This site is going to turn into an Orange County review site – there are so many things to do, places to go, and restaurants to try.  I’m always looking for a one stop place to find things to do, so I’m going to create what  I was search of.

If you’re looking for a reputable off site admin drop me an email and I will forward it to a group of Virtual Assistants who will be able to fill the position.

More soon….

CRASH, is an organization that is already set up and on the ground in Japan.  They are actively assisting with very low overhead.  CRASH stands for Christian Relief, Assistance, Support and Hope.

Here are two separate donation portals to donate through CRASH

http://www.razoo.com/story/Help-4-Japan-Donate-Now

http://tinyurl.com/relief4japan

Salvation army is taking donations by phone.  Simply text the words “Japan” or “Quake” to 80888 to make a $10.00 donation.  (I believe you can do this twice.)

Samaritan’s Purse is also on the ground and a worthwhile cause.  https://www.samaritanspurse.org/index.php/Giving/Project_donations?pc=13953

It’s overwhelming looking at the damage, any donation will be put to good use.

Please fix your search to be relevant again.

Sincerely,

I want to turn some of the questions I’ve seen into more productive questions to help potential clients and consultants match up and begin a successful working relationship.

First off, yes in some ways it is an interview.  Both sides should be interviewing each other to make sure it’s a good fit.  A professional consultant, should feel comfortable and confident about the work and relationship, and if not – be able to either refer to someone else, or politely decline the work.  The client should feel comfortable that the consultant has the business experience to truly be of value to him or her.  But keep in mind; this is not an employment interview.  It’s more personal than some vendor relationships, just the nature of the work, but it’s not the same as an admin who’s sitting in a cubicle 5 feet away from your office.  This is a business relationship that evolves as more trust is garnered on both sides (work is done on time and accurately on one side, and invoices paid on time on the other side).

A typical question asked to me is “How long have you been a consultant”.  Well, the short answer to that is 7 years.  The longer answer would include an additional 5 years of executive assistance in addition to 12 years of corporate HR experience, everything from clerk to the director level.  This is where my real experience comes in, and this is how I truly know how to be a business partner with my clients.  I’ve hired, fired, budgeted, managed, had an assistant, and had to look for another assistant, I’ve hired for incredibly specialized positions.  I’ve worked in small start ups where I’ve worn almost all the hats, and I’ve worked for a Fortune 100 company, where I pretty much stayed on task.  My experience is valuable, hands on, and will be of assistance to anyone looking for help in their business. But, because I’m not an employee, I’m not comfortable explaining all of my work background or companies worked for to a potential client.  I can and will certainly explain my applicable businesses and industry compatibility, once I understand what the client is looking for.

This brings me to my next point.  It’s important that a potential client knows what they are looking for, and what they are willing to actually hand off.  I think the most difficult part of a new working relationship is when a client or potential client says “Well, I’m not sure what I can give you to do, I’m so used to doing everything myself.”  Refer back to paragraph one – what caught your eye about a virtual consultant – be honest with the consultant you’re talking to – do you want to get your bookkeeping off your desk?  Do you have collections you want done?  Do you want help with your customer service? Are you looking for help dealing with your employees?  Is it benefit renewal time and you have no idea what to do? Or are you drowning with phone calls and emails and need help prioritizing them?  Do you need help with sales presentations on short notice?

One of the ways I’m set apart from other consultants is I work regularly at night.  I work during the day too – but I have a couple of clients who are busy every day during work hours, they call me in the evening with what they need done, and when they get to work the next morning, the projects are waiting for them.

If a potential client knows what exactly they are looking for, it’s much easier to ask specific questions – instead of asking a virtual consultant to rank their level at something, it would be better to describe the type of projects the client wants to have done, and ask about the consultants previous experience with that type of project.

Instead of asking how many clients a potential consultant currently has, a better question with very concrete answers would be  “I need someone to be available x hours a week, month, or I have a deadline of a specific date for a specific project.  Do you have the time to cover these hours or the time to get the project done on time?”  A consultant often has several clients, some active, some “sometimes” clients and some project work.  So a number doesn’t answer what the client really wants to know which is “do you have time for me?”

Fees and Fee arrangements are always interesting conversations to have.  Most consultants are going to charge according to their experience and value, you can expect to reasonably pay $40/hr and up.  If someone is charging $15/hr, you should expect a short contract (they can’t afford to work for that amount) or lack of experience to give you the type of service and results you are expecting.

Today as I was reading online, one of the articles said “throw out your to do lists.  They are an outdated way of time management.”

Really?  Now admittedly, I have more lists floating around than I may ever have as accomplished tasks- but I don’t use them to check things off. I use my to do lists as a way to get started and to make sure I’ve thought my day and/or projects through.  I like calendaring appointment time for various projects that are ongoing.  Which is actually what the article was about, using your day planner, but I still need to see a list of everything so I can appropriately plan out my day.

The real time management struggle I find is when I’m in between projects, or I’m waiting on approvals on completed project (or waiting on the rest of the details.  Any one who does Freeance or consulting knows what this particular downtime is like.)

I have a goal sheet on my bulletin board – I create one in December for the upcoming year.  But I also created step by step plans to achieve these goals.  During my down time,  I am making an intentional effort to meet my goals, by updating my website, every day marketing some aspect of my business, and trying to network more.  I have learned (the hard way unfortunately) that even though my client base tends to be close to capacity, it’s best to not ever just let things rest or be on cruise control.

Other items on my “when it’s a little slow” list include -

Making sure my laptop is fully backed up.

Learn something new.

Find a new productivity tool (I’ll be reviewing rescuetime.com in the next week.  I may be missing some key items in what I’m actually spending time doing.)

Take time to walk on the beach TODAY!

Have fun – This is important to me.  I have my own consulting business because it’s enjoyable and I’m not confined to corporate think, or a corporate way of doing a job.  If a specific project isn’t fun, that’s ok – there’s always an end to a project.  But if nothing is fun in my work environment, it’s time for a revisit to the goals I have set for the year and revisit and tweak what it is I’m actually doing.

Not everything can be fun, but enjoying my consulting overall should be – and reaching that particular goal is well worth it.

What kind of caught me off guard was the way the gentleman lied to me in his cold call spiel.  He didn’t receive an email from me with a Thomas Edison quote that he’s saved.  Why not just come out and say “Hey, I’ve got your name because you post publicly on a forum,and I looked you up.  Have you heard about Send Out Cards?”  Once someone starts off on the wrong foot, it’s pretty hard to go back to a positive track.

The little details and integrity really can make a difference.

What is something you do at the start of a new year to help grow your business?  What are your goals for the year 2011?  I think sometimes I forget to check to see where my goal list actually is, and where I am in that list.  I think in past years, my goal list has been a little like a wish or hope list.  I’m changing that to be intentional goals, with specific timelines involved.

Intentionality is my theme in 2011  -

So, instead of filing it this year, it’s going straight up on my wall – with more specific timelines to attain my goals.

Where is your goal list?

Assuming that you already have a Facebook Page go here http://www.facebook.com/pages/create.php.  (If for some reason you don’t already have a FB page, go to www.facebook.com and sign up for a personal account.)

You will click on local business, or website (blog), or band -

Name your page (It makes sense to name it after your website name, business name, or band name).

Check that your authorized to make the page -

Voila!  You know have a business page on Facebook.

There’s a few more steps though.  In order for FB to keep your page, at least one person has to “like” your page.

You have the option to “like” the page on the far right side.  You can also recommend your page to friends.  (There are other ways to advertise that we’ll cover later.)

Next you’ll want to edit the page and make it personal to your specific business or website.

Upload your business/website logo or you can upload your photo.

You should also provide some contact info so that people can be in touch with you when they are ready for your service.

Finally, post status updates.

Depending on the blog service utilized you can have a “widget” that will automatically include a Facebook “like” icon, or you can add through FB.  (Step 4).

Facebook will automatically update your twitter with any status updates if you choose to link it.

~Coming Next – How to bring in your blog posts into your FB page~

My focus with TRC, and the services offered are evolving a bit, so I’ll be bringing over some of my favorite posts from the old blog, and keeping up with new ones as well.

If you’re here to see what services we offer, drop me a note and let me know what brought you here and what you’re looking for.

Thanks for stopping by -