The Dust Just Keeps on Collecting!!!

January 22, 2013 By Leave a Comment

If you are anything like me, you probably have a shelf full of information products that you had really great intentions on implementing. Somehow though life seems to get in the way and we never quite find the time to truly do anything about the vast amounts of knowledge just waiting on our shelves.

Why is it then that we continue to purchase new information products? The latest, the greatest, then next big thing your business cannot succeed without?

The answer is quite plain and simple … we are in pursuit of our dreams, we are hoping, wishing and praying that success will find us. The problem is we are actually the ones that need to go find the success.

I 100% believe that the reason many of us don’t find the success we desire comes down to one very simple answer … ACTION!! If we don’t take action nothing can ever come from all of those books simply collecting dust.

So here is my question and my challenge to you …

In the next seven days is there just one thing you can do to take action on one of those dust collecting books? Take the time to dive into one of those books and create a plan … make your dreams a reality and take ACTION!!

Oh, and don’t forget to share here what action you plan to take this week. When we write down our goals it entices us to actually take the ACTIONs that we say that we will take.

So next time before you purchase a new information product make a pledge to yourself to keep it off the shelf and do everything in your power to implement what you learn!!

Filed Under: Information Products, Yvonne's Thoughts Tagged With: , , ,

Do You Make Your Mess Your Mission?

January 18, 2013 By 1 Comment

One of my favourite Entrepreneurs that I love to follow is Suzanne Evans. One of the many pearls of wisdom I have learned from her is the importance of making your mess your mission. In the last few months I have learned so many lessons and come up upon a lot of messes. I truly believe, as Entrepreneurs, if we are going to move forward in our business, it is important to take these lessons, learn from them and make it our mission to avoid making the same mistakes in the future. I have taken these messes and created a plan for 2013 that feels more authentic to me and will allow me to truly turn my mess into something that I know can help other entrepreneurs who may be facing similar situations.

Another thing I learned from Suzanne is that even more importantly, people resonate with you when you give a “human” element to your business and share your story. So that’s why today rather than continuing to hide I am ready to face these obstacles head on. It is time for me to take these experiences and move forward and get back in the game. So today I want to share with you the valuable lessons I have learned from these trying few months.

  1. It’s okay to make mistakes
    As a perfectionist I have spent so much time trying to build the “perfect” business; the problem is that this is an impossible pursuit. I 100% believe now that building a “perfect” business is more about taking action, even if that action is imperfect. Nothing builds a business faster than making mistakes and learning from them. The challenges that I have faced in the last few months have provided me with so many ideas about how to move my business forward and continue to face adversity head on.
  2. A supportive network is key
    I have felt like “such a mess” these last few months and it felt great to hear my business coach say to me, “you aren’t a mess you are growing and like it or not growing can be messy.” If you don’t have a great support network the challenges you face can definitely tear you down.
  3. It’s important to do what feels right and not what you think others expect of you
    Honestly this is the biggest, biggest lesson I have learned. I have been so busy building a business that I thought everyone expected me to build rather than one that followed my true dreams and passions. As much as I promote authentic marketing, when I was honest with myself I wasn’t being authentic in my own business anymore.

The last two weeks have been fantastic and I just know that someday soon I will be sharing even more details of my challenging end to 2012. Every successful entrepreneur needs messes to learn, move forward and build a business that is better as a result of it. As I said earlier the most important thing to remember is ACTION … you can’t expect to reach your dreams by simply dreaming and wishing!!

If you take anything away from this blog post, take this thought with you … marketing is such an important part of your business, market with authenticity, don’t be afraid to share yourself and your stories and most importantly market with consistency. This is my pledge for 2013; to be authentic and to be consistent!!

My mantra for 2013 is “It’s okay to take imperfect action” … this is why I believe I needed to face so many obstacles in 2012 is to give me the motivation and drive to take the imperfect actions in 2013 that I know will build a bigger and better business for me!!

Filed Under: General Tips and Advice, Stories and Tidbits, Yvonne's Thoughts Tagged With: , ,

Is a ‘Jack of All Trades’ Truly a Master of None?

August 24, 2012 By 1 Comment

According to Wikipedia, “Jack of all Trades, Master of None” is a figure of speech used in reference to a person that is competent with many skills but is not necessarily outstanding in any particular one. There are many conflicting thoughts on whether it is good business sense to try to be everything for everyone, essentially a “Jack of all Trades,” or to niche your business and become the expert in one area.

I believe that, in our course as entrepreneurs, we learn many, many skills in order to build a successful business. There are so many hats that we must wear and skills we must learn that, essentially, it almost requires us to be a jack of all trades to be successful … or does it?

Studies have shown that the most successful entrepreneurs are the ones that specialize and concentrate on building their reputation in one area. But, why is this? The common belief is that when you set yourself up as an expert, you are perceived at having greater value and can, accordingly, charge more for your services. Let’s look at this a little closer.

In the Virtual Assistant industry, as an example, there are so many different skill-sets that are in demand and require a vast amount of knowledge. These days, Virtual Assistants are expected to know both administrative and more specialized and technical services as well. Potential clients are left wondering whether they should rely on a team of VAs (each with their own skill-set) or a VA that is able to service all of their needs. How can one person have the necessary skills to assist with a product launch one day, create top notch reports and presentations another day, and customize a website another day, all while building a social media presence? The demands are great and if you can service all of these needs (essentially have the ability to be a “Jack of all Trades”), you might just be of more value to a potential client. So the question remains – does the VA that has all of these skills and can meet all of these needs have the same value as say a “Social Media VA?” It’s a matter of choice, but the simple point I am trying to provide is that a Jack of all Trades does not necessarily mean that you can’t master every skill necessary to meet your client’s needs.

Don’t get me wrong. I understand the value of having one expertise and promoting that expertise so let’s get back to my original question … with so many hats that we must wear and skills we must learn as an entrepreneur, does this require us to be a “Jack of all Trades” to be successful? I believe the answer is a resounding no … there is but one skill, as an entrepreneur, that I believe we must all successfully master and that is the art of being able to decipher between what we are good at, what we absolutely love to do, and what we need to leave to the art of delegation.

Instead of trying to become a “Jack of all Trades” in your business, if you truly, truly want your business to succeed, take the time to discover the areas of your business that you absolutely know would be better handled by an expert and don’t be afraid to delegate. I believe it is then that you will truly find the successful business you desire.

Filed Under: General Tips and Advice, Yvonne's Thoughts

What Does Authentic Mean to You?

July 30, 2012 By Leave a Comment

There is a huge movement lately by internet marketers towards authentic marketing. Some also use other terms such as relationship marketing and heart centered marketing to describe authentic marketing. I totally 100% understand the “theory” behind authentic marketing, but there are so many conflicting ideas on the internet that I wanted to ask you what authentic marketing means to you.

Unfortunately my go to website Wikipedia does not yet have an entry for authentic marketing so I thought it might be interesting to get some of your feedback.

To me authentic marketing simply means being yourself in business and marketing with that in mind. So often as entrepreneurs we try to be what we think others want us to be instead of being true to ourselves. So as I said, I would love to hear your thoughts …

Filed Under: Relationship Marketing, Yvonne's Thoughts

Redesigning my Office for Success

June 8, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Recently I was listening to a free teleseminar that my good friend, Amanda Gates put together entitled “Simple Design Techniques Built to Improve Your Business Bottom Line” and I was just so excited with everything she was saying. I am one of those people that due to circumstance lost my private office and was relegated to the basement to share space with my children’s “playroom”. After listening to her teleseminar I told my husband that it was definitely time for a change.

Taking into account some of the great tips that Amanda provided in her teleseminar I totally moved my office and set designated spaces for the kids and space for myself. It was amazing how refreshed and ready to conquer the world I was … I couldn’t believe the shift in both my mindset and how I started to conduct my business.

For any entrepreneur I would definitely, definitely recommend that you listen to this teleseminar and look at ways that your current office setup is holding you back from achieving the success in your business that you are looking for.

I would love to hear your feedback once you have listened to it as I just know it will change your outlook on your office as well.

To download your copy of this free teleseminar please follow this link and sign up to receive the recording.

Filed Under: General Tips and Advice, Yvonne's Thoughts

A New and Exciting Venture for Me

May 27, 2009 By Leave a Comment

I have been in business for over three years now and decided that it was time to shake things up for my business. I had never been a huge advocate for having a “niche” market and have built my business to this point as a generalist. Now that my business has grown and has become successful and profitable, I wanted to try something new and exciting.

I did a lot of research on the internet about what niches Virtual Assistants were “servicing” and did some soul searching into what truly excites me and makes me happy. The simple answer to this question was working with clients that are looking to maintain contact with their existing clients and promote themselves to others in an effort to grow their client database.

My true passion is marketing, writing and customer relations. By utilizing all of these passions within my business together with the passions and skills of my VA team, I know that my business (and my client’s businesses) are destined for great things!!

Filed Under: Business News, General Tips and Advice, Yvonne's Thoughts