Here are a few tips from a business owner/clients point of view that you might want to consider if you're starting a VA business (and yes....you are starting a business).
1. Specialize - Don't be a jack of all trades. Specialize in small business, or startup growth, or personal assistant (scheduling and booking travel etc). This will allow you to do better work, and charge more for it. I won't hire someone who isn't clear about what exactly they can do for me and how well they can do it.
2. Under promise and over deliver. If you tell me you're amazing at something and come out with something that's so-so, you will be finding a new client.
3. Don't turn away money. When I come to rely on you, don't slush me off for other clients. If you can't handle my workload, pass me on to someone who can.
Hope that is helpful. It's not all roses out there, but if you do good work, people will love you for it and will pay you well for it too.
"There is no such thing as good debt. That is a lie and a myth."
So it is better to pay $1200 month to rent a modest place then take a 30 year mortgage on the same place for $150k? Same monthly payment once all cost of ownership is included and you are paying part of that to yourself every month (plus can customize the space as you wish).
eaHELP.com matches independent contractors with up to 3 clients at a time, minimum 5 hours weekly per client with potential 40 hours (or more). Supportive corporate staff and ongoing training provided.
This sounds awesome! Instead of throwing it away, I can earn money! I just joined this group, and so thank you! I don't worry about someone taking out credit cards in my name, as I believe that a credit app will need more info than my name/address.
Awesome list of seasonal food. Wanted to mention KALE, the super green, to add to your list, all through the year. And also, to note that if you juice with kale, MAKE SURE ITS COOKED, rather than raw. Cooking your kale (of which I cook 5-6 heads each week) removes, and i quote from Mindbodygreen.com,
"Kale (and other cruciferous vegetables, including cabbage, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, turnips, and collards) contain a compound called isothiocyanates, which appear to block an enzyme in the thyroid. This enzyme, TPO, is responsible for attaching iodine to the thyroid hormones to make them active.
Basically, these vegetables are thought to block your body from using the iodine that it needs. If the thyroid doesn’t have enough iodine, the cells start overgrowing and the thyroid gets bigger — this is called a goiter. That’s why these foods are often called "goitrogens," because they make the thyroid swell as it's trying harder to make your thyroid hormones with limited raw materials.
Kale and other cruciferous vegetables are only considered to be goitrogens when eaten raw. When these vegetables are cooked or lightly steamed, this issue goes away.
Does this mean you should never eat raw vegetables? Absolutely not!"
One gigantic reason NOT to hire movers: the moving industry is notoriously full of thieves and the amount of people who report theft at the hands of their moving companies every year is mind boggling. It's happened to me and my family 3 times over the years. Good luck getting anything back or even compensation.
I didn't know that about Amazon! Thanks for the info! I lucked out and got a price adjustment at Old Navy last week when I went into to exchange some pants for a smaller size.
Jerry, that's a very good question and a valid concern. Some people black out that particular information. Others avoid that and send in the other accepted pieces like the telecommunications adverts that seems to come in (at least for me) every single day. There is a certain level of trust that you're putting in the professionals who run this business along with how they say they guard information. Some people worry about it more and some less. It's definitely something to seriously contemplate when deciding.
Don't forget to visit friends in these far-off places, maybe even extend your trip and you can cross that future trip you were going to take to visit them off your list and the travel was free. Some companies let you expense extra days up to any savings in air travel costs by including a weekend.
Use the remote location as a starting point for a vacation. If work sends you to London, then add Paris for a vacation where the company covered most of the travel costs. It's extra cost but less than it would cost you to take the whole trip out of your pocket.
Interesting, never knew that you could do something like this. If it's as painless as stuffing as stuffing all the junk mail into a big envelope every few weeks I think I might sign up and see how it goes. I hate opening and then having to shred all that junk mail anyways...
Only thing I would be afraid of is someone they are selling it to would just apply for a credit card in my name.
I think The Penny Hoarder site has a nice design. I like that I can see many choices via the pictures and article titles, and then they also have just article titles on the side.
The font is a bit big for my taste. I'd make it smaller.
These are some great articles! I knew dark chocolate was better for you than milk chocolate, but I didn't know it had so many benefits for your brain. Thanks for sharing these!
My 15 yo son bought a ham, frozen corn, fresh broccoli (with cheese) bakery rolls and a cheesecake and made a scrumptious dinner for me last night for Mother's Day! We had the dinner last night because today,.. we are on a road trip to see my other son in college. Since my older son is taking us all out to eat for Mother's day, my youngest wanted to suprise me with a "homemade dinner"!! How sweet is that!
Sooo, this seems interesting...but what's to stop them from taking your credit card application "junk mail" and some basic data searching to take out credit cards in your name???
Great little article.
Here are a few tips from a business owner/clients point of view that you might want to consider if you're starting a VA business (and yes....you are starting a business).
1. Specialize - Don't be a jack of all trades. Specialize in small business, or startup growth, or personal assistant (scheduling and booking travel etc). This will allow you to do better work, and charge more for it. I won't hire someone who isn't clear about what exactly they can do for me and how well they can do it.
2. Under promise and over deliver. If you tell me you're amazing at something and come out with something that's so-so, you will be finding a new client.
3. Don't turn away money. When I come to rely on you, don't slush me off for other clients. If you can't handle my workload, pass me on to someone who can.
Hope that is helpful. It's not all roses out there, but if you do good work, people will love you for it and will pay you well for it too.
I like to be able to sort posts by date
Good list! But still...so worth it!
Congrats to Sean! I wish I was this savvy at his age. His parents should write a book!
Wild that you don't mention elance
"There is no such thing as good debt. That is a lie and a myth."
So it is better to pay $1200 month to rent a modest place then take a 30 year mortgage on the same place for $150k? Same monthly payment once all cost of ownership is included and you are paying part of that to yourself every month (plus can customize the space as you wish).
These are great list. But i am using most beautiful designfinejewelry.com online jewelry shop.
eaHELP.com matches independent contractors with up to 3 clients at a time, minimum 5 hours weekly per client with potential 40 hours (or more). Supportive corporate staff and ongoing training provided.
This Mi 5200 mAh Power Bank is both handy, but very popular as well.
This sounds awesome! Instead of throwing it away, I can earn money! I just joined this group, and so thank you! I don't worry about someone taking out credit cards in my name, as I believe that a credit app will need more info than my name/address.
Awesome list of seasonal food. Wanted to mention KALE, the super green, to add to your list, all through the year. And also, to note that if you juice with kale, MAKE SURE ITS COOKED, rather than raw. Cooking your kale (of which I cook 5-6 heads each week) removes, and i quote from Mindbodygreen.com,
"Kale (and other cruciferous vegetables, including cabbage, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, turnips, and collards) contain a compound called isothiocyanates, which appear to block an enzyme in the thyroid. This enzyme, TPO, is responsible for attaching iodine to the thyroid hormones to make them active.
Basically, these vegetables are thought to block your body from using the iodine that it needs. If the thyroid doesn’t have enough iodine, the cells start overgrowing and the thyroid gets bigger — this is called a goiter. That’s why these foods are often called "goitrogens," because they make the thyroid swell as it's trying harder to make your thyroid hormones with limited raw materials.
Kale and other cruciferous vegetables are only considered to be goitrogens when eaten raw. When these vegetables are cooked or lightly steamed, this issue goes away.
Does this mean you should never eat raw vegetables? Absolutely not!"
Hope you all find this helpful!
One gigantic reason NOT to hire movers: the moving industry is notoriously full of thieves and the amount of people who report theft at the hands of their moving companies every year is mind boggling. It's happened to me and my family 3 times over the years. Good luck getting anything back or even compensation.
I like Amazon's website design since it's easy to find what I'm looking for, and there isn't a lot of clutter.
I like websites that are easy to follow. I am not very computer savvy.
I didn't know that about Amazon! Thanks for the info! I lucked out and got a price adjustment at Old Navy last week when I went into to exchange some pants for a smaller size.
Good Ideas- Bootstrap is definitely first step in startup world.
Jerry, that's a very good question and a valid concern. Some people black out that particular information. Others avoid that and send in the other accepted pieces like the telecommunications adverts that seems to come in (at least for me) every single day. There is a certain level of trust that you're putting in the professionals who run this business along with how they say they guard information. Some people worry about it more and some less. It's definitely something to seriously contemplate when deciding.
Don't forget to visit friends in these far-off places, maybe even extend your trip and you can cross that future trip you were going to take to visit them off your list and the travel was free. Some companies let you expense extra days up to any savings in air travel costs by including a weekend.
Use the remote location as a starting point for a vacation. If work sends you to London, then add Paris for a vacation where the company covered most of the travel costs. It's extra cost but less than it would cost you to take the whole trip out of your pocket.
Exactly what I was thinking!
Interesting, never knew that you could do something like this. If it's as painless as stuffing as stuffing all the junk mail into a big envelope every few weeks I think I might sign up and see how it goes. I hate opening and then having to shred all that junk mail anyways...
Only thing I would be afraid of is someone they are selling it to would just apply for a credit card in my name.
You had me at "Best Buy", they are the perfect company and business in my opinion. Best Buy is THE TRUTH
I think The Penny Hoarder site has a nice design. I like that I can see many choices via the pictures and article titles, and then they also have just article titles on the side.
The font is a bit big for my taste. I'd make it smaller.
These are some great articles! I knew dark chocolate was better for you than milk chocolate, but I didn't know it had so many benefits for your brain. Thanks for sharing these!
My 15 yo son bought a ham, frozen corn, fresh broccoli (with cheese) bakery rolls and a cheesecake and made a scrumptious dinner for me last night for Mother's Day! We had the dinner last night because today,.. we are on a road trip to see my other son in college. Since my older son is taking us all out to eat for Mother's day, my youngest wanted to suprise me with a "homemade dinner"!! How sweet is that!
Sooo, this seems interesting...but what's to stop them from taking your credit card application "junk mail" and some basic data searching to take out credit cards in your name???