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Jaime

Trust Your Gut – Obey the Spidey Sense

Sweaty palms, a gnawing nagging feeling deep in the pit of your gut that keeps eating at you, and that ‘something doesn’t feel right’ feeling are happening. It’s okay that you can’t put your finger on exactly why the alarm bells are sounding. The fact that they are sounding is enough. Your Spidey Sense has been activated – you have a strong sense that something is wrong, dangerous, or suspicious, all rooted in intuition; a security situation as Peter Parker would explain it.

Bet you hadn’t realized that you, too, have super powers as strong as the Marvel comics heroes of our youth.

Diversification: Fishing with a Bigger Net

Diversification in business is good and shouldn’t be overlooked or taken lightly. Businesses just starting out are encouraged to find their place, or niche, in the business world. For some, that’s as easy as determining the types of services to be offered or products to be sold. The diversification comes into play with how we operate in a chosen niche.

Following the lead of  the financial sector, you’ll notice that investment planners suggest that you never put all of your eggs in one basket but diversify your assets. This may mean investing in CDs, mutual funds, saving accounts, stocks or bonds. The reasoning is if there’s a slump in one area the other areas will shoulder the weight and carry you through.

Ready, Set, Market!

Marketing is easy when you have a plan.

A marketing plan that is. It’s hard to showcase your business if you don’t have a clue what to do or when so let’s talk about creating a marketing calendar. The beginning of a new year is the perfect time to create your own personal marketing road map for 2010.

Consider where you want to focus your marketing efforts:

  • Email campaigns
  • Joint venture promotions
  • Blogging
  • Virtual blog tours
  • Article marketing
  • Social networking i.e. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.
  • Podcasts
  • Video marketing
  • eZines/Newsletters
  • Virtual events

Twas the Week After Christmas

We all enjoy the Clement Clark Moore version of “˜Twas the Night Before Christmas. I thought it would be fun to take a look at the Week After Christmas from a Virtual Assistant’s point of view. I hope you enjoy this interesting twist.

“˜Twas the week after Christmas, when all through my office, No printers were humming, no emails were coming;

The file folders were hung in the cabinet with care, In hopes that client work would soon be there;

The client files were nestled all snug in their bins, Then visions of retainer clients, spreadsheets, and to-do lists danced in;

Say It With Testimonials

Savvy marketers recognize the power of testimonials and use these to ramp up their marketing efforts. Sure you can tell someone about yourself, how good you are, how your business is THE business to meet their needs BUT it is so much more powerful when someone else tells them. Seriously.

Isn’t marketing to be about value and benefits for the client? It’s not about YOU  . . .  and that’s the magic of a good testimonial. Allow others to boast about you, your services, and your products. Allow these testimonials to tell your story when you can’t speak to the person one-on-one. And, who better to speak on your behalf than those satisfied with your services and products.

Cultivating Creativity with Your VA

“Success, or failure, very often arrives on the wings that seem mysterious to us.” ~Dr. Marcus Bach

I’m not sure if Dr. Bach ever had a virtual assistant but I like his thought process. Bach made it his purpose to increase his appreciation and understanding for those he had interactions with. This makes me think about how cultivating creativity in business allows open discussions of any and all solutions.

Got the Right Focus?

There’s a difference between being “busy” and being “hurried” when you’re an entrepreneur. I know entrepreneurs who are never hurried though are always busy with a focus on projects to advance their business and aid their clients in achieving their respective goals.

What’s the secret to avoiding the “hurriedness” of being “busy?” Self Care. These entrepreneurs recognize the importance of nurturing themselves before nurturing their business or having contact with a client.

It’s All In The Relationships, Really

Who would have guessed that relationship building skills would be a criteria for being a business owner? Sure, you need to be able to get along with people and be appealing to those that you want to sell your services and products to but getting into a “relationship?” What does it really mean? Afterall, you’re not planning to bond . . .   or, are you?