Issue 6 - May 10, 2003

Editor: Lynne Bullen
lynne@associatedsecretarial.com.au

Publisher: Associated Secretarial
Copyright © 2003 Associated Secretarial

In this issue:

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1. Editorial

Hello again. Good to see you back and a warm welcome to our new subscribers.

Although Wedge (our beautiful Australian Wedge Tailed Eagle, and our logo) is an Aussie, most of the information you will see in this and coming issues is relevant to small business, no matter where in the world you live.

Where we can, we'll provide a few links that relate to subjects discussed in each issue. If you know of some useful and relevant websites you'd like to share with us, please do. We'd love to hear from you. Not only will you be helping me, you'll be helping others in your situation ... a big THANKS in advance.

In the last issue, we talked about Marketing and Advertising, two very important aspects of running a successful business. Since that issue, our Member, Birgitt found a rather informative article on Marketing. This article, entitled "Reaping The Amazing Benefits of Writing E-zine Articles" by Bonnie Jo Davis. It appears later in this issue. It's a good idea to do your research on any subject from several aspects.

Remember, collecting information for the sake of it is not a healthy work practice. Research and read, but don't keep all of it. Use just what suits you and discard the rest.

In this issue we'll talk about looking after yourself and your health. You can't run a business if you're not well. We'll also talk about your personal safety and security, and cultivating relationships. So, let's get started!

Lynne
lynne@associatedsecretarial.com.au

2. Article: So, You Want To Be In Business? Part 6: Starting Out - the Basics

==> Taking Care of Yourself and Your Health

Many of us adopt unhealthy work practices without thinking. Some examples: Skipping lunch. Not drinking enough water during the workday. Not taking frequent and regular breaks. Creating unnecessary pressures by procrastinating. If you'd like to read a little something about procrastination click on this link:
http://www.adelaide.edu.au/counselling_centre/brochures/procrastination.html

To run a business successfully, you must first be healthy. Many businesses fail because their operators don't take care of themselves.

The next few paragraphs are matters of common sense, a sense that is sometimes pushed aside, also without thinking.

Scheduling regular breaks, exercise, eating and drinking should always be included in your workday. Keeping healthy doesn't mean that you have to rush out and join a gym. Taking a regular walk every day, for a minimum of 30 minutes should be part of your daily routine. You can do this before, after or during your working day.

Get your walking gear on, head out and walk in any direction for 15 minutes. Turn around and come back. Take note of how far you went. The next time you walk that route, you'll find that you managed another block or so in the same timeframe. If walking for just 30 minutes a day is all you do for yourself to keep fit, then do it.

While you're at work, don't work for more than two hours before taking just five minutes off for a few stretching exercises. Walk around the house, go outside and play with the dog, make a cup of tea or coffee. This will also give your eyes a break from the computer screen.

Your business may require you to sit or stand for long periods at your workbench or at a sales counter. Take your breaks stretch. Click on this link for a sample of exercises you can do if you don't know where to start. http://www.healthworks.com.au/publications/wellwork/02-06junp6.pdf

If you're not yet fitting these very necessary items into your work day, you may well need to review your Time Management skills. Read the article on Time Management by Bill Bennett at this link: http://www.linuxtoday.com.au/r/article/jsp/sid/10765. It's worth checking out some of the other articles on this site as well.

Safe work practices, like having your desk and chair at the right height for you, are paramount. Make sure you place your desk where the natural light is best, but not so that light reflects onto your computer screen. There's an article that addresses lighting in the workplace at http://www.ergoweb.com/news/detail.cfm?id=730, entitled "Stiff Neck, Headaches, Productivity Down? Check the Lights" It's certainly worth a read. For more information on ergonomics, call up this site: http://www.ergoweb.com/news/

Make sure you stop for lunch, unless you're on a very tight deadline for a client or customer, but don't make this a habit.

Drink plenty of water during the day. Drinking too many cups of tea and coffee can leave you dehydrated. You need water as well. Six to eight glasses per day is the minimum for a properly hydrated body. If you don't, you'll become tired and less efficient. Don't eat or drink at your desk. Get up and walk to the kitchen or sit at the table. Not only will it give you a little break, it will help you to save your computer's keyboard and other expensive equipment from expensive accidents. Who wants a keyboard full of coffee? Or worse, to electrocute yourself.

If these tips sound a little frivolous and unimportant, then don't be surprised if you feel wrung out and tired at the end of each day.

Take care of yourself and your business will take care of you!

==> Personal safety and security

If you work alone, either from your home office, or an office you've set up elsewhere, there are some things you need to look at in the course of your workday.

If you're set up in an office at a business premises, be aware of your surroundings, what and who is where. If the person who has just walked through your door is a fist time visitor, it's usually a good idea to "pretend" that there is someone else present in the rear office. Be wary of "strange" phone calls or approaches. If you receive a phone call that rings your alarm bells, you can hang up. Best not to enter into any conversation or give any information.

If your office is at home, build a rapport with your new clients before allowing them to visit your home, and be careful about going to someone else's home rather than his/her office. Find a mutually convenient time and place to meet your prospective client the first time, saying that you'll be out and about either "picking up" files or products and supplies, or "delivering work" to another client. Suggest meeting at a nearby shopping mall or similar. This will give you a chance to assess whether or not the person is genuine in the need for goods or services you are able to supply.

Another way to stay safe if you're working from home, is not to have your physical address on your business cards or other stationery, or anywhere else you may advertise. A Post Office Box is the safe way to go. If your local council or government allows you to hang a shingle, think about who it might attract. My choice would be not to. The last thing you want is someone unknown to you just turning up on your doorstep expecting to be invited in.

==> Cultivating relationships

Building solid and mutually beneficial relationships with your clients is the only way you'll keep them.

A person who comes to you for your product or service is a "shopper" or a "sampler" of your product or service. They won't become your customer/client unless they return. Make each enquiry, whether personal or by phone, an experience the potential client will remember as a positive experience. If you do, you'll be
rewarded with on-goiong business.

Take a little time on each occasion you see your customer to talk about things that interest them. There's always the odd individual who doesn't like to talk anything but business, but you'll find that most will offer information when engaged in conversation.

Little things like favourite football team, new mum or dad, first time grandparents. People love to talk about themselves and their families. Why not take advantage. If you don't retain this type of information well, here's a clue. When your client has left, go to his/her file and jot down a few details or an outline of your
conversation. You can use it to begin a conversation the next time he or she returns.

Now, I hear you saying, "Conversation! I don't have time to think, let alone have a chat with my clients/ customers!" If you're serious about making sure you're clients stay with you instead of going elsewhere, then take note. If you treat your clients well, with respect, and engage them in a little personal conversation, it will let them know that you are genuinely interested in them.

Remember, you need to be open, too; but don't divulge too much, and never, never talk about your other clients or business contacts (unless it's to recommend or praise). As juicy as some stories can be, just begging to be told over and over again ... DON'T ... you could ruin your business.

Another thing you might like to try is sending a handwritten thank you if your client has steered business your way.

Look at your clients' accounts at the time of billing. If a client has given you a substantial increase this month, give him/her a discount.

On the subject of money. If some clients are late paying you, send them a friendly reminder. Next should be a personal telephone call to find out if your client is experiencing any major problems, which will shortly be overcome.

Just as an example, I had a client who, after the initial invoice, a reminder and a phone call, the money had not been forthcoming. I asked the question, "If you're experiencing difficulty with your finances at the moment, is there some way I might be able to assist you ... say, having you pay in instalments until the debt is cleared?" The answer was quite a surprise. My client's mother had been diagnosed with stomach cancer, and he was trying to help the rest of his family come from the UK to see her before she died. His finances were definitely stretched. We were able to come to an agreement whereby he did pay in monthly instalments. As it turned out, I met two of his relatives while they were visiting, and one of them is now a client. I transcribe audio files for him. He emails them as .dss files and I email back the finished product!

Never be afraid to ask for your money. Just remember, there is usually a genuine reason that a debt has not been cleared. Your clients will appreciate your concern and your understanding.

Now, I know there are people out there who are unscrupulous and will "rob you blind", but as you continue in your business, depending on the relationships you cultivate and maintain, you'll soon be able to tell the bad from the good. Not always, but most of the time.

Your suppliers are also people with whom you need to build a good rapport and maintain mutually beneficial relationships. There's no reason why you shouldn't develop and nurture a relationship where you each know a little about the other's personal life. Things like their football team, the daughter's law degree, the grandmother's 90th birthday or their favourite restaurant.

If you're happy with your supplier (say, your stationery supplier, your courier service, the person who maintains your computer and other office equipment) recommend them to your clients.

There are all sorts of personal subjects about which you can talk with your clients and your suppliers which would not be considered overstepping the mark. Keep your regular "chats" short and interesting. Never get too personal. You always have the opportunity to end the conversation by saying that you have a deadline to meet for another client.

Well, here we are at the end of Part 6. Remember that to run a successful business there's much more to it that being able to provide a product or a service. Cultivate relationships, take care of Occupational Health and Safety Issues, and maintain a healthy lifestyle with your body's needs factored into the working day.

Thanks for staying with us. If you've any comments to make about what you've read, we would really like your feedback. Just email info@associatedsecretarial.com.au

In our next issue, we'll discuss the importance of reliable support systems and their importance. You may be working solo, but you can't do it all alone? Make sense? Confused? Please join us again in two weeks and find out what we mean!

Until then, take care of yourself and those you love.

See you in two weeks!

Lynne

Lynne Bullen is a successful businesswoman whose talents include Public Relations; Editorial and Commercial Copywriting; Design and Facilitation of Seminars, Forums and Workshops, and helping small business to grow and prosper.Lynne Bullen Strategies was registered and commenced business in 1991 to offer VA services to the small business owner. She is also the Founder of Associated Secretarial ...the perfect solution. Lynne is happy to share her knowledge to help others achieve their goals. lynne@associatedsecretial.com.au

3. Resources

KartOO is a metasearch engine with visual display interfaces. When you click on OK, KartOO launches the query to a set of search engines, gathers the results, compiles them and represents them in a series of interactive maps through a proprietary algorithm - http://www.kartoo.com/

SCORE is a small business resource site for U.S. based small business. From the site "Through free, small business counselling and support services, SCORE volunteers are here to keep your business going and growing." http://www.score.org/

If you have multiple instant messaging programs on your computer, here's a great program that allows you to use MS Messenger, ICQ, Yahoo Messenger and IRC simultaneously. http://www.ceruleanstudios.com/trillian/index.html

4. Article: Reaping The Amazing Benefits of Writing E-zine Articles

Marketing on a budget is tough. This is a universal truth that all small business owners face. The most effective small business frugal marketing strategy available is writing and submitting articles to web sites, e-zines, magazines and newsletters. Listed below are some of the amazing benefits you can gain by using this technique.

1) Article creation and submission is a totally free marketing method! The only cost is a few hours of your time to write an article and offer it for publication.

2) Well written articles position the author as an expert while increasing credibility and educating readers about their business, services and products. Many internet gurus started their careers by writing and publishing articles on the internet.

3) Article authors are granted a by-line with each article that will allow readers to click through to a web site where they can be converted to e-zine subscribers for paying customers.

4) A good article can be used over and over again when customized for different audiences thereby reducing the need for you to write new articles as often.

5) Many publications will archive your article on their web site giving you a lasting method of promotion.

6) Writing and submitting articles will help you obtain incoming links to your web site. These are not "link farm" quality links - these are the highest quality links available and they affect your search engine rankings accordingly

7) Your article can be published on your web site, optimized for search engines and submitted accordingly in order to increase your search engine traffic.

8) The more articles you write and publish on your web site the longer your visitors will stay and explore your site.

9) You can use your published articles to reach potential affiliates or joint venture partners who will, in turn, promote your business for you.

10) In addition to promoting your business, services and products you can write articles to promote your favorite affiliate program to supplement your income.

Even if you have little writing talent you can hire a ghostwriter to create an effective, informative article using your byline and then you can use that article to bring in more visitors to your web site, more subscribers to your newsletter and more paying customers to your business. The key is understanding that a well-written,
entertaining and informational article is worth more than a paid advertisement in any publication. As your marketing budget grows you can add emphasis to your article by purchasing a small e-zine ad in the publication for the same date your article will be published.

Writing and submitting articles is a free promotion tool, but it does take time. It will take several hours to submit an article to every available submission site and it can take six to eight weeks for publication. However, once your article is published it will create a long lasting stream of targeted visitors to your site that no other promotion method can accomplish. With each subsequent submission the process will be faster and easier.

© Davis Virtual Assistance, 2003. About The Author Bonnie Jo Davis is an experienced shoestring marketer who has handled article submission projects for herself and her clients for over eight years. For more information about article submission and a free excerpt of her new e-book "Articles That Sell" visit
http://www.ArticlesThatSell.com

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From the Eagle's Nest: Copyright © 2003 Lynne Bullen and Associated Secretarial (articles by other individuals copyrighted as indicated). Prior to using Lynne's articles please e-mail her at lynne@associatedsecretarial.com.au - she will provide her bio and a URL link. Thank you.

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