Well I am just coming back from an awesome weekend at FoVA (Forum on Virtual Assistance). Barb Lang did a fantastic job and I cannot believe that she put this all together on her own … kudos to you Barb.

I thought I would share with you (without giving away the farm, because hey you didn’t pay (wink, wink)) some of the things I took away with me from the weekend.

1. When making a decision for your business, determine the best solution for your business based on one simple thing … would you care if your solution was tomorrow’s headline in your local paper? For example, which headline would hurt your business more … Virtual Assistant screws up, fesses up and loses client anyways - OR - Virtual Assistant screws up, hides error and client leaves after learning of the coverup
2. It is great for increasing your on-line presence and possibly attracting clients for you to answer questions on forums as an “expert”, but not as a sales pitch for your business. The clients will come in any event because you know your stuff and not because you have pushed your services down their throat. This is one of the most effective on-line marketing tools if you take the time to make social networking work for you
3. It is okay to change your niche market as your business changes and evolves. It is also okay to decide that you would like to offer new or different services as you develop more skills. However, make sure that you have the expertise you require to do this first. Nothing can ruin your business faster than offering a service that you know little or nothing about
4. Every person has their own unique personality and once you learn to accept we are all different and embrace these differences, you will be amazed at how far your friendship and business circle can grow. If you want to understand personalities more the book “Emotional Intelligence” by Daniel Goleman was a suggested must read.
5. Without looking to alternative streams of income (passive revenue), every service based business is restricted by the number of hours in a day. The difference comes from taking the time to create an idea from the skills you already possess - there is an endless amount of possibilities for creating passive income that are only limited by your imagination.
6. The only way to make a business work is to be willing to let go when and if you need help. After all as Virtual Assistants aren’t we asking our clients to do the same? What message do we send when we are overworked?
7. Always plan for the future. The most successful businesses have a plan in place to “save” them from every conceivable “disastrous” situation.
8. We must work together to educate the masses about what Virtual Assisting is and must keep in mind that we are a new industry. By working together we can strengthen our industry and add credibility to the words “Virtual Assistant”.
9. There are a ton of technologies out there (more than we ever imagined) that can make our life more simple - you just have to find them and you can do that by asking because as VAs someone is likely to be using a technology you are looking for and will have an opinion on it.
10. We are in an industry where others within our industry are supportive and truly see us as collaborative and not competitive. The next time you have a question, don’t be afraid to ask.

Most importantly, I learned the value in attending a convention and I am already starting to save for next year. I am sure that next year’s conference will be bigger and better than we could ever imagine possible.