*sigh* There. It’s out. That feels better.

I gave it a good go. I honestly thought at the time that bigger was better and that by putting together an awesome team I would be able to conquer the world (virtually) but that isn’t exactly what happened.

I found myself consumed under a pile of work – because my team really was amazing. Our clients loved us (thank you) and kept wanting more, more, more!

But I felt like my values were being compromised. I was too busy managing the business to be the wife/mother/person I want Larissa to be.

So there is no more Seven Winds Multi-VA team.  I am working by myself.

That’s right…I am working only with two clients.  For one client in the role as their Online Business Manager, and for my other client in the role as VA (can’t give it up)  it is important that I focus all of my time and attention on managing their business operations and meeting their needs.

There are big changes on the horizon for myself and my business. Changes I’m not quite ready to announce yet, but they are very cool. I now know what I am truly meant to do and I’m working on getting to that place where I am doing just that.

Stay tuned for developments!

One is for the 2010 VA of the Year and the other is for the 2010 Techie of the Year. That one I’m pretty excited about because I do take pride in my technical skills!

In case you haven’t been following along this has been a very transitional year for me and it’s been full of changes (more on that later).I’ve been spending a great deal of time doing different training programs including one  that will make me an Infusionsoft expert (when I’m done) and another that gave me 1ShoppingCart expert status. I’ve also taken the exhaustive OBM Certification program.

(Psst….don’t tell anyone, but I’d really like to win the title of 2010 VA of the Year. I was nominated last year and so if I don’t win this year I’m going to develop a Susan Lucci complex.)

Dang it’s hard to type with your fingers crossed….

Here we are on June 21 – the first day of summer – but it feels like I was just setting my New Year’s Resolutions! Speaking of resolutions, last week I started working on one of my goals for 2010 by enrolling in Infusionsoft Bootcamp.

In case you haven’t heard of Infusionsoft, it basically replaces your need for having a stand-alone email marketing system, shopping cart and CRM (Customer Relationship Management system).

Infusionsoft users can manage all of these critical components of an Internet business from one efficient, effective and highly integrated dashboard.

I’m busy learning how to set up and customize an Infusionsoft account, how to manage follow-up sequences, set up products and payment plans. I won’t lie, there’s a ton of other stuff to learn about order forms, templates, refunds, broadcasting and affiliate programs. But when I’m done, I will be a superstar and you will want to hire me to set up your account because trust me – you don’t want to do this yourself. (Holy hard work Batman!)

It actually might not hurt to contact me right now because I’m about to get a lot more popular. Give me a shout today and we’ll schedule you in for the minute I’m ready to transition you over to Infusionsoft or to take over your existing account.

Now I better get back to it – it is bootcamp you know!

Now I’m getting off track.

See…I told you a little while ago about how I’m now a Certified Online Business Manager but since then I’ve gone ahead and taken another very important course – this time from The Shopping Cart Queen, Christina Hills. That’s right! I’m now Certified in 1ShoppingCart! That’s great news for my clients because I can help them get more out of their carts now. Heck I’ll be able to take over the entire e-commerce aspect of their businesses if they want me to!

If the extent of your knowledge about shopping carts is how to put stuff in them and you have an online shopping element to  your site, we need to talk! Just not this weekend please. I have plans

In case you haven’t heard the phrase ‘Online Business Manager’ before, it’s defined as:

“A virtually based support professional who manages online based businesses, including the day-to-day management of projects, operations, team members and metrics.”

Sounds sort of similar to the definition for a Virtual Assistant, I know, but it’s different. A VA does tasks for clients but an OBM focuses more on the managerial role, strategy and project management. Besides, I am a firm believer in continual education so I can help my clients in as many ways as possible.

Of course I picked up loads of new skills and future clients – I hope you appreciate what I just went through for you.

OBM Training is a five month program but I did it in three days. Intense…ALL DAY…three days. I then did one entire week of grueling and rigorous certification. ONE WEEK. Those five days were spent performing real life strategy projects, working for actual six-figure and seven-figure clients. I created project plans, mapping and techniques to help the clients grow their businesses.

So there you have it. Larissa Parks the Virtual Assistant is now also Larissa Parks the Online Business Manager.

And I look forward to serving new and existing clients in an even bigger way!  Well, let me get back to spring cleaning, because a lot of changes are about to happen.

I  know what you’re thinking, “Now, why on Earth would you just stop keeping your blog updated when you’ve gained some momentum recently?”

My best answer to that is that it could possibly do us more harm than good to be blogging without knowing for certain who, exactly, we’re going to be marketing to come April 1st and frankly, blogging is too much work to be wasting valuable post energy on irrelevant topics.

Now, this new plan being cooked up isn’t something I just plucked out of thin air, but I’m being completely transparent right now when I say that I haven’t ironed out all the details yet and until I do I’m not prepared to launch anything or to be blogging about it.

There are other spring cleaning items that are taking place around here as well, changes that are collectively going to improve our clients’ experience working with us and that will make team members happier…including letting go clients who are not holding up their end of our working arrangement.

So…we’ll be falling off the radar for a couple of weeks but my question to you in the meantime is this:

When did you last do some spring cleaning in your business?

• Are you still doing things that aren’t working?
• Are you holding on to clients because they pay you, even though they make you miserable?
• Have you brushed off your marketing materials lately?
• What about an updated list of service offerings or some spiffy new content?

Come on, guys, spring has sprung and it’s time to get serious about getting rid of the business clutter to ensure a healthy, happy rest-of-the-year!

You pick up your mop and pail and we’ll see you in April!

I choose the best of the best when it comes to the people I add to my team. They’re the experts at what they do, so I trust they’re doing the projects they’re assigned to the best of their ability. I oversee “bigger picture” projects and liaise with clients. I don’t need to be involved in every single project because, quite frankly, I’m busy enough with building the business, keeping it humming and signing on clients!

Besides, the reason I’ve added these professionals to my team is because they’re skilled in areas I am not…for the most part. Trust me, I’m not getting in the bookkeeper’s way because it would be a waste of my time (and hers) to be in her business all the time because she knows what she’s doing.

I’m not going to give my copywriter a list of guidelines about writing press releases before I ask her to write one. I have her on board with me because she knows what she’s doing. I trust her and everyone else on my team to do what they do best.

Fancy that.

Unfortunately, this trust factor is a rarity to most people who have ever worked admin in an employee role. We’ve all been micromanaged at one time or another and we’ve all hated it. We’ve called that micro-manager nasty names behind his (or her) back and complained to our spouses about them after a long day at work.

If you consider yourself a micro-manager you do not want to enter into a contract with us at Seven Winds, or with any VA anywhere for that matter. You will not be popular.

The whole point of partnering with a virtual assistant is to free you up to do other things. That means you need to give your VA control over her tasks, otherwise, you’re completely defeating the purpose of the relationship.

All that will get you is one frustrated VA and the feeling that working with a VA is taking up more of your time than you expected.

That’s a classic symptom of micromanagement. It wastes your time and it’s precisely why you would be much better off hiring yourself an in-house assistant who will put up with the constant stream of instructions and over-the-shoulder-looking.

So you have fun with that while we go ahead and make a real difference in the lives and the businesses of the trusting business owners we choose to align ourselves with. And if you know some entrepreneurs like that, send ‘em our way. We pay referrals.

Do you ever have one of those days where you can’t focus on work?

You must know what I’m talking about.

Like when you have a head cold and all you can think about is putting on your flannel pjs and curling up in bed with box of tissues and jar of Vicks VapoRub.

Or it’s a sunny Friday afternoon and mentally you’re outside enjoying the fresh air with your kids and/or your dog.

Maybe there’s nothing at all behind it but you just can’t focus on work.

It happens to all of us, for reasons which have most likely been scientifically proven.

One of these days might look something like this:

09:00 – you sit down at your computer with a cup of coffee/tea/juice/water with excellent intentions of working hard and being productive all day.

09:05 – you go through your emails and note which items need your attention.

09:10 – you check Perez Hilton’s blog to see what’s going on with the celebs.

09:25 – you head over to Facebook and look at pictures from your neighbor’s sister’s nephew’s dog-walker’s wedding.

10:45 – you get a refill on what you were drinking earlier and fix a snack.

10:50 – return to your desk, open your Word Processor look at it, close it and open Twitter.

11:45 – head to the kitchen to find something for lunch.

12:15 – eat lunch at your desk, open Word again and start working on a list of ideas for blog topics.

12:25 – you stare out the window and decide to check if there are any interesting auctions ending soon on ebay.

And so on and so forth.

When you sat down, you had good intentions of working, but you ended up wasting the entire morning.

When this happens and the time you’re spending at the computer is completely unproductive, the only practical solution is to walk away and call it a day.

If you keep sitting there, there are other things in your life you’re neglecting that could be done instead – feed the fish, water the plants, get the mail, organize your closets,  clean the car, etc.

Odds are, you’ve been spending way too much time sitting over your desk and you’ve just hit a mental wall.

The next time this happens to you, just listen to your body because it has shut down your brain for a reason.

To prevent this from being a regular occurrence, give us a call and make use of our virtual assistance services. We can fill in for you when you’re having a day like this, and we can stay on top of your paperwork, marketing and other tasks so that you’re not burning the candle at both ends to the point where you’re sitting at your desk drooling on your keyboard every Friday.

It’s okay to take a break because nobody expects you to be productive 100% of the time – even if you own a business.

Call on us and let us help you run your business. Once we’re up to speed, we can fill in for you anytime you need to take a mental health day.

We don’t need a doctor’s note and your secret’s safe with us.

Ezines give you the power to increase your marketing contact to thousands more yet does not cost you as much as you do with the traditional direct mail. Other than that, it gives you the ability to position yourself as an expert in your field. But before you can do that, you need to be able to have a well defined target market that will serve as your support group. You need to come up with a list that is made up of quality subscribers who will make excellent customers for yourself. Find out how to use ezines to help you build a larger and more established mailing list for your business.

One great advantage of ezine advertising is that it allows you to have access over someone else’s list. This gives you more opportunity to promote your product and/or services offered.

You need to match your product in an ezine advertising the same products and/or services as you offer. Posting your ad in an ezine that is not relevant to your product will not be helpful. Make your headline attention grabbing for it to be noticed and read. How does this relate to building your list to building your list? you may ask. Having good ezine content will draw more subscribers to your site. You need to grab this opportunity and squeeze in several strategies to help you do that. You can start by offering free products or trial services through your ad. When the subscribers click on your ad, you can have them opt in to your mailing list in exchange for the free offer.

This would mean that they are interested in your product and/or service and can mail them in the future when you offer something new that they might actually like. These people will be your potential customers so you need to build a good relationship with them. Mail them once in a while for free reports, updates, newsletters, and new offers but never spam and flood their mails with your ads. This will technically drive them away. Remember that the larger your list is, the better your chances are to create opportunities of closing business deals to the people you can contact for free and ezine advertising has just helped you attain that.

PS – Don’t forget to sign up for our VA WATER COOLER Newsletter on our home page!

We all hate stress. It comes prowling on you in the middle of a busy day and you end up bursting with temper and get nothing done. To avoid all the outbursts, sleepless nights, emotional instability, and all the negative aura stress brings, it really is important that you come up with simple strategies that you can incorporate with your daily routine. This way, the next time stress comes sneaking up on you, you can just laugh it off and just get on with what you have to do.

1. Catch your breath and focus on it.

This is the simplest and most effective way of fighting stress. This is usually called “calm abiding” where you focus your attention to the breath coming in and out of your nose. This technique relaxes the body and mind and is known to combat headaches and other stress related health issues.

To do this, you sit down and gradually, at snail’s pace, bring your attention to your breath. Focus on the feel of your breath coming in and out of your nose. Sometimes, other thoughts would enter your mind and disrupt your focus. Don’t try to force them out of your mind. It will only stress you out further. Instead, acknowledge its presence but bring your focus back to your breath.

You need to count 10 rounds of your breath. One round comprises of one inhale and one exhale. When your mind isn’t stressed out, you’d normally think 10 rounds is just s snap. But when you are the one who is stressed out, you’d find it a lot harder than you think. This is because a stressed mind takes a lot of effort to focus with all the worries running around his mind. When this happens, you usually lose count before you actually get to 10. You simply have to start over again.

This method might seem plain and simple to you. But it really helps a lot in calming you down and weakens fidgety thoughts. In the long run, it helps you be aware of stress as it arises. When you become more acquainted with your stress outbreaks, you become more in control of it and its control over you dies down slowly.

2. Get some space.

When you work every day in the same cramped up workspace, it confines your thoughts in the long run. You see the same faces, the same light, you constantly hear the same office noises you encounter since day one. Imagine this and how stressful it can get as time goes by. You seem to lose touch with what’s going on in the real world and your perspective gets restricted to just the corners of your workspace. This is where stress normally propagates.

When this happens to you, you simply have to go outside and feed your eyes with a different view. Feel the air, get some sunlight and see things from another perspective. When you see something other than what you regularly see, it reenergizes your spirit and shift your thoughts to things that will make you feel better.

3. Get some tea. Or some chocolates.

There are different kinds of tea but green tea and white tea are said to be more effective in relieving stress than the others. Teas are full of antioxidants and drive stress away in more ways than one. It has been used by the Chinese for thousands of years already and they have strong claims that a cup of tea can suppress a hormone in the body that causes stress.

Just like tea, chocolates are full of antioxidants. Come on… who doesn’t love chocolates? Pop some in your mouth and just drive stress away!

4. Play some classical music.

Unlike the other noisy genres of music, classical music tends to relax one’s mood. It soothes your scorching hot temper and calms you down more than any other musical genre can. At any time of day, you can listen to all the other genres. But when you’re in one of your stressed out mood, classical music is the way to go.

5. Loosen up!

During a busy day, in a busy world, being stressed out becomes normal and we get to believe it is just part of our daily routine. We seem to get used to the hustles and bustles of our lives that we almost do nothing to fight stress.

Ironic as it may sound, the more we think deeper into out stress, the worse it gets.

You stress yourself out all the more hoping to get solutions in driving away your stress. Just relax and lighten up. All you need to do is loosen up you mood and see things in a brighter light.

Stress is inevitable. It happens to all of us at some point in our lives. But just like all the other dilemmas we have, a solution comes in hand. Apply some of these given techniques and master the art of fighting stress any time it strikes.