Easy to make editable maps

I have a client who provides reps to her clients, almost like an employment agency. It was getting to the point she couldnt keep up who was where. She called and asked if I could map out, where her clients were located in a general area, and where the reps were located, in reference to these clients. I found a fun site called mapbuilder. Map builder is a mashup map creator. In other words, you can add your locations with different colored icons and save it for future reference. You give client 'A' locations a blue icon, client 'B' locations a red icon... and so on, they have made it that simple. They also have a link called booming maps, which gives you all the maps that have been created with the highest hits.. Do you want to map out your route for garage sales this weekend? you can do it here. Real Estate agents find this tool priceless. They can map out every home they have for sale, print it out and hand to buyers. It will also give you the HTML if you want to share the map on your website. The only down side I found is it does take time to enter all the addresses. That is why my client called me to do it. I spent the time on her map, while she worked on her business.

Time is so precious!

The past 2 weeks have been so busy for me! Time management seems to be a subject that gets brought up frequently when I am talking with people. I don't know about you but I do not like working at midnight. I know alot of business people do this, work at odd hours, when the kids are sleeping, after dinner "just for a little while", weekends. Being a VA I hear it every day. "I need to enter a whole guest book into a database but when am I supposed to do that, 2 am?" or "I have this great idea for a marketing campaign but being able to actually sit down and do it is another thing." Another one I hear, "I have this business meeting to go to but I can't find time to get on the phone or computer long enough to book my flight, hotel, car, everything else I am going need!"

Well, here's the scoop on this, hire it out. As small business owner we CANNOT do it all. We all may think we are super skippy but, reality is, there are only 24 hours in a day and we cant order more. If you are trying to build your start up; getting clients, to actually pay the bills, is the number one task that you should be focusing on. That is the reason you started that business in the first place. I hire people to do tasks that I don't know how to do (or don't have time) and that is a really good practice. I am one of those people who enjoys the mundane office tasks, (no comments from the peanut gallery!) that is why I started Sage, so I could do what I enjoy doing, for other folks who are doing what they enjoy doing. Everyone wins.

As a small business person, I'm guessing that, actually having someone work IN your office is not an option because your office is most likely in your house (like mine). I personally would not want someone coming here every day. Its business casual every day of the week! That's what is great about my profession, I can 'be' in your office, without actually 'being' in your office. We can work side by side on different sides of the globe. Its great. Another plus is having me work 'with' you, I am an independent contractor, you don't have all the paperwork and expense of hiring an employee. I charge by the hour and only work the hours you need me, you don't have to worry about finding work for me around the office because if you don't need my assistance, I won't cost you a dime.

So, when you are in need of some office labor, think about hiring a virtual assistant. You wont have to supply a computer, desk, coffee pot, staples, etc.. you get my drift. I have all of that (plenty of coffee). I wont ask you to pay for my vacation or sick days either!

Just a quick note

I have been reading some information about WHEN is the best time to 'tweet'. Seems anytime will do but logically most people are on their computers during the daytime hours so........ Im going to go TWEET!

A couple websites I have found useful

I have a host of websites bookmarked but a few I have found in the past week are pretty helpful and I thought I would share. One is friendfeed , which is a site you use to enter your status updates or blog information and it forwards to all the social media sites you belong to. It is free, the directions are easy, you get set up and then have one place to go, you can update all your social stuff at once! You still have to read your tweets from friends.. havent found a fast way to do that yet.

Another site is called submitterbot , This is a directory submission site. If you want your website to be found, being in as many directories as possible is a step in the right direction. Again this is completely free, you sign up, fill in the information about your website, then you have to take the time to submit to each directory BUT, they have the list of ALL the directories and they get new ones every day. You dont have to pick the right place for your website in each directory, Submitterbot chooses the best place for you by the keywords you have entered. So, this may take a little time each day but it is much quicker than googling all the directories out there, signing up for each one and entering your website. I turn on Pandora and enter for about 1/2 hour a day... I make it fun. If you have a directory, you can submit it there so folks can find you.

Monday AM.. yawn, but my brain is going 100 mph

Its Monday but it feels like Sunday to me. My family has barbers days off so Sunday and Monday is the weekend around here. I am attempting to get things done early this morning before everyone wakes up and starts 'needing' me for different things. Having a home office is a great freedom, but can also be harder than going to work, because I am right here where everyone can find me.

Last night I watched the 60 minutes interview with Ben Bernanke. He is a smart cookie and I enjoyed the interview. His view on the financial outlook was much brighter than the media has been reporting, which is why I sat down to write this. I am so tired of the news that I really don't watch it anymore. I get most of my news online, I only read the articles that interest me and I stay away from the gloom and doomers. I, by no means, am sticking my head in the sand, on the contrary, I am fully aware of whats going on. My husband follows politics and finances all day, but one in the family is enough. I believe that we do reap what we sew and if we sew negative, head bowing, OMG news, that is what we will continue to get. We all keep hearing about the more than 10% that are out of work in CA, I realize that and am actually part of that (lay off last year) but the other part of that story is the other 90% are still working! Lets talk about the MILLIONS who still work every day. I do want to know how many people are out of work. I do want to help and I do want to know what is being done, if anything, but at the same time must it be the only subject that is covered?

One of the changes that I have noticed locally, people staying home with their families more. I do realize that when folks don't go out to eat, the restaurants suffer, but when people stay home, the family gets stronger. We have been cooking dinners, here at home, almost every night over the past few months and I am really enjoying that. I am actually going to plant a garden this year, which will be the first time since we moved in, 9 years ago (I didn't say I was going to grow a garden because I don't have the greenest thumb). I have read about more neighborhood gardens popping up around the country. Getting back to basics is a good thing for people, just not such a good thing for retailers and local, product based businesses. We will emerge from this, and I do believe that we will be stronger. Those people who have that entrepreneur spirit, who own those local businesses, might fail at that particular business but will start another one. Its the nature of the beast. I have that entrepreneur spirit. Sage Virtual Assistance is the 3rd business I have started. If this one, by chance, doesn't work (which I know it will) I will keep trying until something does work because its the core of who I am. New adventures, new people, new ideas, building, growing, making connections. It is exciting to me!

I am going to be positive about the future because I refuse to live in this climate of gloom and doom anymore!

Guerrilla marketing and living more creatively

Everyone I talk to is having to cut back. Either they dont go to dinner as often, they dont go drinking as often (which isnt such a bad thing). They arent shopping for new "things" as much as they did. When times are tough, as they are now, people get tougher, its inevitable. I have complete confidence that folks WILL adapt to the changes that are coming.

Do you recall the 70's when we had to go to the gas station every OTHER day, depending on your license plate numbers? I was living in Los Angeles at the time and remember fights breaking out that the gas pumps because someone had a gas jug and no car. So right now, its money we cant get our hands on. Its always something. Our houses are worth less than when we purchased them. Our Credit Card Companies are charging more interest. At least K-Mart and Sears are starting their layaway again... My Mom always put things on layaway when I was a kid. We have been a throw away society for so long that fixing the hole in that blouse or stitching on a new button wasn't cool, give it to the goodwill and buy a new one. Now, I find myself fixing that button less shirt. Thats ok, I actually like it. I am a pack rat and have always hated throwing things out.

Marketing, which was my original reason for writing this, is another place where we have to cut back. Ok, so the employment looks bleak, over 10% are out of work in CA, but what about the other 90%? They are still working their jobs or struggling to keep their businesses afloat in this media climate of gloom and doom... which is another peeve of mine, but I will go into that later. So I have been researching guerrilla marketing techniques and so far, I am finding a ton of things I can do to keep my business name out there in front of people for very little if any cash out of my pocket. For one, SOCIAL MEDIA is HUGE!! Post post post to those blogs, twitter, facebook, LinkedIn, forums... wherever you can post do it! (If your not sure how, contact me, I can do it for you) You would be amazed at the people out there who look at these and recognize your name after you have been around a while. Donate to charity. Put together a basket of goodies for a local cause with your business card or a flyer in it. Everyone who is at the event, everyone who looks at the pretty baskets that are going to be auctioned off, will see YOUR business card or flyer. Get out and join networking groups. I know alot of the networking groups are not exactly cheap but there are some out there, people who are like minded who are doing the same thing as you, trying to keep their head above water and it doesnt cost an arm and a leg. Postcards are great, get on your computer, make a postcard and print it out, take it over to Kinkos and get a bunch of copies. Now give those postcards to EVERYONE YOU MEET... They are obviously bigger than a business card so not likely to get lost in peoples wallet along with the other business cards they are toting around. I was googling around the other day and found these adorable little bookmark templates. I downloaded them, customized them and laminated them.. I carry around a handful and give them out, again, to EVERYONE I MEET.

In other words, BE your company.. breath it, sleep it, think it, talk about it... and good luck to you in your ventures!! Remember, if your not sure how to do some of these things, pop me an email, I can help you out!!!

New baby on the block!!!

In my neighborhood we have mostly retirees except that cute couple across the street... they bought her Moms house when they got married (Mom and I have been friends for 10 years) and Mom got married and had to move......... with her husband.... dang I miss her... BUT... I know she will be around alot in the near future because she is now a proud Grandma... Little Payton Hope was born this morning. I am more than excited for them and for me, hopefully I can baby sit now and then. If I have a baby to play with maybe I will stop looking for more dogs and cats :) I have enough critters and dont need more but cant help myself.......