I’ve been perusing my google reader tonight searching for inspiration for blog posts. I’ve been (happily!) so involved in the actual “doing” of my virtual legal assistant work, I’ve spent little time blogging about it or even reading about it. Whenever I need inspiration I turn to my lovely google reader and the many, many legal blogs I subcribe to. I almost always see something within the feeds that inspires me or motivates me. Reading someone else’s exciting blog post can definitely be a great way to get the creativity flowing!

Tonight I came across so many interesting posts, for example, loved the idea for a regular Twitter Column from Donna Seale’s Human Rights in the Workplace Blog. I definitely post more frequently on Twitter than I do on my blog! Might as well make sure those tweets are “duly recorded”! I was inspired by the most recent post on Scylla’s Law & Motherhood Blog - a good reminder to those of us who are self employed!

I actually saw, and posted, about this amazing post on Twitter a few days ago, but it caught my attention in my reader tonight nonetheless and is well worth sharing today: The best and the brightest comes from Jordan Furlong at Law 21 and is in my mind a truly thought-provoking post that I wish could be required reading for anyone thinking about applying to a law school - ever. Yes, I liked it that much.

Linsey Krolik had a post from earlier in June  on her Me Too You blog that I only just managed to catch up on. School isn’t out here for a little bit yet (7 days of school left actually!) and I totally can’t wait. Just found out about yet another school activity for the very last week, a grade one garage sale. I need to send both items and money, fun, fun!

Loved PHAT Mommy’s blog post about her Life/Blog Happiness Project. What a great idea!!

You can see why I find so much inspiration in my reader now, right?! I have a huge variety of blogs that I subscribe to, although many have a legal slant, I also of course follow tons of interesting mom bloggers, general business or entrepreneurial blogs and blogs that just fascinate me regardless of their “niche”.

So what’s in your reader that you feel like sharing?

It doesn’t mean a whole lot, at least not right in this moment, but I was excited to see the Halo Secretarial Services blog showing up on Google’s first page when searching “virtual legal assistance” and “virtual legal assistant” this week. Next week maybe it’ll be gone - it seems like so much changes in the world of search engines! But for now I know that my blogging efforts are helping my cause somewhat. I have gotten a few inquiries from people who found me on the internet by searching, now I just need to convert them to clients!

I know how important it is to blog regularly. In my first year of business/blogging I worked hard to blog often, trying to improve my organic search results, my page rank and just to have great content for anyone who finds my blog. I’ve read tips from pro bloggers about how often to search - here’s a list of some of the suggestions:

• Grant Griffiths at Blog for Profit says simply blog often
• Problogger extraordinaire Darren Rowse says that it depends on several factors
• Lorelle posted a long ways back on the Blog Herald that you should post when you have something to say (love that advice!)

Still, January is flying by with very little published to my blogs - this one or even my mama blog! It’s one of those things where you get busy doing things for other people (like my clients!) and putting my own business priorities further down the to-do list. I think there’s been a little blog burnout too. I’m not surpised that many bloggers can’t really hang in for the long haul - blogging is usually just one part of anyone’s busy day - even the probloggers have tons of other projects on the go, email, networking, book deals etc.  If we’re ever going to achieve that elusive thing called balance, sometimes things may suffer a little - hopefully not for too long!

So I’ve allowed myself a semi-blogging break so far this month. I’m feeling rested and chatty again so I think I’ll be on track for a while. And I will try to block in my own blogging time regularly in the coming weeks, instead of putting it after everything else. How will you work to get everything done on your to-do list so that you can put some of your needs first? Don’t forget how helpful a virtual assistant might be!

Happy New Year!!!

I meant to get this post up yesterday, but actually, January 1 seems like a great day to set out my plans for this exciting new year. I have a lot of goals and I know what I want and expect out of the coming year. This past year gave me time to ease into this business of being a work at home mom, to develop my virtual legal assistant skills and do plenty of networking and now I am so excited about what the future has in store!

Affirmations

A big part of my plans for this year are about affirmations. I read a great article just a little while ago (in Good Housekeeping!) about affirmations. I loved it! It’s something I believe in but don’t utilize near enough, so one of the things I will start doing this year is to put a copy of my affirmations in places in my home where I will see them daily and then I will have that extra confidence builder I need.

Marketing

This year I am finally going to do some local marketing. Just because my business if virtually based doesn’t mean that the local market doesn’t have a need for my services. I’m following the suggestions of some fellow VA’s and doing a simple postcard mailout for now to some law offices in Alberta. I’ve already started work designing it and it should be done and out by mid-January.

Networking

I definitely want to do some in-person networking in 2009. The biggest part of this plan will be my July trip to the annual BlogHer conference in Chicago. It will be my first blogging conference and I’m really excited to network with other bloggers “IRL” (in real life being the theme of BlogHer ‘09!) It’ll also be a real test in respect of accomplishing my work while on the road, although I do plan to lighten my load to be fair to my clients.

Clients

Speaking of clients - my plans for 2009 include adding at least 3 more “ideal” clients to my roster. By ideal I mean clients who I feel I can work with in a long-term and successful partnership, individuals or businesses whose work interests me and who will utilize my strengths and challenge me with some interesting work.

Blog

I plan to post at least 3 times per week to my blog. I want to provide content that is informative, interesting and timely. I’ve managed to do pretty well this past year, but I know going into my second year of business blogging that there will be times that I’m busy, or feeling uninspired so it’s important to have a goal to stick to.

Service

It might be last on my list of plans/goals for 2009, but this is of course the most critical component to my virtual assisstant practice. I have every intention of providing incredible value to each and every one of my clients; the ones who I work for a couple of hours a month and the ones who need ten hours of assistance each week. It’s so important to me that I make life easier for my clients, help them grow their businesses, and provide a cheerful and professional shoulder for them to lean on so that they aren’t overburdened by their workloads. My business IS about their businesses after all, not just about me!!

So that’s what I have in the works for 2009 - I’d love to hear what you are doing to make 2009 a successful year for your business. Take care!

I cannot even begin to tell you how unbelievably excited I was yesterday to find out I was awarded a Clawbie for Best New Law Blog!!!!  I posted my nominations for the 2008 Clawbies a while back, but I truly did it simply because I enjoy reading other Canadian legal blogs so much. I love reading all legal blogs of course, but being Canadian is so important to me that a Canadian based award seems particularly meaningful! Especially since, as you may recall, I didn’t really think of myself as a legal blogger until the discussion that arose in my comments from my nominations post. Good thing Steve Matthews, Jordan Furlong and Donna Seale helped to set me straight!

And of course I want to extend a huge congratulations to all the 2008 Clawbie Winners, runners-up and participants. I read some fabulous posts, and found a few new bloggers through the nomination process. I definitely recommend checking out the blogs over at the Clawbies site!

I know, it’s not Christmas for a few days yet. But I’m not really planning on blogging much, or even - gasp - Tweeting that much, over the next few days. I am doing work for my clients and some research for a project, but otherwise this week is about family. I’ll be enjoying my children, getting together with friends, and doing even more baking in preparation for dinner on the big day (next on the agenda is homemade pie!!)

In fact today, I actually kept my laptop off for several hours (I hate to have it off during the day, lol) and put together a gingerbread house and gingerbread Santa sleigh with my older boys. It was a wonderful afternoon and I hope you all are able to enjoy your family and friends as 2008 draws to a close.

So Merry Christmas everyone, and Happy Holidays!

p.s. I will have posts up next week - be sure to check in!!

This year is rapidly coming to a close and it’s that time when many of us business owners decide to spend some time reflecting on the year past and planning for the future.

This year was my first year in business as a virtual legal assistant and it was a great year in my opinion! I started out last January with a 6 week old baby plus two older boys and the knowledge that things really had to change. I had already been researching virtual assistance for a while and really felt it was the right choice for me.

So I spent the late winter and spring months making plans, starting very slowly to blog and hanging out at a couple of my favourite VA forums (Virtual Assistant Forums and VAnetworking) to learn all I could about starting my business. Thank goodness for all the wonderful virtual assistants on those forums - they really helped me figure out where I wanted to go with my business!

Sometime in the spring I discovered one of my favourite blogs - Home Office Warrior. Grant Griffiths (also of Blog for Profit) has so much great information on his blogs! Lots of info about technology, blogging and networking and running a homoe office (particular emphasis on lawyers since Grant is a lawyer!)

Spring turned into summer and I excitedly went and registered my business name at the local registry office. I found someone to help me customize my site/blog and I designed some business cards. August in particular was a great month - I did my first guest post, found my first client and got quite involved in my favorite networking site - Twitter!

Then it was fall. My darling oldest son went off to grade one, I went for my first getaway weekend since having baby #3 and I got another client! Slow progress in the client department, but I knew that good things were coming!

And now it is winter. Not generally my favorite season and yet, as we move into 2009, I feel a real sense of achievement in this year and so much excitement for the year to come. I’ve gotten one more client recently and hope for many more next year. In the summer of 2009 I’m going to my first blogging conference and next fall my middle child will go off to kindergarten, adding some room in my schedule. I’m going to make a big list of my goals for 2009, but that is another post!

And now, time to go do some more work and then make some Christmas cookies! Take care!

Sometimes life is so interesting. Last week I posted about my favourite Canadian law blogs and the 2008 Clawbies nominations. I received several comments in response and was told that although I referred to myself as not being a real law blogger, I was of course a law blogger. The comments were much appreciated and a reminder to myself to not disparage my place in the blogosphere. I’m not a lawyer, but I serve clients in the legal field and I (sometimes) blog about legal topics, therefore I guess I am a legal blogger!

This little situation also is a reminder to me that non-lawyers have an important place in the legal world, whether we are talking about “in real life” or online.  I follow plenty of non-lawyer law bloggers in fact in my RSS feeds and I think of them as “real” law bloggers, even though I wasn’t identifying myself that way! Some of my favourites include the blog at Stem Legal, Law Firm Blogger, and Connie Crosby’s blog! And of course two of these blogs are run by fabulous Canadians (Steve Matthews of Stem Legal and Connie Crosby). Canadian law bloggers definitely are heavily involved in the blogosphere!

Non lawyers are important and valuable assets, whether to brick and mortar law firms or virtual practices. In fact in every law firm I have worked at the non-lawyer staff members were a critical part of the success of the team. The secretaries helped manage timelines, completed dictation and often completed the first draft of pleadings.  Paralegals did the research, helped organize large files and oversaw support staff. The library staff were always so amazing, especially when a deadline was looming and the supporting caselaw for a brief had to be quickly found! Oh and let’s not forget the IT staff who made sure our information was all backed up and accessible!

I still remember when I decided to go to school to be a paralegal and a family member asked me why I would do that, instead of trying to go to law school.  It was not easy for me to explain back then, but I know why know.  I am a very nurting person and I truly enjoy being the support person. I love knowing that when I do my part right I make life easier for the people I work with.  I also have to admit that I liked the guarantee of being able to go home on time most nights! The lawyers in my firms didn’t always have that option. Of course now, being a business owner who supports other business owners, my life is pretty different. I have a far greater responsibility to my clients to complete the work and can’t have an exclusively 9-5 work life. I enjoy the overtime and late nights now though (amazing how different you feel about your own business!) I especially appreciate that I have control over how many projects I take on at one time so I can make sure that the work will fit into my timetable and be completed on time (and properly!!)

I’m not a Canadian “law” blogger per se, but I am Canadian, my blog does target the legal field and of course I  read tons of legal blogs (plenty from the fabulous Canadian Law Blogs List!), so I wanted to share a quick post on my 3 favourite Canadian law blogs. I hope they all get recognition from Clawbies!

My absolute favourite has to be Law21 by Jordan Furlong.  Jordan always shares such great information and has wonderful insight into current happenings in the legal field.  And can I say how much I love the look of his blog since his redesign - it’s a great example of how a blog should look in my opinion.

Another Canadian legal blog I really enjoy reading is Human Rights in the Workplace by Donna Seale. Donna has a great conversational tone to her blog and she shares her knowledge about human rights issues in a thoughtful and useful manner.

Another Canadian law blog I discovered some time back that I really enjoy is Rule of Law - Stan shares a lot of helpful information about estate law with just the right amount of personality thrown into the mix!
There are tons of other great Canadian Law Blogs out there to enjoy, but these are my favourites! And now it is time to get on with the weekend (and while I’m a Canadian mom, thankfully my weekend is in a warm soccer complex, not on a chilly ice rink - until next year at least!) I’ll be keeping my eye out for other blog posts about everyone’s choice for the 2008 Clawbies - should give me plenty of weekend reading!

Just a quick note to let you know I have a guest post up over at the Lemon Justice Blog, discussing virtual legal assistance! Hope you get a chance to check it out.  In the meantime, I also want to share that my blog changes are almost complete and the new look should be fully in place this week!

Take care!