It’s times like this that restoration companies get to come in and do what we are best at.  What we wait for and train for, this is our time.  It takes a special kind of person to be able to survive a busy hurricane year or a major flooding event like what we have now in Nashville.  For us, the conditions, especially in the initial days, the hours, the lack of sleep, the scarcity of food, the sadness that we may see, is all worth it at the end of the day when we have put a building back together and truly helped someone out.

But with it comes the frustrations.

If you do not have your systems in place when you’re running multiple jobs in a declared disaster zone, you will absolutely lose your …shirt.  At times like this it is easy to get jobs, there are plenty out there.  But once you secure the job, the real work begins.  You must complete the task you were contracted to do,  you must provide an invoice and back-up that justifies your bill, AND you must be able to present it in a manner that the adjuster can read, sell to his boss, and easily explain how you came to your final billing amount.

Don’t let your paperwork be what stands between you and payment.

You’re Working The Nashville Flood – Does This Sound Familiar?

• You have over 50 jobs in progress and it’s only the 3rd day.
• You can’t pull together an invoice for the adjuster because you have no idea where you are on the job, and can’t find any of the back up.
• You have thousands of dollars in receipts that you don’t know what job to assign the cost to.
• You need an account set up with dumpster companies…but first you have to find a dumpster company…and fuel…and rental equipment.
• You have 70 workers that want their per diem and you still have to count it out and create a form to track employee receipt of cash.
• There are Project Managers flying in from other offices to help, or there will be as soon as you book the flights and secure the hotel room and car rentals.
• You don’t have the proper time and material paperwork to capture everything and you’re watching your money fly out the door.
• You need SOMEBODY to tell you where the 1meg generator is.
• You hired temporary clerical workers to handle all this…how’s that working out?

Virtuality will set up an office in a disaster zone, work with your existing paperwork or help you design something that will capture what you need, train field staff and handle your logistics.  With Virtuality as your partner, your administrative and operational needs are handled efficiently and with minimal involvement from you.  So go ahead and go sell some more jobs , we’ve got this handled!

To take your pain away, click here!

Like I said, easy, right?  Well, conceptually it is.  Having an action plan and following through is another thing altogether.

How can we take our plan and put it into action?  How can we take our dreams, and make them our reality?  Can you take a course?  Yes.  Buy a book? Sure.  Subscribe to a 10 week program, complete with DVD’s, webinars and  interactive chats?  Of course.  Do they guarantee success?  Some of them do. (lofty goals, there)

But it really boils down to one thing.  Staying on track, even after the initial excitement of the idea has passed, is not always an easy thing.  The inefficiencies that  become habits in our daily life can seriously derail any productivity.  As freelancers and work from home entrepreneurs, it is up to us to create the discipline necessary for success.  We don’t have bosses looking over our shoulders and monitoring our billable hours.  But by God, we should be doing it to ourselves!  If you choose the route of working for yourself than you must realize that the distractions that you let eat up your day are costing you money.

Here’s a shocker, Multi-tasking is not always the most efficient use of your time – it’s great when you are paying your bills and checking  email at the doctors office but juggling 20 projects makes it  easy to keep pushing one aside for another one, never really completing anything   You now have 19 distractions to keep you from finishing the task on hand. Pick something and finish it!

Following are a few tips for staying on task.  None of them are earth shattering in their newness, and there is a reason.  The basic, tried and true measures do work if you actually  put the work into them.

Take Control of Your Interruptions

You work from home so it is easy to get distracted.  The home phone rings, kids are fighting, the sun is shining and the pool is just out the door.  If you let the mishmash of daily life creep in unchecked, you will not be productive, you will be continually spinning your wheels and you will wonder why you are not making a success of your business.

You Control Your Day – Don’t Let It Control You!

If you can lay out some ground rules, both for yourself and the people most likely to distract you, you will be ahead of the game.  Understand that every interruption you allow causes you to lose time.  And time is money – are you willing to just give it away?

Schedule Your Time

I have ignored this one to some extent for most of my corporate career. I laughed at people that said they “allot” 15 minutes for e-mail, or they work on marketing issues on Tuesday and Thursday, and financials on Monday.  I just never got that.  I do now.  It’s amazing how owning the business and being responsible for its profit or loss can motivate you to schedule out your time better. This is still a work in progress for me but I am trying to block out specific times that I work on admin issues, client work, writing projects, or research, and I am finding that having that schedule works for me.

Stay Focused

Focus.  Do you have it?  I lost mine for a while and drifted along, letting my life control me rather than the other way around.  But self awareness is a beautiful thing, it has a way of slapping you in the face and saying “Wake Up!”

Avoid Distractions

They’re everywhere.  Ringing phones, children, husbands, wives, oh look, a butterfly!  It is not hard to be distracted from your task at hand, especially if it is something you don’t particularly like doing.  The key is to recognize what throws you off track and try to remove or avoid those things as much as possible.  Shut the door, turn your ringer off, set a schedule for email and social media.

Understand that there will always be distractions. It’s less stressful if you acknowledge that and then work out some systems to avoid some obvious, and easily controlled distractors.

Organize Your Space

Take a day and spend it organizing your space, your files and your work processes, it will save you countless hours of frustration later.  Create your files in a way that makes sense to you, buy some desk organizers and some storage boxes and then work through that pile of papers, bills, magazines and junk mail that is intimidating you every time you walk into the room.

Reward Yourself

If you don’t do it, who will!  Finish a big project?  Treat yourself to a dinner out.  Organize your office space?  Buy that cool desk organizer you’ve been wanting.  The point is, if all you do is work and feel under pressure all the time, you will burn out quickly.  So schedule some down time in – reward yourself with an afternoon walk or a quick swim.  You will feel rejuvenated and ready to tackle the next project!  Celebrate your milestones – it’s a big deal and you are allowed to be proud of yourself!

What works for you?  Do you make lists, use a reward system, chart your progress?  Feel free to share ways you use to stay focused in your day!

The power of surveys is often overlooked, but what a great method of collecting data and engaging your readers. You can get instant results on testing a product or gathering opinions and use that information to further your specified goals.

The real power comes with your reporting features.

All results of your survey are assimilated into a spreadsheet format and also a graphical report if you like the visual. And with a click of a button you can post your survey on your website or in an email.

A pipe can burst overnight, a fire can start in the adjoining office space, a hurricane could destroy the building.

These are real life situations that are being dealt with daily by companies and individuals around the world.  Any event that disrupts the flow of normal business functions can negatively impact your bottom line.

You do not have to live in a hurricane or earthquake prone area to suffer a major loss in your business.

Having spent the better part of the last 10 years in the disaster and emergency services industry, I have seen the difference having a plan means when you are in a crisis situation.  The importance of having a plan can not be stressed enough.

This is a fundamental step that needs to be part of your business plan (please tell me you have one of those!).

And, contrary to popular belief, you do not have to spend thousands to have a well researched and laid out plan.  It can be as big or as small as you need it to be.  The size and breadth of your operation will determine the complexity you need.  The most important thing is that you do something.

As my readers know, (and I know I have at least two now since they commented on my last post!) I am relatively new to the blogging world.  But one thing I am learning about blogging is that this is MY platform.  And as I try to figure out just what that platform is going to be, I know part of it will be me passing along some information and/or education relating to this topic.

So I am going to give you the bad news first.  You will suffer loss.  Resign yourself to it. Whether you have a pipe break, a fire, or your building is in the path of a hurricane, you will suffer loss.  Once you accept that fact then you can take steps to lessen the impact and be prepared to quickly mitigate the loss.

A Disaster Plan…

Provides a Sense of Security.  You have taken the steps to protect your people and your property, and you will go into it knowing you have immediate resources to start the recovery process.  And so will your employees, and that will go a long way in helping them to recover also.

Minimizes the Risk of Delays.  Delays mean further damage and more expense.  By having preselected vendors, back-up work locations, emergency phone lists, etc., you can go immediately into action.

Lessens Potential Economic Loss.  See above.  Damage can escalate quickly if you are not prepared.  Mold can begin growing on any water damaged material within 48 hours. Fines/penalties for missing contracted delivery times can cost thousands in delays and potential client dissatisfaction.

Effective disaster response begins with preparation.

A Disaster Plan Will do Three Things:

1. Tell You What To Do
2. Tell You When To Do It
3. Tell You How To Do It

In upcoming posts we will talk about some of the elements of preparedness and how to know what, when and how to respond in different situations.

As always, comments are welcome.  How many of you have a disaster plan?  And of those, how many know where it is?

I also don’t spend 2 hours a day commuting, large sums of money on dry-cleaning, or take in way too many calories at expensive lunches. (Well, sometimes that still happens.) I work from home.  I am a corporate drop-out that was set adrift in the recent meltdown our economy has been in.  For a while I was rudderless, but then I realized what was happening.  I was being given the opportunity to change my life.

Working from Home — The Advantages

It’s My Life

I am living life on my terms, creating an income stream that allows me to live a comfortable life.  Do I make as much as I did in the corporate world?  Not yet, but ask me again this time next year and I plan on giving a completely different answer.  If it wasn’t for the above mentioned rudderless issues, I believe I would already be approaching my income of last year.

Eight to Five

I am not bound by the strict schedule of an employee.  Even with the latitude I was given in my corporate job, there were still expectations that I spend 40+ hours a week in their presence.  Now there are some weeks that I actually work significantly more than 40 hours. But it’s on my terms and could take place in my office, in Florida or wherever else I happen to be.

The Commute

Cool, I am being green without even trying here!  No commute equals less gas and  less emissions pumped into the air.  That is certainly a big plus to this lifestyle.  Also, I’m not fighting rush hour traffic everyday, trying to factor in side trips to the grocery, the cleaners, the bank and still trying to make it home before dark so I can play in my yard or walk my dog.

The Dress Code

Like I said, I don’t wear shoes to work.  And yes, sometimes the jammies from the night before become the sweats I’m in during the day.  If that scares you, let me clarify that you should have plenty of networking, client meetings and general life activities that you can still dress up for.

The Possibilities

I am trying to keep this post short so I need to be careful here.  But the possibilities that working for yourself bring are sometimes overwhelming. (I dream big, OK?)  You have the capability to craft a life that works for you.  To have perfect work/life balance, to create and build something that is uniquely yours and to impact people in your world.  The sense of satisfaction and accomplishment that you feel is much greater than any you may get as an employee.

Working From Home – The Disadvantages

No More Free Ride

As I do not have any type of passive income stream yet, I only get paid when I work.  I no longer have that financial security of a check every week for work done…and water cooler chats, smoke breaks and long lunches.  Don’t judge, it happens to all of us!

Where’s My IT Guy?

I am now my own IT person for most of my computer issues.  Gone are the days when I could just call Dan, our computer tech, and he could magically fix any problem I was having, at no cost to me.  Really miss that.

Really!  I’m Working

Just because I am at home during the day does not mean I can go shopping, pick up your kids, or sit at your house and wait for the cable man to show up.  There is a balance here that needs to be found.  By all means, when you can help a friend, I encourage you to do so, but set your boundaries as to what you can and can’t do, and then stick to them.

Marketing

I have to admit, marketing has never been my thing.  I am happier behind the scenes in my own happy little world.  Selling myself has definitely taken me out of my comfort zone.

I actually couldn’t even come up with a 5th reason on the con side, it’s just that good.  And hey,  if the Obama’s can hold a White House summit meeting on making working from home a more viable option, then I am going to get on board!

It is no longer enough to conduct a one-dimensional job search.

The lines of communication and the avenues available for networking these days can be mind boggling.  Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, LinkedIn, and Blogs, social media has taken on epic proportions and shows no signs of slowing down.  Connections are being made and relationships formed over a Twitter hashtag.  So how can you use this to your best advantage in your job search?

A Professional Resume

Your resume is often the first impression a potential employer may have of you. Your ability to sell yourself here is crucial.  And guess what? It’s not about you, a recruiter is not reading your resume because he wants to find out about you, he is reading it because he wants to know what you can do for him.  That is a fine distinction, but one that you should keep in mind when writing your resume.  Tailor it to each specific position, (I know, it’s more work, but it will pay off) bounce their keywords right back at them, and highlight it in a way that tells them you understand what they need and that you can, and will deliver!

Blogs are Golden

If you can write engaging content, with relevant information, you will have a following.  If you are in Sales and Marketing, write about current trends or review the latest software.  If you’re an Administrative Assistant, write a series on organizing your office or how to put together a company newsletter.  People will begin to view you as an “expert”.  You are now making connections that could bring opportunities in any number of exciting ways.  But understand this does not happen overnight.  There are literally millions of abandoned blogs that were started with lofty intentions. This is not a “find a job in 2 months” tactic, this is a commitment to build an online presence, a voice worth listening to.

LinkedIn

With a user base of over 60 million, LinkedIn is the premier business and professional networking site.  You have the ability to build and customize your professional profile, making yourself instantly visible to thousands of potential partners, clients, employers and associates.  My 100 or so connections link me to almost 1,000,000 people.  Now that is pretty cool.  You also get immediate search engine recognition.   If you have a LinkedIn profile and you Google yourself, chances are you will come up on the first page, above the fold, so to speak.  Because of LinkedIn’s rankings in search results, you have instant visibility when you are being searched.

Twitter

Sometimes it’s hard to get into the loop with Twitter but if you persevere you will uncover some great resources.  A few accounts that are job related are @jobsearch, @jobsfeed and @indeed.  Follow people, comment, and engage in the community and you will develop a network of people who know of you and your work.

Network

Let me say that again, Network, and then Network some more.  When you are done with that, Network.  With so many qualified people out of work right now, competition has never been greater.  Human Resource departments look at hundreds of resumes that basically spout out the same trite phrases and keywords, they begin to blend together.  It is much easier for the hiring manager to pick someone that has a connection or has been recommended by someone that does.  Be that Someone!

Finally, know that as you are using social media to find a job, recruiters and hiring managers are also using these sites to find talent.  Your user name, posts and images should all reflect the type of person you want to be perceived as…by anybody.  Take a moment to review your online presence and remove anything that is questionable.

So, if you’re starting your own business, or just looking for a way to manage your personal life, here are some great resources to check out.  They are all free at some level, and can be expanded on, as needed.  Even then, unless you are dealing with a very high level of interface, they are very economical.

Dropbox

If you’re looking for a quick, easy way to share files and pictures between computers or with other people, then Dropbox is the application for you.  Winner of the 2009 Crunchie Award for Best Internet App, Dropbox instantly installs on your computer and you can easily set up shared folders. It can also be used as a online backup method.  With a free account you automatically receive 2GB of space, and for everyone you refer you get an additional 250kb.  If you need more than that they have very economical plans you can choose from.  Check it out here so I can get my free 250kb!

https://www.dropbox.com/referrals/NTIxMjgxOTY5

EventBrite

EventBrite is an extremely powerful event management program that is used by some of the powerhouse corporations of today.  They open up all features of this great site for free as long as your meeting or event is free.  If you charge a ticket price, they take a small percentage of each ticket.  You can use their basic themes or, if you know html, go crazy!  There is a Google map attached with directions to event site, it will post instantly to an Outlook calendar, and it has some great reporting/tracking features.

www.eventbrite.com

Freeconferencecall

Just sign in with your name and email address and you are instantly given a permament dial in number and access code.  No need to continually send out a new number or code, this one is yours to keep.  The free version will accommodate up to 96 callers and now has a record feature so you can save the call.  Great call quality and I have never had a call dropped.

www.freeconferencecall.com

Twiddla

Twiddla is a great little shared whiteboard.  Full disclosure, I have played with this, but not used it with others yet.  From what I can see, you can email an invite or give a specific URL and you are then sharing the board.   You can draw, type and chat across the shared board.  Seems like this would be a great tool for some conference call meetings.

www.twiddla.com

Printablechecklist.org

I love lists and they can’t get any easier than this one.  Here is a quick, instant, printable checklist.  Just Click “Add Item” and a new line appears, with a formatted checkbox.  You can print or save to your computer.

www.printablechecklist.org

I hope some of these have helped, Enjoy!

When you wrote your business plan, did you write down that you were going to spend 80 hours and above every week working in your business? Somehow, I doubt that.

Because we can do it all, right? And we do just that…for a time. Then the piles start to get bigger…

“How can I be on the road 230 days a year and still get my marketing materials out, keep track of my expenses, manage my schedule AND keep my clients happy?” You can, but that is not an effective or efficient use of your time and resources. You started your business because you excel at something. You are a salesman, a writer, a coach, an electrician or a web designer. Your excellence in that field is what will make your business a success. How much of your resources are you devoting to tasks that aren’t in your field? Managing your expenses, sorting through your inbox, preparing a presentation when you know nothing about PowerPoint, these are all integral parts of a typical day. But how much is it costing you to do it yourself, taking you away from your main objective and goals? Because this does affect your bottom line. What you spend in outsourcing tasks that slow you down, you gain back tenfold in increased productivity, a better work/life balance, and more time to focus on business growth.

It’s people like you that are providing me with, not just a thriving business, but the best job in the world! You see, I’m an organizer. I love lists. Sometimes I create one at the end of the day just so I can check off all the things I’ve accomplished. It’s a curse. But, within this business, on any given day, I can be checking emails and handling routine tasks for a client that is vacationing in the wine country of Argentina, doing a complete overhaul on a resume for another talented person that has become one of the victims of this economy, or preparing a PowerPoint presentation for a temporary labor agency that is expanding its services. I work with entrepreneurs, small businesses and non-profits. The 25 years that I spent in the corporate world, combined with my absolute excitement of working in this new connected world, makes for a happy and productive partner.

So, what is this Blog all about? Why should you read it? I don’t know that I have any real blogging skills. I have started and stopped personal blogs several times, so you will definitely be taking a journey with me as I develop these skills. My hope is to educate, illuminate and sometimes entertain you. I will try to keep the personal nonsense to a minimum, but as you become my friends, clients and loyal readers (Please), I’m sure you will be happy to know the progress of my garden or the crazy antics of my Shepadoodle (Yes, Shepadoodle). But mostly I would like to provide you with fresh, relevant content about things that can improve your life or your business, in some small way. Some posts will be my writings, some will be links, and you can be sure, some will be lists! And, just maybe, I can get some guest bloggers to stop by.

Please feel free to contribute to my growth with comments, suggestions or rebuttals. And, if I can be of service to you, give me a call, or use the contact form, and let’s talk about it!

A Virtual Assistant (or VA) is a solopreneur who specializes in providing ongoing, one-on-one, collaborative-style administrative support.

Like other professional service providers, Virtual Assistants operate remotely from their own places of business and utilize today’s technology to deliver their services and communicate with clients.

Virtual Assistants are first and foremost administrative experts. Virtual Assistants sometimes offer additional, separate specialties that fall under creative and/or technical services.

Virtual Assistants come from a variety of business backgrounds, but the single-most important qualification the industry expects of its peers is at least five (5) years administrative experience earned in the real (non-virtual) business world working in upper-level capacities such as executive assistant, secretary, legal assistant, paralegal, legal secretary, real estate assistant, office manager/supervisor, etc.

From this level of experience, a Virtual Assistant is expected to possess the skill sets, training and business knowledge which are the hallmark of a truly qualified Virtual Assistant

Definition Source:  http://www.virtualassistantnetworking.com/definition.htm

You MIGHT be saying…”Okay, I get that, but I haven’t really heard of anyone using a Virtual Assistant, except maybe Ashton Kutcher or someone like that”  Who really uses people like you?

I’m glad you asked!  There are a lot of people and companies that have already realized the advantages of outsourcing their administrative and operational  needs.  Here is a sampling…

• Accountants
• Writers
• Attorneys
• Life Coach’s
• Speakers
• Non-Profits
• Associations
• Internet-based businesses
• Real Estate Agents
• Small Retail Based business
• Event Planners
• Sales and Marketing
• Construction Contractors

And the benefit to you is…

• All the advantages of a contracted company…no taxes, benefits or other employee expenses.
• No space requirements, no equipment or software to purchase
• You pay only for time spent on your project
• A business relationship you can count on
• Quality service tailored to your specifications