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The Virtual Consulting Discussion List [VCDL]
http://www.TheVCF.com/vcdl.phtml
Friday, January 28, 2005 Digest #19
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List Moderator: Michael S.DeVries DeVries@cris.com
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TABLE OF CONTENTS ...
---> [NEW] <---
#1 Will you recover?
- Michael S. DeVries
#2 Get more than just "a presence"
on the Internet
- David Leonhardt
#3 Three Big Mistakes that Cost You, and Your
One Person Business,
Big Money!
- Pat Wiklund
#4 Successfully Adding A Service To Your Business
- Dr. Rachna D. Jain
---> [CONTINUED] <---
---> [RESOURCES] <---
---> [NEWS] <---
---> [INTRO] <---
---> [HELP WANTED] <---
---> [ADMIN] <---
#5 Apologies for Unplanned Hiatus
- Michael S. DeVries
************* [NEW] ***************
#1 Will you recover?
-----------------------------------------------------------
Date sent: Fri, 26 Nov 2004 16:55:20 -0500
From: Michael S. DeVries
Reply To: Virtual-Consulting@topica.com
Will you recover?
Would you (and/or your clients) recover from a
disaster?
What would you do if your (and/or your clients')
office(s) were destroyed? And/or your computer
systems "crashed"? and/or you lost a
hard drive(s)?
Would your (and/or your clients') business survive?
Although these are not questions we think of often
(enough) or like to consider, they may be some
of the most important questions to which how you
are able and prepared to respond may mean the
"life or death" of your (and/or your
clients') business!
Further, you may find that you may not be as prepared
to easily, quickly and/or completely recover from
such a disaster as you may think.
We hope, in this article, to help you be better
prepared for and able to as quickly and easily
recover from such a disaster as possible.
We were personally, recently and "harshly"
reminded of the importance of this topic due to
an unprecedented series of hurricanes that hit
our area followed by the devastating Tsunami that
effected so many in Southeast Asia at the end
of last year.
We live and work in Florida, which was hit by
a record four (4) major hurricanes this year L
In advance of several of these hurricanes we were
forced to evacuate the area and to face the possibility
that our home and virtual office may be destroyed
upon our return. Therefore, we had to "hastily"
make some "final" backups of our local
systems, dismantle and pack everything up and
evacuate.
Although we were very fortunate to return to find
our home and virtual office buildings essentially
undamaged, we were without power, telephone or
internet connectivity in the area for weeks. Upon
restoration of these basic utilities, which most
of us probably take for granted all too much,
we discovered, as you may know, that computers
"don't like to travel", and we subsequently
encountered a whole series of various system hardware
failures L
In the course of recovering from all of these
"disasters" we learned some valuable
lessons which we hope will benefit you all in
preparing for, avoiding and/or recovering from
any such disasters that you may encounter.
Just backing up your data may not always be enough
...
1. Do you have backups of all of your data?
Regularly backing up all of your important data
is critical!!! ...
Do you have backups of all of the data on your
PC's? and ...
Do you have backups of all of your data for all
of your web site(s) / domain(s) / on all of your
web server(s)?
If your web hosting company performs regular backups
of your web site(s) / domain(s), that's Great!
J However, it may also be advisable for you to
also have your own backups of all of your web
site(s) / domain(s) / on all of your web server(s)
stored somewhere other than on the web server
for which it is a backup. This is advisable just
in case something happens to your web server and/or
web hosting company from which you want to be
able to recover from as well, right?
If you are not already regularly backing up your
data, you need to first start doing so immediately!
Or you may be "out of luck" when a disaster
strikes you! If you do not already have a data
backup system, you may want to get one of those
we have listed for your benefit at:
http://www.thevcf.com/vccenter.phtml#BACKUP
2. Do you have a copy of your data backups stored
somewhere else?
Given that some "disasters" may not
only "destroy" your computer but may
also destroy the facilities in which you work
and/or your computers are located, it is always
a good idea to keep a copy of your data backups
in another location separate from the source of
the data. This may be as simple as putting a copy
of your backup CD's in a safety deposit box or
storing a copy on a remote server, which you are
sure you will have access to if your primary computers
and network are unavailable.
You may find some resources for remote online
storage for your backups and/or other uses at:
http://www.thevcf.com/vccenter.phtml#STORAGE
3. Have you tested and verified that your data
backup can be successfully restored?
It is almost as bad as having no backup at all,
to have one that you can't successfully restore
when you need it!
Therefore, verify that each of your backups may
be successfully restored, preferably on your "backup
computer", discussed below, before you may
"rest assured" that you have a "good
backup" that may be used for your recovery
if/when you need it.
If you would like some additional assistance and/or
tools to help you in your recovery efforts, please
find some of these recovery resources available
for you at:
http://www.thevcf.com/vccenter.phtml#RECOVERY
You may see that some of these recovery tools
may also be helpful and beneficial to you in recovering
any files and/or data that you may lose and/or
that gets corrupted in between your regular data
backups.
4. Can you restore the applications you need?
Do you have the necessary media to restore (the
correct version(s) of) all of the applications
you will need to successfully restore and use
your data?
Nowadays many applications are delivered electronically.
Therefore, make sure you also back up the original
installable version of each of the applications
you may need to use your data and/or run your
day-to-day business.
Do you have all the keys and/or licenses you need
to re-install your applications and/or install
them on another (backup) computer?
Do you have all the necessary application configuration
and settings information backed up for quick and
easier restoration such that your applications
and data may be installed and used on your backup
computer just as they are on your primary one?
Many of the applications we use nowadays are highly
configurable and/or customizable even after being
installed. You may have invested hours of your
time configuring your applications to function
optimally for you and your business. You probably
don't want to have to remember and redo all of
these settings before these applications may be
back up and running on a different computer, now
do you? Therefore, you will want to make sure
you back up and have a restorable copy of any
of your applications' configuration and/or settings
files that you are able, as well as the applications
installable version and data, right?
For example: If you use Microsoft Outlook, or
some other similar, email client that allows you
to define a set of Rules and/or filters to filter,
"prioritize" and/or sort the "myriad"
of email messages you may regularly receive, than
rather than having to redefine all of these Rules
in a new / separate installation of Outlook, you
can Export and back up all of your Rules for Import
as part of your recovery procedures.
5. Do you have a backup computer?
What are you going to do if the computer(s) you
currently use get destroyed, damaged and/or suffer
serious hardware or software issues?
Do you have another computer, with the proper
configuration and necessary capacity, onto which
you can successfully install the applications
and restore the data you need to continue your
business operations while your primary computer(s)
are repaired and/or replaced?
Have you successfully performed these recovery
and "cut over" procedures to your back
up computer to insure that you will have everything
you need in case of an emergency?
If you are unable to answer these questions affirmatively,
then you may be risking a significant "business
outage" while you await the repair or replacement
of your primary computer.
6. Do you have a backup for your internet connectivity?
Do you have access to a dial-up, remote and/or
backup internet connection such that you may access
your email and/or the internet in the event that
your primary internet connection is unavailable,
e.g. during an evacuation or extended cable, telephone
and/or power outage?
Some of the web-based email services, like Yahoo,
provide the capability to also "pull"
your email from other email accounts/domains.
It may be beneficial to you to setup these email
"pulls" for all of your email accounts
from such a web-based email service such that
you may access your email from only a web connection
such as those available from the "internet
terminals" popping up in airports, hotels,
etc.
Being prepared for a "disaster" greatly
increases the likelihood that you will be able
to recover and resume your business(es) as quickly
and efficiently as possible.
Planning and preparing for such an event in advance
will help insure that you have everything in place
to quickly recover from such an occurrence even
if you have to relocate your business elsewhere
due to a natural disaster such as those we have
seen around the globe this past year.
We hope that our "lessons learned" that
we are sharing with you herein will help you be
more prepared in case a "disaster" should
strike.
- Your Virtual Moderator
-----------------------------------------------------------
#2 Get more than just "a presence" on
the Internet
-----------------------------------------------------------
Date sent: 17 Jan 2005 13:34:17 -0500
From: David Leonhardt
Reply To: Virtual-Consulting@topica.com
Get more than just "a presence" on
the Internet
By David Leonhardt
The water purification salesman had been talking
to us for what
seemed like hours. During a lull in his monologue,
I asked if he had
a website.
"Yes. In fact, we are the only independent
distributors of this
product who does," he proudly beamed.
"So you get a lot of leads from the website,
then?" I asked.
"No, actually I don't think we've gotten
a single lead from it," he
replied.
"Then why do you have a website?" I
wanted to know.
"To have a presence on the Internet."
A few days later, our home inspector was giving
us an update on
the state of our house. We had bought it a few
years earlier in
winter, when snow was on the ground and on the
roof, and we thought
an update would be a worthwhile investment.
"Do you have a website?" I asked.
"Yes, I do. But, I don't think a single
customer found me that
way."
"Then why do you have a website?" I
asked.
"To have a presence on the Internet."
A lot of entrepreneurs and small businesses are
sold on paying
for a website because it is important to have
a presence on the
Internet. For many businesses, that is true. But
what does "a
presence" mean?
Would you open up a store in the corner office
of the fifth floor of
an office building, or would you open it up in
the mall?
Would you leave the windows bare, or would you
fill the windows
with merchandise and open the door to make your
store inviting?
Would you ignore customers when they enter the
store, or would
you carefully place merchandise and staff to maximize
the revenue from
each visit?
"A presence" is only valuable if the
website serves a purpose, if it
fulfills its goals. Just sitting there, somewhere
in cyberspace, is
not a sound business strategy. An experienced
website marketing
consultant can help you determine what goals,
if any, are viable for
your business website.
Here are a few of the goals you might want for
your website:
Online pamphlet.
If you connect with customers by telephone, this
is an ideal way to
instantly deliver a pamphlet to them. No mailing,
no delays, they can
even call up your information while you are on
the phone with them.
This website has to look credible and be choc
full of information.
Credibility booster.
If you are selling a big ticket item, particularly
one that
requires a good reputation, a website can help.
This website
should look upscale and focus on credibility-boosting
content.
It is ideal for speakers, consultants and other
business-to-
business service providers.
Lead generator.
One excellent use for a website in many non-retail
businesses is as
lead generator. The idea is to funnel traffic
(website users) into
the site and lead them to take action. Such action
might be to call
you, to request a brochure, to request a free
sample, etc. The main
requirement for this is the maximum amount of
targeted traffic
possible, of people interested in what you have
to offer.
By way of example, my marketing website at http://www.seo-
writer.net serves these first three goals: online
pamphlet,
credibility booster and lead generator.
Email Address Gatherer.
This is really a form of lead generation, but
it is unique in
that you are not trying to sell through the website,
but through an
email newsletter (also called an ezine). The website
is there
primarily to pique interest, and the newsletter
is there to build
affinity and trust in order to make the sale.
You need to have a
newsletter set up, and you need targeted traffic.
By way of example, my personal growth website
at
http://www.thehappyguy.com serves this goal, attracting
subscribers to my Daily Dose of Happiness.
Sell.
Of course, if you sell hard goods, electronic
goods or even many
services, you can make the sales right online.
You need some form of
payment gateway and/or shopping cart, and your
website needs to be
able to make the sale from start to finish, which
is not always easy.
Of course, you also need customers in the form
of targeted traffic.
By way of example, my liquid vitamins website
at
http://www.vitamin-supplements-store.net
serves this goal.
What you want your website to achieve should
dictate the look,
the structure, the content, the writing style
and whether or not the
site is optimized for the search engines. Before
investing any more
money of time in your website, invest the time
required to determine
the goals you want your website to achieve.
Or you could be like that water salesman or my
home inspector,
satisfied with having "a presence".
Of course, many people go
through life having "a presence" on
Planet Earth, but most
entrepreneurs I have met are go-getters. If "a
presence" is not good
enough in the real world, why settle for it in
the online world?
A website should be an investment, not a cost.
If your website
is not working for you, or if you feel your business
should have a
website, determine realistic and useful goals,
then set your website
up to achieve them.
Maybe you don't need a website at all. Or maybe
your website
could double your profits. Either way, don't let
it sit there
gathering dust somewhere in cyberspace.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
David Leonhardt is an SEO consultant
http://www.seo-writer.net/freelance/seo-consultant.html
and a website marketing consultant:
http://www.seo-writer.net/freelance/marketing-consultant.html
Pick up a copy of his SEO e-book:
http://www.seo-writer.net/books/seo-book.html
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-----------------------------------------------------------
#3 Three Big Mistakes that Cost You, and Your
One Person Business,
Big Money!
-----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Mon, 3 Jan 2005 15:02:40 -0800
From: "Bonnie Jo Davis" <bonniejodavis@earthlink.net>
Reply To: Virtual-Consulting@topica.com
Most one-person businesses don't flounder because
their products or
services are below par. They struggle because
their owner's lack of
business skills or business practices gets in
the way of being
profitable.
Are you making these big mistakes?
1. You don't tell people what you do in a way
that helps them
buy. People buy when they understand what they
get, what problem
you'll solve for them, how you'll stop their pain,
or increase their
pleasure. Focusing on what you'll do, where you
went to school, what
steps you'll take, how hard you'll work for them,
won't get you sales.
Letting them know what pain you'll take away,
what pleasure you'll
bring, how they'll feel better, be better, when
you're finished will
go much further in getting to yes. Sell the sizzle,
what your prospect
can see, feel, and experience, not the steak,
the steps you'll go
through, how long you trained, the effort you'll
put in.
Your bottom line will thank you...and so will
your satisfied
customers and clients.
2. You don't know your leads to sales ratio...so
you
consistently miss making the money you want and
need to make.
Knowing your ratio helps you understand what you
need to do to
get more sales.
Your marketing efforts will bring you potential
customers.
Your sales ability will convert those potential
customers into
paying customers. If you are getting lots of potential
customers, and not enough sales, take a sales
class, pick up a
good sales book, ask a buddy to help you learn
to sell better.
On the other hand, if you're closing most of
the qualified leads you
get and you're still not making enough money,
start working on your
marketing efforts. Either increase the sizzle
in your marketing
efforts, making you look like the solution potential
prospects will
want, or increase the scope, the number of potential
prospects you
approach.
3. You aren't willing to fire customers who cost
you more than
they give you. Yes, we all do pro bono work for
deserving people or
organizations that really don't have the money
to pay our regular
fees. I'm not talking about these special clients.
(Unless this is
your total business, then we really need to talk
about what business
you're in!)
Be willing to fire those clients you simply can't
stand or when
you can't stand the work. Continuing to work with
people who
aren't a good match for you, your values, your
preferred way of
doing business, or is meaningful to you will not
support you,
your business, your financial goals, or the quality
of your life.
Ask yourself if you are getting the return on
investment of your time
and energy in the work you are doing with each
client or customer?
Assess both the money and the emotional return.
If either are lacking,
seriously consider referring the client to a colleague
or having a
frank talk about how the work is not working for
you.
Then take a good look at what your service and
product catalogue
offers. You may find products or services that
made sense when you
were getting started don't make sense now. Or,
the type of clients who
want those products or services are no longer
the type of people you
want to work with.
Continuing to do work, or working with people
who aren't a good
fit, prevents you and your business from growing
and flourishing.
You own the business. You get to decide what
you do and who you
want to work with.
It's your business, decide today to take one
or two steps that
will increase your skills or improve your business
practices to
increase the return you're getting from your efforts.
Business coach Pat Wiklund works with entrepreneurs
who want to
make and keep more money from their businesses.
Assess your one-
person business with her free business tune up
ecourse:
pat3-32222@autocontractor.com.
Contact Pat at
pat@1personbusiness.com
-----------------------------------------------------------
#4 Successfully Adding A Service To Your Business
-----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Wed, 01 Dec 2004 03:49:52 -0800
From: "Bonnie Jo Davis" <bonniejodavis@earthlink.net>
Reply To: Virtual-Consulting@topica.com
There will come a time in your business where
you feel ready to
add another service offering. To make this successful,
there are ten
tips to consider before moving ahead.
1) Revisit your business plan. If you don't have
one, write one
for your business as it currently exists (even
a one-page, brief
summary will work fine). Compare how your business
plan will be the
same or different with the addition of this new
service.
2) Will this new offering build adequately on
what you already
have in place? This refers not only to your resources,
but also
to your own skills and those of your staff. Does
this new
offering extend further what you've already been
doing? Or is it a
detour into a new area?
3) Is the addition going to be cost effective?
For example, if
you're building on what you already have in place,
you're
probably going deeper into your current market
rather than
trying to start a whole new business from scratch.
Generally
speaking, it's almost always going to be more
cost effective to
add a related service line than it is to start
a new one.
4) Have your customers asked you about this or
expressed a need
for something new? If you regularly consult with
your customers
you will know what they need and want. If they
continually ask
you whether you provide a particular service,
use this
information to guide what you next add to your
business. Your
bottom line will thank you.
5) If you are a solo professional, how will the
new service
improve what you're doing now? Will it provide
you additional
income or additional freedom? Is it an area that
is more
interesting to you? Just be sure that adding the
service is
likely to provide you with definable personal
benefits otherwise,
you might stretch yourself too thin.
6) How will your customers benefit from this
new service? If you don't
have a built in market for what you're offering
be sure to think about
what this new service will do for your existing
customers. Will it
allow you to serve more people? Fewer people?
Will it cost less? Are
the results going to be better?
7) Ask yourself: Why this and why now? What is
driving your
decision? Is this the right time to implement
this new plan?
Timing, sometimes, is the main difference between
success and
failure.
8) Give adequate notice. Be sure to give your
customers adequate
notice of these changes if this addition is going
to impact your
existing customers (as in you might be less available
for a while or
your prices might increase). Customers are very
resilient when they
know what's going on and why.
9) Communicate your enthusiasm. If you are excited
about a new
offering be sure to share this with everyone you
know. Once
you've decided to go ahead get as much help and
support as you
can. As the business owner, you have a lot of
influence on your
customer's view and response to this change.
10) Set some goals and revenue projections for
the new offering.
Create a marketing plan and decide how you will
reach your targets.
Measure your results. This will assist you in
gauging if you're on the
right track.
Most of all, have fun with this process. One
of the best parts
of owning your own business is that you can make
adjustments
which make your business better for your customers
and yourself.
(c) 2004, Dr. Rachna D. Jain. All rights in all
media reserved.
Dr. Rachna D. Jain is a sales and marketing consultant
to small
business owners/solo entrepreneurs who want to
make more money
and have more fun in their businesses. Check out
her daily
insights at http://www.salesandmarketingcoach.com/blog
************* [ADMIN] ***************
#5 Apologies for Unplanned Hiatus
-----------------------------------------------------------
Date sent: Fri 1/21/05 2:53 PM
From: Michael S. DeVries
Reply To: Virtual-Consulting@topica.com
Dear Fellow Virtual Consulting Discussion List
Members,
Unfortunately, it has been quite a while since
the last Digest of The Virtual Consulting Discussion
List ?
Please accept our apologies for the unplanned
hiatus and extended delay between Digests.
As you may have seen above, we were adversely
affected by the unprecedented series of hurricanes
that hit Florida this past year, only to be followed
by a whole series of various system hardware failures
:(
Unfortunately our recovery from all of these events
has taken far longer than we would have liked.
L We again hope that our "lessons learned"
from all of this and included in the article above
will help you recover from any similar events
you may encounter in the future more quickly and
efficiently.
However, now ... We're Back again! ;)
We now hope to be able resume, if not improve
the frequency and content, of publications of
The Virtual Consulting Discussion List for the
benefit of all! ?
And ... You Can Help! ;) ...
As always ... We want to know what you want to
see in Your Virtual Consulting Discussion List?!
What types of articles and/or discussions would
you like to see more?
Which would you like to see less?
Further, The Virtual Consulting Discussion List
is intended to be exactly that ... a Discussion
List for you all to discuss any and all topics
related to Virtual Consulting.
Therefore, we would encourage you to Post your:
* Introductions,
* Topics for discussion,
* Questions,
* Articles,
* News,
* Help Wanted requests,
* Etc. Etc.
For your benefit and that of All of the Virtual
Consulting Discussion List Members. ?
Finally, please encourage all of your fellow virtual
consultants to join us in the discussions in The
Virtual Consulting Discussion List for their and
again all of our benefit! :)
Thank you again for your continuing support and
...
We wish you all a very Happy and Prosperous New
Year! :)
- Your Virtual Moderator
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And Make Money with any / all of The VCF's Products
and Services! :)
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