When I first started my business, I never knew that I would actually be using a Business Coach on a regular basis, but I’m glad that I am.  I mean, every successful athlete has a coach.  ”Most” politicians have an advisor that help them on a daily basis.  Even musicians and singers have coaches and mentors to help them grow and keep their talents sharp.  Why should running a business be any different?

I can say that I was blessed to find out about ActionCOACH when I first started out in my business. As a matter of fact, I met Rich Allen (ActionCOACH Collin County), Certified Business Coach, at the very first networking meeting that I attended at the Frisco Chamber. I think we both were very intrigued about what the other one did. I’ve told Rich that our meeting was a divine meeting because he has given me great coaching advice over the past three years.

I immediately started attending ActionCOACH’s quarterly GrowthCLUB Workshops, which helped me in getting focused on the goals to accomplish over the next 90 days following the workshop. These meetings are intense, always give RENEWED energy by participating in a business building day with other like-minded business owners. They have been great and well worth the investment of time and money!

Last year, I made the jump to become a ProfitCLUB member. Dennis Wagner (ActionCOACH Collin County), Certified Business Coach, was the leader of the ProfitCLUB that I attended. Now, this was the missing piece that I needed in my business because although the GrowthCLUB was awesome, I needed some direction and accountability in between that 90-day time period. Each session of ProfitCLUB included discussion around personal success behaviors, fundamental business concepts and tools, best practice sharing and accountability. The sessions focused on specific topics ranging from sales, marketing, advertising, communications, leverage, team building, systems, processes, financials and reporting.

Some of the things that we discussed, such as team building, did not apply to me when I initially started ProfitCLUB, but it definitely helped in making critical mistakes when I got to that point. ProfitCLUB also helped me grow my client based so that I could actually start thinking about team building even earlier than I expected. The preparation it gave me in regards to team building and so many other business foundational topics, was more than worth the investment.

I’m looking forward to ProfitCLUB 2011 and growing Integrity Virtual Solutions! One of my goals from the 2011 Tour de Profit – Business Planning Workshop is to become a 1-2-1 Coaching client with ActionCOACH Collin County, and I am definitely on my way! My business has grown leaps and bounds since starting in 2008, and I am firstly grateful to God, my husband and son, my clients and ActionCOACH Collin County!

ActionCOACH Collin County offers COMPLIMENTARY programs as well as paid programs. Visit their website to learn more and become a fan of their Facebook Business page also.

You don’t have to go out to your nearest computer store and purchase any software. Most of what you need is available on the Internet for free or a small fee. If they offer a free trial, try it. At least, you will learn how the process works and if that particular software works for you.

Here are a few software tools for finding appropriate keywords for your website. Most of these are free tools, but some offer more features for a paid subscription.

1. Market Samurai – Although Market Samurai is NOT a free tool, it does offer a FREE trial.  It has been more than worth the investment I paid a couple of years ago.  You could easily start with zero keywords, and Market Samurai will definitely provide the very best for your industry and niche. Some of the main Market Samurai features include Keyword Research, SEO Competition and Rank Tracker. It has so many features that it’ll take some time to learn it all, but luckily, Market Samurai provides an extensive video library to help you get on track.

2. Wordtracker – There is no way that you could possibly think of all the different combinations of words that are used to find results in your niche. That is where software like Wordtracker comes in handy. Using the list of possible keywords you have compiled, choose a keyword to enter into the program. The software will return all possible combinations (according to your search parameters) and the number of searches for each. You may even notice a few that you havenít thought of before. You can even compare results by search engine.

3. Wordstream – If you want to let the software pick the keywords for you, here are a few tools that you can use. Wordstream returns keyword suggestions that work well for content and pay-per-click ads. You can also manage your keywords. You will be able to pick form the best words and phrases for your niche.

4. Overture (Yahoo! Search Marketing) – This keyword tool is brought to you by Yahoo. It is now called Yahoo! Search Marketing. Using this search engine, the tool returns results for a variety of keywords and how many searches are done for them. You can choose to keep or discard the ones that have too many search results and opt to exploit the keywords that have not been overdone.

5. Keyword Discovery – This tool will return the best keyword results from one keyword that you enter. It pulls information from over 100 search engines to compile a focused list.

Another great source for not only keywords in profitable areas, but tons of other research as well is Affiliate Niche Packs. For those wanting to start affiliate sites without spending tons of time researching keywords, niches, and everything else that goes into setting up a site, these packs will do it for you.

It all starts with keywords. If you pick the right ones, you can definitely find a profitable website. Using these tools can help you narrow your search even further than the list you came up with. Which ones will be winners? You’ll have to test them and see.

Since I received my Social Media Marketing Certification in 2009, I’ve noticed that the clients that have invested in the “groundwork, plan, testing and measuring” have been much more successful using Social Media Marketing than those who just want to tweet or post. Social Media Marketing is so much more than that, and when you are prepared, you get results.

Therefore, I am launching the Social Media Marketing GPS: A True Social Media Marketing Action Plan! Click here to check out the details! Please feel free to share this with your business colleagues as well.

Thanks to a couple of awesome blogs, it’s all beginning to make sense (somewhat), and I can at least keep up with what’s next in the world of Facebook.  Check out these five blogs to see what’s new and upcoming for Facebook.

Mashable

Facebook Blog

InsideFacebook

Social Media Examiner

Mari Smith

If for some reason you’re unable to find the answers that you need after visiting any of these sites, please feel free to post your question below in the comments’ section, and I’ll try my best to answer it for you.  If you have additional Facebook resources, please feel free to add them below in the comments.  Thank you and good luck!

Everyone wants to grow!  I am referring to growing your team.  Does your business plan have “team” in it? If you have any plans of growing your business, your business plan should have a “Future Expansion” roadmap in it. If you haven’t done so already, right now is the time to put those plans in place.

As with marriage, having kids and retirement, the best time to think about expanding your business is before it actually happens. Then, you can put your plan into action much more quickly and seamlessly. As a business owner, part of the future expansion includes outsourcing.

Recently, during a weekly seminar that I attend called, ActionWEDNESDAY, someone asked my business coach, “When do you know it’s the right time to add team members?”  His answer was, “Your time to expand is probably already past due”.  He began to tell us some success stories of local business owners who created a team, and their business grew tremendously because it freed up time for them to do the really, really profit-generating things in their business like getting new clients.

So, now you’re ready to build your team. It was a team of one, but now you are happily getting too big for a one-man or one-woman show. To keep moving upward, you’ll need others to help you make it happen while keeping your clients happy.

Choosing your Team

The team may be comprised of a Bookkeeper, Accountant, Business Coach and a Virtual Assistant. The main thing to keep in mind is that you want to outsource those things that make you squeal – those things that you are “least” passionate about, but you know have to get done for you and your business to be successful and grow. For example, if you’re adding a Virtual Assistant, you want to make sure that you’re adding someone to the team that is a partner and you feel have a interest in seeing you grow. Some other characteristics that you can look for in a Virtual Assistant would be that they think like you do and have a similar work ethic. Just like your clients did with you, you’ll want to do some research and interviewing to find just the right people.

When you think of outsourcing, keeping it simple is a great way to start until you get a feel for how the team will work together. Interviewing is the first step, followed by checking out their website, their testimonials’ and Social Media sites. You want to make sure that this person will not disrupt the “culture” that you’ve created for your company. Once you’ve built trust with your new team members, you may want to outsource more delicate matters. Look for a variety of skills in the people that you choose for your team. The more skills that they have, the more useful they will turn out to be for you and your business.

Starting off on the Right Foot

Get all of your ducks in a row from the beginning. This includes contracts, agreements and instructions. Each team member will need a contract that spells out, but is not limited to: pay per hour, retainer hours, pay schedule, job description. Agreements between you and your team stipulating confidentiality and non-compete clauses are essential. You don’t want to be fleeced for your client list right under your nose.

Written instructions about how to do what you ask avoids as many mistakes as possible later. For example, even though your team members know how to write a report, they don’t know how you write reports for your clients. Pleasing your clients is the important part here.

Crossing all the Ts

One “T” in particular is taxes. You are not just responsible for yourself, but others who work for you. Partnering with subcontractors is considered freelancing. This is another area that needs to be specified in any contracts with your team. As a subcontractor, they will be responsible for their own taxes and insurance. What you will provide (for US workers) is a 1099-MISC form for them that specify what you pay them so that they can use it to file their taxes.

The cost of subcontracting will figure into your hourly or per project rate for your clients. The last thing you want to do is undercut yourself because you are paying your contractors more than you are getting paid yourself.  Planning ahead for business growth will make you healthy, wealthy and wise.

It’s also a great time to stretch your mind and enhance your business! So let’s do BOTH!!

This year, check out VAClassroom’s Summer Skill Camp 2010 – an amazing opportunity for you to build ten new skills and ultimately ten new income-building opportunities for your virtual business.

While this particular summer camp may not include the usual weenie roasts and campfire singalongs like you might be accustomed to with other summer camps, it will offer an easy and profitable way to develop the right “in-demand” skills at the right time to hit the ground running in your virtual business for the last half of 2010!

Here’s what skills you’ll be building:

* Develop the right system for creating a profitable, in-demand Facebook Page Service.

* Receive an easy-to-follow blueprint for building an effective online newsletter or ezine.

* Discover proven techniques for designing a winning WordPress Blog.

* Uncover and implement the right kind of WordPress plugins to ignite traffic and results for you and your clients.

* Learn how to leverage a freebie offer or information product to attract and win new clients.

* Discover a simple formula for crafting and delivering top-notch social media presentations to your clients and community.

* Master a proven system for seamlessly organizing your many social networking activities.

* Learn how to effectively measure your client’s Internet Marketing results and success.

* Receive an easy formula for writing articles and press releases that produce results.

* Develop a winning squeeze page or landing page that converts for you or your clients.

10 in-demand skills over 10 weeks. What could be more perfect?

VAClassroom has opened its registration doors to their “Summer Skill Camp 2010?, which will begin on July 6th. Right now they’re offering an early bird registration special.

Check out all the details here: http://tinyurl.com/26aqx44.