December 2010

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Folks, this is it. This is the final episode of the Virtual Assistant Podcast. My goal when I started this podcast was to produce a show that would expose people in my community to the benefits that I have seen personally from hiring a virtual assistant, to answer people’ questions about this industry, and to lower the barrier of entry for those who might benefit from delegating tasks to a virtual assistant themselves.

I’ve spent months sharing my own personal journey and I feel that I’ve pretty much shared everything I have to share in this space at this point in time. I hope that you have enjoyed this podcast and I hope that you’ll check out http://PodcastAnswerMan.com and all my other podcasts at http://gspn.tv. Also, I’m sure I’ll litter this page with all sorts of other inks and buttons to all the other things I have going online.

I plan to keep the archives of these 38 episodes online as my gift to anyone who might benefit from them. If you think you could benefit from working with me in any of the services I provide in the field of podcasting, new media, and running a business online, please feel free to contact me at Cliff@Ravenscraft.org. Many Blessings!

This is episode is part 2 of 2 where I address the most common fears that people have when they consider hiring a Virtual Assistant. Below are the fears that people have expressed that I address in this episode:

- A little antsy about providing personal / financial information to some one out of my sight and possibly beyond extradition.

- Trusting someone with my confidential information.

- Trusting that someone else could learn my style and personality well enough to truly handle the work as well as I.

- Big mistakes. I feared that a VA would mess up in some terrible way damaging my business.

- Does the VA have a strong business background and technical savvy?

- Is the VA working full time from a professionally equipped home office or typing at the kitchen table while dealing with small children?

- Their website may look like they’re a dream VA, but anyone can put anything they please on a website and, if they’re in another country, who are you going to call to check them out? Even if they give you someone to call (unless it’s a senior partner in a large business or someone whose existence you can check) you could be calling their brother or aunt.

- The word “Virtual” is also scary as people cannot understand how it could possibly work. Most people are also unaware of the vast amount of technology that is available today which makes working with a VA a breeze and any experienced and skilled VA will have that technology at his/her fingertips.

- Anyone considering using the services of a VA must thoroughly research potential VA services until they find one that will be a good fit.

- I’ve been working with VA’s for 3 years. I suggest hiring from a company like contemporaryva.com. They have a boss to whom they answer as well as you. Plus they have a backup trained in case they out of town, get sick or quit.

- Experience has taught that VA’s go MIA for no reason at all at the absolute worst times like the middle of a launch or before affiliates have been paid . . . They tend to allow their personal lives to take priority and don’t have the safeguards in place that most business owners would.

- That they might divulge sensitive or proprietary information to others (i.e. competitors)

-That in the time it took to make arrangements with a virtual assistant, I could have the job done myself.

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Special thanks to Contemporary VA for sponsoring this podcast. This is the firm I, personally, use for my own business. I would not have had the time to produce this show without it making financial sense for me to do so. Their sponsorship has made this show possible. If you get a chance, thank them in any creative way you can think of. If you desire, this is the link to their contact page.

Please call TODAY with your questions on our voicemail hotline at 859-795-4067. Or use your voice memo application on your iPhone to record feedback or questions. Simply email it to feedback@gspn.tv.

Know someone else who needs to hire a VA? Send them an note with a link to http://VirtualAssistantPodcast.com.

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In this episode we discussed the following:
- The new Narnia movie review
- A review of Romona And Beezus movie
- How did we work it out to have time alone for our family on Christmas?
- The truth about Santa Clause – Not For Children’s Ears!
- The Sound Muisc
- And more…

Special thanks to the folks at Mardel.com! Please shop with them when looking for Christian books, music, dvds, and more. PLEASE BE SURE TO ENTER PROMO CODE “gspn” in the shopping cart so that they will see that you came to their site as a result of their sponsorship with us! You will receive an additional 10% off your entire order when you use our promo code!

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In this episode, we covered the following:

- WordPress critical update!
- Audio Interview With Eric Weiner About Square Up
- Eric’s Business: http://continentalcookies.com
- Square Up Website: https://squareup.com
- What’s the deal with LLC & S-Corp Elections?
- http://NudgeMail.com
- iThoughtHD
- Setting Goals For The New Year?

Call Us Today: Do you have a question about a technology that could help you in your business? Do you have a comment you want to share? Call our voice mail listener feedback hotline. It’s available 24hrs a day, 7 days a week by calling 859-795-4067.

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Please note: At least once a month, an episode of Business Tech Weekly is made available for free. Plus Members have access to every episode of every show we produce here at gspn.tv. To learn more about Plus Membership, please visit http://gspn.tv/plus

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051 Balanced Living Weekly – The Need To Simply Trust In God

December 30, 2010

In this episode of Balanced Living Weekly, Fr. Roderick and Cliff Ravenscraft discuss God’s faithfulness in providing for the needs of those who are called according to His purpose. Cliff shared that he had been reading the auto-biography of George Mueller. After several days of quiet self reflection, Cliff has concluded that the one truth [...]

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153 Full Time Mom – I Want To Tone My Life In 2011

December 30, 2010

This is a Plus Member Episode. In this episode of the Full Time Mom, Stephanie talks about the following topics: – A run down of our holiday week. – Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes – http://goo.gl/Z7yNR – A get over yourself, Stephanie, moment. – An interesting “Can he stay too?” moment! – Meagan can’t wait to [...]

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071 Social Media Serenity – Will Social Media Really Help My Business?

December 30, 2010

In this episode of Social Media Serenity, I am joined by Justin Lukasavige from http://CoachRadio.tv. Justin is a great friend and has a lot of valuable insights when it comes to how Social Media can help us in our business. Justin and I talk about how we think businesses can benefit by using Social Media. [...]

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150 Help I Got A Mac – The Death of FaceTime?

December 30, 2010

This is a Plus Member Episode. In this episode, Cliff and Chris discuss the following: – How are the iPod touches doing at the Ravenscraft house? – Chris got his Dodocase. – Skype for iPhone updates to 3.0, adds video calling. – Apple said waiting until after CES for Verizon iPhone. – Our Apple Predictions [...]

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484 PABL – A Time of Quiet Self Reflection!

December 30, 2010

I’ve spent the past ten days in a time of quite self reflection. During the past three days, I’ve read the entire auto-biography of George Muller. This episode is a follow up from episode 483 of Pursuing A Balanced Life, where I share just what God’s been laying on my heart these past few days. [...]

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How Many Of These Do I Need See Before It Sinks In?

December 28, 2010

Folks, I have to admit that I driven my car while reading a text message or email. I’ve even sent tweets while I drive. I’ve never felt as though I’ve been in any danger while doing so. However, I see videos like these and it causes me to think. Wow! I really should stop looking [...]

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190 Podcast Answer Man – New York Times Says Leo Laporte Has Shown There Is A Lot of Life In Podcasting!

December 28, 2010

In this episode, I answer a few questions from the voicemail feedback hotline (859-795-4067) and I share some thoughts from a recent New York Times article that done about Leo Laporte and his efforts in podcasting. The first question of the day was from Tony who asked for my thoughts on how long a podcast [...]

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189 Podcast Answer Man – Why I Share Date Sensitive Information In A Time Shifted Podcast And So Much More!

December 23, 2010

In this episode, I share a few things that have been on my mind as it relates to my business and overall podcasting endeavors. I share that I’m getting ready to end the the Virtual Assistant Podcast next week and that I have initial ideas of starting a new podcast devoted to the inner workings [...]

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037 Virtual Assistant Podcast – Part 1 of 2 – Greatest Fears People Face They Consider Hiring A Virtual Assistant

December 23, 2010

This is episode is part 1 of 2 where I address the most common fears that people have when they consider hiring a Virtual Assistant. Below are the fears that people have expressed that I address in this episode: – Paying for a virtual assistant. – Having to re-do the work myself because the quality [...]

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140 Family From The Heart – Christmas Will Not Be So Bad This Year

December 23, 2010

It’s Christmas time once again. It’s that time of year where everyone is supposed to be full of joy and great cheer. This has not always been the case in the Ravenscraft houseshold. In this episode, we share why we feel that Christmas won’t be so bad this year. In the episode we discuss the [...]

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061 Business Tech Weekly – The Need For Technology Alternatives

December 23, 2010

This is a Plus Member Episode. In this episode, we cover the following topics: – Should we prepare our companies for non e-mail communication? – Skype experiences an outage for ENTIRE DAY! – Cliff’s review of Endicia.com – DropBox 1.0 brings selective syncing. – Andy wants a new cell phone Call Us Today: Do you [...]

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050 Balanced Living Weekly – The Opportunities of Change

December 23, 2010

In this episode, Cliff and Fr. Roderick discuss recent news that states that Jillian Michaels may be leaving the Biggest Loser after season 11. Also, they talk about changes in life and the opportunites to either worry about the change to see them as opportunites for growth Our Other Podcast Links: Here are the iTunes [...]

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152 Full Time Mom – When Not To Start A Project!

December 23, 2010

This is a Plus Member Episode. In this episode, Stephanie talked about the following topics: – The house project that Stephanie started at the worst time possible. – Another home project that is happening at the same time. – Christmas scheduling for the family – Driving without Windshield Wiper Fluid – Why do I even [...]

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070 Social Media Serenity – What Is Up With Net Neutrality?

December 23, 2010

This is a Plus Member Episode In this episode we cover the following topics: – Facebook Messages Initial Reaction. – Chris Beiting actually likes Facebook Connect. – Chris explains Net Neutrality. – Facebook New Newsfeed Filtering. – Skype was down. Call in your feedback on our voice mail hotline at 859-795-4067. Or use your voice [...]

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149 Help I Got A Mac – Apple Christmas iOS Game Sale

December 23, 2010

This is a Plus Member Episode. In this episode, we cover the following topics: – Huge game sales on App Store for iOS devices – Cliff’s new favorite game is called Trainyard Express – AppleTV sells 1 million units – MacApp store will launch on January 6th – You have to see this iPad Killer [...]

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483 PABL – The Dark Days of December 2010

December 20, 2010

From January through November, the year of 2010 brought forth an amazing number of blessings as it relates to the success of my business pursuits. I never dreamed I’d be sitting here in December of this same year expressing the types of fears and anxieties thave been dealing with over the past two weeks. In [...]

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THE DIGITAL STORY OF NATIVITY – ( or Christmas 2.0 )

December 18, 2010

My good friend Richard from the UK sent me a link to this very creative Christmas video on YouTube. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Here’s another one that CoreyCharette sent me on Twitter. I like the one above better. However, this is along similar lines.

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069 Social Media Serenity – Zuckerburg Named Person of The Year

December 17, 2010

Time Names Mark Zuckerburg ‘Man Of The Year’ http://mashable.com/2010/12/15/time-mark-zuckerberg-person-of-the-year Twitter raises 200 Million in funding and worth 3.7 Billion?! http://mashable.com/2010/12/15/twitter-200-million-investment The 10 Most Retweeted Tweets of 2010 http://mashable.com/2010/12/15/twitter-reveals-the-10-most-retweeted-tweets-of-2010 10 Ways Social Media Will Change In 2011 http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/10_ways_social_media_will_change_in_2011.php Erik unplugging and the next two weeks shows Call in your feedback on our voice mail hotline at [...]

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151 Full Time Mom – My Heart Had Tears

December 17, 2010

In this episode, Stephanie cried as she shared why the lyrics to the song “My Savior, My God” has had such an impact on her over the past week. Also, she shared her thoughts on the snowy weather and so much more. Right-Click Here To Download You can follow Stephanie: http://Twitter.com/FullTimeMom Also, you can leave [...]

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