Happy St. Patrick’s Day

As I’ll be out of town Thursday through Saturday, I thought I’d use today to wish everyone a Happy St. Patrick’s Day. What types of things do you do for “luck?” Do you believe in luck? Let’s find out a little bit about St. Patrick’s Day and how it came to be in the United States.

According to Wilkipedia, Irish American immigrants brought Saint Patrick’s Day to the United States. The first celebration of St. Patrick’s Day took place in Boston, Massachusetts in 1737. The first celebration of St. Patrick’s Day in New York City was held at the Crown and Thistle Tavern in 1756. In 1780, General George Washington allowed his troops a holiday on March 17. This event became known as The St. Patrick’s Day Encampment of 1780. Today, St. Patrick’s Day is widely celebrated in the United States by Irish and non-Irish alike.

Americans celebrate the holiday by wearing green. Many people, regardless of ethnic background, wear green-colored clothing and items. Traditionally, those who are caught not wearing green are pinched. Wow, doesn’t that bring back memories of school days – dreading the day because you forgot it was St. Patrick’s Day and you didn’t wear green – or trying to tie a piece of cloth or ribbon around your wrist and telling people that’s your green!

They say some of the best fun can be had in cities such as New York (which has the largest parade outside of Ireland), Chicago (they dye their rivers green), New Orleans (they do the whole Mardi-Gras theme), and Savannah, Georgia. There’s also a place called Maryville, MO that boasts the shortest parade, each year trying to shorten from the previous year. In 2006, it was approximately 86 feet long!

So if you’re feeling the blues from the early “daylight savings time” switch this year, think about taking a little trip and have yourself a bit of Irish fun this weekend. Who knows, maybe your luck will change!

One way to help your business has nothing to do with luck – but business smarts. If you coaches, speakers, and consultants are looking for that extra edge this year, consider partnering with a virtual assistant. When you choose the right one, you’ll suddenly find yourself with the time needed to spend on truly growing your business. Check out my services at Elite VAs. I look forward to hearing from you and showing you ways that together we can build both our businesses into the success of the future!

Now wouldn’t that be lucky??

Vickie

The Power of Words

I have an eZine that I receive regularly from a marketing expert named Robert Middleton. I’ve used his information quite a bit in my blogs.

One of the things that I like most about his information is the way he presents it to “me.” Even though he doesn’t know me from anyone, his information seems to hit home with me. I find that quite interesting, especially considering he is a male and I am a female.

Males and females don’t speak the same language. We all know that. That whole “Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus” thing is so true in many aspects of life. Our thought processes are different, our mindsets are different, what’s important to us is different. So I find it fascinating when someone of the opposite gender can speak to me in a manner that I not only identify with, but am drawn to. Robert Middleton knows how to use words.

His eZine today was about Marketing Recipes. His quote was, “Marketing action plans are like good recipes: Add ingredients and stir.” “By Robert Middleton of Action Plan Marketing. Please visit Robert’s web site at www.actionplan.com for additional marketing articles and resources on marketing for professional service businesses.” That immediately spoke to me. I look to cook. I love recipes. I buy every recipe book I can get my hands on. So I immediately took some time and read his eZine. What made me want to drop what I was doing and read it? Words.

The power of words is amazing. They can make or break your day. They can make or break your week. They can make or break your life. We are currently having a discussion on one of the networks of which I’m a member. There is a word that we as virtual assistants use that bothers a marketing expert. It became a full-blown engagement of words, back and forth, who’s right and who’s wrong. Because of the words used, it became personal. Emotions were brought into it. All over one simple word!

Our words become us, especially over the Internet. We rarely meet our clients. All work is done over the Internet. So our words are who we are, they are an extension of us. And we use words that we are comfortable with – words that make us feel good, feel empowered, feel successful. Those are usually the “buzz” words of the day – words that everyone is using. We all do it – from Coaches to Speakers to Consultants to VAs. They are the words of the industry, the words that draw people to you. That’s the main goal – to be able to have your words convey the essence of “you.”

So be careful choosing your words. Make sure your words show the “you” that you want them to know. Be mindful of the harmful nature of words – how they can affect another person. Be conscious of the power of words.

Another Time Management Tip – Email can be Time-Wasters

As professional virtual assistants, and as small business owners, we know that we are no longer employees. But sometimes we have a tendency to continue to work as employees by doing things that are time-wasters. As employees we are expected to stop what we’re doing and respond to more immediate things throughout the day. Now that we’re business owners, we determine our priorities throughout the day. But one of the biggest culprits seems to be how we deal with email.

Email is such a wonderful tool. But it can be such a time-waster also. We have a tendency to leave our mail programs open throughout the day so that we see each email as it comes in. Then we have the tendency to stop what we’re doing, read the email, and of course, reply to it. By the time we get back to what we’re doing, we’ve wasted a good 10-15 minutes. Then we have to reprogram our mind to go back to what it was concentrating on when we broke that concentration.

Some helpful tips I’ve run across lately are:

• Don’t get your email program open all the time. A good rule of thumb is to check it first thing in the morning and late in the afternoon.
• Don’t set a reminder notification – whether that be a popup window or an envelope icon in the bottom of your screen. This way you won’t be tempted to go see what’s come in every time a reminder comes up.
• Let people know that you will be responding to emails twice a day, no more, no less. This helps with any confusion with client communication.
• Schedule times to read and reply to emails. If it’s twice a day, set aside 30 minutes twice a day on your calendar to do read and reply to emails. Put it in your calendar just like an appointment. Don’t disregard it. Let it become habit.

If you try these tips, you will be amazed at how much time you’ll save each day. That’s extra time you can spend marketing your business, writing to prospective clients, narrowing your target market, updating your To-Do lists, all sorts of things. Let me know how it goes for you.

Vickie

Making the Leap to Full-Time SBO

So you’re working part-time at your job, you’ve started building a client base and you’re wondering, am I ready to make the leap to full-time small business owner. Before you make that decision, there are a few things to consider.

• Be sure to have your financing in place. Do you have money to pay the bills until the clients start rolling in? Do you have money to finance your business – new equipment, domains, web sites, emails, etc.? Do you have money set aside for quarterly taxes?

• Be sure your target market can afford you or even wants your products. Deciding on a target market is definitely a wise decision, but have you researched that market to see if they can afford you? Have you joined forums where they hang out? Are they looking for your particular service or product? Can you provide them with something they can’t get elsewhere?

• Be sure to have your retirement plan in place. Will you be self-contributing to an already-existing IRA? Will you be starting a new one? Have you figured that in your budget?

• Be sure to discuss this with your family. It’s a big step going from working outside the home to owning your own business. Is your family on board with your decision? Will they be helping out if times get tough? Are they supportive of what you want to do?

• Be sure to get local, state and federal licenses needed. Have you researched your local city or county laws regarding businesses? Have you got your licenses? Do you have a EIN?

These are just a few of the things you need to think about before starting your own business. It is an exciting time – but it is also a scary time. Be sure you have everything thought out, planned out. Talk to other small business owners to see what they suggest. What did they go through? What are the pros and cons to owning your own company? Do you even have the personality to run your own business?

If you do all your researching and planning before you begin, you will have a much better chance at success! Be sure and do the work ahead of time – then you will be ready to make the leap to full-time small business owner.

Vickie

I’m Sick (How Lucky I Am to Work from Home)

I was feeling under the weather yesterday and was thinking about how lucky I am!

I recall being in the corporate world and being ill. It was such an awful feeling to wake up and realize you didn’t feel well. Then the struggle would begin. Do I go to work? Do I take the chance of passing something to others in the office? Do I have a project that has to be finished today? Do I take the chance that by working today, I’ll feel worse tomorrow? Or do I stay home today? Do I try to rest so I can feel well enough to go in to work tomorrow? Do I hope that my workload won’t triple by staying home? Do I worry about what my being out of the office will do to the other employees in the office? There was always a tug-of-war going on about doing what was right. If I stayed home, I would worry all day about how things were going at the office. If I went to the office, I was worried about getting the rest I needed to get better.

I realized yesterday how lucky I am to be able to work from home. I didn’t have to spend all that wasted time feeling the guilt – wondering what I should do. I was able to dress in my lounging clothes. I was able to leave off the makeup. I was able to take a nap when I got tired. I was able to work. As a virtual assistant, most of my conversations with my clients are through email so that wasn’t compromised. I was able to work on the computer, finish a project, look over a draft ad, email back and forth, check in on my forums.

It made me feel good that I could be productive even though I was sick. And so I am thankful – thankful that we have the technology to make working from home possible; thankful that I have the talents needed to run a successful business; thankful that I have clients who don’t have to know when I don’t feel well; thankful that I can make money while feeling like crap!

So the next time you’re wondering why you went into business for yourself, think about the benefits. Be thankful that you can be sick and how lucky you are to be able to work from home.

Add a Computer to Your Wardrobe

I found an article last weekend that talks about having computer chips in our clothes. You can check it out at “http://twenty1f.com/index.php?http://twenty1f.com/news/future-dress-code-very-smart/. Very interesting – but it got me thinking about being “in the business world” 24-7. Do we want to be available all hours, day and night, to the point of having computers in our clothes?

“Instead of being deaf, dumb, and blind sitting on our desks or in our pockets, our computers might be able to observe what we do all day, understand what is important to us, and act as a virtual assistant who helps us on a second-by-second basis,” said Thad Starner, Associate Professor of the Contextual Computing Group at Georgia Tech University.

Starner is at the forefront of wearable computing, developing intelligent, wearable systems that can record and repay information, and has worn his own custom-made wearable computer since 1993.

As work-from-home business owners, it is up to us to decide when we want to work. Our target market has much influence on this decision, but ultimately we determine when we’ll be open, when we’ll answer phones, etc.But it seems the more of us that go into business for ourselves, the more consumed we get by that business. With networking, writing, blogging, meetings, client work, email and mobile phones, we can keep in touch and be available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We can be paged, phoned, emailed, lettered, blogged and forumed any time, day or night.

Now it seems we can even start wearing our computers – making us more available. But do we really need computers in our wardrobe?

What were our reasons for going into business for ourselves? Did we want more freedom? Did we want more time with our families? Did we want to be able to make our own decisions? I think these are all examples of why. Yet we seem to be tied more and more to our computers. We work from 9 to 5, then we attend teleseminars or blog or write or do our bookkeeping or network. We are always busy with our businesses.

I think we may need to take a step back and re-examine why we decided to be business owners. Technology can be a wonderful thing – it’s propelled us into the future; it’s allowed us the convenience of working from home; it’s made staying connected easier. It can also be our downfall. We’ve made it too easy to be on-call all the time.

So spend some time thinking about your connectivity. Are you too spending too much time, being too available? Or will you be looking to add a computer to your wardrobe?

Growing Old Gracefully

Yesterday, on Oprah, they discussed the topic of getting older and what that meant in today’s society.

With all the young fashion models running around, it’s hard to be able to grow old gracefully. But I’ve come to realize that with age comes widsom; with age comes knowledge; with age comes friendships; with age comes patience; and with age comes business sense. I believe that’s why we are more successful when we start businesses later in life.

When you’re young, you want everything now – you’re rushing through life trying to get to “it,” that elusive happiness thing, that thing you strive for even when you don’t know what you’re striving for. But as we age, we begin to realize that every day is that elusive happiness thing. Every day that we wake up, we are grateful to be alive. We want to embrace what the day has to offer, knowing we’ll be a littler richer at the end of the day.

The same is true of our businesses. As our business ages, it gains knowledge, wisdom, patience, and that elusive thing called success. Each day that we are in business for ourselves is one more day of fulfillment, one more day of contentment, one more day of adventures. We treasure each one a little more – because it’s one more than we had before.

These are the things we should remember in our personal and our professional lives – aging is not a curse, it’s not something to dread – it’s something to look forward to with anticipation. And those days will be the ones we remember.

What’s In a Name?

What’s in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet … Shakespeare

I’ve spent the last two weeks trying to come up with a new business name. You see, I’ve been working with a life coach, Suzanne Evans of Blueprint Life Coaching and through her coaching sessions, I’ve come to realize that I haven’t been focusing on my unique talents in my business life. I’m a talented virtual assistant – it’s something I’m good at and something I love doing. But I realized I’m short-changing myself by not focusing on my gift of being supportive and uplifting. So I’ve been searching for the perfect name and it’s about to drive me crazy. What’s in a name? How important is it to the success of your business?

It’s easy to disregard the importance of a name. After all, it’s the quality of work you perform that keep your clients loyal. But how did they first become a client? Normally you “sell” them on your services – usually during a consultation process. Since most times this is done virtually, they can’t physically see you, but they listen to how you articulate; they read over your web site regarding experience and past work. But how did they first get to the consultation phase? Many times it’s through your name. They did a Google search on the particular project and your name popped up.

Does your name reflect who you are? Does it reflect what you do? Does it resonate with your target market? Is it something you can live with for years? These are things to think about as you choose a business name. I think it’s important to have a name that someone immediately identifies with. They see your name and think, “Now there’s the company I want to deal with.” It’s important to have a name that is memorable. How many times have we needed a service and thought, “Now what was the name of that company?”

Our name must distinguish ourselves from the pack. It must identify who we are and what we do. Can you name easily identify you? Does it tell someone what you do?

• There are so many businesses around, it’s easy to get confused. Your name should be so connected to you that you are recognized immediately.
• It must flow off the tongue easily. If it’s difficult to say, people are less likely to remember it. It should be something that goes together.
• It must be easily spelled. This is one that we sometimes forget. If the name contains difficult-to-spell words, you will be harder to find on the Internet.
• Does it make sense? Does your name connect with the audience you’re targeting? For example, if you’re a furniture store, do you know that when you see your name?

So if you’re thinking of a name change, be sure to think about the big picture, not just what sounds good to you. Try some examples out on others – your target market and those who aren’t in your target market – that will give you a better perspective. Then, go for it. Give yourself a name that defines your unique personality. After all, you’re going to have to live with it for a long time!

New Library Resource for Small Business Owners

I recently read about a new online resource for small business owners. It’s called The Biz Info Library and the purpose is to provide information, ideas, etc. about aspects of small companies. This could be a great resource for us and one more way to save time in our businesses.

“There’s too much information about entrepreneurship out there, so it’s difficult and time-consuming to determine what, and who to believe,” said venture capitalist and blogger Guy Kawasaki.” What’s needed is a vertical search engine for entrepreneurs and The Biz Info Library delivers on this need.”

Mr. Kawasaki is correct. In order to effectively use web-based resources, we need to be able to find everything in one spot. There is nothing more frustrating that to piece-meal, going from site to site to find all aspects of the information you’re searching for. This will allow us to download and save articles online and then create our own custom libraries. I spent some time looking at the information on the site. It is divided up nicely into different categories, then each article is sub-divided into specialty categories. Even though it’s new, there’s already quite a bit of information in it.

As small business owners looking for new and innovative ways to grow our businesses, resources are invaluable. It will be interesting to see what types of information is allowed in this library. I also wonder how they make their decisions on who or what can be included and I’ll be looking into who “they” are – the ones that make the decisions.

The founders of The Biz Info Library are the James J. Hill Reference Library, the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and the Edward Lowe Foundation.

It looks and sounds as if it’s going to become one of the premier resources for small business owners. Check it out yourself and let me know what you think.

Vickie

Clearing Up Some Misconceptions in the VA World

I’d like to talk a little about some of the misconceptions about the virtual assistant industry.

The first misconception is that many people think you can just decide to quit your job, use little to no money, little to no equipment, and then “become” a virtual assistant. I think that mentality comes from the word “virtual.” People want to use the term “virtual assistant” to mean anyone who decides to work from home, no matter what they’re doing.

You can find the true definition of a virtual assistant from Stacy Brice of AssistU, who started our industry. I wrote about her definition and the VACOC definition in an earlier blog called “Hanging out your Shingle and Becoming a VA.” Feel free to review it at http://elitevas.wordpress.com/2007/02/07/hanging-out-your-shingle-and-becoming-a-virtual-assistant/. It also helps to explain what a VA is and what a VA isn’t.

Another big misconception is that a VA can do everything for everyone. Well, that’s like saying a general practitioner can do surgery. VAs shouldn’t be trying to provide all services – if they are, then they aren’t expert in any of these services, they’re only knowledgeable about all of the services. And a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. As a professional VA, you should provide administrative duties. Now, if you have a knack for bookkeeping (which I do), you can offer that as an additional, specialty service. If you’re good at web site design (which I’m not), you can offer that as an additional, specialty service. But these are not considered administrative tasks. So keep in mind that the heart and soul of your business should be the administrative tasks. Any specialty services are exactly that – specialties.

Then there’s the mentality that a VA will work with anyone. Well, have you ever been able to work with just anyone? No, there are people in certain industries that you just click with, people you want to work with on a daily basis, people you would consider your ideal client. That is your niche. VAs should decide on a niche or target market, up to two or three groups. These are the individuals that you as a VA will connect with on more than just a professional level. These are the clients you will keep for the long-haul. These are the people that you work well with because of your services, but also because you provide something additional on an emotional level for them.

I am currently narrowing my target market to coaches and motivational speakers because of my unique gift for supporting, uplifting and encouraging others. This is also what a life coach, a personal coach or a motivational speaker does. Now, does that mean I won’t even consider potential clients in other fields? No, that just means that my focus will be on coaches and speakers and they should be the bulk of my business.

A VA should have no more than 4-6 clients at a time. If she’s truly providing VA services to each of those clients, her plate is full. Each client should be providing at least 10 hours per month of work to VAs, which is why we work mainly with retainer clients. Our main goal is to provide long-term collaborations with clients in order to become an integral part of their company. We don’t want to just be around for overflow work or fill-in work. That doesn’t make you a part of the company. We want to develop a relationship wherein the client becomes comfortable with who we are and uses that comfortableness to help their company grow.

I hope this has helped clear up some of the misconceptions and confusions. I am proud to be a virtual assistant and I want the industry to grow and succeed. In order to do that, we must all be on the same page. As VAs, we need to know who and what we are. And we need to educate the public as to our specific talents so they can make an informed decision on how best to utilize our services.

If you have any questions, please let me know. I’d love to hear your comments.