I’ve had around the same number of billable hours each month for the last year. I’ve had clients hours fluctuate, I’ve lost some clients, gained some new ones, but it all seems to level out.

About two months ago, I was at a point where I was at the computer from 7 in the morning until 2 in the morning. I still only put in a few hours of billable time - the rest of that time was spent managing projects, staying on top of email, wrangling my children, etc. I was rapidly approaching the ‘burn-out zone’. While I was subcontracting some work, I was still spending way too much time on project management and other administrative things. I wasn’t able to market my business, follow up properly, or eat lunch without feeling guilty for being away from my computer.

So I took the plunge and retained the services of a VA to keep on top of that stuff for me. It’s the best investment I have ever made in my business, and more importantly, in myself.

For the last two months I have had my own dedicated VA. I’ve blogged about her before - Victoria is my lifesaver. I wonder…is this how my clients feel after they start delegating projects to me? It is a glorious feeling.

Victoria and I are in different time zones, so she starts managing my email when her work day begins, and that frees up so much time, you have no idea. I can actually focus on the day’s projects without being distracted by my email. That is saving me at least an hour or two every day.

I’m delegating more and more work that I don’t really have to do myself. My VAs are more than capable, and it prevents me from switching between projects a million times a day which is idle time I can’t charge for.

A strange thing happened this week. I kept feeling as though I was forgetting something. After dinner when the babes were fed and bathed and I would sit down at my computer to work, but my client work for the day was taken care of. Hmmmmm.

Honestly, it didn’t sink in for awhile. Why do I have free time in the evenings? Am I forgetting about certain projects? What’s happening?

Wait a minute. It’s my VA. What a light bulb moment. Now that I am on the ‘client’ side of the VA arrangement, I will be able to market my services much better because I am living the benefits.

When my workday is done (ya, it does have an end now!!!) I am able to follow up with old leads, work on personal projects and my own business development.

Now it’s Saturday and I have options! I can either get my stuff together to give to my bookkeeper so my taxes will get done on time, or work on a fictional story I’ve been wanting to get to forever. I can clean my house, play with my kids, go for a drive, or just read a book.

Who knew life could be this good for a busy entrepreneur?

If you are on the fence about hiring a VA - get off the fence and get yourself one. Preferably Mann Made Time, of course. Never before has my team been so efficient.

My tagline, “When there aren’t enough hours in the day…” has a whole new meaning for me now. When you find yourself feeling that way, give me a call. We really can add hours to your day.

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I’m not sure why, but I get sucked into American Idol almost every year.

Last week, or this week (we tape them to watch later sometimes so I don’t remember) I overheard someone on the show ask whether this was a talent contest or a popularity contest. Hmmmm.

It brings me back to student council elections in high school. Did the best person always win? No. Well - if they were the most popular person they did.

How does this relate to business?

You could have the best singer in the world preforming on American Idol. But if they choose the wrong songs for them, if you’re a fan of the show, you know they always get voted off.

If there was a competition for you, in your business, and you are offering the wrong types of services - services you don’t excel at - would you be crowned the winner? Probably not.

If I tried to build my business on offering desktop publishing, I wouldn’t have made it past year one. I enjoy it, but I’m not great at it. I don’t offer it unless it’s through one of my skilled associate VAs.

When you’re in business you must have a clearly defined target market, and you must offer only services to that group that you do exceptionally well. Anything less just won’t stand up.

Again, if the best singer in the world was on the American Idol stage, but every week they came out there looking unkempt and sloppy and acting obnoxious, they would not last. People wouldn’t vote for a person they find annoying.

This brings us to branding. A business needs a professional polished image to  make it. It’s that simple. You could be the best wallpaper hanger in the country, but if you have a website with lots of annoying pop ups and graphics, inconsistent branding, poor grammar and bad navigation, visitors will move on. Today’s consumers don’t have time for that kind of thing. Not with all the choices they have.

Consider this. There’s a new competition for your industry. You make it through the first round of eliminations, and then the second. You find yourself in a group of the twelve best (your profession here)’s in the country. You are given 90 seconds each week to demonstrate to your nation why you should be crowned the winner.

What do you do to make yourself shine?

Those are the things you should be doing everyday for your clients.

If you’re currently doing things that you wouldn’t showcase for that audience, maybe you should consider whether you should be doing them at all….

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In this day and age, with so many high tech ways of doing things, we often forget about tried and true ‘old school’ methods of doing things.

There are online file storage programs, web based contact management systems, electronic to-do lists, and so on and so forth.

Does that mean we should all go paperless? Do away with our tangible file storage, rolodex and steno pads?

I don’t think so - not entirely, anyway.

If I had a rolodex, I would have business cards I collect in there and easily accessible. Instead, I enter my contacts’ information in an electronic database. After a networking event last week, I had my cards ready to be entered, and the one I really need I can’t find anywhere. I can’t find the person online either. I’m trying to go by memory to bring up her website address, but I have to do a thorough search here. I need to get a rolodex!

That has me thinking about what others do high-tech versus low-tech.

I like to keep actual manual notes about my clients. Each client has a notebook where I enter notes as we speak on the phone, I have their passwords for different applications stored there, and I find it very easy to access information very quickly.

I also keep old fashioned files in an old fashioned filing cabinet. I would like to have an identical system set up online, but with my not-quite-as-fast-as-high-speed Internet connection, the thought is rather painful to start uploading everything I have stored on my computer.

Another thing that really bugs me is ebooks. I love ebooks, I’ve even written some. But I can’t stand to read them on my computer screen. I print them out using FinePrint, which is a fabulous free (high tech) tool that helps to reduce paper and ink usage when printing items. I print my ebooks 4 pages per sheet of letter sized paper. I have them at my desk where I can read them in between projects, or for quick reference.

So what do you do the old fashioned way versus the technological way? What works for you?

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The weekend of May 2nd is going to be a big one for me. I’ll be attending my first in person virtual assistance event - The Forum on Virtual Assistance. I will be co-facilitating a session with Elayne Whitfield, on ‘Nailing the Sale’. Elayne will be telling participants how to properly respond to ‘RFPs’ and I will be talking about the best ways to follow up with prospects, leading to more signed clients.

I am so excited about FoVA. Not only will I actually be able to spend time with some peers, but I’ll get to meet a couple of my team members. It’s going to be great!

Today, in honor of St. Patrick’s Day, registrants will receive $75 off the price of the conference.

If you are on the fence, or concerned about the cost, you really should do all you can to attend. A networking event like this will be priceless. It’s an investment every professional should make in their business. Heck, I have two babies I’ll be leaving PEI to fly to Toronto. That won’t be easy, but I’m going to do it.

Can’t wait to see you there!

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This month, I’ve decided to feature one of my local and most active clients - Maureen Kerr of Kerr Consulting “Your Marketing Mavens”.

Your Marketing Mavens helps its clients to spread their remarkable business ideas effectively and inexpensively. Maureen’s ideal clients have a remarkable idea or business and just need a bit of help spreading their message. Many of these people are either intimidated by technology or simply unaware of the different ways Internet marketing can really improve their marketing efforts.

Kerr Consulting offers a ton of services, including: SWOT analysis, business plan assistance, writing marketing plans, creating newsletters and presentations, copywriting, website creation, and so on and so forth.

It’s really a joy working with ‘Moe’, she is definitely an ideal client for me. She has a great business and she’s a wonderful, ethical person to work with.

She likes us here at Mann Made Time, too. She talks about me all the time, which I love. Here’s an official testimonial she’s written for my website:

“Living in a rural community on an island off of the east coast of Canada requires an entrepreneurial person to leverage as much as possible in order to have a successful business. Throw in the mix being a single mom and living in a 150 year old house – I need all the help I can get. Thanks to my virtual assistant, Jaime Lee Mann from www.mannmadetime.com I have been able to get my new marketing business off the ground by utilizing her huge arsenal of expertise. She also tells me to breathe sometimes and takes the edge off of being a solo-preneur by being there whenever I need her. I love my VA. Jaime has done everything from brainstorming sessions, to editing letters, to going to client’s offices to set up systems, mailing letters, did I mention all of the advice she gives? I have out-sourced projects to many professionals over the years and using a virtual assistant has been one of the best returns on investment that I have ever made.”

We have truly partnered together and are improving each others businesses. It’s a match made in Heaven, really.

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