I have had a great week with my Virtual Assistance business and have learned a lot of new things plus some new ways to do “old” things! As I used to tell my newbies that I would mentor, never stop learning – things change so quickly on the internet, that what was brand new last week is obsolete this one. It was so true.

I have had the pleasure of working with a very smart and savvy lady this past week and have learned a lot by doing so. Things I know HOW to do in one program or control panel, etc. are completely “new to me” with a different system.

In an earlier blog post I had mentioned that Even VA’s occasionally need VA’s . I have had helpers on previous projects and appreciate them greatly. This time, I have the pleasure of helping another Virtual Assistant, Amy Bleser of virtualservices4u . She has been extremely patient while trying to teach “this old dog new tricks”. I am quite proficient in my limited range of expertise BUT am still a newbie with a “new to me” system, editor software or website and am like a sponge soaking up every new thing I can learn. Amy has been the epitome of patience and sweetness. Go visit her site if you have the need for a really well organized and knowledgeable Virtual Assistant who offers a much broader world of services than I do, with my specializing in proofreading , editing , transcription , and various miscellaneous duties like Social Marketing Assistance and doing research, etc. for other Webmasters or small business owners .

I *met* most of my terrific clients AND my helpers on Twitter and am proud to be connected with all of them. I do the very best work I can, with the most strident mind to detail I can give and know they are pleased with my work. I am also very happy with the VA’s that have helped me with assignments I could not have finished in a timely manner without their generous support. AND, I get the extra added bonus of learning both new things and new ways to do the old things I was already doing.

One of the latest things I have learned is how to use a program, I guess it would be called, that enables VA’s and their clients to manage assignments, files, time sheets and more. The one I am getting familiar with is called BaseCamp . It has every feature I could imagine would be needed and there are several different levels, from a free “one project” level to the ultimate. I learned that each of my clients or VA’s that I help have the same basic things the same but then their own unique ways of handling the assignments, etc. I rarely endorse a product so my doing so here says a lot – I really like it and think it can be the answer to almost any businesses assignment needs.

Remember, I’m a Virtual Assistant who LOVES to do editing, proof reading & transcription assignments! PLEASE help me spread the word if you know of someone who could benefit from my services.

Jan Tallent
Tallent Agency Virtual Assistance

Obviously, I am a Virtual Assistant . However, I chose to specialize in mainly three categories.

They are Proofreading , Editing and Transcription .

I am often asked about performing Services that I either do NOT do or that I know that someone in my circle of other VA’s can be more helpful with, so am more than glad to give the client a “sister” or “brother” colleague referral.

I have said for months that my dream is to be so busy that I need my OWN Virtual Assistant. Well, this past week, that finally happened! I took on an assignment that on the surface seemed entirely doable, but turned out to be more than I could handle in a timely manner.

Luckily for me, I have a wonderful network of savvy and talented business associates on Twitter , so was able to call for HELP and get my project completed and all in a timely manner and leaving me with another happy client .

The experts, or so-called ones, anyway, used to advise against interacting with your “competition”, but even ten years ago, when I took over as editor of my ezine, Rim Digest , I knew that forming allegiances with my peers could only help us all to learn and grow, and once again I was proven to be correct!

My hat is off to ALL Virtual Assistants who are willing to go the extra step to help out one of their peers and at a job rate that allowed me to get the help when I needed it.

By the way, Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Jan Tallent
Tallent Agency Virtual Assistance

I am an avid social networker and get into a lot of discussions on how we can build our businesses and get more customers or clients . Just today, several of us were talking about this in MY favorite and most responsive networking media, Twitter .

I am asked to visit and comment on a lot of blogs and web sites in the course of each day and am often appalled at the content on these pages that the “writer” wants the whole internet world to see!

Some of these documents are from every-day people and / or amateurs who are just dabbling in writing or doing it for a hobby. Do not get me wrong, I feel these people should want their works to be error free and cleanly presented, BUT my biggest surprise, and what really saddens me, is that so many of the so-called PROS or really big businesses do not seem to know, or even worse, do not seem to CARE, that their sites or blogs are horrendous with the spelling, grammar and word usage mistakes!

I do understand that not everyone is going to be a spelling or grammar genius and am not putting down anyone who is not, BUT, there is really no excuse for having sloppy, error-laden text on your web site, on your blog, in your sales copy or eBook, etc. where there are so many ways you can either check it yourself or get someone, like ME, to do it for you!

If you do your document in any word processing software that I have seen, there is a spell-checker! There is also one in every email program I have ever used or even seen. Plus, you have the extra advantage of at least MOST blog sites, for example, of having one built in that comes up with errors as you make them.

Of course, the “usage” errors would probably still get by you if you are not a great speller but the worse mistakes should not escape notice as you type whatever you are saying.

Things a spell-checker will usually not spot are “usage” errors, like:

there their they’re
its it’s
see sea seas seize
stake steak
your you’re
for fore four

etc.

but usually DO let you know when ordinary, every day words with no synonyms are entered.

If in doubt, write your document in an email program and then use the spell-checker to check it out before you post it. Then, at least, the only errors that might get by would be those pesky “usage” ones.

There are also spell-checking web sites. Do a “search” for this type of resource and you can run your document through the online checkers.

For the best chance of having your document presented in its most professional and error-free presence, hire a Proofreading and Editing specialist.
This is what we DO so that you do not have to worry about anything except creating good, useful and interesting content!

If not MY company , find another that does the spell-checking and grammar checking FOR you. You might think you cannot afford this Service , but, frankly, if you are not an expert speller or great with grammar and word usage, you cannot afford NOT to avail yourself of this much needed help.

Why am I qualified to judge your writings and offer to help you present the best possible document? Well, I was an Honor Roll student in Spelling, Reading and English all through grade school AND high school, I was one of the top spellers of medical terms and transcription dictations as an adult at Rolla Technical Institute, where as an adult I took a year of Computerized Medical Office Technology, AND in February of 2010, I will celebrate TEN years of being the editor of my own marketing ezine, Rim Digest eZine , along with my wonderful references from my happy clients and to top it all off, like the cherry on top of the sundae, this is what I LOVE doing!

If you are a serious business owner, losing just ONE potential customer or client could have paid for your site to be “perfected”. Is it not time to put this on your agenda and into your budget or at least to double check your documents before you upload them to be shared by the entire net world? It is, of course, your decision, but I can honestly say that I, for one, do NOT do business with anyone who cannot spell or has more than the occasional grammar, usage or sentence structure error in a document that was meant to sell me something.

I am currently available to give your site or document a check-up to see if having a one-time or continuous clean-up is one of YOUR needs.

You can get in touch with me via email link on any of my pages or use this form to set something up with me to check out and possibly assist you in putting your best and most professional business foot forward.

Jan Tallent
Tallent Agency Virtual Assistance