The Savvy Entrepreneur

Here’s the case of a virtual office assistant who recently took the plunge and claimed her unique space in the VA world.
This is how Tina M. Hilton worded it on her blog:
As of May 1,2009, Clerical Advantage will no longer be considered a ‘generalist’ virtual assistant company, but will focus on providing services to Business [...]

In 2002 when I quit my job to work from home, I started a virtual assistant business.  Three years later, I knew it was time for a change.
I realized that my strengths didn’t lie in doing administrative tasks. What really jazzed me was helping clients come up with ideas to grow their business.
It was only [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

Seeing as I haven’t given birth yet, I figured I’d mosey on over to LinkedIn Answers and pose a new question: What are the 3 biggest mistakes entrepreneurs make when giving their 30-second intro?
As usual, the responses received so far have been insightful and informative. Want to join the discussion? Click here to post your answer.
Mistakes [...]

For the first time, I posted a question on LinkedIn, not really knowing what kind of response I’d get. I don’t know what’s taken me so long to discover the Q&A feature on LinkedIn (thanks to Lara for the suggestion), but I’m sure glad I did.
My question was a simple one: Do you have a 30-second intro? So far, [...]

Thanks to Don H. Morris who passed this link on to members of the NewCoachConnection Yahoo Group this morning.
Those of you who know me, know I love words (I’ve recently been labeled as word anal by a close friend) and, I’m ashamed to admit, I love using lingo and jargon (I’m working on it, really, [...]

As longtime member of the Virtual Business Group (free annual membership in 2008), one of the perks is its Book Club — a benefit I hadn’t taken advantage of until late last year. Boy, am I glad to be participating in this months’ activities, since we’re discussing Marcus Buckingham’s Go Put Your Strengths to Work: [...]

I’m back from vacation and I’m feeling rested and ready to rock!!
The very first thing I want to share is an ad I saw in Rhode Island, while driving back home. It wasn’t your run-of-the-mill billboard; It was a beautifully crafted wood sign, painted in plain white, strategically placed on a busy corner on a [...]

I love sharing questions that come up on the various online networking groups I belong to, because I feel they reflect what’s really going on in business.
For example, last week, this question came up:
I am looking at a starting a VA business part time while maintaining my full time status at work for at least [...]

Are you an entrepreneur who offers a service that is difficult to explain? Do you get blank stares when you tell people what it is you do? I do too. I’ve been having discussions with my coaching colleagues lately, and found that the actual description of the coaching profession is confusing to the average person.
Here [...]