ChrisDucker.com

Helping Entrepreneurs Go The Distance In Business… And Life!

Tim Ferriss Muse Creation – Utilizing a VA to Help Create and Market Your Muse!

by 30 Comments

Ever since Tim Ferriss wrote and published The 4 Hour Work-Week, there has been hundreds of thousands of entrepreneurial lifestyle fanatics looking to creating what Tim calls, their ‘muse’. Some have succeeded, some have failed – terribly. I wanted to write this quick post to be able to point out some simple things you can utilize virtual assistants for, when kick-starting your muse creation empire!

It doesn’t really matter what kind of muse you’re creating for yourself to be able to create passive income streams and capture that 4 Hour Work-Week dream. It can be an eBook, it can be an eCourse, it can be a software download, it can be a membership site—it seriously doesn’t matter. The most important thing is that you’re making the move; you’re taking the step to be able to become more of a passive income generating entrepreneur. Will it lead you to a 4 Hour Work Week lifestyle? Maybe. Maybe it won’t. But the most important thing is that you’re taking that first step to be able to try and create your muse, get it up online and get people spending money on it.

So when it comes to utilizing virtual staff to be able to create that muse and get it out there, there are a number of different ways you can utilize the support they bring to the online business-building table.

Get Them to Work Hard, While You Work Smart

The first thing to do straight off the bat is competition research and keyword analysis. And a virtual assistant can do that for you very, very effectively. I have people working for me full-time here in the facility, checking this stuff out for me, as I write this post – but, you can do it with anybody anywhere in the world.

Once that research is done and you’ve figured you want to give it a go, it’s time to register your domain name. If you struggle on this, brainstorm with the people around you to come up with ideas for that all-important domain name. I have credited my wife, Ercille, on many occasions and in many interviews to naming the blog you’re reading right now! Obviously, you’re going to want to make sure it’s related to the product that you’re going to be creating and selling in some way shape or form.

Your domain name registration and coming up with ideas can also be done with, or by your virtual assistant as well. Once that goes into effect you’ve got to develop your online portal, or your blog. You can do that yourself but it’s going to take a long, long time to customize, for instance a WordPress theme. I tried it myself on my first blog or two. I did achieve it, but it took forever (especially as I am a bit of a perfectionist!) and I’m just too busy for that kind of stuff nowadays.

Get Them To Do The ‘Techy’ Stuff

Get anybody with PHP and/or WordPress knowledge and experience and it’s a slam dunk all the way. Virtual assistants are perfect for this type of stuff – plus, if you don’t want to hire a full-time developer, just pay them for the project itself.

Graphic design. Now this is obviously not just for your online side of things, but offline, too. Like laying out and designing an eBook, or producing a video, 3D graphics that you are going to be using in the video side of the product that you might be putting out, etc. You can also look at hiring a virtual staff member to be able to handle the editing of your videos as well – both for the short and long-term.

Get Them to Network For You

Something else that you can really utilize virtual staff for is networking. Networking online through Twitter and Facebook, LinkedIn, Myspace—although it’s not talked about nowadays – that sort of stuff is perfect for a virtual assistant, because a lot of it can be put on autopilot. It is, however, very time consuming, so don’t waste your time on Twitter all day long!

Bottom line here is that as long as you’ve given your virtual assistant good directions, they can do almost all of your online networking for you, saving you a boatload of time, so you can focus on other money-making tasks!

One of the other big things you can use virtual assistants for to great, great effect – and this is something I’m a big fan of – is online research. Get them to research the living daylights out of any kind of business model that you might be thinking about pursuing, someone you might want to JV with, or a website you want to review, etc.

So, there are a few different ways to utilize a virtual assistant to create your muse, just as Tim Ferriss has done. If you have had success in working with VA’s to help you do this type of stuff online, please share your experiences below – share the wealth, guys – it’s good karma!

Why I Want to be a Virtual CEO (Part 3 of 3)

by 31 Comments

Location: The Beach, Cebu – Reading / Viewing Time: 4mins

First up, thank you so much for all the great comments and feedback on this short video series. I have thoroughly enjoyed reading all the blog comments, tweets and emails I’ve been getting all week long. I genuinely didn’t think they were going to be this popular, but, it just goes to show you – never underestimate the power of peoples feelings, and true fans and friends. Thanks again, guys.

Today I wrap up the series, which I shot at a local beach resort here in Cebu, Philippines, when I was on a little getaway with my family last week. In this clip you’ll get to find out the single most important part of wanting to become a Full-Time Virtual CEO – simply being able to ‘be there’ more, for my family. Such a simple thing, but in todays hustle and bustle of business life, its sometimes tough to get around to it.

…

READ POST

Why I Want to be a Virtual CEO (Part 2 of 3)

by 30 Comments

Location: The Beach, Cebu – Reading / Viewing Time: 4mins

So, here we are with the second part in my short, but sweet three-part series of videos on why I want to be a Virtual CEO. In the last clip I discussed being location independent, which basically means I will be able to work from anywhere, any time I like. The goal here is to make it as seamless as possible, however, so nobody even knows I’m traveling, etc.

In this clip I talk about something that, as a true entrepreneur, I do definitely struggle with. And thats being able to act on some of the ideas and plans I put down on paper, be able to expand my business portfolio, and diversify my earning potential as a business owner. So many ideas, so little time…!

…

READ POST

Why I Want to be a Virtual CEO (Part 1 of 3)

by 37 Comments

Location: The Beach, Cebu – Reading / Viewing Time: 4mins

Last week I pulled my family out of the city and escaped to one of the many fantastic beach resorts we are blessed with, here in Cebu City, Philippines – getting a taste of the Virtual CEO life, shall we say! Whilst there, we stayed three nights and completely ‘let go’ of everything. I worked seamlessly (about 5 hours a day) throughout the trip – even to the point where one of my managers sent me an email to ask if ‘he could come to my office to discuss a few things when I had time’. He had no idea I wasn’t in the building! Now, THAT’S what I’m talking about!

As I’m at the half-way point on my quest to become a Full-Time Virtual CEO, a goal I set for myself at the beginning of the year, I thought it might be nice to shoot a little series of videos, whilst on this latest little getaway, to give you an insight as to the three main reasons that are spurring me on to accomplishing this year long mission!

…

READ POST

Business Travel Tips for Location Independent Professionals

by 39 Comments

business travel tips

Location: Home Office – Reading Time: 5mins

Being location independent is more than just being able to work from coffee shops and beaches via a laptop, whilst conversing with clients worldwide. The true location independent professional will spend a lot of time actually traveling. A little while ago, I posted an article here on the blog in regards to travel tips for entrepreneurs, which was quite popular. However this was aimed more towards people who are usually based in the same location, who travel from time to time and wanted to maximize their work on the hop, through utilizing certain business travel tips.

So, for the more nomadic modern day entrepreneurs that read the blog, here are a bunch of simple tips that you can use to maximize the time you spend on the road traveling, and generally enjoy the travel itself, a little more than usual.

…

READ POST

4 Ways to Manage Your Healthy Lifestyle Like a Virtual CEO

by 46 Comments

Location: Company HQ – Reading Time: 5mins

I’m very happy to post this excellent Guest Post by Matt Gartland of HealthyLifestyleDesign.com. Matt comes to the VBL table with some great concepts and ideas on embracing lifestyle design, with the focus on health, more then anything else.

Many people believe that business is boring. These are the same folks that work gloomy 9-5 jobs, believe that meetings are sacred, and are addicted to bureaucratic procedures. Haunting images of Dilbert, Office Space, and The Office come to mind.

These same people believe that health is boring. They are apathetic about their food choices, believe that exercise is stressful, and are surprisingly “too busy” to get healthy. Of course, they think that “healthy” is a straight-jacket restraining personal freedom, indulgence, and fun.

But that’s not you. That’s not me. We don’t settle for conventional wisdom’s. We think and act differently. We design our lives the way we want them. And in so doing, we’ve come to learn that one aspect of our life profoundly influences the next.

And so it is with business and health. The same mindset applies to optimizing both. This may not be obvious on the surface. But half-truths live at the surface. True meaning lies deeper. So let’s dive in and discover the ways you can manage your healthy life just like your virtual business.

…

READ POST

April 2010 “Virtual CEO Goal” Monthly Report

by 14 Comments

Our Welcoming Lobby at the Live2Sell Group HQ

Location: Home Office – Reading Time: 4-5mins

Number of Days in the Office: 14, Total Number of Employees: 179

This month went by faster than I realized… Hence the slightly late post! My Virtual CEO Goal is still moving along nicely, and again, I feel like I am getting closer and closer to it with every passing month. I have a plan in place, written down, and I am working that plan. It’s a 12 month plan of action including everything from automating certain aspects of my business as well as hiring of important, key employees, that fundamentally will ultimately allow me to remove myself from the business on a full-time basis. I have no doubt this year will end with my mission being accomplished.

We brought on board 3 new virtual assistant clients this month, and they have been going really nicely so far. One of our clients even sent greeting cards to his VA at the companies HQ, which put a massive smile on her face upon receiving them!…

READ POST

I’m a Businessman FIRST, a Blogger Second – But, Wait for it…!

by 29 Comments

Location: Home Office – Reading Time: 3-4mins

It’s Sunday evening, my youngest is quietly in bed already, I’m done with dinner and my wife is watching TV. As I normally do on a Sunday evening, I turned on my computer to catch up on reading the handful of blogs that I subscribe to (there are not that many I read religiously, but the ones I do, I really do!). And one thing hit me… The quality of content is getting better and better.

Last week, I sat down and put together FIVE posts, for this blog, and planned around 10 guest posts which will all be out and about in the next few weeks. And from working on these posts, I realized something… I am getting more and more turned-on to blogging. So much so, that I even enrolled myself to Leo and Mary’s A-List Blogging Bootcamps Club to learn more. Cool, community of people, actually!

Now, I class my self as a businessman and entrepreneur first, before anything else. However, as this blog has started to become more popular, and more people have subscribed to the blog,  I have been fortunate to meet some great people. I have also been offered many Joint Ventures. I’ve declined almost all of them. Although in regards to two particular bloggers who I subscribe too, and thoroughly enjoy their work, I have decided to work with on two completely separate projects….

READ POST

How to Develop a ‘Virtual Business’ Mentality and Create a Lifestyle Design Strategy of Your Own!

by 23 Comments

Location: Company Offices – Viewing / Reading Time: 7-8mins

Today we have a Guest Post by Greg over at music marketing blog GenYRockstars, who also runs www.rockstarlifestyledesign.com, too! Check out his sites if you are an entrepreneur or a musician – if you’re both, you’ll be spoiled rotten, trust me!

Myself and Greg were literally hours away from hooking up on my trip to the US in February, planning to do some video posts together on growing businesses and general entrepreneur stuff – but, alas, it didn’t quite happen! Next time for sure. Since then I’ve been interviewed by him for his blog, and I asked him to do this post to offer you guys the usual, great insightful stuff that he puts together….

READ POST

A Week in the Life of a Virtual Business Lifestyle Executive!

by 17 Comments

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdfoTcAEd_o

Location: Home Office – Reading / Viewing Time: 4-5mins

I shot this video as a “I’m here, so I might as well shoot another…” type of clip when I was filming my Top Ten Virtual Assistant Video Tips a couple of weeks ago, from the island of Boracay here in the Philippines. I have to be honest, after looking at it the first time, I wasn’t going to publish it.

But, I looked over it on Friday, with the weekend approaching, and thought that I would post it for the beginning of the week as a little ‘inspiration’ if nothing else.

I am extremely fortunate to be able to live the lifestyle that I currently (and hope to continue!) living. However, it’s not one that has come about overnight. I have worked extremely hard to be able to:

  • Work a 4-day week only
  • Travel regularly
  • Spend more time with family
  • Empty my mind more
  • Continue to grow my business
  • Work on new opportunities

And of course, I continue to work hard, but just in different ways and with different processes in place to enable the ‘virtual’ part of my business life….

READ POST