Virtually Speaking
July 2002 - Issue 4

In this Issue:
Food for Thought
June Event Highlights
Upcoming Events
More Bang for Your Buck!
You Can Succeed at the Balancing Act!
Today’s Home Office – The Theories of Unexpected Overhead
NVAS Steering Committee Contact

Food for Thought

Don’t forget that you also have to work at finding time to play.

The Growth Guild – June 13th

This month’s topic was "You Can Succeed at the Balancing Act!" presented by Janet Drez, President of A Perfect Solution.  Everyone learned a lot of useful tips!  We enjoyed her hands-on approach in learning how to utilize our time & ourselves in order to succeed.  Some of the tips she provided are under the “You Can Succeed at the Balancing Act!” section in this issue of Virtually Speaking.

If you would like information on how to contact Janet Drez, her information is located in our Membership Directory on www.nvas.org or you can email us at info@nvas.org.

If you were unable to attend the meeting, we hope to see you at the next one!

The Gathering – June 27th

This month’s mixer was held on June 27th at Jillian’s in north Phoenix.  Jillian's is an incredible entertainment and dining concept featuring all kinds of things to do.  With our own private pool table & great munchies, it was a great event!

If you weren't able to attend, we hope to see you at our future events!

Upcoming Events

Things to keep an eye out for…

The Growth Guild
July 11th from 9:00 am - 11:00 am
"Learning to Work Virtually" presented by Katie Bivens of ASAP Solutions
4130 E. Van Buren, Suite 150 (just south of Loop 202 & west of 44th Street) in the small conference room at the ASBA office. Please RSVP - theresa@nvas.org.

August 8th from 9:00 am - 11:00 am
"Do I Need a Website?" presented by Adrian Martinez of Web World Wizardry
4130 E. Van Buren, Suite 150 (just south of Loop 202 & west of 44th Street) in the small conference room at the ASBA office. Please RSVP - theresa@nvas.org.

September 12th from 9:00 am - 11:00 am
"Managing Yourself Within Time" presented by Valerie Simpson of Organize-U Consulting, Inc.
4130 E. Van Buren, Suite 150 (just south of Loop 202 & west of 44th Street) in the small conference room at the ASBA office. Please RSVP - theresa@nvas.org.

The Gathering

July – Date, Time, & Location to be determined.

Check our calendar for updated information... information will also be included in our meeting reminders.

More Bang for Your Buck!

With the Fourth of July upon us, this is a perfect topic.  Every businessperson has asked this question when it comes to marketing. Maybe in different words, maybe in different languages but it is always the same question.  “How do I get more bang for my buck?”  Well the answer is Web Marketing!

Now, web marketing is not the “be all/end all” to your marketing plan but if used in conjunction with other phases of your marketing strategy it can be very powerful.  Web marketing is by far the fastest growing tool being utilized by businesses and it will only continue to grow.  Email is one of the many good reasons why this tool is so popular.

There has never been a faster or cheaper way to reach masses of prospects than by the use of email. FASTER – Countless emails can be sent and arrive almost instantly in the addressees inbox with the click of a button. CHEAPER – There are many great tools available to you for email marketing lists that will cost you fractions of a cent for each email.  You can also use your resident email program.  In which case it is absolutely FREE!  In either scenario you do not have to pay for postage, envelopes, or stationary.

Here are a few simple guidelines to follow when launching an email marketing campaign.  Do not gather e-mail addresses and send your offer to as many people you wish. Many have tried that already without success. Not only is this usually unsuccessful but it can be considered SPAM and get you in trouble with your Internet Service Provider, email provider or both.  You must send your message to a pre - qualified list of prospects who have indicated possible interest and have communicated with you in the past.

Keep in mind that email is only one tool available for web marketing. If you haven't yet considered marketing on the Internet, now would be a good time to do so. It will be years before the Internet reaches its full potential.  How long will it be before you reach yours? 

Article provided by Adrian Martinez of Web World Wizardry. Web World Wizardry specializes in Web Design, Development, Consulting & Hosting.

Sponsored By:
A Perfect Solution
"Putting the Pieces Together"
http://www.aperfectsolution.com
480-899-3090

You Can Succeed at the Balancing Act!
Here are a few tips that were provided to us at the Growth Guild this month compliments of Janet Drez, President of A Perfect Solution.

Operation Clean Sweep

• Collect everything on your desk (& elsewhere) that might need attention
• Allocate items into 4 locations:
  • Important (according to my professional responsibilities & primary aims)
  • Urgent (things that "DO" need to be done)
  • Interesting (magazine articles, marketing opportunities, etc.)
  • Trash/Recycle (put as much as possible into this pile)
• Rank - most important on top - is this REALLY important
• Work through to completion!!!
• You can put something back into the pile ONCE… when it comes up again… do something with it or throw it out!

People spend too much energy on low-grade decision, not enough energy left to make important decisions.

IDITWE
That awful promise that we make to ourselves… "I'll Do It This WeekEnd"

Force yourself to indulge… you NEED your weekends. Take time to enjoy your life… it's the only life you've got! What happened to me that I grew up & got so boring???

Work at finding time to play!

Today's Home Office - The Theories of Unexpected Overhead
By Shannon L. Belew

As you speak with people about the reasons for running a business from a home, one of the top responses is always the reduced cost of doing business. I've said it many times about our business; the lower overhead gives us a slight advantage. And it's true. But you're probably familiar with the theory, 'for every action there's a reaction.' This is also true. And it also applies to running a business from your home.

For every savings you achieve in your home office, there is an unexpected expenditure. I experienced one of these items just this week - and believe me, I would never have thought to calculate it in my projected profit and loss statement. Of course, I'm speaking of the school fundraisers my children participate in each year. Apparently there is one other theory, 'for every dollar the school budget is cut, parents must raise two dollars to help replace it.'

If you're still surrounded by plenty of co-workers, instead of tucked away by yourself in a home office, you might not have noticed the impact of such an unexpected expenditure. But as I sit looking at the stack of 40 count boxes of candy bars (at $1 a pop), I am readily reminded of my oversight. Having just recently recovered from the wrapping paper drive and the Math-A-Thon, I am really feeling the impact of this situation. I have seriously considered showing up at the workplace of friends and family and pretending I'm a new employee - at least long enough to unload a few cases of candy on my new- found co-workers. Don't worry. I realize this is not a good plan.

As much as I enjoy letting out my frustrations about selling candy, school fundraisers are not the only unexpected expense for a home-based business. There is another, bigger expense in running a business from home - marketing. Some of you may be asking why this is an unexpected expense. After all, there is the other well-known theory, 'you have to spend money to make money.' (Okay, I'll stop with the theories.) My point is that many home businesses set aside a little money for a newspaper ad or maybe a radio commercial. Perhaps, the only money you allocate for marketing is the cost of printing your company brochure and business cards.

Unfortunately, you're running a business from a spare room in your home. There's probably not a big flashing neon sign in your front yard letting people know you're open for business. This means you need to be more aggressive in your marketing efforts. And if you're operating on a limited budget, you may not have planned for a big marketing blitz. You're probably counting on reaching new customers through those well-known marketing alternatives: networking, public relations, community outreach and maybe even a few low cost cross-promotions with another business entity.

And this is exactly what you should be doing. However, don't forget to include the underlying cost of these marketing activities in your expenses. It takes someone's time to get out and meet new people at all those Chamber of Commerce functions and to write those press releases. If you're in a home office, it's typically your time that is being used.

Having a home office is a juggling act. You have to distribute your time effectively to ensure every aspect of the business is managed - from operations to marketing. But if you don't remember to analyze and account for the time you spend on creative marketing strategies, you may be surprised to learn the unexpected impact it has on your overhead.

Tip: Designate an hourly rate for your time. Determine the number of hours you are comfortable spending marketing your business. Multiply those two figures and include the final number as a definitive dollar amount in your budget.
Copyright © 2000 Shannon L. Belew