Hello-llo again-ain!

I'm from the big state of Texas. Can you hear that echo?

My name is Don, and I'm back on the Internet! Not that I've been gone that long! I was in a coma for a few years...or was that a corporate job...hmmm...I don't quite remember.

Has anyone been keeping a warm and cozy space for me here on the Internet? Yeah, the Internet feels like home.

I first got online in 1982 with a 300 baud modem plugged into a brand new Commodore 64. Text would scroll across my...tv screen...about as fast as an executive secretary on amphetamines might be able to type. Graphics were out of the question. By the time a picture of baby Johnny could have gotten uploaded to Aunt Millie, Johnny would have reached puberty.

In 1994, I was running a computer bulletin board system set up in a coffeehouse in downtown New Orleans. Patrons sipped lattes and checked their email or posted to Usenet groups (the primitive forums of the era). Toward the end of the year, I read about something called the World Wide Web, so I got a copy of Netscape 1.0 to try it out. I was BLOWN away! To no avail, I tried to convince my four partners that we needed to switch to being an Internet company. They went down with the ship...but:

I learned to build web sites by typing raw HTML code into a text editor. I sold web sites to a CPA firm, a business copy writing company, and the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities in my first month in business for myself. There were only about 10,000 web sites worldwide back then. Well, maybe 10,003 that month. Those were the frontier days of cyberspace!

I started two other Internet businesses in the years that followed. I made a living, but burned out with each of them after a few years. You see, I needed virtual assistants...but didn't realize it 10 years ago...or even five years ago.

Ahh...but now, I'm back...not that I've been gone that long. I'm back to build a VA firm. These are the homesteading days of cyberspace. Exciting days! And I'm sure I'll find my warm and cozy place somewhere among today's 100 million web sites. But this time, I plan to surround myself with VA's! Well, shazaam. I seemed to have done that right here....

So-o-o hello-o-o....

Hi Don and welcome, nice to have you with us. Males in the VA industry are still few and far between - I know a few, but not many. But I'm sure you'll settle in fine - nice to read your history and connection with the internet over the years.

Hi Don,

Welcome to the forum. I am a Filipina who lived in San Jose, California, met a Brit whom I married and am now living in Wales, UK.

It would be great to hear from a male in the VA industry. Yes, it is amazing how the wibbly wobbly web has changed in just a few years. I had a walk down memory lane myself whilst reading your post.

Should you require anything I can assist you with, please feel free to contact me.

Best regards,
Grace

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Grace Long-VA Extraordinaire
The Ultimate Technology Specialist

Welcome Don, and that echo is something else! I see that you are a pioneer of the computer internet, all I can say is WOW! Come on in and join us. You have certainly surrounded yourself with a great group of VA's.

Mary Harris
iVirtual Services

Hi Don and Welcome to the forum,

Always nice to see new faces around here. Sound like you know what you want, no go out and grab it.

Welcome to the forum, enjoy

Kim

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Kim Beckers
Online Business Manager

Originally Posted by kathiemt

Males in the VA industry are still few and far between - I know a few, but not many.

Thanks for the welcome, Kathie.

Well, I'm not surprised there aren't many males in this industry. Administrative positions have typically been lower paying jobs offered to, and available for, females. Change comes slowly.

Being male, well, I was hired into management (but I did have some talent) for one of the leading telecommunications companies here in the U.S. However, I've always preferred hands-on administrative roles. What I loved was being given a project that typically took 30 minutes to complete, and looking for a way to massage a computer into help me get it done more easily and in only 20 minutes.

For many years, I didn't have a name for my passion. Then I discovered that it is called "business process improvement."

I'm skilled in using office software, but my specialty is tweaking computerized processes to save people time. I've found that its not uncommon to be able to cut the completion time of repetitive business processes by 40%. The key word is "repetitive." Computers can typically outperform humans in repetitive tasks by many orders of magnitude. So why compete with computers in performing repetitive tasks? Ask your clients that question.

Small business owners initially set up their business processes to get them from point A to point B. But once they get busy, they seldom take the time to streamline the processes to get them from point A to point B in a "straight line." Streamlining business processes means, counter-intuitively, that you have to slow down before you can speed up.

So, while small business owners love the idea of getting more done in less time, they just don't know how...or take the time to find out how. Change comes slowly.

Originally Posted by VAExtraordnaire

Should you require anything I can assist you with, please feel free to contact me.

Thank you, Grace, for your offer of assistance. I was hoping to find a VA group with a strong sense of community, and your reply suggests that I might have found such a group.

Originally Posted by mharris

Welcome Don, and that echo is something else!

Thanks, for the welcome, Mary.

I love your avatar photo. Your office is decorated like mine with lots of sky! No wonder the echo is so loud over there in Georgia.

Welcome Don,

You have definitely found a great forum and a great community. There's a fabulous sense of support here. Not only will you probably be able to get tons of information here, it sounds like you'll be a great resource of information as well.

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Kimberly
Facebook Marketing Magic!

Hi Don, welcome to the community.
You're absolutely right - there is a real sense of sharing and support here at the forums - so you're in great company. And we do have at least a handful of male VAs registered here who participate regularly - not a large percentage but enough that you're not flying solo here

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