Virtual Girl - Virtual World

New Beginnings

noreply@blogger.com (Integrity Office Solutions) — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 14:33:00 +0000

During her recent Oscar acceptance speech, actress Mo’Nique credited her husband with giving her the advice that “sometimes you have to forego doing what’s popular in order to do what’s right”. This hit home in a big way for me because it sums up the recent changes in my life to a T.

Many people have been asking me where I’ve been. At one point I was very active on Twitter, Facebook, blogging , radio and pretty much every corner of the Internet imaginable. I was in demand and on the move. I was for lack of a better word, “popular”. People knew my name, they knew my reputation, and wanted to work with me, partner with me or at least be connected to me. It was a great feeling! But popularity comes with a price.

Last Spring I was able to move my family from Las Vegas to my hometown in Michigan which was a dream come true for me. It was the beginning of my metamorphosis. When I got here I felt that a giant weight had been lifted. I had “my people” around and familiar surroundings. I didn’t have to forge this big city girl lifestyle anymore when the small town girl in me that had been clamoring to get out had finally been released. I was home. I could just be me. But then I began to notice something. What I was doing in my professional life wasn’t meshing well with this authentic me I was trying to unleash.

From the outside looking in, I had it all. Living where I wanted, getting to work from home with people all over the country who were paying me good money to help them grow their businesses. But the more immersed I became in that world the more I realized it was not who I was. I wasn’t sure where these feelings were coming from. After all, didn’t I love doing this? Didn’t I spend the last couple of years telling everyone how much I love this profession and all that goes with it? I thought so. But the more I connected with that inner small town simple girl, the less I wanted this big life that I had.

I began to explore other options. Did I want to branch out and start a different business? Did I want to specialize more in what I was doing? I had to do something else. Everyone who was following me online along with all of my friends who envied my life would probably throw virtual tomatoes at me if I ever even thought about going back to a regular J.O.B. I spent sleepless nights and endless days thinking about what my next move would be. But nothing sounded good to me. I was tired of all the same bull of everyone thinking they’re an expert and promoting this new program and that new teleseminar and free calls and “can’t miss” opportunities. OMG ENOUGH ALREADY!!!, I thought. Everyone is spewing the same message, just packaged slightly differently! I didn’t want to be involved in that world anymore. That was not who I was, although I tried to be because it was “popular”.

I had stopped putting certain personal things on Facebook because I didn’t want to bore or offend any clients or colleagues or virtual VIP’s that might think I was unprofessional. Then one day I realized I didn’t care! If you can’t deal with me talking about my daughter, or what I’m having for dinner or seeing that I just found a golden egg on Farmville, then I don’t need to be friends with you because those things are a part of who I am and I’m not going to hide from it just to portray some sort of false image. In fact I took it a step further a couple of weeks ago by deleting about half of my friends on Facebook. Most of them had been connections based on the idea that they might be future clients or valuable contacts. I’m done with that. If we have not had some sort of personal connection or don’t know each other, I’m not going to be your FB friend. Period. I’m not looking to have 5,000 friends. I’m looking for connections with real people.

After these changes began to surface I began doing some more soul searching about what I truly wanted. I knew I didn’t want to be married to my work or tied to my phone. I didn’t want to have to maintain some sort of elaborate marketing program to keep up my popularity and do the next big thing just to stay ahead of the competition. I wanted simplicity. I wanted to do my job and have my time be my time. For me there was only one answer. I needed to find a part time job. Something that would allow me to go to work, but still be here for my daughter when she gets off the bus at noon. I no longer had lofty pie in the sky dreams to be at the top of the food chain. I wanted to earn my money and be with my family. That’s it.

This all sounded good but I began to panic a little. Remember I live in a very small town and oh yeah by the way the economy sucks right now. How was I going to find anything? But I couldn’t be stuck in a life I didn’t want anymore! I searched anyway for about two weeks. I ended up seeing a position I thought I might qualify for if they would just give me a chance to speak to them. My resume was great but I feared that once they saw I had a business it would scare them away. After all why would I leave my own gig to work for someone else? What was wrong with me?

I was surprised and delighted one afternoon when one of the owners called me and said he was impressed with what he saw. We had a fabulous chat over the phone about what the job entailed and I was elated to find out it was everything I was looking for and everything I was good at. It was also part time to start and was a work from home position. PERFECT! The gods were truly smiling down on me! He said he thought I was perfect for what they were looking for and he wanted me to meet with his business partner over coffee to discuss. A few days later I walked out of that meeting with a new job and a new outlook. I came home, said goodbye to my business and hello to my new opportunity.

My first day was yesterday and for the first time in a long time I woke up excited about what the day would hold for me. I have let go of the baggage that was pulling me down and I now have the ability to do a great job while staying at home, earn my paycheck and let someone else worry about everything else. I couldn’t be happier. This was the missing piece to unleashing my authentic self. I now feel like I can be myself completely doing what I enjoy and planting new seeds where my roots began.

Before I forget I should mention that this will be the final post for Virtual Girl | Virtual World but not the end of me! I will be starting a new blog soon that will be a bit less business oriented and a little more lighthearted and personal. I will announce it on Facebook when it’s ready so watch for it! Thanks for your loyalty and for following me all this time! From the bottom of my heart I truly appreciate it!

Handy Manny a Business Mentor?

noreply@blogger.com (Integrity Office Solutions) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 14:42:00 +0000

My humble and sincere apologies for taking this long to update my blog. The craziness of summer combined with my little one starting school, and everything else in between left me with little time to focus on writing. However, Fall is here, things have settled down and I've got lots of content stored up in this brain of mine just waiting to pour out.

Part of the morning routine in our household involves watching an episode of Handy Manny before school. For those of you who are not familiar with the show, Handy Manny is a Hispanic cartoon character who lives in the fictional town of Sheetrock Hills. He owns Handy Manny's Repair Shop and he is the "go to" guy in town for anything that needs to be fixed. I should also mention he has a toolbox full of talking tools who help him get the job done.

That being said, the show is one that is actually bearable to watch as a parent and maybe I tune in a little too much but I started to derive a few business lessons from watching and thought I would share my findings with you in good fun. So without further ado, the following is what I have learned about business from Handy Manny:

The Power of Team
If there's one concept Manny understands it's the power of "team". Although his business is called "Handy Manny's Repair Shop", he knows he cannot perform any job without his trusty tools, Felipe, Turner, Stretch, Squeeze, Pat, Dusty and Rusty. It takes the whole team working together and communicating to get the job done correctly. If one of the tools has a problem the others jump in to help him out. Manny relies completely on his team of tools and is the first to admit he couldn't do what he does without them.

Resourcefulness
Manny is very resourceful and knows exactly where to go for what he needs, Kelly's Hardware. Kelly always has whatever Manny needs in large supply and Manny knows he doesn't have to waste time searching all over town. Because of Manny's good relationship with Kelly (personally I think they have something going on but that's just my opinion) he knows that he can trust her and her store to help him with any job regardless of how big or small it is.

Attitude
Even under the most challenging circumstances Manny maintains a positive attitude. There have been many situations when he could have said, "you know what, I can't do this". But he perseveres, relies on his team for support and on some occasions breaks into song to boost morale. He also never shows concern in front of his customers. He waits until he gets back to his shop and then he and the tools talk about solutions to the problem.

Outstanding Customer Service
I'm not positive whether Manny has the only repair shop in town or not but whether he does or he doesn't he has a reputation of being the best in the business. He never fails to provide top notch customer service and goes above and beyond to make his customers happy. His phone never stops ringing because word gets around fast in Sheetrock Hills and one happy customer leads to several referrals.

Master Networker
Manny doesn't hide out in his repair shop when he's not busy working, he is out in the community. Whether it's at Kelly's Hardware checking out the latest tool catalog, or Mr. Lopart's candy store or participating in charity events, Manny is a visible presence around town. He says hello and strikes up a conversation with everyone he meets and often times those casual conversations lead to new business. He's never pushy about what he does, he just lets the conversation flow naturally and always with a friendly smile.

Manny is definitely one to watch in the business world. I'm sure any minute now Manny will be writing an ebook, starting a Mastermind group or holding do it yourself home repair teleclasses. Hmmm I wonder if he needs a VA.

Let Your Light Shine

noreply@blogger.com (Integrity Office Solutions) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 00:04:00 +0000

This week we’ve had a number of untimely celebrity passings: Tonight Show sidekick Ed McMahon, Charlie’s Angel Farrah Fawcett, Music Icon Michael Jackson and most recently, the man known as the King of Infomercials Billy Mays. Though all of these individuals left their own mark on the world with their unique talent, style and personalities, they share one thing in common – they all loved what they did and let their light shine through in their work and everyday lives.

Hearing of these incredible losses one after the other this week really got me to thinking. Their time came far too quickly but they will all be remembered for the short time they were here because they put everything they had into what they did and how they lived their lives. It made me a little sad that the majority of us go through life just living by the status quo. We go to our jobs, take care of our families and find ourselves tired, exhausted, even resentful sometimes.

I grew up being taught I needed to go to college, find a job stay at that job for 30 + years and retire with a gold watch. No one ever introduced the idea to me that I could be successful with my own business and make money doing something I actually liked doing not only what was expected of me. I think at one point or another we all get caught in the trap of not following our hearts because we need to put food on the table or we worry that others will think we’re crazy for leaving a steady paycheck and benefits for the unknown. Yes the unknown is a bit scary but these days there’s no guarantee that the 30 year job will be there tomorrow. In my opinion, I’d rather be in control of where my next paycheck is coming from instead of relying on someone else to make that decision for me or worrying about pounding the pavement in hopes that someone thinks I’m “qualified enough” to work for them.

I prefer to dance to the beat of my own drum and let my light shine through what I do and who I interact with on a daily basis. Is it a challenge? Yes. Is it difficult sometimes? Sure. Would I trade it for anything? Absolutely not, because I’m doing what makes me happy, contributing to my household and living life on my terms. If something isn’t working, I can fix it. If I don’t like something, I can change it. If I want to move in a different direction I can do so without waiting for a promotion or approval from anyone.

I live a simple life in a small town because I choose to, not stuck in a city I hate just because there may be opportunities there.

The life I am creating is my “why” for doing what I do. I am in control. I have no limits. Though I am an unknown compared to the four fallen souls we lost this week, I’d like to think I am similar in that they all impacted the world in a positive way by doing what they loved and doing it their way and in my own little way I am doing the same thing. If my time came tomorrow would my picture be plastered on Access Hollywood and all over the Internet? Probably not, but somewhere, somehow I have made a difference in someone’s life and that matters more to me than a gold watch for 30 years of service where no one will remember my name when I walk out the door.

Farewell Ed, Farrah, Michael and Billy, thank you for shining your lights for us all. You will be missed.

Change Is Good!

noreply@blogger.com (Integrity Office Solutions) — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 02:18:00 +0000

I hope you're sitting, I know it's a shock but yes, I'm back! For my loyal readers I apologize that it's been so long since I've updated but as most of you know my family and I recently moved from Vegas to Michigan (see previous post for the back story). Now that things are put away and a routine has been established I finally feel like I can get back to writing.

Though not completely settled (my hubby is still in Vegas with our stuff and our 3 cats and I'm flying out on the 21st of June to make the 3 day drive back with him), we are realizing more and more every day that this change was exactly what we needed.

The biggest joy out of every day is being able to watch my daughter play outside by herself which she could never do before living in a big city with no yard to speak of. She loves being outside exploring with the neighborhood kids, saying hello to the mailman, and her new favorite thing, taking care of her very own tomato plant.

This change has also taught me a lot about what I'm made of. With my husband not being here I've had to be mom and dad. And without my daughter being in preschool at the moment I've also had to be teacher and playmate not to mention trying to operate my business. Thank goodness for family support but even still, it hasn't been easy. But we're doing it. I've learned I'm much stronger than I gave myself credit for. I've also learned that I can get by with much less than I thought with most of my stuff still in Vegas. I actually don't miss a lot of it.

I'm eating healthier and enjoying walking in my neighborhood with one of my good friends. I've lost about ten pounds since moving back without much effort, just small changes.

I am more creative now than I've been in months. Maybe it's all this fresh air, or maybe it's just because I was bogged down with "stuff" and noise before, but ideas are flowing and I'm definitely in my creative zone right now.

I've also decided to start another business which I'm really excited about. Details coming soon. I finally feel like all of the pieces to my puzzle are falling into place.

Sometimes change is what is needed to get out of a rut and jumpstart your life. It might not be as drastic as a cross country move, maybe it's making a career change, a new apartment or house or even a new outfit. However big or small, I invite you to explore what changes might affect your life for the better. Would you like to be doing different work than you are now? Living in a different location? Be 10, 20 or 30 pounds lighter? Have more energy? What changes could you make in your life to make those things happen? What is holding you back?

Thanks for sticking with me! It's great to be back!

Until next time, have an amazing week!

Thank You Hannah Montana

noreply@blogger.com (Integrity Office Solutions) — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 20:41:00 +0000

Last weekend my husband and I took our daughter to see the Hannah Montana movie. We’re all huge fans of the show and knew the movie would be great but we had no idea the affect it would have on us.

With our four year old sitting happily between us we watched anxiously wondering whether Miley would continue to live her double life or give it up for something else. But something happened about midway through the movie. It stopped being about Miley/Hannah and became about us. At one point my husband and I looked at each other both in tears. The storyline in the movie seemed to parallel what we were going through in our own lives. Our daughter looked at both of us like we were nuts but we didn’t care. Let me explain what happened.

Both my husband and I are chronic people pleasers. It’s a blessing and a curse but it is who we are. Family is always first with us and we’ve spent a lot of time over the years working hard to try and make everyone happy.

Before we got married my now husband and I took a trip to Michigan where I’m from to meet my family and friends. He immediately fell in love with the place. Everything about it. The people the places, all of it. I was so excited he loved it as much as I did and we vowed that some day we would make it our home. Unfortunately since we both want to make everyone happy, he worried about what his friends and family would think of him living there and I worried about what my friends and family would think about us moving back there. Thirteen years, three cross country moves and twelve addresses later we have been so busy people pleasing that we lost ourselves in the process. We realized that we will never make everyone happy and now that we have our daughter it is about giving her the best possible life we can give her.

Over the past year we’ve talked a lot about where we will make our permanent home. Our daughter is starting kindergarten in the fall and we wanted to settle down before she started school. After weighing all of the pros and cons we finally arrived at the decision that we’ve wanted to be in Michigan all along. We’ve never let ourselves follow our own dream and have let others talk us out of it for one reason or another. So the moving plans began.

During the past few months our conversations have been about how peaceful we feel for the first time in our 15 years together because we know we are doing the right thing for us this time. We know we are giving our daughter a childhood she deserves in a place where she can be safe and happy. I know that I can share experiences with her that I had as a child and see them again through her eyes. We will be blessed to have family and friends around who love us and will be much closer in proximity to my husband’s family in Connecticut so that we can visit them more often which was very important to us.

We couldn’t be more excited about our move in just a couple of weeks and can’t wait to start this new chapter in our lives.

The lesson we’ve learned is to never let anyone steal your dreams. It’s ok to want to make others happy but you can only do that if you make yourself happy and do what’s right for you. If you can do that everything else will fall into place.

Remove the Guru Glue

noreply@blogger.com (Integrity Office Solutions) — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 19:52:00 +0000

I've noticed something interesting lately in my various social networks and circles. Everyone seems to be an expert. Everywhere I look someone is an expert at helping me market my business, increasing my income, get more traffic to my website, write a book, make millions on the internet, the list goes on and on.

My question is, where did all these self proclaimed experts come from and what makes them an expert to begin with?

The truth is just about anyone these days can claim they are an expert at something but you owe it to yourself to do your research before jumping on any bandwagon.

We all want to be successful and we're all looking for the "thing" that will get us where we want to be. Many of us (myself included) have stepped in what I call "Guru Glue" at one time or another. Guru Glue is when you get caught up in an expert's hype and information and before you know it you're on their mailing list, signing up for teleseminars and buying their products. Before you even get a chance to go through one program another guru comes along and you find yourself repeating the process over and over until you have an inbox full of newsletters you probably never read and several programs you purchased thinking they would bring you great success when in reality you haven't had time to go through any of them.

Before the next guru sticks to your shoe, do some research.

They may be successful but is the path they took the path you want for your own business?
Are you going to have to spend thousands of dollars to get the "real" information that they don't give you in the $47 or $97 info product that you bought?
Is the way they conduct their business in alignment with the way you conduct yours?
Are you seeking information because you feel stuck or lost? If so you may need to evaluate some underlying issues with yourself and your business before continuing your search.
Is the information they are presenting the same information you've heard over and over regurgitated in a different way?
Are you looking at the information from an emotional standpoint or a logical one?
Does this person have long term success? There are hundreds of so-called "experts" out there who seem to have found overnight success with one method or another. But will they be around in ten years? Or even six months?
Is their expertise based on information you can easily find yourself for free?

I'm not saying you shouldn't find mentors or successful people to model after. That's absolutely a key component to success. However, it's so incredibly easy to get caught up in the moment when something too good to be true comes along. (and by the way, if it seems to good to be true, it probably is or there's some sort of big catch that isn't obvious on the surface). The info product industry is soaring with the increase in online businesses. There are more products, mastermind programs, membership sites and teleseminars out there than you can imagine. Its very easy to quickly put these products together, throw together a sales page and sell them. But having a snazzy sales page, creative copy and eye-catching graphics doesn't make someone an expert.

If you're really interested in someone as an expert, here are some ways to get quality information from them for FREE:

1. Subscribe to Their Newsletter or Ezine
(yes I know I warned against this earlier in the post, but really an ezine is a safe way to get free tips and great information from someone in the industry that you admire.) You can always unsubscribe later if you decide you are no longer getting value from it.

2. Read their Blog
Most experts have a blog that they update at least once per week. There is usually a wealth of information in each post. Much of which comes straight from the info products that they sell.

3. Follow them on Twitter
Follow experts you are interested in on Twitter or Facebook. Many experts offer exclusive tips that they only post on Twitter. It is also a good way to interact with them on a more real level instead of placing them on an unreachable pedistal. Many experts also create Facebook fan pages and groups where you can get incredible content you won't find anywhere else from them. You may even find that some experts offer special deals and discounts to their "Fans" in the event you choose to purchase something from them so it pays to be on the "inside".

4. Sign Up for a Free Online Class
Most of the time when an expert does a "free" teleclass or webinar they are doing it to sell a product at the end. However, in the 60-90 minutes during the presentation you can usually get a lot of great information and tips for just the cost of the phone call. (*tip: to avoid spending the money on the phone call, sign up and wait for them to send you the recording after the call. Most offer the recording when you sign up as a bonus so you don't have to worry about missing the information).

Before the next guru sticks to you, take the time to decide for yourself whether you even need expert advice to be successful. If the answer is yes then do your research and make sure the guru is a good fit for you, your business and your objectives.

Spring Clean Your Business!

noreply@blogger.com (Integrity Office Solutions) — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 05:08:00 +0000

I know I know you all thought I've fallen off the face of the earth. I assure you that I haven't. I've just been incredibly busy. I've also been doing a little Spring cleaning. Yes it's that time of year again. Time to clean out the closets and make everything fresh and sparkly. While Spring cleaning your house is always a good idea, have you ever thought about Spring cleaning your business?

I know the concept might sound a little bit odd but Spring is a great time to physically and metaphorically clean out the cobwebs of your business.

Organize Organize Organize!
Some say a messy desk is the sign of a brilliant mind. If that's the case I must be a flippin' genius! All kidding aside my desk does tend to get a little crazy when I'm in the zone and I've got a list of deadlines a mile long. Notes and scribbles jotted down on scrap paper, files out of place, I'm sure you can relate. But there's no better time than now to take an afternoon and go through it.

1. SORT & TOSS - Sit at your desk with trash can and/or paper shredder nearby. Make a "file pile" and get rid of anything that needs tossing. (*Note: be sure to shred anything that contains personal information like account numbers, addresses, etc... rather than simply throwing it away.)

2. FILE - When you're done tossing, file the important papers that remain. If you don't have a filing system now is a great time to set one up. It doesn't have to be anything fancy. A simple system filing by client or project name or by category (i.e. financial, project ideas, associations) is a great way to get those papers off your desk and in their proper place.

3. PRIORITIZE - Create a simple box system on your desk. It can be a simple "incoming" and "outgoing" system or a little more involved with boxes for "to do" and "to file". It depends on your business and the way you work best. The important thing is to find a way to manage the flow of work coming across your desk.

As you're priortizing your paperwork have a calendar or day planner handy to make note of any obvious deadlines or project notes. Then you can sort the paperwork according to due date.

Congratulations! You can see your desk! But you're not done yet. See the the thing with the square box and keyboard sitting there? That's your computer and it needs a little Spring cleaning too.

Your Computer

1. CLEAR YOUR DESKTOP
Just as you did with your "real" desktop you need to clear off your computer's desktop as well. Put items in folders and label the folders in a way that you will recognize them. (i.e. client name, project name, category). Once you have everything sorted in their appropriate folders, move those folders to another location. Either your hard drive, external hard drive or if the files are no longer being used archive them on a disc, online storage or some other preferred storage method.

2. ORGANIZE YOUR HARD DRIVE
Check out your computer's "Documents" folder, or wherever you keep your files, for any important files that need attention whether it's to work on them, delete them or archive them. It's always best to archive old files and keep only on your computer what you are working on at the moment. Don't trust your computer to keep them safe. Computers crash. Make sure that information is kept safe at all times. Consider purchasing an external hard drive (starting at around $100) and do a weekly backup of your files. That way in the event of a crash you'll have the most recent version of a file saved.

3. COMPUTER MAINTENANCE
Take care of your computer by doing a disk cleanup as well as a defragmenting. These options are normally found in your accessories folder if you're on a PC. Also clear your internet browser's history and cookies. All of these things take up memory and cause your computer to run slower. By performing regular maintenance you'll keep it running at optimum performance.

If you happen to have more than one computer, rinse and repeat! (Jackie's Disclaimer: Please note I am not suggesting you immerse your computer in water or shampoo it by any means. It's just a figure of speech :o) )

Evaluate
Once you've cleaned up your workspace consider evaluating your business. Did you create some goals around the first of the year? How are those coming along? Are you on track or do those goals need tweaking? Is your business moving in the direction you want it to go? Why or why not? What do you need to do in order to move into Summer with the business you desire? Write it down! Make a plan.

Whew! With all of that Spring cleaning you've done you're probably ready for Summer Vacation! I don't blame you but I promise it will be worth it when your business is going full speed ahead. Now, where did I put my pen?

Are You a Chronic Joiner?

noreply@blogger.com (Integrity Office Solutions) — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 18:21:00 +0000

Are you a member of so many Facebook groups that when you get a message from one of them you think, “When did I join that group”? Or do you forget you joined a membership site only to remember when you get an email notification that your payment has been processed on your credit card? Like many business owners out there you could be a chronic joiner.

I am guilty of being a chronic joiner myself. Hi, my name is Jackie and I am a chronic joiner. There I said it! It’s ok, you can admit it. We are not here to judge. Go ahead!

Being a chronic joiner doesn’t make you a bad person, it just means you are trying to find the best avenues to learn from, network and improve yourself and your business. Doing so however, could be cluttering up your life and creating an unnecessary feeling of overwhelm.

The problem is, there is so much great information out there you want to take advantage of whatever you can but if you’re not taking advantage once you join then what is the point?

I know for myself, I belong to way too many Facebook groups. Some I joined to be supportive of friends, some I joined because I thought they would benefit my business. Guess what? I don’t participate in any of them. Not because I don’t want to but because I forget or the group doesn’t appeal to me anymore and I just don’t take the time to leave.

I have also joined several social networking sites thinking they were perfect for me (and they might be) but since I mainly do my networking through Twitter and Facebook I rarely take the time to visit the other networks that I belong to.

Along with those I have also joined a few paid membership sites which are all great but my $20 or $30 is going out the window every month because I forget about them.

So what the answer to getting focused and eliminating the excess from your life when it comes to memberships?

Evaluate and Purge
This week I plan to go through my Facebook and other online groups and evaluate why I joined in the first place. What was I hoping to accomplish by becoming a member? If I don’t know or can’t remember, they will automatically be deleted from the list. When I have it narrowed down I will go through and look at what is remaining and see if those groups are something I want to participate in and learn from. If they are not then they will also be deleted. What’s left should be a very short list of high quality groups that I can take a few minutes each day to digest information from and/or participate in.

The same goes for membership sites. I plan to evaluate why I signed up as well as evaluate the information on the site. Is it what I thought I was getting when I joined? Can I get this information free somewhere else? Am I taking advantage of the features and benefits of the site?

I highly encourage you to take stock of your various memberships in the same way. It’s difficult to have room to grow and flourish in your business if your space is cluttered with “stuff” you’ll never use no matter how good your intentions may be when you first join.

The next time you’re tempted to join a group or become a member of something. Look past the excitement of the moment and ask yourself if you really have the time to get the full benefit of joining or if that time or money could be better spent somewhere else. “Join” me in kicking the chronic joiner syndrome!

Business is Like a Slot Machine

noreply@blogger.com (Integrity Office Solutions) — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 17:58:00 +0000

Since I only have a couple of months left in Vegas I figured I should squeeze in at least one Vegas related post before I go.

This past weekend I spent two nights at a local resort which is something I do for myself every year around my birthday. I take my favorite books, magazines and just unplug from work and life for a couple of days to relax and recharge. Of course I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to try my hand at winning some serious Vegas cash at a slot machine. Just my luck, I did win a progressive jackpot, a whopping $8.46. I know can you believe it? I can retire now!

As I was wandering aimlessly from machine to machine I started to form some business analogies that I thought I would share with you here.

The Prettiest One Doesn’t Offer the Biggest Payout
I tend to avoid the boring old reel slots and head straight for the ones with the flashing lights, pretty colors and cool bonus features. These are also the machines that although they throw me a bonus here and there and create a lot of noise and hoopla, they don’t always give me a great return on my money. I think many businesses are the same way. There are a lot of bright, shiny business models out there that seem really attractive but before you jump in you need to decide whether or not they are right for you and determine what is involved in making that business successful before you sit down and pull the handle.

One Person’s Jackpot Machine May Not Be Yours
Walking through a casino at any given time, you might hear screaming coming from a certain machine with lights flashing and people gathered round. Someone has just hit the jackpot. Good for them! But don’t expect that when they get up and leave in a few minute that you’re going to sit down and have the same result. The same can be said for business. There are a lot of people that I admire and look up to in business that are doing great things and making tons of money doing it. However, I’m not necessarily cut out for the same kind of business some of my mentors are. What is working for someone else, may or may not work for you. The point is just because you see someone else being successful, don’t think it’ll work for you too. Ask yourself whether or not you can see yourself being happy and passionate in that business. Then ask yourself what are the successful people doing to create so much success with the business. If you think you can duplicate their success and be excited about it then by all means go for it! If you think it’s beyond what you’re willing to do or if you have any doubts whatsoever, put it on the backburner for now and come back to it again in a few weeks or months for a re-evaluation. No matter what, don’t get into a business simply because someone else is making six or seven figures with it. Even if you did create that kind of success with the business, it means nothing if you’re miserable doing it every day. Be sure it is something that aligns with your goals and dreams before you invest your time, talent and money into it.

Signing Up for the Player’s Card Won’t Help You Win
If you’ve walked into any casino you know there’s a “rewards” counter that you go to in order to sign up for their player’s club. Usually when you sign up you get a free coffee mug or T-shirt or some cheesy gift you’ll never use. But you’ve got your shiny new card. The one you stick into the slot machine while you’re playing to earn points. Unfortunately many people also think this card will give them some sort of winning advantage too. It’s all part of the casino’s plan to get you to play more. They want you to think that as long as you have your card in the machine you’re not only getting points (which you’ll probably never use except maybe for a 2 for 1 buffet) but also that maybe since your card is plugged in you might have a better shot at the jackpot.

People who have a business, especially those people considering starting a business fall victim to this idea constantly. They see the latest program, book or system that they think will help them achieve greater success. Soon they have a library of systems and programs, some of which remain unopened. Did purchasing it help the person achieve wealth and riches? Probably not. Why? Because first of all, you need to actually apply the principles and strategies in the system for it to work. Simply purchasing it and skimming through the table of contents isn’t going to accomplish anything. Second of all, people need to stop thinking that they need all of these things to be successful. It’s great to have valuable information at your fingertips and education is the key to success in any capacity but there comes a time when you need to realize that you know enough to be successful on your own.

Winning Or Losing, It’s Still Fun
The funny thing about casinos. They’re hard to leave. Once you start playing you want to keep playing even if you’re losing. If one machine isn’t working you move on to the next one. Sure you’re hoping to hit it big or at least break even but mostly you stick around because you’re having fun. That’s what should be happening with your business as well. Some days you’re going to have great success and be on top of the world. Other days it seems you can’t do anything right. But you keep going because above all, you love what you do and it’s fun to go to work each day. If you’re not having fun you should seriously examine why that is and whether or not you’re in the right business. You may need to change some things or find something else to do but if you’re not having fun you’re not going to enjoy that jackpot as much when it does hit.

When the Love is Gone

noreply@blogger.com (Integrity Office Solutions) — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 18:03:00 +0000

I was flipping through a magazine recently when the title of an article caught my eye. It said, “Do You Love Your Business?” My initial thought was, what a silly question, who doesn’t love their business? Then I started to think, that number is probably much larger than I think!

It dawned on me that although there are a handful of people that wake up giddy about their business every day and wouldn’t trade anything about it, they are most likely the minority. For something you spend so much time, and sacrifice on, you ought to love it or why bother, right? For some it may not be quite so cut and dry. So why wouldn’t someone love their business?

Quick Cash
Some people start their business focused on the money. They hear a pitch that they will make fast cash by following a certain business model. They know they need the money and what is being proposed to them sounds fairly easy to do so they jump in. Once they’re in business for awhile they realize one of two things: 1. It’s not as easy to make money as they were led to believe 2. They are making decent money but are incredibly bored or unfulfilled. They think they will look like a failure if they quit, so they stick with it regardless of how miserable they feel.

Inherited Headache
Another reason for not loving a business is inheriting it. Now, while some people can’t wait to take over the family business because it’s all they’ve ever known and they want to carry on a legacy, others don’t share that passion. They might inherit a business from a parent or relative and are designated as the “chosen one” to carry it on. Meanwhile their dreams lie in a completely different direction. They find themselves choosing family loyalty over pursuing their own passion and soon become bitter and resentful because of it.

Wasn’t What I Thought
Some people go into a certain business thinking it is what they’ve always wanted to do and they are gung-ho about it for a time and then quickly burn out. They aren’t seeing the return for their efforts or they feel that they didn’t realize exactly what would be involved in making the business work. They find themselves exhausted wondering why they ever thought this would be enjoyable.

So what do you do when you find yourself in one of these scenarios or another situation where you are in business but feeling miserable and trapped? Fix it!

Excuse: “but in this economy I’m just lucky to have a business that is making money at all. I can’t change now”. Solution: Well, just because the economy is not so good right now and you want to keep the security of a stable business, it doesn’t mean you can’t plan for something new! Start thinking about what it is about your business you don’t like and whether it’s even the right business for you. It might only need some minor tweaks to make it everything you dreamed of. On the other hand it might not be for you at all and when the time is right you can launch something new. Start planning now. Write down what you’d really like to be doing and write down everything you envision about that new opportunity. Begin moving toward that goal while you’re still in your current business and eventually you can sell your business or phase it out to pursue something new.

Excuse: “I’d like to start something new, but I don’t really want to let go of the other business because it does well for me.” Solution: Nobody said you have to give up one for the other! If you can’t run both businesses what about hiring a business manager or another trusted professional to run the operations of business A so you can focus on building business B? There are many people who have multiple businesses and of course one person cannot possibly do everything in that situation. Having the right team in place could mean the difference between misery and elation when it comes to business.

Excuse: “I’m not sure exactly what I want to do.” Solution: Figure it out! Make a list of the things that light you up. That you get so excited about you can’t sleep at night. These are major clues as to what you should be doing in your business. If one of the things on your list doesn’t hit you over the head as an obvious choice, think about how you might be able to take one of those concepts and work it into something that is a viable business option. If none of the things on your list strike you as something you could see yourself doing day in and day out, then let the list rest and come back to it or add to it as you think of something. The last thing you want to do is pick something just to start a business. It is so important that you are going to love it or you are going to end up back in the same boat you’re already in.

The bottom line is, if you’re not happy in your business find a way to change it. It might be as simple as making a few adjustments to your systems or evolving your business into something bigger, better and totally different. Or you might go on to something else altogether. Life is much too short to be unhappy with what you’re doing. Isn’t that why you went into business to begin with? To have the life you wanted and to do what you love? Find out what’s stopping you from doing just that and figure out a way to change it so you can live your dreams.

Twitter: It's "What Are You Doing?" NOT "What Are You Selling?"

noreply@blogger.com (Integrity Office Solutions) — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 17:37:00 +0000

Everyone who knows me knows I’m a HUGE Twitter fan. In fact I frequently tell people that I have grown my business significantly over the past several months from Twitter alone. The problem is, when I tell people that their first response is usually, “That’s great! How can I promote MY business on Twitter?” Ahh see? That’s where they are misunderstanding. I never said I was promoting my business, I said I was growing it! Big difference!

Imagine this scenario: You’re invited to a cocktail party. You go thinking you’re going to have a great time and meet a lot of great people. Some might turn into business contacts or even customers down the road, while others might become personal friends. Either way, you’re hoping to have a good time and enjoy a little fun and relaxation. You get to the party and start mingling when you suddenly realize that every third or fourth person you talk to hands you a brochure, a business card and a sample from their product line. At first you politely accept the information and move on but after awhile you find yourself getting annoyed. You didn’t come here to shop! You came here to meet people and enjoy yourself.

Twitter is a party, plain and simple. It’s a huge room with lots of interesting people that you can choose to engage in conversation or not. Where that conversation leads is up to you but starting off by saying “hi you’ve got to see this product” or “check out my website” is not exactly relationship material.

Tweet with These Simple Rules in Mind
I follow a few simple guidelines while participating on Twitter. I have found great success with them and I hope you will too.

1. Use your picture in your profile, not your logo – If I choose to follow you, I want to find out about YOU as a person, not what your brand is about. While I’m getting to know you it helps to put a face with the name.
2. Fill out a complete profile! – So many people miss the value of doing this. Give me a little information about who you are and what you do and YES include a website link because if you look like someone I want to follow (based on your profile and what kinds of things you’re tweeting about) then I am probably going to check out your website to find out more about your business. This is KEY! I WILL check out your business if I am interested in you as a person first, I don’t need you to send me a link before I’m ready.
3. Follow and be followed – chances are I’m not going to follow you if you’re following 5,000 people but only have 30 people following you. This tells me that you’re only interested in following as many people as you can without letting your followers catch up.
4. Don’t just sit there, SAY SOMETHING! – I’m also not going to follow you if you’re following 5,000 people and only have one or two tweets. I need to see that you are engaging others in conversation in a meaningful way, not sending them link after link to your website or opt in page. If you're an expert at something then educate people by answering questions and offering solutions. Don't tell folks to buy your info product to get the answers they need.
5. Pace yourself. Tweeting every five minutes is a good way to lose followers. If you’re going to tweet something, make it good. Encourage someone, send a link to a great blog post or video, make someone laugh or promote someone else by talking about the good experience you’ve had with them.
6. Be yourself! Be authentic and let others see your personality shine. Even be a little silly once in awhile. Life is too short not to have some fun! And yes by all means, if you’re doing all of these things DO talk about your latest blog post or ezine with a link or a video you’ve posted. If you’re being genuine and having meaningful exchanges with others, they will appreciate knowing how and where to get more high quality content from you. (just don’t overdo it!)

The bottom line is, yes absolutely Twitter is extremely important for your business because of the relationships you’re building and the potential to connect with people you might not otherwise dream of meeting. However, the success and growth of your business should be a byproduct of the image you’re projecting on Twitter, how you are carrying yourself and the quality of information you're putting out there, not a direct result of a sales pitch. By being yourself, being positive and consistently posting quality content, you can expect to gain new friends, business contacts and yes, even clients and customers because people will get to know the real you not some scripted, commercialized version of yourself.

What's Your Rep?

noreply@blogger.com (Integrity Office Solutions) — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 06:51:00 +0000

I've noticed a pattern recently: I'm getting promoted by people I've never done work for, I'm receiving compliments from high profile individuals and I'm getting invited to participate in exclusive events and networking opportunities. You're thinking, "she must know people in high places". You would be wrong!

I'm just a small town girl doing her thing. So why am I getting so much positive attention and feedback? The answer is, I'm building a solid reputation online and off. How am I doing that? Here's how I'm NOT doing it....

1. I'm NOT speaking negatively about anyone or anything that I see while networking online
2. I'm NOT posting status messages on Facebook or anywhere else with negative connotations or writing off color or obscene messages on friends' walls.
3. I'm NOT spamming all of my contacts by sending them invitation after invitation to join this group or attend that event or join a cause
4. I'm NOT sticking my nose where it doesn't belong in someone else's conversation
5. I'm NOT promoting myself with every tweet or update
6. I'm NOT using auto-follow messages to send people to my website or anywhere else

So then, what AM I doing? Well since you asked...

1. I AM greeting the day with "good morning" posts on Twitter and Facebook and wishing other people a good day
2. I AM paying attention to things like noticing when someone isn't feeling well and wishing them a speedy recovery
3. I AM promoting other people I admire or think have something important to say or offer
4. I AM offering to help someone with a problem or directing them to where they can find help
5. I AM trying to make someone laugh at any given time throughout the day
6. I AM always trying to stay positive and encourage others to do the same
7. I AM talking about my business when appropriate and at no other time
8. I AM telling people how they can get helpful information by not only subscribing to my ezine or blog but to other people's as well
9. I AM myself and not trying be someone I'm not or say I can do things I cannot

I'm also obviously doing the best job I can for my clients. Of course I do this to give my clients the service they expect, deserve and pay good money for, but also because I know my clients have friends. Friends that may ask if they know of a good VA that can help them. Honestly though, one of the biggest reasons I enjoy serving my clients is that they inspire me every day. I am able to be positive and upbeat when I have amazing people to work with. It isn't uncommon for me to hop on Twitter and tweet about how much I love what I do and who I do it for.

The point is, that all of this positive, encouraging and loving energy that I try to put out there every day makes its way around whether I realize it or not. Others pick up on it and it affects them, or at least that is my hope. My clients are great and many of them do promote me whenever they can, but the real joy comes from getting referred, introduced and spoken about in a positive light by those who I don't know or have never worked with but they still tell others about me because of the way I carry myself while interacting online publicly and privately.

So, what's your reputation in your online circles? Are you giving of yourself unconditionally and freely each day while trying to impact or touch someone else's life? Or are you taking and trying to direct droves of people to your website or latest greatest product? Something to think about the next time you log on!

Have a great week!

Jackie

Take 5 (or 10)

noreply@blogger.com (Integrity Office Solutions) — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 08:04:00 +0000

As business owners it's easy for us to get and stay in the zone. We are passionate about our business and want to make sure it's running on all four cylinders. Often times we grab a quick cup of coffee in the morning and call it breakfast or throw a frozen box meal in the microwave for lunch and scarf it down while we're busy checking emails. It seems there's always something that needs to be done and not enough hours in the day to do it all.

But when was the last time you just stopped to breathe? When was the last time you took an hour out of your day to go for a walk, watch a favorite t.v. show or read a chapter of that novel that's been sitting on your nightstand for six months?

We make more than enough time for our businesses and give whatever we have left at the end of the day to our families but we are neglecting to take care of the one thing that keeps all of those things going, ourselves!

Being passionate and driven is fabulous and they are characteristics every entrepreneur should have. Being dedicated to your family is also a wonderful trait. But you are no good to your family or your business if you are exhausted, burned out or your health is suffering because you're not eating right, exercising or taking the time you need to recharge your batteries.

If you're thinking, "I have no time to stop during the day" then think again. Maybe you need to re-prioritize your day, plan ahead more or batch like tasks together so you're not backtracking throughout the day. You can make the time you need, you just have to take a look at how you are spending your time.

Take a few days or a week to track your time and see where the hours are going. Are you really spending all that time on important work and billable hours? Or are you taking just a little too long to check your email or network online? Maybe you have a friend or colleague that calls you every day and takes up valuable time on the phone. After spending several days tracking how you spend your time you'll be able to see where you can rearrange things and find those blocks of time you claim do not exist. It might be a matter of spending your time more wisely or perhaps you should consider delegating some of the things that take up your time but aren't moving you forward.

Now that you've found a little free time in your day, what will you do with it? The answer is up to you! Make a list of the things you enjoy doing or have been wanting to do and do them! Here are just a few ideas:

-Call a friend you haven't talked to in awhile and invite him or her to lunch to catch up.
-Go on a date with your spouse or significant other
-Read a book
-Write a book
-Work on a hobby
-Take a walk
-Watch a movie
-Take a nap
-Plan a vacation
-Alphabetize your CD collection
-Take the kids to the park
-Go for a drive

The possibilities are endless. The point is to spend a little time each day doing something you enjoy that is not work related. If you build a little playtime into each day you'll come back to work feeling energized, focused and ready for anything. Not only will you feel better, but your business will be better for it and your family will also appreciate you taking time for yourself and for them.

So, what are you going to do for fun this week?

Just Call Me Sybil

noreply@blogger.com (Integrity Office Solutions) — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 06:30:00 +0000

You remember "Sybil" that film back in the 70's based on a true story about a woman who had multiple personalities. Well, that's kind of what it's like being a Virtual Assistant. Let me give you an example of my many titles and roles:

Copy Editor: Client emails me with rough draft of newsletter and asks me to go over it with a fine toothed comb and check for spelling or grammatical errors before she sends it out. Done! Check that off the list and switch gears to....

Website Manager: Log into client's website and upload new content, make sure all information is up to date and change out necessary graphics. Also implement SEO strategies and make sure client's website is submitted regularly to search engines. Done! Next......

Social Media Strategist: Develop social media marketing plan for client who knows it is necessary but is unsure of how to proceed. After reviewing detailed plan, client agrees but decides it is best left in my hands to execute so I become.....

Social Media Manager: Execute social media marketing plan designed for client to include setting up and updating profiles on various social networks and platforms. Also managing contacts and friend requests. Keeping client visible in the social mediasphere. Switching gears once again......

Communications Manager: Act as liason between client and client's colleagues, subcontractors, and business associates. Sending emails upon client's request, fielding questions, requesting information and setting appointments. Moving right along.....

Graphic Designer: Client decides he wants all marketing materials to be consistent so requests that I design materials that tie his brand together including a new website banner, blog design and ezine design. Then it's on to....

Ezine Manager: Collect content from client and upload into ezine template. Layout ezine and make sure formatted properly. Send test to client for approval. Schedule delivery in accordance with client's needs/objectives. Manage opt-in message and make sure all subscribers are properly in system. Schedule autoresponders. Set up e-course in system for client.

These are just a few of the "personalities" I assume during any given week and that's just for my clients. We haven't even mentioned the internal business personalities....

Bookkeeper
Copywriter
Blogger/Guest Blogger
Marketing Director
Receptionist
Researcher
Writer
Radio Guest
Mail Room Clerk
IT Department
Ezine Editor
PR
Contact Manager
Miracle Worker

In the midst of it all, I manage to maintain my two favorite roles of wife and mother.

So go ahead, call me Sybil, or a juggling act or even Super Woman but above all, call me happy because there's nothing I'd rather be doing than wearing each and every one of these hats every day as a Virtual Assistant. I love what I do and who I do it for and wouldn't trade it for anything!

Tweeple Who Need Tweeple....

noreply@blogger.com (Integrity Office Solutions) — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 05:29:00 +0000

Are the Luckiest Tweeple in the World! Some of you are reading this thinking, wow, she must be hitting the sauce what is she talking about? Others know exactly what I mean. I'm talking about Twitter. What is a Tweeple you ask? It's just a silly Twitter word for people. If you're a Twitterholic like I am you understand that just about anything can be "Twitter-ized" by adding a TW in front of it. Seriously though I want to discuss this week about the value of Twitter and how it has impacted both me personally and my business.

What is Twitter?
Twitter is considered a micro-blogging tool where the idea is to simply answer the question: "what are you doing?" in 140 characters or less. Although it started off as a way for family, friends and coworkers to keep track of each other and find out what everyone else is doing it has taken on a life of its own and become a powerful tool for networking and building your business.

While some may consider Twitter a waste of time, they are fooled by its simplicity and wonder "why does anyone care what I'm doing and how in the world could this be beneficial to my business?" The answer is as simple as the idea of Twitter itself. People DO care what you are doing and it can be a huge benefit to your business. If used correctly, the people that follow you get a glimpse into your life and your work. They learn about what you do, how you do it and how you interact with others. They learn about your likes, dislikes and a lot about your character. It is all of those things people consciously or subconsciously run through their head when deciding to do business with you. With online businesses popping up everywhere you look, people are becoming less inclined to go into a physical storefront to buy what they need. Why should they when they can shop in their pajama's in front of the t.v.? That means they want what you have, but when it comes down to choosing who to purchase from they are more likely to buy from someone they have a rapport with or know a little bit about before Joe Blow Widgets who they've never heard of.

Let's take a closer look at a day in the life of an average Twitter user (or Tweeter)- ME

Anyone who knows me or follows me on Twitter knows I tweet quite a bit throughout the day. Here's why and how I do it...

Problem Solving
I try to solve problems on Twitter by looking for people who need help. Not necessarily for my services but maybe I know something that could help or provide a link or refer the person to someone that can help them. I take time to quickly browse the latest tweets and see what's going on and how I can take action and help someone get what they need, whether its information or a product or whatever. If I don't know the answer I've been known to Google to find the answer and quickly send them a link that can help them.

Encouragement/Motivation
There may be times when I notice someone is having a really bad day. That's when I send them a message, either a public tweet or a private message (or DM-Direct Message) to lift their spirits. There may also be a time when someone is doubting their abilities or afraid to take the next step in their journey. I try to encourage them or offer words of wisdom from my own experience or perhaps a favorite quote I think they might like.

Tooting Someone Else's Horn
I love to promote others on Twitter. If someone says something I think will benefit the people that follow me I will "Retweet" it meaning sending out the exact same tweet with the person's name or Twitter ID who originally said it in front of it. I also enjoy tweeting about other people's upcoming conferences, radio programs, teleseminars, etc.... if I think they are relevant to what my followers are looking for or something they should check out. Also if I've tried a product or service from one of the people I follow and liked it I will tell everyone about it along with a link to a website where someone else can try it too.

Tooting My Own Horn (Kind Of)
I try not to do a lot of self promotion on Twitter. In my opinion there are other more suitable places to do that. However I do tweet when I have a new blog post, have added a new service to my repertoire or most recently when I launched my brand new ezine this week (speaking of which you can subscribe by heading to my website or my Facebook page. You can also subscribe on my blog page) Ok, shameless plug out of the way, back to Twitter. The point is, I try not to sell when I'm on Twitter. Twitter (and social networking in general) is about building relationships. Twitter is about making connections, getting to know people and letting them get to know you. Sure I conversationally will talk about what I'm doing like "working on updating a client's website" or "working on client's database". Guess what? Without saying "HEY LOOK AT ME THIS IS WHAT I DO AND YOU SHOULD USE MY SERVICES" I was able to let people know the kind of work I do without hitting them over the head with it. Someone may read it and say, OH she updates websites, that's what I need! I should check out her website and see what else she can do.

I tweeted the other day that I love what I do and the fabulous clients I do it for. After reading that, people have the sense that I love my work. I'm happy doing it and I love the people I do it for which means I have the utmost respect and admiration for my clients. This means that anyone that might be thinking of hiring a VA knows that this is how I view my clients and my work. Wouldn't they want to be one of them knowing that? I would hope so.

Jackie's Top 5 Tweeps
A few weeks ago during a teleclass about Twitter I named my top five "tweeps" to follow for various reasons. I think now would be a good opportunity to name them again. (their Twitter ID's are in parenthesis after their name)

Mari Smith (@MariSmith) - Mari and I met where else, on Twitter! We struck up a bit of a rapport and I was fortunate enough to meet her in person in October when she invited me to a marketing conference called JV Alert Live. She's been dubbed by Fast Company Magazine as "the Pied Piper of Facebook" and it's true. Mari knows anything and everything about using Facebook to build your business in a big way. Mari not only tweets about Facebook, she also tweets Twitter tips, marketing tips, interesting people to follow and lots of great information in general that every business owner should know. One taste of her friendly and bubbly personality and savvy marketing wisdom and you'll be a fan for life.
Carrie Wilkerson (@barefoot_exec) - Carrie Wilkerson (a.k.a. The Barefoot Executive) is a woman who has been there & done that. She has four kids, four businesses and has figured out how to balance it all and be extremely successful doing it. She now teaches others how to do the same. She's got a phenomenal story and exudes positivity wherever she is whether it's a live event or online. I had the pleasure of meeting Carrie in person at the same event where I met Mari and she is the real deal. I've learned so much from Carrie about being a business woman, a mom and a wife and making it all work. She's incredible and I'm honored to know her.
Felicia Slattery (@FeliciaSlattery) - Has such an amazing story. She was hours away from death while giving birth to her 2nd child just four years ago due to a pregnancy related life threatening illness. Felicia and her daughter are both fine now but the event altered the way Felicia approaches life. She celebrates every day and is such a positive influence to everyone who meets her. Felicia is a Communication Consultant, Speaker and Coach. She teaches others how to build credibility and grow their business through public speaking. I also had the joy of meeting Felicia at JV Alert Live in October and even had dinner with her. She's a brilliant woman with an amazing soul. I'm so lucky to know her as well.
Stephanie Bell (@SpiritCoach) is a walking example of a purely positive life. She is such a joy to follow because her words are always uplifting and encouraging. No matter how bad of a day you're having, you will instantly feel better after a tweet from Stephanie. She coaches others on how to be "passionately positive" in their life and work and how to find the joy that so many of us seem to have lost track of. I met Stephanie at JV Alert Live as well (do you see a pattern here?) and I'm so glad I did. She also lives here in Vegas and we are planning on getting together soon.
Grant Griffiths (@GrantGriffiths) - last but certainly not least is Grant Griffiths. Grant started blogging in 2005 in an effort to promote his family law practice. He soon found blogging to be so powerful as a marketing tool that he cofounded G2WebMedia and now teaches others how to profit from blogging. I know you're thinking I met Grant at JV Alert Live right? Wrong! I met Grant on Twitter and although we've yet to meet in person I have learned so much about using blogging as a marketing tool and business in general by following Grant. If you want to know anything about anything, ask Grant. Chances are he's got an answer for you. If you want to know anything about blogging, again, follow Grant. He is THE go-to person in my opinion for all things blogging. Grant has been gracious enough to ask me to be a guest blogger on one of his blogs called "Blog For Profit" which I am honored to do. We are also working on putting a teleseminar together so watch for details on that.

Why am I asking you to follow these people? Well, because they have all impacted my life in one form or another and they are all brilliant at what they do. By following them you'll learn everything from marketing to social networking to speaking and blogging and even finding your passion while doing it. All very important components of a successful business.

I hope I've enlightened you a little bit about the power of Twitter and what it can do for you. In the coming weeks I'll be posting more about Twitter and will also be offering tips in my monthly ezine. I'm always here to answer any questions you might have about using Twitter and how to get started so feel free to contact me.

Before I forget, if you're not following me on Twitter, please do! You can find me at http://www.twitter.com/JackieNees. I hope to be tweeting with you soon!

Have a wonderful week!
Jackie

Your Goals: Write Em' Down, Break Em' Down

noreply@blogger.com (Integrity Office Solutions) — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 23:57:00 +0000

Everyone always starts off the new year with a list of things they want to accomplish in the next 365 days. Lose weight, become richer, travel, whatever it is, it always seems we start off with a bang then slowly fizzle within a few short months or even weeks. Why does this happen year after year? The answer? No Plan!

The List is Not Enough
First of all, look at the example list above. Lose weight, be richer, travel.... these goals are much too broad! How are you going to lose weight? How are you going to become richer? Where would you like to travel and how will you get the money to do it? This seems to be the first thing people overlook when writing down their goals. They need to be specific! It's not enough to say I want to lose weight. How many pounds do you want to lose? By what date? What means are you going to use to get there? You've got to write it all down.

Create Action Steps
Once you have your specific goal, you need to create specific steps to get you there. If you can't think of what they are, start at the end result and work backwards at what each previous step should be before the next. Sometimes it's easier to figure out what you need to do by starting at the end. Number your steps, even add a sub list (a, b, c) under each step for more specific smaller steps.

Categorize Your Plan
For instance, I made a list of my professional goals for the year recently. I also created detailed action steps for each one. Then I broke it down even further. I categorized various areas of my daily business life (Marketing (along with a sub category for each type of marketing - i.e. website, blogging, social networking, etc..), Organization & Productivity, & Writing. I also created a category for Income, declaring what I wanted to make this year and what that will entail. By creating categories, you get an overview of each area of your business and what you would like to accomplish in each area or what might be missing that you need to work on.

Schedule Your Action Steps
Now that you've got a plan, you need to schedule it into your daily routine so you are consistently taking steps toward achieving your goals. This may require breaking down your steps even further into weekly and daily actions. Don't just write them down, set reminders in your Outlook or Google calendar so that even if you get busy doing something else, your computer will give you a gentle reminder of what you should be doing to stay on track.

Keep Your Goals Visible
Make copies of your goals and action steps. Keep one copy posted by your computer, another in your car, maybe another in your briefcase or day planner. By constantly being reminded of what you set out to accomplish at the beginning of the year you are more likely to achieve those goals.

Track Your Progress
Do a quick weekly and monthly check to look at what you've accomplished. Check off the goals as you accomplish them. This can be hugely motivating and also allows you to revisit your goals, make sure they are still what you want to accomplish or tweak action steps if something isn't working.

Wishing you much success this year in accomplishing your dreams!

Jackie

Winding Down and Gearing Up

noreply@blogger.com (Integrity Office Solutions) — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 04:57:00 +0000

I hope this finds everyone happy and healthy now that another holiday season has passed. It seems to come quicker and quicker each year doesn't it? Just when you seem to be getting into the groove of one year, it's time to buy a new calendar.

Though 2008 was a pretty good year overall, the highlight for me personally was starting my own business last summer. It has always been a dream of mine to work for myself and I finally found a way to make it happen. I now spend my days doing work that I love for amazing clients. In addition to starting my business I've appeared on 2 Blogtalk radio programs, 1 mainstream radio program in Canada and taught a teleclass about Twitter. Most recently I've been asked to be a guest blogger on 4 different blogs. Things are really taking off! With all of those fantastic things happening I decided to keep the momentum going through the holidays.

Taking Time to Recharge Myself and My Business
I've been working nonstop since I started my business full time and although I'm grateful things took off so quickly, I've had little down time to plan ahead and create a success plan for myself. So I decided the week between Christmas and New Year's was a great time to do that. I gave myself the week "off" to take a couple of days for myself to have quiet time and reflect on the past year and what I have accomplished. The rest of the time I will use to gear up for a successful 2009.

Organizing and Planning and Goal Setting, Oh My!
Although I want my VA business to keep growing and continue to grow successfully there are many other things I want to do as well. Branches I want to add to my professional tree, so to speak. I want to write more including articles and finally getting that book down on paper that's been in my head for quite some time. With the help of my new friend Donna Kozik I plan to make that dream a reality. There are also many other things I plan on embarking on which I plan to lay the groundwork for in early 2009. All of these things take careful planning.

I'm going to be clearing my desk of everything that's taking up space. File what needs to be filed, toss the rest. My email is out of control so with the help of another new friend Brad Semp and his Email Cashmap System I am conquering that beast once and for all.

I've been meaning to launch my new newsletter for weeks now. I have the service in place and a growing list! It's finally time to give them what they signed up for! So that will be happening the first week of the year.

I'll be making at least one trip to Office Depot to load up on supplies that have depleted and search for others that might make the flow of things run a little more smoothly. It's also time to refill my dayplanner with 2009 pages and other goodies.

I'll also be implementing some systems into my business that I've been lacking like keeping up with my To Do list, entering everything into Quickbooks and setting aside some time each Friday to plan for the week ahead.

Time to create some new forms, update my marketing packet and my website and organize my filing cabinet.

Most importantly, time to back everything up! Put all of my old files on flash drives and discs and clean out both computers. Make sure virus protection is up to date and get ready for working both my laptop and desktop like dogs in 2009!

If You Fail to Plan, You Plan to Fail
This is a quote I heard a long time ago and it's always stuck with me. I don't believe you can truly be successful without a plan. Although all of the above may seem like a lot, it is doable and will make a world of difference in how I run my business in 2009. I want to make sure that in the coming year I am equipped with a roadmap to take me to the next level. I plan to be unstoppable in the new year but you can't be unstoppable if you come to a dead end road because you forgot to bring your map! (even if you think you know where you're going, you'll eventually take a wrong turn if you try to do it from memory)

Creating success by "winging it" is not only much more work in the end, it's very risky. By taking a little time regularly to work it out on paper and do some maintenance in the office you'll eliminate many of the "uh oh" and "now what" moments from your life.

I wish you much success and prosperity in the new year and hope you are taking a little time for yourself to recharge your batteries and get ready for an amazing 2009!

Happy New Year!
Jackie

100 Days to Success

noreply@blogger.com (Integrity Office Solutions) — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 17:03:00 +0000

I recently read an article in Success For Women Magazine about how the CEO of PBS achieves success by breaking her one, five and ten-year goals into 100 day increments. This immediately resonated with me because I personally find goal setting to be overwhelming and I believe it is one of the things that has been keeping me from achieving the success I've sought after for so long. I always see these big elaborate goal setting programs that require you to basically map out your life and follow the yellow brick road to victory. Sounds great but I honestly don't have time or patience to do it. However, 100 days sounded VERY doable for me so I started thinking, what could I accomplish 100 days from now? Could I be healthier? Have more money in my bank account? Read that book that's been collecting dust on my nightstand for months? What could I do with a 100 day deadline?

Set a Date and Put It In Writing

I started thinking about all of the possibilities and immediately got excited. So one night after my husband and daughter went to sleep, I stayed up a little later and fired up the computer. I opened my Outlook calendar and counted 100 days from that date. March 10th was the magic date so I created an event called "100 Day Mark" and created a list of bold headings titled:
Health Goals
Business Goals
Family Goals
Spiritual Goals
Personal Goals

Under each one of these headings I listed 1-3 things I thought I could accomplish in 100 days. I was so excited but I knew I had to break it up a little bit more because it was still a bit daunting to look at this list.

The Halfway Point
The next thing I did was count 50 days from the starting date to create a halfway point toward achieving my goals. I listed all of the same goals as on my 100 day mark but I looked at each goal and decided what I could accomplish by the halfway point and entered that information in a different color in parenthesis next to the goal. For example. My 100 day health goals consist of the following:

Lose 30 pounds by March 10th (in orange I wrote "lose 15 pounds")
Walk 45 Minutes/day (in orange I wrote "should be up to 30 minutes")
Drink 8 glasses of water/day (in orange I wrote "should be drinking 4-6 by now")

I proceeded to do the same thing with the rest of my goals.

Break Them Down Again
Once I had a 50 day mark, I decided to create two more milestone dates: 25 days and 75 days. I followed the same steps I did for the 50 day mark. I decided where I should be at that point and wrote it in next to the original goal.

Daily Baby Steps
Now that I've got my four milestone dates I thought it would be good to break each 25 days into daily baby steps that I can take toward achieving success in each of those four increments and ultimately my final 100 day goals. I'm still working on filling in the daily goals but it's going well.

I still don't know if I will attempt the one-year, five-year and ten-year goals the way the woman did in the article but I'm definitely inspired to give these next 100 days or so a shot. I'm determined to achieve everything on my list and when that happens I will keep going with the next 100. Achieving my dreams 100 days at a time. I'd love to hear what your process is for setting goals. Please feel free to comment!

I will keep you posted on my progress. Stay tuned! Until then have a great week!!!

Jackie

Business Lessons from Under The Sea...

noreply@blogger.com (Integrity Office Solutions) — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 02:35:00 +0000

Or should I say aquarium. Let me explain. My daughter recently convinced my husband and I to buy her a couple of goldfish. At first I was apprehensive but I have to admit I've come to enjoy having these little aquatic additions around.

Earlier this evening I was relaxing with my family and watching "Nemo and Dory", as my daughter has lovingly named them, do their thing in our little aquarium. As I watched them, I witnessed something I've been observing for a while now and realized that how they were living in their own little world applied to business and life. Here is what I observed:

One of these fish is very active. A real go getter. Always swimming around exploring every inch of the aquarium and is the first one to arrive for every meal. The other fish is much more relaxed. Sort of hangs out near the bottom. Swims around a little but doesn't have a whole lot of ambition and doesn't really seem to care what's going on around him.

Fish number one always gets first dibs at feeding time because he pays close attention to what's going on. Fish number two lets life pass him by and finds himself scrounging around looking for bits of food that fall to the bottom in between the rocks.

Fish Lesson #1
Opportunities happen all the time. But by paying attention to what is happening around you, you'll be the first on the scene to grab them when they present themselves.

Fish Lesson #2
By choosing to wait for life to happen to you rather than going after it, you are forced to eat other "fish's" leftovers.

Fish Lesson #3
When you live under status quo conditions you become complacent and eventually you stop even trying to go after anything because you know that sooner or later some sort of morsel will trickle down to you. Sure you're getting fed but you'll never know if there's anything better out there for you because you are allowing yourself to be satisfied with the way things are.

Fish Lesson #4
By failing to plan accordingly and take advantage of opportunities when they arise you're forced to hunt for them between the rocks which actually requires more effort than if you had planned ahead and grabbed them when they first appeared.

Fish Lesson #5
By not taking action immediately, the other fish have already eaten and are on to the next thing by the time you are just getting started.

Fish Lesson #6
If you refuse to pay attention to your environment and don't look for opportunities everywhere you eventually find yourself swimming around in circles wondering why you can't seem to move forward.

Who knew when we brought these two little creatures home they would teach me so much? I thought they would simply provide hours of entertainment for the cats. Speaking of the cats, one of them is sitting on the arm of my chair looking at me like "What's up with the fish being featured in a blog post? What about me?" LOL Perhaps I will do a business lesson post from the cat's perspective some time.

So which fish will you be this week? I think I know which one I'll be! Have a fantastic week everyone!

Jackie

P.S. Getting a decent picture of my actual fish at night was next to impossible so I opted for a stock photo :)

Are You an Infomaniac?

noreply@blogger.com (Integrity Office Solutions) — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 19:24:00 +0000

Now go ahead say that title fast and have a giggle. You know you want to because it sounds like something else that might require a support group.

Okay I'll be the first to admit, I'm an infomaniac. Hi my name is Jackie and I'm an infomaniac. There I said it. Whew that feels better. Although you may not need a support group for too much information (or maybe you do), I'm here to tell you that being an infomaniac may not be all bad. If you have the right approach.

What is an infomaniac you ask? Well here's a little quiz:

Do the words webinar or teleseminar get your pulse racing?
Do you have an alphabetized ebook collection?

Is your credit card statement filled with the latest greatest "system" purchases?

Do some people refer to you as "The Googler" because you have so many blog feeds in your reader?

If you answered yes to some or all of the above questions you may be an infomaniac. You are the person that can't get enough information on topics that fire you up. Although all of this newfound knowledge is great, it can limit your productivity and can also be overwhelming. So how do you manage it all?

Be Selective
It seems these days that everyone has a product to sell, newsletter to sign up for or an ebook they've written. The Internet makes it easy and tempting to subscribe to and purchase so many of these offerings but even though you may have the best of intentions that whatever you are downloading or subscribing to will help you, you need to be careful about what you are choosing. Especially those things that cost money. You can easily rack up some serious charges purchasing information products. Before you buy ask yourself the following questions:

Is the product created by someone you follow and trust?
Is the product something that will move you forward in your business or is it simply something that interests you? If you answer the latter it may be best to hold off until you are certain.
Does the price of the product fit into your budget?

Do you have the time that is required to devote to the program or system you are considering purchasing? If it sounds good but you don't really have the time, it may not be a good idea to make the investment or you may have to rearrange your priorities to fit it in.

Having a clear idea of why it is you want the product and knowing who it's coming from will save you time, money and allow you to achieve the goal(s) you're hoping to achieve by purchasing the product in the first place.

Free Does Not Necessarily Mean Value
How many newsletters are you subscribed to? Have you lost count? I've gotten to that point. Some of the newsletters that inundate my inbox on a daily basis I've signed up for because I knew they would be valuable to me personally or to my business. Other newsletters I get because I downloaded a report or signed up for a teleseminar and ended up on a mailing list because of it. This is something I'm learning to be more aware of. Do I really want something badly enough to commit to being on someone's mailing list? Now granted it's not written in stone that I have to be on that list forever, I can unsubscribe at any time. By taking the time to evaluate that thought ahead of time can be a huge help because consistently sifting through emails where after awhile you forget why you're getting them can be a giant time and productivity sucker in your day.

Create a Filing System
The good news about all of this information is that it can be easily accessible when you need it. Create your own "Success Library" on your computer and even on your desk if you choose by doing the following:

Create a folder on your computer for your info products whether they be recorded teleseminars, free reports, ebooks, etc... Create a folder inside that folder for each type of product OR by category (i.e. a separate folder for marketing, public speaking, social networking, etc...) and then put your info products regardless of their format in each of those folders. Then when you have the time to review them or listen you can find them easily.
Create a "Success Binder". I've started one of these and I love it. Purchase a 3 inch binder and some tabs. Whenever you receive a newsletter you love, read an article or download a free report, print it out and put it in your Success Binder. Categorize it by topic as with your computerized folder. You can even have a "big ideas" section in your binder for when you get those brilliant thoughts. That way you'll have them all in one place and you can build on them when you have the time.

Tips for Using Your Information Efficiently
Ok so you have all of this great stuff you've accumulated. You've sifted through the duds and have built yourself a success library. When in the world will you have time to read or listen to any of it? Well there are several ways you could try:

Load all of your MP3 files onto your IPOD and listen to them while working out, cleaning the house or doing yard work.

Instead of reading a best selling novel before bed read one of your reports or a few chapters of an ebook instead.

Take your success binder on the road when you travel and read between meetings or conferences or when you're taking a vacation. It's also a good idea to have it to jot down those big ideas so you don't lose them in transit while traveling.

When downloading an MP3 file, give it a name that means something to you for easy recognition. Many of the files available for download have names that include characters or numbers that you could not easily recognize when looking through your files. One thing that I do is name these files by presenter and topic (i.e. marismith_facebooktips)

Use or Purge
Every six months or so, take a day or even an afternoon to go through your newsletter subscriptions and unsubscribe to anything you no longer find useful. At the same time, go through your computer and hard copy library and take out anything you've listened to or read and no longer need or decide you will never listen to or read. Keep only the information you know you want to refer to over and over.

One last note on information overload. Many people accumulate a lot of useless information because they think it will be THE ONE that will catapult their success once and for all. The truth is no system, class or book is going to do that if you don't do the work. There also comes a point when you have to stop thinking that if you just read one more book or listen to one more teleseminar you'll have the information you need to get started on your dream. Although information can be a help and guide you in your journey, it cannot take the place of what is inside of you. You already have the knowledge, creativity and ability to do whatever it is you have your sights on. You simply have to get started. You may not need as much information as you think you do.

Before I go, I hope this blog is one piece of information you'll stay subscribed to. I'm happy to have you here and I hope you find what you learn here helpful, fun and informative. I always welcome your comments.

Have a wonderful week! Now go be productive!

Massive Action

noreply@blogger.com (Integrity Office Solutions) — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 18:16:00 +0000

That was the common thread this past weekend at what was hands down the most empowering three days of my life.

I was invited by Mari Smith to attend an event called JV Alert Live which happens three times a year and is headed up by Ken McArthur who is a brilliant man and an amazing human being. This event is the cream of the crop of internet marketers and brilliant speakers.

I met Mari over the past few months via Facebook and Twitter. You might know her as "The Pied Piper of Facebook" as she's been described by Fast Company Magazine. I listen to everything she says because the woman knows her stuff when it comes to exploding your business with social media. Mari and I tried to meet face to face a few weeks ago when she was in town for a conference and I tried to attend but I fell ill and it didn't work out. I was crushed because I wanted to meet her so badly. Much to my surprise she told me she was coming back to Vegas in a few weeks for something called JV Alert Live and would I be interested in going as her guest. Ummm let me think, YES! I said yes without even knowing what it was about because I knew if she was going to be there it was going to be worth being at.

One of the first things Ken McArthur said to us on opening day was that in order to be successful you had to "Take Massive Action to Completion". Not only did he say it but nearly every other speaker over the next few days said the same thing in one form or another.

It really got me to realize that so many of us (myself included) are GREAT starters. We get a big idea, get all excited, start making plans, then somewhere along the line life gets in the way and it fizzles out. We then sit there and wonder what went wrong, why nothing ever works and when will we ever be successful. I believe it is because of what Ken and others said. We don't take massive action to completion. TO COMPLETION!!!! We can't expect any idea no matter how brilliant to work for us if we don't follow through with it. So that has become my new motto and it is how I plan to run my business and my life from now on.

I decided I was going to start my new way of doing things by making myself network a little during the conference. Keep in mind that I am the LEAST social person on the planet. I hate crowds and I hate networking. It's just not something I'm good at and I avoid it like the plague. However, I knew that this event was going to possibly be life changing for me and my business so I better bring my A game if I was going to bother even going! I took a deep breath and forced myself to walk around the room and talk to total strangers. Even the speakers who I had on such a pedestal, I'd walk up to and shake their hand and tell them what a great job they did. I made some amazing connections with people I never would have if I had just sat there and did nothing.
Let me tell you, life changing is not even the words I can use to describe this event. Each presentation was more powerful than the next. I took notes fast and furiously. The days were long but they didn't seem long enough. I wanted more!

I met incredible folks like Carrie Wilkerson (a.k.a "The Barefoot Executive"), Dave Lakhani, tons of incredible attendees from all walks of life and areas of business and of course, the man himself, Ken McArthur who so graciously signed my copy of his book "Impact" for me.

And in case you're wondering I did meet Mari and had a chance to hang out with her a bit. She even let me buy her lunch on our last day. She is an amazing woman who offers such great information and inspiration to whoever she comes in contact with. I am blessed to have met her and honored to now call her my friend.

I'm still reeling from this experience and plan on reabsorbing the priceless information I gathered in my notes over the next few days. Over the next several weeks you can expect a series of posts from me on different things that I've learned from my time at JV Alert Live, how I plan to implement these things into my business and how you can too.

A big thank you to Mari for giving me the opportunity to meet you and have this powerful experience and also to Ken McArthur and his Impact Team for putting on a fantastic event. You are all my new heroes.

What kind of massive action are you going to take to completion this week? There's no better time than now to begin!

Delegation Means More Control Not Less

noreply@blogger.com (Integrity Office Solutions) — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 21:52:00 +0000

Many business owners have a difficult time delegating because they feel like they are giving up control. I'm here to tell you that statement couldn't be further from the truth! Delegating doesn't mean giving up control. It means gaining control.

As a business owner, you wear many hats, President and CEO, Director of Marketing, Bookkeeper, Public Relations Coordinator, and the list goes on and on. Doing all of those tasks every day means you have less and less time to focus on building your business, networking or even spending time with loved ones. You may become overwhelmed, feel out of control and wonder why you decided to go into business in the first place. But what if you could delegate some of that work to a skilled and trusted professional that you knew would get the job done leaving you more time to do all of those things you've been putting off? Wouldn't you feel relieved, energized, focused and even IN CONTROL?

A virtual assistant is that skilled and trusted professional you need to keep you moving forward in your business instead of wading through a black hole of "to do's" that may never get done because you don't have the time. Here are just some of the things you can delegate to a VA:

Updating your blog or website
Organizing and maintaining your contact list
Creating and updating a monthly newsletter
Designing your PowerPoint presentation
Organizing a webinar or teleconference
Research
Formatting an ebook
Marketing your business on the internet
Creating marketing materials like postcards or brochures
Monitoring your email
Proofreading

Are these some of the things you're doing in your business or have thought about doing but can't seem to find the time?

Having someone you trust handle these tasks and others means:

You are saving time by not having to do them yourself
You are focusing on money making activities in your business
You are saving money by not paying for overhead costs that come with an in house employee
You are able to set goals and do things that make you happy

All of this adds up to MORE CONTROL!

So the next time you are wondering whether or not to delegate something ask yourself one question, "will delegating this task give me more control of my business by saving me time and money?" If the answer is yes congratulations! You're ready to take the next step and call a VA!

Are You a Contact-Aholic?

noreply@blogger.com (Integrity Office Solutions) — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 19:03:00 +0000

Anyone who knows me knows I am a HUGE fan of Facebook and Twitter. I have not only made a ton of great friends but also have found new clients by using both of these tools. I am however very selective of who I allow into my virtual "inner sanctum" of the social networking world.

A huge pet peeve of mine is seeing people with thousands of contacts. You know, just a few thousand of their closest friends right? WRONG! Some people will follow others just to see how many contacts they can rack up. I'm no shrink but my thoughts are these people are dealing with deeply rooted acceptance issues. They had little or no friends as a child and now they're trying to show off how many "contacts/friends" they have now.

Don't get me wrong, there are some out there who are well known successful people who have built up a large following of legitimate contacts who they interact with on a regular basis. That's not what I'm talking about. My gripe is the people who choose quantity over quality.
Here is what the quantity over quality attitude will get you:

1. Lack of a personal relationship: Let's face it, the purpose of social networking is to build relationships with people for personal or business purposes. If some random person asks you to be their friend or contact and you have no idea what they are about, what are the chances that they will build a personal relationship with you if you are number 4,321 on their contact list?

2. Lowered credibility: If you are building relationships and trust with people and become respected and well liked then people will tell their friends who will want to be your contact. If you are putting out a great message and interacting with your contacts on a regular basis giving them valuable information, services or products, then great! However, if you simply collect names and do nothing with them or constantly send out sales pitches, people will see that right away and label you as a spammer and consider you to be untrustworthy.

Also, imagine this scenario: You sign on to LinkedIn and notice that you have a contact request. You don't know the person but the invite says they are a financial consultant. Everything looks ok so you accept. One of your trusted contacts finds them on your list and decides to use their services. They end up losing thousands of dollars because of the misadvice your "new friend" gave them. Guess what? You now look bad because you allowed them on your contact list. Instant lowered credibility.

I've been on Facebook and Twitter for well over six months and I only have just over 100 contacts on each. I'm proud of my modest number because I have built my contacts slowly and carefully. The following is my criteria for accepting friend or contact request:

1. They must be my real life friend/colleague/client or a personal and trusted referral of one of those three

2. They must produce a service or product that I use or plan to use (i.e. program, blog, newsletter) and I would highly recommend it to my friends.

3. They are someone I can learn and grow from because I know their reputation and I trust it.

4. They are a member of an online or real life group I belong to and after interacting with them in that group I have deemed them to be trustworthy

What is your criteria for accepting peope into your virtual world. If you don't currently have one I suggest considering it. Your success and reputation could depend on it!

**Lastly I wanted to remind everyone to catch me on BlogTalk radio tomorrow at 9:00 a.m. PST/Noon EST where I'll be a guest on Marketing Moments with Michelle-3M Ideas I hope you can tune in! It should be a lot of fun!

Have a great week everyone!

Jackie

It's Not Who You Know - It's Who You Used to Know

noreply@blogger.com (Integrity Office Solutions) — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 05:11:00 +0000

There are countless ways to find new clients. Whether it be from advertising, marketing, networking or referrals. Many business owners spend a lot of time, effort and money persuing these avenues in search of a larger client base to continually grow their business.

How many people though, take into consideration the people they already know or even better, the people they used to know who they've lost touch with. I'm talking way back, like high school and college. You laugh but it's true! Many of the people who you went to school with or were friends with back in the day could very well use your product or services today!

It's time to dust off that yearbook and take a walk down memory lane. I have to tell you, I did this recently and it was so much fun to look back at the clothes and the hair and all that. But what really surprised me was that I had forgotten about more than half of my graduating class! I still keep in touch with a select few good friends from school but haven't thought about most of my classmates for the 18 some odd years since we graduated. Sad really! So I decided to do a little searching. I started by logging on to LinkedIn and searching for some of the people I went to school with. Sure enough, I found a few! One is a successful lawyer in Michigan, another works for a major airline in Texas, and so on. When I ran out of options on LinkedIn, I decided to try a Facebook search since I knew more people were probably using it than LinkedIn. I was right. I found several of my old High School cronies and requested to add them to my friends list. We now keep in touch on a regular basis.

Remember the old classmate who works for the airline in Texas? He has started a company called Giving Grinch which is focused on teaching people how to identify their true needs and then finding ways to meet those needs in a financially responsible manner. When he found out I had written some articles and had a VA business he asked if I would contribute to his monthly newsletter. I'm contacting him this week about submitting my first article for the newsletter.

Just recently I got back in touch via LinkedIn with an old college professor of mine who I used to be a Teacher's Assistant for. He and I have been catching up on lost time and he informed me recently that he has started a business creating and selling online courses. When he found out what I did he asked if I would be interested in doing some work for him.

Around the time I started my business full time I found out that an old boss of mine was between assistants and needed help. I contacted him and told him what I was up to these days. We had a meeting and I've been his VA for over 2 months now.

You see? I didn't have to do any type of fancy advertising or marketing to find these "new" contacts. I had them all along, I had just forgotten about them.

Who's lurking in your past that you could dig up and bring into your present? Old high school or college friends? Former coworkers or even employers? Before you spend another dime on looking for new clients or customers, think of who you already know that may be able to benefit from what you have to offer. You might be surprised at what (or who) you find!

Have a great week!

Is Clutter Stealing Your Success?

noreply@blogger.com (Integrity Office Solutions) — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 21:11:00 +0000

I've been thinking alot lately about all of the millions of things I want to do and accomplish and how I'm going to get there. My problem is that I've got so much I WANT to do but then I look around and realize there is so much I HAVE to do and get overwhelmed. I decided that I have too much clutter in my life. Physically, emotionally, etc...

I woke up on Sunday morning unable to stand it a minute longer. I started boxing things up for Goodwill and knowing that we'll be moving across the country in six months or less I started packing things away. Things we don't need to use right now and things that I want to hold onto but frankly in our little apartment, don't have room for. I even dismantled a book shelf and dragged it out onto our front porch for my husband to take to the dumpster. (he was out of the house for an hour or so when I decided to do all this and was quite surprised when he returned).

Although I still have much purging to do I feel like I can breathe. A sense of accomplishment and less clutter in my life. I started to think about how this relates to other areas of my life and realized I could use some purging in lots of areas. How I spend my time, how I operate my business, what I put into my body, how I take care of my family, and the list goes on. I decided to go on a quest to remove the clutter and have a more fulfilled life by eliminating the excess in all the areas that are bogging me down. By doing this I hope to get rid of the junk and make room for what really matters.

So, what kind of clutter do you have in your life? Do you have too much stuff in your house and you wonder where it all came from? Do you have a lot of emotional baggage you need to work through? What does your pantry look like? Are you putting the wrong kinds of foods in your body? Are you overwhelmed by business tasks and to do lists and feeling like you can't do it all? Do you feel like you can't move forward toward success because of everything that needs to be done?

Take some time to look around you and within and find ways to get rid of your clutter. Have a garage sale, talk to a counselor, replace the junk food with healthy alternatives, hire a VA to help you with your business or hire a housekeeper to come in every couple of weeks or even once a month to handle the heavy duty cleaning. Whatever it is that is cluttering your life, find a way to clear it out. You'll have less stress, feel better - stronger -happier, and have more time to do the things that you really want to do.

I'm off to tackle my closet! Have a wonderful week!