Happy birthday to me …. it’s hard to believe, but Monday Morning VA is a year old today. With the rapid uprise of virtual assistants I had doubts that we would make it this far. There are loads of businesses that fail in the first year, and I am so proud and humbled that we are not one of them. In fact, we’ve been going strong since our second week in business.
Our success is attributed to our clients.
It’s cliche but without them I definitely wouldn’t be here and we’d have some fabulous associates out of work. Some of our clients have been with us from nearly the beginning, so a special shout out goes to Ian Capstick of MediaStyle and Danielle LaPorte of White Hot Truth. I most definitely have to give an extra special squeeze to Danielle for her continued referrals.
So now that the first year of business is under my belt, I’m ready to create a massive empire. Okay, maybe that’s a little elaborate.
Here’s what’s in store for 2010:
- A more robust multi-va team that will be able to provide clients with a higher level of support than yours truly could offer on my own.
- I’m moving into my niche and it feels so good. While our team can still provide all the great services you’re used to, I’ll be focusing on everything to do with your online presence: RapidSites, product launches, and social media.
- New products will be coming out this year. We have primers for social media as well as tutorial courses in all things social media.
It’s me
Are you subscribed to the newsletter yet? You should be. Really. You get a monthly blast that includes a never-seen-before post, my personal resources, more tidbits about me, and special discounts.
I’m reading and loving:
White Hot Truth
IttyBiz
Creative Penn
Yaro Starak
Dave Navarro
Smashing Magazine
Men with Pens
Knock off Wood – weren’t expecting that one huh?
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And thanks to Naomi, here’s a quick Q+A with yours truly.
What’s your game? What do you do?
When I’m feeling cheeky, my answer is that I indulge entrepreneurs with the gift of time and money. That really is the heart of what I do. I provide off-site assistance to businesses so they can concentrate on doing what they do best.
I take all those pesky administrative tasks off your to-do list and help coordinate some very talented people to do the things that you just don’t know how to do yourself – like bookkeeping or graphic design.
Why do you do it? Do you love it, or do you just have one of those creepy knacks?
I. Love. My. Job.
Yes, I am one of those off kind of people who really enjoys 99% of the jobs she’s ever had, but I really love running my business, and it’s not because I can sit in my pajama’s all day.
My mother used to work for the Canada Revenue Agency and she brought home heaps of blank forms for us to play with. While other kids were playing house, I was playing administrative assistant. To this day, I still love filling out paperwork.
Yep, weird.
Who are your customers? What kind of people would need or want what you offer?
My customers are entrepreneurs – small businesses that are either solo businesses or a small team – that are looking to spend less time working in their business so they can work on their business. Website updates don’t earn you any revenue if you’re a bookkeeper. A bookkeeper needs to be able to spend the majority of time working for clients in order to make money.
My clients are also the ones who are interested in getting their online presence rocking. Whether it’s Facebook, Twitter, or a shiny new blog – they need assistance in getting it up, running smoothly, maintaining it and creating a strategy.
What’s your marketing USP? Why should I buy from you instead of the other losers?
It doesn’t matter how good you are, or what Ivy League School you went to. Street smarts rule.
My business is built on 2 things: Twitter and referrals. I kid you not. My advertising bill for the first year in business: about $46.00 for business cards. Anyone can tell you how to market yourself online, but unless they have the street smarts to back up those brain smarts you’re going to leave something on the table.
Compared to some of the VA firms out there, we’re pretty damn cheap too. Our rates let us sleep at night and keep food on the table. What more could you ask for?
What’s next for you? What’s the big plan?
Knowledge. There’s only so many books that people can own on a subject. But knowledge. Knowledge is a never ending fountain and I plan on being that dirty little spout that everyone is dying to get their mouth on.
I’ll have some smaller courses coming out that will walk you through using all kinds of necessary products like Mailchimp and Aweber; Facebook, Twitter, and anything else you can think of. I’ll also be unveiling a full primer on social media this year. Hot stuff.
I’ve been kicking around starting up some type of consultation package since we’ve had a ton of super savvy people that know what they’re doing but just want another set of eyeballs on their pages. If you’re interested in that, let me know in the comments.
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So my friends, thank you for celebrating with me today. Feel free to leave your birthday wishes below or send me an email.
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