I Have a Secret

I have a secret. A while back, I realized I was short-changing myself by not incorporating my unique gift into my business. At that time, I started thinking about how I could change that situation.

I have decided to change my focus to a more specific target market. This will allow me to add my uplifting and supportive spirit into all facets of my life. I will be providing uplifting administrative solutions to coaches, consultants and speakers (to be more specific – life coaches and motivational speakers). These industries spend a lot of time helping others in their life journey and I wondered, “Who’s there to help them?” That’s my goal, to be able to provide not only the administrative support they need, but the personal support also.

Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve had some consults with prospective clients and I already see a huge difference this is going to make. There is a connection between me and the target market audiences that make us a perfect fit. The consults have been wonderful; there is an immediate connection; and I feel this is the way I should be heading. They will not only be great clients – I’m hoping to develop great friendships.

If you are not using all of your gifts (whether they be professional or personal) in your business, you are not going to be the success you could be. Think outside the “normal” business box – what can you add that will make you unique in your field? Then take the steps necessary to start making that a part of your business. You’ll be surprised how right it feels!

Keep an eye out over the next month to see my big “reveal!” I look forward to sharing it with you.

Vickie

What a Day!

Wow, what a day yesterday!

For one, it was very busy, with two client consults scheduled, work with my existing client, a call from my brand-new client, etc., etc.

My morning consult got rescheduled to today so that was a change. Then my afternoon consult – let’s just say it wasn’t what I expected! At least I didn’t go through my whole process, thank goodness.

Then I got a phone call late afternoon from my son’s father. My son is 18 and a senior in high school. He’s a straight A (most of the time) student, a wonderful kid, and just an all-around easy boy. I’ve rarely had any problems out of him. Well, it seems he and his girlfriend were supposed to ride the bus to Lexington this afternoon for a state high school basketball game. But they got caught by my son’s stepmother on the way to Lexington – they were driving! The worst part of this is that no one knew it (well, at least me nor Ryan’s dad) and they won’t be home until around 3am (by the time you read this they will be back in town safe and sound). But this scared the dickens out of me. My youngest stepson had a wreck in 2005 driving home from somewhere and almost died so I’m a little freaky about this. Anyway, my son’s dad was so mad, then I got mad, then I got upset and almost sick over worrying!

Then I got a phone call from my brand-new client so that made me brighten a little. Later still, I received an email from an ex-client who would like to start using my services again! So that brightened me up even more.

Needless to say, yesterday was way, way up and it was way, way down.

I guess I say all this just to remind each and every one of us that this is life. It is filled with great moments and not so great moments. But that’s what makes it life. We go from one moment to the next, never knowing what’s coming around the corner.

I think it’s so important for us to grab the good events, celebrate them, be happy and count our blessings. And I think it’s so important for us to take the not-so-good events and put them in perspective. They all go together to make up this thing we call life. We can’t have the good without the bad because we wouldn’t know it was good if there was no bad. Does that make sense?

Anyway, that’s my philosophy for the day. Just be thankful – be places like the VACOC, where I can come and vent, or rage, or celebrate or just talk. Be thankful for people like my fellow VACOC members. Be thankful we have the opportunity to be business owners, making our own decisions. Be thankful we live in a country that embraces women business owners and VAs and coaches and speakers and consultants. Be thankful for our families who drive us nuts sometimes. Be thankful for life!

Vickie

Grow Your Business With Seminars – by John Jantsch

One of the ways I try to stay educated in this ever-changing virtual world is by receiving eZines and newsletters through email from several experts in their respective fields. One such example is Duct Tape Marketing with John Jantsch. He presents great information in an easy-to-read format. I think you’ll find the below article quite informative.

Holding educational workshops has always been a very good way to build business. The problem with this strategy though is that it has become increasingly difficult to get prospects to come to workshop type events. In addition, the cost of holding a physical event involving a room, refreshments and audio visual equipment, makes this type of event a sometimes risky venture.

Recently, businesses of all shapes and sizes are turning to seminars conducted by phone, or teleseminars, to easily present information to groups of prospects.

The teleseminar format, in which attendees simply dial in to a conference line to listen to a presentation, has much to offer the small business presenter and the attendee.

The cost to put on such an event can be fairly small and, for the attendee, the ability to dial in from anywhere, without the need to travel, can be very appealing. Many organizations find these benefits so appealing that they have come up with many uses for the teleseminar that reach beyond traditional sales efforts.

For example, use teleseminars to:

Present an ongoing series of topics

Demonstrate how to use a product

Conduct a training program

Hold group coaching sessions

Offer service tips to get more from a product

Conduct focus groups and research

Answer questions

Recruit employees

Have a plan

Like all marketing tactics the best way to employ a teleseminar component is to approach it systematically. The first step is to determine how you plan to use teleseminars in your business. It is best to take a bit of a long term approach as this tactic may take some time to build the momentum you need. If you want to use teleseminars as a way to promote your business and enhance your reputation as an expert, plan to stick with it for a period of at least six months, holding a new teleseminar each month.

Teleseminar system

Decide what technology platform you plan to use. You can find free and very low cost conference lines but, I would suggest that you look at one of the following options. If your teleseminar is an extension of your business then you need reliable, service oriented conferencing with features like automatic recording. You can conduct phone only conferences or phone and web demonstrations. Web demonstrations from services such as WebEx can add some very powerful presenting capabilities but do present some potential technology roadblocks for your users. The costs of these types of services vary depending upon your number of attendees.

Telephone based
Conference Calls Unlimited
Great Teleseminars

Web based
GoToMeeting andGoToWebinar
WebEx

Attendees

So, where do you go to get attendees? If you have your own mailing or email lists then start with this group. They know you and will be a good source to tap as you are getting your feet wet.

Without such a list you may need to look to industry lists, chamber lists or other purchased type list to run a direct mail campaign. Remember, the low cost feature of a teleseminar means you don’t really need many attendees to make it work.

Partners

Strategic partners can also be a great place to go to acquire attendees. An accountant might go to a law firm, or several law firms, and offer to conduct a free teleseminar for their clients. A construction attorney could go to a construction related trade group and offer to conduct a free teleseminar for their members.

Invite a potential referral partner to be a guest on your teleseminar and you can create a powerful promoter for your business.

Collect sign-ups

When you promote your teleseminar it’s best to require your attendees to sign-up. This way you have the data for future sessions and you can contact the attendee with reminders and follow-ups.

Encourage tell-a-friend

As you begin to promote your teleseminar make it easy for prospects to tell others about your session. Add a script to you web sign-up page and automate this process
JavaScript Example
PHP Script Example

Remind

Make sure that you use an autoresponder like AWeber to automatically send a sign-up confirmation and “day of event” reminders with the conference call-in information and access codes. GoToWebinar handles this for you.

Invite participation

One tactic that works very well and will help you when it comes time to create the content for your teleseminar is to encourage your attendees to ask a question about the topic prior to the event. You can do this in your confirmation email.

Don’t sell

When you present a teleseminar you must present good content. If you simply treat it as a sales pitch your attendees will be turned off. Even free sessions must be valuable if you expect people to take the time to listen.

Have a call to action

Even though you shouldn’t sell throughout your presentation, you should have an offer at the end. This can take the form of some other, more advanced, free information or evaluation or simply a special deal to act today. Don’t just hang up without a next step.

Get testimonials

One tactic that you may also wish to add is a call for testimonials. This can be very important as you start your teleseminar series and help build credible proof for future events. One thing you might do is offer a written transcript of the call to anyone who sends in their (glowing) feedback.

Archive the content

One of the biggest benefits of holding teleseminars is that they present a great platform for creating permanent content. You should record each session and create a method to archive and promote this content on an ongoing basis. You might want to consider turning the content into a podcast or create an entire CD collection. Transcribing your audio sessions through a service such as Cyberdictate – is another way to extend the content.

Get my teleseminar checklist

I have produced a mini teleseminar checklist that you may find useful in you planning. Get the checklist here

Related article – Podcasts Demystified

. ~ ~ ~

John Jantsch is a veteran marketing coach, award winning blogger and author of Duct Tape Marketing: The World’s Most Practical Small Business Marketing Guide published by Thomas Nelson.

He is the creator of the Duct Tape Marketing small business marketing system. You can find more information by visiting http://www.ducttapemarketing.com

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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.

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

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?

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!

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 https://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.