This little paperback by practicing VA Nadine Hill is perfect for anyone thinking about becoming a VA, but is also helpful for people already in business.

The Virtual Assistant Handbook: Insider Secrets for Starting and Running Your Own Profitable VA Business

I read it in a couple of hours and found some nice ideas to think about.

I particularly liked the profiles of established VAs, giving insights into how they became VAs and found their niches.

Two other great things about this particular book are that it’s written for the UK market, by the Yorkshire-based Nadine, so there’s plenty of information about the realities of charging different prices depending on your local market.

All in all this book is a fantastic and straight-talking resource for anybody starting out or running a UK-based Virtual Assistant business. It’s well worth investing both the money and the time to add it to your knowledge base.

It’s not just a case of turning up though, oh no; if you do that you don’t get anything out of the experience, so what should you be doing before you go off to a face to face networking group?

1. Make sure you have business cards and any literature you want to give out. Even if you’ve been going for ages, there’s always the chance that someone new will be there or that it’s the right time for another regular member to need your particular services! Have some product/service literature too (especially if you have something new on offer), not everyone wants to wait to look at your website to find out what you offer (and it saves you carrying lots of information around in your head).

2. Craft your elevator pitch. Don’t turn up at every meeting and deliver the same pitch, people will notice! Think about a product or service you want to feature each time, or a special offer you’re running. It’s also worth thinking about whether you’re looking for new business right now, or are going to be looking for clients in the near future – that’s something your audience is going to want to know.

3. Think not just about what you want to get out of the meeting, but what you can give to other members (read your notes from previous meetings to refresh your memory).  It might be that you want to talk to someone about one of their products or services that you need, or you may have some leads or referrals you could out their way. Remember, networking is a relationship process.

4. Go to the meeting and HAVE FUN! Listen to what people are saying (are they asking for things? Providing you with inspiration for a new product or service that you could develop?) Make sure you pick up contact information for people you might want to follow up with after the meeting and make sure you make notes when people are doing their elevator pitch so you know what they’re offering and what they’re looking for.

5. After the meeting make contact with the people you really connected with and arrange follow up one-to-one get togethers so that you can talk in more detail about what you could offer each other or how you could work together.

So, I hope these tips make your next networking experience a bit more productive. REMEMBER though that networking isn’t really a quick fix, it could take you five or six meetings before you really start to get the benefit, so stick with it.

As promised, a new package to add to those I publicised at the start of the year! Like the others, this one does just what it says and it’s for people who need a bit of help with their blogging.

Obviously, different people are going to need different things, so this is a bit of a ‘pick-n-mix’ package, where clients can choose the bits they want and then we can create a bespoke package. The main elements on offer are:

Was a pretty simple one when I started this business last year, I wanted to create my perfect job, doing the things I love to do, with people I love to work with, during hours that suited me.

Yes, I was – and am – incredibly lucky to have a supportive partner who was happy to be the sole breadwinner for the family whilst I set up. I was also in the fortunate position of having a contacts book full of potential clients and a clear idea of the market I was aiming for.

I wont pretend that there haven’t been some hiccoughs along the way, because of course there have been, but they’ve tended to be where I’ve done something that felt ‘wrong’ from the start, but that I’d taken on ‘just in case’.

This isn’t the first freelance job I’ve ever done, and, as I’ve said before, freelancing isn’t an easy option, but now, whilst I work incredibly hard it doesn’t feel like a chore because I’m loving what I do so much.

Yes, I’m incredibly lucky that I was able to sit down and design the perfect job for myself, but I’m so pleased that there are people out there who genuinely value the services that I’m providing for them… That makes it all worthwhile.

2012 has started really well for me with lovely clients and plenty of interesting work!

One of the great things that’s happening is that people I’ve met through networking (online and face-to-face) and I are meeting to talk about how we can work together – either because we do similar things, or because we have skills that are useful to one another.

It’s an incredibly exciting time because it opens up a lot of interesting chances to explore new projects and new ways to work co-operatively.

What I haven’t done is just said ‘yes’ to anything without thought about whether the meetings I’m taking fit with my target markets – they do.

If you’re a writer or a coach/well-being practitioner and you need some office solutions, please visit my website and contact me for a FREE consultation.

Buy It Here

Tracy promises “21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time”, and each chapter sets out a strategy for doing just that.

On page 8, Tracy introduces his most important rule “Think on paper”, and from then on in, you should really have a pen and paper at your side as you read the book.

Regular followers of my Twitter feed will know that I – and lots of my VA friends – talk about “eating frogs” and that’s thanks to Tracy. Frogs are the jobs on your “To Do” list and the bigger or more scary the job, the uglier the frog! By tackling your biggest, ugliest frog first thing each day (even if you have to “salami slice” or “swiss cheese” it), rather than wasting time on “tadpoles” (the little tasks you could “delegate” or “eliminate”), you will work smarter and feel more confident in your abilities.

The book is thin and can easily be read at one sitting, after which your brain will be fizzing! And the great thing is you can start to apply the ideas straightaway.

So, if you’re looking for some inspiration to work smarter and achieve more, why not let Brian Tracy inspire you to “eat that frog!”

Image from: istockphoto.com

This year will be all about packaging services to make it easier for clients to see what can fit together to solve their business problems.

Image from: kellyskindergarten.com

I’ve spent a good few hours over the last couple of weeks setting my business and personal goals for 2012, planning what I want to achieve over the year and then breaking that down to monthly and weekly goals.