June 2007


I want to let you know about another upcoming FREE teleseminar sponsored by the Virtual Assistance Chamber of Commerce.

VACOC Monthly Guest Expert Teleseminar Series:

You’d Protect a Human Child, Why Not a “Brain Child?” Intellectual Property for Solopreneurs

Presented by Nina Kaufman, Esq., Wise Counsel Press

Date: Thursday, June 21, 2007
Time: 5:00 p.m. PST/6:00 p.m. MST/7:00 p.m. CST/8:00 p.m. EDT
Length: Sixty minutes
Cost: FREE!

This class is open to all Virtual Assistants, Small Business Owners and Independent Service Providers. Feel free to invite your colleagues and clients.

Do you know the difference between a trademark, a copyright, and a domain name — and the rights each one entitles you to?

Do you want to avoid messy (and expensive) disputes with other business owners?

Want to know how to protect your valuable intellectual capital so that you’re the one to profit from it?

Just as human children need our protection, our “brain children”– or intellectual property — also need our protection. Unfortunately, solo professionals often don’t realize (before it’s too late) that they had protectable intellectual property and what they could have done to protect it.

Given the fast pace at which information flies in the Digital Age, forethought and intellectual property planning is absolutely necessary.

Join me to learn how you can identify your “brain children” and protect yourself economically. A few of the scenarios that we’ll cover include:

  • What’s the difference between a copyright, a trademark, and a domain name?
  • Can I get a trademark once I have a domain name? And what if someone tries to get a trademark using my business name?
  • What if my articles appear on someone else’s website (or blog) without permission?
  • Who owns the program that I collaborated on with someone else?
  • Can I use ideas in my business that I generated for a client?

And much more!

Free giveaways will be provided to four lucky call participants, so be sure to register today to reserve your spot!

Sign up here: Teleclass registration.

About Nina Kaufman: Nina L. Kaufman, Esq., is a rare combination: a small business attorney, entrepreneur, and stand-up comedienne. Through her humor, wisdom, and legal acumen, she helps entrepreneurs and small businesses protect their companies and develop a solid legal foundation for growth and success. She specializes in working with service-based businesses. Her mission is to help demystify legal concepts and mumbo-jumbo so that business owners can make smart legal decisions, protect their companies, and save money . . . wisely.

For over a decade, she has worked with solopreneurs and small business owners through her NYC law firm, Paltrowitz & Kaufman, LLP. A prolific writer and legal blogger, Nina is the founder and President of Wise Counsel Press, LLC, which produces legal information products for entrepreneurs. She blogs regularly on business partnership and partnering relationships in her Business Partnership Central blog and is a regular contributor to Entrepreneur magazine’s new online portal for women business owners, WomenEntrepreneur.com. Her new book, The Key Questions: 100 Questions to Ask Before Going into Business with Someone Else, is soon to be released through iUniverse and will be available online through Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.com. She is married and lives in New York City.

Sign up for the teleseminar! I think you’ll enjoy it and don’t forget . . . it’s FREE!

When I decided to start a Virtual Assistance business, I wondered if I could do it. I mean, I knew I could do the work. But could I run a business? See, I’m what is known as a free spirit; in other words, I’m undisciplined and easily distracted. That flies in the face of being very organized, which I am (no wonder the person I fight with the most is me!).

I wrote in my business plan that I would take a project and turn it around in 24-48 hours. Pretty unrealistic plan because what if I got six projects at once? And who knew what the complexity of those projects would be? I had guaranteed failure. So, for months, I was in the frame of mind that if I got a lot of projects to do, I would fail because I couldn’t do them all at once. My subconscious mind was not letting me find clients. Thus my business was failing. I was miserable. During that time I joined the VACOC and subsequently left because I didn’t have time for it. I was too busy failing.

When I came back to the VACOC in October, I decided to purchase their forms. I had to do something besides get a full-time job. Those forms, along with actually participating in the forum this time, has made all the difference. I now realize my limitations are not that I’m undisciplined and can’t run a business. I am running a company and being undisciplined spurs my creativity. My limitation is time and time can be managed. The best way to manage time as a VA is to have retainer clients and the equivalent of one day dedicated to taking care of the business. Take care of the business . . . take care of yourself. They go hand-in-hand.

Two weeks ago I changed my hours from Monday-Friday to Monday-Thursday. Friday belongs to my company. The past two Fridays I haven’t spent a lot of time on the business, per se. What I have done is cleaned out and cleaned up my home. I removed nine large trash bags of clothing and linen, threw out enough stuff to fill three wheeled bins, moved two pieces of furniture to the basement (The cellar will receive the same cleansing at the end of June.). Yesterday I cleaned the house from top to bottom - that was a really good thing because the cat hair was getting kind of thick - lol!

Suzanne Evans of Blueprint Life Coaching started me on this quest. Now I feel so much cleaner, organized, lighter, refreshed. And because I got rid of so much, I have room for those two or three other retainer clients I want.

Have you made room for what you want in your business and your life?