The Gritty Virtual Assistant

Gritty Business Buzz--Coming to You Weekly

Gritty Business Buzz, the ezine my Virtual Assistant organization publishes has gone from monthly to a weekly format!

Our publication is produced by our member Virtual Assistants specially for the gritty, resourceful, fiercely determined small business owners and independent professionals they serve--YOU!

Each week is full of advice, tips, reviews, news and interviews on how to more efficiently manage your business, increase profits, reduce stress, and learn about the best tools for getting things done.

If you haven't yet, go subscribe right now: http://www.virtualassistantnetworking.com/subscribe.htm

Did I mention it was free? Yup, no excuse not to subscribe.

Idea for All You Magazine Publishers

... and anyone else who offers subscription-based products and services.

I want to give a couple clients magazine subscriptions for Christmas, and an idea occured to me.

I think it would be really neat if my subscription gift to a client could be personalized in some basic, simple way so that when the client gets each month's issue, they would be reminded that it was my gift to them.

Nothing fancy--maybe just some additional imprinting that says something like "Your gift from Danielle at The Relief." Or maybe even "From Danielle at The Relief--thanks for being a terrific client!"

What do you think?

C'est la Vie

Well, I had my Christmas cards all done and ready to be mailed by December 1 this year. I was really excited about it, too.

Usually I don't like sending cards. Nine times out of 10, they just go in the garbage anyway once the holidays are over. It seems so wasteful to me.

This year for some reason, I was inspired to do the card thing again. But instead of just sending a card, I wanted to include something kind of fun that might stick around longer so I found some cute little sparkly ornaments that matched my cards and fit perfectly inside.

And I was oh so pleased with my cleverness and originality--until I began hearing from just about every single person they reached that the ornament arrived in broken bits. And what's irritating is that I went to the post office and asked them specifically if they would be okay to mail the way I had, and was given the thumbs-up. Grrrr.

What a bummer.

Well, it's the thought that counts, right?

End to Net Neutrality?

You can help save the Internet!

Please take a moment to invite your friends and colleagues to sign MoveOn.org's petition here: http://civic.moveon.org/save_the_internet/

Protecting Network Neutrality affects nearly everyone--online activists, Google users, Ipod listeners, work-at-home parents, small businesses, economic innovators, and others.

Together, we can STOP Congress from selling out the interests of the public!

You can also forward the sample message below to your friends.

Spreading the word is critical, but please only pass this message along to those who know you--spam hurts our campaign.

Subject: Congress is selling out the Internet

Hi, _____,

Do you buy books online, use Google, or download to an iPod? Everything we do online will be hurt if Congress passes a radical law next week that gives giant corporations more control over what we do and see on the Internet.

Internet providers like AT&T are lobbying Congress hard to gut Network Neutrality--the Internet's First Amendment and the key to Internet freedom. Net Neutrality prevents AT&T from choosing which websites open most easily for you based on which site pays AT&T more. BarnesandNoble.com doesn't have to outbid Amazon for the right to work properly on your computer.

If Net Neutrality is gutted, many sites--including Google, eBay, and iTunes--must either pay protection money to companies like AT&T or risk having their websites process slowly. That why these high-tech pioneers, plus diverse groups ranging from MoveOn to Gun Owners of America, are opposing Congress' effort to gut Internet freedom.

You can do your part today--can you sign this petition telling your member of Congress to preserve Internet freedom? Click here:

http://www.civic.moveon.org/save_the_internet

I signed this petition, along with 250,000 others so far. This petition will be delivered to Congress before the House of Representatives votes next week. When you sign, you'll be kept informed of the next steps we can take to keep the heat on Congress.

Snopes.com, which monitors various causes that circulate on the Internet, explained:

Simply put, network neutrality means that no web site's traffic has precedence over any other's... Whether a user searches for recipes using Google, reads an article on snopes.com, or looks at a friend's MySpace profile, all of that data is treated equally and delivered from the originating web site to the user's web browser with the same priority. In recent months, however, some of the telephone and cable companies that control the telecommunications networks over which Internet data flows have floated the idea of creating the electronic equivalent of a paid carpool lane.

If companies like AT&T have their way, Web sites ranging from Google to eBay to iTunes either pay protection money to get into the "fast lane" or risk opening slowly on your computer. We can't let the Internet--this incredible medium which has been such a revolutionary force for democratic participation, economic innovation, and free speech--become captive to large corporations.

Politicians don't think we are paying attention to this issue. Together, we do care about preserving the free and open Internet.

Please sign this petition letting your member of Congress know you support preserving Internet freedom. Click here:

http://www.civic.moveon.org/save_the_internet

What is an Entrepreneur?

As I read blogs and participate in the various online networking forums I belong to, I see this question over and over again.

My answer? Who cares?!

If you want to have more control the quality of your life, and your financial future--Just do it! as Nike says.

I don't mean to say that you don't have to be smart, plan well and be prepared for a lot of hard work, dedication and perservance ahead.

But, jeez, Louise! Don't sit and agonize over whether you are an entrepreneur or not--what a complete waste of time and energy.

Put those thought processes to work on actually DOING something and go for your dreams!

Labels: Business

Why You Should Care About Network Neutrality

Excellent article on Slate.com by Tim Wu, professor at Columbia Law School and co-author of Who Controls the Internet?

http://www.slate.com/id/2140850/

Congress is Selling Out Our Internet

Do you buy books online, use Google, or download to an Ipod? These activities will be hurt if Congress passes a radical law that gives giant corporations more control over the Internet.

Internet providers like AT&T and Verizon are lobbying Congress hard to gut Network Neutrality, the Internet's First Amendment. Net Neutrality prevents AT&T from choosing which websites open most easily for you based on which site pays AT&T more. Amazon.com doesn't have to outbid Barnes & Noble for the right to work more properly on your computer.

Politicians don't think we are paying attention to this issue. Many of them take campaign checks from big telecom companies, and are on the verge of selling out to people like AT&T's CEO, who openly says, "The internet can't be free."

The free and open Internet is under seige--can you sign this petition letting your member of Congress know you support preserving Network Neutrality? Click here: http://www.civic.moveon.org/save_the_internet

A list of all the ways you might be affected by Net Neutrality is located on the bottom of this link: http://civic.moveon.org/alerts/savetheinternet.html

Be sure to pass this on. Thanks!

Announcing: The Do-It-Yourself-Micropreneur

I'm pleased to introduce a fabulous new program, the Do-It-Yourself-Micropreneur, which is the brainchild of my equally fabulous strategic partner, Angee Robertson.

Angee and I are huge believers in systemizing, especially as articulated in Michael E. Gerber’s “The E-Myth Revisited.” Angee’s program brilliantly takes this philosophy to another level for the small business owner - or micropreneur.

Micropreneurs easily lose themselves in the day-to-day operations of their business, which often pulls them out of the revenue-generation game of networking and marketing.

Now, the sharp ones hire a Virtual Assistant. They understand the smartness of handing the administrative work off to someone who specializes in that kind of work, and often is more skilled at it.

But even the savviest micropreneur can use some help when it comes to being a better systemizer, collaborator and delegator, all for the benefit of their business success. Angee’s program steps in to address that area, helping the micropreneur learn to plan and organize their business better while making optimum use of their help resources.

This exciting new program starts January 17, 2006, but enrollment is limited to 10, so I wanted to share it with my subscribers so they could get first dibs on reservations.

Visit Do-It-Yourself-Micropreneur for more information.