Well, I guess it’s time to officially, publicly announce that I am no longer operating as the leader of a Multi-VA team.

*sigh* There. It’s out. That feels better.

I gave it a good go. I honestly thought at the time that bigger was better and that by putting together an awesome team I would be able to conquer the world (virtually) but that isn’t exactly what happened.

I found myself consumed under a pile of work – because my team really was amazing. Our clients loved us (thank you) and kept wanting more, more, more!

But I felt like my values were being compromised. I was too busy managing the business to be the wife/mother/person I want Larissa to be.

So there is no more Seven Winds Multi-VA team.  I am working by myself.

That’s right I am only working with Wedding Professionals.  It is important that I focus all of my time and attention on my passion and supporting those who have a “love for weddings.”

There are big changes on the horizon for myself and my business. Changes I’m not quite ready to announce yet, but they are very cool. I now know what I am truly meant to do and I’m working on getting to that place where I am doing just that.

Stay tuned for developments!

I’m honored to announce today that I’ve received two (count ‘em…two!) nominations in this year’s Assist U Community Recognition Awards.

One is for the 2010 VA of the Year and the other is for the 2010 Techie of the Year. That one I’m pretty excited about because I do take pride in my technical skills!

In case you haven’t been following along this has been a very transitional year for me and it’s been full of changes (more on that later).I’ve been spending a great deal of time doing different training programs including one  that will make me an Infusionsoft expert (when I’m done) and another that gave me 1ShoppingCart expert status. I’ve also taken the exhaustive OBM Certification program.

(Psst….don’t tell anyone, but I’d really like to win the title of 2010 VA of the Year. I was nominated last year and so if I don’t win this year I’m going to develop a Susan Lucci complex.)

Dang it’s hard to type with your fingers crossed….

Thank goodness it’s Friday. All this training I’ve been taking is really wearing me out. But don’t worry! I love learning and I’ve scheduled in lots of time to relax this weekend. (I definitely see a glass of wine and a bubble bath in my near future.)

Now I’m getting off track.

See…I told you a little while ago about how I’m now a Certified Online Business Manager but since then I’ve gone ahead and taken another very important course – this time from The Shopping Cart Queen, Christina Hills. That’s right! I’m now Certified in 1ShoppingCart! That’s great news for my clients because I can help them get more out of their carts now. Heck I’ll be able to take over the entire e-commerce aspect of their businesses if they want me to!

If the extent of your knowledge about shopping carts is how to put stuff in them and you have an online shopping element to  your site, we need to talk! Just not this weekend please. I have plans

Wow, am I tired. I mentioned in my last post that you wouldn’t be hearing from me in awhile and I’m coming back to announce that I just earned my certification as an Online Business Manager! Yay me! I’m a Certified OBM!

In case you haven’t heard the phrase ‘Online Business Manager’ before, it’s defined as:

“A virtually based support professional who manages online based businesses, including the day-to-day management of projects, operations, team members and metrics.”

Sounds sort of similar to the definition for a Virtual Assistant, I know, but it’s different. A VA does tasks for clients but an OBM focuses more on the managerial role, strategy and project management. Besides, I am a firm believer in continual education so I can help my clients in as many ways as possible.

Of course I picked up loads of new skills and future clients – I hope you appreciate what I just went through for you.

OBM Training is a five month program but I did it in three days. Intense…ALL DAY…three days. I then did one entire week of grueling and rigorous certification. ONE WEEK. Those five days were spent performing real life strategy projects, working for actual six-figure and seven-figure clients. I created project plans, mapping and techniques to help the clients grow their businesses.

So there you have it. Larissa Parks the Virtual Assistant is now also Larissa Parks the Online Business Manager.

And I look forward to serving new and existing clients in an even bigger way!  Well, let me get back to spring cleaning, because a lot of changes are about to happen.

There are some very big changes happening behind the scenes here at Seven Winds and I want to take a break from the blog to focus our energy on the direction this business will soon be heading in.

I  know what you’re thinking, “Now, why on Earth would you just stop keeping your blog updated when you’ve gained some momentum recently?”

My best answer to that is that it could possibly do us more harm than good to be blogging without knowing for certain who, exactly, we’re going to be marketing to come April 1st and frankly, blogging is too much work to be wasting valuable post energy on irrelevant topics.

Now, this new plan being cooked up isn’t something I just plucked out of thin air, but I’m being completely transparent right now when I say that I haven’t ironed out all the details yet and until I do I’m not prepared to launch anything or to be blogging about it.

There are other spring cleaning items that are taking place around here as well, changes that are collectively going to improve our clients’ experience working with us and that will make team members happier…including letting go clients who are not holding up their end of our working arrangement.

So…we’ll be falling off the radar for a couple of weeks but my question to you in the meantime is this:

When did you last do some spring cleaning in your business?

• Are you still doing things that aren’t working?
• Are you holding on to clients because they pay you, even though they make you miserable?
• Have you brushed off your marketing materials lately?
• What about an updated list of service offerings or some spiffy new content?

Come on, guys, spring has sprung and it’s time to get serious about getting rid of the business clutter to ensure a healthy, happy rest-of-the-year!

You pick up your mop and pail and we’ll see you in April!

I’m surprised at how many of the VAs on my team react when I give them full control over a project. See…I am not a micro-manager. I never appreciated being micromanaged a hundred years ago when I was an employee and I won’t put up with it today as a business owner.

I choose the best of the best when it comes to the people I add to my team. They’re the experts at what they do, so I trust they’re doing the projects they’re assigned to the best of their ability. I oversee “bigger picture” projects and liaise with clients. I don’t need to be involved in every single project because, quite frankly, I’m busy enough with building the business, keeping it humming and signing on clients!

Besides, the reason I’ve added these professionals to my team is because they’re skilled in areas I am not…for the most part. Trust me, I’m not getting in the bookkeeper’s way because it would be a waste of my time (and hers) to be in her business all the time because she knows what she’s doing.

I’m not going to give my copywriter a list of guidelines about writing press releases before I ask her to write one. I have her on board with me because she knows what she’s doing. I trust her and everyone else on my team to do what they do best.

Fancy that.

Unfortunately, this trust factor is a rarity to most people who have ever worked admin in an employee role. We’ve all been micromanaged at one time or another and we’ve all hated it. We’ve called that micro-manager nasty names behind his (or her) back and complained to our spouses about them after a long day at work.

If you consider yourself a micro-manager you do not want to enter into a contract with us at Seven Winds, or with any VA anywhere for that matter. You will not be popular.

The whole point of partnering with a virtual assistant is to free you up to do other things. That means you need to give your VA control over her tasks, otherwise, you’re completely defeating the purpose of the relationship.

All that will get you is one frustrated VA and the feeling that working with a VA is taking up more of your time than you expected.

That’s a classic symptom of micromanagement. It wastes your time and it’s precisely why you would be much better off hiring yourself an in-house assistant who will put up with the constant stream of instructions and over-the-shoulder-looking.

So you have fun with that while we go ahead and make a real difference in the lives and the businesses of the trusting business owners we choose to align ourselves with. And if you know some entrepreneurs like that, send ‘em our way. We pay referrals.

Do you ever have one of those days where you can’t focus on work?

You must know what I’m talking about.

Like when you have a head cold and all you can think about is putting on your flannel pjs and curling up in bed with box of tissues and jar of Vicks VapoRub.

Or it’s a sunny Friday afternoon and mentally you’re outside enjoying the fresh air with your kids and/or your dog.

Maybe there’s nothing at all behind it but you just can’t focus on work.

It happens to all of us, for reasons which have most likely been scientifically proven.

One of these days might look something like this:

09:00 – you sit down at your computer with a cup of coffee/tea/juice/water with excellent intentions of working hard and being productive all day.

09:05 – you go through your emails and note which items need your attention.

09:10 – you check Perez Hilton’s blog to see what’s going on with the celebs.

09:25 – you head over to Facebook and look at pictures from your neighbor’s sister’s nephew’s dog-walker’s wedding.

10:45 – you get a refill on what you were drinking earlier and fix a snack.

10:50 – return to your desk, open your Word Processor look at it, close it and open Twitter.

11:45 – head to the kitchen to find something for lunch.

12:15 – eat lunch at your desk, open Word again and start working on a list of ideas for blog topics.

12:25 – you stare out the window and decide to check if there are any interesting auctions ending soon on ebay.

And so on and so forth.

When you sat down, you had good intentions of working, but you ended up wasting the entire morning.

When this happens and the time you’re spending at the computer is completely unproductive, the only practical solution is to walk away and call it a day.

If you keep sitting there, there are other things in your life you’re neglecting that could be done instead – feed the fish, water the plants, get the mail, organize your closets,  clean the car, etc.

Odds are, you’ve been spending way too much time sitting over your desk and you’ve just hit a mental wall.

The next time this happens to you, just listen to your body because it has shut down your brain for a reason.

To prevent this from being a regular occurrence, give us a call and make use of our virtual assistance services. We can fill in for you when you’re having a day like this, and we can stay on top of your paperwork, marketing and other tasks so that you’re not burning the candle at both ends to the point where you’re sitting at your desk drooling on your keyboard every Friday.

It’s okay to take a break because nobody expects you to be productive 100% of the time – even if you own a business.

Call on us and let us help you run your business. Once we’re up to speed, we can fill in for you anytime you need to take a mental health day.

We don’t need a doctor’s note and your secret’s safe with us.

There surely are a lot of profitable ventures on the internet these days and one of them is the ezine. These are online newsletters where website owners use online magazines to keep in touch with their readers. Through these ezines, site owners get to share updates, news, and advertisements.

If you are engaged in a business, ezines are great instruments for you to build a strong relationship with your readers. This is an easy way to keep them updated with what’s new in store for them.

Ezines are not as easy as 123 but it’s not as hard as calculus either. Read on and find out how.

1. Create a niche. This is more like making a mark. If your nuche is correct, you’re likely to be on the profitable side. But ezines are useless if you don’t have avid readers. Which leads us to number 2…

2. Establish your target market. No matter how good your ezine contents are, if you don’t have a market to share them with, your articles will be good as none. You do need to have a large customer base to support your ezine. You don’t always have to worry about having a large support group right away. Your circle and will increase over time.

3. Research. Take time to search as much information about your chosen topic. This helps you widen your horizon and aids you in giving more meaty and reliable information to your readers. When you research, you can use the information you found, rephrase it, and add your own perspective to it. Remember, you have to sound like you are an expert of your field. If you are a beginner, don’t make it obvious. You still need to sound like an expert. In time, you will be.

4. Provide fresh topics. Your content and topics must always be updated. Offer something new and unique. Don’t bore your readers with the same topics over and over again. This will eventually drive them away. If you are not into writing, you can hire someone to do the writing for you.

If you want to increase your marketing and position yourself as an expert in your field, ezines are the best way to help you do just that. Reinvent your business and evolve with the growing industry of ezine marketing. Don’t get left behind!

Ezines give you the power to increase your marketing contact to thousands more yet does not cost you as much as you do with the traditional direct mail. Other than that, it gives you the ability to position yourself as an expert in your field. But before you can do that, you need to be able to have a well defined target market that will serve as your support group. You need to come up with a list that is made up of quality subscribers who will make excellent customers for yourself. Find out how to use ezines to help you build a larger and more established mailing list for your business.

One great advantage of ezine advertising is that it allows you to have access over someone else’s list. This gives you more opportunity to promote your product and/or services offered.

You need to match your product in an ezine advertising the same products and/or services as you offer. Posting your ad in an ezine that is not relevant to your product will not be helpful. Make your headline attention grabbing for it to be noticed and read. How does this relate to building your list to building your list? you may ask. Having good ezine content will draw more subscribers to your site. You need to grab this opportunity and squeeze in several strategies to help you do that. You can start by offering free products or trial services through your ad. When the subscribers click on your ad, you can have them opt in to your mailing list in exchange for the free offer.

This would mean that they are interested in your product and/or service and can mail them in the future when you offer something new that they might actually like. These people will be your potential customers so you need to build a good relationship with them. Mail them once in a while for free reports, updates, newsletters, and new offers but never spam and flood their mails with your ads. This will technically drive them away. Remember that the larger your list is, the better your chances are to create opportunities of closing business deals to the people you can contact for free and ezine advertising has just helped you attain that.

PS – Don’t forget to sign up for our VA WATER COOLER Newsletter on our home page!

The occurrence of online advertising created a great impact to business owners. Because they feel that internet is largely patronized than any other element in the world at present, most businesses seemed to have dropped the printed advertisements in favor of the online advertising scheme. What they do not realize is that online advertising must not be used as a replacement for print marketing. On the other hand, the two schemes must go hand-in-hand. Direct mail campaigns serve its purpose much more than business owners ordinarily think they do.

One good assumption of using direct mail strategy is that it goes directly to its target market. This target market includes people who you think can easily be convinced to purchase from you. This is one good advantage over online marketing where search engines are overflowing with competition. With direct mails, you are confident that your message will go straight to the hands of who you want to reach. Unlike email marketing where mails are more likely blocked or filtered, you have greater chances of actually reaching potential clients. What’s more is that direct mail campaigns do lead you to building a longer email marketing list.

When you send ad mails to potential clients, include perks like free e-books, reports, coupons, newsletters and such to give them a concrete idea of what you are offering. But, you should add a little twist to that. Have them visit your site before they can avail of the bonuses. This will not only help you increase number of recipients in your email marketing list, it will also give you the chance to quantify responses from your target market. This helps you build rapport with customers who have been driven to your site as a result of direct mail marketing.

In keeping track of your activities related to direct mail marketing, tracking software are available to help you with. This makes tracking of lists, responses, and sales for both online and print ads campaign. You can also do them manually by listing them down yourself if you like. However, tracking software are more reliable most of the time.

Ad mails offer a lot of advantages than just using email marketing. Sometimes it helps when your potential clients can actually get a feel of the material rather than just reading it on their computer screens. Although ad mails are sometimes referred to as junk mails, they are more than just junk. They do actually lead to informing customers of the existence of your products and generally lead to sales. Now who says direct mailing is outdated?