I can’t believe it’s Friday again already! Where did this week go? It probably doesn’t help that I spent most of Thursday thinking that it was only Wednesday! Anyway – the topic this weekend is social support and finding likeminded people to hang out with, whether that’s locally or virtually. I think this is one of the most important things that a virtual assistant or anyone who is working online from home can do.

One thing I learned early on in my online career and something you’ll hear so many internet people say (including some of the big name marketers) is that the people around you are going to be negative, tell you that you can’t do it, it’s a waste of your time, that’s not a job it’s a hobby, etc, etc, etc…. You get the idea. That kind of thing is only going to sabotage any success you have early on and it’s going to make you feel miserable, and honestly, it’s the reason a lot of people give up and quit before they reach any success points at all.

I don’t want you to go through that and I’m here to support you, lend an ear whenever you need it, but what you really want to look for is a community of people, multiple people with the same kind of thinking, similar goals, and a bright shiny outlook on the world of virtual business. Of course you can comment and chat here on VAhelper.com, but there are several communities out there that you might find helpful as well. Here are just a few….

and I’m sure there are many more out there. If you have a favorite community that I haven’t mentioned, please post it in the comments section here.

I spent a lot of time thinking I could do things by myself, I didn’t need support, I didn’t need any of that, and because of that I spent a lot of time locked away from everyone, feeling miserable, feeling frustrated, and not getting anywhere. Opening up and joining a community helped my business flourish, relieved a ton of stress from my life, and improved more than just my business.

I hope you’ve had a productive week and have a fantastic weekend. Talk to you again soon.

Kind Regards,

We all have our own unique skill sets, that’s what makes being a virtual assistant so versatile and great, there is no specific outline of what you need to be able to do in order to start a VA business. But, what do you do when you’ve already started your business and you want to boost your income a little with some new services?

Of course, you can go out and learn something new to offer your clients. That’s always a great idea and I definitely recommend learning new things all the time, whether they are services to offer or ways to promote your own business.

You can partner up with another virtual assistant that offers services different from your own to expand both your offerings and her offerings to clients. These sort of work swap relationships work out great in the long term and can be very profitable for both parties involved.

You can outsource the work. Hire an assistant of your own and outsource the work them playing the role of project manager. This is a great way to expand your business, because there are only so many hours in the day and you can’t work all of them every day.

This is just the tip of the iceberg on this train of thought! There are still many more ways to grow and expand your business as a virtual assistant and we’ll be talking about them a little at a time.

I hope you’re having a fabulous weekend and I’ll be back with more again soon,

I can’t believe it’s Friday already. This whole week has just flown right by me. My kids are off camping with my parents and I’m tackling my to-do lists like crazy both for business and the stuff around the house that needs to get done.

But, the other day I wasn’t feeling very productive and wanted to relax, but at the same time I didn’t want to stop working. I’m sure you’ve had that feeling, right?

Now, I have a netbook and I can work from that well enough, but sometimes when I’m on there I feel more like I’m playing than working and sometimes I just need the big screen in front of me to stay focused. So, I shut down my computer, unplugged it, picked it up, and took into the living room. (Okay, not everyone can do that – I have a 25 inch all-in-one HP computer with wireless internet connection, wireless mouse, and wireless keyboard, so I can move it around super easy.)

I stretched out on the sofa, got nice and comfy with a pillow behind my back, and my little dog (Chipper) jumped up and laid down by my feet, and I worked while my husband played World of Warcraft on his laptop and we watched some TV too. This way I was relaxed, my feet were up, I was comfortable, I was working and still felt like I was spending time with my husband all at once. Read the rest of this entry