Business Makeover
Using Virtual Assistants (VA) to Grow Your Business
As a business owner and entrepreneur, I realized that I couldn’t grow my business successfully if I didn’t have a solid support team. So I purposefully sought out Virtual Assistants (VAs) that I felt would not only be beneficial to my business but I would also be able to help them grow their business.
Recently, I was featured in an editorial column on Entrepreneur.com by Patti Simone regarding “Virtual Help for Real Entrepreneurs” about this very topic. The purpose of this article was to share how entrepreneurs were using VAs to grow their business.
If you are an entrepreneur and have yet to start working with a VA then I would highly suggest that you hire one. For more details about hiring a VA, please check out my post on this website entitled, “Business Makeover: Hiring a Virtual Assistant (VA)“.
I would love to hear about… Continue reading →
Business Makeover Series Finale`
Yesterday was the final blog post for my business makeover. Now I’m going to begin the process of converting my blog posts into a book. I’ll be sharing about my book writing process along with other spicy details about my upcoming series throughout the rest of this month.
I’m so excited that I accomplished my goal of blogging for 21-days about my business makeover because it helped me to create a new habit of blogging everyday. This stuff really does work that if you do something for 21 days then you can make it into a habit. I used to dread blogging on a consistent basis but in the last 21 days, I have come to enjoy it.
What I’ve learned during my business makeover has changed my way of doing business drastically. I now know that as I make these changes that it will cause my business to grow dramatically. Here… Continue reading →
Business Makeover: Are You Prepared with an Emergency Plan
Recently I experienced unplanned downtime due to Internet outage which affected my ability to do business, receive/send email or even communicate via my social media outlets. I faced reality that I didn’t have a backup plan in case something like this happened. I didn’t have emergency procedures in place so that I wouldn’t have to go without Internet access.
So my first plan of action while I was down was to create an emergency backup plan in case this happened again. I began by looking for alternative solutions that I could have in place just in case my access was limited again. Below is a list of what I determined:
- Locate alternative external sources where I could gain access to the Internet freely (i.e., library or food establishments with Internet access)
- Obtain information from cell phone company on how I can use my cell phone with my computer to access… Continue reading →
Business Makeover: Have You Branded Your Business?
In order for business owners to be easily recognizable, one must make sure that clients and potential clients can tell who we are, what we do and how we can help them reach their goals. This means that a common look must resonate from our website, to our media packages and also our online presence outside of our website. This is termed as your branding and according to Wikipedia.org,
A brand is a collection of images and ideas representing an economic producer; more specifically, it refers to the descriptive verbal attributes and concrete symbols such as a name, logo, slogan, and design scheme that convey the essence of a company, product or service. Brand recognition and other reactions are created by the accumulation of experiences with the specific product or service, both directly relating to its use, and through the influence of advertising, design, and media commentary.
During my business… Continue reading →
Business Makeover: Are You in Control of Your Me Time?
On a day when I am discussing “Me” time, I actually started my day off with “me” time. It is a Saturday morning and I decided to sleep in an extra couple of hours. I enjoyed the extra rest and being able to take my time on a day where I might busily run around doing errands.
“Me” time should be very important to business owners because it allows you to rejuvenate and refresh. Although I spoken about “me” time briefly in this series, I decided that it would be a good idea to expand on it today.
If you are constantly going and not breaking for “me” time you can stress yourself and maybe have a negative impact on your business. I say this from personal experience because I learned the hard way when I crashed and burned during an important time with my business a few years ago.
It was… Continue reading →
Business Makeover: Are Your Business Processes in Order?
I’m excited to talk about business processes because I have over 15 years of experience as a technical project manager while working in Corporate America. The importance of having business processes in place is vital because they help create an organized environment. Having an organized environment can help you be more successful.
So what can be considered a business process? Good Question! According to Wikipedia.org, a business process is “a collection of interrelated tasks, which accomplish a particular goal”. In other words, it’s when you pre-determine which tasks work well together to create a seamless way to achieve what you want to do in your business.
In my business, I have many business processes in place that help me to create a seamless environment. During my business makeover, I have been able to refine my processes and become more efficient. Below is an example of a refined business process.
- Old way… Continue reading →
Business Makeover: Are You Focused Like Michael Phelps?
First, if you don’t know who Michael Phelps is, you can read more about him by clicking here. But if you do know who he is then you know that he has been very focused on winning Olympic Gold medals for swimming. His goal has been to beat World records too and so far he is doing a great job of it.
I haven’t been watching the sporting events of the Olympics as intently as others but one thing for sure is that hearing Michael’s name mentioned almost everywhere has become a norm. As business owners, wouldn’t it be great to have positive brand recognition like Michael?
Well I’ve been giving this some thoughts over the past few days and during my business makeover I have realized that I’ve become very focused on what’s best for me and my business. Having targeted goals in mind has helped me to… Continue reading →
Business Makeover: Being a Giver
As I write this post I’m thinking about all the people who have been givers in my life. I feel fully blessed because my life has been impacted so that I became a giver too. Being a giver is living the practice of giving to others without expecting anything in return.
An example of me being a giver in business is my practice of paying it forward on Twitter. For my birthday in 2008, I had two people who asked their followers on Twitter and Facebook to follow me and wish me a Happy Birthday. It was declared “Kim Beasley Day” and many friended me and sent me greeting. The two people who did this for me wasn’t expecting anything in return but they gave a great gift that impacted my life. The two people I’m talking about is Coach Deb (@coachdeb) and Warren Whitlock (@WarrenWhitlock).
Their powerful example of… Continue reading →
Business Makeover: Dealing with the Dark-side of Business
While I was watching a commentary regarding the psychology about the persona of Bruce Wayne/Batman, a thought came to me that as a business owner there is a dark-side we have to deal with too. The dark-side consist of anything that is negative or fearful.
As a business owner, we have to be careful that the dark-side doesn’t rule us and cause us to run our business unwisely. So what are some of the dark-side issue? Glad you asked. Below are a few of the things that I consider as the dark-side of business.
- Stealing clients
- Adding extra time to client projects
- When bartering or exchanging services, you intentionally make sure that you get more than what your barter is worth
- Lead new clients to believe that you have more experience than you actually do to win their project (this means that you don’t let your client know that you are outsourcing their work to someone… Continue reading →
Business Makeover: Taking Control of My Calendar Schedule
Have you found that you are forgetting appointments or important events because you forgot it was on your schedule? Maybe you have been so busy that you don’t even have a calendar schedule. Then I want to encourage you to break the bad habit of having a calendar schedule out of control and take charge of your schedule.
When I have allowed my calendar schedule to be out of control, I have noticed that it affected my ability to run my business effectively. Missed appointment or networking events can make or break your business. So I decided a long time ago that when I make an appointment that I would immediately add it to my calendar.
To help me stay organized and on top of my calendar, I setup a system that has been very effective for me. This system works to keep me informed about my upcoming events and… Continue reading →
Search KimBeasley.com
About Me
Get Free Social Media Tips
Blogroll
- BlogCritics.org Featured Guest Blogger
- Duct Tape Marketing The Duct Tape Marketing System and Duct Tape Marketing Consulting Network that trains and licenses small business marketing consultants around the world.
- Technorati.com Featured Guest Blogger
- Unmarketing – Scott Stratten Viral, Social, and Authentic Marketing which he calls Un-Marketing