Tying Up the Loose Ends</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.thevirtuallink.com/blog/uploaded_images/starbucks-761017.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://www.thevirtuallink.com/blog/uploaded_images/starbucks-761015.jpg" alt="" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Right now I'm sitting here sipping on my addiction, a venti caramel macchiato w/ 4 shots and extra caramel from Starbucks.  And can I just say, &lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;it's damn tasty&lt;/span&gt;!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I'm sending a special thank you to my &lt;a href="http://looseends.net/"&gt;virtual assistant buddy, Katie Baird over at Loose Ends&lt;/a&gt;.  Katie, an avid stalker of my blogs (and I say that with all the love in the world) read my blog from yesterday on &lt;a href="http://www.thevirtuallink.com/blog/2008/07/getting-distracted-getting-focused.htm"&gt;Getting Distracted, Getting Focused&lt;/a&gt; and not only did she send some virtual support, but the lady sent me some love through PayPal to go buy a cup of coffee...and that's just what I did this morning!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Being the GeekGyrls that we are, I've asked Katie to help out with one of my projects that I'll be announcing soon -  and she agreed!  Thanks Katie girl...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And for all you other VA buds of mine that called to get into my business...don't.  :)  Send me some PayPal love instead to keep me stocked up on the carmel macchiato's so I can spend more time on my projects and less time on the phone.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Oh, and if you think you're a GeekGyrl, drop me an e-mail and let me know...maybe I'll let you help me out on my latest project.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/9809762-5735632968275290322?l=www.thevirtuallink.com%2Fblog%2Fvirtual-assistant-blog.htm' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='related' href='http://looseends.net' title='Tying Up the Loose Ends'/><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9809762/5735632968275290322/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=9809762&amp;postID=5735632968275290322' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9809762/posts/default/5735632968275290322'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9809762/posts/default/5735632968275290322'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.thevirtuallink.com/blog/2008/07/tying-up-loose-ends.htm' title='Tying Up the Loose Ends'/><author><name>The Virtual Link</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03127613743184793761</uri><email>anna@thevirtuallink.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='18203660080816087664'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9809762.post-3580416512606432834</id><published>2008-07-07T08:37:00.004-05:00</published><updated>2008-08-23T21:05:14.290-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Getting Distracted, Getting Focused</title><content type='html'>The past few months have been riddled with absolute craziness.  The distractions in my life have overruled my sanity, my desire to focus on work and the ability to think rationally.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In the past 3 months, I've lost a best friend over business dealings and my mother was in the hospital for almost a month.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It's been a wicked ride the past 3 months but I'm back and stronger than ever.   I'm focused again.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I've got several projects underway and will post about them all as soon as they're formally launched.  Stay tuned!&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/9809762-3580416512606432834?l=www.thevirtuallink.com%2Fblog%2Fvirtual-assistant-blog.htm' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9809762/3580416512606432834/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=9809762&amp;postID=3580416512606432834' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9809762/posts/default/3580416512606432834'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9809762/posts/default/3580416512606432834'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.thevirtuallink.com/blog/2008/07/getting-distracted-getting-focused.htm' title='Getting Distracted, Getting Focused'/><author><name>The Virtual Link</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03127613743184793761</uri><email>anna@thevirtuallink.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='18203660080816087664'/></author><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9809762.post-9111363052549756238</id><published>2008-05-25T20:06:00.002-05:00</published><updated>2008-05-25T20:08:41.937-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Memorial Day Weekend</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.rrd2.com/rangergraves.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px;" src="http://www.rrd2.com/rangergraves.jpg" alt="" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It's Memorial Day Weekend.  As such, I have to send some love and respect out to my brother, Ranger Ethan Graves.  You will ALWAYS be my hero!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;If you don't stand behind our military - feel free to stand in front of them!&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/9809762-9111363052549756238?l=www.thevirtuallink.com%2Fblog%2Fvirtual-assistant-blog.htm' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9809762/9111363052549756238/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=9809762&amp;postID=9111363052549756238' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9809762/posts/default/9111363052549756238'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9809762/posts/default/9111363052549756238'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.thevirtuallink.com/blog/2008/05/memorial-day-weekend.htm' title='Memorial Day Weekend'/><author><name>The Virtual Link</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03127613743184793761</uri><email>anna@thevirtuallink.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='18203660080816087664'/></author><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9809762.post-2255301057883146731</id><published>2008-05-19T13:34:00.002-05:00</published><updated>2008-05-19T13:40:31.516-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='how to be a virtual assistant'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='web site design'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='real estate virtual assistant'/><title type='text'>On Your Toes VA launches new web site!</title><content type='html'>Meet Lori Cain of &lt;a href="http://www.onyourtoesva.com"&gt;On Your Toes VA&lt;/a&gt;!  Lori is a  Virtual Assistant with 15 years experience who has decided to focus her niche on providing real estate virtual assistant services.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Lori specializes in Lead Management, Transaction Coordination and Listing Coordination.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;We worked with Lori developing her web site and she is a real pleasure to work with.  If you &lt;a href="http://www.onyourtoesva.com"&gt;need a Virtual Assistant&lt;/a&gt;, contact Lori for additional information.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/9809762-2255301057883146731?l=www.thevirtuallink.com%2Fblog%2Fvirtual-assistant-blog.htm' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='related' href='http://www.onyourtoesva.com' title='On Your Toes VA launches new web site!'/><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9809762/2255301057883146731/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=9809762&amp;postID=2255301057883146731' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9809762/posts/default/2255301057883146731'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9809762/posts/default/2255301057883146731'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.thevirtuallink.com/blog/2008/05/on-your-toes-va-launches-new-web-site.htm' title='On Your Toes VA launches new web site!'/><author><name>The Virtual Link</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03127613743184793761</uri><email>anna@thevirtuallink.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='18203660080816087664'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry></feed>