It’s Time for a New Direction and Focus

Well, it’s finally time to announce my big news that I alluded to some time back.

I have decided to change my company name and logo. Yes, this is a major decision; yes, it’s a scary decision; and yes, I know it’s the right decision.

A few months ago, my partner and I decided to dissolve our partnership. She was ready to spend more time with her family and thankfully was able to financially do that. So she has stopped working for a while. I was so happy for her and wished her the best. Someday I’ll get to retire. HA!

I felt it was a perfect time for me to start thinking very seriously about where I wanted my business to go, how I wanted to conduct my business, and who I wanted to do business with. I was in a coaching class at the time (thank you to my Blueprint Life Coaching group – you know who you are!) and realized that I wasn’t fully embracing my dream and doing all I could do with it. So I decided to make a change.

I figured out what my unique talent is, what makes me stand out from the crowd, what makes me unique and different, and knew I had to use that in my business if I wanted to be truly successful. So I spent countless hours trying to come up with a name and tagline that would reflect me, who I really am, and reflect what I want others to know.

Elite VAs is now A Balanced Alternative. I want my clients to know that I can provide balance to their businesses and to their personal lives. I want to be able to support and uplift them, to encourage them through their tough times. My tagline is, Uplifting Administrative Support for Coaches and Consultants. I chose coaches and consultants because I feel they give and give and give, and sometimes they don’t have anyone to give to them, to encourage and uplift them. That will be my job.

I hope you like my new direction. I am so excited about the changes already coming my way. I feel good about the direction of my business. I feel confident that I will be successful. I feel I’ve picked the perfect target market to which to display my unique talents. And I am happy, happier than I’ve been in a long time.

So the next time you are feeling down, or feel you just can’t continue working the way you’ve been working, and you feel you need someone to partner with you to take some of the burden so you can concentrate on your clients, think of a virtual assistant; think of me, Vickie Turley, A Balanced Alternative. My website is in the process of being built, but you can still find out about my services at www.elitevas.com.

Unexpected Benefit of Exercise

I had an ah-ha moment again this morning.

I didn’t sleep well last night, then I woke up at the crack of dawn this morning. That’s not like me, nor is it good for me. I am one of those people who have to have at least seven hours of sleep, eight is even better. So I was not in a good mood, I didn’t feel like working, just a blah morning.

My dog wanted to go for a walk. It’s a gorgeous day and he was ready to get outside for a bit. So I decided to take my morning walk. I’ve been trying to get in the habit of doing that every day as exercise, since I sit at a computer all day. I really didn’t feel like walking this morning, but my dog was looking at me with those sad eyes so I gave in.

We had our walk and I came back a different person. Now I’ve always heard that exercise can affect your mood, but I was ready to work! I feel productive, I have ideas popping in my head, I’m ready for a productive business day.

So just a reminder – if you’re feeling blue, if you just don’t feel like working, if you can’t get that idea to come to fruition, take a walk, breathe the air, listen to the birds, smell the flowers. You’ll be amazed what it will accomplish!

I’d love to hear what happens to you when you exercise. Tell us about your ah-ha moments.

Vickie

Never Take Your Clients for Granted

As virtual assistants, do we sometimes take our clients for granted?

I think it’s human nature to get into a routine and forget what we’re here for. We are a service provider. It is our job to provide the highest quality service to our clients. If we are good VAs, we also provide sound advice tor the other business owner, always keeping their best interests foremost in our minds.

But I think it’s easy to get to a place where you’re been doing business with this person for a long time, you feel very comfortable with them, you’ve developed a friendship that extends outside the business aspects of the relationship. This is the time to be very careful. Do not get so complacent with this arrangement that you start to take the client for granted.

It can happen easily and quickly. Perhaps you’ve just taken on a new client. This person needs a lot of attention at the beginning of the relationship. You spent many hours working with them to get a plan of action in place. At times like these, it would be easy to just let the other client, the “friend”, slide by the wayside. It would be easy to think, “Oh, they are a friend. They won’t mind being pushed back for a bit. This new client is the one I need to concentrate on.”

Don’t do it. Instead, think of it this way. That old client has provided your income for the past while. They have been loyal to you. They have sent you referrals. They have sought your expertise (when there are many others out there they could look to). Sometimes they are what kept you going through the rough times. They are the reason you are in business.

Always, always give them the same courtesy. Provide them with the same professional service you provide your new client. Prioritize your tasks so that you are spending time with each client appropriately. Prepare them that you are taking on a new client. Not only will both clients be grateful for the way you handle their needs, now you will have two friends, two referral points, two sources of income.

Never take your clients for granted.

Vickie

Are you a Serious Business Owner?

Are you a serious business owner? Or are you playing at being a business owner? There’s a big difference and here’s a few tips I’d like to share.

How many times have we heard people talk about this great business they own, yet they don’t come across as serious business owners? They may have no website yet; maybe they just decided one day, “I think I’ll become a virtual assistant”; they join forums yet hang back in the shadows, never “meeting” anyone, just hanging around.

People will not take you seriously if you do not present a professional image. In today’s world, if you’re going to be doing Internet business, you must have a static website or a blog-platform website. Forums are for networking – which is a two-way street. Yes, you want to learn all that you can about the different aspects of business. But you must put yourself out there also – share your expertise. No matter if you’ve been in business 5 years or 5 days, life has given you plenty of experiences. You never know when one of those will help someone else who has been searching for an answer.

When you speak, use proper grammar. When you write, spell-check your words. Don’t gossip and talk about others. Always present yourself as a professional and you will be treated as a professional. Then the clients will come to you. They will be impressed by the way you present yourself – whether it be in person, on the Internet, during a social networking event – they will see that you are a serious business owner.

Vickie

Consistent service extends to blogging

I let the day get away from me and I didn’t blog yesterday. At first I thought, no biggie, it’s just a blog. But then I realized it’s more than that.

It’s an expectation of friends, clients, and interested others who are used to seeing the blog every day. It’s part of my duty as a conscientious business owner to provide consistent service. If that service is not provided, people will go elsewhere for that service.

I should think about my blogging just as I do the projects I do for my clients. I should strive to do my best. I should rate it with high importance. I should be consistent and dedicated.

We have a tendency to underrate what we do for others sometimes. If we are providing tips or resources, we think it is no problem if we skip a day. But I realize that some just-starting entrepreneur might be watching my information. They may use this blog as their starting place, their getting-going place in the mornings. It is our responsibility to continue providing great quality service or you can count yourself just another blogger. And who wants that?

So I apologize for not blogging yesterday. I will try to do a better job of keeping the mindset that this task is as important as others I perform. People expect it and I will do my best to deliver it.