Episode 65 [20:44m]: Play Now | Play in Popup

In life, we all have lessons we learn in order to progress along our life’s path. Some of the lessons are easy and others are hard. When you are running your business, especially for the first time, there are again, many lessons to be learned. During the first two years of my business, I have learned a few lessons and in this episode, I share five of the most important ones with you.

Lesson 1: I don’t have to be everything to everyone.
Lesson 2: Take time for myself
Lesson 3: I don’t have to do it all.
Lesson 4: It’s okay to say “No”
Lesson 5: Trust in myself, in others and that everything is going to be “okay”

Listen in to hear how I learned these lessons. Hopefully you will take something away from this episode, whether that be the knowledge that you are not alone or perhaps you will learn through my experiences. During the first part of the episode I say that hopefully you will learn from my mistakes, but in actuality they were not mistakes. The following quote sums it up nicely:

“There are no mistakes or failures, only lessons.” ~Denis Waitley

Leave your thoughts, insights or your own experiences about the lessons you have learned by leaving a comment on this blog posting.

A Virtual Perception podcast is sponsored by:

Virtual Assistant Forums: http://www.virtualassistantforums.com

Virtual Assistantville: http://www.virtualassistantville.com

A Virtual Perception podcast is produced and hosted by:
Darlene of True Harmony Media, LLC: http://www.yourtrueharmony.com

 

 Episode 61 [28:34m]: Play Now | Play in Popup

A Virtual Assistant for a Virtual Assistant; sounds strange huh? The simple truth is Virtual Assistants are businesses owners and more often then not, get caught up in the day to day business of their clients work and find little time to focus on their own business tasks. That is where having the help of a Virtual Assistant can come in handy. Furthermore, a Virtual Assistant who finds their business to be growing may over time find the need to have a Virtual Assistant subcontractor help them with some of their client overflow work.

Today’s episode revisits the topic of subcontracting with the help of guest Collette Schultz, who spoke with me about subcontracting in Episode 13 of A Virtual Perception. Not only did Collette and I chat about how she, as a VA subcontractor, has grown as a business owner in the last year or so, we also discussed the topic of what type of person may be best suited for subcontracting work, finding work and more.

Show Links

Collette Schultz – http://www.softwaresavvysub.info

Sponsored by:
Virtual Assistant Forums: http://www.virtualassistantforums.com

Virtual Assistantville: http://www.virtualassistantville.com

Produced and Hosted by:
Darlene of D. Victoria Virtual Assistance: http://www.dvictoriava.com

 

 Episode 61: Play Now | Play in Popup

Read the Show Notes to find out more about this episode.

 

 Episode 58 [46:27m]: Play Now | Play in Popup

Wordpress Virtual Assistant Christina Nelson joins me on Episode 58 to talk about all things Wordpress,  as well as, her business.  We started out our conversation talking about Christina’s business, why she started it, what it is like being a work at home mom and more.

When it comes to Wordpress, Christina shared how she got started with Wordpress and why she loves it so much. Christina also provided some great tips and resources for those looking to start their own Wordpress web site, to find someone else to design a site for them and a list of places to find Wordpress themes.

Show Links:
Christina Nelson: http://www.vitalofficesolutions.com
Dear Christina: http://www.christina-nelson.com
Chrysalis Plan: http://thechrysalisplan.com/

Wordpress Theme Sites:

Free Theme Sites
Wicked Wordpress Themes: http://www.wicked-wordpress-themes.com/
Wordpress Theme Designer: http://www.wpthemedesigner.com/
Wordpress Themes Page: http://wordpress.org/extend/themes/
Smashing Magazine: http://tinyurl.com/2a2rqx
Design Disease:  http://designdisease.com/

Paid Theme Sites
Site Mile: http://sitemile.com/
Theme Forest: http://themeforest.net/
Woothemes: http://www.woothemes.com/
Solostream: http://www.solostream.com/
Elegant Themes: http://www.elegantthemes.com/

Sponsored by:
Virtual Assistant Forums: http://www.virtualassistantforums.com

Produced by:
D. Victoria Virtual Assistance: http://www.dvictoriava.com

Hosted by:
Darlene Victoria Gonzalez

Sponsored by:
Virtual Assistant Forums: http://www.virtualassistantforums.com

Virtual Assistantville: http://www.virtualassistantville.com

Produced by:
D. Victoria Virtual Assistance: http://www.dvictoriava.com

 

 Standard Podcast [15:21m]: Play Now | Play in Popup

Check out the Show Notes for more information about this episode.

 

 Standard Podcast [15:21m]: Play Now | Play in Popup

Brandon and George are two best friends who started a blog called Pants Off Entrepreneurs. They are setting out on a journey across the United States to interview fellow entrepreneurs to find out how and when they decided to take fate into their own hands and start their own business. Their hope…to inspire others to follow their dreams. In Episode 56, I talk with both Brandon and George about their inspiring project.

Show Links:

Pants Off Entrepreneurs: http://pantsoffblog.com, Pants Off Entrepreneurs on Twitter,  Pants Off Entrepreneurs on Facebook

Startupnation: http://www.startupnation.com
SBA.gov: http://www.sba.gov
SCORE: http://www.score.org
Virtual Assistant Forums: http://www.virtualassistantforums.com
Public Libraries (list of public libraries in the US): http://www.publiclibraries.com/

Sponsored by:
Virtual Assistant Forums: http://www.virtualassistantforums.com

Virtual Assistantville: http://www.virtualassistantville.com

Produced by:
D. Victoria Virtual Assistance: http://www.dvictoriava.com

Hosted by:
Darlene Victoria Gonzalez

Sponsored by:
Virtual Assistant Forums: http://www.virtualassistantforums.com

Virtual Assistantville: http://www.virtualassistantville.com

Produced by:
D. Victoria Virtual Assistance: http://www.dvictoriava.com

Hosted by:
Darlene Victoria Gonzalez

 

 Episode 54 [40:24m]: Play Now | Play in Popup

If you are new to social media and social networking chances are you have quite a few questions. Like – where to start or better yet, what is social media exactly? Sure, you probably have heard of sites like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, but did you know that there are tools to help you determine what network is best for you or that having a social media strategy (especially if you are a business owner) from the very beginning is important to your social media success?

In this episode Janet Fouts, social media coach, speaker, blogger and author answers those questions and more. Even if you aren’t new to social media, today’s episode may shed some light on some questions you may have been pondering about your own social media success; like the best way to separate personal and business life in social media and minding your social media manners.

Janet, many thanks to you, it was great having you on the show.

Show Links:

Janet Fouts: http://www.janetfouts.com, http://www.socialmediacoachingcenter.com,  http://www.tatudigital.com, http://www.twitter.com/jfouts

Janet’s book Social Media Success: http://bit.ly/9eUIFU

Radian6: http://www.radian6.com/
Trackur:  http://www.trackur.com/
Buzzlogic: http://www.buzzlogic.com/
SM2:  http://www.techrigy.com/
Social Mention: http://www.socialmention.com

Sponsored by:
Virtual Assistant Forums: http://www.virtualassistantforums.com

Virtual Assistantville: http://www.virtualassistantville.com

Produced by:
D. Victoria Virtual Assistance: http://www.dvictoriava.com

Hosted by:
Darlene Victoria Gonzalez

Sponsored by:
Virtual Assistant Forums: http://www.virtualassistantforums.com

Virtual Assistantville: http://www.virtualassistantville.com

Produced by:
D. Victoria Virtual Assistance: http://www.dvictoriava.com

Hosted by:
Darlene Victoria Gonzalez

 

 The Resources Episode [38:40m]: Play Now | Play in Popup

Episode 49 is a very special episode jam packed with my favorite business resources. Resources range from project management solutions to client gift ideas and many are ones I use in my day to day business.  Below is a complete list of all the resources mentioned in this episode along with their web links.  What is your favorite business resource? Tell me about it by leaving a comment on this post.

Project Management
ClientSpot - http://www.myclientspot.com
Central Desktop – http://www.centraldesktop.com
Project Pier – http://www.projectpier.org
Mentioned, but not highlighted:
Smartsheets – http://www.smartsheet.com
Basecamp – http://basecamphq.com/
Staction – http://www.staction.com

Time Tracking
MyHours.com – http://www.myhours.com
Time Stamp – http://www.syntap.com/products_timestamp.htm

Shopping Carts
1ShoppingCart – http://www.1shoppingcart.com
Shopify – http://www.shopify.com
Paypal – http://www.paypal.com
ZenCart – http://www.zen-cart.com
e-Junkie – http://www.ejunkie.com

Email Marketing
Constant Contact – http://www.constantcontact.com
iContact – http://www.icontact.com
Aweber – http://www.aweber.com
Vertical Response - http://www.veritcalresponse.com
Mailchimp – http://www.mailchimp.com
MadMiMi – http://www.madmimi.com

PDF
PDF995 – http://www.pdf995.com
CutePDf – http://www.cutepdf.com
Scribd – http://www.scribd.com

FTP
CuteFTP – http://www.cuteftp.com
Filezilla – http://www.filezilla-project.org

RSS
Google Reader – http://www.google.com/reader
Free RSS Reader – Available on iPhone and iPod Touch App Store
Juice – http://www.juicereceiver.sourceforge.net

Music
I Heart Radio – Available on iPhone and iPod Touch App Store
Jango -  http://www.jango.com
Pandora – http://www.pandora.com or Available on iPhone and iPod Touch App Store

Podcast Directories
PodcastAlley – http://www.podcastalley.com
iTunes – http://www.itunes.com
Blog Talk Radio - http://www.blogtalkradio.com

Podcasts worth checking out:
Quick and Dirty Tips for the Public Speaker – http://publicspeaker.quickanddirtytips.com/
Stuff Mom Never Told You – http://www.howstuffworks.com/podcasts/stuff-mom-never-told-you.rss
How Stuff Works -http://www.howstuffworks.com/stuff-you-should-know-podcast.htm

Client Gifts
Instagift – http://www.instagift.com
Fairytale Brownies – http://www.brownies.com

VOIP
Grasshopper – http://www.grasshopper.com
Skype – http://www.skype.com
Google Voice – http://www.google.com/voice

Social Networking
Twitter - http://www.twitter.com
Facebook – http://www.facebook.com
Virtual Assistant Forums – http://www.virtualassistantforums.com

Twitter Applications
Hootsuite – http://www.hootsuite.com
Tweetie – Available on iPhone and iPod Touch App Store
Tweetdeck – http://www.tweetdeck.com
Friend or Follow – http://www.friendorfollow.com
MyVBO – http://www.myvbo.com
Mixero – http://www.mixero.com

Some additional resources not mentioned during the episode:
DimDim – webinar solution – free service for webinars with up to 20 people – http://www.dimdim.com
YouSendIt – for sending large files - http://www.yousendit.com
DropBox – for syncing and sharing files between computers – http://www.dropbox.com
Google Docs – http://www.google.com/docs

Sponsored by:
Virtual Assistant Forums: http://www.virtualassistantforums.com

Virtual AssistantVille: http://www.virtualassistantville.com

Produced by:
D. Victoria Virtual Assistance: http://www.dvictoriava.com

Hosted by:
Darlene Victoria Gonzalez

 

 Standard Podcast [40:12m]: Play Now | Play in Popup

Read more about this episode on the Blog.

 

 Standard Podcast [40:12m]: Play Now | Play in Popup

Sales and the service oriented entrepreneur. Putting those two together can seem scary to first-time and even veteran business owners. If you don’t have a product to sell, but a service rather, putting yourself out there and doing sales can be scary. But, it doesn’t have to be. In Episode 41 Jerry Kennedy of  Inside Out Business Solutions sheds some light on conducting sales and offers some advice on how to think about sales differently.

Show Links:

Jerry Kennedy – http://www.jerrykennedy.com
Sales Management 2.0 Podcast – http://www.podcast.salesmanagement20.com
Motivation 101 – http://www.motivation101audio.com/m101/

PodcastAwards - http://www.podcastawards.com
Virtual Entrepreneur Survey: http://wserver.scc.losrios.edu/~smedlel/VA_Questionnaire/VirtualBizQuestionnaireEntry.htm

Sponsored by:
Virtual Assistant Forums: http://www.virtualassistantforums.com

Produced by:
D. Victoria Virtual Assistance: http://www.dvictoriava.com

Hosted by:
Darlene Victoria Gonzalez