Do you like to learn? I admit I hated school. OK, hate is a strong word, but I said it a lot back then. Problem was, when I went to school, there was only one way of educating the masses (at least in the school system that I was in). Now, the educators have 'discovered' that not everyone learns the same way! Of course, what I eventually came to realize is that it was the structure that I hated, and not getting the education. Truth is, I as a sponge. I still am. Now, with 24 hours of internet access, I can't get enough. Every day I am discovering something new or I am taking an online tutorial, and I love it. I also try to keep up to date on the 'latest and greatest' as well as revisiting a course that I have taken... to refresh my memory. How often do you take courses or online tutorials? Good Night from here. Hope we can connect soon. Jen :) http://www.JenSheaVA.com
Lately I have been finding myself collecting a lot of 'information', websites I need to revisit, tools & software I might want to use etc, and at a pace faster than I can read.
So, I've been saving all these tidbits in several different places. I have too many 'bookmarks', too many folders on my desktop, and too many paper notes.
Time to reorganize. So, I spent the past couple of days catching up on notes and reorganizing my computer files and paper files. I hated to take myself away from the list of my other tasks, but I knew this was the best way for me to be able to move forward (and look back to find what I had saved...)
Now, with my desk cleaned off, and folders I can find, I am ready to hit tomorrow running.
Not long after I met Tracey, I asked her what she does... You know, part of the usual conversation when you getting to know someone new. She told me, a VA.http://www.traceydaviero.com/
Tracey has been a Virtual Assistant for
more than 15 years. She was a VA before the term was 'coined'. Like most people, I didn't have a clue what she was talking about, but with a short explanation I was intrigued. Tracey knew that I had many years of Administrative and Management experience and suggested that a career as a VA would be a great fit for me. She treated me to a coffee and she told me all about her business. I was hooked. At the time, it really didn't fit into my life. I was married and we lived in a rural area with no cable TV (we did have satellite, let alone a reasonable internet service. Eventually we did get internet but it was pretty slow and expensive. I liked my job, but didn't love my job, so I did keep the whole VA 'thing' in mind. One day, one of the girls in my office told another girl that she had heard about the VA business and it just so happened that I had also mentioned it to her not long before. Well, the two of us connected and I told her about my friend Tracey. I suggested that she meet her. Talk about timing... We went for dinner with Tracey and asked a hundred questions (maybe more) and as always, she generously answered all our questions. Then, she told us that she was starting a new business called, Your VA Mentor, and in fact she was planning to launch her first 'course', shortly. I couldn't wait for it to start. Tracey's course can be found at Your VA Mentor - http://www.yourvamentor.com/ At the time I took the course I was still working full time, and although I started learning about creating a website and learning about all the different software that VA's use, I still wasn't able to make the jump. Almost a year went by and then suddenly an opportunity showed itself to me. I was offered a one-year contract (covering a maternity leave), which made it a little easier to leave the job and company I had been working for, for over 11 years. Fast forward to the last few months, and that contracted ended and my new Virtual Career is on it's way. Thank you so much Tracey, for everything! You are a mentor and a good friend.
Today I finally got back on the VANetworking network and joined a Free Training Webinar. Tawnya Sutherland has free training webinars on a bi-weekly basis, for all members at the VANetworking.com.
What I love, besides learning, is that with the Adobe program that Tawnya uses, we get to connect with everyone in a live-chat. This is a great way to network and meet other VA's. * * * * * * * Today I found this great website and blog, by Mel Aclaro, called the ScreencastingWizard.com. Full of great tips and tricks & videos, for people interested in capturing screen images and video (like me).
Now all I need to do is find the best software for me to use in a Windows environment. More research, for tomorrow. Have a great evening everyone. Good Night. Jen :-) www.JenSheaVA.com
I had a pretty productive day, and accomplished a lot. I did some research, I completed some administrative tasks and I did some networking.
I was reading the blog of a friend of mine and one of her posts was about having a theme song... and it reminded me of mine. I think it 'fits' me and I have loved it since I was a little girl. It has taken me a while to get here... I finally feel as though I have arrived.
Here are the words:
Who can turn the world on with her smile?
Who can take a nothing day, and suddenly make it all seem worthwhile?
Well it's you girl, and you should know it
With each glance and every little movement you show it
Love is all around, no need to waste it
You can have a town, why don't you take it
You're gonna make it after all
You're gonna make it after all
How will you make it on your own?
This world is awfully big, girl this time you're all alone
But it's time you started living
It's time you let someone else do some giving
Love is all around, no need to waste it
You can have a town, why don't you take it
You're gonna make it after all
You're gonna make it after all
Do you recognize it? It's the theme song to the Mary Tyler Moore show. When I was young, I wanted to grow up to be Mary Richards. I loved everything about her. She was fun, and sassy, had great style and was Independent! And, for those of you who remember the show, she had that great little apartment.
Here's a clip. Have a super night world, catch you soon.
You know those days? The ones that never get going the way you intended... For me, that was today.
I won't get into the mundane details but there were a few phone calls and things just got derailed. It was family 'stuff', nothing to do with my business, but I am grateful that I could drop what I was working on, to deal with it.
After the dust settled and after dinner, and after helping one of my client's with their virtual banking issues, I got to read some information that I have been wanting to get to, for a week now.
I did see something I thought was amusing today though. We had a dusting of snow overnight and first thing this morning the fellow who is contracted by the condo association came to 'plow'. You have to see just how little it snowed to see how silly this is... but he was here. After driving around the driveway 3 times, scraping the road, he stopped to clean the sidewalk areas. He used a 'Leaf-Blower'. I have to say, it was pretty high up on my list of unbelievable sights :-)
It's all good! I'm going to head to bed and get a fresh start in the morning.
I need to put together a Press Release, to introduce my business to the world, and I am stuck.
I think the reason is because I have been doing too much research and have read too many "how to's" on the subject and now I am just getting confused. What is the best format, where is the best place to post a Press Release, what do I want and need to put in it?
I have to get it done soon... so back to my notes.
I was up until 5:15 am, this morning working on my website and this blog, set up. I have to say though, I am really loving Wordpress. There are plenty of helpful tutorials on Youtube, as long as you know what you are looking for. This has sometimes been the most challenging part for me. I wish I was 25 years younger. Of course, it would be great to be 25 again, but that would mean that my daughter wouldn't even be here... so forget about that. Instead, what I really mean is that I wish that all of this was 'there' for me to learn, 25 years ago. I would have loved to have had the opportunity to learn this in school, to do this as a life-long career. No matter, I'm doing it now and it is definitely 'better late, than never'. It's 12:30 am, so I'm off to bed... tomorrow is another day :-) G'Night World Jen :)
Had a terrific day, today. I was given the opportunity to speak with a Adrienne Smith, anexperienced Blogger, who is known as the 'Engagement Superstar'. I connected with Adrienne through her website, www.Adriennesmith.net, because after reading a few of her posts, I realize she has been down a similar path to me. She shares a lot of information on her website and I wanted to find out what more I can learn from her. I plan to work with her in the near future, and I believe I can learn a lot. Thanks Adrienne. I have also been working on my website. I still have a lot to add and update but I'm happy with the way it is coming together.
Check it out, here https://www.JenSheaVA.com Now, back to work on my website. Thanks for stopping by.
It's been a very long time since I have attempted to write a blog post. I suppose there are several good reasons, but the main reason is fear. I am afraid I don't really know how to 'blog' and I don't know if anyone would want to read what I've written, let alone ever see what I've written.
It's a new year, (and a big one for me, I'm turning 50 next month) and I finally feel free of a life that has been holding me down, for far too long. I am very recently divorced from a man who cared about me, but cared a lot more about himself. For years I convinced myself that it was OK, but the longer I stayed in that relationship, the more I lost myself.
I am excited about all of the possibilities before me. My very smart, 23 year old daughter, recently said to me: "Mom. Since I was
born you did everything for everyone else. I'm fine so you don't need I
worry about me, Auntie (my sister) is fine, she's an adult. And Mum-Mum (my Mother) is
going to live another 50 years... Just do it for yourself". "No one ever became successful by being selfless, and if they said they did then they lied!"
Such a smart young woman!
So, with my daughter's blessing, I am off on this new adventure. I have a short list of things I intend to accomplish this year. Not really sure where to start, or how I will achieve them but I have ambition and spunk (still, thank goodness because this I thought I lost about 8 years ago).
Stay tuned, I will include my list on my net blog post. Until then, be well and happy.
