Consultants come in every field, and there are often so many, how do you choose? Also – what about that arm and a leg they charge?? Well, in spite of the expense and confusion, I happen to think consultants are an excellent asset, in general. I know they can be very expensive, but when you get a good one, they can add astronomical value to your business. That’s part of the reason I train people how to start up their own business – it’s an invaluable tool to have someone there to bring in advice and wisdom. This week I had my first mentoring session with Fraser Hay (if you’ll remember, I won his coaching package at a networking event), and let me tell you – it was great!! I’ve been in my industry for 20 years, and running my own company for a few of those years now, and it’s amazing the things a fresh perspective will add to your business. Right now I’ve got homework to do before our next session, which is great. Homework means I am growing and improving as a business owner, manager and person. But I’m interested in hearing some other perspectives, for better or for worse – care to share any stories??

Well last week saw another training workshop success! As you know I run courses on training people how to set up and run their own Virtual Assistant business, and one of my greatest passions is seeing people succeed and achieve their dreams. This time round, one of my staff also came along to the course and was able to take away a lot of useful information. Also, one of my business associates Marc P Summers did an afternoon session on how to maximise your SEO (Search Engine Optimisation), which was very informative and enlightening. Have you attended any events recently which you found helpful??

Ooooh… have I got a story for you! I won’t bore you with the step by step, but basically a few weeks ago BT made a right mess of my life for a week!!! They intentionally knocked out my phone lines AND my internet, with no warning, and then couldn’t fix it! I spent hours and HOURS each day on the phone to them – I wanted to cry I was so frustrated! In the end, they finally got my phone back on half way into the third day, and got my internet back up on the fifth day. It was IMPOSSIBLE trying to get any work done! And when all was said and done, not only did they not offer any compensation for all the money I spent on stop-gap measures (of course! Why would they?) I didn’t even get an apology! I was absolutely shocked with how they handled things, it was completely disgraceful… but to then not even have a phone call or a letter of apology?! It was truly horrific. All JUST before we moved office!! Does anyone else have customer service horror stories to tell?

I once had a personal profile in the Christmas edition of Prima magazine. I’m a great believer in the value of consumer PR and it’s interesting that I had quite a bit of response from that piece which focused on me personally rather than the business. I think there is great value in raising your own personal profile alongside looking at opportunities for your business. People connect with people and whatever you do in your marketing, and I think it’s important to let your personality shine through – it’s often what can help set you apart.

Last Thursday I attended the Herts Connection event – it was a fabulous evening full of mixing with great people, and as always, I recommend taking advantage of good networking opportunities to promote your own Virtual Assistant company (or any business!). Fraser Hay, renowned business start-up coach and multi award winning entrepreneur, was on for the evening, and it was the first time I had ever seen him speak – he was absolutely brilliant! I would highly recommend him to anyone. His talk was very interactive and was a real eye-opener, and a little frightening – we all figured out the massive loss we’re suffering due to ineffective marketing. Ouch! But hands down, the highlight of the evening was the prize that I won – Fraser’s 8-week, one to one coaching package! I am so thrilled about it I just had to share. Has anything extraordinary happened to anyone else in the last week?

Paperwork paperwork paperwork!!! It seems like it never ends, right? Thankfully I have amazing staff to help me, but we’ve been so busy with rebranding (asklilach.co.uk is already up and running, now we’re working on virtualpatraining.co.uk!) and preparing for the Times Crème event (national event for PAs and secretaries) where we’re exhibiting. In the mean time I still have to keep up on stuff for my accountant, continue on with improving training packets, and so on. I love running a business, but could someone please wave a wand and shorten the “to do” list?

Happy Easter or Pesach! I’ve been really enjoying the spring time and all the flowers in bloom – and the weather’s been nice enough to enjoy them (okay, except this weekend…)! Well I’ve got some very exciting news – this week we moved into new offices! It’s exciting for so many reasons – they’re really nice and new, there’s a Costa right across the hall from us, and most importantly, it means we’re growing! Since we’re growing so much and had to move into a business park, AskLilach is now one of the very few Virtual Assistant companies in the entire country to work out of offices and not a home office! As you can imagine, this is very encouraging for any entrepreneur – what would you say has been the most encouraging thing for you lately?

I’ve just set up a short survey, as I want to know how the recession is affecting you; its particularly aimed at PA’s, or those thinking of setting up their own virtual assistant company. Are you worried about your job? Could the Government do more to help you? Please take a few minutes to complete the short survey by clicking here - it’s anonymous and will help me understand the impact the recession is having on the PA and virtual assistant world. There is also the chance to win £50 M&S vouchers for completing the survey. Let me know what you think!

I am so pleased – and proud – that my video has gone on YouTube – check it out here! you can see me delivering a few minutes from my virtual assistant training course: How to Win Clients and Sky Rocket Your profits. I love doing my training sessions and am really pleased to have this professional exert which gives those of you thinking about becoming a virtual assistant and real glimpse of the one-day workshop. What do you think of the video?

I am really enjoying using Twitter (and OK, I may spend too much time on it too!) I have found it to be a great way of keeping in touch with friends and colleagues and for business use. My number of followers is increasing daily (well over 1900 at the time of writing this blog) and I can use it to promote my services, show videos and pictures – but because it is very restrictive on number of characters (140 which includes spaces, punctuation etc!) all the information is short and punchy – and can be lots of fun (with clever uses of abbreviations too, its not all text speak). Have you signed up yet? Come and follow me at twitter.com/asklilach.