So for those of you that follow my blog, you know that I have been in a funk lately and was able to turn it around by setting new goals. At the same point I realized that I had been working too hard on my business (if that is even possible), but trying to move it in a direction that I really didn’t want to head. More importantly I was not getting the results I needed from those efforts. I realized it was time to start moving in a different direction and find a new focus!! Well …. you know the old saying “be careful what you wish for!!” …

I am happy to say that although my business looks nothing like I thought it would one year ago, it is a business that I am very proud of today. When I looked at my goals and reviewed what I really wanted (instead of what others expected) I was able to create a new picture for my business and the greatest thing is that picture is actually coming to fruition!!

In the last week I have signed 2 new clients I absolutely love and I have gained 2 new coaching clients. I realized that I absolutely love coaching and this is a focus that I want to work with in the next little while and an area of my business to grow. I think the key to that success has been letting go of what I perceived that everyone else expected from me and getting back to what I wanted in a business!! I lost the attitude that I had to be someone that others wanted me to be and realized I could just be me again!!

I look forward to each and every day and can’t wait to get into my office again … it is a new found love for both my business and my clients.

So the reason for this post is to allow you, my readers, to realize that you and only you can determine what your business goals are and what your vision for your business is!! As entrepreneurs we need to stop looking at everyone else and doing what others are doing or what we think others expect from us. I believe that once you create your own dream and vision you will be excited with the results!!

This is so true in any business isn’t it? How many times have you dealt with someone in a bad mood and thought … “I can’t wait to talk to them again!!” …. NOT!! As business owners, it is important to remember that we are our business … what we say, how we say it, what we do and how we act are key!!

Even on the days when we are at our worst, it is important to project a great attitude. Here are a few tips for helping out on the days when we aren’t feeling our best!!

SMILE - even when you aren’t feeling your best, a smile shows others that things are great. Even smiling when talking on the phone will be reflected in your voice.

THINK - think about the best outcome a situation can have and go into the situation concentrating on that outcome … it’s called the power of positive thinking and believe it or not it works!!

SURROUND YOURSELF - with positive people!! On a bad day call up a friend and ask them to help you gain a positive attitude. Who better to pick you up then one of your supporters and cheerleaders!!

TREAT YOURSELF - to something you love to do. Immersing yourself in a hobby or pasttime that you enjoy is sure to give yourself a better attitude!!

Perhaps the most important thing to remember though as a business owner … if you know that you are having a bad day and will project a bad attitude, that may be the perfect day to avoid people (including in person, by phone and by email)!! Save that for when your attitude has improved!!

As I posted last week, I was in a funk and realized the reason for that funk is that I had reached all my goals and had not set new ones. Once I posted that post, I received several emails and private messages from friends that they too were experiencing the same thing. In particular, my co-author Sally and I both realized we were “funking” together. So, we spent some time the other day reviewing our old goals and setting new ones. We got to pat ourselves on the back for reaching goals that seemed like “big dreams” a year ago.

Now that I have those new goals I am happy to say that I truly feel like I am back and raring to go!! I couldn’t believe that I had forgotten to “practice what I preach” so to say. So many times I have said … without a vision how do you know where you are going!! No wonder I was lost and didn’t know where to turn.

In celebration of Sally and I getting our groove back we are offering a special on our book Managing Your Thriving Business for Success. If you enter the code word: productive you will receive $10 off the cost of the book! If you are in a funk or have lost your groove we hope you will join us in getting your groove back and let us know about your light bulb moments.

For the next 10 days we will be offering this $10 discount. Go to http://www.thrivingbusinessmanual.com/managing and enter the code: productive to start getting your groove back today!

Well today some of my stress was released in the form of a little red sign that says “SOLD”. It is amazing the ways that we hold our stresses and I realized that this stress was effecting a number of areas in my life. I was exhausted, unable to concentrate and taking it out on those around me. One of my clients pointed out to me that I wasn’t my usual cheerful self.

As business owners it is very important that we try our hardest to not let our stresses effect our business - I know easier said than done. When we allow things to effect our business, it is hard to recover from the repercussions. Luckily the ways that I let this effect my business probably will not have a lasting effect (especially if I handle it right over the next few months), but I am still left to wonder what if …

What if I had followed up better with potential clients ….
What if I had spent some more time on social networking ….
What if I had gone to that networking event that I passed on ….

So rather than linger on the what ifs, I am going to turn them into new goals for my business …

I will work on better follow up and follow up with each new lead within 48 hours!
I will try to post at least 3 times on my blog and visit the forums at least weekly!
I will attend at least one extra networking event monthly outside the events I am already attending!

As business owners it is important that we know our faults and recognize when we make mistakes, but even more importantly we must take those mistakes and make them into lessons. Once we realize how not to make the same mistakes again, we will be on the road to creating a thriving business!!

So after Sally’s comment I went and read her post and it was like a light bulb went off. There right in front of me was the reason for my funk. I had met all my goals!! This explains the reason I have been so bored. I am truly the type of person that sets out to “prove” something and that I had!! I had started a Virtual Assistant business, written a book (actually 2) and been recognized by my peers. When I thought about it I realized I had been thinking now what.

So this is the reason I haven’t been able to finish writing a book … I already did that!!

This is the reason I haven’t been able to find excitement in my VA business … it is already a successful business!!

So today when I re-write my goals I am going to think about things I haven’t accomplished yet, things that will make me excited again and then I am going to go after them with gusto. The biggest thing I am going to do though … I am going to remember that goal setting is a continuous thing … we need to read them, review them and revise them as we grow and achieve the goals we set for ourselves!!

First I blamed it on the stress of trying to sell my house, then I blamed it on the children being home for the summer and finally I blamed it on being too busy, but finally I realized that no matter the reason it was time to pull up my socks and “smarten up”.

Yesterday at my BNI meeting our President said something that really made me stop and think. “You have to feel your way into a new way of acting not act your way into a new way of feeling”. In other words instead of acting as if everything is great, it is time to change the way you feel about things and other things will fall into place … so that’s just what I did.

I took some time to think about why I was feeling the way I was and decided it was time to stop “feeling sorry for myself” and start remembering that I am a successful business woman for a reason. I can put on whatever show I want to, but unless I start feeling better about myself and about what I am doing people will eventually see through the “veil” I have created.

So once I came to this realization I realized it was time to “brush off my goals”, re-write my schedule, and start working on all those ideas in my head instead of just leaving them there. So watch out world because I have a new attitude!!

I can’t believe how far behind I am at my blog. I come in with good intentions, but it seems that blogging seems to be at the bottom of my totem pole of important things to do. (Well actually me time for hobbies and interests is actually at the bottom!!) I don’t intend for that to happen, but it just does … it seems that when life happens the things that we begin to not “keep up” with are the things we enjoy the most!!

I love to write and I love to blog, but finding the time seems to be a challenge. See, in the hierarchy of tasks I tend to put them in this order …

- client work
- family time (especially now that the kids are home for the summer)
- promotion of my business (ie networking events, meetings with potential clients)
- household chores and tasks (especially now that we are renovating our new home and trying to sell our present home)
- writing, blogging, working on other projects for my business (oh if you only knew the ideas that are swirling in my head, but I don’t have the time to implement!!)
- hobbies and interests

As you can see, although blogging is not at the bottom … it just seems that the days seem to slip away one at a time and although my intentions are good ……..

So to all my faithful readers I do apologize for not keeping up and when life seems to get back on track, I promise to be back and I am sure you will be excited when I finally find the time to get these things moving!!

One of the biggest lessons I have learned as not only a Virtual Assistant, but as a business owner, is that you can absolutely never plan as a business owner. I know that sounds absurd coming from someone who plans, plans, plans and who preaches being organized, utilizing effective time management and scheduling. However, I have learned a valuable lesson over the last few weeks … expect the unexpected.

How many of us haven’t become a “rider” in the roller coaster of business ownership? Even though I try to plan as best I can, it seems that life likes to throw little hills and valleys in my business. Just when you think you will have some extra time to work on a “secret” project that you have a great idea for, your business seems to begin the steep climb and the client work seems to come from no where. Don’t get me wrong I am absolutely not complaining, but it makes a person wonder how to effectively ride out this coaster and get the most from the ride.

I am a true idea person and every time I turn around another idea comes into my mind. I do take the time to write all these ideas down, but finding the time to implement them can sometimes be the challenge. As a business owner, the client’s needs must come first – because let’s face it without them we wouldn’t have a business nor an income, and for me my family time is just as if not more important than the success of my business. This busyness leaves little time to implement my ideas without sacrificing sleep or family time. So what is one to do?

I finally realized that I can implement these ideas without having to sacrifice my client work or my family or my sleep to get there. I just have to realize that not all my ideas have to happen now. So for those of you out there struggling to find balance remember you are not alone … you just need to learn to expect the unexpected!! Once you embrace this and decide to enjoy your roller coaster ride the ride seems a little less bumpy!!

Today’s bride is no different than the bride of years past … she is looking to create the perfect fantasy day … the one that makes all their dreams come true. However, the one thing that does set today’s bride apart from the bride of years past is their hectic schedule. We live in a society where many brides are career women, some are already mothers and many lack the time to truly focus on their wedding plans. Many are turning to Wedding Planners and Consultants, but some brides are just looking for a couple of extra hands. This is now possible thanks to the Virtual Assistant.

A Virtual Assistant makes a perfect addition to your bridal “team” and here are just some of the ways that you can put your Virtual Assistant to work for you:

1. Preliminary Research

Have a date in mind or some specific criteria for your day? A Virtual Assistant can make phone calls to churches, wedding locations, reception sites as well as photographers, videographers, caterers, florists and the list goes on. Why waste time to find out that they are unavailable or don’t meet the criteria of what you are looking for? With a Virtual Assistant, you are simply left with a “short list” with which to follow up.

2. Appointment Scheduling

Once your Virtual Assistant has created your “short list”, she/he can also phone and make appointments that meet with your schedule to meet with these professionals.

3. Invitation Creation

Many Virtual Assistants have design experience and can work with you to create customized wedding invitations.

4. Mailing List Creation

Many brides spend endless hours putting together their mailing list including verifying addresses and postal codes. A Virtual Assistant can take care of this for you and put it into a spreadsheet format that makes using it for future applications a breeze.

5. Mailing of Invitations

Once your Virtual Assistant has the database for your mailing list created, she can easily use that database to mail shower and wedding invitations as well as your Stag and Doe, Bachelor and Bachelorette Party announcements.

6. RSVP Follow Up

Even though it is good etiquette to RSVP for showers and weddings, not all people take the time. Your Virtual Assistant can make the phone calls to follow up and finalize the numbers on your behalf.

7. Follow Up with Your Wedding Team for Final Arrangements

Your Virtual Assistant can keep track of the event day and those people involved and follow up to make sure that the final plans are all coordinated.

8. Wedding Program Creation

Not only can your Virtual Assistant create your invitations, but she/he can also create other materials for that day including wedding programs, namecards and seating plans.

9. Wedding Favor Preparations

A Virtual Assistant can suggest ideas for wedding favors and arrange to have them purchased and prepared for your guests or a Virtual Assistant can arrange, on your behalf, for a charitable donation if you choose to forgo wedding favors as many brides are doing these days.

10. Travel Arrangements

A Virtual Assistant can arrange for the travel arrangements and hotel arrangements for out of town guests and even research possible honeymoon destination spots on your behalf and make the necessary arrangements.

11. Thank you Notes

Guests expect to be acknowledged and thanked, however many brides today do not send thank you notes. Your Virtual Assistant, armed with your mailing list and the gifts received by each guest, can personalize thank you notes on your behalf and take care of sending those out.

Remember that you can still have your perfect wedding, but you don’t have to do it all!! With a Virtual Assistant, we take care of the “To Do’s” so all that’s left for you to worry about is the “I Do’s”!!

For us, as entrepreneurs, it is so easy to become overwhelmed by the mounds of work that comes into our office, especially via E-mail. I know that I myself have easily fallen victim to the trap of letting my in-box become overwhelming. A great deal of our time is wasted having to empty out an overwhelming inbox. Many times we might read the same email several times thinking “I don’t have time, I’ll deal with that later” and before we know it our inbox becomes so overwhelming that it takes an entire day to sort through it. As we work our way through it we soon begin to find things that should have been dealt with or that have been overlooked and undoubtably the stress begins to build.

This quarter I am taking on a new strategy with respect to my email and I am inviting each of you to join with me. I am developing the 3 D’s strategy for keeping email messages under control: Do it, Delete it or Delegate it.

Each and every email I read from here on out will be handled in one of 3 ways:

1. DO IT - These are the emails that will require an action by me. If it isn’t something I can answer immediately or act upon immediately, I have also set up two folders and one is “To Read” and one is “To Do”. When it falls under one of these categories I will move it to those folders for later action. I have now also worked into my schedule a half hour at the end of each day and a half hour at the beginning of each day to go through the “To Do” folder and make sure that it is completed each day.

2. DELETE IT -Let’s face it we are inundated with emails, several of which are not something we ever plan to act on. We also receive several emails where a conversation is ended by the other party that should be deleted. Also, once you have answered an email and for which you are not waiting for a reply, you should delete it. By removing it from your inbox, it will tell you that it no longer requires anything to be done.

3. DELEGATE IT - Finally if I am unable to handle something in an email and it needs to be handled by someone else I “delegate it” to them and forward that email.

My final piece of advice is to create a folder entitled “Waiting for a reply”. This will be for all those emails that you have acted on and you are waiting for a response from someone else. These are those emails that you don’t want to delete just yet for fear of forgetting that you are waiting for something before being able to “Do It”, but that clutter your in-box nonetheless. By moving these from your in-box or your “To Do” files they will not clutter these spaces and cause you to read them several times. Always be sure, however, to make it a point of checking your “waiting for a reply” daily and deleting those that you have received a reply on.

I hope that by implementing these tips you will soon find that checking your emails is not taking up huge chunks of time in your day. With any luck, the next time you hear “you have mail” you will not want to jump under your desk and hide.