building a VA business – Page 3 – Virtual Assistant Success Strategies

Wil Hart on July 29, 2011

I Can Help You: Marketing Made Easy

You have started your business. Congratulations!

Now, what is more important than starting a business? STAYING IN BUSINESS!

A few weeks ago, we discussed the importance of having a powerful mindset that will support all of your business and life goals. Here is a mindset to adopt about marketing your business: “if you do not market your skills, knowledge and services, you will not be in business for long.” Attracting clients to your company is how you will thrive in business.

Please decide now what type of business you want to have. Is it a not-for-profit organization? Are you looking forward to running a business that is struggling to stay afloat in the market? Or, do you want a business that is bustling, exciting and providing the lifestyle that you desire?

If you had to choose right now, which of the scenarios above would describe your business goals? The easiest way to create a successful business is to market yourself effectively. Marketing is sharing your knowledge, skills and services with people who are already looking for them. There are companies and solopreneurs in the world who are desperately seeking to find what you have to offer. Marketing effectively is your way of saying, “Here I am. I can help you.” There are hundreds of methods and strategies available for you to share your message with the people who need you most.

I am going to teach you the easiest and least stressful way to attract a few clients when you are first starting out in business. Remember this key point, marketing is simply standing up and saying to the people who are looking for you, “Here I am. I can help you.” If prospective clients are already looking for you, how will you communicate with them? Your message must be crystal clear. So, how do you clarify your ‘here I am, I can help you’ message? You can do so by answering these questions:

What problems do you solve? Every business fills a need. People pay you for a physical product, service rendered or for your consultation. All of these aspects of business solve some sort of problem. It is important that you clearly identify with the problems of those whom you serve.
Whom do you serve? There are a lot of people, businesses and organizations in the world. Define who you specifically work with. This is your target market. When you clearly discuss whom you work with, other people will quickly pinpoint the individuals in their networks that need you. They can refer business to you.
What benefits do they receive? This is the reason satisfied customers will refer you to their friends and colleagues. When you solve their problems they are happy, comfortable and joyful. Define some of the benefits that your clients receive from working with you.

Now, it’s time for the strategy. Your initial marketing strategy should be to make full use of your warm market. This is the group of people whom you already know. They trust you and can vouch for your character and in many cases the work that you produce. Where can you find them? Start with your workmates, family and friends. Any person that knows, trusts, and likes you should be notified about your new business. They may be in a great position to help you.

Marketing becomes quite easy when you have the right mindset towards it. There is no need for you to feel hesitant about reaching out to the people who are already in need of your help. Think back to when you were working for other people. Each time you interviewed for a new J-O-B, the employer was simply asking you, “How can you help our company?” Before you were even offered the interview, they likely needed a piece of paper that listed much of your previous work experience. Your resume was the ticket into an interview. What is a resume? A resume is a marketing document that details reasons why a candidate is a good fit for an employer.

Does that perspective help you with your mindset about marketing? When you market your knowledge, skills and services, you are positioning yourself in front of people who have already been looking for you. They need you. So, stand up and say, “Here I am. I can help you.”

Would you like additional training to learn how to market your business authentically? Join our tele-series where we will teach you our Successful VA System 2.0.

Wil Hart on July 22, 2011

Five Keys to a Stable Foundation For Your Business

There is a fundamental truth about construction. Any building that is constructed has a better chance at lasting on bedrock than on sand. That is a guarantee!

This is why it is so important that your business has a solid foundation. How can you make sure that this is the case with your business?

What are some of the benefits and amenities that you enjoyed at your last place of employment? Perhaps you had a great insurance policy which included health, dental, disability and life insurance. Without a doubt you received a paycheck during the month to compensate you for the hard work that you put out. Somehow every January without fail, you received a little document that enabled you to file your taxes before mid-April. When you walked into your job as an employee on the first day, you did not have to worry about a thing, except doing your share in building the company.

Now, it is your turn to build a solid business by making sure that your infrastructure is set up to ensure your success. Following are a few things that you should have in place before you walk into your company, not as an employee, but as a savvy entrepreneur.

Incorporation: Creating a corporation for your business will safeguard your personal assets in the event that you have a professional dispute with someone. The chances of this happening are slim. However, your business entity should be completely separate from your personal affairs. It is a protection for you, your company and your clients. You will have a bedrock foundation by legitimizing your company.
Insurance: It will take diligent effort to find the right insurance for you and your household. Seek out insurance agents from people that you already know and trust. There are many insurance resources for entrepreneurs. It is important that you apply and qualify for and enroll in the insurance plans that are necessary for your family and your business before you leave a current job.
Operations: Systems are critical to the successful business. What processes will you have in place for enrolling new clients into your practice? How will they pay you? Having contracts in place will protect both your company and your clients. Another note on operations is to separate your business expenses from your personal finances. Will expenses for your mobile phone and home phone fall under your business operations? Bank accounts should be separated as well. This will make it easier to file your taxes.
Technology: As a virtual assistant, technology is your means of running your business. You must have reliable hardware and software. Trust me, you do not want to run a business using your neighbor’s WiFi. Some free services and tools may be handy. But when it comes to the day to day functioning of your business, you want the most reliable technology available and will need to know how to use it to best serve your clients.
Financing: This is where many people ask, “Can I start a Virtual Assistance company with no money?” My answer is, “if you find a way to do that, please let me know.” I will shout that from the rooftops. The truth is that it takes money in order to make money. You need office supplies, software, hardware and savings for back up. I would never encourage an individual to start any sort of business with no money because I personally have no experience in that area. There are a number of ways to generate the capital to cover your start-up costs for your business. Research is the key!

These are a few of the important aspects of setting up your business that will allow you to have a bedrock-like foundation. If you have already started your business, you can still implement these components to strengthen your business. Do not to become overwhelmed by the list above. Every business goes through changes. The same will be the case for you. You will find that some aspects of your business work very well while others could use adjustments. This is perfectly okay! The learning process is continuous.

One thing is for sure, you do not want to construct a business on a sandy foundation. If you do, you will find that the tides of change and trouble will wash your business out to sea. Just like footsteps on a sandy shore are soon to disappear, without a bedrock foundation, your business will quickly fade. By implementing the points that I am teaching you in this lesson, you will be sure to have a foundation that is built to last and on which you can build a successful, sustainable business.

Build on bedrock!

I’ll be sharing additional details on these topics and the other 4 steps of my proven business building system on a FR*EE training call next Thursday, July 28th. Visit http://vasuccesssecrets.com for details!

Wil Hart on July 8, 2011

5 Pillars to a Strong VA Business Foundation

Are you an Executive or Administrative Assistant who is looking to become your own boss? If so, this article is especially for you. Virtual Assistants who have already started working in their own business will benefit as well. If you haven’t quite reached the level of success you’ve been working towards, it would be good to “go back to basics” and make sure your foundation is as strong as it should be.

So, whether you are looking to start a new business or to become more successful in the business that you have already created, strap yourself in and enjoy the ride! There are 5 pillars or steps to becoming a Successful VA. How do we know this to be true? At EAtoVA.com, we have already completed the steps, mostly without any help. We want the hand you the blueprints that we worked so hard to develop on our own; so that you WON’T have to.

The 5 Successful VA Pillars (an overview):

MINDSET: Henry Ford stated, “Whether you think you CAN or you CAN’T, you’re right.” An Executive or Administrative assistant who wants to venture out on their own MUST first believe that they CAN succeed as a business owner. Even if you take steps in the direction of creating your own life through business ownership, doubt may creep in due to a setback. That is okay when it does happen. But, that thought process can only be temporary if you are to reach your goal. The stories that you constantly tell yourself and the belief system that you utilize in daily life will either hinder or HELP your goal of becoming a Successful VA.
INFRASTRUCTURE: The infrastructure and the other four pillars are all mechanical. Anyone with a desire to succeed can perform the tasks that are needed to get things done. What makes up the infrastructure of your company? Here are a few things to consider: 1) Insurances – health, life, disability, dental etc. 2) Technology – computers, phones, an online presence etc. 3) Operations – you must have operational systems in place such as accounting, tax filing, setting up new customers, processes for working with customers, etc. 4) Structure – will you set up an LLC or a Sole Proprietorship? 5) Finances – it takes money to make money. There are some other pieces to building your infrastructure. This will be discussed in a few weeks.
MARKETING: This is the bread and butter of your business. Those who do not market their company tend to find themselves out of business very soon. The best thing that you can do for your business is to know how to make money. You do not want to wait to figure this out. You can develop a marketing plan even before you have made your first dollar, taking advantage of the resources, relationships and opportunities already within your reach.
TRANSITION: Before leaving your current job, you will at some point say, “Oh my, I’m actually doing this!” There is nothing that you can do to avoid that feeling. As with any major step in life, we can allow those feelings to propel us toward accomplishing our goals. Having a PLAN around your transition will help you to make the leap from employee to entrepreneur smoothly.
BUILDING Your BUSINESS: When you work for someone else, that company does all of the heavy lifting for you as an employee. The company is responsible for building the business so that you will have a place to work each day. Now, you are responsible for whether you win or lose. Success is 100% in YOUR hands! You, therefore, have to perform all of the needed tasks to REMAIN in business. This includes continually upgrading your skill set, setting up systems, marketing consistently and more.

If you were at all nervous about how to get started in your virtual assistance care, now you can breathe a sigh of relief. We will relieve you of the confusion and stress of trying to figure things out all by yourself. This is the information that you have asked about. The first step for you is to pay attention to your email inbox for the next several weeks and read about the steps that will easily show you how to go from Executive Assistant to Virtual Assistant.

Your Action Plan For The Week:

Write down your top 10 reasons for wanting to start your own business. (this will help you to understand the mindset that you already have.)
Take inventory of the tools and skills that you already have in order to start your business.
Write down the names l0-20 people who would be excited to hear about you starting your own business.
Think deeply about how you will feel AFTER you fire your boss. (How will you celebrate? Why will you not regret leaving your job? Why are you so excited about the new chapter in your life)

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