“Interdependent people combine their own efforts with the efforts of others to achieve their greatest success.” – Stephen Covey

Steven Covey “introduces” my chapter on how to build your support team in my book Flourish! 10 Easy, Elegant, and Essential Marketing Strategies for Solo- and Micropreneurs.

Delegating is one of the best ways to handle working mothers stress and give yourself more time, energy and money. It’s also a key element in getting important things done to move your business forward.

I am such a believer in the importance of delegating and having a team of people to support you. I come from the mindset of a mother of three children with so much to do. I know that many of the women entrepreneurs I talk to certainly relate to this – you’ve got a business, you’ve got children so you’re pulled in various directions.

I had a chance to speak with Erin Blaskie, The VA Coach, about how to delegate to a virtual assistant so  you can work so much more effectively. A virtual assistant (VA) is someone who assists you with everything, from administrative things to technical things to even personal things. They’re “virtual” because they work out of their own office and connect with you online or over the phone instead of working out of your office.

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Are you working too hard in your business? If you’re an entrepreneur, you probably are, especially if you’re in the early stages of your business building. And you’re not alone.

Here’s an example from my own client files:

I was recently working with a client who was a real go-getter, very serious about being in business for herself, and marketing only to a more affluent clientele. She wanted to increase her reach into that market online. And she was considering adding article marketing to her mix.

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I’ve been hearing too many stories of late from fellow business owners, clients, and colleagues who have had bad experiences when partnering with a virtual assistant.

So in this article I thought I would shake things up a bit and share with you my five tips for finding a GREAT virtual assistant for your business… and believe me, there ARE many great VAs out there; you just need to know what you want before you go looking!

1.  Decide what your requirements are.  What skills and abilities do you want your VA to possess? What projects/activities do you want them to be working on? Do they match your needs?  Check out their websites, view client testimonials, and examine their profile.

2.  One hat doesn’t fit all.  Although VAs primarily provide administrative support, many are now specializing in different areas of business support. If you’re a speaker, look for a VA that specializes in speaker support; if you need help with your online marketing activities, look for a VA that specializes in this area.  This might mean that you’ll work with more than one virtual assistant but each one has their own unique skills and abilities that they can bring to your business.

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The period between Thanksgiving and Christmas is a very busy time of year for everyone, but for overwhelmed and time-starved solopreneurs it can be even more challenging.  In article, I’m going to share with you five tasks that you can delegate right now, so that you can claim back some time and focus on doing what you do best.

Very often solo business owners know they have a need to partner with a Virtual Assistant (VA), but are not really sure how a virtual assistant can help them grow their business – they don’t fully understand what services the VA provides. This is usually discussed during the client consultation process, but sometimes the client can still feel a little overwhelmed and are not sure about delegating their workload – in fact that is how one of my clients felt recently!

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Hi Folks,

Well it’s been a few weeks since I last wrote and since then many changes have occurred everywhere.   Here we’ve changed the name of our masthead to Say Yes to YOU Coaching which makes more sense given that I’ve been teaching clients this for over 25 years, the US has a new President and the world is it seems in a financial crisis.

I am constantly hearing from clients and people in general that they are anxious and afraid because of the economy.  So let me first address fear.  The nemesis of almost everyone

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I’m pleased to be the first stop on Tina Forsyth’s virtual book tour for her newly-released title, Becoming an Online Business Manager. As I told Tina Forsyth after reading the book, she really set my head a-spinnin’! Not because I want to become an OBM myself — because now that I understand what an OBM is and does, I want one! Right now!

Below you can listen to a delightful impromptu discussion between Tina and myself that I think will be of interest, not only to Virtual Assistants and wanna-be Online Business Managers, but also to solo business owners who want to know, “What’s Next?” We discussed the powerful mindshift I experienced, what I think it means to my business and other online business owners, and the challenges — and possibilities — inherent in turning your business over to an Online Business Manager. I hope you enjoy it!

You can purchase your own copy of Becoming an Online Business Manager at http://www.becominganobm.com/solo-e

Tomorrow, please visit the second stop on Tina’s tour with Melody Campbell at The Small Business Guru.

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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For years I intentionally kept my business growth on a tight leash. My mind was swimming with big ideas, but I put them on the back burner because I didn’t want to write checks my body couldn’t cash. I was under the mistaken impression that short of cloning myself no one else could do what I could do… and since I’m a bit of a control freak … that meant I couldn’t take on projects that I didn’t have time to perform myself.

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As a wrap up to this series on hiring help I thought I would share with you some of my favorite resources.

I always start a search for help by asking people I know who they would recommend. When I’m looking for someone to work for me locally then I let everyone I know what type of person I’m looking for and the tasks I need done. Every time I’ve done this I’ve had good success. I’ve never run a “Help Wanted Ad.”

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