A Novel Space/ From Concept To Print…Bringing Your Thoughts & Ideas To Life

I just discovered there is a Grammar Day celebrated in the United States.  I learn something new every day.  Thinking about this brings to mind something I heard perhaps two years ago on Making the Band.  One of the band members said in response to something, “I don’t know what he done did…”  On national television!  Every time I hear bad grammar, this phrase pops into my head.  I find I have a tendency to compare other poor grammar phrases to this one, trying to find one that is worse than this one.  So far, “I don’t know what he done did…” tops all. 

I know we all have grammar lapses, but I must admit if I had said this in front of cameras, I would want to correct myself immediately.  In a lapse moment what words did you say that you wish you could retract?  Do you think you can go an entire month using proper English, no slang?  It might be harder than you think especially, if you use slang a lot.  Give it a try for the rest of March and see what happens. 

Recently, on one of the networks I’m a member of, I was asked how I found clients.  A good question. 

Finding clients I’ve discovered is harder for some and a piece of cake for others.  Since opening my business I’ve changed how my website looked, how I viewed finding clients, how I marketed and presented myself.  I’ve added services to the list of administrative services I offer and deleted those which I really didn’t want to do.  In addition, I’ve finally added a whole different range of services for authors – publishing tasks, which can be applied to both self and traditional publishing. 

Now that I’ve begun working with the kind of clients and on the projects I want, I’ve been doing a lot of social networking.  Reluctant at first, I’ve come to enjoy it, have made some good contacts and found some clients through it.  I have profiles on LinkedIn, Facebook, Virtual Assistant Forums, IVAA and a few others. 

My latest one is Twitter.  I resisted joining for a long time; guess I didn’t think I had much to say.  However, after networking on other sites, I decided to bite the bullet and create a profile.  I’ve found it useful, interesting, fun and somewhat addictive.  In the typical business arena, I tend to be quiet most of the time, just observing things as they come along.  Being able to network online has helped me to approach individuals and companies with my services. 

It’s starting to pay off.  I have a client (found through a networking forum) who I am in the process of finalizing details of the duties needed.  I’ve started working with a publishing company utilizing my new publishing skills and I have two more potential clients due to come on board hopefully by mid-March at the latest.

So for those of you who are reluctant to join the social networking craze, please reconsider.  If you keep at it, you will begin to see positive results.  For me, a nice side benefit is now I’m considering networking more — in person. 

As a Virtual Assistant or independent contractor, it’s up to the individual to find clients.  When I first started A Novel Space, I thought with the small businesses and entrepreneurs out there, finding clients would be hard at first, but get easier over time.  Right?  Not necessarily.

I have discovered that despite my years of experience, many businesses are hesitant to enter the VA world.  I think I knew this somewhere in the back of my mind.  There are probably many reasons for this reluctance, one of which could be the perception that if you are paying someone to work for you, they must do the work in front of you.  In the eyes of some, with a VA, they are the unseen employee whose word you have to take on faith and hope the results are what you expect them to be.

Fortunately, I believe the idea of hiring a virtual assistant is catching on more and more every day.  I recently read an article where a community college was offering a 27-credit virtual assistant certificate.  Excellent.  I believe the more the mainstream corporate world acknowledges this industry, the less we’ll have to explain what a VA is, and more time we can spend demonstrating our skills.

When I first began thinking about being a VA back in 2006, I was still working the typical 9-6 everyday job.  I knew I needed and wanted to make a change, so I looked into starting a home business of some kind.

I suppose I had the same reasons for wanting to work from home as most do: my commute was a major pain.  When I first started with the company, I could get from my garage to the office garage in 25 minutes or less.  By the time I left, the drive took anywhere from 60 to 90 minutes each way.  Sometimes I felt as if I needed a helicopter to get to the office on time.  Also, it was no longer exciting once I got to work.  Usually working for an entertainment public relations firm is fun, interesting, and different everyday.  By the end, everyday seemed almost a carbon copy of the day before.

Anyway, the time had come for a major change.  Finding a way to work out of my home seemed like the best choice for me.  However, in trying to find just the right thing, I kept coming across Work-At-Home businesses and jobs for the stay at home mom.  Many required the applicant to be a mom in order to apply.  I’m not a mom so despite my 16 years of experience, I didn’t qualify for most.  Still others were call center jobs for much less per hour than I was currently earning.  I already handled a busy switchboard amongst my many other duties; I wanted to get away from the phone for a bit.

Finally, I realized I needed to be more specific to achieve my goal.  Eventually after some more searching, I came across the term Virtual Assistance and better yet, a book on the subject.  I bought the book, read it from cover to cover and knew this was it.  Often, since I left my 9-6 job people have asked me ‘Do you think you made the right decision?’  It’s the same question I asked myself when I first left.  Ultimately, the answer is yes.  I had gone as far as I could in my last regular job.  It was time to shake things up.  True it was (and sometime still is) a gamble, but I had to take a chance or always wonder.

Almost 2 years later, I still think it’s the best decision I’ve recently made.

Welcome to the new blog website for A Novel Space.  My goal for this website is to share experiences with those new to the Virtual Assistance industry, as well as, the veterans.  Along the way, I hope we can all learn something that will help our businesses grow.

Let the journey begin.