The Savvy Entrepreneur

You’re out there everyday, telling the world how great your service is, that what you have to offer is exactly the solution they are looking for.
The best way to prove that your services are the answer to your prospect’s problems is to build your credibility as a professional and to show that you’re the expert [...]

If you’re not a member of my Marketing Momentum Program for VAs, you missed an awesome call last week on how to market your VA business using press releases with Teresa H. Berger founder of Innovate Services. She’s a master at public relations and expert copyeditor.
She did, however, give me permission to share with you [...]

You can’t build a reputation on what you are going to do. — Henry Ford
Stop procrastinating. Go out there and do something — today!

I’m a major sucker for reality shows like CBC-TV’s Dragons’ Den, a show where entrepreneurs pitch a panel of five potential investors, for a stake in their company. I guess I like to live vicariously through the Dragons’ who get to tell awesome entrepreneurs how great their idea is, and tear into the ones that [...]

Yesterday, I shared Pam Ivey’s response on how NOT to reply to a request for proposal.
For most service providers, RFPs can be a great resource for new clients – if you respond professionally and thoroughly, with a great call to action (sounds like a marketing strategy to me).
So, how do you professionally respond to a request [...]

You’ve heard me rant about an RFP I wish I never received (and maybe that person wishes they never sent it!!) and the discussion has come up again on a VA group I belong to.
This time Pam Ivey, Virtual Business Manager and Owner of the Canadian Virtual Assistant Network (CVAN), chimed in with her suggestions [...]

What you do speaks so loud that I cannot hear what you say. — Ralph Waldo Emerson

The Top 4 No-Brainer Shortcuts to Achieving Expert Status, Fast!
Independent service professionals often ask me how they can become a sought-after expert in their field, especially if they are just starting out. The secret lies in getting others to perceive you as an expert in your field. To achieve this, you must BE (and believe [...]

There is a difference between conceit and confidence. Conceit is bragging about yourself. Confidence means you believe you can get the job done. — Johnny Unitas
If you want to get the business, you must instill this kind of confidence in your potential clients. In order to instill it in others, it must first be inside [...]

I have to admit… I’ve been in a marketing slump lately. It feels like everything I read or hear about marketing a service-based business has been said and hashed over. I’m bored with it. So, I took a break from reading or listening to anything related to marketing.
Then this cold that has been hanging on [...]

Last week, I posted a call for help to a few VA online groups I’m on. I needed assistance with an important, detailed, last minute and complicated RFP for a client.
Most replies were professional. There were those who offered advice and even provided outlines and templates, while others submitted formal service quotes.
A few replies, however, [...]

I’ve been exposed to internet marketing at its *best* these past few weeks.
It first started with an increasing number of “unpaid interns” leaving blog ‘comments’ plugging a certain internet marketer’s name and products (I refuse to give him Google points, so let’s call him JB). Spam comments. YUCK!
As soon as I clued in to what [...]