1st VA » entrepreneur

Keep the Ball Rolling After an Event

1st VA — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 18:11:37 +0000

You’ve just returned from a conference, and you’re excited, motivated and feeling great!

The party’s not over just because you’re no longer wearing a name badge! Resist the urge to get “back to business” the minute you walk through the door – now is the best time to harness that positive energy and put what you’ve learned into action. Here are a few steps to help get you started.

1. Don’t turn the conference into a “shelf help” event, where you leave your materials and notes on the shelf when you return and go back to the old day-to-day. Create an action plan right away to implement what you have learned. If it seems overwhelming to create a whole plan right away, then take the one most important or interesting thing you learned and run with it.

2. Follow up with your new contacts; E-mail all the folks whose business cards you received, along with any of the conference staff, host, or speakers with whom you made a connection at the event. Even sending a short “nice to meet you” note is great. Perhaps you met someone with whom you would like to collaborate? Someone else who can refer your business to others and vice versa? Note one personal recollection from your interaction with that person – how you hope they enjoy their upcoming vacation, or have a successful product launch – let them know you were really listening to them and have an interest in what they had to say. Or, maybe there is someone you would like to thank – the speaker who inspired you, the host who welcomed you – a simple act of appreciation can turn them from acquaintances into allies.

3. Find your new contacts on Facebook and “friend” them. They may also have a presence on Twitter, Linked In, Plaxo, or other business and social networking sites. Perhaps you belong to a Facebook group you think would be of interest to one of them, or have friends to suggest to them?

4. Take action on the home front. Make sure you have marketing materials or products ready to send out to new contacts, customers or potential clients, and that your website/shopping cart are updated and able to handle lots of traffic! Now is also the time to determine how things went with your team or staff while you were away, and make any changes or improvements if necessary so your business can handle more regular time with you on the road.

5. Finally, give yourself a frank performance review. What kind of a first impression did you make? Was your business pitch refined and natural, or do you need to work on your confidence or public speaking skills? Did you hand out as many business cards or meet as many new faces as you had intended at the event? Make an honest assessment of the way you interacted at the event, and make notes of how you can make the next one even better.

Donna Toothaker is CEO and founder of 1st VA the highly sought-after online marketing and consulting company. 1st VA specializes in providing online marketing support and services to entrepreneurs and solopreneurs who wish to effectively build or improve their online presence. Visit http://www.1stva.com to sign up for our valuable weekly ezine and receive a free special report, The Top 5 Essential Tasks for the Ultimate Online Promotion of Your Business.

“What happens in Vegas….”

1st VA — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 17:21:55 +0000

…isn’t going to stay in Vegas this time!

I had a fabulous time at the Ali Brown Shine Event this past weekend. I met incredible entrepreneurs! I enjoyed my luxurious suite at the Venetian with a good friend and colleague. I got my picture taken with “Elvis”. I ate great food. And even though my feet hurt from walking so much in my high heels, and even though I didn’t win any money gambling – I’m so glad I didn’t miss it!

A client had asked me to share with him my 2 biggest take-aways from being at the event, so I thought I would share here also.

1. There is an incredible power in being surrounded by amazing entrepreneurs. I left inspired, motivated and more jazzed about my business than I’ve been in a long time. The new projects and ideas I’m going to start working on aren’t overwhelming me, rather, I’m excited to implement and begin to increase my company’s offerings to serve more people.

2. I don’t have to try to squeeze my company into one business model. My business isn’t a cookie-cutter business and the reaffirming that it’s okay to utilize parts (or all) of more than one business model was huge for me!

While there were so many more take-aways – these were the biggies for me. And while there is some “grumbling” online from people who were unhappy with certain things about the event – I feel it’s a shame that these folks weren’t open to receiving any “good” from being there.

~Donna

Seven Easy Ways to Promote Your New Product or Program Online

1st VA — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 12:15:38 +0000

So you have an exciting new product or program. You’ve surveyed your target market and you know it’s something they want and need. So, you hire a copywriter to create a great sales page for it and then you expect quick sales (and lots of them!). Yet – no one is buying. You announce it to your list. You add it to your ezine and website. Still… no one is buying. What is going on?

There could be many reasons, but chances are it isn’t being promoted enough or consistently.

Here is a list of ways to promote your new offering online.

Website and Blog: These are the most obvious. Your target market is visiting your website and blog, so, of course, you’ll want to be sure to highlight it on your home page as something new, and in a way that will catch the reader’s eye.

Ezine: Another “given,” but including your new offering in each ezine as a “recommended product” or service will give folks several chances to view the offering. I also suggest doing a solo promotion as an official “product launch.”

Tweets and Posts: If you’re not sure what this means, then it’s time you get a lesson in social media. You should be tweeting about your new product regularly (as much as 3 times/day) on twitter and posting regularly on Facebook. Now – know this will only work if you are also including valuable information/communication in your tweets and posts. Solely announcing something you’re selling will seem “spammy,” and only turn people off.

Affiliates: Give a great commission, and have your affiliates sell your offering for you. Make sure you are giving them plenty of sample emails, tweets, blog posts and graphics for their marketing materials, and offer sales tips and suggestions — don’t expect or ask them to come up with materials and a sales pitch on their own.

Article Writing and Submission: Write articles relating to your new offering that would appeal to your target market, and submit them to online directories, such as ezinearticles.com. Include an appropriate bio with a call to action that takes readers directly to your sales page.

Free teleseminar: It’s important to leave no question unanswered, especially for a higher-priced offering. Host a free teleseminar (or several) that will give people a chance to call in to ask questions about your product/service.

Joint Venture: Perhaps a colleague has a non-competing product, but a similar target market. Figure out a way to offer something together that will promote each other’s product at the same time, and to each other’s lists.

Remember that it takes anywhere from five to nine times for someone to look at something before they’ll become buyers. So, promoting in as many ways as are available to you, and consistently, is the key.

Good luck!

Donna Toothaker is CEO and founder of 1st VA the highly sought-after online marketing and consulting company. 1st VA specializes in providing online marketing support and services to entrepreneurs and solopreneurs who wish to effectively build or improve their online presence. To discover how 1st VA can help your business – visit http://www.1stva.com.

Down time for creativity

1st VA — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 12:19:11 +0000

Okay – so I still have vacation on the brain. I’ll be leaving on Monday for Cape Cod for the week. While I’m excited for swimming with the kids in the ocean (I’m a fierce boogie boarder!), hanging out at the indoor/outdoor pools, playing some air hockey at the arcade, and maybe a little mini-golf – what I’m equally looking forward to is some real DOWN time. When I’m most quiet and reflective (leaving lap top at home!), is the time that I become the most creative, and get the most exciting business ideas. THIS, along with awesome family-time, is what I’m excited for next week! So I look forward to lounging in the sun, reading a few books (bringing business AND ‘fun’ books), and relaxing on the patio. I’ll be bringing a notebook for any ideas that come to mind.

September is filled with a writing schedule to get my product written by October 1. While I’d love to get a head-start on this next week, I’m not scheduling it in, so there’s no ‘pressure’. I may write, I may not write and however it ends up will work for me. It’s important that I don’t put writing pressure on myself or it won’t work for me – it won’t happen. If I’m inspired to write – I will. I can’t ‘force’ creativity or schedule a ‘task’ in during my creative time.

Do you schedule your own down time? When does creativity flow easiest for you? I would love to hear what works for you!

Enjoy your week and I’ll be back with pictures and oodles of great ideas! :-)

~Donna

School’s Out!

1st VA — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 12:17:46 +0000

by Donna Toothaker

Kids: YEAAAAAAAAH!!!
Me: NOOOOOOOO!!!

Working at home with kids is always a balancing act. When school lets out for summer, however, it can feel more like a full-fledged three-ring circus for a couple of months! If your child isn’t heading for overnight camp, if you can’t cut work hours or take a month off, how do you find the time and space to focus on your work, while avoiding a looped chorus of “Mom, I’m bored?”

Here are a few tips I’ve discovered over the past several summers:

1. Plan ahead. Block out your daily schedule the night before. Make it an end-of-workday priority. Build your home/family activities into your calendar, just as you would any other task/event/appointment. Although you will rarely find you can stick to your schedule 100%, at least you have a road map to follow.

2. Take advantage of sleepy mornings. Since you’re not rushing around trying to get your kids out the door for the school bus, you may as well let them sleep in a bit, and use that quiet morning time to get a head start!

3. Stay mobile. Maybe it’s time for WiFi if you don’t already have it. Let the kids play in the yard while you work on your laptop or make calls.

4. Keep them busy. Even younger kids can earn allowance by helping you get your work done more quickly – stuffing envelopes, sticking stamps…older, computer savvy kids can do simple data entry, filing, or generating simple customer letters (this is a good learning opportunity for them, too!). For play, you might want to have a few simple, but time consuming, projects up your sleeve to occupy them for an hour or two.

5. Swap play dates with other parents. If your child has a favorite friend, try to make a point once a week or more to alternate play dates at each others houses, giving you, and the other parent, a little break, and giving your child lots of “friend time!”

6. Consider childcare. Chances are there is at least one responsible young person in your neighborhood looking for a summer job. Why not hire him/her to come to your house and play with the kids for a few hours a week? You’ll be at home in case of emergency, and they won’t be bored!

Whatever you do, make sure to devote some time every day to enjoying these warm summer days with your kid(s). When in doubt, remember: work can wait. Childhood can’t.

Donna Toothaker is CEO and founder of 1st VA the highly sought-after online marketing and consulting company. 1st VA specializes in providing online marketing support and services to entrepreneurs and solopreneurs who wish to effectively build or improve their online presence. To discover how 1st VA can help your business – visit http://www.1stva.com.

What It REALLY Takes To Be A Winner In Your Solo-Business And Make More Than You’ve Made In The Next 12 Months Than in The Last 12 Years COMBINED

1st VA — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 11:43:20 +0000

Fabienne Fredrickson is up to something really cool. If you remember, this past April I flew out to LA to spend 4 days at her Marketing and Mindset Breakthroughs Workshop and it was AWESOME. I learned a ton, became clear on my vision and values, changed the direction of my business and now things at 1st VA are rocking like never before – more clients, more business, better systems, more delegation. The same can happen for your business – check out this new free call she’s promoting.

Do you ever wonder what makes SOME people succeed, wildly
succeed, while others are just scraping by, trying to make
5-figures or barely break 6-figures?

If you really want to know what’s going to get you from where
you are in your business now to a TOTALLY different level,
here’s the secret…

The secret is actually a COMBINATION of several key
techniques (like a combination lock) that, when applied in a
particular order, create phenomenal results in your business
AND in what you make. In fact, these techniques can help you
make more in the next 12 months than you’ve made in the last
12 years COMBINED.

For herself, She’s always interested in looking for more ways
to take charge of her OWN life and her OWN business. That’s
why I was intrigued by Fabienne Fredrickson’s new free
teleclass on Wednesday July 1st, called “What It REALLY Takes
To Be A Winner In Your Solo-Business And Make More Than
You’ve Made In The Next 12 Months Than in The Last 12 Years
COMBINED.”

Click here to sign up!

And Fabienne is ready to reveal it ALL to you, step-by-step,
without holding anything back, on a FREE Teleseminar
happening Wednesday, July 1st.

Will you join me? I can’t wait to have you with me.

Sun Exposure – Your Healthy Dose

1st VA — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 12:29:59 +0000

Do you reap the benefits of a healthy dose of summer sun exposure? During the summer months, I find my productivity is higher and I feel much better than I did during those long, LONG New England winter months.


Research suggests that getting about 10 minutes of direct sunlight, before applying a sunscreen with a sun protection factor (SPF) of at least 15, may shake off the wintertime blues. Just ten minutes of sun exposure can reverse seasonal affective disorder (SAD).
According to Dr. Michael Holic, author of The UV Advantage, the body makes Vitamin D when sunlight touches the skin. He says, it is nearly impossible to get adequate amounts of Vitamin D through diet alone. Vitamin D prevents osteoporosis, breast cancer and depression.  Healthy sun exposure is the only reliable way to generate Vitamin D in your own body, according to Dr. Holic.
As a successful entrepreneur, you owe yourself that ten minutes of sun! While summer is here, get outside and enjoy it!

~Donna