How Now Brown Cow

What we endeavor to do at The Virtual Nation is to help Virtual Assistants and Professionals to approach the HOW of our businesses. This is an ongoing and onGROWing effort, of course. Our industry changes each day, with new softwares and new opportunities happening faster than even Bill Gates could keep up with.

Discovering your niche, developing a level of expertise and producing work that you love every day is an experience everyone should have in their lives. Add to this a host of diverse clients and the experience to be part of an industry of courageous entrepreneurs, and you have the formula for a career beyond your wildest dreams.

The “How” to do this is found on every page of our website at TVN. But the bigger question you may be looking at is “Why Now Brown Cow.” If you are just beginning your journey into home-based entrepreneurialism, the list of roadblocks may seem endless.

The simple truth is that there may never be a perfect time to take that first step. But you are the perfect person to take it. Your devotion to excellence and creativity will be the building blocks of a firm foundation to your future. If you haven’t yet started your virtual business, join an online community of Virtual Professionals (you will find ours at Yahoo Groups) and post a message asking for input and start-up ideas. Pick up a great book or two from TVN’s Book Store to help you form ideas and start your business plan. We especially like Seth Godin's book, The Purple Cow. (I've chosen a brief synopsis from our bookstore below.)

Cows, after you've seen one, or two, or ten, are boring. A Purple Cow, though...now that would be something. Purple Cow describes something phenomenal, something counterintuitive and exciting and flat out unbelievable. Every day, consumers come face to face with a lot of boring stuff-a lot of brown cows-but you can bet they won't forget a Purple Cow. And it's not a marketing function that you can slap on to your product or service. Purple Cow is inherent. It's built right in, or it's not there. Period.

In Purple Cow, Seth Godin urges you to put a Purple Cow into everything you build, and everything you do, to create something truly noticeable. It's a manifesto for marketers who want to help create products that are worth marketing in the first place.

Finally, when you think about your business (whether it's new to you, or you are just ready to take it to new and exciting places), ask yourself the question out loud, “Why Now?” If you’re ready, the answer has to be, “Why Not.” As a VP, I dictate and create my own role and my own success. Tell yourself, “Time is a priceless commodity, and I will not spend it wasted in a career that I do not love,” and then begin your exit strategy (which we call a business plan) today.

Take the bull by the horns and be a PURPLE COW TODAY. Live your ONE precious life the way YOU choose. Believe in yourself, grow your skillset, bring all your passion to this choice, and you are virtually guaranteed to succeed.

Gratefully yours,

Michelle Ulrich, Chief Villager of The Virtual Nation

More on Business Coaching - Affordable and Priceless

Type "Business Coach" into Google and you'll come up with more than 71,000 hits -- and while this may be overwhelming, it clearly evidences the strong and growing role that coaching plays in today's business world.

As we line up at the starting gate of our own new business ventures, who are our teammates? Have we chosen a mentor who has the expertise and enthusiasm that we need?

Michelle Ulrich has taken her role at The Virtual Nation and used it to teach others how to create and succeed in their own virtual careers using eCommerce and technology. Michelle has given more than twenty-five presentations at colleges, professional associations and coaching societies, and has been the keynote speaker for both the International Association of Administrative Professionals and the Women's Council of Realtors. Her presentations on eCommerce on a Shoestring Budget and Creating Excellence in Life and the Workplace Everyday have been vital to many new and exisiting business.

Because of her committment to mentoring other professionals toward success, Michelle has put together three coaching opportunities that will fit into anyone's business model and budget.

6-week Mentor Coaching $97
Belong to a group of your peers where you can safely ask questions, share, help your peers and have a pool of knowledge should you decide to grow your business and need subcontractors. You also get unlimited email coaching.

Mentor Coaching Club $17/month
Continue your group coaching experience! With the coaching club, you and your peers can continue your group coaching experience, discussions, peer support and more.

Personal Coaching $75/mo and up
With personal coaching, you have direct access to Michelle Ulrich, seasoned Virtual Professional. To learn more about Michelle and her vast professional experience, visit her at www.michelleulrich.com/michelle.htm.

With personal coaching, you will explore in a one-on-one setting via telephone how to work through your individual challenges. All information is held in the strictest of confidences and our agreement with you will illustrate this as well. Coaching sessions are tailored to fit your unique situation and needs. Some commonly covered topics are:

• Take time for yourself to gain clarity and a fresh focus
• Confidently discuss your rates and services through role playing
• Explore your passions and possibly refocus your business
• Attract your ideal client Is your message clear and concise?
• Assess your current marketing materials and techniques
• Are you ready to subcontract some of your own workload or clients' projects?
• How to effectively work with subcontractors

If you are interested in this type of coaching, please email Michelle for a complete intake package and available start dates at michelle@thevirtualnation.com or go to http://www.thevirtualnation.com/services.htm.

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TVN Tip of the Week: 6 Weeks of Affordable Business Coaching for $97 - Maximize Your Efforts & Success with Business Coaches at The Virtual Nation

Are you having trouble putting the foundation of your business in place?
Are you overwhelmed by what you don't know?
Or have you gotten started and need help to hit that grand slam of finding clients, managing projects, and making money!

Sign up for six weeks of Mentor Coaching with an experienced Virtual Professional from The Virtual Nation and cover all the bases! http://www.thevirtualnation.com/services.htm

• Virtual office setup
• Confidently discuss your rates and services through role playing
• Attract your ideal client
• Keep on top of technology
• Marketing and networking both online and offline
• Learn how to focus your time using simple techniques that work
• Openly discuss individual and unique challenges
• Group setting for peer comraderie
• Confidentiality agreements signed by all participants

An Overview

Week 1: Get to know your peers: introduce yourself, challenges, what you hope to get out of the class and more. Sign into private yahoo group, introduce yourself to your peers, post your photo and contact information.

Week 2: Change your employee mindset to a business owner mindset by learning the language of business. New dialoguing and languaging skills and techniques learned through role playing. Learn negotiating tactics for prospects who aren't sure how to work with a VA and more.

Week 3: Learn why being authentically 'you' will attract the clients you want to work with. We'll explore values, creating your unique message, and more.

Week 4: Marketing and networking that works for you, not just the general populace. We'll explore both traditional and non-traditional methods.

Week 5: Doing the work: how to focus, time management vs. project management, and developing systems that work for you.

Week 6: Review and cover unanswered challenges, concerns, questions and succcesses!

Are you ready to take your business in a new direction? Now, you can! Just select the coaching day of the week that best suits your schedule from below. (If these days and times do not work for you, please send us an email at info@thevirtualnation.com to discuss some alternatives.)

Choose between:

Coaching calls Mondays at 10:30 am - 11:30 am Pacific (Dates to be determined.)

Coaching calls Thursdays at 9:00 am - 10:00 am Pacific (Dates to be determined.)

**NOTE: Limited to 20 people per group. Some classes may be extended due to holidays and/or previously scheduled out of office dates.


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The Business Startup Checklist and Planning Guide

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Are you trapped by the 9-5? Do you dream of leaving your commute in the dust? Do you have a skill or product that could really take you places?


If these questions speak to you, why not tap into the abundance and expertise of fellow entrepreneur, Stephanie Chandler. Stephanie is an Author, Speaker & Entrepreneur. In 2003 she left her corporate job to begin her new life of freedom, hard work and creativity as her own boss. Along the road, she has led many others to occupational freedom, helping them build a path to a more fulfulling life after corporate America. Use this book as a tool to moving past your fears and beginning your adventure.


In her book The Business Startup Checklist and Planning Guide: Seize Your Entrepreneurial Dreams, Stephanie outlines all the things you need to plant the seeds of an idea and develop the roots of a successful business plan and new life.


Let's face it, we simply cannot know what we do not know. Culling information from the experts and taking tips from those who have gone down this path before us can be invaluable. Stephanie Chandler's book is a vital step toward beginning any business or entrepreneurial effort.


Click on the link below to read a more indepth description and order this valuable tool.


http://astore.amazon.com/tvn4105-20/detail/1593303009/002-9400124-6123268

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With Gratitude,
Michelle Ulrich, Chief Villager & President
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The Virtual Nation™
A community of learning. A nation of culture. A virtual village.
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PO Box 3692, Citrus Heights, CA 95611
(916) 536-9799 Office | (866) 844-9360 Fax
Michelle@TheVirtualNation.com | www.TheVirtualNation.com
Michelle@MichelleUlrich.com | www.MichelleUlrich.com

"If it takes a village to raise a child, then it takes a virtual village to grow a successful business." ~Michelle Ulrich