I have been noticing lately that I can’t seem to find enough hours in the day. Soon I will need to “practice what I preach” and reach out for some assistance of my own. Quickly I have realized why so many of my clients are hesitant.

Surely no one will be able to do as good a job as I can?

Where will I ever find someone that will care as much as I do?

As Virtual Assistants, we ask our clients to take a “leap of faith” and trust that we can do as good (if not better - wink! wink!) a job as they can. We also tell our clients that we do care that we are willing to help them in their business and to allow them time to grow their business. But do we really take the time to do these things?

What “value-added” services are you offering to your clients? Are you going the extra mile to service your clients and truly allow them to grow their business? Do you offer tips and suggestions to make things easier for them?

Now that my business has grown and I am looking for someone to begin outsourcing some of my tasks to, this is the type of person I am looking for. Someone who is a self-starter and takes initiative. Even more importantly in knowing what I am looking for, it is a reminder that I need to work harder at being that person for my clients.

I have grown my business a great deal through networking. As Virtual Assistants and business owners, many of us are turning to on-line networking as an alternative to face to face networking. However, many of us are forgetting one key thing when we are networking … stop talking about yourself!!

I know that seems an odd thing to say since networking is all about talking about what you do and attracting clients so I think it is important that I clarify that remark.

When we are networking, we need to stop being selfish and thinking about ourselves … when you start taking the perspective of thinking about the person listening to you, it is amazing the change in the results you will see from your networking efforts.

Instead of talking about the services your provide or the products you sell, take the time to talk about how your products or services help others. Let me explain …

When I first started networking, my elevator speech always consisted of a laundry list of services I provided for my clients, but now my elevator speech has some very different elements:

Element #1 - Tell a Story
Instead of saying “I provide administrative assistance including such things as letter writing, formatting and editing, website updates, bookkeeping and database creation and management”, say “I work with construction companies assisting them by setting up and maintaining their bookkeeping systems and managing their projects to ensure that deadlines are always met and not forgotten”. By telling a story you give your clients a face and an image and the people listening to you start to think of people they know that are in a similar situation.

Element #2 - Provide Specific Examples
The next thing you should do is give a solid example. Instead of just saying “I work with construction companies assisting them by setting up and maintaining their bookkeeping systems and managing their projects to ensure that deadlines are always met and not forgotten” … add the following … “For example, last week I worked with an owner of a construction company whose wife was working to assist him even though she had a full-time job of her own. She was coming home after work and spending great deals of time attempting to assist her husband, although bookkeeping and project management were not her strong suits.”

Element #3 - Don’t Forget to Ask for the Referral
The biggest mistake we make when networking is forgetting to ask for the referral. Following our example, a wonderful conclusion to this elevator speech would be, “So if you know of anyone whose wife is helping them in business and hating every minute of it, please give them my name and number and ask them to call me.”

When we describe our clients very specifically to others it is amazing the results. People are more likely to start thinking of names when they have something specific to look for then when you simply state small business owners.

I’m sure that just by implementing these three elements, remembering to answer the almighty question “why do I care … what’s in it for me” and stop being so selfish, you will see some awesome results from your networking. When you do, I would love to hear about them!!

I finally feel like I am back and I ready to take on the world (so to speak)!! After talking to a friend, I decided that it was time to start “practising what I preach”. In the last month, my business has grown so much that I find myself just working through the work again and forgetting about my business. If I keep up this pace, I am afraid that I will quickly fall into old habits so I decided it was time to do something about it. So I thought I would share with you some of the things I did to get back to structure and back to building a thriving business.

The first thing I did was to take a really close look at my goals again and to break them down as far as I could into manageable chunks. Part of doing this was reviewing my long term goals and coming up with a plan to get there. Even more importantly I decided that I needed an “incentive”!! My incentive is to reward myself with a new software program that I have been wanting to purchase. So first I set a time line and a set of goals … then I took a picture of that software program and put it on my bulletin board. Now every time I look at that picture I am reminded of the goals that I am trying to achieve and the incentive to work harder is there!!

The second thing I did was to review my schedule and rework it to what now makes sense for my business. See this was the thing I was forgetting about … I set my schedule over a year ago and a lot of what worked then was no longer working in my business now. In doing this I realized that although setting a schedule is a good first step, the fact I hadn’t been following it was a reminder that a schedule is only good if it is followed!!! My productivity has increased immensely since I have started following this schedule again.

The last and final thing I did was to start using “to do” lists again. I quickly realized that without a good to do list, things were “falling through the cracks” and not getting done. Even more importantly, I took the time to prioritize my list and got back to my system of color coding the work … yellow highlighted items must be accomplished today, blue items come immediately after the yellow items are attended to and the pink items are things that I would like to do, but timing is not crucial. Then I assigned a number to each item within the color coding so I would know in what order they would be completed.

Just getting back to this structure has made me feel so much better about not only my business, but also about myself. I am ready to take my business to the next level and to truly set some goals to make this happen. Without having these three things in place, I truly believe that this would not be possible!!

I keep meaning to get back here and write a post and then life seems to happen and it stops me from getting here …

Isn’t that the way if seems to go with everything though? The key is to not let it get in the way. YEAH RIGHT!!

I am a huge advocate of planning and scheduling, but what I struggle with is sticking to that schedule. See I set aside time each week for blogging, but for some reason blogging seems to get shuffled to the backburner, which is funny since it is the thing I love to do the most. I keep telling myself that having a schedule is the easy part … sticking to it - not so easy. So what am I going to do to make sure that this happens?

FIRST STEP - PRIORITIZE
My new schedule is going to work along with my priorities. First and foremost I need to schedule in the client time as this seems to be the thing that is pushing everything else aside. The next thing are those things that I need to do for my business such as blogging, marketing, etc.. Finally I will schedule in time for the fun things for business such as reading forums, learning a new skill, etc..

SECOND STEP - BE HONEST WITH MYSELF
I think my biggest problem is that I was trying to be wonder woman. I was giving myself too many things to do in a week and in a day. I needed to take some time and really look at a typical day for me. I know that dragging myself into the office before 9am isn’t probably likely with two young children that need to get ready for school. I also know that nights and weekends are hard too as the demands of my family are taking precedent over my business. So instead of scheduling in working time then, if I happen to find a few extra minutes I am going to call it a “bonus”!!

THIRD STEP - MAKE IT VISUAL TO REMIND MYSELF
My schedule used to be in my head … now I have written it out and color coded it on a nice excel spreadsheet. Finally I printed it out and put it on my bulletin board. It isn’t there to tell me what I can and can’t do and at what time, but more as a reminder of what I hope to accomplish in a day.

FOURTH STEP - DON’T FORGET ABOUT ME TIME
Finally and probably most importantly, I was forgetting about me. I was so busy worrying about my clients and my family that I forgot that it’s okay to take some time and watch my favourite TV show or take a walk with the neighbourhood girls!! Instead of feeling guilty for indulging in these pleasures, I was thinking that I was straying away from my schedule!!

So one of my priorities will be to indulge in my pleasure of blogging … by telling myself it’s okay to have this time to myself, I am hoping I will be “killing two birds with one stone” and also still helping others that struggle too with the wonderful world of entrepreneurship!!

So for those of you that follow my blog, you know that I have been in a funk lately and was able to turn it around by setting new goals. At the same point I realized that I had been working too hard on my business (if that is even possible), but trying to move it in a direction that I really didn’t want to head. More importantly I was not getting the results I needed from those efforts. I realized it was time to start moving in a different direction and find a new focus!! Well …. you know the old saying “be careful what you wish for!!” …

I am happy to say that although my business looks nothing like I thought it would one year ago, it is a business that I am very proud of today. When I looked at my goals and reviewed what I really wanted (instead of what others expected) I was able to create a new picture for my business and the greatest thing is that picture is actually coming to fruition!!

In the last week I have signed 2 new clients I absolutely love and I have gained 2 new coaching clients. I realized that I absolutely love coaching and this is a focus that I want to work with in the next little while and an area of my business to grow. I think the key to that success has been letting go of what I perceived that everyone else expected from me and getting back to what I wanted in a business!! I lost the attitude that I had to be someone that others wanted me to be and realized I could just be me again!!

I look forward to each and every day and can’t wait to get into my office again … it is a new found love for both my business and my clients.

So the reason for this post is to allow you, my readers, to realize that you and only you can determine what your business goals are and what your vision for your business is!! As entrepreneurs we need to stop looking at everyone else and doing what others are doing or what we think others expect from us. I believe that once you create your own dream and vision you will be excited with the results!!

This is so true in any business isn’t it? How many times have you dealt with someone in a bad mood and thought … “I can’t wait to talk to them again!!” …. NOT!! As business owners, it is important to remember that we are our business … what we say, how we say it, what we do and how we act are key!!

Even on the days when we are at our worst, it is important to project a great attitude. Here are a few tips for helping out on the days when we aren’t feeling our best!!

SMILE - even when you aren’t feeling your best, a smile shows others that things are great. Even smiling when talking on the phone will be reflected in your voice.

THINK - think about the best outcome a situation can have and go into the situation concentrating on that outcome … it’s called the power of positive thinking and believe it or not it works!!

SURROUND YOURSELF - with positive people!! On a bad day call up a friend and ask them to help you gain a positive attitude. Who better to pick you up then one of your supporters and cheerleaders!!

TREAT YOURSELF - to something you love to do. Immersing yourself in a hobby or pasttime that you enjoy is sure to give yourself a better attitude!!

Perhaps the most important thing to remember though as a business owner … if you know that you are having a bad day and will project a bad attitude, that may be the perfect day to avoid people (including in person, by phone and by email)!! Save that for when your attitude has improved!!

So after Sally’s comment I went and read her post and it was like a light bulb went off. There right in front of me was the reason for my funk. I had met all my goals!! This explains the reason I have been so bored. I am truly the type of person that sets out to “prove” something and that I had!! I had started a Virtual Assistant business, written a book (actually 2) and been recognized by my peers. When I thought about it I realized I had been thinking now what.

So this is the reason I haven’t been able to finish writing a book … I already did that!!

This is the reason I haven’t been able to find excitement in my VA business … it is already a successful business!!

So today when I re-write my goals I am going to think about things I haven’t accomplished yet, things that will make me excited again and then I am going to go after them with gusto. The biggest thing I am going to do though … I am going to remember that goal setting is a continuous thing … we need to read them, review them and revise them as we grow and achieve the goals we set for ourselves!!

One of the biggest lessons I have learned as not only a Virtual Assistant, but as a business owner, is that you can absolutely never plan as a business owner. I know that sounds absurd coming from someone who plans, plans, plans and who preaches being organized, utilizing effective time management and scheduling. However, I have learned a valuable lesson over the last few weeks … expect the unexpected.

How many of us haven’t become a “rider” in the roller coaster of business ownership? Even though I try to plan as best I can, it seems that life likes to throw little hills and valleys in my business. Just when you think you will have some extra time to work on a “secret” project that you have a great idea for, your business seems to begin the steep climb and the client work seems to come from no where. Don’t get me wrong I am absolutely not complaining, but it makes a person wonder how to effectively ride out this coaster and get the most from the ride.

I am a true idea person and every time I turn around another idea comes into my mind. I do take the time to write all these ideas down, but finding the time to implement them can sometimes be the challenge. As a business owner, the client’s needs must come first – because let’s face it without them we wouldn’t have a business nor an income, and for me my family time is just as if not more important than the success of my business. This busyness leaves little time to implement my ideas without sacrificing sleep or family time. So what is one to do?

I finally realized that I can implement these ideas without having to sacrifice my client work or my family or my sleep to get there. I just have to realize that not all my ideas have to happen now. So for those of you out there struggling to find balance remember you are not alone … you just need to learn to expect the unexpected!! Once you embrace this and decide to enjoy your roller coaster ride the ride seems a little less bumpy!!

For us, as entrepreneurs, it is so easy to become overwhelmed by the mounds of work that comes into our office, especially via E-mail. I know that I myself have easily fallen victim to the trap of letting my in-box become overwhelming. A great deal of our time is wasted having to empty out an overwhelming inbox. Many times we might read the same email several times thinking “I don’t have time, I’ll deal with that later” and before we know it our inbox becomes so overwhelming that it takes an entire day to sort through it. As we work our way through it we soon begin to find things that should have been dealt with or that have been overlooked and undoubtably the stress begins to build.

This quarter I am taking on a new strategy with respect to my email and I am inviting each of you to join with me. I am developing the 3 D’s strategy for keeping email messages under control: Do it, Delete it or Delegate it.

Each and every email I read from here on out will be handled in one of 3 ways:

1. DO IT - These are the emails that will require an action by me. If it isn’t something I can answer immediately or act upon immediately, I have also set up two folders and one is “To Read” and one is “To Do”. When it falls under one of these categories I will move it to those folders for later action. I have now also worked into my schedule a half hour at the end of each day and a half hour at the beginning of each day to go through the “To Do” folder and make sure that it is completed each day.

2. DELETE IT -Let’s face it we are inundated with emails, several of which are not something we ever plan to act on. We also receive several emails where a conversation is ended by the other party that should be deleted. Also, once you have answered an email and for which you are not waiting for a reply, you should delete it. By removing it from your inbox, it will tell you that it no longer requires anything to be done.

3. DELEGATE IT - Finally if I am unable to handle something in an email and it needs to be handled by someone else I “delegate it” to them and forward that email.

My final piece of advice is to create a folder entitled “Waiting for a reply”. This will be for all those emails that you have acted on and you are waiting for a response from someone else. These are those emails that you don’t want to delete just yet for fear of forgetting that you are waiting for something before being able to “Do It”, but that clutter your in-box nonetheless. By moving these from your in-box or your “To Do” files they will not clutter these spaces and cause you to read them several times. Always be sure, however, to make it a point of checking your “waiting for a reply” daily and deleting those that you have received a reply on.

I hope that by implementing these tips you will soon find that checking your emails is not taking up huge chunks of time in your day. With any luck, the next time you hear “you have mail” you will not want to jump under your desk and hide.

Today at my BNI (Business Networkers International) meeting I was honored by being presented with a notable networker award. I was very touched by this presentation and I must say it was a huge reminder as to what it means to be a notable networker.

Within my group I am definitely not the biggest referrer, but each and every referral that I give is well thought out and I work hard to get those referrals. I have made it a commitment to meet with each of the members of my group and learn as much as I can about their businesses. I know exactly who their ideal client is and I work hard to find them. When I do find them I just love how putting them in touch with someone that can help them makes me feel. It truly aspires to the BNI motto … “Givers Gain”.

I have learned a great deal about networking and referral marketing through my BNI membership and for this I am truly thankful because I think so many of us network in order to get business and stand around waiting for the referrals rather than working to become a good networker.