Virtual Friendships

The Internet is a crazy thing! When I was first introduced to a computer, I was like "what?" Then when I was introduced to the mouse I thought "I will never be able to use this darn thing!" That was 16 years ago and now I have my own business all based on the Internet.

I remember back in 1999 thinking only rich people had computers, and at that time they were. Then the more I read about them I begged my husband to let me take the IRS Refund Check to buy me one so I could figure out a way to make money and stay home with the kids. I was already a stay-at-home mom, but times were tough and I knew that I was going to have to do something and soon.

Ok, so he gives me the check and off I went to Dallas to buy my first computer. I paid $1,700.00 and I was so excited. Of course, had not idea how to put one together, but I managed. lol! Took me three days!

Once I was up and running I knew there had to be a way to build a business on Internet. I remember staying up all night surfing the Internet. When one day I came across a virtual assistant article. Then I went to a VA organization and joined immediately. Then I thought what was the best way to get information and that was to find another VA who would be willing to share their knowledge. Well, I found her and with one phone call. We talked for about an hour and I was so excited to meet someone that would share. You don't find that in Corporate America!

The person I spoke to was Anna Baron of the www.TheVirtualLink.com. Anna was so willing to help me get started. She taught how to set up my IM on MSN and boy was that a mistake. lol! I drove her crazy with questions. But, she was always there for me and no matter how stupid the question she answered it and then walked me through how to set everything up.

I remember her telling me to use Outlook. At the time I was on dial up with AOL and thought I was so smart. Well, once I learned how to use Outlook I was well on my way.

Anna and I have been friends for 6 years now and I know that I would not be where I am today if it had not been for her generous time to teach me how to start working from home.

We have shared so much with each other over the years - We share stories of our children, husbands, exteneded families and have been there for each other in our lowest - saddest times and in out most joyous times. We have shared our first born's graduation, which was the same year to crying over them leaving for college.

We have shared stories about our families that we probably would not share with anyone else. Knowing that the other would not judge.

So, if you don't think that a good friendship cannot be found on the Internet, think again. Even though we live 2 hours from each other our lives keep us so busy that we just can't seem to get together, even though I go shopping about once a month near her home.

Anna, your the best and I am so blessed to have you as a friend and mentor!!!!!

Are You Real Estate Virtual Assistant Material?

Have you heard of a real estate virtual assistant? Well, if not, where have you been? This specialized industry of virtual assistants is the hottest thing going and has been for about 3 years and I personally do not see this industry slowing down anytime soon.

If you are interested in becoming a real estate virtual assistant then you will soon discover the possibilities are endless. If you have the knowledge and the desire you can possibly start your real estate virtual assistant business immediately.

What do real estate professionals look for in a real estate virtual assistant?

1. Informative website with a great portfolio to show samples of your work.
2. Dependability. They want to know that they can put their trust in you to get the job done.
3. Honesty. You need to build a trust with your real estate client. Use their hours effectively.
4. Coaching. Yes, they look to you to know what is going on with the Internet and what are the latest programs and are they worth having in their business.
5. Availability. They want you to be available to them either by email or phone.
6. Knowledge. You need to know all the latest and greatest programs so you can advise your real estate client on what they need to improve their business and you must know how to use the program.
7. Personality. The real estate agent wants to build a long term relationship with you. Get to know your agent. Always be upbeat.

When you begin building your business you need to be organized. This can be tough, so you need to make sure to experience several methods of organization and ask your peers what they do and see if there is something you can do better.

You must have knowledge of the real estate industry. Ok, so you are an established virtual assistant and now you want to expand into real estate. Good for you! But, how do you accomplish that, you ask? www.CyberStarVA.com is the first real estate virtual assistant organization that offers you membership to join a great group of real estate virtual assistants. Here you will share, learn and advise. www.CyberStarVA.com also offers three training medthods and you can choose the one that is right for you.

This is truly a wonderful group of people who have the desire to strive for more and to build a business from home. www.CyberStarVA.com is not just a place to hang your hat. You will build friendships and great networking relationships as well. Just ask some of the members, they will tell you this is where they got their business off the ground.

Come visit us, I think you will agree - www.CyberStarVA.com is a great place to get started if you are looking to break into the real estate virtual assistant industry.

Where Does The Time Go?

Well, since my last post, I have been through alot. Some funny, some sad and some in-between.

Sad - In November my husband lost his brother at the age of 48. How sad to watch someone die because of drugs! What a wasted life.

Sad and Funny - Then right before Thanksgiving my husband was in the pasture counting the heads of cattle and he ran over my big black dog - Duece! OH! She is fine, but dislocated her hip and had to have it popped back in. Scared me to death. She is such a big dumb dog, but I love her to death! She was born in our garage on Thanksgiving Day 3 years ago and she has been here every since. She is the sweetest thing and would not hurt a hair on your head, but boy does she have a bark and when the courier guys show up they are scared to death of her - she is black as well and standing on her hind legs she is 5 feet and 5 inches. But, I tell them the worst thing she would do would be to lick them to death. lol! So, she is fine now and happy as ever.

Just plain funny - Ok, so we have Thanksgiving and right before Christmas my grandmother got so mad at my grandfather she threatened divorce. They are in the late 80's! Can you imagine. lol! Of course, she was all talk and the next day she was fine, but we all drove to their home to figure out what made her so mad. HA! She could not remember the next day. Go figure! God I love them so much and they just make me laugh at the situations they face right now and I know I don't have much more time with them. I should find time to spend the day and help them more.

Happy, Sad and ??? - So, Phillip comes home from college. Eric and Stephen are out for the holiday's and life is good. Then BAM! We find out that Phillip did not do so hot in his first semester of school. From the way I see it - it is a learning experience for freshman that first semester and they have to figure out their priorities and take responsibility. I think he has it now, but the other blow was that he wants to change his major! WHAT? So, now he wants to coach baseball instead of go into broadcasting. Ok, I know it's his life and I am really trying to keep my mouth shut! :D

Of course Happy - Eric and Stephen enjoyed being home for the holiday. Sleeping late, hanging out with friends, etc.

Funny - Then New Year's Eve - Eric had some friends over and they brought in the new year! How fun to watch a bunch of 15 year's celebrate.

Happy - Now everyone is back in school and it is nice to have the house to myself again during the day so I can concentrate on my clients. I stayed up many night during the holidays to work, but that is my choice and I am so thankful to have that choice to make.

Happy - OH! I also just returned from the Allen F. Hainge CyberStar Summit in San Antonio a couple of weeks ago. GREAT PEOPLE, GREAT ORGANIZATION!

Happy - And, finally - Paul took Eric, Stephen and myself to see Bon Jovi in concert in Dallas! WOW! What a great time that was.

Back in the saddle again - So, now I am settled and working hard, but preparing for baseball season. Eric will start JV this year and it is going to be exciting! I already have laptop, aircard and cell phone ready for traveling.

Happy New Year!

Basic Organization

Well, another summer gone by! The kids are back in school, football season has started and the routine is back in order! In my previous blog I mentioned my oldest son was heading to college! YEP! We survived and everything is going great! I can't tell you what a proud moment it was to actually see a dream come true for our son! He received so many scholarships that is has paid his entire tuition, dorm and books! What a great feeling this was!

Now, how did we accomplish this, you ask? By organizing and starting early! You are probably wondering what does this have to do with Virtual Assistants? Well, a lot! We had a dream, researched what needed to be done to make that dream come true and organized our thoughts and followed through. The rewards were more than we expected!

I thought that I would offer some great organizational tips for this blog! So, here I go....

1. Get a 2" 3 ring notebook with erasable tabs (mine are white). Name each tab by your clients last name and behind the clients tab you will want to include:

a. Web programs with username and passwords
b. Client Information Sheet
c. Agreement
d. Any other important information

Now, you also want to have a file on the client so that you can keep other information that you do not need on a daily basis there, but you want to keep the notebook on your desk so you can easily refer to it during the day. Mine stays open and I can just flip to the clients tab when needed.

I can easily put this in my laptop bag when I work on the road, in another part of the house, etc. It is a great way to keep up and have it accessible at a moments notice.

2. Use a time tracking program. I use www.traxtime.com and love it! You can keep track of billable and unbillable hours.

3. Organize your desk to make it work for you. Regardless of the space - utilize it!

I hope my tips are helpful and if you have one, please let me know. We can all learn from others!

Have a great week! Make it count!

Kim Hughes
www.kimhughes.com
www.cyberstarva.com

Why Do You Do What You Do?

Being your own boss has its challenges, you have to be self motivating and learn to delegate. Sometimes that can be a challenge all it's own.

These past few months I have been faced with many challenges with my personal life that if I did not manage my time correctly could have been a disaster for my business. But, on the other hand I am grateful that I can take the time needed to handle my personal life and it not effect my business. Maybe you can relate to my story in some way.

Being a mother to three boy's, wife and the executive director of the household has it's rewards. But this year my oldest son graduated from high school. If you have had the first graduate, I am sure you are in total agreement that you have all these emotions running through you and you feel you are on a roller coaster.

The last few weeks of school we had award assemblies, parties, photo sessions, scholarship to do lists, making sure you child sends out the announcements in time, recording the gifts your child receives so the thank you notes can be written and the list goes on.

But wait, I also have two other boy's that I have to prepare for summer, I have to help them choose their schedule for the upcoming year, attend their award ceremonies, get ready to start summer baseball, etc.

Ok, I will be very honest, my life is very quite and pretty much nothing major has ever happened and it has been 10 years since there was a death in our family. So, the month of May my brother-in-law lost his battle with cancer, which his funeral was 3 days before my son's graduation, my mother had to have a pace maker installed 6 days before his graduation and required staying in the hospital for 2 days in another city, which required me to travel and miss out on a couple of ceremonies, which broke my heart, but I had to make a choice and my mother needed me more than my son did and being the kind of person he is, totally understood.

So, now I return home 2 days before graduation and still have to prepare his graduation party and prepare for the actual day. This is where I was so grateful to have a husband that was willing to help. We worked all day Friday to get everything ready for graduation and then on the day of graduation everything went off perfectly! You would never have known what we had been through the prior week.

Then 2 days later I received a phone call that our dear friend, David, passed away. He was 45 and died of a heart attack in his home. This was a shock!

The following week we had to take our son down to the college for a three day orientation and juggle the other two boy's so they would not miss out on baseball.

Ok, now you can imagine what those couple of week were like and if you own your own business, you are not only juggling family matters, but your clients as well.

How do you do this? Well, it's called "DON'T PANIC!" I sat in the parking lot of the hospital with cell phone and laptop talking to clients and telling them what I was up against for the week at the same time reassuring them everything was under control. Used my mother's desktop to access my computer at home for files, etc. Working whenever I had a chance.

I also had to delegate certain tasks to my two VAs and since I have top notch sub-contractors I knew I was in good hands.

The key here is to know your limitations and know when to ask for help. But, you must also keep your client informed of your family emergencies. They will understand. Afterall, we all are only human!

I am very blessed to have a good relationship with all my clients and each one was very understanding and supportive during this trying time.

In a couple of weeks we will be moving our son to college, which again will be another roller coaster ride, but I have already scheduled to be off that entire week, since one of my clients gave me excellent advice since she has walked in my shoes and told me that I would need that week to prepare for my oldest son embark on a new chapter in his life and mine to!

I promised myself I would not cry at graduation and I did'nt, but I did cry when I walked him to his car as he was leaving for the actual ceremony all dressed up with his cap and gown in hand. As I stood there and looked at this 6'2 young man all I saw was my little 5 year old boy preparing for Kindergarten and full of excitement. I hugged him then and I hugged him on this day and told him how proud I was of him and how much I loved him and to promise me he would not pull a prank at the ceremony, which he didn't!

One final thought...Our son received several scholarships for his academic achievements, but there are still hefty expenses that go with college. With that said, when you are working in the middle of night on a project for a client, exhausted and would much rather be sleeping, just remember that one day you to might have a child graduating and wanting to attend college. Remember, why you do what you do and you want to send your son or daughter to the best school possible, you get a burst of energy from within because you know that what you do not only benefits you, but those around you and you can give them everything they deserve.

Spring is HERE! How do I know?

In Texas you know it is spring when the Azaleas are beginning to bloom. Well, for East Texas that is.

But, another way of knowing Spring is here is when the clients get listings every where they turn, buyers ready to buy and the list goes on! Spring is the busy time of year for Realtors. Sellers are preparing to sell their homes and look for a new one or they might be relocating to a new area. School is getting ready to let out for the summer and families are on a mission.

What does this mean to a virtual assistant? New business, new clients and a way to build their business.

If you are considering in working with the real estate professional, you might want to familarize yourself with how listing coordination works. Or, maybe your interested in transaction coordination? Now that is a hot area that real estate professionals need help with!

No matter what aspect of real estate you want to work in, there are plenty of real estate professionals out there waiting to hire a good virtual assistant that has great ethics.

So what are you waiting for, start marketing your services!

Working With The Best!

I just returned from Allen F. Hainge's CyberStar(R) Summit which was held in Phoenix, Arizona this past week and considering this is my third one, I always find myself looking forward to seeing this awesome group of Top Producers from around the world in real estate.

I also have the priviledge of being the "Big Kahuna's" Director of Operations, virtually. This was my first year to work with Allen behind the scenes on this spectacular event. It took us a year to put this event together and I am very happy that we received such great reviews.

It was hard work though. I arrived in Phoenix two days before the event and I worked from 6:00 am to 1:00 every night to ensure that everyone of these special people enjoyed themselves and to take any worries off of Allen.

I always am amazed at the warmth these individuals have for each other and the bonding they have developed. They share so much with each other and are truly interested in seeing everyone achieve their dream.

I am already planning the Summit 2006 and I look forward to being with this group again to see what they bring to the event.

To Learn More about Allen F. Hainge and The CyberStars(R) Click here: http://afhseminars.com

To Learm More about the services of Kim Hughes & Company, please click here: http://www.KimHughes.com

Working From Home - AH! The Joys!

As a wife of 21 years and a mother with three teenagers - 18, 14 and 13 (all boy's) I find myself enjoying my life and what I have contributed to my family. I reflect back on the past 18 years, since this was when my first son was born, to see where I was then and where I am now. And, I must say things are looking pretty good! I have been there for my husband and my children when they needed me and at times when they didn't. :)

I wonder though if I had a job in Corporate America if I would still have that job? Probably not! Since family is a priority for me, I would have taken many days off to be home with a sick child, leave early to catch an event one of my children were in or just to take time to go to the doctor or give myself some "ME" time.

As my own boss and owning my own company, I can schedule my priorities with my work and with my family so both are balanced and I can achieve the best from both worlds without missing a beat. Well, I have missed a few beats, but I am only human, right?

Sure, there are times I may go with only a few hours of sleep for a few days, call for take-out when I am extremely busy, but in my book it is all worth it and the key I have found to being a successful wife, mom and business owner is that I am not Wonder Woman, but I am pretty darn close to it, but knowing what is important and when to make a decision that is good not only for me, but for my business and my family.

The main key to making it all work is to remember why you are in business and keep that as your main focus in life. God first, family second and career third...is the way it should always be.

Balancing your life - that is something you need to figure out for yourself since you are the only one that can decide what is important to you and then live your life accordingly.

I also know that in life we all make mistakes and to learn from those mistakes so you can grow from them. Just don't make the mistake when you know it is one.

So - You Want To Build A VA Business

Congratulations! You are one step closer to achieving your dream of being a small home business owner.

It is one of the greatest achievements you will make - if you do it right! Whether you have owned a small business before or just starting out there are many things that need to be done before you put up the "Open For Business" sign.

As a virtual assistant you need to first concentrate on what services you want to offer. Are you going to specialize in a particular field? Once you determine this, you have to decide on what services in that field you are qualified in to justify the services you will offer.

Then you need to determine your computer needs.

• What is the best computer for you?
• What software will you need in your business?
• What office equipment will you need?
• What type of phone equipment will be best for you?
• What office supplies will you need?

Ok, the first question you are probably asking yourself is where do I get the money to purchase the items above? Don't worry you can build your business as you go along and you can get pretty creative using resources on the Internet that are free, but remember as you can afford to purchase these items - you need to do so. You are a professional now and you need to look like one.

If you need equipment and do not have the resources to purchase them consider asking your bank for a loan. You will need a business plan or if you don't have one, then take out a personal loan. And, remember, this is a tax deducitble loan.