The Sounding Board

As we get a little closer to the target launch date for the Virtually Yours Business 101 Series, I thought it was time to share just a little bit with everyone. The Business 101 Series is intended for die-hard DIYer solo professionals. As I’ve mentioned before here on the Sounding Board, there are lots of us out there who either by choice or necessity, fall into the DIY category of online businesses. Whether you just want to learn a little more about building your own web presence, or simply don’t have the budget to turn those tasks over just yet, being a DIYer definitely means you have your work cut out for you. (Unless, of course, you have knowledge of html, xhtml, css, php, etc. But if you had all that, you probably wouldn’t be here reading this, would you?)

This week I’ll be featuring a daily overview of the Business 101 Series. Each day we’ll lightly touch on the topics and tasks to be covered in the Series. I’ll devote one entire day of blog posting to specifically address each aspect of getting started on building your web presence. Never fear though - this isn’t high school. You won’t be graded. You won’t be judged. And I’ll try not to put you to sleep. We’ll just talk about what you’ll need in order to stumble through the DIY process. No geek-speak translation required. I promise!

Are you ready? Stay tuned…tomorrow I’ll post probably the most important thing I’ve learned about getting your business out there in cyberspace…where and how to start so you can make sure all your hard work doesn’t go unnoticed.

This week’s Link Love goes out to the folks over at Business Know-How. Back when I first opened my virtual doors, I signed up for their enewsletter. Since then, I’ve used information on their site numerous times when researching article topics, digging up reference material for those articles, or just to gain a slightly different perspective on various aspects of my business.

If you visit their site or sign up for their enewsletter, don’t let all the cheesy & crowded advertisements get in the way of the great content within their site & articles. More than once I’ve had an article show up in my inbox that helped spark a great idea for an article of my own, or remind me of one of those pesky ‘need to do’s’ I keep letting slide in my business (like updating my business plan or marketing strategy.) Take a few minutes to peruse the site and see what piques your interest. Most of the articles and white papers on the site are easy, quick reads. If they do nothing else, they just might spark a little inspiration!

Peace of mind. What a reassuring feeling to know that no matter what - you’re covered, right? If your home were to be destroyed by fire, you’ve got insurance for that. If you were involved in a car accident tomorrow, you’ve got insurance coverage for that. If (Heaven forbid) something were to happen to you, you have life insurance to help your family. Yes, that kind of peace of mind really does help you sleep at night, doesn’t it?

But what about other, less thought about aspects of your work and play? Do you have peace of mind for the smaller headaches of life? How about those of us who rely heavily on computers for our livelihoods? As a Virtual Assistant, my entire business depends on my computer and my network reliability. This is a beautiful thing in that it allows me the freedom of location independence. I can work from anywhere, at any time, provided of course that my computer and my network system are dependable. What would I do if my system suddenly crashed, or my network had critical issues I didn’t know how to manage? What would happen to my business without my computer? I’m no technician, by any means. (Although I do know more than the average joe.)

Luckily, I’ve found options to help me keep my network and my computer running in tip-top shape. As a firm believer in delegating tasks to the best skilled people so that I don’t have to worry about it, I’ve opted to contract my computer & network maintenance to a third party. It’s one less thing I have to worry about, so I have peace of mind when it comes to my business hardware. If something goes wrong, I don’t have to sweat it. I have it covered via a third party contractor whose sole purpose for being is to make sure my system isn’t a headache for me or for my clients.

There are a plethora of companies out there who will take over routine system maintenance remotely, offer options to walk you through troubleshooting when needed, or even come to your home or business to fix computer glitches and issues on-site. Some companies, like Fast-teks even offer same-day service at your location, depending on the service plan you choose. While not all companies offer service plans for both residential and business customers, national firms such as Fast-teks generally do. Here’s a little blurb from Fast-teks’ literature:

“Business and Residential Services: Fast-teks business services are designed with small and mid size businesses in mind. Our certified technicians provide fast, affordable business computer service and technical computer help - offering same day, weekend and evening appointments.

Learn more about our business services: http://www.fastteks.com/business.php ”  

If you’re a solo professional who depends on your computer and network the way I do, don’t you deserve a little peace of mind? Isn’t your business worth a little expense to prevent huge headaches later? Believe me, I speak from experience when I say it only takes one system crash for you to really appreciate the benefit of having help close at hand. (Ask me about the system crash I endured just a few short days before a huge virtual event I was helping to put together! Weeks worth of emails and document drafts for the event…gone in seconds, with only a couple of days to rebuild it all. It wasn’t a pretty sight!) Seriously, do yourself a favor…find a good, reliable, experienced company to manage routine maintenance for you. It’s worth every penny!

(And by the way…for those of you interested…Fast-teks also discusses their franchise opportunity here.)