VA Business Coaching Blog

What’s Holding Back Virtual Assistants? Be a Problem Solver!

Jeannine Clontz — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 17:00:11 +0000

The most successful entrepreneurs know that their success is in no small way a result of being able to solve the problems of their clientele. I remember a sales manager a long ago telling me that every discontented client created two opportunities for me. It created an opportunity for me to solve a problem that could benefit countless others, and it created an opportunity for me to develop a deeper relationship with the client.

Those words have been extremely helpful to me in my entrepreneurial career. Even solving the problems I face in managing my own business can create opportunities for me to solve similar problems with other clients. Sometimes opening the door to a new client is as easy as sharing a successful resolution to a basic business issue we faced in our business.

It goes back to the features and benefits profile. Remember that the features of your product or service are not what clients are looking for – it’s the benefits. The ‘what’s in it for me’ question will be the one that hits home for the client or prospect. So imagine how your product or service benefits the client. What will it do to solve their problem, lower their stress, or allow them to focus their energies on tasks they enjoy or that produce them real profits?

We learn by doing; we expand our knowledge by doing; and we differentiate ourselves with the way we address problems and solutions.

Make note of your problem solving talents; share them on your blog, monthly newsletter or eZine and help others understand your level of commitment and value in solving business problems.

Jeannine Clontz, provides professional business coaching to established and start-up virtual assistants (VA’s). Learn more about Time Management for Virtual Assistants by downloading her FREE report “A Fresh Look at Time Management for Virtual Assistants”, or request her FREE audio CD “What’s Holding Back my Business Success?”, and more by visiting: http://www.VAbizcoach.com; or contact her at: coach@VAbizcoach.com.

What’s Holding Back Virtual Assistants? Be a Problem Solver! is a post from: VA Business Coaching Blog

Tags: problem solver, problem solving, Virtual Assistance, Virtual Assistant

What’s Holding You Back – Virtual Assistants – Find and Use Your Power

Jeannine Clontz — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 16:03:58 +0000

Having your own business is the ultimate in power. You totally control your lifestyle when you’re an entrepreneur. It’s your call. You found the power within yourself to get this far – you know you have superior skills; you know you have value; you know you can eventually spend more time with family and friends once you establish a prosperous business; and you know that one of the benefits of your power as an entrepreneur will allow you to choose where you live and how you live. Your finances are not being controlled by someone else, or a corporation, but solely by you.

You have the power, let’s learn how to focus it on what’s most important to you and where you want to be in your business. What are you passionate about as it relates to your business, not your skills, but your business.

There are many ways to validate and control your power. Sometimes it’s as easy as looking into the mirror every morning and reminding yourself how valuable you are, how important it is that you continue to grow your business, or reminding yourself that you have great skills and take a leadership role in building your business.

Find someone to share your dreams and aspirations with who will encourage and support the power you have to move forward and develop your business.

In the early years, for me, it wasn’t my husband, he just didn’t understand; and I hadn’t built up any solid relationships with anyone I could trust that I could share my dreams with. My solution was getting a journal where I could write down my goals and dreams. It really helped me to strengthen my resolve and improve my self-esteem. Sometimes I would go back and re-read and even re-write my dreams as they progressed. It was a fabulous exercise that I use in several ways in my personal and business life to this date.

You have to find your inner strength and power to devote some of your passion on developing a strong and viable business. It will ultimately take your business beyond what you ever imagined.

What’s your POWER Story? Share your powerful message by leaving a comment below!

What’s Holding You Back – Virtual Assistants – Find and Use Your Power is a post from: VA Business Coaching Blog

Tags: Business Tips, business tips for vas, va business tips, Virtual Assistance, virtual assistance tips, Virtual Assistant, virtual assistant tips, whats holding your va business back

What’s Holding You Back? No Excuses!

Jeannine Clontz — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 20:14:08 +0000

I think I may have heard or said them all, those nagging excuses we come up with to avoid what’s really going on. The economy’s too bad, my dad liked my sister better, I didn’t go to college, or I’m just not able to sell myself.

Whatever encompasses your list of excuses, get over it! There’s no place in a successful business for excuses, especially from the ownership/management level. Try to figure out what went wrong and the best way to fix it; then move on. Especially if your business includes a team of VAs or sub-contractors, having excuses will infect the entire team and could jeopardize your ability to move forward.

Like many, I’ve struggled in closing sales when the product I was selling was me. I believe that women struggle with this the most. Trying to support and encourage ourselves is a new concept, one that you’ll need to deal with pretty quickly if you want your business to grow.

Look at it this way – instead of thinking that you have to ‘sell yourself and your services’, think of it as educating them on the best way to solve their problems with the latest technology, for the lowest possible investment.

You have to be willing to do things that are outside of your normal comfort zone. If this was easy, everybody would be doing it. To succeed in business you have to be self-motivated and immune to criticism.

So write down all those excuses that have been holding you back and draw a big black line through them. Crumble the piece of paper up and throw it away – and with it, your need to use those excuses to hold back your business progress.

Please share the excuses that were holding you back so we can help you throw them aside by leaving a response below.

Jeannine Clontz, provides professional business coaching to established and start-up virtual assistants (VA’s). Learn more about Time Management for Virtual Assistants by downloading her FREE report “A Fresh Look at Time Management for Virtual Assistants”, or request her FREE audio CD “What’s Holding Back my Business Success?”, and more by visiting: http://www.VAbizcoach.com; or contact her at: coach@VAbizcoach.com.

What’s Holding You Back? No Excuses! is a post from: VA Business Coaching Blog

Tags: free coaching for virtual assistants, growing a business, running a business, Virtual Assistant, virtual assistant tips

Recent Interview on Business Ethics

Jeannine Clontz — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 12:59:50 +0000

I was recently interviewed by Darlene Gonzalez of True Harmony Media, LLC for her A Virtual Perception Podcast on the topic of Business Ethics for a Virtual Assistance Practice.

There’s even a chance to win a copy of Entrepreneural Freedom….check it out!

http://bit.ly/bTwppW

Recent Interview on Business Ethics is a post from: VA Business Coaching Blog

Tags: business ethics, Business Tips, virtual assistant podcast, virtual perception podcast

What’s Holding You Back? Managing Risk

Jeannine Clontz — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 11:59:11 +0000

Starting your own business is taking a big risk. The easiest way to manage your risk is by seeking information and looking at the business by analyzing the pros and cons. Keep your expectations high while putting systems in place to guard against the cons.

If you come up with more cons than pros and can’t manage to create a system to minimize the risk of the cons, and implement it, you may find your business remains stagnant and becomes almost impossible to grow.

A good example would be trying to manage the risk of a home invasion or break-in. My home has deadbolts, door chains, and exterior motion detector lights to minimize my risk of a home-invasion or break-in. Someone who has an alarm system simply harbors less risk than I do, but we are both proactively managing the level of risk we are comfortable with. Because of this, I may have to accept paying higher insurance rates, or accept the entire burden of any loss that is a result of a home invasion or break-in.

Even if you’ve been in business several years, it’s always good to check-in with your industry and increase your knowledge of businesses in general, just to make sure your company stays at the leading edge and managing this risk will go far in helping you make better business decisions with less stress.

This is good for you, your company, and everyone around you. The better your risk management, the better everyone will feel about your success.

Take a moment to decide what level of risk you are taking with your current business model and whether or not you may need to reassess your risk and better manage your exposure to that risk.

What’s Holding You Back? Managing Risk is a post from: VA Business Coaching Blog

Tags: business start up tips, Business Tips, start a business, start a va practice, start a virtual assistant business

What’s Holding You Back – Surround Yourself With Supporters

Jeannine Clontz — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 15:16:25 +0000

Starting and growing a successful business isn’t easy. You need to surround yourself with like-minded people. And that means people who encourage and support you in starting and maintaining a business.

As hard as this is to say, you may have to minimize connections with family and friends who are not supportive of you in a positive way. It is detrimental to the health of your business to be in the company of anyone who will encourage you to, ‘get a real job’, or insinuates that your job is less important or not making a contribution to the family finances. This can really chew away at your resolve and determination to own your own business. You have to maintain a positive attitude and only like-minded friends, family, and peers will keep you on your game.

That’s why making time to continue growing and learning whether by reading, participating in seminars and groups like the Elite VA Insiders are so important to continual business success.

Make the commitment to surround yourself with positive supportive people as you start and grow your business. Join one or more industry associations and get involved by volunteering or participating regularly in forums. Join several well respected social networking groups and set aside a minimal amount of time each day or week that you’ll participate in these forums. This will increase your network of ‘positive’ support and help you strengthen your resolve to grow a profitable business.

What’s Holding You Back – Surround Yourself With Supporters is a post from: VA Business Coaching Blog

Tags: business growth, business support, Business Tips, success tips

What’s Holding Back Your Success? Make the Decision to Move Forward!

Jeannine Clontz — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 19:41:34 +0000

If you’ve been in business for any amount of time, you know that this is not easy. There’s no immediate success without very hard work. You have to really want to have your own business, and want it badly.

You need to be totally committed to doing what’s necessary to make your business work. It also may mean you have to make some sacrifices, making certain that your business comes first and that you set boundaries for family, friends, and clients.

If you want to be an entrepreneur, if you want to make a good income and eventually have more time for family and fun, you will have to start by making some hard decisions about what you’ll need to do to succeed.

Having a business means no excuses, and no complaints. Either you have the drive and motivation or you don’t.

Make the decision now to take the steps to grow your business with the knowledge that you will need to immerse yourself into making this a top priority, and doing things that may now be ‘outside the box’ for you.

Talk to other successful VAs and change something to take your business where you may not have considering going. Try a new marketing plan; put together a system to reach past clients as well as prospective clients. Drag yourself away from something that’s taking too much of your time and not producing results, and make the decision to move forward.

What’s Holding Back Your Success? Make the Decision to Move Forward! is a post from: VA Business Coaching Blog

Tags: business coaching, business success, Business Tips, grow your business

A Tale of Two Virtual Assistants

Jeannine Clontz — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 23:08:24 +0000

As a Virtual Assistance Coach I’ve learned there are some people who are not coachable. They simply don’t understand the concept, or don’t have enough business acumen to understand how they might benefit from such a relationship.

Two clients recently signed up for my 12-week one-on-one program; we’ll call them Debbie and Claire. Each had been in business for three years and had established niches.

By week three, Debbie was getting very good at making excuses for why she didn’t complete the homework assigned the previous week. She began to change her focus and niche, using these revelations as part of her excuse for not finishing the previous weeks’ tasks.

Claire stayed focused on her niche, completed the homework each week, and even did a few things outside her comfort zone, all with very positive results.

By week four, I could sense the frustration in Debbie’s voice. She was beginning to have problems with current clients, so our time was spent problem solving….and still no homework.

Debbie only made it to week ten of the program. By this time the excuses had turned to anger and she felt I was applying too much pressure in asking her to commit to her business and do what we’d discussed.

Claire made it through the 12-week program with flying colors. She increased her business by 36%, is much more profitable, and focused, relieving a lot of stress and allowing her the work/life balance she wanted.

Debbie is still waiting for her VA practice to grow. She thinks that because she has good skills and a website, the business will come. She’s not at all coachable.

Are you a Debbie or a Claire? Are you willing to evaluate yourself, and your business, and do what’s necessary to make your business a success?

Even if you’re not considering coaching, take some time to look at your business from all angles and find ways to differentiate yourself from other VAs vying for the same business – don’t be a Debbie, take control of your business and do whatever it takes, even if it’s outside your comfort zone, and enjoy true success.

A Tale of Two Virtual Assistants is a post from: VA Business Coaching Blog

Tags: coaching, coaching tips, training, VA, VA Coaching, Virtual Assistance, Virtual Assistant, virtual assistant coach, Virtual Assistant Coaching

Complimentary Coaching Session to Virtual Assistants in July!

Jeannine Clontz — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 19:25:01 +0000

I’m Paying it Forward to Thank Everyone for Being a Coaching Client!

Thanks so much to everyone who took advantage of my BOGO, One-on-One 30-minute coaching session special. I really enjoyed connecting with so many of you and helping you work on your businesses.

To pay-it-forward, during the month of July, I’m offering a FREE 15-minute private coaching session to help guide, motivate, and inspire you to get your business moving forward.

If you’d be interested in scheduling a time, and you have not participated in any past program where you had access to a private coaching session, please email me at: coach@VAbizcoach.com.

Thanks again everyone, I look forward to connecting with you!

Complimentary Coaching Session to Virtual Assistants in July! is a post from: VA Business Coaching Blog

Tags: free coaching for virtual assistants, virtual assistant coach, virtual assistant coaching tips

Still Doing it Without a Marketing Plan?

Jeannine Clontz — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 16:03:51 +0000

Many of the virtual assistants I coach tell me they either don’t do any marketing, or do ‘some’, but nothing consistently. This is especially surprising to me for VAs who promote themselves as Internet Marketing Virtual Assistants.

There are some great resources available to you from well respected and established virtual assistants in our industry, some of which you can find here on my blog - this is so important to the well-being of your business. Find something that resonates with you and will help you to spread the word about your business to reach your target market.

As the economy begins to recover, not having a plan could be extremely hazardous to your business. My business has shown steady growth over the past three years and I believe this is because I have a complete and easy-to-use marketing plan system in place.

Start small and build your plan over time. Be consistent and try each marketing strategy for at least 6-months, or 5-7 touches, before you make the decision to scrap it and try something new.

Sometimes as small business owners, we just don’t know where to start, or how to balance our time to include those things that we need to do to make our businesses grow. Having and implementing a simple marketing plan can make a difference in your business generating a little bit of income, or allowing you to make a good living.

If this sounds like you, then I hope you’ll consider several things to get back on track with your marketing and get your business growing again.

Consider attending my July Elite Virtual Assistance Insider, Marketing Plan System Workshop on Wednesday, July 21st from 7:00 to 8:30 PM Eastern (Elite VA Insider July Session Details); or purchase my Grow Your Virtual Assistance Practice Marketing Plan System here: http://vabizcoach.com/products.html#marketing . I will also be giving away a copy of this system during the July session.

Take the time to find something that helps you consistently market your business and make the last half of 2010 your best ever!

Rather get a quick response to your question or challenge? Leave a comment below!

Jeannine Clontz, provides professional business coaching to established and start-up virtual assistants (VA’s). Learn more about Time Management for Virtual Assistants by downloading her FREE report “A Fresh Look at Time Management for Virtual Assistants”, or request her FREE audio CD “What’s Holding Back my Business Success?”, and more by visitingt: http://www.VAbizcoach.com; or contact her at: coach@VAbizcoach.com.

Still Doing it Without a Marketing Plan? is a post from: VA Business Coaching Blog

Tags: marketing for VA, marketing for virtual assistant, marketing plan, Marketing Tips, virtual assistant marketing

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