I have the most amazing clients in my Virtual Assisting business. They all inspire and motivate me, and they lift me up. They’re incredible. They’re, quite simply, positive happy people who are a joy to ‘be around’ (virtually – since most are out of state), and to communicate with. It’s a pleasure to do my job each day, and most times it doesn’t feel like ‘work’, but more like I’m helping out a friend. I am truly grateful for them.

I’ve become quite skilled at getting a feel for whether a potential client would be a good match for me, whether the services they need are ones I enjoy providing, whether they will contribute to my joy – or whether they will add stress and dread to my work day. And I have learned how to say no, and to get over the feeling that I’m disappointing someone if I don’t agree to take them on as a client.

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for Success at Work and at Home

Look at the job postings in the paper or at one of the online career search sites. What is the one skill required of almost every job? Most employers look for “good interpersonal communication skills.”

Now ask yourself this: What is the one skill that will make a marriage great? It’s not being a fantastic cook or a fabulous lover. Cooking in the kitchen and in the bedroom both go a long way to keeping a relationship happy for sure, but it’s good interpersonal communication skills that give a marriage staying power.

And if you’re a small business owner—the same rule applies: you need to have great interpersonal communication skills in order to keep the cash rolling in. If you don’t relate well to your customers, they’ll leave to find someone else who they think can better relate to them and their needs. It’s no accident that it takes the same skill set to be successful in marriage and at work.

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As anyone who knows me well can attest – I’m not a fan (putting it nicely) of the term WAHM (work-at-home mom). Yes, it’s what I am as a Virtual Assistant, but no, I don’t think that being a mother, and working from home HAVE to go hand in hand. I love and am proud of both aspects of ‘me’, but I fail to see why it matters that I announce that my office is in my home, and that I’m a mother. In fact, part of my grand vision for my business is to have an office that is out of my home, an awesome staff, and many more amazing clients.

So, while I make great strides toward my grand vision, yet work here in my home office – I’ll admit on days like today when we’re having a major rainstorm, and the kids are out of school on spring vacation – I sure am grateful to be working from home.

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Welcome to our latest team members here at The Business Image Journal: Direct Sales Contributor-Leanna Giltmier and Communication Consultant- Felicia Slattery. Read more abou them on our Contributors Page.

Also, there’s alot of excitement in the air, as our first issue of the ezine goes out to subscribers on Sunday, April 15th! Sign up a a member to receive your copy.

Quite often I am asked what a typical business day for me and my company is like. And, since not every day in my own company is the same, it’s certainly true that no day for one VA would be similar to a day of another VA. We all handle clients with different needs and we offer different services, as well. But here’s a quick glimpse into what a typical day for me is like. Since my Monday is winding down, and it’s still fresh in my mind – I’ll talk about a typical Monday. I say “typical” but truly there are differences in every day, which is one of the reasons why I love what I do so much!

I’m an early riser. I generally wake up each morning at 5:00am. I get my coffee and immediately get to my office. I spend a few minutes writing in my gratitude journal, my evidences journal and visualizing how I intend for my day to go. Now, I know that’s not necessarily part of what I do AS a VA, but its part of who I am and how I run my business so I think it can stay in here. <smile>

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Becoming a small business owner can be very exciting! Keep in mind that it’s not an “overnight” accomplishment, and it takes some thought and planning before-hand, as well as persistence and patience in the first several years.

Before you start your business, you need to decide on a name…..and maybe design a logo (that can be saved for later, if you want). The name will be the most important. Think about what your business will offer, and what kind of first impression you want to give. Write down ANY words that come to mind when you think about your new business….the name you choose will come from those words. Use nouns and adjectives, use words that have caught YOUR attention when you’re shopping.

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This has been my worst week ever for staying connected to the internet in my office. I had high expectations when we switched to Windstream DSL in February. After all, when you design websites, plus connect with all of your clients via email (a majority of the time)….your Internet Service Provider becomes your best friend.

Well, my friend needs some time in the dog house. When I arrived in my office Wednesday morning at 6 am, my internet connection did not exist. I gave it a couple of hours while I got my kids off to school, etc. and still it was nowhere to be found. Since February, we’ve called Windstream approximately 6 times before this week about our internet connectivity (and lack thereof). 9 times out of 10 we got a nasty customer service rep, who assumed we were computer illiterate, and didn’t know what we were talking about. They (apparently) just chalked our outages and slow connections up to ignorance (which, if you knew my hubby, is laughable). Never sent anyone out here.

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As a Virtual Assistant, I am often alone in my office, for days at a time, without seeing anyone in person. It’s easy to get into a routine of wearing sweat pants or jeans, to maybe take a shower certain mornings – or maybe not. It’s easy to work in comfort and know that no one will be knocking on my door. Too easy!

However, I recently attended a 2 – day networking event in Boston called The Women’s Congress. This was slated as the largest business to business event in the country targeted to the women professionals who drive today’s economy. There were amazing keynote speakers, and panelists, and many exhibitors. And it was, for me, an actual chance to meet people, talk to other like-minded business women and learn from the great line up of speakers. In the weeks leading up to the event I made appointments to get my hair and nails done. I made sure I had some professional outfits that fit well. I know that my professional work speaks for itself, but if I set an initial ‘bad’ first impression, I might not get the chance to let people know more about me and my company.

It may be unfortunate, but it is the hard truth that we will sometimes judge people (and be judged ourselves) on first appearances, so it is important to acknowledge this and not use the excuse that “I want to be me and I don’t care what other people think”.

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The American Heritage Dictionary defines success as “The achievement of something desired, planned, or attempted”.

Along that vein, continued success would require that you adjust that “something” as you reach it. To truly be successful as a business owner, you must set goals that are attainable…and then as we achieve each of those goals, we must set new ones to move forward. You should be able to reach short term goals more easily, and with a little less effort than long term ones. Long term goals should be things that require extended effort, and will give you a strong sense of accomplishment when achieved.

Realistic Goal setting is a very important aspect of becoming successful in life…whether it’s success as a business owner, as a Parent, or just as a Person.

What kind of goals have you set recently?

Happy April, All!

These days most of us are doing the majority of our business in a technological bubble. We use emails, telephones, and voice mail to do our communicating….even in many “store” situations.

There are times however, for every business owner, when you’ll represent your business in the public eye. There might even be more of those times than you are aware of, in your day to day routine. I’ve seen some business owners do things, that made me cringe…

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