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Wouldn’t it be great if you could make a few clones of yourself? Especially if all those clones were highly trained to do the things you need done, but don’t have the skills to do yourself?
Just about all of us, at one time or another, get overwhelmed by all the stuff we have to take care of. And when we get overwhelmed, we tend to avoid certain tasks, so they go by the wayside. For us independent professionals, what do we avoid first?
We might think it’s the stuff that’s the least important, but it’s usually the stuff we just don’t want to do.
Like marketing.
Admit it, if you’re faced with the choice of, for example, making follow-up calls or getting all your paper clips facing the same way, I’ll bet you’ll choose the latter every time. The only problem there is that marketing our services is the surest (and sometimes only) way of attracting new clients.
The more I work with clients on their marketing, the more I realize that the number-one obstacle keeping solo entrepreneurs from building their businesses isn’t that they don’t know how to market. It’s that they don’t have a comprehensive plan they’re working from day after day and month after month.
Usually, marketing is something they do randomly, between the cracks of their calendars. It’s no wonder the results are less than exciting. And sadly, it’s no wonder so many of them go back to corporate jobs after “giving it their best shot.”
Want to know my secret for both keeping myself from being overwhelmed, and working my whole marketing plan?
Kristen Beireis of Virtual Helper 4 U (www.virtualhelper4u.com)
She’s a superhero. Or rather a team of superheroes, and I’m the hapless bystander that would be squashed by the evil-doer (i.e. “I can’t do it all myself!”), if it weren’t for her.
Kristen works with successful coaches who are just about to that next level of success, but don’t have the time to implement all their great ideas.
Here are a few of the things she and her team have done for me:
Built www.successbecomesyou.com from scratch.
Redesigned www.successbecomesyou.com (new site coming soon)
Patiently held my hand during the whole process
Analyzed and optimized my website statistics
Edited, formatted, uploaded, and sent every one of my ezine issues for the last few years (including the one you’re reading right now)
Submitted all those ezines to several article submission sites
Conducted tons of market and technical research
Set up and administered my online shopping cart
Educated me endlessly about technical aspects of marketing
This is the biggest one: Kristen coaches me on my marketing strategies, and then takes those strategies and does the dirty work.
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I could go on, but what I’m really saying is that she takes away the tasks I don’t really want to do and frees me up to think about the bigger picture of my business.
If you’re thinking Kristen’s company is a group of VA’s, they’re a lot more than that. I think of them as the marketing department of my company.
In short, Kristen is one of the reasons my business is as successful as it is. And that feels like freedom.
By the way, I am not being compensated in any way by Kristen’s company for talking about her here. I’m raving about them simply because I’m grateful for all they’ve done for me, and I know other independent professionals could be, do, and have so much more by working with her.
So how much time would it free up for you if you had someone to take the lion’s share of your marketing tasks away and do them better and faster than you could? What would you do with all that time?
A few things I’ve been able to work on include a book on marketing using the power of storytelling, creating other new products, and developing video for my website (check back for it soon).
The main result of all this is that I get to work on the things I really want to do, so I get more done and I’m enjoying my day more. It doesn’t get much better than that.
If you’re feeling stressed and overwhelmed with your marketing, or you just don’t enjoy the tasks needed to attract new clients, check out Kristen at www.virtualhelper4u.com. You won’t be sorry.
Until next month, happy dreaming about bigger things for your business.
RJ |
