The Virtual Wire

Remaining open to the possibility of good things

Despite the current state of affars, which we're all more than slightly aware (I'm assuming, I know, but I cannot imagine otherwise), I'm choosing to carefully guard my attitude. 

Yes, I'm choosing to guard my attitude; I do not want to succumb to unconstructiveness - in any shape or fashion.  It's not easy, of course, although, who says it needs to be? 

Owning a small business, or working as an independent, self-employed professional or solopreneur requires an enormous amount of tenacity, courage, perseverance, and more . . . as you have found (I'm preaching to the choir, eh?). I imagine you've discovered, too, that maintaining a good, constructive, healthful attitude is key to managing this process.

I don't have a specific how-to list for achieveing this. Mostly, because I believe your list would be uniquely yours - just as we find motivation and inspiration in various places.  The point is that each of us find what works. 

I am remaining open to the possibility of good things . . . I'l be looking for them!  I like framing it this way, it makes it utterly believable for me, despite what others are saying.  

I hope you find what works for you, and work it!

Stepping Out of Your Comfort Zone

Yes, I had the distinct privilege of being interviewed by Allison Nazarian, of Get It In Writing, Inc, on my “4 Simple Secrets to Information Products That Make You Money”. 

I really enjoyed the time I spent with Allison and her audience and it got me to thinking about how I got into this whole Internet marketing thing in the first place.  It was because one of my first Virtual Assistant clients asked me for help in publishing her ezine.  At the time, I had never heard of an ezine and certainly didn’t have a clue about how to publish one.  But, in true “Sydni-Style” I dove in head first and learned everything I could about the topic.  Little did I know what path I was headed for, or how that one decision would completely change my business.

My point?

If your client asks you how to do something and you don’t know how….SAY SO!  “I don’t know” are three of the hardest words for humans to utter, but certainly some of the most important.  It’s certainly OK not to know everything there is to know about everything.  Your clients will appreciate your honesty.  But don’t let your lack of knowledge stop you.  While my client was happy to pay for my learning curve when it came to publishing ezines, I took it upon myself to learn the ins and outs of Internet marketing.  How to set up marketing systems.  And how to help my clients to expand their business and revenue streams.  Did it cost ME time?  Yes.  Did it cost ME money?  Absolutely.  Did it help MY business?  Without a doubt.

You see, everything I’ve learned along the way, I’ve been able to apply to my business and that of my clients.  My willingness to invest in my personal and professional development has resulted in my having a great reputation in the Internet marketing community.  To an endless stream of client referrals.  And to hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue for me AND my clients.  It’s been a win-win all the way around.

So, be willing to acknowledge what you don’t know.  Be willing to step out of your comfort zone and learn something new.  And be willing to invest, regularly and significantly in yourself and your business.  It’s how you become a better business owner.  It’s how you grow.  It’s how you thrive!!

P.S. If you, or your clients are interested in learning the “4 Simple Secrets to Information Products That Make You Money”, I’m offering a 4-week teleseminar series that walks you through  my system, step-by-step.  Check it out!

Email Etiquette in a 140-Character World

In an age of user generated communities such as Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, LinkedIn and the like, as well as SMS (i.e. text messaging) new neuro-pathways are being forged and our minds are quickly adapting to need for speed.  Quick, short-and-sweet and simple messages are the requirement of Web 2.0 technology.  Why say in 500 words what you can say in a 10-word tweet?

If you are new to the social media scene, or an experienced user, you know the frustration when you really want to say it right but are limited to 140 characters (or less).  If you don’t want half of your message truncated, you’d better cut some vowels, intros, and the typical socially acceptable pleasantries.  It is within this context that we now have to shift our behavior from the social media world, to the office, or written letter where more substance is required.

If you have your "feeds" on your desktop, then sporadically during the day, you are tweeting, friending and updating your status.  Then, the office email comes through, and the need for netiquette becomes the only acceptable way to communicate.  So, I thought I’d share a few reminders about netiquette so that the old synapses aren’t affected by permafrost.

Email Etiquette (Netiquette)

• Remember your tone when sending an email.  If you’re at work, your boss is still your boss and your team is still looking for a leader.
• Avoid the use of ALL CAPS – because it looks like you are yelling.
• When you open an obnoxious message, it’s likely a joke gone bad, so hold back on the replies, and avoid sarcasm in your message, as these may be misinterpreted.
• Sometimes a smile can temper a tough message, so include emoticons when appropriate (smilies, etc.) – for a list visit http://net.gurus.com/netiquette webpage.
• If you must forward a message, be sure to include only the “mission critical” portion and truncate other email addresses from the previous message.

Recession as a teacher

Perhaps 2008—even early 2008—was a precursor for what North America, and indeed most countries, was to go through. Per the ‘law’ of the pendulum, the only direction for exorbitant prices to go (houses, and non-renewable resources, to name two) was down.

 

For many years I’ve fretted and worried about something clearly beyond my control: the greed of others. In the past I used to think, wistfully, about how many new branches or franchisees were enough, or how the very few felt when their stocks rose at the expense of the many. These were things that were obviously beyond my control. I have no problem—none whatever, morally or ethically—about people making money, even gobs of it if they so desire. It’s okay to have some degree of wealth, or at least enough for stability. What always bothered me, however, was that there were always the painfully obvious ones who railroaded themselves over everyone else so, heaven forbid; their wealth and greed would never be negatively affected!

 

I do not pretend to know economics on any scale, micro or macro, except a very personal one. Getting back to 2008, the writing seemed to be on the wall for a few industries early on, and then for almost all industries as the summer turned into a cold, stark fall indeed. As we all know, it has been the ‘fall’ of the many since then.

 

As my life—and yes, my virtual assistance business—was personally impacted earlier in 2008 and then again later in the year; I was initially unable to fathom what was going wrong. As I saw so many other industries fall, I wondered if the virtual assistance industry would be affected as well. It seemed almost counter-intuitive on some levels. After all, my chosen profession is unique, offers genuine benefits to small business owners and others, and carries very little of the baggage that goes along with an employer-employee business relationships.

Today’s message from the universe

I woke up this morning to a fantastic message from the universe (sign up here to get your daily dose of wisdom), and really thought it was so good that I just had to share it with you:

Whatever it is you want, however you want to have it, no matter why you want to have it, Petra, you can have it faster if you can first be happy without it.

When it comes to the Law of Attraction the one thing I hear people saying is that what they think gets in the way is sometimes their desperation.  They want or feel like they need this thing (whatever it is money, car, clothes etc) so badly that they struggle to actually attract it.  You see desperation breeds nervousness, anxiousness, thoughts of lack, and all sorts of negative feelings, and of course, we all know that attraction does not differentiate between negative and positive, it simply attracts your most prominent thoughts, your strongest energies.  So when you think lack, you attract lack instead of prosperity!!!!   So in the past couple of years I have really tried to embody the message above.  Now I know when you need money because bills have to be paid it is not that easy, I am not saying it is, and believe me I know all to starkly what this feels like.  But honestly the quote is true and whatever budgetary, short-term arrangements I have to make to remove the feeling of desperation I will do, because I do believe that desperate thoughts are damaging and at the least can be abused.

Have you got any thoughts on this?   

The tremendous power laughter holds

"[Humanity] has unquestionably one really effective weapon -- laughter.  Power, money, persuasion, supplication, persecution -- these can lift at a colossal humbug -- push it a little -- weaken it a little, century by century; but only laughter can blow it to rags and atoms at a blast.   Against the assault of laughter nothing can stand."

      - Mark Twain, "The Mysterious Stranger, ch. 10", 1916

 

I love that quote! 

 

I was acutely reminded of laughter's incredible power the other day.  I've been somewhat housebound while struggling to fight off a terrible bout with the flu the past couple of weeks.  While I know this is a temporary condition, and look forward to regaining my full strength and vitality very soon, it has taken its toll. 

 

When my little grandsons visited the other day, we had a wonderful time of finding all sorts of things to laugh about.  And my, how we laughed!  It was remarkable to me how quickly my spirits lifted.  I felt so much better - physically and emotionally.  What good medicine, indeed. 

 

Yes, laughter is a powerfully-good thing.  

Listen, Listen, Listen

Have you ever been to a networking event, and met someone new, who asked you, “What do you do?” and as you started to answer, they proceeded to cut you off to talk about what THEY do?

How irritating is that!

Successful networking really boils down to one essential skill….LISTENING!

When we truly listen to what another person has to say, we can learn SO much.  We learn what makes them tick.  We learn what they’re passionate about.  What their goals are.  It gives us a foundation upon which to offer support, solutions and guidance. 

What you’re listening for are key thoughts, or phrases.  If you need clarification or more information, ask a question, then LISTEN to the answer.  What truly matters is NOT what you have to say, but how you LISTEN to what the other person has to say.

So, instead of just networking with a person, you CONNECT with a person and start building a rapport.  A good rapport can lead to a second conversation, which can lead to a solid business relationship.

Effective listening is key to all business relationships, yet not one that is easily mastered.  It’s human nature to want to talk about ourselves and not really listen to what others have to say.  So, it will take continued practice to develop the habit of LISTENING.

So the next time to attend a networking event or even meet a prospective client, really work at your listening skills.  You’ll be surprised how much more you both enjoy the conversation and how you enjoy the connection you make.

Try it out and share your success story with us.  We want to hear it!

Part II: Leveraging social networking success with a well-built online community

What's one thing that most experts do that takes less than 10-minutes and will start pulling traffic to your website?  Joan Stewart, also known as The Publicity Hound, says that it's blogging.  Consistent blogging on your topic will demonstrate that you are an expert.

In discussing the value of beginning a blog, you may wonder whether blogging is just a souped-up version of a newsletter.  If you do, I admire your honesty.  After sharing the value of a two-way dialog with a VA, I was convinced even more of the power of a blog; an opportunity to share insights and establish credibility in a subject area, and even more compelling than that, is the opportunity to provide a platform for others to extend your realm of thinking, via their comments and edits to your thought.

Part I of this series referenced two principles that could help to build your on-line presence:

Concept no. 1 - A well-built online community will serve as the foundation to your success.

Concept no. 2 - The Internet has revolutionized the way we communicate and interpret what is of importance.

...here are three more:

Concept no 3.
Only when the users and/or readers of your content are able to comment on and drive that content does a conversation actually happen.
Your goal with on-line community building is to invoke a conversation. Only then can you be sure that you are providing the content your users and readers want to see and hear. Make your content readable, down-loadable, forward-able and/or capable of being used to impact someone else. The beauty of the aforementioned social networking Websites is that they have conversation-generating technology built right into their interface.

Concept no 4.
Informing the world of your product, service, cause or issue doesn't have to cost you a fortune.
In fact, a basic subscription to each of the aforementioned social media sites is completely free of charge.

Did you receive my e-mail?

Cyberspace is notorious for gobbling up e-mails and other communiqués. When things disappear, do they go where the socks went? Things sometimes genuinely (really!) do disappear en route to another person. But some things don’t disappear at all; they’re never sent.

Here’s something that happens to me all the time when I have my teacher’s hat on: a student sends me a desperate, 11th hour e-mail. S/he can’t or won’t or didn’t finish her/his project on time, because (a) of the weather, or (b) the flu, or (c) not having enough time, or (d) another more unique excuse. This, despite having a month to complete the assignment, being reminded once a week in class, and receiving updates on the course website. Have I covered my bases yet? So I send a prompt reply, and try to treat the case as unique (even if it does fit into a common pattern). I request the student get back to me ASAP, and I set the ‘ASAP date/time’ so there’s no mistaking when exactly I need to hear back. And then … silence. S/he doesn’t bother to respond in a timely manner, or sometimes, at all.

Similar things have happened to me with former clients in my virtual assistance practice. A request has come in, and I have had some questions. I thought my questions made sense, because they asked for clarification or time lines, or some other important information. I sent my e-mail (e-mails, in fact) and … silence. After perhaps more e-mail messages on my part, or a phone call from me, an e-mail reply has eventually lumbered in.

E has a small business (if you know about this already, you’ll know that “small” is a good example of a double entendre)! When I was discussing ideas for this post with her, she mentioned numerous stories about people who simply haven’t bothered to respond to her, or had done so in some self-constructed idea of a time line. Here’s one example. A friend, who has an interest in her business, wrote a brief e-mail to E, requesting some supplies. As this particular friend lives nearby, E decided to personally drop them off to her friend’s home. And she provided them gratis. Immediately following this small act of kindness … nothing. Two weeks following the act, and still nothing. Finally, a follow-up note from E to see if her friend had received (seen, noticed) the supplies, and the friend finally wrote (not phoned) back.

Help your clients get slightly famous!

I came across this great video via the Media Mavens blog - thanks ladies!

It is promoting a book called  Get Slightly Famous, i.e. famous in your field or your target market.  And I started to think about the fact that this is essentially what most of our clients want for their business.  So not only would this book be useful for us as VAs supporting our clients, just to understand the possibilities of how this will happen for our clients, but even without having to encourage you to buy the book this is definitely a talking point that we should have with our clients to help establish what are the true goals for their business and what activities they should engage in.  I hope it will provide you with some good food for thought!