Disqus - Latest Comments for cfavreau

Re: The Cat’s Out of The Bag

cfavreau — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 01:47:09 -0000

Hey Ron! I actually have a piece of paper that says I'm a trained and certified coach.

And, yeah... I get that it still sounds like coaching, even though I don't want to use the word "coaching" -- sounds too... limiting? I'm not sure why, I just know that I don't necessarily *need* to come up with the term just yet, especially not if it means creating a fancy 'coach' label to it...

Thanks for being so quick to reply!

Re: Conception to Delivery

cfavreau — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 14:32:10 -0000

HAHA!! Yes, I guess that is a fair observation!

Re: Marketing Makeover: Twitter Profile, Part 1 - Your Picture

cfavreau — Thu, 21 May 2009 09:58:31 -0000

Thanks for confirming the whole name topic... That was the Twitter profile topic I tackled this week!

Re: Marketing Makeover: Twitter Profile, Part 1 - Your Picture

cfavreau — Thu, 21 May 2009 09:57:33 -0000

Love your picture. I would totally recognize you at a networking event if I saw you (is it cheating because I met you before??)

Re: Marketing Makeover: Twitter Profile, Part 2 - Your Name

cfavreau — Thu, 21 May 2009 09:54:41 -0000

What an adorable picture of you, Kim! I remember your professional shot and it wasn't totally cold!

Re: Marketing Makeover: Twitter Profile, Part 2 - Your Name

cfavreau — Thu, 21 May 2009 09:51:13 -0000

Hey Susan! Your Twitter profile is looking really good. I'm surprised there's not enough room for your entire name... I've seen people with longer names and have it all appear. No space is better than no name!!

Re: Weekly VA Marketing Tip: Develop Your Speaking Topics

cfavreau — Tue, 12 May 2009 01:12:34 -0000

Yes, defining a target market, niche and specialty are all questions that come up quite often, and I do have plans to address this topic in more detail.

While I emphasize the importance of defining a target market, I don't advocate choosing one blindly. Most new VAs need to get a little experience under their belt before claiming a target.

In fact, I'm a firm believer that, if you clearly define what makes you different, your target market will find you.

My suggestion about drilling down on one audience was not for your VA business but for your speaking topic.

So let's say you have a lot of real estate agents in your local networking group and tailor your topic for them, it'll be far more impactful (is that a word?) than a too broad topic.

I hope this helps!

Re: Weekly VA Marketing Tip: Turn It Into An Article

cfavreau — Tue, 12 May 2009 01:03:09 -0000

Oooh!!! I can't wait to see your ebook, Janet...

Yes, repurposing is an underused tactic by many virtual assistants. My hope is to train you to leverage everything you do to reach as many people in your target market as you can.

Re: Weekly VA Marketing Tip: Turn It Into An Article

cfavreau — Tue, 12 May 2009 00:57:21 -0000

I struggled with trying to keep this one simple (I tend to ramble...) so I'm glad you found this week's marketing steps easy to follow.

Re: Weekly VA Marketing Tip: Turn It Into An Article

cfavreau — Tue, 12 May 2009 00:55:25 -0000

Veronika, you make an interesting point... It sounds like these "successful professionals" are charging the high fees but are not delivering value. Am I reading that right?

You gotta walk your talk. If you SAY your an expert on your topic, then you better BE the expert. If not, word will quickly spread and cause irreparable damage.

Re: Weekly VA Marketing Tip: Turn It Into An Article

cfavreau — Tue, 12 May 2009 00:47:17 -0000

I so hear your challenge of trying to get all these things done.

Diane, one small suggestion: For this week's marketing goal, say "I want to repurpose ONE blog I have written into an article to be posted." Then do it.

Chunk big/overwhelming goals into bite size pieces and your chances of procrastinating are lessened.

Re: Weekly VA Marketing Tip: Turn It Into An Article

cfavreau — Tue, 12 May 2009 00:42:45 -0000

For sure, you do NOT want to leave yourself out of the equation. The whole point of using article writing as a marketing strategy is to showcase your expertise without blatantly promoting yourself.

Denise, thanks for reminding us that using "I" in our articles is NOT a dirty word.

Re: Weekly VA Marketing Tip: Turn It Into An Article

cfavreau — Tue, 12 May 2009 00:37:40 -0000

You'll hear me say this a lot... but it bears repeating: It's all about building relationships and communicating how you help people solve their problems.

You gain trust much faster when you give with no strings attached.

Let us know how your article writing goes! Share the link with us once you have an article up!

Re: Weekly VA Marketing Tip: Develop Your Speaking Topics

cfavreau — Fri, 08 May 2009 14:16:13 -0000

Janet, I love that you said your current speaking topics don't really demonstrate your expertise as a VA. That is the point, isn't it??

As I suggested to Sara, I highly recommend you narrow your topic down to a particular audience.

The good news is, once you've written a speech for one target audience, you need only make small changes to address another set of prospects.

I know for myself, I would definitely be interested in your topic!!

Re: Weekly VA Marketing Tip: Develop Your Speaking Topics

cfavreau — Fri, 08 May 2009 14:10:13 -0000

Way to go, Sara. The whole "expert" challenge you face is a common one. The thing is, how can you expect to be seen as an expert by others if you don't first see yourself as an expert. The key lies in claiming your specialty -- what is it that you do that no other VA does better than you? You'll notice a huge shift in your attitude and will begin to see yourself more and more as the expert in your claimed field.

I'd like to challenge you to take this marketing tip one step further. Replace "small businesses" and "business" with a particular audience. The best place to start is to think of a current or past client whom you've helped with one of the topics you mentioned.

For example, let's say you have a real estate agent for whom you've done social media projects. Spin your first topic for real estate agents. So now your first topic would be "Social Media for Real Estate Agents."

The next step is to name the benefit... what will your speech help them achieve? For example, it could be "to get more listings" or "to close more sales" or "to gain local visibility."

Finally, you don't just want this to be a list of topics and do nothing with it, so you'll need to start developing this topic into a speech.

Let us know how it goes!!

Re: Coming Soon To A Blog Near You

cfavreau — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 11:04:45 -0000

BTW, in case you were wondering about The Savvy Snippet posts, don't worry, I'm not getting rid of those.

I'll be posting The Savvy Snippet on Fridays instead of Mondays!

Re: Do You Have a 30-second Intro?

cfavreau — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 15:02:37 -0000

Beth, thanks so much for joining the conversation.

I love that you're encouraging others to have a simple 5-word intro. Short and sweet is the best. And I really get what you're saying about speaking so that even an 8 year old gets what you're saying. In other words, use every day English words. Keep it simple. Keep it fun and exciting!

Re: I Love Technology… NOT!

cfavreau — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 15:00:15 -0000

I'm pretty good about backing up my stuff. I use Mozy, so it does it automatically. I also have a Maxtor external HD and back up my stuff every month or so (it's a backup for my backup... yes... I'm a little paranoid, but not enough to do it every day :) )

Re: Responding to RFPs: Part 1 of 2 — What Not To Do

cfavreau — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 14:58:28 -0000

I'm glad you found this post useful.

A simple follow-up email asking if the RFP has been awarded would suffice. If you really want to know why it wasn't awarded to you or how you could improve, then just ask. I'm all for making ourselves better... You'll never know if you don't ask.

Re: Responding to RFPs: Part 1 of 2 — What Not To Do

cfavreau — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 14:56:06 -0000

So, Chris, if I understand, you don't agree with Pam's suggestion of how to reply to an RFP? I'd love you to share what works for you in your industry. Love meself a good debate (just keep it clean, k?)!

Re: This Weekend: Get Out of Your Cave!

cfavreau — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 23:26:34 -0000

After reading it, let me know what you think!!

Re: Dealing With Distractions

cfavreau — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 09:06:27 -0000

Like I alluded to, I'm eating up everything Havi has to offer. It's only too bad her program is right at supper time... else I would have joined...

Are you saying you'll get her ebook "someday"? Tsk, tsk, tsk!! :)

Thanks for the link. I'll look into it.

Re: Top 4 Strategies to Achieving Expert Status

cfavreau — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 09:04:35 -0000

Alex, I totally agree that joining and being actively involved in local networking associations gives a HUGE boost to your visibility. Your experience is totally amazing! Congrats.

There are 3 reasons I didn't mention professional associations in my article:
(1) The main focus of my article was on lost-cost strategies. In most cases, annual membership fees are quite pricey, plus a cost per event — not for everyone on a tight budget.

(2) Another reason why I didn't add networking is because you need the time to do it. I personally had to stop attending association meets after having children. Most associations meet very early in the morning or late in the evening—not ideal for someone with small children.

(3) Finally, there are literally hundreds of strategies to achieving expert status, and there is only so much I can cover in one article. This point definitely deserves it's place in an article all it's own. Do I see an article in your future???!!!

Thanks for sharing with us your experience. You have definitely shown how, just because you're new in business, doesn't mean you can't establish yourself as an expert in your field. Congrats again and I look forward to reading more about your success *gentle nudge!* ;)

Re: Top 4 Strategies to Achieving Expert Status

cfavreau — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 08:37:37 -0000

Bill, thank you for dropping by. I'm glad you liked the article. Article writing really is one of the easiest ways to market your expertise. I don't mean it's easy to write (I struggle with writing on a daily basis!), but the benefits far outweigh the effort required. There are literally thousands of article submission sites, so it was beyond the scope of this article to list them all. I referred to EzineArticles.com because it is the most recognized and most reputable site.

If you need help with getting started article marketing, Tracey Lawton has an awesome program, which I've been using for a few years. It's called Complete Article Tracking Tool, and you can find it here: http://tinyurl.com/3ohrqx

Good luck with your article writing!

Re: Why I Started Blogging

cfavreau — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 08:31:06 -0000

Alex, I'm so glad you stopped by. It seems like these past 2 years have flown by. My only regret is not starting sooner! Thanks to Janet for initiating the connection through LinkedIn. I look forward to collaborating during Anti-Procrastination Month!