Issue #4 - The Paperless E-preneur

Paperless Entrepreneur is brought to you by VMF Ltd. - www.VMFLtd.com

www.paperlessentrepreneur.com

3 Editor’s Letter

4 Virtual Freedom With Chris Ducker

9 Unison Kicks Up Your Productivity

13 Finally It’s Time For A Truly Paperless Home Office

18 Learn From My Mistakes & Set Business Boundaries

22 My Journey As A Budding Internet Entrepreneur

24 Start With The Schedule

28 The Story Behind The Roadmap

33 Michelle’s Quick Digital Tips

34 Embracing Location Independence

38 On Being A Digital Hobo

43 Find Clients For Your Location Independent Business

47 How To Get The Best Out Of Your VA

51 Paperless Press

Contentswww.PaperlessEntrepreneur.com

http://www.PaperlessEntrepreneur.com

PAPERLESS e-preneur/ Spring 2014 3

editor’s letter

This is the first "official" edition since our beta launch in 2012 where we produced 3 copies of the magazine as an experiment. On the 3rd issue when impressions exceeded 35,000 we knew we'd created something worth pursuing, and I'm delighted to announce that the magazine will now be a bi-annual publication for Spring/Summer and Autumn/Winter.

We've put our all into this first official Spring/Summer issue for 2014 and we sincerely hope you enjoy it. We have contributions from Chris Ducker, of ChrisDucker.com and author of Virtual Freedom, we speak to Manlio Carrelli, CEO of Unison, plus fantastic articles from fellow colleagues and digital nomads who are embracing the Paperless Lifestyle.

The magazine is free so we encourage you to support us and share it will as many people as you can. You can share through the social share and embed options that are on the digital version or through www.PaperlessEntrepreneur.com

If you didn't get a chance to check out the previous versions of this magazine, my first editor’s letter was written in Italy, then my second was written in Austria, my third from Greece and for this issue I'm writing the letter from Egypt - I'm here with my

family for 4 months, and I'm 5 months pregnant with my 3rd child. You may have noticed I don't sit still for long, I don't let anything stand in my way of living life to its fullest, and I'm always pushing the boundaries on learning from experience :-)

I run my business online, through the wonderful gift of the Internet and Apple Mac, which I am ever so grateful for. My passion is travel, my expertise is the people-2-people online service industry, my reason is family, and my purpose is to share with you and the rest of the world how dreams really can become reality when you design your life to be exactly how you want it to be, where you want it to be, and then apply your business savvy, with the Internet to create the propellers that will get you from A to B.

I say this not to impress you, but to impress upon you that you have a choice, and I'm here to support you in any way I can, and this magazine is just one of many contributions I can make to help you along the path to your chosen destination…

Michelle Dale.The Paperless E-preneur

Welcome to the

4th Edition of the PaPErlEss E-PrEnEur MagazinE!

4 PAPERLESS e-preneur/ Spring 2014

What VA Gurus -

Chris Ducker and Michelle Dale, agree on when it comes to your

"Virtual Freedom."

5entrepreneurial

insiGhts

"Super-VAs don’t exist. There is no one virtual assistant anywhere on the planet who can handle everything you need help with in your business. Think about it: When your roof is leaking, you don’t ask your electrician to pop around and fix it. You call a roofing expert to come over and do the necessary repairs. Bottom line: hire for the role, not for the task."

“This is so true, I started off learning and doing everything in my business myself, and some things I really excelled at, others, well I barely scraped by with acceptable - we can’t all be incredible administrators, marketers and creators, we have to accept that some other people are better than us at certain things and be thankful they are!”

"As entrepreneurs, time is our most valuable commodity (MVC). Money will come and go, but once you’ve invested your time into something, that time is gone forever. It stands to reason that if there are any actions we can take as business owners to free up more time in our daily routines, we should take them."

“From the perspective of an entrepreneur and team leader, this piece of advice is so valuable - I’ve always created processes and procedures for any ongoing, repetitive or recurring task that happens in my business and then no matter who you hire to support you, you’ve already invested that time to help them learn without the need to repeat the process over and over. This is a massive time saver and doesn’t take that much longer - next time you do a task record a screencast or write each point down step by step - it will save you an incredible amount of time over the long term.”

Virtual Freedom with Chris Ducker

PaPerless e-preneur/ Spring 2014 5

What VA Gurus -

Chris Ducker and Michelle Dale, agree on when it comes to your

"Virtual Freedom."

Michelle Dale takes Chris Ducker’s top 5 insights from his new book “Virtual Freedom” and shares how successful they’ve been over the years through applying them to her own life and business.

Chris sAys

Chris sAys

Michelle sAys

Michelle sAys

"The moment you experience the power of a specialized, welltrained team of VAs, you’ll have access to one of the most powerful assets any entrepreneur can wish for—more time."

“Absolutely, I’m delighted that I have been able to pretty much remove myself from daily operations and billable time, which gives me much more freedom than if I didn’t have my incredible team, not only that, it increases my capacity to do more business, and therefore increases my income. Who wouldn’t want more time, more freedom, and more income?”

"Your virtual freedom is about more than trying to work fewer hours each day, week, or month. It’s about leveraging that freedom in order to create more building blocks for your business."

"Despite all the time and money that goes into corporate branding, people don’t choose to do business with a company because of a logo design or a mission statement. They choose to do business with a particular brand because of personal experiences with the products or services—and just as importantly, because of the people who represent them.”

“This is another excellent point, the free time mentioned previously is put to great use creating better workflows, adding more value to clients, creating more products and investing further into training and development - being a digital nomad, I also get to do this from anywhere in the world, for example, this year I took 4 months away with my family in Egypt and created 3 fantastic new service training courses.”

“This is such an important consideration, in today’s climate people really do buy from people. Customers are seeking honesty, integrity, a true life success story they can relate to and feel inspired by. The days of hiding behind a brand have gone, and we’re all becoming more aware of the human aspects of business. They are looking for people who “care” - care about the quality of their products and services, care about the results they produce, and above all care about the consumers who are buying them.”

So those are our top 5 take-away insights from Chris Ducker’s new book, released April 2014.

Go grab a copy of the book, it’s an essential read for any start-up or entrepreneur, and also check out this exclusive excerpt below for

Paperless E-preneur readers, courtesy of the author himself.


PaPerless e-preneur/ Spring 20146

Chris sAys

Chris sAys

Chris sAys

Michelle sAys

Michelle sAys

Michelle sAys



to some, the concept of hiring and working with people that they will likely never meet in person is as foreign as it comes. however, the fact is that the world—particularly the business world—has changed drastically in the last ten to fifteen years.

the internet has enabled us not only to do business from a distance, but also to capitalize on an avalanche of global talent that was previously inaccessible.

sure, there are some downfalls to working with virtual staff, such as different time zones, the inability to meet in person regularly, and the potential of cultural differences, but when handled correctly, the pros far outweigh the cons.

thEsE PROs inCLUDE

Cost-saving benefits, especially if working with overseas staff.

hiring without geographical constraints.

Quick and easy hiring for one-time jobs.

Minimal physical office requirements.

All this being said, many first-time outsourcers fear that because they are at a distance from their virtual employees they’re going to be taken advantage of in some way. it’s a fair assumption, and one that does come true for some. however, it’s my job as the author of this book to show you how to do this thing right from the outset: to limit the obvious trial and error that comes with any hiring situation, whether physical or virtual, and to ultimately help you fall in love with your virtual staff, the way that I have and the way that others have, too.

Why BUiLD A VIRTUAL TEAM in thE FiRst PLACE?

• by Chris Ducker •



those others include Leslie samuel, a full-time university professor who moonlights as an equally full-time online entrepreneur. When Leslie first started his business, he was teaching during the day and a slave to his new business in the evening. his marriage suffered. His health suffered. In fact, almost every aspect of his life suffered. After putting in place several systems and ultimately hiring a VA to run his small online business for him, things got easier. Leslie now says that hiring a VA saved not only his business but also his life. Pretty strong stuff.

Another entrepreneur that has injected virtual staff into his business is thought leader Michael hyatt. he started hiring virtual assistants when he became overwhelmed by his blog’s incredible popularity, which freed up time for him to focus on what he really enjoyed—writing.

you’ll discover plenty more stories like Leslie’s and Michael’s throughout this book—stories of business owners who work with the help of virtual assistants all over the world. you’ll meet, for example, Kyle Zimmerman, who owns and operates a retail photography studio in new Mexico, and natalie sisson, who has literally lived out of her suitcase for years as she builds an online business. through the case studies and spotlights in this book, entrepreneurs just like you share their struggles of working with virtual staff and how they overcame those struggles.

Entrepreneur, speaker, Consultant and More!

Chris Ducker is a serial entrepreneur, virtual staffing expert, blogger, podcaster and author who helps other entrepreneurs catapult their businesses into the 21st century utilizing what he calls the ‘new Business’ style of marketing and working with overseas staff.

www.chrisducker.com


All Together Now – Unison Kicks Up

Your Productivity!by Michelle Dale

This new tool enters the market due to the efforts of a small organisation headquartered in New York. According to the company Unison is a "faster and more organised way to do teamwork. Encrypted and secure it can reduce group e-mail by 80% or more."

This could be a social network for your organisation. The app is designed to speed up the way that information and updates are shared between your team members. Apps are available for all major platforms including Windows, Mac, smartphone and tablet.

Whereas you could compare the solution to other software products available on the market, Unison takes the best functionality from each and puts it all together in one very valuable tool. For example, whereas you can create spaces for different projects or teams in other solutions, Unison allows you to

There are many tools available on the market designed to help you organise your projects and make your team work more efficiently. One that's making small business owners and project managers sit up and take notice however is Unison.

http://www2.unison.com/virtualmissfriday

Continue to page 10 ...

Unison Kicks Up Your Productivity


organise each particular space into multiple threads. You can see who is available 'live' and in the room at this moment, ready to engage in a conversation around a particular thread. You can then post to talk about different documents or files, images or notes. Furthermore, you can add people to a particular room or conversational thread from outside of your organisation intuitively. This option is not allowed by many other options in the marketplace.

There may be reason for you to engage with somebody else about a problem that's difficult to explain through just a chat option. With Unison you can engage audio or video chat for those complicated one-on-one sessions. Want to add somebody to the conversation? With one click you can set up group voice conferencing. All of this interaction is securely encrypted as well for your peace of mind.

Somebody may be worried that they are going to be a little less productive when it comes to an urgent task on the desk, as everybody's going to be able to "see" them in Unison and potentially interrupt them. No problem here, as you can simply set your status to "busy" and get on with your work until you're ready to interact once more.

One of the most powerful features and really important in today's day and age where many of us are on the go is the ability to sync all content instantaneously across all devices. If you have been working on the road using your tablet as you travelled back to the office, it's great to know that all of your work has been instantly updated and ready for you to continue on your office desktop.

All organisations should be concerned about security these days, but in the case that your company operates in a particularly sensitive industry it's good to know that Unison takes all of this very seriously. At the executive level you can set complete control over the organisation of the rooms,

the people and the content. Using an administrative panel you can set up access and privileges in very granular detail. The rooms themselves are closed loop and anybody who interacts therein must be authenticated. Anybody who you invite in, such as a temporary vendor or even a client, is only able to see the specific detail within the specific rooms they were invited to.

Encryption is the name of the game at Unison, where all messages and rules are securely encrypted using at least 128 bit security. If you choose to use Unison

via software as a service it will be deployed either in the secure cloud used by the

parent organisation or in a private cloud environment.

Unison is organised around secure rooms.

You can set up as many of these as you like. You can set up one which is designed for the whole organisation, so that important announcements can

reach anybody. You can set up different rooms for

different departments or teams, such as marketing, IT,

finance. Sensitive projects that need to be handled by just a few

team members can be allocated their own room.

Could this be the end of e-mail for your organisation? Unison claims that companies have been able to reduce group e-mail by as much as 80% in studies conducted. Those status meetings that seem to happen several times every day can also be reduced or eliminated, helping to kick up productivity.

As you can see when somebody is actually available real-time then there's no uncertainty about any additional time spent in sending "are you there" messages! You needn't worry about whether you're interrupting them as they work on something pressing, as everybody's able to toggle their available status to on or off. Waiting for an urgent update? Everybody involved in the particular task gets an instant alert whenever new content is posted.




Due to the fact that rooms are organised with multiple different conversational threads, just like conventional social networks, Unison will be familiar right out-of-the-box. Consequently, an organisation will not have to waste time bringing everybody up to speed. Initial training time is minimal. The solution has a fresh inviting interface which is likely to go down well with everybody on the team.

If you have been unsure about the real efficiency of a solution such as Basecamp then this could well be your golden ticket. Many of these more established solutions certainly provide an improvement versus no system at all, but with Unison everything really is in real-time and you're not working with just some glorified group e-mail solution.

While there's a free plan available in order to test the service or with smaller projects, small businesses may be interested in the entry-level solution which is $8 per month per user. The "most popular" option gives you unlimited storage and a 'live' calling facility for $15 per user per month. The term "user" refers to only people who are inside the company with an e-mail address related to your domain. If you're inviting others from outside organisations then there's no additional cost.

All in all, a refreshing option at the next level…

When did you first realise you wanted to go into digital/cloud technology?

I first realised I wanted to go into digital/cloud technology in college during the late 90s, when I watched how the Internet and message boards made it much easier for classes to continue their discussions outside the classroom. What would this mean for how we got stuff done together?

Why did you develop Unison, how did the idea occur?

The team that created Unison had for years worked in companies where everyone was in different places or highly mobile. You know this firsthand. If your team is distributed across multiple locations or highly mobile, you're left guessing: What's happening right now in one office or with a particular remote team member? What's going on with my key projects or business opportunities? Who's working on that hot issue at this moment, so I can get an update? Did Joe in customer support see that message yet?

The farther apart you are by distance, time or corporate boundaries, the worse it gets. The vision for Unison is to answer these questions on a single screen, putting you in control. All the friction between you and the people and information you need to do your job -- it's erased. You can lead a team or project right from your smartphone!

Unison has been described in the press as "Facebook For The Office" - would you say this was accurate?

We don't believe applying consumer social networking models works for businesses. Consumer social networks tools are built around wide open information sharing and newsfeeds -- but what teams really want and what Unison really focuses on is a way to push real work forward fast.

QuickfireQ & A with Michelle Dale

and Unison CEO, Manlio Carrelli.

3.

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Unison has been compared to services like Yammer and Salesforce - what makes Unison different?

One big difference is we have 'live' audio and video integrated right into our tool. Another is that these tools revolve around newsfeeds and sharing company-wide information. Our focus is on private rooms to push projects and issues forward fast -- really powerful stuff for teams in different places.

What does the future look like for Unison?

We recently enabled our clients to integrate their existing data sources into Unison -- displaying them in rooms. A sales manager can create a room that automatically posts each new sales opportunity added to the CRM system. An operations manager can create a room that automatically posts system availability alerts. Managers and their teams view and discuss the events as they happen, with timestamps on each event and timestamps indicating when each staff member read it.

We're growing into a new kind of business operating system.

What's next for you?

More Unison :) It's a movement for us, in that so many people now work in different places or from their mobile devices. They should have the speed, access and meaning of “being in the office” when they're not.

Sign Up Now For Your FREE Account -Get Started With Unison Today

MANLIO CARRELLI, CEO

With 15 years of enterprise software experience, Manlio was previously CMO of Intermedia. Prior to that, he ran the Carrelli Group, developing growth strategies for CEOs at Fortune 500 companies. He previously ran marketing for TradeCard, one of the first major global SaaS platforms.



Finally, It's Time For A Truly

PAPErlEss HomE oFFICE

By Michelle Dale

Small business owners today know how important it is to have a very small

footprint. If you've got too much overhead or too large an office you're simply not

going to be as efficient as some of your competitors. If you find that from time to

time you need to get up and go, to work on a project overseas perhaps then you don't want to have an inflexible office structure to slow you down. You need to be able to operate and work as much as possible in

the digital environment if you're going to have true flexibility.


But what about all the paperwork? Even today it's extremely difficult to cut down on the amount of paper that's generated within, around and external to your organisation. You may have set yourself up for paperless billing as far as all of your vendors are concerned and this is a good start. However, sometimes you just have to have a hard copy and some organisations simply insist on this.

When this is the case you have two potential problems. Firstly, if you have to keep a copy of something then you want to convert it to digital format. Secondly, you may not feel as if you need to keep a copy of some information but it is nevertheless rather sensitive. In this case, it's not a good idea to simply toss it in the rubbish bin.

To help you with your freedom and security issues along comes Paperless Home. With this UK-based service you're going to be able to get rid of the paper headache once and for all. Whenever any documents come in that you need to keep you simply send them in special envelopes provided by the vendor to their office for secure scanning. Paperless Home will then scan the documents directly to your own digital filing system provided by them for no additional cost.

Should you wish, they can also send you a USB memory stick. After a short period of time the documents you sent to them will be securely shredded.

If you just want those sensitive but disposable documents to be eliminated with no problems then Paperless Home provides you with a different colour envelope. Put all of this documentation into that envelope and send it away and it goes straight to the secure shredder.When you want a digital copy of an important document, perhaps just to send to an external organisation in support of some process, then it's also possible to send in another colour-coded envelope to Paperless Home for action. In this case when an envelope is sent in the "green" envelope it's securely scanned to your online filing cabinet and the original is returned.

Many different options for the small business owner who really wants to increase their mobility and reduce the clutter in their office. After all, if you're trying to reduce the size of your office and cut down on the number of pieces of equipment you have, you certainly don't want to have both a shredder and a scanner in the corner of your office, do you?

Truly Paperless Home Office


1. Why did you create Paperless Home?

As a senior executive of a company that provided document management and digitisation services to companies across the world, I realised early that there wasn't really anyone out there who would focus on helping individuals and households to benefit from a paperless environment. Most advice and information found online was/is about finding the right scanning equipment, selecting appropriate software and how to minimise paper flowing through the door.

Although widely desired, most people shy away from going paperless due to the initial effort and time it takes to scan documents with a small home office scanner. Having to buy, upgrade and maintain hardware and software to stay paperless is simply not appealing.

I personally always preferred to have the information I needed readily available on my tablet or Smartphone when I need it rather than having to search through papers in my filing cabinet. I therefore went through the exercise of scanning all my legacy files and documents. It was very time consuming and it was awfully boring!

That's how the idea was born! With my professional experience and network, we brought together professional organisations that typically service large corporate clients and bundled it into the most convenient document scanning service for individuals, households and small offices. Our customers not only benefit from competitive prices offered to large organisations but also now have a really simple and convenient way to eliminate their paper piles.


Q & A WITH mICHEllE DAlE AnD

CEo oF PAPErlEss HomE, mArkus BECkEr.

2. What's the best thing about going Paperless?

There are many benefits to going Paperless, but the best thing is that one can not only access one's documents from anywhere at any time, but also save an enormous amount of time finding the right information! Rather than having to remember file names or digging through folders, one can search through the content of the files to receive great search results. Just like a Google search through your own documents.

Let's not forget that paperless information can be stored in different places and backed up, which keeps records safe in case something terrible were to happen to your home.

3. Who would typically use Paperless Home?

We see a variety of different people using Paperless Home as it is a solution to everyone in the long term. Currently our customers can be split into three demographics:

1) A professional (30 – 45 years of age) who lives in a one to two room apartment, owns a Smartphone and tablet, travels for leisure and/or business and is generally well organised.

2) A family of reasonable income that has a back log of paper and is generally going through a decluttering exercise to free up space and have an organised home.

3) A home or small office needing to free up space and facilitate easy access to documents in the form of searchable PDFs to save time and money as well as help them to keep their office administration tidy (e.g. accounting, tax, etc).




4. Do you have any other Paperless projects in the pipeline?

The plan is to add further functionalities to Paperless Home including (to mention one example) a Smartphone Application that will enable the storage of photographed receipts or other ‘on the go’ paper formats. We believe these added functionalities will further encourage people to go paperless and to help them take full advantage of their digitised documents.

5. What's your number 1 tip for becoming a Paperless Entrepreneur?

There are, of course, some documents which one has to keep in physical format, but most documents are legally acceptable in electronic (PDF) format. It is actually a lot easier to prove the originality of an electronic document than of a physical document.

Insist on acting in a paperless way! Ultimately, there's always a way to do business, exchange information or deal with organisations without having to send around paper documents. Old habits die hard and sometimes some people require a bit more convincing, but it's almost always possible.


Markus J Becker is the founder of Paperless Home. As previous CEO of Swiss Post’s Global Document Solutions business he has years of experience in digital transformation. Markus has been recognised as a thought leader within this field and not only provides consulting services to blue-chip companies on an international level but also previously developed a media convergence business. Follow Markus and anything related to Digital Transformation on @AparnaPro.

Visit | www.paperlesshome.co.ukLike Us | www.facebook.com/PaperlessHomeWrite | [email protected]

Learn from My Mistakes & Set Business Boundaries


Learn From My MIstakes & Set Business Boundaries

& Learn From My Mistakes set Business Boundaries By Megan Dixon

When most online business entrepreneurs launch their businesses, they're eager and wanting to meet clients’ needs immediately. As much as high-caliber customer satisfaction is essential, that doesn't equate to living your life dictated as a result of needy clients. Another common hurdle is acquiring new clientele acquainted with conducting business online. Time and time again, I've heard how online business owners have requested to have the first meeting “in-person”.

Now, these might not seem like a big deal. What could possibly happen? I've learned the hard way. Once you’ve started down that path, it's twice as hard to make changes later. The reality is, clients get accustomed to how the relationship started and aren’t in favor of changes. I highly recommend that you clearly explain how you conduct business and your boundaries upfront. You’ll thank yourself if you do.



so, you might be wondering, what does she mean? Boundaries? How i conduct business? Here are some examples to consider.

Communication.How are you currently communicating with clients? Better yet, how would you ideally communicate with clients? My first recommendation is to obtain a VOIP phone number of some type. I prefer Skype, but it doesn’t have to be. With Skype, local and international calls can be made through a Skype account. In addition, they offer the ability to set up a phone number and even “dummy” numbers for calling to and from different countries. I use Skype to conduct all my consultations.

Another communication channel is email. There isn’t a way to get around it. Emails are king. However, if it’s not handled properly, it can be a huge mess and hard to keep track of who’s who and what’s important. Even though filters can help, I advocate using a project management system that allows for private discussions between you and the client. This acts as an email of sorts and keeps messages condensed and organized.

Learn from My Mistakes & Set Business Boundaries

Business Hours.Even though your business is based online, people tend to forget there are business hours just like a brick and mortar business. In this day and age, I believe it to be because people are virtually always connected, checking their phone, email, etc. It’s a good idea to set standard business hours (maybe 9am-5pm Monday-Friday) and let clients know. Not just let them know, but also stick to it. For me, personally, I struggle with this. I’m a very responsive person and have difficulty not answering immediately. If it’s the weekend, I have to force myself to disconnect and not respond. My point is be available, but not readily available.

The “in-person” initial Meeting or Consultation.Plain and simple, DON’T DO IT. Yes, sometimes it works out ok. However, the great majority of the time, you’ve set yourself up for an unpleasant business relationship. A relationship that likely won’t align with your business model. I’ll give you an example.

One of my very first clients wanted an initial in-person meeting. Despite my better judgment, I agreed. As a former “employee” on a payroll, I now realize I had the mindset of a job interview. I didn’t treat it like a consultation. Strike one.

A short time later, I was asked if I’d come to the office for the first week or so to get a good understanding of her business and the intricate parts of it. Again, I agreed and figuring what harm could come of it. Well, 1 week turned into 2 weeks that turned into a month that turned into… you get the idea.

Learn From My MIstakes & Set Business Boundaries

Megan Dixon owns and operates Rescue Me. Megan grew up in a family of entrepreneurs and business-minded individuals. She was exposed early on to the ever-changing needs of small business owners and the limited time they have to adjust to new situations. After attending Southern Illinois University and obtaining her Bachelor of Science and Master of Business Administration, Megan went on to work in several industries. These industries include education, marketing, technology, sales, event planning and operations. Megan has a long track record of dedication, commitment and success that clients can trust and count on.

http://www.rescuemeassistance.com

http://www.facebook.com/rescuemeassistance

http://www.twitter.com/rescueme13

Each day, my frustration built. One day, I had been venting to my husband and wondered how this happened. I thought to myself, “I told her in the beginning that I’m a virtual assistant.” My husband then told me, “It happened because you allowed it to happen.” Normally, I would have been offended by a comment like that. However, this time, it really resonated with me. I’ll never forget that and you know what? He was right.

How Can You Fix it?In this case, I started off with bad habits. So, I had to fix them or losing my sanity would be next. After several conversations with my mentor, Michelle Dale, I got the courage to make those changes. My client didn’t take to it well. I stood my ground and did not waiver. In the end, we parted ways because my business model didn’t fit hers.

If you’re nodding your head as you read this, I’d tell you the first thing you should do is find a mentor. Second, I’d tell you to follow your gut instinct. When in doubt, it will tell you what to do next. Last, whether you’re just starting out, have been in business for awhile or are not ideally where you want to be; take a look and evaluate how you’re handling these areas of your business. Trust me, it will save you a lot of time and headache in the long run.



My Journey As A Budding Internet Entrepreneur

From Self Doubt To A Rewired Mindset

Since the age of 17, I’ve aspired to live & study abroad & eventually go into business

for myself. I always thought I would marry & raise a family in a country other than the United States. As you know, life doesn’t always turn out how you mentally planned. I joined the U.S. Army at 18, almost got deployed to Iraq, got married, had 3 children, got divorced, became a single mother, accepted a corporate job & gained both an undergraduate and two graduate degrees. Throughout this time (about 14 years), I frequently had feelings of anxiety, as if I was running out of time or missing out on my life. I thought those feelings were me not being “content” with life as it is and was doubtful “it” would ever happen.


Around 2011, my current company (still working full-time) experienced mass

layoffs & I was almost on that list. I decided to be proactive & start figuring out my game plan. You see, I had become a bit comfortable with a job that wasn’t very fulfilling in the first place, but it paid the bills & supported my family. Because of the fear of losing this income, I decided to revisit my entrepreneurial desires. I began to research to determine my options. I was looking for a virtual assistant company to work for but ended up finding a whole new world of entrepreneurs who were also traveling abroad. I was utterly amazed & couldn’t believe there were so many people living their lives on their own terms. My long forgotten dreams of entrepreneurship & travel had been renewed! I began to build a network via Facebook & LinkedIn of like-minds. Through these connections, I’ve learned & realised that to follow my dreams of building an online business & becoming a digital nomad, I have to exemplify the following:

1 Be Purposefully Determined: I became steadfast on building a life on my terms. I sacrificed a lot to find capital

for my business. I got rid of any luxuries & non-essentials. I had a garage sale & sold items on Craigslist.

2 Trust & Have Confidence In Myself: I stopped letting fear paralyze me & began to take action. I realized that I

would figure it out along the way.

3 Stop Caring What Other People Though & Stop Sharing All Of My Plans With Everyone, Especially The

Naysayers: Sharing too much of your plans invites everyone’s opinions, puzzled looks & “yeah right” expressions.

4 Research & Find Action-Based Programs: Currently, I’m going through 2 amazing programs that are taking

me through the many steps of creating online businesses that rock!

It’s been quite the ride! But I’m excited to continue on this journey & begin to live the life I chose to live as an Internet entrepreneur & digital nomad. For all of you budding Internet entrepreneurs, don’t give up & go for it! You only live once!

Shun Jackson is the owner and operator of Shun Jackson LLC which currently operates ShunJack and The International Single Moms Association. Shun received her MBA from Texas A&M-Commerce. This degree allowed Shun to gain skills in problem solving, decision making, team building, and becoming more innovative. To find out more about Shun, please visit her at:

www.shunjackson.comwww.facebook.com/shunjack2013




One of the biggest issues that a new client and a new Virtual

Assistant (VA) or Online Business Manager (OBM) deal with is managing the client’s calendar. During my career working with executives and in my business working with clients getting past the “who manages the calendar” stage can be challenging.

Almost every time an executive or client is reluctant to relinquish control of their calendar – and rightly so. The calendar controls their life and one misstep could spell disaster.

After a short period of time and after getting to know the client, they have always learned to trust my judgment to control their calendar (their lives).

How can that trust be developed?


Start With The Schedule

The VA or OBM can:

Make sure they ask anytime there’s a question about the calendar – this helps the VA or OBM learn the client’s priorities and which of their contacts take precedence. Soon the VA or OBM will be able to make supportive decisions and prove their value to the client.

Act quickly anytime the client asks them to schedule something. When the client sees a quick response to their request (especially when it comes to calendaring) they will begin to trust the VA or OBM sooner than if they have to constantly remind the VA or OBM to schedule something.

Begin to have available what the client needs for each meeting for a particular day or have materials ready to be reviewed when preparation is needed the next day or even the next week. This will make the VA invaluable to the client. These materials can be attached to the meeting appointment or set up in a cloud storage system, flagged for the specific meeting.

What does it take to get to this point? Communication and lots of it!

When the client is not willing to put time aside for meeting with their VA or OBM, the relationship gets off to a rough start. This is something that can be addressed up front so the habit begins right away. The client and VA or OBM relationship needs to be a priority and this investment of time can produce great results in a short period of time.

Weekly meetings or semi-weekly meetings are beneficial to:

Determine what the VA or OBM can take off the client’s plate.

Review the client’s schedule and set priorities.

Discuss what can be outsourced.

Brainstorm future projects.

Review existing work.


A good VA or OBM wants to take a personal interest in the client’s business. This can

only be done with lots of communication and cooperation. One of the most important ways the client can feel supported is by being relieved of their scheduling. This doesn’t mean they’re not involved, they just aren’t solely involved. It’s a joint effort and takes trust and teamwork.

If you want to get off to a great start, a good way is to focus on scheduling. I know this can feel like a gamble, but the payoffs can be tremendous. Try it!

Ellen Ward is a Certified Online Business Manager specializing in supporting coaches, authors, and speakers. She is also a Certified Professional Virtual Author's Assistant and a Certified Professional Virtual Speaker's Assistant. After years of supporting corporate and government executives, she has brought her skills to her online business - OnTime Assistants.

www.ontimeassistants.comhttps://www.facebook.com/ellen.ward.142

https://twitter.com/OnTimeAssistant

http://www.singlehop.com/blog/infographic-tips-for-increasing-contact-form-conversions/


inFOGRAPhiC: Contact Forms for the

Marketing ninja (Minga) by Lisa Margetis

The Story Behind The roadmap

By Michelle Dale


The

Travel Journal of an

Online Business.

H ave you ever wanted to create digital products for your online

business, but you feel you have to create the products before you start the travelling? Well that doesn’t have to be the case as this story demonstrates.

I thought I would do a bit of reminiscing over how (and where) I created my own digital products inside VirtualMissFriday.com. To share this story I’ve put together a business travel journal for each programme and course I’ve created and it really shows the potential of what can be achieved when you live an alternative lifestyle as a digital nomad.

Although this is a business journal, it’s also a journey through raising a family too. I started travelling on my own in 2005, I met my husband in 2006, our son was born in 2007, our daughter 2009 and we now have another on the way due to be born this July, 2014, all while these products were being created while raising a family on the road as full time tourists, from Virtually Anywhere.

29PAPERLESS e-preneur/ Spring 2014

The Story Behind The Roadmap

T here’s a very specific order to my Virtually Anywhere Roadmap, and I’ve journaled them in the order they’re

now meant to be in from a business perspective, but I can’t say they were originally created in this order, because they sort of weren’t! I’ve added the creation dates and an account of where I was at the time.

author


The Passport Travel JournalLaunched in 2011

The VA Passport was launched off the back of The Apprentice Programme, there were so many extras that I realised were essential to an online service business but wouldn’t necessarily go into the structure of a business programme, so the Passport Members club was born, originally started from Spain, and is updated several times a month with fresh new content for online service providers. The members club has continued to be developed through Italy, Greece and Egypt, including a couple of trips to the UK and Austria.

The shoestring Travel JournalLaunched in 2012

The idea for the Shoestring came while we were living in Italy. I had already created the Apprentice programme at this point, but I was requested by a lot of people for a more condensed, affordable option to teach them the fundamental basics of setting up and starting an online service business. We left Italy and travelled to Greece, where I then created the programme from beside the pool of the Villa we were renting. While I was putting my content and material together I was asked by the Austrian Entrepreneurs Association to fly out and help them with a government project, so I recorded the original intro video for the Shoestring from the Austrian Alps on my Macbook Air.

author


The apprentice Travel JournalLaunched in 2010 and relaunched as a 2.0 and DIY version in 2013

The VA Apprentice was created while I was living in Spain. We were staying in Andalucia, the most southern region of Spain in a 3 bedroomed terraced house we were renting. I was using my new iMac to create the programme, and this was the first ever training I had ever put together! I remember attempting to sit in the garden next to our Lemon tree on an iPad to write course material, but the iPad would just shut down on me due to the heat, so I moved inside to complete it.

I later released (2) new versions of the programme, the 2.0 version and 2.0 DIY version which I created at a Villa we were renting in Greece.

The rockstar Travel JournalLaunched in 2012

The Rockstar stemmed from when I had gone through some sessions with a business coach who was also a client. We were living in France at the time. The actual programme was created several years later when I was living in Italy after achieving massive success with these teachings. I took what I’d learnt from my business coach and added my own unique perspective, and voila, the Rockstar was created from the hilltop apartment we were renting in an old cobbled Italian market town about 2 hours east of Rome. It had an amazing fresh pasta shop and perfect and inspiring panoramic views of the ocean and countryside which helped with my inspiration and productivity!

The administrator, Marketer and Creator JournalLaunched in 2014

The services courses, Administrator, Marketer and Creator were all created at the same time, simultaneously, from an apartment we were renting on the edge of the River Nile in Luxor, Egypt. The sentimental tale behind these courses is that I built them in the exact same location where I started my own online service business “Virtual Miss Friday” in 2005, the same place where the service I teach in the course hadn’t even come into existence yet. But with time and cultivation, my service business was off the ground and is still in full swing, and I’ve worked with clients and team members across 6 continents, while living in 6 countries as a full time tourist, all from behind my computer.

Click here to check out the digital products mentioned in this article

www.thevaroadmap.com

http://www.staff.com/blog/working-from-home-is-it-the-future/


inFOGRAPhiC: WORKinG FROM hOME

is it thE FUtURE? by Carlo Borja


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Embracing Location indEpEndEncE

by Hannah Vallance

We are often asked how it is some people embrace location independence while others like the idea but never act on it. Maybe it’s the psychologist in me, but it’s always seemed to be far more about attitude than practical factors. But what sort of attitude do you need to create a life where you can travel regularly, live in new places and earn enough money that you don’t have to worry about it?

Embracing Location Independence

34 Paperless entrepreneur/ December, 201234 PAPERLESS e-preneur/ Spring 2014

Longer term impacts of a one-off adventure

Attitude To RiskLooking back over the last couple of years, where we are now comes down not just to creative ideas but also attitude. We’ve taken a few calculated risks and as a result attracted some great opportunities. Could this be the key to creating a lifestyle you have chosen, rather than one you are keen to escape? We did have a

phenomenal adventure, and just over a year after our return we look at the photos in amazement. But perhaps the most unanticipated result is the way that creating this one opportunity led to so many more....

Case Study

VIn July 2012 we wrote about our forthcoming ‘Round the World in Home Exchange’ trip, a big risk for us. To recap, we planned to travel from the UK, via the US, Mexico, French Polynesia, New Zealand, Australia, Asia, South Africa and return to Europe, staying only in home exchange properties for up to a year. We had plans to work in partnership with our sponsors, gain ongoing publicity for our adventure, run our business as we travelled and rack up some adventures on route.

So, was this experiment a success?

The outside and the inside perspective

We did have a LOT of wonderful experiences; we rubber-ring floated downriver in Oregon, drinking water-cooled beers, eyes watering as we spotted eagles soaring above; we languished in turquoise lagoons as stingrays lazily kicked up clouds of sand beneath us; we nervously clung to mountain goat-like horses as they scrambled sweatily up rocky waterfalls in Mexico; we watched a menacing Orca surf our wake as we took afternoon tea on the deck of a cruise ship in the Bay of Islands.

One of the great misconceptions about a location independent life is that everything is AWESOME all of the time. Stick a tropical beach backdrop to anything and it’s going to look pretty sweet. But the reality is usually a much more realistic mix of the mundane, exhilarating, challenging and soul-enriching, and our trip was much the same.

So in addition to the fun stuff, we spent hours glued to our laptops in air conditioned bubbles in order to meet consultancy deadlines; we reached the end of our tether with our sixth move in under a month in New Zealand whilst trying to launch a new website; hosted a home exchange meet up in Portland where nobody came; and had to abandon the remaining third of the trip when the vivid smells of Asia pushed me past the point of endurance as I got to grips with a surprise, but very welcome, pregnancy.



The luxury travel website

By the time we had reached Tahiti and realised we didn’t want to miss out on exploring this distant corner of the South Pacific further, so we found justification for a slight shift in goal posts. We reasoned that if we had left luggage at the home exchange property, and could technically be spending the night in it, it was ok to in fact decamp to a hotel on occasion. Come on, we’d been living out of other people’s homes for four months!

French Polynesian luxury does not come cheap, so we needed to think to reduce the costs of the water bungalow we had our beady eye on by capitalising on the skills at our disposal. Re-inventing ourselves as travel reviewers we secured chunky discounts off a couple of incredible retreats. In return we wrote blog posts with content relevant to the hotel.

Not wanting to irritate our Love Play Work readers with content which wasn’t entirely on target we quickly realised we needed a new solution - Luxury And Boutique Hotels was born. Just over a year since going live this site isn’t monetised (yet), but that’s not our focus. Instead, we stay in wonderful and unique places whenever we like and have a team of impartial reviewers, most of whom we’ve never met, travelling the world and producing content from their luxury hotel stays all year round.

The home exchange book

While on our trip, contact with our sponsor sort of fizzled out. From concept to boarding the plane had only been a couple of months and there wasn’t the time to get the promotion piece right. Keeping momentum of publicity takes a lot of work, and we struggled to find the time in between travel and running a business; neither had our sponsor foreseen the amount of work involved. We amicably drifted, with us focused on having a great trip and our home exchange partner supporting us by making sure their community were aware of our route.

About 6 months after our return, finding myself heavily pregnant in the hottest UK summer for decades I was struggling to get motivated to do ‘normal work’. So I sat myself in front of the Wimbledon Tennis tournament and wrote about our home exchange adventures. Nine months later we have just had a book launch in London, our ‘Definitive Guide to Home Exchange’ is now on Amazon and we’re working in partnership with the biggest house swap company around to help promote it!



http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00I6FQ3EI

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00I6FQ3EI

Conference speaking

Because of an increase in blog and media exposure we’ve had a couple of offers to speak at conferences which may not have come our way otherwise. Excitingly, in June of this year we have been invited to sit on a panel at a Food Bloggers conference. The theme of the event is food and travel and we will be speaking about our favourite topic, how to achieve work life balance as a digital nomad. We’re especially excited about all the great food we will get to sample!

The cabin crew website

We were disappointed to have to return early from our Round the World trip, and the new addition to our family has meant we have been in the UK for the longest consecutive period for eight years! But the silver lining is that when we were approached by a UK based friend of a friend with an idea we could work in partnership on, we were in a position to see it through. To cut a long story short, we now have a leading website on Cabin Crew careers and we’ve been local long enough to establish monthly training events in collaboration with British Airways, which we can outsource going forward. The courses are filling up nicely and although all profit is being churned back into growing that arm of our business, projected figures are looking healthy.


The ordinary and extraordinary

There’s no doubt that every day, ‘ordinary’ life can have many remarkably joyful moments - our first year as parents has proved that. But to have an extraordinary life where you experience a whole range of the weird, wonderful and beautiful that life has to offer, we all need to consider our attitude to risk.

Becoming location independent is always scary; the fear of failing, of running out of money, of returning to ‘reality’ with our tail between our legs. It might be easier to imagine we are more immune to risk when we take the same uneventful journey to work each day and years pass without bankruptcy or accident, but more traditional life isn’t simply ‘safe’ whereas an unconventional one is risky. Life can become hazardous wherever you are.

It has become worryingly normalised to celebrate the fact it’s Friday, countdown to vacations and live for the weekend. One of the difficulties with that mindset is that it can be harder to spot opportunities when they come along. Chances don’t just happen to other people; they happen when you keep your eyes open, take action (accepting some of it will fail!) and persevere. Perhaps by growing more accustomed to taking calculated risks and trusting our own ability to make things work, we can achieve a life full of opportunity, that one day we will have no desire to escape from.

Hannah Vallance from Loveplaywork is a location independent Psychologist and dedicated traveller. With her husband she runs Loveplaywork.com and other (slightly less fun!) businesses from both home and oversees. To get a copy of their best advice and unusual strategies, head over to www.loveplaywork.com for a free copy of ‘7 Refreshing Get-There-Quick Shortcuts for Creating your own Internet Lifestyle’

www.loveplaywork.comwww.luxuryandboutiquehotels.com


http://www.gocabincrew.com/

In the years before the Great Depression, there was a huge demand for seasonal labor. Crops needed to be planted or harvested at varying times during a twelve month period. This was work that didn’t require year round laborers. So farmers turned to temporary, seasonal employees. Enter the hobo.

on bEing a digitaL Hoboby racHEL dEnning

PaPerless e-preneur/ Spring 20143838 PAPERLESS e-preneur/ Spring 2014

not aLL wHo wandEr arE Lost.J.r.r. tolkein

On Being A Digital Hobo

Although the word has been tainted in today’s vocabulary, including with it the idea of bums and tramps, originally a ‘hobo’ referred simply to those men who traveled from place to place for work. A bum was a man who stayed in one place but didn’t want to work. A tramp also did not want to work, but traveled from place to place. In contrast, hobos were essential to the nation’s economy. They were essential to the harvesting and planting of crops and the feeding of America.

The early hobos (before the Great Depression) were happy and carefree men, choosing their lifestyle for the joy of being on the road and the stimulation of seeing new places and for no other reason than to listen to the restlessness of their souls. The reward for following the urgings of their heart was freedom from the constraints of staying in one place and doing the same thing in the same place day after day.

Enter the Digital Hobo

You don’t find many hobos hitching rides in boxcars now days. But you will find a new sort -- the digital hobo. They are still riding rails, as well as planes, ‘chicken’ buses and much more... whatever is needed to get to a new destination.

The digital hobo is happy and carefree, freed from the cubicle nation and the constraints of a ‘groundhog day’ existence, including the crushing weight of debt and lifelong servitude to a mortgage. Although they may be mislabeled as ‘irresponsible’, ‘unreliable’ or ‘hippies’, true digital hobos work hard and create real value. They’re not meandering without meaning.

As J.R.R. Tolkein said, “Not all who wander are lost,” digital hobos are today’s pioneers, clearing trails that lead to more personal fulfillment, greater satisfaction in vocation, and shrinking the size of the globe. They inspire us with stories of meaningful work done from exotic locations.

Instead of wandering from place to place to find employment, they travel for the pure joy and fulfillment that exploring new places has to offer, and they take their work with them.

In a recent interview, a part of our ‘how to fund travel’ series, Emily (a digital nomad) said, “This is the new ‘American Dream’. It’s not the white picket fence and the cars and the bills. We’re on the edge of a whole new way of living -- virtual, international living. I can’t express the freedom you feel when you even make the decision to do it.

PaPerless e-preneur/ Spring 2014 39“

traVEL tEacHEs you nEw approacHEs to LifE. “


Everyday is amazing. When I think back to the same routine everyday, the same walls, the same people -- that’s not living, you know?!

And it’s so good for your kids. To be able to give the world to your children, I’m just overwhelmed. Everything is a lesson everyday. We’re learning so much.

Advice wise? Just make it happen. I didn’t have any experience. My husband didn’t have any experience. Start thinking of things you’re passionate about and you’ll find something you can do [to earn income]. There’s just so many opportunities.”

Being a digital hobo is about creating life on your own terms. George Crane once said, “There is no future in any job. The future lies in the man [or woman] who holds the job.”

Digital hobos create their own employment, building online empires that pay them well to work from anywhere in the world. When they’re not working, they’re spending time with family, friends and investigating new parts of the globe -- the hidden beach, the locals-only cafe, the authentic Buddhist temple.


Travel is an Addiction

Travel teaches you new skills, new thought patterns, new approaches to life in general. It becomes a part of who you are as an individual, as a family. It’s a positive addiction, and for many digital hobos (including me and my family), we couldn’t imagine our lives without it.

Really, travel is just the tool, the technique that produces the outcome. The real addiction is to the personal transformation that travel extracts. It causes you to be uncomfortable, to step out of the familiar and into the unknown. It compels you to see with new eyes and consider things of which you were previously unaware.

Travel, like a surgeon, opens you up -- mind, heart and soul -- and removes preconceptions, biases and small-mindedness. In its place it leaves a love for the world and all people. It shrinks the size of the globe and gives you a larger understanding of our common humanity and the quandaries we share as a planet.

to a digitaL Hobo, traVEL is a way of LifE.

Rachel Denning is an author, blogger and mother to six children (number six was born February 2014.) As a family they've visited 12 countries together. Rachel gets excited about travel, education and learning new things, all of which she videos, photographs, and writes about on DiscoverShareInspire.com. She's married to a man who continues to amaze and inspire her, as well as many others at www.GregDenning.com. Together she and her husband help others live their dreams by showing them how to fund travel. They currently live in Costa Rica.

http://DiscoverShareInspire.com

http://HowtoFundTravel.com

“ “


Primarily, travel helps you feel alive. In the words of Michel Eyquem, “The value of life lies not in the length of days, but in the use we make of them; a man may live long yet live very little.” We all want more life in our lives. A digital hobo wants to live, refusing to postpone living until after retirement. Instead they create revenue that allows them to make use of their days. They know they’re numbered.

Society may see today’s hobos as tramps, wandering the world on a never-ending vacation, refusing to ‘accept responsibility’ and to ‘pay their dues’. For a true digital hobo, travel has nothing to do with vacationing. It’s not about staying at fancy hotels and taking sight-seeing tours. Work is involved, and it demands self-discipline. Responsibility is required, not only locally, but globally. ‘Paying your dues’ doesn’t equate to doing something you hate until you retire. It means you create something significant that brings about social change.

To a digital hobo, travel is a way of life. It’s how we learn, develop ourselves, educate our children, expand our minds and work on solving the world’s problems. Traveling is as much a part of our makeup as the books we read, the thoughts we think and the food we eat. To suggest that we’ll stop traveling is like suggesting that we stop eating, thinking, reading or learning.

Perhaps one day the digital hobo will be nothing but a story in a history book. But it will be a story of individuals who refused to accept what existing social conditions had to offer and instead carved out their own destiny, becoming change-makers and thought-leaders, guiding cultures and civilizations to broader, more wholesome views of work, community and what it means to really be alive.


author

Have you ever wanted to travel?

Have you ever wondered what life could look like a decade from now if you walked right out of your front

door this minute, never knowing if you would ever return?

I’m about to give you insight into a decade of life on the road, including the biggest life changing take-aways I’ve discovered over the last 10 years that I believe

are responsible for the complete transformation of my life.

www.virtualmissfriday.com/michelle/decade

The idea of location independence is appealing to many entrepreneurs. Imagine being able to run your business from anywhere in the world. In practice, though, we begin to worry about our ability to support our business when we’re miles away.

Namely, how do we find clients when we cannot approach them face to face?Luckily, with the help of the right tools, a clever strategy, and a little thing called the Internet this problem has almost been made obsolete.

Find Clients For Your Location Independent Business


How To FInD CLIEnTS FoR YouR

Location Independent BusinessBy David Schneider

Cold Emailing: If your target market is another business, it’s likely that they have a website and a contact form/email available, which makes cold emailing an option. Before you disregard this completely as a waste of time (how many emails can you send before you get utterly bored?) consider that there are several viable solutions that won’t make your head spin.

Use Software: There are plenty of software options to auto-submit to contact forms or automate your pitching.

Hire A Virtual Assistant: This is the perfect task to outsource to a ready and willing virtual assistant.

Just remember to adhere to best practices to increase your email open rate and stay out of the spam box.

Be Active On Social Media:

Social media is no longer just a place for funny cat photos... that’s just half of it. The other half is a place where like-minded individuals congregate and seek out ways to satisfy their personal and business needs.

Having an active presence on social media takes time but it pays dividends. One way to connect with your target audience is to search for key phrases that are relevant to your business using a freemium software like Buzz Bundle. For example, if you run a Virtual Assistant Business and you’re looking for clients, you can search for “looking for a virtual assistant”.



Looks like Josh already responded with some help!

Additionally, there are a ton of free websites that allow you to search through social media messages. I just typed “Virtual Assistant” into Twitter Search, and within one minute found this:

Looks like a potential client for my business - I should tweet back. Or better yet, since the name and blog are there, why not go and send Niall a cold email (referencing this tweet).

If I want to take this a step further and automate it, I can get these alerts sent directly to my inbox using a monitoring tool like Twilert.

Direct Advertising:

Forget inefficient and expensive forms of advertising like commercials, bill boards, and magazines. Nowadays, there are much better platforms offering more targeted services.

Facebook Ads have been show to produce insane ROI with the right targeting and lead pages. In conjunction with Google Ads and LinkedIn Ads, online advertising is much cheaper on a cost per thousand basis as compared to more traditional forms of advertising like radio, television, and newspaper.





Turn It On Its Head: Have

Them Find You

Although I don’t recommend remaining purely passive with your business, there are plenty of ways to attract clients “without even trying”. Having an online website and blog allows you to write about content relevant to your business. By being an authority and producing quality content, you will see results.

The Old School Way Is Not Dead!

Location independence does not mean Mars. There are plenty of online communities and in person networking events even in “remote” areas such as Vietnam, Thailand, and the Philippines. Do a search for Entrepreneur Meet Ups in a location near you, or join a website such as entrepreneur.meetup.com to find a global list of meet ups. By connecting with other location independent business owners you can get valuable advice and clients to grow your business.

In 2012 David Schneider left his corporate banking job to travel the world. Since then he has started his own online business and blogs about it at www.selfmadebusinessman.com. Connect with him on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Self-Made-Businessman/599103590172454

https://twitter.com/selfmadebm

https://plus.google.com/u/0/+DaveSchneiderSMB/about


InTroDuCTIon – WHy A VA?

Virtual Assistance is really taking off. So many people are learning about us and starting to appreciate the great things

we can do to help all kinds of businesses save money and time, make the most of what they have to offer, and focus on the key things they do best. Small business owners are acknowledging that not only do they need help, they deserve it, too – and they aren’t putting it off any longer.

At Get Ahead VA, our motto is ‘The staff you don’t see; the difference you do’. We make a big difference to your business – without the hassle of overheads, or paying for more than the precise time or task.

You may be thinking about hiring a Virtual Assistant – perhaps now, or sometime in the future. Is it for you?

A VA could just turn out to be the best thing that ever happened to you and your business, but it’s important to approach the arrangement wisely, and with forethought. Certain aspects of this relationship hold the key to its success.

HoW To GET THE

BEsT ouT oF your VA

5Top Tips

How To Get The Best Out Of Your VA



If you want the partnership to work, to last, and to be valuable to your

business, then focus on these five areas…

1. DElEGATIon

When you started your business, you ran the whole show – but you don’t have to do it all by yourself anymore! In fact, it’s essential to delegate. Many of us find this difficult; hanging onto control is a common habit – but it’s not a very productive one for your business. The inability to delegate is one key reason why small businesses stay small; if nothing changes, nothing develops or improves – and genuine business development means constant change.

Your relationship with your VA is all about delegation; passing over the tasks that eat up your time, so you can be the creative genius powering business development. Start by giving your VA the jobs you hate, handing over in stages, and the results will give you confidence, and encourage you to hand over other tasks.

Your business success depends on ACTION, but you can only move so fast on your own. And this is where perfectionism will hold you back, particularly if you’re certain that ‘your way’ is the only way to do it right. If it results in a completed project, then it IS the right way.

Remember you’re an entrepreneur, not an employee!

2. ExPECTATIons

A VA is an assistant – not a business partner. They may be unfamiliar with your industry, your product, or the way you do business, and may not be able instantly to leap in and take over. In the early stages at least, there will be a learning curve while you both accustom yourselves to each other’s working styles. You may need to provide a degree of training or demonstration, or be available for questions during initial stages.

Equally, however, your VA should be flexible, willing to learn, and able to rise to challenges. The jobs you delegate to your VA don’t need to be mundane and unskilled. In fact, some business owners find that, over time, their VA learns so much about their business that they become an integral, valuable part of the team.

So, whether it’s for one-off tasks or a long-term arrangement, keep your expectations in line with the remuneration you can offer, the time allotted, and the level of expertise you require.



3. PlAnnInG

A VA can do many things, but they cannot read your mind. Make sure you know what you want your VA to do. A clear list of tasks, procedures, or instructions is very important. Bear in mind, too, that the ‘virtual’ part of Virtual Assistant means that your VA is meant to assist you with online tasks particularly. Here’s a starter list to get you thinking about what you might hire your VA to do:

• Blogging. Your all-important social media presence and SEO are immensely enhanced by blogging. It’s vital to your business – but it doesn’t mean that YOU have to do it. You’ll need a VA who is a talented ghost-writer, and can take on your blogs for you.

• research. If your business is going to grow, you need to be always thinking about lateral moves into new markets. But where? And does the new market already have a lot of competition? Instead of spending hours online yourself, while half your brain is distracted by what you really ought to be doing, a VA can focus on researching your potential new markets.

• networking. Some of us are ‘people’ people; others of us are happy if we never see anyone. But face-to-face networking is a wonderful way to generate leads; people love doing business with someone whose face, voice and personality are familiar to them. The right VA can represent you or support you at a business expo or a small networking event, spreading the word about your business and getting your name into the conversation.

• Holiday cover. Without a break from work, your productivity will decline, and it’s harder to find inspiration. Perhaps you have been putting off a holiday for far too long, reluctant to hand over your ‘baby’ out of anxiety or habit. A VA can change all that with remote telephone answering, fielding emails, and keeping you updated if required.

Based on the above examples, it’s clear that your VA’s experience, skill set, background and personality may be very significant, depending on what you’d like them to do.

Finally, consider how the two of you will communicate. Will you wish to confer with your VA daily, weekly or only if there’s a question or problem? Make sure it’s clear to both of you what kind of feedback will be needed and how often.



4. EVAluATIon

Establish a system for making sure the relationship is working for both of you. It’s no crime to find yourself with the wrong person for the job; be ready to make a quick change of direction if need be. You’ll have learned something valuable about your working style, and can go on to make a more informed next move.

5. VAluE

A VA can be worth their weight in gold, or they can be a wasted opportunity - it’s up to you. Firstly, remember that you get what you pay for. A VA can add tremendous value to your business, potentially saving you thousands of pounds in the long run. If this sounds good to you, then you have to be willing to invest in the right VA, just like any other aspect of business development. Tasks like stuffing envelopes or unskilled research work may require one level of expertise, but if you ask the same VA to take on more skilled work, or to plan and work independently, you may find they’re not up to the task. The last thing you want to do when you’ve just committed to freeing up time with a VA, is have to go back and do all the work over again because you’ve focused on price and not value.

If your goal is to save time and money, make sure at the outset that you have the right person for the job.

Even if your budget for a VA is minimal, it still makes sense to delegate even a very small job which is unproductive for you; it may still represent an hour per week when you can concentrate on the work which generates revenue for you. From this standpoint, and with a little planning, a Virtual Assistant is always going to help you come out on top.

ConClusIon – rEsulTs/BEnEFITs

There’s so much more to Virtual Assistance than meets the eye – in fact, it can extend to wherever your imagination takes you. A good VA can grow your business and help you generate more sales – but that’s just the start. In fact, with the right VA, anything is possible!

Rebecca Newenham founded Get Ahead in 2010 building on her experience as a retail buyer for a number of well known high street retailers.

Rebecca has worked hard to develop a strong team of Virtual Assistants and Associates to perfectly match the varied requirements of their growing client base. She recognises the importance of offering a wide range of skills & helping clients save both time & money as a result.

Rebecca’s achievements were recognised by Mumpreneur UK in 2013 when she was a finalist in the ‘Best Supporting Business’ category. Rebecca is a mother of 3 girls and 70% of her team are mothers who love the flexibility of working for Get Ahead VA.

http://getaheadva.com/

https://twitter.com/GetAheadVA

http://www.linkedin.com/in/rebeccanewenham

51PAPERLESS e-preneur/ Spring 2014

PaPErlEss Press

“So a while back, I was launching the beta version of my first ever learning product - I called it, ”The Virtually Anywhere Apprentice“ as it was to support other service providers to recreate the business model I’d designed for my own business Virtual Miss Friday. I actually posted an income report; I had seen from amazing people like Pat Flynn that income reports provided excellent social proof as to the value of the advice that was being delivered, but generally they were posted by bloggers... I’ve never really labelled myself a blogger, but I could clearly see how this would be comforting for anyone investing in my training, so I posted a report which was a print out of the ”gross“ sales made inside my business.”

“Exactly 3 years later I thought it might be nice to give you guys an update and a kind of ”sequel“ post to how my own business model is fairing. The same model I taught back then, and still teach to this day.”

Paperless Press


Here, Michelle explains, “First of all if you’d like to read part one, it was first published on my old blog Virtual Assistant Live, but I have since moved it over to my new blog, and you can read it here. It will give you some context.”

“In a nutshell, at that time the income report showed that I generated in VMF just under $19,000 in a month. This was purely in Virtual Assistant and Consulting Services inside my business Virtual Miss Friday. I wanted to show real proof to anyone following my model that this kind of income was entirely possible to achieve via the Virtual Assistant Industry, and I hope it gave people hope and inspiration, and maybe even peace of mind with what they’re working towards.”

At this time, Michelle really wants to emphasis that, “This is by no means a quick fix - it had taken me 3 years or so to work up to earning that figure in a month from providing VA services, and a whole lot of labour hours prior to that learning and testing and teaching myself new things. It was a labour of pure, unadulterated love that helped me to achieve that turnover.”

PARt 1.

a”

http://www.virtualmissfriday.com/michelle/howmuchmoneyimake

Paperless Press


a”

And she goes on to say, “Since then I have never come across any other VA training or learning material that shows solid evidence of the potential income that can be achieved from following a VA training programme and the advice within it; I’m sure there must be something out there, but if not, then maybe I’ll set a new trend.”

So 3 years later, how’s the company doing?

Now Michelle conveys that, “before we get into specific figures, I have to be honest with you, if you know me, you’ll know my lifestyle, I decided at the point of publishing that post in 2011, that I was quite happy with the business turnover, and what I really wanted to work on was reducing the hours I worked in my business to allow more time with my kids, and get away from being behind my computer so much. We were living in all these wonderful countries, hopping from one to another when we felt like it, and I wanted to make sure we had plenty of time to enjoy them, time became more important to me than money, and I began focussing my attention on maintaining my income and gradually reducing my hours, which I did successfully.”

“But, I set myself a challenge to increase the figure I was earning while still maintaining the same hours that I was working. I really value my evenings and weekends off and my morning coffees or trips to the beach with my husband after we drop the kids at school, so it was time to really put my business model to the test again.”

Finally host Michelle Dale says, “In February I relaunched The Virtually Anywhere Apprentice with a new revamped updated version, it contained all the information I’d picked up and used or changed since I launched the original version. Throughout the year I worked on a LOT of self-development, it became very important knowing I had a fantastic business model, I felt I (as in me) was the one that needed to be worked on, and not the business as such, and I really shifted my focus to experiment with the theory that by improving myself, my business would naturally, almost organically improve because I was more developed as a person.”

“Well, it worked, and I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to pass on the techniques I’ve used and share my experiences in my first ever ’live’ workshop. The feedback has been incredible!”

Go to http://www.virtualmissfriday.com/proof to read Michelle Dale’s sales report and associated details.

PARt 2.

www.PaperlessEntrepreneur.com

N e t w o r k .If you have qu estions or wou ld like to i ntera ct with others on a ny of the content i n this issu e of Paperle ss E-preneu r, we have a specia l ‘Networking Group’ over on LinkedIn dedicated to the readers a nd contributors of the Magazine. It’s a n open group a nd you ’re we lcome to come in, say hi, browse, sta rt a discu ssion a nd contribute you r thoughts on the magazin e.

C o n t r i b u t e .This Magazin e is put together through 3 sou rces: 1 - The Mind Of Miche lle Da le.2 - Se lect Onli n e Profe ssiona ls.3 - Author Gu ests By Specia l Invitation.

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Issue #4 - The Paperless E-preneur