Expect Success in Your Home-Based Business

By: Diana Ennen

That’s right! Don’t sit back and hope that clients will come your way and that this business might work for you. Expect it! Go in with a winning attitude. An attitude that no matter what obstacles come your way, no matter what challenges arise, you will meet them. Not only will you meet them, you will face them and grow in strength by overcoming, and rising above them. Expect Success!

Let's look at where you are in your business. Some of you are seasoned work-at-home moms with thriving practices, while others have just entered into the arena. You want what those pros have. Well -- don't just want it—Except it. Make this your motto. Start each new project, or each new marketing venture, with this new attitude, and with this new motto—Expect Success. Before long, it becomes second nature to you. You start automatically assuming the outcome will be successful.

Now, in starting a business there are some steps you have to take. You'll find the first one is the big one. It's the Attitude Step. You need to make the transformation from "employee" or "stay-at-home mom” to successful entrepreneur. The mind-set changes right from there. Expect Success!

Next we're on to some of the business basics. A successful entrepreneur professionally chooses the name that best suits their business. To do this, they visualize that name on their business cards, on their signature line, on the bottom of the letter, with the name President directly right above it. Expect Success! Now, more motivated than ever, our successful entrepreneur needs to choose that all important domain name and get ideas for a website. They research the net for days, weeks, writing down all the fine qualities they see in other web sites. Never copying! Merely researching, constantly thinking of ways to be different and unique makes it work. How they can combine their own strengths and skills to fit into their business, which will then be listed on THEIR WEB SITE. They read. They write. They Dream!

At this point they start seeing that "Yes, it will happen." In their research they have found the organizations, associations and listserves that the other entrepreneurs in their field are active on. They have seen the common denominators of those that are successful. They too get involved. They look for additional training courses, if needed, and sign up for the ones they know will help them meet their goals. They develop their marketing plan and design their promotional materials. They read everything they can on starting a business. They have a plan, and they EXPECT SUCCESS!! They now see that the future of their business is just within their reach. They share with others their excitement, and then they await the time they can finally say, “I'm ready!” EXPECT SUCCESS, and it can be yours.

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Diana Ennen is the author of numerous books including Virtual Assistant: the Series, Become a Highly Successful, Sought After VA, Words From Home, Start, Run and Profit from a Home-Based Word Processing Business & the Home Office Recovery Plan. She specializes in publicity and book marketing and is president of Virtual Word Publishing http://www.virtualwordpublishing.com and http://www.Publicity-VA.com

The Virtual Alternative - Why A Virtual Assistant And Not An Employee?

By Yvonne Weld
A Virtual Assistant is a business owner who provides administrative support and specialized services to assist businesses and executives with their overflow. A Virtual Assistant can handle any task that is usually handled by an in house employee, but unlike an employee, a Virtual Assistant shares your goals to succeed in business; they only succeed if you succeed. But why would you want to work with a Virtual Assistant instead of having the physical presence of an employee?

No Hidden Costs
A Virtual Assistant takes care of all the usual employee related costs including such things as wage related costs, vacation pay, sick days, statutory holidays and benefits. Not only that, when you hire a Virtual Assistant, you are no longer required to pay overhead costs associated with an employee such as providing a computer and the associated software programs or even a desk. With an employee, these costs can add up to 50%-100% over the hourly rate of pay you are paying your employee. With a Virtual Assistant, what you see is what you pay; if the Virtual Assistant charges $35 per hour this is the price you pay.

No Time Commitments
Virtual Assistants can provide you with services on an as-needed basis. If you only require 1 or 2 hours of service this month, that is all you pay for. Where would you find an employee who is willing to work for just 1 to 2 hours per month? In most areas, labour laws require you to pay your employee(s) in 3 to 4 hour blocks of time. So even if you could find someone willing to work for just 1 day per month, you may have to find enough work to keep them busy for those hours or pay them even though they are not being utilized.

Experience/Expertise
Most Virtual Assistants specialize in a niche area where they have experience and/or expertise. This allows you, as a business owner, to work with a highly skilled and experienced person no matter the task at hand. As a business owner you could easily utilize the services of several VAs, each with their own specialty. You could have one VA handling your bookkeeping, one maintaining your Web site and another still planning your corporate events and meetings.

No Wasted Time
Productivity inefficiencies are a huge concern for employers these days. Many employees, when asked, admit to wasting their employer’s time on such things as personal matters, surfing the Internet and socializing with other employees. With a Virtual Assistant you only pay for the time they are actually working on your job. When they are talking to their mother on the telephone, surfing the Internet or socializing, it is on their time and not yours. Many Virtual Assistants take this one step further and dedicate blocks of time completely to your job and will not even answer phone calls or emails during that dedicated time. When they are working on your project it has their complete and absolute attention until the task is completed.

Fellow Business Owner
Perhaps the most important consideration when comparing Virtual Assistants to employees is that unlike an employee, a Virtual Assistant is also a business owner like you. Both you and your Virtual Assistant are interested in achieving success because as your partner they only succeed if you succeed. VAs, more than employees, understand what it takes to run a successful business.

Remember, however the biggest advantage to working with a Virtual Assistant is that you are not limited by the talent pool within your geographical area. Thanks to technological advances, your Virtual Assistant can be the person that best fits your needs and personality, regardless of whether they are in the next state or province, on the other side of the country or even in a completely different country than you are.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Yvonne Weld is the owner of Canadian based ABLE Virtual Assistant Services specializing in providing administrative and bookkeeping support to busy entrepreneurs. She is also the author of The Ultimate Guide to Creating a Thriving Business which provides a step-by-step guide to documenting your business. For your free audio teleclass on the areas you should consider when documenting your business and for more information about The Ultimate Guide to Creating a Thriving Business, visit the Web site at http://www.thrivingbusinessmanual.com.

Yvonne Weld is the owner of Canadian based ABLE Virtual Assistant Services and the author of "The Ultimate Guide to Creating a Thriving Business". For more information visit http://www.thrivingbusinessmanual.com

Reader's Digest - May 2007 Issue

I'm really excited that the Reader's Digest has spotlighted the VA industry. It's nice to see Virtual Assistants and the industry is becoming more recognized.

Lend Assistance

If you've got word processing, transcription, bookkeeping, public relations or website design skills, you may want to try life as a virtual assistant. That broad title refers to people with expertise in a range of services, including administrative support and legal and medical transcription, says Diana Ennen, co-author of Virtual Assistant -- The Series. "There is so much work for VAs," Ennen says. "The field is thriving, absolutely booming."

Though some work might require daytime hours, much of it can be done at night or on the weekend. Hourly rates range from $35 for basic transcribing to up to $100 for Web design.

Online forums and websites can be good places to gather how-to information from experienced assistants. Try the Virtual Assistant Networking Association (vanetworking.com), the International Association of Virtual Office Assistants (iavoa.com) or the International Virtual Assistants Association (ivaa.org).

Do you get butterflies when you go to networking events?

You're driving down the road. You've been talking to yourself all the way. You've been telling yourself you can do this. You keep running your "elevator speech" through your head. You keep saying "I can talk to these people. I can explain my business if they ask me what I do. I can walk up to people and introduce myself."

Then, you get to your destination. You're pumped and ready to go! You walk in the room and there's 50 other people there. You either freeze and wait to see if someone comes up to you, look around to see if you know someone so you're a little more comfortable, or you give up and leave. Why?

Don't you chit-chat with people when you're waiting in line at the grocery store? Do you "pipe in" a conversation at a store if you know you have the answer to what someone is asking? Why, then, can't we talk to 50 other people about our business? Is it because it's 50 people we don't know or because we're just not sure what we should say?

Put a smile on your face and feel confident. You are good at what you do and your business is worthwhile. Be excited about that! Don't be afraid. If you show your afraid or have a problem explaining what your Virtual Assistant business is about, it will show. Clients aren't going to come knocking on your door or calling you if you show you're afraid and can't explain your business to them. They want to give their business to people that are confident so feel confident.

When they ask you about your business, explain to them what you can do....PowerPoint presentations, spreadsheets, Websites, SEO, newsletters, article submissions, press release submissions, article and/or press release writing, logo's, cold-calling, etc. Whatever it is, tell them. Hold your head up high when you tell them too. Don't mumble.

Just remember that it's up to you. If you think positive and show them you can assist their business, they will call. They will beat down your door to be your next client. They will, in turn, recommend you to others. If you fumble with your words or freeze at the door, how are they going to know you and your business? How are you going to gain those clients?

It's your decision. It's your destiny. It's your choice as to which fork in the road you're going to take.

Is it time to clean up your office?

Before you read any further, look around your office/desk. Now STOP! Is your desktop clean? Do you have files or papers in your "inbox"? Where's your calendar? Have you looked to see what you need to accomplish today, tomorrow, or next week? Do you have calls you need to make or meetings you need to attend (either virtual or onsite)?

Before you can actually begin to work, you need to get organized. It may be difficult at first, but once you're even partially organized, you feel better about your work.

First off, you may be busy but you need to figure out a day to just do nothing but clean. It may not take you a whole day, but you should still block off the entire day. If you get things cleaned up in less time, GREAT! You'll at least know what you need to do after your area is clean.

Now, say tomorrow is the day you've chosen to clean and organize. Start with the desk. Take a look at everything on your desk and start putting it away where it goes. If there's papers laying around, put them in a pile. Once you've completely cleaned off your desk, file those papers. Put them where they go. Now you should be feeling better already!

Next step...get a piece of paper out. If you use a Franklin Covey planner or something similar, get it out. If you use an online calendar, pull it up. Write down (or type) everything you need to do and then start prioritizing it and putting it in the appropriate date that you need to do it. If you have little reminders of birthdays, anniversaries, meetings, etc. lying around, write/type them in your calendar. Write/type any VA meetings you have or Websites you need to visit (the VA Revolution should probably be at the top of that list ;) ).

Wow! You're on your way to feeling better about your office, your work assignments and are ready to roll!

Confidence In Yourself

If you are in the process of just starting your Virtual Assistant business, have been in your business for a while, are changing your business in some way or another, are making the choice to go back and work for someone else, or are going to go back to school...read the Motivational Quote.

Motivational Quote: "If you doubt you can accomplish something, then you can't accomplish it. You have to have confidence in your ability, and then be tough enough to follow through." Rosalynn Carter, wife of former President Jimmy Carter and was First Lady of the United States from 1977 to 1981. (8/18/27-)

Whatever it is that you want to do, you have to have the confidence in your abilities and then do it.

We're all afraid to take that first ride on a bicycle with no training wheels, but we do it. As a child, we know fear but have that "we know no fear" attitude. Our parents assisted us by building up our confidence levels high enough to get on that bike and follow through. We showed our parents, our family, our friends, and ourselves that we could get on that bike and ride like the wind.

That's the same thing for our business. The only thing is, we aren't children. We have a different kind of mindset. As adults, we become afraid to try new and different things. Most of us have that "I'll try but I don't see it really working out" kind of attitude. We're not as carefree as we were when we were children. But, if you want to succeed, have the mentality of a child. Have that "we know no fear" attitude and you will soon see that you can accomplish the things you set out to. You just have to have that confidence and follow through.

Let's talk about subcontracting...or actually...Let's talk about Teams

Some of the Rev members have been talking about subcontracting. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition describes subcontract as "A contract that assigns some of the obligations of a prior contract to another party."

In subcontracting something out, you are essentially building a team. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition describes team as "A group organized to work together."

In building your team, what are some things that you need to think about?

You first need to figure out what the outcome of your team is going to be. In building a team of VAs, undoubtedly, the desired outcome is to fulfill client projects successfully and in the timeframe the client requests. How do you make sure that your team is going to meet that required outcome? You need to select your team by reading what they post in various forums, on their web site, by emailing them and reading their responses, by reading ("listening") to what they say via IM's, etc. to make sure they have the knowledge you're looking for in a team member. You have to feel comfortable that the team you choose is willing to commit and has the knowledge needed for the projects your client has.

Make sure to always communicate. It doesn't matter whether it be something trivial or not. Make sure you communicate as a team. If you receive an email from the client and they're making suggestions for the project, make sure that the other members of your team receive the same email or that you communicate to your team what the client is looking for. You can then get together and discuss. It will make the project run more smoothly if all parties concerned are aware of what's going on so that the project can be finished properly. Just remember to include your whole team involved in the project.

Encourage participation among team members. If the client is looking for something, let your team know about it. Putting your minds together, you can come up with the perfect solution most of the time.

Building a team can be very satisfying and rewarding to all concerned. Can you imagine having the perfect team of VAs and what it could mean to your businesses?

The VAtalkShow!

Have you heard the news? Tawnya Sutherland, found of VANA, has come up with another awesome idea for Virtual Assistants. Starting in April, VANA will be sponsoring The VAtalkShow.
I'm really looking forward to this as I'm sure Virtual Assistants everywhere area.

Work/Life Balance

In thinking through what this weeks message should be, something was brought to mind that all VAs go through --- work/life balance.

It's hard for Virtual Assistants to stop their work because it's right there in the home. You feel you're "with your family" because you're in the same house. Why should they get upset that you aren't sitting right next to them watching TV or outside playing with them? You're there. They can come into the office anytime they want to talk to you.

As business owners, we need to set time aside for our family and ourselves.

Now, how do you figure out how much time you're working and how much time you're spending with your family/yourself? Get a small notebook. Keep track of the time you spend in your office or working and right it down. Right down how much time you spend with your family each day. Keep this going for one month solid - that includes the weekends for us that can't keep away from the computer ;). At the end of the month, calculate your hours. If you aren't spending at least 60-70 hours per month with your family, you're spending too much time working. If you calculate it out, that's approximately 2 - 2 1/2 hours per day. That's really not a lot of time to spend with the people that are the reason why you're working.

If you're not spending at least that much time with them, you need to be rethinking things a little. If you're spending that much or more, you've definitely figured out how to balance work/life.