Archive for barjd communications

Death by Language – Weapons Include Jargon, Acronyms and Carelessness

August 20, 2009 at 4:22 pm · Filed under VAnetworking, barjd communications ·Tagged , , ,

Ruth Martin, of Maplewood Virtual Assistance (maplewoodva.com) wrote a post for Partnering with a Virtual Assistant, the official blog of VAnetworking.com about the fatal potential of poor language skills. She noted poor vocabulary, poor editing (spelling, typos and more), slang , profanity and thoughtlessness.

When we are writing for our websites or writing emails to our contacts, it seems so conversational. But, when someone is reading what we have written, their perspective is not as apt to be conversation, but PRINT. Print ’sounds’ different than conversation. Ruth’s points that the careless writer can be the gone-down-the-drain writer are totally RIGHT, pardon the pun.

In addition to the thoughtless, carelessness that Ruth writes about, other aspects which can pain our readers include the use of jargon (terms related to our business that the reader won’t be familiar with), or splashing our content with acronyms (letters that have specific representation requiring familiarity).

Writing: “We’re absolutely anal about getting the CMS right for your URL and SEO. Our skills will just blow your d—n minds away! Plus, we don’t blabbermouth your business all over the ‘net.”

Or

Writing: “We’re dedicated to providing accurate management of your website using a Content Management System (CMS) that lets you help maintain your site. Additionally, the search engines work well with the CMS process to make finding you easier. We are committed to maintaining the confidentiality of clients’ business and to maintaining the highest degree of internet security.”

The first might appeal to clients who are looking for a shock and who are ‘in-the-know’ about the acronyms. But, how many are there which are looking for you? Enough?

The second is close to” “Why use 10 words when 100 will do the job”. But, the piece does clarify some things that the client should know about using Content Management Systems and how professional the virtual assistant intends to be with confidential information.

At Particularly Virtual and on @ Bar JD Virtual Professionals, I try to land somewhere in between. Sometimes I will try to give the reader a mild shock; sometimes I will give them ALL of the information.  You can download a FREE Internet Terms Brochure at my website to help you navigate the jargon you are almost certain to be exposed to online.

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Bar JD Congratulates Diana Ennen’s Blogging Award

June 11, 2009 at 3:56 pm · Filed under VAnetworking, barjd communications ·Tagged , , ,

Because she’s written BOOKS, you could have guessed that Diana Ennen of Virtual Word Publishing would have a kickin’ blog with lots of information on lots of topics.   Good solid information on needed topics.

Diana was recently recognized by virtual assistant peers at VAnetworking.com for the quality of her blog and declared VAnetworking.com Blog of the Week.

As a coach for other virtual assistants, Diana represents the leadership of a rapidly growing career field. Diana maintains a separate website at Virtual Assistant Startups which is dedicated to the development of newer virtual assistants, plus maintaining rosters of virtual assistants who are ready to be put together with the right client.

As a publisher and publicist for a wide range of clients, Diana offers PR coaching to get the right package of press release and public relations set up.

Diana’s book Virtual Assistant, the Series includes both the informative book and a workbook about the field of virtual assistance.  Diana and her co-author, Kelly Poelker have another book in the series about working virtually as an employee successfully for the employer and employee.  Add other books for practical software and a Slow-Cooker cookbook and you find a small library that can be essential for the virtual assistant book shelf.

As a friend of Particularly Virtual and @ Bar JD Virtual Professionals, we recommend that you check out Diana’s blog for information that can be used to your benefit.

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Questions to Ask Bar JD

June 4, 2009 at 4:44 am · Filed under VAnetworking, barjd communications ·Tagged ,

Ask the right first question about Bar JD.

  • Can you do this (your task)?
  • How long before you can work on this task for me?
  • Can you give me a time/cost estimate?

Can you do this task? That question is a great opener.  As we discuss your task and my skills, my experience will let me know very quickly if I can offer you the skill you need to get your task accomplished efficiently, economically and best of all, SUCCESSFULLY.

At Bar JD, I  do many things, but not everything.  Because of networks among professional virtual assistants such as VAnetworking.com, you can bet your boots if you can’t get that task performed right in our office, I  know someone who has the skill and integrity to merit a referral to get your project accomplished.  So, don’t worry about insulting me by asking about a service I don’t offer.

How long before you can work on this task for me? Oh, that kind of thoughtfulness will almost have me eating out of your hand!   Thank you upfront for respecting the probability that I have a full schedule, but that I will also do my best to work with your project or ongoing task.

If I do not see an early opening for your project, I won’t leave you scratching in the dust to find someone else.  I have the contacts with that same network of professional virtual assistants who will gladly step up to take the extra task.  I do the same for many of them.  One of my favorite networks is VAnetworking.com where the virtual assistants are taught the only stupid question is the question not asked.  (Just as virtual assistants are encouraged to ask their peers for information, clients should be willing to ask a tough question now and then.)

Can you give me a time/cost estimate? You will be high on my list to get worked into my client base!     Because of my skills and working situation, you can expect that your task will be accomplished using the least amount of time and be warranted against errors when using the information you give me.  Done with less intensive labor and done right surpasses the issue of an hourly rate.  Low rates to the unskilled can quickly cost you more in repairs and re-dos.

These three questions are only a few of the right questions that I love to hear from prospective clients.  Go ahead and ask…even ask “What is it you do?”

On @ Bar JD Virtual Professionals or at Particularly Virtual, the contact information will give you a path to ask questions.  Even the COMMENTS area will work.

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Welcome Comes to VAnetworking.com

May 10, 2009 at 4:18 pm · Filed under Particularly Virtual Book Reviews, VAnetworking, barjd communications, networking ·Tagged , ,

I’ve noticed a new offering this week at VAnetworking.com for the new members who are coming on board to learn more about the possibilities of working virtually.  An announcing greeting post arrives on the forum from Founder, Tawnya Sutherland, listing several resources for immediate access to information and connection at the network.  That little thing is so neat!  Acknowledgment and welcome in a virtual atmosphere that would surely happen in the physical atmosphere helps connect and maintain some sense of reality for members.  Our relationships with one another and with clients has an unusual form because we seldom TOUCH except in the virtual way; yet many of us will become friends, joint venture partners and co-workers.

“Newbies” are always welcome at VAnetworking.com.  Thank goodness, because all of the members were new at one time.   It still works to make a self-introduction.  I encourage this because the self-introduction is good for one’s attitude, self-image and voice to the rest of the network community.   Members at VAnetworking.com are encouraged to ask and answer questions or offer tips to the community.   That kind of keyboard involvement is essential to the networking experience; to developing the online picture of the personality, skills and work ethic of the member.

That lecture being delivered, however, I appreciate the outward welcoming gesture to new members that can surely help locate the tools that are offered for setting up, organizing and polishing the virtual assistant practice.  When the membership numbers tell you there are THOUSANDS in the network, it could be easy to feel alone in the adventure.  The virtual professional will be very solitary, but with a welcome and application of networking and the tools offered freely at membership, that solitude doesn’t have to translate into isolation.

There are networking events at VAnetworking.com that enhance the community and I encourage new members to attend and get involved.  Your skills are certain, your dream a possibility, even a necessity, but the path can be obscure.  There is a light shining for you in a solid, professional network of professional virtual assistants with skills and knowledge in every possible virtual facet of working.

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Taking Outsourcing to a New Level

November 9, 2008 at 9:10 pm · Filed under barjd communications ·Tagged , , ,

Jamie Lee Mann of Mann Made Time wrote a timely post for  Partner with a Virtual Assistant VAnetworking.com/blog about more aspects of outsourcing your office and business tasks to a virtual assistant. 

To move past the beginning or entry level tasks for a virtual assistant that I wrote about in the previous post concerning  Trial Size Tasks, now you know that you need some specific and skilled help for something such as a shopping cart or a profile at a social networking site or a blog installation.  There are VAs who are exceptionally good at that.  You can post a Request for Proposal (RFP) at Vanetworking.com and find someone there who can install and provide maintenance and/or consulting for this specific project and keep the rest of your tasks in office or where ever you need them. You can find a different Virtual professional for each project if you want.  Or, if you already have a virtual professional whom you communicate well with, you could encourage additional learning and training to get your project on track.

Today’s business world is no place to be neglecting things that you just cannot get around to doing.  Outsource them to a professional who will get them on track for you, do maintenance if you need it or move on if you are able to keep the maintenance going.

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Notes for the Shy Virtual Assistant (VA)

October 29, 2008 at 11:27 am · Filed under barjd communications, networking ·Tagged , , , , ,

Are you a new virtual professional?  Or have you been a stealth virtual professional (maybe you didn’t know your home (or garage) office had such virtual potential)??

Regardless of where you are in your business, you can benefit from connections with professionals who share your goals, commitment and mission to provide off site service to clients.  You may be working alone, but you are not alone.  You may have a network of people who work with or for your clients through you.  But, all of you are working physically alone in your own offices.  This has gone on for ages, but the whole game has been changed dramatically by technology.  It continues to speed forward for easier application.

But, back to the object of this note:  GROUPS.  There are many prestigious and valuable organizations that will provide connection for you.  One of my favorites for beginners at connecting is VAnetworking.com

Networking beginners can join the free side and learn a vast amount of information, get new ideas or ask questions and get answers.  Members can join chats and seminars on a regular basis for the advancement of their skills and business  For many, this side is all that is wanted or needed.  For others, a paid membership  to VAinsiders gains access to ebooks, forms, extra seminars and more. 

On another post I have written about the positive element for clients to know a virtual professional belongs to a network.  The network just expands your knowledge base by unbelievable amounts.  I encourage you to join as many as you can find.  Some will be niche specific and be ready to connect about that particular topic.  Some, like VAnetworking.com will include members in all imaginable niches. Some will have different views and opinions, which gives you a way to measure reality.

Make your next task a click on one of the links above and change your virtual life!

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All Work and No Fishin’ Makes Jane a Slow VA

October 28, 2008 at 10:35 pm · Filed under barjd communications ·Tagged , , , , ,

Jaime Lee Mann wrote a post for Partnering with a Virtual Assistant this week using the example of what happens (or doesn’t happen) when a goldfish is kept in a small bowl.  When the VA seems to be working, working, working, but isn’t really fishin’  for the best amount of work or the best quality of service to deliver.

Or what can happen when the fish is housed and fed well in a larger bowl. The comparison can fit:

A virtual assistant who must

  • market or reach out to all of the potential clients
  • maintain skills to stay at the top of her/his niche
  • expand skills to keep up with new technology or offer new services

can’t continue to function in the tiny, tiny fish bowl.  Sure, if the VA is fed enough, growth will happen, but it will be cramped and uncomfortable.  I’m thinking of a neighbor’s goldfish who grew so big he could barely make a circle in that little bowl.  The cramped VA doesn’t have any FUN in the business and really doesn’t offer clients a well-rounded, committed service.

A potential client for virtual assistants who must:

  • Get the picture of how working with a virtual assistant can get expert services for the business as a reasonable cost
  • Get the picture of how not expanding the fishbowl virtually can lead to business expansion (and profitability)
  • Research and educate themselves on the best ways to delegate to a new working partner who will function as a contractor and be able to move on.
  • Enjoy the possibility of fishin’ because someone with a mission of good service and confidentiality has set up a flexible business picture.

At “How Big is YOUR Fishbowl”, Jaime Lee tells her trade show experience and how she was inspired for the betterment of her virtual assistant business.   The fishbowl can be so much more useful for use than just a place to put the lottery tickets for the keychains,etc.  I think a fishbowl, with or without residents, should be a part of the decor of any office, virtual assistant or client, to keep everyone aware of their mission and goals.

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Economic considerations add to virtual appeal

October 9, 2008 at 4:12 pm · Filed under barjd communications ·Tagged

“Everybody talks about the economy, but nobody does anything about it.”  I cannot recall who said that first, but it is no longer true.  For the past few years, a field that affects the economy of many businesses has been quietly growing.  This field, virtual assistance, has thrived on newest technology.  These technological tools help bring connection between task and performer to a fine tuned line.  Virtual Assistants can offer skills from that of ’home secretary’ through strong supportive administrative assistance to specific high tech. 

As our economy moves through a stage of change, there are businesses seeking quality outsourcing that can be provided by virtual assistants.  Meanwhile, there are people with skills and no occupation who can begin their own business offering their services virtualls.  This virtual road runs both ways and across.

VAnetworking is a website that offers support and networking opportunity to virtual assistants at various levels in their practice, plus quality outsourcing connections for clients who have access to members of VAInsiders.  VAInsiders is a membership group that is composed of highly motivated, skilled and wise people who have a virtual assistant practice.   

I’ve been a virtual assistant at different levels since 2003.  My skills have never stopped expanding even though my target market has evolved in several directions.  Working in my own office with as much technology as I can fit in has been rewarding in all ways.   Thank you for visiting Bar JD Communications and for coming on over to my blog.

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A Name-Dropping Post

October 24, 2007 at 4:00 pm · Filed under barjd communications ·Tagged , , , , , , , ,

I’m dropping names today!  My Son-in-Law, Bill Pannell of Cheyene, Wyoming is one of this year’s recipients of the Future Farmers of America Honorary American Degree.  This is the highest honor that can be awarded someone who has been active and supportive and meets the other nomination qualifications.

Bill and our daughter, Susan are on their way to Indianapolis where the award will be officially recognized at the Annual FFA Convention, as I write. 

Susan teaches at a Cheyenne Jr. High, convincing students that there is life after 8th grade.  And that good language skills will help them live it to their highest capability. 

Bill has been an FFA advisor, has been active in agriculture. His family ranch was homesteaded in NE Wyoming, Crook County, near the Devil’s Tower.  For the past few years, Bill has worked with the State Department of Education as a liasson/consultant between the department and vocational education advisors/teachers.  In my not at all humble and very prejudiced opinion, he is excellent at this because he spent time in the trenches and can communicate.

National Website for the Future Farmers of America

FFA Honorary Degrees and Awards

FFA teaches the members stewardship of the land, responsible animal management, marketing, communication skills and vocational skills for careers that may or may not be agricultural, but almost certainly will be linked in some manner.  Other vocational education groups share core values, but may have different focus.  I am proud of the tolerance in vocatonal education where in these days and times, young men and women can participate in various and multiple groups to better themselves.

And, of course, I, a 103 yr. old woman in the Ozarks, know this honored and honorable person.  Neener! Neener!

I realize there is an outside chance that you know him too and I have to share the position of official name dropper.

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Did you hear the one about saving paper with Compters??

October 22, 2007 at 3:39 pm · Filed under Office management, barjd communications ·Tagged , , ,

Bar JD Communications Did you hear the joke about computers being invented to save paper?  Now that we don’t have to type every page or make mimeograph stencils or those worksheet chemical copies, we  can just choose a number of copies and click print. 

 

It seems like we need a hard copy of almost everything.  The day is just print-etey, print-etey all through the hours.   I print research information so I can sort through all the matter and find the data I need.  I often keep this research information for future reference, but seldom refer to it after the final reports are done.   I print installation instructions for software and services so I can be away from the instruction screens, yet do the work.   This paper gets shredded to become mulch in the garden or gets fed to the nightcrawlers in the basement.

 

The sheer volume of paper is overwhelming.  I have found a duplexing printer  which prints the project two sides of the paper an absolute necessity and great help in my paper life.  Whenever possible, I can have one physical sheet with two pages of information.  

 

Being able to use both sides changes the amount of paper needed — changing pure dollars and cents costs first, management of resources secondly.   I know that paper is made from rapidly growing trees, which are almost weedlike in their life span, making harvest and production their highest and best use.  So, saving a tree isn’t the concern.  But, from a resource management and environmental  perspective, I do not like WASTING the unprinted side of the page.  Or competing for paper supplies with others which can lead to higher prices or even lack.   I do want to show respect for the resources used to turn trees into paper.

 

I file either in folders, comb bound booklets or three ring binders.  When I can print on both sides of the sheet of paper,  the amount of paper I am storing is automatically cut in half.  The amount of paper and required shelving or other presentation or management equipment is much more appealing.

 

I use Hewlett Package inkjet duplexing printers.  I do not have them set up for auto-duplexing.  I benefit from making a few decisions now and then.  Some short items don’t need both sides.  Some programs won’t work with auto-duplexing

 

Hewlett Packard, LexMark and Brother all make reasonably priced laser printers which accommodate duplexers.

 

Adding the duplexing option will add cost to your original investment in a printer.  I have had two and each time the duplexer added close to $100 to the price of the printer.

 

I haven’t experience with a laser printer that does duplexing and cannot speak to speed.  The method will result in slower printing for the inkjet.  The printer prints one side, then has to pause, pull the paper back into the machine, where it is rolled in the duplexer add-on, then printed.  The actual  printing process isn’t influenced, but the pause and direction change take time and energy.

 

When considering the pluses and minuses, I’m very pleased with this printing option for the type of work that I do.

 

Bar JD Communications  Thank you for stopping by to read my post!  JudyAnn Lorenz

 

 

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