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ISSN 1947-105X Don't forget to add "newsletter@virtualassistantnetworking.com" to your email friends list so you won't miss future issues! In This Issue:
From the EditorYou know what time it is, right? Time to get ready for your next fabulous year! When you think about it, this time of year is just as much cause to celebrate your business as it is the holidays. Dawn Olinek is here this week with some smart steps to get the ball rolling. PS: Did you notice? The Gritty Business Buzz™ is now The Portable Business™. As Virtual Assistants, we're all about helping business owners create smarter, more smooth-running businesses so they have more time for life. We feel our new name better reflects that mission. We'd love to know what you think of the new name. Connect with us on Twitter and Facebook. Be fierce!
The Inevitable Is A-Comin'
Being the anal sort of business consultant that I am, I want to help you jump start the tasks that may otherwise be energy-busters for you and your business. Get your pen and paper... er, fingers and keyboard ready cuz' here we go. Task: Holiday Cards Do you send out holiday cards and/or gifts to your clients? Don't let your lack of organization and planning come thru on this task. Your clients look to you as a source of stability and professionalism. Here's where you can shine. Start compiling your list of recipients and appropriate gifts and/or cards right now. Tip: Opt to recognize a holiday other than Christmas and the New Year as a way to set yourself apart. Also, unique gifts are way cooler than traditional gift cards which = B-O-R-I-N-G! Task: Business Policies End of year is a great time to review your business policies and make updates to reflect necessary changes that you've made. Don't forget to share these changes with your clients. Tip: Creating a client guide which encompasses the key points of your business practices is a great tool to arm your client's with. Task: Business Plan and Growth Objectives Is your business plan collecting dust on a shelf somewhere? I know it's easy to forget about the thing and frankly who wants to rifle thru pages of uninteresting reading? But it is the bible of your business so it's advantageous to pull it out on occasion and make sure it matches up with what you are actually doing. Tip: Create a spreadsheet to chart your business growth. It should include your billable hours, operating costs, ideal gross income, profit margin, etc. Does this sound like gibberish to you? Are you winging it from year to year? SCORE offers a fabulous, in-depth worksheet that you can access by clicking here. Task: Financials - The Biggee Do you generally wait until the very last minute to record a year's worth of transactions? If so, I smell a recipe for disaster! In my opinion (remember I'm a stickler), starting now is too late but it sure beats waiting until December. Tip: Scan in all of your receipts. Yes, it's a lot of work, but you will thank me later. After doing this you can throw out that pile of what seems like umpteen thousand receipts that are cluttering up your desk. Print out the scanned in pages and input the information into your financial software program. Task: Outsource Already, Will Ya?! Stop procrastinating on completing the tasks that are vital to your businesses bread and butter. Successful entrepreneurs outsource the projects that they don't have time to do, don't know how to do, or simply can't stand doing to qualified professionals. Tip: Qualified professionals = Virtual Assistants. Find yours today! RESOURCE: SCORE "Counselors to America's Small Business" is a nonprofit association dedicated to educating entrepreneurs and the formation, growth and success of small business nationwide. SCORE is a resource partner with the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA).
Join the VACOC Kiva Lending Team
Kiva is the world's first person-to-person micro-lending website, empowering individuals to lend directly to unique entrepreneurs in the developing world. It's free to join and you can make a loan at any time to help a fellow entrepreneur out anywhere in the world. It's good karma and you are repaid 100% in full when the load is paid off. You can lend as little as $25 to a specific low-income entrepreneur in the developing world (hey, $25 is a WHOLE LOTTA MONEY in those areas). You choose who to lend to—whether that's a baker in Afghanistan, a goat herder in Uganda, a farmer in Peru, a restaurateur in Cambodia, or a tailor in Iraq—and as they repay the loan, you get your money back. We love it because it's a hand-up, not a hand-out. If you join the VACOC lending team of Virtual Assistants, you'll be joining forces with one of the most respected Virtual Assistant associations out there and working with us to alleviate poverty. Once you're a part of the team, you can choose to have a future loan on Kiva "count" towards our team's impact. The loan is still yours, and repayments still come to you, but you can also choose to have the loan show up in our team's collective portfolio, so the team's overall impact will grow. Anyone is welcome to join our team. I hope you'll join! To sign up (it takes like one minute!), visit: http://www.kiva.org/community/viewTeam?team_id=2197
The Results Are In!
If you are a Virtual Assistant and didn't participate this year, we really encourage you to take part in the next survey. You will be contributing to the effort that is helping the industry grow AND you'll get a copy of the full survey results report once the survey period is over. Only those who participate get the full survey report at no charge. In the meantime, we offer an abridged version of the survey (about half) which gives some of the basic statistical data. Feel free to "take one down and pass it around." You may also publish the results contained in the survey highlights report as long as attribution is given to the VACOC.
Next FREE Teleseminar on November 20, 2008
- A D V E R T I S E M E N TS -
SCRATCHING YOUR HEAD? Have you been wondering what this administrative solution called Virtual Assistance is all about? Not to worry! The Virtual Assistance Chamber of Commerce has written an online guide to answer all your questions: The Client's Guide to Virtual Assistants.
TIRED OF WADING through the thousands of Virtual Assistant sites on the Internet? Would you like qualified, competent and reputable Virtual Assistants to come to you instead? Simply submit your Request for Partnership at the VACOC RFP Center.
Find a Qualified Virtual Assistant Today!
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| ABOUT THE VACOC: Founded by industry veteran Danielle Keister in 2006, the is a professional association committed to empowering business-minded Virtual Assistants grow smarter, more successful practices, and providing business owners with to connect with reputable, qualified Virtual Assistant professionals. To change your subscription, see link at the bottom of email notification. The Portable Business™ (formerly The Gritty Business Buzz™) is a trademark of the Virtual Assistance Chamber of Commerce™. All logos and names are the copyrights of their respective owners. Disclaimer: Neither Danielle Keister nor the Virtual Assistance Chamber of Commerce™ endorses the accuracy or reliability of any of the paid advertisements above nor the quality of any products, information, or other materials displayed, purchased, or obtained by you as a result of an offer in connection with any ad. Please do your own due diligence BEFORE purchasing any product. © 2007-09 Virtual Assistance Chamber of Commerce™. All U.S. & International rights reserved. |
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Calling
all you sharp small business owners, entrepreneurs, solopreneurs, and
the like... I know you've been thinking about it, but now it's time to
talk about it. The end of the year is only a few short weeks away. Will
you close out your year ready and willing, or will year's end have you
turning into a grinch?
About
the Author: 
Has
the economy got you down? Do you worry you won’t earn enough but
you find yourself giving away free time and discounting your services
in other ways? Join us on 
