With a little help from my Friends

Paul McCartney is playing in Halifax this Saturday, his only show in Canada too! He’ll be playing on the Halifax Common – a green space meant to be open to share for use by all residents and I believe they are expecting 60,000 people.

Anyhow, in my attempt to win tickets for my brother-in-law, I have been listening to News95.7 and the Beatles & Paul McCartney have been playing over and over in my head. I won’t describe to you the horror I put so many people through today as I sang my song (made up by me) to the listeners of the show -  you had to go on air and sing to be in the draw to win.

That’s my segue to, the title of my blog post today! I chose this song to showcase my social media experience this past week to my readers. Social media is more than a marketing channel/tool, it is also about networking and connecting with others.

Last Friday I had a client run into some issues with her Facebook fanpage. I was asked to figure out why it wasn’t working properly. After much searching, I found myself stumped. So… I started putting out my ‘feelers’ to see if anyone else could help figure it out. I used Twitter, facebook and some blogs all weekend and through until yesterday.

Finally this morning, 5 days later, I found the answer with a little help from a friend of sorts; but many ‘friends’ were trying to help me figure it out. These were not people I have ever met, yet they were attempting to help me just the same.

What was in it for them, you might ask? Nothing.  So why would they bother? Simple, to help out a ‘friend’ who happens to be someone they have never met and probably never will. Being helpful is the only reason why any of these people made contact with me. Connecting and networking… that’s all it was about and I am so grateful they took the time to help me, and ultimately my client.

The next time you are talking about social media and Twitter and Facebook and don’t seem to get it all… try thinking of it as the water cooler or staffroom in your office. When you are sitting at your office stumped on a problem, where do you turn? To your co-workers in the office… well, social media works in the same way sometimes; the only difference being that the ‘office’ of each party involved most likely spans a great distance and they may never meet face to face.

The ‘bug’ was noticed by Salman Ansari, with  Involver .   Salman, I really appreciate your help. It was a simple solution, but one that took an extra set of eyes!  Involver is a company that has some great Facebook Applications for Pages – definitely check them out! I use them with many of my clients. Salman, you also helped out someone else having the same problem, she contacted me after seeing the posts, and once I found the fix, I passed on the info to ehr as well!

Thanks to everyone else  (I hope I do not forget anyone) who helped by retweeting my posts or commenting back on a blog or sending me a message on Facebook or Twitter.  I am grateful for the time you gave to me and my problem.

Melissa Ward Dawn Riley Net Weave Mari Smith

Darlene Victoria Cindy Bruce Green Lasagna

Technorati Tags: , , , ,

FoVA was Fantastic!

Well… I am back from Niagara Falls and the FoVA (Forum on Virtual Assistance) and have had a little rest to gear myself back up at work again.

What I find most different about this morning as I sit at my desk is that I have a new outlook on how I plan to run my business and work everyday.

The people I met at FoVA were so very inspirational and full of experience and insight into running a successful VA business! Virtual Assistant Leaders from all over the world came and shared and taught us so much invaluable information! I would like to thank each one of you for taking time out of your own business so that new people like myself could meet and learn from you.

As I said in my anticipation blog post about going to this conference, I was really looking forward to meeting so many people in person. People who I have been connecting with online for the better part of this past year, mostly at VAnetworking and CVAC, and they did not disappoint! I have solidified relationships that had already started and created new ones as well.  And many of these relationships, I feel will turn into more than that – friendships developed as well.

I said it before and will repeat again – Conferences are so needed and valuable for any business owner, but even more so for those of us working from remote or home locations.

Off I go to start working with so much more motivation and ideas than ever before!  Thanks FoVA and friends!

Technorati Tags: , , , , ,

Tell them … now

This is a bit of a follow-up to my post on Jan 5th

A friend from a business networking club informed our group today that he has some serious health issues and will be out of our group for a while as he undergoes some treatments.

A shock for everyone … and then the concern for our friend hit home.  With that came the realization that it could be anyone of us making that announcement.

Time and life are both very precious commodities and should be treasured.   As the New Year starts off and you are taking your “inventory”,  please remember not only to be thankful for your friends and family – but to tell them.  Make sure people know what they mean to you, by telling them directly!

Technorati Tags: , ,

A Thank You for my business

2008 started off as a challenging year for our family and has ended on a much better note. We had just moved to PEI from Yarmouth, Nova Scotia in September 2007 and then in March we started the process of moving to Dartmouth, Nova Scotia.

My husband’s job was the reason for all the upheaval, which was hard enough in 2007, but to do it again  months later was worse.  The kids (ages 12, 9 & 8 years) really took this last move hard, but now that we are here in our old stomping grounds of Dartmouth things are much better.

If you had asked me this past January what I would be doing at the end of the year, I certainly would never have guessed that I would have my own business. A business that enables me to do the work I love, while still allowing me to be around for my kids when they are not in school!  It’s my dream job! [Read more...]

Technorati Tags: , , , ,

Please remember them…

Today is Remembrance Day in Canada, and Veterans Day in the United States. This is a gentle reminder to everyone to think about our Veterans.

A wise man this past Sunday said, “to Remember is to take the parts of the body – the member – and put them back together. Re- Member. ” If we remember them, we keep their stories alive and we will not forget. We need to remember what others have sacrificed or are sacrificing right now, that is our duty.

Please, if you are not going to a Cenotaph Service today, take a few moments at 11:00am and remember our Veterans as well as the present Service members who are fighting overseas, or helping keep the peace overseas.  They are doing this for the good of our country and deserve our thanks.

In Flanders Fields

by  Lt. Col. John McCrae, May 1915

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep,
though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Technorati Tags: , , ,