Are you a virtual entrepreneur? What does it take to be a virtual entrepreneur? Lauri Smedley, a professor with over 20 years of teaching experience, has written the book, Virtual Entrepreneurship: Creating and Operating a Home-based Online Business. In the book you will learn how to get started and the dos and don'ts of virtual entrepreneurship from practicing virtual entrepreneurs from around the world.

Professor Smedley also hosts a weekly radio show about business, entrepreneurship, online businesses, and educating people about how to create and operate their own home-based virtual businesses. Joel and I will be her guests on March 14, 2011.

To learn more about virtual entrepreneurship, visit Professor Smedley's page on Facebook.

We want to hear from you. What questions do you have about virtual entrepreneurship? Are you a successful virtual entrepreneur? Ask you questions and tell us your success stories!

By Meredith Liepelt

As a savvy business owner, you are aware that your knowledge is your biggest asset. But if you are spending your time on administrative activities instead of finding ways to provide your knowledge to your clients and prospects and increase your business, you are sabotaging your bottom line. So how does an entrepreneur overcome this dilemma? This strategy may seem foreign to some women business owners, but you must ask for help! I’m talking about building your virtual team of professionals to support you in your specific needs, which frees up your time to focus on income generating activities. Most times, building a virtual team starts with locating a Virtual Assistant (VA) who takes care of the administrative tasks in your business.

A VA is an independent contractor who runs her own business providing administrative support to other solo practitioners. A VA works from her own office, thereby making her “virtual.” You decide what projects to outsource and in turn, she bills you for her time, which is typically between $20 and $65 an hour, depending on your needs and her qualifications. Many VAs partner with their clients in long-term collaborative business relationships; however, you can also find other VAs to do your smaller, less demanding tasks on a per-project basis.

When I first started working with a VA, I started small so I could see if it would really work for me. I outsourced a mail merge and shipping project, and the feeling of relief that I experienced when I emailed my project and instructions to my VA was incredible! The project turned out great, and that was the moment I experienced the emotional and time-freeing benefits of working with a VA.

Need some ideas on what projects to delegate? Here are just a few to consider:

Administrative Jobs

When thinking about your administrative work, consider tasks such as formatting documents, writing contracts, creating invoices, calling on overdue invoices, general follow up with prospects, ordering client gifts and holiday cards. If you receive a lot of emails from your web site, have them sent to your VA who can respond to standard inquiries. Ask your VA to schedule your coaching calls and confirm appointments, send follow up notes to prospects or create updated mailing labels. She can also plan your personal and business travel.

Accounting Tasks

Your Virtual Team can be responsible for much more than just administrative jobs. Perhaps you need a VA to input your monthly statements, pay bills, or generate reports. A VA can also track your expenses and mileage, and work with your accountant.

Your Creative Needs

Could you use an expert to edit your material, create a brochure or flyer, do some general HTML or format and send out your entire ezine? Also consider someone to update your web site and blog, track your site statistics, generate reports and make recommendations.

Once you come up with your specific list of needs, you’ll be able to hold a productive interview with VA candidates where you can spell out the exact qualifications necessary. Feel free to start small and you will find that there is no lack of things to outsource to a VA!

Could you use an expert to edit your material, create a brochure or flyer, do some general HTML or format and send out your entire ezine? Also consider someone to update your web site and blog, track your site statistics, generate reports and make recommendations.

Once you come up with your list of needs, you’ll be able to hold a productive interview with VA candidates where you can spell out the exact qualifications necessary. Feel free to start small and you will find that there is no lack of things to outsource to a VA!

Women are notorious for trying to do everything by themselves - I know this is true for myself. But I learned quite rapidly to overcome this limiting behavior! If you are not already working with a virtual assistant, I highly recommend finding one this week. Trust me, you’ll love it! Tapping into this one simple strategy is a major step to creating a new level of success for any solo practitioner. It is a strategic business move that will free up your time to work on the income-generating activities of your business.

Meredith Liepelt, President of Rich Life Marketing, publishes Smart Marketing, a free bi-weekly ezine featuring marketing tips, insider secrets and thought provoking articles designed to help the busy female entrepreneur become known as an expert in her field, build trust with clients and prospects and generate more income than ever before. Claim your free subscription today at http://www.richlifemarketing.com .

Have you often thought that you could be more productive if only your office were better organized? In just 6 hours, on Martin Luther King's birthday holiday, you can finally get your office organized! Get those piles of paper and stacks of mail under control. You'll learn the steps to get your office back in working order. Get more done every day, have time to make those extra sales calls, pay your bills on time, know where everything is and how to access it. Whether you are an employee, a small business owner, or just wanting to manage your home office - use this day to become more efficient and productive!

How does this event work?
Natalie will be walking you through organizing principles and techniques via a series of conference calls. During the day she will teach and then release you to put the knowledge into action immediately. We will then reconvene at strategic times to move on to the next step and then the next step....

You will be amazed at how much you will get done with this event. There will be a common thread between all participants; those who are eager to learn, ready to change, and empowered by this event to do so! This one day can change your life if you are willing to roll up your sleeves and do the work!

Register at: http://organizedhabits.eventbrite.com/

Sierra College in Rocklin now has a Virtual Office Professional class. Students were asked to find and interview virtual assistants. One of the students contacted me for an interview. Here are her questions and my responses.

1. How long have you been a virtual assistant and how long did it take to receive your first client?

My services as a virtual assistant began in 2005 when my first client came to me and asked me to do some work for her. She had just lost her assistant and learned of my skills. I had been working for her virtually for over a year before I even heard of the term virtual assistant or starting billing my services as such. The year 2008 saw my client list grow to nearly a dozen regular clients and another dozen clients that use my services as needed.

2. Do you have any small children in your home? If you do, how do you manage to keep your office environment a “work only area” and keep interruptions to a minimum?

Yes, there is a four-year old little girl in our home. Both my husband and I have run three businesses from home since she was a baby. So she's been taught since a very young age that there are times we need her to be quiet. She runs her own 'virtual office' with her 'puter (computer). When it's absolutely necessary for quiet, my husband and I arrange to trade off times we are working. We are fortunate to have two grown children in the home that can help out at times. Other work at home moms and I have traded days with the children also when needed.

3. What would you say is the most expensive piece of equipment you use to service and keep up? For this particular piece of equipment what is it that you spend so much on to keep it in good working condition?

The most expensive piece of equipment we use is our own web server in the home office. However, we have not had to spend much money on it for maintenance. It's helpful that my husband worked in IT for years knows a lot about computers.

4. What would you say is a barrier or roadblock when working with your clients? For example, clients not giving you the information you request or returning calls.

One obstacle to be overcome is communication. Some clients may be slower in communication than others, thereby holding up the process. Sometimes a client has different expectations. So it's very important to clearly communicate with clients and make sure they understand exactly what you will be doing for them.

5. Do you manage your own website? If so do you use a program/software? If not did you hire someone to create and or manage it?

Since my husband and I have run our own web design company since 1996, yes, I manage my own site. We hand code everything and use ftp to upload our files to the server. One of the services I offer is website updates.

6. How do you charge or bill your clients? What are your reasons for billing this method?

Most of my clients prepay for a specific blocks of time. This allows them to get a discount and know they have a certain amount of my time. I know I'm getting paid and how much time I need to work. The client prepays this amount before work begins. Retainer clients prepay for a certain amount of time each month. They are billed on the first of each month; these amounts are non-refundable and don't roll over. Once in a while a client needs a one-time project done. I usually require a minimum deposit for two hours. I do have a couple of clients that get billed on the 1st and 16th of each month. I try to work within each client's budget and needs.

7. Have you ever had to let go of a client for a reason other than nonpayment? If not have you ever let go of a client for nonpayment?

Since the majority of my clients prepay, nonpayment has never been an issue. I did let one client go after fulfilling her prepaid contract because she needed services that I did not provide. I offered to help her find another virtual assistant that could provide those services.

8. What is your back up plan if you have a family emergency or wish to go on vacation? Do you utilize the service of another Virtual assistant?

When I plan to take some time off for vacation I let my clients know in advance. We arrange to get any work done necessary before I leave. All of my clients understand that there will be times I take off and as long as they know ahead of time, there's never been any problems. They are very understanding if some sort of emergency comes up. It's very helpful to have good communication with your client about this matter. I also have an assistant I can call on if necessary.

9. What type of client do you provide services to the most? For example owners of construction type businesses, owners of retail marketing businesses?

My clients are busy solo professionals and small business owners, usually service providers, who want to grow their business. They include authors, life coaches, business consultants, therapists, professional organizers, and real estate agents.

10. As a student seeking and desiring my own Virtual office business what is a recommendation or piece of advice you would offer to me?

Learn all you can by becoming an active member on sites such as FindVirtual.com and VirtualAssistantForums.com. Go out and network in person at events and start building your network of prospects and people who can help you build your business.

I'm busy running my own business, doing what I love. Since I was a child, I wanted to be 'the world's best secretary'. Eventually I was and moved on to become an executive administrative assistant in a corporate office. Now I own and operate my own business as a Virtual Office Administrator. The variety of tasks I get to do and constantly new projects that come my way keep me busy and my mind sharp.

Business social networking seems to be the big thing right now and the way to market your business. Some of my clients have asked me to update their profiles on several business social networking sites. And of course I've been busy updating my own, such as on LinkedIn. This has taken some time and I haven't been updating my weblog. I'm going to try to change that.

So watch for upcoming blog entries and we'll see where we go from here. Thank you for reading!