And then add to that, we (my family and I) had intermittent internet connection for the whole of last week so it made it hard for me to check on the status of the server change and I was unable to respond to email as quickly as I usually do. Frustrating.

However, it did mean that I could elect to do things I don’t often spend as much time on, such as reading and writing (I have a new book in progress), sorting through papers and I was away interstate some of that time too which helped to decrease my level of frustration.

Sometimes things are just out of our control and we can either elect to get totally stressed about it, or just accept it after assessing the situation and assuring ourselves there is nothing further we can physically do. It’s important to advise clients when you are unable to carry out work if it’s dependent on internet access (as much of mine is) and then make a date with your diary and plan to catch up when things are back online.

As I said a couple of posts ago, it’s good to realise ‘it’s only temporary’ and take the pressure off yourself.

I hope you like the post I put up on the weekend. Now I know why I write so much. Actually I always knew that writing was therapeutic - at least for me it always has been. A great way for getting my thoughts in order and decluttering my mind. Just nice to see that scientists agree with my theory

Self-medication may be the reason the blogosphere has taken off. Scientists (and writers) have long known about the therapeutic benefits of writing about personal experiences, thoughts and feelings. But besides serving as a stress-coping mechanism, expressive writing produces many physiological benefits. Research shows that it improves memory and sleep, boosts immune cell activity and reduces viral load in AIDS patients, and even speeds healing after surgery. A study in the February issue of the Oncologist reports that cancer patients who engaged in expressive writing just before treatment felt markedly better, mentally and physically, as compared with patients who did not.

Scientists now hope to explore the neurological underpinnings at play, especially considering the explosion of blogs. According to Alice Flaherty, a neuroscientist at Harvard University and Massachusetts General Hospital, the placebo theory of suffering is one window through which to view blogging. As social creatures, humans have a range of pain-related behaviors, such as complaining, which acts as a “placebo for getting satisfied,” Flaherty says. Blogging about stressful experiences might work similarly.

You can purchase a copy online at the link in my first para.

How about that? Now you can say blogging is a healthy activity!

blogging, healthy, therapeutic, writing, blogosphere, Scientific American

I was out of the office for a couple of days speaking at an EA/PA event in Perth. Consequently it meant that there was no work being done while I was out however when I got back I found that our internet wasn’t working properly. Actually I had noticed it on Monday but thought it might have related to my server being shifted so just ignored it, thinking all would be ok on my return. But it wasn’t - over 500 emails waiting to be downloaded and Outlook was having problems downloading and many websites just weren’t viewing. It also meant any internet related work activity just couldn’t be done, or only in very small doses as I had access on occasion.

After 2 days of discussing things and speaking to people, we (hubby and I) came to the conclusion that it’s actually an ISP problem - they had a major cable cut through several days ago and we believe that it was related to overseas connections which is why Aussie sites are loading fine most of the time and overseas ones only periodically. And my email comes through a spam filter via a US site so I had to change settings on Outlook so I could receive my email direct through my own mail server.

But further to that a third thing entered the equasion - seems our router could also be on the blink so hubby plans to buy a new on this afternoon to see if that helps.

Worth remembering that when you have computer or internet-related problems there can always be more than one reason or possibility behind it. (For those who are not so techy-minded, it’s important to remember this if your tech support takes a while to sort out a problem - sometimes it’s a case of trying one thing, then another, then another, till they hit upon the cause). Grrrrr…. don’t you just love it?

Oh well, as a friend who emailed to cheer me up this morning said ‘it soon will pass’. I agree. One of my favourite sayings is ‘it’s only temporary’.

My name is Linda Simmon and I am a certified hypnotherapist in the Southern California (Los Angeles/Ventura) area.  If people really want to find out about me, the best way is to actually visit my site at www.newhypnotherapy.com but, suffice it to say that I was a paralegal for 5+ years and decided I needed a change so went back to school and got ertified as a hypnotherapist.  I completed my schooling and internship about 6 years ago.

I realized almost immediately after completing my training that I needed to have a website set up.  The reason was because I was offered the opportunity of writing a column for a popular astrological site and my column included a question answer section.  Since it reached people worldwide, I realized I needed a way for people to contact me and read about me and my work that didn’t include them calling me at any time of the day or night.

I first “met” TK after my site had been in place for a while when I decided that I needed a Shopping Cart System.  We were introduced to each other by Terri Romine and I felt we were a good fit for working together.

My practice includes telephone sessions with clients and recorded sessions they can purchased.  TK has helped me with the payments procedures necessary for this to run smoothly.

In addition, I put out a monthly newsletter and it is TK who makes it look good and ensures that it is delivered to my client list.  TK is also instrumental in formatting and distributing announcements that I periodically need to send out to my clients.

I do have another VA who supports my business.  The differences between their duties is that TK handles all my shopping cart issues, client list and mailing to my clients while my other VA handles changes to my website for me.

TK and I had been working together now for almost 3 years and during the course of those 3 years I have come to depend on him more and more because he has made it so much easier for me to do what I do best, and that is hypnotherapy and counseling.

Linda Simmon, C.Ht.
www.newhypnotherapy.com

I often recommend Wordpress these days. It provides a great CMS (Content Management System) type website with static pages and still allows you to have a blog component if you wish.

In fact, most of the recent websites I’ve developed for clients, and for myself has been done with Wordpress. There are thousands of templates out there (and I mean thousands upon thousands) and often you can modify them to change background colours, font types, and add in your own images or logos, or you can pay someone to create a new header or template for you - which is often cheaper than getting a whole website designed.

For my clients, many want the ability to log in and make changes to text and images themselves, without having to pay for constant updates and this type of site suits them well.

Here are some examples of how this works:

Sites for authors:

www.chrissysiggee.com
www.worth-more-than-rubies.com
www.out-of-the-shadows.com.au

Bridal wear designer:

www.melanie-jane.com

Author/Speaker:

www.kathiethomas.com

Webhosting services:

www.acs-webhosting.com

It has been rather disconcerting to write posts and publish them, only to find they disappeared and I didn’t have a back up copy! I got to the point where I just didn’t want to try most of the time as I didn’t have time to try and redo things. I know I could have written them up and saved them in another program but I often just didn’t think about that till after the event - I’m so used to writing and publishing straight into Wordpress. Perhaps a lesson for me, and my readers, that it might be worth taking that extra step to save posts elsewhere - at least till I can feel confident that all is well again!

Thanks for hanging in there with me!

This week Lisa Beavan (VA) introduces her client Jenny Vulcan of The Service Spirit.

Please tell my readers a bit about who you are and what you do.

The Service Spirit is focussed on inspiring people to embrace a fresh approach with their customers and employees through Leadership and Team Development programs.

When did you realise you needed admin support for your business?

Since starting my business I have always had some administration support

What type of support did you originally obtain?

Originally I looked in the local paper for people who advertised this type of contract support service.

Is the support you receive today the same as then or has that changed and if so, how?

The level of support required has increased and the type of projects has become more varied i.e. beyond just typing to: diagnostic support, client liaison, project management, research, personal assistance etc

Do you have more than one VA supporting you, and if so, perhaps you’d like to give a brief idea what the difference is?

Only one and if she needs more support she sub contracts out.

How did you find out about this type of support?

My VA is a personal friend and we have worked together since she started as a VA.

How long have you had your current VA? (Feel free to name who they are)

Lisa Beavan for 5 years (and many to more to come I hope!)

Anything else you’d like to share?

I have recommended VAs onto other colleagues / associates as I have had such a positive experience using a VA and the support network “A Clayton’s Secretary” provides is such a bonus, we gain so much value (and valuable answers to many varied questions) from this network.

If you have a client/virtual assistant story to share, please feel free to contact Kathie direct.

I’ve started up a Writer’s Forum for those women and for anyone else who is interested so we can chat about writing, encourage one another and list resources we come across for aspiring writers. Please feel free to drop by and join us if you have a similar passion.

Chris Garrett had an interesting post on who should blog. Does that cover you?

Chris Brogan gives 50 interesting ways Marketers can use social media - perhaps you’ll pick something up from here too!

Brian Clark tells the story of a wordpress theme - which incidentally, have you noticed how many great themes there are out there these days?

Craig Harper always cracks me up with his humourous but pointed posts on his blog. Have you seen him on TV too? Oh, and he’s on radio LightFM every week as well. Seems like I see or hear Craig around a lot these days.

I’d be remiss not to mention the passing of a lady purported to be the world’s oldest blogger at the age of 106. Boy, I hope I’m still blogging till a ripe old age! Olive apparently helped keep her friends around her young with her interest in the internet. I know that my grandmother always said that it was her family that kept her feeling young. She passed away at the age of 98 still learning new things. I guess Olive was much the same way.

Darren Rowse writes about how to make your blog sticky and he’s looking pretty dapper in the video clip on this post as well! Be prepared - it’s a long post but well worth the read! Now, I do some of the things he writes about but I can see that perhaps there are other things I should be doing too! I have to learn how he gets the comment and stumble link things showing up in the RSS reader at the bottom of each post! Darren, if you’re reading this, can you tell me please? Is it a plugin, or perhaps coding you have in your blog?

Anyway, hope you enjoy these finds this week and to take a leaf out of Craig Harper’s book, please do leave a comment in the comment thingy. For those of you who read this via email, that means click on the topic of this blog post to come back to the main blog to leave your comments - I love your emails but it’s even better to have them here for others to see too!

Please tell my readers a bit about who you are and what you do.
I am a professional singer and speaker.

When did you realise you needed admin support for your business?
When I was travelling and needed a virtual secretary to take messages etc and when I was developing product and needed to source various people such as desk top publishers. I also needed help with redesigning my website and designing promotional flyers.

What type of support did you originally obtain?
As above

Is the support you receive today the same as then or has that changed and if so, how?
It began with answering calls and taking messages in my absence and now includes the other services as above.

Do you have more than one VA supporting you, and if so, perhaps you’d like to give a brief idea what the difference is?
One for help with website and promotional flyers. One for help with book lay-out.

How did you find out about this type of support?
My husband used the organization and through National Speakers Association.

How long have you had your current VA? (Feel free to name who they are)
Kathie Thomas has helped me over several years. Cheryl Pisterman helped me this year with desk top publishing. Both are absolutely professional and excellent.

Anything else you’d like to share?
It is great to know that when I need to outsource tasks I can just go to Kathie Thomas and she will organize at least three different people to contact me with a quote and a chat, so that I can choose. A real boon to my business.

I’ve had clients complain of the same thing - thankfully few and far between, but it does happen. Or, I’ve seen a VA respond to a job request via a VA network and then a couple of weeks later they’re posting the same job request because they can no longer give commitment to the job at hand and want to pass it on to someone else.

I don’t know why this is - is there something wrong with the way they see their businesses and their credibility in the eyes of clients (whether that be internal clients to the VA industry or external clients)? Is it that they still don’t see or understand the importance of their work? Or is this how they behaved in their previous jobs or corporate roles and just discarded what they no longer wanted to do and leaving it to others to clear up the mess or rush to meet deadlines?

As business owners, Virtual Assistants must accept responsibility for the work they accept and if they cannot meet the time frame or it’s not to their liking, then they really need to reassess how they’re operating their business and the way they are pursuing work. After it’s not ‘make pretend’ and they are dealing with real people and real work. And behaving in a ‘flighty’ manner will tend to make others steer clear of them. I can understand some thinking this business doesn’t really work if that is how they operate.

If you’re new to the VA industry, then think carefully (not too quickly) about the type of work you’re seeking or trying to grab. If it’s a short-term project, then stick it out, even if you do not like the work. If it’s long-term, then thinking doubly as long before putting your hand up for it - especially if you’re not sure if you’re cut out for the work. What’s that old saying? Act in haste, repent at leisure?