Audio Editing and Writing Services

Yes, I graduated from Mom Masterminds this month!

I spent SO many months prior to my internship last summer at Mom’s Talk Radio surfing the ‘net and wondering what I was good enough to offer people so I could earn a living at home. I found a couple of good sites and forums with lots of information but it was absolutely overwhelming. There was SO much to learn but it was all a jumbled mess.

Until I joined Mom Masterminds and I was able to take one step at a time and truly make sense of all this online business stuff.

Mom Masterminds is a business coaching membership group for women who are serious about starting an online business. With both printed and audio resources, coupled with a very active forum, both beginning and experienced business owners can benefit in this group.

The resources are a godsend because you can learn at your own pace and you can concentrate only on the pieces you need help with. Everyone is at a different stage of learning and some (like me!) need to go over things more than once until the info really sinks in. The key is to take this information and do something with it! Take action! It’s great to understand something but you won’t grow your business if you still still.

Mom Masterminds also has a great forum to get feedback for ideas and to learn from other members. It is one of the most welcoming forums around. I have had my fill of questions and I recently posted that I had reached one of my goals, and even people who I don’t know well offered their congratulations. It’s so wonderful to have so many cheerleaders wishing you success.

If you’re curious about joining Mom Masterminds but are hesitant, they do offer a free 7-day preview before your 1st monthly payment. If you’re serious about starting an online business or about growing your existing business, this will truly be the best investment you will ever make!

In my last post I asked the question if VAs use other VAs to help complete projects. At the time, I was asking because I am taking a personal coaching class for 4 weeks and had a couple of personal projects swimming around in my head, neither of which I thought I could even work on because of multiple client projects.

No sooner had I hit the “publish” button than I saw on Twitter that Michelle Schoen at VA Demo Girl had an interview all about how to handle multiple projects. Michelle and her guest discussed how to handle multiple clients and their individual needs, how to schedule client projects, and the tools she uses to schedule projects and meetings. Basically, if you have the clients and the manpower, then the solution is in the planning.

I started off in January using a real pretty desk planner where I could keep track of individual projects and their costs. It served me well (when my desk wasn’t cluttered with paperwork!) but now that I have attracted some retainer clients with recurring projects, the desk planner just didn’t cut it anymore.

Now I’m using Backpack (by the makers of Basecamp) primarily for the calendar (which I can color code for each client) but it also has some blank “pages” where I can put notes, to do lists, and any other info I can think of. It’s good for taking notes while I listen to podcasts or doing research for one of my personal projects.

It’s working fine for me right now but it’s not perfect because I still have non-retainer projects and prices in the desk planner. For some reason it’s real hard to give up! It’s really just trial and error because one of my retainer clients is testing out a bunch of project management applications to find which one is easiest to use with HER clients. Maybe it’s trial and error and depending on how your business grows, it’s possible to outgrow whatever planning system you currently have.

The key is to never miss a deadline and to be flexible…

I must admit that I have come across a slight problem that I had never considered: now that I’ve got multiple clients and projects, I can’t seem to find the time to do my own projects.

Even finding the time to write blog posts is hit or miss. Right now I have the time because Audacity is taking its sweet ol’ time converting an mp3 file but otherwise I’m jumping from one project to the next.

Now, don’t get me wrong! I’m loving life and I’m thrilled to pieces to be working from home with some really great clients but honestly, I could easily use another 12 hours in the day to finish these projects, all of which are in various stages of development.

Does this VA need to hire a VA? Interesting thought…

I’m curious to know how other service providers handle this. Care to share your thoughts?

Earlier today Twitter was working long enough for me to find out that fellow WAHM Marie Ynami at Mommy Community tagged me to participate in this meme about Why I Love Working From Home. And since I truly enjoy what I do (for the first time ever since I graduated college ** years ago), I wanted to share the positive side for other moms who aren’t sure if working from home is right for them.

1. I can get my kids out the door for school and meet them at the bus stop in the afternoon.

2. I’m saving money on gas (my DH spends enough as it is with his commute across New England!)

3. I save money on clothes since I can live in jeans and sneakers (or even pjs, depending on the day!)

4. I can still volunteer at my children’s school.

5. I don’t have to deal with office politics.

It’s late so I’m cutting my list off there. Now for some other WAHMs to tag…

Lisa Braverman, Treece, and Tracy Roberts

Recently Kelly McCausey wrote about her need to convert her paper planner to a digital calendar and I’m so glad she wrote an update because this week I have decided I need to make that same step.

My paper planner was perfectly fine when I started my internship last summer, to keep track of projects and deadlines. It became a regular fixture on my desk and served it’s purpose well for my regular weekly client projects. However, with new clients come new and bigger projects and soon my paper planner became a mish mash of scribbled notes and job quotes.

Not that I’m complaining! Taking on new clients is always exciting but short of getting one of those huge desk-sized calendars, it’s time to find a quicker way to login projects and check them off when they’re done.

I’ve dabbled with Google Calendar but need to check it out more (and actually remember to login everyday). A couple of clients use a basecamp program, which is really cool because you can check off jobs and it automatically crosses it off your digital to-do list. However, that seems to be more for those who have a team, which is not me.

I’m looking forward to getting more organized so I can fill my time with efficient client work rather than trying to decipher my scribbled notes.