**********************************************
The Virtual Consulting Discussion List [VCDL]
http://www.TheVCF.com/vcdl.phtml
Friday, April 16, 2004 Digest #14
**********************************************
----------------------------------------------------------------
List Moderator: Michael S.DeVries DeVries@cris.com
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TABLE OF CONTENTS ...
---> [NEW] <---
#1 Happy Birthday to The Virtual Consulting Discussion
List
- Michael S. DeVries
#2 Creating a Business That Brings You Joy
- Maria Marsala
#3 Work-from-home Office Policies
- David Leonhardt
---> [CONTINUED] <---
#4 How do you Network Virtually? –
Breaking into Email Cliques
- Nancy Roebke
---> [RESOURCES] <---
#5 Looking for Good Ideas?
- Michael S. DeVries
#6 Resources for your Web Site / Page Design
/ Development
- Michael S. DeVries
#7 Resources for your e-Publishing needs
- Michael S. DeVries
#8 Contests – Win Fr^ee “Stuff”! :)
- Michael S. DeVries
#9 Discounts – Save Money! :)
- Michael S. DeVries
---> [NEWS] <---
---> [INTRO] <---
---> [HELP WANTED] <---
---> [ADMIN] <---
#10 Please Introduce Yourself
************* [NEW] ***************
#1 Happy Birthday to The Virtual Consulting Discussion
List
-----------------------------------------------------------
From: Michael S. DeVries <DeVries@cris.com>
Reply To: Virtual-Consulting@topica.com
Date sent: Sunday, April 11, 2004
Dear Fellow Virtual Consultants,
The Virtual Consulting Discussion List is celebrating
it’s first
Birthday! :)
We have certainly grown! and “covered a lot of
ground” together over the
past year, which is all Great!, so … Let’s Celebrate!
:)
Firstly, although it is customary for the one
having the Birthday to
receive the gifts …
We have decided instead to show our appreciation
for all of our VCDL
Members by giving you all FR^EE Gifts! :)
Therefore, please keep an eye on your email box
for our FR^EE Gifts to
you as our token of appreciation to you as a VCDL
Member!
Also, as part of our celebration of The Virtual
Consulting Discussion
Lists’ first Birthday …
Please check out the recent and ongoing “face
lift” we are giving the
VCDL “home page(s)” at:
http://www.thevcf.com/vcdl.phtml
You will see that, although much is still “under
construction /
continuous improvement ;)” , we now have a new
VCDL “look and feel”, new
“header logo” and “Posting quick links” for your
convenience on each
page, and … coming soon! … new archives / articles,
sponsorship, and a
Members areas / web pages there … for which we
will be providing you
with more information soon! ;) … … All for our
continuous growth,
improvement and further mutual benefits! :)
Please let us know what you think of the new
“look” and “feel” of our
new the VCDL web pages, and as always, we welcome
and appreciate all of
your feedback and recommendations for further
continuous improvements,
ok?
Please help us Celebrate the first year of The
Virtual Consulting
Discussion List, continue to grow our VCDL Membership
and continuously
improve The Virtual Consulting Discussion List
for all of our mutual
benefit, by:
1) “Telling two (or more) Friends” about and
referring your fellow
Virtual Consultants, colleagues and anyone else,
who may be interested
in learning how to work from wherever, whenever
and however, to join us
in The Virtual Consulting Discussion List, for
which you may use the
“Recommend It” link provided for your convenience
if you wish, and earn
chances to Win some Prizes at the same time too!
;) at:
http://www.thevcf.com/vcdl.phtml#RECOMMEND
If your friends join us in The Virtual Consulting
Discussion List now,
then they will also be able to receive the FR^EE
“VCDL Birthday” Gifts
to be sent to VCDL Members soon! ;)
2) Proudly display your participation in The
Virtual Consulting
Discussion List, and encourage your fellow Virtual
Consultants to join
in the discussions for everyone's mutual benefit,
by including your
“VCDL Member” links and/or the button (HTML) like
that provided and you
may see at:
http://www.thevcf.com/vcdl.phtml#PROUDMEMBER
on any / all of your web page(s).
3) Helping us “look and plan forward” for the
next year of The VCDL and
please provide us with any and all feedback, recommendations
for
improvement, etc. you may be willing and able
to share with us for our
further and continuous improvement of The Virtual
Consulting Discussion
List, including:
a) What would you like to see more of in The
Virtual Consulting
Discussion List?
i) Are there any Topics that we have not yet,
but which you
would like to see addressed in The Virtual Consulting
Discussion List?
b) What types of articles and Topics of discussion
do you find most
interesting and helpful?
c) What would you like to see less of in The Virtual
Consulting
Discussion List?
d) Is the current average length of The Virtual
Consulting
Discussion List:
i) Too long?
ii)Too short?
iii)Just right?
e) Is the publication frequency of The Virtual
Consulting
Discussion List:
i)Too often?
ii)Not often enough?
iii)Just right?
f) What may we do better to increase the Membership
of The Virtual
Consulting Discussion List?
g) What may we do better to increase your / Member
participation in
The Virtual Consulting Discussion List?
h) What other recommendations and/or suggestions
for improving The
Virtual Consulting Discussion List do you have?
Together we may continue to grow and improve
The Virtual Consulting
Discussion List for all of our benefit and have
even more to Celebrate
on The VCDL’s next Birthday! ;)
Thank you all again for all of your participation
and help in making the
first year of The Virtual Consulting Discussion
List a Great One for all
of us! :)
Your "Virtual" Moderator,
- Michael S. DeVries
-----------------------------------------------------------
#2 Creating a Business That Brings You Joy
-----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Sat, 27 Mar 2004 23:46:53 -0800
From: "Maria Marsala, America's Business
Coach-Consultant"
<news@coachmaria.com>
Reply To: Virtual-Consulting@topica.com
Creating a Business That Brings You Joy
I bet that even established businesses can pick
up some
"tools" from the article below!
Create a business that your heart desires, and
have fun,
too!
Imagine that you've just won the lottery and
in order to
receive your check, you must have a full time
job. What
would you be doing? Would it be what you are doing
now? If
not, ask yourself why. Do you just need to add
a little fun
to your career or business, or are you not happy
with your
current position and feel ready to go for what
you REALLY
want to do?
Here are some ideas on how you can make the most
of where
you are, or take the steps to get to where you
want to be.
--Choose a career that "makes your heart
smile." It's your
desire level and commitment that will keep you
going during
any rough times.
--Make sure that your end product - your business
- has a
market. You need people who need your product
and will
pay for it, too.
--Know what helps you maintain your integrity
-- your top 5
values, needs and wants. Base your decisions on
what's
important to you. Tony Robbins' book, "Awaken
The Giant
Within" has an excellent chapter on values.
You'll find the
book at http://www.coachmaria.com/books/
Values, needs
and wants are also part of the "101 Things
To Work On With
Your Coach", too. Download the report, free,
at
http://www.coachmaria.com/ebooks/
--Be prepared financially when transitioning
into your
business by making sure that you have a reserve
of money in
the bank or another income.
--Even with the best planning strategies, things
do occur
that end up costing us more money than we had
planned to
spend.
--Build a strong support system, including a
business and
volunteer network as well as friends. Join a success
group
or a networking group, and hire a coach or consultant
to
assist you in your business evolution.
--Recognize your strengths and work from them.
Acknowledge
your weaknesses and failures, life's way of providing
feedback, and grow from them. Read The E-Myth
Revisited by
Michael Gerber... it's a "must have"
business book.
--Create a strong business foundation: a business
plan,
marketing plan, pricing packages, elevator speech,
ideal
client profile, and operations manual. Follow
them. Create
forms and processes to keep you on track, etc.
Moreover,
choose to be organized and consistent-- Your clients
and
employees will appreciate it!
--Develop your boundaries and standards. They
affect your
business too!
--There are some wonderful Top Ten Lists on both
topics at
http://www.topten.org
When business is no longer fun, it's time to
reassess what
you're doing. Even better, step back and assess
your "fun
quotient" every six months. Hey-- maybe it's
time now!
© 2004 Business Coach-Trainer-Consultant. Bringing
Wall
Street expertise to women-owned service businesses.
Helping
you grow a business that is a heartfelt expression
of the
gifts you've been given. Learn how you can create
your most
prosperous life, work at your ideal business,
and watch your
bank reserves grow! Join "Elevating Your
Business!" now at
http://www.CoachMaria.com
-----------------------------------------------------------
#3 Work-from-home Office Policies
-----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Wed, 17 Mar 2004 22:05:52 -0500
From: "David Leonhardt" <amabaie@phastnet.com>
Reply To: Virtual-Consulting@topica.com
Work-from-home Office Policies
By David Leonhardt
Every office needs office policies, if for no
other reason to keep
employees from scratching each others' eyes out
or "borrowing"
company equipment. The home office is no exception.
If you are wondering why somebody barricaded
alone in his basement
needs a policy to keep him from stealing his own
office equipment, you
have obviously never sat alone in your basement
23 hours a day, day
after day, in front of a computer screen that
freezes every now and
then just out of sadistic spite.
Policies designed to keep employees from scratching
each others' eyes
out are even more important in a home office.
In a corporate setting,
spiteful employees go home at night and forget
the objects of their
loathing behind. But when one detests oneself,
office politics often
gets too personal to just forget. And that pest
even follows you
into the shower...when you take one, that is.
Here are a few guidelines you can use to formulate
practical home
office policies, just in case you get the hankering
to live the
glamorous life of the work-from-home hermit.
Every office has rules against sexual harassment.
Due to legal
requirements, you must adopt a zero tolerance
policy for such
insensitive advances. If your spouse complains
about such a policy,
seek legal council. Divorce can be ugly.
Office romance is another story. Most companies
permit office
romances, as long as there is not an actual office
involved. In the
home office, romance is encouraged, mostly to
avoid the legal
repercussions mentioned above.
Generally, spouses do not frown on home office
affairs, either. In
fact, they usually approve such morale-building
activities...as long
as this function is not outsourced.
Inventory control in the home office is key.
Large companies have
policies like: "It is forbidden to remove
paper fastening devices from
company premises, except within envelopes being
disseminated through
official company channels."
Home office inventory control should focus instead
on "consumables".
Here is recommended wording for your policy: "Stop
hoarding the
cupcakes. Leave them in the kitchen."
In major corporations, absenteeism is a serious
problem. Most
companies have policies against calling in sick
every day. The
reverse is true in home offices, where employee
omnipresence has
been proven to cause psychological trauma in overworked
computer
keyboards.
Most companies have policies on showing up late
for work. Most
work-from-home hermits do not know what this means.
No policy
required.
Many large employers encourage car pooling. Please
resist the
temptation to car pool to your home office. The
SUV might have a
great sound system, but it just won't fit through
the dining room
door.
Pets are not permitted in most office settings.
In your home office,
roaming animals are an important customer service
feature: "Yes, I
agree. Your report should claim that profits are
swollen, not stolen.
Must've been that darn cat frolicking on the keyboard
again."
Many companies expressly forbid employees from
viewing objectionable
content on the Internet. Seasoned work-from-home
hermits know that
ALL content on the Internet is objectionable,
especially after 23
hours in front of the computer screen.
Confidentiality is sacred with large employers.
Employees are
forbidden to divulge information they see pass
over their desks. In
the home-office, policies are required to prevent
hermits from
divulging what they see when they pass out under
the desk. Mostly
dust bunnies. My wife enforces this policy.
I was asked recently by a survey company if my
business is wheel-chair
accessible. I responded, "My business is
a website. Why would you
want to roll a wheelchair over my website?"
Maybe I need a policy on
that.
A final word on office gossip. Don't. If gossip
in the home office
gets out of control, whose feelings are going
to get hurt? Right!
And who else's? Right again. If self-inflicted
humiliation is not
for you, maybe you are more cut out for a job
that involves policies
against "removing paper fastening devices
from the premises".
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
David Leonhardt writes the Happy Guy humor column:
http://www.thehappyguy.com/positive-thinking-free-ezine.html
Read past columns at:
http://www.thehappyguy.com/humor-articles.html
.
He also wrote Inspiration & Motivation To
Go
http://www.thehappyguy.com/l/daily-motivation-inspiration.php
and Climb Your Stairway to Heaven: the 9 habits
of maximum
happiness:
http://www.thehappyguy.com/happiness-self-help-book.html
Please note: this is the third in a series. You
can find the other
two posted at: http://www.thehappyguy.com/hermit.html
http://www.thehappyguy.com/pajamas.html
[Now a word from one of our Sponsors ...
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************* [CONTINUED] ***************
#4 How do you Network Virtually? -
Breaking into Email Cliques
-----------------------------------------------------------
From: Nancy Roebke [execdirector@profnet.org]
Reply To: Virtual-Consulting@topica.com
Date sent: Sunday, April 11, 2004
Breaking into Email Cliques
Nancy Roebke mailto:execdirector@profnet.org
Networking in public forums has it's challenges
with how to
get into the small groups that tend to form within
the large
group. One of the best ways is to have someone
help you with
introductions. What do you do when the same thing
happens to
you on a list where there is no in-person contact
and no
"gatekeeper" to make a way for you?
Here's what happened to me on the very first
list I joined with
the very first post I made. I posted to a list
on a controversial
topic that had come up. My post reflected very
personal
material and involved using a member of my family
as an
example of why I felt the way I did. I got a response
back from
one member of the list saying I should run quickly
from my
opinions and that the member of my family was
a "lunatic" for
expressing the same sentiments. This response
was posted to
the list and not to me privately. I was embarrassed,
surprised,
humiliated, confused- you name it, I felt it.
That was seven months ago. I am now considered
one of the
"old" list members, my name is recognized
by most list
participants, I have gotten business and right
now sit on the
Board for a major project that is underway on
that list. I had all
I could do when that post came out seven months
ago, not to
walk away from that list and all other lists because
of that one
response.
How did the change occur? Here are the steps
I took to get
from that post to reaping the benefits of list
participation:
1. I sent a private post to the sender of the
offending post. She
never responded.
2. I received several private posts about how
unkind the post
from the other member was and I responded with
"Thank You"'s
to all of them. In those posts, I asked questions
about the
businesses of the people sending me these kind
posts and
began to build relationships with them.
3. I never posted a rebuttal publicly on the
list. Many people
did, and I also would respond privately to them
and ask about
their business.
4. I waited a while.. probably a month or two
before posting
again, and this time I picked a topic that I knew
a lot about and
positioned myself as the expert in that field.
I got a few
responses and always posted responses publicly
that would
help THE GROUP MEMBERS.
5. During my waiting period I sent Virtual Postcards
to
everyone who introduced themselves, welcoming
them to the
group and offering myself to them as a friendly
ear if they
needed it. In these postcards, I also asked for
info about their
businesses. This was one of THE best relationship-building
tools I used.
6. I would post information I had found on the
Internet that
might be of interest to the group. I also posted
a few humorous
posts. These always got me private responses that
I would also
answer in the manner above. These mass, non-specific,
non-
threatening posts were probably what started my
name
recognition within the group.
7. I read posts from other members and when their
opinions or
presentations mirrored my own, I would send a
private
response of encouragement to them. I was building
a circle of
like-minded individuals . These individuals also
only posted to
the list with similar information to mine. I noticed
that over
time as I read their posts.
8. From this work, I was invited to join the
Board of a
significant project underway from this list. This
was a direct
result of the responses I made to the like-minded
members of
the group.
9. I did not get involved in any controversy
or flaming on the
list - not even to make an "enough is enough"
post about it,
even when I felt that way.
10 To this day, I only post to the list with
general info or on a
topic I know a lot about. The rewards from the
list from my
behind-the-scenes work more than make up for the
rude
welcome I received from one member.
The answer to the challenge is in the relationship-building
steps that are taken. A list has a lot of appeal
because of the
volume of people you have exposure to. But the
chances of
building relationships with all those people are
slim and none.
The chances of building relationships with a person,
one
person at a time are very real, and well worth
the effort it takes
to do so.
Nancy Roebke, is the Executive Director Profnet,
Inc., a
professional business leads generation corporation.
We bring
business professionals together in a non-competitive
environment to help each other make more money.
Visit
http://www.profnet.org
Copyright 1998 Nancy Roebke
[In the next VCDL Digest we will learn more from
Nancy on Virtual
Networking regarding “How [NOT] to Alienate Your
On-Line Client Base In
One Easy Step”.
To learn “tons” more about Networking both online
and offline …
We Highly Recommend! That you subscribe to Nancy’s
NetworkInk networking
newsletter by emailing to: networkink@aweber.com
]
*************** [RESOURCES] ****************
#5 Looking for Good Ideas?
-----------------------------------------------------------
From: Michael S. DeVries <DeVries@cris.com>
Reply To: Virtual-Consulting@topica.com
Date sent: Tuesday, April 12, 2004
Dear Fellow Virtual Consultants,
Are you looking for some Good Ideas for products
and/or services that
you may develop, offer and sell?
Have you got some Great Ideas to share and/or
for which you are looking
for help with building upon, developing, offering
and/or selling?
To help you all find, share, and develop all
of your Great Ideas for
products / services that you may wish to develop,
offer and sell
yourself and/or share with others …
We have created and found several forums dedicated
to these purposes for
you, which you may find and access at:
http://www.thevcf.com/vccenter.phtml#IDEAS
Please let us know if you know of any other sources
of Good Ideas, which
we may also share with your fellow Virtual Consultants
for everyone’s
benefit, ok?
We hope this all helps everyone realize the maximum
benefit from all
these Great Ideas! :)
Your "Virtual" Moderator,
- Michael S. DeVries
-----------------------------------------------------------
#6 Resources for your Web Site / Page Design /
Development
-----------------------------------------------------------
From: Michael S. DeVries <DeVries@cris.com>
Reply To: Virtual-Consulting@topica.com
Date sent: Tuesday, April 12, 2004
Dear Fellow Virtual Consultants,
We expect that many of you may have your own
web site(s) / page(s)
and/or may provide various web design development
and/or graphic arts
services to your clients, right?
Therefore, in hopes of helping you perform all
of your web design
development and/or graphic arts tasks as efficiently
and effectively as
possible, we have collected a number of resources
and tools within The
Virtual Consultants’ Resource Center, available
at / via the links
included below, that we hope you will find helpful
and beneficial for
you! :)
Web Templates may often provide you with a quick
“jump start”, at least
a good starting point and/or common “look and
feel” for your web
development. We have collected several sources
for web templates, some
of which offer FR^EE web templates, for you via
the link below:
http://www.thevcf.com/vccenter.phtml#TEMPLATES
If you then want to further “jazz up” your web
pages with some nice
graphics and/or photos, we have collected a number
of resources where
you may find all kinds of graphics, clip art,
photos, etc. many for
Fr^ee for you! :)
Please find graphics and clip art at:
http://www.thevcf.com/vccenter.phtml#GRAPHIC
And photos at:
http://www.thevcf.com/vccenter.phtml#PHOTO
Finally, if you also want some tools to further
manipulate and/or
customize your graphics and/or photos to suite
your specific needs for
your web pages, we have also collected a number
of these software tools
for you at:
http://www.thevcf.com/vccenter.phtml#GRAPHICSW
Please share with us all any additional web design
/ development
resources and tools, including any additional
sources for good graphics,
photos, and graphic arts tools, that you would
like to see included in
any of these categories for all of our benefit,
ok?
We hope this all helps you design and develop
all of your web sites and
pages as efficiently and effectively as possible!
:)
Your "Virtual" Moderator,
- Michael S. DeVries
-----------------------------------------------------------
#7 Resources for your e-Publishing needs
-----------------------------------------------------------
From: Michael S. DeVries <DeVries@cris.com>
Reply To: Virtual-Consulting@topica.com
Date sent: Tuesday, April 12, 2004
Dear Fellow Virtual Consultants,
If you currently and/or wish to publish and/or
distribute any kinds of
your electronic documents as PDF files, you may
find some of the
resources and tools we have collected for you
for these purposes at:
http://www.thevcf.com/vccenter.phtml#PUBLISH
And at:
http://www.thevcf.com/vccenter.phtml#DOCUMENT
Please let us know if you are aware of any additional
e-Publishing
resources and tools which we may include herein
and share with your
fellow Virtual Consultants for all of our benefit,
ok?
We hope this all helps you publish and distribute
your electronic
documents as efficiently and effectively as possible!
:)
Your "Virtual" Moderator,
- Michael S. DeVries
-----------------------------------------------------------
#8 Contests – Win Fr^ee “Stuff”! :)
-----------------------------------------------------------
From: Michael S. DeVries <DeVries@cris.com>
Reply To: Virtual-Consulting@topica.com
Date sent: Tuesday, April 12, 2004
Dear Fellow Virtual Consultants,
Do you like to Win Fr^ee “stuff”?
Well, who doesn’t?! ;)
Although there are all kinds of contests where
you can win “stuff” …
We have found and collected several contests at:
http://www.thevcf.com/vccenter.phtml#CONTESTS
Where you may actually win valuable prizes that
may be of interest to
Virtual Consultants! :)
Have Fun! And Best of Luck! :)
from Your "Virtual" Moderator,
- Michael S. DeVries
-----------------------------------------------------------
#9 Discounts – Save Money! :)
-----------------------------------------------------------
From: Michael S. DeVries <DeVries@cris.com>
Reply To: Virtual-Consulting@topica.com
Date sent: Tuesday, April 12, 2004
Dear Fellow Virtual Consultants,
The next best thing to getting “stuff” for Fr^ee
is getting the things
you want and/or need at a significant discount!
:) Right?
Therefore, in order to further help you Save
as much Money as possible
on all the things you want and need for your Virtual
Consulting business
and/or personally …
We are collecting links to sources of significant
discounts for a wide
variety of useful products and services at:
http://www.thevcf.com/vccenter.phtml#DISCOUNTS
Please help your fellow Virtual Consultants Save
even more Money by
sharing any additional discount sources of which
you may be aware and
feel would be good for all of us to include herein,
ok?
We hope this all helps you all Save as much Money
as possible on all of
your purchases!
Your "Virtual" Moderator,
- Michael S. DeVries
************* [ADMIN] ***************
#10 Please Introduce Yourself
-----------------------------------------------------------
From: Michael S. DeVries <DeVr-@cris.com>;
Reply To: Virtual-Consulting@topica.com
Date sent: Sunday, April 11, 2004
Iff you are a new Member / Subscriber to The
Virtual Consulting
Discussion List or you have yet to do so, then
…
Please introduce yourself to our Virtual Consulting
community.
Please (briefly) share with us:
1) Your Name
2) Your Company Name / Consulting Firm Affiliations
3) The types of (virtual) consulting / professional
services which
you offer, specialize in and/or have experience
4) Any industries in which you specialize
5) What benefits you would like to realize from
your participation
in The Virtual Consulting Discussion List
Please see previous VCDL Digests for example
Introductions from some of
your fellow VCDL Members and at:
http://lists.topica.com/lists/Virtual-Consulting/read/message.html?mid=1712627301&sort=d&start=0
For a sample Introduction for Your "Virtual"
Moderator!
This is your best opportunity to "plug"
yourself and your business /
consulting firm and/or credentials (within reasonable
limits), so ...
Take advantage of this prime opportunity to let
other Virtual
Consultants know about you and your business!
We look forward to "Meeting" you and
"Talking" with you virtually!
Your "Virtual" Moderator,
- Michael S. DeVries
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at:
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any / all of The VCF's Products and Services!
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