DECEMBER 8, 2008
ISSN 1947-105X | Vol. 2, No. 49

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 Editor
• Feature Article: Busting the Fear of Flying
• VACOC News: VACOC Holidays Food Drive Challenge
• Next Free Teleseminar on January 15, 2009
• Marketplace
• Find a Qualified Virtual Assistant Today
• About the VACOC

From the Editor

Do you travel at times in the course of your business? Will you be traveling during the holidays? By the time you read this, I will have just arrived a day earlier in Germany. I hate flying (not sure why since we traveled a lot when I was growing up and I never had a problem with it then). I've also never flown by myself on such a long flight and it wasn't something I was looking forward to. Pray for me that I haven't had a total freakout nor harmed the passenger next to me with my grip on their arm, LOL. This week's article from Colleen Johnson arrives with some very timely tips for travellers like me who aren't exactly thrilled to be flying.

Be fierce!

Danielle Keister
Founder & CVO Virtual Assistance Chamber of Commerce

Busting the Fear of Flying

Any fear is debilitating but a fear of flying can make your business life miserable. Many entrepreneurs and small business owners have to travel occasionally to seminars, trade shows, conferences or even an urgent meeting. When you throw air travel and fear into the mix, your anxiety level will jump through the roof.

If you do have a fear of flying, here are some things you can do to calm yourself and learn how to deal with it so you can be productive:

1. Know that you are not alone. There are many people with aerophobia. After working in the air traffic industry for over 13 years, I witnessed many fearful flyers pass through the airport on guided tours. If you are informed ahead of time, it can calm some of those nerves. See if you can set up a tour at your local airport. It will be fascinating and can aleve much of your anxiety.
   
   
2. Know that you are in good hands. Here is a quick breakdown of how the air traffic system works: In a nutshell, air traffic controllers within the actual towers at the airports only control the ground movements and airspace up to five miles out from the airport. Once your plane is five miles out, you’ve been handed off to the radar controllers who control your flight for about 30 miles. Once again, you will be switched off to the center controllers. These controllers handle everything in between, including international flights over the ocean once they hit our airspace. If anything should ease your mind about air safety, it is the fact that these controllers got thousands of flights landed quickly and safely on September 11th, 2001.
   
   
3. Book a non-stop flight. This will make things a little easier and you'll only have to gear yourself up for one departure and one landing. If you need to travel a little further out of the way to get that non-stop flight, take a train, bus or car. It’s worth it.
   
   
4. Take deep breaths. Travel lightly. Drink your water. No alcohol and no nylons. You can do it. Conquer your fear so that you can be more productive when you get to that business destination.

RESOURCE: For those who need more assistance to calm their jitters, you can hire a therapist or you can check out Captain Stacey Chance’s Fear of Flying free online course. This course guides individuals through their fear of flying with the Captain’s aviation knowledge. He is not a certified therapist; however, he has won the Jefferson Awards for Public Service in 2007 for his program. Check it out!

About the Author: Colleen M. Johnson, MSVA, is the owner of CMJ Office, a virtual administrative and genealogy research business. CMJ Office provides top quality virtual administrative assistance for business owners, genealogy and history authors, speakers and researchers.

VACOC Holidays Food Drive Challenge

Community food banks around the country are in dire need. With rising food prices and companies continuing to lay employees off in the declining economy, many local agencies are reporting a nearly 50% increase in demand from families needing assistance. Many of these agencies have bare pantry shelves or are otherwise not prepared to assist what many expect to be record numbers this year.

Enter the Virtual Assistant community! In view of the rising need and coming holidays, the Virtual Assistance Chamber of Commerce is issuing a challenge to Virtual Assistants worldwide to mobilize as an industry to do what they do best—helping others—by donating a minimum of $10 or more to their local food banks and charitable organizations this holiday season.

We'd love to hear how you've helped those in less fortunate circumstances. Share your stories and ideas on our VACOC Facebook Discussion Board...

Join the VACOC Kiva Lending Team

Wanna add "philanthropist" to your list of titles? Then 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!

The 2008 Virtual Assistant Industry Survey went fabulously and the results are fascinating. I want to thank all the participants for their efforts in promoting it and making it the best yet! All Virtual Assistants who participated in the survey and signed up to the mailing list at the end get a free copy of the survey.

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: January 15, 2009

Are you determined to make 2009 your best year yet? Then join us for the next VACOC Guest Expert Teleseminar on Thursday, January 15, 2009, with Passion into Profit mentor Cari Vollmer as she shares her world-famous vision boarding process and how to create a vision board that will keep you powerfully aligned with your dreams and goals.

RESERVE YOUR SPOT TODAY >>

- A D V E R T I S E M E N TS -

$299 CUSTOM WEBSITES FOR VIRTUAL ASSISTANTS. Don't be overlooked! Your website is your lifeline to your marketplace. If you are using generic templates or DIY website builders for your professional site, you are blending into the background. Stand out from your competition! Unique, tasteful designs high on style, color and visual impact. $299 Virtual Assistant Websites.

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.

MAKE 25% IN AFFILIATE EARNINGS! Join the VACOC Affiliate Program and earn extra money simply by referring people to our website. Monthly payouts with no minimums required. Sign Up Today!

Are You Reading This? Place your ad and get in front of over 4000 subscribers! Great rates and price breaks for multiple ads >> 

Find a Qualified Virtual Assistant Today!

You don't have to live in overwhelm. You CAN get just the help you need without having to hire in-house staff. Find yourself a great Virtual Assistant today, and go from struggling by yourself to getting things done and thriving on the road to success.

See Your Ad Here!

ABOUT THE VACOC: Founded by industry veteran Danielle Keister in 2006, the Virtual Assistance Chamber of Commerce™ is a professional association committed to empowering business-minded Virtual Assistants grow smarter, more successful practices, and providing business owners with free tools and resources 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.