Tested Business Models

Category: Sell Yourself

  • What Skills to Sell

    What Skills to Sell

    Do I have skills people want? 

    It’s not enough to just WANT to start a business; you actually have to have skills that other people want and are willing to pay for. And its very common to think that you don’t have any skills to sell. But let me assure you, everyone has skills that can be sold to others.

    Whether these skills are related to a degree you earned or you’re self-taught, having confidence in these skills will set you apart from the competition.

    Today in my journey to sell my self, I am going to figure out what skills I have and what I want to do all the time. You should do the same.

    Tell me what skills you have and lets brainstorm together.

  • What Exactly is a Virtual Assistant (VA)?

    What Exactly is a Virtual Assistant (VA)?

    Many years ago, I put myself through college working a corporate job as an administrative assistant.  I worked for a handful of companies and while the work was ok (I don’t mind the calendar management but I hate having to order food for other people), I did know that it wasn’t what I wanted to do every day for the rest of my of life.  Then I started down the path of freelancing and came across the term Virtual Assistant (VA) and through to myself – ah heck no – I am not going to build my business to only be an administrative assistant and schedule meetings for someone else all day.

    I was wrong.

    A Virtual Assistant does not have to be an Administrative Assistant.  

    Unless that is the work you want to do.

    In today’s fast-paced digital world a Virtual Assistant (VA) is  a professional powerhouse that’s revolutionizing how businesses, entrepreneurs, and even busy individuals manage their workloads and achieve their goals. A Virtual Assistant (VA) is a highly-skilled, independent professional entrepreneur, or a business owner, who provides remote business support services to clients locally, nationally, or globally.

    Here’s a glimpse into the diverse world of VA services:

    • Administrative Support: Email management, calendar scheduling, travel arrangements, data entry, document creation, transcription.
    • Technical Support: Website maintenance, basic IT troubleshooting, software setup, online research, managing CRMs.
    • Creative Support: Graphic design, social media content creation, blog post writing, video editing, podcast production, copywriting.
    • Marketing & Social Media: Social media management, content scheduling, email marketing campaigns, ad management, community engagement.
    • E-commerce Support: Product listing, order processing, customer service, inventory management.
    • Bookkeeping & Financial Admin: Expense tracking, invoicing, payroll support.
    • Project Management: Overseeing projects, coordinating teams, ensuring deadlines are met.

    The beauty of a VA lies in their ability to specialize. Some VAs are marketing gurus, others are administrative wizards, and some are tech-savvy developers. This specialization allows clients to find the perfect match for their specific needs, ensuring high-quality support in crucial areas.

    As we journey together through the business model of selling our own services, we’re going to see the term VA a lot.  Its simply shorthand and not a list of services that you’re going to offer.

  • Selling Services to Make Money

    Selling Services to Make Money

    The first business model that I’m testing is selling my own services online.  I have performed a lot of services in my corporate career and so why not expand into providing those services to multiple clients instead of a single corporate client.

    And the thing that you have to remember with this business model is Time = Money.

    If you’re not performing a service, if you’re not taking your time to do a task, you’re not making money. And that’s the biggest drawback to performing services for people. Services, they take time. It might not take you much time, but it is time, and there is only a limited amount of time in every single day. So, you need to make sure that you really plan your work well.  

    You have to be willing and able to get work done for people before they need it and without a lot of prodding from others.  To really succeed, you have to make sure that you don’t overbook yourself. 

    I’ve had this happen to me before, where I had an insane amount of orders, and each job was taking me 3 hours or so, and I had an insane amount of orders at one time. And at one time, I was promising a 10-day delivery, but I had like a 20-day backlog. So, you want to make sure that you don’t overbook yourself. You don’t want to get too much work that there just isn’t enough time to perform it.

    Ok, here we go….