Looking Back
Looking back to 2016, I must say I really did get my soapbox out and roll up my sleeves and deliver the good news of self-employment to the cubicle farmers and the downtrodden of the 9-to-5 world. However, only to those who were unhappy and looking for an alternative for a better work and life balance.
Most of this is what I learned about being self-employed was a result of a lot of sweat and while attending Hard Knocks University. Then again, maybe it was in a support group–something like 12 Steps for Hard-Headed People.
Well, anyway I must say that in 2016 I did pour out my advice and passion when it came to business advice to small business owners.
What I Still Believe Is Relevant
While technology and social media have come a very long way since 2006, a few things have stayed the same and always will.
One thing is that customers and clients will always be looking for more than just customer service or a product or service sold. They are looking for customer experiences and customer engagement. They are looking for that very personal touch. While many of them will use technology and social media to accomplish this task, they are still looking for positive outcomes via soft skill sets.
Soft skills will always win over hard skills. Hard skills are the learned skills and expertise and although important–soft skills win out. Why? Again, customers are looking for professional courtesy, integrity, honesty, pleasant phone manners, and things which cannot always be taught in our schools and universities. Huge lesson to learn and take with you.
Enough, Now Here Is A List of Articles
The articles in alphabetical order are:
4 Strategies to Go From Stuck to Unstuck Today – It is easy to get stuck these days. The secret is to get unstuck as fast as possible.
7 Secrets to Less Stress and Greater Problem Solving – Sometimes the greatest stress that we can have is the stress of indecision and just not knowing what to do next. These seven secrets will help you with greater problem solving leaving less to chance and stress.
7 Tips to Recession Proof Your Business ASAP – This article will give you tips to get through any downturns in the economy. These are things that you can start incorporating almost immediately.
Are You Really Lazy or One of These 5? – Many people mistakenly think that they are lazy, but they are not. All of us will work hard and passionately when we find our purpose.
Don’t Give Up Too Soon Your Purpose Will Shine Through – Just because you have run into obstacles, does not mean that you are on the wrong path. If you can persevere then your purpose will shine brighter than the Northern Star.
Get Back in Control Today – You may feel as if your life as spun out of control. However, no matter how badly things seem, you can certainly start reclaiming the parts of your life that you are able.
Give Yourself and Your Business a Spring Break – Spring is a time for new beginnings. You also need a break. Why not combine the two?
Have You Lost Your Passion For Business? –It is easy to sometimes feel as if you no longer want to do our businesses. The truth is that we have just temporarily misplaced our passion.
How to Defend Your Dreams Without Ruining Your Holiday Meal – This article told you how to still enjoy your meal, not have to reach for the Tums, and diplomatically avoid any uncomfortable conversations during the holiday. You and The Sugar Plum Fairy don’t need to end up in the bathroom!
How to Get Business Through Volunteering – Even though you will not get paid for providing your services, volunteering opens the door for you to practice and showcase your skills. It can also put you in touch with other business leaders in your community and possibly help land you a contract.
How Unpaid Time Off From Work Can Make You Richer – You may think that you will be losing money by taking unpaid time off. However, if done correctly a Sabbatical can actually refresh you and your ideas to the point of making more money.
Is Your Business a Winter Wonderland or an Arctic Blizzard? – Being able to identify the “calm before the storm” is certainly helpful. However, it takes more than that to see if you are on the right path.
Know the 4 Buying Signals From Your Customers – Not all customers are made the same, so not all sales messages will be delivered the same. It is important to know when to move in and ask for the sale.
Start Thinking Like an Entrepreneur This Week – Whether you feel like a true-blue entrepreneur or not, just start thinking like one. You must learn this mindset to succeed.
Why It is Okay to Fail in Your First Attempt at Self-Employment – It really is okay to fail as long as you learn something. Self-employment is something that is definitely not taught in schools.
Why You Must Have Multiple Streams of Income – You don’t have to be a celebrity to be able to leverage your income using multiple streams of income. Just know how to set up your “profit centers” and then juggle them is key.
My Coaching Two Cents’ Worth
So there you have it! I’d love to hear from you. Where you able to identify or incorporate any of this advice? Please comment below.
You go girl. Been following you for years! God bless.
Reply, thanks CJ. I hope things are well with you. I know that you have been exploring several possible income streams. I am here to help and answer questions.
I just want to start by saying that you have inspired me to jump into
this field and really start up my own WAH business, and thanks for
writing all the posts that you have written about this subject.
I actually do mainly virtual customer service for small local
businesses not only within my area but also within the surrounding
counties. I decided to go this route because small local businesses
needed that edge at an affordable price and I felt that I should give
back to my community by doing so. It is safe to say that I have never
advertised but I have gotten my clients by networking at not only my
local Chamber of Commerce but also the ones within the surrounding
counties.
I now have 8 clients for which 90% of my work is customer service and
call service type work and some light bookkeeping.
I have a couple questions and that is since I am bootstrapping my business and
paying for things as I can afford them is
1. Is there a way I can get a 100% free website that is very easy to
create without any web hosting costs involved until I can afford it?
and
2. Is there an affordable program or service that I can use so that I would be able to
receive the various calls that come in for my 8 clients. I ask this
because as of right now I am using 8 different tracphones and when
each one rings for any one of my clients I have a google doc that I
pull up for each client with all the information that I need in order
to service their perspective customers who call them.
P.S. Your post about volunteering to find potential clients is so true. I volunteer at Habitat For Humanity and have helped with the building of a couple of homes, and have gotten 2 of my clients that way. Also volunteering helps you not only learn new skills but it also helps you have confidence with your new skills along with the feeling that your new skills is whats helping others.
DJ, let me begin by saying that your wonderful comments made my day! Congratulations on your 8 clients. Boy, you are working this thing.
Many of my coaching clients and readers say they have found good clients locally at their Chamber of Commerce or some of the surrounding ones as they do occasionally have regional events. Your local Small Business Development is also another good way! My experience has been–like anything–that some are better than others depending upon how rural or how urban your area is. Then again, there are ways to posture yourself in a rural or just work virtually as a VA.
Now, before I get too carried away, let me see if I can attempt to answer your questions.
Where to get a totally FREE website? I’d stick with either WordPress.com or Blogger (blogspot). Sometimes too, Vistaprint will run a special if you buy a certain amount of business cards or other marketing materials. I can understand your need to bootstrap, because I’ve had to do the same thing. Anyone who is as savvy at marketing as you are shouldn’t have a problem with selling your services or with your online reputation or image.
The only thing that I would caution you on with a free website is a few things. Now, these are not necessarily bad for your VA practice, but something to think about. They are:
1) You won’t be able to transfer the domain to your own site someday unless you slightly rename the company. The reason is that you don’t own it there–the free website host does!
2) Traffic doesn’t transfer as well to a “third party” website as it does to your own dot com. In other words, if your website is www. my great company . blogspot . com–not as good for traffic. I deliberately added spaces so as to not save as a link).
3) Sometimes because free is free, the website wants to use your home page for some of its own advertisement. This is a way for them to be able to make up any revenue losses by offering the site to you for free.
So, again. I would really like to see you just–as soon as you financially can–go ahead and put together a simple website. Blogelina is also affordable. Do you have access to other VAs that do web design? Could you perhaps barter one of your services for their web design expertise? At your chamber of commerce, is there a web developer that you could barter with?
Now, question two about phone systems and possibly connecting email systems. I am not sure why you can’t just use one phone system and incorporate Google Ringtones or different ringtones (one for each client) on the same phone. You could also Zedge on your cell phone and incorporate different ringtones and wallpapers to separate each client.
If I have misunderstood your question, then I apologize. Now, if the client is worried about their own phone coverage again, you could use Zedge or just use Fresh Books to invoice the amount of time. Even Myhours.com is a good way to track and bill for time. However, when using ringtones and wallpapers, you should be able to see the duration of each call.
Well, I hope all of this helped. It was wonderful hearing about your successful, booming VA practice. Again, you made my day!
I honestly did not know that I could do that with google ring tones and to be honest would not know where to begin. I try to make an effort to learn something new every day and it looks as if I did.
Thank You.
DJ, you can set it up with Google Ringtones. I’d let the client decide how they want their number unless they really want you to do it for them. They can use things like 1-800-EAT-LITE and catchy things like that for their branding (substituting numbers, of course).
I forgot to mention RingCentral. This is basically their specialty–designing different ringtones for different clients. Now there is a charge, but you could work that into your fee schedule. I haven’t used RingCentral, but I know others who have and the rates are reasonable. They can also get you set up within a fraction of the time as it would take to step up all of those Google Ringtones. Again, if you are bootstrapping, then you might want to just go with Google Ringtones–your call.
Good for you! I always say, “Every day is a classroom. So, get out there and learn something new.”
Thanks also for stopping by.
Anyone else have a question that they want answered? Just post it here or on any blog post, and I will answer it.