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http://www.globalisationanddevelopment.com/2013/01/should-we-forget-about-financial.html

http://hassaan.faridi.net/2006/04/creating-personal-website-too-much-to.html

http://thebrinktank.blogs.nuwireinvestor.com/2008/10/leno-and-bush-invest-in-wind-turbines.html

http://school-grant.discountschoolsupply.com/2012/11/five-things-to-do-before-winter-break.html

The Unexpected Request For Proposal (RFP)

Have you ever received a request for a proposal (RFP) out of the blue? I've received two and I was gullible enough to respond to both and both times I received exactly what I deserved---nada. Really, I should have known better!

An unsolicited RFP that slips into your mail box is a Trojan horse. In fact, I was inspired to write this article after I received a phone call from an unknown person who claimed that she is looking for corporate trainers and would like to include me in the search. So I am about to receive unexpected RFP #3.

In reality, what this individual and other stealth RFP senders often want is to round out a list of candidates in accordance with their company directives, to make it easier to hire who they've already planned to bring in. Alternatively, the ruse may be to extract by fraudulent means free consulting advice while interviewing an unsuspecting Solopreneur in search of the next project.

I was caught in what I suspect was the free consulting game a couple of years ago by a charity that is run by a local ivy league university, no less. The Development Director wanted fresh approaches to spice up the fundraising strategy and invited me in to talk it over. I was asked several questions and presented options that I felt would resonate with their donors. I felt very good about the interview.

When I was turned down, I was first disappointed and then suspicious. I came to suspect that either no one was hired, or the person hired was pre-determined and may even have been given my ideas (and the ideas of other suckers) to implement, along with my pricing info as a benchmark.

Whatever the motive, beware the out-of-the-blue RFP. Targeted Solopreneur consultants gain nothing but false hope and the "opportunity" to sally forth on a fool's errand. However, I've decided that if this latest RFP is sent to me, I will respond---my way. I will telephone the contact person and ask a few questions. I shall listen carefully to the responses.

My first question: Who referred me?

Question two: Who is performing the job now?

The third question: What is motivating the change if someone is already doing the job? Is that person or firm unsatisfactory and how so?

If the answers do not add up, I will decline the RFP and politely state that I do not understand why I'm being invited to apply and that I typically respond to RFPs from clients with whom I have a relationship, after we've discussed the project objectives.

If the answers to my first three questions pass muster, I will ask three more:

Who is the project decision-maker and the stakeholders and may I meet with them?

What information will the perfect RFP for this project contain?

How will success for this project be measured and who holds the yardstick?

Nevertheless, while a meeting is helpful, it is not a fail-safe. My fake RFPs both included a face-to-face. If you are invited to come in and speak about a project that mysteriously "finds" you, do so without submitting a written proposal. Give them nothing beyond an hour of your time.

If the interviewer insists on wheedling information out of you "What would you do in this situation?", tell him/her that you'll be happy to discuss specifics when it is decided that you will work together. If recipes to solve a problem are required beforehand, know that it's an RFP shake-down.

RFPs are awarded by clients with whom we have a relationship and even then, one might not win. Several years ago, I brought a program concept to a decision-maker at a midsize not-for-profit. During a $40 lunch that I paid for, I was invited to submit a proposal.

Bingo! I said, but it was not to be. After more consideration, it was determined that the staffing needed to support my proposed program was not available and there was no budget to hire. I do not believe that the intent was to hurt me, but I was devastated nonetheless.

So should an unsolicited RFP come your way, proceed with caution. Ask questions to uncover the sender's motive and listen carefully to the answers. Whatever you decide to do, do not get your hopes up.

Thanks for reading,

Business Boundaries: Dos and Dont's

Boundaries in our personal lives define what we are responsible for. But what about in our businesses? As a solo-preneur, aren't you responsible for, well, everything in your business? You're the CEO, accountant, salesperson, web designer, and administrator, so how can you possibly have boundaries? It's precisely because you are responsible for everything that you need strong boundaries!

For a solo-preneur, boundaries serve to keep your career separate from your life, in addition to bringing professionalism to your client relationships. Far too often, we hear the adage that "the customer is always right," and we take it to heart. Adding that belief to a fear that we need all the clients we can get can result in very toxic situations. Far too often, we land a client who is a bully, out to get as much as possible for as little cost as possible, and we spend our time trying to please rather than setting boundaries.

The primary mistake we make when dealing with these kinds of clients is apologizing for having boundaries. We compulsively check our email, leaving personal events early to tend to the client's needs, or sacrificing our sleep for the client's impossible deadlines. If we miss a midnight email, we apologize. If we don't return a call on the weekend, we apologize. If we go on vacation, we apologize in advance and when we return. This is the biggest boundary mistake: the primary boundary "Don't"!

Don't apologize for having boundaries.

Apologizing for having boundaries creates a situation where your client becomes your boss. The power is lopsided, and now the solo-preneur becomes, in essence, a contractor.

Furthermore, apologizing for having boundaries is unprofessional. An apology for having any kind of personal life creates the sense that this person is an amateur. Consider the professionals you work with: does your accountant apologize for not answering your 8:00 pm email until the next day? Does your dentist apologize for being closed on weekends? Does your chiropractor apologize for his/her clothing?

Now, of course there are times when an apology is necessary. If you have made a mistake, been rude, or breached a contract, you absolutely must apologize. But if you have set working hours, there is no apology needed for not responding to a client outside of working hours! 

This Boundary Don't leads directly to a Boundary Do.

Set working hours.

Wait, isn't the whole point of being a solo-preneur the fact that you can work whenever you like? Well, sure! The key here is that you are working whenever YOU like to work, not whenever your client demands it. When you set and communicate working hours, you are creating client expectations. Will it cost you some clients? Perhaps. But will it serve you and your business goals? Absolutely.

And setting working hours doesn't limit you. If you are a night owl, and you do your best copy writing between 11 PM and 1 AM, setting working hours of 9-5 doesn't mean you can't write copy at midnight! It means that you will be free from other business demands at midnight.

Working hours are for your clients and your business, not for you as an artist/healer/craftsman. Email, web design, accounting, sales: all these tasks can happen during your working hours. You can create widgets during working hours or outside of working hours, whatever works best for you. 

Once you've set your working hours, be sure to avoid our next Boundary Don't.

Don't bluff.

Boundary bluffing happens when you set a boundary and promptly ignore it. You explain to your client that you do not work between 6:00 and 8:00 pm, but then when the client texts you at 6:45, you immediately respond, much to the dismay of your dinner companions. Or, you explain to a client that the contract allows for 1 set of revisions to the sales copy, but when she sends it back a third time, you make the requested changes and don't ask for more money.

Bluffing is unprofessional, and it can lead to the client questioning everything you say, or treating signed contracts as prolonged negotiations. After all, if you are willing to change your working hours, maybe you'll be willing to reduce your fees! Bluffing causes confusion about the service you provide and how you'll provide it, but fortunately, even if you've bluffed in the past, you can solve the problem going forward by using this Boundary Do.

Set expectations, verbally and in writing.

Make sure that you set client expectations at the beginning of the working relationship. Explain your working hours, your rates, cancellation policies, return and refund policies, etc. And be sure to do this verbally and also in writing. It doesn't have to be a 20 page legal document - just one or two pages covering these topics is plenty.

The secret to successfully setting these expectations is to do it both verbally and in writing. People don't always read, and people don't always listen. When you say it and write it, you've done all you reasonably can.

Setting healthy business boundaries is key to having a successful business in which you are your own boss!

Where the Freelance Money Is

Some freelance Solopreneurs are more likely to earn the coveted but elusive six figure annual revenue than others. Maybe you could, too, with some good luck and timing paired with skills that open doors. Here are six potentially lucrative occupations that attract freelancers.

Writing

Magazines do not often pay $2.00/word anymore and there are very few 5000 word articles being commissioned in this era of short attention spans, but allegedly a number of Solopreneurs still able to pull in big money through writing assignments of various kinds.

This category includes not only magazine and newspaper article generation, but also content marketing copy for white papers, blogs and newsletters. I am acquainted with two or three writers who make a respectable living in the latter category. There are occasional dry spells, but the money is there.

Translating

I have a friend who regularly gets assignments translating Arabic and German to English and vice versa. According to the American Translators Association, their certified translators average $72,000/year and those without that certification average $53,000 annually. As you'd expect, much depends upon the language you translate. No surprise that there is a big demand for Spanish translation, with Arabic, Chinese (Cantonese and Mandarin), French, German, Japanese and Korean also showing strong demand.

Photography

Photography has long had the potential to produce a healthy income for freelancers. Wedding photographers have traditionally commanded large sums and they continue to do so, in spite of robust competition from videographers. Portrait photographers also command high prices---business owners and corporate execs need a professional headshot for websites, annual reports and other promotional uses.

E-commerce fattens the wallets of product photographers, who make items sold on-line look appealing. Food photography and fashion photography are lucrative sub-specialties. Those lucky enough to have an "in" with colleges and/or big corporations can make a nice living, as do those who have relationships with busy special event planners. The downside is that good cameras and Adobe Photo Shop editing software are expensive.

SEO Search Engine Optimization

Freelancers who hope to drive traffic to their website pay freelance colleagues for this potentially revenue-generating service. Those new to the field can expect to bill $50.00/hour and allegedly the best known can command up to $500.00/hour from big corporate clients. It is furthermore essential to be well- versed in the various metrics that prove your worth to clients, so that satisfied customers can be recruited to give testimonials that help you obtain more clients.

Mobile App Development

Writing software applications for cell phones and tablets lured one million freelancers to the field in 2010 and no doubt that number has grown significantly. App development is like a modern day gold rush, for better and worse.

As stated in an article in the New York Times, the majority are not making money in the app development business and that is the usual scenario. Author David Streitfeld detailed the apparently typical app developer experience in his comprehensive article (11/17/2012) and advised "don't quit your day job" as he compared developing for Apple to sharecropping. Still, you may be the one who can retire on the residuals of the next Angry Birds, Instagram or SnapChat. Another downside is that you must spend a hefty sum on the technology needed to test your apps in development.

Social Media Strategy

Millions of Solopreneurs and owners of businesses large and small feel that social media cannot be ignored. Smart business leaders have always known that marketing and brand reinforcement are ongoing initiatives. Keeping up with social media is time-consuming and understanding the platforms that yield the best ROI for your enterprise may require the services of a specialist.

If you can convince decision-makers that you know how to choose social media that encourages sales and you can plan and execute a social media campaign, you will be off to the races. Newbies to the field can expect to bill $25.00 /hour and top-drawer known experts can allegedly bill $250.00 /hour to big corporate clients.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Kim L. Clark is a strategy and marketing consultant who works with for-profit and not-for- profit organization leaders who must achieve business goals. Kim is the founder and principal of the consulting firm Polished Professionals Boston and she teaches business plan writing to aspiring entrepreneurs. 

Making Lemonade With Lemons

You know those times that you look at something in your business and just go 'ugh'?

You know the things I mean... either you are looking at revenue that is lower than you expected, or expenses that are higher than expected, or working with a client you don't adore, or doing tasks you don't really enjoy.

You know, all those things that make you stop and go 'ugh'!

Well the good news is that you are in charge!

It's your business!

You can make changes any time you want to. And no one can tell you that you can't make those changes. Really!

How often do we NOT stop to realize that? We are the boss!

So I say, when things get you down (big or small), take those lemons that life is serving you, and make lemonade.

Yes it's a lemonade reference because it's summertime!!

Here's what I'm talking about:

If you aren't making enough money: do a quick analysis of where your money is coming from. Who pays you how much, and to do what? Then make a plan to get more revenue (yes, it is really that simple!). The only way to change what you have is to work with it. So instead of sitting around lamenting that you aren't earning enough, get your plan in place to bring in more money. It can happen quickly - especially if you start right now. Maybe it's just time to raise your rates! When I know I don't have enough revenue coming in any given month, I reach out to colleagues and existing clients, and even former clients and prospects, to see if they need any work. Most of the time you will see your current clients say 'Sure! I could use a little extra help!'

If your expenses are higher than you want them to be: do a quick analysis of where your money is going. What do you pay for. Do you need it? Is there an alternative? If you are paying for something, are you using it to the fullest? I had to make that decision when I used 1ShoppingCart. I just wasn't using the features in it enough to justify the expense. So I stopped using it, and moved to a free solution. Bang. Saved $120 per month on one thing, just for the sake of identifying whether I actually needed it or not.

If you are working with a client you don't adore: do a list of pros and cons about the client and compare them. What is the good stuff about the client? What is the bad stuff? Can you adjust any of the bad stuff to make it better (... and now I'm singing Hey Jude in my head!) Or does the bad outweigh the good? Really doing an analysis here can help you make a clean break, or make changes to make your working relationship better. I had a client once who was in the Pacific Timezone. It was very hard to work with her. But not because of her timezone, because of her expectations. I did my pros/cons list and decided that I needed to transition her to a new VA (and I actually don't work with PT clients anymore either!)

If you are doing tasks you don't really enjoy: first ask yourself why you are doing them. Who is asking you to do them? Why are you saying yes? Here's where being a business owner comes in full force. Don't do what you don't want to do. Trust me here - you will open up space for the clients who need the things you love to do, if you don't fill your schedule with things you don't. I had a client once who billed about 20 hours a month, and I was doing things I didn't want to do for them. But I was too busy to market to other potential clients. I bit the bullet and got rid of that client and was able to bring on several new clients in my area of specialty (and at a higher rate!). It was worth the shift.

So you see what I'm talking about here... you are in charge, and no one can tell you what you should be doing in your business except you.

So tell yourself what you don't like (the lemons!) and then tell yourself what you do like (the lemonade!) and then make it happen. Take your situation that is stressing you out, and make it better (like John Lennon says... ) Yes, now I know you are humming along with me!

And once you have your plan in place, sit back and enjoy your lemonade for real.. maybe even with a splash of vodka!

For some more conversation about rates (do you need to raise yours?) join me on this week's free Back to Basics training call: How Much Should I Charge? (and then join me weekly for these awesome free training sessions!)

Tracey D'Aviero is a veteran VA and Founder of Your VA Mentor. Tracey trains and mentors professional women and men who are brand new to the VA industry or who have been struggling to make their business successful.

Practice To Get Better

For some reason, many VAs I know think that they should instinctively know how to do everything in their business.

They actually criticize themselves if they don't know how to do something - like finances, strategic planning, analytics, marketing, networking, sales. These are all of the things that you need to learn to be a successful business owner.

But these things don't come naturally - to anyone, believe it or not!!

You need to learn them, like you've learned anything else in life. And you need to practice them to get better at them.

There is a quote by Thomas Edison that sits on the top of my computer monitor: Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.

This is, far and away, one of my favourite motivational quotes.

Don't expect to know everything when you start out (or even if you have been in business for a long time).

Take the time to learn things and then practice them to get better at them.

Here are a few examples:

Strategic Planning - many VAs get hung up here. They aren't sure what they need to plan, so they don't do any planning. Being reactive in your business definitely costs you money. Take the time to determine what you want to do in your business (do you want to get new clients, offer new services, expand your team, succession plan?) and then build a strategy around that. If you don't know how the strategy needs to be put together, get someone to help you do that. And then implement that 'way' into various areas of your business. The more you do it, the easier it becomes.

Sales - Count your last 10 sales conversations. Did you get any new clients? If you didn't get at least 7, you are not doing it right. But the good news is you just need more practice. It can be discouraging to hear 'no' on a sales call, and it's not even necessary. I tell all of my students, when you are on a sales call, the client is there for a reason. They know they need your services, so you need to get to the root of what they need and how you can help them. That's all, really. The more conversations you have the better you will get at them. But the key is to identify what you are doing wrong and to correct it - get help here if you aren't sure what you are doing wrong!

Analytics - If you aren't analyzing what you are doing in your business, how can you be sure it's working for you? Are you spending hours 'networking' but aren't getting new clients? Then you are missing something in your plan. Learn what you need to analyze and how to use the numbers to make subtle (or big!) changes in your business, and you will see more success. Analyze everything - from your website traffic to your opt in rates to your interaction on social media, to your networking and sales. What are you doing that's working (hint: do more of that!) and what you are doing that's not (hint: make changes here!)

Business stuff is just like anything else. You need to practice it to get better at it. And you need to make changes when things don't work. They key is to have a plan and strategy and to monitor it all along the way.

Get help if you feel like you are lost or don't know what you are doing. It's the quickest path to learning what you need to know (so that you can practice it!)

As Thomas Edison says, you are so much closer to success than you even realize. Don't stop short!