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The Delegation Dilemma: 8 Keys to Know if It’s Time to Build a Virtual Team
Thursday, August 13th, 2009 | Author: Michelle

By: Melanie Benson Strick

During a recent webinar I taught , one of the attendees, Steven, asked, “I’m just getting started in my business. I’ve got lots of bills, tons of work to do but not a lot of income coming in. Would I benefit from building a team?”

Last week, during an interview by my friend and client Kendall Summerhawk, a woman in her program asked, “How do I know it’s time to add more people to my team without losing profitability?”

For the entrepreneur, cash flow is the make or break point. Interestingly enough, many of us will throw thousands of dollars at programs and products that suggest they will make us money but you will hold back from investing in the ONE KEY STRATEGY that is proven to help you achieve a six to seven figure income.

I’d like to help you identify 8 Keys to Know If It’s Time to Build a Virtual Team.

1. You want to grow fast but have limited time. This is crucial for people who are still employed, mothers of young children and people with multiple businesses. The fact is, you can only grow as fast as you have time to move your projects forward. A team can execute on work while you focus on other things.

2. You have more referrals than you can follow up with. This is a sign that you either: need an assistant to help filter out leads and get them in your funnel or you need to outsource work to others.

3. You are doing things that you hate, screw up or procrastinate. After I booked myself to Ft. Lauderdale when I needed to be in Orlando, I realized booking my own travel had to be delegated to my assistant. These tasks will cost you hundreds, if not thousands, until you delegate them to someone who loves the tasks. Bookkeeping, client invoicing, website updating, paperwork all fit here. P.S. That travel mistake cost me $500 extra dollars. =-(

4. You need and want more freedom to enjoy your life, but you can’t afford to be away from the business. The right team will be able to handle anything while you are gone.

5. You routinely are late, deliver incomplete projects or forget things you promise people. This is a sign that you have too much on your plate. Even delegating email management and phone call follow up can free up 8 – 10 hours a week!

6. You are an opportunity addict and don’t want to give that up. Let’s be honest. Some of you are just really good at new ideas and you don’t want that to stop. You thrive on the creative phase. But someone has to implement your ideas – that’s where a team comes in.

7. You are a speaker, information marketer, coach, consultant, service professional or business owner with more on their to-do list than time in the day. I guarantee you I can find at least 25 items in your to-do list that could easily and profitably be delegated!

8. You truly desire a six to seven figure income. The one thing that every successful person knows is that they could not have done it alone.

Last year I interviewed five 7- figure entrepreneurs who all said, “If I could do one thing differently, I wouldn’t have waited to build a team.”

Ready to build a team but still not sure how to pay for it? Tune in to our next edition and I’ll give you a simple formula to pay for a team. Or join us for the next Virtual Team Building Tele-Bootcamp starting September 12th.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/entrepreneurship-articles/the-delegation-dilemma-8-keys-to-know-if-its-time-to-build-a-virtual-team-211255.html

About the Author:

About the Coach:

Melanie Benson Strick, The Entrepreneur’s Success Coach, teaches entrepreneurs how to stop feeling overwhelmed so they can create more money, more freedom and more prestige.

If you’re ready to stop working in your business and start working on your business, go to www.virtualteambuildingsecrets.com/secretweapon/ to learn the secret to growing your company to a six and seven-figure success without employees or a 90-hour work week!

Category: Uncategorized, Working with a Virtual Assistant  | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,  | Leave a Comment
Million Dollar Tips On Managing Your Time
Monday, August 10th, 2009 | Author: Michelle

By: Kendall Summerhawk

Have you ever noticed that entrepreneurs will scrimp and save every dollar they can but then fritter away hours of their time on unproductive (and often un-fun) activities that add nothing to their 1ncome?

Why IS that?!

The reasons are twofold. First, most business owners don’t truly know WHAT to do with their time, so they end up doing tasks that are either within their comfort zone or the ones they think they’re “supposed” to do.

Or, they focus their time on tasks that keep them busy, thus fulfilling their need to feel productive even though the results add little to their bottom line.

There’s also a hidden, secret reason women biz owners fritter away their time and it’s because of fear.

Getting a handle on your time means potentially challenging beliefs about being “nice,” being “helpful” and other typically feminine ideals.

What women entrepreneurs fear isn’t making necessary changes in our beliefs. We fear upsetting the apple cart, as in possibly hurting someone’s feelings, letting down someone we care about or appearing to be overly focused on success instead of relationships.

I had to face these same challenges as I grew my business first from low 6-figures into high 6-figures, and then when I made the leap into a million dollar business.

Here are three of my favorite strategies for focusing my time on the 6- and 7-figure tasks a million dollar business owner does, WITHOUT hurting anyone’s feelings or risking losing a valuable relationship. In fact, these strategies will help you be MORE available to the people you care about!

Strategy #1 Respect Your Time Like You Respect Other Peoples’ Feelings

Most women biz owners wouldn’t dream of interrupting, barging in on someone, asking for help when someone is clearly busy or take something owned by someone else without first asking permission.

Yet that’s what you’re allowing when you let yourself be interrupted, answer your cell phone every time it rings, frequently check voice mail or obsessively check email. Don’t even get me started on responding to text messages before the print even finishes displaying!

Once you start turning off your phone ringer, scheduling two or three email “batch” times per day and treating your time with the same respect you give to others, you’ll be amazed at how much more you get done and how much peace you add to your day.

Strategy #2 Get Clear On Your Million Dollar Work

Do you honestly think the owner of a million dollar business broadcasts her own newsletter, posts to her blog or surfs the web for clip art? As that business owner I can tell you the answer is “no way!”

Women must focus on the tasks we excel at doing. Things like creating JV relationships, public speaking to share your message to many people or planning your next service or product launch.

These aren’t tasks you add TO your day; they ARE the tasks you do with your day. Once you make the shift and start redirecting your time to activities that help you grow your list, improve your bottom line or leverage your time you’ll instantly see an 1ncrease in your business growth and your feeling of happiness and being on purpose.

Which leads me to strategy #3…

Strategy #3 Get Help From Your Gal Pals

Chances are good that even if you have a team you’re still doing too much yourself and not empowering your team to lead projects or take over tasks still languishing on your to-do list.

Ladies, please! Stop thinking you have something to prove by doing everything yourself. You don’t need to know how to do a task before you give it over to someone else. Banding together is a unique and valuable quality of your Divine Feminine spirit. Your ability to grow your business is in direct proportion to your ability to ask for — and receive — support. Which means hiring someone to help you before you’re in total overwhelm. Trust me, you can make back the cost of hiring someone in just a week or two!

How Do I Know When I Need To Delegate More?

Big clues are when a task sits on my to-do list for more than two weeks. Ditto that for any email gathering dust for more than two weeks in my inbox. If I’m feeling stressed or overwhelmed. If I find myself working on Friday, which is my day to spend master minding and easing into the weekend. Or if my husband — and business partner, Richard — gives me that “Gee, don’t you think you’re micro managing everything?” look.

Doubling your revenue is entirely possible once you start letting go of how you currently spend your time and instead invest your time only on the tasks a million dollar business owner would focus on.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/entrepreneurship-articles/million-dollar-tips-on-managing-your-time-1025542.html

About the Author:

Would you like to learn more simple ways entrepreneurs can brand, package and price their services to quickly move away from ‘dollars-for-hours work’ and create more money, time, and freedom in their businesses? Check out my web site, http://www.KendallSummerHawk.com , for free articles, free resources and to sign up for my free audio mini-seminar “7 Simple Steps to Create Your Multiple Streams of In-come “Money and Soul” Business.

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Increase Your Bottom Line by Hiring Help
Friday, August 07th, 2009 | Author: Michelle

by Alicia Forest

Do you do everything yourself when it comes to running your business? Or are you like me and find it difficult to delegate to others, at least sometimes? Do you think you don’t have the money to hire help? Well, I’m going to show you how hiring help can help increase your bottom line dramatically.

Not delegating is one of the major hurdles my private clients seem to struggle with. They are doing everything themselves and are so busy with the little administrative things that they have little time to devote to their “genius” work – developing products and services for their niche and working directly with their clients. Once they’ve hired help, either a virtual assistant or an in-office assistant, and move through the growing pains of delegating and trusting that the work will get done (and might even get done faster and better than they could do it themselves), I can always sense a feeling of freedom and excitement as the space opens up for them to work on the things that are really creative and inspiring to them, instead of dealing with invoices or fixing a glitch with their web page. And very soon after, their business really starts to move forward because they have the time and focus to dedicate to increasing their product and services line, which, of course, translates into more profits.

There are many ways that you can work with an assistant. You can hire someone on an hourly basis, or hire someone on a monthly retainer, which is often less expensive. You can hire someone for a single project only or you could hire someone fulltime to work in your office with you. Think about which of these scenarios might work best for you.

A tip: If you hire someone as an employee, remember to check with your accountant about filing the appropriate paperwork. The beauty of working with a freelancer, independent contractor or virtual assistant is that they cover their own overhead, including any insurance needs.

Here are 10 ways you can use an assistant:

1. submitting your articles to hundreds of submission sites
2. handling registrations for your teleclasses/workshops
3. proofing and formatting your written material
4. creating graphics for your products
5. maintaining your website
6. inputting any necessary updates to your products/services
7. as a sounding board for new ideas
8. responding to your customer/client inquiries
9. bookkeeping
10. packaging and shipping your products

If you can’t quite see how an assistant could help you deal with all the time-suckers in your business, keep a log of your business activities for a week, including how long each task takes you to complete. Then at the end of the week, review it and circle all the tasks that an assistant can help you with (there should be quite a few!). Consider the number of hours those things have taken you to accomplish, and decide if the $30-$50 an hour for an assistant would be worth the investment. Statistics tell us that your bottom line could increase as much as 40% once you hire help – now that’s a pretty good return on investment, isn’t it?

And if you still think you can’t afford to hire someone, then start asking around in your network for someone who would be interested in an exchange of services, or for an intern or apprentice.

If you’re ready to start the process of hiring a VA in particular, I recommend these services:

www.MultipleStreamsTeam.com – VAs particularly well-versed in helping entrepreneurs who use a multiple streams approach
www.AssistU.com – VA training program
www.IVAA.org – the International Virtual Assistants Association

Or ask your colleagues who are happy with their own VAs to see if any of their assistants are looking for additional clients.

So before you burn out and lose the passion for owning your own business that you started off with, hire someone to help you. You’ll reach more people with your message and make more money at the same time. Start small and add hours as you feel comfortable and for what you find necessary. You’ll never regret it and you’ll never go back to being a lone ranger!

Alicia M Forest, MBA, Multiple Streams Queen & CoachT, founder of ClientAbundance.com and creator of 21 Easy & Essential Steps to Online Success SystemT, teaches professionals how to attract more clients, create profit-making products and services, make more sales, and ultimately live the life they desire and deserve. For FREE tips on how to create abundance in your business, visit http://www.ClientAbundance.com.

Article Source: WAHM Articles

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5 Ways to Make Delegating More Effective
Tuesday, August 04th, 2009 | Author: Michelle

By Erin Blaskie

In my profession as a virtual assistant, I am in the front of the delegating lines and I see firsthand what works and what doesn’t. Oftentimes, new clients will ask me to coach them a bit on delegating work to our company and I am always happy to do so.

If you are currently delegating work to others or you may do so in future, here are five ways to make your delegating experience more effective.

(1) Set Deadlines

This often gets overlooked but it’s the most important part. If you need something back by week’s end, specify that when you delegate the task. Although your virtual assistant may be a magician when it comes to getting your work done, he/she is not a mind-reader. They need to know, from you, when you need the work done.

(2) Prioritize

If you are giving your virtual assistant many tasks, let him/her know which item needs to get done first. One of my own clients will often note when something takes precedence over the rest of the work she’s delegated to me. This helps me to know what she needs back quickly and what can wait until closer to the set deadline.

(3) Be Clear

When you delegate something, be clear in your message. It may be something that is easy for you to do because you’ve done it often but you’ll need to remember that when delegating items from your business, they may not be things that others are as familiar with. So, be clear and be available if/when your virtual assistant makes requests for items he/she needs to complete the task.

(4) Check Skills First

Too often I’ve seen people delegate out a task to someone that went above their knowledge level. When this happens, the person may take longer than expected or may have difficulty with the project. A lot of people want to please their clients so they may hang on to a task thinking, “I’ll learn this and get the work done” but that only delays progress. Check with the person first to make sure he/she has the skills required to complete the task.

(5) Give Advanced Notice

The last tip I’ll give you is to make sure you are giving enough notice. If you delegate a 5-minute project in the morning and want it done by day’s end, that may be okay for that person’s schedule but if you drop a full blog-design project in their lap and request it back within 24-hours, that may not always suit their schedule. It is better to give as much notice as possible so that you both benefit.

– About the Author –

Erin Blaskie is the owner of Business Services, ETC (http://www.bsetc.ca). BSETC is a virtual assistance company that gives freedom to small business owners, coaches and speakers by managing the BS, etc.

– For More Information –

Erin has a blog located on the main page of her website in which she provides advice on small businesses and running a virtual assistance company. She has recently started a free bi-weekly telecall for virtual assistants where they can come together with other VAs and get support. You can find out more on the website at http://www.bsetc.ca

If you want to know more about our services, please contact Erin at erin.blaskie@bsetc.ca

– Copyright Information –

All rights reserved. This publication or any part thereof may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical including photocopying, recording, storage in an information retrieval system or otherwise, unless this notification of copyright is retained.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Erin_Blaskie
http://EzineArticles.com/?5-Ways-to-Make-Delegating-More-Effective&id=827334

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How to Wipe Out Overwhelm
Saturday, August 01st, 2009 | Author: Michelle

By Alicia Forest

How often do you find yourself in this scenario?

It’s Monday morning and you’re all geared up for a productive week ahead. You’ve got your to-do list (massive as it is) at the ready and you sit down at your desk to start checking things off.

As you begin to read down your list, you start to feel something in your gut. It’s not a physical pain necessarily, just a feeling of something heavy starting to grow. You ignore it and continue reading your list, making stars next to the things that seem to be the most important to get done that day.

But the more you do this, the heavier that feeling gets, until it starts creeping up to your shoulders and finally settles in your head. All that enthusiasm you had when you first sat down is gone and the only thing you feel now is utter and complete overwhelm.

Sound familiar? I’ve been there, too, so I understand.

And it’s not that all the tasks on your list aren’t wonderful and/or doable. There are simply too many of them – and they all seem important right now – to expect that you can accomplish them all in the hours you have to work in any single day.

So what happens? You do a little of this, a little of that, and you really never complete a single project!

But you don’t have to let another week pass without really accomplishing anything. Simply create a Priority Card.

A Priority Card will help you organize all your tasks in a way that will SHOW you every day what you should focus on. There are a lot of details that will threaten to take your mind off your priorities (this is where a virtual assistant can be of immense value), but those details are not necessarily what will move you forward in your business. To do that, you need to consistently focus on completing the projects that will move your business ahead big-time.

You can create a system for helping you focus on your priorities in a number of ways, but I’m going to give you mine. I only work about 15 hours a week on my business, so adjust your own plan accordingly.

At the beginning of each week, I choose 3 to 5 projects with looming deadlines (self-imposed as they may be) from my master task list (which really is so massive that I write it on a 8.5 x 14 legal pad). For example, at the moment, I am working on a bonus offering for a colleague’s product, the Client Abundance Coaching Cafe membership, and a new website design.

On a colored index card, I write down those projects and prop the card in a standing clip holder, right in front of my computer screen. When I start to feel that sense of overwhelm, or when I find myself getting distracted by new ideas or other tasks (all of which seem important), I remind myself to look at my Priority Card and focus only on what’s written there.

Once I started using my Priority Card, my own business growth lept forward ten times faster than when I was doing a little of this and a little of that, working on a dozen things, but taking much too long to actually complete just one project.

Know you won’t be able to stick to this process 100% of the time, but even 80% will help you make dramatic strides in your business growth. You’ll actually finish the projects you set out to do, and you’ll not only feel great about doing so, you’ll be inspired to do it again, and again, and again. Once you make this shift, you’ve learned the secret to wiping out overwhelm for yourself and your business!

Alicia M Forest, MBA, Multiple Streams Queen & Coach™, Founder of http://www.ClientAbundance.com , and creator of “21 Easy & Essential Steps to Online Success System™, teaches coaches, consultants, online entrepreneurs and solo professionals how to attract more clients, create profit-making products and services, make more sales, and ultimately live the life they desire and deserve.
For FREE tips on how to create abundance in your business, visit http://www.ClientAbundance.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Alicia_Forest
http://EzineArticles.com/?How-to-Wipe-Out-Overwhelm&id=152591

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Is the Virtual Assistant/Client Relationship Right for You?
Monday, April 20th, 2009 | Author: Michelle

Virtual Assistance is a fantastic solution for business owners seeking ongoing, continuous, collaborative-style administrative support—as long as the right understandings and expectations are in place. It’s not the miracle cure for everyone and every business. Indeed, there are some businesses and clients that are not a good fit for the Virtual Assistance solution. Today, I want to talk a little about those who are best suited to work with a Virtual Assistant.

The Virtual Assistant and client dynamic works best if the client has the following traits:

  1. Somewhat technically savvy. You don’t have to be an expert on every program out there; but, you should at least be proficient with email and have a basic understanding of the Internet. You should also be willing to learn and grow in your computer knowledge as needed.
  2. Able to communicate well. You will be in close contact with your Virtual Assistant (usually through email) so it is important to be able to state your expectations, deadlines, and other matters clearly. If you are unable or unwilling to talk about your needs and desires for your business, how will you expect your Virtual Assistant to assist you effectively?
  3. Willing to let go. If you are controlling, arrogant or have a strong need to micromanage, there is no way a Virtual Assistant will be able to support you. She needs the freedom to do her work without the constant “mother hen” or “big brother” over her shoulder checking her work.
  4. Willing to trust. Along the same lines, the Virtual Assistant/client partnership will prove to be difficult if you have trust issues. Trust is essential when dealing with any relationship; however, it is critical in virtual relationships. You are not there to see her as she works, so you must be willing to believe that she will do what she says she will.
  5. Willing to delegate. If you are always thinking that you have to do this or that yourself, you will defeat the purpose of partnering with a Virtual Assistant. There are many, many things that you can pass on to a Virtual Assistant (or other expert, as the case may be). If you aren’t sure if something can be delegated, just ask. A top-notch Virtual Assistant will have her own systems for the delegation process and will make suggestions on how she can support you–listen!
  6. Willing to put systems in place. The Virtual Assistant/client relationship does not work well if you are in a constant state of emergency/stress/chaos and have constant urgent deadlines. Virtual Assistants aren’t always readily available. They usually have more than one client and need to organize their work so as to be the most efficient and effective as possible. It is important for you to communicate well, give ample time for turnaround when delegating projects, and allow your Virtual Assistant to put systems in place.
  7. Respects and appreciates the partnership. If you only view Virtual Assistants as employees or slave labor, the relationship will not thrive. Virtual Assistants are business owners and experts in administrative assisting. They are NOT low-end employees and should not be treated as such.

RESOURCE: For more information about how to successfully work with a Virtual Assistant, see the article “Working with Virtual Assistants” from the VACOC Client’s Guide to Virtual Assistants.

About the Author: Carol D’Annunzio is the owner of Divine Virtual Assistance, and with 18 years of administrative experience under her belt, she is proud to be the backbone of her clients’ success. She provides expert administrative support to coaches and writers, empowering them to take their businesses to the next level. To find out how Carol can support you in your business, visit her website at http://www.divineva.com.

© Copyright 2009, The Portable Business™. All U.S. and International rights reserved. You are granted permission to republish this article only if used in its entirety with this copyright notice, title, article content, resource, author’s bio and links left intact.

Category: Uncategorized, Working with a Virtual Assistant  | Leave a Comment