Happy March! I really believe we are turning the corner on the weather (finally!). Not that we won’t have anymore snow here in West Michigan, but at least now we know it will be short lived as the temps continue to climb and the sunshine returns. Yay! I don’t know about you, but I always feel better when the sun shines as it gets me motivated and gets the creative juices flowing again. Much like tapping the trees for syrup. I feel myself coming back to life and climbing out of that winter slumber.

You may have noticed that I’ve been hit and miss on the social media sites lately. Some of it is due to what I mentioned above, some of it has been due to my classes, and some of it has been due to the fact that I’ve been experimenting with some different ideas on how to really position my business. I’ve given myself permission to take the month of March and get really clear on where I’m going this year.

Here’s one of the things I’m going to be doing/offering:

A lot of people come to me and need help with marketing. As you all know, I like to tease out of that question is it really marketing or is it that you don’t" know who you are doing what to" (in other words, who’s your Ideal Client). Once we’ve determined what it is we can start from that point. If it’s the Ideal Client then I have a product available for self-study and if it’s truly marketing then we go down that path. Having said that, I have decided to become a licensed facilitator for the Get Clients Now! System. Yay! My training begins in May and will run for 6 weeks. After I’m done, I’ll be able to run group coaching classes around the Get Clients Now! System which ties very nicely into the Ideal Client process. I’ll keep you posted on this and soon will be setting up a page where you can register for Priority Notification around when I’ll be offering this coaching program. I’m really excited about this, and I believe it will be a huge help to you in your businesses!!

Also, I wanted to say ‘thank you’ to those of you who’ve taken the survey I put out last week. It’s been very helpful! If you haven’t taken it, I’d like to encourage you to do so. You don’t have to be a VA to take the survey. The topics and questions apply to any Service-Based business. Here’s the link: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/ZPBZK7J

More in a few days as I have an idea I’d like to run by you and get your thoughts/input. Until then….

Think Spring!!!

We last left off where I told you I was blowing up my business and doing some different things. I mentioned I would be posting on the blog going forward. To say it’s been a couple of crazy weeks would be a huge understatement! Let’s start at the beginning and go from there, shall we?

Late September Michael and I attended Alicia Forest’s Online Business Breakthrough Workshop in Portsmouth, NH. (I just have to say that this is one event you should attend when she holds it again in the Spring – and I don’t say that about too many events.) There were about 35 attendees. Here’s a picture of all of us on the last day. 

Just the perfect size for learning and getting to know everyone. And I proceeded to do just that – touch as many people as I could. I picked up a couple of great ideas but I would say the biggest ‘smack me in the face’ idea I came away from the event with is this: I need to add video to my site and my sales pages. I know, I know, I’m a bit late to the party. What I discovered at this event was that I can explain things better in person. Maybe it has to do with using my hands to talk? I can also explain things over the phone and still use my hands. Are we sensing a pattern here? LOL Where I have the difficulty is in the written word. I’m an auditory learner so being able to talk works the best for me. Just ask my 5 cats. I talk to them all day long as I’m working!

Here’s an example of what I’m talking about: I had an opportunity to let everyone in the room know that I am the go-to person if you want to discover who your Ideal Client is (and who doesn’t, right?). I have the product up on my website and the sales page written, but when I was able to speak about what I do the very first question I asked the audience was this, "Do you know who you are doing what to?" Not only did this create some laughter, but it broke the ice! I continued on and let them know what the Ideal Client could do for them and their business. The long and short of this example is this: I picked up some new clients simply because I was able to connect with them AND they could hear the passion in my voice about what I do and how it could benefit them. So, the light-bulb began to burn brightly and I’ve decided to add the video component to everything I do. I will be phasing this in over the next several months.

In the next post I’ll talk more about these last couple of crazy weeks. For now, I want to leave you with this question: What one thing can you do to enhance your business that you are not currently doing? I would love to hear from you. Let’s have a conversation about this below.

I’ve been busy this summer putting together some different programs and putting the finishing touches on my signature product.

Here are the programs and products you’ll see me rolling out between now and the end of September:

1. Free 30-min call around the Ideal Client and WHY you need to know who your Ideal Client is. On this call you’ll:

• Discover the difference between target market, niche and Ideal Client
• Learn why the Ideal Client is key to your marketing success
• Learn how to attract and retain quality clients

I recorded this teleseminar because it’s hard for everyone to make it to a FREE call. This way you can download and listen at your leisure. Click here to get the recording.

2. Focus Days — Here’s an opportunity for you to work with me with a high degree of focus around topics that are applicable to you and your business. I offer 3-hour and 6- hour Focus Days. Curious? Click here for more information.

3. 1:1 Mentorship Program — This is your opportunity to work intensely with me. We will spend 6 months focused on you, your business, and your vision of success. Click here for more information.

4. Ideal Client Work Group — This group will meet for 3 sessions beginning October 5th. We will do the work around discovering your Ideal Client, why it’s important for you to know who your Ideal Client is, and how discovering the Ideal Client can help you with your marketing. Enrollment will begin early September. Watch your email!

I’m also putting the finishing touches on my signature product. This product will be called Business-In-A-Box: The Four Essentials for a Successful Business. The first module is currently available and is called Uncover the Key to Your Marketing Success: Your Ideal Client. You can read more about the module here. The other three modules will be: CEO Perspective: Who Is Running Your Business?; Marketing/Sales: Getting The Word Out; and Vision: Seeing Your Success, Seeing Your Future. In addition to the self-study version of each of these modules, I will also be offering a Work Group around each module. Stay tuned as we move forward for details!

These programs are in addition to my current offerings. Rather than list everything here I’ll let you just go directly to the page with all the information: http://virtualpartnering.com/programs-products/

My philosophy is to provide you with multiple entry points to my services so that you can choose the most appropriate program for you and your business.

On the horizon is a group coaching program. If you are interested in participating in the program, won’t you please take this super short survey so that I can put the program together to best meet your needs: http://tinyurl.com/VPsurvey

Thank you for being a part of the Virtual Partnering community. I appreciate each and every one of you, and couldn’t do this without you!

Have a fantastic day/weekend.

©2010 Cindy Hillsey, CPC

Are you a Virtual Assistant who is looking for new clients? If so, you need to check this out: http://www.multiplestreamsteam.com/join/ Andrea Lee and her team are putting together an RFP system to connect potential clients and Virtual Assistant s. This is a no-cost service. Go join now! Andrea and her team ROCK! These gals are on top of things, and you all know I don’t recommend people/programs unless they are top notch.

I wanted to share some fun news with all of you. As many of you may already know, I volunteer at my local SCORE office as an online specialist counselor. I am also the Vice-Chair of Technology. Last week I was asked to become the new District Director as of October 1st. The current District Director’s term is up and she is moving on to other things. I initially turned this opportunity down, but I changed my mind and said yes. Are you curious about what made me change my mind? It was the business plan (see, all businesses should have one!) and the vision that SCORE has for the next 5-7 years. It is in direct alignment with how I run my business and I am looking forward to being a part of the new SCORE!!