From the Desk of Janet Barclay

Are you finding yourself with a little extra time on your hands this summer? Don’t let this time slip away!

My colleague, Erin Blaskie, is hosting the first annual Summer Speaker Series featuring an incredible line-up of speakers including James Roche, Christina Merkley, Sheri McConnell, Alexis Neely, Allana Pratt, Lou Bortone, Viki Viertel, Lynn Scheurell, Kathie Thomas, Debbie LaChusa, Wendy Weiss, Terri Z, Donna Gunter, Diana Ennen and many more.

Here’s the deal… She’s featuring TWO speakers per day for the entire month of August - not including weekends, because who wants to work weekends, especially in the summertime! There’s one track for virtual assistants, and another track for all business owners and entrepreneurs. You can purchase a seat in either one or both, with or without audio downloads, so what are you waiting for?  I’ve heard there is a cap of 200 people due to the bridge line and with the speakers involved, that won’t last long!

The first 100 people to register will also receive access to bonus sessions in September, so sign up today – you won’t be disappointed! It’s going to be one of the hottest events of the summer!

"One thing you can’t recycle is wasted time."

Anonymous

The last seminar I attended was Enjoy Promoting Your Website with Web 2.0, which was presented by Suzanne Falter-Barns, Chris Muccio, and Peggy Murrah. If you’re not familiar with the term, Web 2.0 refers to a site that allows some kind of interaction with the user, rather than a traditional static website. Of course, I already "enjoy" blogging, and establishing and building relationships on social networking sites, but I wanted to learn from the experts how to make the most of my activities.

As I learned in the two previous seminars, the key is to effectively communicate how you differ from others in your industry, or your personal brand. It’s also important to be aware of the various sites that are out there for social networking, content sharing, social bookmarking, and so on, so you can determine which are most suitable for your purposes. You then need to decide which sites you will use, and how often. Then, as with any marketing strategy, you need to have a measurement system in place to evaluate how you are doing.

I found it most interesting to hear that 79% of all media now find their expert sources through blogs. That in itself is a reason to make sure that your blog really shows your expertise and your passion for what you do! It’s also given me an extra bit of motivation to move forward with the exciting new changes I have in store for my own blog!

I signed up for Anita Bruton’s seminar on Creating a Personal and Company Profile that Attracts Clients for tips on drafting some new content for my website and ensuring that my profile on Facebook, LinkedIn, and other such sites, represent both Organized Assistant and myself effectively. Since evolving from a solopreneur to a small team, we are no longer one and the same thing!

Just as Cristina Favreau stated in the session about your 30-second introduction, this is not something you can just sit down and throw together in one sitting. In addition, it needs to be updated from time to time to reflect any changes you may have made in your business, such as a new target market.

Both speakers also emphasized that the key to writing a good profile (or self-introduction) is to identify what makes you different from your competition. It’s important to remember, whenever you’re talking or writing about your business, to focus on your potential client and how your services (or products) will benefit them.

There is certainly more to learn about this subject than Anita could cover in a one-hour session, so she has introduced a Write Your Professional Profile Ecourse which sounds like a great value at only $19.99 (even less for convention attendees!)

Before closing, I’d like to applaud Tawnya Sutherland for receiving the 2008 Thomas Leonard Virtual Assistant of Distinction Award. Named for the late Thomas Leonard, the founder of several coaching organizations who is credited with coining and popularizing the term "virtual assistant," the award honours a VA who has been in business for at least 5 years and whose contributions to the industry have helped many others to build a successful business. As Founder of the Virtual Assistant Networking Forum and an active member of many other Virtual Assistant organizations, Tawyna is well deserving of this honour!

I’d also like to congratulate Kylie Short of Tilda Virtual Services who received this year’s Janet Jordon Achievement Award. Janet Jordan, the founder of Virtual Assistance U and an industry pioneer, passed away only a few months before the first Online International Virtual Assistants Convention in 2006, and the award named in her honour is presented to a VA who has been in business for less than 5 years yet has reached a milestone that has helped to boost their new business to an overwhelming success.

Kudos to both of you - your hard work has not gone unnoticed!

Today is International Virtual Assistants Day, and OIVAC is in full swing!

I’m not attending as many seminars as I did last year, as I decided to make the most of my time by choosing topics I’m already focusing on. I find I get more out of any learning situation, and I’m much more likely to act on what I’ve learned, if I have an immediate use for it.

The first session I attended was Designing a Compelling 30 Second Intro, presented by fellow Canadian Cristina Favreau. I thought I knew a lot about this subject already, since I’ve attended so many networking events since starting my business, but I’m a big fan of Cristina’s blog, and was sure she’d have some great ideas to share. I wasn’t the least bit disappointed!

Cristina mentioned that a potential client needs to hear our message at least nine times in order for it to influence his or her buying decisions, and because of that, it’s important to be consistent. This was a real eye-opener, as I had thought I needed to change what I say when I introduce myself at networking events, so I wouldn’t bore people who had already heard my introduction. Just being aware of that is enough to motivate me to make sure that my introduction is powerful and memorable.

She also suggested completing the StrengthsFinder assessment as a way of identifying what makes us different from other professionals in our industry, which sounds like a great idea. I understand that a lot of people are surprised to discover what strengths they really have – and it’s always beneficial to learn more about ourselves!

I can’t tell you everything Cristina said, but conference recordings will be available for purchase at a later date from the Alliance for Virtual Businesses.

Over the next few days, I’ll share a few tips from Anita Bruton’s session on Creating a Personal and Company Profile that Attracts Clients and Enjoy Promoting Your Website with Web 2.0, which was presented by Suzanne Falter-Barns, Chris Muccio, and Peggy Murrah.

There are many talented individuals in the virtual assistance industry, but one name that keeps popping up is Erin Blaskie. In addition to running her successful multi-VA practice, Business Services, ETC, Erin has developed several programs to support other virtual assistants, including her new Virtual Assistant Mastermind. This program includes a series of speaker events which are open to guests as well as members, and I’ve been selected as one of the guest speakers! I’ll be talking about one of my favourite topics, Organizing and Your Computer, in a teleseminar on Thursday, June 19^th, and I do hope you’ll be able to join us. Here’s what Bernadette Wong of K&M Secretarial Services said after my last presentation on this subject:

"Janet provided quick tips on managing your emails and inbox, files within your computer and how to prioritize them. These many tips of information were most helpful to me. I thoroughly enjoyed the PowerPoint presentation which guided you step by step of what to do to get you better organized.  I recommend Janet’s teleclass to any individual or group!"

The other speakers lined up so far include:

• Allison Nazarian - Get Blogging (Or Jump-Start Your Existing Blog) Today
• Viki Viertel - Time Management Survival
• Mikelann Valterra - The Four Keys to Earning Your Worth
• Alexis Martin Neely - Show the Universe You Mean Business About Your Business
• Susan Daffron - Don’t Follow the Herd: Enjoy Online Success Using Simple Tried and True Marketing Methods
• Elinor Stutz - Relationship Selling Works!
• Mari Smith - How To Strategically Grow Your Business Using Facebook & Other Social Media

These are some great topics, and I’m hoping to sign up for at least one of the sessions myself. What’s most exciting is the Platinum membership, which includes access to all the teleseminars and a ton of other benefits, including a weekend retreat in Arizona next spring!