VACOC Monthly Guest Expert Teleseminar Series:

The Top 10 Mistakes That are Killing Your Brand

Presented by Rob Frankel

DATE: Thursday, October 18, 2007
TIME: 5pm PST / 6pm MST / 7pm CST / 8pm EST
LENGTH: 60 minutes (please call in 10 min. early)
COST: FREE!

This class is open to all Virtual Assistants and business owners. Feel free to invite your colleagues and clients.

“Branding is not about getting your prospects to choose you over your competition; it’s about getting your prospects to see you as the only solution to their problem.” ™ –Rob Frankel

Branding is a lot more than just a name and a logo. It’s how users and prospects are turned into evangelists for your business. But even more important than what you know about branding is what you don’t know. It’s costing you real business and real dollars. Branding expert Rob Frankel will be telling you–yes, you– the 10 ways you are currently killing your brand. He’ll also tell you how to fix every one of them.

Join us on Thursday, October 18, for a special hour with Rob Frankel, author of the groundbreaking bestseller, Revenge of Brand X: How to Build a Big Time Brand on the Web or Anywhere Else.  Rob Frankel has been called “the best branding expert on the planet,” advising, consulting and speaking to Fortune 500 companies, funded start-ups and major media such as CBS, CNBC, ABC, NBC, FOX, WSJ, NYT, LAT and many more.

Branding is relevant to every business, and to every part of your business. Rob is the only branding consultant who can show you how creating and implementing brand strategy directly increases your bottom line revenues–and profitability. Be sure to catch a spot at what is sure to be one of our most fascinating, eye-opening events.

Register Now!

About Rob Frankel

Rob Frankel has been called “the best branding expert on the planet,” advising, consulting and speaking to Fortune 500 companies, funded start-ups and major media such as CBS, CNBC, ABC, NBC, FOX, the Wall Street Journal, New York Time, LA TImes, and many more. (For clips, visit http://www.robfrankel.com/videos.html).

Rob is the only branding consultant who can show you how creating and implementing brand strategy directly increases your bottom line revenues–and profitability.

He is also the author of the ground-breaking best-seller, The Revenge of Brand X: How to Build a Big Time Brand on the Web or Anywhere Else, (ISBN 0967991218) and founder/authority on the revenue-generating Branded Community® via http://www.i-legions.com. Details at http://www.robfrankel.com.

There has been a sometimes heated discussion this past week across several blogs concerning the definition of a Virtual Assistant.  The argument was between Virtual Assistance business owners and contractors to virtual assistance staffing agencies.  I threw in my dollar’s worth of opinion because I’m convinced that these discussions are making history by defining exactly what is a virtual assistance practice. This industry will be as prominent as any other profession you can think of in five years. It’s the job of Virtual Assistants to make sure that we distinguish ourselves from contractors to staffing agencies just like an accountant distinguishes himself from the folks who train for six weeks to work at Jackson Hewitt or H&R Block at tax time.

One side of the argument is from virtual staffing agency workers.  They see themselves as virtual assistants.   They argue that because they do their work remotely, that makes them virtual assistants.  Many participating in the discussion work for Team Double-Click (TDC).  TDC does the marketing to get the clients and then farms their clients out to remote temps.  TDC’s clients pay TDC; TDC pays the temps.  TDC is a temporary staffing agency employer similar to the famous Kelly Services; however, Kelly Services deducts Federal Income Tax, SSI, etc. from the paychecks of their employees.  TDC does not and there is no doubt that the IRS will have a field day with them at some point.  TDC’s wages are not up to par with Kelly Services either, even without taking the lawfully required deductions as an employer.

One commenter on the side of remote temps stated that everything is relative and a definition depends upon your point of view.  I’m afraid that’s one of the problems with our society today. Many things are seen as being relative. There are few absolutes. I believe that a Virtual Assistance business can and must be defined in absolute terms.

And so the other side of the argument is from Virtual Assistants.  Virtual Assistants are business owners, not simply remote workers.  They take on the responsibilities, risks and rewards of an entrepreneur.  Virtual Assistants set their own rates, do their own billing, find their own clients through their own marketing methods.  They make the decisions about how their business operates.  A Virtual Assistant is the professional who does the work and therefore, is the one who gets paid and not through an intermediary.  Virtual Assistants have no supervisors because they are the business owners.   They pay their own taxes and make their own capital outlays.  They consult with prospective clients to instill trust and to present the value of working with a Virtual Assistant.

Virtual Assistants commonly have resources other than themselves.  The business world is not a vacuum and most companies cannot run effectively or efficiently without outside resources.  As business owners, Virtual Assistants have a contingency plan for emergencies and their clients are not so utterly dependent upon them that they couldn’t run their business for a while without them.  After all, the clients are business owners, too.

Most importantly, the true Virtual Assistant collaborates with the client based on the idea that both the VA and the client will benefit and move both their companies to a higher level.   If the collaboration is substandard, and it’s the VA’s fault, the VA can expect to lose that client.  The other side of the coin is that the VA has the option of firing the client.

Personally, I don’t take on a client if I’m not sure I can give them super-standard service.  I’ve also had to get rid of a client because the client was unwilling to even try any of my suggestions, let alone implement them.  That’s the beauty of owning my company.  I hold the power.

I welcome further discussion of this topic but be warned.  Some of the remarks made on the other blogs were sarcastic and some people resorted to personal attacks.  I will tolerate neither in this discussion.  My position is that once those types of comments are made in an argument, the one hurling invective has lost the argument. Please keep your comments on a professional level and I will be glad to post them.

I want to let you know about another upcoming FREE teleseminar sponsored by the Virtual Assistance Chamber of Commerce.

VACOC Monthly Guest Expert Teleseminar Series:

You’d Protect a Human Child, Why Not a “Brain Child?” Intellectual Property for Solopreneurs

Presented by Nina Kaufman, Esq., Wise Counsel Press

Date: Thursday, June 21, 2007
Time: 5:00 p.m. PST/6:00 p.m. MST/7:00 p.m. CST/8:00 p.m. EDT
Length: Sixty minutes
Cost: FREE!

This class is open to all Virtual Assistants, Small Business Owners and Independent Service Providers. Feel free to invite your colleagues and clients.

Do you know the difference between a trademark, a copyright, and a domain name — and the rights each one entitles you to?

Do you want to avoid messy (and expensive) disputes with other business owners?

Want to know how to protect your valuable intellectual capital so that you’re the one to profit from it?

Just as human children need our protection, our “brain children”– or intellectual property — also need our protection. Unfortunately, solo professionals often don’t realize (before it’s too late) that they had protectable intellectual property and what they could have done to protect it.

Given the fast pace at which information flies in the Digital Age, forethought and intellectual property planning is absolutely necessary.

Join me to learn how you can identify your “brain children” and protect yourself economically. A few of the scenarios that we’ll cover include:

• What’s the difference between a copyright, a trademark, and a domain name?
• Can I get a trademark once I have a domain name? And what if someone tries to get a trademark using my business name?
• What if my articles appear on someone else’s website (or blog) without permission?
• Who owns the program that I collaborated on with someone else?
• Can I use ideas in my business that I generated for a client?

And much more!

Free giveaways will be provided to four lucky call participants, so be sure to register today to reserve your spot!

Sign up here: Teleclass registration.

About Nina Kaufman: Nina L. Kaufman, Esq., is a rare combination: a small business attorney, entrepreneur, and stand-up comedienne. Through her humor, wisdom, and legal acumen, she helps entrepreneurs and small businesses protect their companies and develop a solid legal foundation for growth and success. She specializes in working with service-based businesses. Her mission is to help demystify legal concepts and mumbo-jumbo so that business owners can make smart legal decisions, protect their companies, and save money . . . wisely.

For over a decade, she has worked with solopreneurs and small business owners through her NYC law firm, Paltrowitz & Kaufman, LLP. A prolific writer and legal blogger, Nina is the founder and President of Wise Counsel Press, LLC, which produces legal information products for entrepreneurs. She blogs regularly on business partnership and partnering relationships in her Business Partnership Central blog and is a regular contributor to Entrepreneur magazine’s new online portal for women business owners, WomenEntrepreneur.com. Her new book, The Key Questions: 100 Questions to Ask Before Going into Business with Someone Else, is soon to be released through iUniverse and will be available online through Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.com. She is married and lives in New York City.

Sign up for the teleseminar! I think you’ll enjoy it and don’t forget . . . it’s FREE!

Here’s one more reason to love the Virtual Assistance Chamber of Commerce (VACOC): on a regular basis, usually monthly, an expert is scheduled for a free teleseminar. Yes, that’s right - it’s free! What’s even better is that it’s open not only to the members of the VACOC, but also to their colleagues, clients and other independent service providers.

This month’s guest expert is Jim Logan, a marketing consultant. The title of the teleseminar: How to Insulate Yourself from Your Competition, Protect the Price of Your Services and Avoid Becoming a Commodity.

Date: Thursday, May 17, 2007

Time: 5:00 p.m. PT/6:00 p.m. MT/7:00 p.m. CT/8:00 p.m. ET

The teleseminar is for one hour followed by questions and answers.

Some of what will be discussed:

• Three things prospective clients think when deciding to purchase your services
• The most important thing to highlight when describing your services
• Why the least valuable thing you have to offer your customer is your time
• How to increase your hourly rate without billing by the hour
• How to differentiate your service from your competition
• How to attract your ideal client

I’m looking forward to hearing Jim speak! As a business owner, I’m always looking for help on how to improve my company and my services. If you want the same for your business, then come! Please register at http://www.virtualassistantnetworking.com/teleclass-register.htm

If you’d like to learn more about Jim Logan, please visit http://www.jslogan.com/?page_id=2

When I initially joined the Virtual Assistance Chamber of Commerce (VACOC - http://www.virtualassistantnetworking.com), I was very new to the “business owner” world. I only stayed for a short time and then resigned my membership. I just didn’t have time to correspond with the folks on the forums.

A few months later, I realized that I didn’t have time not to correspond with the folks on the forums. The wealth of information, wisdom, camaraderie, support and constructive criticism were essential to my company. Since I’ve returned to the VACOC, my business practices and procedures have improved. The image I project has improved. My business, on the whole, has improved.

I won’t say that I owe it all to the VACOC because that would be denigrating my abilities and talents; however, what I do owe to the VACOC is confidence to go forward. And if you don’t have confidence to go forward in your business, you might as well close the doors.

My logo has gone through a few iterations and this blog is a good way to explain just what my logo is. When it came time to choose a logo, I couldn’t decide. Then I came across a brooch that my grandmother left me. That was it! There was my logo.

I liked the first iteration but something wasn’t right. The second was better, but when people kept asking me about the “little alien face” I knew the image, and my branding, was not quite coming across. Then came the third - perfect! It’s a beautiful representation of my grandmother’s pin. I think she and my grandfather, both born in Scotland, would have been honored. And my logo is to honor them.