How to leverage your boundaries

You can start exercising that boundaries muscle and by taking time off but there are times that no matter how important it is you just can’t seem to get there. Or you get there but you work literally the entire day before to get ready to take time off and extra hours the day after to catch up.

That is what has happened to me, more than once! That is when I realized, that this virtual assistant, needed a virtual assistant! Yep even VA’s need VA’s. One of the best decisions I made was to start outsourcing and get a bookkeeper, oh yeah, that was fun! The next team member I brought on was someone to help with newsletters, both for my clients and for me. Oh yeah, that was even more fun!

Consider it this way, outsourcing to a virtual assistant is really all about exercising that boundaries muscle. You are leveraging your boundaries. You betcha, you can leverage a boundary.

How to leverage a boundary:

1) Outsource what you are not good at: Put a boundary on what you do not know how to do or have time to learn and get your focus back on your strengths. By biz coach, Justin over at LukasCoaching.com and I talk about this quite a bit. Your day to day activities should be 80% in your strengths, the other 10% working on the weak areas.

2) Outsource what is not revenue generating for you: If it is not one of your strengths or it does not generate revenue for you, it is actually costing you time and money. Neither one is good and together a bad combo to deal with.

3) Outsource what has been on the back burner for too long: If you are like most entrepreneurs your project list and wish list is a mile long and you can’t seem to get to it. Even though you know it would help your business and move it forward. Getting it off the back burner and front and center for your VA is leveraging a boundary and putting plans into action.

Learning to leverage your boundaries is another area that will take some practice. Outsourcing is not easy at first, it is hard to relinquish control – good ole’ entrepreneuritis (I have to do it all myself syndrome).

But guess what… relinquishing control and outsourcing, empowers your team to get the job done, leverages your boundaries and moves your business forward while still are taking time off, not bad!

Getting started in online video

I’m having fun with a service called Animoto, especially for those of us who do not like to get in front of the camera. Yup, working my way up to that one . For now having fun creating videos for The Blue Jeans VA and for my clients. I look forward to sharing more.

How to find and work with a VA – a new teleseminar

On Thursday, I had the honor of being asked to participate in a teleseminar with one of my clients. As a coach he consistently runs into consultants who are trying to do it all on their own and feeling overwhelmed and burned out in the process.

Sound familiar?

He also gets quite a few questions on how he can run his business and start a new project up at the same time, his answer? Working with a VA (great answer don’t you think

The next question is of course… how do you work with a VA and how do I find one?

These questions and more will be answered on July 16th (exact time… TBA shortly). What I would like to find out however is, what questions do you have about working with a VA or finding a VA? What topics would you like to have covered in a teleseminar like this?

I want to create an information packed call that gives you all sorts of juicy tidbits and ideas on how to get you out of overwhelm with the help of a VA.

Leave a comment here or email me with your questions and suggestions. I can’t wait to hear!

Monday: Shopping cart tip

Setting up a shopping cart can be a daunting task. As a Certified Strategist through Practice Pay Solutions I have been grateful for the in depth training I have received in using the Professional Cart Solutions (aka 1ShoppingCart, Cartville, Easy Web Automation).

Through the training and working with the carts of many different people I firmly believe that how you set it up and organize in the beginning makes a huge difference later down the road as you grow and add more products and auto responders. Read more

New Bookkeeping Services

I am excited to announce that a new associate wille be joining the Blue Jeans Team, Aimee Olson. Starting in May she will be coming on board as my bookkeeper.

We are finalizing the procedures and systems that will allow you to quickly and easily delegate out a task that most of us would love to avoid! Using Quickbooks  will bring your finances organized and give you a big picture view of what your current status is, evaluate what is working, what is not and where to make improvements.

Personally, this is one area that I am thrilled to be able to outsource to someone who has the skills and enjoys this type of work.  Having this type of support will allow me to concentrate on other projects that will have a much greater return on investment of my time and efforts.

Aimee is also working on becoming a certified strategist through Practice Pay Solutions for the Professional Cart Solutions, a private branded version of 1 Shopping Cart.

Please welcome her aboard!

Focusing for results

As a creative entrepreneur I have a never have a lack of ideas and “brilliant” ideas for my business, things to try, projects to tackle. The problem is that when I jump from one bright idea to the next, I am not really taking steps forward to reach my end goals.

I am not focusing on tasks for results in fact, I’m not focusing at all and in the end it causes me to lose site of the vision I am creating for me and my business.

By focusing on the results of my current task or project  or as I contemplate purchasing an eBook or self study program I am able to tell quickly if this will help me in taking the  next step in my business or if it will be just another “bright shiny object” and get in my way.

Focusing on results is just one tool, one of the skills needed to move toward your goal and bring the vision you have for your business to life.

Need help learning to focus on results?  This might be the time for hiring a coach,  consider joining a mastermind or hire a consultant with whom you can brainstorm and help you start focusing on results.

The Business Side of Doing Business….

…or Getting You the Help You Need To Do The Things

You Don’t Know How To Do

Don’t Want To do

Or Hate To Do!

Yes that is an extremely long title but it is so true, especially in today’s economy. Why spend your precious hours laboring over a task or project that is not your cup of tea or does not play to your strengths.  Even more likely (speaking from personal experience) it is something you know has to be done but it always gets shoved to the bottom of your to-do-list with dread, knowing it will soon become urgent. Read more

Monday Shopping Cart Tip

Automation is a wonderful thing and a shopping cart is an incredible tool that will allow you to automate steps that can be a huge pain to manage yourself… let alone the hours it can take up in your day.

My training and certification is through Practice Pay Solutions, a private label name of 1ShoppingCart.com. Through my classes and daily experience, some of the most basic tools are the tools one mus absolutely take advantage of.
List Building Tools:

• Double Optin Confirmation – protect yourself and comply with the Can Spam Act.
• List Management – manage the names and email addresses of all who sign up for your newsletter, teleclass etc.
• Send newsletters or broadcast emails – Quickly and easily send out your newsletter or special announcement to a select group of people or to everyone, you choice.

A shopping cart is a tool that can help you reclaim your time and simplify your day. If you would like help setting up or maintaining your cart, just let me know.

Simplifying Tip – Outsourcing

Outsourcing is of course a topic near and dear to my heart. As a Virtual Assistant, I am an “outsourcee”! My job is to help you get rid of tasks that will free up time and get you back to focusing on the big picture, your business and where it is heading.

Here are some simple, quick and easy tasks and jobs you could outsource and potentially free up hours in your day:

• Check email
• Research competitors, product ideas
• Answer customer service email
• Setting up and/or updating a shopping cart (also an automation tool that we will talk more about later)
• Update your schedule on an online calendar
• Uploading and styling blog posts
• Accounting
• Setting up your next webcast Read more