Why Start a VA Business?
March 28, 2009
The “What’s In it For Me?”
While writing content for my new website, I wondered at whether my clientele understands or even considers why I have chosen to start a Virtual Assistance (VA) business. Certainly there are benefits almost too numerous to mention for hiring a VA for business and individual support, but the other side as the service provider is equally as enticing and beneficial. The VA Business is a symbiotic entity.
- Fostering the Entrepreneurial Spirit: There are those of us in every group that dream of owning and operating a business. Some have researched and considered other business areas and ideas, while others have had a specific vision from the start. Starting a business is exciting and fulfilling for the true entrepreneur.
- Flexible Hours: For many, including myself, flexibility to work outside normal office hours is a huge motivator. Using myself as an example: As a mother of two children (one of whom has special needs), I struggled to consistently meet the requirements of my regular 9-5 job. Not in tasks, but in presence during the required hours. Child illness, caretaker issues, appointments (many of which are out of town) all impeded my ability to be present in the office. Running my own hours, I now have the freedom to work late at night, early in the morning, or on Sunday afternoon.
- Location: Many, if not most, virtual assistants perform their work from a home office. No commute, no parking costs, and in my family’s case, a reduced need for two vehicles. Location also comes into play in rural or remote areas; the distance to the office is too far, in a practical sense, for a daily commute. In effect, operating a business as a VA may enable those who would otherwise be unemployed due to location to be self-employed.
- Independence: While relating to each of the points above, the ability to work independently also encompasses the work environment, and specifically working alone. Generally, VA’s work alone or sub-contract to other providers that also work form their own home offices. Office politics, gabbers, and overbearing co-workers, managers or bosses are not a part of the work at home model. Certainly, one can argue that the client is now the boss, and everyone knows one that can be troublesome, but they are not physically present. VA’s do not work in isolation, but the nature of their interactions are virtual and thus avoid the face to face and physical stresses/constraints/issues of the office environment.
Talk to a few VA’s, and this list will have similarities and it will have definite differences. The point is that while a VA can be an invaluable resource for any individual or company in their business operations, the flip side is that by providing those services, a VA is also reaping the benefits beyond fees earned.
Public Speaking: 5 Tips for Writing an Engaging Speech
March 23, 2009
To be considered a great public speaker, you need to start from the beginning: crafting an engaging speech. The task may seem daunting but by breaking it down into small parts, even the most reluctant writer can create an interesting and impressive speech. Some speakers utilize the services of speech writers to ensure the quality of their material; their expertise lies within the delivery of the speech. However, many of us cannot afford that luxury and need to write our own. Follow the following 5 Tips for Writing a Public Speech to get started
Choose a Topic You Care About: The easiest speech to write is one for which you already know and understand the topic. Writing a speech, and then delivering on a topic that doesn’t interest you will also likely disinterest your audience. Write about something that interests you, or better, one that you feel passionate about. If you have been assigned a topic, you need to decide what it is that makes you care about that topic and then write about it so that your audience will want to hear about it.
Know Your Audience: Think about the make-up of the audience that will be listening to your speech. There’s a difference in how you interact with your professional and social peers; delivering a public speech follows the similar difference in expectation. Age, education and venue are other factors to consider. You want to speak to your audience in an engaging manner, so you must be sure that you are communicating to them in familiar terms.
Combat Writers’ Block by Starting with a Bullet List A list of general ideas does not need to have perfect formatting, nor even be typed on a computer. You can write this on the back of a lunch napkin, for all it matters! What does matter is that you have ideas that are relating to or are sub-categories of your main topic/title. If you haven’t gotten that far, write down topic ideas, then take those titles and write a list of ideas. Once you have something in writing in front of you, the task will not feel so large.
Start Writing for Each Point Once you have 4-5 ideas written down, pick the one that immediately jumps out at you and start writing. Don’t worry about sentence structure, perfect wording or order. You’ll have time later to edit, right now you simply want to write. As you write you will likely find yourself swerving towards a line of thought and ideas that hadn’t been forthcoming in step 3 are suddenly filling your head. Go with it! It’s always easier to remove content and edit for too much length than it is to add more.
Edit & Proofread Read the written draft once, fixing mistakes, wording and sentence problems. You may want to remove entire sections, change their order or add more to a section in order to complete a thought. Then, read it aloud and repeat. Words that appear great on paper often do not “hear” as well to your audience. I recommend repetition of this step at least 3 times. Feel like you’re missing something? Have someone else read the draft to ensure you’re not lulled into a rhythm that causes you to miss important or difficult.
You have your material, now you need to practice it a few times, making only minor changes for rhythm. You have done the hard work; you have written the speech. Now all that’s left is to deliver your topic in a sincere and engaging manner. Congratulations!
Published at Ezine Articles
Keep in Touch!
