As work-from-home entrepreneurs we experience stress on a daily basis. We deal  with client deadlines, acquiring new clients, client retention, team building… the list is endless! And this is before spouse and kids get home.

Stress does not just affect how we sleep or function when we are working, it also can cause chronic discomfort in parts of your body. For me it is my back if I don’t pay close attention and prevent knots and sore muscles. Once your muscles are all knotted up it is difficult to get them relaxed again. When your body is in pain, your work suffers. When your work suffers, you have now added more stress because you are running behind schedule. It is a never ending cycle if you don’t listen to your body and take care of yourself, and therefore your Virtual Assistance practice.

It is up to us how we deal with our stress though, and these are some of my go-to stress busters.

Deep Breathing

Remember when your dad told you to “suck it up”? He knew what he was talking about. Taking deep, calming breaths calms your brain and therefore your stress response.

Draw as much breath into your lungs as you can. When you exhale, suck your belly button toward your spine to push your diaphragm up so you can empty all of the air in your lungs. When you are consciously taking very deep, calming breaths you are bringing nitric oxide from the back of your nose and sinuses into your lungs which dilates the air passages in your lungs and so that you are getting oxygen to your entire body.

Scrunch Your Face

Seriously… scrunch your face tightly (pretend you just banged your toe against a stone wall) for about 15 seconds and then relax. Repeat this several times and you will notice that the strain that you are holding above the neck is diminishing. I have done facial exercises for years, partly for stress and partly for vanity. Why not? They work, they are fun to do and at the very least, it moves you away from your keyboard for a while.

Jump Like a Little Kid

I have a Needak Rebounder (mini-trampoline) in my office and several times a day I will get on it and just bounce around like a happy child. I may not be on it long, sometimes just 5 or 10 minutes at a time, but I feel energized and happy when I get back to my desk. It is a GREAT stress buster and does some pretty amazing things for your legs too!

Reduce a Tension Headache

I actually got out of a speeding ticket some years ago because I showed this acupressure trick to the state trooper who nabbed me. I could tell that he had a bear of a headache and offered my tried and true headache buster.

Take the thumb and index finger of one hand, and apply a firm pinching pressure to the soft, fleshy web between the thumb and the index finger of your other hand. Be careful not to bruise yourself. If that happens, you are pinching too hard. And before you ask, I don’t speed anymore!

Move It!

As very busy entrepreneurs we need to make movement a integral part of our business model. Any type of exercise or movement will help reduce stress and help you focus on what is important – joyfully building and growing your business!

Please share your stress-buster moves. We would love to hear from you.

Chronically messy and unorganized people will staunchly defend their overflowing desktop by saying that they know just exactly where everything is. One enterprising lady I know even told me that she remembers things by their location, and can lay her hands on any file at any time. That being said however, she then sheepishly admitted that there is a threshold beyond which she beings losing track of things and that this is happening more often. And she is fully aware that she spends part of her working day hunting for things. She also said there is a certain comfort level in habit, and as we all know, habits can be hard to break!

I have no doubt that adhering to a time worn custom can be soothing to a frazzled solopreneur but as a rule of thumb, it can be more efficient to have a well organized workspace. An organized workspace allows you to focus on the task at hand rather than losing focus while looking for a misplaced paper or file.

Here are 6 steps to decluttering your desk.

1. Reduce distractions. Is your desk covered with pictures, knickknacks, yesterdays mail and a pile of yellow note pads that outline all tasks past and present? Take a good look around you and see what may be distracting and what is just plain old fashioned annoying and get them off of your desk.
2. Everyday use: Really the only things that should be on your desktop at all times are the things that you use every day. Clearly you don’t want to have to hunt for your favorite pen or that critical notepad with your creative thoughts that you jotted down in a free moment. However, speaking of notepads, consider getting a large whiteboard and placing it above your desk where you can see it and transfer the “Must Do”items from notepads, pieces of paper, index cards, etc., to the whiteboard and shred those pesky pieces of paper. It is much more efficient and if your eye sees it, your mind will respond to the urgency of the project or projects. It is much too easy for an important task reminder to get lost on a piece of paper.
3. Right hand or left hand? Depending on which hand you use the most during the day, it makes sense arrange your desk accordingly for fingertip management. I happen to be ambidextrous so this one is easy for me and allows me to make maximum use of my L-Shaped desk. If you are right-handed, placing your pens, pencils, pads, phone where you can comfortable reach them on the right side of your desk, makes the most practical sense. Ditto left handed people. It just makes everything from writing notes to taking phone calls faster and more efficient.
4. Like likes Like: You wouldn’t place your dish towels in the same drawer or cupboard as your pot lids and this same principal holds true for your desk. Organizing like things together on the desktop forms small centers where you can find and use items easily.
5. Time Management: It is very easy to lose track of time when working on client projects, or even your own projects. I find that having a large clock on my office wall just above my desk as well as a day minder (bright red!) helps me keep track of what I MUST do and when it needs to be done. The day minder stays on the desk and serves as a reminder to come up for air and check my task list against my time constraints.
6. Designated clutter free zone: Your desk is where you work. And even though we work in an increasingly virtual world and our computer keyboard is our connection to our clients and our team members, we do still have to have a clutter free zone, meaning a dedicated flat surface where we can write.  Writing and note-taking is important and we need a spot to work without having to displace something else.

What are some of the ways you declutter and gain in efficiency? I would love to hear them!

My business philosophy has always been this: “If I am not connecting with my clients, consumers and team members, then I am not doing my job.”

A true entrepreneur puts relationships ahead of profits because he or she knows that strong relationships just naturally lead to healthier profits in terms of partnerships and referrals.

Unsure how to build trusting and enduring relationships with your audience? Here are some tried and true recommendations:

• Let your voice be heard. Record videos if you are comfortable in front of a video camera. If not, consider creating PowerPoint videos with voice-overs. Frankly, I prefer the second but that is a personal choice and you should only do what you are truly comfortable with. If you absolutely hate having a camera in your face, your misery will show and your message will not be heard.

• Consider hosting your own FREE radio program on BlogTalkRadio. My weekly broadcast, Your Partner In Success Radio, has become so popular, and I have had the great good fortune to interview so many fabulous personalities and business people that I couldn’t shut the program down if I wanted to, and I don’t!

• Host as many free workshops and teleseminars as you can handle. Of course you have valuable information to share, so share away. Your audience will appreciate it.

• Ask for feedback and suggestions. You will be very surprised by how generous your fellow entrepreneurs can be with their comments, observations and advice.

• Stay in touch with your list! I don’t recommend that you overwhelm people but you must stay in touch by either sending out an automated blog broadcast or set up your newsletter or ezine to publish consistently once or twice a month. You cannot drop off the face of the earth and then just suddenly reappear when you have something to sell or promote. You will shed email subscribers at an alarming rate. And who could blame them?

• Be religious about responding to emails. One of the very WORST things a virtual assistant, or other virtual service provider can do is to neglect this very important means of communication. If your client or customers do not feel like they are being heard, that they are very important to your business, they will quite simply find somebody who does care about their business. Actually, this one probably should have been placed in the number one slot! It is that important. Even if you don’t have good news or are behind in a project, it is imperative that you communicate with your client or customer.

• If you are blogging regularly, ask for comments on your blog post. People will often read your content, but don’t even think to leave a comment or ask a question. This is a very important dialogue and one you need to foster.  If you are not blogging regularly…. why not??

• Send each new client a welcome gift. Both of my companies, Your Office On The Web and Your Virtual Assistant gift new clients with a set of Journaling Jems™ for the Business Professional. These wonderful cards are daily reminders and I use mine constantly. For instance, I just reached across my desk and randomly pulled this “jem”:

My clients love them!

These are just a few things that we consistently do to keep our clients happy and loving doing business us. I would love to hear your thoughts on these suggestions and hear from you what you do to connect with your clients.

How aware are you of how your Virtual Assistance practice is doing? Do you have a strategic plan or are you just winging it? Have you given consideration to creating a SWOT Analysis to identify where you really are in your business?

A SWOT Analysis is a simple but useful framework for analyzing your businesses strengths and weaknesses, as well as the opportunities and threats you need to be aware of to successfully move your practice forward. It is the first stage of planning and helps entrepreneurs to focus on key issues. SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.

In SWOT Strengths and weaknesses are internal factors.

For example:

In SWOT, opportunities and threats are external factors.

For example:

Be realistic when creating your SWOT Analysis and absolutely be truthful with yourself about your strengths and weaknesses. Identify them and then do something about them. What you are trying to do with this analysis is distinguish between where your VA practice is today, and where it could be in the future.

Click here to grab the full size SWOT Analysis image to get you started.

Virtual Assistance Industry Best Practices

As a virtual assistant, how do you approach your initial consultation with a potential client? Do you know your services inside and out and are able to clearly and cogently articulate to the client just what the benefits are to them by working with you and/or your VA team? Are you confident in your skill sets and willing and able to interview the client just as carefully as the client is interviewing you? Are you confident enough in your retainer and project fees that you can state them without feeling your stomach drop to the floor in anticipated dread? Are you clear on how to determine whether or not this partnership will be a good fit? Are you willing to make the determination that what the client needs is just not going to be a good match for your current skill sets and offer to refer them to another VA in your network who could do the work required? If you cannot answer each of these questions with a resounding “YES”, it is time to sit down with yourself and have a very important discussion about your business philosophy.

And this is a another very important question. Do you record the initial consultation or early conversations? If not, why not? There is no lack of free teleconference services and please believe me when I tell you that going back and listening to the recording will help both of you move forward seamlessly into your new partnership. For instance, when I interview a potential client, the conversations can often run into 60 minutes or more. That is a lot of talking and a LOT of listening on both sides. Taking notes is helpful, but it does not cover everything that you spoke of, or promised. You need this record!

Free Teleconference Services

I happen to use and like Free Conference Calling.com. It is completely free and you can record fairly lengthy conversations. I recently had a call with one of my cherished mastermind members that lasted 4 hours and 10 minutes! The call never dropped and the recording was flawless. And free!

Simply Google the words “free conference calling services”, do a little research and then choose the one that best suits your needs. You will want to take a look at the most common features when analyzing teleconference services such as:

• Conference Limits. You will want to know what they offer in terms of duration of calls, number of calls per month, and maximum number of participants on the line.
• Reservations or Scheduled Calls: Do you have to schedule these calls, or can you conduct them on the fly?
• Call Recording:Obviously there it not much use in using the service unless you can record and download the call. Be sure to find out if there is a charge to access your recordings.
• Moderator Control: What features are available to you, the moderator? Can you mute participants for presentation based calls such a teleseminar, pause recordings and turn off participant entry chimes?

Some Suggestions

1. Free Conference Calling.com: Host free conference calls with conferencing services equipped for 1000 callers per conference call. (My service of choice)
2. Free Conference Service: Free, unlimited teleconference services available 24-hours a day for up to 50 parties on each call. There are no restrictions on call length.
3. FreeConCall.com: A free conference service for up to 30 participants per call, available 24/7 on a reservationless basis.
4. FreeConference.com: Free web-scheduled or reservationless conference calls with 24-hour automated access, call reporting, conference mute, up to 150 participants and a maximum call length of three hours. They also offer a paid plan, as well as add-ons, such as conference recording.
5. FreeConferenceCall.com: Free, reservationless conference calling that provides a dedicated dial-in number and an access code, 24/7 access, free recording, listen-only mode, call reports, up to 96 callers and maximum of 6-hour conference calls.
6. FreeConferencePro: A free service that provides scheduled or on-demand conference calling for 2 to 200 participants on calls of unlimited duration. The service provides multiple call modes (conversation, Q&A and presentation mode), online account access, reporting and customization options.
7. FreeGreenConferenceCalls.com: A free service that’s available 24/7 365 days a year for reservationless calls including up to 250 participants per call and an unlimited call length. The service provides free call recording and downloading of WAV files for each call, and presentation mode so all callers can be muted by the moderator.
8. No Cost Conference: Free instant, automated conference calls, available 24/7 with no scheduling required. They also provide an unlimited conference time, and free recording and retrieval.

If there is a service that you use that is not listed here and would like to recommend, please let us know by leaving a comment below.

Thanks!

Denise Griffitts

Do you work from your home office as a Virtual Assistant, Web Developer, Business Coach, Fill-in-the-Blanks here? Do you find that balancing your business and home can sometimes feel like an exercise in futility?

Life is a balancing act for many people, but this is especially true for working moms, particularly those who work in their own home office. Trying to juggle your work-from-home business, your duties as a wife, and the responsibilities to your children can be challenging and overwhelming. However, with some careful planning you can wake up each day looking forward to the upcoming challenges with a serene mind.

Try these tips to effectively cope with the pressures and demands of your incredibly busy life:

1. Separate your family time and office time. Set proper boundaries to provide adequate attention to each of your roles. No scheduling solution is perfect, but the effort alone will pay big dividends in your stress level and effectiveness as a parent, wife, and career woman.

When you’re in the office, concentrate on work. Similarly, leave work at work when you come out of your office for the evening and give your family your undivided attention. You’ll get more done in less time and feel less stressed. In our home, “family time” is sancrosant and my clients, friends and other family members know that there are certain hours in the early evening that we do not answer the telephone, the front door or emails. Now, there are times when a time-sensitive project may require that this rule be temporarily waived, but it is rare. Family time is family time.

2. Make plans with your kids for the weekend. Allow your children to choose the activity they wish on the weekend. This communicates value to your children and lets them know that they’re important to you. During this time, focus exclusively on them and enjoy your time together. Shut down the Blackberry, ignore the siren call of the ringing phone and value your family time. You won’t be able to get those lost moments back.

3. Enjoy dinner together as a family. Discuss your day and enjoy family togetherness over your evening meal and around the dining table. Television off!

4. Show your children what you do. Let your children know about your business, why it’s important to you, and why it’s important to them. The more they know about how mom spends her day, the more accepting they’ll be of your absence while you’re at work in your home office. As the owner of a multi-VA (Virtual Assistance) firm I have had one or two team members tell me that they are actually training their children to work with them on some projects where confidentiality is not an issue. I think this is a terrific idea!

5. Find hobbies that you all enjoy. If your children are passionate about something that you also enjoy, this gives you an outlet to experience regular quality time with them and rejuvenating recreation at the same time.

6. Get to know your child’s friends. Organize a sleepover and get to know who your kids hang out with. Get to know their friends’ parents. Take an active role in encouraging your children to hang around with positive people that can fuel their growth.

7. Go on a family vacation once a year. Choose a destination that you and your kids all agree on. Make sure the vacation offers something enjoyable for everyone. Most importantly, leave office work at the office. This communicates to your children that they are valuable to you. When you are packing for your trip, even if it is what my husband calls a “staycation” meaning that we may just be traveling a couple of hours to our favorite Bed and Breakfast, make a decision to NOT pack the laptop, the netbook, the MacBook or any other work tools that will distract you. You may have a little seperation anxiety but it will pass and the family memories will make your unease momentary.

8. Hire a house cleaning service for the household work. If the pressure in your office is too much or your time is spread too thin, hire a housekeeper for the household chores. Do whatever it takes to spend lots of quality time with your spouse and children. Hire someone to do the mundane work so you can do the most important work of all: being a loving parent to your children. Before you reject this idea as being too expensive, consider this. If you are billing $65 per hour for your services, why in the world would you spend those billable hours doing work that you can pay somebody $15 – $25 an hour for tasks that are done in a matter of two or three hours each week? You will be less stressed, your home will be tidy and your family will have more of your attention. The good kind! As Martha Stewart says, “It’s a good thing”.

By following these tips, you can bring sanity to a world that was once filled with constant chaos. You can juggle your business and family life if you make decisions that are consistent with your values, plan your time carefully, and use your resources on the priorities that are most important.

For more work from home tips, check out my last post, “Work From Home Time Wasters“.

Those of us who have created our own virtual assistance businesses and who work from our beautifully appointed home offices can find some serious time wasting going on during the day if we don’t reign in and control our time wasting activities.

And no, I’m not talking about getting the kids up and ready for school and then greeting them at the door when they get home. I am talking about the time you spend online and on the phone.

Here are some helpful tips to help you use your time more efficiently.

1. Set times for your tasks. Believe it or not, a simple kitchen timer can be your best friend. Or the timer on your client management software, the timer on your iPhone or Blackberry. Choose your tool and use it! When you sit down to write a blog post, take a look at the clock, and make a mental decision to have the blog post written within a set time. Once you set that intention, you will find that more often than not, your project is wrapped up in record time and you are ready to move on to the next item on the list. If you don’t’ have a convenient timer try this one. It’s fun and you can choose the sound that play when your project is up.
2. When you are working on a project, whether it is for yourself or a client, don’t allow distractions.
   • Shut down the “Chatter”. If you have your Instant Messenger, Skype, Google Chat, or Facebook chat open, set your status as “away”, busy” or my personal favorite, “invisible”.
   • Close down your email client. I have 3 monitors and one of them is dedicated to my email client. When I need to get serious about focusing on a project, I simply reach over and turn that particular monitor off. If you have scrolling messages, beeps or other ways means of knowing that you have new email messages, you might want to shut that off. You know there will be emails waiting for you at any given moment during the day. By scheduling blocks of time each day (2-3 times) to respond to email you can sit down and concentrate on that task to the exclusion of all others. When you allow emails to stop you in your tracks, your day, not to mention your concentration and focus, goes straight out the window.
   • I am assuming that you have Caller ID on your business phone. If you don’t it is very important that you purchase a phone that has Caller ID as well as hold, speaker, and mute buttons. If the calls coming through can safely go to voice mail and be returned at your earliest convenience, let them go, but do be absolutely sure to return them that same day.
3. These same suggestions apply for Facebook and Twitter. Set aside regular blocks of time each day to login, visit, respond to messages, network and post pertinent information that your followers will have some interest in seeing.
4. Create a “to do” system that works for you. A daily action list will keep you on task and by holding yourself accountable to your task list you will find things are getting done and you will be feeling pretty darn good about it. Also consider making your task list for the next day at the end of your current work day so you don’t have to backtrack and figure out what still needs to be completed. Do you find yourself wondering just what in the heck you got done yesterday and what is still lingering on the previous “to do” list?  I know if I don’t keep track of my progress, the next morning can be an exercise in sheer frustration while I try to juggle the new day and what was left of the previous day. Trust me, this is not how you want to begin your work day! Figure out what works best for you, be it your Microsoft Outlook Tasks list, a package of index cards, a white board that you can cross items off of or an online task manager like Remember the Milk.

Do you have some helpful tips or advice on how to avoid time wasters? I would love to hear them!

My friend and colleague Dr. Jack Singer has been invited to conduct a training class at Global Teleclass which is an international speaking platform for renowned speakers, trainers and authors.

By attending as many free classes as you like, you will be trained, motivated and inspired by these speakers and authors, many of whom command top dollar for a single keynote speech. The only caveat is that the calls are not recorded or transcribed so be sure to be on the call or calls that you sign up for. I registered today for several myself and will be learning from Bob Proctor, Joe Vitale, Jay Conrad Levinson, T. Harv Eker, and of course, Dr. Jack! Oh, and did I mention Libby Gill who will be appearing on my “Your Partner In Success Radio Show” this month?

About Dr. Jack Singer

Dr. Jack Singer is a licensed Clinical, Sports and Industrial/Organizational Psychologist, author, trainer and consultant. His expertise includes a Doctorate in Industrial / Organizational Psychology and a Post-Doctorate in Clinical / Sports Psychology.

Jack has been recognized with Diplomates from the American Academy of Behavioral Medicine, the Society of Police and Criminal Psychology, and he has been awarded with a special Diplomate in Sports Psychology from the National Institute of Sports Professionals. He has a special Certification in Clinical Hypnosis from the American Academy of Clinical Hypnosis and Jack has taught in the Psychology departments of seven universities, including four years as an Assistant Professor of Psychology at the U.S. Air Force Academy.

Dr. Jack has been in private practice and consulting for 33 years and the rich variety of Dr. Jack’s experience ranges from training serious athletes and teams to consistently reach peak performance levels…to working with couples and families to resolve relationship issues, to designing team building re-TREATS for Fortune 1000 corporations, and large legal and medical practices.

Teleclass Description:

So many people are overwhelmed these days with the stressors of job insecurity, economic disasters, the housing market collapse, the threat of world terrorism knocking on our doorsteps, and even the potential impact of global warming. Yet, despite these terrific challenges, some people continue to thrive, relaxed, optimistic and healthy. Are these people just blessed genetically or have they learned how to be resilient, despite the inevitable challenges they face daily? The answer is that they have learned the skills necessary to cover themselves with psychological Teflon and buffer themselves from these stressors.

In this class you will learn how to recognize the exact causes of your stress, how to empower yourself to overcome those stresses and build resiliency skills that can last you a lifetime. The end result is that you will bring life to your years and add years to your life.

Tuition: No Cost

Grab your seat here!

I get so many requests for tips and advice on the resources that my Virtual Assistance and Web Development companies use that it seems a great idea to publish a weekly resource.

These are online resources that will help you develop, gain knowledge, find new information and absorb new ideas.

Enjoy!

This Weeks Recommended Resource

WordPress Tip of the Day is a free video podcast from the “Internet Genius” Ben Cope that delivers high-quality video training for WordPress in 5 minutes or less every day in a format that is easy to follow, easy to understand, and always free!

I am regularly asked what tools and resources we can recommend to help people build their online presence in a linear and logical fashion.

Some time ago we created a PDF that our web development and virtual assistance clients have access to at Your Office On The Web on the client document password protected page.

As there is nothing client sensitive in this document I wanted to share it here with you along with a few more resources that are not currently listed in it. As you can imagine, it is a “living” document and updates regularly. Here is it’s most recent incarnation.

Click here to download Recommended Resources. Some of these resources are coded with my affiliate links, some are not.

Other resources that we use and recommend.

Video Resources

Easy Video Player

• Instantly and automatically send your video viewers to any website, shopping cart or affiliate promotion after your video stops playing.
• Embed “buy now” buttons directly into videos.
• Embed opt-in forms inside your video and capture email addresses for list building purposes
• Create and protect “member only” videos thereby ensuring that only paid customers can gain access to your exclusive content.
• Publish your videos on any website in seconds.

You will also need to signup with AmazonS3 to host your videos for pennies. Very affordable!

WordPress Themes and Plugins

Elegant Themes

Each WordPress theme comes expertly coded in valid XHTML and CSS, and all are made compatible with the latest version of WordPress. DeniseGriffitts.com uses the Who’s Who Theme.

WP WishList

WishList Member is a powerful membership script that can turn any WordPress blog into a full blown membership site. Your Office On The Web is expert at installing and configuring this very powerful plugin.

WordPress Dream Theme

An excellent theme that is not only easy to learn and use, but you also get have the option between self-service and full-service. The full service option gets you free phone support, free setup, free installation, and 1 hour of customization. Plus, you can use the theme on multiple sites.

WordPress Tip of the Day

WordPress Tip of the Day is a video podcast that delivers high-quality video training for WordPress in 5 minutes or less every day in a format that is easy to follow, easy to understand, and always free!

Other

Overnight Prints

I use Overnight Prints for all my print collateral and most of my clients do as well. The paper stock is excellent and the free online designer allows you to create your own custom business cards and other print collateral with their Interactive Designer. Or you can choose from 1000′s of designs by using the Classic Design feature. Trust me when I tell you the quality is superb!

PayPal

You can absolutely use your Paypal account either directly from your website by using “Buy Now” or “Add to Cart” buttons or you can use Paypal as your only payment provider in 1shoppingcart. It is not mandatory these days that you have a merchant account if you don’t need or want one. My web development site has a Paypal payment page that you can see here. This is an easy solution that allows you to take payments for services without having to log into your account to send invoices or payment requests.