Candy Beauchamp won the 2008 VAccolade of the Year Award. She deserves this so much. She’s awesome!

We even had a few VAs sing a little Jingle Bell Rock. Hope you enjoy the video!

Count your gains instead of your losses.

Count your joys instead of your woes; Count your friends instead of your foes.

Count your smiles instead of your tears;

Count your courage instead of your fears.

Count your full years instead of your lean;

Count your kind deeds instead of your mean.

Count your health instead of your wealth;

Count on God instead of yourself.

Author unknown

Bill More, Work Less: The #1 Way Freelancers Can Make More Money

Editor’s note: This is a guest post from Allena Tapia of freelancewrite.about.com.

My writing business is moving into young adulthood, and instead of wondering where my next project is going to come from, I’m looking for more money, more projects and more clients. The only catch is, I don’t want to work any more hours.

Ahh, there’s the rub.

The “secret” here is not so secret at all. Of the 28 hours I spend behind the desk, only approximately 14 are billable hours. That’s a dismal 50% billable rate. I simply must increase my billable hours to 75% of my total time, which will increase my income by 25%, with no time adjustment on my part. How?

By hiring and training a virtual assistant.

Fully one half of my hours are spent on administrative tasks like seeking clients, pitching clients, producing Letters of Agreement or contracts, maintaining websites and blogs, invoicing, answering questions and updating spreadsheets. Look at that list again. Every single one of these chores could be farmed out to someone else.

There are a lot of hang ups when it comes to hiring virtual help. As a freelance writer, I understand that. But each of these issues can be solved.

1. Can’t afford it you say? Let’s look at it this way: if you bill at $70/hour and pay a virtual assistant $30-40/an hour, by regaining those billable hours, you’re netting $20-40 more per hour.

2. How can I be sure I’m getting quality help? Well, how do you help your clients to feel comfortable hiring you sight unseen? You probably provide a portfolio of work, with client references and a track record showing at least a couple years of service. Look for the same thing.

3. I want to pay a fair price. Virtual Assistants (VAs) work on much the same system as freelance writers. You won’t be the only client, and you’ve got to accept that. I’ve estimated a rate of $30 per hour to hire a VA. You’ll want to do your own research. Consider what administrative assistants make in your area, and take into account your own billing structure when setting your pay rate. Be open to what the VA suggests, or visit the International Virtual Assistants Association.

4. What about training? This question goes deeper than what’s on the surface. Another way to increase your productivity and your billable hours is to automate your processes. For example, once you’ve found a system that works for you in procuring new projects, or in invoicing and billing, document the details in what will become your business manual. This manual will then become your training manual.

5. I can’t deal with the down time. Down time should be built into your schedule. Successful businesses need a time to relax and recharge after completing big projects- think of the day after taxes are due at a CPA firm, or the day after Christmas in the retail industry. You and your team need to push and give to meet deadlines and bang out quality projects, but you also need to regroup after success. This downtime is the perfect opportunity to bring on your VA. Suspend new projects, and dedicate your time to high quality training, keeping yourself available for questions and doling out your VA’s responsibilities in manageable increments.

Investing in a new addition to your team won’t be easy. Syncing your schedules, dealing with miscommunications and ironing out expectations are all challenges that you will meet together. But doing so will take a load off your shoulders, increase production, and boost your bottom line.

“Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success.” – Henry Ford

Allena Tapia is a freelance writer and editor. She helps new freelancers get started in the business at freelancewrite.about.com.

I’ve found some that I use on a regular basis and wanted to share them with you so that you can start REVOLUTIONIZING your business.

The following are free but you just need to sign up:

1888PressRelease
MaleBits
PR.com

The following are free and there’s no sign up required:

Express Press Release
OpenPR
Press411

Now go out there and start submitting!

This will all be happening May 15 – May 17, 2008. Check it out: OIVAC

It’s going to be A LOT of fun!!!

I know that there’s probably TONS of things that are weird about me. I just have to think of all of them – LOL.

For the seven I tag, here are the rules:

1. Link to the person’s blog who tagged you.
2. Post these rules on your blog.
3. List seven random and/or weird facts about yourself.
4. Tag seven random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.
5. Let each person know that they have been tagged by posting a comment on their blog.

Now for my 7 weird things:

1. I still get so excited about Donny Osmond (as those of you close to me know). I’ve met him once but I would die to see him in concert. When I was younger, that was a dream of mine…and it still is.

2. The last two years, I’ve been in a Secret Santa drawing and have received Donny Osmond clothes, notepads and a calendar.

3. I still listen to albums and 8-track tapes (which includes Donny Osmond, the Jackson 5, the Partridge Family, Rex Smith, Eagles, Barry Manilow, Elvis Presley, and tons of others).

4. For some reason, it irritates me to go to someone’s home, walk into the restroom, and have the toilet lid up.

5. To go along with #4, I also have to fix the toilet paper so that it goes from the top when you use it.

6. I enjoy cleaning my house (just need to make time for it and kick everyone out).

7. It really didn’t take me that long to come up with this list (scary)!

The seven people I choose to tag are:

1. Yvonne Weld
2. Terry Green
3. Karen McGreevey
4. Becki Noles
5. Dale Noles
6. Heather Jacobson
7. Jaime Mann

OK everyone! Now it’s your turn!!!

On December 13, 2007, I was presented with a very special honor I knew nothing about.

One of the Virtual Assistant organizations that I belong to and assist is VAnetworking.com, otherwise known by members as VANA. We had a virtual Christmas party for members of the forum and Tawnya Sutherland, founder of VANA, presented a special award that night.

I was presented with the “2007 VAccolade Business Entrepreneur of the Year” award.

I was so overwhelmed. Tawnya read the testimonials from individuals and then honored me by telling me that if I could find a way to Canada in May 2008, I had a ticket waiting for me to attend the FoVA Conference. I couldn’t believe it.

I am so honored that I received this award. While Tawnya was speaking, all I could do was cry. I had no clue that others had any idea of what I do for VANA or for VAs. I thank everyone for this honor and take pride in this award.

Members of VANA and VA Revolution (another VA organization that I belong to) are very dear to me. They’re my virtual family.

I was also given the honor earlier in 2007 of receiving the Revolutionary Business Owner of the Month. At the end of 2007, I was included in the nomination for “Revolutionary Business Owner of the Year” among other very outstanding VAs. Congratulations goes out to all the other award nominees:

Jaime Mann – MannMadeTime
Yvonne Weld – AbleVA
Sally Kuhlman – Virtual Simplicity
Connie McVicker – SignatureWorx
Angela Smith – Accu-Assist
Crystal Pina – Visions Virtual Assistance
Yamisi Daniel – inTouch VA
Terry Green – MyFastype

All of these individuals deserve a round of applause for being so outstanding.

There was a tie for “Revolutionary Business Owner of the Year”. These two individuals deserve the recognition:

Yvonne Weld – AbleVA
Yamisi Daniel – inTouch VA

Let’s all see what we can accomplish in 2008!!!

Small talk is society’s way of cutting the silence, of filling the empty void that makes many of us nervous. When faced with a situation involving just us and a stranger or someone that we are not well acquainted with, it is our innate reaction to talk about the weather or news events as opposed to feeling comfortable sitting in silence. How many times a day are you asked, “So what do you do?” If you are like most, your answer is usually confined to a simple professional answer, “I am a self-employed ___________”. In most cases this is the end of the conversation or you then ask “and you?” But let’s face it, do we really care and did the person asking the initiating question care? The next time you are faced with this question, take the time to find an answer that makes them care and create enough interest to keep the conversation flowing.

As a small business owner it is important to talk to anyone and everyone about your business because let’s face it, anyone could be a potential client and the person asking could know of potential clients. When answering the question “What do you do?” I am not talking about starting an hour long conversation where you get into the meat and potatoes of your job and start relaying a grocery list of your skills and capabilities. Rather I am talking about giving them something to be interested in talking about and something to make them spread the word about you. When looking for that interesting factor, think back to when you first started your business. What excited you and drew you to start this business? What makes you stand out from the crowd and makes others excited to hear about your business?

Here are some ideas to get you started:

1. Provide a hook or a reason for potential clients to remember you and your business. Paint a picture for the person that is asking. Imagine a person selling a cloth that provides a streak free shine every time. They explain to the person that they no longer have to lug bottles of glass cleaner and paper towels, but simply dampen the cloth and rub and the cloth does the rest. I guarantee the next time that person is lugging glass cleaner and paper towels they will think about that cloth.

2. Give them a reason to ask more. Imagine the questions when you hear of a person who just opened a massage therapy business that utilizes water but the patient never gets wet. What part of your business is most likely to make people ask questions?

3. What makes you stand out from others like you? I am a virtual assistant who provides bookkeeping services. I also provide administrative support and many people choose to work with me because they only want to deal with one person to assist them as opposed to both a bookkeeper and an administrative assistant.

4. Ask a question that will provoke an emotion. This will enable the person to think of you every time that emotion is felt. For example, ask “have you ever felt overwhelmed by the unorganization present in your home? I am a personal organizer who not only organizes things for you, but also provides you with tools and resources to improve your own organizational skills.” The next time someone is feeling overwhelmed and is in a state of chaos I am sure they will think of you.

Always, always, always keep in mind that although the person you are talking about might not be your target client, you can never be sure what fifty people they know. Truly talking about your business can make the difference in truly creating a thriving business.

Wow! The race was CLOSE!

It came down to a cat and mouse chase between Alyssa Avant and Jennifer Gniadecki and all three of us have been biting our nails and watching the votes stream in this evening.

With a crazy total of 119 votes overall – these are the results:

45 people voted for Alyssa Avant, making her our official “Who Should Win” Winner!

Congratulations Alyssa and thanks to all who voted.

But… that’s not all

There’s a twist.

There has to be!

In this case, the twist is that Alyssa was already a current member of Mom Masterminds when she entered the contest. But, since I hadn’t made it a rule that current members couldn’t join – her submission was fair and good.

But – Alyssa has already paid for five of the twelve months of towards her Graduated Lifetime Membership that she just won – so technically, I still have five months of membership to give away

And I have decided to give that five months to Jennifer who came so close to winning.

So, congratulations to Alyssa and Jennifer!

And truly – I am so grateful for the huge turn out for our first ‘Who Should Win’ Blog Contest!

WAHM Talk Radio Blog