I know you’ve heard this before: “To get your business to the next level, you must delegate some things.” Yes, you do need to get rid of at least one or two hats. But how? Even though you know in your heart how right this advice is, you’ve grown accustomed to going it alone.

Even delegating basic clerical tasks makes you realize there are many aspects involved in each tiny part of your puzzle. And you are right! Each and every part of your business is important. You don’t want to delegate tasks to a person who doesn’t care the same way you do about your business, do you?

Of course not. You don’t just need clerical or secretarial assistance. You need real, professional administrative assistance from someone who has been there and knows what it’s like being a solopreneur and small business owner. That someone is a Virtual Assistant.

Virtual Assistants are in the business of caring about your business and proactively supporting your needs by not only performing tasks, but also adding value to your business — the things they are expert in, they can do better than you!

Letting go — is this a “dealing with change” issue? Read the rest of this entry »

As a solopreneur, unpredicable economic conditions might make you feel uneasy. You are steadily climbing, acting proactively to reach your goals, but you definitely need a shelter or base camp to ensure you’ll reach the summit.

So what would that shelter be for solopreneurs? I strongly believe the answer is organization. There are many methods and tools that will help you reach the summit. As a solopreneur, I regularly stop by my own “Basecamp.”

Basecamp is a project collaboration tool that will make a huge difference in how you organize your projects and communicate with team members or other people working with you. They make it easy to test out the service–just go online and create your no-cost trial account so you can try this great tool out for one project. Basecamp walks you through the entire process step-by-step with video tutorials to show you how to get the most out of the service. You’ll also be able to create to-do lists within the project, define milestones, assign tasks, send email reminders and a host of other capabilities.

I use this tool with several clients. Some just Read the rest of this entry »

All Small Business Owners are invited to attend the FREE Monthly VACOC Teleseminars! Grab this wonderful opportunity!

How to Write Articles to Market Your Business, Even if You Are Not a Writer

Presented by Jan King, The Publishing Store

DATE: Thursday, July 16, 2009
TIME: 5pm PST / 6pm MST / 7pm CST / 8pm EST
DURATION: 60 minutes (call in 10 min. early to secure your seat)
COST: FREE!

WHO SHOULD ATTEND? This class is open to all Virtual Assistants, small/boutique business owners, solo professionals, solopreneurs and independent professionals. Invite your business buddies! If you know some folks who would like to attend, feel free to copy and paste the contents on this page, and post invitations on the forums, listservs and groups you participate in.

Jan King, The Publishing StoreEvery marketing book and seminar tells you that you should be writing articles to promote your expertise and your business. But if you have never written before, where do you start, and how do you know you have anything to say?

Writing articles is a great way to enhance your reputation as the go-to person who has deep expertise in the work you do every day. You may choose to write several articles at once or simply write them when new ideas come to you. Another great time to write is when a client asks you a question you can’t fully answer. If you need to research a topic, chances are others are asking the same questions and needing answers.

Jan B. King is a book publishing expert and author of numerous articles herself (just Google “Jan B. King” to see them). She says, “When I started to promote my first book, I had to find an interesting and short way of letting people know who I was and what I could do for them. Writing articles was definitely the right answer. Every week I still see that people have used articles I wrote five years ago in their new ezines. If you do it right, you have a way to market yourself for years to come.”

Jan has helped hundreds of people get their expertise out on paper as books and articles and she can help you, too. You don’t have to be a writer to write articles and in this session, Jan will share with us:

• Where to find article ideas in what you do every day.
• How to make your articles stand out and work for years.
• Where to market your articles.
• How to write and format articles, including the all-important title and resource box.
• How to make articles interesting, fun and attractive to potential clients.
• How to find the time and the motivation to write.
• How to maintain ownership of your work.

REGISTER TODAY!

All Small Business Owners are invited to attend the FREE Monthly VACOC Teleseminars! Grab this wonderful opportunity!

Target Marketing
Presented by Jim Logan, Marketing Consultant
DATE: Thursday, July 17, 2008

TIME: 5pm PST/6pm MST/7pm CST/8pm EST
DURATION: 60 minutes
(please call in 10 min. early)

COST: FREE! – REGISTER NOW!

WHO SHOULD ATTEND? This class is open to all Virtual Assistants, small/boutique business owners, solo professionals, solopreneurs and independent professionals. Invite your business buddies! If you know some folks who would like to attend, feel free to copy and paste the contents on this page, and post invitations on the forums, listservs and groups you participate in.

Target marketing is frequently misunderstood, often getting a bad rap from newer business owners who are afraid being too specific will result in lost opportunities. But that’s not how target marketing works. By getting extreme clarity and focus, you actually open your business up to more opportunities than you could ever imagine. One of our favorite consultants, Jim Logan, is back to help shed some light on the topic and answer your questions at our next VACOC Guest Expert Teleseminar on Thursday, July 17, 2008.

REGISTER NOW!

All Small Business Owners are invited to attend the FREE Monthly VACOC Teleseminars! Grab this wonderful opportunity!

Niche Clarity: How To Choose A Niche That Fits YOU Like a Glove!
Presented by Cari Vollmer of Life on Track
DATE: Thursday, May 15, 2008

TIME: 5pm PST/6pm MST/7pm CST/8pm EST
DURATION: 60 minutes
(please call in 10 min. early)

COST: FREE! – REGISTER NOW!

WHO SHOULD ATTEND? This class is open to all Virtual Assistants, small/boutique business owners, solo professionals, solopreneurs and independent professionals. Invite your business buddies! Feel free to copy and paste the contents on this page, and post invitations on the forums, listservs and groups you participate in.

Are you resisting the idea of choosing a NICHE to focus on in your business?

Are you tired of feeling like a wallflower in your area of expertise?

Would you like to attract new clients and make more money?

Cari Vollmer, the Passions into Profit mentor and founder of LifeOnTrack.com, will teach you how to choose a NICHE that fits YOU like a glove.

Cari comes to her path of passion and profit naturally. Her parents were successful restaurateurs for more than 20 years. She helped her husband launch his own successful small business over a decade ago, and her grandmother wrote children’s books back in the day when women were more apt to be in the kitchen cooking than honoring their passions. Yes, she’s comes to this path of passion naturally, but if you don’t, that’s OK, that’s what she’s here for!

She knows from first-hand, in-the-trenches experience what you must know and do to launch, and then run, a successful small business that’s also a reflection of your passions and divine life’s purpose. It’s not rocket science, and you can do it!

Choosing a niche (target market) is a major stumbling block for most solopreneurs and small business owners. In this high-content, high-value teleclass, Cari will demystify the niche-choosing process by sharing with you:

• Obstacles to Choosing Your Niche
• An Empowering New Way of Defining What a Niche Is
• 3 Ways to Discover Which Niche is Best For YOU
• Why Choosing Your Niche MAY NOT Be the Best Thing for Your Business Right Now
• What Needs to Come BEFORE Choosing Your Niche

Cari states, “If you’re a small business owner you have a divine purpose to share what you know — your gifts — with others. THAT’S why it’s important to know which niche you serve. Your gift is best suited to a certain group of people and finding them will transform you business.”

REGISTER NOW!

As you probably know, there are tons of interesting, effective and proven marketing techniques and strategies. But for men, there’s an easy one that’s often overlooked: Dare to talk as much as women do.

Why do I say this?

Because women really care about relationships. They are naturally inclined to talk about anything and everything, and readily share knowledge and contacts with their friends, colleagues and clients. They are born networkers, and this natural disposition is definitely a marketing asset.

Once you understand the importance of relationships, of creating true bonds, establishing trust and rapport with your prospective clients will come much more easily. When relationships are established with people who have come to know and like you, more word-of-mouth referrals (often the prime source for new clients) will come your way.

Effective networking is about the relationships you create. There are many ways to network online and offline, but remember–none of the marketing techniques or strategies will be as effective unless you are out there talking to people.

Dare to talk as much as women do!

RESOURCE: LinkedIn Answers is a great place to network. You can ask and answer questions, and recommend links on topics being discussed. You get to know people by their opnions and expertise, and, of course, increase your LinkedIn contacts at the same time.

All Small Business Owners are invited to attend the FREE Monthly VACOC Teleseminars! Grab this wonderful opportunity!

Know Your Inner Consultant:
5 Steps to Learning the Art of Intuition
Presented by Intuitive Artist Jennifer Crews

 

DATE: Thursday, January 17, 2008
TIME: 5pm PST / 6pm MST / 7pm CST / 8pm EST
DURATION: 60 minutes (please call in 10 min. early)
COST: FREE!

Register Now!

 INVITE YOUR BUSINESS BUDDIES! This class is open to all Virtual Assistants and small business owners.

Everyone is blessed with intuition, and with practice and dedication to learning, one can excel and strengthen this innate gift.

Learning intuition is not any different than taking art, dance or music lessons to advance in the learning of a skill. The first of these five steps is “awareness” of your inner language. Your inner language is your own source of receiving information. You have your own personalized way to receive information—your own inner consultant.

Learn more as well as all five steps in how to master this invisible intelligence and strengthen your intuition in business and in all areas of your life.

Register Now!