This past week, my lawyer faxed over a bunch of personal information, including my social security number. All of my personal details were potentially made public in a simple fax. He assured me that the information was encrypted, but I wasn’t taking his word for it.

It got me thinking that I should protect my credit by requesting a fraud alert to be placed on each of my credit reports.

A fraud alert can make it more difficult for someone to get credit in your name because it tells creditors to follow certain procedures to protect you. You may place a fraud alert in your file by calling just one of the three nationwide consumer credit reporting companies. As soon as that agency processes your fraud alert, it will notify the other two, which then also must place fraud alerts in your file.

• Equifax: 1-877-576-5734; www.alerts.equifax.com
• Experian: 1-888-397-3742; www.experian.com/fraud
• TransUnion: 1-800-680-7289; www.transunion.com

An initial fraud alert stays in your file for at least 90 days. An extended alert stays in your file for seven years. To place either of these alerts, a consumer credit reporting company will require you to provide appropriate proof of your identity, which may include your Social Security number.

I took it one step further and requested a credit report from each of the credit bureaus – Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion.

The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) requires each of the nationwide consumer reporting companies to provide you with a free copy of your credit report, at your request, once every 12 months.

I know you’ve seen commercials that claim to offer “free credit reports,” “free credit scores,” or “free credit monitoring”. In most cases, the “free” product comes with strings attached.

Back in the day, you had to request a free report via regular ol’ snail mail. Nowadays, you can do this online. The credit bureaus have consolidated the process to make it much easier.

Yet, the thought of providing my social security number online doesn’t make me feel secure. Check out this link. It gives you the option to request your reports online, over the phone, or via mail. https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/order.

I got that link through the Federal Trade Commission and double-checked it through VeriSign to ensure its legitimacy.

I’ve been honored by being included in the May 2011 issue of OC Family magazine featuring 10 moms from the Orange County area who work and thrive in the digital arena.

It’s a wonderful acknowledgment and I appreciate the inclusion tremendously.

I’m among a wonderfully talented group of women who are tapping technology to start businesses, save money, and connect with others using the power of the Internet.

Click on the photo below to quickly view the mention:

Or ventured over to the online version to view the entire group of tech-savvy mamas.

Special thanks to Debbie Lavdas for including me in the piece.

Your Unique Verification Code:
EAVB_XEHXOEAUSD

I’ve been meaning to create a directory of Virtual Assistants (VAs) and their skill sets for a while. I saw @Minervity tweet this link out this morning and it gave me the gentle nudge I needed to get the ball rolling.

I consult with a lot of potential clients (PCs) and when they aren’t the right fit for me, I want to send them in a direction that will help them find their ideal VA.

The concept hasn’t been fully realized yet. There are a few directions I can head into: a RFP center, a membership/forum site where I make all of my templates available… your suggestions are welcomed.

What I do know is that there will never be a cost associated with simply listing your VA business in this directory.

At this stage in the game, if you’d like to be included, all you have to do is provide the following information in a comment.

I will keep you posted on what/when/how, but in the meantime, I’ll be able to reference the VAs on the list so that when a PC doesn’t work with me, they have another resource in their quest to find a VA.

• Full Name
• Website
• Contact Info
• Target Market – (if you have one)
• Skills – (Software)
• Short story about yourself
• Link to a photo of yourself

Thanks for taking the time to submit your information.

I was recently nominated for two Community Recognition Awards from AssistU.

(Yay, Me. *\0/*)

I am grateful and appreciative.

Thank you, my AU Community Sistahs.

I just had the pleasure of watching @garyvee‘s keynote speech at #ASW09 on Ustream.TV.

I have to hand it to him, no matter how much that guy cusses, he’s got a heart of gold and a solid message to deliver.

Yes, I was one of those people that had an adverse reaction to Gary Vaynerchuk when I first laid eyes on him in a virtual setting.  The guy cusses like nobody’s business, so be forewarned if you’ve never listened to him before.  He’s not for the faint of heart.

Clearly, he knows what he likes and he knows where he’s going.  He’s got a successful $50 million dollar wine business and a thriving online community, Wine Library TV to prove it.

After watching him this morning, I took away these two points:

(1) If you’re passionate about what you do, it’s imperative to teach it to others and monetize your knowledge. Go down to your local Chamber of Commerce and tell those folks what you know. In doing so, you brand yourself the expert and become “the Yoda” in your local community.  There are plenty of opportunities within a ten mile radius of your home.  Don’t overlook them. You know more than you realize.

(2) Keep the most important people around you happy. Your hard work is all for naught if everyone around you is disappointed and disconnected.  Know what makes these important people happy and do what it takes to keep them happy.  Take the proper time to nurture these relationships so that you have a balanced life.

Be the Yoda in your community and nurture the love in your life.  Two worthy topics to be mindful of in 2009.

May the force be with you.

I entered myself into StartUp Nation’s 2008 Home-Based 100 Competition about a month ago.

Events like this are great for a little startup business like mine (or yours, for that matter!).  And there’s nothing better than a whole lot of free exposure, right?

I would love your clicks in order to make it to the finals.

You are allowed to vote once a day and voting continues well into the month of October (**sigh**).  If you hear me asking a few more times before the end of October, thanks in advance (big grin).

To vote, click here ==> ACUMEN WORKS – 2008 StartUp Nation Home-Based 100 Competition <==

Your support is greatly appreciated.