If I were to start my Virtual Assistant business all over again, there’s one BIG thing I would do differently.

I share the mistake, why it was so important and how my business changed when I corrected this mistake.

Selecting a target market and how to find out EVERYTHING you need to know about a target market will be covered in great detail in the upcoming ‘How Do I Find Clients‘ Clinic on Thursday, January 19th.

Check out the details >> www.VirtualAssistantClinic.com.

Avoid the mistake that’s costing you all kinds of great clients!

Can you relate? Please share your thoughts, feedback and comments below.

How would you like me to show you not only how to find clients ... but how to find your IDEAL clients.  You know,  the clients you really want to work with, who respect you, offer you opportunities, and who consider you an essential part of their business?

As the author of 'Virtually Successful:  8 Simple Ways For Virtual Assistants To Find (and Keep) Clients', it hits a soft spot for me  when I hear any VA – brand new or seasoned – ask the question “How Do I Find Clients?”.   So much so that I thought it was time to  address this question, at the very beginning of this new year, so that you can beat this challenge right away!

In the *BRAND NEW* 'How Do I Find Clients' Clinic, on Thursday, January 19th from 11am to 2pm Pacific (2-5pm Eastern), I'm going to show you, from scratch, everything you need to know and do to find, attract and connect with great business owners who desperately need your help (and who want to hire you!).

You'll walk away with solid confidence, a solid step-by-step process that will make it super easy for you to find clients  and assurance that you're saying exactly what business owners want to hear (so they'll hire you) when you meet them.  That's just a small taste of what you'll get during this 3 hour clinic.

This is the very first time I've offered a 'clinic style' program and it's sure to be fabulous.

**NOTE** The first 20 people who register before Thursday, January 12th will also receive over $250 worth of
bonuses!!

All the details are available for you at
http://hotskillsvatraining.com/how-do-i-find-clients-clinic-for-virtual-assistants/ -- check it out!

Let’s say you’ve had your first meeting with a really great potential new client – either in person or via the phone. You took inventory, you  demonstrated your business mindset and also your marketing mindset.

They were impressed by you and are now eager to get started. You are excited about working with them also (you didn’t feel the pit of the stomach feeling and didn’t have to exercise using the word No.)

How do you get started? Where do you even begin?  (Once all the contract details are looked after of course.)

Well, see the great thing is you took inventory (right??). So you have a great place to start.

If they answered your questions, then you know what some of their immediate priorities are and you also know what their long term goals are.

So here’s what I would say “in our call, you mentioned one of your biggest priorities was to do ________________. How about we start with this?”

And because you know how to apply your business and marketing mindset, you can TELL them how to get started.

You can say something like “You mentioned you want to finish your ebook. Well how about we create a deadline together. I can help with keeping you accountable to that deadline – I’ll check in with you every couple of days to see how you’re doing. If you get it to me by DATE, then I can review it, format it and get it back to you to finalize. In the mean time, why don’t I connect with a few graphic designers to have a book cover designed. And we should also confirm how you’re going to sell the ebook – and confirm you have all the technology in place to automate the process so it’s really professional.”

If you have this kind of discussion with a new client, immediately they will get excited about how you can help them. Just look what you’ve covered in a few minutes!

The other nice thing about this is you’ve given your client a ‘safe’ place to get started with you. By starting with a project like this, you’re offering to support them in finishing something they’ve been wanting to do, you’re using your initiative (rather than waiting to be delegated to) and you will not be interacting with any of their clients/customers etc. This gives them to get to know, like and trust you a bit more before you have a ‘presence’ within the business.

Another piece to this challenge is to consider other ‘starting’ projects that may attract your potential clients. Remember, business owners “don’t know what they don’t know”. Many business owners in different professions don’t even know what a Virtual Assistant is. If they have heard the term, they may not really understand what one can do. And even if they have a general idea of what a VA can do, they don’t really understand how it will help their business.

So if you know of some ‘easy’ projects that allow you to easily get started with a client – items they often struggle with, have sitting on the side of their desk (or in a big pile in their office!), then you make it even easier to connect with them and likely get started!

I’d love to hear from you … how do you get started with a new client? What has worked well for you.

It's my 36th birthday today and while I don't typically celebrate 'virtually', I thought this year I'd do something a little different and combine a bunch of my 'loves'.

I love to have some fun. I love the VA industry. I love training. I love to help VAs find great clients, build a great businesses and achieve their goals.

So I thought it would be fun to offer a discount on a few items - one that connects with my special number - in hopes that it may YOU move forward in your business.

The 36% savings can be applied to any of the following.  Enter the coupon code BIRTHDAY in the coupon code field when you check out and the shopping cart will automatically apply the discount.

Hurry because the discount ends when my birthday weekend ends -- Sunday morning!

Get Clients Club Annual Membership

Boost Your Confidence, Easily Find GREAT Clients, Stand Out and Generate Serious $$. Meet with me each month to uncover a hot topic to support you in finding great clients and building your business.  >>>Learn More ...

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Virtually Successful: 8 Simple Ways Virtual Assistants Can Find (and Keep) Clients Book

Each year thousands of administrative professionals leave their employment in search of a better and more flexible life as a Virtual Assistant. Once the office is set up, the website is created and the business cards are ready to be handed out, the realization and struggle of finding ‘good’ clients and earning a decent living is experienced by (too) many.

Learn the specific steps to help you find great clients and build the business you want. >>> Learn more about the book

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Membership Specialist Self-Study Program

Membership Programs are one of the most popular and successful revenue streams for online based businesses.

This program will give you the tools to create and customize a membership program as well as the essentials to managing it, protecting content, integrating it with payment processors and more.

Effective Membership System + Ongoing Member Support = Lucrative Revenue Stream. The number of business owners who need this support far exceeds the number of Virtual Assistants who specialize in this area.  >>> Read More

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Publicity Specialist Training Program - Self-Study Program

Every business owners wants to be the called-on expert from the media. They crave the right kind of publicity to build their credibility, exposure and expert status.

Business owners desperately seek the support of someone who can manage publicity efforts on their behalf … they simply don’t have the time to do it themselves PLUS they don’t even know where to begin.

In this program you will learn hot publicity skills clients want wand will pay generously for. >>> Read More

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Website & Blog Design Basics Training Program - Self-Study Program

You don’t need to be a designer, but as a Virtual Assistant, you really should be able to provide basic website maintenance support to your clients.

This 5-session program will show you exactly how to make simple changes to existing webpages, how to set up lead generation opt-in webpages, developing a simple sales page, creating a newsletter template and more. Plus you’ll learn how to install and setup a WordPress blog, how to customize a theme as well as installing plug-ins and widgets.

There’s no need to wait days and days for the web developer to make a simple change … this program will provide you with the tools to do it all yourself. >>>Read more

There are a few myths out there in the Virtual Assistant industry that I'd like to take an opportunity to squash.

These are things that I bet you believed at one time or another in your VA business ... but that are completely untrue.

They don't help you market your business.   They won't help in spreading your message.  They can't possibly help you in finding great clients.

Join me on Wednesday, July 6th at 9am Pacific / 12pm Eastern via LIVESTREAM (live video) to watch/hear about these myths so we can move towards eliminating them forever.

Will you join me?  Simply fill out the form below to claim your spot.

What is Mobile Marketing?

What do YOU, a professional Virtual Assistant, need to know about Mobile Marketing?

What do business owners want you to know about Mobile Marketing?

I'll admit it - Mobile Marketing confuses me. I'm not sure how it all connects to a business, how it benefits and where it can be used -- but I do know, I want to know more!

That's why I invited Marketing Tech Coach, Rebecca Zwar, to join me to offer a FREE call - one that will include the ins and outs of Mobile Marketing and what Virtual Assistants need to know about this relatively new trend.

Rebecca will demystify Mobile Marketing and share tips on how we can apply it with our client's business (and our own businesses too!). It's about staying current, keeping on top of the trends and supporting our clients in boost business!

Are you ready? I can't wait!

Sign up below to join Rebecca Zwar and I on Thursday, June 9th at 1pm Pacific / 4pm Eastern.

I've been waiting and waiting to tell you about this ... but I had to keep it a secret!!

I'm absolutely ecstatic about this event because I'm one of the trainers at this event!  Yes, it's my first time I have officially trained in person!  Plus alongside me are seven other stellar trainers who have been handpicked to give you the tools to transform your business.

You need to be there ... it's simply going to change the way you do business this year and beyond. 

Hosts Pam Ivey and Kristi Pavlik are holding a preview call this Thursday ... it's fr-ee and will answer all your questions about the live event and much more.

Check it out!

What's the ultimate goal of everything we do here at VirtuallySuccessful.com?
To help you find clients ... not just any client, but GREAT clients.

So in addition to offering the class with the Get Clients Club - where you'll
receive great content, key strategies and very specific action steps - I thought
I'd offer an additional call this March to help you a teeny bit more.

On Tuesday, March 8th, I'm hosting a gratis call on the '7 Mistakes Virtual
Assistants Make in Finding Clients'.

If you're:

• unsure how to start finding clients
• struggling with building your business
• frustrated with not making any money (or very little)
• desperately trying to find a way to make this business work
• exhausted with all your efforts ... can you really do it

then you need to be on this call.

It's time to start paying attention and making changes.  It's time to
build your confidence in yourself and your business.

Claim your spot here and I'll 'see' you Tuesday, March 8th!

It's one of those things that we think about here and there but we don't always do something about it.  It's our ongoing development --- learning new things, training in new areas and growing as business owners.

Why is it?

As virtual support professionals we are all unique, but we also have common traits ... one is that we  genuinely care about the success of the people we work with ... and another is we quite put ourselves  second.  So while we know it's important to continue growing and learning, we often put it on the back  burner because our clients need us.

I'd love to see this change to where every virtual support professional out there recognizes the need to continue learning and invests time, energy and even financially in areas that will support their growth.

Development can be done in many different ways ... I'm not saying you need to pull our your wallet continuously here ... in some cases it's best that you do but there are lots of ways to continue learning, training and growing as business owners.  Here's just a few ways:

Subscribe to ecourses/ezines

While it's true that I have unsubscribed from a ton of lists over the last few months, subscribing to fr-ee ecourses and ezines is a great way to receive great quality information and support.  Depending on which you subscribe to, you could learn about current and upcoming trends, new  technology, more efficient ways of doing things etc.  Great thing is it's easy to discontinue your subscription whenever you don't find it useful anymore.

Register for teleclasses

Teleclasses are a great way to get great information.  There's really no shortage of both fr-ee and lost teleclasses out there so take advantage of the content.  In most cases the host will provide the recording link that you can use to download and listen to at your convenience so you can listen to over and over again at your convenience.

Sign up for fr-ee trials

Isn't it amazing how much technology is available out there to help us do our work?  Every week I hear about new programs out there - it's incredibly interesting but can also be a little intimidating!  How can you keep up?  In many cases online programs offer a fr-ee trial membership - THE perfect opp for you to sign up and play around in the program. Take advantage of this --- that's what it's there for!

Register for paid training

About two years ago Tina and I started talking about how the VA world was changing significantly ... business owners were wanting to hire specific specialists to take care of specific pieces of their business.

This continues to grow and sorry folks but it's not going to change.  Business owners will continue to look for specialists to look after their affiliate management, their online video strategies, their social media, their eCommerce, their product launches etc.   If you are interested in specializing in a specific area, get out there and invest in some good training.

It's no secret that we offer skills development training at HotSkillsVATraining.com -- we're passionate about this and in 2011 we'll continue to bring more training programs to the table.  It's a great time to get out there and sign up for quality programs -- our industry has fantastic programs to support your development.

Hire a Mentor or Coach

It's just like with exercise -- if you have a partner that keeps you accountable, you're more likely to do out for your workout than if you did it alone.  The same goes for your business --- you have goals but you may find it challenging to accomplish those goals because you're so  busy working on accomplishing your client's goals.

By working with a coach you can create a structure to ensure your goals will be met, then create your plan of attack then be kept  accountable to make sure you don't get off track and behind in creating what YOU want for your business.  Yes it means an investment in
most cases BUT it's well worth it if you work with the right person.

SO there you have it --- just a few ways to continue your journey as a successful business owner.  What will you do differently to make sure you take care of your development? Share with us below.

By the way ... if you're looking for a Mentor, talk to us -- we can help!

Contrary to what some gurus out there are telling us, when it comes to creating online video to help build our business - you and your clients do NOT need to invest a ton of money into video cameras or equipment.

In fact, inexpensive Pocket cams, webcams, and even many phone cameras are more than adequate for most online video. 

The Flip Video camera is probably the best known and simplest of the bunch, and most models are under $200 USD.   The Kodak Zi8 is another popular alternative.  These go-anywhere mini cams are simple to use and produce surprisingly good video.  Logitech is a safe bet if you're going for a  webcam, but more and more computers now have a built-in webcam "on board".

Finally, you may be pleasantly surprised with the quality of video you can get from your smart phone.   Especially impressive is the latest iPhone 4G, with amazing video capabilities.

So whatcha think? Is it time for you to get your videos recorded ... and to guide your client on developing their own also?

We want to hear all about it ...share your stories and comments with us below.

Are you signed up for the fr-ee call we have coming up next Monday, November 8th with Lou Bortone on "The Video Revolution: Video Skills Make You Indispensable"? Take a minute to sign up and make sure we set aside a spot for you >>> http://tinyurl.com/26srojf