Do all social media sites have the same benefits? Although some people think so, they are not. Every social media site has its own special purpose.

Facebook is meant to help you share who you are on a personal level with people. But don’t think for even a minute it isn’t essential for business success. Friendships are built and alliances made because of this tool.

Twitter is a little different. This social media platform allows for short, blips of conversation—144 characters worth. It helps you get the word out about going on, events and new product promotion. Blogs are online journals that give you the opportunity to teach, share and educate. As people comment, you can start some great conversations and from there, build your following.

LinkedIn offers your online professional resume. There’s a strategy to using this social media platform and as an entrepreneur or business person, you’d be wise to learn more about it.

How do social media platforms benefit business?

Learning how to use social media platforms to get the word out about your business is laser-focused genius. This strategy involves more than just social networking, so if you’re one of those folks who thought social media began and ended with daily Facebook status reports, it doesn’t. It extends far beyond.

Networking on social media sites, i.e. social networking, is a way of building relationships with colleagues, prospects and customers. You won’t find an easier and more efficient technique to reach and expand your target audience without emptying your bank account.

Definition of Social Media

Media is the plural form of the word medium, which for the purpose of our discussion is anything used to disseminate information. Newspapers, magazines, radio, and TV are all forms of media. They provide information. Social Media is a specific method of communication that allows for social interaction with the information it provides.

The interaction were talking about ranges from very simple; posting a status report or a LIKE on Facebook, to more complex; commenting on someone else’s Facebook post, tweet or blog. Social interaction on YouTube might encompass commenting and voting for a particular video.

Learn all you can about this valuable tool for growing your business. Your data base will benefit, as will your visibility, from a social media platform. Begin by watching this two minute video!

Daven Michaels is a New York Times Best Selling Author and CEO of premiere global outsourcing company, 123Employee, http://www.123Employee.com The company employs hundreds of young bright individuals on three continents. His International event, Beyond Business Live! http://www.BeyondBusinessLive.com inspires entrepreneurs to meet challenges head-on in with revolutionary new theories and systems allowing them to design the business and personal lifestyles of their dreams.

Many entrepreneurs fuel their ideas by developing services and/or with product creation. They put a lot of time and hard work into making their businesses viable. What’s viability without profitability?  A great way to give your business a financial boost is to start a membership site. You’ll not only bring prospects right into your back yard, you’ll also gently close the gate behind them by giving them a reason to stick around awhile.

What Exactly is a Membership Site?

A membership site is a private website that allows access only to members who voluntarily sign up. There’s usually an incentive for prospects to be a part of a membership site; such as a free gift, a newsletter or exclusive content. Members are sometimes given the opportunity to interact with other members, making the site even more valuable. If you don’t have one yet, it’s probably time for you to create a membership site.

Where Do I Start?

Good question. It usually follows, “How will I know I’m ready to have a membership site?” The answer? Right now. Begin right where you are, even if you don’t feel ready. As long as you have at least one give-away, you can begin. Too many entrepreneurs put off having a membership site because they don’t feel worthy to begin; they don’t think they have enough (products, services, freebies, etc.) to start with. My question to these entrepreneurs is “If not now, when?”  If you wait until you feel completely ready, you’ll never begin and for every day you wait, you miss opportunities to connect with people who want what you have to offer.

Try This

Here’s an idea. If you don’t have a download or a sample product you can send out right now, create something of minimal value. Offer charter members a really low price to be the first to join your membership site. Just begin. In time you’ll develop other valuable incentives. The value of an object in motion, and that includes your membership site, is worth far more than waiting until you have something weeks or months down the road.

There’s a difference between cost and perceived value. Record a 30 minute teleseminar on a topic related to your business and give the download away to new members. How to’s, Secrets and Steps have a perceived value. They can actually change lives. It won’t matter to your prospects/clients that it only took you 30-45 minutes to produce. Watch the short video. Your membership site will make a huge impact on your business. Don’t wait. Go for it!

Daven Michaels is a New York Times Best Selling Author and CEO of premiere global outsourcing company, 123Employee, http://www.123Employee.com. The company employs hundreds of young bright individuals on three continents. His International event, Beyond Business Live! http://www.BeyondBusinessLive.com inspires entrepreneurs to meet challenges head-on in with revolutionary new theories and systems allowing them to design the business and personal lifestyles of their dreams.

If you know anything at all about outsourcing, you’re probably a mile ahead of many businesses who’ve heard about it but are not really sure what it means. There are a couple of points that bear discussing.

Point Number One: Outsourcing means different things to different businesses.

Point Number Two: Every business can benefit from some form of outsourcing.

You may be able to manage a heavy schedule or multitask efficiently, but if you want to reach a high degree of success in your business and live your true life adventure, there’s no way you can do everything and do it well.

Every business, whether a solo-entrepreneur, a small business with one or two employees or a medium / large sized company can benefit from some form of outsourcing. Knowing what tasks must be accomplished and which of those are income generating is the first critical answer. Those answers can vary depending on the size and type of business.

A solo-entrepreneur must be hyper-organized from the very beginning. If you’re going to run a business on your own, you’ll need to identify what tasks must be managed and then schedule them to be sure they get done. It’s easy for things to fall through the cracks if you don’t structure properly.

Once you know what needs to be done, you can identify the tasks you only can perform and the rest may be outsourced accordingly. Be sure to budget for outsourcing along with advertising and marketing. All are necessary for success.

If you own a small business with one or two employees, you might feel unduly comfortable, thinking you have all the support you need to run your business. My question to you would be:

Will you be happy to settle for mediocre success in exchange for comfort or would you be willing to stretch beyond the boundaries you’ve set for your business and take it to a higher degree of success?

Outsourcing can take you there. By outsourcing basic tasks you can utilize your staff for more detailed work or skill-specific tasks. You’ll spend less money and your employees will have more time to devote to getting their jobs done.

Medium and larger businesses derive the same benefits from outsourcing. Just as corporate executives assign specific tasks to upper level management, managers can rely on Virtual Assistants to do the “busywork.” Things such as appointment setting, data entry, and social media updates will free full time employees to focus on the skilled jobs they were hired to do. Outsourcing certain tasks supports efficiency all the way around while your company becomes more successful.

Knowing where your business is right now and where you want to go will be the first step in determining whether you’re ready to begin outsourcing.

Daven Michaels is a New York Times Best Selling Author and CEO of premiere global outsourcing company, 123Employee, http://www.123Employee.com.   The company employs hundreds of young bright individuals on three continents. His International event, Beyond Business Live! http://www.BeyondBusinessLive.com inspires entrepreneurs to meet challenges head-on in with revolutionary new theories and systems allowing them to design the business and personal lifestyles of their dreams.

Whether you’re already in business or on the threshold of making the jump from your day job to entrepreneurship, opportunities for success are all around you. The Internet continues to set the pace for massive business growth and expansion. The virtual world is at your front door. Will you open it?

Dreaming about taking action and actually doing it are two very different things, aren’t they? Actually they’re not. Some studies report that the memory does not distinguish between what is real and what is imagined. What this means is your brain doesn’t know the difference between something you’ve experienced or only fantasized about. Some experts say the more detail you fantasize the more likely you are to bring that fantasy to real life.

What will you do when opportunity rests on your doorstep? It won’t rest for long so be ready and willing to open the door and let it in. Why would you not?

That might sound like a crazy question, but let me tell you that people walk away from opportunity every day. Some wait all of their lives for that big chance and then when it comes, they shrink away in fear.

Fear? Fear of what?

Fear of failure, fear of success—fear of whatever. Fear of failure is common. Depending on what meaning people attach to failure, they often avoid it at all costs. Are you afraid of failure? What are you making it mean about you if you fail? Failure has no meaning unless we assign one. It’s really just something that didn’t work.

Think of inventors like Thomas Edison. Do you know he made more than 1,400 attempts to invent the light bulb? What if he had quit after 500 failed attempts? When asked, he remarked that he only discovered that many ways “not to do it.” What would it be like if you looked at your stabs in the dark that same way? How much easier would it be to try and try again until you got it?

If Thomas Edison had never explored his ideas on creating the light bulb, or had quit after a few less-than-fruitful attempts, what would have happened? I’ll tell you. Eventually someone else would have done it.

Is that what you want to happen to your ideas? Believe me, I’ve heard many stories from people who experienced just that.

If you hear a knock, go ahead and answer the door. Let opportunity in and see where it takes you. There really is no such thing as failure. And who knows, even if you don’t get what you’re after you might discover something even more amazing in the process.

Daven Michaels is a New York Times Best Selling Author and CEO of premiere global outsourcing company, 123Employee, http://www.123Employee. The company employs hundreds of young bright individuals on three continents. His International event, B.comeyond Business Live! http://www.BeyondBusinessLive.com inspires entrepreneurs to meet challenges head-on in with revolutionary new theories and systems allowing them to design the business and personal lifestyles of their dreams.

As much as you love what you do, running your business can reach a point where tasks become overwhelming. When it begins to feel that way, it probably means one of two things:

1)   Your business is growing.

2)   You might have an issue with time management.

If you’re in the first group, congratulations. All of your planning and heard work is paying off. It’s time to look for more support. Do it soon before you get into the habit of doing everything yourself. The more time you spend on working IN your business, the less tome you’ll have to work ON your business.

What does this mean? It’s vital you learn to make the distinction.

Working IN your business will eventually slow you down as you invest sweat equity in trying to complete all of the tasks required to maintain and keep your business afloat. Working ON your business refers to the effort you’ll invest in moving your business forward as it evolves and generating income.

If you’re in the second group and time management is not your greatest strength, that’s not such a good thing. Unless you learn how to manage your time you won’t invest it wisely, which could hamper your growth and ultimately your income.

Either way, a Virtual Assistant (VA) can help you meet the challenge head-on.

What is a VA?

Years ago executives would hire what was called a secretary and eventually an assistant to help manage tasks. The assistant would do anything the manager or supervisor required support with: typing, filing, setting appointments, and more. As technology advanced and we became more reliant on computers, assistants were able to work remotely. They could work from home across town, or even across the country.

Today VAs work with clients all over the world, dealing with social media, digital responsibilities and telephone work, as well as a variety of other tasks required to support management. When they hire proficient VAs business owners are free to work at generating income and expanding their businesses.

Just as with any other decision you need to make, hiring the right Virtual Assistant is vital to your success.

Do you know who to hire? There are a lot of choices when it comes to VAs. Are you sure you’ll know how to hire the right person(s) for the job? Once you hire your VA, will you be able to manage him/her? Watch this video and learn tips and tricks that will save you time and money.

Daven Michaels is a New York Times Best Selling Author and CEO of premiere global outsourcing company, 123Employee, http://www.123Employee.com. The company employs hundreds of young bright individuals on three continents. His International event, Beyond Business Live! http://www.BeyondBusinessLive.com inspires entrepreneurs to meet challenges head-on in with revolutionary new theories and systems allowing them to design the business and personal lifestyles of their dreams.

In 2013 Daven Michaels’ new book, Outsource Smart, rose to the top quickly, charting as a New York Times Bestseller. The book continues to reach entrepreneurs and forward thinkers as the once-misunderstood topic of outsourcing becomes part of everyday language in the world of business.

Addressing the challenges entrepreneurs face when dealing with expanding businesses and growing workloads, Daven and Kristen White discuss the difficulties many people have with delegating tasks. Because entrepreneurs are doers by nature, they often believe no one can perform a task as well as they can—the first big mistake.

As a result of the tendency to be in full control without the relief offered by delegating some of the tasks others could easily perform some entrepreneurs hold themselves back, often to the extent of sabotaging their businesses.

By refusing to delegate even simple tasks, some entrepreneurs risk exhausting the energy they could be using to develop ideas and generate more income for their businesses. The strategy of keeping everything close to home works against these entrepreneurs by filling their schedules with tasks that could be easily accomplished by a virtual assistant (VA) or outsourced to a professional whose basic skill set lies in an area the entrepreneur may struggle with.

What are some of those things?

Specifics vary among entrepreneurs and industries, but for the most part, social media marketing, an essential for today’s business person, can be easily delegated to a trained virtual assistant with a background in social media. Not only does the task not require intensive involvement of the entrepreneur, but the realm of social media continues to evolve, and professionals whose job it is to perform these tasks tend to be more up to date with trends and changing technology.

Some examples of social media tasks that can be delegated are:

Facebook Status Posting and Tweeting – An entrepreneur can write out posts in an hour or two and hand them over to a VA to schedule posts to both Facebook and Twitter.

Facebook Group Interaction – a Virtual Assistant can visit a list of groups provided by the entrepreneur to post links to relevant blogs or articles he/she has written, announcements, event promotion and more.

Pinterest and Instagram – Both of these are easy to delegate as a VA will only need to know what is to be posted by the entrepreneur. Neither requires much creativity on the part of the VA, if any at all.

Watch the attached video interview of Daven Michaels and see if you recognize yourself. That’s the first step to making changes!

 Daven Michaels is a New York Times Best Selling Author and CEO of premiere global outsourcing company, 123Employee, http://www.123Employee.com. The company employs hundreds of young bright individuals on three continents. His International event, Beyond Business Live! http://www.BeyondBusinessLive.com inspires entrepreneurs to meet challenges head-on in with revolutionary new theories and systems allowing them to design the business and personal lifestyles of their dreams.

It used to be people worked their entire lives for the same company, and sometimes at the same job if they weren’t promoted from within. They’d put in decades and then retire. Sure, they had dreams, some of which they achieved—and there were also bridges they’d never cross. Most of them never looked back. Many people just accepted the hand life dealt them.

It’s not that way anymore. We’re living longer and there’s more to life than ever. We want to do it all. And for those who want to stretch their arms and do something different, it’s never been easier. People are realizing it’s never too late to start over.I say go ahead; begin again. No matter your circumstances, write that book or invest in that brilliant idea you’ve been dreaming about.

How can you begin again?

Outsourcing is the key. You can even keep your day job while you go back to school or grow another business. We see this every day at 123Employee. People of all ages and life stages invest in their dreams with whatever resources they have available, and at their own pace, guide a team of VAs to support them. Sometimes they begin with a few hours a week, and other times one or two VAs support them full time.

You can do this too. Do you have a great idea or a heart-held dream you want to bring to fruition? Of course you do—everyone does.The attached video illustrates an example of what I’ve been talking about. Listen as the man in the video talks about applying the principles he’s learned about fulfilling his dreams. But don’t just listen. Look at him. Do you see the joy in his smile?

Begin right where you are, right now, using whatever you have to work with. You’ll notice that with each step forward, the journey gets easier. With each goal achieved your dream gets closer. Where would you like to start unraveling your dream or expressing your great idea? Decide and then set a manageable goal—one that’s easily attainable. The moment you achieve success by accomplishing even a small goal, your whole world will turn around. Experience the momentum as it shifts you in the direction of your dreams. Outsourcing and task delegation will open your schedule up and you’ll have time to do the most important tasks—such as those that generate income. Try it. It works!

Daven Michaels is a New York Times Best Selling Author and CEO of premiere global outsourcing company, 123Employee, http://www.123Employee.com. The company employs hundreds of young bright individuals on three continents. His International event, Beyond Business Live! http://www.BeyondBusinessLive.com inspires entrepreneurs to meet challenges head-on in with revolutionary new theories and systems allowing them to design the business and personal lifestyles of their dreams.

You’ve invested your life and money into your business. Are you willing to let self-sabotage bury it alive? That’s exactly what you’re doing if you don’t learn how to outsource. In the attached video, a participant in Beyond Business Live shares openly about his fear of letting go and trusting others to support him.

He makes some very good points in this :58 second video. Watch it and see if you can relate. Many of the entrepreneurs I’ve met have told me of similar concerns. They do it all because they don’t think anyone can do it as well as they can. They refuse to delegate even simple tasks.

Some people are control freaks. They’re afraid to let go of anything in other areas of their lives as well. So they pile task after task onto their already full plates and then stress about getting it all done.

Of course, they can’t Things slip through the cracks. The quality of their work suffers because they aren’t focused. And some of their great ideas go by the wayside because they don’t have the time to implement them.

Are you afraid to trust others to help? Maybe it’s because you lump all of the tasks it takes to run your business into the same bucket. The truth is, some of the tasks you’re doing can be easily delegated so you’ll have more time for the ones you alone need to tackle.

For instance, what would your day look like if you outsourced appointment confirmations by email or by phone? Would it work for a VA to do this for you? It works for entrepreneurs just like you who allow a VA to handle this task.

Really, how many mistakes can someone make if you give him or her your calendar and ask the VA to make contact and then document the date, time and response? It’s pretty easy to perform this task as long as you give the VA specific directions. Several entrepreneurs I know free an hour or two every day by outsourcing this and similar email communications.

I understand how hard it might be at first to trust that someone will do as good a job as you can do, but when properly trained, a VA can relieve you of time-sucking tasks so you can spend your time instead, on generating income.

Don’t sabotage your business. Support yourself by trusting a trained VA to back you. Once you let go of even the smallest task, you’ll see how easy it is and the rest will fall into place.

Daven Michaels is a New York Times Best Selling Author and CEO of premiere global outsourcing company, 123Employee, http://www.123Employee.com. The company employs hundreds of young bright individuals on three continents. His International event, Beyond Business Live! http://www.BeyondBusinessLive.com inspires entrepreneurs to meet challenges head-on in with revolutionary new theories and systems allowing them to design the business and personal lifestyles of their dreams.

It’s all about the marketing. You might have the most revolutionary product on the market; one that can change the world in ways people never imagined, and if you don’t market it, it’s worthless.

The “if you build it they will come” mentality is defunct. You can spend all of your time and financial resources building it, but “they won’t come” unless you go after them.

In the movie Field of Dreams, the character played by Kevin Costner spent day after day following a dream of building a baseball field. He was committed, long into the evening hours—he was compelled to do it.

Sound familiar?

As entrepreneurs, ideas come to us a mile a minute. We dream ideas. We create while we’re eating, sleeping and attending events. Wise entrepreneurs know they can’t do everything. Some ideas will just have to be shelved.

But there are those gems we just can’t ignore. Some ideas require follow through, and so we spend our time and money crafting them: we write books, design software, create programs and plan events, any of which we know are going to rock the world through our brilliance.

Maybe so, but unless we let people know about them, our genius is wasted—along with our money.

How do we spread the word? It’s called marketing. Along with a general concept of marketing, add contemporary models of Internet marketing, Social Media marketing, and video marketing, etc.  It has never been easier to reach large audiences than it is today. The whole world is at your doorstep. Open your door and invite them in.

The attached video introduces Craig Duswalt. He’s invested his whole life into marketing.

Depending on your level of experience as a businessperson, Beyond Business Live will introduce you to new ways of marketing you may never have heard of. At this content driven event you’ll learn (among other things) about ways to maximize your efforts to produce an effective marketing plan. One of those ways is how to outsource it.

Your marketing plan is comprised of a series of tasks set to a timeline. List those tasks and then move all that you can delegate over to a second list. Leave only the tasks that are income generating or that you alone must perform on the first list.

How much time have you freed by outsourcing the tasks that someone else can perform for you? You can use this time in any way you choose: to make more money, take a vacation, or grab one of those ideas you shelved a while back and put into motion. Your choice!

Marketing is essential, but it doesn’t have to add more to your workload. Outsource it and watch your business thrive!

Daven Michaels is a New York Times Best Selling Author and CEO of premiere global outsourcing company, 123Employee, http://www.123Employee.com.  The company employs hundreds of young bright individuals on three continents. His International event, Beyond Business Live! http://www.BeyondBusinessLive.com inspires entrepreneurs to meet challenges head-on in with revolutionary new theories and systems allowing them to design the business and personal lifestyles of their dreams.