Networking… Don’t Miss The Opportunities
January 27, 2011 by Christina Littrell-Williams
Filed under Biz Development
It’s all in the relationship! Networking is a way of life today for Entrepreneurs. You can work for a company or be a solo-preneur and have a need to network. With the downturn in the economy people are turning to those who “care”, those who have “time”, those that “follow-up” and those who “offer a resolution to a need”. Is that you? Network – Network – Network You never know who someone else might know and by networking you get your name and services out there in the running for work. Also in turn, by networking you might find a person that fits a need you might have! It is a win win situation. There is an art to networking, the main key is to be authentic and be YOU! We all know that when you network you should be there to get to know the others you are meeting and not just “sell” yourself. Practice that! We have some great networking groups here in Santa Clarita that meet weekly or monthly. There are networking groups that have affiliations outside of our little valley if your services are not just for local customers. There is a fun website – www.meetup.com that lists every kind of “Meet Up” group you can think of from personal self-care to hardcore business people. Look into, join and get notices – the most important part is NETWORK!!! Build Relationships!! You never know who and what you might find! Good luck and Have a GREAT Time!
Be a Marketing Pal…
January 25, 2011 by Christina Littrell-Williams
Filed under Biz Development
Marketing is every businesses challenge… how about trying to be a “Marketing Pal” with a complimentary company/product/service provider.
By combining your marketing efforts AND cross promoting to both databases will increase your (and their) visibility. By combining your marketing efforts you will also share the costs! Connect with a company/product producer/service provider that is not your competitor but has something that will compliment what you have to offer…. When each company shares the same message you all are exposed over and over again!!
Marketing plans can be one or even better several ways of reaching out to the community – print ads, flyers, direct mailers, greeting cards, post cards and so on…
Some examples might be – A Promotional Products Company connecting with a sign/banner company, maybe a florist connecting with different “facilities” or of course event planners. How about a clothing store connecting with a salon offering a whole new look! Reach out and experiment – see what works for you both. Be sure to get a solid strategy that works for both of you, put the plan and agreement in writing but most important DO IT.
SPAM and I Am Not Talking Canned Meat!
December 6, 2010 by Christina Littrell-Williams
Filed under Biz Development, Featured, Recommended Readings
Today I want to talk a little about SPAM – “Self Promotional Advertising Message” – we have all been affected by SPAM and SPAMMERS! If you have not been inundated in your inbox (and mailboxes) with “Viagra” , “work from home”, “You Won” mailings YOU ARE LUCKY! But in reality most of us have and do deal with this on a daily basis…. Because of people that send out unsolicited mass mailings to people “emailing laws” have gotten a lot stricter! This has not affected EVERY MARKETER out there…
In 1999 Washing State started the ball rolling on regulations making it illegal if the following existed:
• Has a misleading subject line
• Has false routing information
• Sends an unsolicited having a third party domain name without their permission
Later other states came onboard with the “rules”. George Bush signed the CAN-SPAM act into law – and violators can be fined up to $16,000 and also be convicted of other criminal charges! It has not stopped the “con artists” or “hackers” too much from scamming people or overloading our email systems BUT what it has done is made it extremely difficult for “authentic” marketers to reach their target market – double opt ins, spam check messages, servers blocking delivery from certain mail companies, and the list goes on! We all know the story – “One Bad Seed Ruined It for the Apple”!
My advice to you is as you build your “list” make sure you keep records of the people wanting to be on your list – like biz cards noted where you met them and date if you ever go under a “List Review” from an email broadcast company you will need to prove those ARE your contacts.
Delegation… Works Best When You Build a Relationship
June 4, 2010 by Christina Littrell-Williams
Filed under Biz Development
It seems that no matter where you go in the business world one of the key elements is building a relationship. Well the same holds true for those who do work for you, you want to build a strong and personal relationship.
If this is going to be a strong support person for you they need to know about you and your business, not just the task at hand. You want a support person or staff to be invested in your business and that can only happen when you make them a part of your business. It has been proven that an “employee” or “sub-contractor” takes more pride in their work if they feel like they are a part of it. So take a bit of time to get to know your support team and let them get to know you and your business. With this small investment you will get a return worth a fortune based in higher quality of the output of work and the higher level of responsibility! Keep an eye out for next week’s next delegation tip!
Delegation… a Lost Art Part One
May 28, 2010 by Christina Littrell-Williams
Filed under Biz Development
Are you the King or Queen of the “I can do it better myself” attitude? Or do you say to yourself, “It will take me longer to explain this task then if I just go do it myself”? First of all let’s agree that is totally the wrong attitude in both situations!
You are losing money left and right if your focus is not directly were it should be and that is working ON your business! You should have a support staff, even if that is your high school son/daughter and other family members working on databases and paperwork. Every business owner should have support and then more importantly know how to delegate tasks to that staff correctly.. Over the next couple of weeks I will provide you with tips that will help you become a better “delegator” and help you regain your focus ON your business!
- Hint #1 – Understand the Task at Hand: You must understand the task at hand yourself fully. How can you expect someone else to understand your explanation of what needs to get done if you don’t know that much about it. Also, you do not want to end up in a pickle where this is a repeating task and the one person that always handled it for you, leaves and you are stuck with it not getting done and not knowing how to do it.
- Hint #2 – When sharing this task, make sure you share the expected outcome that way your support person has the full vision of what you are looking for.
Client Retention…Do You Have It?
May 24, 2010 by Christina Littrell-Williams
Filed under Biz Development, VA Tips
Making a sale once or handling a client’s account once is better than not having either, right? But will they come back to you if they need your product or services again in the future… that is the question.
Client retention is so important. You want to create a customer “loyalty” to you, your services and your products. You want to create a “community” within your business! You want them to refer you!
Here are a couple tips on bettering your Client Retention…
• Take time out of your day to check in with a couple (2) existing customers/clients – ask them about THEM and what they might need or want or for feedback on their last visit with you.
• If you do a monthly newsletter or article – highlight one of your “champion” clients in the community. Maybe something special is happening in their business you can share.
• Provide something for your clients & customers – a freebie like a car wash, give-aways or even a client appreciation day at your place of business (remember to take pictures!)
Personal touches are so important – remember we are building “relationships” with our clients! If you would like to hear about what I consider to be the BEST client retention tool for ANY business owner, contact me!
VA’s can save you money!
May 22, 2010 by Christina Littrell-Williams
Filed under Why VA's
How do you save money if a Virtual Assistant’s hourly rate is higher than an in-house employee?
This is a question that hinders a lot of business owners from hiring a virtual assistant. The cost of hiring someone to come into your office or business location for $20 per hour seems like such a better deal than hiring a virtual assistant for $35 per hour, right? In the long run NO WAY! State to state in house employees salary laws are different but just take this – with a fringe benefit of 35% you add $7.00 to your in-house employee’s income per hour, then you take in the overhead (office equipment, supplies, worker’s comp and so on) of 50% you add $10.00 to your in-house employee’s income per hour for a total of $37.00 per hour. Those costs seem to get lost in the shuffle because they are either calculated by a payroll service OR through the accounting program you have set up. Those are costs that are not included in your Virtual Assistant’s wages. On top of those “extras” you need to calculate in tardiness, sick days, vacation days and slacking time which every employer pays and have no completed tasks to show for it! Again this is something you do not calculate in when working with a Virtual Assistant – they get paid for the project completed OR for the house actually worked! It has been calculated that you pay on average 2,080 hours per year for an in-house employee and can get the same amount of work completed by a virtual assistant in 480 hours per year (an employee’s 8 hour day can usually be crunched into a 3-4 hour day with a virtual assistant) – calculate this out and it is a savings of over $60,000.00! Now that is a savings!
I have never heard of a Virtual Assistant. Are Virtual Assistants a new thing?
May 10, 2010 by Christina Littrell-Williams
Filed under Why VA's
The quick answer to the question, “Are Virtual Assistants a new thing?” is NO. It started back in the 1970’s. The founder was Stacy Brice. Stacy looked at the traditional secretarial role of assistants and felt there should be more. Not just a person performing “tasks” but one who assists in getting tasks completed but also be a part of the overall outcome. She felt there should be a bond between client and assistant and in that builds a relationship between the two. This idea forever shifted the “model” of boss and assistant. You can imagine the effect this had on efficiency and value one took on in completed tasks as well. By 1992 Stacy had created a platform in which she was working virtually full time from home. She even was working internationally by then. By 1996 the Virtual Assistant was “coined” by Thomas Leonard while speaking with Stacy on the phone. In 1997 Brice opened AssistU which is a school to be trained and certified as a Virtual Assistant. In 1999 Christine Durst and Michael Haaren stated International Virtual Assistants Association (IVAA). From this point on every year brought a new group onto the scene that had the purpose of support for the Virtual Assistant, whether they be new to the business or a veteran to it, along with a place for people searching for a VA could go and post “help wanted” adds. The industry has grown very large and I for one am thankful to Stacy Brice for having such a vision. I love what I do! How many people can say that about their “job”?
