I’d like to introduce you to an online super-star that has been instrumental in creating a name for herself in the digital nomad world, while simultaneously helping others go global. Michelle Dale is founder of Virtual Miss Friday, VA Passport, and has created numerous ways to teach others how to increase their reach and create global businesses. Naturally, I needed to interview her and share her tips for perspective Business Backpackers that want to take their business online.
The exceptional part of her business model is that anyone could use it. You could hire a Virtual Assistant, become a VA, or become a Digital Nomad! Since I found all of these so relevant, I wanted to share her interview with you…
Please provide any tips or resources on how to get started as a VA, hire a VA, or become a Digital Nomad.
Well a great place to start would be my free eBook, “The VA Business,” it’s a mini-guide to going virtual, and working entirely online, from the perspective of being a digital nomad and, client of a VA or being a VA.
Next I would say that someone who has influenced the success of my business is Yaro Starak from entrepreneurs-journey.com, and when I began implementing some of his advice within my own business I noticed valuable changes. He talks about being honest, and always stating the facts from personal experience, and this to me is very important, but what I really learnt from him is the importance of being able to prove yourself through social proof, video’s, articles, testimonials – basically undeniable evidence that you are an expert in your field, and as soon as I “stepped up to the plate” and started providing the proof that what I advise and do in my business really does work, that’s when I noticed significant changes in my credibility online with the public. There are not many people who can argue with statements of fact, actual first-hand experience and solid evidence of real results.
If you need a VA…
You have a couple of options, you can try your luck on a site such as oDesk – this is fine for ad-hoc projects and needing someone for a few hours here and there. There is a service from Chris Ducker called “Virtual Business Lifestyle” for cost-effective VA support virtualstafffinder.com where you can hire a pre-qualified VA from the Philippines, or you can check out my new directory “The VA Black Book” which launched at the end of April, which is a website dedicated to the VA’s I have trained in my “VA Apprentice” programme, all who come with my personal recommendation.
If you would like to become a VA or start an online business to become a digital nomad…
there are loads of great posts on my blog, plus 2 products I have created called “The VA Passport” which is a unique members area dedicated to online service providers, and also “The VA Apprentice” which is a training implementation and coaching programme I have put together to help entrepreneurs fast-track their success by setting up a virtually anywhere service provider company. Both are aimed at working entirely online.
What tips or tools would you recommend for people wanting to improve their Time Management?
I manage my time always by taking the number of hours I have in a day, then boxing the things I have to do during that time into a schedule. For this I use a desktop tool called “Click Clock.” Basically you set yourself a period of time to work on tasks or projects and then set the clock for that period of time, you may set up multiple clocks for each item you need to get done, you begin by starting your first clock, the clock will tell you when you have reached your maximum amount of time you have budgeted in your day to give your attention to that task or project so you can move to the next item on your schedule, and keep on track.
You will soon learn from this exercise how to schedule your time appropriately in order not to underestimate the amount of work involved, stick to only the number of hours available to you to work so you don’t go over your capacity, and most importantly, keep yourself on track with your deadlines.
Your branding and design are great. How would you recommend people improve their design?
There is one thing that I will always say when building your brand, and that is it has to show your personality and the type of site you want, and the type of feeling you would like to arouse in people when they land. When developing the brand for my main VA site I really wanted it to have a sleek, professional feel, but not in any kind of conventional way, and when developing my blog, I wanted it to be a vibrant, uplifting and energetic place, so I manipulated my existing brand to work with my new site.
Usually when I am helping people develop their brand I will always look at the direction it’s going in, and if it’s too conventional or the norm, I’ll try and steer it in a different direction. Being different is going to be what attracts people to you in any competitive market, you just have to find the right balance of professional and unconventional. Once you have an idea for your brand, always seek assistance from someone who has a brand you really like, creativity is very personal, and it’s important to work with someone who has a similar style or taste.
In your free download “37″, you describe one of the major benefits of your business model as being “Recession Proof”. Could you explain this a bit more?
Absolutely, there are 2 reasons which make my VA business model recession proof, first it is really about servicing people on a global scale, I think online entrepreneurs in general tend to focus too much on targeting and niche markets, this is fine for blogging or products sales, but if you do this as an online service provider, you can then be setting yourself up for an issue if that target market is affected by a recession. I focus on attracting all kinds of people to me through my brand, my content, and social media. I will then select the people I would like to work with from those who contact me, or I will take an interest in those who I would like to work with, no two clients of mine are the same in terms of the type of business they have, and because I work with people in a variety of countries, I was able to sail on through the recession.
After the sticky spot of Christmas 2009 when employees were being laid off, there was an increase of enquiries from people wanting to set up an online business, and needed assistance, this is the second reason why becoming an online service provider really is recession proof. It’s an essential expense in people’s lives, even more so during a recession, because nobody is hiring, and you tend to have to rely on yourself (go self-employed) to bring in the income to your household, as opposed to a luxury expense, and luxury purchases tend to be the first thing to go during tough times.
You’ve done a great job of merging Social Media and freebies to increase your popularity. What would you recommend to people who want to increase their online presence?
The most important thing you can do is work really hard on producing very high quality products that are very useful to people and which specifically solve problems, then give them away. I have done this in a variety of ways, I encourage comments by giving away a free eBook for the first comment a visitor makes, I have produced a freebie which I use to encourage sign ups to my mailing list.
Now, I have produced an ebook, “The VA Business Book,” in .pdf and flipbook versions for easy sharing, which I am giving away to folk on a no-strings-attached basis, (no sign up required), this is the first time I have tried this method of viral marketing. You need to take a good look around at what’s out there, improve on it and come up with something more creative, more unique, and more useful, and then really get the word out about it in your online marketing efforts.
Any encouraging words for aspiring “Business Backpackers”?
You will only ever get out of your business what you put in, sacrifices will need to be made, hard work will need to be done, but the rewards will be there on the other side, just keep going, and don’t give up. If you are really up for a challenge, start the backpacking before the business, it will encourage you, give you real purpose and push you harder to succeed, because once you get a taste for the “backpacker lifestyle,” there is no way you will ever want to go back!
Wow, thanks so much, Michelle, for sharing so many great tools. Here are some free eBooks, resource guides, and links for additional reading:
Be sure to leave a question or comment below for Michelle!
