Leslie Auman

Certified OBM®️

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March 9, 2018

How I Converted Clients to Retainer Packages

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It’s hard to believe, but I’ve been working from home full-time since the fall of 2016, running my virtual assistant business as my main focus and source of income. I spent several weeks before this transition crunching the numbers and thinking about how best to make that happen. Prior to working from home full-time, my virtual assistant business was run on simple straight hourly work, with a flat rate for all services. But, part of my plan to be able to work from home included switching from straight hourly to monthly retainer packages.

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By: Leslie Auman Hirgelt · Filed Under: Just Virtual Assistant Things, Running a Business · Tagged: business, business owner, grow your business, growing business, running a business, small business owner, solopreneur, virtual assistance, virtual assistant, virtual assisting

February 7, 2018

5 Online Business Tools You Need

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I don’t think you need me to tell you that running a business is hard work. Like, really hard. It’s always hard, but I think it’s especially hard when you’re a solopreneur like me, because you have no one to fall back on, no one to swoop in when you can’t get to something, and no one to tell you you’re doing a good job. With all of that in mind, it’s important to make things easier when and where you can, which is why online business tools are so important.

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By: Leslie Auman Hirgelt · Filed Under: Just Virtual Assistant Things, Running a Business · Tagged: business, business owner, grow your business, growing business, running a business, small business owner, solopreneur, teacher-author, teacher-authors, teacher-seller, teacher-sellers, virtual assistance, virtual assistant, virtual assisting

December 12, 2017

How Do I Become a Virtual Assistant?

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I was just recently asked about this (again), so it seems like a timely post to write! I started my virtual assistant business in August of 2015, after my online acquaintance Meg Bateman commented on my post in a Facebook group I was in (for food bloggers) and told me to consider it. I grew my business part-time on the side while I worked a full-time job, and then, in September of 2016, I made the leap and started working from home full-time with my VA business as my main source of income. I’ve been fortunate enough to be doing that ever since!

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By: Leslie Auman Hirgelt · Filed Under: Just Virtual Assistant Things, What Is a Virtual Assistant? · Tagged: business, business owner, virtual assistance, virtual assistant, virtual assisting, what is a virtual assistant

June 21, 2017

How I Knew It Was Time to Hire a Subcontractor

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My business exploded in late July and early August of 2016. I’d been in business for about a year at that point, and my business had been growing in fits and starts during that time. But, all of the sudden, it just outright burst through the ceiling that had seemingly been on it. That growth continued – it’s still growing – and for a long time, I struggled to keep up with everything by myself. A few times I received the advice that I should hire a subcontractor, but I knew I just wasn’t there yet, at least financially.

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By: Leslie Auman Hirgelt · Filed Under: Just Virtual Assistant Things, Running a Business · Tagged: business, business owner, entrepreneur, grow your business, growing business, hiring a subcontractor, running a business, subcontractor

October 9, 2016

3 Smart Ways to Find New Clients

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You’ve decided you want to become a virtual assistant (or a solopreneur or an entrepreneur).

          Great!

You’ve created a business bank account and a business PayPal account.

          Sweet!

You’ve chosen a few online tools to help you run your business smoothly.

          Awesome!

So…where do you get clients to do all of the work that you’ve set yourself up to do?

[Read more…]

By: Leslie Auman Hirgelt · Filed Under: Just Virtual Assistant Things · Tagged: client list, clients, entrepreneur, grow your business, growing business, solopreneur, virtual assistance, virtual assistant, virtual assisting

Hey hey, friend!


I'm Leslie, a former middle school teacher turned Certified OBM®. I'm here to help kick-ass womxn entrepreneurs scale their businesses with behind-the-scenes management and support. I'm glad you're here!

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© Leslie Auman, LLC 2016-Present. Photography by PAW Prints by Patti Wojtowecz. All photographs taken at Picnik Austin.
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About Leslie

I’m Leslie, a former middle school teacher turned Certified OBM®. I’m here to help kick-ass womxn entrepreneurs scale their businesses with behind-the-scenes management and support. I’m glad you’re here!

Categories

Honest Educator Series
Teaching
Teacherpreneurship
Running a Business
What Is a Virtual Assistant?
Just Virtual Assistant Things
Technology Hacks
New book suggestions for teachers looking to add d New book suggestions for teachers looking to add diversity to their middle school and high school classroom libraries! 📚
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I can't remember now how I came across this series, but I'm really enjoying it! 🖤 It's fantasy meets realistic fiction with engaging but flawed characters, an incredible alternate world, magic, and most importantly -- a Black female protagonist. 👏🏻
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I read them originally in Kindle version, borrowed from my local public library, but I liked them so much that I decided to buy them for myself as an early birthday gift (my birthday is in about a week 😝). There's a third book, A Crown So Cursed, due out in mid-April! 📅
I did my civic duty! 🗳️🇺🇲 PLEASE VOTE! I did my civic duty! 🗳️🇺🇲 PLEASE VOTE!
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I requested an absentee ballot because COVID is still very much a threat, and I'm an immunocompromised person. I researched candidates, issues, and the school bond issue on this ballot and made my selections. ☑️ Despite 45's fear-mongering about mail-in voting, I trust this election system that's been around for over 150 years. 📬 I'll be tracking my ballot on the Ohio Secretary of State website, and in the meantime, I'm going to make some donations to important campaigns! ✊🏻💵
Here's what I'm currently reading: The Nightingale Here's what I'm currently reading: The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah. What are you reading right now? 📚
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World War 2 fiction is one of my favorite genres. Some of my most favorite books are in this genre. 💜 It's taken me a bit to feel like I'm really getting into the plot, but last night I finally felt like it was getting really good. I'm roughly halfway through! If you've read this, what did you think? But no spoilers, please! 🙏🏻
It allllllllmost passed me by, but today is my fif It allllllllmost passed me by, but today is my fifth business anniversary! 🥳💖 Or business birthday, whichever. 😂
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Exactly five years ago today, I "launched" my business as a virtual assistant and signed my very first client, completely unexpectedly. I had no idea what I was doing, really -- and sometimes I still feel that way. 🙃
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These past five years have taught me a LOT. I've tried and failed and tried and failed. I've felt really successful, and I've felt pretty unsuccessful. I've lived "paycheck to paycheck." I've been watching the newest season of @queereye with Husband, and the episode with Rahanna, the entrepreneurial dog groomer, made me feel so seen and comforted as Bobby and Tan talked to Rahanna about how hard the first few years of business are. Because they are. No one is an overnight success. I'm officially five years in, and I'm only just now starting to feel like I'm finally on a path to my business being profitable. 
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I'm so, SO excited and thankful to celebrate (LOL by working) today knowing I signed my first OBM-level client a few days ago! 🥳 I've also had the opportunity and pleasure of having discovery calls with a couple of other womxn business owners about my OBM services. How fitting that I'm starting off this new chapter of my business with the very recent success of "launching" myself as an OBM! 🙌🏻
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Cheers to you if you're still grinding on the roller coaster of entrepreneurship. I'm starting to see that it does all eventually pay off, and it does eventually get easier. 🙏🏻
It's finally here: OBM certification week! Back in It's finally here: OBM certification week! Back in March, I enrolled in the Certified OBM training program, created by @tinaforsyth8 and taught by @sarahnoked. After three months in the training program -- working through all of the modules and watching all of the session videos, attending the biweekly live calls or watching the recordings if I had to miss, watching/reading any supplemental materials that would help for this week, learning from sample projects, and talking with my accountability partner... We're here, at certification week. I'm nervous, but I'm ready to give it my best effort! 💪🏻👊🏻 Good luck to my fellow examinees, also on the path to becoming certified Online Business Managers! 🤗 #CertifiedOBM #OnlineBusinessManager
Yesterday, I shared about the Following Directions Yesterday, I shared about the Following Directions Test for middle school grades that's included in the #Fireworks2020 dollar💲deal event...so today I'll share about the People BINGO resource! 🤩
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This is an editable activity that makes for a fun and engaging icebreaker activity on the first day of school -- or on the first day of a new semester with a new class of students. You can customize the BINGO board to have details that best fit your population of students and what you know about them, but there's also a ready-to-print PDF version! ✅
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In light of the mandates, I do still think this is an activity best used in the classroom -- I have yet to think of an effective way to adapt it digitally, aside from doing it together as a whole group and asking students to introduce themselves and sharing something on the BINGO board that applies to them. But if you do have to go back in the classroom, I recommend having your students stay 6+ feet apart as recommended, introduce themselves to each other, and exchange a detail on the board that applies to them. They can write their classmates' names in the squares themselves, rather than trading papers to have each other sign.
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This resource is normally $3 marked down to just $1 today, so be sure to go to the link in my bio to grab it at such a great discount! Happy 4th of July! 🎆🎇❤️🤍💙
It's the first day of the $1 deal sale!!! 🥳 Thi It's the first day of the $1 deal sale!!! 🥳 This Following Directions Test for middle school (grades 6-8) is one of the resources I've marked to down JUST $1 for today and tomorrow! It's normally a value of $3.75. 🙌🏻 Head to my bio to find the link! #Fireworks2020
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I created this resource in my first year of teaching (several years ago now!) based on my memory of a similar kind of test given to our class in 4th grade. Back then, the test was part of my teacher's classroom management system, but I created my version to be used at the beginning of the year (or beginning of the semester...or during test prep!).
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This resource included two "trick" versions of the test, where there are silly instructions given in numbers 1-10, but the REAL instructions are at the very bottom of the page, for eagle-eyed students. 😉 There's also a legitimate version of it, no tricks. 🤗 And just this week I added a digital version of all three tests, so each one now has a fillable PDF version, and the instructions have been updated to suit a distance learning environment! 🖥️
⚠️ We have work to do! ⚠️ To my fellow whi ⚠️ We have work to do! ⚠️ To my fellow white people (and to non-Black POC), please give these white people a follow and start learning from them. Yes, we can and should learn from the Black community (and I will also make a post with Black people we can and should support), but the onus of educating us should not rest solely on their shoulders. We need to educate ourselves and each other, because they've been fighting this fight for a very, very long time, and they deserve a respite, at the very minimum. ❤️
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@melissau 
@xoamandafrances 
@mrdtimes3 
@thechampagnediet 
@jazzythings 
@mikeydteach 
@melyssa_griffin 
@drazs_class 
@jameswedmore

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