Business Management
How Can You Eat An Elephant
Running a business has been compared to eating an elephant! That is a weighty thought when you consider that an elephant may not be able to fit into your home, let alone on your dinner plate. Similarly, thinking about starting a business (or keeping up with the one you have) may seem daunting.
Is the goal of running a successful Virtual Assistance business elephantine in your mind? Believe me, it’s totally okay if that is how you feel at this time. Many people want to become a Virtual Assistant because they have been laid off from their job. Many others feel that they have hit the glass ceiling of compensation and thus feel under-appreciated and under paid. Some want to be home when their children arrive home from school. Still, others are caring for ill relatives and need to earn a living on their own time. These various situations motivate individuals to look for another vehicle that will enable them to create their lifestyle. What is your reason? Continue Reading>>
Business Management Technology Virtual Assistant
How Can You Keep Your Client Work Organized?
Are you a Virtual Assistant who is looking for an easy way to collaborate with you clients and stay organized? If you are having difficulty staying organized in working with your clients, you may have too many locations where you store stuff.
For example, if you have 5 different clients that you work with, where do you save all of your communication? Is it difficult for you to keep track of the instructions that you receive via email? Does information get lost between the time you hear a voice mail to the time that you complete a task or project? It would be great if you could retain all of this information in one place. Well, the good news is, you can!
Basecamp is a fantastic resource that enables you to stay organized and focused when working with clients. Basecamp is online collaboration and project management software. Keep all of your data in one place so that you and your clients can review the same information at the same time. Additionally, you can edit and upload new versions of documents that you share. Why is this important for you? Basecamp will help you to stop losing emails and post it notes and voicemails. Upload all of the client notes that you have to Basecamp. Never lose a task or forget where you made notes about an important conversation.
Why is it so easy to keep track of files and conversations in Basecamp? Everything that you add to this tool is date stamped. You can get a visual timeline of the projects that you are working on currently. This let’s you know what is complete and where you may need to take action on specific project.
It is important for you to get and stay organized in your business. Impress your clients by staying on top of the tasks that you two have agreed on. Use Basecamp as the answer to the problem of being disorganized. Being disorderly is a choice. Therefore, make the choice of taking control of all of your business activity. Decide to be the captain of your business’ organization by implementing tools that will help you to serve your clients in a systematized and orderly way.
Read Your Way To Success
Think for a few minutes about the last book that you have read. How long has it been since you started or completed a book? Reading deeply and widely can help you tremendously in your Virtual Assistance business. Let’s take a look at several of the benefits that you can gain from picking up a book (or iPad or Nook or Kindle 😉
Reduce stress – By cracking open a book you allow yourself to disengage from what is going on in your life at that very moment. Of course this depends on your choice of reading material. Put this to the proof. If you need to relax, choose a reading topic that will take you to a place of serenity.
Increase vocabulary – Keep a pen and paper close by when you delve into your next book. You are likely to pick up a few new words of which definition you do not know. Avoid “thinking” that you know the meaning of a word. If you cannot readily define a word while at the same time provide a few synonyms and antonyms, then you do not have a good grasp and the word in this case is new.
Improve thinking ability – As a Virtual Assistant, you will face many business challenges. Reading widely and deeply can assist you with decision-making. You will begin to notice patterns in your business behavior that you may need to adjust, discard or adopt.
Broaden specialized knowledge – Would you like to improve your marketing skills? Maybe you need to develop some technical abilities. Choose any field of knowledge. If you choose to do so, through reading and application, you can become an expert on the topic.
Enhance writing skills – Good writers are good readers. If you have a blog or even desire to write a book some day, reading widely will build within you a wealth of knowledge on writing style, story-telling and content delivery.
Truly, the rewards that result from reading are endless. How many of the benefits listed above have you received from reading widely and deeply? Take note of other advantages that you have gained. Focus on how reading can help you establish and accomplish goals. It can empower you to overcome the most difficult mental blocks. When you open your mind through reading the experiences and ingenuity of other people, enriching your life and business is a guarantee.
You Can Make Finding Clients Easy
Do you have enough clients? There are several ways for you to fill your business with ideal clients. However, if you do not have enough clients as you read this article, you haven’t found or implemented the steps to have a full practice.
One way that you can showcase your expertise to an audience who is waiting to hand you their credit cards is to follow the practical advice found here. So, keep reading if you want more clients to pay you to be their Virtual Assistant. Are you with me so far? Good!
Have you ever shot fish in a barrel? Not likely. But, that expression is a good way to look at finding clients. Do you want prospecting to be easier? Would you like for people who know you to be able to easily refer you business? Of course you do! Therefore, I won’t ask you any more silly questions because I know that you want to add more ideal clients to your business. Here is how you do it.
The demography of the clients you want in your business is crucial. Why? Demographics allow you to find oodles of ideal prospects in one place. It is similar to having a school of your favorite fish in a barrel. This is very simple. But, you must decide what group of people you want to serve. If you were to write out the demographics of the clients that you want to work with, what would that look like? The following questions will help you to figure this out.
Demographics:
- What industry does your favorite clients work in?
- Which professionals need your services? (i.e. interior designers, real estate agents, professional organizers etc.)
- Where can you find these professionals in large groups?
When you decide to focus on serving a specific group of people in a specific industry, your clients win, you win, every one WINS! Why is this true? Think about this for a moment. If you identify yourself as one who specializes in solving specific problems for a specific group of people, your target market will stand up and say, “This is the Virtual Assistant that I need to help me grow my business!”
You should have clear-cut goals when it comes to marketing your business. One of those goals is to speak directly to the pain that your prospective clients are facing while demonstrating how to alleviate them of that pain. If you work with IT professionals and help them to manage their calendar, accounting and contacts, wouldn’t you want to find that specific group in droves? Of course!
It is imperative that you choose a target market so that you can locate many prospective clients at one time and show up as The Solution that they have been searching for. Marketing is simply a matter if putting your services in plain view of people who are already looking for you. I know you need more clients. Make the task of finding new clients easier on yourself by choosing a target market so that you can find ideal prospects en masse!
Business Management Podcast Target Market Virtual Assistant
The VA Success Cafe: Episode 6
Ideal Clients are like awesome friends. They invigorate you and inspire you to do your VERY BEST work. They give you great energy and help you to go the extra mile because they are such fantastic people. The work relationship that you create soon becomes a friendship because Ideal Clients are easy to become attached to. They possess the personality traits and qualities that you enjoy being around. Look at your closest friends and past work associates. Who in those groups would you say possess ideal qualities? As a Virtual Assistant, you surely want to fill your practice with people who have those traits. It will enable you to build a business that you thoroughly enjoy.
4 Keys to A Lifestyle Focused Business
Your “Take Action” Plan for This Week:
- Define what success means to you How much do you work and with whom? What is your weekly/monthly/annual revenue? What does your personal life look like? The more specific you are the easier it will be to create this reality. (YES, you DO deserve this. ☺)
- Do an honest self-evaluation and determine what adjustments you need to make in your mindset and habits. Do you need to switch from an “I could never…” attitude to a “This is what I’m going to do…” approach? Do you need to get organized? Be more efficient? Be honest?.
- Consider how you can adjust your business model so that you serve your clients, do your best work AND support your lifestyle. Open your mind to the possibilities and don’t sensor yourself. (If you want some help brainstorming ideas, I’d be happy to help you. Just let me know.)
- Review your weekly activities to see where your infrastructure needs improvement. Are your systems M.I.A. or out of date? Make a list of what needs to be upgraded and then commit to focusing on key areas in a specific timeframe (such as one per week or one per month
- Based on the activities you hate to do or aren’t good at, research options for outsourcing and building a team. Look into hiring a Virtual Assistant or an intern if you’re just starting out.
Business Management Podcast Virtual Assistant
The VA Success Cafe: Episode 4
Your Virtual Assistance business can be compared to building of a house. That is why your business foundation needs to be solid and sturdy. In this audio, you will learn about a few holes that may be in your foundation and how to fix those holes. Let me know if you have any questions and post them below.
Business Management Social Media Time Management
Social Media – Helpful or Hindering?
Social media as a whole is an excellent tool for networking, brand building and many other facets of growing a successful Virtual Assistance company. But the question is, “Are you allowing social media to help you or hinder your success?”
Valid indeed is that question which may need to be answered on a daily basis. So, lets list a few ways that social media can both help and hinder your business success.
Hinderance:
- Unfocused usage of social medial causes you to waste countless hours during the week.
- Reading and “Liking” comments and discussions that have no bearing on building your business.
- Surfing and “hoping”. Surfing the web and hoping that you will stumble upon a successful idea keeps you from working hard to accomplish your business goals.
Helpful:
- Joining and participating in groups that are organized to help you succeed in business.
- Posting questions that are related to your business.
- Making beneficial connections that are helpful to you or helpful to others that you meet.
- Adding value to the lives of people to whom you are connected.
- Spend short, focused amounts of time to obtain specific goals.
Likely, you can think of many other ways to use social media to either help or hinder your business success. The key is to acknowledge how you are utilizing this wonderful tool and make sure that it is helpful to you.
I’d love to hear your comments on how your social media usage is affecting your business. Post your thoughts below.
Business Management Mindset Virtual Assistant
Successful Thinking for Virtual Assistants
Do you find it hard to believe that you can create or accomplish anything that you want? I used to have that problem. When growing up, I was very shy. My shyness stemmed from feelings of inadequacy. I always thought, “I’m not good enough, smart enough, strong enough, fast enough…” etc.
What needed to change? Just a few things needed to change. The most important was the way that I viewed myself and what was possible in life. The same goes for you if you think that you cannot accomplish whatever you so desire. Therefore, I invite you to ask this very important question, “What is possible?” If you ask that question enough, you will find an endless supply of possibilities in any field of endeavor. My goal is to help you realize the possibilities for your Virtual Assistance business.
Your success starts with the way you think about yourself and what you can accomplish. I have 2 guarantees for you. 1) If you think you cannot succeed, you won’t. 2) If you believe you will be successful, you WILL.
Is it that easy? Think about it, for a moment. When a person says that they cannot do a thing, they immediately cancel out the ability to succeed. However, when an individual believes that he will succeed, he will stop at nothing to fully realize what he is after.
Having a successful mindset requires ongoing maintenance and reassurance. Here are a few thoughts that may be helpful to you in developing and maintaining a successful mindset:
“Success is stumbling from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm.” ~ Winston Churchill
“Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve.” ~ Napoleon Hill
“Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved.” ~ Helen Keller
“In order to succeed, your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure.” ~ Bill Cosby
You determine what success means for you. Your thinking will move you towards realizing that success. Will you be a successful Virtual Assistant?