Not only am I a Virtual Assistant who specializes in proofreading and editing , but I have also always excelled in spelling and grammar since grade school and later in high school.

I have a hard time reading a book for pleasure or enjoying a blog post because I can NOT turn off the part of my brain that sees the spelling, grammar and word usage errors. That is honestly a downer in my personal life but a big plus in my professional one.

Today, I am going to share three of the most common spelling or usage errors I constantly see both on the net and offline. These are on even the biggest famous name web sites and often in the biggest famous name print books. I am hoping that someone who reads this post might actually learn and benefit from these tips.

Number ONE

The number one, most often mis-used word I find both on the net and off is it’s and its. As a matter of fact, in the 10th grade, I LOST a city wide (St. Louis public schools) spelling bee over this one! I had managed to out-spell hundreds of other straight A & Honor roll students to get to the spell-off between one other student and ME, and with some of the hardest words you can imagine, and then LOST with its versus it’s!

Its is the POSSESSIVE. Something belongs TO IT.

An example would be: The dog wagged its tail when it saw its owner.

It’s is a contraction for the words it and is.

An example for this would be: The dog is wagging its tail because it’s happy to see its owner.

The second most common one I see AND the one I edit the most is the usage for these: your and you’re.

The POSSESSIVE for this one is your, as in:
Your dog is wagging its tail because it is glad that you’re its owner.

Likewise, you’re is the contraction for you and are.

Your dog is wagging its tail because it is glad that you’re its owner.

Number three is the there, their and they’re usages.

There are three ways to spell this word that sounds the same but they mean totally different things and they’re always ready to mix up their users.

Their is the POSSESSIVE form of this word. If it belongs to them, it is theirs.

They’re is a contraction for they and are.

There are lots of other usage errors out there but these three are the ones I see the most.

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

Dealing with an Unhappy Client, guest article by Alyssa Gregory
of Virtual Assistant Hub

We don’t want to think that we will ever have a client who is less-than-thrilled with our work, but it can happen. Here’s how to deal with it.

Whether it’s from a rare episode of poor work quality or if you’re just having an off day all around, there may come a time when a client calls or emails you with a complaint. Part of being a professional is recognizing the situation and making it better. Here are some easy ways to do that.

Address It

The worst thing you can do is ignore an unhappy client. Ask him or her why he or she is unhappy and what you can do to fix the situation. The longer you wait to bring it up, the worse it can get.

Own Up to It

No one wants to admit you were wrong, but if you were, your willingness to face it head-on will tell the client you care about the project and his or her satisfaction. Accountability is vital.

Fix It

If the issue is unsatisfactory work, do it again and fix the problem. This is the easiest and quickest way to make an unhappy client happy again.

Talk About It

Many problems stem from miss-communications and can be corrected with effort. If you have been handling everything via email, schedule a phone call to see if you can get things cleared up voice-to-voice.

If All Else Fails…

If you’ve done everything you can, but the client is still not satisfied, it may be time to part ways. Be honest, direct and professional.

One way to end a client relationship is by recommending them to another VA who may be able to help them better than you can. This supports someone you respect, gives the client what he or she wants and gets you out of a frustrating situation. It’s a win-win.

by Alyssa Gregory of Virtual Assistant Hub on 29-Dec-2009

Thanks, Alyssa. Very good advice. There are going to be some clients, at least occasionally, that are just a “poor fit”, as well. I have mostly clients I would work with for free if I won the lottery tomorrow, BUT have had a couple of people I just could not seem to work with, no matter what I did. I did as you suggest and found another Virtual Assistant who better suited these personalities and was happy to let go of the stress for both myself AND the unhappy clients.

I take pride in my work and in doing the very best job I can and when I do not feel I am able to deliver this, it is time to move on. I have had mostly happy clients and prefer to keep it that way.

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

Hard to believe that January is already GONE and tomorrow starts February of this fresh, new year! I have no idea where the time went to and everyone I talk to agrees, it just FLEW~!

I know a lot of bloggers, online business owners and others who I am involved or connected with who seriously need at least one more hand or even one more head. Why not give the “gift of time” to someone you know that has so much to do they feel they will never catch up?

Or, even give the gift of time to … YOU! All of the experts advise to outsource the busy-work or tasks you do not want to do or that drain your time so that you can be free to concentrate on what you love doing the most and/or are best at. This is a wonderful way to test the waters, as they say, with having your own Virtual Assistant .

Take my help, for example … Love to write blog posts but hate the actual posting? I can easily do that for you and love doing this. Until I have a designation on the site for that purpose, you can just use the Schedule a Product option and tell me what you want me to do for you.

I see a lot of really informative, beautiful and entertaining blogs and web sites but they are full of typos and spelling & grammar errors – this is my favorite task of all so you can hire me to proofread and edit your pages so that you can showcase your work in its best possible light.

If you offer seminars, blog talk radio or other shows, do webinars, etc. it is a great idea to have those audio recordings transcribed and yes, I do perform this service . Plus, as an added bonus, your file is triple proofread / edited before I consider the assignment to be finished!

This option is often over-looked by web masters, coaches, performers, etc. because they offer a down-loadable mp3 or other file for people to listen TO, but I can tell you from not only some of the shows I have transcribed but also those I have just attempted to listen to, a lot of times it is hard to hear every word, especially with talkers who talk over each other, run on sentences that should be cut into paragraphs, start one story and then interrupt his or her own flow by going in another direction entirely and so much more that you might not realize unless YOU were trying to type it all up for a file people can read!

The other way I can help you save some time for the fun things you want to be able to do is with assistance with your Social Networking maintenance. I can search for others in your chosen niche for you TO connect with, weed out those you would not care to associate with, send hello, welcome and thank you messages to those you want to connect or interact with, etc. and free YOU up to just do the fun part; the interactions and conversations. This is another service that is not yet designated on this site but can be scheduled with just a message to me.

I plan to offer help setting up Face Book and Face Book Fan Pages soon – I am still learning my way around them myself but as I learn, I will be glad to share that expertise as well as help you set up and maintain a Twitter account and/or a professional networking presence on LinkedIn .

If you are needing help with any of the above mentioned Social Networks, just let me know and we can work things out – I have insisted on keeping my name and reputation clean and honest for over 11 years on the net so you can rest assured your passwords and log in information are safe with me and if in doubt, feel free to contact any of my wonderful clients who will be glad to vouch for me.

If hours of assistance is out of your budget, or if you are just curious about how much time a helper really can be, I have reasonable and highly competitive rates and you can try “just an hour” or just one project. I do offer discounted rates on bigger or long-going projects, so this might be the option you prefer. I am easy to work with and love what I do and think I can safely say it shows with the service I give my clients and the tasks I perform for them.

Have a wonderful, love-filled, Happy Valentine’s Day and I am “wishing” you the Gift of Time for this holiday and every other day.

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