Do You Have a Virtual Assistant?

A crucial part of the 4hww process (IMHO) is focusing on the critical few items that really bring about change in your life.  That means, you gotta hand off some of those tasks that can be handed off to an assistant.

The first step, of course, is to make a list of everything you do in any given, week, day or month.  They can be specific items or more broad areas of focus.  Everything from groceries, cleaning the bathrooms to finding back link opportunities for your website.  

I've made my list of potential list of items that can be outsourced to a personal assistant...but I'll admit I feel a bit odd handing it off to anyone.  Here are just a few of the daily tasks that someone else could easily handle online or in person:

Grocery shopping
House Cleaning
Laundry
Filing Personal Bills/Correspondence
Scheduling Doctor's Appointments
Scheduling Pilates Clients
Gathering Ad prices for various publications
Posting Craigslist Ads
Social Bookmarking for blog posts
Website updates
Website tech help & updates
Manage General Schedule
Scheduling Preschool Tours

I've survived this long (survived...ha! funny word!) without needed a personal assistant.  What makes now a good time?

I need to go at my personal Lifestyle Re-design with massive action.  I think that's the bottom line.  No more sitting on the fence, wanting life to be different...wanting the quality of life to improve. 

I'd love to know what you think and if you are new to the V.A. world. 

If you have a personal assistant or virtual assistant...

1. How did you start the process??  
2. What were some of the first tasks you assigned your VA or PA?
3. What did you pay the VA -- money or barter ideas welcome!
4. Did you use one of the companies that Tim Ferriss suggests in the 4-Hour Work Week? 
5. If not, how did you find the assistant?
6. Tell me what you've learned by hiring someone to be your virtual assistant?

Leave me a comment -- I've enabled them now so that anyone can leave one without registering.

Service Based Business & Automation

If you have a business or conduct business like I do, then you know that your income is tied directly with reaching customers, serving them and dealing with their fluctuating habits. 

I teach pilates.  A few important things to understand.  There are always surges of interest in fitness throughout the year.  New Years, just before Bikini Season, and again at Back to School Time. 

The reality about teaching any type of fitness or offering personal training, is that people cancel often.  I always remind myself that Pilates is a luxury for most people and if they do it regularly it's because it fits in their budget.  Often, pilates or yoga or other specialized activity is the first thing to get cut.  I know this from personal experience.  Sometimes I think about the reasons why I initially wanted to get certified to teach.  Pilates was just too expensive for me to keep taking private sessions 2x a week! 

So, now I teach.  On a daily, weekly basis I deal with the fluctuating income, interest, motivation, schedules of my clients.  Often it will take several weeks of back and forth to schedule a new client who is struggling to get into the gym or try a new activity. 

This is probably the most frustrating part of being a pilates instructor.  The only income that I can count on are the group classes I teach for other studios.  My private clients are hit and miss sometimes.  They are lovely people, but it takes a lot of effort to get people in on a consistent basis.

So, after all this "complaining" about the structure of my business, here are some questions I'm left with (and just might answer in the course of writing this post)

What should I do?

Schedule more group classes? The 80/20 principle tells me that out of the sessions I teach, the classes provide the bulk of my income.  Ok, well that's that.  I can think of 2 different classes to add immediately.

Do I look for a niche within pilates to be my automated muse?  Or do I look elsewhere in life for something that fits who I am, what I do, and the life I live?  My first response is...maybe.  I'm a fairly new mom...and we all know moms love to buy stuff for their little ones.  So this seems like an area I should research a bit more... Prenatal Pilates, Prenatal Fitness, New Mommy Fitness, Fitness for Moms...

What I keep coming back to is this: Find an A-Muse & Product, then develop a new idea I have for teaching pilates without the hassle of scheduling them or running around town to meet with them.

Ok - sounds good to me! 

Thanks for playing along as I chew on some ideas out loud.  I'd love to know what you think about and if you can help me find my muse!

The Journey Begins

If you are reading this post, then you too are probably reading or have read Tim Ferriss' extremely successful book, The 4-Hour Work Week.  Whether you read the first edition, the latest expanded edition or both and all formats, I hope you take the time to read through my experience of the book and any effect it has on my life or lifestyle.

WHY I AM READING THIS BOOK

Oddly enough I already have a fairly cushy lifestyle when it comes to working.  I teach pilates part-time and am growing that business.  I'm also a mom and have very little time for myself.  There is no way to automate life with a toddler--and I wouldn't have it any other way.

My interest for reading this book is to find a way/method/secret to getting back into the working world without losing this ability/freedom to be with my daughter and family when I want. 

I want to continue to have the same freedom, but also grow my business in the right direction in order to have the means to support additional ventures with my family...and control my time.

WHAT I WANT TO ACHIEVE

1. Eliminate the daily and irregular activites that are not primary to my goals.
2. Find & Create income streams that don't require my physical presence. 
3. Create income of $4k or better per month for the first year via these income streams.

*Please don't look at this list as the end-all be-all. This goal list is short right now because I know there is a lot to learn from the 4HWW and my friends/colleagues who are also reading it.  This list should not be mistaken for my Dream-line.

I NEED SOME READING BUDDIES...


If you are interested in reading along and joining the conversation, I invite you to do so, but please understand that I will be commenting on areas of the book that stand out for me personally.

If enough people contact me and are interested, I'd love to create a small mastermind style group that discusses the book in depth in a google group.  Please email me if that interests you at all!

In the meantime...let's get going.