One of the first clients I contracted with when I started my virtual assistance business last year was Ingrid Gee. She is a sweet, petite blond that called me up one day and said, “I really need your help.” To say that the last year has been an adventure for us would be an understatement.

Through many obstacles and setbacks, she has developed an incredible new concept in the way we listen to Talk Radio, and it is about to launch in September. The Cherries Internet Cafe, will officially open it’s doors on September 8th in downtown Knoxville Tennessee. There will be nine live shows produced daily, and a “live” web feed will allow Internet users to not only hear the radio show, but to watch it in “real” time!

Visitors to the cafe will have the opportunity to bring in their own laptops and connect to the Free WiFi, or use one of the Cafe’s computers with full Internet connections. There will also be iPod and iPhone chargers at every booth.

Feeling a little hungry? They’ve gotcha covered! The Lunchbox will be providing tasty meals for purchase, as folks come down to view the live shows taking place behind a floor to ceiling 500 square foot glass studio. And if you’re not hungry, try a freshly brewed cup of tea at the Daisy Pot Tea Bar.

There will also be a daily talent, cooking, charity and health show, as well as several others. For more information about the shows and all the great fun taking place on Market Square in downtown Knoxville Tennessee, visit their website at Cherries Internet Cafe.

One of my responsibilities as Ingrid’s VA is to virtually plan the Grand Opening of this amazing Cafe. So if you are in the Knoxville area, stay tuned for a fun-filled week of Grand Opening specials and surprises.

Do you have Grand Opening ideas? I’d love to hear them.

After a wonderfully long weekend where I didn’t step foot into my home-office, I re-entered my virtual workplace this morning and visited several of my local hangouts. One is VAnetworking.com. We have an incredible forum where we can share ideas, ask any question without the fear of feeling stupid and on occasion, VENT!

This morning as I weaved my way through the threads of the weekend, I came upon one by a fellow VA who had encountered a terrible experience with a client. As most of us in the US know, this past weekend was Independence Day…July 4th. We typically don’t work on July 4th. Which is exactly what this VA had in mind. Not to mention that she was feeling under the weather too. However, she had a client call her at 11 pm on July 4th! If she had been feeling OK, she would have been out enjoying fireworks at this time of night, but because she was sick, she was asleep. But wait…the story doesn’t stop there.

The next day, she was feeling better and went to see a movie with her children. This same client called her six times and the last time with some pretty colorful language included in the voice mail.

Needless to say, she is terminating the contract with this client. What this particular client didn’t understand or appreciate is that Virtual Professionals are real people with real feelings and real lives!! We are small business owners, who just happen to work from home. We can be the best partner a small business or entrepreneur can have. We are dedicated, hard-working, motivated and knowledgeable in our specific area of expertise. We respect each of our clients, their time and their business, and we expect that same respect back.

I’m very proud of my fellow VA, for taking a stand and not accepting this kind of behavior. She has no regrets and by sharing her ordeal with us, we can better prevent this from happening in our business.

I was speaking to one of my wonderful clients today, Diane Wilkerson with Knoxville Insurance Agency and she told me about how her business had been experiencing a dry spell for about the last two months. Which gave her some concern and made her re-evaluate why she was in business.

Well, she found out why today! Just this morning she has written four new policies and the phone has been ringing off the hook.

We all go through those periods of self-doubt and wondering, “is this really the path I’m supposed to be on?” And then we get that re-affirming phone call or sale that confirms that everything is fine. We sometimes have to weather those dry spells until the rain comes and pours out those wonderful blessings on us and our businesses.

So if you are going through the dry spell today…the rain is just behind the next cloud.

Well, I fell like I haven’t been on the computer for a week. Actually, that’s true because I had Gall Bladder surgery last week and closed my “virtual doors” for the week. You know when you have a home-based business it is very hard to close those doors and not go into the office for just a “minute.” Now I won’t say that I didn’t wobble in and look at my emails on Friday and Saturday, but I was very good and didn’t respond to anything and certainly didn’t do any work. There is just no telling what crazy things my brain would have sent through my fingers!!! Yikes!!

Anyway, I’m back in the office today. Catching up on emails, talking to some of my clients and just getting back in the groove.

This is just another example of how a home-based business can accomodate you in just about any situation. If I were working in a traditional office, I would still be on sick leave, until the doctor releases me in a couple of weeks. However, being in a virtual office, in my Big Orange shorts, (I live in Tennessee) and my Kenny Chesney t-shirt (he’s my 2nd cousin) and my house shoes, nobody cares what I look like and if I have to take a few minutes to rest during the day. As long as I get the job done for my clients in an efficient and effective manner, then everyone is happy.

Have you thought about working from home? It is definitely worth the research. It’s certainly not for everyone, but for me…it’s the BEST!