No matter what your career, one of the best things you can do (in my opinion anyway!) is to constantly be adding to your knowledge. You can take a class, you can read books and articles on a particular subject or you can get involved with a group or project that will expand your horizons. Continuing education does not have to mean spending money, although money spent on the right schooling isn’t going to be a waste. When I first decided to...

One of my favorite tasks to perform for clients is transcription. I can type out letters or court documents, or even perform tasks just based on instructions from the transcription, for example, a transcription might attach a number of documents that I’m asked to describe individually. For lawyers or other business owners who are considering taking advantage of the benefits of transcription, there are a number of options available. Most...

Like many small business owners, I spent some time recently putting my tax information in order for my accountant. It’s all sent off now (thank goodness!) and I’m vowing to update my information quarterly this coming year (and first quarter ends next week) so that I’m not trying to organize a year’s worth of information come February 2011. In organizing my financial information, I noticed some really important things. We...

Recently I’ve had some discussions with one client, who so appreciates my services he thinks I should start planning to “scale up”. It’s a move I’ve considered, but don’t think I’m ready for just yet. One concern I have, for example, is that this particularly client mentioned that he’d prefer someone was always available to answer the phone for my company, especially if he were to refer certain...

When I started my virtual legal assistant business, one thing I realized quite early on was how important systems would be to managing my work and my busy personal life. I have tried and discarded more than one system, but currently have a set-up that works quite well for me. I do have a few things I need to add, or improve, as I’m sure we all do! First, I have a calendar system that helps me stay on track of both daily and long-term...