Tools, Tips, and Treats for Living the VA Life [October 2018]

We wanted to try something new this week on the blog. Since people are always asking us for advice on various things, from tools to productivity tips to marketing best practices, we decided to put out a resource that would share a few articles we found interesting, thought-provoking, or just plain fun. VAs, marketers, and entrepreneurs alike can get something out of these articles. Hope you enjoy!

Productivity Pick-Me-Ups

Working as a freelancer or VA requires us to make the most of our time, so we love any help with productivity hacks!

Form A Daily Writing Habit – It Will Improve Your Life 

Setting aside the fact that many VAs are content writers, anything that helps build your persuasion skills and self-awareness come in handy for both assistants and freelancers. Plus, “Don’t just get started. Keep going.” is valuable advice for developing any habit.

The Most Important Design Tool You’re Not Using

Visualizing your time can be incredibly helpful for productivity and for seeing how much time you’ve spent on work for a single client, or for motivating when you’re working on a tedious task. This tool will help you do that, and can also help others around you visualize how much time you still need #workathomelife.

Remote Work Revolution

Coffee shops and couches are the new cubicles and offices, so don’t let the future of virtual work pass you by.

Working for a Company vs. Working for Yourself

This is a funny/sad comparison of what we’ve all felt at some point or another: Should I work for a company or work for myself? There are benefits and drawbacks of both, and it seems we always want what we can’t have!

Is A Remote Team An Easier Way To Sustain You Startup?

DPM always has always been and always will be a remote team, and I can attest to the fact that removing the obstacle of finding and financing a physical space and materials for our team helps boost our profit margin. With the persistent development of online collaboration tools, we stay close despite being distributed.

Marketing Mischief

All great marketing boils down to one thing: Telling a compelling story.

Anton Chekhov’s 6 Rules for a Great Story

These rules are true of bigger stories, as well as effective short forms of copy. To attach an audience to your brand, compassion and truthfulness are key. And who knew Chekhov was a lover of lists?!

Anne Lamott’s Writing Tips

If you’re learning to write well or are working on your writing style, you listen to Anne Lamott. Tips like starting small, being playful, and finding trusted critics work for any type of written content, not just fiction.

Just for Fun

When so much of your job is on the internet, you can’t help but stumble across some fun (if not nerdy) stuff…

Pantone’s Color IQ Test

If you don’t get a perfect score, you can’t sit with us.

The Typographic Ticket Book 

Is it double jeopardy if you also get a ticket from the Grammar Police?

“Hocus Pocus” Came Out 25 Years Ago and We Panned It

We couldn’t get through an October edition without a mention of Hocus Pocus! This millennial watches the film at least once every year (I’ve watched it 3 times so far this year, actually) and it’s fun to see USA TODAY unearth the original (horrible) review from 1993.

Let us know if you enjoyed this short roundup or if you have any great articles to add to the list. Catch you next month!