Rescue Desk

If you ever hear about how successful gazillionaires got their start, it’s not unusual to hear their story start with “I built my first gizmo on the tool bench in the back of the garage…” or “My first office was the cramped corner of our basement…” or “My business was born between meals at the kitchen table…”

What do all these stories have in common? They started at home.

It’s often the most logical (and sometimes the only) option to starting a small business. The commute is three seconds, the dress code includes whatever is clean, you can start and end your day when you like, or reward yourself after a string of 14-hour days with a random Tuesday afternoon walk through the park.

But, it also means the commute is only three seconds, there are days the clothes you’re wearing are only questionably clean, days run together as your scrambling to build your business, and sometimes the Tuesday walk through the park is thwarted by worry about what you’re In Box is doing while you’re away.

But, to maintain my sanity and still make progress, I’ve been discovering little tips and tricks for the newly christened home office … whether it’s a converted spare bedroom, the back of the closet, the shed behind the house, or an underground bunker.

Go Pit Bull on your time
I treat my day like I would any on-site job, and decided early not to be shy about setting office hours. Granted, I usually shuffle in earlier and stay later, but it helps me stay committed to growing my business without feeling like the “bad guy” when chatty neighbors or well-meaning friends call for mid-day favors. It’s easy enough to say “Sure, I can help! I work from 9 to 5:30, so if it’s before or after, let me know!”

It’s OK to walk away
This is the blessing and curse of the three-second commute … it’s damn near impossible to walk away at the end of the day. But, for your sanity, try.  Burnout is not an option, and walking away is the best line of defense. For me, walking away means literally shutting down my computer because it’s a hassle to fire it up again for “just one more quick thing.” It’s not always easy, but I try to do it fast so everything is shut down before I realize it. Like ripping off a bandage.

Separation of Church and State
Along the same lines as walking away, I’ve found it’s imperative to have truly dedicated spaces for work and life. I resist the temptation to grab my red pen and take even a simple editing project from my office into the living room.  I fear it’ll start with one project, and before I know it, every surface will be covered and I won’t have an escape. By limiting your work to its rightful place, there’s no need to worry about escape. It’s amazing what simply closing the door can do.

Coffee Breaks
OK … this is actually code for “meeting.” But, it’s the only workaround I could come up with since vowing to shun meetings after my life in corporate America. But, it’s my way to get my tail-end out of the office, make sure I still have some clean clothes hanging in the closet, and stay connected with the outside world. In my line of work, it’s also an effective networking tool, as I often schedule follow-up coffee breaks with people I meet at events just to get to know them a little better. I try to schedule at least two or three coffee breaks every week.

These are just a few of the tricks I’m picking up along the way, but so far they’re pretty effective tools in keeping me motivated and somewhat balanced. It’s not always easy to work from home, but the pros tend to outmaneuver the cons if you’re conscious about how and where you’re spending your time.

As I perused my morning newspaper, a small headline caught my attention.

“The Bottom Line: Optimistic Entrepreneurs”

Finally…some good news!

It was just a short brief, but it summarized a survey by American Express of small business owners that showed America’s small business owners are “optimistic in the face of the economy’s downturn, with the majority planning to expand their operations despite cash flow concerns and soaring energy costs.”

The brief went on to quote an American Express small-business advisor, who echoed the 627 owners and managers who were surveyed. “This is a good opportunity for them to hire people leaving other jobs, talent that was not available to them a year or two ago…”

Almost as good as the first cup of coffee in the morning, the story injected a little energy into my own determination to be a successful small business owner. However, not only did it solidify my resolve to follow the “goals for growth” outlined in my own business plan, but it reassured me that it’s the perfect time to be in the virtual assistance industry.

The entrepreneurs and executives in the survey want to grow their businesses, but I think it’s safe to assume they’re also not unaware of the current economic climate. I have no doubt that most of them are starting to think outside the box in order to stay on track to grow.

That, my friends, is where us VAs are ready to roll.

I’m sure most of you have seen the stats and the benefits.

• VAs can often get something done in three hours what can take an on-site employee six hours to complete.
• While a VA’s hourly rate may seem higher than a permanent staffer, we all know it’s actually a cost savings because an employee can cost up to 2½ times their actual salary.
• Hiring permanent employees can potentially be risky, costly and time-consuming. So, having a few virtual staffers can easily be an interim or permanent solution for just about any business.
• VAs have a unique understanding of their entrepreneur clients.  VAs are also business owners, so they understand productivity, the importance of their own professional development and, similar to what their clients probably do for their own customers, not hesitating to go above-and-beyond the call of duty.

It’s prime time for us virtual professionals. We’re pretty good at thinking outside the box – it’s a necessary skill in order to efficiently and cost-effectively tackle the plethora of projects that come across our desks. So, I think we’re naturally drawn to our entrepreneur clients, who are also adept at energetically finding ways around conventional economic wisdom in order to succeed. 

It’s time to start an Economic Renaissance. As we hob-nob with current and potential VA clients, remember … we’re all in this together, and outside the box can often be the best place to be.

I spent some time working for a woman who was, hands down, one of the most brilliant corporate marketers I’d ever worked with. She was highly creative, fiercely intelligent, beyond experienced and always, always had her eye on the goal. Granted, she could also be hell on wheels … she didn’t shy away from pushing for answers, slicing through red tape with a machete, having extremely high expectations, and stepping on a few toes to get things done.

I learned more about marketing by watching her than I have from just about anyone else.  She even branded herself to stand out, being fearless (and looking great) in bright pink blazers and colorful skirts, taking fabulous vacations, and having the confidence in knowing that she could dole out the fear of God just as easily as a funny story. 

I’d had plenty of experience working with marketing teams and riding shotgun when new promotional strategies were in the works. But, this woman continuously brought me back to one simple question: What’s your brand?

It’s now the question I ask myself every time I develop a new marketing or promotion strategy for my own business, and is usually one of the first questions I ask potential clients when they want my help with a project.

I know it’s obvious, but I think business owners — especially first-time business owners — sometimes need to be reminded that their brand should be the baseline for just about any marketing decision. I think small businesses (myself included) tend to get mired down in the detail work of specific strategies or plans and forget to bring themselves back to the foundation of their brand.

How will this plan further the brand I’m working to establish? Will speaking to this particular audience be cohesive with my brand? Does this strategy connect with the target of my brand?

Like knowing the niche for your business, you simply can’t be all things to all people. So, your brand is an important differentiator between you and the competition.  If you try to come up with a soft, all-purpose, generic branding message to appeal to all people in all corners, you may end up being nothing specific to everyone in general. 

Only you can define your brand, and it’s something that certainly shouldn’t be taken lightly. Corporations spend millions just tweaking their brand to complement the current day in the current market … look at the business history of McDonald’s, Coke or Nike. The brands have essentially stayed the same, but the messages behind the already-powerful, solid brands have simply been updated.

Running a business – whether it be a solo operation or a multizillion-dollar operation – isn’t easy. I can understand the temptation to skirt the branding question when you’re on a tight deadline or under the gun to introduce something new. But, being able to solidly align your plan with your brand will save those precious budgeting dollars and further solidify your position in the market.

In an earlier post, I touted the benefits of business blogging. If done with thought and planning, it can be an extremely effective communication tool for both internal and external audiences. Well, I’m as big a fan of newsletters.

Perhaps it’s my background in print media, or my appreciation for having news neatly packaged in one place and sent the same time every week or month.  Sure, I peruse news sites, blogs or online updates about my favorite things … but only when I think of it. It’s certainly not part of my regular schedule, and I’m sure I miss the occasional “big news” if it’s buried under more recently posted information.

Hence, I’m a fan of newsletters. Not the filled-with-junk, showing up in my mail box unsolicited, and irritatingly filling my recycle bin every day. I’m talking about the newsletters I choose to get because I want a brief-but-detailed synopsis on the latest happenings all in one shot.

I love getting my clients’ newsletters so I can keep up with their latest business happenings. I always scanned the weekly e-newsletter at a previous job so I knew what was happening around the organization. When my Outlook “dings” with the latest announcement from the local photography club, I always open it. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t have known about one client’s recent sales record, the dollar-donut special at the snack bar, or about the upcoming art show looking for entries.

But, from my experience in both receiving and producing newsletters myself, I think there are some important strategies in communication development.

It needs to be meaningful. Like blogging, content is king. Content needs to be relevant, current and, obviously, well-written. If I get a newsletter that’s filled with advertorials, regurgitated information and is littered with typos, I ain’t readin’ it. Remember the first part of the word, friends … NEWSletter. Fill it with news that’s relevant to ME, the reader, in a way that I, the reader, will appreciate.

Keep readers engaged. Ask for feedback, print multi-series articles, accept outside submissions, create a Website solely for your newsletter, diligently offer solutions to common problems, use  Top 10 lists or polls… there are a lot of ways to keep your readers absorbed.

Don’t send it to people who don’t want it. This is especially true if you have an e-newsletter. Ask people to opt-in for it through your Website, or send a mailing introducing the newsletter and what it offers. While it may be tempting to use that new e-mail list of subscribers to advertise new products, resist. It’ll be the fastest way to get a bunch of “opt-outs” in your inbox.

It is, admittedly, a fine line to walk between what you want to tell your readers and what your readers want to know. It also requires an investment of time and/or money. But, if done well, newsletters can be a hefty tool in your communication plan by establishing your organization as an expert in the field, establishing your credibility and increasing name recognition.