Beyond Due Diligence…Listen to Those Gut Feelings   I should have been immediately suspicious when I received a voicemail message from a gentlemen who said he ‘really’ needed my help, when he indicated he found me in the Yellow Pages, a free listing under Secretarial Services where I’ve never once received any business.   I [...]

We are pleased to announce that the Second Edition of Entrepreneurial Freedom: How to Start and Grow a Profitable Virtual Assistance Practice – in Kindle and eBook versions has been released.   “We had to make several adjustments and offer the contracts and forms as a separately requested download, to successfully offer a Kindle version [...]

As the Virtual Assistance industry continues to evolve, more and more organizations are promoting and endorsing the use and growth of the Virtual Office Professional. The March issue of the NBEA’s (National Business Education Association) Newsletter was focused on “The Virtual Office Professional (VOP)” and featured several of my client’s views, as well as those [...]

As we have touched on previously, you are totally in charge of, and responsible for, everything that happens in your business. So what are your expectations? What do you hope to achieve? What do you do to stay current with the industry? Do you know or understand where the industry is headed? In order for us to have great [...]

This to me is HUGE. So many of the VAs I work with who don’t stay in business, or whose business stagnates, are those with low self-esteem, or negative attitudes. Remember earlier when we discussed surrounding yourself with positive and supportive people? You have to be positive and supportive, too. When I started, I didn’t have extremely low [...]

This is a biggie! The definition of entrepreneur is: “One who organizes and assumes the risk of a business or enterprise.” – and the buck stops there. You are totally responsible for every facet of your business. It’s all on your shoulders. Any mistakes that are made – your mistakes. Any successes or achievement, yours. But having a true entrepreneur’s mindset is [...]

We’ve already discussed the risks of starting your own business, but another thing that many times may hold you back from true success are your beliefs. If you believe that you can only make a meager living in this business, then you most likely will. When I first started my business it was meant to be [...]

Having your own business is the ultimate in power. You totally control your lifestyle when you’re an entrepreneur. It’s your call. You found the power within yourself to get this far – you know you have superior skills; you know you have value; you know you can eventually spend more time with family and friends once you establish [...]

Starting and growing a successful business isn’t easy. You need to surround yourself with like-minded people. And that means people who encourage and support you in starting and maintaining a business. As hard as this is to say, you may have to minimize connections with family and friends who are not supportive of you in a positive [...]

If you’ve been in business for any amount of time, you know that this is not easy. There’s no immediate success without very hard work. You have to really want to have your own business, and want it badly. You need to be totally committed to doing what’s necessary to make your business work. It also may mean [...]