Ready to take the plunge and start your own business?  Or are you held back by visions of your family eating nothing but ketchup sandwiches and phone calls from your mother-in-law asking you when you’re going to get a ‘real job?’

Let me ask you this—are you passionate about this idea of yours?  Do you have a dream of owning your own business and you just can’t stop thinking about it?  Then go for it.  Find work you love and you’ll never ‘work’ another day in your life.  You’ll begin to feel sad for people who say, “Hang in there baby, Friday’s coming.”

To help you get started, here are fifteen things you should know about becoming an entrepreneur:

1.         This is the greatest time to be one.  The worst time to start a business is at the top of a boom.  Just when you get your feet under you, everything tanks.  With the economy down, people understand you have a tight budget because everyone does.  Help people now when they need it most and they’ll remember you when times are better.  As the economy grows, your business will grow.

2.         You won’t be in it alone.  There’s a whole “unseen” world of self-employed folks you never knew existed.  The entrepreneur community is much bigger than your company.  You’ll meet mentors and associates in other states and other countries.  Here’s the fun part—unlike that Debbie Downer you avoid at the office, they actually like their jobs!

3.         There’s no such thing as failure. There are only lessons to be learned.  Challenges lead you to a different path you might not have considered.  It’s okay to reinvent yourself when something’s not working.  Just move on.

4.         There are times when you’re going to be scared.  To me, what’s scarier is having my future determined by someone in an office thousands of miles away who’s trying to ‘make the numbers work.’  I’d rather risk losing everything as long as I get to call the shots.  It’s only money—you’ll make more.

5.         Act on your ideas immediately.  Don’t wait.  If you don’t act, someone else will and you’ll kick yourself for it.  The only difference between dream and reality is action.  Can’t find anyone doing what you want to do?  Good!  Go there.  Then show everyone else why they need to get caught up to you.  You’re not the only person in the world who thinks your idea is a good one.

6.         Stick to the things that make you unique.  Don’t simply go after something because it looks like you’ll make money at it.  What are your unique talents and skills?  Find people who appreciate them.  Be your own Pied Piper.

7.         You’ll suddenly see ideas everywhere. Be open.  Be curious.  Get out and talk to people.  Listen. Look.  Learn.  Putting yourself in new environments allows your brain to forge pathways to new ideas.

8.         Your time is valuable. Remember, you’re worth it.  You have skills that are unique to you.  You don’t need to find 10,000 people who know this.  Just find 10.  Are you mad because a competitor is charging more than you?  Is it because their product is better?  Then fix yours.  Is your product better?  Then maybe the problem isn’t that their price is too high.  Maybe your price is too low.

9.         You need a written plan.  Not necessarily a 34-page business plan written for a banker, unless you need one to obtain capital.  Just make a list of your big goals.  Set deadlines.  Break out those big goals into little tasks.  Set deadlines for those.  Check your goals weekly and see where you are.  Do you need to push out the deadlines of some tasks?  Do it.  Are some goals no longer important to you?  Get rid of them. Priorities change.  Environments change.  As long as you’re moving forward, you’ll always be getting closer to your goals.

10.   You need a team.  Ask for referrals for a good accountant, attorney and other professionals.  Learn from them.   There are financial benefits to self-employment.  Take advantage of them.

11.   You’ll need to cover your household expenses while you’re building.  Ideally, you should have savings in the bank equal to 6 to 12 months of household expenses before you start your business.  If you don’t have this, look for ways to build it.  Sell stuff you no longer need.  Build the business more slowly if it means you can stay out of debt.  Barter.  Reduce the amount of your household budget.  Now that you’ll have more time to be with your family, can you go on a bike ride on a weekday afternoon instead of taking everyone to the movies on a weekend night?  Look at what you’ll be gaining with your new freedom and you won’t feel as if you’re sacrificing anything.

12.   Laugh everyday.  Don’t take yourself so seriously.  Ever notice that when you’re sharing laughter with friends, you all begin to see new funny ways of looking at everything?  Laughter opens your mind to new ideas.

13.   Vacations will be more important than ever. Take a break and get away even if it’s just 1 or 2 times per year for a few days.  Not only will you feel more refreshed, but you’ll see solutions to problems you’ve been working on or new ideas to research.

14.   It’s okay to fire your clients.  You’ll know you’re successful when your client list is made up of people like you. It may seem in the beginning that you need to do business with everyone just to survive.  Not true.  By saying “no” to clients that don’t fit your particular ideal client model, you’re opening up your time to clients that do.  It’s selfish to keep a client who’s not a good fit.  That client—and you—deserve to find someone who’s a better fit for both of you.  Move on.  For more info on how to build the ideal client base, read “Book Yourself Solid” by Michael Port.    [Is this an affiliate link? Ya, you betcha.]

15.   It takes time to grow a business.  Prospects are like submarines.  Most of the time they’re underwater, invisible to you.  When they’re in need of your services, they’ll surface.  Because you never know when that will be, you must always be visible to them by being helpful and continually offering items of value with an open hand.  That way, when they’re ready, they’ll take your bait and not your competitor’s.  All of this takes time.  Be patient. 

What fears do you have about being an entrepreneur?  Or, if you already are one, what do you know now that you wish you’d known when you were first starting out?  Leave a comment and share your thoughts.

Next time:  An interview with virtual company MedMan.  Later this week:  Tools that save time.

Visit us at:  http://www.TheTravelingOffice.com

But…maybe you’ve noticed that all your followers have handles like “@GothGirl” and “@ILuvHipHop.”  If you’re a record producer, that’s great.  But what if you’re trying to sell retirement real estate in Boca Raton?

The purpose of using Social Media for virtual entrepreneurs is, in most cases, to build relationships that ultimately help you reach your target market.  You are in business, after all.  Eventually, the time you spend using social media must pay off in dollars.

The good news is, there are tools that can help you find your target market on Twitter.  I recently wrote an article on one of the tools I use.  You can find the article here: http://etweeple.com/twitter/twitter-apps-twitter/discover-interesting-people-on-twitter/

Hope you find it helpful.  And remember–you don’t have to follow @JonasBrosBaby back unless you want to.

Here’s what I often see on typical marketing material:

“We have the best customer service!”

 “Our product rocks!”

 “We’re number one!”

 “I’m a million-dollar sales producer!”

 “Me, me, me, it’s all about me!”

News Flash:  Your prospects don’t give a rip how fabulous you are.

There is one phrase you should always remember when communicating with your current and future customers.  It is:

“Your product or service is far less important than its ability to fulfill your customers’ needs.”

Or, to put it more simply:

“What’s in it for them?  What’s in it for them?  What’s in it for them?”

Too often, we get caught up in trying to promote our credibility.  Here’s the fastest way to being credible:  Offer an awesome product with great service and get OTHER people talking about how fabulous you are.

One of the best examples I’ve seen of this in a while is the website of www.georgekao.com.

When you go to his site, here’s what you’ll see:

1)    What he does and the benefits he provides his clients

2)    Why he believes you should work with him, and (more importantly)

3)    Dozens of testimonials of what his clients have gained from working with him.

It’s okay to share with prospects why they should do business with you.  Just remember:

Show the benefits they’ll receive, not the success you’ve achieved.

Visit us at:  http://www.TheTravelingOffice.com

Last time, we talked about how to use TweetLater to write a tweet and schedule it for publishing later, at a time when your followers are more likely to see it.

Today, we’ll talk about using TweetLater to get to know your followers better and thank them for following you.

After using my handy-dandy affiliate link* to TweetLater HERE, sign into your account. 

 Then, click on “Accounts.”

Click on “Edit Account.”  (If you have more than one account, you’ll need to choose which account to edit.)

Select the options you want for your followers.  You can create automatic direct messages to new followers or you can choose to send messages manually.  You can choose to have TweetLater automatically follow people who follow you or you can choose to follow only certain followers back.

“Vet Followers”:  If you do NOT click the “Vet Followers” option, TweetLater applies the choices you’ve chosen automatically, with no intervention from you.  This creates a totally hands-off experience.  You can be automatically following and unfollowing, sending messages, etc. and never have to worry about looking at who’s following you.

However, I don’t let TweetLater automate everything.  I use the “Vet Followers” option, and let me show you why. 

When I go into my account, I see a “Vet My New Followers” option:

 ”Vet My New Followers” allows me to see a table of followers whose information I can review before I decide to send them a direct message.  The heading of this table is shown below. 

I’ve deleted the information on the followers to protect their privacy, but TweetLater shows their avatar, bio, number of followers and recent sample tweets.  If I didn’t use the “Vet Followers” option, I wouldn’t have the opportunity to see all this information, which is so valuable in developing relationships with followers.  I’d also be auto-following bots and others I may not want to follow.

Under the “Decision” header, TweetLater gives you the option to”Approve,”  “Ignore” or “Block.”  If you Approve, TweetLater will apply all the account settings you chose above to that follower.   If you choose to Ignore, the account settings are not applied to that follower. 

The only problem I have with TweetLater is that there’s no way to follow someone you’ve vetted from this screen.  You have to click on the follower’s name, which takes you to Twitter in order to follow them.  I’m hoping they’ll improve the interface to also allow for a follow option from the Vet Followers window.

SUMMARY

We’ve used TweetLater.com to:

1) Post tweets at a later time

2) Thank people for following you by sending them direct messages

3) Learn more about your followers through the “Vet Followers” interface, and

4) We learned we can apply different TweetLater options to different twitter accounts.

What Twitter apps do you use to save time and why do you like them?  Leave a comment and share your thoughts.

Later this week:  Tips on perfecting your elevator pitch and our Travel Tip of the Week.

Visit us at http://www.TheTravelingOffice.com

Oakley

Hi.  I’m Oakley.  Yeah, I know.  I’m cute.  Cuddly.  Adorable.  What’s not to love? 

Auction Frogs is one of those virtual businesses that grew out of frustration.  Kristi Saucerman had been managing nonprofit “silent auctions” for 12 years, always seeing the final bids come in at far less than the value of items donated. Sure, it was still a win-win for everyone.  The bidder got a smoking hot deal.  The charity received funds and the sponsors received recognition and loyal customers. 

But what if there was a way to extend the time of the silent auction and the bidding audience?  That would mean more funds for the charity and more marketing exposure for the donors and sponsors. Kristi reviewed a few online auction options, but found them all too expensive for tight nonprofit budgets. 

So, she took a ‘leap’ of faith—and created Auction Frogs.

I talked with Kristi recently about her business.

GG: What advice would you give someone wanting to start a virtual company?

KS:  If you’re going to build an online business, make sure it’s turnkey so you’re not reliant on any one geographic area.  I can move my family tomorrow and Auction Frogs can still go on. 

Conduct a test group for your idea first.  Figure it all out with a small group of people you trust as well as people you don’t know.  Get feedback and identify strengths and weaknesses.  Modify your product based on that feedback.  Never stop getting feedback, even as your business matures.  Never allow the business to stagnate.  Perfection will never be attained—it’s always a work in progress.  Change with the times and the needs of your customers.

Once you get that initial test group feedback, take action and go live.  So often, entrepreneurs get “analysis paralysis” and they never take the next step.  Here’s the problem:  If you take the time to make it perfect, it’s already outdated by the time you get it out in the marketplace. 

GG:  What tools do you find indispensable for your virtual office?

KS:  First, I looked for a really good web developer.  It’s important to get one who is available when you need them.  We use Google Analytics to track the statistics of each auction.  We track number of bids and click-throughs for each item, so we can provide that information to both the nonprofit client and the donor/sponsors.  Sponsors want to know that they’re not only making a difference, but that their donation makes good business sense in terms of market exposure.

We also use “Share This” and “Page View Count” Open Source Applications.  “Page View Count” helps with tracking while “Share This” allows bidders to share an item with their network via social media or email.  

GG:  What type of marketing should virtual companies be using today?

KS:  Social media, hands down.  For Auction Frogs, Facebook has been particularly powerful, because it taps into a more emotional, personal level of viral marketing.  For example, say we’re conducting an auction for a school.  A parent might send a message to her friends on Facebook that says, “Hope you can take a minute to support Suzy’s school by going to our auction page,” with a link to the school’s Auction Frog webpage.  Of course, friends want to help and they start sharing the link with their friends, and so on.  It’s the emotional bid that drives up the bid amounts and that’s why online auctions work.

There’s also more opportunities online to increase traffic so more bidders visit the auction site.  Bidders are reminded by us, via email and on the auction site itself, of why they are bidding:  to help the school or nonprofit.  We often feature testimonials or videos on the auction site so bidders can connect on a more personal level. 

We also use Craigslist to advertise some of the larger items up for bid as a way to draw traffic to our client’s auction site. 

GG:  How do you get paid?

KS:  I charge nothing up front.  After the auction is complete and the funds have been received by the nonprofit, I receive a small percentage of the auction’s gross revenues.  That percentage can easily be earned back through selling advertising spots on the auction webpage or by the increased funds the nonprofit will receive by using my services than if they hadn’t.

GG:  What’s in the future for Auction Frogs?

KS:  Our mission is to help as many organizations as possible improve their fundraising models. 

I work primarily with nonprofit organizations that have a working model of a silent auction already, but want to bring it to the next level.  They have sponsor relationships and volunteers already in place. 

Auction Frogs provides our clients with three benefits:  1) A higher return value for items up for bid compared to that of the value at a traditional, offline silent auction; 2) a reduction in volunteer hours required because of our simplified approach, and 3) greater exposure for their nonprofit and for the donors and sponsors.

I’m also working on a concept called “The Frog Pond.”  The Frog Pond is a repository where businesses can donate to organizations in exchange for ad space on the online auction sites.  Bidders will have the option to click through to the website of the donating business.

We’ve had excellent response so far from the business community on the Frog Pond.  It’s a great way for businesses to receive maximum exposure for their donation dollars.

GG:  How can our readers contact you?

KS:  They can visit our website at http://www.AuctionFrogs.org.

Next post:  More timesaving Twitter tips. 

Later next week:  Preparing your elevator pitch and our travel tip of the week. 

Visit us at: http://www.thetravelingoffice.com.

Ready, set, Tweet!  Not ready?  How about now?  No? 

If the only time you have to interact on Twitter is at midnight, you might find yourself hearing crickets rather than tweets.  Not to worry.  Today we’re starting our series about tools meant to save you time while still establishing those important relationships.  The first tool is called Tweet Later.

Here’s how I personally use Tweet Later:

1)    When I want to share something with my followers during a time they’re most likely to see it, even if I’m not available then.

2)    To thank people for following me.

3)    To learn more about my followers.

4)    To manage tweets for multiple Twitter accounts.

To start, open your free account by going to TweetLater.com. [Is this an affiliate link? Ya, you betcha.]

After you create your account and login, you’ll see this:

Click on “Manage My Scheduled Tweets” to set up your Twitter accounts.  You can set up multiple accounts and have different settings for each one.

Now you’re ready to schedule a Tweet.  Go back into “Manage My Accounts” and click on “Tweets” over on the right.  Then, click on “New Tweet.”

Here’s what will show in the next window:

You can enter your Tweet and use the “Shorten URLs” button to shorten any links you have.  Remember, try to keep your Tweets at 120 characters to encourage “retweeting.”  Save the tweet as a draft, publish it now or publish it at a time that makes sense for your followers.  At the bottom of the page, choose which Twitter account you want to tweet from and save your changes.

When you have a number of tweets that have been published, Tweet Later will save them for you in a list in case you want to use them again.

Word of caution:  Sending the exact same tweet from multiple Twitter accounts will get you blacklisted, so change things up between accounts.

Coming up:  Part 2 of Twitter Tips That Save You Time:  How to thank followers. 

Later this week:  Glory chats with Kristi Saucerman of AuctionFrogs.org.

Visit us at:  http://www.TheTravelingOffice.com

Molly Ramsay, a recruiter with MedMan, was hiking near Fairbanks, Alaska, when she received word that a top candidate had backed out of a deal.  Not to worry.  MedMan provides Ramsay with the tools and flexibility she needs to get the job done.  She was able to conduct her investigation and negotiate an offer with the next candidate from a trailhead on the Yukon River.

Medical Management, Inc. (MedMan), helps medical groups manage their practices.  It’s a model of how to run a multi-million dollar company virtually.  After going digital 10 years ago, the company has saved thousands of dollars on overhead while allowing employees the flexibility to work while touring France, staying at home with their children and yes, even hiking in Alaska.

Jenny Sarault has been with the company for five months.  As a recruiter, she consults with clients on their needs and conducts a national search for the right administrator for the client.  The person she hires works at the client’s office but remains an employee of MedMan and has access to MedMan’s staff of eight advisor professionals, who are experts in such areas as health law, marketing, coding, and finance.  These professionals, including Sarault and company president, Jim Trounson, work in virtual offices.

Besides the obvious savings on overhead and travel costs, the company has found other competitive advantages.  During marketing presentations, current administrators on the ground can be conferenced in to answer questions for a prospective client.  This allows the client to see the quality of administrators MedMan could supply to their own medical practices.

There are also ongoing customer service advantages.  “Right now, we have 3 clinics in Alaska who are interested in obtaining customer service training,” Sarault points out.  “We can offer this kind of specialized training via WebEx® for our clients and share this expertise across clinics.”

MedMan views its website as its most important marketing tool.  Currently, they’re rebuilding their website to increase functionality with video and a weekly newsletter.  They believe video allows the prospect to connect on a more personal level.  Video testimonials are also powerful.  Physicians can relate to other customers on video facing the same issues they have.

BlackBerry® smart phones and computer syncing software are important tools for MedMan employees.  Another tool, WebEx®, facilitates video conferencing and allows one employee to take control of another employee’s computer remotely to explain a point.  “It allows us to cover for each other if we need to,” says Sarault.

Sarault’s employment with MedMan comes at a particularly fitting time.  She and her husband are expecting their first child.  She says she would have had to seek childcare sooner if she was in a traditional office.  Now, she can structure her day according to her child’s needs.

Does she feel as if she never gets a break?  “I grew up being in constant electronic communication with friends, so to stay in that communication with clients doesn’t take away from how I would spend my time normally anyway.”  She works hard—typically more hours than a traditional job, but she doesn’t feel guilty about going to the gym in the middle of the day or heading out to fish with her husband.  “My clients can always reach me,” Sarault says.

“I was nervous at first about working from home because I heard two schools of thought.  One, that all I would do is work all the time or two, that I would never work, choosing instead to do laundry or clean the house.  Instead, I’m more productive than ever.  I’ve found that routines help.  I turn out the lights in the rest of the house as well as the TV.  I set up my work environment to be conducive to work.  I’m disciplined about it.”

“My husband is happier, too.  He sees that I’m so much more relaxed and in control over my life.  I used to have so many late night commitments that I’d miss dinner at home.  Now that I’m not commuting, I can be home to cook dinner or we can prepare it together.”

Still, the company does make an effort to have its employees get together in person twice a year.  “Face time is still very important,” says Sarault.  For meetings, MedMan maintains a small office above a coffee shop with a smart board and five open desks.

And of course, a wine and beverage cooler. 

After all, it’s all about priorities.

Next time:  Marketing tools that save you time and our travel tips of the week.

Visit us at:  http://www.TheTravelingOffice.com

If you’re traveling between countries in North America soon, here’s a little reminder.  The Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, which became effective June 1, 2009, now requires a passport in most cases to cross borders by land, sea or air.

A few border states and provinces allow certain other approved documents, such as a NEXUS card, but for the most part, expect to show your passport.

Children under 16 can still cross borders with their birth certificates.  Minors over 16 traveling in groups can also use their birth certificates, as long as they’re under adult supervision.

Get the whole scoop at http://www.GetYouHome.gov.  Spanish, French and English info is available.  

Visit us at:  http://www.TheTravelingOffice.com

So, sit back and grab a cup. Enjoy!

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