Blog Archives

What are your Goals for your Virtual Assistant Business this year?

January 28, 2012

Can you believe that January 2012 is coming to a close already? I know some of you don’t believe in New Years resolutions but, it is important to establish business goals for the year. Consider it a kind of “mini business plan” for 2012. You probably discovered during the year things that worked and things that didn’t work. You might make a goal to drop the things that didn’t work and double your efforts on what did work. My goals for this year are: –Write one Kindle book or report each month starting with February –Open Va Mom Coach Membership Site There are a lot of itty-bitty goals within those goals of course and I have a step by step plan to accomplish each item on it. For instance I want each of my books to have 30 to 100 thousand words depending upon whether it is a report or a book. I have created a title, and an outline and if for instance the book is 30,000 words then I want to write at least 2000 words per day for 15 days, then the rest of the month will be to edit, format, and upload to Kindle. 2000 words

New 1099 rules that you need to know!

January 25, 2012

Notice the image and the passage circled in RED. This means that your clients, if they pay you by credit or by third party payment system such as PayPal no longer need to issue you a 1099. This is excellent. Only if they pay you by check or cash should they be issuing you a 1099. I love this new rule because it will alleviate me of sending out numerous 1099′s (I am now only going to have to send out 1 because I wrote only one person a check!) However, if most people are like me they don’t read the rules they just do what they’re used to. I have already started receiving 1099′s erroneously and I almost sent them out myself when I did not need to. So, if you’ve send them out and should not have, you’ll need to find out from an accounting professional or someone how to correct the error otherwise your poor vendor will have their income reported twice and that’s not right! So, please let this be a good reminder for us all (especially ME) to read the rules before proceeding each year with someone we are used to doing. Especially when

Happy New Year — Goals for 2012

January 3, 2012

I hope this post finds you all having a wonderful New Year. I had such a successful year in 2011 I cannot even imagine how wonderful 2012 might be. I’m so thankful for the friends I’ve made, clients I’ve had, and just the wonderful experiences and learning that has taken place in 2011. I know that there will be many really successful VAs who are going to move past coaching to complete success in their business. I have so many goals for 2012 that I thought I’d share them with you all. I’d love to hear what your goals are too. I’ll start: 1. Expand VA moms — yea I know I said I’d never have a message board or community but I think it’s time so my plan is to build the technology during 2012. That’ll teach me — Never say Never. 2. Finish my VA book — Within the next three months I want to be finished with my VA book. It’s crazy how many things keep changing, and I keep adding to the book and I keep updating the book. I just want it to be helpful and right. In the past I would have launched it

Does a Virtual Assistant need a business plan?

December 20, 2011

If you’re thinking about starting a virtual assistant business, or as you’re trying to succeed in your existing virtual assistant business, you probably wonder if you need a business plan. While you don’t really need to have a formal business plan in place to be successful, going through the process of creating a virtual assistant business plan can certainly increase your chances of success, and help you stay on a planned path. Business plans can help you avoid the so-called “shiny object syndrome” that afflicts many online entrepreneurs. By having a written description of your business you can, when in doubt, look at your business plan as kind of a map to decide whether or not this new “thing” fits with your overall business goals moving you closer to your destination. You don’t have to be that fancy to write a good business plan. Simply cover the important aspects of your business such as: Date your business started Your back story Location of your business What services you’ll offer To Whom You will offer services What prices you’ll charge Where you are now Where you want to go It also helps to include what types of technology you will need

Spotlight Interview – Chad Lawie

December 9, 2011

This is our next interview in a new series on the site – VA spotlight. We’re not looking for just Virtual Assistants – anyone that provides a service is welcome to be interviewed. That means if you’re a web designer, ghostwriter, copywriter, business coach, etc we would love to feature you! Please, fill out the form here and you’ll be contacted once your information is reviewed. This week our expert is Chad Lawie of Longer Days. You will find his bio below and a little farther down the page you can listen in to the interview. Chad Lawie Chad’s Bio: Chad Lawie is the owner of LongerDays.com, a virtual assistance company based entirely in the United States. His daily responsibilities include sales and marketing, as well as looking for talented new staff, and making coffee. Prior to working at LongerDays.com, Chad worked at odd jobs while traveling throughout the Atlantic Ocean on a leaky old sailboat with his wife. Chad is a member of the Muskegon Junior Chamber of Commerce and in his spare time enjoys volunteering at community events Show Notes: Chad talks about how he got started as a Virtual Assistant Find out what he likes most about