713Bankruptcy.Com's Blog

(even attorneys can use the information and apply it to building their own practice)

Brand New EReport, 49 pages, 12,270 words, titled:

The Guaranteed, No Holds Barred, Easy, Step-by-Step Instruction Guide to Skyrocketing Your Virtual Bankruptcy Assistant Income Without Spending Another Dollar To Find Out

Think about this:

If you were the only store within 500 miles that sold winter coats, and your store was located near the border of Canada and the United States (where they get 300 or more inches of snow per year), how busy do you think your store would be?

You certainly would not need to advertise for customers.  You definitely would need to hire employees to help you though.  You definitely would be sold out of winter coats very quickly and would need a steady and reliable supplier.  But, you would be making a ton of money.

VBAs are in the same position.  The debtor bankruptcy field is booming.  Even attorneys working in other areas of law are flocking to this field because the market is growing by 50%, 60% and I have seen figures as high as 82%.  This has NEVER happened during the course of bankruptcy history!!

Yet, some VBAs are making little or no money and barely have their business off the ground.  Why?  I didn’t know the answer to that question because I had always had success in this field.  So I decided to find out by working directly with other successful VBAs.  One VBA that I recently worked with was Clay Holland of MyBankruptcyAssistant.Com.  Clay came to Colorado Springs for training back in June 2009.  I was impressed with the fact that he had a professional demeanor about him (which is impressive to most attorneys), a deep concern about the quality of his service and his sincere desire to improve his skills to an expert level.  I began working with Clay by referring business to him through articles that I wrote and mentioned his company.  That is all it took.  The attorneys contacted Clay and within a few weeks, he was beginning to make money.

How did this happen?  Why can’t everyone who truly wants to work as a VBA experience the same success?  What makes people like Clay Holland and others like Alexiss Harris, Gary Ostad, Linda Rantz, Evan Fuller, Armida Addessi, Yordanska Fraser and Mary Sosa so successful?  What are they doing that you are not doing?

This report will provide that answer.

Download your copy now for only $25.00.  Visit:
http://www.713training.com/shop/cart.php?m=product_detail&p=119

FREE AND LOW COST PLACES TO MARKET YOUR WEBSITE

Attorneys always ask me where they can market their website.  Most of them believe it will cost thousands of dollars to market on the internet.  This is only a myth.  Contrary to popular belief, there are many free and low cost places that attorneys can market their practice and increase their sales within less than 30 days.  The catch?  There is no cost but it does take time to go through all the links and fill out the forms.  Some companies want to sell you automatic submitters that do the job for you, but most search engines have ways to detect if an automatic robot or a real person is submitting the form.  Therefore, to risk these potential problems and have your submission be deleted, do the job by hand; the old fashioned way.  (Hint: Perhaps you know a young person who is internet savvy and has time on their hands to do this for you.)

I have spent many months gathering the data that appears at:
http://www.713attorney.com/links/attorneymarketing.html

I originally put the list together for attorneys that hired me to set up their practice.  As the list grew I decided it could be an extremely valuable tool for other bankruptcy attorneys that I could not reach.  To my knowledge, there is nothing like it available on the internet.  I hand compiled it.  I visited every website to verify the links work. I even connected all the links to the actual form so you do not have to waste time looking for it on the website.

I sincerely hope this list helps you in your bankruptcy practice.

TIP FOR VIRTUAL BANKRUPTCY ASSISTANTS

Offer to market the law firm website for the attorneys you are currently working with. Charge them a flat fee and use the links to market their website. It is an excellent add on service and all the preliminary work has been done for you.  Enjoy!

Thanks to all of you for your continued support of 713Training and 713Attorney.  I wish you a wonderful New Year in 2010.

Victoria Ring
Certified Paralegal and Bankruptcy Specialist
Bio at http://www.713attorney.com/victoriaring.html

If you are seeking to find more jobs working from home as a virtual assistant, you will find the new Virtual Assistant Job Directory on the 713Attorney.Com website to be extremely beneficial.  You can start using this free directory right now by visiting:

http://www.713attorney.com/links/jobs.html

10 Tips for Improving Your Virtual Assistant Skills

#1 — Allow clients to tell you what THEY want. Never tell them what YOU want.

#2 — Never allow a client to know they are interrupting your work. If you are too busy to answer the phone or property do a job, do not do it until you can give it your full and dedicated attention.

#3 — Never answer the phone or emails when you are upset and angry.  Breathe deep 10 times and close your eyes for 15 seconds. This helps to prevent taking out your frustration on potential clients.

#4 — Within 1 hour after receiving work from a client, acknowledge the receipt and provide them with an estimated completion time.

#5 — Always return phone calls within 24 hours. If you do not have the time to return phone calls hire a virtual assistant or someone to answer them for you.

#6 — Always check your business email many times every day. More than 82% of work is lost by virtual assistants who rarely view their email to respond to requests from potential clients.

#7 — Always follow up with every potential client who contacts you. For example: if they send you an email, invite them to be added to your LinkedIn or other social networking group that is BUSINESS related. Your personal and business life should always be kept separate.

#8 — Never discuss personal business with your customers and potential clients. However, be willing to listen to any personal problems they want to share because it helps you to better solve their problem and get the job.

#9 — Always remember that you work for your client. They do not work for you.

#10 — Treat every client in the same manner as you would be treated if you stayed at the Ritz Carlton or the Waldorf Astoria and you will never be without work.

http://www.713training.com/shop/cart.php?m=product_detail&p=113

CLASS DATES OFFERED:

Wednesday, Nov 18, 2009
Thursday, Nov 19, 2009
Friday, Nov 20, 2009
Sunday, Nov 29, 2009

PRICE: $24.95 (includes Certificate of Completion personalized with your name)

CLASS CONTENT:

This class will answer the following questions:

1.   What is the number one reason most people cannot get their Chapter 13 Plans to balance when a second mortgage has been stripped?

2.   What is the name of the Motion that attorneys must use when stripping a second mortgage in a Chapter 13 Plan?

3.   In the preparation of the bankruptcy petition, how are unsecured portions of secure liens provided for on the Means Test as well as the Debt Classification?

4.   What are some quick tips to matching up Schedule I to the Means Test in order to reduce deficiency notices from the Trustee’s office?

5.   What is the suggested wording for Item 17 of Schedule I and Item 19 of Schedule J which, if eliminated, normally will cause deficiency notices from the Trustee’s office, resulting in a loss of time for the law firm?

6.   What are some quick tips regarding exemption selections and how not to commit unauthorized practice of law if you are a non-attorney?

7.   How do you know if a motor vehicle is eligible for a cram down and how is it properly recorded on the bankruptcy petition?

8.   What are some questionable expenses that attorneys need to be aware of before the petition is filed?  Non attorneys need to know this also in order for them to bring their attorney’s attention to these questionable expenses.

9.  Although attorneys make the ultimate decision, what are some things non attorneys need to be aware of so they can assist their attorneys in making the best decision possible?

10.  Why is it important to document the benefits to the debtor for the Chapter 13 Plan?  Knowing this information will significantly increase the profits for a law firm as well as improving the rate at which debtors stay in their Chapter 13 Plan.

Sign up for the next class at:
http://www.713training.com/shop/cart.php?m=product_detail&p=113

Tomorrow afternoon I am flying from Denver, Colorado to Burbank, CA to work with an attorney in starting his new bankruptcy law firm.  During the time I am away, I thought I would leave you with something to think about.  When I return, I will write an article and tell you all about the law firm in Burbank and what was accomplished there.

THE QUESTION

I was recently asked: What is the greatest lesson you have learned that has helped you the most in building your business?

THE ANSWER

The greatest lesson I have learned is from making mistakes.  I learned early on how to appreciate and use mistakes to my advantage.  If I developed a product that generated little or no sales, I simply repackaged the product and sold it in various ways so that I could recoup some or all of my money.  Did I ever lose money?  Of course I did.  Everyone does.  But I simply accepted the loss as a payment on a lesson well learned and moved on.

Just like a good cook will make use of every possible ingredient in his or her kitchen to their advantage, a good business person will use every possible angle to utilize mistakes to their advantage.  Of course there are a billion different ways to do that.  It is not simply a matter of 1, 2, 3 or everyone in the world would be successful at building a business.

However, before I could even start trying new things so I could make mistakes and learn from them, I had to learn how to deal with the human emotion of FEAR.  Fear is nothing more than an emotion.  You do not need to pay a psychiatrist thousands of dollars for therapy to combat fear; and you do not need to pay money for medication that is supposed to rearrange the cells in your brain so that it functions differently in order to combat fear.  The best tool I found to combat the emotion of fear is to ask myself: If I did such-and-such, what would happen?  This way, I was able to face my fear and most of the time I discovered that fear was nothing more than fantasy.

This line of thinking is what is called THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOX.  It is a skill I use hundreds of times every day in my business and personal life.  And this is one of the secrets of my success with 713Training.Com; I recommend it to everyone.

PRODUCTS TO HELP YOU MARKET YOUR BUSINESS

Ebook: How to Market a Virtual Bankruptcy Assistant Business – $32.99
http://www.713training.com/shop/cart.php?m=product_detail&p=88
This EXCELLENT eBook contains 45 pages of the best marketing information specifically for a virtual bankruptcy assistant business available today.

Video: Marketing a Virtual Bankruptcy Assistant Business – $79.99
http://www.713training.com/shop/cart.php?m=product_detail&p=94
In this training video I show you how I market with postcards and fax blasts.  These are the same methods that I (Victoria Ring) actually used to market and build my companies.

For VBAs and Attorneys: Private Training by Telephone – $125.00 (up to 2 hours)
http://www.713training.com/shop/cart.php?m=product_detail&p=96
Are you finding it difficult to approach bankruptcy attorneys?  You are not alone! This training session is a private consultation with Victoria Ring, the developer of the virtual bankruptcy assistant industry.

EReport: How I Built 7 Businesses – $12.99
http://www.713training.com/shop/cart.php?m=product_detail&p=36
Even if you have had failures in the past and did not make any money, you will learn from this Ereport how to handle those failures and turn them around for your benefit.

HAVE A GREAT WEEK

Victoria Ring, CEO
713Training.Com
http://www.713training.com
http://www.713attorney.com

I recently discovered the links below to help both bankruptcy attorneys and virtual bankruptcy assistants. I am passing them on to you as soon as I could. I hope they help bring you business.

https://lawyers.justia.com/signup
This is a brand new attorney directory where ONLY attorneys can sign up and start answering questions. There is NO COST for a listing and it is an excellent marketing tool.

http://blawgsearch.justia.com/
Excellent legal blog search so you can keep updated on all the latest bankruptcy information.

http://lawyers.justia.com/lawyers/bankruptcy-and-debt/
Another resource for locating attorneys working in bankruptcy.

For additional freebies and marketing tips:
http://www.713bankruptcy.com/archives/153
http://www.713bankruptcy.com/archives/143

A lesson to help you learn how to accomplish more of your personal and business goals

Question: I say to you: You are advised to listen to everything the customer is saying. While she is talking, you should be thinking of ways to:

a. find the customers weak point so you can manipulate her thoughts; or
b. understand the needs of the customer and offer suggestions that will be beneficial to the customer

Which answer above sounds like the moral and ethical thing to do? Of course the answer is B.

Why do I think the answer is B?

The difference between the two answers above is an age old question that has been debated throughout all of history. Both answers above provide a glimpse into two basic human needs. Those basic human needs are (1) good; and (2) evil. Both of these spirits exist in all of us; but we all have more than one versus the other. Either you believe you need to control others in order to achieve your goals (evil) or you believe that by putting the needs of others ahead of your needs will achieve goals beyond your wildest dreams (good.) Therefore, the way you choose to run your business is ultimately your decision.

Presentation is the key

Even if you are person who believes the correct answer should be Letter A in the above example, you are not going to get anywhere if you do your presentation in a manner that reveals these true intentions. This is one example of why it takes more effort to commit evil instead of committing good. Therefore, if you think like a person who would answer the question above with Letter A, you will have to think really hard and come up with a presentation that is masqueraded to achieve your goal of control and manipulation in order to accomplish it.

But if you think like a person who would answer the question above with Letter B in the above example; you do not have to waste your mind on thinking up an alternative presentation. Instead, you can be honest in your presentation and go on with life; saving a great deal of time and effort.

How Not to be a Wimp

I was training a new attorney a few months back and I was explaining the good and bad advantages to running a moral and ethical law practice. He said that all the philosophy was good, but he wanted to know how to avoid being taken advantage of and becoming a wimp in the marketplace if he implemented the idea of treating his clients like royalty (the [customer is always right] rule) instead of under his control and manipulation.

Unfortunately, this attorney did not realize that being taken advantage of (because you do not have the ability to say NO to customers who make irrational requests) is not the same thing as being a wimp. You should always be in a position to defend your company. It is perfectly fine to go the extra mile and treat your customers like royalty and put their needs first. But when a customer comes along and they make demands that are unreasonable or outside the scope of your company policy, you need to take a stand and stop treating the customer like royalty. It is at that point that you not allow them to cross over the line. Adjusting your character to react in this manner is certainly not being a wimp.

Other Examples of Presentations

Scenario No. 1: An attorney calls a virtual bankruptcy assistant because he found her on the NAVBA.ORG website. The attorney says: “How much experience do you have?”

Bad: I never worked for an attorney before.

Good: I have recently completed the VBA Certification Exam and I have been tested on several different bankruptcy petitions. I have recently only begun accepting new clients. Can you tell me something about your law firm and practice?

Notice how the GOOD response leads into a question. This question throws the ball back into the customers court and encourages the attorney to provide you with information. During the time the attorney is talking, listen closely, understand the needs of the customer and offer suggestions that will be beneficial to the customer.

Scenario No. 2: While sitting at a law firm waiting to see an attorney, the receptionist asks you what line of work you are in. You reply:

Bad: I am a virtual bankruptcy assistant. I prepare bankruptcy petitions.

Good: I provide services to attorneys that help to relieve the law firm workload. What type of duties do you perform here at the law firm?

Remember, you are talking to a receptionist. You need to understand that the receptionist is asking you this question because he or she wants to know if your service will benefit them. They don’t care how much time you will save the attorney. They want to know how your company will make their job easier. By providing the GOOD answer above, you have addressed that question in a language the receptionist will understand. Why is this crucial to do? Because the receptionist will tell other co-workers about your company if they understand it. Providing them with a presentation they can understand will accomplish your goals much better than manipulation and control. Plus, you led into a question so you could throw the ball back into their court. (See previous example.)

Summary

I hope this article helps you to understand two very important key elements in all manners of communication whether it be business or your everyday life. Even if you are at the grocery store and you run into someone you know; you can still use the skills you were taught in this article. For example: Most conversations in the grocery store begin with: How have you been? Your goal should always be to NEVER talk about yourself. The person is not really interested in how you are anyway (unless it is something juicy and exciting gossip they can carry elsewhere.) Instead, they want to talk about themselves. All it takes in order for this to happen is for you to ask them a question:

You reply (with a smile): I have been great. How have you been doing?

You have just placed yourself into a very SAFE place. You will never need to worry about this person taking a word you say and knitting it into a framework of gossip. Instead, you get to listen as this person tells you about their world, which is probably not going to be that exciting to you either. But regardless of whether the person is telling you things that are interesting or not, you never need to worry about this person carrying gossip about you or misinterpreting anything you say. Instead, they will think you are a super nice person because you took time to listen to them, nod your head in agreement and maintain a kind and caring demeanor. The person will leave the conversation and talk about you to others in a positive manner.

Or, if you are lucky enough and the other person understands this same philosophy in communication, they will only reply that they are doing fine and continue down the grocery isle. These are the best conversations to have in a grocery store. Remember, other people can hear your conversation, so make sure you always try to do the least amount of talking there.

I wish you a blessed and wonderful week.

Victoria Ring
Certified Paralegal and Bankruptcy Specialist
http://www.713attorney.com
http://www.713training.com
http://www.navba.org

by Victoria Ring, CEO 713Training.Com LLC

I received an inquiry from a law firm last week asking me to provide them with a price for preparing their bankruptcy petitions. Although I normally work on difficult cases and assist my virtual bankruptcy assistants, I decided to pursue this request so I could place myself in the shoes of the VBAs I train in order to help them with marketing. Besides, if I would have been awarded the job I would have given it to a certified VBA anyway; so I had nothing to lose and everything to gain from the experience.

The first thing I did was to call the attorney on the phone and find out exactly what they needed. I was not able to speak to the attorney but I spoke to his wife, who works for him in his office. The attorney’s wife explained that their main petition preparer was going to be out of work for a few weeks having a baby. They wanted someone who was skilled in preparing bankruptcy petitions to step in while she was gone.

From this information, experience told me there would have problems with the pricing. Most law firms was used to paying an employee $10 or $12 an hour; so quoting them a flat fee of $500 or more was going to blow their mind. However, I was in the mood to present my sales approach to see what would happen.

First of all I explained the benefits of using my virtual bankruptcy assistant services. Not only would the petition be compiled, my services also included an online asset search, lien search, criminal search, client intake interview as well as amendments that needed prepared throughout the life of the case. After building up all the benefits and expanding on how my services were different compared to an in-house employee, I told the attorneys wife the price would fluctuate depending on the assets and liabilities of the debtor. But as a ball park figure, the fee would be no more than 25 percent of the attorney fee.

Immediately the attorney’s wife said she would talk to her husband. I knew right then and there that she was not happy with the price. How did I know? Because if she would have been interested in my services she would have begun asking me questions and seeking out details of how my work would be performed. Instead, as soon as she learned the price she dropped the ball and found an excuse to get off the phone. These are things you need to look for when marketing your VBA services. The only way I know about them is through the many years experience in marketing I have endured.

Now, most people at this point would have felt bad. They would have felt compelled to lower their prices just to get the sale. One VBA I met did just that. In fact, she lowered her fee down to $100 and the bankruptcy attorney took advantage of her. While he made $2,500 for every petition, he paid her $100 and made her do all the work. This is modern day slave labor and an attorney who is dirty enough to do this is not an attorney you need to be working for.

Did I feel bad because this law firm turned me down? Of course not. In fact, just to prove my theory I waited a week and sent the attorney’s wife the following email: We spoke last week regarding your paralegal that is going on maternity leave soon. I wanted to follow up and see if you were still interested in my services of preparing your bankruptcy petitions while she is away.

Her respond was almost immediate; it said: We found someone much cheaper than you!

This type of response told me that my first assumption was correct. However, I did not expect her to be rude and unprofessional. A remark like this told me she was angry and she wanted to inflict as much pain as she could. But instead of inflicting pain, her response only showed me her true character. It was clearly evident this lady was NOT a professional. Even if she was not happy with my prices, she would have thanked me for the follow up and politely told me they had decided to pursue another solution. Or, if she was still interested in my services but thought the prices were too high, she would have called and attempted to negotiate a different price with me. I had one attorney do this. He said he could not afford my prices but asked me how much I would charge if I did not do any online searches or client intake interviews. This lowered his per petition cost significantly and we worked out a price that was fair and reasonable to accommodate him. These types of negotiations are common in business and if someone does not try to implement them, it shows you immediately they are not business savvy people.

Moral of the Story

Listen folks. Do a search in any lawyer directory and you will find there are hundreds if not thousands of bankruptcy attorneys in almost every city and town within the United States. As a trained, professional virtual bankruptcy assistant, you save attorneys a great deal of money and you have GREAT WORTH. You help to eliminate paperwork and deficiency notices. You assist the federal bankruptcy court in eliminating time and increasing their efficiency. Your skills are not to be discounted to a level of trash. If an attorney chastises you for the prices you charge, this is not an attorney you want to work for. There are plenty attorneys who will recognize the fact of how you will benefit his or her law firm and appreciate you for the professional you are.

Keep plugging away and keep increasing your knowledge as a VBA. Refuse to settle for less than you deserve but be fair and caring toward your client attorneys. There are a lot of good women and men attorneys seeking your services but you may have to kiss a few toads to get to the prince and princess. Do not worry though. Waiting for the prince and princess is well worth the time. Working for good attorneys is how you build a long-lasting career on solid ground.

By Victoria Ring, CEO www.713Training.Com

Last week I attended a new business group here in Colorado Springs, Colorado. I was very excited to meet other business people in the community and network with them. While at the meeting I met a lady who custom makes and designs her own jewelry. The thing that excited me the most was that I did not need to have my ears pierced to wear these earrings. Instead, the Jewelry Lady had designed her earrings as ear cuffs. Not only did they stay securely on my ear, but they did not cause pain like clip on earrings or magnets that I had worn in the past.

In fact, I was so excited about finding this lady and so impressed with her designs that I spent over $50 on earrings that evening. I also told her that I would be telling others about her jewelry and asked her when we could hookup and meet for lunch. Her reaction was: I am normally busy during the day. I will have to call you later. (However, she did not ask for my business card or a contact number.) This immediately told me she was a negative business person like many others I had met in the past. Whether she realized it or not, she was giving up an opportunity to increase her business.

But since I am the type of person that always gives people second and third chances I decided to try another approach. I told the lady that I had a credit card machine that I would be willing to give her without cost to process credit card orders when she attended shows. I explained that I paid $1,500 for the credit card machine several years ago but since I did not need it, I was willing to help her because I believed in her product. Did she see my generosity? Of course not. Like many unsuccessful business people, she was totally focused on herself; not the opportunity she was passing up. Instead, she immediately made an excuse and said: I do not know if the machine is compatible with my merchant bank so I will have to let you know. Did she ever let me know? Of course not. She did not even care enough to recognize my generosity and follow up to thank me for the offer. Instead, she simply ignored me.

For the ladys third and final chance I visited her website and placed an order for another $50 in jewelry. I immediately noticed that she only had PayPal as an option to pay online. I called her after placing the order and said that I felt uncomfortable using PayPal, but because I loved her products so much I was willing to take the risk. Never once did she thank me for making a purchase or loving her product. She just said she would check and make sure the order went through and confirmed it did. Not once did she apologize for the inconvenience I endured as a customer. Again, she showed me again that she was only focused on herself, not her customers; which is another bad business quality.

In a final attempt to help her sell her products I invited her to drop off my order at my house so I could finally talk to her for a few moments. She came to my home and here is how the conversation went:

Me: I love your product and I think it would be a perfect candidate for advertising on QVC. Why have you not submitted your jewelry to them?

Jewelry Lady: What would happen if I get too many orders and cannot fill them?

Me: Would that not be a wonderful thing to happen? I am sure if you had orders for $26 million you could find a way to fill the orders.

Jewelry Lady: Well, I talked to the ladies at the Chamber of Commerce and they told me I need to sell my jewelry to Nordstrom and Macys.

Notice how she quickly changed the subject instead of pursuing a possible lead. This is what many unsuccessful business people do when they push business away. Instead of coming up with an excuse, she needed to ask me what I knew about submitting products to QVC. This would have enabled her to pick my brain, learn something and then make a better decision once she had examined all angles of the issue. Hint: You should never make a decision until you have looked at all angles and exhausted all information about a topic. Shooting an idea in the foot before you get all the facts is not a wise way to run a company.

Me: Are the ladies at the Chamber of Commerce successful jewelry business owners?

Jewelry Lady: No. They belong to the Chamber of Commerce.

Me: My first word of advice is not to listen to people who are not successful.

Folks, this is another word of knowledge. Stop listening to people who are not successful. Seek out successful people and listen to them. And when you find successful people, do not waste their time arguing with them or give them excuses as to why you do not agree with them. LISTEN and digest the information. Even if you do not agree with everything they say, DO NOT voice your negative opinion. Listen, stay positive and take away the pieces of advice that will benefit you. When you argue or disagree with a person who is taking the time to give you their advice, you are slapping them in the face. This is exactly what the Jewelry Lady did to me.

Jewelry Lady: But what do you consider to be successful?

Note: This was a loaded question. Hundreds of people before her had asked me the same question and I knew she was going to try to trap me in order to make an excuse for her poor attitude. So I replied:

Me: Success is dependent upon your interpretation. Do you think you are successful?

Jewelry Lady: Well, I would like to have more orders.

Me: Then first of all I would suggest that you get away from PayPal. People will place more orders through your website if you have a real merchant account.

Jewelry Lady: But I already have a merchant account through my bank. Most of my customers call me with their orders anyway because they do not like using PayPal.

Me: Then why are you not using it and why are you not listening to your customers?

Jewelry Lady: Because I do not know how to set it up.

Me: You mean to tell me that your bank (who makes money off every transaction you process) will not set up your merchant account for you?

Jewelry Lady: I do not know; but my web host does not understand how to do it.

Note: Do you see that every time I made a suggestion this lady comes back with a negative comment? How often do you do the same thing? If you can recognize yourself doing the same thing when people try to do business with you, then you can understand how you are forcing people not to do business with you; which is the title of this article. Let us continue:

Me: Why do you not switch to another web host? I can recommend my host who not only will set up your merchant account but will install a shopping cart and promote your ecommerce website.

Jewelry Lady: But I am under contract with my current host.

Me: So? How much are you paying?

Jewelry Lady: $16.95 per month.

Me: Would it not be worth $16.95 per month to get more orders? If you charge $26.00 for each set of earrings, only one order would pay for the web hosting that you are losing. Is this not enough to constitute a change?

Jewelry Lady: I do not think I can do it right now.

At this point I gave up. I was getting tired out trying to stay positive when this lady was filled with nothing but negativity. So, I quickly ended the conversation by saying: I have several other appointments this afternoon (as I walked to the door to let her out). My last words, as she walked out the door were: Please call me if you want my help. She said she would and left. However, you know as well as I do that she will never call me. Also, I doubt that she realizes it or not, but I will never order anything from her again. My excitement over her product has been beaten to a pulp simply because she spent more time slapping me down for every positive comment I made. If she would have only taken her eyes off herself and concentrated on her customer she would have kept me as a customer for a long period of time. Also, I would have gone out of my way to recommend her to 100s of potential new customers.

Analyzing the Situation

If I did not care about you as a business owner I would not be writing this article. However, it is so sad but I see this same type of behavior over and over again; which is why I am writing this article to help you. Out of some strange human nature, people who are unsuccessful in business will turn away help as well as potential customers by focusing their eyes on themselves and making up negative responses to positive comments. Then, these same people will look around and say: Why can I not make any money? I am doing everything I know how to do. Their answer is clear but they cannot see the obvious because they have focused their eyes on themselves and no one else.

Back in the middle 1990s when I was publishing a monthly newsletter called The GrapeVine I barely was making ends meet financially. I was bringing in about $5,000 a month in subscriptions and advertising but I was spending about $3,000 a month in printing and postage. Since I was working about 80 hours a week, by the time I broke down all the overhead costs and averaged out my time, I discovered that I was making about 25 cents per hour. This is when I began to ask myself: What am I doing wrong? At this point is when I began growing. I began growing because I stopped blaming everyone else, took my eyes off myself, blamed myself for the current problems and began looking to my customers for answers.

I wish back then I would have had someone come to me and say, Victoria, I would like to help you grow your business. I believe in your newspaper and I think you have the best newspaper on the market. Do you have any idea how quickly I would have jumped at the chance to listen (and absorb) every word this person had to tell me? Especially since the advice was coming from someone who was already successful in business and the advice was free? Do you think I would have even considered pushing them away or making up negative excuses to slap them in the face like the Jewelry Lady did? I do not think so. In fact, I know I would have never done what the Jewelry Lady did which further proves that the Jewelry Lady will never be successful unless she makes some major changes.

But after I became successful in a variety of businesses, I now try to reach out and help others who were in my same position I used to be in. It never ceases to amaze me how many people just like the Jewelry Lady exist. In fact, it is very rare that people take advantage of my knowledge and desire to help them. Perhaps this article will help you to start thinking in the right direction and changing your current attitude.

Moral of the Story

The next time you are upset because you are not making any money with your business, the first person you should be blaming is yourself. Find out how you are forcing customers not to do business with you and once you find the answer, do something about it.

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Are you finding it difficult to talk with bankruptcy attorneys? You are not alone! We receive calls every day from people who have went through the training of preparing well detailed bankruptcy petitions but they are unable to find work because they lack basic marketing knowledge.

Did you know that the average virtual bankruptcy assistant earns $15,000 to $25,000 per month? Even if you were working for just 1 attorney, preparing 5 petitions per week, you would earn $10,000 a month. Working for 2 attorneys should easily bring you an income of $20,000 per month. Do not let another month pass you by because you lack the skill of marketing your services to attorneys. The work is there! All you need to know is how to get it.

This training session is a private consultation with Victoria Ring, the developer of the virtual bankruptcy assistant industry. Back in 2001 when Victoria developed the virtual bankruptcy assistant field she made a lot of mistakes; which is the best way to learn marketing. Now, she will work with you by sharing her mistakes and showing you what works. In fact, the marketing skills she learned by trial and error took her business from $0 to $60,000 a month. Within 9 months she was working for 56 attorneys and she will share with you the techniques she used to do it.

How The Process Works:

After your payment is processed you will receive a link to download an Appointment Form. Fill it out and fax back to 713Training.Com so we can immediately schedule your training session in marketing to bankruptcy attorneys. When your appointment is scheduled, Victoria will call you for a 1 hour (or more) training session in marketing to bankruptcy attorneys. The training session will be recorded and provided to you for reference. This recording is confidential. It will not be shared with anyone and you can refer back to it again and again.

Before the end of the training session, both of you will put together a marketing plan specifically to fit your needs and goals. Do you want to work this business part time? Full time? All the time? Do you want to specialize in Chapter 7s? Chapter 13s? Both? What type of attorney should you seek out to work for that best matches your skills and personality? Most people do not think about this but it is a marketing skill you need to know; and much, much more.

After developing a specific marketing plan you can easily follow, you and Victoria will also do a mock interview. Victoria will portray the attorney and you will be the virtual bankruptcy assistant selling your services. Because Victoria has marketed to a wide range of bankruptcy attorneys, she will be able to give you a real life experience during this mock interview. Then, in order to perfect your skills, Victoria will point out ways to improve your skills and suggest other methods that will aide you in your marketing approach.

The information you learn in this exclusive, personalized training session will not only be extremely beneficial when you market to bankruptcy attorneys by phone or at their office, but the skills will be useful in designing your postcards, brochures, web site and other marketing materials. In fact, you will learn more marketing skills in this session that when applied will almost guarantee you work from an attorney. That is how powerful this training is. Plus, you can be guaranteed every penny you pay will be earned back on your first bankruptcy petition.

Sign Up for Your Personalized Training Today
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