I read a very useful article at Copyblogger today. It is directed to bloggers however I feel it is a good guide for anyone who writes anything! How many times do we let spelling mistakes slip through our fingers without noticing it? It can often be detrimental to our professional profile.

I encourage you to read the informative article 14 Foolproof Proofreading Tips and highly recommend you keep a list of most commonly misspelled words nearby when you write.

The global economy has depended on imports/exports from other countries for as long as it’s been possible and now with the use of technology and the Internet, it is widely known that many entrepreneur outsource their projects to India. Virtual Assistants, among many other industries, struggle with this competition. North America cannot possibly match rates from those in India.

But what does this really mean? While I understand the economy is tough - paying someone $3/hr vs. $40 is a lot more appealing (and yes I admit that many can do just as good of a job) - what is it doing to our nation?

Take a look for yourself. Feel free to determine your own interpretation.

As a virtual assistant, my tasks range from sorting emails to updating websites, to placing ads and proofreading documents. However, lately, my projects all fall in the same category:

HELP! I messed it up and I can’t fix it!

You’ve spent your valuable time trying to accomplish something you should have outsourced. You thought this would save you money but now you find yourself

1. frustrated and
2. out of time

In a panic, you call up your VA and explain you need it done ‘yesterday’. Your VA not only has to do the tasks but has to try and figure out what went wrong which takes more time > more money. Did you really save in the end? Not at all!

Virtual Assistants are available to help you to do it right the first time around. We exist to save you the headache. Allow us to set up a project management software so you may assign projects/tasks and forget them. A good Virtual Assistant should automatically pick up the task and complete it. This makes you (and your business) look good. And everything runs smoothly.

I’m famous for comparing a Virtual Assistant to a mechanic so let’s take a look at this scenario.

You have a leak > do you buy a do-it-yourself patch for $19.97? or get it fixed right away for $150? Yikes, you want to save money so the DIY kit looks appealing. But it only works for while and eventually the problem grows. You don’t have a choice but to visit your car maintenance center to have it repaired properly. Now the kicker, since you waited, the leak caused other problems and now you’re faced with replacing parts and a $500 bill. Was it worth it?

I am more than happy to help you to do it right the first time around. Do yourself a favour and save the headache - on both sides. Outsource to your VA right away.

Just like everything else, there are several Time Tracking systems on the net you can choose from. Some are free, some require a one time fee and some are billed on a monthly basis. They all come with different features and looks. Some are web-based while others are installed on your computer. Choosing the right one is really a matter of preference.

I’ve tried quite a few systems until I settled with myhours.com. I like it because of the simplicity of it. Input client, project, time started, ended, and voila! done! When it came time for invoicing my clients, every task was already broken down, all I had to do was copy the report into my invoicing program and send it out!

But today I found something even better and I can’t help but want to share it with the world. While it is quite new, it has loads of potential! Fruitful Time automatically > as in you don’t have to worry about clicking start or finish > tracks what you are working on based on the active window. I find this particularly interesting as it tells me how long I chatted with my husband on msn today! It tracks everything!

An awesome feature is the Tag Management. You can tag your documents, domain addresses you visit and msn conversation to each of your clients. And again, it only tracks the active time you worked on each (which is great since I tend to work on multiple projects at a time). This helps me be a lot more accurate on my time management. No more forgetting to stop my timer and then wonder how long I actually spent updating a website!

This software has a 30 day free trial. A business edition is suppose to be released this spring. I can’t wait! The downfall > the licencing key is only valid for one computer so I would need two: Desktop and Laptop.

Fruitful Time also offers a Task Management software that seems interesting… I’ll have to look into that one next!

Edited to add:

Yikes > After writing this post, I closed my browser, along with my FFT dashboard. I have no stats after that. The window must remain open for the application to calculate your time. Since the icon is in my system tray, I automatically assumed that it was running in the background! Now to go figure out my time LOL

Edited Jan 9 to add:

After corresponding with an awesome support team, we were able to fix the issues I was having. Fruitful Time ProductivityMeter is up and running again. The best part is that IT DOES keep track from the system tray, no need to keep the application open in a browser! Two thumbs up for the support team and the time tracking program! Thank you!