My Continued Service To You!

The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.  – Mahatma Gandhi

 

Skills are either learned or are innate! A calling, if you will! As a pre- teen before I knew what a Fortune 500 company was I knew I wanted to wear a business suit and carry a briefcase. I knew that was not my calling! At that age, a child tends to migrate to what they see as being cool. They start to get their first inclinations of what they want to be when they grow up.

Then high school came along! Freshmen year introduced me to JROTC. Finally, I found my calling! By my sophomore year JROTC undoubtedly removed the briefcase and replaced it with a uniform and the need to serve my country. Once I graduated, I was off to begin my career in the United States Navy. My greatest accomplishment in life!

Finding My place in Service.

Once I finished my service in the Navy, my need to be of service did not end. Like I stated earlier, some skills are learned, and some are innate! I needed to figure out a way to efficiently serve others. The epiphany came in the form of a client comment. As a freelance writer and virtual administrative assistant, I worked with a few loyal customers who loved how I assisted them in running their businesses. One of my clients who referred to me as “The Fixer,” stated Chronicles Administrative Support Services was not an accurate depiction of me and the way I handled business. He elaborated on how he felt about my service. After interviewing other clients, I began my rebranding process.

The Birth of A New Call to Service.

After a week of brainstorming and reviewing the opinions of those I interviewed, The Militant Virtual Assistant finally was born. The Militant Virtual Assistant is a representation of how I service businesses. The foundation is Honor, Courage, and Commitment! To honorably service companies as if they were my own. The courage to go the extra mile and to be a support system for the entrepreneur and the commitment to efficiently help set goals and see them out to completion. The military pillars that are a part of my psyche, I now utilize to motivate entrepreneurs to live out their dreams of being a successful business owner.

Why Militant VA?

As an entrepreneur and business owner, I put myself in the position of my clientele. What do they need the most? It is not just a person to handle calls, check emails or keep them on schedule. Entrepreneurs need more hours in a day! They need to be in two places at once. I pride myself on the ability to keep longer than usual hours; my hours are flexible. I have clients who call or text me on weekends and late in the evening. I have had a realtor showing a house, while I negotiated another deal while texting numbers with them. I feel many Virtual Assistants (VAs) drop the ball by keeping bankers hours and unavailable on weekends. Entrepreneurs rarely take a day off! I am not just there to service the business. I learn the business to become an asset to the company which allows me to aid in its success efficiently.  When my client is successful, I am successful!

Initially, I thought nothing would be as satisfying as my military career. I can honestly say “The Militant Virtual Assistant” fills that void. I get to do what I love for a living which is not considered work but living out a dream.

 

Mood of The Day😊

Today’s prompt for the 30 day blog challenge is “Mood of The Day”. I have been trying to keep up daily but with being so busy it has been quite difficult. Today, I have a little time to spare so I decided to participate.

My “Mood of The Day” is many moods wrapped up in one beautiful package called Lydia with a big beautiful bow.

I am happy because I have been blessed to live another beautiful day. Life is precious and to be treasured and grateful for. I’m happy to have gained two clients, one client employs me to do freelance writing (SEO articles), the second is a social media management client.

Excitement is a mood I am feeling because all of my hard work is paying off. Rebuilding and re-branding my virtual assistant business and making time to write my book. Everything is falling in place and it is cause for excitement. It’s great when you can watch all your plans and efforts come together.

Motivation is what will keep me on the road to successful business owner and published author. It’s the same motivation that burns in me at this very moment that will allow me to reach my goals and encourage others to do the same.

So all of these emotions are my mood of the day!!! Share!!! What are you feeling today?

Woman with laptop courtesy of ijmaki via pixabay.com

Happy emoticon created by 95C on pixabay.com

Brain, emotion, emoji by johnhain on pixabay.com

Build Your Unique Brand🏢

Define what your brand stands for, its core values and tone of voice, and then communicate consistently in those terms.

Simon Mainwaring

What is branding?

“The process involved in creating a unique name and image for a product in the consumers’ mind, mainly through advertising campaigns with a consistent theme. Branding aims to establish a significant and differentiated presence in the market that attracts and retains loyal customers.”

When was the last time you have reviewed your company brand? Is your brand strategy competitive? Most importantly does it represent the voice of your business? These are questions we as entrepreneurs must ask ourselves. Branding is important to all businesses be they big, small or startup. Your brand is indicative of who you are.

Build a strong foundation.

The logo. This symbol is how consumers recognize your business. Make it secure in what you want your company to represent. Visual identity is crucial. The logo should also be versatile, capable of being used in all aspects of marketing. When seeking a logo the best option is to review may different options before deciding on the final one. The opinion of fellow entrepreneurs, family, and friends can be quite helpful.

Who are you? 

I have worked with many entrepreneurs who describe their business as an extension of themselves or their baby. If you are of like mind, then it is important to ask yourself the following questions.

• What is the company mission?
• What are the characteristics of the business?
• How will my values be perceived?
• How will consumers view the features and benefits of my products and services?
• Will my customers be loyal to my brand?

Answering these questions will ensure a strong brand identity. Once you have thoroughly studied your responses to these questions then once again examine your logo.

Brand formalized.

At this point in the branding process, you have a logo in place; a catchy tagline and mission statement carved in stone. Now is the time to go live. Put the word out about your startup; your intent is to break the internet with the news of your business. Social media is the perfect accomplice in this journey. Here are a few ways to introduce your business.

• Company website.
• Blog
• Facebook Page
• Pinterest
• LinkedIn

All of the following allow you to build a community or a forum for you to advertise your services and your product. Pay much more attention to the comments and questions of your customers. There are many benefits to utilizing these and other social media sites. Use social media to your advantage through regular and memorable posts. Smart marketing tactics will not only put your business in front of consumers but also ahead of the competition. Leads and sales are important, but consistency will prove to be much more lucrative. Put forth the necessary effort and care into building your brand; it will withstand the tests of time and make you a success.

 

Quote Courtesy of Brainy Quotes

Branding definition from the business dictionary.

Featured branding image by Peggy_Marco.

Self Image by John Hain

Social Media Image by Geralt

 

The Importance of Social Media for Businesses

Great blog post for #entrepreneurs and #startups regarding business and #socialmedia. I enjoyed it!!!

Internet Marketing Blog

This will be my last blog post before I conclude my blogging career, so I have decided to discuss the topic of social media. More specifically the importance of social media for businesses and the impacts it has on marketing.

How Big is Social Media

First, let’s establish how big social media really is based on these statistics from July 2015:

Twitter: 320 million users
LinkedIn: 450 million users
Instagram: 400 million users
Facebook: 1.71 billion users
Overall 2.3 billion active social media users

(Smith, 2016, para 2)

Before the internet and social media businesses would have had to pay thousands to millions of dollars in advertising fees, to possibly reach a small percentage of the total 2.3 billion users. Today it is expected that businesses include social media in their marketing strategies, as it is extremely beneficial to both consumer and business. “Social networks appear to be an exceptional…

View original post 744 more words

Transitioning Your Business in The Growing Virtual Industry

“The price of doing the same old thing is far higher than the price of change.” –Bill Clinton

Small and large business are considering all possibilities available to cut company costs while remaining a stable competitor in their industry. Businesses have laid off employees and many have transitioned to remote workers. Abandoning their traditional businesses for a remote work environment? A few companies are still deliberating on making the change.

Change…. A word or action not many of us appreciate. In my opinion, change can be good. Change is constant and cannot be stopped. It can also determine the success of your business.

In the mid to late 1990’s, companies allowed employees to telecommute if they had a sick child or if the employee was considerably ill. At that time working from home or virtually was not popular. Only three percent of Americans worked from home in the 1990’s. Companies considered employees out of the office as a loss in productivity.

Time has definitely changed, small and large companies are adapting to the change for many reasons. Business owners are recognizing the benefits of hiring remote workers. Listed are a few of the benefits they are using to their advantage. Also a few of the benefits I present to prospective clients.

• Cut company costs.
• Increase productivity.
• Maintain morale/ loyalty.
• Communicate effectively.

Hiring remote employees gives business owners the ability to save money. No need to lease and equip a brick and mortar environment. Tax and healthcare costs are minimal as well as other expenditures that comes with work in a traditional business environment. The money saved can be funneled into other areas of the business to promote growth.

Productivity increases in a virtual environment. Freelancers, virtual assistants and customer service representatives are less likely to call in sick. Work hours are more flexible, this flexibility benefits parents, those with chronic ailments and the business owner. Weekends, holidays and part- time hours are no longer frowned upon.

Office politics is a thing of the past. Morale in the work place determines the performance of employees. Those who choose to hire remote workers no longer suffer from low productivity. Negative water cooler gossip and emails can be a virus in the workplace dramatically decreasing productivity. When there is a team of virtual workers, the level communication is different. Virtual workers are upbeat and positive, they love their working environment and their jobs. When an employee is happy they are prepared to take on any task that comes their way.

Communication is a key factor for all businesses. Traditionally, all is not well when an employee is working on an important project and is out sick. Often times it’s hard to call an emergency meeting in a brick and mortar environment. As a virtual assistant, I have been party to many last minute meetings. A sudden document revision needed on the fly or an emergency social media update. There are so many ways to stay in constant contact. Over the past few years’ virtual communication has grown significantly, thus making it easier to conduct meetings and pass on important breaking news.

The decision making process for hiring remote workers can be a “no brainer” for some business owners. Understandably, every business has its own work processes. Business owners considering making the transition should carefully weigh the features and the benefits. Start by asking yourself a few key questions.

• How can I cut company costs?
• What can I outsource?
• How can I free up some of my time?
• How can I increase business growth?

Once you have outlined the features, benefits and conducted the necessary research the decision making process will be straightforward.  Lack of knowledge is what generally prevents the transition. I have found out this key fact as I market my services to businesses. Seek out virtual assistants who offer free consultations. Top assistants have the ability to assist you in how to cut costs without compromising your brand. They should also save you time by efficiently supporting you administratively giving you the ability to grow your business.

My primary purpose for writing this informational article/ blog post is to inform entrepreneurs. In hopes that the information I share will assist the business industry which keeps America thriving. I also wanted to highlight the fact that virtual workers can be an asset to your organization. If this helps one business owner, I have done my job!

Quote by Bill Clinton courtesy of http://www.inc.com/dave-kerpen/11-powerful-quotes-to-inspire-your-team-to-embrace-change.html

Images courtesy of https://pixabay.com/

Why I Chose To Be An Entrepreneur.

“If you don’t know what your passion is, realize that one reason for your existence on earth is to find it.” Oprah Winfrey

As a youth, when I was asked by adults what I wanted to be when I grew up my response was a writer. Sometimes, I would blurt out the obvious… a nurse or teacher. In all honestly, I really had no idea!

Teachers would have visitors talk to the class about their professions.  We often learned what career choices were available but none sparked my interest.  The lack of appealing career options and the cloud of uncertainty continued into my high school years. At one point I considered being a lawyer but I was not overly infatuated with the idea.

I began to think about what I was good at as well as my passion in life. I always had a love for writing and literature. The love to write short stories, reports and read books of all kinds was undeniable. My teachers always expressed a love for my writing. In my mind the ability to earn a good living did not seem obtainable.

Studying American history another favorite subject presented another option in a weird way. I learned about a few intelligent women pioneers in business. Women who successfully created their own careers. The names and accomplishments of these women remained etched in my mind to this day.

Mary Katherine Goddard, the first female publisher. She was also the first American woman post master in Baltimore, Maryland. Famous for printing the first copy of the Declaration of Independence it included the names of all signers.

Lydia E. Pinkham converted home remedies into a business geared towards meeting the health needs of women.

Madame C.J. Walker invented Madame C.J. Walkers Wonderful Hair Grower. A conditioner and healing formula for hair and scalp care.

Women taking simple ideas and passions and turning them into profitable businesses. These are just a few of the women who paved the way for women like me.  Each women uniquely grooming their ventures to excel in a male dominated industry. They sought out and utilized resources that existed for men to ensure their success. Making history!

I’m quite sure these revolutionary women had secrets to their success that we will never unveil. Most importantly they played towards their strengths and motivated others.

Creativity and service are my strengths. I have always owned this insatiable desire to create with words, innovate and excel in the business world. Sure, I can easily work for a fortune 500 company and climb the corporate ladder. What drives me is the ability to write and watch businesses excel.

There will be good days and bad days, profit and loss. Many long days and sleepless nights but the victory of reaching my goals is what keeps me faithful. I am a confident and proud female writer and entrepreneur.

Mary Katherine Goddard Image and Research

www.nwhm.org 

Lydia E. Pinkham Image and Research

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lydia_Pinkham

Madame C.J. Walker Image and Research

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madam_C._J._Walker

 

Team Bossy Gals New Website is Active!!!

I’m so excited about the “NEW” Team Bossy Gals website, I just had to blog about it!!! I feel like a child at Christmas.

My excitement is not just due to the new look but also the ability to better inform and assist other female entrepreneurs with their pursuit in entrepreneurship. The new website is more interactive and lists all of our features and benefits including but not limited to advertising, business development, mentoring and much more. Assisting entrepreneurs is my passion in life, not because I’m an entrepreneur but mostly because my calling in life  is to be of service to others.

I have been blessed to meet a team of women who not only are entrepreneurs, but who share my values. We are a mixture of new and seasoned entrepreneurs. Dedicated to inspiring other women to do what they love for a living and that absolutely rocks!!!

I encourage all of my female followers to visit the “NEW” Team Bossy Gals website. We support entrepreneurs, authors, graduates, working moms, women over 50 and stay at home moms in their mission to “Do what you love for a living”. It is possible!!! I can definitely attest to this fact!!!

Guys… refer your wives, sisters and mothers. Support women in business!!!

Team Bossy Gals believes in women supporting women and the conglomerate is growing quickly. We are thankful for our ability to take part in the growth of women in business. 

Come join our team!!!

Steve Jobs: My Inspiration

Quotes by #SteveJobs inspire me to as an entrepreneur to continue my pursuit to be a successful #businesswoman.