Live Full Work Fun Podcast

It happened. That sinking feeling that everything was lost.

All that data…all those images…at least a terabyte worth…GONE!

That's when I heard it.

From my memory banks, I heard the sound-byte of PacMan dying in my head. You know… those few notes that are played when the game is over.

Losing your data isn't just sad, it can be costly…especially in your business. Costs come from the time you spend in recreating your work that was lost. You may also incur the expense of having someone trying to retrieve the data for you.

Drives fail. Computers crash. You spill tea on your laptop.

This stuff happens! And it happens at the most inopportune times.

In this week's podcast, I tell you my "Game Over" story with my 2T hard drive. I share other stories and how backups and redundancy systems for your data should be elevated to the top of your mind.

Don't let the excuses of "I don't know how" or "I'm not techy" stop you from saving your important data. Those are excuses!

I'm not an expert or a whiz when it comes to backing up data. But I don't think not being a whiz should be an excuse for not having good back-up practices in your business.

You can either learn how to back up your data by Googling for the info you need, or you can have someone do it for you.

Helping you stay organized is certainly a virtual assistant task. This could involve having your virtual assistant be the one who helps you organize your time to meet with your IT professional to create your system. Your system may include your VA to put it into his/her routine to ensure your backups are done routinely.

I'm curious...do you have a back-up routine of your data? If so, what is it? What services do you use? If not, what's stopping you?

Email me at [email protected] with your comments.

Catch me live every Friday at 2pm Central on Facebook. GaylaScrivener.com/Live

The work from anywhere lifestyle presents many challenges. One of which creating a schedule where you can work and grow your business while enjoying a travel lifestyle.

In today's episode, I discuss how creating a schedule and keeping appointments you make with yourself is important in the growth of your business. The schedule you create that will really work for you takes experimentation. It also takes a great deal of discipline.

Each year, for the past few years, Robert and I take off for at least three to five weeks to travel slowly toward and back home again to Overland Expo events. These travel times become our workcations. We blend our work along with some vacation time during our weeks of being gone.

We've learned a lot since we hit the road for our very first month long trek, so many years ago. And we are still learning.

Not everyone aspires to have an overlanding lifestyle like my husband, Robert, and I have. We become nomadic. There's a different level of uncertainty and more challenges in this type of nomadic lifestyle than staying home in a regular stick & brick home.

Vehicle-based travel may not be your thing, but you may aspire to travel often, staying in hotels or condos to enjoy a different part of the country or even to a different country and learn a totally new culture all-together. Or maybe your work from anywhere dream is working from home and being there to raise your kids. That is a wonderful thing too.

Quite frankly, creating a schedule is important in any of those cases. Creating a schedule and routine is important for any entrepreneur to achieve growth and success.

Many folks jump out of employment and into entrepreneurship wanting more freedom. They think that more freedom equals less structure. On the contrary, to be successful and grow the business you desire to the heights you want, you must create a discipline of structure and schedule.

As an entrepreneur, you must be even more diligent in scheduling your time.

In today's episode, I share some of my experiences and how going on an overlanding trip shakes up a routine and presents challenges to become even better at scheduling of projects for clients, projects for business growth, and enjoying your time off and disconnecting.

Resources Mentioned:

• Dean Shirley | East Coast Overland Adventures
• #060 – Work from Anywhere Challenge: Internet
• #061 – Work from Anywhere Challenge: Power
• Eric and Brittany Highland | Jeepsies
• Overland Expo West
• Slack
• Dan Kennedy | No B.S. Time Management for Entrepreneurs: The Ultimate No Holds Barred Kick Butt Take No Prisoners Guide to Time Productivity and Sanity

The work from anywhere lifestyle presents many challenges. One of which is how to keep your systems all powered up.

In today's episode, I have my husband, Robert, join me to talk about our travel set-up and how he manages to keep our work from anywhere office all charged up.

He explains how he has set up batteries, solar, and inverters in our '98 Jeep Wrangler overlanding set-up. We recall some things we've learned along the way.

Enjoy the episode…it's always a little silly when Robert and I record a podcast together.

Resources Mentioned:

• Been There Doing That Podcast

The choice to have a work from anywhere lifestyle, while it's rewarding to say the least...there are many challenges.

At the top of the list of challenges is internet.

In today's episode, I thought I'd share how we deal with our never-ending saga of finding enough internet to work.

I'm not going to lie to you, sometimes it becomes a stressful situation to find internet service. Sometimes, we must change our plans in search for internet signal to finish projects. Sometimes, projects are delayed. There's a certain amount of stress when it comes to internet challenges.

I'm much better in dealing with the challenges of internet connectivity than I was eight years ago. My stress level, although it's there, is not nearly as overpowering. It's a challenge and almost a game to figure out how to plan and work.

I hope you'll get some ideas by listening to how Robert and I handle our internet connectivity. Maybe it will give you the inspiration to branch out and have your office somewhere out of the ordinary.

If you already roam around and work out and about, what creative ways have you connected to internet? Do you have any funny stories to share?

Hop over to my Facebook Page [GaylaScrivenerWorkFromAnywhere] and leave a comment and share your experience. I'd love to hear from you.

Resources Mentioned:

• WiFi Ranger
• NomadSpace
• Regus Offices & Meeting Rooms
• LiquidSpace
• IPVanish

It's hard to believe that I could be actually recording this podcast in the Santa Fe National Forrest in New Mexico. If you were to tell me 10 years ago that I'd be camping in a rooftop tent and living out of our '98 Jeep Wrangler for weeks at a time...while at the same time running and growing a business...I'd think you were crazy.

Ten years ago, this type of lifestyle just seemed like a pipe dream. Actually, the dream wasn't even formed yet. My husband, Robert, and I live a "work from anywhere" lifestyle. We like to travel weeks at a time, being nomadic, and experiencing wonderful journeys along the byways of our beautiful countryside.

We are not traveling as much as we'd like, but we are traveling more than most. We are always working to experience more. To stretch ourselves to earn a living by helping others with their businesses but also creating a lifestyle we enjoy. It sparks our motivation and it sparks our life's enjoyment. I've been talking a lot about mindset in the past several episodes. I think that mindset has a lot to do with accomplishment and success. There are so many things that come up in life that presents resistance to achieving our goals.

I truly believe the biggest resistance comes within ourselves. If we are in the right state of mind, we can overcome the little details of not knowing what we are doing or how we'll achieve that big goal we have in mind. Is a mindset shift a sudden change? Do you wake up one morning and BAM!! You've got a different outlook on life and can make anything possible? Or does it come incrementally? Maybe there's a little bit of both.

In this episode, I share how incrementally Robert and I moved toward our work from anywhere lifestyle. Then, BAM! We took a leap and downsized drastically so that we could enjoy more travel. Then incrementally, we continue to make choices to move us toward longer stents of travel.

Sometimes, when you're in the moment of "right now" and you wish things were different, you may think you're not making any progress. Listen to the podcast and reflect. I do hope this episode allows you to reflect on your achievements while at the same time giving you ideas and inspiration to stretch toward the lifestyle you enjoy.

I was inspired by an article that my team member, Arlene, wrote for one of our direct mail newsletter clients. He's a financial advisor and the article was about the Chinese bamboo tree and how it relates to your financial planning.

I thought it was a great article and wanted to share it in today's podcast. It's a great analogy for not just doing your financial plan, but for many things in life, like growing your business. Once planted, like all plants, the bamboo tree requires water, fertile soil, and sunshine. In the first year, there are no visible signs of growth. There are still no visible signs of growth in the second, third, and even the fourth year. Finally, in the fifth year, there is astonishing growth. The tree grows 80 feet in just six weeks.

Is it a miracle?

No.

The little tree grows underground, developing a root system strong enough to support its potential for outward growth in the fifth year and beyond. In our culture of instant gratification, we want immediate solutions to every complex problem and lack the patience and perseverance to stick to our plan. Successful people don't stop. They move forward, even if they don't see immediate results. The bamboo tree is a great analogy for many situations. I believe that with our tech-driven world that encourages instant satisfaction and instant results, we're placing a great deal of stress on ourselves. When instant doesn't work, then you may be tempted to pluck up your little bamboo tree and move it elsewhere...hoping for instant results. You are making growth slower because you aren't allowing your roots to take hold. Please join me in this week's podcast as I share more about how growing a bamboo tree is like growing your business.

This week's episode is short and to the point. We all have the chance to receive a negative review. Reviews are a good opportunity to scrutinize our systems and look for ways of improvement.

There's no avoiding it, negative reviews hurt. It's like being kicked in the gut.

And for the small business owner, it seems ten times worse. It seems that one negative review could discount all the positive ones you've collected.

Remember this…

It's not about the negative review, but it's the manner in which you respond to the review that really counts. When you respond in a level-headed professional manner, people will take that into consideration.

I invite you to listen as I share the three things you should remember before responding to a negative review.

I'm in a great place in my career where I gain a lot of perspective on building teams.

First, as a virtual assistant where I first started out as a freelancer who picked up a few clients here and there to help them behind the scenes with various tasks.

Second, as a business owner where I understand the challenges of building a team but also know the importance of team building when growing beyond what I could do myself.

In observance of Administrative Professionals Day, I dedicate this week's podcast to thinking big and building teams.

There are more opportunities than ever when it comes to growing your business. In today's episode I share both perspectives:

1. Being a part of a team as a virtual assistant
2. Creating a thriving team as a business owner

I invite you to listen as I share how cost-effective and smart it is to delegate a little at a time. Starting out small is beneficial for both parties…the business owner and the virtual assistant.

It's important to be flexible to change as businesses evolve and pivots. Thinking big and surrounding yourself with other big thinkers who are open to the opportunities of the future stimulates growth.

Whether you are a part of a team or developing your team, the biggest takeaway I'd like for you to get from this episode is to be open-minded and have a positive mindset.

For those of you who are freelancing and building up your clientele, swallow your ego and think about the bigger picture for your client. You can't be all things for all clients. Embrace change with a positive attitude.

For business owners out there, who are growing your team, remember that life is too short to walk on eggshells. Build your team where you have people who are not only skilled but also have a positive and growth mindset.

A special shout out to Team Scrivener Solutions. Thanks for being so fantastic! I truly couldn't be doing all this without you. Happy Admin Professionals Day!

• Podcast Episode 46 | Achieving More Work Freedom is Possible
• 50 Tasks Perfect to Delegate | Free Download
• Administrative Professionals Day | Wikipedia
• Scrivener Solutions Team

I appreciate you tuning into The Gayla Scrivener Show today. If you enjoyed today's episode, please share.

There are many podcast choices out there and I'm honored that you chose mine. Please be sure to subscribe in your favorite podcast app.

We're busy people, right? We don't have the time to be bothered by unwanted messages. Being bothered and annoyed is one thing, but being manipulated, deceived or even cheated is so much worse.

Most people I know, myself included, hate spam and don't want to be associated with being a person who dishes it out. In today's podcast, I share some of the spammy things that have happened to me.

Little acts of spammy annoyances or just plain maliciousness sure does make it harder for you and me, who are just trying to connect with folks, to grow our businesses.

The idea of bothering people or afraid of being associated as a spammer slows most small business owners down in building and marketing their services. The fear of being lumped into a category of being a spammer shouldn't stop you from marketing your business.

What's important is that you implement good, honest practices to truly attract and connect with those who you serve.

In this episode, I talk about the obstacles encountered with spam being received on the phone, in your email, and on your website or social account.

Spam happens to good people. It just does. Don't let it stop you from doing the good work that you do. You will grow your audience when you implement good practices and deliver value on a consistent basis.

I hope you enjoy this episode. I'd love to hear some of your stories. Hop over to my Facebook page and tell me some of the crazy calls, emails or weird links you've experienced. We can have fun with this because I'm sure we all have a kooky experience we can share. Also, we may have some things to watch out for. So please share your examples and stories.

• Taming the Chaos of Passwords
• 8 Tips for Creating Secure Passwords | Infographic
• com/Live | Live on Facebook Fridays 2 PM (Central Time Zone)
• Like and Follow Gayla Scrivener Facebook Page

I appreciate you tuning into The Gayla Scrivener Show today. If you enjoyed today's episode, please share.

There are many podcast choices out there and I'm honored that you chose mine. Please be sure to subscribe in your favorite podcast app.

This week's show is all about getting your voice and your message out there. It's a show about content.

Producing content means consistently adding to your blog. Whether it's writing an article, creating a podcast, or a video, consistently adding content to your website is important. (Did I mention consistently?)

Content also means your social posts and emails. Even good old-fashioned snail mail is considered content in my book.

Content is what you produce so people will understand what you do, how you can help them, and basically get to know you better. When people get to know you and trust is built, they will want to do business with you. In practically every marketing book out there, you'll see phrases about the importance of know, like, and trust. And it is so true!`

When you provide value and information, you establish authority and influence in your area of expertise. Your audience will turn to you for answers and inspiration. You build trust and confidence. You build your business upon the relationships you develop. Through producing and publishing content, you scale your communication and allow people to get to know you.

What stops people from producing consistent content? In today's episode, I share what I believe are the three main reasons most don't even get started with producing their content.

I invite you to listen to see if you are held back because of one of the three reasons I share.

What's the main reason that stops you in your tracks from starting your consistent content plan? Click here to hop over to my Facebook Page and start a conversation. I'd love to hear from you.

• #053: Want Freedom and Work from Anywhere? Embrace Technology
• us
• Scrivener Solutions Podcast Services
• com/Live | Live on Facebook Fridays 2 PM (Central Time Zone)
• Like and Follow Gayla Scrivener Facebook Page

I appreciate you tuning into The Gayla Scrivener Show today. If you enjoyed today's episode, please share.

There are many podcast choices out there and I'm honored that you chose mine. Please be sure to subscribe in your favorite podcast app.