Posts Tagged ‘virtual assistant’
What is a Typical Independent Contractor
I discovered today I am the typical Independent Contractor.
There was a page of statistics in a recent issue of Success Magazine I was reading and it was all about Independent Contractors. As I was reading them, I realized I was very much the ‘typical’ independent contractor. The article never really mentioned where these contractors work from (ie a home office) which would have been nice to see, but I am assuming that the majority of them do in fact work from a home office.
The stats were based on people in the United States, but as with many things such as this, us Canadians tend to closely mirror the results (with the exception of surveys on the use of the word ‘eh?’ – in a study like that we would definitely come out on top!) So I placed myself right in these results and as I read them I found myself saying to myself: “Yes, that’s me, and me, me too. Yup, Yup” They had me pegged to a “T”.
So, who are these Independent Contractors?
- Well, for starters there are 16 million in the US today and we (you know what I mean) account for $626 billion in personal income in 2010! Billion!
- We are also primarily female (53% to 47%) and we do this type of work because we prefer it as an alternative to being an ‘employee’. Only about 9% of us would rather be ‘employed’.
- Our average age is 30-49 years and we do this type of work more from a need of ‘wanting to do the work’ as opposed to ‘needing a paycheque’. I read this to mean we do it because it is our passion.
- 58% of us are highly satisfied with our situation because we are doing something we like and feel it is making a difference.
- It was also noted that being Independent Contractors is a stepping stone to entrepreneurship and creating small businesses.
I am very much towing the line with all of these statistics, and for those of you who know me, you will say the same. Yup, that is Kathy.
I know that many of you connected to me online or who read my blog are also “Independent Contractors”… so I am wondering? Are you part of this demographic that is expected to grow to 20 million people by the year 2013.
Are you also the typical ‘Independent Contractor’? How do these facts stack up for you? I‘d love to know if these stats ring true for others.
The Networking Benefits of Using a Nametag
I was reading an article in Success magazine about a fellow named Scott Ginsberg. He has some fabulous ideas for networking and how to make yourself more approachable to others.
Scott started his business by a decision he made 12 years ago to NOT take off the sticky nametag he had on at an event: “Hello, my name is Scott”. He left it on and he started meeting new people daily. The first day was 20 people. And primarily because they came over to ask why he was walking around with a nametag on!
This opened his eyes to how people react to certain situations and from this came the foundations of his business and career. He has written several books and his newest is called, “The Nametag Principle”. To this day, he continues to wear his nametag (In fact rumour has it he has one tattooed on!)
I totally understand the benefits of wearing a nametag. When I started my business four years ago I ordered myself a nametag. I hated wearing those sticky ones at networking events and had one created just for me (A holdback to my days at the bank when we all wore a nametag). It has my name, title (At the time it said Virtual Assistant) and then my business name.
I cannot tell you how many conversations this nametag has started. Whether it is my last name, or title (At the time Virtual Assistant was an unknown term and prompted many questions) and even the nametag itself got people talking to me.
Wearing it to an event, really gave others something to focus on and to start a conversation with me (We all know the awkwardness sometimes at networking events… wondering what new things we can come up with to start a conversation.) My nametag gave people an easy out to say hello and ask me a question. Not bad for my initial investment of $11.75.
Reading this article about Scott has also made me think about my own nametag experiences and I think it’s time to order some new ones. I say ‘ones’ because I often wear different hats at events and having ones that fit the situation will be helpful. Sometimes I am the Virtual Assistant, others I am the Online Marketing & Social Media Specialist and then sometimes I am simply @TimeonTaskVA, my Twitter persona.
How about you, have you ever considered getting your own nametag or had some great experiences because you were wearing one? If so, what results have you had – share your good ‘nametag’ stories!
Who Has Control of Your Workday?
One of the biggest issues every business owner has is time…or rather the lack of time. We all want more time in our day, but the reality is there is no known way to change how the universe is setup and add more hours to the day. What has to change is us and how we use our time.
No matter how in control things may feel, if you track your activity throughout the day, you generally will be surprised at the results. You will see where your time is being spent and who or what is controlling that time. It is the control of your time that can help you find more hours in the day.
To figure out how you spend your time, you will need to do a bit of work, but it always pays off in seeing what is actually happening to your workday. You start by keeping a record of all your activity – everything you do, how long it takes – do this for one week. Picking a normal week too – not a week when you are at a conference or not doing your ‘typical’ work.
Your time log should include:
- The Task
- The start time and stop time
- Interruptions
- Who or What interrupted you
- The start and stop time after the interruptions too
- Whether you completed the task
This will take dedication to do and do for a whole week. I suggest doing it on paper – keep the sheet of paper by your side so you can quickly take out your pen and fill in the sheet. Using a computer-based tracking means leaving your work and interrupting the task at hand to enter the time. Paper is a little mightier and more effective in this case. (I have created a sample sheet you can print out and keep handy. You can copy the sheet template from this Google doc.)
Once the week is up, tally up your results. Review the “interrupted by” column more than anything. Make a tick sheet of the interruptions and the instigator of each. Tally up your top 10 ‘interruptions’. This list will tell you who or what is controlling your workday and you may be surprised at what you find.
If the list is full of names, other than yourself, this tells you others are in control of your day and time. If your name or just a new task is the top factor, then it is, in fact, you controlling your day by the choices you make. Now you know what or who is in control. So, what can you do about it???
Take the next week and track yourself, even if you think everything is fine. You may be surprised at what shows up on the tracking sheet that can help you regain control of your day.
Meeting with Yourself
One of my goals this year is to keep myself better managed with time and tasks. Like many people I struggle to find the best system that works for me. My online calendar is a must for all my appointments and meetings. I like the pop-up reminders that happen and the ability to set them at a time to fit how my brain works.
It’s always been the new tasks that come into play every day that needs to get on my radar as an item on my to-do list. For tasks and work, I am a very visual personal (A ‘Piler’ they call it in the professional organizing world). I need to ‘see’ what I have to work on in order for it to get into my brain as something to focus on and complete.
In the past, I have used a time manager diary book that opens to a week at a time and allows for spaces for meetings (which I never used), as well as a list area. It is here where I would enter my items for the week. Very visual, so that part is great. The annoying part of this system is that I have to rewrite the same stuff every week – mostly client names as well as my own plans for blogging, articles and my own marketing work. Some weeks I found the page for the week empty because I did not have the time to rewrite everything and carry it over from last week. As someone who is always focused on time, this time to rewrite the same info is not in-line with the way I want to be – always as efficient as possible.
Recently, I started a new system – seeing if it will be more effective for my needs. I am using a Google spreadsheet with a list of my main task topics (so I don’t have to rewrite every day / week) and then enter in the new work to be done. So far it seems to be working better for me. I do make a point of keeping a special browser window open with this document. This way I can tick off the items as they are done and also enter in new ones as they pop up during the day.
The trick I have found is to start the day off with a Meeting with Me. 10 minutes to check what was done yesterday, what came into the list and what I need to focus on for the day. So, now when I open my office door each morning, that is where I start – a Meeting with Me.
It’s been a lot more helpful and also the list is more fully completed these past couple weeks than it had been when I was using my old system…time will tell if my ‘Meeting with Me’ is going to work out.
If you have any great methods that work for you, please share them on my Facebook Page. I am always looking for new ideas and ways to improve!
Look on the Bright Side of Life as an Entrepreneur
Kathy with Pamela Bruner at Transform 2011
Many of you know I was away at a conference last week. I headed to Fort Lauderdale in Florida to Transform 2011, an event hosted by one of my clients, Pamela Bruner who recently crossed the threshold to earning a 7 figure income (Very exciting for her!)
It was truly an eye opening conference for me as I came to some self realizations about my business, services and where and how I want to grow my business.
I met so many other entrepreneurs who were doing much of the same, based on my conversations and observations.
Kim, Rita, Moira & Me visiting Fort Lauderdale Beach
It was definitely a good investment of my time and money to attend especially for all the people I met and the marketing and sales lessons I received from Pamela’s presentations.
One of the last lessons I learned was on my trip home, which as per the usual for me, was filled with many an adventure via my mode of travel, Delta airlines again.
Now I know many of you readers will be thinking, “Oh No, not again! Did she have to take a taxi back from Maine to Nova Scotia this time too!” (see Dec 2010 blog post for that adventure!)
No worries, this trip was not near that level of adventure…
So on to the “Bright Side” of my trip.The parts to my journey were filled with many a change, but I had just spent the week learning about changing my business, and change is good.
- The morning I was to leave, it started with a note on my phone that my flight was delayed… making me a tad nervous to get started on my journey! (ie. flashbacks to lots of delays and an $800 Taxi ride in December)
- Delta kindly rerouted me, through New York instead of Detroit because of the delays going west (lots of extra booked passengers helped as they were happy to take one off that flight to make room for someone else) and they managed to move me from that original plan to another plane, that was going to get me home about the same time. (Whoohoo)
- The new flight meant a much later departure time and more airport waiting, but things move as planned, we get in the air with only a small delay. I am happy, comfy and fall asleep.
- 50 minutes into the flight, I am woken by some noise and commotion. I can tell something is happening and soon the Captain announces that due to a medical emergency on board (!) we will be taking a small detour to Savannah, Georgia to get the passenger some help. (nothing too serious in the end as he was able to walk off with help from the paramedics)
- With a little more delay we head to New York with most everyone thinking they are probably going to miss their connecting flight if the time between was close, as was for me. (we landed 45 minutes after my next flight was to leave, and got stuck in a lineup on the tarmac.
- The Captain announces the lineup is because there had been a quick storm that passed over New York which as it happens made many connecting flights later and lots of us managed to catch them, like me!
- I catch the connecting flight, we wait again in the lineups to take off and uneventfully, I make it home. All told, I was about 4 hours later than planned, but home – which made my daughter a very happy camper! The more than two days to get home episode in December was still clear in her mind.
Now you might thinking – Bright Side, what Bright Side?
Well, here’s the thing about all the events that took place above, I gained some extra time while waiting in the airports and lineups. That time was very helpful in that I got out my notebook and refined all the ideas and notes from the conference and essentially created a new business plan, some new services and an entire new outlook on my business. All that time was a gift. I spent almost half a day writing and planning and putting the ideas on paper, refining them until I was clear on what my new vision was to be.
If all those delays had not occurred, that time would not have been available to do this. And if you are like me, once you get home from a conference there is a pile of things to take care of. Things that get in the way of finishing off your takeaways from the conferences, and making new plans that always come with new lessons.
The other parts to my Bright Side?
- I got to visit Georgia for the first time, even if only for an hour and from inside the plane!
- I met a lovely young couple from Turkey who were on their honeymoon
- Also met a businessman from Seattle (who was Tom Hanks double, Hanks must have a brother with a different name!)
- I even managed to give Bob a good lesson on using social media for his business!
As entrepreneurs we are always tackling change and when you do, looking for the bright side of these events can really give you a different outlook on life.
My advice?
Embrace the roadblocks you encounter as you never know what you will find behind them!
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