Hi Tess,

Thanks for the congrats!

I'm not sure how to respond to your question -- how I decided to do it, so forgive me if I don't provide the correct response. Basically, I solicited the support of other VAs and business owners, asking them to submit questions for me to respond to about the industry -- basically anything and everything they wanted to know. Then I visited their sites and answered their questions -- providing, hopefully, detailed and insightful information about the industry. To make it interesting and a win/win for everyone, a puzzle contest was included, where individuals had to visit all the stops to get a clue; and prizes were given to those who correctly solved the puzzle (correct answer unveiled at the International Virtual Assistant Day celebration during the Online International Virtual Assistants Convention). That's it in a nutshell -- and I must say, the tour stops are still receiving hits, and showing up via google at least on a weekly basis.

What did I learn -- first, and this isn't something I learned, but something that was reinforced by people's generosity -- when you give willingly of your time and knowledge, you reap much in return.

The individuals who opened their blogs and podcasts to the tour did so because they believe in my sincerity to promote the industry. They also work to spread the word about virtual assisting -- to potential VAs as well as other business owners. By the way, 13 non-VA businesses also participated.

I humbly appreciate these individuals' willingness to allow me to use their platform and communicate with their audience of readers/listeners. Since they didn't know in advance how I would respond to their questions -- I could have (in theory) represented the industry poorly, which would have then been a negative reflection on them. So in essence, they stepped up, on faith, and due to their generous contribution of allowing me to visit their blog/podcasts, the tour was a success.

So, I say this tour was another example of how the industry consists of a group of giving/caring business owners willing to share and support each other.

I highly encourage individuals to ask for what you want/need and you may be pleasantly surprised at the outcome and the level of support you will receive.