Free Articles for Business Owners

Are you an OBM, VA or other online support professional who is looking for new clients?

Then allow me to give you a bit of “homework” – this is something that I ask of the gals in my Online Business Manager Mentorship program (if their business isn’t yet full.)

Respond to any RFP (request for proposal) that is appealing to you – with the intention of getting to have a conversation with the business owner to learn more and determine if there is a fit.

Just to clarify – an RFP is where a business owners submits their request for “help”, telling you what they need help with and giving you some insight as to their business, projects, budget and such. If you are a fit for what they need then you respond with your “proposal” letting them know how you could be a fit for their needs. There are some really great RFP services out there these days (like the one here at our OBM Association) - if you haven’t done so already be sure to join to be notified as new opportunities arise.

And yet I have to admit that i’m surprised when I see a great RFP come through our OBM Association website – and then hear from the business owner later on that they didn’t get any response. This happens alot more than you would think – what’s up with that? I KNOW there are members who are looking for new clients, and yet they aren’t responding?

I decided to dig a bit deeper and found a common theme among what was stopping people from applying:

“Tina, I’d love to apply for this but don’t have everything that they are looking for…”

If you’ve ever looked at an RFP and thought this allow me to give you a reframe. When a client submits their RFP it is essentially a “wish list” on their part – they may be listing anything and everything that they would love to have, BUT that doesn’t mean they wouldn’t settle for someone who has *most* of what they need.

I would put the 80/20 rule to work here – if you are interested in something and have 80% of what they need, then by all means apply! See the fact of the matter is that you won’t know for sure whether or not something is a fit for you until you get to have a conversation with the business owner – and you won’t get to have a conversation until you apply to the RFP. It is only in the conversation that you can really learn what they need, what is truly important to them and see if/how you can help.

As a business owner shared with me a while back (after not getting a response to her very detailed RFP):

“Tina, I don’t actually expect someone to be able to do all of this… but would love to hear where they can help me, and how they could help build the team to take care of the stuff they can’t”

Which is exactly part of the OBM role anyways right?

I also want you to keep in mind that sometimes the business owners who are submitting these RFPs don’t always know for sure what they need themselves. And so they put everything they can think of in an RFP. Again, a conversation here is vital as you can educate the business owner on how you can help, what you can (and cannot) do for them.

Remember that we are pioneers – I think sometimes we forget that not everyone knows what an OBM is (gasp!) So keep in mind that education may be necessary in this process, and could potentially lead to a really great client if you are willing to have that conversation.

Your Assignment: If you are looking for clients, proactively respond to all RFPs that could potentially be a good fit for you and your services. You won’t know for sure if it’s a fit (or not) until you have apply and have a conversation.

Say what? Sounds like a crazy thing to say, me being a proponent of “hiring your virtual team” and such… isn’t delegation a part of that?

I actually have a bit of a different perspective on this and it is based on my belief that:

Your virtual team should be taking stuff OFF your plate, not adding work to your plate.

Delegation is actually a lot of work when you think about it. In order to delegate effectively you need to be able to decide – usually on a day to day basis – what needs to be done, who is best to do it, give specifics on how it needs to be done, set deadlines, answer any of their questions, follow up to make sure it is done, etc. Phew!

I’m actually a fan of coming at this from a slightly different but hugely significant angle – releasing instead of delegating.

I recorded a video a few weeks back that talks about the two different mindsets of virtual support professionals – the business mindset vs. the employee mindset. (If you haven’t seen the video yet you can watch it here.)

In a nutshell, someone with a business mindset really gets that they are the expert, they are the specialist and are providing a valuable service to you. When you talk to someone with a business mindset they are going to say something like “here’s how I can help you” – they will TELL you what they can do for you.

Someone with an employee mindset usually has the best intention at heart and really wants to help – but they don’t yet have the understanding, experience or knowledge to approach you as an expert in their field. Instead they approach you from the perspective of “how can I help you?” – they ASK you how they can help.

If you consider this for a moment you can actually feel the difference here… if someone TELLS you how they can help that actually takes work off your plate. They are clear on what they are doing and what needs to be done – it’s like a sigh of relief!!

When someone ASKS you how they can help that actually adds work to your plate. It now becomes up to you to tell that person what to do, how to do it, when to do it, follow up to make sure it gets done, etc… this is A LOT of work for many business owners (and quite frankly something that many of us do poorly as it’s not our strength).

Most of the business owners I talk to would love to have someone with a business mindset – we are hungry to get this stuff off our plates!

Now when you have someone in place who has a business mindset your “job” is no longer about delegation… it’s now about release. You don’t have to tell them what to do – instead they are telling you! Your job then is just to learn how to let go, how to release what needs to be done so someone else can take care of it for you.

Now I know for many of us the actual job of releasing can be tough (my fellow control freaks out there, LOL). There is a learning curve for many of us in knowing how to do so – which is why we have a whole module on this in the THRIVE Hiring System. It’s not just about throwing everything at someone and leaving them be – there is a process that we teach for you to be able to get what you need from your team while still freeing yourself up from the details.

Aaaaaahhhhh… love that.

Ready to start releasing? We created the THRIVE Hiring System to help you do just that, join us won’t you?

And of course, your comments, thoughts, yeas or nays are always welcome. Post here on the blog.

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I will admit, having worked in the world of online biz for a while now I’ve become a bit bored with the idea of automated marketing – in particular the world of email based marketing. It’s almost like I’ve heard so much about it over the years and worked with it in so many different ways that I’ve almost forgotten the true value of what is behind this idea.

Enter in Infusionsoft*… which has renewed my excitement for the power & value of what automated marketing can truly be. (So much so that I’m offering a new training for Infusionsoft – early bird for this expires today, check it out.)

The appeal of automated marketing is of course the fact that it’s automated – who doesn’t want to have marketing activities working to their benefit without having to lift a finger! And yet ‘traditional’ automated marketing – especially of the email kind – seems to fall apart for a few reasons:

1. Email is no longer the best way to connect - I think this goes without saying as we all know about deliverability issues, email overwhelm and such. People simply aren’t paying attention to email as much anymore, and yet most of us still rely on email in a big way to market.What to do? Connect with people in other ways of course – good ole phone, fax, letter, voicemail to mention a few. Part of what I love about Infusionsoft is that it builds these options into an automated marketing sequence, so it doesn’t have to be just strictly about email anymore. Super cool!
2. It can feel so impersonal - people want to connect with people. And I think that the purpose of any good automated marketing strategy should lead to an actual “person to person” contact in some way, shape or form. Be it a phone call, group meeting, live meeting or something along those lines.That isn’t possible of course with every single thing we do in marketing (or is it? hmmm) but I think it’s VERY important to consider. People can see through something that is just strictly “another email trying to sell them something” vs. you wanting to truly connect and provide value to them. Imagine signing up for someone’s newsletter and actually getting a call from someone as a result, wouldn’t that knock your socks off? It would mine.
3. We tend to forget it is there – when was the last time you revisited the series of emails that people get when they sign up for your newsletter? As I’m typing this I’m embarrased to say that it’s been over a year for me, eek!Like anything, automated marketing needs some good TLC in order to truly serve as a business building tool. You need to revisit your automated marketing sequences on at least a quarterly basis to really ensure they are still relevant and valuable to people.
4. Connecting with people based on where they are at – one of my fav features of Infusionsoft is how much it allows you to segment your lists. Instead of just an “everything for everyone” approach you can actually tailor how you reach out to people based on where they are at and what they want from you.For example, you can actually reach out to people who click a link in your ezine that leads to your new program. And based on whether or not they take action on that page (i.e.: make a purchase) you can follow up with them to say either “thanks for joining” or “hey, I noticed you didn’t join… ” and continue the conversation with them from either perspective.

The reason I love Infusionsoft so much is that it has reminded me of the above, and truly renewed my passion for the power of automated marketing. We are in the process of making the switch to Infusionsoft and my head is already spinning with ideas of how we can improve our connections. A delightful thing indeed.

* In the spirit of full disclosure this is an affiliate link for Infusionsoft and I will get paid a commission if/when you decide to use the system. And on that note – if you do decide you want to move forward with Infusionsoft let me know as we have a bunch of folks taking our Infusionsoft Training who would be delighted to help.

Comments, thoughts?

Drumroll please… I’d like to give congratulations to the world’s very first Certified Online Business Managers.

Let’s give a round of applause to:

Charly Alexander

Denise Milligan

Donna Frindt

Heike Miller

Janet E. Smith

These ladies tackled our admittedly tough Certification process last week and came out shining, and so it is our absolute pleasure to award them the designation of Certified Online Business Manager. Feel free to click their names to learn more about these truly talented women (and yes, they are available for hire.)

Our next Certification Week starts September 28th, getting ready for round 2!

Do you want to hire an Online Business Manager? We’ve just launched a brand new Request for Proposal (RFP) system at the International Association of Online Business Managers. Along with browsing our member profiles in the OBM Directory, you now have the option of completing an RFP form and sending your information directly to our members… who will then be able to apply directly to you if there is a fit.

Get to the front of the line and be one of the first to submit your RFP here.

As any good Online Business Manager will tell you – juggling is an essential part of the job! With so much going on every day you need to be able to keep all those ‘balls in the air’ so to speak.

Whether you are juggling balls or projects, here are a few tips to help you out:

Decide what you are going to juggle.

Balls? Beanbags? Apples? Recommend that you start with something simple, don’t attempt to juggle chainsaws on your first try! (Saw a guy do that on America’s Got Talent the other night, yowza… had to cover my eyes.)

What you decide to juggle will make a big difference in your success (and enjoyment!) Don’t attempt to juggle all the pieces of a huge project in your business if you are already overwhelmed, stressed or new to the task at hand.

Start with 3 items and build up from there.

Any juggler will tell you to start with 3 items, and slowly build up to 4 or 5 when you are ready.

One of my favorite productivity strategies is to pick 3 things each day that you want to get done. Pick those that are closest to the money – the ones that you *really* want to finish and will bring you (or your clients) closer to increased revenue. Work on those first, and then dive into any other projects (time permitting). This is a great way to ensure you are making progress in your business and not getting caught up or distracted by your giant pile of to-dos… and not actually accomplishing anything by the end of the day.

Get rid of distractions.

It’s really hard to juggle when you are constantly being interrupted by email, phone, kids, barking dogs, etc. Find yourself a quiet place where you can relax and focus. Close the office door. Shut down your email (and Twitter account!) Maybe play some nice music in the background.  

Get help if need be.

If you are buried in ‘to-dos’, perhaps it is time to pass a few of those balls along? Again, it’s really hard to juggle more than a few things at a time… if you have lots of balls to juggle give yourself a break and explore hiring someone to take a few off your plate.

When you are frustrated step back and take a breath…

If you are feeling frustrated and stressed out you will start to drop the balls! The best juggling occurs when you are calm, focused and ‘in the zone.’  Stop for a moment, take a short break and come back to it when you are feeling re-energized.

Juggling is meant to be fun.

There is a reason that clowns like to juggle – it’s fun! This may sound wierd, but I actually get alot of enjoyment out of the online business ‘juggling’ that I do – it’s the OBM geek in me, hehe. When i’m in the zone, juggling away and getting lots of stuff done I love it! The hallmark of a great OBM is how much they enjoy juggling…

And for you business owners in the crowd – if you don’t like juggling or it’s getting to be a bit much for you, perhaps it is time to hire an Online Business Manager? Check out the OBM Directory for a list of top notch folks.

Be it the economy, cash-flow issues or even just ‘taking a look at expenses in the biz’ i’ve had a few support professionals share lately that “my client asked me to cut back my hours as they can’t afford me right now”.

When faced with lowering revenues or rising expenses it can be easy to think “oh, we have to cut back!” However I like to look at it another way - what can we, as a business, do to increase revenues quickly?

This is the topic of one of my favorite chapters from our book Money, Meaning and Beyond (co-written by moi and my biz partner Andrea Lee).

What is your fastest path to money?

This is an important question in any business - so much so that i’m including the whole chapter here for your reading pleasure. It’s a short little PDF, quick read I promise.

This question is just as important for the Online Business Manager to consider on behalf of their clients. Where is your client’s business struggling? Where is their business thriving? What can you do to perhaps shift a bit of focus/energy to the areas that are flowing right now (and maybe let go of some projects/etc that are really stuck).

As an OBM we do our client’s a disservice if we don’t consider their business from this angle as well. Our client’s look to us to be able to ‘think on behalf of their business’, and this is a prime example of that. It could be that they aren’t seeing the struggle in the same way that you are (and likewise may not be seeing the opportunities that naturally arise). Being involved in the day-to-day activities of the business gives us (as OBMs) a different perspective that the business owner may be seeing, so don’t be shy in sharing your insights!

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I just had to ditto this post by Seth Godin last week - A clean sheet of paper. It’s a must read… go ahead, read it now.

This is so very very true! I’ve seen it time and again… business owners struggling and complaining that they aren’t getting what they want. When in reality, they haven’t defined the parameters of what they want in the first place.

One of my favorite questions when a coaching client tells me that they want a new website is to ask them:

“Great - what action do you want people to take when they visit your site?”

Seems like such an obvious question, and yet many times they have no clue what the answer is. And so we work together to figure that out first before they get anywhere near hiring a web designer to start on the site. Otherwise it can be REALLY easy to go down the road of spending loads of money to get something that isn’t going to serve their business.

And I can tell you from the perspective of someone who has worked as an online support professional for years now… it can be really frustrating to not get clear direction up front. Nine times out of ten the client will end up dissatisfied or even upset! So for all of us on the ‘providing services’ side of the coin - if you aren’t clear on what someone wants dig a bit deeper, insist that they get specific and if they can’t that suggests to me that they aren’t yet ready to hire you (or anyone) at this point.

Don’t assume that the business owner ‘knows what they want’ because they might not. Don’t assume that they want what ‘you have to offer’ as it may be way off track. And don’t be afraid to turn down business and suggest that they figure it out before you can start working with them - less headaches for all concerned and really, that is part of being a professional imo.

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A sure sign of being a geek is when finding a new system just makes you want to sing out loud in glee! I will admit that I am a geek, and have recently ’sung out loud’ about the (relatively) new membership management system Wishlist Member.

We’ve been using Wordpress to manage our membership sites for years now - basically just piecing together some stuff in the blog to make it work. Well Wishlist Member takes a regular Wordpress blogsite and turns it into a full fledged membership system. Tres cool!

What makes it so great? Let me share a few of my favorite things…

• As per any great membership system, it allows you to setup separate login accounts for each member vs. doing the ‘one login for all’. So you can give/remove access for people as they come and go in your membership. REALLY important.
• It connects to the 1ShoppingCart system - so people can automatically get access to your membership site when they join the membership vs. having to load them manually. And it will also remove access for people who fall behind on payments.
• You can email members direct from this system - which I love! It’s super quick and easy to send messages to members vs. sending through the cart (which can be slow at times).
• You can have more than one level of membership setup in the same Wordpress blog. So people will get access only to the stuff that applies to them, and not those areas that they aren’t a member of. This really opens up some pretty cool opps for expanding membership offerings!
• It’s really easy to add a nice ‘login’ box in the sidebar of the blog. Makes the site looks so professional and is of course easy for folks to know how to login to the site (which can be surprisingly hard to find on some sites.)

Want to see a sample of Wishlist Member in action? We recently implemented Wishlist for the Thomas Leonard Success Strategies program - click here to check it out. Unless you are a member you won’t be able to access the material of course, but you can see the overall flow/layout of this membership site.

There are many other cool features in this system beyond my favs, go to the Wishlist Member site to learn more.

Want to learn how to use Wishlist? Or get someone on your team up to speed?

 We are offering a brand new course for VAs and online support professionals on how to manage memberships using Wishlist Member. Be sure to check it out - early bird registration is in effect until May 29th ($100 savings).

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We all have those days right?

• someone on your team just doesn’t seem to listen and did ‘it’ wrong again
• you can’t get something to work and have spent hours trying to fix it to no avail
• your website is down right before a big promo
• you are having a misunderstanding with one of your clients

You know, the kind of day where you just want to scream, yell, perhaps chuck your computer out the window? This happens to all of us, it’s just a fact of life imho. My question to you is:

What do you do when you feel that way?

You know how volcanos always have a little bit of steam seeping out through the cracks? I don’t know the exact science behind this but I believe that the volcano is releasing a bit of steam to ease up on the pressure building up inside -  so as to prevent an eruption!

Same thing applies to us - we need to find ways to release a bit of steam now and again so we don’t errupt! (which can be damaging to us and our biz relationships).

I really do think it is necessary to vent now and again - in business and in life. Quite often just releasing a bit of ’steam’ will go a long way towards fixing the problem (and may even dissolve the problem altogether). The key is to do it in a constructive way. A few ideas:

• Have a venting buddy - I’m quite fortunate to have a few close biz colleagues that I can call up when i’m annoyed, frustrated, angry and just VENT! And I will actually say that, “i’m so annoyed by X, just want to vent… yadda yadda”.
• Use your anger ’energy’ in a constructive way -  do something physical like go for a run or clean the kitchen. Do something creative like write an article or paint a picture.
• Get out of your environment - I find that I will get frustrated and angry much easier when i’m super busy or just plain tired. Sometimes just taking a break can make a big difference, get out of the house, go for lunch with a friend and most importantly, leave your computer behind!
• Talk to the person direct - if you are having a challenge with another person, your best (only) way to fix it is to have a conversation. Don’t start the conversation when you are angry or frustrated, best to wait and let things diffuse a bit first if need be.
• Get help! - if it is a technical or ‘how-to’ problem find someone who can help. Just yesterday I was beating my head against the wall trying to figure out something wierd with a new ezine tempalte… and finally decided to ask a super smart colleague if he knew how to fix. He did, and if I had asked him sooner it would have saved me a good hour of time and frustration. 

What do you like to do to vent? Do tell.

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It is by far the question I am asked most often, and for good reason.

Although similar in nature, there are some very key differences between the role of Online Business Manager and Virtual Assistant.

If you are a VA or aspiring OBM it’s really important for you to understand these differences, so that you can a) decide which role is the best fit for you and then b) be able to clearly articulate the difference to your clients.

If you are a business owner it is really important for you to get clear on a) what your business actually needs and then b) look at whether you need to hire a VA or OBM to fill that need.

There is alot of ‘grey area’ right now when it comes to understanding the difference in these roles, and so i’ve put together a comparision chart to help illustrate each role and how they work together. (And to also clarify when a business owner is ready to hire either a VA or OBM).

>> Click here to download the Comparison Chart

Feel free to share this report with your clients and colleagues, you have my blessing to do so as long as you don’t make changes to the PDF.