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A little over 4 years ago I rented a PO Box in my then married name and business – Sandra Wedmore / Wedmore Realty / Wedmore More for You, Virtual Assistant. I was in the process of niching my Real Estate business into my Real Estate Virtual Assistant Business. Since then and a divorce later, I moved to a suburb of Iowa City and for mere convenience moved my PO Box here.

I rented my new PO Box and went to the Iowa City Post Office to stop my rental and to forward my mail. The Postmaster gave me all the forms I needed to cancel my IC PO Box and to forward my mail to my new box.

Sandra Bild / Bild a Better Business and all the mail in PO Box 803 to be forwarded to PO Box 458.

Handed over my keys – simple enough.

I waited.

And I waited.

And I waited.

My new PO Box was only receiving mail actually addressed to. I asked the Postmaster at my new PO Box and they said 7 – 10 POSTAL days for the new transferred deliveries.Okey dokey. I’ll wait.

Day 7 – still no mail. I called the BIG Post Office 1-800 and asked them. They said you have to wait 7 – 10 POSTAL days for the new transfer to take effect. So I marked my calendar for Saturday, October 2 as day 10.

I went to my new PO Box expecting to see it brimming with my newly transferred mail, since it WAS day 10, and I opened it up – Bent down – looked down that long lonely portal and NOTHING. ARGH! Where IS MY MAIL??

I went to the Postmaster of my new PO Box and explained to her and asked if she knew anything. No. Perhaps I should call the old Post Office to see if they knew anything. Well, alrighty then, I’ll do that. (Let the games begin!!!!0

I went home, found the Iowa City USPS phone number online (only the BIG Post Office 1-800 number is listed in the phone book – perhaps they don’t want phone calls.) And I found it and called – machine – tapped several numbers to get through the mumbo jumbo and got voice mail. Repeated this three times….. no answer.

Then I thought I would call the BIG Post Office 1-800 number and see what I could find out. A very nice woman on the other end answered…. a very nice “grandmotherly type” (lucky for her, my fuse was shortening). She searched my PO Box 803 in Iowa City and there was no transfer. WHAT?????? I filled the forms!! I handed over my keys to the Iowa City Postmaster!! I waited the 10 days!!! Where was my mail??? She didn’t know.

I looked at my watch and I had 40 minutes to cross town and make it to the Iowa City Post Office on GAME DAY which the University of Iowa played Penn State at 7:00 pm. Tailgating starts at 6:00 am and the Iowa City Post office is downtown beside the college. AND there were people in the streets with signs of “WANT TICKETS” and “HAVE TICKETS” but unfortunately blocks apart.

I made it to the Iowa City Post Office – put 25 cents into the meter for I knew this was going to take at least 30  minutes and ran in.  There was a line. I waited and waited and waited. I saw the man who originally waited on me 10 days earlier – please – let him be the one to call me out from the line! I really never really liked him and always thought he could move a little bit faster …. but no, the NICE CUTE one waited on me. The Universe wanted me to keep my cool on this …. so I explained.

The cute postal worker went to the back to find out what happened……. took 5 minutes and finally he came back up front. A woman also came from the back went to a different computer on the counter and both motioned for me to come over ….. ewwww that didn’t look good.

You see ……. I rented my PO Box 803 as “Sandra Wedmore”, “Wedmore Realty/Wedmore Virtual Assistants” NOT as Sandra Bild or Bild a Better Business. I also tried to transfer both my individual mail AND my business mail on the same form. That is just not done. But I thought I had changed my PO Box 803 name when my divorce was final, got my maiden name back and sent in the court ordered name change with my renewal …. uh, it doesn’t work that way. A whole new form needed to be filled out. So ….. you couldn’t have called the phone number on the cancellation form to let me know there was a PROBLEM??? I turned in my keys and canceled my box!! Uh, no.

So, I would need to fill out 5 (five) forwarding forms for my old name and old business name, new name, new business name and my family’s names …. 5 forwarding forms. Or I could do it on line for $1.00 each. Okay – I’ll go do it online. Easy enough …………..

I went back across town weaving around the guys still looking to buy tickets and those wanting to sell tickets. At the stop sign I yelled, “THEIR OVER THERE!!!” Hope they enjoyed the game – it was a good one. GO HAWKS!

Once I arrived at my office, I sat at my computer, entered the BIG PO Office address and started the process of changing my PO Box. “You are not authorized to forward personal mail through this Business PO Box. Only Business mail may be forwarded.

” Okay – now you’re really messing with me – are you kidding???? Okay, perhaps I’ll just forward my Business – past and present – and perhaps it will let me fill out the individual address. Nope. I also asked for my mail to start forwarding October 2 – it defaulted to October 9th. Okay, let’s start the 4th …. that stuck.

So, I called the BIG PO Office 1-800 and that time got a very nice young woman (like a daughter) – she said that all I would have to do is forward one Business address and everything sent to that old PO Box would be sent to the new PO Box. You are kidding me – just one forwarding address and not 5?? “Yes, Ma’am.” Really? Okay, what’s your name so I will know who to ask for if my mail lands in Neverland with the Pirates.

The moral of this episode is ….

You need to forward mail in the original name you started to rent the box with ….

And if it’s in your business name, you only need 1 forward.

Bad news is all around us – high unemployment, foreclosures and short sales, company and personal sales way down and it’s scary. Darn scary. But we’re in this for the long haul and what should we do about it? Quit and start a new profession or make the one we are in work? When’s the time to throw in the towel and start in a new direction?

March, 2009, I threw in the towel – I was down from 6 full time agent/clients to 1 and she was cutting way back – not to fully let me go, but cutting way back. And I was listening to the news. It scared the daylights out of  me. I only had $X in the bank and that was dwindling – fast. So I took a job. An hourly wage working for someone else.  I was miserable and I knew from the moment I stepped through the doors, it wasn’t for me. I felt like I failed.

A very long long year later, I crawled my way out and restarted my business, Bild a Better Business.

First off, I put on a new attitude (and had a new website built). I will find what I need to make my business work, I will learn what I need to make my business work,  and I will network with positive and successful business people enlisting those who will help my business work. The best change is my attitude – a more positive and “responsible” attitude. I know the work I do is needed and valuable that will benefit anyone who takes advantage of my services.

How did I change my attitude? There were several sources, but one was reading Jeffrey Gitomer and subscribing to his weekly ezine. Today’s article, “I’m not in a slump, the economy is!” sums it up. It’s like my Dad’s kick in the pants or Tom Hank’s, “There’s no crying in baseball!”.

My future is MY responsibility and formed by MY choices and decisions. No one will do my business for me, nor will they give me any handouts. If I fail, it’s me. If I succeed, it’s me. Who knows what the economy will do – we have NO control over that. However, what we CAN control is our reaction to the situation and what we do about it. I choose to work with what I can control, the rest will work itself out. I’m working to succeed.

Whether you hire an on-site non-licensed assistant or a Professional Real Estate Virtual Assistant, you will need to know what they can or cannot do in your state.

Realtor(r) Magazine has an online article detailing rules for a licensed and unlicensed assistant. Here’s the link – Realtor Magazine.

I am licensed in Iowa which really gives my Iowa Clients a real advantage – AND, there is also an advantage using my services in the states Iowa has reciprocity (AL, AR,
CO, GA, IL, ID, KY, MA, MN, MS, MT, NE, NC, ND, OK, SD, TN, WV AND WY). However, there will always be an advantage working with a seasoned licensed real estate agent/broker as your assistant.

Call me today to find out how I can “Bild” your Business.