Casual Articles - Business

Why You Should Use A Virtual Assistant
Nearly any type of business or industry can benefit from the services of a virtual assistant. Both online and traditional businesses can find great value through the use of a virtual assistant. Any size or type of business can increase manpower without the expense of a full time employee. There are no taxes or benefits to consider and the virtual assistant, being dependent on steady customers and referrals, will give you the same loyalty as a salaried employee. The need for temporary employees and outsourcing is eliminated. The virtual assistant will be there when you need them and will provide the services you need at a reasonable cost.Virtual assistants are less expensive than a full time employee and can assist a business with basic office support or in specialized tasks such as web design, marketing, and many other areas depending on the particular skills of the virtual assistant you choose. Generally speaking, a virtual assistant will be skilled in the use of computers, hard working, reliable, and have a wide range of skills. From tax preparation to bookkeeping and data entry, a virtual assistant can help any business complete tasks that traditionally must be handled by a full time employee.Businesses do not have to pay an hourly wage or salary when hiring a virtual assistant. A virtual assistant is paid per job or by the hour, but only for the time you need them. There is no expense for benefits, taxes, holiday pay, or office space because the virtual assistant works out of his/her own office and uses their ow

jects and service visits. For example, if I think it will take me 30 minutes to enter deposits, I set aside 45 minutes and then am relieved when it gets done in 40 rather than frustrated.

10. Money comes to those who believe in it
At a certain point in my life I started to notice that things I dwelled on came true. Whether I was obsessing about not having money or worried about getting sick before some big event. So, I tried a few experiments and have come to realize that when I focus on having all the money I need to grow my business and live a great life, that’s what’s happening. I choose to believe it works, and I choose to believe that there’s an unlimited supply of money out there making its way to me. In my vision it honors hard, honest work and fun and it hasn’t let me down yet!

How Storytelling Can Grow Your Business
People love stories. We love to hear about other people, and stories help us to learn, remember and put to use new concepts. Aesop knew this. His fables help us to learn life lessons through tales about others, without having to learn them the hard way.In modern times, Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen also understand the power of stories to teach, motivate, and inspire. Their "Chicken Soup for the Soul" books continue to sell in the millions of copies because they tap into our primal need to connect with others through storytelling.What can stories do for you and your business? Stories can educate customers about a need they have and how you fill it, subtly demonstrate your expertise, create empathy, suggest new uses for your products, train new customers and employees, and motivate listeners to take action.I recently observed several group presentations by an insurance agent. He knew many of the people in the audience, and prior to each presentation he would look for someone who had made a claim under their policy and ask them to tell the audience how the benefits had helped them through a difficult time. If there was no one in the audience to do it, he would tell about someone who had used the policy and what it had done for them. The stories the agent told were effective, but hearing the claimants themselves was incredibly powerful. Hearing someone talk about the uncertainty of illness, the expenses they faced which were not covered by other insurance, and what the benefits meant to them was moving. I'

1. I’m in charge of my time
This is truly eye-opening for most entrepreneurs. It’s about changing your mindset from working ‘in’ your business to working on it. And to establishing your non-negotiable terms for your working hours – no one else will do it for you. It’s easy to believe that you have to work all the time in order to be successful, but don’t buy into that. Create a business that works with your life.

2. I set the hours
Any business or service that I purchase has set hours. As a consumer I can take them or leave them. But most often, ifs a company I’m eager to work with I’ll work within their parameters. You’re a business owner that customers love to work with – so set your business hours and stick to them. If you don’t want to answer the phone during dinner – don’t. Let your clients know your hours and then don’t work during non-working hours.

3. I can take time off.
Not only can I take time off – it’s imperative to the well-being and long-term success of not only my business, but all my personal relationships as well. Again, by setting the limits on your time, creating time-off on, alerting your clients and sticking to it, you’re doing a great thing for yourself and your business.

4. Help is essential.
Not just of the pet-sitter variety (although that’s critical if you want to make money and stay in business) but you also need help of the professional and personal variety too. Make sure you outsource the responsibilities that you are not capable of handling – such as legal tasks and bookkeeping. You also should find other entrepreneurs (and preferably pet-care business owners) with whom you can commiserate when you need a shoulder to lean on. Finding a mentor or coach has been a key factor in my success as well. No one can do everything alone – so know when to ask for help and then be gracious when receiving.

5. Outsourcing is easy and necessary.
These feeds off of #4 – I’ve learned to outsource administrative tasks, filing tasks, billing and invoicing and many other tasks. By doing so, I have the time and energy to concentrate on the tasks that I’m uniquely qualified to do – such as focus on the long-term direction of the company. When you outsource you find yourself reinvigorated with the reasons you started the company in the first place. Think you can’t afford outsourcing? How about a trade? Trade pet-care for some personal organizing by a professional organizer – or provide vacation cat care for the woman who will do your filing. The ideas are endless.

6. All advertising is not equal.
Any advertising sales representative is going to assure you that you are going to get “great response” from their product. They will show you testimonials of other businesses that have had success. That’s their job. Your job is to know your key demographic so well that you can determine whether or not your perfect client is going to respond to the mode of advertising your being sold. If the answer is ‘no’ then no matter how many ‘views’ your advertisement gets, it’s not going to attract any great clients. If you serve a small geographic area, why not invest your advertising dollars in a way that will reach ONLY that area?

7. Building relationships is more important than collecting business cards.
Okay, I knew this one going in, but it’s important for me to remember. Whenever networking or attending events the goal should never be to hand out my cards and collect them. The goal should be to start a few good relationships with people who are just like my “golden client.” Having a ton of business cards in my rolodex is useless if I don’t know anything about the people who gave them to me. Take time to build and nurture relationships each day and your business will reap the rewards.

8. I can only be one place at a time.
You’d think that the laws of nature had taught me this before I started my own business, but somehow I’d been overlooking it. Make sure you have ONE central place that you keep your schedule. If someone asks you to care for their pet, or attend an event and you don’t have the calendar – don’t commit. You’ll find yourself overbooked and frazzled.

9. Everything takes longer than I expect.
I’m a fast-moving person with lots of energy. Patience is a virtue that I’ve spent 40 years trying to cultivate, so I know how hard this lesson is to sink in. Over time I’ve come to recognize that simply “wishing” things would move faster doesn’t work, so I’ve resigned myself to building in lots of extra time to complete projects and service visits. For example, if I think it will take me 30 minutes to enter deposits, I set aside 45 minutes and then am relieved when it gets done in 40 rather than frustrated.

What The Holidays Teach Us About Branding
When it comes to creating and building a brand name, most companies feel compelled to file trademarks and establish “guidelines” to protect their image. Yet some of the most well known brands in the world today are holidays – wide open to use and abuse in the public domain. Despite being public property they still retain a high degree of brand consistency. For example, which holiday comes to mind when envisioning the colors green and red? How about orange and black? Many consumers would instantly recognize these as the colors of Christmas and Halloween. Beyond color combinations we have images -- such as a bright green clover or a red colored heart. Again most consumers would accurately associate these with St. Patrick’s Day and Valentine’s Day. So without any trademark protection and no corporate marketing department to enforce brand standards, how is it that these events and holidays are so consistently represented?The answer lies in our five senses. Unlike most company brand images, which exist statically as printed names and logos, the holidays are deeply anchored in our experiences, in the areas of sight, sound, smell, taste and touch. Christmas conjures the fresh scent of pine needles and the sound of cheerful carolers. Thanksgiving evokes the smell of pumpkin pie and the welcome taste of warm cider. In addition to the sensory stimulation, we associate emotions as well. Valentine’s Day stirs feelings of love and romance while New Year’s Day brings a sense of renewed hope and unity. And this holds true for countless h

lerting your clients and sticking to it, you’re doing a great thing for yourself and your business.

Never on a Sundae
I was passing through Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) in Malaysia, returning from a live web-cast presentation on a new e-learning channel.One of my small indulgences after a good presentation is the soft chocolate-and-vanilla swirled ice cream available at the quick service restaurant just before Immigration at KLIA.A young staff member was at the ice-cream machine. I asked her for the vanilla-and-chocolate swirl in an ice-cream sundae cup with a squirt of chocolate syrup on top. (I don’t have this very often, but when I do, I enjoy it.)She said that I could only have the sundae with vanilla ice cream, not the vanilla and chocolate swirl. The three small nozzles for dispensing vanilla, chocolate and vanilla-and-chocolate were located side by side.I asked again, very nicely, for her to use the vanilla-and-chocolate nozzle instead of the plain vanilla. Again, she declined. ‘The sundae comes with vanilla,’ she said, ‘not with vanilla-and-chocolate.’I’d had the sundae with vanilla-and-chocolate in the very same restaurant a few months earlier. I explained this to her and asked once more. Once again, she declined.The store manager agreed with the staff: vanilla-and-chocolate ice cream was definitely not part of the sundae.I pressed for a win–win solution. The manager said, ‘You can buy the large ice cream cone in vanilla-and-chocolate, and then we can give you a plastic cup to put it in to make a sundae.’‘But what will I do with the ice-cream cone?’ I wondered out loud

easons you started the company in the first place. Think you can’t afford outsourcing? How about a trade? Trade pet-care for some personal organizing by a professional organizer – or provide vacation cat care for the woman who will do your filing. The ideas are endless.

Provenance, the Missing Link to Success
Skills must be developed over a period of time, and practiced to attain an acceptable level of professional competence. Practice needs to take place within the business arena. Time has become an ever-valuable commodity and this gap between talent availability and business need resulting from high-speed business ramp-up, is one of the reasons why expatriation is an important factor in the success of the region.There is one main ingredient that is missing and that is provenance.The difficulties associated with striving to attain superior performance in the global business arena, creates its own unique hurdles. Unfortunately, there is a line of thought that implies resentment towards some of the expatriate workforce from those who mistakenly believe that there is an unfair bias.This feeling often draws attention to the connection made by hiring staff, that roles are skills and competency based and as such, this should be the leveler across all the installed talent pool. If selection of managers were solely based on these criteria and, these alone were adequate to determine their fitness for purpose, then this assumption would make sense. However, it overlooks the fact that at senior level, either at functional head, specialist or business leader, quite often external requirements mandate the qualifications of the new incumbent.I believe career progression is contingent upon a combination of personal and importantly, external factors. Market drivers, competitive threat, company positioning and brand valu

al should never be to hand out my cards and collect them. The goal should be to start a few good relationships with people who are just like my “golden client.” Having a ton of business cards in my rolodex is useless if I don’t know anything about the people who gave them to me. Take time to build and nurture relationships each day and your business will reap the rewards.

You Know You Need an Advertising Expert When...
…You don’t even know whether your program is working or not. Sure, you think it’s fine, but you also don’t call the doctor when you have a severe cough or cold. It’s the same thing. Of course, you have to recognize you actually have a problem to begin with. Your miserable promotions won’t hack and sneeze to alert you. But they still may be ill just the same. So how can you tell?You could ask yourself a few simple questions. Then you will know if you are wasting time and money on your current campaign:Are you tracking every customer?Do you know what part of the ad or ads that brought them in?Do you know how often you should change your ad?Are you advertising in the same place as your competition?Are you missing any customers? Take a look at question two. Do you have an effective headline or picture, in your ad? If you’re not sure, you didn’t track the results properly. What if it’s attracting the wrong type of customer? For instance, if you sell tires, are they always coming in asking for the low-priced, discount types? If so, wouldn’t you make more selling the high-end, longer-lasting ones? Perhaps it’s the advertising message that’s causing the trouble. An easy fix might be to change your approach and stress the warranty and quality of the item, rather than the price. Without feedback, you’ll never be able to seek out the offender. Especially if you run several ads in different media.The solution is to retain a trained professional. One that is exp

jects and service visits. For example, if I think it will take me 30 minutes to enter deposits, I set aside 45 minutes and then am relieved when it gets done in 40 rather than frustrated.

11. Saying no to bad fit clients makes you a better business owner.
In theory I knew this before starting my business. In reality, I was afraid that if I didn’t jump through hoops, forgive payment indiscretions and ignore my better judgment when it came to certain clients, I would never make money. Come to find out, nothing could be further from the truth. Clients that are not a good fit for me take much too much of my energy that should be spent finding, nurturing and serving great clients. Whenever I let go of a “difficult-for-me” client I felt free and unburdened to continue to serve and grow my business. I know those clients felt freer and lighter too – and they were able to find a service that better suited their needs.

12. No one buys on rate alone.
Again, as a pretty consummate shopper I’d known this all along. But I had to get out of my own way and get laser clear on what my clients were really “buying” when the selected us for their pet-care provider. I realized that clients I’m meant to serve don’t shop on price alone, and that while my rate may not be in the budget of everyone, it was well within the range of what my best clients could afford. Once I got clear on what my perfect clients really wanted, I got focused on delivering it each and every time.

13. Be professional at all times
Whether your driving down the road, in line at the grocer’s or going to a client registration meeting, you’ll want to ensure you look and act like the kind of person who can be entrusted with the keys to someone’s home (and heart – as you are being entrusted with the care of their furry or feathered family).

14. Get involved – don’t just join a group.
Joining groups is nice. It can give you a long list of names to add to your website and your marketing materials. But what brings you business is your ability to participate in the groups you join. People who work alongside you have the opportunity to observe your work style and to get to know you personally. That’s a great way for people to determine if they’d refer you or not.

15. Establishing expert status is a key to pulling in clients.
Being an expert is easier than you think. Focus on your niche and start publishing some articles – either in your local paper, or on the web. Create some useful information for your target clients and provide it in a newsletter. Offer to speak to groups in your community. The more you’re referred to as the expert on your topic, the more clients will seek you out. There’s lots more ideas and step by step tips for becoming the expert in my Ultimate Pet-Care Business Home Study System due to be released in fall 2006.

16. Invest in yourself.
You set your own value, and one of the ways to ensure your value continues to expand is to invest yourself. Investments include purchasing and reading books and magazines on business and your pet-care niche, attending industry conferences and seminars, attaining certification, and setting aside time for your education.

17. It’s okay to push the envelope.
Doing things the way everyone else does is fine – if you want to be lumped in with everyone else. Sometimes you’re going to have to take a stand in order to stand out. Just make sure you stay true to your vision of who you are and you’ll know when to push that envelope.

18. The differences between a 1099 consultant and an employee.
This is a topic I cover in greater detail in the Ultimate Pet-Care Business Home Study System, but let me tell you – I wish I’d gone in with more knowledge about the differences. Now I’ve got a handle on it, but I still rely on an attorney and a CPA to keep me in the right realm as far as this information goes.

19. Protect my time – less time on “the lists” and more time marketing.
In the beginning I spent upwards of 5 hours a week on the Yahoo group lists. I could have gotten away with about 15 minutes each week. I got caught up in what lots of people’s opinions were about issues and ideas rather than being out in the field running my business and creating a marketing plan. I still check the lists once a month or so as I always find a few “golden nuggets” of information, but I’ve learned to set the timer so I don’t get sucked in to long, drawn-out dramas about topics that don’t involve me or my business.

20. Build alliances with “competition”.
One of the smartest things I did was join the local professional Petsitting network. In the beginning it gave me a good feeling to know that there were others who had been in the business for a long-haul and lent credence to my vision of a sustaining company. It also allowed me the ability to advertise in many places where I couldn’t afford it on my own – because the network advertises itself in many area wide publications. Now I’m still pleased with my membership as it provides me an opportunity to run ideas by others in

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