Business Growth Archives - Page 12 of 15

#NewBusiness Chit-Chat: Offshore Virtual Assistants: Good, or Bad for the Economy?

Earlier today I was interviewed for a podcast, we spoke about a lot of small business principles and strategies, and one of the questions poised to me was today’s discussion point. Obviously, I’m a big believer in working with offshore staff to leverage your time, financials and business growth potential.

I was also ‘cornered’ by pro-blogger John Chow minutes before my presentation at BlogWorld Expo (I’ve been asked to speak again in New York, this coming June, too!) last year where he asked the question ‘How does it feel to know you’re destroying the American economy by promoting offshore outsourcing?”.

It was a fair enough question – and I gave my answer, which was basically the following:

The fact is that it’s the small businesses that fuel any local economy, and a lot of the time these businesses are in bootstrapping mode. Every little the can save makes a big difference to their bottom line. Not only this, but from a business owner standpoint, it simply doesn’t make any sense to me why you would decide to pay $3,000 to have a web developer work for you, managing your websites, when an offshore, highly skilled and experience worker can do the same job for $800…

Fair comment, I believe… And I’m obviously a big believer in working with offshore staff to leverage your time, financials and business growth potential and have helped hundreds of business owners do just that through my Virtual Staff Finder company.

Now… I appreciate that this is a touchy subject, one that we’ve discussed in a round-about way before, and one where opinions will come into play quite heavily, hence today’s discussion point.

Please keep it friendly, and in the spirit of entrepreneurship. Over to you…

Entrepreneurs, Listen UP! – The ONE Thing I Wish I Had Done Differently… in Business!

Nowadays, I often get interviewed for podcasts, magazines and blogs. In fact I was just interviewed by Yaro Starak for his excellent entrepreneurial blog and podcast, which I’ve personally read for years myself.

I’ve been asked ‘If you could go back and start your journey as an entrepreneur all over again, what would you do differently…?’, on more than one occasion.

My answer is a simple one…

As an entrepreneur, I wish that I had gotten active online way, way sooner than I actually did – which is just two years ago.

Why I Enjoy Blogging so Much

My blogging, and the fact that I utilize social media, podcasting and online video as much as I do, has enabled me to far surpass my business growth targets, and has opened more ‘business doors’ than I can count!

In the video above, I go into my feelings on this a little more, and actually tell a couple of stories that reflect things a little clearer.

However, here are a handful of reasons why I wished I’d started my blogging and general involvement in the online business world, sooner:

It’s enabled me to build a fantastic personal brand. A brand that has catapulted me to ‘Thought Leader’ status in my niche of ‘outsourcing’, even to the point of being asked to speak at several international conferences and expo’s.
I’ve signed up so many new clients for my largest business (which currently houses over 300 employees), who have found me through my podcast and blog, I’ve lost count!
The networking opportunities that blogging and having a voice in social media brings, has netted me some of my best, and smartest friends.
Blogging has enabled me to create and launch TWO new businesses in the last 12 months.
Doing business online has shown me that the world is so much smaller than it used to be, and that the global economy is thriving!

As you can tell, I’ve become a big fan of doing business online.

How My Blogging Journey Began

When I launched this blog, two years ago, I did so with a 1-year goal to become a Virtual CEO. I achieved that goal. And one of the reasons I believe I achieved it (and a full month ahead of schedule, I might add!) is because I documented the entire journey through the pages of my blog.

I blogged about everything I was doing to achieve that status, and more. And I produced monthly reports for people to see what I was doing on a month to month basis to hit my goal, too. It gave me a focus that I’ve never actually experienced before… Seriously. Some might say that starting a blog, and everything else that I’ve done online over the last 24 months has changed my life…

Has Blogging Changed My Life?

In a word, yes, I think it has. For all the reasons I listed above, and because of the stories I discuss in today’s video, too. Plus, much more.

Has it made me a ‘better person’..? No, I don’t think so (I like to think that I’ve always been a pretty nice guy!). But, it’s certainly made me more accessible to potential clients and business partners – which, as any REAL entrepreneur will tell you is AWESOME!!!

Its also put me into a thought process on business that is, literally, never ending. That doesn’t mean that I don’t switch off from ‘work’, because I certainly do. What it means is that I find myself having more ideas, creating more opportunities for myself and my businesses, as well as allowing myself to truly represent myself and my businesses the way I really want to. I love that control.

Have YOU Started a Blog Yet?

If you have, well done. If you haven’t, and you really, truly want to make a difference in this crazy entrepreneurial world that we live in and enjoy so much – do it. TODAY! Don’t wait… like I did. There really is no point and you’ll achieve nothing by sitting on the sideline.

The fact is that people want to do business with other PEOPLE. And creating, starting and building a blog will give you tons more opportunities to connect with people (AKA, your future customers, friends and partners!) than any other medium out there today, that I promise you.

I’m a curious type, as you know, so I have a couple of questions for you…

If you’ve not started a blog yet – whats holding you back? And if you do have a blog, and you’re perhaps thinking about re-launching it in some way, why is that? What are you not happy with?

How to Start a Blog That Matters and Make Your First Dollar Online!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8A8ufqrdRc

As you know, it’s not often (I can count on one hand how many times I’ve done it in the last two years!) that I whole-heartedly get behind someone and what they have to offer online. But, I’m gonna do it today.

On Monday I published a post highlighting 3 bloggers that you must follow online in 2012 to achieve the success I know you are all after – one of them was my good friend, Corbett Barr.

Just as I hit the publish button on that post Corbett opened the doors to his 13-week coaching course on How to Start a Blog that Matters. This thing is stacked, jam-packed with everything you’ll need to know to start a blog and kick-ass online – and the price makes it an absolute no-brainer, as far as I’m concerned.

Watch my video above for a solid explanation on everything, and 2 special bonuses that are up for grabs, if you get involved through my affiliate link.

What’s in the Course?

The following list is taken directly from Corbett’s genius set-up:

Week 1: Choose the right topic for you.
Week 2: Develop the perfect blog name and brand.
Week 3: Design your blog to look great.
Week 4: Create your social media strategy.
Week 5: Develop your launch plan.
Week 6: Learn how to create outstanding content.
Week 7: Create your launch content.
Week 8: Launch your blog.
Week 9: Start making friends in the blogosphere.
Week 10: Build your thriving audience.
Week 11: Expand your reach using webinars, YouTube, podcasts and more.
Week 12: Make your first dollar blogging.
Week 13: Develop your strategy for taking your blog to the next level.

His Bonuses are INSANE!!!

Not only all of this, but you’ll also get the following amazing bonus videos from him to:

How to Start a Popular Blog – The Ultimate Beginners Guide (Sit-down interview with Leo Babuata of Zen Habits)
How to Use Authenticity to Feel Great and Build a Huge Following (with Danielle LaPorte of White Hot Truth)
Case Study – How I Helped Scott Dinsmore create Live Your Legend and amass 10,000 Subscribers in 6 months!
How I Built a Launched Expert Enough using the 13 Factors to Make a Blog Successful

As you can see, he covers exactly EVERYTHING you need to know to be able to get started with your blog in the right way, and with SUCCESS already a certainty! He also promises that if you don’t get incredible results he will spend time coaching you personally, one-on-one! An amazing guarantee!

And, Here are MY Bonuses!!!!!!!!!

Like I said in my video above, I want to make this as useful as possible for my audience. The chances to get involved in courses like this don’t come around very often – especially at the ridiculously low price of just $97 – for everything!

So, I’ve decided to put together a couple of bonuses of my own! If you purchase Corbett’s new course between now and February 3rd, 2012, I will give you the following:

Bonus #1

When you buy ‘How to Start a Blog that Matters‘ through my link, you’ll get exclusive access to a 1-hour webinar that I will do in the next month or so, which is basically a re-vamp on my BlogWorld Expo talk that I gave in LA, last November. It’s entitled ‘How to Work with Virtual Assistants to Help Build, Grow and Monetize your Blog’. The PERFECT companion for those of you wanting to take this course and fundamentally get someone else to do all the work – based on Corbett’s ‘How To’ principles and under your guidance!

And, so you can listen to the webinar (as well as watch it), when you’re traveling, working out, eating, walking your dog… whatever – I’ll include a free audio version, too!

Bonus #2

When you decide that you want to go ahead and hire your virtual assistant, whether that be right now, or anytime in 2012, I will give you a $50 discount on my Virtual Staff Finder service, allowing you to hire your virtual assistant and start realizing the power of outsourcing as a blogger and online marketer – trust me, you have NO IDEA what you can achieve (but, you will do, when you watch the webinar!).

So, that’s it.

CLICK HERE – TO GET CORBETT’S COURSE, HIS BONUSES — AND MY BONUSES, TOO!

And like I said in the last video – in 2012 I’m going to be focusing on providing very focused content on Start-Up and Marketing principles here on VBL. Showing you how I’ve been able to create and market successful businesses (both my own and other peoples!) and launch them online to huge success. Some of them being real ‘online’ businesses, and some even traditional ‘brick n mortar’ businesses, that have simply blown up after getting active online.

In the meantime, if you have any questions about ‘How to Start a Blog that Matters, please leave them below – I know that Corbett will be more than happy to pop over to the blog and answer them for you!

Road Trip Story: How I Made $350 in San Diego, in 15mins – in a Hotel Lobby!!!

On the way back from BlogWorld at the beginning of this month, I took a little detour from my trip back to the Philippines and stopped by to say ‘Hi’ to all the lovely people in San Diego, staying four nights to enjoy a little down-time with my wife. We hit the San Diego Zoo, SeaWorld (with my buddy, Pat Flynn and his family) and Macy’s for a brand new suitcase as my other decided to die the day before we were due to leave!

Our time in San Diego was awesome. The place is fantastic, and we’ll definitely be going back again in the future. There was one thing that made it all the more sweet, however.

As my wife and I were enjoying a late breakfast, before checking out, I had an email come in from my assistant back in the Philippines. She was confirming a consultation call with a Virtual Staff Finder client – in 30mins. Bad timing? A little… But, it was better to take care of the call now, I thought, before hitting the ‘road’, as I would be keeping my client waiting for at least a few days whilst I traveled and got re-acquainted with the Philippines time-zone.

I Don’t Pay for WiFi!

Being the tight bastard that I am, I don’t pay for wifi. Anywhere. I think that in this day and age, to even attempt to charge for it is nothing short of taking the piss, quite frankly. And at my hotel, they were attempting to charge me for in-room wifi. However, I was told that there was free wifi in the hotel lobby. Great!

I escorted my wife back to the room so she could finish the packing (as all good wives do!), and headed back down to the lobby with my MacBook Air and a pair of earbuds!

The call with my client was going by as normal. Simple questions at first, then getting a little more in-depth. Advice needed on how much to pay their virtual assistants, how to work with them properly, and whether the time differences would cause any issues, etc., etc. It was around half way through the 30min consultation that I noticed another hotel guest sitting across from me, using the free wifi, too. “I’m not the only cheap bastard staying here..!”, I thought to myself.

Why Eavesdropping is a Good Thing!

As I continued my chat, I noticed that my side of the conversation had gotten the attention of my freebie wifi buddy, sitting across from me. He was intently listening in on the advice I was giving my client, and quite frankly, I wasn’t bothered about it.

As with most people that I meet, not many of them know that much about virtual assistants and how they can help you run, support and grow your business, so I’m happy to educate whenever possible, if it means I help another had-working entrepreneur.

When I was done with my client call, I sent a quick email to my project manager, Stephanie, on the call notes, attaching a recording of the call, as I do with all my consultations (so she can go back and listen to it, if need be), and started to shut down my laptop. At this point, the other hotel guest reached out his hand and introduced himself as Mike, a business owner from LA, who was in town for a conference.

The Elevator Pitch!

After subjecting him to my 20-sec elevator pitch (which is perfected, trust me!) and a couple more minutes of general chit-chat he admitted listening in on my conversation, apologizing at the same time. No problems, I told him, and asked if there was anything in particular that pricked his ears up in the first place. He said that he liked the idea of having someone do the ‘shit work’ (his words, not mine!), that he hated doing everyday. As we all know, virtual assistants can do that stuff (along with other things, too!).

Ten more minutes goes by, I explain that we’re leaving soon and that I’ve got to go up to the room to make sure that the wife hasn’t stuffed the hotel bathrobes into our suitcase, along with other stuff that should stay in our room when we leave – he laughs – and asks one more, conversation-defining question.

“So, how much does it cost to use your service, then…?”.

BHAM!

I answered, gave him my card and told him to email or tweet me with any other questions that he might have. Here’s the thing… Because he had been a nosey so-and-so and listened in on my call, he already had all the answers to his questions.

By the time I had jumped in the taxi, got to the airport, checked in and was waiting for my flight to LA, I had a Paypal notification come through on my iPhone for $350. Nice.

Lessons Learned

Know your elevator pitch off by heart.

Never be shy, or scared to chat with strangers about ‘business’.

And above and beyond everything else – NEVER pay for wifi.

What do you think, should you have to pay for wifi? Anywhere? Have you any cool business stories like this to share? If so, go for it… below!

Passive Income: 7 Membership Site Tips From A Long-Time Professional Blogger!

This post by David Risley, is part of ‘VBL Guest Post Season 2’.

Membership sites are pretty popular in the internet business arena these days. Passive income, baby!

But, let’s leave the realm of the obvious and move into something practical. Membership sites have been my focus for some time now. I’ve learned some things in the process. The following tips are some which I will pass on to you in the hope of saving you some time.

Shall we get started?

#1 – Have a front-end offer.

One of the hard truths about membership sites is that they can be hard to sell. It is a larger psychological hurdle to surpass because of the recurring billing. This is one that I’ve run right up against.

The solution is to have some kind of front-end offer. Sell something concrete that they’ll get right away when they enroll. Make it clear that they’ll be enrolled in your membership but that they can cancel any time they want.

#2 – Consider having multiple front-end offers.

When you set up your sales funnel, consider having one core membership site which is recurring. Then, you can have multiple front-end offers out there, targeting various aspects of your niche, all with your membership site being an upsell.

So, you could have, say, 5 different products out there. All of them act as bait in the water. Of course, make each of them extremely valuable for your customer. But, all of them will be lead generators for your membership site in the upsell sequence.

#3 – Have an attractive value proposition.

The days of people signing up for membership sites simply for more content are coming to an end. We are all in information overload. In that situation, people aren’t willing to buy more information – at least in the usual form.

So, you must ask yourself: WHY would people enroll in your membership site? What are you going to do differently in there?

#4 – Think hard about implementing member forums.

The truth is that starting up forums from scratch is incredibly difficult. You really have to build up a momentum before it will work consistently for you. For many, forums become a drag. You have to be in there constantly sparking conversation. Unless you do so, it acts as negative social proof and gives your existing members the sense that they’re alone.

So, don’t have member forums unless you have a plan and know you can get people engaged in there.

#5 – Membership sites don’t have to be recurring.

A membership site makes a great way to distribute products. You can really deliver ANY information product via a membership site. Even an ebook could be downloaded from within a membership site… with some value-added bonuses exclusive to that site.

A membership site can be simple.

#6 – Sometimes lower price makes more money.

The amount of money you make depends on how long members stay enrolled. If you can get them to stick around longer with a lower price, often the math works out so that you’re actually making more money by charging them less.

#7 – Use a drip feed.

You can set up a membership site to work just like an email auto responder. Based on the date your member enrolls, they automatically get content distributed to them on a schedule.

The benefit of this is to make the site more passive for you. Create material once, new members consume it when they’re ready for it. This is much better than they getting everything at once (potentially overwhelming) and also have to constantly create new stuff.

I’ll leave you with this…

Membership sites are an awesome business model. If you have a useful offer for the right market, they’re awesome.

The above tips will hopefully save you some time as you move forward.

To get the plain-spoken truth on how to make money blogging, by visiting David’s blog at DavidRisley.com. To get weekly live video coaching, check out Dave’s InnerCircle, too! It rocks.

Answering the Tribe: A Day in the Life of a Virtual CEO (My Not-So-Usual Daily Routine!)

The image above I took just yesterday whilst hanging out at the beach with my family. Note: I was not working. In fact, I never work from the beach!

I’ve had a bunch of requests recently from people wanting to know how I get so much done every day / week / month, especially online and in the creation of all my content, additional resources and the running and developing of my businesses. Some VBL Tribe members have even asked what my daily routine is, too.

So, to answer these questions I thought I’d put a few things down in a post and then open the forum to questions and comments, on perhaps anything I’ve not answered, or left out, or anything that people want more info on. Here we go!

My Daily Routine

There is no major ‘secret’ here. I try and get as much of the ‘daily work’ done as possible, in as little time as possible, so I can focus on my other projects and actually working on growing my existing businesses, and building new ones.

The one thing I should mention here is that my daily routine does change quite a bit, its the freedom factor that I have, that I enjoy, and because of that, its always flip-flopping. That’s the way I like it. And, although there is no ‘real’ pattern to my day, my ‘routine’ will normally go something like this:

10am – Breakfast & ‘Urgent’ Email. Because the majority of the business I do is with US-based clients, by the time I wake up in the morning here in the Philippines, its the evening of the day before over there. So, I check ‘urgent’ email whilst enjoying breakfast (usually a bowl of cereal or a protein shake of some variety – in case you wanted to know!), and reply to anything I feel requires an immediate response.

11am – Playtime. I’ll play with my youngest for around an hour or so, or until I pass out!!!

12noon – Task time. I will go through everything I want my VA’s (I have two), and my marketing staff to do throughout the day, sending a few emails and probably a couple of quick Skype calls, too.

1pm – Exercise. I regigiously shoot 30mins of hoops each day and do around 15mins of swimming. Once or twice a week, I’ll also do some light weights. It’s how I keep my sexy body in check (BHAM! Sorry, I just fell off my chair in merriment!)

2pm – School Time & Lunch. Either myself, or my wife will drop the little one to playgroup, then have lunch.

2pm – Creative Work & Lunch. On the days I am not dropping off the ‘trouble maker’, as I like to call him, I will drive to one of a number of local coffee shops and work for a bit. This time is reserved for my ‘creative stuff’, it’ll be either writing a blog post, putting together podcast ideas, or perhaps focusing on other things such as travel plans , or family stuff.

4pm – Family Time. I do nothing, but play with my kid, hang with my wife, watch TV, go shopping, whatever…

6pm – General Email. This is the time where I will get stuck into clearing out my Inbox. If it takes an hour, great. If it takes two hours (very RARE), then, not-so-great, but still, its achieved.

7pm / 8pm – Staff Meetings / Catch-Up Time. This is where I will meet with my staff, either in the office, or via Skype and go over any projects that we might be working on. If, for whatever reason, this meeting doesn’t take place, I use it for catching up on my favourite blogs, reading a book with a cup of coffee, or generally mooching around online.

9pm – Management Meetings / Consultations. I meet with my COO and other management personnel twice a week to go over operational stuff, as well as any business development work we are putting together. On the days where this meeting doesn’t take place I spend time doing consultation calls with Virtual Staff Finder clients, or with entrepreneurs that have hired me for other consultation services.

10pm and Beyond – Client Calls / Biz Dev Work. Again, the majority of my clients are Stateside, so this time is geared towards speaking with them, when needed. Although my staff do an amazing job of allowing me to be as hands-off as possible, when it comes to the day-to-day operations of my businesses, it doesn’t mean I neglect my clients. If they need me, I am always, ALWAYS available. I also do a certain amount of business development work around this time, too.

Other Times – Putting together podcast episodes, arranging webinars, being interviewed, working on business growth strategies, shooting video posts, handling other local projects, spending time with other members of my team,

It’s NOT The 4-Hour Work Week!

As you can see, I certainly DO work more than 4 hours a week, thats for sure! And, although I rarely ‘work’ on Fridays anymore, I will still check in and spend the time I need to, on my businesses and other business related interests, if and when its needed.

The thing about Tim’s great book was that he was showing you that you didn’t have to do it all; that you could travel more, and enjoy great vacation time; that it was possible to spend more time with family and to be able to make a little money whilst you sleep. He was showing us all of this, plus a lot more.

However, here’s the big thing… How many hours of that daily routine do I class as ‘work’. To be honest… NONE. I’m serious. I love what I do so much that I enjoy every single minute of it. Sometimes the days are a little longer than others. Sometimes I need that additional problem to solve as much as a bullet in the head. And sometimes, just sometimes I wish I really was on a beach with a cocktail in hand (some people actually believe I work from the beach regularly… sorry to burst the bubble, but the internet connection isn’t THAT good when hanging out under a palm tree!).

I’ve crafted my ideal virtual business lifestyle, and its right for me. This schedule might be totally ‘off’ for you. You might do things completely differently. And that’s what I’d now like to know.

If you’re already working for yourself, whats YOUR daily routine like? If you’d like to break-away from the 9-5 grind, what schedule are you dreaming of? Let us all know below in the comment section.

Top 10 ‘No BS’ Tips to Creating & Launching Your First Virtual Business! (Part 1)

I’m in the process of editing my first ever VBL-related product, and I have to say, its been a massive learning experience for me.

The fact is that I could have released this thing months ago. But, I have changed things around, procrastinated a certain amount, and quite frankly, put it on the back-burner a lot because of other, more pressing business opportunities and commitments. However, I now have a goal in place to launch this sucker by the time I fly to LA to speak at BlogWorld at the beginning of November.

So, today I’d like follow on from last weeks fantastic discussion on this subject – and present the first part, in a two-part post series with my quick fire tips to getting a virtual business up and running, from scratch, possibly even, for the first time ever…

Lets start…

1. Start a Blog

If you haven’t already got a blog up and running, start one. People like to do business (and spend money) with people. Not businesses, or websites – as far as I’m concerned, anyway. Since starting this blog, my business empire has grown and grown, and even my core business, the Live2Sell Group has expanded – I’ve even had new clients come to me from this blog, who now have 10-15 full-time employees sitting under my company’s roof. Love it!

2. Build Your Brand

Get onto YouTube – now. Again, the personal branding side of doing business virtually, or online, comes into play again. Talking into your webcam is all you need to start off with. Keep your videos short and sweet, provide value, stay on target and include a call to action, such as ‘visit my blog for more free info’, for example.

3. Engage Your Tribe

As the weeks and months go by you’ll start to build a following. FACT – your following online doesnt have to be huge to make good money. I know some marketers online with lists as small as 800-1,000 subscribers who are making $5,000+ each month. Engage your tribe and make them feel welcome. Thank them for commenting on your posts and retweeting your links. Doing things proves you’re real, appreciative and most of all starts conversation – conversation leads to relationships. And relationships are EVERYTHING in business.

4. Ask Your Audience

Before you start putting ideas in place to create a product or service, ask your audience what they need help with. Solving a problem for someone is the oldest sales shooting-star in the book! People will pay good money for things that solve a problem, or make their life easier, or help acheive their dreams… You get where I’m coming from, right? Collating information from the people that follow you will enable you to create a product or service that will knock ’em off their feet and put their hand in their pocket!

5. Start Planning Your Offering

Whether you are anticipating putting together a product (either downloadable, or physical), or a service related offering, start planning sooner, rather than later. The worst case scenario is that you have to change a few things in the future, before launching. I have been planning my upcoming eCourse ‘Virtual Business for Virgins!’ for over a year. I have tweaked its message several times, but the overall ‘guts’ of the product have remained the same – show people how to create and launch a virtual business in 30 days or less!

Having a solid marketing plan in place is also extremely important when planning and launching a new business – whether it be virtual, or not. In the second part of this two-part series, I will go over how you should ‘think in the now’ when producing a solid marketing and launch plan, instead of copying what people were doing years ago – just because it worked for them.

Real time marketing is upon us, ladies and gents. Jump on board, or be left behind. Plain and simple.

Anyone got any comments, insights, feedback and ideas on these first five points? Please jot them down below so we can ALL benefit from them – plus, feel free to include ideas for the second part of this series, too!

UPDATE: Part Two of this series is now LIVE and available HERE!

#NewBusiness Chit-Chat: If you started a Business tomorrow, what would it be?

In the last year I have started two virtual businesses. I’ve been heavily involved with both of them for a certain period of time, and then, once things seem to level out, and starting running on their own (and after I’ve hired people to run the businesses for me!), I step away, manage from a distance, and move on to the next project / start-up.

I love doing this…!

The First

The first was Virtual Staff Finder. This is a service that I started up purely to fill a gap that I saw in the outsourcing market, where my team of qualified sourcing experts match busy entrepreneurs with experienced, home-based virtual assistants here in the Philippines.

When I start it, I said I’d be happy with servicing 10 clients a month. We are currently serving an average of four times that amount, and it continues to become more and more popular!

The Second

This one has been in beta mode for around 4 months now. I am literally 4-6 weeks away from a full-blown launch of this new company, that I feel will revolutionize the way people outsource project-based work. I mean, its gonna be in a class of its own.

We’ve been testing our products and services with existing clients and a few newbies, and so far everyone has nothing but awesome things to say about the quality of the work, the speed at which its completed and the service in general.

More info on this soon, peeps.

What IS a Virtual Business?

This might differ from one person to another. However, my definition of a virtual business is that of a business entity that does not require YOU, as the owner of the business, to be present on a regular basis at any one location, in order for the business to function properly and ultimately make you money.

It doesn’t need to be ‘online’ (ie. an e-commerce store). It can even require office facilities. However, if as the head-honcho you have the freedom to come and go as you please, work from anywhere you want and fundamentally run the business at an arms length – THAT’S a virtual business.

Coming Soon: Virtual Business for Virgins!

I’m around a month or so away from finishing my first ‘real’ online product. I had actually wanted to get this out months ago, but, as you can tell from the first few paragraphs of this post – I’ve been busy building my virtual business empire!

This is going to be an eBook, Audio and Video content based product, and will talk you through how I’ve set-up my virtual businesses, and the steps you need to complete to be able to do it easily, and quickly (under 30 days, actually!) for yourself.

To help me finish things off and come up with a couple of hypothetical case studies to include, I’d like to ask you this question today, and engage in another one of our, always-popular, VBL Discussions.

If you were to start-up, or even just start PLANNING the start-up of a virtual business tomorrow, what would it be?

Over to you…

10 Quick Steps to Becoming a Virtual Entrepreneur!

To become successful as a virtual entrepreneur takes more than just building a few niche sites and relying on Adsense (although we do enjoy it, don’t we VBL Niche Site Project peeps!?). I’ve taken a huge journey over the last couple of years, becoming more and more virtual as time has passed. And I’ve loved every minute of it.

So, today I thought it would be a good idea to create a small selection of tips and tactics for everyone to follow, if they are not ‘quite there’ in regards to ‘going virtual’. And even if you are already classing yourself as a virtual entrepreneur, I’m pretty sure that there are a gems below that you can still put into place.

Enjoy.

#1 – Quit Your Job!

If you’re working a regular job and you’re on this blog, the chances are that you hate what you’re doing! Stop doing that!!! In this day and age everyone has something to offer the world. Cash in on your passion and start changing the world! Obviously, moving on from ‘cubicle nation’ might be easier for some than others. However, if you find yourself counting the hours and minutes to 5pm each day, the chances are it’ll happen sooner or later. Do it now, stick it to the man, and start something awesome!

#2 – Remove Yourself from ‘Biz Operations’ as Much as Possible

This one is more for those of you who might be running a ‘brick n mortar’ business already. Last year I did everything I could to go as virtual as possible. I achieved it. And the icing on the cake came this year, when I hired a COO to come in and run the show for me on a day-to-day basis. He does a great job, we connect several times a week via phone and face-to-face once a week for a proper catch-up. Having other people looking over your company might seem a little daunting at first, but the bottom line is that if you want to ‘go virtual’, its the only way you’e truly going to achieve that freedom.

#3 – Purchase a Light-Weight, Portable Laptop

Being virtual means being mobile! I used to carry around a huge Acer laptop. I liked it as I wasn’t traveling that much and used it as a ‘main’ computer. But the weight and size of it made being mobile a massive chore. I upgraded to a MacBook Pro a couple of years ago and felt liberated. However, this year I craved for even more lightweight freedom and purchased the 11″ MacBook Air – enough said. Combine that with my iPad and I am about as virtual as I wanna be!

#4 – Purchase a ‘Skype-In’ Number

This thing literally changed my life, when it comes to communication. Getting your hands on a Skype-In online number basically means that anyone can call that number (pick one from a massive list of countries to best suit your needs) and it will ring on your Skype account no matter where you are in the world. If you’re not signed into Skype at the time the call comes through, it’ll just go to your voicemail. It’s been truly invaluable to my virtual-ness.

#5 – Get Smart With Your Phone

I recently read a report somewhere online that said only 35% of people that own smart phones (Blackberry, iPhone, etc.) actually use them to make phone calls. Mind-boggling, isn’t it! But, if you think about it a little more – not so much. I’ve had my iPhone4 for well over a year now, and I love it. Before that I was a Blackberry user for years and years. Being able to check email, etc., on the run is essential to doing business virtually. Not only that, but the App’s available nowadays make owning a smartphone as a business owner an absolute necessity! They make everything easier, lets face it! And, there are some cool games, too.

#6 – Get Going with Dropbox

This one little piece of software has revolutionized the way I share files and work with my various virtual assistants and even my team in my company facility. It’s quick, reliable, has lots of storage space available, and is a breeze to use. Not only that, but Dropbox is one of those cool software app’s that allows you to sync it across multiple devices. I have my account hooked up to my iPhone4, iPad, MacBook Air and my iMac at home. Wicked! Get Dropbox now, seriously!

#7 – Take Your Inbox & Calendar to the Cloud

Whether you use Google’s suit of app’s, such as Gmail and GCal, or Apple’s ‘MobileMe’, or a combo of the two, like I do – taking your email and calendar (along with your contacts should you so desire) is probably one of the biggest jumps to make in going virtual, but also one of the most important. Not having your email and calendar handcuffed to just one computer is paramount in turning yourself into an all-living, all-breathing virtual entrepreneur!

#8 – Start Creating Passive Income Streams

This is as important as anything else on this list… Working hard to create passive income streams NOW, will benefit you (if you’ve done it properly) over and over again, with very little involvement in the future. Everything from niche sites and eBook’s, to membership sites and coaching programs. Like I said, we’ve all got something to offer the world. Just be sure that you create your passive income products with long-term in mind and avoid looking for a quick buck. It just doesn’t work that way anymore!

#9 – Hire a Virtual Assistant

Okay, so I’m a little biased when it comes to this one – for obvious reasons! However, having someone else (or a team of someone else’s!) help you run, support and grow your business is also very essential to enabling you to spread your entrepreneurial wings. I’ve spoken to thousands of people about working with virtual staff throughout my career and I can honestly say that it makes a lot more sense than most believe so, to begin with. Give it a go, and let me know how it all works out for you. I’m pretty sure you won’t be proving me wrong anytime soon!

#10 – ……………………..?

This is where I’d like the already-virtual VBLer’s out there to butt-in, and share their own pearls of wisdom when it comes to business on the move, setting up virtually and building virtual businesses in general. It doesn’t matter if you just have a quick resource to share, or a full-blown virtual business strategy! Most important thing is the share, my friends.

No topic is off limits, and please do feel free to post links below, too – just as long as they are relevant. I look forward to reading all your ‘injections’ to finish up the post!

When you’re done, I’d be very happy if you’d SHARE this post, below!

Are People Unsubscribing from Your Blog? Relax. It Happens To Me, Too – But, Why?

Last month exactly 125 people unsubscribed from my Aweber email list.

This shocked me quite a bit, I have to be honest. But, as a businessman, it’s intrigued me even more. You see, I’m a firm believer that we are not ‘perfect’ in any way, shape or form. We all have our flaws. But, I believe I’ve built a pretty solid blog here, and a decent online following, too. However, was the reason behind people unsubscribing down to my content, or something else..?

I’m forced to ask myself the following six questions, and more:

Does the pop-up I have on my site get me ‘real’ subscribers/fans, or just freebie-collectors?
Am I doing something ‘wrong’ on the blog?
Is my content not thought-provoking enough?
Am I not being ‘real’ enough?
Is my content not helpful enough?
Is my content not entertaining enough?

If You’re a Freebie Collector, We Don’t Need You!

I’ve been averaging around 15-20 opt-in’s a day (M-F) here at the VBL Blog. About 60% of those new sign-up’s come from the pop-up I have on my site. It’s a proven fact that these opt-in enticers work – but, are they REAL opt-in’s? I personally think that a lot of them are not. I’ve seen people come in and out of my email list within days, all too often.

Don’t get me wrong… I like the idea that someone wants to read my eBook enough to at least ‘subscribe’ for a brief moment and then unsubscribe, but in terms of REALLY subscribing to the VBL… Ah, that’s a different story, right!?!

See how I say ‘we dont need you’ in the sub-title text above. That’s because the VBL Blog has become a lot more than just a blog over the last 6-8 months. It’s now a hustling, bustling community of like-minded people that are all ‘in it to win it’. And, lets face it, fake numbers on a mailing list are simply not part of the long-term plan.

I want REAL subscribers. REAL people. And entrepreneurs with REAL passion subscribing to VBL.

I Need Answers – from YOU!

So, I intend to make a few changes here at VBL pretty soon. Some of them are inspired by my video grillin’ with Derek Halpern last week… Some from my own feelings, concepts and ideas. Firstly, I believe I will be getting rid of the pop-up. Secondly, I will probably stop sending out the ‘post update’ emails each time a new post is published, too. If people like what I have to offer that much, then they will pop over to the blog once or twice a week to catch up, anyway, right…?!

My question to you, of which I will treasure every single answer to, from everyone, is quite simply:

If you were the one in control of VBL, what would you change about it, and why…?

Thanks, so much, in advance, everyone.