Marketing and Procrastination:  3 Ways to Avoid this Potentially Deadly Combo

Many entrepreneurs procrastinate on one thing or another in the course of running their business, so if you find yourself doing this, you’re far from alone. However, when it comes to small business marketing, procrastination can lead to a lull between clients, which is bad for the health of your bottom line. Here are some ways to prevent this situation from occurring.

Create Marketing Goals & Use a Marketing System

You may have heard of the S.M.A.R.T. formula for setting goals.  Your goals should be:

S=Specific: General goals are harder to meet.
M=Measurable: How will you know when you’ve reached your goal?
A=Achievable: If your goal is too lofty, you’ll sap your will to achieve it.
R=Realistic: Make sure it’s something you can reasonably expect to attain while still pushing your boundaries.
T=Timed: It must have a firm target date.

The S.M.A.R.T. formula sets out the basics for creating effective goals.  A successful small business marketing system will include a goal setting process and provide you with both structure and the tools you need to turn your marketing goals and ideas in to productive action. In particular, a system for following up with potential clients is crucial to your overall marketing success. If you don’t have such a system, and you don’t know where to start, a business coach may be able to help.

Hold Yourself Accountable

As an entrepreneur, it can be difficult to keep your eye on the ball. There’s no one there to nudge you back on track should you start to stray. You may need someone who’s there to do exactly that – to help you to remain focused on your goals and on the “big picture”.

One way to do this is to hire a business coach. He or she can help you avoid the costly pitfalls associated with procrastination. The fact that you’re paying them for their time is an additional incentive for you to make the most of it, so when they ask you how you’re doing on your goals, you don’t want to be making excuses as to why they haven’t been reached yet. Business coaches can help you in any number of ways, but for entrepreneurs who have a tendency to procrastinate, holding you accountable might be the most valuable. Eventually, they can help you to find the root cause of this procrastination and work with you to eliminate it.

Outsource Your Small Business Marketing Tasks

Nowadays, marketing your business online can be a full-time job. If you don’t already have someone helping you with things such as blog posts, social media marketing, shopping cart maintenance, press releases and things of that sort, you owe it to yourself and your business to get some help now. This will leave you free to do what you went into business to do in the first place, and, if done correctly, can put your small business marketing system on autopilot.

Of course, every business is different, so your marketing requirements may be more or less involved than these common types of online marketing, but once you can leave the implementation to your support team, you’ll be amazed at the difference in your productivity and profits.

Clear, effective goals, a proven small business marketing system, a coach looking out for your best interests, and a dedicated marketing support team can take your business to new heights in a relatively short amount of time. Instead of procrastinating, you’ll find yourself constantly striving to achieve your goals and move your business forward.

Copyright, Michele Hanson-O’Reggio. All rights reserved.

The Top 10 Ways to Grow Your Business with a

Virtual Business Manager

Every now and then you stumble upon a set of small business resources so simple – yet so revolutionary – that rapid expansion of your business is ushered in. For many of today’s small business owners and online entrepreneurs, hiring a Virtual Business Manager (Online Business Manager) is one such “big idea” whose time has come.

Imagine having a Virtual Business Manager who is responsible for the smooth functioning of your business to help you achieve your goals. Someone who while keeping an eye on the big picture, can manage all the pieces that bog you down, that you don’t do well or like doing. You’ll recapture the time and freedom you need to produce the results you want and have more work-life balance in the bargain.

Think Big

It’s critical to understand and adopt the mindset that your business is not your life. They are two separate things, according to Michael Gerber, the world’s #1 Small Business Guru, who says: “Once you recognize that the primary purpose of your business is to serve your life, you can then go to work on your business rather than in it.” You do this by spending your time ONLY on marketing developing new products and services and leadership (providing the vision and heart of your business).

Everything else should be outsourced to your Virtual Business Manager and support team or eliminated to achieve maximum profitability. Think of team building as a Profit Center instead of an expense. You will save a lot of money when you outsource tasks you pay someone less to do, plus have peace of mind knowing you will get the results you need , on time, as the tasks are being done by experts.

Virtual Assistants versus Virtual Business Managers

You may have heard of Virtual Assistants, professional independent contractors who provide cost-effective administrative and marketing services to help entrepreneurs achieve their goals. Well, a Virtual Business Manager (also known as an Online Business Manager) is similar in nature but there are two (2) key differences between the two roles:

Focus:

A Virtual Assistant focuses on completing specific tasks.

A Virtual Business Manager is a professional who brings a high-value skill set to handling important managerial duties you’d be smart to stop doing yourself. A Virtual Business Manager manages the administration, logistics, infrastructure and details of your growing online business, working in a long-term collaborative relationship with you.

Success Metrics & Level of Responsibility:

A Virtual Assistant’s success is measured by completing and delivering projects in a timely manner.

A Virtual Business Manager has a much higher level of responsibility. His/her success is measured by the successful management of your teams’ projects, their happiness, motivation and the overall smooth functioning of your business systems.

10 Ways a Virtual Business Manager Can Help You Grow Your Business

1. Implement key components of your business plan/strategies: If you’ve got a business plan your Virtual Business Manager will ensure that your plans come to fruition. With a grasp of the “big picture,” a VOM an work around obstacles before they slow you down.




2. Build and manage your virtual team(s): As you grow your business, you’ll need more than just one person – you’ll need a dedicated team of pros working for you. But you didn’t go into business to manage contractors. A Virtual Business Manager takes the minutiae of management off your plate, freeing you to do what you do best.




3. Source and manage vendors: If your business is one that relies on rock solid relationships with your vendors, you know that even the smallest snafu can set you back days and even cause you to lose customers. A Virtual Business Manager will have the time and expertise to create and maintain vendor relationships and ensure that needed items arrive on time, every time.




4. Build and manage key business relationships to increase your profits (i.e. affiliates, joint ventures): Are you convinced you can do more with your business, but you don’t have the time or expertise to check into every available avenue? Virtual Business Managers have the business acumen to cultivate joint venture and affiliate relationships that could bring in substantial residual income.




5. Implement new ideas and projects you haven’t had time to: Are you bursting with cool ideas that never see the light of day because you’re too busy making sure that your everyday operations go smoothly? With a Virtual Business Manager, you will finally have the time to pursue these ideas wherever they lead. Imagine having the freedom to take risks and try new strategies, knowing that your core business will continue to generate profits.




6. Manage projects through to successful completion: A Virtual Business Manager’s job is to see to it that your projects are completed to your specs – on time and under budget. No more juggling a bunch of projects and just waiting for someone to inevitably drop the ball. A VOM always has your goals in mind and will do everything they can to insure that they are met.




7. Create and streamline systems: Do you have standard operating procedures that you try to always follow? A VBM will streamline and enhance your procedures, and delegate them appropriately. If you don’t have any such procedures in place, you’ll realize a huge benefit, as your VBM identifies and implements time and cost-saving procedures throughout your business. A critical system a Virtual Business Manager should create, streamline and/or manage for you is your marketing system. The magic formula for marketing is doing effective activities consistently with systems. Your Virtual Business Manager can also be a sounding board, someone for you to brainstorm with, share ideas and consider options.




8. Assess and manage your customer service process to ensure you’re providing consistent and added value to your customers: It’s been proven time and again that businesses rise or fall depending on customer service, so it’s obviously in your best interest to provide the best service possible. But many times, that’s easier said than done. Imagine if you had procedures in place to ensure that no customer issues would slip through the cracks, and that customers requiring increased attention were sure to get it! Reputation is everything in the business world, and a Virtual Business Manager will help ensure that your business is seen in a positive light.




9. Money Management: It is vital for any business to keep track of their numbers on a regular basis to know if they’re making a profit. A VBM can collect the information you need to see what is going on in your business – your email lists, sales/revenue, promotion results and also expenses. A common area for improvement in a client’s business is expenses. A Virtual Business Manager can suggest ways for you to cut back on expenses.




10. Offer support and advice to automate your business with technology: Keeping abreast of the latest and most effective technologies is a full-time job in itself. A VOM will be able to filter through the maddening array of options to find the ones that will have the greatest potential to help your business, by either saving time, money or both. Automating certain tasks could allow you to reshuffle your personnel to put greater resources toward marketing and attracting more clients.

Virtual Business Managers are committed to the success of their clients. As a business owner, your VBM’s success is your success, and vice versa. It’s a collaborative relationship who’s bounds are limited only by your combined imagination!

5 Strategies to Generate a Stream of Referrals

You may already know that referral marketing (word-of-mouth) is a powerful and cost effective way to grow your small business. Many entrepreneurs face the challenge of how to get referrals. Getting referrals should be thought of as a marketing system and not a one-time activity you do when need to generate sales.

A referral marketing system is a “viral marketing” strategy. Viral marketing encourages individuals to pass on a marketing message to others, creating the potential for exponential growth in the message’s influence and exposure.

Your referral plan should answer the following questions:

1.  WHO would be a good referral? Do you know who your ideal client is?

2. WHEN are you going to ask for referrals – at the beginning or throughout the relationship? Do you have a system for testimonials?

3. WHY should someone refer you? If you don’t know what makes you unique why should anyone else? How will you handle clients that won’t refer you?

4. HOW do you receive referrals? Do you make it easy for others to refer you? Do you have a system in place to thank referrers?

5. WHAT is your process to turn each referral into a client?

A Referral Mindset

The foundation to building your business with referrals is the mindset you bring to your marketing efforts. One of the ways to creating a success-based mindset is the mindset of service. You should look to provide value to prospects each time you come in contact with them. You must believe that you have the skills and knowledge that can help others and be generous in sharing your expertise with others. Always do more than is expected of you. When you shift into this mindset of service instead of focusing on ‘closing the sale’, you will be more successful.  Get started with these 5 referral strategies:

Referral Strategy # 1 – Team 100

Each month, identify 10 professionals who serve the same target market that you do (not direct competitors!) or that sell complimentary products/services to your offering. Send a letter informing them about your services and that you would like to develop a referral relationship with them. Within 10 months, you would have contacted 100 people and created a network to generate a stream of referrals. Feel free to go at a quicker pace of course!

Referral Strategy # 2 – Get the Word Out!

Include a request for referrals on all your marketing materials and on every piece of communication: letters, invoices, quotes, faxes, emails, ezines etc. Some ideas are:  We appreciate referrals We thrive on referrals We gladly accept referrals Thanks for your referrals We crave referrals By referral only (you do not accept any clients unless they are referred to you)

Referral Strategy # 3 – Offer a Reward

Clients may refer you if they are happy with your service, even if you do not offer a reward. However, offering a reward can speed up the process! Rewards must have value such that clients want to get them.  One way to do this is to send them a list of options so that they have a choice. A reward of $25.00 is usually acceptable. Offer this in the form of a gift certificate (ie. Amazon) or a discount coupon for your services or for your information products (ie. e-books, ecourses).

Referral Strategy # 4 – Give them Tools

Often we ask others to talk about our services but we don’t give them any tools to help them. Make it easy for your clients to refer you. You can send them three business cards and brochures. Add a “With Compliments” slip and write “For when you are talking with work colleagues or friends…”. If you prefer doing this by email, send them a short introductory message that includes their testimonial, along with your brochure and a link to your website. Send this message at least 4 times throughout the year.

Referral Strategy # 5 – Help a Worthy Cause

By offering to help a worthy cause, you can increase referrals and at the same time improve your community. You can donate a percentage of all business acquired by referral to a non-profit agency. Non-profit agencies can become strong referral partners because if they benefit from referring clients, they may be highly motivated to provide referrals to you.

Copyright, Michele Hanson-O’Reggio. All rights reserved.

Focus is what successful entrepreneurs use to maximize their business growth while maintaining their work-life balance. Most solopreneurs are able to focus to a certain degree but start to lose focus as their business grows around them. Overcoming three distinct blocks can help solopreneurs who may be spinning their wheels increase their focus and take their business to the next level.

There are three major blocks that prevent solopreneurs from taking their business from where it stands now to a level that will give you them the success and peace of mind they went into business to achieve.

When Doing Too Much is Not Enough

If you’re a solopreneur, then by definition, you’ve gotten to where you are by doing things yourself. It’s your talent at your particular business that has allowed you to succeed to this point. But as your business grew, you no doubt found yourself spending most of your time on activities unrelated to the core of your business.

Imagine if you could spend the bulk of your time on your Power Skills ™  -  the things you love doing that utilize your greatest strengths. The 80/20 rule states that 20% of your business activities bring you 80% of your results. Ideally, you’d like to spend 80% of your time directly achieving results for your business.

Look at your to-do list and categorize each task as either something that is your Power Skills™ , something that is a side effect of your success -administration or something that helps grow your business – marketing. As you go through your list, you’ll probably find that more than half of the items fall into the last two categories.  These tasks that  take up valuable time and aren’t related to your  Power Skills ™ should be eliminated or outsourced.

Stay in Rhythm

Everyone has their own unique rhythms – times of day when they work best, times when they like to exercise, times when they need to relax. If your business forces you to work counter to your natural rhythms, it can be a drain on your productivity, not to mention your mood.

The first step toward working within your natural rhythms is to make a list. Are you a morning person? Do you need time after lunch to mellow out before you get back to work? Writing everything down will give you a thorough understanding of how your internal clock works and how it effects your work habits.

Now it’s time to rework your daily schedule to coincide with your rhythms. Don’t be afraid to change your routine, even to the point of asking clients if they mind a change in meeting time, for the sake of your rhythms. You’ll be rewarded by increased productivity and a brighter outlook.

Personalize your Workweek

Your workweek doesn’t have to be all work. In fact, for most people, it’s impossible to prevent some personal and family activities from encroaching on their workweek. So why not schedule these activities so they don’t constantly compete with your business?

If you have family obligations that are continuously pushed aside in favor of those of your business, add these activities to your calendar so that your business activities don’t step on them again.  You’ll eventually realize that creating a time for family obligations actually helps focus the rest of your day and week.

If you exercise on a regular basis, plug those times into your calendar, keeping in mind your natural rhythms.

The combination of delegating your non-core tasks, scheduling your business around your rhythms and integrating personal and family time into your workweek will enable your to focus more firmly upon your Power Skills™. At the same time, you’ll be able to approach each day in a more organized manner and with more energy to produce the results you want.

Copyright 2010, Michele Hanson-O’Reggio. All Rights Reserved.

GOAL: 4 Ways to Stick With Your  New Year’s Resolutions Year-round
By Guest Author Crystal Williamson

Should old acquaintance be forgot …

2010?  It’s a new year and new decade!  What are your New Year’s Resolutions for 2010?  Lose weight, quit smoking (you know who you are!), start a holistic business … What were your resolutions last year in 2009?  In 2000? In 1992? Did you have the same resolutions?  Did you continue your new resolutions all year?  Did you get March 1st with those resolutions?????!??!?!  If not, then you’re in the same boat as most Americans.  Approximately 87% of us don’t keep our resolutions.  It’s frustrating, distressing and exhausting.

One way to keep your resolutions fresh and have staying power is to think of them as goals.  Resolutions are the end result of goals.  They may be formidable goals. But in the end, completing those goals will fulfill your resolution needs.
Use the acronym GOAL to keep your resolutions year-round.  Here are a few tips to keep your GOALs:

G = GET GOING NOW

I’m a great believer in taking action.  Talking about a goal, creating a vision board, or reading affirmations are a wonderful start.  But if there is NO ACTION afterward, the goal is naught!  If there is no action, it becomes a wish.  Wishing is hollow if not followed by consistent action to fulfill your goal.  How many New Year’s resolutions have gone unfulfilled due to lack of action and follow through? What is your 2010 resolution(s)? What are some interim goals for the first quarter of 2010? What is your goal (to fulfill your New Year’s resolution) for January 2010? What are some steps you need to take? How do you need to get going now?

Action Steps

Write down your 2010 goals, steps to take, and completion dates. Below is a link to download a table for you to visualize your goals and the steps you need to take to fulfill them.  The first row of the table has an example of one of my 2010 goals and some steps I need to take to complete the goal.  Note the steps to complete the goal have a concrete deadline date. Download the table now: http://www.bizsuccesspartner.com/ezine/goals-table.pdf

O = OUTCOME

Taking action steps toward your goals are tough! You are moving into uncharted territory.  You are moving toward your goal.  To maneuver through the quagmire, remember your ultimate outcome.  For example, if you’re ultimate goal is to be 50 lbs. lighter, when times get tough, do some visioning.  Imagine yourself fitting in your clothes with ease and comfort.  Imagine how you’ll look in a new dress or suit.  Imagine your smile of confidence.  Imagine telling your family (or your family telling you) what a great thing you’ve accomplished.  It’s happening NOW.  Not in the future but NOW!  Keeping your eyes on the prize and clearly knowing your outcome is the ultimate high!

A = ALLOW

The early part of 2002 was tough for me.  While I was still reeling from the events of 9/11, I was going through a divorce; I was in another stormy relationship and I weighed 203 pounds.  What turned my life around? One day in March 2002 I got out of breath while tying my sneakers.  I had had it!  I was ready for a change.  The divorce didn’t get signed overnight nor did my other relationship change significantly but I did change my healthy mindset overnight.  Friday I couldn’t tie my sneakers without panting; Saturday morning I was jogging in the park, grocery shopping for more nutritious meals and snacks, and losing weight.  Within 4 weeks I lost 8 ½ pounds!

I knew it would be tough – I love desserts! But by mid-2003 I weighed 149 pounds.  How did I lose the weight and still have dessert? I allowed myself to have my cake and eat it too!  I allowed myself to make mistakes AND LEARN FROM THEM! I allowed myself to have dessert, an extra cookie or two, and discover more about my character.  I learned about my food triggers and my emotional eating habits.  At first it was distressing, but I got an accountability partner (someone whom I would update with my meal intake, eating habits and issues).  I spoke to her twice a week.  In turn, she was telling me about her food issues.  It worked!  WE both allowed ourselves to veer from the ultimate goal only to come back on track quickly.  By the way WE BOTH have kept the weight off since then!

L = LOVE

About 30 years ago, I saw an interview with a jazz musician. He was asked why is it he has a strict policy to love every song he records.  The musician answered that he had to love every song because if he didn’t and it became a hit, he was playing a song he disliked for the rest of his life!  Keep this in mind when fulfilling your goal.  Love your goal! Embrace your goal! Find your goal irresistible! Be passionate about your goal! Love the action you’re taking to realize your goal!  Love how you are kind to yourself to achieve your goal! Love the outcome! Love, love, love, love your goal!  And love the process!

A Unique Opportunity

As you know I’m a certified business coach who loves to help entrepreneurs catapult their businesses to the next level.  I work one-on-one with a few select business owners to dramatically increase their client-base and business esteem.  As a special offer, I am extending an invitation to anyone reading this article to schedule a complimentary consultation to discuss how coaching and the GOALs system may help grow your business.

The consultation is free and you are under no obligation to hire me in the session.  In fact, I’m very selective about my clientele.  But I will be happy to meet with anyone who is serious and committed to significantly improve the profitability and visibility of their business.

This offer expires on midnight (ET) January 29, 2010.  When you contact me, mention you heard the offer through Michele O’Reggio’s January 2010 newsletter.

Please contact me at coachingwithcrystal@yahoo.com to schedule your complimentary consultation or be added to my list to receive my monthly newsletter.

Have a great 2010??!

If it’s important to you, you’ll change …

Crystal Williamson
certified small business coach > technology/computer coach
coachingwithcrystal@yahoo.com
www.coachingwithcrystal.com
www.facebook.com/crystal.williamson
www.blogtalkradio.com/coachingwithcrystal
347.236.2030

Unlock the Secret to Successful Delegation with
DISC Personality Profiling

It happens every day; a relationship full of promise and potential for both parties falls apart with bad feelings on both sides. Although this might sound like something more worthy of a dating advice column, the fact is that most business relationships end badly for the same reason personal ones do – lack of communication.

In the online business industry there are  rumblings of relationships gone bad between online business owners and their virtual teams.  This strife is not only hurting  entrepreneurs and small business owners, who have to scramble to keep operations going by either hiring new personnel or by taking on everything themselves, but it’s also hurting virtual assistants, who are left wondering how to find a business where their talents will be most effective.

The good news however, is that the vast majority of these problems are avoidable. With a little work beforehand, business owners can be assured that they’re hiring personnel who will fit perfectly into their existing business structure and personality. DISC Personality Profiling is a sure-fire way to achieve this ever-elusive goal.

What DISC is

DISC is one of the most popular and widely used personality profiling systems in the world and is a positive way to identify what motivates you and the strengths you bring to a team. It also shows the areas where you are not so strong. This is valuable, as it alerts you to which personnel you can bring onto your team to help balance you.   You are observed and known by your actions and by the people you are most motivated to have around you.

DISC profiles measure the energy you are investing into four main traits or factors of personality. You are referred to as a “High” D, I, S, or C as a result. While you have all four dimensions of DISC available to you naturally, you have practiced some more than others over the course of your life, and you cannot operate as high in all four at the same time!
Here are the four main factors of personality:

1. (D) Dominance of Problems - people who need to control, maintain power and assertiveness.
2. (I) Influence of People – people who love social situations, friendship, and communicating
3. (S) Steadiness of the Pace of the environment - people who thrive on patience, persistence and thoughtfulness.
4. (C) Compliance with Procedures and rules – people who are most comfortable when they have all the facts.

The Delegation Challenge

Here are the four personality types and the unique challenges they have when it comes to delegating:

• (D) “I would love to delegate things and grow my business. I already know that is the key. The real problem I have is that most people I could hire are too slow, or they make a mess of it.  Sometimes the only way to maintain control is to do it yourself.  What I want is to find someone who can follow instructions and get it done my way.”




• (I) “I really need to delegate. I’m forever finding that I can’t get my great ideas finished. I have a new idea before I completed the last one.  But every time I want to delegate a task, an Assistant wants me to break it all down and give them all the details.  That just isn’t my strong point.  I get frustrated because I just want someone to understand what I need and DO IT.  I’d like to hire someone that really gets me and can be a partner in my business.”




• (S) “I’m not sure I really want to delegate. I like things done in a certain way, and I don’t like to be pushed too fast. I want to check on the results until I’m sure that I can trust my Assistant to follow my process.  I know it would help me to delegate, but I want a partner who will help me set a good foundation for my business to build upon.”




• (C) “It is hard for me to delegate because I want things done RIGHT. Sometimes I don’t understand why others don’t pay as much attention to detail.  I have been called a perfectionist – but frankly, I believe that my reputation is on the line.  Whatever leaves my desk has to be representative of me.  I can only delegate to someone that cares about the details as much as I do.”

Ok, I admit it, I’m a perfectionist (style C), and it sometimes gets in the way of delegating effectively. Many of us have natural tendencies that can keep us stuck and unable to delegate and let go.

Can you identify with any of the styles above,: Do you procrastinate?  Micromanage ? Or are you a  perfectionist like me?If so, DISC personality profiling will allow you to modify the behaviours that have been keeping you from delegating and the results you want. It will also give you peace of mind, paying the way for your business to experence the growth you always knew it could.

What DISC Gives You

• A powerful understanding of yourself and others
• A clearer insight into interpersonal behavior and relationship dynamics
• Realization of the impact of your personal behavior on others
• A useful tool to help you assess everyone’s behavioral style
• A method for planning your approach to all personal and professional interactions
• A way to maximize your potential in any given situation.
• Team members who will fit perfectly into your business structure and personality

You’ll also learn how you manage others in areas which are particularly sensitive to other people and the style of management you require – specific points that those who manage you can take note of in order to make their job easier in giving you the environment you need to be a happy team player!

Communication is the  Key

The secret to successful delegation is to use DISC Personality Profiling to identify what motivates you, the strengths you bring to a team and the areas where you are not so strong. You will then know which personnel you can bring onto your team to help balance you, and how to communicate effectively to get things done,  get the results you want and to lay the foundation for a successful long-term successful relationship. “Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom.  Mastering others is strength; mastering yourself is true power.”– Tao Te Ching

Yesterday I was having so much fun  creating systems and managing my client’s virtual team, that  I skipped my lunch, didn’t take my cat out for her walk and do some  personal things I planned to do.  Now, please don’t get me wrong, I’m a serious advocate for work-life balance.  I usually stick to my master calendar which gives me the balance I want,  while increasing productivity. What I am sharing with you though, is that when you do  ONLY what you love and are passionate about, you will have more energy, produce extraordinary results and have fun working.  Everything else should be eliminated or outsourced. 

Imagine the success you can achieve when you have a team where everyone does only what they’re brilliant at! Leverage your brilliance to double your income, have more freedom and create a wealthy lifestyle.  Find out how at http://www.bizsuccesspartner.com/teambuilding

Put Your Passwords on Speed Dial with RoboForm

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Today, more than ever, people are working online from home or using the Internet as a secondary source of income.  Generally, it takes several accounts to access the different providers and services necessary to make any online venture profitable.  Internet marketing alone may mean dozens or hundreds of usernames and passwords-which can be very difficult to remember and keep organized. Thus, among many resources for small business, a must-have tool for increasing productivity is Password Manager software.

How Good is Your Memory?

At first, you may try remembering all of your usernames and passwords.  But, it will not be long before you have so many that they get all scrambled up in your head.  Thus, you can spend a lot of wasted time trying to remember the right combination.  If the password cannot be sent to your email address, you may even have to set up a new account, which wastes your valuable time and is very frustrating.

Of course, a lot of people implement the infamous sticky note to keep track of their passwords.  It would be great, but there are two major drawbacks. What good does it have to safeguard your private information, if anyone can check out your sticky notes?  Second, what happens if you lose them?

Automation is the Key

Resources for entrepreneurs are meant for increasing productivity and making the job easier.  But, what good is it to have all of these online resources, if you cannot access them immediately?  If you can identify with this time consuming and frustrating dilemma of constantly searching for passwords, then you need Password Manager software that securely stores data in an encrypted form.

As far as software programs are concerned, this is one of the best small business resources available on the market today.  Now, you can let your computer be your memory, increasing productivity and simplifying your outreach to the online world. You can have as many accounts as you need.  It is like having an office manager without having to pay a salary.

If you’re an entrepreneur with an online business, you should always be looking for small business resources and strategies to get more done with less effort, increasing productivity and your profits. 

With great  Password Managers, you will have the ability to:

1.  Manage your login information
2.  Auto fill your forms
3.  Store Information securely
4.  Create a master password
5.  Have secure search engine access
6.  Have passwords set for you
7. Create safenotes (write notes that you can password protect)
8.  Bookmark (save and manage) your favourite websites

With a Password Manager, increasing productivity is easy  because it saves you  the time needed to access and make accounts.  The software will automatically remember your login information, so you no longer have to pause and try to remember how to access an account.  When you have forms to fill out in order to set up a new account, Password Managers can do that for you in the blink of an eye.

Password Managers can also set up a master password that will give you access to all of your accounts without a hassle; and the software will safely and securely store all of your pertinent information. Password Manager software can even generate secure  passwords for you which is absolutely critical to protect your data.  There are several elements  that are necessary to create a secure password – using your personal data is not secure. If you’re not using secure passwords, it’s like locking your door and leaving the key under the doormat.

If you want to simplify how you work, save tons of time and frustration, Password Manager software is one of the best small business resources available. You’ll have an automated assistant to remember all of your vital password details, create secure passwords to protect your data, create new accounts quickly and so much more! A Password Manager is a must-have tool for increasing productivity working online.
 
Copyright, Michele Hanson-O’Reggio. All rights reserved.

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I often hear from entrepreneurs that they’re challenged with how to train their Virtual Assistant (or team member) effectively – to communicate exactly what they want done,  in the easiest and fastest way possible.

A simple training process that I use is the  5 step PEDAF technique. Educational and learning theory shows that the use of all 5 senses along with spaced repetition, increases the trainee’s understanding and retention. The PEDAF technique reinforces learning by tapping into 3 of our 5 senses.  The reason why many entrepreneurs don’t get the results they want with delegating is because they only do 1 of the 5 steps.

Today, I used the “Demonstrate” component of the technique which reinforces the trainee’s visual sense. It may not be relevant to use this with every task you delegate, but use it as often you can.  Your objective would be to show your Virtual Assistant (VA) what you want the end result to look  like  and/or what steps they need to take to complete a task .

For example, if you need your VA to do paperwork for you, show her what a completed form looks like. Or if you want your website or document to be formatted to look a certain way, show her an example(s) of what you like – make sure that you’re both looking at the same thing.  Today, I created a video  of a task I did on my computer to train my VA on  a new task.  I recorded step by step audio instructions, using Camstudio (a free and easy to use software).

Note that if you hire your Best Fit tm VA, she/he will often know the process to use to accomplish many of your tasks (ie. article marketing, social media marketing). However, there are things that you will want done a specific way – your way, and demonstrating what you want done will ensure success.

This technique is included in my Delegation Success Formula that I teach in my ‘Leverage Your Brilliance Team Building Program’.  If you’d like to  grow your business by leaps and bounds and have more free time with team building,  schedule a Free consultation with me at:
http://www.bizsucccesspartner.com/consultation