This morning (courtesy of a tweet from @DToddSmith) I read a Law.Com article by C.C. Holland called Where Are All The Female Law Bloggers?  It was a great article and while the stats are a little discouraging, that doesn’t mean women law bloggers aren’t out there! I personally follow several wonderful female law bloggers, and I know there are many more out there!

If you look at the ABA Journal’s Blawg Directory you will often see a woman’s law blog in the most popular category - in fact one of my favorites often holds one of the top spots in that category - Susan Cartier Liebel’s Build a Solo Practice LLC. And today at least there were a couple of other women in the top ten: Ann Bartow’s Feminist Law Professors and Althouse by Ann Althouse. Daily Kos is on the list and it has a female executive editor and several women who are contributing editors.

If you want to read some wonderful posts by female law bloggers check out this list from Law.Com.  Maybe they aren’t 50% of law bloggers - but they are out there and they are well worth reading!

I was recently interviewed for a spot on the Business Opportunties weblog and  I wanted to share the post with you all!  I was interviewed by Angela Shupe and she did such a lovely write-up, I really appreciate the opportunity.  They have a lot of fascinating interviews on the Business Opportunities blog that are also worth checking out, like this one about a neat invention called the Dripstik or this one about Erin Ely and her sale of organic products.

Yesterday while on Twitter I noticed that Angela also offer press release writing services, something I may be taking her up on soon, as I really should be sending out press releases!!  You should check out her Write to Press site, it’s got some helpful information on it.

Have a great Friday everyone!

Okay, so I’m working on not quite enough sleep here, due to the joys of a sick baby in the house, but I’ve been doing some reading and thinking about my business planning.  It would help me a bunch if any business owners could answer a question or two for me!!

Do you think virtual assistance is a good concept?

If you use a virtual assistant, what tasks do they perform and has it improved your business?

If you don’t use a virtual assistant, what’s holding you back? Cost, ethics or confusion over the process?

Comments much appreciated, or feel free to reply privately by email to laurie@halosecretarialservices.com!  Thanks!!

This week’s time tip is very simple, but truly powerful.  It involves two parts:

1. Every Sunday morning spend 15 minutes reviewing your calendar for the next 2 weeks.  Make sure you have no conflicts and that you know how much free time you have.
2. Now that you’ve reviewed your schedule make sure you add something to it - time for yourself!  Even if it’s just one 15 minute block during each day, it’s very important to get that little break each day.

Hope you have a great week everyone!

You know when you get excited and passionate about an idea and you want to do everything all at once?  I felt that way about starting my virtual assistant business, but I quickly realized that you have to start with small steps, and work your way up to having everything you want.

So here are my simple suggestions for some good small steps to take for any aspiring entrepreneur.

1. Make a list of everything that you think needs to be done.
2. Break your list down into manageable tasks - for example, instead of draft business plan as one big step, try breaking it down into parts and list each part as a task
3. Prioritize your task list. Which things do you have to do to meet your legal obligations in relation to start-up? Which steps do you have to take to get the paperwork rolling?
4. Make a budget and a financial plan
5. Find a support system - whether you hire some help or find a mentor, don’t try to go it alone!
6. Work your way  through your task list a little at time. DON’T get hung up when there are things you can’t do immediately - just move on to the next task and go back later!

I’m only a couple of months into really running my business, and there are still things I’m working on. But by taking small steps I’ve been making progress every single day. Today, I networked, planned some blog posts, search for VA job postings and worked on my Elance profile.  Tomorrow I’ll do even more!