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A Company Law Jargon Buster
Company law is full of confusing terms, and if you don't know
what they mean then settung up a company can start to look far
more scary than it really should be. Read through this jargon
buster and you should find it much easier to understand...
Add a teaching gig to your marketing toolkit
Add a teaching gig to your marketing toolkit How can you gain credibility and exposure for you and your business, reach a motivated audience, develop a far-flung network, hone your presentation skills -- and get paid to do it? Many executives and...
Advertising and PR
Copyright 2005 The Powerful Promoter How Does Advertising and PR Add up to Success Advertising and Public Relations (PR) are both integral to the success of any business. Without advertising and PR, few people will be able to locate your...
Penny Stocks - Turn Your Pennies Into Dollars
We've all heard about the investor how bragged about his 100% or 1000% return on
a stock or about the guy who made it rich by investing in small caps,
undiscovered stocks that made it big. In theory, it seems to be too easy. Invest
in a couple...
Reloading The Matrix with Jada - Mrs. Smith that is!
It has been nearly two years since the fabulous Mrs. Smith has graced audiences with her presence on Hollywood’s silver screen. This month, Jada shows audiences that the wait is over, starring in the highly anticipated film The Matrix: Reloaded. ...
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Why Are You Doing Everything Yourself?
When I coach my entrepreneur clients, one problem I often see is that they're not taking enough time to market and grow their business.
It's not that they don't understand the value of those efforts, or they don't want to make the time. It's that they're simply trying to do too much by themselves. They're so busy running their business that they're not working ON their business.
Are You Spending All Your Time on the Little Stuff?
Owning your own business requires wearing a lot of hats. But it seems that when many people leave their jobs to "go solo," they think they must work completely solo as well. They insist on doing everything themselves — even tasks they know darn well they're not good at.
They try in vain to design their own Web sites and brochures, write their own sales copy, process their own orders, manage their own mailing list, personally respond to every customer call and e-mail, ship their own products, and more. Pretty soon they're running around like that proverbial headless chicken.
What eventually happens is their love for their work— the reason they started their own business in the first place— drowns in a flood of administrative trivia. Suddenly one morning they wake up feeling burnt out and without that positive, creative energy they used to have.
When this happened to me a few years ago, I was lucky to learn about virtual assistants (VAs). VAs are freelancers who take care of all that "busy work" for entrepreneurs like us. Because VAs are independent themselves, they work on an as-needed basis from their own homes or offices, saving you the cost and hassle of hiring a regular office assistant.
I now have two VAs — Liz, who lives in Boston, and June, who lives in Georgia. And I can't live without them!
What Could YOU Delegate to a VA?
During next week, keep a log of all your activities. Then sit down and review it. Decide which activities are truly ones that only you can do and which you can delegate.
For example, here are some of the tasks I delegate to my VAs:
Responding to customer e-mails and phone calls re. downloading my e-book.
Scheduling business and personal appointments and interviews.
Bookkeeping: invoicing customers, receiving and paying bills, reconciling bank statements, tracking expenses and tax records, working with my accountant. (This was my favorite to delegate — I despise this stuff!)
Internet research and fact checking
Planning my travel for speaking engagements and seminars
Maintaining my e-zine and customer mailing lists
Managing my e-zine ad sales
Handling
registrations for my teleclasses/workshops
Maintaining my Web site (copy edits, additions)
Creating sales reports
Shipping customer orders
Submitting my articles to other publishers and article sites
Placing ads in publications and at Web sites.
Formatting e-books and creating PDF files
Designing PowerPoint presentations
And I don't stop there. Liz and June have also been happy to help me with personal stuff like researching vacations, purchasing client gifts, and reminding me of birthdays and other important dates. Thanks to these two amazing gals, I save my time and energy only for my "genius work."
Worried You Don't Have the Budget?
The good news is you're not hiring your VA full time. A VA only charges you for the hours she actually works. Although VA rates may be more than you'd pay an administrative employee (usually $30-50 per hour), you don't have the added expenses of employee benefits, office space, and equipment. You're also getting someone who has years of experience, who loves what she does, who already has her own desk, chair, computer, software, fax, phone, stapler, and pens, and who's ready to leap in and start work as soon as you are.
Keep in mind that having a VA will IMMENSELY free up your time to focus on the stuff that matters: marketing and growing your business, developing bold new product ideas and income streams, and servicing your larger clients. You'll think much bigger and will have much more creative energy.
Look for a VA That Matches Your Needs
If you're looking for a long-term partner who is committed to helping you succeed (and I was), look for someone who's graduated from a VA training program such as AssistU (www.AssistU.com). That's where I found both Liz and June, and I highly recommend it. Another resource is the International Virtual Assistants Association. (www.ivaa.org)
Don't wait until it's too late! Most of my clients put off hiring a VA until they "hit the wall." Things like overdue bills, a messy office, late projects, and unreturned phone calls add up until their business almost collapses.
Take action NOW and at least learn more about getting some help. It will be a big relief, I promise!
(c) 2003 Alexandria K. Brown
About the Author
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Alexandria K. Brown, "The E-zine Queen," is author of the e-book, "Boost Business With Your Own E-zine," available at
http://www.ezine-queen.com. For *hundreds* more great tips like these, visit her site and sign up for her FREE weekly newsletter, "Staight Shooter Marketing." Don't miss the next
issue - subscribe today!
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| How To Conquer Public Speaking Fear |
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| Allyn and Bacon Public Speaking Website |
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| Public Speaking & Speech Writing |
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| Presentation Tips for Public Speaking |
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| 10 Tips for Successful Public Speaking - Toastmasters International |
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| Welcome to Toastmasters International where we are"Making ... |
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| Strategies to Succeed in Public Speaking - School for Champions |
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| Public Speaking Home Page |
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| Public speaking - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
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| UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE AT MARTIN COUNSELING AND CAREER SERVICES |
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| Painless Public Speaking |
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| Public Speaking from Uncommon Knowledge |
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| Public Speaking Tips by Uncommon Knowledge |
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| Public Speaking Skills from Mind Tools - Speaking Tips & Techniques |
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| Public Speaking Information |
| Advanced Public Speaking Institute- -More than 120 mini articles on professional level ... Click here for additional articles on Public Speaking Information ... |
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| Basic Public Speaking, 2nd Edition - The Teachers and Students ... |
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| Public Speaking - The Art of Speech Making |
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| Advanced Public Speaking Institute |
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