In This Issue

News from Joan (right)

Virtual World – Virtual Assistance (below)

Quotes for the Month

Job Seeking Tips: Why Little Mistakes Matter in Your Job Search

Quick Links

News from Joan!

Please check out my NEW AND IMPROVED Website

Upcoming Presentations November 14, 2009 Houston
Half-Day Seminar for IAAP,
"Proving YOUR Value to Your Boss and Stakeholders"

Need a Breakout Speaker for Your Local, Regional, or National Professional Association or Business Networking Group?
As a professional speaker and former trainer, Joan will give your organization great ideas and practical tips they can implement immediately. View a list of topics and in-depth descriptions

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THANK YOU FOR YOUR REFERRALS. They are the greatest compliment you could give me. Schedule a FREE, no-obligation consultation TODAY! Call 832-458-0455 or email me: joan@bolmer.com
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A spam-free newsletter written and published by Joan Bolmer, Executive, Business, Career and Personal Coach. For more helpful ideas, visit my web site

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So do many successful executives.
How about you?

Schedule a FREE no-obligation consultation TODAY! Call 281 293-8864 or email me.

Click here to learn more about Joan’s services!

1. Virtual World – Virtual Assistance

Now that we are all living, at least a part of our lives, virtually it is making more and more since for small business owners and corporate managers to consider using Virtual Assistants. They are on call, bill by the hour or project, and are non employees, who can fill the gap that so many lay offs have left in office support.

A virtual assistant is an independent business person maintaining their own office with phone, computer, fax and excellent office support skills. Some VA’s specialize in certain fields, such as medical transcription or legal research, while others provide a broader range of services from data-entry to PowerPoint presentations for a multitude of business models. A virtual assistant does not even have to be in the same city with you. All work is accomplished via phone, email and fax.

Virtual assistants are not all equal. Ask the prospective VA to supply you with a resume and list of unique computer skills and programs in which they have expertise. You will want to interview the prospective VA by phone, as that is how you will most often communicate with them. Assess the person’s skills in relationship to your needs and test out their work on a small assignment to make sure they can provide what you want. The ability to communicate clearly and effectively with each other is key to the success of working with a VA.

The benefits of working with a Virtual Assistant are, no overhead costs like space, computer, phone, fax and headcount. You have no temp fees just the VA’s fee and no benefits costs. Best of all you use them only when you need them. If they are good they will have other clients so you will need to plan the work for them a little a head of time.

If you have a secretary or administrative assistant, you can use them for things that she or he my not have time to do like expense reports, making reservations, fixing or running data base reports, preparing PowerPoint presentations or taking on a discrete project. The person should have excellent spelling, grammar and proof reading skills. I could not get along with out one.

I highly recommend Selena Simon, Virtual Assistant
Ph: 832-607-3432 email selena@houston-virtualassistant.com

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What Clients Say about Joan

“I want to tell you know how much I appreciate your advice a few months ago. We have set limits and enforced them and it has made a BIG difference in our business.

Our productivity has increased and our client headaches have decreased. The past two months have been the most profitable in our 3-and-a-half-year company history.

It’s not a perfect world and there will always be problem clients, but now I feel we can at least minimize them. ”
--Michael Hoffman, michael@hoffmanmarketing.com

Quotes for the Month

“One of the advantages of being disorderly is that one is constantly making exciting discoveries.”
—A. A. Milne, English juvenile author (1882 - 1956)

“Nurture your mind with great thoughts; to believe in the heroic makes heroes.”
—Benjamin Disraeli, British politician (1804 - 1881)

“Experience is that marvelous thing that enables you to recognize a mistake when you make it again.”
—Franklin P. Jones

“We cannot control the evil tongues of others; but a good life enables us to disregard them.”
—Cato the Elder, Roman orator & politician (234 BC - 149 BC)

Job Seeking Tips: Why Little Mistakes Matter in Your Job Search

Abridged: USNEWS; published by The Career News, Oct. 5, 2009
Subscribe at newsletter@thecareernews.com

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The fact is, everyone makes mistakes. But when you're on a job search, a small blunder takes on far greater importance than it would in most contexts. So, why do such little things matter? Well, when you're screening applicants, you only have a small pool of information about each person. When someone makes a mistake—arrives late, says or gives a horrible answer to an interview question—it looms much larger in the whole.

Here's what can happen in a hiring manager's head when a job candidate makes a noticeable mistake: "She told me she was going to send me this writing sample Monday, but then she sent it on Tuesday without acknowledging the delay. This might be out of character for her; everyone screws up occasionally. But if I ignore this possible red flag and hire her, and then she turns out to be scattered and bad with deadlines, I'm going to be kicking myself for not having paid attention to this sign now."

So what can job seekers do when they, like all human beings, make a mistake? Two things:

1. Acknowledge it. Don't hope that if you don't mention it, it won't be noticed.
2. Say it's out of character for you. This gets at the heart of what the hiring manager is wondering; she's looking for assurance that this isn't your usual way of operating. You'd be surprised by how few people do that and how much it will matter.

If you want to power up your resume, job search, and interview skills, give me a call at 832-458-0455 or email me at joan@bolmer.com for a free consultation.

Quick Links

101 Plus Ways to Use a Virtual Assistant PDF

10 Ways to Get More Clients You Love

How to Write a Desktop Procedure and Training Manual

Favorite Resource Links

Check out Joan's paintings
and notecards.

Windy Hill