It would be an understatement to say that you want more clients, more stability, fewer expenses and more money in your business. Let’s not start there because that is what business is all about. If you focus on three simple activities, you will see your business improve in all of the aforementioned areas.

PLAN ~ You likely have your sources for information gathering. In fact, the list of resources that are available to you grows daily. In some way, you have mentors who teach you tactics and skills that will help you to accomplish your business objectives. How you obtain that information is not as important as how quickly you will put it into action. BEFORE taking action, however, step back and get the “blimp perspective“. Blimps, such as the Goodyear Blimp, provide a perspective of a city or a venue like the Super Bowl, that you otherwise would not see. It’s the full scope. If you apply the blimp view to your business it will give you a broad perspective that includes:

1. Where you have come from.
2. Where you are now.
3. Where you want to go in the future.

Planning allows you to achieve such a view of your business. Therefore, it is imperative that you take all of the knowledge that you have gained about running a successful virtual assistance company and map out the future course of your business. The blimp perspective gives you the freedom to see many potential roadblocks, opportunities and sterling possibilities. Then you will have to …

DO ~ This is the step that moves you from the drawing board to the playing field. The plans that you drew up for your business are now “LIVE”. Now it is time to ‘do or die’, ‘sink or swim’, where the ‘rubber meets the road’,  or whatever cliche you can think of that helps you to get things done!  There is no substitute for taking action on the plan that you have created. Many entrepreneurs habitually purchase programs but fail to implement what they have learned. It is as if the mere purchase would increase their business. I often wonder if they reason this way, “since I have invested in my business, I should be successful.” That is so far from the truth. Investing in a program, a seminar, a software or a service is tantamount to picking up a tool. Something has to be done after picking up that tool. Oh yeah, they call that WORK. Action is the key that unlocks the door to business success. But, do not be satisfied with planning and acting on your plan. Next, you will want to …

REVIEW ~ That’s right! Consider the results of your hard work. Did you reach your goals? How far off were you from your targets. What did you omit from the planning or action steps? What would you adjust, cut out or include?  Reviewing and measuring your results will enable you to start this 3 step process with what I like to call Success Data. This data is the stepping stone for your next round of planning, action and reviewing.

These 3 activities, when applied to your marketing, client work and back office duties will set you up for business growth and success. You cannot go wrong with this process. You will never have all of the knowledge you need at one time. Most of the important things you learn comes from the action that you take. So, do not be paralyzed by perfectionism. As long as you take confident imperfect actions, you will step closer to the goals and dreams that you have established for your virtual company.

Until next time be sure to Plan, Do and Review.

Let me know how this works for you by commenting below.

Has anyone ever told you, "fear is only in your mind"? That is not true. Especially when you are a Virtual Assistant who is trying to build a successful business but haven't quite reached your goals.

Fear comes when you are working hard and still thirsting for new clients and income. Fear comes when you are looking at your bills and trying to make your income meet those needs.

Fear is a real feeling. BUT, there is a cure for fear. Sometimes, this feeling is all in the mind, but when it is a reality it needs to be dealt with. For instance, having a fear of flying because you think that the plane will crash is all in your mind. There is more chance of you dying in a car crash than in a plane crash. That is an example of F.E.A.R (False Evidence Appearing Real).

What I'm am talking about is the real fear from real matters that you have experienced before, like NOT having enough income to satisfy creditors and vendors.

The Cure? ACTION!

When you take action, you overcome and annihilate fear.

If however, you prefer to fertilize fear simply procrastinate, hesitate and practice indecision. Your fears as a business owner will grow.

To cure fear do not hide from it. Acknowledge your fear with a laser beam focus and start looking for answer to defeat it. As you learn of possible answers and resolutions, get your feet moving and take massive action. Watch the fear dissipate and retreat into it's dark room. So, if you are worried about wear your next client will come from, look for the marketing strategies that will get you clients the quickest.

Fear is success enemy number one. Action will dominate fear 100% of the time!

Act now.

Do you have a marketing strategy? How can you systematically market your business so that you never become thirsty for clients. Do you need clients right now? If you are struggling at all to enroll new clients into your business follow the advice in this blog post.

Analyze your previous marketing

Take a look at the marketing strategies that you have implemented in the past. Which of these strategies yielded the most fruitage for your efforts. It is a good thing to look at your past to see what direction you should take in the future. By analyzing what strategies have been a success or a failure will give you a gauge as to how you can move forward. In other words, keep doing what works.

Schedule time for marketing

After deciding which strategies have been successful, you will want to repeat that same process to get even better results. The key, however, is to be consistent with your marketing. Therefore, you will want to look at your calendar for the month of October. Schedule a block of time for each of your marketing strategies.

Think of it this way, the less time you spend with clients the more time you need to spend marketing. So, if there are hours of free time during your week, that needs to be your marketing time.

Take the strategies that you plan to use, put them on your calendar and implement the work that needs to be done. I suggest that you treat your business as your #1 client. Give it the marketing attention that it needs in order for it to thrive.

If you have three strategies that you are going to focus on decide which day of the week you will have time to work on that

Have you ever taken a road trip? You know that one of the first things to do before you set out is to check the gas gauge. By reading your gas gauge you can determine how far you can go before you will need to fill up.

Managing your Virtual Assistance company is similar to a road trip. It is an enjoyable journey that has beauty, challenges and a destination. In order to stay on that journey, gas or fuel is a very important component. What is the gas that you need for your Virtual company?

Marketing is the key asset that will keep your business moving at a steady clip. Without marketing you may find your gas gauge at the “E” for empty stage. This will leave you broken down on the roadside calling for assistance. Remember this, it is normally more expensive to get a repair done, than it invest in routine maintenance. What can you do to make sure that your marketing gauge never hits “E” and you find yourself scrambling for new clients and new sources of income?

You will want to be consistent with your marketing strategies. Pick two or three strategies that you both enjoy and have found previously successful. Marketing cannot be stressed enough to those who want to have a successful entrepreneurial journey. It is the fuel that keeps the business running from a financial perspective. Here are a few strategies that will ensure that you keep clients lined up a your door:

• Networking - There are so many ways to go about networking. The point is to be focused, strategic and consistent. Networking is simply sharing what you know and whom you know. It also involves being a connector of others. Expand your network by helping more people to get what they want.
• Speaking - This is a really good way to reach out to many people at the same time. As a Virtual Assistant, you can either host or be a guest on a teleseminar, webinar, or in person speaking engagement.
• Referrals - There are two ways that you can make great use of referrals. 1) Give good referrals to other people. Remember to help other people to get what they want. 2) Ask for referrals. When you have a delighted client, always remember to ask her if she knows of anyone else who needs help with solving the same problems that you resolved for her.
• Follow Up - Yes! Following up on interest is a form of marketing. Whenever you make initial contact with a prospective client or referral partner, it is your duty to do all that you can to deepen the relationship. If you take personal ownership of the follow up process, you will find growth for both your network and your client base.

You have set out on a beautiful journey as a business owner. Now, take a look at your marketing gauge. Do you have enough gas to keep your business going to reach your definition of success? You already know if you are doing enough marketing or not. Do not allow yourself to get to "E". That is the point where you will be thirsting for fuel and desperate for assistance. Make sure that you have enough gas to avoid breakdown. You want to have an enjoyable and successful road trip.

Take a look at your client load right now.  Are you satisfied with the number of clients that you have?  If not, why not?  The number of clients that you have or do not have is directly related to your level of marketing.  Why not examine all of your marketing activities and strategies and measure how well they are working for you.

Developing the marketing mentality will help you to focus on opportunities that come your way.  Additionally, this mindset will motivate you to set up systems to support each of your marketing strategies.  Take as an example, networking.  What is your system for meeting new people, gathering business cards, and following up?  When you follow up, do you send one email or make one phone call?  Or do you attempt to contact the person until you get an answer.

Think about reaching out to your warm market.  That is the group of people who already know, trust and like you.  To some extent they even know the level of skill and knowledge that you bring to the table as a service provider.  So, do all of these people know about your Virtual Assistance company?  If not, send them a professionally written letter that details the important information about your company.  Tell them about the services that you provide, the target market that you serve, the problems that you solve and the benefits that clients receive from working with you.

If you develop and maintain the marketing state of mind, you will see plenty of opportunity that surrounds you every single day. So, start reaching out to the people that you know you need to contact. Follow up and make your voice heard.  There are a lot of people who need the services that you are offering.  Use these two marketing strategies immediately.  They are free and easy to implement.

You are unique mainly because you are a human. No other person in the past, present or future will ever duplicate your fingerprints or dental impressions.  I mean NO ONE!

But, what sets you apart as a Virtual Assistant.  Why should I partner with you instead of the seven other Virtual Assistants that I have interviewed?  Whew! I'm so glad that I don't have to answer that question.  I will, however, have to make a decision that is best for my business, my goals and my investment.

What skills, personality traits or knowledge do you have that sets you apart from the pack of client-hungry Virtual Assistants? If you make those points stand out to your prospective clients, you will have a full practice of clients.  Your competition will have not choice but to eat your dust!

Do you have a “CAN DO,” “WILL SUCCEED AT ALL COSTS” type of mindset? Is it natural for you to lead yourself towards your goals no matter what negative signals you receive from naysayers?

Develop the “Follow Up Habit”

Do you ever wonder when your telephone will start ringing?  Are you sitting in your office waiting for prospects to call you and hire you?  If so, you will need to change this mindset immediately!  Please understand that if you do not take the initiative to follow up on even the smallest interest in your service, you may be stealing money from your own wallet.

How can you rob from your own wallet?  This is done whenever you have an opportunity to build your business and you, well, decide NOT to!  Do you have the habit of following up when you meet a new business contact?  Do you follow up even if there is a tiny bit of interest in what you have to offer?  Take for instance the family member who says to you, “I think I know someone who could use your help.”  How do you deal with this situation?  There are several action steps that you could take:

1. You could wait for your relative to put you in contact with the person.
2. You could ask your relative to pass on your contact information to the person.
3. You could ask your relative for the contact information of the person.

Which of these action steps seems to be the MOST effective to you?  If you are going to develop the follow up habit, you have to take the initiative.  You want to take the best step that will put you in front of the referral.  Action step number three is the best way to go.  But, we can take it a step further.  Why not ask your relative for the contact information.  Tell her that you are going to call the referral.  Additionally, ask your relative to contact the referral as well to give them a heads up that you will be calling.  Are you doing this now? In order to develop the follow up habit, you ALWAYS have to take the big, bold initiative.

The same is true when you meet other people who mention that they have an interest in what you do.  Or, they may mention that they know of someone else who is looking for the type of support that you provide.  Do not rob money from your own wallet by not following up.  If you come into contact with a new acquaintance on Monday, it would be a great idea to give them a call on Tuesday.  Do you have difficulty figuring out what to say?  Here is a sample conversation starter:

“Hi Sharon, my name is Wil.  We met yesterday and I hope you are doing well.  I’m calling because I told you that I would follow up with you to give you more information about how I help my clients to increase their revenue in less time than they have done so in the past.”

Keep in mind that the sooner you follow up, the easier your conversations will be. You want to talk to people while you are still on their mind.  However, you do not want to wait until the person waits to call you.  Remember, you are not in high school.  You don’t want to have the attitude that ‘I’m not calling her until she calls me first’.  That is best way to steal money from your own wallet.

At this time, take out all of the business cards that you have gathered over the previous weeks and start making phone calls. You are in the business of building your business.  Getting into the follow up habit is one of the cheapest methods of marketing your business.   Put the money in your wallet and don’t leave it on the table!