blogging

Organic SEO Works!

Posted by Laurie on Jan 27, 2009 in blogging, virtual legal assistance | Comments Off

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!

Do Your Needs Come Last?

Posted by Laurie on Jan 15, 2009 in blogging, virtual assistance | 1 comment

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 2009

Posted by Laurie on Jan 1, 2009 in blogging, Inspiration, networking, virtual assistance | Comments Off

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 won a Clawbie!

Posted by Laurie on Jan 1, 2009 in blogging, virtual legal assistance | Comments Off

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!

Merry Christmas

Posted by Laurie on Dec 22, 2008 in blogging, Family, work life balance | Comments Off

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!!

2008 In Review

Posted by Laurie on Dec 18, 2008 in blogging, networking, virtual assistance, virtual legal assistance | 1 comment

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!