How Strategies Can Cause You to Lose Everything!

by Michelle Hill-Smith
www.OnTaskAssistants.com

Yes. You heard me clearly. Strategies can actually cause you to lose everything you've worked so hard to build. But, they can also cause you to find gold at the end of the rainbow. How is that possible you ask? 

A simple theory deserves a simple answer. 

When devising a plan that includes a number of steps in order to achieve something it requires transitions and executions that are clear, concise and logical. Not clearly estimating your next move, taking the wrong step or heading in the wrong direction on a path that has been drawn out and successfully proven can either alter your route or completely wipe it out.



That path is your strategy.

At this point in both my personal and business life, I am making a few major changes that will affect the way I live and the way I do business.

That's actually pretty life changing, considering everything that I do now is centered around those two elements. One of the strategies I've taken on (which I must say is pretty drastic) is to pay off any lingering debt in a very small amount of time. Now, some of you may say, if funds aren't sufficient enough to even make ends meet on time, how is it even possible to do a speedy debt-erase?

I'm not crazy. I thought about the same thing. However, I also considered the track I've been on for the past 2 months which is pretty good. My bills are caught up and my funds are steady. So, I began thinking of a fool proof way to make a hefty purchase for some software that will help my business in so many wonderful ways.

I begin thinking about the strategy I'll use to get my purchase without ruining my life or my business. The scary thought and realistic factor is that I'm not certain how long my funds will be steady. In these last couple of months there were sooooo many things arising in our family life that required large amounts of money each time to take care of them. However, by the grace of God we were able to bounce back and get on track.

Having confidence in your own strategy.

Many of you know that I work with aspiring entrepreneurs and small business owners day in and day out. Therefore, I get to hear a lot of success and failure stories. Often times, I hear more failure stories than success stories. The success stories are pretty simple. Straight to the point. The ones that have them, are your typical, high level of patience king or queen. They are very detail oriented and gravely afraid of errors.

Now, the stories of failure are always coming from those that followed the wrong person, created an entrance or exit strategy with no backbone or guts or they just failed to create one all together. 

Obviously, that's a definite road to failure. But, what about those that actually spend countless hours trying to figure out the best way to go about something only to end up losing it all anyway...after the fact?

How is it possible to have a bad strategy? Simple. A bad strategy is one that is filled with reality and delusion. You can't have the two. Sometimes, we want something so bad, we're willing to allow our minds to become filled with possibilities instead of realities. It causes a shift on our routes to our goals that actually begin to look doable. This means that we think about something so much until we start to see it and eventually believe it can be done.

What a setup! Plans have to have room for error and obstacles. However, just like the steps you'd take to achieve your goals need to make sense, the errors and obstacles you may possibly encounter need to do the same. For instance, if I'm walking on a tight rope right above a puddle of muddy water, 2 miles away from an ocean. I shouldn't expect to fall in the ocean if it's 2 miles away. Unless I'm flying. I think you get my point.

You see, even though we may follow a strategy and get what we want with success, it doesn't guarantee a complete dodging of the possible consequences that may come after. That's the game you play when you have to make decisions. This is why it's important to create strategies that make sense.

There were exactly 3 strategies I conjured up in hopes of one of them being the smarter and most beneficial route to my new purchase.

STRATEGY 1:  Put away a medium amount of money a week which will lead to being able to purchase my software faster. 
POSSIBLE DOWNFALL: I would have to have a tight 2 weeks of not spending extra funds due to the 1st of the month being near the time I would be able to make the purchase.

STRATEGY 2: Make the purchase right out by using a lump sum of funds.
POSSIBLE DOWNFALL: Depletion of extra funds causing no funds for the week and week's end.


STRATEGY 3: Put away small amounts of money until I am able to make my purchase 3 months from now.
POSSIBLE DOWNFALL: Temptation to periodically use the funds for something else resulting in having to start over each time. This will lead to a high possibility in me giving up all together.

By now, I'm sure you've figured out that having a strategy, will not cause you to lose everything. Or will it? It's really a catch 22. Outlining a strategy is one of the most perfect ways to meet a gratifying end. But, I will warn you that though gratifying, consequences are almost always there to greet you at the end if desperation had its hand in it.

What do you think? How would you handle this situation? Share your experiences and thoughts. Maybe it will help me make the right decision. ;)

The Top 5 FREE Tools to Run Your Business on a Shoe-string Budget

by Michelle Hill-Smith

www.OnTaskAssistants.com

Naturally, my mind is huge. Whether or not the money is there, I want to make it BIG!  Have you ever wanted to do something so bad, to where you'd do anything to make it happen or you sit there thinking of every way possible to bring it to life? I've been there many times. I would have this project in mind with an absolute structure that it had to have in order for it to work. Then, I'd get so upset when I realized that I couldn't afford to make it happen. If you were like me back then, you'd give up. Throw in the towel. It's done. It's over.

The good news is that today there are soooo many tools and resources that will help you not only launch a successful business endeavor and/or marketing campaign, but they will also help you to run an organized company and appear extremely professional to your customers.

If you follow me on my Facebook Page or Blog, you'll notice that I love to share information freely. I always feel that if someone were willing to share with me back when I was getting started, I wouldn't have given up so many times. So, below are 5 of the top tools that I use in my organization that are 100% FREE to use. 

If you're in the start up phase of your company with a few to no clients or customers, there is absolutely NO NEED to pay for programs or software to house business that's not even there yet.

HERE ARE MY TOP AND HIGHLY-RECOMMENDED FAVORITES:

1) www.Dropbox.com 

2) www.Zoho.com 

3) www.Google.com/voice

4) www.Glasscubes.com 

5) www.waveaccounting.com 

So, as you can see, simply starting from somewhere is most important. The money you spend to "start" your business can be better used elsewhere like in marketing, office equipment, etc. Before you invest those dollars, be sure to do a little research first. Find better options and ways to launch and grow your business. Most of these tools are free forever. That's money saved in your pocket. 

How to Brand Your Business Brilliant!

by Michelle Hill-Smith 

www.OnTaskAssistants.com

When it comes to branding or business identity, sometimes I think that I'm a little harsh. A little too critical. But, then I'm reminded that building an effective brand requires criticism and scrutiny in order for it to work? By "work" I mean effectiveness, memorability and clarity. Your audience needs to have a clear message of your logo each time it's seen in order for them to understand, remember and believe it. Think of the message as your business' story. What does a story include? Colors, shapes, text, a meaning behind it, images to give more of a feel for it. What's your business' story? Start working on one by coming up with one paragraph to describe who you are, what your name symbolizes, who you serve, what's their age group, etc.

As a graphic designer, I tend to have a desire to make things better. The world, too me needs to have it's own fung shui, a balance, purpose and place in a specific space. However, I find that for most entrepreneurs, the pressure is on and "coming up with something" or "going with what I have" is often the case. Funds are low or non-existent for a professionally designed piece of art that can forever represent their business. 

I recently made a post on FaceBook sharing my thoughts on how each time we have request for logo designs, it's sometimes a scary, insecure feeling of a process. But, then after all the fuss and worry, out emerges a beautiful creation that completely erases all the fear of rejection and strife. It can be such a joyous occasion to have a fresh, vibrant logo that, at first sight, is sure to stand the test of time. On the other hand, if done with a lack of thought and strategy, it could fall flat and become yesterday's news almost instantly. So, as you can see, as long as you really think the process through, you can't go wrong. Either, you'll have a wonderful concept to hand over to the one that's designing for you or, you may do well to go at it alone. Now, if there's not one ounce of design juice in you, opting for option one won't hurt.
 
Here are the primary pointers I follow that works for me at least 99.9 percent of the time. Hopefully, it'll work for you, with a little patience and practice:

IDENTIFY 
Think about the niche/target market you're serving. The most important is their age group and interest. If the age group you serve is between 45 and 55, you may not want your design to scream teenager with bright colors and zebra-striped colored fonts.

COLORIZE
Your color scheme MUST match your business' theme and description. I know it sounds funny but colors sell and have very deep meaning. Check out this Must Read Article to see what I mean.

ACCESSORIZE
Determine the "eye-catcher" or focal point you'd like to have in your design. This can be an icon/image or font style. If you select an Icon/Image it really needs to sum up what your business is and what it does or primarily offer. For a text only logo, this will be a chance to make your color scheme pop!


Now, I'll admit, coming up with your brand to represent everything your business is about can be a very difficult challenge. However, by first researching extensively and coming to terms with your "business' story" you will undoubtedly have a clear headstart to your design being exactly what you want and need it to be.

Become a Smarter Business in 2012!

by Michelle Hill-Smith
www.OnTaskAssistants.com


As a small business owner in a failing economy, eliminating unnecessary expenses in overhead and operations is one of the sure ways to keep your business afloat. Making this decision is critical to your success. Revamping your business to fit the “Go Virtual” business model should be the first step taken in operating your “Smarter Business.”  Choosing this type of model doesn’t have to mean a major re-writing of your business plan or taking out a small business loan.

This is actually fairly easy and simply requires that you retire the ice-age methods for production and implement 21st Century communication technologies.

Times have definitely changed and all for more productivity, simplicity and a better ozone layer.  Today, many small business owners are able to run a full operation from the comfort of their own homes cutting overhead expenses by nearly 60%.  With major cutbacks in space, leasing fees, property taxes, signage, hardware and furniture, unproductive staff, and utilities, not only are you spending thousands of dollars on the machinery, software, office space and more, the cost of managing other bodies and their needs is quite costly as well.

For this very reason, working with what is known as a Virtual Assistant or Business Support Specialist is one of the smarter ways to do business. However, working with any ole' VA just won't do. Ensure that you check out their expertise, the credentials and most importantly, their compatibility and ability to work with you and provide ALL of your business needs. Find out how they're operating their own business. What systems are they using, if any at all. An additional observation needs to be on the professionalism, organization and reputation of their company. Not only is working with a proficient and passionate individual or team crucial for your own productivity, but it’s also a smart starting point to establishing  better systems for your business.

The benefits of working with a virtual team are endless. From helping you run your office, keeping track of customers, freeing you to gain more productivity to build revenue and much more, a strong team can be the difference between success and failure.  In many cases, your virtual assistant or team will be more proficient than you at certain tasks, and will be able to complete them with greater accuracy and in less time than if you did them yourself.  Because as business owners, we tend to where many hats, even those that are not our type or color, we become severely overwhelmed, confused and unproductive. This costs us tons of time, money and ultimately customers.

Solve this problem by learning to delegate some of your time-consuming projects and activities. If you’re worried about training your new Virtual Assistant or Team to do what you need, keep in mind that they specialize in office management, social media, creative design and many other areas in small business marketing, productivity and operations. Your colleagues are already making strides towards modernized productivity which is to Go-Virtual. Do some research and learn how you to can eliminate issues with time management, high cost of doing business and become a Smarter Business in 2012!

A Sure Way to Stand Out on the Red Carpet

by Michelle Hill-Smith
www.OnTaskAssistants.com

So, I've always prided myself on being an individual. That's it. Very simple. That's my punch line. I've never been one to purchase the most obvious buy in the mall. I would rather look at the other pieces of clothing and mix and match. A dreadful day it was, back in college...I got all dressed and really casual yet cute looking. Walked downstairs to the college event and someone else had on the same exact outfit as I did. In complete horror, I ran back upstairs and changed. I thought to myself, "Now how in the world did she find that shirt?". Needless to say, everyone was making comments on the fact that we were wearing the same thing. Even though the shirt was really unique and unlike anything the average person would wear, we both had it on. AWKWARD!!! The other girl thought it was actually a cute coincidence and didn't seem to mind. NOT!!!

I am apart of an industry that house over 10,000 people providing practically the same business model to make a living from. Even though I started out with the same exact business model, something in my gut did not allow me to stay there. I would always imagine my business right there, smack dab in the middle of 10,000 firms just like mine on the strip of the red carpet. They all had the same basic branding, services offered and operational structure. They all charged the same amount, used the same tools and were apart of the same social groups. Can you imagine trying to be seen or even standout in that atmosphere?  Well, I couldn't imagine it for the life of me. For one, I hate competition. Now, don't get me wrong, I hate it, however, I welcome it. I have a quiet confidence in what I have to offer and bring to the table. When I started in this industry, I took my time to learn and enhance upon my skills. I looked at what others were doing and what they weren't willing to do and went from there.

Three years later, I've developed an existence, that gives my business a halo of light each time we walk down the red carpet. My business stands out and I'm proud of that. Not only does it stand out, I make sure we follow through with our image from the first sight, to the actual contact, on through to the beginning and ending of a client's relationship with us. Remembrance, is more important to me than anything else. Is our focus only on trying to get new clients? No, it's actually not. I would rather my company be known for sharing and community.  This is our secret. This is how we draw our clients.

How are you making strides to stand out from the crowd on the red carpet of business recognition? This has worked for me and of course, you are not required to follow my method, however, it's something that's proven over and over again by entrepreneurs and small businesses that I coach.

BRAND YOUR BUSINESS BRILLIANT

The one thing I realized that needed to be consistent was our brand’s color palette (most importantly), the name and the symbols or icons. Remember, a good business name will establish marketing recall and build early equity. Try these strong points: 1) Speak to your target market;  2) Describe what you do;  3) Keep it simple;  4) Don’t use trendy names.  After these types of fads run their course, you will be left with a stale and outdated name, and that’s probably what most people will think of your business too.

SPEAK VOLUMES

When you walk into a room (FaceBook, Twitter, a Community Event, wherever)  you want to say something or post something that will make people want to know who you are. Make your presence known. Introduce yourself and what you do to help people. Get in on the social scene, whether it's online groups or offline events. Prepare your Elevator Speech and alter it according to where you are and who you're talking to. Make sure you start off as the listener in the first half of the conversation. How else are you going to know how to offer the right services or products to your listening ears. Always display and offer your expertise humbly and with authenticity.

BECOME THE ODD BALL 

If everyone else in your industry is doing "this", then, you should be the only one doing "that". Often times, the way I do business isn't understood by many of my peers. They don't understand how we can be in the same industry, offering the same services but my business is more favored over theirs. Hmmm...let's see. I've simply taken something and enhanced it to suit what business owners really need. I've taken the norm and altered it to provide more of a benefit to those that seek my help. I listen to the needs of the "individual", what they really prefer and what they're hoping for. I offer them my exact service and situation that would suit them better. Instead of telling them that "this is the way we do business...it's my way or the highway", I help them to realize the benefits of what we have to offer and how it's going to help them better. I provide them with examples and case studies to give them a clear vision of what to expect. 

So, as you can see, standing out isn't so bad. When you're different from the rest, it makes people want to know who you are. With strong standards, creativity, a little flexibility, an essence of community and passion for what we do, I've managed to turn my company into a red carpet winner. Humbly, genuinely and authentically! For me, I'm just having fun helping others follow through on their dreams. You can do the same for your business as well. Take a chance and research others in your industry, get modernized and redesign your company to stand on its own, apart from the others. It will really pay off in the end.

Spring Sprucing: Why it's critical to your success!

by Michelle Hill-Smith
www.OnTaskAssistants.com 

In the place where you live, there's most likely a dyer need to clean something somewhere. The window seals, cabinets, carpet, furniture...the need is always there and the cycle never stops. More commonly, in the spring time, people often have the realization that there are boxes whose contents need sorting and discarding. Furniture would benefit more from being shifted or completely moved in another area of the room. After all, your comfort and sanity depends on it. The weather is wonderful, your mind is clear and you realize that it's critical to perform your house sprucing now instead of later. That's what I like to call "Spring Nesting". It's simply spring cleaning. For some odd reason, at this time of the year, it's feels better to do. Just as an expecting mother begins "nesting" her home for the arrival of her new child. She begins cleaning and putting things in order, despite the pain and agony she may be experiencing. For her, it's an automatic, internally programmed activity that will be done. No one can tell her that those activities, in her state, shouldn't be done.

Every now and then, I like to do Spring Sprucing on my business. Just as my home, my business has a lot of rooms, areas and boxes that need to be taken care of and brought up to date. How many times have you been in total business ready and inspiration mode and received one of those emails from a Forum or online community that you forgot you were a member of? The email seems interesting so you click on it. One of two things happen when you get to that account. 1) You can't log in as you forgot the email address you used to create the account. 2) You log in to the account and view your profile to find that it looks like 3 years prior when your contact information or branding was totally different. Sounds familiar? I know that it does for me. I was the prime culprit of keeping a dirty business home year round. If you look up the word "Non-Spring Sprucer" in the dictionary, my picture would be right next to it.

In my organization, we've changed our logo and contact number over 5 times. Within that time, we've joined tons of online forums, business communities, created several online profiles and written several articles and blog posts to represent our business and expertise. Yes, it is a wonderful idea to extend your business across the globe, however there is one thing wrong with this type of scenario. That's right, you guessed it. Congruency and Consistency. Just as with cleaning your home, things just work better when the area allows room for ease of movement, reach and familiarity.

If your business' home isn't cleaned and spruced up frequently, it makes it difficult to function and represent a professional existence. Here are some things I recommend doing to begin your spring sprucing:

A) Create a Google Account to provide congruency. There are a host of business apps you can use that will all work under that same account. Starting with your email address, it should be of your business' name so that it's never forgotten. This doesn't mean that you can't use the email that's linked to your website. Just link the two together so that you won't miss the emails from that account.

B) Set up a local Google Voice number for your business. This will allow you to always have a number where you can be reached either by text, email or voice. You can set up your voicemail for your business to always answer when you're not available or when you're closed for the day. It's Free and will always be there when you lose your paid phone accounts for whatever reason. There's a misconception that a small business should have an 800 number. Within your first 3 years of business chances are you'll experience slow to no activity so, having additional (besides your cell or landline) paid phone accounts specifically for this will result in a major lost of money that can be better used elsewhere in your business.

C) Go into your Online Profiles and update your contact information, branding, and update your status. Even if you're not using them on a regular basis, it's always best to make sure their up to date and appear active. You never know where your new prospects are going to be. Make sure they can always see you as a business that's still active and still in business.

D) Update your Forms, Website and Marketing Accounts/Platforms. It's going to hurt you more when you're spending countless hours trying to update your business documents before sending anything out to your new prospect. This includes your signature on your emails, brochures, regularly used flyers, business cards and e-mail marketing platforms as well. Be sure to go through them all and provide them a set structure that includes your business name, logo, contact number, email, tagline and social media links.

E) Prepare a binder with all your updated information, services and programs. Call it your Service Guide and put the year of use on the front of it. This is my secret to success. Having this in place will honestly serve as the difference between success and failure for you. I can not stress enough how important it is. If you have information in place that allows you to properly, thoroughly and quickly service your prospects, you will show consistency and orginazation which is what 90% of new clients and customers are looking for.

In short, finding ways to keep your activities for your business at a minimum is ideal. This allows you to spend more time on servicing your customers and finding new prospects. Begin by thinking of all the rooms and areas your business is in (whether online or off). Start Sprucing and don't be afraid to make your small humble changes. If you've accumulated an email list of prospects, don't forget to update them as well on your company's changes. This way, you won't feel so afraid and nervous about your sprucing and the small changes. Think longevity. 

Amazing Grace...How Sweet the Sound!

In these trying times for business, we all need a savior! Everyday, we wake up, go into our offices and stare at the piles of tasks that overwhelm our desk. We start on one task which last for a good 30 minutes. We begin another task for another 20 minutes. We find reason to complete another task and that lasts for about 5 minutes. It becomes a cycle. Why? Why is this happening everyday, for 7 days a week?

For many, this cycle runs for as long as 24 months and sometimes longer. It always seems to happen when we are really pushing the pedal for a stronger and more productive business. For some, there’s just a heavy fear of trust. This type of business owner doesn’t necessarily lack the skill to do the task, however, he feels confident in himself to handle everything on his own. He feels proud to wear all of the hats. After all, he can brag to his colleagues about it. Unfortunately, every good day has its end.

Then, there is the other business owner who feels that the things he loves doing most like networking, negotiating and selling are most important and should be priority. After all, these activities are what earned him more clients in the past 6 months. He leaves small yet, important tasks behind in hopes of getting to them later. This individual is the socialite, loves to go out and network for more business. He’s quite successful at it as it is his comfort zone. His business is steady growing; however, the tasks to successfully maintain that growth are expanding along with it. Even though this business has the productivity, its customer base begins to slowly suffer and crumble as the back-office operations are at a stand still.

Are we noticing a pattern here? No matter which type of business owner you are, you will eventually require assistance in order to not become a statistic. Your competition has already made strides towards saving his business. He’s accepted the fact that he can not and must not do it alone. Not only has he gained more time to network and grow his business, he’s also enhanced his business’ presence both visually and virtually! It’s now the 21st century. Doing the same thing for years and expecting a different outcome doesn’t work. The times have changed and so has the way of doing business.

Your competition has taken back an average of 6 hours in his day and here’s how:
1. NO spending countless minutes on dead-end or irrelevant phone calls;
2. NO sifting through and responding to emails every 10 minutes;
3. NO sitting behind a desk bombarded with paperwork, data-entry & blog updates;
4. NO waiting around to answer calls from customers, clients or potentials;
5. NO hair pulling over managing his bookkeeping and paying bills on time;
6. NO more “Mom and Pop” mentality …he’s now social and virtual!

With running a business, we all know that the above list could have gone on for days. In today’s business model, there’s a new way of running an effective, stable and productive business. It’s quite simple actually. The business model of today includes partnership, relationship, duo, assistance…whatever you choose to call it. We could all use a little assistance to make it work. Finding the right individual or firm to represent you and provide the relief you need is not that easy. With this in mind, OnTask Assistants has developed a series of support services to better assist “today’s” entrepreneur, small business and busy professional.

Introducing, Assist Me™, Answer It™, Cover Me™ and Make Me Social™, a series of business support services that cover the business owner with the immediate necessities for his company.

Assist Me™ serves as an affordable office support plan that covers everything in back-office operation from data-entry to accounts payable. Assist Me™ also comes with a 5-35% discount off of creative design services. Cover Me™ provides the essence of your very own personal assistant to help you with things such as gift buying, reservations, travel arrangements and much more. Answer It™ is your live telephone answering service that answers your calls during your company’s business hours. Make Me Social™ is an all-in-one social media marketing assistance platform that makes it easy for you to build your company’s reputation online.

All of our support services are straightforward, flexible, affordable and dependable. For more information please visit: www.OnTaskAssistants.com/ for more information. Or call: 863-874-0333.