Michelle's Musings
Dear Friend,
Are you ready to transform your life and your business this year? I am! I am ready to roll out the red carpet for myself and grow like never before.
The theme for me this year is 'JOY!' I didn't just come up with it; the universe did that for me. When I started booking speakers for our Expert Teleseminar Series, almost everyone spoke of Joy. I knew as soon as Laura and I connected that this was the Unviverse giving me a HUGE sign telling me that I needed to make Joy my theme this year. So, I did and I am happily embracing it.
I recently purchased Laura Howard West's Joyful Business Guide™ and I have to tell you that I was absolutely giddy when I opened the box! The aromatic fragrance that poured out of the box was incredible; it made me want to dive in further. Everything she provides in her program has been thoughtfully and carefully considered. Do you want to see what came in my box?
When I took this photo (above), I realized that my office is painted the exact same colors as Laura's color scheme. I have yummy tuscan orange walls, a red shantung silk lamp shade and soon, I'll have curtains to match. It's bright and happy just like the Joyful Business Guide™.
So, what are all the cool pieces in Laura's program?
- Joyful Business Guide™ binder
- Creative worksheets
- Joyful Business Guide™ playbook
- "Keeping the Joy Alive" CD
- Interview transcripts and Joy Juice Report
- Intention Alive cards
- Daily Giggle Goal cards
- Matching blank cards
- Portable Joyful Business Guide™
- JoyShift cards
- Inspirational Joy candle with Joy Affirmation
- Joyful Business Guide™ Success Circle - Starter Kit
Tomorrow, I plan to work on this with some of my team members as we plan and strategize our year together. I am so excited to start playing with my new Joyful Business Guide™! You can have one, too. Check out Laura's website.
With Gratitude,
Michelle Ulrich
Featured Article: Your Niche, Your Ideal Client and Your Message
Written by Michelle Ulrich
Why should you think about your niche, your ideal client and your message? If you don’t and your competitor does, guess who will get the client or close a sale? Your competitor will. These three areas will set you apart, create your unique selling proposition, and differentiate yourself from your competition.
As you work your way through each of these steps, you will begin to unfold the reasons why someone would want to do business with you versus your competitor.
Before we begin exploring your niche, let’s discover your passions. Your passions will tell you more about yourself and what to focus on in your business than you thought possible. Write down your current passions, things that you love to do, things that you could spend all day on if you had the time and no one interrupted you. Next, write down passions you used to feel that way about. Finally, write down things you think you would love to learn, things that you think would absolutely love to do someday. Don’t cheat yourself by writing things down you think others want you to do or explore. This is for you and you alone!
Grab a piece of paper, make three columns with the headings: 1) Current passions, 2) Past passions, and 3) Future passions (to explore). Write down as many things that come into your mind. Try not to let your mind tell you that you can’t write something down—write whatever comes to your mind. Don’t let negative self-talk enter your mind and keep you from writing something down. It could be the best stuff that comes out of your brain! Your passions don't even have to do with business.
Now, look at all of your passions and see if there are any items that might correlate, like a child’s matching game. Draw a line connecting the items you think you’d like to match up even if you think there is no way they could realistically work together. Sit with this, sleep on it and then ask yourself if there are any possibilities or creative ways to match up these passions in your business. If you still don’t see it, ask others what they think. Be careful to ask others who are non-judgmental, and impartial. Seek out a SCORE counselor at www.score.org and ask the counselor what they think. Asking family and friends may work if they know you and are open-minded. Sometimes, those closest to us can be the most closed-minded. You may even ask a child, a high school student, or college counselor what they think.
Once you’ve determined your passions, you can layer on your skills or business expertise to add a new dimension. Let’s try this example:
Michelle’s current passion is speaking on Virtual Assistance, her past passion was writing poetry and a future passion she would like to explore is traveling. She could match these up and combine them by speaking on Virtual Assistance as she travels throughout the country. In addition, she could write poems or do creative writing in her speeches, her Virtual Assistant practice, or as a ghost writer for her clients.
Identify Your Niche Specialty
Your niche could be the type of work you perform or the industry in which you would like to work. So, don’t get caught up on an industry type. You can confidently say to those who say you ‘should’ have a niche, “Yes, I work in [type of work] or [industry] as my niche.”
- Identify your niche (type of work), then narrow it down further to specific areas of concentration
- Academia – theses, term papers, reports, research…
- Event Planning – small, medium, large
- Corporate, small business, individual
- Themes, holiday, other
- Ezines
- Graphic design/Desktop publishing - advanced, intermediate, simple
- Real estate – transaction coordination, marketing, listings…
- Shopping carts
- Transcription – general, court, medical – dental, surgery…
- Audio, digital, DVD, video…
- Travel – research, bookings – air, car, cruises, hotel, destination
- Web design – advanced, intermediate, simple
Write down your top three specialties.
Identify Your Niche Industry
- Identify your niche industry then narrow it down further to specific areas of concentration.
- Animals – veterinarian clinics, breeders, pet sitters, dog groomers…
- Authors – fiction, non-fiction, children’s books, cookbooks…
- Coaches – business, corporate, life, relationship, financial, parent, holistic…
- Environment – entrepreneurs, builders, solar professionals…
- Food – caterers, bakeries, dessert diners, and mom-n-pop deli’s…
- Real estate – luxury homes, commercial, residential, horse property…
Write down your top three industries in which you’d like to work.
Your Ideal Client
- Identify your ideal client. Get as specific as if you were describing your best friend, or the neighbor next door.
- Gender – female
- Age – 30-60 years of age
- Values – easy going, passionate, excited about their business, fun, want to be connected and is aware of what is going on in their industry, and wants to stay on the cutting edge as they grow their business.
- Profession (s) – authors, coaches, speakers
- Financial – financially fit and make an excess of $50,000 per year
- Health – fit and work at it every day
- Spiritual – doesn’t matter as long as they respect my different points of view
Describe your ideal client. Let your imagination run wild. If you describe your ideal client as if he or she is sitting across from you while you have a cup of coffee or tea, that is the perfect set up/scenario. Pretend you are conversing with him/her; write down on your paper how you would describe him/her as if you were introducing him/her to your best friend. Don’t leave out important details like being able to afford you, they respect you as a person and as a professional, etc.
So, now, your ideal client should be clear in your mind. Example: “My ideal client is between 30-60 years old, a female author, coach, and/or speaker, who shares my values. She is both financially and healthfully fit, in addition to being respectful of my spiritual boundaries.
Your Message
- Write out your 30-second message, read it aloud to yourself, read it aloud to your family, then your friends, then your colleagues, and finally, to strangers who could be your potential clients. Rehearse it in the mirror to see how it looks, record it to hear how it sounds, and keep improving until you feel you’ve nailed it and it doesn’t sound rehearsed. Find passion in your voice when saying what you do; others listening will become excited, too.
Example: “I specialize in working with authors, coaches, and speakers who struggle to keep up with e-commerce and new technologies. I take the struggle off their shoulders, relieving them of the stress. I implement their needs to help them grow their bottom line without having to learn all the new technologies themselves.”
Try this for your business. “I specialize in working with [fill in the blank] who struggle to keep up with [fill in the blank]. I implement their needs to help them grow their bottom line without having to [fill in the blank].
You are now prepared to go forth and prospect for clients. You know your passions, niche (type of work or industry), who your ideal client is and you also have a clear message. Now, you can help others to be empowered to help you find and refer the right clients to you without hesitation.
Go with passion and excitement—it’s yours for the taking!
About the Author
Michelle Ulrich is the Chief Villager and founder of The Virtual Nation™, an educational destination for Virtual Professionals around the globe. Michelle is an avid believer in giving back to her industry and she does this by offering coaching, teleclasses, resources, and tools, in addition to providing a community of learning, a nation of culture, and a virtual village for her members. Education is the foundation of her organization as well as for her own personal and professional development. Michelle is a community college instructor teaching a Virtual Assistant certificate program online. Aside from coaching and teaching, she is also a speaker and soon-to-be author on the subject of Virtual Assistance. She maintains her private practice where she specializes in working with authors, coaches and speakers who struggle to keep up with e-commerce and new technologies. Clients can check out her services at www.michelleulrich.com, while Virtual Assistants can find her over at www.thevirtualnation.com. She can be reached by telephone at (916) 536-9799 in the Pacific time zone.
© 2007 Michelle Ulrich, The Virtual Nation™, All Rights Reserved.
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Upcoming Events
January 8, 2008
The 5 Biggest Mistakes to Avoid When Writing hosted by Susan Borkin
Tuesday, January 8, 2008 12:00 noon – 1:00 pm Pacific
To learn more or register: www.susanborkin.com/teleseminar.htm
January 12, 2008 (in-person workshop, Corta Madera, CA)
Loving Your Body for Good!
Why Diets Are Out and Healthy Body Esteem Is In!
What would it take for you to fall in love…
with your own body?
How would your life change if you loved yourself unconditionally?
How much would you pay to take away the pain and make this happen?
Would you pay $134 to attend a full-day workshop to fall in love with your own body and love who looks back at you in the mirror each day? We know this price sounds ridiculously cheap. The reason it is so inexpensive is that it is a gift from a woman who has been there; she’s been where you are now and is living proof that her system works. This is her New Year’s gift to you – a gift that you will take with you throughout your lifetime! This is a one-time offer and the results have been so amazing that this price may never be available again. In fact, at this very workshop, a live testimonial will be given from a man who is flying in from half way across the world (Iceland) to share his success story with all of the workshop attendees! You can ask him any question you’d like about his real life success. Won’t you join us to find out how to transform yourself into a confident, successful human being who is ready to share your own gifts with the world?
Saturday, January 12, 2008 10:00 am - 5:00 pm Pacific
To learn more or register: http://laurafenamore.com/bodyesteemworkshop.html
P.S. Michelle Ulrich be there helping out, too, so if you want to meet up with her or have questions, give Michelle a call! 916-536-9799 or email her at michelle [at] thevirtualnation.com (be sure to replace the [at] with @ when emailing.
January 15, 2008
Grow Your Business,
Not Your Waistline hosted by The Virtual Nation
Tuesday, January 15, 2008 10:00 am - 11:00 am Pacific
To learn more or register: http://www.thevirtualnation.com/teleseminar.htm
Announcing our New Marketplace Partner
The Virtual Nation and FileMaker have just formed a new marketplace partnership and we'd like to showcase their product, VA Exchange.
Do you have multiple computers that you work from but need a tool to 'keep it all together?' This new software will help you manage the workflow with ease, security and peace of mind. Even if you have one computer, you can still highly benefit from this product.
Benefits to you, clients and other colleagues:
- Simple software that is easy to use
- Low monthly cost
- Collaborate with your clients, colleagues, and/or subcontractors
- Share documents
- Access your documents from anywhere in the world
- "Have documents, will travel" - Can you say, "Vacation?"
- Secure your documents
- Potential viruses
- Disaster in your own home (earthquake, fire, flood, hurricane, tornado, etc.)
- Back up of your documents with redundant servers
Don't ever have to say:
"I lost a file with
client social security
numbers. I’m being sued."
"Someone broke into my
network! Did they get into
my confidential files?"
"Who released
information to the
newspaper? I didn’t know
anyone had access to it!"
"My laptop was stolen! All of my client files were on it, now what?"
With VA exchange, you don't have to worry.
Non-member pricing is 5% off retail
To learn more and get access to the discount code: download a brochure (72kb PDF).
Member pricing is 10% off retail
*NOTE: Virtual Nation Members will receive special pricing and links inside of our forum.
If you are currently NOT a PAID member,
you may sign up and receive your extra 5% discount right away.
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Resources
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Advertising Disclaimer:
The Virtual NationT does not represent or endorse the accuracy or reliability of any of the paid advertisements above or the quality of any products, information, or other materials displayed, purchased, or obtained by you as a result of an offer in connection with any ad. You are responsible for handling your own due diligence before purchasing any product or service.
Thank You for Joining Me!
**IMPORTANT**
You are receiving this ezine because you subscribed on our website or purchased one of our products or services. If you've received this ezine from a friend, don't forget to sign up for this ezine on our website. We changed ezine delivery company earlier this year, so you may need to sign up again at http://www.profcs.com/app/join.asp?merchantid=96717
With Gratitude,
Michelle Ulrich
Want to share your gratitude? Mosey on over to the Gratitude Club and check it out. |
