Do you remember when the little ding and the automated voice saying “You’ve got mail!” made you run expectantly to your computer to see who near and dear to you was dropping you a note?

Wow, are those days ever gone! Back in the day, not that long ago, the e-mail was probably from a dear friend that I couldn’t wait to hear from. Today e-mail can be from a whole host of strangers bombarding me with everything from get rich quick schemes to advertising, in other words SPAM.

E-mail today is either a god-send or can be the bane of my existence. Pretty much whichever I consider it to be, it is an undisputedly highly important form of communication in today’s work world. What VA worth their salt could function without it?

Don’t get me wrong I love getting e-mail as it is the most important form of communication in my VA business. I know I could not do the virtual work that I do without it. E-mail keeps me in touch with other members of my team and my clients. If I manage it right, it is a wonderful form of communication that makes my work easier and more efficient.

E-mail etiquette is a pet peeve of mine. Your e-mail is the first impression someone gets about you and your business; in a virtual world maybe the only impression they will get of you.  My thoughts are “The better the e-mail is written the better the impression you make.” I believe there is e-mail etiquette to be followed by both the sender and the receiver. It is important to remember your audience when composing your e-mails. I like to keep business e-mails professional but let my personality shine through in notes of a personal nature to friends and family, yes, I have even been known to add a smiley face or two.

I am a bit of a stickler for correct spelling and grammar. Spelling and grammar checks can be done right on your computer, making it very easy to catch most errors. I really appreciate a clearly defined subject line that gives me all of the information that the e-mail will be about, as well as, making it easier to find when I have to refer back to it at a later date. Some other items that I consider when I am writing an e-mail are: I only include one topic per e-mail unless I am going to use bullet points or numbering to set ideas apart for the ease of the reader, I always draw attention to attachments so the reader will not miss them, I like to use simple, direct language and to stay away from jargon or abbreviations that readers may not be familiar with and I proof read the e-mail before I send it (hopefully, catching any errors). These tips make it easier for me to read e-mails when I am on the receiving end so I hope those who receive mine feel the same way.

As a recipient and reader of an e-mail I feel it is important to give the e-mail the attention it deserves, much as I would if the sender were speaking to me personally. After all, the sender thought the information was important enough to take the time to compose it and send it to me. I like to carefully read the e-mail message to get the full meaning and gather all of the information that is delivered in it. I try to respond to all of the points that have been included, if I am asked to respond, in a timely manner. If I have not been asked to respond I still like to send a quick note back to let the sender know that I have received and read their e-mail.

Apart from the mechanics of e-mail writing, I think it is very important to ensure that the message and tone intended for the reader is the message and tone that they receive. It is sometimes very hard to convey the tone you are intending. With careful choice of wording you can set the mood of the message; you would not want to sound like you are being flip about a serious subject, or conversely, that you are angry when you are in fact not. I find re-reading my message will help me to make sure the tone I want to set is the tone that I have achieved. It is so much easier to take a moment when writing the e-mail to set the tone than it is to have to go back and explain myself after it may have been mistakenly misinterpreted.

Well, after sharing all these thoughts with you, happy e-mailing!

Ding! “You’ve got Mail” That’s my cue! I am back to communicating in a virtual world!

Working from home or a virtual office is more viable than ever. Technology has paved the way for the non-traditional workplace.  Anyone can work just about anywhere providing they have the strategies to make it work.   The recent statistics speak to this in volumes. 

Although working from home has its distinct advantages as the 3.6 million home workers can most likely attest to, this work environment requires not only the technology to make it happen, it also requires the mindset to ensure its success.

The virtual office mindset incorporates the external elements, the tech savvy knowledge and know-how to effectively work in a virtual environment.  Just as important, it is also about the internal elements all virtual office workers need in order to be successful. 

The internal elements are those items that keep us happy, healthy, motivated, and productive.  Without them, no amount of high-tech equipment or computer knowledge will make your work from home journey a success.

One such internal element is the need for work-life balance.  Unlike corporate employees who in most cases have a set routine, work starts at 9:00am and ends at 5:00pm when they leave the office, this is not so for those working from home.  The line often becomes blurred.

According to the Canadian Social Trends (Dec. 7, 2010) report, data collected from the General Social Survey shows that corporate employees who work at home do not have a greater sense of balance between job and home life.  It was noted that those individuals who worked at home more than 10 hours per week in 2008, were more likely to be dissatisfied with work-life balance then those individuals who had never worked from home .  54% of those individuals who were dissatisfied with their work-life balance attributed their dissatisfaction to spending too much time working.

As these numbers show, working from home has its real challenges. It is much too easy for a virtual office worker to over commit their time and energy if there is no distinct separation between the work and the home.   It’s imperative for those working from home to set clear boundaries with others and themselves so it’s understood when work begins and when work ends.   Setting boundaries and being disciplined to uphold them is one step of many needed to achieve the work-life balance that is necessary for a low stress, healthy work at home environment.

Another challenge virtual office workers face is the isolation factor. Although some individuals who work from home still have face to face contact with others, especially if they are a corporate employee working from home on a part time basis,  those who are self-employed and set up shop at home may have minimal or no contact at all with those outside the home.  With communication tools such as email, Voice over IP and web conferences, an individual has numerous methods of communicating and conducting business without ever having to leave their home. While some personality types may handle being alone without difficulty, someone who is an extrovert and needs that personal contact may feel the sting of isolation much more.

For these individuals it’s important to incorporate strategies into their daily or weekly routine to help combat the feelings of isolation which can ultimately lead to lack of motivation, loneliness and in extreme cases depression.   Making an extra effort to schedule outings and personal contact on a regular basis will help combat feelings of isolation and help promote good mental and physical health.

Although the dream of working from home is becoming very much a reality for the Canadian work force, in order to succeed you have to have the complete mindset, the virtual office mindset.  Being aware of the external and internal elements needed in order to be successful in a virtual work environment will ensure your virtual office dream doesn’t turn into a very real nightmare.

 So… here we are the year 2011!  What are your plans for this year?

 Let me tell you what 2011 represents to me — doing all the things I’ve always wanted to do but never had the time, courage or money to pull it off.   Yep, I guess we could call it working on my “Bucket List”. 

The Bucket List contains all those things that you have the upmost desire to do and experience before…well you’re around to do them anymore.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m not in a subtle way letting you know that I’m on death’s door.  Not even close, I’ve simply started realizing that there is so much more to experience out there and up until this point I have continually made excuses for not doing them. 

For instance, for those of you who know me well, you probably know I love to write.  But did you know that writing a fiction novel is at the top of my bucket list?  One of those things I dream of doing.   Yes, I’ve written books, which I am very proud of, but they are books that I’ve written drawing from my professional experience.  They are not books that I have written based solely on my imagination.  

Trust me, I am no JK Rowling, but I do have a story in me and this is the year that I plan to hone in on that story.   Of course I don’t want to walk into this blindly, so I’m taking a few writing courses to help me through the process.  Another item on my bucket list. 

 Two down, another 20 or so to go.  I know I most likely will not get through the list this year, but what’s important for me is I’m finally taking the steps to “tick” a few off that list. 

And what a better time to start than 2011.   Why not join me?

I am truly impressed with my newest printer purchase. The Lexmark Platinum Pro 905. After diligently researching and reading reviews I decided to step out of my comfort zone and try a new brand; sort of a time to do away with the old and move on to the new.

In days gone by 4 in 1 printers where not considered ideal; I had heard from a number of colleagues how their 4 in 1 had broken down and components of it not quite working as they should. But with all the improvements in technology I figured it was safe to give the 4 in 1 a try.

What attracted me to the Lexmark first was its sleek design, not to mention the colourful touch screen. It is just darn pretty! And that appeals to me as a woman. The touch screen is very easy to read; though it doesn’t always read the first time you touch the screen and may require a second touch to figure out the selection you are making.

It was extremely easy to set up and although it’s a wireless printer I opted to hook up by way of Ethernet directly to my network hub, I’ve been having a few issues with my wireless stability so I didn’t want to take a chance of a lag happening and having to wait for an hour for a document to print.   The install disk walked me through every aspect of setting up and before long my printer was set and ready to go. 

The print quality is great, although the print speed isn’t much to write home about, it is definitely sufficient for what I’m doing.  I am still loyal though to my HP b/w laser printer which is a speedy little thing.  But overall, the Lexmark meets my needs.  The scanner is pretty remarkable and from the touch screen on the printer I can scan anything into a file, email or even a MS application like Word or PowerPoint, pretty handy for those presentations.  

I think the only item I had a wee bit of difficulty with was the fax component.  The set up was very easy, but the actual using was a bit confusing; I could not for the life of me figure out how to send a fax. There were no directions on where the paper went; if you ever do test drive one, you’ll know exactly what I mean.  There are a number of ways the fax paper could have been inserted; I just couldn’t find the right way.   I did, after flipping through the manual and not finding anything on paper insertion, managed to figure it out and then felt kind of silly because it was staring me in the face the whole time.  Apparently, I just didn’t load the paper far enough into the document feeder.   One aspect of faxing I really like is the ability to fax directly from my computer, my old fax machine was a stationary model (old school) and it was all about paper.  Now it is simple to load a document right from the Lexmark tools on my desktop and fax them out. 

A big reason I chose this Lexmark was because of the low cost for ink.  $5.00 for a black ink cartridge…yep, you got it only $5.00, the colour cartridges are about $20.00 each but they are packaged individually so you only need to replace the ink you run out of. This is convenient and cost effective.

Although the initial cost of the printer may run you a bit more than another brand (or not), as far as costs for ink go, you’ll find no better deal than the Lexmark over the long term.  I also received a 5 year extended warranty upon registration of my product.  I don’t remember receiving anything like that when I purchased other printer brands.

Overall I’m really happy with the printer and wanted to share it with you, in case like me, you were in the market for something new.  I have to say, I really love this Lexmark, and I think you just might too.

Oh and PS…No, I’m not a spokesperson for Lexmark, just a virtual office worker and consumer like you.  I like when things work well. When that happens I’ve got to spread the word.

Apparently domain names can be big money.  I was of course completely shocked since the domain I had just paid for cost me all of $10.00 for the year.   Yet, believe it or not, I actually began to consider it.  The domain name the company was offering was EXACTLY the name I wanted but when I registered it was taken (now I know by whom).   So, my mind began to race and paranoia began to set in.  I really did want that domain name; I mean it is part of my brand. What if someone else buys it and my whole online identity is stripped from me?   Okay so you can see where my mind is heading.  Totally paranoid! 

This went on for about two weeks, each email I received was more urgent than the last and my deadline for making the decision was coming to a close.  It seems since I had a domain name that was close to the one they were offering, I was able to get first crack at it…providing I met the minimum bid of $397.00 (BTW, I did my research, and yes they were legit).

I was actually torn on this decision, every fibre of my being said “If you buy this for $397.00 you are an idiot”.  Yet I wanted it…I for some reason felt I needed this domain or something catastrophic was going to happen.   

Luckily for me, I have Laura.  Laura my right hand at MJVA, is also my voice of reason.   After weighing the pros and cons with her, it became quite clear that these thoughts running through my brain was exactly what this company was hoping for.  I, of course couldn’t give them the satisfaction and hand over $397.00 for one silly domain.    The bottom line was the domain was only valuable if someone was willing to pay that much for it. My guess is there would only be a handful of people who had some attachment to this domain name.  I got my answer the next week when a representative called me on the phone and said they would be able to give it to me for $99.00.  Ha, I told him I have never paid more than $30.00 for a domain and I wouldn’t be willing to pay more than that for this one.  At this point forget the paranoia, I was just mad.

Of course, there was no way he could sell me it for less than $99.00…and that’s fine, I walked away feeling good about my decision and never heard from them again.  My guess is, in two months from now when they are still trying to off load it, I’ll be approached again, but I’ll stick to my guns.

I do have to say, it was a learning experience, up until this point I didn’t really know how much a domain name would really affect me.  But, for a while it did.   

Apparently I’m not the only one. I read an article once that business.com sold for 7.5 million back in 1999, and sex.com raked in 14 million in 2006.  Can you imagine 14 million dollars for one domain name!  Do you know how many mouths 14 million would feed?  Unbelievable!

My $397.00 seems like a few pennies in the pot compared to what others have actually paid for a domain name.  However I paid for two weeks of groceries with that $397.00, money well spent in my family.

So, I wonder what domain will end up garnering the next big lump sum….

“Do I hear a 100 million for: 

lets-stop-being-stupid-and-do-something-useful-with-our-millions.com?