The Virtual Wire

First Friday Pep

As always at the beginning of the month I think about what I can share with you that might inspire, motivate and just trigger some thoughts.  Then today I had a discussion with a leader in the VA world and was told how difficult this economy is, how accommodating people who encourage extremely low rates is a good idea, and how by doing this and providing rocking services will allow us maximise future opportunites.  And all I could think about is that we are missing the point of the Law of Attraction.  And being a pupil of this philosophy and seeing some great results over the past 2 years, I remember this quote that I received from TUT this week and just had to share it:

It's pretty much always been the same: First there's the life review, then there's the homecoming parties and happy tears flowing like Niagara Falls, and finally... the sudden and profound realization that throughout their entire life all things were, indeed, possible, and that such a concept wasn't just wishful, part-time, feel-good thinking.

It's quite the "Kodak Moment."

Whoops, here comes another one. Tissues everyone!

Let's recognise right now, that all things are possible and think and feel positive thoughts towards this reality.  Yay you!!!  Enjoy March!!!

VA/Client partnership trust and the other team members

I came across a really great article on Trust recently that is definitely worth a read. 

Of course immediately I started thinking about how critical trust is in the VA/Client Partnership.  As a VA having a client that trusts me either immediately or fairly quickly dictates how easy our relationship would be.  As I thought about this I remembered a couple of posts that Stacy Brice wrote early last year about developing trust in a VA/Client Partnership.  Read here and here to learn more.

But what I want to talk about briefly today, is considering trust from a completely different angle.  I have come across the issue of trust in a 3^rd party relationship.  The other contractors or staff that my clients work with, that in turn means that we have to work as a team.  In these relationships, from my experience, the trust that I share with my client is not always understood, translated or acknowledged, and sometimes maybe undermined a little. 

The selection process between myself and a client takes several conversations before we decide to work together.  Then once the partnership starts, we invest time in talking further, and understanding each other’s work styles, to develop an empowering partnership.  My client trusts me to get the job done on time, or negotiate deadlines; my client trusts me to use my initiative and view their business with the love, care and dedication that they apply; my clients trust me to step into their shoes and provide them with an unwavering support that feels like an extension of themselves.  When a 3^rd party comes along I often feel a disconnect.  It is hard to explain, but it displays itself as tip-toeing around so as not to "rock the boat," or at the other scale aggressively display their superior knowledge.  It is an interesting dilemma, and because of my intuition, something I pick up on acutely.

As is my style, I always look at what I can do to make this better, and I have realised that I need to set-up a standard and/or process that I need to adopt when working with new team members so that we can quickly feel like a team, that a level of trust in the support I provide to my client and even them is recognised.  Something I think I will develop with my coaching group next week!

Any thoughts or experiences that you want to share?

New Media Marketing Evolution

Marketing is a big deal. A really, really, really, big deal, and for small business owners it can be a mind-field. One of the most important things I think most business owners forget and I see this in many of my clients, is that marketing their business cannot be exactly the same as anyone else, because of their unique individuality and perspective.

This is even more apparent when it comes to internet marketing. It is so funny that so many “experts” say that you have to market in their way or you are really not on the ball, yet every single day a new tool, a new approach comes out that rocks, but is different to what everyone else was talking about, and then a “new” expert is born! You see my thing is that we must and should learn from what has been done already, and what works, but never, ever, ever forget that each one of us has a unique voice, an unusual perspective, and don’t be afraid to go against the status quo, because you know what? The status quo changes all the time. So today I was going to talk about doing things differently, or just adding a small twist to what is now the norm, and I came across this great YouTube video via New Media Mavens

They are going to be discussing the evolvement of new media for the month and I might just follow along with them and post my thoughts and comments here or just talk through my thoughts as I have them. I look forward to our future discussions on this and please comment below on the video if you resonates with you in any way.

Relationships in Business

Throughout the VTP we are always taught the value of the relationship in business and I recently read a great blog that Kevin Eikenberry wrote on the 7 Ways to Nurture Professional Relationships, and this had me thinking how I have been working to improve my relationships with my clients. Here are a few tips that I believe make a difference:

1. Always determine a deadline for projects. I have often heard Stacy say that this is essential to be able to work successfully with clients, and you will be amazed how true this is. Quite often my client will tell me that she wants a project completed, but does not tell me that this should come before other high priority projects already on my list. Or tell me that the deadline is Friday, which I interpret as Friday evening, and she meant as Friday morning. Part of my relationship skills is to be mindful of my client’s expectations and always qualify the exact time and day of the deadline. 

2. Respond to communications quickly. Now I did not specify a time here, because I really think that this depends on the individual, and I did not say all correspondences, because you are not a robot, but by typically responding to client communications quickly, even if it is just a holding email to confirm receipt and provide an initial thought really helps to build up the trust especially at first.

3. Communicate often. Communicating often creates trust and builds up the strong connection just like you would with any other colleague. Discuss projects, give updates, and also add a little bit about your life and what is happening with you. Although some clients may not be reciprocate, many people don’t mind because it allows them to understand you a bit better. On average though most clients will reciprocate information. 

4. Deal with issues, concerns quickly and clearly. Basically don’t be wishy, washy when there is a problem. Whether it is a communication issue, or a project not executed as your client expected. Issues need to tackled head on. Found out what went wrong, so that you know how to avoid this in the future, fix the problem or make changes for the future and move on. Issues will happen and speedy action and a willingness to find a solution and plan for the future helps your clients to feel safe in your hands. 

I do remember that Stacy eloquently deals with trust and safety in virtual relationships in a great post, and I would love to share this with you as extended reading. 

First Friday Pep

I started off February a bit down in the dumps. Not because of any one thing, but more because I had been ill a few times in January which:

1. Slowed me down with my work projects 
2. Made me realize that I need to be practicing more “self-care” 
3. Highlighted that the two above were in conflict, i.e. to catch up on my projects, I am unable to practice enough self-care.

So as I pondered the semantics of my dilemma, I became more down as the solution appeared elusive. So I stopped thinking about it and just started to create a better outcome. And in the usual theme of our first Friday post (albeit it is coming a bit late this month) I would like to share some motivational quotes that helped me to think beyond my present position and think positively towards February. 

"You are not a failure. A failure is someone who does not try. When you try, you may not hit the target, but at least you gave it your every effort and now have the opportunity to try again. That is what true success is." Copyright © 2010 Gilbert De Marco 

"The best way out is always through." Robert Frost 

"Our greatest glory is not in never falling but in rising every time we fall." Confucius 

"We are still masters of our fate. We are still captains of our souls." Winston Churchill 

As I found the quotes that resonated with me, I realized that what I felt that I needed was motivation to get me up and on track. I hope if you ever feel a bit out of sorts that these quotes will resonate and help you too.

Sharing a load’a knowledge

Yes typical British slang, which is usually used when people are talking about money, i.e. “I’ve got a load’a dosh” translates into “I’ve got a lot of money.” I know I am being silly, but I just felt like it today.  

This title signifies how I feel this month, especially after the sort of year I have had. In 2009 I invested in a fair amount of training, some still to be completed, and so I started 2010 feeling completely full to the brim with knowledge and now my task is to disseminate this to my clients. 

Continuing in the theme I started last week, looking at my client experience, I also realised that part of this which straddles both strategy and implementation for my business is to work out how I would cohesively share my knowledge as my bank of experience grows. 

Part of this will be solved through my monthly newsletter, and simply the work that I do, but more from a client experience I also realised that I need to improve or establish my business processes so that my clients can truly benefit from all what I have know and how I can help them grow their businesses. It is quite pointless for my client to ask me about a marketing funnel, without me having some sort of process that might help them create or review their own marketing funnel – do you get my drift? 

So I intend to create or develop some questionnaires for my business around some of the more common and basic business building activities like: 

1. Building a website - I use a form which I purchased from VACOC - it doesn't appear to be there now but contact Danielle Keister and maybe she provide it for you.
2. Delving into and developing a social networking strategy 
3. Bio, keyword and business description exercise 

This is just a few that came to mind. Just ways for me to share my “load’a knowledge.” Want to share how you express your knowledge?

Developing my 'client experience'

You know with the New Year and all, I have been thinking about my processes and procedures. I have to admit that 2009 ran me and I did not run it, so I am looking at how I get in control of the look and feel of my business and service. 

My recent thoughts have been to review the client experience, i.e. “What experience do my clients have when working with me?” Not from the implementation perspective but more from a strategic perspective. I identified 2 questions:

1. How do I welcome new clients into my business? 
2. How do I continually review our relationship to ensure that it works? 

For question no. 1 the answers that I came up with were: 

1. A fun welcome gift that is indicative of the work we will do together. AssistU has some great gifts that fit in with this, like a VA mug or mousemat.
2. A list of some of my best resources for collaboration, online communication etc.

As for question no. 2, the thoughts that I had are:

1. In the first year of working together quarterly goal-setting/reviews sessions and from year 2 onwards half-yearly goal-setting/reviews.
2. Regular status calls. I do this already, but realise that I should set out a “recommended” schedule based on our working commitment. In the first 3 months of working together weekly phone calls are advisable, moving on from there the recommended schedule would be 10-hr retainers a monthly phone call, for 15-hr retainers a fortnightly phone call and for 20+ hour retainers a weekly phone call.
3. Monthly newsletter to keep my clients updated with how I am building and growing my business and give them ideas of how we can work together.

Wow, I have got myself off to a great start. Now I need to get into more detail onw how this will look and be presented to clients. 

What do you think? Do you already have an established format for your client experience? Do you have any ideas that could expand on the thoughts I have had above?

What bad weather? One of the joys of working from home

Over the past few weeks we have suffered from the worst cold snap in the last 30 years! Reminiscent of when I was a young girl, the ground for as far as I can see is white. A picture of pure beauty. Something I can watch, admire, but chose not to venture into. And once again I am reminded of my good fortune, that I am able to earn an excellent income and not need to leave my home to do so. 

Working from home for so many is a pipedream, and for many of us that are homeworkers it can be burdensome in its own right. You know when they say too much of anything is not a good thing? Well it can be the same with working from home. Quite honestly we can suffer from:  

• Cabin fever
• A difficulty to differentiate between homelife and worklife
• The absence of basic and necessary exercise 

I am not moaning just pointing out the practical downside. Nonetheless the upside for so many of us homeworkers far outstrips these minor negatives. Through our home-based business we have the ability to:  

• Choose my own hours
• See friends and family as I wish
• Work in my PJs – one of my favourites
• Take my vacation when I please
• Decide how and when I will work, and the list goes on… 

And this week the No. 1 benefit of working at home goes to the ability to be able to enjoy the beauty of the snow, but not be affected by the cold, sleet, and ice. The stuff of life, don’t you agree?

2010 First Friday Pep

Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars. ~Les Brown

I thought this would be a good quote for January, what with everyone planning new year goals and resolutions. Several years ago this one of my favourite quotes because it encouraged big dreams. And even if I did not hit that big dream I would still get a result that would be outstanding.

But shooting for a big goal can also be depressing because naturally as human beings disappointment at not hitting the big dream can easily push us off track completely. But I still wanted to share this with you because I have seen goal setting in this way help people to achieve things that they never thought were possible.

Being a risk taker, or being oblivious to limitations are the people who work well with this kind of goal setting.  I am always envious of people who are blind to their own limitations, the rest of us spend all our time thinking ourselves out of everything, including achieving our dreams.

Some of the world's greatest feats were accomplished by people not smart enough to know they were impossible. ~Doug Larson

Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go. ~T.S. Eliot

But I am going to get off my soap box of encouraging big goals, and grand dreams. What I really want to share with you for January, for 2010, for this teen decade, is about staying on track, or adjusting your path to achieve the results you want. Most importantly I want to share with you are quotes to keep you motivated on working at achieving your goal whether you feel like you are on track or not.

Of course, you know you can stop, if you realize that a goal is not really a true reflection of what you want, or if you realize that what you want is shrouded in an inappropriate goal. There are many valid and appropriate reasons to not pursue a goal if the goal wasn't right in the first place. 

But I am sure you are aware that many of us will stop pursing our goals out of fear of failure, out of fear of success, out of disappointment because we are not moving as fast as we had hoped, etc.  So in the vein of perseverance here are a few good quotes that will encourage you to keep on going.

Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending. ~Author Unknown It is never too late to be who you might have been. ~George Eliot

One of the secrets of life is to make stepping stones out of stumbling blocks. ~Jack Penn

Hey, Happy New Year to you. To your big dreams. And not giving up!!!!

Group Seasonal Wish!

Dear Readers, as is customary for the Virtual Wire authors we are taking a 2-week seasonal break for the holidays, with our last post of the year being a group seasonal post.  Please come back and visit us on January 4 when we'll resume our regular scheduled postings.

Petra Boucher
A wish for a time filled with love
It has been a pleasure writing for you this year.  I must admit it has been slightly harder to keep the articles coming on time and for 2010 I am committed to doing better.  It is just a matter of better organization – something we all struggle with I think! :-)   So as we break for the holiday season, I would like to follow in our theme for 31 Days of Wishes and wish you a time filled with special people and all the love that you can handle!  Best wishes for the seasonal break!

Gloria Luzier
Blogging throughout the year (yet another year!) as a member of The Virtual Wire has been a wonderful privilege for which I am truly grateful.  Hearing from many of our faithful readers is a significant and delightful part of this experience.  As we enter the 2009 holiday season and look toward beginning a brand new decade, I want to join Petra and Sharon in wishing you a most meaningful holiday season filled with love ... and laughter - lots of it!  See you in 2010!

Sharon Broughton
I have been so blessed to be a TVW blogger this year. It has been truly magical sharing my thoughts with all of our faithful readers! For 2010, my wish is for all of us to have prosperous businesses and abundant lives--whatever that means to you. I am working on my 2010 goals next week while I look at how 2009 went and I know I have some fun stuff cooked up. So, stay tuned as I keep you  updated on my trials and tribulations as I make my way through major shifts in my VA business. Have a wonderful holiday and come back refreshed and ready for an amazing 2010!