From the Desk of Janet Barclay

Today is a very special day for me. Not only is it my birthday, but it’s the fourth anniversary of my first day in full-time self-employment! I don’t know if I’m more amazed about the success of my business, or about the changes I’ve experienced in the past four years.

The Internet has always been an important part of both my marketing strategy and the services I provide to my clients. For the first few years, that meant website design, newsletter creation and distribution, and article marketing. Now those have been supplemented, and possibly even surpassed, by social media. If anyone had told me in 2005 that I’d be spending several hours a week writing blog posts and networking through sites such as Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn, and that those activities would be instrumental in bringing in business, I’m not sure that I’d have believed them!

It makes me wonder what changes we’ll see over the next few years. Will we still be blogging in 2013? Will we look back at Facebook and ask ourselves what we were thinking, or will it have grown into something even bigger and more important?

As a virtual assistant, it’s critical to stay on top of these developments, and sometimes I worry about lagging behind. Working from home, I don’t really need much in the way of portable technology, so I don’t have a BlackBerry or an iPhone. I don’t even have an iPod! As a result, I know very little about these devices and what they can do. It doesn’t matter today, but will it next year?

Of course, not all the changes have been technological. I’ve gone from a professional organizer who also offers virtual assistance, to a virtual assistant who also offers organizing services, to a full-time VA with a full-time partner. And I’ve loved every step of the way! (OK, I may have had a bad day here and there, but things always work out, and even a bad experience is a great learning opportunity.)

Whether you’ve been following my journey for several years, or it’s your first visit, thanks so much for stopping by. Please help yourself to a virtual piece of cake!