I had set myself a deadline of getting the draft done by the end of June, and was typing my final chapter up to 10:30pm the night of June 30th. Nothing like waiting til the final moment, hehe. But considering a busy life with two wee kids and commitments to my awesome clients… I was quite thrilled that I met my deadline!

There is still work to be done on the book - July is ‘polish and perfect’ month before I get the book off to my editor. But even though i’m not officially finished yet, i’ve found a very special gift in the process so far.

For the first time, i’ve truly defined what it is that an Online Business Manager does.

This may sound funny, given that i’ve worked as an OBM since 2003. Shouldn’t I know what the heck i’m doing?!

Let’s just say it’s been a situation of can’t see the forest for the trees. I’ve always been a ‘natural’ OBM (for lack of a better term)… I’ve just always done this level of work for clients without really realizing what it was. Andrea and I coined the phrase Online Business Manager a few years back just to give it a name… so when people asked what I do for a living I could say OBM.

But if they asked ‘what does an OBM do?’ I would be a bit tongue tied… I didn’t really know how to describe what I actually do for clients. So I would generally say some kind of platitude about helping build online based businesses or internet marketing… which is true, but doesn’t really answer the question.

In writing this book I had to really step back, take a look at what clients need, what we do for our clients and - for the first time ever - put it to words. And oh what a journey that is… my poor brain was twisting in the wind at some points, wondering if I really do anything at all? Then it clicked for me, a moment of clarity where the pieces fit together. An A-ha moment as Oprah would say.

And in defining the role of an OBM, i’m finding that I have some work to do myself! It’s actually been somewhat humbling and challenging at the same time… even though i’ve been an OBM for 5+ years now, there is still stuff that I need to step-up to in this role. (Constant growth - which is part of the beauty of this role really.)

Take a taste of my own medicine, LOL! Such is the journey of writing a book… so far so good, i’ll keep you posted.

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Here is my report card for OnlineBusinessManager.com - i’m not too shy to share, go ahead and take a peek.

I scored 66 out of 100, not too bad considering that my website has not been getting the attention it deserves in recently months.  At least i’m not alone in this regard… a report they have posted from from October 2007 says:

This report shows the SEO capabilities of the Top 20 Bloggers (from Technorati). Some interesting findings include that out of the top 20 bloggers, 40% are missing a 301 redirect, 65% are missing description metadata, and 80% are missing keywords metadata.

So i’m in good company, haha. Some of their suggestions are quick and easy (ie: change my redirect from OBM.com to my blog to be a permanent redirect - done!) and some not so quick and easy but at least they are there in black and white. I find half the battle of tweaking my site is figuring out what to change in the first place.

I also really like what they cover in the report - along with ‘traditional’ SEO stuff such as meta tags, incoming links and such they also take a look at blogging, social bookmarking and conversion elements too.

So put your website to the test and let me know your score! I’m going to make some changes and see if I can get my grades up a bit, hehe.

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As a business owner, how do I find a good business manager?  I am a veteran of finding all sorts of VAs, coders, copywriters and contractors, but the one hump I haven’t gotten over is how to find that person who can actually drive projects and be a decision maker.  And paradoxically, if I do find that person, wouldn’t he/she be building their own business rather than build mine?

To answer your first question, it can be tough to find a good business manager… especially for an online or virtually based business. We (Andrea Lee and I) are asked all the time ‘how can I find someone who does what you do’ and have very few people to refer them to. The business managers that we know are already super busy and not able to take on more clients. There is a shortage of these professionals out there (which is why I’m writing a book to help inspire and train new online business managers… we need more!)

What I generally recommend to people is that they look to ‘grow a business manager’ from within their current team if possible. If you have a VA or other team member who has great potential in this area you may want to work with them or hire an OBM mentor to help them build their project management skills. And once they know your business and have a good level of experience under their belts they should be capable and confident in making decisions as well. This isn’t necessarily the answer to ‘I need someone now!’ but it has been a solution for many business owners that I know.

Regarding your second question – a good business manager doesn’t necessarily want to build their own business. I like to look at business as the marriage of vision (passion) + implementation.  A business manager is driven by the ‘implementation’ side of things – they like to take an idea and bring it to life, they aren’t necessarily the ones who like to come up with the ideas/vision themselves.

Whereas most business owners are really strong on the ideas/vision side of things but need help with the implementation/management side. I like to joke with a client of mine that I’m too busy ‘getting stuff done’ to try and come up with ideas of my own! And I like it that way, as I find it very fulfilling to help my clients bring their own ideas/vision to life.

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Curious… what would a snapshot of your day look like?

If you are looking for a great illustrator to do a graphic for you I highly recommend Brenda. Just pop her an email for details, be aware that she is one busy lady and as of the time of this posting is booked through to September. But well worth the wait imo, love her work.

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Having had a blog now for over 3 years (did my first post in September 2004, yowza!) i’m a HUGE fan of setting up your website using a blog platform. Not only are they easy to use and update, the search engines love them too… a ‘dynamic’ blogsite will get a higher ranking than a ’static’ website anyday.

Blogs also solve one of my biggest pet peeves about websites - the high cost of going with a ‘traditional website design’ that can literally cost thousands and not make a dime. As Sandra says:

One of the main reasons I wrote this book was because I was getting tired and heartbroken of hearing Coaches, Consultants, Speakers and other entrepreneurs spend thousands of dollars (up to $8,000 usd) on a website that looks pretty but doesn’t work. If I could stop 1 entrepreneur from spending thousands of dollars on a website that sucks then my mission has been accomplished.

You go girl! 

Once upon a time this site was built using Movable Type. A couple of years ago I met and fell in love with Wordpress, and made the switch to the Wordpress system about a year ago now. I haven’t looked back since… not only is it free, I find it much ‘friendlier’ to use than Movable Type and recommend it wholeheartedly.

Enough from me, buy Sandra’s book and you’ll have everything you need to setup a blogsite before dinner.

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It’s not that there aren’t any VAs out there - I know there are more and more people joining this exciting industry on a daily basis.

The issue is that they are having trouble finding a virtual assistant who has the skills and expertise that they are looking for. In particular someone who understands ‘online business’ and knows how to use the various systems that are required to successfully build an online business.

If you are an asprining VA or would like to look at expanding your services to work with these kinds of clients, I invite you to join me and Cindy Greenway for a free call next Wednesday.

• want from a Virtual Assistant
• will and want to pay you money for
• are saying in general about the Virtual Assistants they’re meeting
• why they’re not hiring the Virtual Assistants they’re connecting with

… and much more.

We’ll include specific scenarios and key details that will make a difference the next time you connect with a potential (and even a current) client.

>> You can join the class at: www.HotSkillsVATraining.com

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You asked about products. Well, to be honest, we aren’t working on any, mainly because we felt like we were forcing ourselves into a box that we didn’t want to pursue. We took a long, hard look at our progress (and lack of it in several areas) and our challenges over the past year and we realized that we really are a consulting organization, rather than a product / training organization. …You were extremely helpful in getting us to see we were simply on the wrong path.

Once we let go of the mold we were trying to force ourselves into, more opportunities showed up for us. We’re excited and really engaged with the new opportunities and they are a helluva lot more profitable than the original plan we had in place. So far, we’ve got two organizations who are keeping us busy for the entire first half of 2008 – we never had that type of commitment from clients… And we have other opportunities coming in that we didn’t expect.

I just loved this email… as it really reminded me of the importance of Just Saying No…

Especially at this time of year, when it seems we are all feeling the pressure to set our goals and ‘new years resolutions’ for 2008. This reminds me of one of my favorite chapters from our book Money, Meaning and Beyond (co-written by moi and my biz partner Andrea Lee).

What is your fastest path to money?

I invite you to stop and really consider this question… put another way:

If you had to make money TODAY, what could you do *right now* that would bring money to your door asap?

In the example above, these guys felt like they should be creating products… and started down the road of doing so. But in reality, the opportunities knocking on their door were consulting based and not product based. So they ditched the product idea and responded to the opportunities coming naturally… and now these opportunties are turning into profit for them.

So I ask you - What is your fastest path to money?

What are you striving (struggling?) towards that you may need to let go of?

Business is meant to be a challenge, not a struggle… and sometimes the struggle can be an indication of trying to force yourself in a direction that you or your business isn’t ready for. It may be time to just say no.

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Daughter of Founder of Virtual Assistant Industry Follows in Mother’s Footsteps, Spreading Telework in “Millennials” GenerationWoodstock, CT (PRWEB) December 5, 2007 - Laura Durst, a 16-year old honors student from rural Woodstock, Ct., announced today the launch of WorkInMyRoom.com (www.workinmyroom.com), the first website to offer screened telework jobs and projects for high school and college students. The site, which Durst plans to continue to develop as she completes high school and enters college, includes paid survey taking, modeling and event staffing, voice work, writing, artwork sales, blogging, and other types of work. Some jobs are open to teens as young as 13, while others require a minimum age of 18. Durst personally screens all companies, and plans to add new opportunities regularly as schoolwork permits. Finding a job that doesn’t interfere with after school activities, studying, and social activities can be extremely challenging. Throw transportation issues and competition for limited positions into the mix and it can seem almost impossible. Durst says she was inspired in large part by her mother, Christine Durst, who is credited with founding the Virtual Assistant industry in the early 1990s. “My mom was a pioneer in virtual work, and is the CEO of Staffcentrix, which does virtual-career training for the US Department of State and Armed Forces and owns a teleworker site at RatRaceRebellion.com. I grew up in a home where working from home was the norm, and developing an entrepreneurial attitude was as likely as learning to feed or dress myself.” WorkInMyRoom.com, whose revenue will be based on advertising, includes polls of visitors’ interests, and in the current poll 19% of respondents say that tuition is the top reason they want to earn money. Also high on the list are money for an automobile (18%), wardrobe and electronic items (tied at 14% each), and funds for dates/socializing (12%). Durst counts herself among the 19% who are saving for college. “Finding a job that doesn’t interfere with after school activities, studying, and social activities can be extremely challenging. Throw transportation issues and competition for limited positions into the mix and it can seem almost impossible.” Durst adds, “I have some exciting plans for the site, and I think my visitors will find WorkInMyRoom.com enjoyable as well as informative. Since my income is based on advertising, come visit it often!”

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The brainchild of MIT Professor Nicholas Negroponte, the mission of One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) is to provide a means for learning, self-expression, and exploration to the nearly two billion children of the developing world with little or no access to education. To do so they’ve created the XO Laptop… a specially designed, durable, energy-efficient and just plain fun looking little device. They are designed with children in mind, with a variety of games, tools, internet access and more.

Some of the critics of this project have had the same initial response as I did… should we be giving laptops to these communities when quite often they don’t even have enough of the basics? Food, water, etc…

And then I really remembered why I love the internet so much - the opportunity to connect. For me the internet has become a vital part of how I live and work… some of my best relationships (business and personal) have been forged online. And the amount of opportunity that has come to me over the past few years has all been made possible by these connections.

Plus it is easy to forget at times how we truly can access ‘anything we want at anytime’ online. Knowledge is a powerful thing that may be easy for those of us in the ‘developed’ countries to take for granted. I’ve been fortunate enough to be born in Canada, and have been brought up in a world of knowing the opportunities and options available to me in life. Without that first essential step of knowledge, would I be where I am today? Doubtful…

One of the stories I read on this project talked about how one child was looking up the price of rice, so he can turn around and have an ‘educated conversation’ with the buyers… setting a good price for the rice they sell so his family isn’t getting ripped off because they don’t know any better. How cool is that?

 Needless to say i’m a fan… and for $200 you can donate a laptop to the project at any time. Between November 12th - 26th you also have the option of Give One Get One… for $399 you can buy 2 laptops and get one for yourself if you like, with the other being donated to the project. Being the nosy kinda gal that I am I had to go for this, as I really want to check one of these out for myself and to have for my daughter when she’s a bit older.

Check it out at XOGiving.com.

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Over the last 2 years, we’ve talked to over 375 business owners - they let us know there is a severe shortage of VAs with the skills they want and the skills they’re willing to pay for. 

Here’s just a sample of what they have shared with us:

“I’m having trouble finding a VA who is going to think ahead of me and take care of details so I don’t have to worry about them.” 

“I want a VA who is familiar with and can strategically use the common online systems I need to automate and build my business.” 

“Please help me find a VA who will use her initiative, brainstorm with me and ultimately be my partner.  I’ll reward him or her handsomely!”

So the issue isn’t a lack of work for VAs, there are LOTS of clients that are desperate to hire.

The issue is that many VAs have yet to develop the ‘hot online skills’ that these clients are looking to hire.

My partner Cindy and I have been in the Virtual Assistant industry a combined 10+ years and our businesses are full. We are constantly approached by clients looking to hire, and are tired of having to turn these people away with no one to refer them to.

We know that there are so many great VAs out there, who with a bit of training in these ‘hot online skills’ will have exactly what clients are looking to hire for. So we decided it was time to put our heads together and offer a program with the skills these business owners want from Virtual Assistants.

The Grow Your VA Biz ’Hot Virtual Skills Training’
www.GrowYourVABiz.com/training

This training isn’t for everyone.  If you want to work with coaches, consultants, speakers, authors, information marketers and online based retail businesses, AND you have a technical “knack” and enjoyment of working online, then you are the right candidate.

The program topics include:

1. Developing Your Marketing Mindset
   Clients want to hire a VA who is willing to take initiative and play more of a ‘partner’ role vs. simply taking care of administrative tasks. Learn how to develop your Marketing Mindset so you attract and retain these high-level clients.
2. Setting up the Shopping Cart
   Learn how to setup a shopping cart system from scratch, including client preferences, merchant accounts, and customizing the look/feel.
3. Creating and Using Autoresponders
   A key element of any online business strategy, learn how to create an autoresponder and post the ’sign-up form’ to the clients website.
4. Setting up Products/Programs for Sale
   The magic ‘behind the buy button’. Learn how to setup a product in the shopping cart, including specifics on how to setup shipping costs, taxes and more.

…….. and much, much more. 

With these skills in hand, there is literally a plethora of eager clients ready and waiting to hire you, literally, today. We see it regularly each and every month - VAs with these skills not only get busy but quickly start to have to turn business down on a regular basis. 

Would you like to experience this kind of support and these results also?
Visit www.GrowYourVABiz.com/training now to reserve your seat!

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