“Virtual is about efficiency and streamlining…”

“I prefer email to telephone calls or snail mail…”

“We don’t even order stationery anymore…”

“Of course I told my clients Happy Birthday, I sent them an ecard…”

“Of course I have not forgot the need for a personal note card here and then, that is why I subscribe to sendoutcards.com…”

I work in a primarily virtual environment, so I don’t dispute everything above.

I too utilize the virtual world to be more  efficient and streamline.

I too prefer email to telephone calls or snail mail.

I too have not ordered stationary in quite awhile (but I do still have some).

I don’t always know my clients’ birthdays, but if I did, I imagine I would send more than just an ecard.

I too subscribe and utilize sendoutcards.com

This is the world evolving as we know it. As a matter of fact, I only check my postal mail once a week, so I am used to it. My utility bills come via email, my credit card bills and student loan statements come via email, the only thing that ever comes via the USPS is direct mail pieces (catalogs, etc.) and a few bills that I have forgotten to activate e-statements on. Anything I order or purchase normally comes Fed Ex or UPS, so that poor postal mail just builds up in a basket, until I check it the end of every week and sort it into four piles:

• scan & shred
• put in the to be paid bin
• trash
• this looks interesting (normally a catalog or magazine)

However, this past week when I was checking my postal mail, I received a handwritten envelope, a card. I thought to myself – well my birthday is this month, but it  is still kind of early, so I opened it up.

It was a flat card (a non folding card) inside the most gorgeous flat card sleeve I have ever seen – and it was from my client Tamara Gold – and it was for no other reason than to tell me that she appreciated our services!

Okay I have a couple of things to say here:

1. I reached out to her via email to thank her – what a schmuck I am! While, I am sure she appreciated the acknowledgment, and at the time it seemed like the best thing to do (I wanted to thank her quickly), I soon realized part of the wow factor is that she took time out of her busy schedule to write me a short note. The least I can do is write her back (which I plan on doing in a handmade card I purchased awhile ago off of Etsy!)
2. It was the prettiest sleeve I have ever seen, those red vines are velvet, so of course I had to track down the maker – her name is Anna Griffin, and I WILL be purchasing some things from her shortly. (FYI: It is a ‘Flocked Invitation Sleeve’, the flat cards have to be purchased/personalized separately).
3. She is MY client, I should have been thanking her in this way, not vice versa (although I appreciate it!).
4. Even though we have a 100% virtual relationship, she just made our relationship more personal.

The moral of this story is… don’t forget the basics… a handwritten note will go a long way, and on unique stationery, will leave an everlasting impression.

Thanks Tamara for teaching me a very important lesson!

Related posts:

1. Tools that I use in our Businesses – Virtual and Brick & Mortar
2. Heather Podcasts: Managing a Virtual Team, Advice by Deb Walker – Virtual Team Manager (Episode 5)
3. Growing Your Business: Why Separating Business and Personal Finances is Good

The images will mostly speak for themselves:

Before:

After Logo Design:

After Sign Up Box Design with Logo Incorporated:

Total Time Spent: 1 hour
Total Money Spent: $200 (logo design)

No related posts.

However, late last year I started my own project, IAC-EZ, an online bookkeeping software, dedicated to Freelancers and Micro-Businesses. We are creeping up on our 1 year mark (November 1st 2009) and I am starting to get nostalgic. She is growing up! (I say growing up and not grown up, because as an SaaS we have to continue to evolve and grow to remain competitive).

Take a look at my baby when she was first born:

Now take a look at my baby a year later:

IAC-EZ has changed the way it looks, functions and added multiple integrations, with partners such as Sure Payroll, Shoeboxed and FreshBooks. I know I am probably overreacting a bit, but looking at what IAC-EZ has become has me misty eyed. There really is no satisfaction equal to seeing what you have helped grow. I love my project implementations and product launches, but by far, IAC-EZ is my baby and best success!

Do you have favorite projects? Do you feel a greater sense of accomplishment when you can be with something as it grows or do Product Launches satisfy you? Keen to hear your comments!

Related posts:

1. Growing Your Business: Why Separating Business and Personal Finances is Good
2. Productivity Starts with the Right Pieces in Place

The new AC has been installed.

The new desk has been installed.

The two 24″ monitors were swapped out for two 27″ monitors (and a beefier video card and power supply to boot – thanks @dszp).

The curtains were installed.

Still pending:

3rd 27″ monitor (my colleague Scott is calling this my Space Shuttle Pilot Cabin)

The ‘back up of my back up’ solution (which is still undecided).

New Chair (mine is 6 years old)

What I am going to do with the South East Corner which currently has the ‘utility shelf’ – I am thinking of a built in corner bookshelf w/ a little sitting bench or something similar.

As usual check out the picture feed below.

However, I wanted to take a minute to tell you all – that this new office (apart from the files of work that I have loaded on my desk due to being sick) has made me feel more productive.

Going to work in the office, no longer seems like a chore, my office has become my sanctuary in a way. I am being more productive, more organized and have space to expand and stretch (even with a file mess) without feeling cluttered.

I know many of my clients (and readers) work from home, and many of you have children (and I am currently raising my niece, so I now know how it feels), but investing in your own area – your own working space that the door can be shut and you have everything you need (remember my office was a second master bedroom, I have a bathroom and a mini-fridge in the office) can enable you to shut the door and shut out the distractions.

Just an idea!

Getting Organized and HAPPY,

Related posts:

1. New Home Office Coming Soon!
2. Update on Home Office
3. Incorporating Outsource Staff into the Routine of Your Office

If you don’t know ‘what’ I am talking about, check out my earlier blog post here.

Otherwise – this is just a quick update to let you know where we are at. This may all get done much quicker than the three months I thought it would. Thanks to great readers like Erson, Leo and David, I have all my technical questions sorted out and am ordering my Video card and new power supply (evidently it is better to be safe with a more robust power supply with the new video card) tomorrow!

I added some more pictures to my gallery:

Getting Organized and Happy,

Related posts:

1. Home Office: Post 3: 50% Done
2. New Home Office Coming Soon!
3. Incorporating Outsource Staff into the Routine of Your Office

(Did I tell you I was excited?)

We are going to redesign my home office over the next 3 months. It’s going to take some work but I am super-excited to finally have the wheels in motion. As you know by now, I am an organization freak and while my office is organized, it could be much better with some changes.

I live in a really nice area of Miami, an older suburb where the streets are quiet and you don’t hear car horns or sirens! What this means is, my house was originally constructed a long time ago and was “added to” over the years. So, my house has charm but the inside is like mixing various chinaware. My office was one of the additions and I believe it was actually a balcony and bedroom that were evidently merged. My office is supposed to be the second master bedroom (it has the master bath and a small walk-in closet). However, I face a few challenges:

1) Because it was an extra, the owners never put central air conditioning into this room and likewise the windows slide horizontally so a window A/C unit is not feasible. What do I have? A portable AC unit (you know; one of the ones where the tubes go out the window). This is not efficient by any means, even with the silver tape stuff that the A/C man did. I am sure that air is escaping and, likewise, my office could never get really cold.

2) Because part of the room was a balcony at one time, there are tons of windows on one side of the office (and I never bothered to put up curtains or shades!). This side of the office just happens to be facing east. That equals yucky mornings.

3) Since I have the portable A/C unit, it takes up valuable floor space.

4) I have 2 servers which I don’t use actively but are in my office and need to stay online for the company, so these take up space.

5) I don’t have enough desk space to add any more monitors (and I need more monitors).

6) My cables are a mess and not as organized as I would like them to be.

7) A bunch of other miscellaneous stuff.

So, over the next 3 months this is what we are going to do:

1) Install a ductless/split A/C unit in my office to get rid of the portable and to open up space.

2) Install curtains.

3) Get rid of my 3 desks that I have and have a complete built-in unit installed which will wrap three walls of my office (north, east and south) in a U shape (ooooh tons of desk space!).

4) Run my cables nice-and-neat throughout the office.

5) Upgrade my main pc from 2 monitors to 4 monitors (there is a technical challenge here and I am going to need to ask for help at the end of this post).

6) I was contemplating getting a Drobo Pro and replace my Drobo, but I think I am going to get a Drobo #2, to solely back up my Drobo #1. (Any comments, opinions or suggestions? I’d love to hear them.)

See, for me this is all super-exciting because there is nothing I like more than a clean and organized workspace. I feel more efficient every time I clean my office, so imagine having everything exactly as I want it!

Now, on to the technical challenges (and since I have a lot of “techie” friends, I am imagining they can help).

1) When I installed my second monitor, my brother was here and I forget exactly what he said but something along the lines of: “Thank God you were not upgrading to 4 monitors! This would be a nightmare” and then something about “dang video cards”. Now I know he installed a second video card when he installed my second monitor. What do I need to know/do/have before I bring in 2 more monitors? (Help welcome).

2) Does it make sense to have a Drobo #2 backing up a Drobo #1 (they would both be on Drobo Share’s) or is that stupid? (Is there maybe a better way to do it?)

3) One thing I have noticed about my monitors is everything is so small. I have played with settings and the zoom button on my keyboard and it works but some logos look distorted and having to zoom a page in every time I open a browser is painful. Also, I changed some settings where text on web pages show larger, but then it distorts how the website looks, so it’s very problematic when I am testing various sites. Yet at the same time, I am not getting younger and I need larger text so my eyes can last all day.

I welcome feedback and comments and I also welcome you to check back to follow my posts on the renovation. I will be posting before and after pictures (and in process pictures) as well.

Cheers,

Related posts:

1. Home Office: Post 3: 50% Done
2. Update on Home Office
3. Incorporating Outsource Staff into the Routine of Your Office

If you follow me on twitter you have seen a ton of recent tweets about @emailcenterpro, about ‘click – click – move – move’, and about Inbox 0!

Some of you may be wondering: How I am doing that? Others may already know because you subscribe to my Tips in 10 email newsletter. I won’t write it out in detail (but if you want to get the step by step instructions, just subscribe to my Tips in 10 newsletter using the sign-up form on the right hand side of this blog post).

In summary:

1. I use www.emailcenterpro.com
2. I have a virtual assistant
3. I have spent lots of time and energy making sure my assistant is well-versed with the important information:  Who every client is, what every email is, where my documents are stored, what things mean, projects I am working on, who does what within my organizations, etc.

I realized this week that I have reached a “peak”; the top of the mountain, so to speak. We (my assistant and I) have spent 4 months with email traffic of approximately 200 incoming daily and 100 outgoing daily.

It started out slowly the first two weeks. She was able to handle about 10% of my email (which were copies etc. that she was able to appropriately categorize and file). Then, by the end of the first month she started handling about 25% of my email – the copies plus the stuff that really should not go to me but should go to someone else.

The second month we stepped up training and started having her save documents people sent me to my filing system and retrieving documents people were requesting. By the end of month 2 she was handling about 40% of my emails (copies, delegation, documents and attachments).

In the third month I started delegating mini-tasks. In other words, not necessarily a project but usually an internal issue within the organization – like maybe a bug in one of our systems. By this time she knew who it needed to be delegated to, she knew who was reporting it and needed it fixed, and was acting as the middleman (which I normally do) to make sure that it is fixed, tested, and all parties advised. By the end of month 3 she was handling about 60% of my email.

We are almost done with the 4th month and she now handles about 90% of my email.

The 60% mentioned earlier – and now the additional 30% to bring it  up to 90% -  includes appointments, resolving issues, transmitting reports to clients by due dates (i.e. I do the work, turn the reports over to her when done, she proofs, makes sure she understands content, turns it over to the client and answers any of their questions), makes sure all invoices or receipts are forwarded to the accounting department and then follows up to assure they are entered and / or paid.

At the end of my day I am only handling about 10% of my email load (20 incoming/10 outgoing daily). This is a huge relief for me. Running half a dozen companies and performing billable work as well as working on non billable entrepreneurial endeavors can fill a day. Now, I am doing things I was never able to do before:

1. I get off work at 5-6pm. No exceptions (unless for some reason I want to stay on and work – which sometimes I do).
2. I am getting in at minimum 6 hours of billable work a day, which before I was pushing my luck to get 2-3 hours in.
3. My clients (for the most part) are a lot happier. Don’t get me wrong, there are downfalls; I know some clients are thinking “she is too busy to respond to me anymore”, but at the end of the day they are getting a faster response time and more efficient work.
4. Yesterday I took a lunch break for the first time in over 4 months. (I mean, I actually went out to lunch vs. eating at my computer).
5. Today I decided “I am going to blog” – completely unplanned.
6. When I am done writing this I am going to send it over to her to proof, put the graphics in and post on my website.

What I am trying to say is: so many people hire us for virtual assistant work and never fully take advantage of what we can offer. Sometimes they think they just don’t have the time to teach, either. I took the time with Joan (my assistant). I created many video tutorials and used the features in Email Center Pro to give her tips, tricks and explanations.

She is not cheap, she works for me almost 40 hours per week, but she has made me achieve efficiency, improved my quality of life, and given me more time for billable work, which is offsetting her salary. Day by day she is getting quicker and doing more as well.

I feel today that I have finally reached my peak and have proven that, with time and effort, delegation is no longer outsourcing a task or two because it is more cost effective, rather, delegation is partnering with someone (or multiple people) who can learn who you are, how you work, and what needs to be done in order to make sure that the time you do spend you are 1) getting paid for, 2) creating something that will generate more revenue down the line or 3) improving your quality of life.

Thanks Joan!

Related posts:

1. Time Off: Do Small Business Owners Get Any?
2. There’s only one thing that can’t be delegated
3. Kick Your Email in the @

In order to be able to have this period, we need a steady flow of project related work, so when the volume is low or when we have an exceptionally large amount of candidates in the training period, we hop on over to Elance and see if there are any projects that would be ideal for us.

A few weeks ago we bid on one, and the person posting the project (let’s call him John) came back and said he wanted to set up a time to talk to us. John and one of my staff scheduled an appointment and when we called John he did not answer, so we left him a message. Then we went back and forth on the project message board scheduling another time, and again John did not show up. We let him know that when he was ready to proceed he could reach us anytime at our phone number/ email address.

We did not hear from John until 3 days ago, when he posted a message that said something similar to this (some data changed to not leave any identifying material):

I need X. All Content and Design will be provided.

I also need A, B, C and D. All Content and Design will be provided.

I need this project completed quickly…and WILL NOT tolerate bait an switch tactics…low ball bid then run the project up later.

So, here is the problem… the original project was for X. Our bid outlined X. So, now he is asking for A, B, C and D, which is fine – but it is obviously going to be a different price from X. However, what bothered us was the:

I need this project completed quickly…and WILL NOT tolerate bait an switch tactics…low ball bid then run the project up later.

I don’t care how many bad experiences you have had, you never go into a relationship accusing or assuming that a new provider is going to do something unethical or wrong. We specifically outlined that we would give X, we specifically said that it would take 3 days from receiving full content, design and server information. We attempted to meet with him twice. So, why he would write on the message board asking for X (with A, B, C and D) ‘quickly’ and then tell us not to do any bait and switch tactics… who did the bait and switch? Our bid was for X, he took our bid and threw A, B, C and D in there as well.

In the end, we denied the job offer and we politely told him that we were unable to help him at this time, with the change of scope his project contained.

The point of this blog post is to show that being rude does not get you anywhere. It is unacceptable in the business place. I prefer not to do business with individuals or organizations that are rude, and if I am rude to someone (and I am not innocent, I have been!) then I would expect them to not want to do business with me. Everyone makes mistakes and some people just have a bad day. Maybe John was having a bad day, maybe I should have given him another chance, but my guard would have already been up and we would have already been on the defensive side of the wall, which would not have helped cultivate the client – provider relationship.

What ever happened to the ‘Treat others the way you want to be treated’ concept? Is it old fashion? Has it gone out the window? I ask because this is just one example of the rudeness I am seeing in client/provider relationships as of lately. A colleague of mine, a pretty successful business coach (she gave me permission to do this blog as long as I did not mention any names) had another instance of rudeness ruining a possible relationship, here is her story:

A prospective client contacted me about retaining my coaching services, and everything was going great, the initial consultation went wonderful… I was really looking forward to helping him. He decided to retain me for two sessions a month, so I sent over my agreement to him. My agreement is a simple one page thing, it is not like many complicated contracts out there. It outlines what I give, what the client will give and where the limitations are. There is a section in my agreement that states my business hours and that any appointments must be made inside of these hours, otherwise there is an additional fee. The client, when he returned the agreement made a note on it that simply said ‘Provider will not provide sessions or work outside of business hours without prior approval from client’ and he initialed it. I thought to myself, how strange! Obviously if we pre-schedule our appointments, he would be well aware if any sessions are outside of my normal business hours. However, I too initialed that handwritten line and we began with our coaching relationship. About three weeks into the relationship, the client had an emergency, and called my office line at 9pm in the evening to speak about it (outside of my business hours). I normally would not have gotten the call, because it is outside of business hours, however my husband and I happened to be in the office fixing a leak in the window, so I took the call. When my invoice was issued at the end of the month, there was an issue. My client was irate that I charged him the additional fee for the late night call. I was kind of dumbfounded, because he called me at 9pm, he obviously knew that I was providing a session outside of my normal business hours. I was in quite a predicament, because I really wanted to help the client, but he obviously did not value my time. I ended up not charging him for that session at all and cancelling our agreement, as I need to work with people who value me as an individual.

Unbelievable! Everyone is human, everyone has the right to have a personal life outside of work and the right to provide the services they provide in a manner that is comfortable to them. I don’t understand why this gentleman above, would think, that he could contact his coach at 9pm in the evening and the agreement would not be adhered to? I bet you money, that his clients don’t contact him at 9pm at night without him billing them (if he even takes the call!).

I say agreements or no agreements, if everyone treated others the way they wanted to be treated that client/service provider relationships would be more productive and fruitful to both parties! What do you think?

Related posts:

1. Heather Podcasts – Good, Fast, Cheap – Pick 2 (Episode 2)
2. Customer-to-Client: How to Make the Transition

The whole point of a Joint Venture is that two (or three, four or ten) heads are better than one, two audiences are better than one, two networks are better than one. You utilize each other’s respective skills, network, and leads to create a complimentary package, product, or service offering. Wonderful! However, here are some things to look out for:

• Is the person or people you are entering into a JV with honest and respectable?
• Do they bring as much to the table as you do? (Likewise do you bring as much to the table as they do?)
• Are they willing to work to make the venture work? (Likewise are you willing to work to make the venture work?)

The answers should all be “Yes”, or the venture should be avoided. At the end of the day, if everyone involved is not on equal playing fields, someone is going to get the short end of the stick and the venture will turn into a headache rather than a success.

…All that being said, as I stated earlier, I entered into a mini JV these past couple of weeks, pairing up with Hannah McNamara (and a few dozen other top coaches), offering her some “freebies” to include with the limited time offer of her new book Niche Marketing for Coaches. It is a handbook of sorts; a step by step guide showing coaches the ins and outs of identifying their niche market, setting their rates, and marketing themselves to achieve or grow their client base. She is very humble with the title; it should really be called The Operational Manual for Coaches.

Her book is available for $14.99 (here), and while you can purchase her book at any time, this week is the only chance you have to get $2,600+ in promotional offers from a variety of professional coaches… including yours truly. My contribution to this package is my Twitter in 10 Minutes Daily Tele-Class. As a matter of fact, I had stopped providing it in group sessions and have only been offering it one-on-one for the past three months, but for this super special occasion, I will be providing the Twitter in 10 Minutes Daily Group Tele-Class again – free – as part of her bonus package. Considering that I used to charge $97 per session, the purchase of a $14.99 book is a bargain, because not only are you getting my Twitter in 10 Minutes Daily Tele-Class, but you are also getting $2,500 worth of other bonus offers from coaches, in addition to Hannah’s book!

Pick it up now before this spectacular special ends.

Related posts:

1. 8 Ways to use #businesslunchclub to grow your business
2. Not all Butts are the same. Mine is picky!
3. How Entrepreneurs Can Get the Benefits of a Team (Without Selling Part of Their Business)

I began into my normal explanation of how Twitter differs from other forms of Social Media and she stopped me right there and said Social What?

I realized something… many people don’t even realize what Social Media is. I mean they might ‘know’ about it because they have a profile on a Social Platform like FaceBook or similar, but they don’t understand the concept of Social Media, Social Media Marketing or Social Media Engineering. They definitely don’t understand how it could help them or their business.

I had to take two steps back and remember to explain the core foundation or basis of Social Media. That took me back to my college days, when my Professors would never let me go into a presentation or thesis without first discussing the theory or theories behind my discovery or beliefs.

I ask you… do your clients, customers, colleagues or prospects really understand what it is that you are doing? Make sure before assuming what may seem very clear to you may not be so clear to others. And if that’s the case, your chances of selling to them are slim to none!

Best,

Heather Villa

Related posts:

1. “What should I do?” – New Series – Social Media Mindmeister
2. Recommended social media tool for your business
3. “What Should I Do?” – Social Communities