The Truth About “Low-Cost” Outsourcing

You’ve probably seen the ads yourself, “Quality Virtual Assistants, $3 per Hour.” Wouldn’t it be great if those ads were true? The truth, however, is that in outsourcing as in most other things, you get what you pay for.

Let’s look at the kinds of tasks being outsourced by small business owners and Internet entrepreneurs. They’re finding new freedom to build their businesses by using Virtual Assistants for a variety of needs. They’re trusting “VAs” to do things like responding to client email, keeping their schedules straight, making appointments and travel arrangements, and updating their websites.

A well-trained Virtual Assistant is someone who’s committed to helping a client grow a business by minimizing the owner’s involvement in day-to-day tasks. Not only do these virtual wonders handle tasks with little supervision, they’re also motivated to suggest improvements that save you time and money. They can help you find additional markets for your products, ways to streamline product delivery and better solutions for business automation.

Is it reasonable to expect the same from someone making less than minimum wage? Here’s the reality, based on feedback from frustrated business owners who tried “cheap” first: the time they spent redoing poorly done work and constantly supervising virtual support outweighed their original savings.

Great VAs will look for ways to increase your business while saving you money. But they don’t work for three dollars per hour! They’re highly-trained professionals running their own businesses, and they charge rates appropriate to their expertise.

As you’re looking for someone to help run your business, consider the benefits of outsourcing to a well-trained Virtual Assistant. Why waste valuable time wondering if the work’s being done correctly? Make the investment in a quality VA and spend your time growing your business, instead.

You can learn more about using a VA by listening to a teleseminar Heather Nelson did about outsourcing: Champion Assistants Virtual Assistants teleseminar

Seattle Businesses – Don’t miss this brand and marketing workshop!

Maria Ross - Marketing and Brand Expert

Defining a brand strategy is essential for all businesses and a task that many small business owners find daunting.  To be successful in any economy or market, businesses need to have a defined niche and a sound strategy for how they are going to position themselves in the market place.  Regardless of how good a product or service may be, positioning and perception make all the difference.

Taking the time to define a marketing and brand strategy are a wise time and money investment that will pay off quickly.  Two of Seattle’s big brand and marketing dynamos, Maria Ross, Marketing Director for Red-Slice and Whitney Keyes of Whitney Keyes Productions, are holding a workshop to guide you through the marketing maze and help you find practical and creative ways to attract new customers  – and keep the ones you have loyal to you.  The workshop is being held February 11th, 2009, and is an excellent opportunity to get practical strategies from Seattle marketing dynamos.  For more information about the workshop, just visit: Branding Workshop.

Best,

Heather

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Microsoft cuts jobs – time for entrepreneurs to flourish!

The news that Microsoft is making its first mass layoffs in its 34-year history (according to the The Associated Press) is big news here in the Seattle-area as all of us are directly or indirectly impacted by the job cuts.  Microsoft is one of the Northwest’s largest employers and everyone in Seattle either works for Microsoft or has a family member, friend or neighbor working at Microsoft.  Whether or not someone we know loses their job, we know how difficult it can be working for a company undergoing an unprecedented internal transition. Champion Assistants is headquarted in Kirkland, just a 15-minute drive from Microsoft’s Redmond campus and we greatly value the impact the company has had in our region – providing jobs to so many and boosting the level of technological-savvy and development in the region.  Champion Assistants is a registered partner with Microsoft and we’re always keeping an eye out for what Microsoft is innovating.

In addition to Microsoft, the Puget Sound region is also known as being a region where entrepreneurs flourish – especially for minority-owned businesses according to Prosperity Partnership.org.  According to Washington State, women are considered minorities in business and therefore 51% majority women-owned businesses qualify for special loan rates as well as business counseling services from organizations such as the Community Capital Development Washington Business Center.  There are a number of free resources available to small business owners and entrepreneurs both nationally through the SBA and in Washington State.  I always recommend starting with free resources and exhausting them before paying for advice.

With layoffs being announced across various industries and company sizes, I think this economy will present innovators with an excellent opportunity to develop their ideas and go into business for themselves.  Being layed off can be discouraging, but realizing creative talent and ambition while working from home is tremendously rewarding.  I strongly believe that home offices will become micro-power centers of innovation over the next couple years.  Good talent rarely sits idle.

With the convenience of the home office and low barrier to entry for online sales, there is tremendous opportunity for small business to capture niche market share and sell online with extremely low overhead costs.  It isn’t all doom and gloom with layoffs.  Now is the time to fulfill dreams and stay productive at what we all do best and are passionate about.  Carpe diem!  If you are one of the many being affected by restructuring and layoffs, now is the time to develop your ideas and sell online.

Best,

Heather

5 Basic Elements of Targeted Marketing

There are many styles of marketing, but only one that truly works in all applications. That one style is known as Targeted Marketing. Targeted Marketing uses information and planning to reach the right people at the right time. Below are the five basic elements to effectively and efficiently utilize this style of marketing.

1. Know Your Audience: Just like you know your products or services, you likely know who will benefit from them the most and why. What problem does your particular product solve? Are there any other problems that that same product solves? Who has these problems? Bingo, you have found your target. Now you must learn about your target market. What are there habits? Where do they shop? What media sources do they use frequently? Why do they hang out? What do they like and dislike? Knowing your audience in this way will help you to focus your marketing efforts toward them in an efficient manner. If you were trying to reach an 80 year old man you wouldn’t post an ad in Vogue would you?

2. Optimize Your Efforts: For every company this element will vary slightly, but the general emphasis here is to make sure the tools and information you have available to your clients are working for you. If you have a website, make sure the content is updated on a regular basis, the metadata is accurate and accessible including keywords and a site map. The same goes for brochures and other informational leaflets. The information needs to be accurate and honest and the appearance needs to be clean. No one likes looking at something that hurts the eyes. If there are too many bells and whistles or too many vibrant colors you are going to lose your audience. Simple is usually best!

3. Be The expert: Develop the ‘Know, Like, Trust’ effect by becoming an expert in your market. Write articles, have free information available, be honest and upfront. If you have the opportunity to share something that you know and enrich someone else’s business/life they will become a source of referrals down the road.

4. Plan Your Attack Strategy: Whit the information you now have you should be able to formulate your marketing plans. Know what you are willing to spend and where you want to spend that money. Figure out if your going to use mail marketing vs. email marketing and know where you are going to get your mailing lists from. (It is always best to use a source you can trust) Know what keywords are best for finding your information online. Figure out where you need to be so that your customers will find you instead of you having to hunt for them.

5. Befriend the media: The media is a huge source of referrals and are more than happy to learn about new inventions, new techniques, new anything. Use the media to your advantage by sharing information. Think of this as an extension of both elements 3 and 4. You are more of an expert in the public mind if the media mentions you or your business. Press releases, on air spots, and other media events should be a part of your attack strategy.

These five elements take planning and effort to be successful. Just as you wouldn’t leave the house without your keys, you don’t want to start your marketing with only one element in place. Figuring out who your marketing needs to reach, where to find them and how best to reach them makes a huge difference in any marketing plan.

InfusionSoft – Think twice before sinking your money in this CRM tool

I’ve seen a number of clients invest in CRM tools that are far more powerful than their businesses require – and more expensive than they can currently afford – because their business advisers have told them that they should invest in technologies now that will support their future business plans.  These business advisers instill the fear  in their clients that their company won’t be prepared in the future when their prospects and clients outweigh the capability for the company to manage them.  I have never witnessed a case where this was the reality.  In reality, the sudden onslaught of clients never comes, and even if it were to, most CRM systems are built so that all current data can be easily migrated with a learning curve for using the technology.

The biggest example I have seen in unfortunate CRM purchases is InfusionSoft.  I have seen InfusionSoft touted by so-called industry experts and gurus (think Dan Kennedy, Bill Glazer, Ali Brown) who advise info-marketers to invest in this CRM solution now in preparation for future business.  InfusionSoft has a number of drawbacks like not being able to paste text in various modules and difficulties pasting links to name a couple quick irritants.  The biggest thing about InfusionSoft is that it is NOT for info-marketers.  InfusionSoft is for businesses with actual sales teams.  To use InfusionSoft effectively the business needs to be sales-oriented, equipped with a multi-person sales force, have a database with hundreds of thousands of contacts AND have the budget to effectively implement this technology.  The time to migrate data, implement the tool and train a salesforce how to use it – and continue to update it – is extremely time intensive.  This is not the responsibility of a business owner either.  This is the responsiblity of an IT Leader.  While Champion Assistants provides the service of IT Team Lead, we are very careful to only work with clients who have a business that is both financially and mentally prepared for a company-wide CRM rollout.

Sadly, I have seen a number of solo-preneurs buy InfusionSoft on the recommendation of their marketing or sales advisor and start implementing the software only to find that it’s extremely cumbersome to use and their business only requires a fraction of the power of the tool.  InfusionSoft is not for contact management.  It is in fact a full-scale CRM tool.  Also, I have seen that the people referring this software get a handsome referral bonus, and I know there are ulterior motives at play as well.  For instance the Dan Kennedy – Bill Glazer Inner Circle has made huge amounts of money through their referrals to InfusionSoft.  They make so much money they actually hold presentations on buying InfusionSoft at their SuperConference and InfoSummit conferences!  It’s great business for them, but not necessarily the right decision for all of those people trying to follow the Dan Kennedy – Bill Glazer methods.

I advise against purchasing any technologies that require your business to grow into.  It’s difficult to predict if the tool will be outdated by the time you need it or if there would have been a better solution based on what your business actually needs at the time. Save yourself time and aggravation and focus on strategic growth instead.

Best,

Heather

Heather Nelson featured in Seattle Times Career Section

Heather Nelson featured in Seattle Times

I think everyone remembers their first job – whether it was the low pay, long hours or seemingly menial work.  From humble beginnings we emerge!  My first job was at Nordstrom as a cashier hired to work the busy seasonal sales and holidays.  It was quite a lot to take on, and I learned and adapted as quickly as I could.  I suppose we never know in the beginning where our lives and careers will lead us, and it’s always interesting to take a mental look back at the path we’ve followed.

The Seattle Times actually featured my story in their My First Job Career Section column.  Over the years I’ve transition from cashier to sales and marketing staff to project management at some the world’s largest IT companies.  Today, I’m a happy business owner and virtual assistant.  It’s great to remember those days and think about how far I’ve come along the journey!

Please share your experiences with me, too!  I’d like to know what you went through in your first job!

Best,

Heather

Unique Selling Proposition: What makes your company unique?

Have you thought of a USP or unique selling proposition for your company? It’s an important part of a company’s message to the public. What is it that you want the public to know about your company? How are you different from all the other companies out there that are competing with you?  Ask anyone what Head and Shoulders shampoo does and they will immediately say it gets rid of dandruff. This is their USP and everyone knows it. It can really pay off for a company to have a clear and concise USP for the public to wrap their minds around.  A good USP needs to have a clear message that can be backed up by the company. This needs to be a tangible quality that is not just talk. For example, you’re USP can’t be “buy my product because it’s the best”. That’s way too vague to be a USP. The USP needs to state that it can do X, Y and Z specifically.

Also, your service or product had better do exactly what it states because if it doesn’t the public will soon realize it. A USP should also be a unique statement that is not being made by your competitors. If everyone else is making the same claim that you are, you aren’t being very unique and you will be lost in a sea of similar advertisements. Of course, unique is a relative word. No USP can be truly unique because there is always a company out there that makes a similar product or does something similar to your company. The market may shift over time and you will find that your once very unique USP is surrounded by many similar USP’s. When this happens, and it will eventually, you need to change with the times. An example of this is Head and Shoulders. They aren’t the only shampoo out there that gets rid of dandruff anymore. They can’t get by anymore by simply saying they get rid of dandruff. Why are they better than the other brands? These are questions that you will need to ask yourself when your USP gets old and needs to change with the times.

Article Submission: A clever way to get your name out there

Are you a good writer? If so you can put that talent to work for your business by submitting articles online. A good article can generate publicity for your website. This means more traffic and more customers. There are a few good places to start looking if you want to try this. Three reputable websites are submityourarticle.com, ezinearticles,com and amazines.com. These three sites have some differences but they all allow your articles to get exposure from the public, which will in turn generate exposure for you, your company and your website. The first website, submityourarticle.com automatically distributes your article all over the internet. It won’t just stay at that site waiting for someone to come and view it. They specifically target directory hubs that have massive traffic from publishers who look for quality articles. They also target category specific websites regarding the topic of your article. Submityourarticle.com also has an in-house team of publishers who review articles as they come in. Ezinearticles.com is the second website that’s worth checking out. This site has similar content to submityourarticle.com, with some noteworthy points of interest. They have a 10 article limit for new members. However if your article meets or exceeds their expectations they will upgrade your membership status to Platinum. This means that you are allowed unlimited submissions for your articles. This site formally was a pay site, but they are currently trying out an ad-supported system in which they are able to let people submit ads without charge. They obviously want quality writers if they are going to grant this free service. Amazines.com is the last site that will be discussed. This site’s most notable feature is that it is free. They let registered authors submit their new articles at no charge and they allow them to view and manage their older articles as well. Their goal is to build the most comprehensive article database and submission site that is free. This may be a great choice for a smaller company that is trying to get exposure but wants to keep its overhead as low as possible. In conclusion, submitting articles can be an effective and relatively inexpensive way to boost your company’s exposure. If you’re a good writer, you can use this gift to help your business grow.

Autoresponders: The missing link to customer service

 Autoresponders can be a very effective tool, but if they are not written well, they can give a potential customer a cold feeling. If someone sends you an e-mail, your autoresponder needs to do one thing very well; keep them interested. Hardly anyone will make a transaction on their first trip to your website, so this is important. This message doesn’t need to immediately make the sale, it just needs to make them want to come back and visit you again. Autoresponders need a compelling headline to grab the readers and make them want to keep reading. This will also cause the autoresponder message to stand out, increasing the likelihood that the potential customer will call back or visit your website again. Another tactic to improving your Autoresponders effectiveness is to use personal names. There are autoresponders that allow personal names to be used automatically. Obviously some information is needed for this to be possible and you will likely need to have already had some contact with the individual . Instead of the message of dear valued customer, it would read Dear John Smith. This has a strong psychological effect that can mean the difference between a repeat and a lost customer. This doesn’t need to be limited to just their names either. There are ways to note specific information like past services or sales that will really impress the potential customer. This will make them feel like they aren’t just being contacted by a machine. Giving your potential customers some comparison between your services and some other company’s services is another great way to make your autoresponder message stand out. If your company does something better than other companies, let people know about it. If you sell a product that is less expensive or better than another product, have that information right in the autoresponder message. Let them see a comparison between your company and your competition. This can be a powerful tool in gaining new customers.

 

The Intricacies of Selling in Japan

The Japanese are very forgiving of foreigners especially when it comes to not fully understanding all of their customs and cultures.  They prefer not to have one-on-one meetings and will wait until there can be multiple people at the business meeting.  It is important to be respectful because if you make a bad reputation for yourself, it will take a long time to change the bad image that you have made for yourself.  Through building of relationships, a company can obtain many referrals, since it is all based on trust.  Selling online to Japan is a market that is really taken off and that companies should jump on.  There are requirements to being successful in this arena.  The customer service must be impeccable.  This includes understanding what Japanese consumers want and need from their products and services.  Quality is a top priority in their decision making.  However it is also important to understand the language, so if someone speaks Japanese that would be much better.  What would be considered a harmless product in the United States could be perceived as offensive in Japanese culture, so this is something an American company must tread lightly on.  An example of this is, on Valentine’s Day chocolates and presents are given from the female to their boyfriends, husbands, etc.  But the male counterpart must wait a month until it is White Day to reciprocate the presents.  If a company fails to understand this, it could be detrimental.  Also, the different age groups can vary among how to target those markets and the customs that they hold dear.

A great resource for this topic is Market to Japan.  They provide marketing consulting to firms exploring into Japan.  Check out their website at: http://www.markettojapan.com/