How to Transfer Titles for Commercial Motor Vehicle

How to Transfer Titles for Commercial Motor Vehicle

As a virtual assistant I am asked to do a plethora of different tasks. If I don’t already know how to do something I have to learn on the spot and do it right the first time.  Most of the time I am able to research online and find the answers I need.  Sometimes though I can’t find anything useful or accurate so I have to do the research myself.  I've decided to share what I learn with you on my blog.  So bear with me if my blogs are all over the place, that’s what I do though, I help different business owners in different industries.

Contact Number for Help TX DMV: 1-888-368-4689 ext 2.

TxDMV.gov

I called and spoke with Starla, she was very helpful and this is what I learned:

To change/transfer the title for a commercial motor vehicle, we need a list of items to take to the County Tax Office (you can call 1-888-368-4689 ext 2 and they can tell you which one is your County Tax office).

www.TxDmv.Gov

Items you need:

Title. 

Your seller will mail this to you, you will have to sign the back of the title.

Title Application.  

In Texas, the title application is called “Application For Texas Title” or “Form 130-U”.  Make sure the seller fills out sections 1-12, 18, 21 and 22.  You may need other sections depending on if it applies to you or not.

Proof of Insurance.  

Ask the customer service rep what the minimum requirements are, it all depends on if you are operating Intrastate, interstate, what you haul etc.  That’s a whole different blog.

Picture ID.  

If the buyer is an individual vs a corporation or company.

For vehicles purchased from OUT OF TEXAS: 

If your title DOES NOT LIST the weight of the vehicle, you MUST go through a Texas Weight Station and obtain a legible weight receipt and take that with you to the County Tax Office.  This is how they determine what to charge you.

If your out-of-state title has a weight listed, they may not require a Texas Weight Scale.

Best of luck and feel free to share any additional tips & information you may have based on your experience on transferring a title for a commercial motor vehicle in Texas.

Have a great weekend!

Nancy

Austin’s Virtual Assistant

Blogging- #1 Mistake to Avoid

The number 1 mistake business owners make when it comes to blogging is NOT blogging.  That's right, about 33% of business owners are not yet blogging.  That's the minority, if you still don't incorporate blogging into your marketing efforts now is the time to do it.  Don't be left behind and lose out on precious visibility and interaction with potential customers.

There are plenty of things you can blog about.

You are the expert at whatever you sell or offer.  Everyone is different and even if you think someone else already covered your field of expertise pitch in anyway!  You may be surprised at the response you may receive even if you blog about something that has been blogged a million different times, you are unique and the way you see things through your eyes will resonate differently. Keep in mind blogging is not writing and essay or a book, you can write as little as 25 words and as many as 1,000.

Blogging isn't time consuming and there are plenty of ways to schedule your blogging.

If you have a smartphone blogging just got easier.  Some of the things I do when blogging is I write down my ideas at the beginning of the week then throughout the week I think about the topic I outlined.  When inspiration strikes, no matter what I'm doing, I pull out my smartphone and start voice recording away.  When I have time to sit down and write my blogs, I go back to the voice recordings and start transcribing.  I use Google Blogger and the scheduling feature is perfect for me.  Sometimes I let about 5 topics accumulate then I schedule them a few days apart.  This way when more topics pop up I have time to write them while my pre-scheduled blogs are slowly released.  This process saves me a lot of time, you don't have to dedicate time to voice recording, you can do that while watching tv or cooking or with headphones, on the way to a meeting.  Many of the blogging websites offer the schedule feature.  

Audiences reach you by search engines, links from your social media profiles and even from your e-mails.

Google has changed the way they search and pull up relevant information to their customers.  It seems everyone is freaking out about this because rather than being able to list a string of keywords, now we have to create relevant content.  That is great news for us!  That means that only legit companies are left to compete for customers.  Now is the time to start posting blogs full of relevant information that pertains to your field.  As I said before you are the expert in your field, show your customers just how good you are.  Make sure to include your blog link to your e-mail signatures, your social media profiles and also share your blogs with your social media friends/connections.

Customers will either contact you directly from your blog or will end up at your website to inquire about your services or products. 

Don't blog to become rich, instead blog to stir your target audience's brains a bit.  Invoke some emotion out of them.  Call for a conversation or discussion about your topic, connect with them. Consumers are now looking for something different.  We've never really liked pushy sales pitches but when we are offered free information that can help fill our needs, we want more from that company or provider.  Just look at Pinterest and Wikepedia.  Blogging is a very important part of marketing these days, it helps connect consumers to you in a passive way.

Get some Help.

Virtual Assistants are great at helping with blog management and even writing the content.  Even when you handle your own blogging at some point you may be stuck with nothing to write about and that's ok, don't be afraid to ask for help. We all sell here so I have to at least sneak this in here and try.  :)

To sum it all up: Blogging=good, not blogging= not good.

Have a great weekend everyone!  

Nancy Valdez

Multiple Conflicting Professional Advice

Multiple Conflicting Professional Advice, not cookie cutter for all, take what works best for you and stick to it.

Last year I decided it would be a great idea to add “Entrepreneur” magazine on my timeline on Facebook mostly because I would much rather read about growing and managing my business that reading about cats and chain letters.  At first I nodded in agreement with just about everything they shared until I started noticing conflicting messages and advice, such as “successful people don’t read email first thing in the morning.” Then a couple of days later, “successful people tackle email first thing in the morning.”  That was head-scratching and confusing for sure.  Of course you have the commenters on the posts ranting about the confusion and others promising that this method is what works best. 

Of course all the methods work best, conflicting or not, because it works.  The advice given on sites geared towards free spirited, unemployable, entrepreneurs like myself have to be conflicting because not all of us operate the same.  Being one of those people myself,  I know very well how we have to roll with the punches, be flexible with last minute changes in our ‘routine’ and use the methods that are fool proof for us to be able to function on a daily basis.   It’s great to see what other people are doing and having all sorts of ‘could-be’ handy tips to improve our productivity but not everything is cookie-cutter perfect for all.  I suggest you try something you are interested in trying a few times, then drop it if it doesn't facilitate your day or if it doesn't feel natural to you.

 Some examples are:

• Thou shall exercise in the morning.  Um, no.  I’m not a morning person.  I can workout in the morning once a week and that works for me, the rest of the week I have  to workout  after I pick up my daughter from school, otherwise I use up a good chunk of my ‘free childcare’ morning that I could be using for work. Thus resulting in a half productive day.  Plus they have daycare in the gym and she loves socializing and playing in the kid's club area while I workout.  Win-Win.

• Thou shall network after work.  Again, due to my schedule, I can only network during breakfast or lunch.  I have met many great individuals networking early in the day, we are all alert, fresh, optimistic and not under the influence of liquor.  To me it fits in perfect with my schedule and it becomes a part of a productive day.  

• Thou shall read emails only two times a day or first thing in the morning or not early in the morning.  Depending on how you conduct business, you have to check email when you have to.  I don't keep any email notifications on any devices, I check my emails whenever I can and respond to urgent message and leave the non-urgent ones for later.

               

End of rant.  In summation, not everything will be perfect for you, take what helps you be the best YOU and leave the rest of the others.  

To clarify: I LOVE Entrepreneur Magazine and I LOVE their Facebook page, they offer so much more than just tips and tricks.

Have a happy and productive week everyone!

-Nancy Valdez

Austin’s Virtual Assistant

Walking into a Wall- General Biz Rant

Do you ever feel as if you keep running into a wall?  Like no matter what you come up with as your next service or product, it just isn't good enough?  I do, all the time.  I actually think that I have blocked so many great ideas for fear of failure.  I'm not going to lie, I don't have time/money to 'experiment' but what if...just what if I could risk it all and see where that idea takes me.  Women and men tend to business differently, we risk differently and we lead differently.  Why is that?  What is the difference between men and women....(grow up, we covered sex-ed in elementary)   I will not speak for all women and for the sake of this blog I have not researched the differences between women entrepreneurs and men entrepreneurs.  From experience looking back at all my business partners the men jump in with both feet without parachutes, why? Because I'm in the background ready to catch them if they fail.  The woman is the safety net but the woman has no safety net for herself.  Are we wired so that we nurture and care for everyone else around us in every way including in business?  Why can't we just disconnect the maternal nurture hard-wire for just a minute and do business like men?  I would love to jump higher and into deeper coves than my previous partners have and see where it leads me.  I would love to see just how far I can go without hesitation, without fear and without a care in the world if I have a parachute or not.  I want to be the next Jobs, the next Stewart, the next Zuckenberg.

Another thing my previous business partners do is that they promise the impossible.  Many times promising the impossible blows up in their faces and I used to be so annoyed to have to deal with angry customers or investors because the promises were empty, but in most cases those promises were also a way to light themselves and our team on fire in order to maintain a deadline in which to make the impossible possible.  In the end the majority of the time we were able to keep the promises but not only that, we would 'wow' our client or customers.  I can't bring myself to do that, in the back of my head promising something I can't deliver is unethical and bad business, but whether he believes in himself that much or leaves the rest of the team to pick up the slack, is that unethical?  To this day I still wonder which one was it.  Did he believe in himself that much that he could promise the impossible, or did he know we (I) would pick up the slack and slave until the impossible was possible?  If it's the former, I want to learn to bring that self confidence out of hiding and use it daily to bring my ideas to light, but if it's the latter I need to find a strong team that will work with me and carry my business to the next level.

How can one disconnect that maternal nurture and be a complete risk taker without fear?  How can a woman adapt the traits that men exhibit when doing business?

(Edit)
Quickie list of links I found on several sites/blogs/articles)
Differences Women/Men
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/the-hot-button/turns-out-men-and-women-really-do-think-differently-study-finds/article15739805/
http://www.itbusinessedge.com/blogs/from-under-the-rug/are-female-and-male-ceos-wired-differently.html

Business Plans & Why You Need One

Business Plans & Why You Need One

Everyone in the business of business will ask, “If you were planning a road trip, would you travel without a map.”  The answer is often “No”.  If you are starting a business, would you start one without a plan?  Many people are intimidated by business plans and instead look away and start without one anyway.  They are agencies that offer business plan writing for those people and although it is a great way to have a professional plan created, it will do you no good if you do not know your business plan inside and out.  A business plan isn't just a few sentences explaining what your business is about.  It’s a great tool to refer to when putting together your marketing campaign.  It’s also great when looking for a loan or investors.  Don’t be overwhelmed, hire someone to do it and learn it, or do it yourself but take it one step at time.  A business plan will also make you see things laid out in front of you and help you determine if your business idea to open a Shark Tank Petting Zoo is a great idea after all.

     DO NOT start a business without a business plan, I beg of you.  There, I warned you.  Even if you do hire someone to write it for you, look over a business plan outline to familiarize yourself with what sections will be included in the plan. Also, once you finish and read your plan, you will become inspired to start your business strong.

     You don’t have to be excruciatingly detailed in your plan.  Start small then embellish.  Your main goal is to get started and plug in information in the correct areas for now.  My favorite website for writing business plans is www.SBA.gov.  As I have said before, your best friend is www.SBA.gov and of course, me. :)

Questions? Comments? Do you have a business plan writer to recommend?  Leave a comment, like, +1, etc.

Cheers to your success!

Nancy Valdez

Texas 7-Step; How to Start a Business in Texas

What every start-up needs to know in the state of Texas.

Congratulations, you finally decided to start your side business or go at it full time.  It is so exciting and a tad overwhelming especially when you don’t know where to start.  Walking into the country clerk’s office with a business name in my head and an application and a numbered ticket is pretty exciting to me, like the birth of a newborn.  Whether you’re an "entreprenerd" like me or just need to get your business rolling I have compiled a helpful list on starting your new business in Texas.  

Photo Credit: vintageamericanatoggery.blogspot.com

Don’t hesitate to reach out to me directly if you have any questions or need to know what agency to contact etc.  As a matter of fact, I am adding more details on my website for you. www.Austinsva.com, if you need info on something not listed here, let me know so I can add it to my resource list.

Texas Step 1:

Once you have chosen a business structure, register your business with the Texas Secretary of State.  This step is for limited liability companies, corporations, limited partnerships, professional corporations, nonprofit corporations, professional associations and registered limited liability partnerships.  You will be able to search for the business name you wish to use here.  It is very important that you do a search and pay for your name if available.  For more information visit SOS Texas http://www.sos.state.tx.us/corp/forms_boc.shtml

Texas Step 2:

File a dba, Doing Business As, certificate with the Texas Secretary of State and County Clerk offices.  In some counties you have to file with either the State or County.  For more information, check out the SOS Website. http://www.sos.state.tx.us/corp/forms_boc.shtml

Texas Step 3:

Apply for an EIN, Employer Identification Number.  This can be found at www.IRS.gov, you may do the application online or by phone.

Texas Step 4:

Taxes Taxes Taxes.  Depending of the type of business you are running, you must register for several business taxes in the state of Texas.  In Texas we have Sales Tax Permit, Franchise Tax, Employment Taxes, and we have local taxes.  You will be able to consult with a Comptroller Agent at http://www.window.state.tx.us/contact.html

Texas Step 5:

Licenses, Permits, Registrations on a state, county and local official websites must be consulted in order to determine if your business needs a permit to operate in your area.  For example electricians and electrical contractors must be licensed to operate in Texas.  Food vendors must have permits, and day care centers must be registered.  Visit TDLR for licensing information on licensing and regulation http://www.tdlr.texas.gov/.  For local and county permits and registrations contact the nearest Small Business Administration.  www.sba.gov

Texas Step 6:

If you will be hiring employees, contractors or anyone at all, make sure to become familiar with Texas labor laws as well as the federal laws. In Texas, employers must register with TWC, Texas Workforce Commission and report new hires, paid wages and pay taxes for unemployment.  For more information contact TWC at http://www.twc.state.tx.us/twcinfo/contact-us.html.

Texas Step 7:

Set up a business bank.  This step is essential for every business everywhere or ever size.  At the end of the year your life will be much simpler if your business accounting is separate from your personal accounting.  Most banks offer business accounts as well as personal accounts.  You will need a copy of your State or County business certificate of formation or a certified copy of your dba record as well as your EIN.

Photo Credit:newmillenniummerchandise.com

Resources and Great Information:

http://www.texas.gov/en/discover/pages/topic.aspx?topicid=/business/start

http://www.texaswideopenforbusiness.com/small-business/start.php

http://www.traviscountyclerk.org/eclerk/Content.do?code=R.13

http://www.traviscountyclerk.org/eclerk/content/images/pdf_tc_rec_dba.pdf

http://www.twc.state.tx.us/customers/bemp/start-expand-your-business.html

And as always, don’t forget that a friendly Austin’s Virtual Assistant is here to help.

Cheers to your success.

Nancy Valdez

www.austinsva.com

What’s your worth?

How to charge for your services/products and stay competitive in the market. 

After all the marketing and preparation you finally have interested leads who are begging you to sell them a product or provide a service for them.  Your foot is in the door and beyond but when it comes to setting a fee, how do you know what to charge?  You don’t want to sell yourself short and you don’t want to charge too much either.  Ideally consumers shop for the best services rather than by price, but realistically only a few consumers shop by quality.  Many consumers are bargain hunters.  Of course this is different for every single industry and it doesn't apply to everyone.  But the question still stands, how do you set a rate/fee/price?  Of course you can do your research and see what your competitors are offering, what your current customers are willing to pay and how much demand there is for your product or service. 

How to figure out what to charge for a service?  In my opinion it is a little bit more confusing and nerve-wrecking to figure service fees because there is no obvious expense to cover.  When selling products you first have to cover production, packaging, etc but with a service where is the start line?  I have found a very interesting and helpful forum with valuable information for those of you who are starting up or reinventing their business.  http://www.sitepoint.com/forums/showthread.php?389195-How-to-determine-what-to-charge-a-client

They bring up:

• Estimating the scope
• Fixed price vs hour by hour
• Figuring out the hourly rate
• Methods to figure out the hourly price:
• Value based pricing
• Result based pricing

I’m very interested to know, as a start-up, what helped you decide what your rates/price/fee would be?  Did you have to adjust your rates over time?

~Till next time,

Nancy Valdez

www.AustinsVA.com

Are You Afraid of Commitment?

Are You Afraid of Commitment?

When do you know when you are ready to hire an assistant or recruit a business partner?  Is your business suffering for not having an assistant?

As much as we love to hear love stories or love dramas, we aren’t asking you whether you are afraid of committing to a love partner.  Have you been putting off hiring an assistant?  Maybe you don’t know a thing about vetting and hiring, or maybe you don’t know about payroll taxes etc.  Here is what some business owners have to say about finally hiring someone to help.

“This is a hard lesson to learn, especially for women because we tend to think we can 'do it all'. Best decision I ever made was to get help! My assistant is invaluable, I wouldn't go back for anything.” Marnie Clark

[On hiring an assistant] “…I held back for years and when I finally let go of the fear of the expense I experienced the Aha moment!” Crystal Leochko

“I'm currently breaking myself trying to be a single mum and run a cleaning business by myself. I clean for 37.5hrs or more six days every week. I know how hard it is. But i also know i need help. Would appreciate some advice on how to allow myself to trust others to do just as good a job as me. Oh, and ive been an admin person but worked my way up through various roles in fleet management, an account executive and account management, and now business owner!” Samantha Harris

I have recently first hand experienced this myself.  I thought it was time for me to listen to my own advice.  Austin’s Virtual Assistant is not my first business.  I’ve had a couple of businesses before and I knew then as I know now that there are certain tasks a business owner must absolutely delegate in order to grow their businesses.  At one point I had my 5 year old niece, 3 year old daughter, a puppy and a husband as well as 2 small businesses to handle mostly on my own until I finally decided to hire someone to help me.  My assistant practically paid for herself in the first week.  I remember my first tasks to her was 1. advertising, 2. marketing and 3. taking messages from customers I wasn’t able to speak to immediately.  After 2 months we were able to move out of our dusty garage and into a very nice, very real office.  It was amazing.  We were finally able to have meetings and have customers visit whenever they liked.  We were even able to create 2 more positions and hired more people.

Now that I am a single mother and redesigning my little business, I had recently hit my limit and thus it was time for me to hire someone to help.   There are PTA meetings, volunteering at school, juggling multiple clients, raising my child, and running my household either something gives or someone helps.  I chose the help.   Luckily for everyone reading this, there are a few options when looking for help:

•  Hire an employee
• Outsource to a contractor/consultant
• Work with a Virtual Assistant

An employee is someone you hire and your business is responsible for withholding taxes.  You may pay your employee hourly or by salary.  You are responsible for providing your employee with equipment, supplies & materials to perform the work and reimburse for business expenses.

A contractor or consultant takes care of their own taxes, expenses, and overhead expense.  Contractors or consultants tend to stay within their expertise.  These contractors or consultants may fall in the professional category.  Accountants, attorneys, business coaches, graphic designers, marketing agencies etc are some of the services you may contract out depending on your type of business.  Contractors usually charge per project but some may charge per hour.

A virtual assistant is also responsible for their own taxes, expenses and overhead expense.   Every type of business benefits from having a Virtual Assistant on speed dial.  Not only do Virtual Assistants are savvy and also business owners, but Virtual Assistants only charge for actual work performed.  Depending on the type of work, Virtual Assistants either charge per project or per hour.  Virtual Assistants each have their own niche but also offer a variety of services outside their niche.

Whoever you decide to work with, make sure to make a list of tasks you need to delegate.  Use your assistant wisely.  Remember that in order to make your business grow you, the owner, need to focus on the money making tasks while your assistant works on research, advertising, marketing, filing, etc.

Don’t be afraid of commitment.  Once you hire someone you will see the difference and you will start seeing your productivity double.  If you want to dip your toes before committing, a Virtual Assistant is a safe bet.  There are no contracts, no commitments when working with a Virtual Assistant.  If you have a leaky faucet, you call a plumber, if your lights go out, you call an electrician, if your business is stuck, you need a Virtual Assistant.

To learn all about hiring and working with contractors visit www.sba.gov, to learn more about working with Virtual Assistants, go to http://austinsva.com/FAQ.php

Cheers to your growing business.

~Nancy Valdez

AustinsVa.com

Know Where You Stand

Know Where You Stand

Your business is more than likely listed in several directories such as Yahoo!, Google and Yelp, but is all the information on those directories correct?  Are your customers able to reach you from any given directory? 

Whether your business has been around for a while or have just started, you have probably listed your business in at least a handful of directories.  Directories such as Google Places, Yahoo! & Yelp are very helpful to a small business, it’s often free or low cost and helps connect your customer directly to you, that is if your correct contact information is listed.  There are a few things to look for when listing in a directory, or updating your listing:

1.       Is your business accurately depicted in the listing?  Many directories only allow a small blurb about your company; do you have the best blurb for your company?
2.       Is your phone number listed and correct?
3.       Is your website listed?  Is it spelled correctly?
4.       Is your contact name or contact person correct?
5.       Is your address correct?
6.       Do you have any reviews positive or negative?  Have you addressed the reviews/comments?
7.       Have you listed in directories that are industry specific?
8.       Are you listed in the proper category?

As your business grows you will face many changes.  Don’t forget to update your directory listings as soon as possible so that your customers can reach you specially if you have moved locations or added a new telephone number.

One of the ways we like to keep track of where we are listed is to keep a list of directories’ websites along with our username and password hint on a spreadsheet for easy access.  We also do a Google search of our business and any business we virtually assist to make updates or changes on listings that were previously posted.  Some companies will post your listing in their directories for free for the chance to sell you an ‘upgraded’ listing.  Those listings are great because your business has free exposure; just make sure that they have the correct information.

Since the world wide web is huge there is a possibility that your directory listing maintenance will take some time to clean up but don’t worry, it is worth it in the end.   This maintenance can be a yearly task and if you keep on it, it shouldn't be too much work.  It is important that a customer’s first impression of you and your business is a great one so make sure all of your entrances are clean, complete and accurate.

Don’t worry if you don’t have time to clean or update your directories all at once, you can take it slow or you can hire someone to do that task for you.  There are also several websites that can guide you in the right direction for a small fee.  Our Direct2me service runs a report of your existing listings in the major directories and we update all the information on those listings to reflect your current and correct information.  We also list you on the directories you aren't yet listed on.    

Don't be the guy who lost a customer to a wrong number, below is a starter list of directories you MUST join.  Whether you hire us to help or not, find a few moments to browse through our resource lists at www.AustinsVa.com.  Austin’s Virtual Assistant is here to help, give us a call whether you have questions or would like to schedule a consultation…or just to say hi <3

~Nancy | Austin’s Virtual Assistant

10 Directories You MUST Be Listed in:

1. Google
2. Bing
3. Yahoo!
4. Yelp
5. Merchant Circle
6. LinkedIn

7. CitySearch
8. Mapquest
9. Biznik

10. Manta

What directory has generated the most leads for your business?  Please share with us on the comments below.

Nobody Move!: A Hamster on the Run

My daughter was given a very cute little Hamster, we had him for 1 day then he ran off.  Maybe he missed the petshop, maybe there was something he just had to see in the next room.  We aren't sure where he is but we are trying every trick in the book to find him.  When I was on the 2nd room with my ear pressed to the floor trying to hear his little claws scratching away, I realized that looking for a tiny hamster in our 1444 sq foot house is like looking for my next customer in the World Wide Web.

I have a clear picture of who my target market is.  I know where they live or work or what they need and want.  The only thing I constantly have to figure out is; what will capture them this year?  Many industries have to keep changing the way they capture their target market's attention, then convert them into a sale.  When your target market is the world, just like searching for a hamster one room at a time, it might be convenient to target your market one small part of the world at a time. For example, for me, my target market is Texas.  Why Texas?  Well, as a native of Texas, I am more familiar with Texas laws, taxes and regulations.  I think having a sidekick with such background is essential for my Texas customers.  Am I open to potential clients from other parts of the world?  Absolutely.  But when it comes time for me to take action and go out and search for new clients, I start with one room at a time, with Texas.

So far searching for the correct lead is time consuming and we have to try several different formulas to find success.  What worked for us two years ago no longer works this year.  We try many different methods of marketing albeit all within a small budget.  Many factors have to be considered when searching for the little hamster.  Do you want to be loud (can you get away with being loud?) or would that scare your lead away?  Do you want to be passive?  Or would that bore your lead away?

Sometimes it feels that looking for potential customers is much like looking for a tiny hamster, the trick is to have lots of patience, time and help.  The good news for my daughter is that we found the hamster. How did we find him? We stopped looking, went to bed, carried on with our day and right before bedtime the next day, he comes running out from under the bed. It took a few minutes to corral him back to his cage but this incident gave me the motivation to stop looking so hard for my next customer.  Now that I have a bit of time on my hands I will carry on about my business, update old profiles, network with peers and neighbors and just have fun. Who knows, maybe my next customer will come running out of their office and into mine.

How do you market yourself? Do you constantly change the way you market your business? What has been proven the most effective method of marketing for you?

~Til Next Time,

Nancy Valdez

Austin's Virtual Assistant

Spring E-Clean Up

     Spring is coming up...how do I know?  Well aside from the violent allergic reaction I have in Austin to the Cedar pollen and the calendar indicating that it is now February, I know Spring is coming up because of the huge amount of electronic 'clutter' I have piling up on all my devices.

     Every year come Spring I purge my e-docs.  Sometimes I am amazed at how much clutter I have saved twice or even three times!  I have at least 500 gigabytes worth of duplicate documents on my PC and backup drive.  Those are my files alone not including customers and past customers.  I actually keep all of those files separate so they don't count.  I also have a million pictures that my 5 year old daughter has taken over the past year.  It is so hard for me to delete even the blurry repeated half -faced selfies she takes cause it is so darn cute...but do I really need 35 of the same picture?  Back in the day we were limited to 25 pictures, unless you had more film.  How does one find time to sit and select a few pictures to keep when your phone/camera holds millions of pictures.  Right now I am transferring 2,305 pictures with the intention of erasing the blurry ones, the repeats, and the fat-angled ones.  But is that a waste of time?  Is is worth de-cluttering my PC?  Is it better to buy another external drive and save the pics?  What is the purpose of saving all the pictures, will anyone sit down and go through all the pictures we've collected in the past 5 years?

This is picture 1 of 15, almost exactly the
same except an centimeter different.

     I think common sense says to only keep the pictures that you actually want on the spot and delete the ones that you don't need on the spot.  Around here we have a set policy on how to name documents and files.  It is so easy to pull up the search function and type in a keyword and pull up the correct document.  Although I am tempted to de-clutter on a quarterly basis rather than a yearly basis.  It may take a few seconds more to save documents and files properly on the spot but in the long run it is very much worth it.

     As for your documents and other files, how do you stay in control?  Do you print and file paper documents or is everything electronically filed?  Do you have a system?

Thanks for letting me rant. In the time that I wrote this blog I have about 1200 pictures more to transfer. :/
2014 Resolution: Only keep the pictures I absolutely have to keep and delete the rest.

~Nancy Valdez
Austin's Virtual Assistant

Where Does Time Go?

Seriously, I tell myself, for just 10 minutes I will sit down and read my emails then move on, and guess what?  I look up and it's been a hour and a half and I'm still answering e-mails.  It is frustrating to lose to time traps like that.  Alas, I will win against time vampires.

Ever since I was able to write, I remember writing a long list of things I wanted to get accomplished each day.  Most of it was routine things like waking up, getting dressed for school, going to school, play time, art and crafts time, learning a new language etc.  I remember marking down the length of time I estimated it would "cost" me per activity, then I remember feeling like a failure for not learning a new language in 7 minutes.  Well maybe I'm exaggerating a bit but you get the point.  Either way, I do remember getting a lot of things done, all I had to do was adjust the amount of time allotted per activity and alternate activities each day.

As an adult I have been tested in time management skills.  There are those days when I know all my deadlines are behind me and I can sip my coffee and work and there is no rush and I can throw my scheduled to-do list for later.  There are those days where every precious minutes count.  I mentioned before my activities "cost" me time.  Even at a young age I could see that time was money....well not money when I was 7 but it did cost me.  As a business owner I know I have to organize myself and not lose to time vampires.  What sucks the time out of your day?  For me it's emails.  I'm addicted to checking my emails every few minutes.  So far I've been writing this blog and have yet to look, but I do type fast and it's only been 3 minutes since I started this blog.  I wonder how much longer I can go without looking.  But every time I check my email I have a new inquiry, question, problem to solve or Look! Shoes on sale and the sale ends in two hours! So yes, I do get distracted.  My goal for February is to only check my email 1 hour after I start work, in the middle of the day after lunch and quickly before I shut my computer.  Not only will my phone battery last me longer but I will have time to do other things.

Another time vampire for me is FACEBOOK. My goodness, I literally have a post it over my computer that says, "Facebook open between 5 pm - 7pm".  That's when I'm usually cooking and cleaning so I can indulge in some Facebook time between cleaning.  As a business owner, you know social media is very important in just about any industry now a days.  It is hard to only go to your business page and manage that without peeking in your personal page but it's definitely do-able.  Of course I find excuses to peek, my best friend and talented author Krystal is helping me write business biographies for professionals and that's the easiest way for us to communicate, but then I see cute babies and kittens and want to gawk all day.

Don't get me wrong, I am very organized but when I have those "easy" days I can get distracted.  I am trying hard to change a few of those habits I dislike one at a time.

What are your "time vampires" and how do you deal with them?  Do you plan to change or does it work ok for you?

till next time,

~Nancy Valdez
Austin's Virtual Assistant

Opportunity...Is it knocking or trying to break in?

I remember not too long ago I decided to leave my part time job and rely completely on my little VA business.  It was definitely a huge leap of faith for me.  There was no plan B or rainy day funds to rely on.  Everything I put into this had to generate enough profit to cover mine and my daughter's living expenses.  So I started marketing, I started slowly then gradually.  It wasn't long before the phone started to ring.  It kept ringing and ringing.  For some reason I was too scared to answer it.  I mean, what if it was a potential customer and they needed me to help them and I wouldn't be able to offer them a good quote?  Or what if it was a task too large for me to handle.  So I would call them back eventually and I guess my hesitation scared them off a bit and I never heard back.  I had opportunity knocking on my door every day but I was too afraid to truly let go of my comfortable part time job to fully dedicate myself to what I've dreamt of doing for almost a decade.  What was I thinking?  All the time and effort I put into advertising myself and for nothing.  Soon after I decided I needed to take myself out of my comfort zone and start my journey one step at a time.  I faced my fears one by one and quit my part time job and threw myself into the market.

What if I can't offer the perfect quote?  Well, I would negotiate.  Show the customer what I can do for them and let them see for themselves what my services are worth.  What if they had a task that was too large to handle?  Well, I would hire someone to help out.  I mean this is what business is all about right?  We need to take risks and let go of the familiar, walk out of our comfort zone.  Opportunity is not patient my friends.  If you are lucky and opportunity is trying to break into your life, don't freeze in panic.  Take it one step at a time and embrace it.  Risk is scary, but it's no reason to leave opportunity waiting, he'll move onto someone else and leave you waiting.  You wanted a business, you're starting the process don't stop there, keep going, it will be hard work but very much worth it in the end.

Cheers to your success!

~Nancy Valdez
Austin's Virtual Assistant

Direct Mail Marketing

It occurred to me the other night, late at night, that's when the occurring usually happens to me, it occurred to me the other night that direct mail marketing may not be the most cost efficient marketing methods for small businesses, but you can bet your bottom dollar it can be quite effective.  If done correctly that is.  Now it does take a lot of time to do the research and find your potential customers all in one place.  I know a lot of companies sell lists but somehow to me that is a bit impersonal.  I like to find my potential customers myself and do some research prior to sending them a letter to make sure I am at least familiar with their business when I'm reaching out.  To me in a way feels like I am a friendly neighbor with a basket full of warm muffins ready to welcome the new business owner into our circle.  Depending on what type of service you provide or what products you sell you have to tailor your marketing to fit you and your target market.  Who is your customer?  What wants what you sell?  How can you make that person pick up the phone and call you?  And how much do you know about them?  Some of these questions will help you consolidate the list into the one you really need to invest time and funds in.  This isn't a birthday party where you'll invite everyone you ever said hi to just to get a turn out (some industries can get away with this).  Like I mentioned before, direct mail is not the most cost effective and is a bit time consuming but when done correctly the ROI is incredible.  But if you understand your niche and it's inhabitants you will be all set and ready to roll.

Photo from instructables.com

Great! I forgot to insert the letter!

So you have your list, your names and addresses and your letter.  Maybe it's a serious letter, a funny letter or somewhere in between.  You have the fonts, the sizes and the graphics.  If you are unsure of how to get started and all you have staring blankly right back at you is a page and a blinking cursor, then go online for inspiration...better yet go through your recycling bin.  I'm sure you've received an offer or two that you actually read because it was inviting, or loud or ... something.  Maybe you saved it and it's sitting on your desk.  Read it again.  Look at it again.  Think about the author of the letter.  Why did you read it several times?  What captured your attention?  Maybe their services/products don't appeal to you but there is something in that letter that stood out.  I'm not saying copy their letter and use it as your own.  I'm saying get inspiration and learn from their technique.  Do they use more than 3 fonts?  If so, what type?  Did they match the tone of the letter?  Is there humor?  What type of humor?  How many paragraphs are there?  Etc etc.

Photo from blog.contrarymagazine.com/

It's 3 AM, I quit.  I'm gonna beg for my job first thing in the morning.

Now start with something of your own.  Then change it.  Then change it some more.  Now tweak it.  Now go to sleep and read the letter in the daytime outside by your mailbox.  Now show your friend/spouse/worst enemy or an ex (unless you have some sort of serious issues and you can just see your ex chasing you down the street with a pitchfork...I would steer clear in that case).  You get the point.  A letter will take some time to put together but INVEST in it.  Of course if you don't have the time or the know-how you can hire someone (ME) to write it for you and manage the campaign.

So you have the letter and the list.  You are all set!  Just go to your document processor, mail merge, print, stuff, seal, stamp, and drop off at the nearest Post office box and stare at the phone (I would wait a day or two, in the meantime I would make sure to practice my very best "Thank you calling..."voice).

DON'T FORGET to track and measure!  Make a note of who was mailed a letter (I usually include the date), and please ask "How did you hear about us" when the phone does ring.  You need to make sure that your formula worked.  If nothing happens and it's been a month or 6 weeks and you haven't heard from a single lead, then go back and look at your letter.  Maybe use a different type of paper.  Maybe it needs to be re-written.  Maybe the envelopes need windows this time.

Tips:
Here are some tips I like to suggest, this is what I do to help me test the waters:

• Send only 20 letters at a time.
• I include a landing page link, that way I can track and see who of my 20 leads actually read the letter and took action, even if they don't call I can see how many people responded to the letter.
• If something didn't work out, I send another 20 to different people and make a subtle change.  I keep this up until I start generating a sales response.  Yes it is exciting when leads call, but your goal is to sell your service or product.  So until you make a sale, keep tweaking. (And work on closing sales).
• Include a CALL to ACTION
• This can be a coupon, a freebie, or something that will entice your lead to call today.

 Unfortunately I don't have much time left to keep rambling about this subject but I could go on for days and days.

If you are going to do a mail campaign on your own, I hope these tips help you.  I have been and continue to search for the perfect formula.  Every industry calls for it's own formula you just have to invest into it.  Keep track of the time you spend on it, as they say time is money and it's never an exception.  Time spent with your children, family, pets is priceless.  Time spent investing in your company is expensive but just keep looking and you will hit the jackpot with your ROI.

My friend Anonymous.

He's so mysterious yet so wise.

Like my wise friend Anonymous once said, "Needing help doesn't make you weak, in fact quite the opposite. It makes you strong, smart, resourceful, and realistic. Being prideful is a weakness. Asking for help when you know you're in over your head is STRENGTH. Don't ever forget that!"

If you find yourself feeling overwhelmed just take a deep breath and ask for help.  We are here to help even if all you need is a quick shake and a "Snap out of it!" motivational call, you go it.  

Please keep in mind that this article was written with a start-up / business owner new to the game in mind.  If you have any additional tips, advice or comments (nice, funny or productive) please please please leave your ideas below.  The more we HELP each other, the more we HELP ourselves.

Have a great and productive week everyone!

'Til next time

~Nancy Valdez
Austin's Virtual Assistant
www.Austin'sVa.com