Posts made in August, 2008

Killer Winner

Posted by Laurie on Aug 30, 2008 in blogging | 3 comments

I participated this past week in the Problogger Killer Title contest and I wanted to share some of my favorite titles and blog posts discovered in checking out all of the competitors. There were some wonderful entries and the winner (chosen randomly) was Mjuboy with a truly killer title, Sacrificing Goats and Eating Brains and a post featuring some lovely photos.

Here are some of my favorite contestants:

• Beggar or A List Celebrity from Net Writing
• Are Premium Themes & Plugins Legal from Tech Based Marketing
• The 16 next-gen gadgets by Mediamentalist
• Why Sex Isn’t Enough from Loring Parks
• Are You A Loser on The Internet by Navi
• Journey to the Pit of Hell by Dave Lafferty
• Twitter and Plurk Get Pinged by Jen
• Do Not Click Here by Richard Ball
• Shut Up and Kiss Me by Dawn

It was so fun to participate in the contest and I think I’ll spend more time this weekend surfing the submissions!
<hr /><address>Laurie Mapp, Owner</address> <address><a href=”http://halosecretarialservices.com”>Halo Secretarial Services</a></address> <address>Contact us for more information on virtual legal assistance!
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Home Office Lawyer

Posted by Laurie on Aug 29, 2008 in Family, Legal Practice, virtual assistance | 1 comment

Check out my guest post about virtual assistance this week over at Grant Griffiths’ Home Office Lawyer. Grant was kind enough to ask for a guest post from me – I just love his work! Grant also has a couple of other sites you may want to check out G2 Web Media and Home Office Warrior.

Have a wonderful long weekend everyone! I’m going to enjoy it – we’re having a birthday party for our just turned four year old and getting ready to send the biggest boy to grade one!

Cost of Hiring a Virtual Assistant – Part 2

Posted by Laurie on Aug 29, 2008 in Legal Practice, virtual assistance, virtual legal assistance | 2 comments

Not too long ago I wrote this post on the financial cost of hiring a virtual assistant. In today’s post I’ll address a different kind of cost – the cost of time spent unnecessarily.

How much time did you spend on email this week? How many emails are sitting in your inbox? Have you struggled with formatting your documents in a time crunch or have you missed sending invoice reminders because you are too busy to get to them? Do you have a regular assistant but she too is overwhelmed with tasks?

Most of us feel like we could use more time in our days, but we rarely realize how much can be delegated if we find someone reliable, dedicated and trustworthy to take on some of the burden. The right virtual assistant will help you streamline the running of your business or your law practice and you will have more time in your day finally!

I read a great article today from Law Practice Today where one lawyer documented her first use of a virtual legal assistant and how quickly it lead to an ongoing partnership with a VA, as she realized the potential benefits were significant. One thing you might note in this article is that the lawyer needed assistance on an urgent basis – something a virtual assistant can often easily step in and provide. Virtual assistants each set their own working hours, but many of us are open to assisting after regular office hours, on weekends and on a rush basis.

I challenge those of you who think you don’t “need” a virtual assistant, but who are running a business, to document over the next few days how much time is spent on tasks that could be delegated – whether that is your email, document proofing and formatting, calling a client to schedule a meeting or doing a draft of court documents from your client meeting notes. Realize that if you gave clear instructions to a qualified virtual assistant that you could save all that time and put it to wonderful use – or you could just enjoy some free time!

Flex Time or Flee?

Posted by Laurie on Aug 28, 2008 in Family, virtual legal assistance | 1 comment

I was supposed to go back to my office job this fall, after maternity leave with my third child. People asked me why I didn’t want to go back, after learning that I had no plans to return. It was hard to truly explain to them why options like flex time or part-time didn’t really help me enough to make it worth returning. I should send them this great post from Chuck Newton – I Don’t Want No Freakin Flex Time- it might help a little more!!

Flex time, part-time, job-share – these “options” sound great in theory sometimes. But a 6 hour day instead of 8, with a two hour commute total is still a long day away from my family. And it still requires full-time childcare, even though now I’d be on a part-time salary! Plus I would give up some of my benefits, get treated differently by my bosses and co-workers and miss out on choice assignments that require a full-time employee.

Working from home as a virtual legal assistant was definitely a better option! I can fit the work into my schedule and just the elimination of the commute buys me so much time in the day. If you are thinking about working part-time or flexible hours at your job, so that you can have more time for you in the day, consider working for yourself as another option -it’s got a lot to offer!

Setup of My Home Office

Posted by Laurie on Aug 27, 2008 in Family, virtual assistance, work life balance | Comments Off

Here are some pics I took with my new digital camera of my “two” home offices.

These first two pictures are from my basement office. It’s relatively organized and I love my two desks, one for thinking, bill paying, large projects and the usual computer desk with scanner, printer etc.

Really though, I do the majority of my work from my laptop in my living room. It’s easier to control the rest of my life from there (aka the three boys, lunches, dinner, letting the dog out!) Plus I personally find it nice and comfy to settle down with my laptop onto the sofa. The baby plays on the floor near my feet (or sleeps in the sling while I work!)

Soon my oldest is back to school and I’m going to set up a better routine for the rest of us so I can get my work done around naptimes, some home lessons for the preschooler etc. I really will use my basement office I think -especially since the toyroom is right next door, and in winter that does get used!

I love working from home!