TECHNOLOGY ISSUE

In This Issue:

• A Note from Danielle
• Grateful Moment
• NEW! BIZ SMART INTENSIVE: How to Price & Package Your Support
• FEATURE ARTICLE: Virtual Collaboration Tools Explained
• Show Us Your Workspace
• Find a Virtual Assistant
• About the VACOC

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A Note from Danielle...

In this day and age, EVERY business is a virtual business. Meaning, regardless of whether it operates from a brick-and-mortar storefront or from a private home office, the Internet has become an integral part of every business's day-to-day marketing, operating, communicating and collaborating in some way or another. By implementing virtual collaboration tools, you can make things easier and do more for your clients (without ever stepping foot on their premises) while creating more freedom, efficiency and portability in your own business. In my book, these tools are simply a must anymore.

Yours in goodness and success :)

Danielle Keister
Founder & Administrative Consulting Expert
Virtual Assistance Chamber of Commerce

This week I'm grateful for...

Love and chocolate. What more is there?

I Love Hearing From You!

“Like you, after years in the corporate environment, I’ve learned that multi-tasking is not a good thing for me…or my clients! So, I made a conscious decision to make every effort to be fully present in all aspects of my life, and I can’t do that if I’m trying to manage multiple tasks! I really enjoy your newsletter and each time I read one, I find something that applies to me. Thanks so much for your hard work and dedication!" .— Franni Ferrero, Very Virtual

What did YOU like in this issue? I would love to know what you find helpful or enjoyable about this little ezine here. Since it is written for you, your topic ideas are always appreciated as well. Don't be shy—let me know!

IMPORTANT NOTE: The $97 Early Bird Registration Special has ended. Full price for this class is $197, but I wanted to give you one last opportunity for savings. Today and tomorrow only, you can register for $147 and save $50 off the full cost.

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Ah, how to price competitively, yet profitably? That's the question on everyone's mind, isn't it? You want to attract clients and not scare them away, but you also want to honor yourself and all the skill and expertise you bring to the table. You can't be in business to work for free after all, and if you're like me, your business is a means to the kind of life you want to lead. What doesn't help things is the fact that we can't talk about prices specifically with our colleagues.

What if I told you there is a completely different way to think about and run your administrative support business... a way that isn't dependent upon what anyone else is doing or charging... a way that will free you from the trap of hourly billing? I call it the Keister Administrative Consultant Business Model and I am chomping at the bit to share it with you!

The Keister Administrative Consultant Model is a methodology for framing your support in innovative ways. My model gives you much more freedom and flexibility in pricing and creating scalable support packages without discounting your fees or otherwise bargaining with your value. In this class, I'm going to introduce you to some mindshifts and aha moments unlike anything you've learned from anyone else in our industry.

Learn more (register today and save $50!) >>

- FEATURE ARTICLE -

Virtual Collaboration Tools Explained

I was a bit hesitant to write about this topic. I thought it might be too elementary. But then I remembered that it never hurts to review information you take for granted is common knowledge. You never know who it might help fill in the gaps for or how it might solidify their understanding.

1. Remote Access. Have you ever called a Help Desk and you gave them access to your computer and you could see the mouse moving around and things being typed on the screen as if a ghost had taken over? That's remote access.
   
   Remote access is great for times when you are working on your laptop away from the office, but want to log into your home computer to access files and programs there. With remote access, you don't have to purchase duplicate software and licenses, you don't have to tote around external harddrives or thumb drives, and you don't have to remember to upload and re-sync documents—because you're working at your office computer as if you were sitting right there. Business owners can also use remote access to log into clients' computers to do specific work or troubleshoot issues.
   
   If you are the smart techy type (or are married to one), it's possible to create your own VPN (virtual private network) for remote access. If you're not, my favorite remote access service is LogMeIn. For those who are still in bootstrapping stages, there is a free version. I use the paid Pro version myself because there are all kinds of useful added bells and whistles, and I get preferential customer support.
   
   
2. Virtual Office Suite. These are quite literally virtual offices that allow users to share and collaborate in one central location. Most of the programs and services that provide virtual offices include shared calendars, project and task lists, documents, contacts, and sometimes wikis, blogs, forums, polls and other collaborative communication tools.
   
   The idea is that it's a virtual online office where users who are granted access can log in and share, add and edit/update all these things in one central place. Since it's online, you can access a virtual office from any computer that has connection to the Internet.
   
   There are a multitude of service providers offering virtual office suite services. Most of these are fine and adequate, but none of them offers an actual true document drive with real-time editing and saving except for HyperOffice. For me, that's a critical factor—when you are working with lots of clients and flying back and forth between documents, having to download a file, save it on your own computer and then re-upload it to the shared document library (which is what you have to do with all those other programs), it can really slow you down tremendously. I don't have time for that. With HyperOffice's Hyperdrive, you open a document, edit it and save just like you would on your own computer. No downloading, no uploading.. all in real-time.
   
   Additionally, some of these programs are geared more toward project management (as opposed to creating virtual offices for each of your clients) and are missing important components that you have to purchase and use separately. With HyperOffice, everything is already included and integrated.
   
   The only other fully comprehensive virtual office is a software (rather than a service) you can purchase from Microsoft called Groove. This is the only other program that offers an actual document drive like HyperOffice does. The drawback to Groove, however, is that it's software rather than a service so you have to host it on your own domain and there is no customer support to help you get things set up or answer questions.
   
   
3. Shared Desktop/Webconferencing. Webconferencing tools allow you to share your screen with another person or with a group of people (depending on the service or platform being used). Many also include capabilities such as text chat, audio/visual recording, webcam viewing and whiteboards. Desktop sharing/webconferencing tools are great for when you want to hold visual learning classes or tutorials or get together with a client or colleague to brainstorm ideas or go over documents together. Whatever you put up on the screen, whether that is your desktop, a document, a PowerPoint presentation, you name it, attendees will see, too.
   
   Features and attendee limits vary widely from one service to the next. Some are free and some are not. My particular favorite right now (although probably a bit pricey for most peoples' needs) is VereConference. It has a very easy-to-use interface, has every feature you can think of, and can accommodate up to 1,000 attendees!
   
   I like the visual design of DimDim. It's pretty practical and user-friendly for more everyday webconferencing uses, but I have had some stability issues with it in the past. Maybe they have worked those out since the last time I used it. If you only need webconferencing ware once in awhile, DimDim offers a very inexpensive daily fee unlike many of the others that charge a monthly fee.
   
   I am currently evaluating GoToTraining (from the Citrix family of webconferencing products such as GoToMeeting and GoToWebinar) and so far, I am really grooving on it!. GoToWebinar is actually a very good product as well, but there were a few minor things I didn't like about it in the past that have since been improved. Each product in the Citrix family is geared toward different uses and offers varying capabiltiies, which you can compare here.

About the Author: Danielle Keister is an author, business advisor and innovator in the Virtual Assistant profession. Through her organization, the Virtual Assistance Chamber of Commerce, she is passionate about helping Virtual Assistants grow stronger, more financially successful practices that lead them to greater personal happiness, freedom and client satisfaction. An administrative professional of 20+ years and veteran Virtual Assistant of 12+ years, her no-nonsense approach to business development has gained her recognition as one of the leaders in the field.

© Copyright 2010, The Portable Business™. All U.S. and International rights reserved. You may print this article for personal use or republish it online only if it is left unaltered and used in its entirety, including bylines, links, copyright notice, resource and author information. Contact the author for any other permission.

Show Us Your Workspace!

Send me a pic of your office or workspace and we'll feature you and your business with a link to your site in a future issue.

This office belongs to Mirna Bajraj of MB Asistencia Virtual. I really LOVE that painting, Mirna! Thank you so much for sharing

- FEATURED TESTIMONIAL -

"Until I found your Virtual Assistant Business Forms package (and VACOC for that matter), my company finances were spinning out of control. I wasn't sure what to charge for my services or how to set up client payments. Thanks to your forms package that included the pricing worksheet and a sample retainer agreement, my clients are all paying monthly and I am bringing in more income. Another form that helped my gain some financial control was the accounting set up form. It made me realize that I couldn't do this all in an excel spreadsheet an forced me to make one of the best purchases so far, QuickBooks. Thank you for making helping me set up my 2010 for success!" — Julia Lilly, 360 Admin

Marketplace

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.

Find a Virtual Assistant Today

You don't have to live in overwhelm! Find yourself a great Virtual Assistant today, and go from struggling by yourself to enjoying more time, freedom and success.

About the VACOC

The Virtual Assistance Chamber of Commerce was formed by industry veteran Danielle Keister in 2006 as a professional association devoted exclusively to meeting the unique business needs of independent administrative consultants everywhere. Our community is passionate about helping each other grow stronger, more financially successful practices that bring us greater personal happiness, freedom and client satisfaction.

DISCLAIMER: Neither Danielle Keister nor the Virtual Assistance Chamber of Commerce™ endorses the accuracy or reliability of any of the paid advertisers above nor the quality of any products, information or other materials displayed, purchased or obtained by you as result of an offer in connection with any ad. Please do your own due diligence BEFORE purchasing any product.

© 2007-10 Virtual Assistance Chamber of Commerce™. All U.S. & International rights reserved. The Portable Business is a trademark of the Virtual Assistance Chamber of Commerce. All logos and names are the copyrights of their respective owners.

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