Partnering to Lift your Business Skyward

Now that Verizon has the iPhone I jumped right on the bandwagon of obtaining one. Already I’m seeing how much more productive I am with it. I even made this short video about how I’m protecting the phone and the battery in the wet (rain and snow) Pacific Northwest. Making the video was very quick and easy.

This is a product I can definitely recommend, so head over to RingerWraps and pickup a package or two.  (I just ordered three more).

I just have to maintain control over my time and not play too many games of Words with Friends!! It’s a bit addictive…and my daughter keeps beating me…dang kids!

What’s your iPhone “must have App” ??

Last week Virtually Amazing made international news and in a very good way.  The very unexpected and fun tweet arrived from Terry Rachwalski, Front Porch Perspective (@consultingmania) in Victoria, BC.   The tweet came via my Blackberry while I was relaxing Thursday evening.  It read….

@advicescene @VirtuallyAmaz Grace – your twitter handle was on the TV along with Nancy! lol and mine too!

I was immediately intrigued and engaged Terry to understand what had happened.  It seems one of her clients had been interviewed for a TV news segment about Twitter.  Nancy Kinney, Advice Scene (@AdviceScene) was talking about Twitter and assisting the young newscaster enter “The Twitterverse”.   Nancy replied to a tweet from Terry and myself on the screen to share an example.  Which is where Virtually Amazing made it’s international news debut!

By now you are asking why this might be remarkable enough for a blog post?  So here’s the back story.  I “met”  Terry about a year ago on Twitter, she had asked a question about hashtags (#)  and I assisted her in finding one for a conference she was promoting.  We had a few fun exchanges that evening and I continued to re-tweet Terry’s tweets about the conference for the next few months to assist them in their conference marketing.  During that time Terry held a contest to win a breakfast at the conference to hear their keynote speaker: Alan Weiss.  As it happens in the Twitterverse, I didn’t see the tweets about the conference so I was pleasantly surprised when I won the drawing and happily traveled across the border to Vancouver to meet Terry in person, attend the breakfast and hear the speaker.  Terry & I continue to engage on Twitter and found ourselves at Social Media Camp Victoria in October last year.  Although we only had time for a quick chat and a hug it was great to connect again in real life.  Our continual engagement on Twitter was how I eventually ended up on the news.  Terry was congratulating Nancy for having the most followers in Victoria and so I joined in on the congratulations.

Now I have a new friend in Victoria and I’m looking forward to connecting with them later this year at Social Media Camp Victoria 2011.

The most amazing things happen when you least expect it!!

Where will you be April 12-15, 2011?

Once a year hundreds of facilitators from around the nation come together for learning and networking. Virtually Amazing is supporting the 2011 North American Conference of the International Association of Facilitators in Denver April 12-15, 2011. As a supporter, our network can register for a $25 discount off of the conference workshops being offered on April 14 & 15. Pre-conference workshops are also offered on April 12 & 13, 2011.

If you are an internal or external facilitator, or if you are just looking for ways to improve your facilitation skills, you will not want to miss the 2011 North American Conference of the International Association of Facilitators in Denver! Register now and review the program at www.IAFNA.org and use the promotional code amazing (lower case) to receive the $25 discount.

Here is your opportunity to experience leading facilitators sharing their best practices across a wide spectrum of hard and soft skills and topics. These sessions are designed to give you proven strategies that you can use right away.
Topics include:

• The 5 keys to facilitation mastery
• Tools for creating and nourishing a living strategic plan
• When clients go bad: a roundtable
• Better results faster using visual facilitation methods
• Consensus-oriented decision-making
• Great tools make great teams
• Designing an elegant process flow
• Facilitating tangible vision through business process improvement
• Creativity tools for team facilitation
• How institutional power makes us clueless: becoming an inclusive facilitator through a practice of self transformation
• Facilitation tools for collaborative projects

In between these power-packed sessions are plenty of times for networking and holding one-on-one conversations with other facilitators with interests similar to yours.
And you won’t want to miss the opening plenary session facilitated by one of the leaders in the industry in a highly engaging, high energy and thought provoking breakdown of “The Anatomy of a Facilitation: Bringing Top Education Leaders to Consensus.”

Sign up now at www.iafna.org. Use our promo code amazing to get an additional $25 discount. This will also let the IAF know that you heard about the conference through us.

I’m looking forward to a great conference.  See you in Denver!

“What do Virtual Assistants do and how do they assist clients?”

“Isn’t being a virtual asst like collaboration..so few (me included) know much about it.”

The last few weeks I’ve been asked these questions several times in person and online.

What is a Virtual Assistant (VA)?

A Virtual Assistant (VA) is a highly-skilled, independent professional who remotely provides administrative, technical and/or creative business support services.

*Source: The Virtual Assistant Social Network ~ VAnetworking.com

How do we assist clients? VAs assist clients in many ways, they are skilled in communicating with the client to understand their needs and make recommendations..  It all depends upon the needs of the client which is where the collaboration comes in.

VAs have a specific skill set and resources to whom they can recommend or collaborate with to complete tasks if they don’t have that particular skill.

VAs do much more than answer your phones or schedule appointments:

Social Media	Event Planning
Travel Arrangements	Business Support
Organizing	Project Management
Presentation Development	Mass Mailings
File Conversions	Desktop Publishing
Word Processing	Podcasting
SEO (search engine optimization)	Ghostwriting
Shopping Carts	Internet Marketing
Filing	Order Fulfillment
Database Management

And so much more.

Collaboration is the name of the game when it comes to being a virtual assistant.  As work at home professionals we collaborate with our clients, with our associates, with our families and friends.

The Virtual Assistant community is worldwide and a very close knit, supportive community.  We use so many venues to stay in contact and up to date with ever changing technology.

Social media, associations, forums, live conference, newsletters, list serves, instant messaging, text chat, email, phone calls and virtual events.

Need more information??? Contact me via your favorite method of communication.

10 Mistakes People with ADD/ADHD Make Part 2

As promised earlier in the week, here’s the top 5.  With permission from Frank Coppola.

5. BELIEVES MEDICATION ALONE WILL HELP THEM

You’ve gotten diagnosed by one of the experts in the medical field. You’re taking the medication and now you’re even clearer and more focused on the things you’ve been having difficulty with all these years.
“The pill doesn’t give you the skill”

To be successful in a world created by people who don’t have ADD/ADHD it’s best to learn everything you can about your ADD/ADHD and how it affects you. Strategies that maximize your strengths can be developed specifically for you; ones that can make you more productive and ones that can enhance the quality of your life.

4. PAYS MORE ATTENTION TO WHAT DOESN’T WORK

Isn’t that the way the world is supposed to work?

You work on those areas in your life that you know that once you’ve learned how to do what is so difficult, you’ll be successful, Not!

Do you feel frustrated because you’re not satisfied at what you’re doing no matter how successful you are? If you could only find what you are passionate at and what you love do.

Your passion for what you want to accomplish in life lies in developing your strengths and not eliminating your weaknesses. Weaknesses diminish and drain you. Strengths energize you. Strengths can ONLY be developed by identifying your natural talents. If unidentified talents continue to be unrecognized and remain dormant, they can become unused potential which is a major cause of frustration.

Learn to pay attention to those things that come easy and natural.

3. BLAMES THEIR ADD/ADHD

How many times have you ever wondered why me?

ADD/ADHD is biological; a bio-neurological disorder. It’s about chemistry- nothing personal; like being born nearsighted. Learn how your brain works. Learn to value your brain’s chemistry and how it affects YOUR ADD/ADHD. Your brain is wired with a different kind of circuitry than the average Joe or Jane.

Different parts of your brain shape your ability to accomplish your goals, set priorities or make decisions.

By gaining knowledge of the special way your brain works along with your unique learning habits, working style and areas of strength, you can stop blaming yourself and focus on the things that bring you satisfaction, productivity and success.

Success grows as we experience success. We work through our challenges with practice, dedication and commitment knowing fully we can reach our goals. By paying attention to what works, your ability to see and experience the world grows and your self-esteem increases.

2. HAS NOT LEARNED HOW TO TRUST THEIR ADD AND THEMSELVES

Learn to trust your add. Trust is one of the most essential components in any relationship

including our relationship with ourselves.

Trust in yourself. To do so, trust in your abilities to succeed with ADD/ADHD.

Learn the essential characteristics and distinctions of trust.

Learn to question negative belief systems that are holding you back or that you find you’re putting up with. You best do this with the observations, skills and encouragement of your coaches. From here, your set upon your mission de-signed by, with, and for you.

Learn to embrace that your dreams are yours to be fulfilled. You have the ability to find what you love to do and fully engage and enjoy your life.

To benefit from new information, believe in yourself. Trust in yourself and question your beliefs that keep you small. You can learn from those people who are there to support you with encouragement.  Learn to stay away from those who give you back-handed compliments.

Above all learn to trust in yourself.

1. DOESN’T BELIEVE ADD/ADHD CAN BE THEIR GREATEST ASSET

A survey by the National Institute of Health stated that people living with ADD/ADHD feel they cannot reach their dreams, goals and desires. Plus they feel their minds in a whirl. Ever feel that way? I know I have but I realized…

ADD/ADHD is not connected to your character, lack of motivation, desire or intelligence. You did nothing wrong. It is not your fault. You don’t need to be working harder and you certainly don’t need to be fixed.

It’s time to change the way you look at ADD/ADHD.

Recognize and accept that the only thing wrong with ADD/ADHD was you didn’t know it was there. AND If you were diagnosed didn’t learn a new set of skills designed and developed around YOUR symptoms, signs and behaviors of ADD/ADHD.  There is no doubt you can work through whatever you believe has been holding you back.

People with ADD/ADHD have unique abilities and imagination. You can harness and direct your positive ADD/ADHD attributes based upon your unique brain wiring. ADD/ADHD can be used to your competitive advantages. ADHD can be your greatest asset in reaching your dreams, goals and desires.

EXERCISE
Where can I apply one of these principles in my life? Write it down and take one action step.

The scoop on Frank is here:
Frank Coppola, MAEd, Ontological Designer, Senior Certified AD/HD Coach (SCAC), Executive Business Adviser
www.ADDCoachingGroup.com
www.AddingPerspective.com
www.twitter.com/frankcoppola514
www.twitter.com/focus4profits

Benefit with ADD – A Winning Philosophy for Maximizing Your Natural Gifts
Crack the Code to Personal and Professional Prosperity and Success More Money, More Time, More Focus

Some of you know I have ADD/ADHD clients and family members which is why I subscribe to a newsletter from Frank Coppola. Frank was generous enough to let me share his post with you.

10 Mistakes People with ADD/ADHD Make Part 1

Chew on the first five for now. We’ll finish them off later in the week.

10. BEING IN DENIAL

You know that you’re not firing on all cylinders. You may even think you may have ADD/ADHD but you don’t want to find out. You may be worried all your creativity will be lost.

Your mistake is you don’t understand how your ADD/ADHD behavior and symptoms affect you. You’re not alone. 85% of adults with AD/HD are undiagnosed and untreated. In addition, 30-40% of self-employed and entrepreneurs have the behavior or symptoms of a person living with ADD/ADHD.

By educating yourself about ADD/ADHD and specifically your ADD/ADHD you can tune up your engine for optimum success.

9. A TENDENCY TO OVER-PROMISE AND UNDER-DELIVER

Have you ever been in situations when you impulsively told your loved ones or business person you could deliver the goods?

There may have been a situation when you told a friend you absolutely were going to pick them up at the airport on time, “Count on it!” But somehow it took you 45 minutes more. This can happen in so many areas of your life whether they are paying the bills or making sure you’ve contacting your clients.

It’s not unusual for people living with ADD/ADHD to make decisions without taking a breath and in so doing miscalculate what’s needed to get what you promised done.

What you’ll need to do is learn to pause before you promise and to practice remembering your tendency to over-promise and under-deliver. In time, practice can be your greatest ally

8. CAN’T COMPLETE WHAT GETS STARTED

Have you ever been on a roll? The ideas are popping. Creativity is busting at the seams. You’re out of the gate, leading the charge but eventually lose interest without completing with you started. You’re in “Frustration City” without a road map.

You see the entire picture of what it should look like and conceptually how the pieces should fit together but you can’t identify things to do first or how to figure out how to prioritize.

Maybe, just maybe, completion is not your strong suit but being an idea generator is your forte.

The key to completion is to have a clear picture of what you want to accomplish. Use your senses. Start at the end-then work backwards. You know you want it done yesterday but your best bet is to work in small burst of energy using your amazing enthusiasm and overview. When you get bored stop whatever is holding you back. Change the mood. In about 20 minutes, you should be ready to start again. Small is good!

7. ABSORBED IN NEGATIVE SELF-TALK

Have you ever had someone compliment you on a job well done, but you find yourself telling them it was no big deal?

You may spend an enormous amount of energy listening and reliving your past failures; the things you haven’t accomplished or achieved; undervaluing your successes. You may think that all that chatter talk is actually you.

Become aware of the negative beliefs you have lived with for too long. In so doing, you can mentally transform your failures into learning experiences. It could be a mindset thing such as there are no mistakes, but only continued skill-building.

It’s actually a good idea to question and debate that chatter and use that negative energy to produce positive traction in your life.

6. LISTENS TO THE OPINIONS OF OTHERS AS THOUGH THEY WERE FACT

Have you ever doubted a decision because someone questioned it? There are those who want nothing better than to “help you” by pointing out all the things you could be doing to get better.

Shakespeare had it right. “To thine own self be true”. Believe in who you are and what you do without seeking the approval of negative people and their beliefs.

Understand you often have special abilities that are hidden. When properly tapped, guided and developed, these abilities can be a well-spring of creativity and personal growth. Adults with ADD/ADHD tend to be the non-conformists – people who choose to take the road less traveled. Your mind is trying to process more information at a faster rate than the rest of the world surrounding you.

Every great invention, every great company, every great work of art, one of a kind idea was created by someone who saw something no one else did; just like you! Others may be more schooled than you or even brighter than you, but the world celebrates those people whose brains make “unusual” connections- the unseen relationship. This is the essence of creativity, invention and innovation.

Watch later in the week for the remaining 5. They just may surprise you.

The scoop on Frank is here:
Frank Coppola, MAEd, Ontological Designer, Senior Certified AD/HD Coach (SCAC), Executive Business Adviser
www.ADDCoachingGroup.com
www.AddingPerspective.com
www.twitter.com/frankcoppola514
www.twitter.com/focus4profits

Benefit with ADD – A Winning Philosophy for Maximizing Your Natural Gifts
Crack the Code to Personal and Professional Prosperity and Success More Money, More Time, More Focus

I recently completed the Facilitation Core Skills e-Learning Program.  This was a wonderfully complete and enjoyable course filled with all the basics and very good examples of facilitation skills presented by one of the top notch facilitation tutors, Ingrid Bens.  In fact, that’s the name of her website:  FacilitationTutor.com.

This self-paced e-learning course will give your facilitation skills a boost if you haven’t used them lately or provide you with the basics if you are just beginning to sharpen your skills.

We depend upon our Garmin GPS unit not only when traveling but around the entire area when we aren’t familiar where we are going. Now we although we love our “Jill” (the name of the voice on the unit) we also know that errors occur so we are carefully not to follow the directions blindly.

We were out a few weeks ago on a strawberry/raspberry picking adventure in an area unfamiliar to us. Once we finished (so much rain this year there weren’t many berries, sad!) we decided to explore the neighborhood we were in. Using “Jill” we selected the recreation button just to see what came up. Much to our surprise we were with 2 miles of the Talking Rain Factory Tour. We enjoy touring factories and seeing how things are made–it maybe a strange hobby however we enjoy it. So away we went and sure enough just down the road and around a few bends, there sat the Talking Rain Factory.

My mom hopped out of the car (yes she does that) and into the office to get the scoop on the tour. She entered the reception area and a very pleasant woman entered from a near by office to greet her. When Mom inquired about a tour, she politely informed us there were no tours for insurance reasons. Not being one to disappoint she filled Mom’s arms with several bottles of Talking Rain beverages and a cheery farewell. WHAT CUSTOMER SERVICE!!!

In no way did this company have anything to do with the error on the GPS but Jessalin (we later learned her name) was empowered to make our day. I immediately wanted to send a tweet to Talking Rain about our delight, I couldn’t locate them on Twitter however upon arrival at home a few hours later, I sent off a short note on their website expressing our delight.

Early the next morning another delight arrived in my email and Jessalin replied with a more than pleasant note.  Now, we know that Talking Rain is one of those great companies who are frequently sponsoring local events (Special Olympics, parades & many other local events)  and are often in the local news (positively) so they were already top-notch in our book.  This small gesture sent them zooming to the top of our list.

Not only customer service but direct employee communication. We are still in awe.

Thank you again, Jessalin and Talking Rain.

BTW, their Orange Mango Sparkling Ice is my new favorite summer refreshment. Try it soon.

I often travel and even though I attempt to pack lightly there are a few things I take with me to make my stays comfortable.

Inconsistent ambient temperatures occur on most modes of transportation (airplanes, trains, automobiles), in hotel guest rooms or conference rooms, in houses of friends and relatives and especially outside wherever you are.  Dry, stale air causes it’s own host of problems.  Stuffy rooms leave you restless and unable to sleep.  Tired/blistered or achy feet will ruin your site seeing adventures or even a day at a convention.

Here are some items I don’t leave home without.

My most favorite item is Anne McAlpin – Veleron™ Microfiber Towel with Deluxe Shoulder Bag The compact Anne McAlpin Travel Towel is perfect for anywhere you want to travel!  The Towel’s Micronet fibers absorb five times their weight in water.  90% of water is removed with hand wringing.  Folding to the size of a paperback book, these towels may be machine washed and machine dried.  The towels become softer with each washing!
Multi-functional, the towel makes a great beach or bath towel, sarong, swimsuit wrap, travel wrap, an attractive wrap/through in a conference room and airline blanket.  This is always in my carryon along with an inflatable neck pillow and earplugs which fit right in the shoulder bag. Easy Packing – The towel is lightweight and less bulky than ordinary towels  Full Size – 35 x 62″. The carry bag has two mesh zip pockets and a waterproof divider panel to separate damp towels from other items. These handy bags are getting difficult to find however so order quickly.  It took me several days to find where to buy them lately (I suspect they are being discontinued) so hurry on over to purchase.  You might also try your local AAA office.
http://www.thesavvytraveller.com/tools/mcalpin/travel_towel.htm

Dry, stale air can be combated in hotel guest rooms or conference rooms, in houses of friends and relatives.  Any where you have power and a bottle of water.  A cool mist humidifier can lessen the effects of jet lag and the dehydrating effect of flying in airplanes and sleeping in hotel rooms whose air is dried out via constant use of heating and air conditioning.  I recommend an Air-O-Swiss Travel Ultrasonic Cool Mist Humidifier 7146, it’s small, lightweight and fits nicely in your carryon.   Travel Ultrasonic Humidifier

A small metal fan about 3″ wide.  Trust me to those of us who often experience our own special summer (hot flushes) these will be well worth the small amount of weight & space they take up.

My newest addition is a 16 oz heavy plastic tumbler, I am an avid ice water drinker and find that the glasses in hotel rooms are very small and I’m constantly filling them.  The one I have is brightly colored and would be difficult to miss when repacking. 

Tired/blistered feet are probably the most miserable result when traveling.  New or ill fitting shoes along with excessive walking, and unusual walking circumstances can diminish your trip experience.  Comfortable, lightweight and well fitting shoes are a must.  My favorites are Sketchers.  They look nice, are extremely comfortable and can be worn for those long days of sightseeing, hiking or working a tradeshow.

Get Free Shipping on Shoes. Click Here!

Leave a comment in the box below to share your favorite can’t leave home without item.

Safe and happy adventures!

Recently I was reading a wonderful book “Facilitating with Ease!” by Ingrid Bens.  In the introduction portion of the book she list definitions two of which really struck a chord with me:  Group and Team. 

Group:  a collection of individuals who come together to share information, coordinate their efforts or achieve a task, but who mainly pursue their own individual goals and work independently.

Team:  a collection of individuals who are committed to achieving a common goal, who support each other; who fully utilize member resources and who have closely linked roles.

These two words are often used interchangeably, when they are actually so different and I believe that was the source of some recent frustration I’ve been experiencing.  It was an AH-HA moment for me. 

Being very collaborative and having extremely positive experiences in team situations in the past I tend to expect and push towards creating teams.  I was operating from a team building perspective when I really should have operating in a group perspective.  What a relief it was for me to grasp that concept and reformulate my working process with those individuals.  I’m confident that the outcome will be to everyone’s benefit.

This reflection gave me pause to think about how I’m working together with people in all areas of my life and how I use these words.  Upon reflection I find I give working in a group a negative connotation.  Hmmmm, why?  Both are important, have their purpose and create wonderful outcomes.

What are the types of situations do you prefer to operate in?