We’ve Moved! – My Virtual Blog has a New Site

My Virtual Blog has moved their site to WordPress.org. Please visit us and comment on our blogs at www.myvirtualproject.com/blog.  We will be removing this site once we have notified all of our networks.  Your comments are important to us and to others – please see our new site!

Virtual Assistance – An Excellent Alternative for Staffing in Today’s Economy

Having staff is necessary.  There are tasks that must be delegated and there is a need for bodies to delegate the work to.  Your business thrives in large part based on the productivity of the work force you hire.  But in today’s economy, staffing is tough.  Recent April 2009 United States Department of Labor statistics of an 8.9% unemployment rate prove that.  So, how do you remain productive and profitable without staff?  One alternative is Virtual Assistance. 

A Virtual Assistant is not an employee and is not hired, but is rather a business owner who has an interest in helping you succeed.  Virtual Assistants work the way you work.  They can work on a retainer basis for a specified number of hours per month or they will work on a project basis.  Both the IVAA (International Virtual Assistant Association) and The Virtual Assistant Networking Association (VANA) provide a place to post an RFP (Request for Proposal) for your specific need.  VANA also provides a great description of how using a virtual assistant can save your firm time and money. From their website:

“Although the Virtual Assistant’s hourly rate is more than the employee’s rate in the first place, you save the cost of benefits and overhead that would have to be applied to the new employee’s wage. And, because Virtual Assistants are usually more experienced, more efficient, and better connected than the employee, you’ll need to devote far less time to the project to get the same results, only 480 hours a year versus 2,080 for the new employee.

**Remember, with a Virtual Assistant, you only pay for the time on task by the minute! No more paying for socializing, hour long lunches or frequent trips to the washroom.

Your employee’s 8 hour day can be crunched into 3-4 hours with a Virtual Assistant.

Simply put, you should contract with a Virtual Assistant because it’s more cost-effective and Virtual Assistants go above and beyond the normal assistant’s duties to impact your own productivity. No task is too big or small for a Virtual Assistant to handle. Even if you only have 1 hour of work a month for a Virtual Assistant to do, a VA can (and will) do it.”

Virtual Assistants need not be purely administrative.  Virtual Assistants come in all sizes and flavors.  In addition to the typical administrative skills you might expect to see from a Virtual Assistant, take a look at a partial list of the other skills you can contract with a VA for:

• Article Marketing
• Blog Creation and Administration
• Bookkeeping
• Contact & Database Management
• Copywriting
• Desktop Publishing
• Domain Name Research & Registration
• E-mail Management
• E-mail Marketing Campaigns
• Event Planning
• Graphic Design
• Internet Marketing
• Internet Research
• Logo Design
• Online Reputation Management
• PDF Conversions
• Personal Shopper
• Project Management
• Real Estate Assistance
• Shopping Cart Account Management
• Social Media Marketing
• Social Networking Strategy and Account Management (LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, etc.)
• Software Research and Testing
• Software Training
• Surveys
• Vendor Management (Reconciling bills, invoices, etc.)
• Voice Mail Management
• Web-based Newsletters & Ezines
• Website Administration
• Website Design and Maintenance

Today’s economy may be challenging, but the work can still get done.  Let a responsible, trained, skilled Virtual Assistant take care of the tasks they have so much experience doing so you can take care of your business.

3 Social Networking Tools That Might Be Worth Taking a Look At

I’ve got a very techie (geeky?) background and it’s in my nature to always look for new and/or better or more efficient ways to do things. I have beta tested lots of applications in my time, which is why I’m often compelled to sign up in many places for tools that I find appealing.   I’m forever reading Twitter posts and Mashable, which has lead me to some great new social networking sites and some sites that leave me with this word leaving my lips –  “SERIOUSLY?”  I have recently come across a couple of good sites (IMHO) as well as one that appears to have great potential.  They do seem to be worth the time to investigate. 

 Tweetimonials – I don’t think this cool Twitter tool is really new, but I wonder if you know how cool it is when you add it to your website.  The way it works is that it takes your tweets that you’ve marked as favorites (and that would be the ones where your peeps have posted kind and complimentary things about you ) and puts them into a running list.  You add the widget to your website and it’s like a marquee that runs small testimonials for you!  What a great concept.  As an example, here are my Tweetimonials for @MVPSusi on the My Virtual Project Resources page.

 GizaPage – I’ve just recently signed up for this and you can view my GizaPage at http://susischuele.gizapage.com/.  If you take a look, you can see all of my profiles that I’ve opted to publish on GizaPage.  If you’re like me, that’s a lot of profiles!  But it’s extremely convenient to give others this one link to your entire social identity instead of 40.  You can keep yourself up to date through the “My Organizer” button, and your friends can stay up to date through one site.  Not to mention that you can promote this site through email and manage privacy.  The screenshot here shows a great dashboard that creates a tab with each update you do for easy reference.  I will probably use this in combination with Tweetdeck for Twitter because although they do provide the Twitter profile, I like all of the features with Tweetdeck.

 All Of Me – Although I’ve just briefly taken a look at this and am currently beta testing it,  it looks like it could be something pretty great.  It basically provides you with an automatic personal timeline of your life from any digital assets you have, such as pictures, videos, blogs, documents, or any internet page that you can view as a kind of moving graph.  You can also view timelines on friends and family as well as other featured timelines like Mashable and even TV Shows such as Desperate Housewives.  You can also run the timelines in a slideshow, although the images don’t always come out well.  It’s great for Twitter posts though.  All in all – Pretty cool.

 Of course there are hundreds of social networking tools available, and it’s really a personal choice.  However, these 3 did stand out for me.

Where is the ROI in Social Media

In Laymen’s terms when we talk ROI (Return on Investment), we ask “will this expenditure actually provide the benefit that justifies the expense?” if so, “how long will it take?” and “how much will it improve ongoing business?”

With social media, ROI also stands for “Return on Influence”.  The influence you gain by being an expert in your field and gaining the reputation as a quality resource for answers and solutions.

In most investment situations, you use metrics to measure the impact of change.  The metrics in a traditional investment are calculated in terms of cost savings, workforce reductions, increased profits… etc.  These are easily quantified with dollars and cents.  With social media, the metrics are still there, they are just viewed a bit differently. 

Let’s take the example of “Jack’s Book Store”.  Jack sells all types of books but he specializes in antique books.  He established a “shopping cart” website last year to sell his books online and help his customers find him. 

Jack wants to get more traffic to his website and his store, as well as more sales from both.

There are two main points that Jack must understand:

1. Social Media is not a silver bullet; it takes time to realize the benefits
2. Participation on a regular basis is a REQUIREMENT or the campaign will not succeed

We develop a “Metrics Report” showing a starting snapshot of the current state of Jack’s business. 

We then design a campaign strategy tailored to the specific business, which for Jack, would include updating the website for SEO (Search Engine Optimization); developing a blog; establishing profiles on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook, and teaching Jack the “link strategy” of making all his social media components work together.

Once the strategy is complete, we add metrics to the “Metrics Report” for all the social media channels.

Three months after the campaign is implemented we would take a snapshot of these same metrics, compare them to the starting metrics and analyze the progress of the campaign. 

When all is said and done, there should logically be an increase in website visits, an increase of sales from the website and an increase of sales from the store.  The amount of that increase is usually proportionate to the amount of effort invested in the social media campaign.

There are obviously mitigating factors in any advertising campaign, such as; you aren’t selling a product that is widely sought after; your prices are higher than your competitor; your customer service is lacking; your website or your store are not an appealing places to visit… and so on.

The bottom line is that social media is not the answer to everything, but it is a cost-effective way to strengthen your brand, promote your products and services, and drive more traffic to your door.  Once they get to your door, your products & services as well as your customer service have to take over.

Oh yes, and about “Return on Investment?”  When your social media marketing campaign is well designed and implemented, positive ROI is attainable and measurable but it takes diligence and effort to make it happen.

Visit our website at www.myvirtualproject.com

7 Tips On Making a Good “Virtual” First Impression

In today’s virtual world, you aren’t meeting people face to face and therefore, first impressions are often formed based on either an online communication such as a tweet on Twitter, a comment on a blog or an email.  Have you noticed that a high standard of ethics and “the customer is always right” mentality is less prevalent than it used to be? Being professional in business still counts whether it is virtual or in person.  You might make a very good first impression in person, but what does your virtual persona tell someone about you?  Here are 7 tips on making a good “virtual” first impression: 

1. Respond With Care – If you are responding to someone on Twitter or Facebook or another very public online medium, please be courteous and make that response private in the way of a direct message when it may be a very personal or embarrassing topic. Reprimanding on a public forum is as bad as screaming at someone in the middle of a crowded party. Be nice. Do you remember the saying “You can catch more flies with honey than you can with salt?”
2. Promote Yourself Prudently – People use social network tools for business. We know this. But social networking is about relationships too. Provide a good bio of yourself on your profiles, but please don’t constantly bombard people with your company website link or your affiliate links in your tweets and posts and emails. Every now and then is OK – but remember the post in thirds rule. Professional, Informational, Relational.
3. Be Honest. We all make mistakes. But if you know you made the mistake, own up to it. Don’t make excuses, don’t pass the buck. And give credit where credit is due.
4. Keep Your Word – Don’t over-promise and under-deliver. Just don’t do it. Your word is your promise. Don’t tell someone you’ll get back to them and then be a no-show. This is just plain rude and completely unprofessional. Set the expectation of when someone can expect to hear from you and then stick to it.
5. Say Thank You – If someone re-tweets you and you see that, thank them for it. If they compliment you on work you’ve done, thank them. This is just common courtesy and they will appreciate this.
6. DON’T TYPE IN CAPS AND MAKE ME THINK YOU ARE YELLING. This has been part of email etiquette for a long time. Does the way I typed that seem to stand up and scream? The strongest words are heard by the softest voice.
7. Spelling – Please take the time to use spell check or hire someone to write for you if that isn’t one of your strong suits. An occasional blip on the radar is expected, but a constant stream of misspelled words is a turn off. – P.S. Grammar is just as important.

 Anything else you can think of?

How can you afford to keep pace with technology when the economy and revenues are down?

I was talking to a business owner last week who said “I can’t afford to keep up with changing technology while the economy is in the state that it’s in. I just finished paying off a phone system and now it’s out of date. I need to replace it but just can’t justify the expense right now”.

If your technology is outdated, but still functional, you could concentrate on increasing revenues by using Social Media Marketing techniques to drive more business to your door. In today’s challenging economic times, entrepreneurs have to leverage the most cost effective tools available. More and more companies are turning to social media strategies. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and many other sites are FREE, so take advantage of them. Make a one-time investment in someone with the expertise needed to provide a well-designed, cohesive social media marketing campaign. It will help increase your brand recognition and grow your business. There are proven methods that really work. It takes commitment on the part of the business owner to make this type of campaign effective, but if you commit the time, you will succeed. When you increase your customer base, more revenue follows and the technology cost will take care of itself.

<a href=”http://technorati.com/claim/xuprgkbevu” rel=”me”>Technorati Profile</a>

Finding Your Niche Service Offerings

When we started My Virtual Project, the vision was to provide a valuable service in an unpredictable economy that would save money while at the same time deliver first class support to our clients. 

Susi’s background began in administrative support working for high-level management.  After several years she migrated into Information Technology providing her with a technical as well as administrative background.  She even ran her own business called Pro Office Support giving her the experience and knowledge necessary to run a business.

I come from a long career in Information Technology, beginning as a programmer and advancing over the years to the position of Chief Information Officer, running a 40 million dollar IT division, giving me the strategic planning, project management and people management skills necessary to run a large organization.

The initial vision for My Virtual Project was Susi’s and hers alone.  It was Virtual Office Support; to provide the kind of quality administrative support only experienced professionals can deliver, but at a price that could save the client money when compared to hiring a full time employee with just a moderate experience level.

Clients would not have to pay for employee benefits like health insurance, vacations, sick days, break time, phone time, down time when there’s not enough work to do, let alone not needing to provide office space, office furniture, computer equipment, phones, training… the list goes on.

Hiring a virtual assistant allows a client to use the services when, and only when, they are needed whether that is 10 hours per week or 10 hours per month.

So the company opened its virtual doors and business began.  After a slow start, things began to pick up.  Within the first few months, however, the vision began to change.  Susi got involved with the concept of Social Media Marketing, took a 6 week course from VAClassroom.com and upon graduation, received certification as a Social Media Marketing Specialist.  Our focus began to switch more to the Social Media Marketing activities and less on the administrative support functions.

Along with Social Media Marketing, one of Susi’s long-time passions is graphic arts, particularly design of logos.  This love of art and design dovetailed right into our Social Media Marketing package service offering which includes logo design, business card design, marketing brochures and blogs.  All these things are becoming more and more important in today’s “connected” world.

So welcome to the “NEW” My Virtual Project.  Re-focused and ready to rock.  We specialize in marketing material design and social media marketing assessment, planning and implementation. We also support a small array of office support functions such as desktop publishing, word processing, spreadsheets, database maintenance and project management.

The morale of this story:  Do what you love and you’ll do it better than anything else.

Are there Really Celebrities on Twitter? – Or are they “Twannabes” and are We Dealing with “Twackers”?

OK, I just had to write this.  Kind of a rant.  I just couldn’t help myself.  I have been seeing tweets about Ashton Kutcher, Demi Moore and David Letterman being on Twitter.  So, what’s the deal anyway?  How do you know if you are REALLY following a celebrity?  Do they really use Twitter?  And, if they do, why?  I can imagine that perhaps a celebrity might want to check out social networking for curiosity, but what are they seeking in the way of relationships?  Other celebrity friendships?  Nothing to do?  Time between takes?  Goods and services? Fans?

I’m actually following “David Letterman” (because I think he’s hilarious and because everybody says my brother looks like him) although I suspect that it’s not really him at all, but a “Twannabe” David Letterman. There seem to be some tweets that are perhaps the inspiration of his comedy writer.  But maybe it is him because shortly after I started following him, his updates became private.  Perhaps he was getting “twalked”.  

I think it would be pretty cool if you did have a celebrity following you – I mean, maybe they thought you really had something valuable to say and that’s the cool part.  I’d also follow a celebrity if I thought I could provide value for them, but chances are, they have everything they need.  Except perhaps, virtual assistance??

Really though – I have no interest in becoming a “twoupie” because, well honestly, at my age, I’m just done with that.  In my younger days, I worked at a few fine dining establishments that catered to the stars.  I embarrassed myself to the point of total shame in front of Kenny Loggins while he ate dinner with his wife and producer (so not my fault – I was dragged), waited on Cher and Kiss (when they were dating) in a famous disco on Rush Street in Chicago, and got to either meet or see many other famous people including Fred Astaire, my hero. And I loved it (maybe not the embarrassing thing) and it was fun, and it was cool to tell your friends, but it’s so over.

What bugs me is that these “Twackers” posing as “Twannabes” might do this for the wrong reasons and end up disappointing some that don’t see through it.  Just like hackers that put nasty things out there to see if they can bring down networks for the sheer sport of it.  And if you celebrities are really out there tweeting – COOL!  Join the networks!  Tell me about your day – I’d love to hear it!  And if you’re not, are you watching to see who might be representing you?  Don’t give the tabloids any more fodder.

So, Question 1:  Are these people that act like celebrities doing this for fun to see how many tweeple they can spoof into to following them because they think they are the real thing?  If so, does that mean they are “twacking” your Twitter stream? And…

Question 2:  Do you think there should be a way to verify identity on Twitter?  Or is that part of its appeal – the ability to remain anonymous?  I can see how an assistant might tweet and answer questions based on their knowledge of a person or a company, but I can’t see someone doing this for sport.

What do you think?

7 Things You Probably Don’t Know About Me

 My friend and colleague, Rachel Rasmussen from Rescue Desk Virtual Assistant Services just tagged me in her blog and asked me to write 7 Things You Probably Don’t Know About Me. This is a fun sport so I’m happy to oblige! Without further ado, here they are:
 

1. I’m a Chicago transplant to Wisconsin. I moved here 4-1/2 years ago. I think this little town called Lisbon it’s actually Wisconsin’s best kept secret. I lived in Schaumburg when I was in Illinois – home of the great Woodfield Shopping Mall and IKEA. One thing I should have realized before the move – IT’S EVEN COLDER AND SNOWIER HERE. What was I thinking?? Truth be told, however, I’m actually more at home here than I think I’ve ever been in my life.
2. I’m a newlywed. OK, so it’s the second time – it still counts. I was married on July 11, 2008 to the man I should have met 30 years ago. We had a formal wedding with the works – dress, flowers, rock band and all! I planned every little detail to perfection (See #6) because it was my first “real” wedding (eloped first time) and because it is definitely my LAST wedding. My husband and best friend, Chuck, is also my business partner!
3. I love to draw – and paint – and play a little piano.  I won’t call myself an artist, but I sure give it the old college try. I have done several pencil sketches and recently took up painting. I did my first acrylic painting a couple of weeks ago and we’ll just let that be a secret.
4. In the 70s, I briefly taught Ballroom Dance. I think I would have kept this up had it not been for the smarmy sales tactics this dance studio wanted me to use to entice new students. But I have loved and enjoyed dance for years. My husband and I actually hooked up with some dance lessons to choreograph a Foxtrot to “Just In Time” for our first dance at our wedding. That was fun! As an even more amazing note – I even won a DISCO contest in the 70s – Whoa! You SO want to hang with me now.
5. I LOVE BIG DOGS. (Maybe that’s why my favorite saying is “If you’re gonna’ run with the big dogs, you have to get off the porch!”)  About a year and a half ago, I had to put my beloved golden/lab mix down at the tender age of 14. If you’ve read the book Marley & Me, you know my dog. She was his clone with the exception of gender. I’m still not over it. But, the upside is that we still have Samantha, our 13-year-old small black lab who thinks she’s 2, is exceptionally obedient but certainly is a BOR (box of rocks).
6. I am a perfectionist. It’s sometimes a bad thing and sometimes a great thing. When I’m locked into a project, it’s great because the end result will be great. When I’m attempting to get my hair and makeup and outfit to coordinate for that special occasion – well, let’s just say – How much time do you have? Or if I have to get the last harness painted on the last reindeer cookie at 2 a.m., NOT TOO PRETTY.
7. My 7th thing – let’s see – vacations – I LOVE VACATIONS. My favorite, hands-down, undeniably, the bomb vacation is anywhere on a beach, but most notably, JAMAICA. Been there twice and can absolutely hear the ocean crashing against the beach at night, picture dancing reggae style to the steel band, feel the warm sun, taste the “bang” sauce and sing out loud to “One Love” by Bob Marley. What’s not to love?

I bet there’s a lot more you probably don’t know about me, but that’s OK. A little glimpse into someone’s life gets the ball rolling anyway. So, to Carrie Anderson and Lauren McMullen, TAG – you’re it! Won’t you please give us a little peak into your life?

Social Media Marketing – Are You Certified?

 

My Virtual Project is Certified in Social Media Marketing!

My Virtual Project is very proud to announce that they have recently become certified as Social Media Marketing Specialists!  I took a great course at VAClassroom with Craig Cannings, who is not only an excellent teacher, he’s a very generous and responsive one as well.  The class that I attended was informative and fun at the same time and I have made many friendships as a bonus!  If you are a Virtual Assistant considering adding Social Media to your repertoire of services, or a new Virtual Assistant who has not yet found their “niche”, I would highly recommend taking Craig’s class.  Here is what Craig has to say on Social Media and their class offering:

   

“At the end of 2008, I had an opportunity to read many blog posts from Internet experts making their predictions for 2009 and guess what was at the top of their list: Social Media Marketing. It is anticipated that Social Media will grow at unprecedented rates in 2009 and beyond as more and more businesses seek to leverage this powerful new marketing channel.

 

A further prediction is that Social Media Marketing Services will be in very high demand through 2009! Most businesses either lack the time or expertise to effectively carry out all the necessary Social Media Marketing Activities and will be seeking to delegate these tasks to skilled Social Media Marketing Specialists.

 

VAClassroom.com has recently released a high calibre 7 module training program based on the seven hottest Social Media Marketing Services requested by businesses today including:

 

- Social Media Strategy and Action Planning

- Social Networking Profile Set-up and Management

- Facebook Marketing

- Twitter Marketing

- Online Video Marketing

- Online Reputation Management

- Social Media Content Distribution

 

The Social Media Marketing Specialist Training Program offers a self-directed training system for Virtual Assistants and Online Professional seeking to offer these in-demand services to their new and existing client base. The program features 8 modules, 30 videos, an interactive and supportive learning community, comprehensive resource guides, assignments and a Social Media Marketing Specialist Certification.

 

Access one of 75 seats in the January Program and don’t miss out on one of the most important training opportunities you will take this year.”

 

As it currently stands, VAClassroom offers the ONLY Social Media Marketing Training Program targeting Service Providers, Consultants and Virtual Assistants. 

 

The Social Media Marketing Specialist Training Program will be open for registration on January 15th at 11am PST. There are only 75 seats available for January’s Program and, believe me, they fill up very fast!

 

If you are interested in this class, don’t waste another minute – Sign up today for what is sure to be 2009’s greatest business opportunity for VAs!

 

 

New Business in Today’s Economy – Good Idea?

In today’s challenging economy, one might seriously question whether starting a new business is really the right thing to do. I have just done this and, in all honesty, it was and is a somewhat scary feeling. I do feel very lucky, however, because I have the total support of my family and friends, not to mention incredible organizations like VANetworking.com and the IVAA (International Virtual Assistant Association). I’d like to share an article published by Barb Bartlein* of The People Pro on the “Five Essentials for the Entrepreneur”. She has a fantastic newsletter that I signed up for a long time ago and it is always a worthy read. This particular article is geared toward the Milwaukee area, but the points made are applicable in any new startup. And as another budding entrepreneur recently remarked to me, “There is no bad time to do something you love”!

Five Essentials for the Entrepreneur

The economy may be tanking but new research from Barclays suggests that entrepreneurs are far from being discouraged by reports of an economic slowdown.  They report an estimated 98,000 new start-ups formed in the first three months of 2008, which is the highest number of start-ups in the last three quarters.  According to statistics, the most popular industries for start-ups were business and financial services, construction and the retail sector.   As John Davis, Marketing Director for Local Business at Barclays said, “…there is a feeling there is never a bad time to start a good business.”

 

Now there is a new group in Milwaukee helping entrepreneurs do exactly that.  BizStarts Milwaukee launched last month with the resources, networking and know how to help create a vibrant, innovative and prosperous entrepreneurial business climate.  The goal of BizStarts is to create an infrastructure designed to nurture and grow innovative, fast-track companies. 

The Milwaukee 7 region has long ranked in the lowest third of states for business start-ups.  This means slower job and wage growth as most new jobs are created by small companies.  BizStarts know that the majority of new jobs are created by entrepreneurial companies and jobs are what build a strong community.  They have identified five essentials for an entrepreneur to start a business:

 

1.    A great idea that fills a need.  Successful entrepreneurs identify a “burning customer need” and their product or service must meet that need.  Dan Steininger, one of the BizStart founders says, “The product or service must have market differentiation; something unique that distinguishes them in the market place.  And most importantly, that delivers the customers.”
 

Make sure you do your homework.  You need to understand how the competition is meeting the need the need today and how your product or service must perform and be priced in order to compete.  Who is your target buyer and how do you reach them?  And most importantly, why should they buy from you?

2.    A business plan.  Statistics from the Small Business Administration indicate that a business with a plan is 40% more likely to survive than a business without a plan, yet 60% of small businesses do not have a written business plan. A comprehensive plan is essential and includes a mission statement, business description, market analysis, marketing plan, executive summary, management and operations and financial projections.  A business plan should be a living document with frequent review and updates to stay current.

For tools to launch your business, visit: www.bizstartsmilwaukee.com

 

3.    Capital.  Many entrepreneurs start their companies by “bootstrapping,” using personal resources along with sales revenue to sustain and grow a company.  This offers them flexibility and control without answering to outside investors.  Numerous successful companies including Dell Computers were founded this way.  But to grow past the initial level, an entrepreneur may need outside investors and angel capital to grow.  BizStarts Milwaukee helps network entrepreneurs to investors who are looking for start up companies. 
     

4.    Mentors.  I have owned and operated three businesses and come from a family of entrepreneurs.  My mother owned her own company and all of my siblings are business owners.  When I wanted to start my latest business, Great Lakes Consulting Group, I received nothing but encouragement and advice.  Not all new entrepreneurs are so fortunate.  Too often, more people give you reasons why it won’t work than why it could. 

 

Having mentors and guidance from people who have been there is invaluable. They provide the answers, the resources, and encouragement to help new business owners be successful.  Mentors are the role models that demonstrate that it can be done.

 

5.

    Tenacity.  Owning your own business can be a roller coaster of new contracts or business slowdowns.  One of the differences between a successful business and one that does not get off the ground is whether the owner(s) gives up.  Too many people give up just before a business is profitable.  Successful entrepreneurs know that it takes tenacity to build a business with the eye on the prize.  They turn discouragement into energy and work harder to overcome obstacles.  I have found that you have to work at least half-time; any twelve hours per day will do.

 

 

 

 

 

“Barbara Bartlein, CSP, is The People Pro ®, and President of Great Lakes Consulting Group, LLC, which helps businesses sell more goods and services by developing people. She presents keynotes and seminars on stress management, balance, productivity, customer service and leadership. She can be reached at 888-747-9953, by email at: barb@ThePeoplePro.com or visit her website at http://www.thepeoplepro.com

Project Management – Take charge of your resources to ensure that high-quality deliverables are provided on time and within budget.

Are the deadlines for your projects often not met?  Are you unsure of the status of your projects at any given time?  Is the original budget for your projects typically exceeded?  Are the results of your projects less than initially expected?

 

If you answered yes to most of these questions, chances are your projects need more effective management.  Project management helps prevent these problems by organizing and managing resources to ensure that deliverables are completed on time, within budget, and that they are of high quality.  The larger the project scope, the more important this becomes.

 

Certainly in the case of a friend of mine this is true.  His manufacturing company implemented an upgrade to their main computer application and on the Monday when it went live, the system went down and stayed down for a week while problems were identified and repaired.  They couldn’t order parts, make products or know when deliveries were due.  Most businesses today cannot easily survive after a week without their main computer system.  This situation really needed an experienced project manager.

 

What does a Project Manager actually do?  The primary function of the project manager is to coordinate all project-related activities and to monitor progress of the agreed-upon work, timelines, and costs.  Before initiating the effort, the project manager works closely with the client to prepare a project plan outlining critical paths and milestones and determining the budget.  Throughout the project, the project manager reports the status of each task, changes in scope, and potential risk of not meeting targeted timelines and budgets.  This person becomes the primary point of communication between the client and the project team members, facilitating the flow of information between the two parties.  The project manager must proactively assess and evaluate resource allocation, execution of project tasks, and timelines for deliverables.  He or she also drives implementation of contingency plans, problem resolution, and is empowered to motivate and influence the project team to achieve the project’s overall goals.  The term “project manager” often becomes synonymous with project champion, project coordinator, project advocate, or project leader.

 

Throughout the delivery, the project manager monitors the use of resources against project timelines, budgets, and requirements, and recommends necessary adjustments to resources and timelines.  Key to the effectiveness of project management is proactively identifying potential impediments to completing the project in a timely and cost-effective manner.

 

The next step involves prioritizing the risks in order of probability and magnitude of impact on costs, quality, and timelines, and then formulating a risk management plan.  The plan should list strategies to mitigate risks, persons responsible, and timetables for implementation, resources, assumptions made, and ways to measure effectiveness.

 

Every project has its share of problems and issues.  It is wise to devise a plan detailing when and how to escalate an issue to the next level supervisor, someone from upper management, quality assurance, or the client. Although there are no hard-and-fast rules, the following are some of the warning signs that someone of greater authority should be consulted:

 

•             Timelines are going to be compromised

•             Client has started to express concern or dissatisfaction

•             Several attempts or approaches at resolving the problem have failed

•             Expertise within the team is limited or there is turnover mid-project

 

The project manager’s role is to inform the client of the problem in a timely manner and facilitate the resolution of the issue.

 

Some project managers use software such as “Microsoft Project” or other similar product to manage projects.  Project management skills take a great deal of time to learn and hone, usually requiring formal training and years of experience.  With these disciplines in place, projects have a much greater probability of success.

 

What are your experiences with projects?  Do you agree with the need for a project manager?  Have you worked on projects in the past that have been successful without a PM?  Your opinions and stories are welcome.

 

Voting – Critical This Year Especially

I am not normally a person who engages in many political discussions and can usually sort out the issues and arrive at a solid decision on my preferred candidate.  This year has been a lot tougher.  There is really quite a bit at stake in this election, much more than in previous years.  I won’t go on a soapbox, but I would encourage everyone to check this article out:

 

http://www.jsonline.com/news/opinion/31191709.html

 

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ran this article entitled Score the Candidates in their Crossroads section on October 19. 

 

I sat down with my husband and a friend yesterday and we spent 2 hours going through each and every issue, debating each other, and adding up points to help with our voting decision.  We found this “scorecard” invaluable to our ability to assess the candidates. 

 

If you haven’t yet made a decision, or maybe even if you have, you might want to check it out.  And please, please – get out and VOTE this year!

Making Time for Work AND Pleasure

Making time for both work goals and personal goals is not as easy as one would think. You may feel fragmented or overwhelmed if you are not achieving a sense of balance between the two.  Your work and personal life will both suffer if you are not managing to meet your needs and responsibilities.  We can’t do everything, we know that, but if you ask yourself; “Am I doing things that are the most important to me? Am I spending time wisely? Am I making time for both work and play?” and your answer is NO, you may want to step back and examine your life.  Remember, we have to plan for tomorrow but LIVE for today.

 

At one time, I was married with a small child and a full time job.  Being a musician, I had a hard time balancing work, home, rehearsal and gigging time.  I would get up at 4:30am every morning so that I could practice for 2 hours before going to work (of course I used headphones so as not to wake the family).  This way I could prepare for band rehearsal without impacting my family responsibilities as well as still being able to work full time.  Although not fun, and I don’t necessarily recommend it, it was a solution that worked for me.  Having balance in your life is easier if you:

 

·        Identify your priorities

·        Reduce unnecessary activities

·        Set goals and make a plan

·        Revisit priorities and goals occasionally

 

Also, get a handle on the stress in your life.  This can help you make time for work and play and feel good about your general well-being. 

 

·        Locate the sources of stress and work to reduce or eliminate them

·        Work off the effects of stress physically

·        Accept the things that you cannot change

·        Organize what you can, without being a perfectionist

·        Realize that you do not control the emotions or behavior of others

·        Take one thing at a time

·        Compromise. You don’t always have to have it done your way. Agree to disagree

·        Get away from it for a while

 

Finally, you should ask yourself, “Is my work and personal life in balance?  Do I feel good about the balance”?  Remember:  LIFE IS NOT A DRESS REHEARSAL.

 

Keeping Fit When Your Time is Mostly in the Chair

If you are like me, trying to keep a regular fitness routine going is difficult when the first thing you do when you get up in the morning is head to the computer. I try to carve out a half hour to stop and work out, but many times, I end up getting involved with work, forum posts or emails and I tend to shrug off the workout.

 

So, here are a few things that you can do to at least try to keep yourself on track:

 

1) Make sure you get up and take a quick walk around the house every half hour or so.

2) Sign up for www.myfitnesspal.com. This is a great FREE site that allows you to manage not only your food intake, but also your fitness routine and how many calories, carbs, etc. are burned. You can set goals and this really has helped me stick to them!

 

3) Drink LOTS of water.

4) Don’t eat the same food for lunch every day – your body gets used to the same foods and if you mix it up, you will fire your metabolism.

5) Make a list of foods that you can eat large quantities of without guilt (plain air popcorn, raw veggies, etc.). Stick to those and stay away from sweets and carbs like white bread which tend to spike blood sugar and lead to water retention and puffiness. (This one is VERY hard for me – I’m a sweet freak and I do tend to get puffy!)

6) If you’re on a webinar, and your headset will allow it, stand for the bulk of the webinar!

 

I’m sure there are other tips out there, but these are things I try to do when I’m having one of those “oops too late to work out” days.

 

What kinds of things help you?

 

Enjoy!

Business Networking Helps Grow Your Business – Fact or Fiction?

They say that one of the best ways to get business is through networking.  So what is business networking all about, what makes it so invaluable to its supporters and how can you maximize your networking time?

My wife and I joined BNI, a local chapter of the largest business referral network in the world.   I was a bit skeptical at first, thinking “how could this possibly help our business?”  It didn’t take long for me to see that there actually can be value in meeting with other business owners and discussing what they do and how we can help each other grow our businesses.

We believe that in our networking meetings, if we focus on other people’s business, other people’s interests and engage them in conversation; it will make for a much more enjoyable experience.  We ask ourselves, how can I help this person?  Can I introduce a member to a possible partner or business opportunity?  Do I have some great resource that they could benefit from?  What one piece of information, advice or one contact could I give to this person?”  Sooner or later most people do say, “So what exactly do you do and how can I help you?” which comfortably let’s you talk about what you offer without it appearing as a “sales pitch”.

All the effort you invest in helping others will come back to you as a positive impact on your business.

Our BNI group also schedules a 10 minute presentation each week that rotates from member to member, providing the opportunity to describe, in greater detail, what the member does and how the organization can help them achieve their goals.  We also have the option of scheduling a one hour 1-on-1 meeting with a member to exchange information on each other’s business.  We have had one meeting thus far and have three more scheduled for the upcoming weeks.

We have a referral process as a standard agenda item each meeting where referrals are given back and forth.  These referrals are recorded, tracked and the results are shared with the group each week as part of the referral update agenda item.  It is amazing how many referrals are passed each month and the dollar impact it has on the businesses.

Maximizing your networking time can be summarized in the following points.

1.      Dress appropriately for the meeting so you feel comfortable but also think about how you can be noticed and remembered. You are marketing yourself and representing your company – how do you want to be perceived?

2.      Make time before the meeting to really think about the message you want to deliver.  It will serve you well once you “get into” the meeting itself.

3.      Try to speak with at least one new member each week to get better acquainted.  You could even take the opportunity to set up a 1-on-1 meeting with that person.

4.      Listen, Listen, Listen… spend time really hearing what other people are saying. Get them talking about themselves, their business and what challenges they are facing.  Great networkers create relationships first.  Time spent listening and gathering information will enable you to really understand how you can help someone. This is always the primary activity – give first.

In my short-lived experience with Business Networking, these are my observations.  Thus far, I would say Business Networking DOES make a positive impact.  This is FACT not Fiction.

Opinions anyone?

Unleash the Marketing Power of Your Website

It used to be that when we wanted to locate goods and/or services, we would look to the Yellow Pages to find local businesses. They were alphabetically listed by category and once a potential was found, we would call or visit them for what we needed. But this is now a virtual world and more times than not customers will turn to the internet to locate their goods and services. Some have turned solely to the internet for all their purchasing needs. Typically, they will choose a search engine such as Google or Yahoo, type a few keywords based on what they’re looking for, hit enter and BAM, 10,000 – 100,000 hits are brought back in the blink of an eye with websites and related items based on what they entered in the search line. A quick scan down the list for a possible choice, a click on the link and you’re instantly visiting the related website. This is today’s shopping experience. It is uncommon for this type of customer to look past the first few pages of the returned result.

If you are a supplier of goods and services, and you have a website, you want YOUR website to show up on the coveted first page of the potential customers search and the one that is clicked on. This is a tall order and most times, your website is found 10, 20 even 50 pages down the list and because of that, it is basically never seen. So how do we get our website viewed by those that don’t already know it exists? Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the answer. SEO is a technique of designing your website to be search engine friendly. When you publish your website to the search engines, they use what is called a “Spider” or “Crawler” program to examine your website for things like material content, keywords, links in, links out, links within, age, frequency of maintenance, and this program finds all the places your website is referenced throughout the entire internet. The better your content, the more links and external references that are found, the higher the score assigned to your website and the higher the ranking in the pecking order of results.

A great many business owners are unaware of the potential marketing impact that exists with a website. You should take advantage of all the capabilities that the internet has to offer. This includes not only website design and SEO tuning, but also blogging and social networking. If you invest the time to learn and set up accounts with networking sites like “Facebook”, “Linkedin” and “Twitter”, AND take the time to maintain the information there, it will not only help with your social networking efforts to build contacts and business relationships, but it will also help with SEO for your website. At the end of the day, you want your name and your website mentioned online as often as possible and in as many places as possible.

If you don’t have the knowledge or the resources to do these things on your own, you should enlist the assistance of someone who is trained in this area. You’ve spent time and money on putting up a website, now go to the next level and actually use this tool and the internet to your maximum advantage.

Thoughts?

I Click the What Icon Where?

If you’ve ever created any documentation for a procedure, you know that words are sometimes hard to come by. Pictures, as they say, can express a thousand words.

When creating a “How To” scenario, a picture can mean the difference between a user “getting it” or not. Some people are highly visual and only learn that way. So, if someone were trying to show you how to get from Point A to Point B through a document, which way would work better for you?

Let’s use a simplistic procedure like saving a Word 2007 document to the desktop as an example:

First Example:

Click the Windows looking button on the top left and then click Save As from the File Menu. Then, under “Save a Copy of the Document”, click Word Document. In that box that opens, find the place you want to save it to, and then click save.

Or, perhaps this Second Example might work better:

Click the icon (the Office Button) in the top left of your Word screen that looks like this:

 

 

You will see a window that looks like this:

Make the selection as shown by the red arrows by first clicking “Save As” and then “Word Document”.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now choose the location where you’d like to save your file, such as the “Desktop” as shown here.

Make sure you have the file name that you prefer, as shown in the “File Name Field” and indicated by the green checkmark.

Click the “Save” button indicated by the red arrow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Your document is now saved to your computer’s desktop.

 As you can see, the second example may be easier to interpret.

One way to capture an entire screen is to use the ALT+Print combination on your keyboard to capture the screen, then use the CTRL+V combination to paste it to a Word document. This is limited, however, to the entire window you are in.

A more robust way to create documentation like this is to use a screen capturing tool. My favorite tool for this is SnagIt by Techsmith. It is very robust allowing you to not only capture windows, but regions, objects, scrolling windows, time delayed menus and more.

Happy documenting!

SOCIAL MARKETING GHOSTWRITERS – Agree or Not?

There is heated debate in the Social Networking circles about those who completely “outsource” social networking response maintenance to another person or company. Recently, comments such as “I just don’t have the time to do it myself” have been made by those doing the outsourcing. Also, comments like “They pay me to do it, so I do it” came from some in the industry who perform this service and believe this is an administrative task and a way to generate revenue.  Others strongly believe that this is a core ethics issue and misrepresents the intent of social networking.

There is no law against hiring someone to represent your social networking initiatives, so the playing field is wide open to do whatever you like in this situation.  However, remember that your social networking presence is all about YOU, who YOU are and what YOU think.  Nobody else in the world can represent your thoughts, opinions, and personality like YOU can, that is, unless they dictate every word to you beforehand. 

The result is that everyone looking at your online presence will not know the real you.  They may not even like your online personality, as it is represented.  To quote Jeffrey Gitomer, author of The Little Black Book of Connections, “All things being equal, people want to do business with their friends.  All things being not quite so equal, people STILL want to do business with their friends”.

Can you afford to take that risk?  Personally, I think NOT.

What do you think?

Top Five Office Tips for 2008

According to Tech Republic, their Microsoft Office Blog had a busy year, with almost 300 tips and techniques contributed by a variety of experts.

 

Here are their top five favorites for 2008:

 

#1: How do I… Add music and narration to a PowerPoint presentation?

Sound effects, such as music and voice recordings, can mean the difference between a good presentation and an outstanding one. See how to use sound to energize your audience and deliver a more engaging show.

 

#2: Add a drop-down list to an Excel cell - **A personal favorite**

Using Excel’s Data Validation feature, you can limit user entries by providing them with a specific list of choices.

 

#3: Don’t get derailed by Office 2007 compatibility issues

As with any major upgrade, Office 2007 brings concerns about compatibility. Learn how to minimize compatibility headaches when you make the jump to the latest version.

 

#4: Avoid e-mail mistakes with a single setting

We’ve all done it and regretted it — sent an e-mail to the wrong person, sent an angry e-mail in haste, or sent an e-mail containing mistakes. See how you can prevent such embarrassing (or possibly career damaging) errors.

 

#5: Use Outlook to send e-mail to a cell phone

Outlook can call your cell phone — which is a convenient way to transfer phone numbers, short messages, reminders, and other important stuff so you can store it or share it. Here’s a look at this simple process.

 

I’ve got another personal favorite.  I love being able to use multiple accounts with multiple signatures in Outlook 2007. 

 

 

What are your favorites?