I know full well where my strengths and talents lie … with my proofreading, editing, transcription service, social networking on twitter, facebook and LinkedIn and selling digital products via my Software Superstore PLUS being the editor of my ezine, Rim Digest for marketers and small business owners. This is not a HUGE list of talents or strengths, but these are MINE.

By specializing so tightly with my Virtual Assistance Business , I miss a lot of income and learning opportunities, so decided to branch out a bit and learn some new skills to add to my portfolio. Needless to say, I got way over my head – was WAY out of my comfort zone, was miserable and starting to feel, to be honest, like a total FAILURE and/or loser. Then it hit me, no one can be expert at everything AND why on earth was I trying to be?!

Hence the firing of myself from what could have been a really great financial gain down the line but was seriously causing me stress and a huge well of unbelief in myself. I am confident in what I do best and need to focus on those things and so, though I am still wanting to learn as much as I can in this ever-changing wonderful world of internet marketing and marketing my services, I am not going to worry about trying to do more than I comfortably CAN do.

With that in mind, I signed up for a course to become a Virtual Event Specialist and to Get Certified in this specialty because it really appeals to me and is something more in the line of what I am already doing.

Video courtesy of Craig Cannings, the owner of the VA Classroom, about Virtual Event Services and why they are needed.

Remember, I am a Virtual Assistant who LOVES to do editing, proofreading and transcription assignments!

Jan Tallent
Tallent Agency Virtual Assistance

573-775-4520 jan@tallentagency.com

I have sadly neglected this blog due to being busy, busy, busy and then on top of that, being SICK for about nine weeks with a cold / flu type thing that I did not think was ever going to go away! Now I am back to “normal”, for me, anyway, LOL, and will try to do better with keeping my blog updated. Welcome to this fresh, new year with a chance for new beginnings, new friends and associates and new business!

This has nothing to do with my Virtual Assistance business except for the fact that my focus is ON this business and I have lost my eight year addiction to selling digital products, but I have decided to retire SoftwareWarrioress.com so that I can totally devote my time and energies TO my Virtual Assistance business and my marketing ezine, Rim Digest , which will be celebrating its 10th anniversary with me as its editor on February 10.

I plan to sell the domain name of 8 years, SoftwareWarrioress.com and over 50 Gig of resell digitals plus the web site and pages, etc. This way I can devote myself to my true loves, which are the services I provide as a Virtual Assistant, my wonderful clients and future ones and my ezine. I let myself get stretched in too many directions and this is my goal for 2010 – to get and remain totally focused.

To be perfectly honest, I LOVE Proofreading and Editing and doing Transcriptions and feel I do my best work when it is something I enjoy and excel at.

I am also an avid social networker, especially with Twitter and love helping others with their social networking needs. By retiring the digital sales super store business, I can devote myself to these things.

I do not, however, plan to sell three of my most beloved digital products with this sale. I plan to keep the following three, as they are totally mine, were made for ME and are my 3 best sellers:

First off is the Health Products site with a HUGE inventory of products with resell rights on three levels, Helluva Health Site , which was made for me by my best friend, Sharon McPherson, who is also the owner/operator of Templates Themes and Graphics AND the creator of this blog site and Tallent Agency Virtual Assistance site.

This has been my biggest seller of ALL time next to advertising in my ezine.

Next is the Christmas Bonanza package , which was also made for me by Sharon.

Lastly, the oldest product I plan to hang on to is my Marketing Warrioress Quick and Easy Recipes which was written and made BY ME!

These three items are available to buy but NOT a part of the SoftwareWarrioress.com retirement sale package.

I still love digital products and think they are the neatest things to hit the internet after almost 13 years of my being online BUT they need dedicated time and energy to sell and maintain and I just do not have the “fire” to devote to them any longer.

If anyone is interested in stepping into an already established business, you can email me from any of the pages at the site and I will be glad to talk to you about the possibilities.

Again, Happy New Year and thank you so much for visiting my blog in 2010!

For the potential Virtual Assistant

The life of a freelance worker before the Internet was very different from what it is today. In the past, any freelancer would need great mobility or spend hours on the phone, either asking for work or finding out WHO to contact for this endeavor. In order to get around to pitch yourself to potential customers, you would require boundless energy and an ability to deal with being told “no” face to face or over the phone. So much of freelancing is about speculation, after all. You could try to sell yourself a hundred times and could be told “no” a hundred times. Although the Internet offers no guarantees of acceptance, it does make things a bit more equal for the freelancer.

There are many sites on the Internet that offer the opportunity for freelancers to pitch to potential customers on specific jobs – a searchable database means that you can even check for jobs that match up perfectly with your own specific skills and abilities. You can name your price and tell the customer how quickly you can turn a job around. The days of having to get out there, pound the pavement and then be told “sorry, we’re not interested” are more or less over. Not to mention that the Internet provides a truly monumental research tool for the jobs that require a bit of extra knowledge. The internet is nothing less than a launch pad from which to set your career in motion.

For the potential CLIENT

Outsourcing Using the Internet

Sometimes in business, as skilled as you may be, there are things that you are unable to do. A customer will come through with a very specific task and, although you will be able to do most of it, there may be a part of the job that poses you problems and prevents you from completing the task. In this respect, it may often seem that you will have to turn down the opportunity. But that is not necessarily the case. With the Internet at your fingertips, you have ready access to a skills base that means you can complete on that job even if some of the work is outside your own skill or time reach. Welcome to outsourcing or using a Virtual Assisant.

Thinking of it as a non-Internet situation for the moment, imagine that you are an interior decorator who specialises in hanging wallpaper, painting and plastering. It may just be that a job comes through that involves all of that, plus laying a hardwood floor. You’re good, but you’re not experienced in laying down floors. With the use of some contacts, you could pay for the services of a person who is capable and experienced in that part of the job. By paying them to take those duties on, you can accept the job and move forward.

There are many workers out there who do business via the Internet, and to contact them all you need to do is pick up the phone. If you cannot complete a job all by yourself, but it will pay well, there is no need to give up. Just log on, find a contact and get the job done.

Jan Tallent
Tallent Agency Virtual Assistance

Jan Tallent is the owner of Tallent Agency Virtual Assistance for 11 years, a marketing and small business online newsletter for going on 10 years, an internet marketer for my own digital products PLUS tangible products and an avid social networker . I also have an eBay store so stay pretty busy 10 to 12 hours per day, mostly on my computer and the net.

I am concentrating my VA biz on proofreading , editing and transcriptions as these are my favorite assignments to take on and where my strengths lie. If you are in need of these or any of my other Virtual Assistance services, send me a message and we can Talk about and schedule your project or projects .