Strive For Profit

There is a lot of advice out there about running your business. After nearly 10 years in business, let me be clear on a few things that will help you with your Virtual Buzz Marketing business.

The only rule that matters is money. Not in the greedy, must get a lot sense. What I mean is that you will work harder having your own business than you would having good jobs. You are taking a risk, and you deserve to make significant money. Many people start a business and keep losing money and justifying it by talking about the future money they will make.

Having a Virtual Buzz Assistant business is not like that. You will either be making money in the first few months, or you should stop and go get a job.

The great thing about this business model is the low cost of startup, the high demand and the scalability.

Your start up costs should look like this:

Virtual Buzz Assistant Membership – Ouch, but the wealth of resources will save me money and time.
Some business cards
A basic website or blog and email account.
Cell phone (maybe)
A fairly fast computer and internet connection.
Minor legal expenses for reviewing contracts, setting up business entity, etc.

Some of these things you may already have. Once you launch your business you may pay for them out of your business.

The highest cost is your time. Using templates from this site and writing your own things to send to clients will take time. Marketing yourself to clients will take time and be your most important activity. (Remember, we are trying to find you clients too, but you cannot wait for us to make you successful.)

One client should exceed your costs in a given month.

5-6 clients should be a nice income.

10+ clients should mean you need help and are making some very nice money, potentially a six figure income with limited expenses.

Here are some tips for keeping your business lean and keeping more money for yourself.

Tip 1: Sales is how you make money. Not planning. It is easy to lose yourself in lots of planning, studying, etc. All necessary, but selling is how actual money comes in. Make that a priority.

Tip 2: Pay all expenses you can out of your business before you pay yourself a taxed wage. What you can write off depends on your location and business structure, but as soon as you have a client or two talk to someone about what is legal and carefully spend your money pre-income tax whenever possible.

Tip 3: Outsource. Why do you think people are coming to us? Because outsourcing to a specialist is a little more per hour, but has many advantages over employing someone or doing it all yourself. (You should be out selling)

Tip 4: Partner – It is unlikely that you are good at everything. Find people that compliment you and partner with them. You will make more money if you can divide some projects and keep a good portion of the fee.

Tip 5: Profitable from Day 1: Do not assume you will make more in the future. If you need to put in extra hours in the beginning of the project, make sure you have planned for it and bill accordingly.

Tip 6: Keep Customers – The easiest way to grow your business is not to lose your existing customers while adding new ones. Make sure you are a valuable member of the team and you could have the relationship for years.

Tip 7: Avoid Fees – Try to keep your bills and accounts accurate and simple. Automate every payment and have a buffer so nothing bounces. Interest and late fees will eat up your profits if you let them.

Tip 8: Products make you rich – Find ways to sell something other than your time. It could be information products, assessments, advertising, visibility to your email list, etc. If you are just getting an hourly rate, then it will be hard to break out and make more money while enjoying life. Do hourly work while you develop other things people need.

Tip 9: Don’t ignore your personal relationships. Many new clients are found at kid’s soccer games and via friends of friends. Have your business cards handy.

Tip 10: Keep it simple. The simpler you keep your business, your proposals and your project scope, the more profitable you will be. And if we keep things simple, we can quickly exit the planning stage and start promoting and selling.

Tip 11: Don’t be sold. Everyone wants to sell you something. Always ask, do I REALLY need this? Don’t buy other people’s hype. (And don’t over-hype your serves then under deliver, because you won’t keep clients long.)

Ask yourself this before spending a dollar: Does is make me leaner, simpler and more profitable?