When you walk up to an airline ticket agent, she doesn't tell you where you want to go, you have to tell her. She doesn't know your travel plans, you do. She doesn't know your expectations, your hopes, your dreams, you do.
In recent years, more and more people are making use of virtual assistants (VAs) and have found their services to be invaluable. Partnering with a VA has freed up their time by taking care of time-sucking tasks - everything from transcription to installing PHP scripts to managing web updates. You can now find very specialized VAs whose specialty is assisting authors, planning a large event, or handling reputation management. VAs have come a long way in a very short time.
At the same time, I've encountered more and more business owners who have come to believe that a VA is a magic bullet or a miracle cure. Basically, these business owners think they can hire a VA to take over their business and make it successful or guide the business owner in how to do this. While a VA can be a great partner for building a business or a great online manager to manage the business, only the business owner can provide the vision and plan.
Too many times I've had conversations with virtual professionals - coaches, speakers, writers, consultants, internet marketers - and the first conversation revolves around what I can do to turn their business around or how I can bring in revenue. Really? During a 30-minute conversation, you are trusting me to tell you what you should do with your business? There's something not right when a business owner wants ME to tell THEM what they should do with their business.
Maybe they are getting conflicting advice. Maybe they are burnt out. Maybe they are bored with their business or maybe they just don't know what a VA's role really is and what they bring to the table. What do I do when I'm having a conversation and see that the business owner's expectations are going in this direction? I steer him or her towards a coach who can help and whose job it is to provide expert guidance.
A good coach can work with the business owner to come up with a plan and has insight into specialized niches - what works and doesn't work and what the market is responding to from a high-level view. As such, coaches charge thousands of dollars per year for their advice. And this is where the magic happens. Expecting your VA to take on this role is just going to frustrate you and your VA.
Of course, VAs can definitely help implement a strategy in order to help the business owner achieve their plan, but the VA shouldn't be the one coming up with the plan. VAs can provide technical help when installing a script or a program on your server, but shouldn't be the decision makers for which programs you should purchase. Trust me, if this were the case, VAs could think of things to keep them busy for 8 hours a day / 7 days a week. There's ALWAYS something that can be done and the VAs will know how to do it, but the business owner should be providing the direction, sticking to a budget, looking at the return on investment, tracking the stats, and making decisions.
So, getting back to my analogy... an airline ticket agent will do her best to get you where you want to go in the safest, quickest, and least expensive way possible. Over time, she may get to know your preferences, likes and dislikes, and may provide suggestions along the way. She will always be on the lookout for travel specials and will be watching out for your interests. She will think of all the details so you don't have to while sticking to your budget. And she may even surprise you once in a while and do things you didn't ask her to do but are welcome nonetheless.
But this relationship won't happen overnight or in the first week. Approach the airline ticket agent with clear and concise instructions for what you want, and she will definitely deliver.
Is it Possible to Have a Legitimate Work at Home Career?
You've seen the commercials and have been warned of the work-at-home scams, and now are convinced that you can't possibly work at home and earn a good, honest living. But I'm here to tell you that I not only have built a career around a flexible schedule, but I earn more working part time than most people earn working full-time. What is this wonder job?
Why do you use e-mail marketing?
Keeping your name and services or products in front of these people on a consistent basis builds that personal contact that is needed in any business relationship. Now comes the hard part — how to manage the beast!
New FTC Rules for Testimonials and the Death of
One of the new FTC guidelines that has received a lot of attention has to do with testimonials. Testimonials are usually in the form of written words, audio, or video, extolling the virtue of some product or service. This could be a problem if it doesn't follow the new guidelines the FTC has set forth effective last December.
