Fool-proof Proofreading

As Virtual Professionals, we know that a project can’t only be brilliant and spot on, it must also be spot-less. When it comes to proofreading, we can’t ever have an off day. Every T must be crossed, every comma must be tucked safely into place. The most creative ideas and projects simply lose their luster when returned to us dressed in the glaring red ink of edits and corrections.

For proofreading to really seal the deal however, it must be done at the proper time. Ideally, this is the day after the project is finished – or at least a few hours. Reviewing a project before it cools (or worse, editing as you go) is what good writers call “using a dirty eye.” Great work demands time to sit, and the VP needs time to distance from the material and gain perspective. What sounds like creative alliteration or a great pun at first, may sound pretty foolish after a few hours. (For instance, phrases like “seal the deal” often end up edited out, and for good reason.)

Before you can take out your toolbox, however, you need to have built something worth editing. The pour of ideas and phrases is sometimes like a raging river; other times, it is a trickle that we must coax with all of our might. Editing this flow is like throwing huge rocks into the water. If we do this enough, we will damn up the creativity completely. It is much better to send a “rough” project to a client with great ideas than it is to send a perfectly punctuated bag of rocks. The best scenario, though, is to be creative while building and be editing afterward. We are virtual professionals, and no matter what our specialty, we are joined by the ability to produce brilliant work time after time. Suffocating our process is the last thing we can afford to do.

Once our ideas are solidly in place, and we have had time to stretch and breath – to UNfocus, then we can return and start cutting our diamond out of the coal. Spelling and punctuation are truly the easiest parts of this process. Much more important is the effort to move primary ideas to primary places and secondary thoughts to supporting places. A great piece of work uses two basic rules: 1) No MAIN thought should show up three paragraphs into the copy. In most cases, it’s too weak – and in all cases, it’s too risky. 2) When in doubt, leave it out. The final step to achieving a great product is to “Hemingway” the page. Quite simply, that means blacklining and deleting every spare word or phrase that does not move the message forward.

Proofreading is so much more than knowing the three proper places to use a semi-colon. It is the final, invisible wrapping we put on every project that leaves our desk. Good luck! And remember that if you do need support or you’re not sure when to use that ever-elusive semi-colon or hyphen, a quick note to our Yahoo Group will have the answers flooding back to you at the speed of light.

With gratitude, Michelle Ulrich, Chief Villager

Making Right Choices to Support Your Success

As home-based professionals, we face a unique set of obstacles when it comes to the basics of taking care of ourselves. Often, we work into the wee hours of the night on projects and stop only for family time and the occasional pot of coffee to prop us up through the process. Making time for healthy choices is not only smart for our health, it is also a smart choice for our successful businesses.

For busy VPs, healthy choices begin way before we are standing in the door of the refrigerator or realize we haven’t moved from our desk for nine hours, and although some of these tips will seem VERY simple, if we put them into place with a passion, we will have stronger bodies and more focused minds every day.

Make a grocery list -- fill it (and your fridge) with “quick-grab” healthy food.

This doesn’t really mean those 100 calorie packs – they’re okay for the car or in a snack fit, but they don’t fill the nutrition part of healthy choices for busy executives like us. On the other hand, a bowl of hard-boiled eggs and a shelf of healthy yogurts are great to have on hand. And remember, a tall glass of cold 1% milk is a terrific source of calcium and protein and will quiet a hungry tummy if you’re just too busy to grab a meal.

Go to bed! Get some help! (Not in bed, necessarily – but I bet that got your attention!)

Working into the wee hours is sometimes necessary, but if you find it is your every-day norm … well, you may want to slowly move into a more invigorating schedule. This is especially true if your day is ending with the 11pm news and then Leno or Letterman tuck you in. Winding down is important, but passing out on the couch every night may not be the best choice for those of us on the very brink of success! Also, accepting the reality that less than six or seven hours of sleep is destructive to us over time is a must. If you must set that alarm for 4 ½ hours after you close your eyes, plan in a good nap the next day.

If that happens time after time, day after day, think about subcontracting some work to our community of great VPs (check out our Yahoo Group).

USE your professional support system.

No matter WHERE you are in your business development, leaning on your mentor and VP pals is a great choice. Be sure to join our Yahoo Group (noted above) and if you haven’t already done so, pick up a membership at The Virtual Nation. We will support you through the tough times and hard choices, and we will celebrate EVERY success. We know that each new client is an accomplishment and that learning by our mistakes is inevitable. (We may even be able to help you avoid a few.) Awesome mentoring is available through our website also at The Virtual Nation – and like membership, it is affordable to any VP, even one just starting out in her business. Be sure to explore this and many other support systems at our website as you move into financial and business success.

Of course, these are only a few basic suggestions to help you to fill your time with work weeks instead of work weaks. Take a walk every day to clear your head, schedule in a couple of short breaks, and make sure to have one big laugh by noon every single day to ensure your mental well being.

You are your own company now – take care of yourself as if you were the best asset you’ve every had!

Gratefully yours, Michelle Ulrich, Chief Villager

How Now Brown Cow

What we endeavor to do at The Virtual Nation is to help Virtual Assistants and Professionals to approach the HOW of our businesses. This is an ongoing and onGROWing effort, of course. Our industry changes each day, with new softwares and new opportunities happening faster than even Bill Gates could keep up with.

Discovering your niche, developing a level of expertise and producing work that you love every day is an experience everyone should have in their lives. Add to this a host of diverse clients and the experience to be part of an industry of courageous entrepreneurs, and you have the formula for a career beyond your wildest dreams.

The “How” to do this is found on every page of our website at TVN. But the bigger question you may be looking at is “Why Now Brown Cow.” If you are just beginning your journey into home-based entrepreneurialism, the list of roadblocks may seem endless.

The simple truth is that there may never be a perfect time to take that first step. But you are the perfect person to take it. Your devotion to excellence and creativity will be the building blocks of a firm foundation to your future. If you haven’t yet started your virtual business, join an online community of Virtual Professionals (you will find ours at Yahoo Groups) and post a message asking for input and start-up ideas. Pick up a great book or two from TVN’s Book Store to help you form ideas and start your business plan. We especially like Seth Godin's book, The Purple Cow. (I've chosen a brief synopsis from our bookstore below.)

Cows, after you've seen one, or two, or ten, are boring. A Purple Cow, though...now that would be something. Purple Cow describes something phenomenal, something counterintuitive and exciting and flat out unbelievable. Every day, consumers come face to face with a lot of boring stuff-a lot of brown cows-but you can bet they won't forget a Purple Cow. And it's not a marketing function that you can slap on to your product or service. Purple Cow is inherent. It's built right in, or it's not there. Period.

In Purple Cow, Seth Godin urges you to put a Purple Cow into everything you build, and everything you do, to create something truly noticeable. It's a manifesto for marketers who want to help create products that are worth marketing in the first place.

Finally, when you think about your business (whether it's new to you, or you are just ready to take it to new and exciting places), ask yourself the question out loud, “Why Now?” If you’re ready, the answer has to be, “Why Not.” As a VP, I dictate and create my own role and my own success. Tell yourself, “Time is a priceless commodity, and I will not spend it wasted in a career that I do not love,” and then begin your exit strategy (which we call a business plan) today.

Take the bull by the horns and be a PURPLE COW TODAY. Live your ONE precious life the way YOU choose. Believe in yourself, grow your skillset, bring all your passion to this choice, and you are virtually guaranteed to succeed.

Gratefully yours,

Michelle Ulrich, Chief Villager of The Virtual Nation

MYOB – Creating a Sacred Workspace

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Working from home is a BIG example of MYOB - MIND your own business. Tend it the way you would a precious garden you are building. Do you approach your workspace with joy and peace, or with reoccurring angst? When you sit down to work at your business each day, do you first have to clear away dirty coffee cups and dig a path through paperwork to even reach your keyboard? Creating a sacred workspace is both a literal, day-to-day chore and a far-reaching concept to impress upon our housemates (and ourselves).

As we enter 2008, give yourself twenty minutes of quiet meditation simply standing in your work area. Ask yourself -- What kind of office space would “invite” you to work every day? Grab a clipboard and jot down two columns – Changes I can make a) immediately and b) over the next few months.

Some helpful ideas:

· Keep a simple A-Z standing expandable folder by your desk so you don’t have to jump up for every note, idea, or piece of paper that floats by you. (This is also a great way to stop misplacing things on your desk.)

· Utilize a standing divided file for current projects. If you share your workspace or your computer with other members of your family, you can purchase a “briefcase box” file at Target for less than $10. You can then close this and take your current projects and important paperwork with you at the end of your work day – proactively saving yourself from crisis and chaos.

· Keep a file folder handy to print out and keep emails and helpful ezines (like The Virtual Vision) that arrive in your email – you can relax with these over coffee later.

· Keep a recycle box under your desk for paper, and remember to keep your trash emptied every day.

These are small suggestions, but remember to think big when you’re making your list! Would a new printer or laptop help you to have a better work area? Courageously put these things on the list. Do you need a new chair? Or perhaps a Gal Friday to do your invoicing and filing once a week? You may be running a virtual business, but as you become busier, you may need some flesh and blood help to keep things clear enough to be creative and have room to grow.

Building a sacred, quiet, inviting place to succeed is not a luxury. It is part of the foundation of our new life. You write the script for your success every single day as a Virtual Professional. You choose the props. You put on the show. Setting a beautiful and inviting “stage” is an important element to our business that we simply cannot afford to overlook.

With Gratitude, Michelle Ulrich,
Chief Villager and President
www.thevirtualnation.com

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Books to Grow on

The life of a Virtual Professional is definitely not static. Unlike the desk jobs of our recent past, we must now create our own working environment. We must literally set the stage for a productive and abundant career, from our workspace to our paycheck. With so many balls to keep in the air, it is easy to forget that professional development is a key piece in our successful puzzle.

Growing a library of books (and blogs and ezines) to keep us invigorated and to continually grow our skill set is a must for any VP. This holiday season, as you wrap gifts for everyone near and dear in your life, remember to honor yourself. Be your own Kristine Kringle and choose a few books to grow on from the TVN website. Fill your stocking with two books on skill building and one on goal setting. And if you have time for one extra great read over the holidays, pick up our favorite:

From Entrepreneur to Infopreneur: Make Money with books, E-Books and Information Products

by our good friend, Stephanie Chandler.

As 2007 draws to a close, remember that the one commodity you truly cannot save is time. It is passing. But spending it on growing yourself and your abundant career as a VP is simply money in the bank. It is the seeds you plant for your successful future.

With Gratitude, Michelle Ulrich, Chief Villager and President

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