Being a solopreneur isn’t easy - but being isolated & not “playing well with others” pretty much guarantees it’ll be tougher than it needs to be!

JV’s or Joint Ventures, require strong commitment to your mutual success-the whole is greater…By working together, you can accomplish so much more than indidually!

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No one wants to hear about someone else feeling icky so I’ll spare you the details of my last week’s bout with the stomach flu (let’s just say I’m not a few pounds lighter and VERY happy to be back to work on my business!).

But, I DO want to share a revelation I had while lying on the couch recovering.

The revelation is that despite having four virtual assistants, my husband, my mom and my brother working with me in my business, I am STILL doing too much of the stuff I shouldn’t be.

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Who would have thought that at almost-age 40, I’d own my first KISS shirt? Thanks to my good friend, Nancy Marmolejo, VivaVisbility.com, who bought it for me after seeing my fab photo with KISS star Gene Simmons.

I must say wearing it gives me a whole new perspective on life. I keep feeling like I should be blasting my 80s hair-band music and digging out my lighter. Ah, those we’re the days.

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Want to get the name and website of your woman small business in front of thousands of potential clients AND honor the gift of gratitude? Easy…give enthusiastic, honest, “results-based” testimonials.

At first, I had no idea this strategy could be as powerful as it is. It wasn’t until I started hearing how new clients enrolled in my success coaching programs “found me” via testimonials I had on other woman small business owners’ websites that I realized the potential testimonials have to create new leads.

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Check out http://www.visuwords.com/

From their site: Visuwords™ online graphical dictionary — Look up words to find their meanings and associations with other words and concepts. Produce diagrams reminiscent of a neural net. Learn how words associate.

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I’m so excited! One of my clients just updated me that she already has her first paid Master Mind program half filled! A Master Mind is when a group of like-minded people meet in person or on the phone to brainstorm ideas, share what works, and hold each other accountable to taking massive action. I nearly tripled my income last year thanks to not only being in a Master Mind program but offering them to my clients as well.

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Your business is overwhelming you — it’s finally time to hire a VA (virtual assistant). You hire the first good candidate, and start training them and delegating tasks. Only to find out that they don’t have the skills promised, aren’t available when you expect them to be, or they like order where you live and thrive in chaos.

In some ways it’s a lot like dating. You meet a girl in a bar; she expected you to call her the next day, while you thought Thursday was soon enough. Or he still expects to play poker with the guys every Saturday night — or maybe he IS a successful computer programmer, but still lives with his mother.

It all comes down to differences in expectations. And we often don’t do a good job of sharing our expectations upfront, sometimes because we don’t even know what they are! Melanie Benson Strick’s recent blog post, 5 Key Elements to Quick-Start a High Payoff Virtual Team, provides the groundwork to setting and sharing expecations so you can get off on the right foot with your next virtual hire.

I had the privilege of being interviewed by Solo-E Certified Expert Laura Howard West for her Joyful Business Podcast bi-weekly series. Surf on over and listen in on our casual conversation about choices, letting go, practicing, and getting to happiness as a Solo Entrepreneur (20 minutes).

Have you’ve ever wished you could do something about global hunger, poverty, or another issue, but thought you were powerless? I’ve felt that way. Until recently, when I was shocked to discover the huge impact that a small action on my part has made in the lives of over 800 people a continent away! Read the rest of this post »

It’s sort of an Internet marketing mantra: To be successful, you must joint venture. And I don’t disagree with that. But much of the advice I’ve found only addresses BIG alliances. In my mind, that would mean some kind of formal agreement, that maybe takes a few weeks to work out, an unknown but probably good amount of effort will be involved, and at the end I’ll reap oodles of leads and, hopefully, sales.

So who says all joint ventures have to be a big deal, with big commitments and big money? Read the rest of this post »