by The Happy WAHM
Branding, logo, About page, re-design… these are the items on my to-do list that I have yet to find time to attend to. But soon, I will.
Truth be told, I’m quite happy with my brand. There is no plan, whatsoever, to change it in the foreseeable future. What has been nagging me for months now is my logo, and my About page, and my desire to re-design this blog so that it will keep up with how I have evolved from The Happy WAHM who found happiness in virtual assistance, to The Happy WAHM who took control of her already full daily schedule to make time for a hobby.
I always tell people who attend my virtual assistance workshops, or people I communicate with thru my Facebook page, that in order for them to succeed in WAHMing, it is important to build a strong cyber presence. And not just thru social media, but thru a fully functional website where they can showcase who they are and what they do. In short, build a digital brand.
I built my first website on my first year of WAHMing. At that time, I was working with an affiliate marketer in London who sent me articles to read so I could understand his requirements. And read, I did. In the process, I understood more than just my client’s requirements. I learned early that for me to be found by clients, for me to build credibility, I had to have my own address on the web. And so my quest for a domain name started.
My first domain name was called myhomeworkspace.com. I wanted my domain name to encompass that little space I have at home, to tell people that I work from home, but alas, it was more descriptive of the space, not my services, not what I do, not me.
So I thought, I’d build a name around my skills as a virtual assistant. I played around combinations of keywords that could still compete on searches, and settled with VASupportPro, which actually means Virtual Administrative Support Professional. Still, I was not happy. It did not sound like a brand I could put to life. It was good as a business name, maybe. So I kept it, but not as a brand. I didn’t know it then, but subconsciously, I was leaning on building a personal brand, rather than a business brand. I was more keen on reaching out to people, especially moms, who would just love to leave the corporate life, but so afraid to take the leap.
Then I stumbled on the Pajama Mama, and she has this other site called WorkAtHomeSuccess.com. Ah, now there’s an idea! I searched some more and found WAHM.com, and I decided, I want to be known as a WAHM. Not a VA. I was thinking, I may not forever be a VA, but I will forever be working from home, so a WAHM I will be.
But yeah, WAHM.com was already taken, so I thought about it some more. Asked myself, what’s my message, really? What do I want to tell people? I am a WAHM, so what? What does WAHMing mean to me? Do I develop a voice for the service or the voice of a person behind the service? Again, I thought of how ambitious I am, that I may not forever be a VA. I knew I could do more, and I wanted the branding to be able to adapt to how I would evolve as a person working from home, or more to the point, a mom working from home. And then I decided, I want to be the voice who would inspire working moms to give it a try. Most moms I know, especially those I left behind when I left my corporate life, would just love to stay at home and take care of their kids, but they were afraid to let go of the income, they were afraid that working from home cannot support a family. So I wanted to be that person who could show them that it can be done, and how. My brand will not be about clients finding me, but about creating a career from home with the family at the center, and being successful at it. I will leave that aspect of clients finding me to marketing. But my branding will show the characteristic, the values, the nuances of the person offering the service.
And then one night, in one of those moments that my husband would fret about me being deprived of the opportunity to pursue my corporate career dreams just because I happen to be a mother, who, by default, should be the one to take care of the children, I voiced out my assurance to my husband. “Dad, I’m happy where I am. I’m happy working at home and staying home with the kids.” And that’s how my brand came to life.
A brand that I am living every single day. A brand that I am so proud of, I don’t even care that people address me as The Happy WAHM, not Marge.
So what’s my point, really?
Is this just to brag about hitting the jackpot on choosing a domain name that became my brand?
Well, you can say that. But I’m hoping that this post will be taken more as a how-to post on how you, too, can work on your branding. More and more people are choosing to stay home to earn. More and more people are going online and putting their services out there. The competition is getting stiffer, and you don’t want to be left behind. You may be skilled and qualified to be a WAHM, but are you being seen? You may have a website now, but do you have a brand? You have may have a brand, but is it really who you are? Is it really your voice? Your message? And, will your brand keep up with the potential change on how you want to be heard?
Ask yourself these questions, and think about the answers.
If branding is something that you have not seriously considered yet, now is the time to do so.
When you finally decide to work on your branding, just make sure that you are delivering your message clearly, that people can emotionally connect with you and encourage them to work with you.
Do you have questions, comments or feedback about this post?
Please leave me a message, or post them, at my Facebook Page.
by The Happy WAHM
16/365Challenge: Stress is what I’ve been trying to avoid. And today, I came across something that says going through stress has benefits, too. So how can stress be good?
I have not written much about health in this space, although it’s actually one of the four major categories that I love to write (or talk) about. The other three are education, livelihood, and parenting.
I was editing a book earlier, and I came across this word… hormesis.
According to Google, hormesis is a biological phenomenon whereby a beneficial effect (improved health, stress tolerance, growth or longevity) results from exposure to low doses of an agent that is otherwise toxic or lethal when given at higher doses. (gettingstronger.org)
In other words, hormesis is a term used to describe favorable biological responses to low exposures to stressors by exposing yourself to discomfort.
So we complain about traffic. We complain about the heat. We complain that we have so many things going on at our respective workstations that we have breakfast for dinner.
Well, guess what? Experiencing these discomforts, which lead to stress for some, if not most, of us, is actually good! They make us stronger.
Think how long our ancestors have lived. They did not have the luxury of cars, so they walked (or run) to get from point A to point B, which help build strong bones, strengthen muscles, improve cardiovascular fitness, and burn plenty of kilojoules. They did not have the luxury of electric fans or air condition. So they sweat it out, which purges the body of toxins that can clog pores and plague the skin with pimples and blemishes. They did not have refrigerators to store food, so they would sometimes go hungry, until the next successful hunt or harvest. And yet, they lived healthy and strong.
In more layman’s terms, hormesis is like what they do in allergen immunotherapy, where they introduce very low doses of an allergen, then gradually increase the dosage to build up tolerance.
So, experiencing stress in small doses can be beneficial. I know that when I’m stressing, I get to accomplish more, because my stress motivates me to focus on my work and my goals. According to research, stress produces a fight-or-flight response. This response is designed to help us react when something potentially threatening happens, to help us deal with it and learn from it. Further research shows that short-lived stress can improve alertness and performance and boost memory.
So there! Next time you’re stressing, just think back to this post. For as long as you don’t allow yourself to wallow in your stress, then you’ll be good.
Do you have questions, comments or feedback about this post?
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by The Happy WAHM
From being a double income family, can you really survive with just one income? To succeed in staying afloat, it’s most helpful to calculate, if not actually compute, the costs involved in having a second income.
I’m back to writing about our one-income household lifestyle. And today, I’m going to talk about how we came to be confident that we could survive with just one income. We worked on our numbers, and the first set of numbers we worked on was the cost of having a second income.
Of course, at the center of our planning and strategizing was my dear friend, Excel.
The Cost of a Second Income
Back in 2011, I wrote about cost to work briefly. But today, I’m sharing with you a more detailed version of the process we went through.
In a worksheet, I created two major columns:
Under each column, I added two more columns:
- I stay employed
- I stay home
Then we listed down everything. Under income, we included the benefits, like the sack of rice that we regularly received from the company.
Managing Expenses
The exciting part was working on the expenses. From Expenses => I stay employed column, we had househelps’ salaries (we had two), and 13th month pay. Those items were no longer to be seen under the Expenses => I stay home column, and because I had set up my file to autocompute, it was fun seeing the expense numbers really go down. From two househelps to zero, we also adjusted our monthly budget for electricity, water, food and other miscellaneous items like toiletries, snacks, lunch out, groceries, and phone. Then we further deducted my meals purchased at the office, wardrobe and other miscellaneous items an office girl spends on, like shoes, bags and accessories. In my case, I had a service vehicle from the company, so I had no transportation expense to take into account, but for the others who are thinking of giving up employment and are public commuters, you’ll find that your transportation expense will make a big difference on your budget.
Personally managing our home proved to be more cost-efficient, too. You won’t believe how I used to buy a liter of dishwashing liquid, fabric softener and laundry detergent weekly. But when I started to personally do our laundry, I only had to replenish our laundry supply every three weeks, same thing with the dishwashing liquid. Aside from the expected reduction of cost on food and utilities, personally managing our house meant further savings because we are more conscious about our spending.
Effectively managing your expenses and having a game plan in bolstering your income are crucial in surviving a one-income lifestyle. After you have all your ducks in a row, all your numbers computed, the difference you will end up with may not be sufficient to warrant holding on to the second income. Your reasons for holding on to a corporate career like job satisfaction, independence, career progression, and the like, may be overshadowed by being able to stay home with the children, having the time to learn a new skill, or becoming your own boss.
Do you have questions, comments or feedback about this post?
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Or you can be my writing challenge partner.
Send me a topic that you want me to talk about.
by The Happy WAHM
Do you know that virtual assistance and crochet have a lot of similarities?
I’m taking a break from my financial management series and talking about my other passion.
In May last year, I learned how to crochet. My firstborn actually introduced me to it. And I’ve been addicted since.
I’ve been so committed to it that I have even set up a website and a Facebook page just so I can feature all my finished projects in one place. And I’m happy to share that this hobby I have taken up has actually been paying for itself. Yes, I’ve been able to sell some items, and orders are coming in, thank goodness!
I think I may have been sharing too much about my crochet activities that people are starting to wonder if I’m switching careers. I’ve actually been asked about a dozen times if I’m leaving virtual assistance to focus on crochet as a business.
The answer has been, and will always be… no.
Much as I love crafting, I don’t think I’ll ever make a decent living out of it. And virtual assistance is so much my personality that I can’t imagine ever giving it up. Oh, maybe I’ll slow down in five year’s time. But for as long as clients are engaging my services, I’ll always be a virtual assistant.
Wait!
Make that… I’ll always be a virtual assistant who crochets.
What a lot of people don’t realize is that virtual assistance and crochet are alike in many ways. And that may be the reason why I’m doing well in this hobby. Here are a few examples:
The foundation row is always difficult.
We always begin a project with a foundation row. The challenge for me is in the math. Most of my past projects were done in freehand, meaning I didn’t use any pattern. You are not going to believe how I have to draw sticks and circles on paper so I can figure out how many chains to start with. Do I make multiples of 5 plus 2, or do I make multiples of 5 plus 3? Do I make my first DC on the 3rd chain from the hook? Or should it be on the 4th?
Another challenge for me is how to make all chains even. I need to keep my strokes uniform, so I am not to be disturbed when chaining, or be on the path of my wrath. I also find myself counting and re-counting my chains. Although I’m using stitch markers for, say, every 50 chains, I’d still repeat counting, because if I don’t get the count right, I cannot move on to the next row. Well, basically I can move to the next row, but the whole project, the whole design, will be bust.
Very similar to the challenges I had to face when I was starting out as a VA. I had to wing everything. I had to repeatedly work on my numbers, being careful not to shortchange myself or the client. I stayed focused on my goals, on why I’m doing what I’m doing. I stayed motivated. And here I am.
There are different ways you can make your foundation row.
The most common is to make the chains, then single or double crochet. But there are also chainless foundation rows, using either the foundation single crochet (FSC), foundation double crochet (FDC) or foundation half double crochet (FHDC). Chaining is faster and easier. But the chainless foundation is cleaner and firmer. I just find myself always missing a stitch or two when doing the FDC, so I just use the FSC when I can, and stick to chaining for most of my projects. To make my edge cleaner to look at, I just do the SC or DC on the bump at the back of the chain, instead of inserting the hook between the V of the chain.
In the same manner that you are free to choose the way to launch a career in virtual assistance. Just go ahead and wing it, being mindful of the bumps along the way, or be totally prepped for it by learning strategies and techniques first before forging ahead. However you want to start it, just stay true to have what you have set out to do.
Follow a pattern, or create your own.
Having a pattern is great. That is, if you know how to follow one. I can follow a written pattern, but not the diagrams. It’s something I have yet to learn. The symbols confuse me. Maybe in time, I’ll learn how to read symbols, too. Meantime, I’m happy creating my own designs with the stitches I’m most familiar with, and simply mixing colors.
In the same manner that I started my virtual assistance career without any guidance. Back in 2006, there were no workshops (that I know of), no other VA that I know of, so I had to learn on my own. I focused on my skills and offered them as a service, while learning new skills that are already being sought by clients overseas.
Different yarn types or hooks for different projects.
This part, I’m still learning as far as crochet is concerned. The yarn I learned my stitches on were acrylic. And I assumed that all yarns were created equal. Not so. There’s cotton, acrylic, soft acrylic, wool, cashmere, and so on. Cotton yarns are heavy. Acrylics are light, and they can catch fire easily. So don’t make potholders with acrylic yarn. Use cotton. But if you’re working on a big wearable project like a shawl, use lightweight materials like cottonberry. The drape is better, too.
As for the hooks, there is a tunisian hook used for… you guessed it! Tunisian stitch. And they come in different sizes and lengths. For the size, say you are using a light material that requires a 3mm hook, try to use a 3.5mm or 4mm hook to achieve a lacy feel. And take care of your hands! Use ergonomic hooks.
In virtual assistance, it’s not one size fits all, too. Say your tasks are simple email management and calendar management, then you can survive with a 1.5Mbps connection. But if your tasks will involve video editing, lots of uploads and downloads to and from the net, you should at least have 3Mbps.
Frogging is not fun, but sometimes necessary.
It’s okay to make mistakes. But once you realized that you have committed one, be prompt in correcting it. Imagine having reached the 50th row, only to realize that you missed a stitch on the 25th row. So your project looks askew because you made a decrease when there shouldn’t be. Don’t be lazy and say, it will do. Go ahead and frog, and do the rows again.
Working with clients as a VA for almost a decade now, and in corporate for 12 years before becoming one, I’ve had my share of grave mistakes. But I’ve always managed to make necessary corrections and apologize to whoever got the brunt of the error. And I remember the lessons.
So next time you are working on a project that requires to be really even, take time to count your stitches every other row, so you can catch the missing stitch early. 🙂
These are just a few examples I have time to write today, but you get the idea. And these are the reasons why I’m thriving in both.
Do you have questions, comments or feedback about this post?
Please leave me a message, or post them, on my Facebook Page.
by The Happy WAHM
I’m a passionate person. Whatever I set out to do, I put my heart into it.
I’m also very career-driven. And that drive, combined with my passion, is oft-mistaken to be workaholism.
It is difficult to find the fine line that separates, or differentiates, one from the other. I know, because I am writing this piece to help me process which side of the spectrum I am actually in. Am I really just passionate? Or am I already a workaholic?
So I start out my day thinking about the work on my queue, and end it thinking about the work I will be doing the next day. I spend time on social media sharing and talking about my work, and maintain three other websites that are all connected to work. Are these signs of workaholism?
To some, it may sound and look like it. But I’d still rather say that I am simply committed to what I have set out to do. That I’m just being fair to the people who hired me to make things happen for them, to my husband who thinks I invented virtual assistance, to my children who all look up to me and expect me to be the best virtual assistant there is.
I’d like to believe that workaholism is just compulsive working, and there is nothing compulsive with what I’m doing. I don’t work for the sake of getting so beat I’d fall asleep the moment my head hits the pillow. I don’t work for the sake of working. And I don’t take on just any project.
I always start with something I love, something at least I know how to do if not really very good at doing, something I can imagine myself to be happy with long-term. These criteria have to be present simultaneously, or I won’t be doing it at all.
Passion can easily get distorted to compulsivity, if you don’t have a clear purpose, if you are not clear about what your end-goal is. That’s why I still write my goals down, however taboo goalsetting has become to others. A written plan keeps me rooted to my purpose. It keeps me committed. It keeps me motivated.
So I think I’m just passionate. And I want to stay that way.
Do you have questions, comments or feedback about this post?
Please leave me a message, or post them, at my Facebook Page.
by The Happy WAHM
Exactly nine years ago today, I walked out of the Digitel building in Libis for the last time. I went there to return my service vehicle and take care of my clearance and last pay. My husband went with me as he was bracing for a meltdown. He knew how much I loved my career, and he wasn’t sure how I’d handle letting go of it.
On this scorching hot afternoon, while browsing through my Facebook feed, I got alerted that today is my 9th anniversary as a WAHM entrepreneur. Well, the entrepreneur part came much later. But today, I’m just amazed that I have forgotten about my WAHM anniversary. Like I’ve always been a WAHM and there was no beginning, you know? How time flies when you’re having fun! And fun is exactly what I’m having! The corporate life I have loved so much is just but a distant memory.
I have not blogged for weeks, as I have been busy doing the things I love, and enjoying myself immensely in discovering new possibilities, but in honor of my ninth anniversary, I’m going to share what I’ve so far learned in my journey as a WAHM entrepreneur.
Here’s my list, which can also be taken as my advice to those who want to join me in the journey:
- Take your time. Have an idea? Let it sink in. Sleep on it. Gauge your happiness level about it. If you’re not 100% sure that it’s for you, don’t take it. There will always be another opportunity.
- Be a people person. More than the money, it is the relationships that you build that will bring your business the boost it needs to succeed.
- Work hard, then work smart. Success takes hard work and commitment. But you don’t have to do all the work. Learn the value of delegation.
- Never worry about competition. Stop comparing. Just know who you are, know what you want, know your purpose and do your best to achieve your goals.
- NEVER compete on price. Know how much your time and effort are worth, and charge accordingly. Compete on service and quality, not price.
- Get a mentor. Listen to people who can show you results, not theories; people who have been successful in doing the advice they’re giving. While their paths may not be the same as yours, at least you know that they know what they’re talking about.
- Network. Be the person even your competitors go to for answers and assistance. My favorite word is collaborate.
- Commit mistakes. Don’t be paralyzed with fear. Note that this is different from taking your time. By committing mistakes I’m saying that even when you are making informed decisions, you can still be wrong about it. So it’s okay to be wrong. Just make sure that you learn from that mistake, correct your course, and make adjustments to the earlier decision.
- Write a plan. And I literally mean write, because that’s what I do. I know what business I want, who my target customers are, and how I’ll go about my processes. So I write them down, and I tweak as I go.
- Be money-wise. Buy what you need, not what you want. You don’t have to show off your success by having the latest gadgets in the market, or wearing the most expensive watch. Let your bank balance do the talking.
- Be with people who are your kind of crazy. Seriously. There’s nothing more stressful than working with people who cannot even appreciate your brand of quirkiness.
- HAVE FUN! ‘Nuff said.
So there! These are the things that have worked for me in the last nine years. Maybe they’ll work for you, too!
Do you have questions, comments or feedback about this post?
Please leave me a message, or post them, at my Facebook Page.
