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 Creative and Legal Professionals looking to utilize online marketing methods and/or need assistance with creative pursuits such as books, classes, webinars, e-books and e-courses.

Read the entire post here.

Congratulations, Tina, on taking that scary leap… You’re an inspiration!

Anyone else up for the challenge? I guarantee it’s the best thing you could ever do to grow your virtual assistance business!

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 just don’t get it (I’m more like Arlene, though, not a hard-ass like Kevin).

Plus, I love hearing each business’ pitch. Most of of them are absolutely horrendous (you’ll often hear me say “What in the heck were these guys thinking?“).

For example, a presentation this week, where the company, Bandthology, Inc., was asking for one-hundred-fifty-thousand dollars for a twenty percent share.

The problem was their business and offer was all over the map. Their pitch started something like “We’re a company specializing in music games and live entertainment for corporate and live events.”

OK, let’s just stop right here… (are you ready for it?) How can you say you SPECIALIZE in something, then sprinkle the word ‘and‘ all over your pitch??? If you SPECIALIZE in something, that means you’re really good at ONE thing…

Moving on…

As the presentation went downhill on, the Dragons’ failed to grasp what they were selling, exactly. They were talking about a music-themed board game, a digital version of the game (in development) for mobile DJ’s and other forms of events, a live show… and I can’t remember the rest…

That’s the point, isn’t it? If, at the end of a presentation, I (the pitchee) still can’t tell what in the heck you’re selling, how can you expect me to take action? Much less hand over hundreds of thousands of dollars of my money to finance your company.

Robert Herjavec summed up what everyone in the room (and watching) was thinking:

I’m completely confused. I hear you talking about a board game, a live show, I hear you talking about intent of a software product, then you’re talking about a DJ. Like, I’m really confused. This is all over the map.

But, Arlene Dickinson said it best:

Why aren’t you focused on doing one of those things extremely well before you go into other markets? Because, really, I think by diversifying so quickly and being underfinanced to do it, you end up doing a lot and doing nothing very well.

Sound familiar???

I’ve said it hundreds of times before: If you want to make your mark in this great big entrepreneurial world, you’ve GOT to stick to ONE thing — the one thing you’re really good at, the one thing no one else does as good as you, the one thing you want to be remembered by.

What’s your thing?

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 you.

If you sincerely believe your service will solve their problems, don’t worry about coming off as egotistical. If you can back up your claims, you’re no longer a braggart, you’re a solution provider.

An expert is a person who has made all the mistakes that can be made in a very narrow field. — Niels Bohr

Kinda makes you feel better, doesn’t it?

Have you come up with your Only Statement yet? With a little help (OK, a LOT of help) from A.C. Riley, this is what we came up with for mine:

Cristina Favreau is the only coach daring business owners to make their marketing personal. See what makes you tick.

What do you think? What challenges are you having in creating yours?

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 all winter turned into a nasty sinus infection over the weekend. Being pregnant, I can’t take drugs, so I vegged on my couch with a book called Celebrate Marketing: Secrets of Success. I was pretty close-minded about it, thinking “Here we go again, more of the same-old-same-old about target markets, networking and following up.”

Then “it” happened. I’m sure “it” happens to you too. While listening or reading about something relating to your industry, you’re suddenly struck with such an amazing and simple concept, you think “Geez, I wish I thought of that first!” or “Man, I wish I heard of this sooner!”

Every once in a while I come across a gem… a truly ingenious yet simple marketing strategy that stirs me to the core, that I simply MUST share. That’s what happened as I read through the first chapter, Dare to Be Different: Super Positioning, written by Fred Berns.

I perked up (well, as much as someone with cement for brains can) as he talked about the power of “only” and packaging your business differently:

How you promote yourself is less important than that you promote yourself differently. You will never make a lasting impression if you use the same marketing methods as your competitors.

Nothing new there, but I knew he was on to something when he finally got to the point, sharing how to stand above the crowd — Harness the power of “only.”

The word “only” packs a mighty 1-2 punch:

1. It distinguishes you from everyone else in your field. It puts you in a class all your own, defining what specifically makes you different.
2. It subtly points out areas where your competition is deficient, and how you fill the gap.

Isn’t that a brilliantly simple yet awesomely powerful strategy? Once you come up with your only statement (25 words or less), use it in all your marketing, including your 30-second intro.

BEWARE! Don’t sell yourself short, don’t be modest and don’t use the word “only” to your detriment. The word “only” describes what you alone, solely and exclusively do (I am the only accountant in the US servicing professional tight-rope walkers), not what you just, simply or merely do (I’m only a chartered accountant). Remember, it’s not bragging if you can prove it.

If you’re having trouble coming up with your only statement, think about what makes you special, distinct, different (can you hear me say StrengthsFinder 2.0?) Make a list of your skills, qualifications, contributions, capabilities, talents, accomplishments, success stories, awards, etc., using superlatives where appropriate (most, highest, first, finest, etc.).

Not yet convinced of the benefits of creating an only statement? Consider these points:

• It’s the one thing people will remember you by and it’s how they will describe you to others.
• It increases your expert status.
• It helps you maintain your fees, even during tough economic times.
• It sets you apart from your competition, increasing your credibility and visibility.
• It’s a marketing strategy that costs you nothing.

In my excitement over this, I started working on an only statement for a client as well as for myself. I should have something by the end of this week or early next, so I’ll be sure to share it with you.

In the meantime, what’s your only statement?

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, totally blew me away — not in a good way.

The first reply had for a subject line “[Listname] off list,” so I wasn’t even sure if it was in reference to my request or if it was sent out of the blue. The actual message was even more baffling — it goes like this (I removed all incriminating references):

So do you need my advice?

I’ve coordinated workshops, special events, and have done handouts. I use MS Word and that’s it.

Probably a lot of others will contact you.

I am skilled in a lot of things.

Why not break up the project into small groups of people, up to 3 people.

I can spare a bit of time in the morning after 8 am if you need me.

I’ve done this biz for 14 years, and 2 days.. for 7 years with an organization that had tradeshows, workshops etc.

How much would the subcontract rate be?

I’m good at proofreading

You can hire me for 45 min if you want to help you with all kinds of advice $[X] x 5%

I’m very resourceful.

[Name]
[Signature Line]

I mean really… what kind of reply is this???

1. First of all, who starts off a professional submission of their services with “So do you need my advice?” This person didn’t even bother to address me by name.
2. Secondly, there is NO reference to my original request for assistance with a RFP. Why exactly are you sending this to me???
3. Third, all (except 3) of the choppy sentences contain the words I, me or my. This person is more interested in talking about themselves than in what I really need.

If you’ve been in business for 14 years and 2 days… surely you must know this is NOT the way to promote your services!? Oh, there’s so much more to say about the rest of this message… but I think you get the point.

A second perplexing (sad, really) reply I received was this:

Subject: ongoing offsite support [all lowercase, but at least I know what this is in reference to]

Cristina, [thank you for addressing me by name]

I would be interested in helping with the ongoing offsite support but I don’t know how to do the RFP. If you know anybody that needs subcontract please let them know about me, I am looking for work. I am attaching my resume. Thank you.

Sincerely,

[Name]
[Signature]

You’d be surprised (then again, maybe not) at how many emails I get like this.

It’s not so much annoying as it is saddening and troubling. This person is taking the time to reply, but ends up sounding desperate and pitiful.

A better reply would have been:

Subject: Ongoing Offsite Support

Cristina,

I saw your message for help with your client’s RFP. While I don’t have experience in that field, I would be interested in working with you regarding your request for ongoing offsite support. As you can see from my attached resume, I specialize in [name your specialty here]. If this is what you’re looking for please contact me for details. My business grows by referrals, so if you know someone who would benefit from my services, please feel free to forward them this message. Thank you.

Sincerely,

[Name]
[Signature]

OK, so writing is not my forte… and that’s not the point. The point is, if you’re going to take the time and effort to reply to someone’s call for help and you KNOW you’re the right one for the job, don’t pussyfoot around with excuse-making and begging. If you’re not exactly the right fit or if your service has NOTHING to do with what’s being requested, don’t bother sending a reply. You risk hurting yourself a lot more had you not replied.

Think of this: If you received these 2 messages in your Inbox, would you readily refer them to colleagues and clients?

Unfortunately, I will not. I’m certain these entrepreneurs are good at what they do and are really nice people, but their unprofessional approach created a bad first impression that I just can’t shake.

Are you sending message like the ones I received? If you’re unsure about how your message will come across, send it first to someone for feedback.

The world of email marketing is a tough and cruel one. Your audience can’t hear the modulation of your voice or see the expression on your face. When promoting yourself by email, make it count and be sure you’re sending the message you intended to send.

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: 6 Powerful Steps to Achieve Outstanding Performance.

This is turning out to be a life-changing book for me.

In the introductory chapter, Buckingham explains the emerging strengths movement — a technique to getting unstuck, taking back control of your time, and steering yourself towards your strengths and away from your weaknesses.

It may sound simplistic at first, but it’s not that easy. A little less than 2 people out of 10 succeed in capitalizing on their strengths. Why? Society puts more emphasis on identifying and improving our weaknesses as opposed to working toward and favoring our strengths — it’s what we’ve been programmed to do since childhood.

The strengths movement, and more particularly this book, is about becoming one of the 2 out of 10. It’s about moving beyond a label and putting your strengths to work — identifying what is best and most effective in you and applying it in the real world.

The 6 steps walk you through a practical process of sorting through your everyday activities and pinpointing which ones invigorate you and which ones deplete you. Discover how to get more of what “juices” you and steer away from everything else. Find out how to to push vs. being pulled. Learn how to explain what you’re doing persuasively enough to get others to help you (and hopefully they’ll participate in the process too).

The 6 steps are:

1. Bust the Myths — So, What’s Stopping You?
2. Get Clear — Do You Know What Your Strengths Are?
3. Free Your Strengths — How Do You Make the Most of What Strengthens You?
4. Stop Your Weaknesses — How Can You Cut Out What Weakens You?
5. Speak Up — How Do You Create Strong Teams?
6. Build Strong Habits — How Can You Make This Last Forever?

How can this book help you run and market your business? The benefits are more numerous than I can come up with, but here’s a list to get you started:

• You are an expert at something. Once you’ve figured it out, you can clearly communicate and market it.
• Build your business around your unique specialty and carve your own little niche.
• By pinpointing what invigorates you, it’s easier to delegate activities that deplete you. (Can you believe there are people out there who actually LOVE to do what you HATE doing?)
• By concentrating mainly on activities that inspire you, you will be more productive, fulfilled and you’re more likely to stick around.
• By being very clear on your specific strength areas, you won’t be sidetracked by other opportunities.
• You will still have to do activities that aren’t the most exciting for you, but your focus will intentionally be tilted toward the stimulating ones and away from the others.

While I don’t know where this journey will lead me and my business (that’s a scary thought), I am keeping an open mind and remaining curious about the discoveries and breakthroughs I’ll make along the way.

I’m SUPER excited about this process (can you tell?) and I look forward to applying it in my life, my business, and using to help clients get unstuck. I’ll be sharing my journey with you, through each of the 6 steps.

Sound like fun? Start your own journey to see where it takes you!

If you’ve already subscribed to the strengths movement, I’d love to hear how it’s helping you in your business.

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Don’t mistake your Ideal Client with your Target or Niche Market. They may share some similarities, but the differences are important enough to make a distinction.

Michael Port describes your ideal client in “Book Yourself Solid” this way (page 16):

Your ideal clients are a subset of the target market you choose to serve. It is just as important to identify your target market you feel passionate about as it is to identify the ideal clients you’re energized and inspired by. Remember, your ideal clients are those individuals who energize and inspire you; your target market is the demographics of the group you’re most passionate about serving.

Your ideal client is still in your target market, but now you’re making a distinction by identifying specific TYPES OF PEOPLE — personalities — that you PREFER to service. It’s those clients that you tell yourself “I can’t believe I’m getting paid to do this.“

Why does everything you’ve heard about marketing your business say you MUST choose a target market in order to be successful? It makes your job easier by knowing where to concentrate your marketing efforts!

Why take it a step further by identifying ideal clients who energize and inspire you? If your heart’s not in it, you’re not going to stick it out. You’ll get bored. As hard times come (and they WILL), you’ll be tempted to throw your hands up and say “That’s it! I’m done!” Whereas, when you serve clients who are ideal for you, your productivity will increase and so will your happiness. You’ll experience doing your very best work. And that’ll come back to you tenfold (or more!) in referrals, repeat business, glowing testimonials and more.

So think about it now: Who’s your target market? Who’s your ideal client?

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What’s the difference between a Target Market and Niche Market?

I get this question a lot. It’s a question I’ve been asked a lot lately, so I thought I’d clarify my opinion here.

A Target Market and Niche Market are the same but different in their own way. They are the same in that these terms are used to describe a group of potential clients who share common characteristics, making them extremely receptive to the customized services you offer.

The differences, however, will affect the way you communicate to these groups. I like to use the illustration of an apple tree… so, here goes…

Your entire available market, that is, all those who CAN POTENTIALLY do business with you can be compared to an apple orchard. There are a lot of trees to choose from. The point (and benefits) of choosing just one ‘tree’ is to:

• maximize your efforts
• minimize spending (money, energy, time, etc)
• make more money
• get more clients
• get more referrals
• achieve expert status in a specific field
• create a clear and compelling message that talks to this group
• and more!

After all, you’re not going to pick the few “perfect” apples in each tree from the entire orchard… Let me rephrase: You CAN pick the few “perfect” apples in each tree from the entire orchard, but that wouldn’t be efficient.

Your TARGET MARKET is that one tree that has most of what you want — the ones most LIKELY to use your services. At this point you can choose any Target Market, just for the sake of choosing one. But here are some of the criteria you should consider:

1. Are there enough people/businesses to sustain me in this target market?
2. Do I know and understand this target market on all levels?
3. Does this target group really need what I have to offer? Do I offer solutions specific to their needs, challenges, issues, problems?
4. Can they afford my fee?
5. Do I easily have access to this target?
6. Do I LIKE servicing this group?

Your NICHE MARKET can be compared to a branch on your apple tree; it’s an offshoot of your Target Market. Your Niche Market is a smaller segment of your existing Target Market. It’s more targeted, more specific, and more tightly defined than your Target Market. Your Niche can actually become your sole and unique Target, that is, you’ll choose to serve that Niche and not the entire Target.

Still with me? Did that make any sense?

While I’ve only just scratched the surface, this should be enough information for you to start narrowing down, at the very LEAST, who your Target Market is. Then you can do a little more digging on how to laser in on a niche.

To have even more fun, you can go through the process of choosing your IDEAL CLIENT!!! But I’ll save that for another post!

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