Julian Palmer left school, was unemployed, and drowning in student loans when one day as she was sitting at home in front of the television, she saw an advertisement on how to make money online and decided to change the course of her life. Read our interview with the lovely Julian below…
What motivated and inspired you to start your own business?
I don’t think I ever wanted to be an entrepreneur – an online one that is. I left school and was unemployed for a while, I had student loans to pay, and I made the decision to try something new. I kept seeing the same advertisement on TV everyday on how to make money online, so I took a leap of faith and was introduced to the online industry of staying at home and making money. I started on a freelancing platform earlier last year because I was offering administrative services virtually, and liked it so much I thought to myself, “I can do this on my own” due to becoming frustrated with the shortcomings of the site. So I literally did a Google search on “how to make money online on my own”, found a virtual assistant forum, joined and learned what to do and how to start my business and that was what motivated me to take the leap of faith to start on my own late January of this year.
Tell us about your business.
I am a Virtual Assistant for fashion-focused LadyPreneurs who crave virtual order in the back end of their business. I assist these LadyPreneurs with their social media, graphic design, WordPress and autoresponder maintenance.
Where is your business based?
I am based in Jamaica.
What were the first few steps you took to get your business up and running?
The first thing I did was research how to start a business in Jamaica – because I am based here, but all my clients are based in the states or Europe. I also aligned myself with other virtual assistants so I joined Facebook groups and asked questions. The second thing I did was registered my company and created a Facebook business page.
What has been the most effective way of raising awareness of your business and getting new customers?
I love Facebook and have always loved this social media platform. I joined groups where my target audience was hanging out. When I joined these groups I shared my value about how to work with a VA, I shared my tips and when I was allowed to promote my services in these groups I did. I came late to the list building party so I started to share tips and promote myself to the people on my list, so that they knew what I offered.
What have been your biggest challenges so far?
One of my biggest challenges to date is the consistency of clients. One week I can be overloaded with clients’ tasks and next it could be crickets.
How did you overcome these challenges?
One of the ways that I have been trying to overcome such challenges is aligning myself with other programs to be an affiliate and create some passive income for slow days. Secondly, I am always promoting my services on slow and busy days.
How do you keep motivated through difficult times?
I share my frustration with my accountability partner. I also try to have as much me time as possible (though rare) but when I do have time, I go do my hair, go to church and spend time communicating my frustrations to my family and in return get a lot of encouragement. In short, I am always letting out my frustrations so that I can let it go, think and regroup on what I need to do moving forward.
How did you distinguish yourself from your competitors?
One of the ways I started to distinguish myself from my competitors was building my list. It’s funny enough that I might have gone on the path where other virtual assistants are not doing this. Every first Sunday I try to make it my point of duty to share with my list what I am doing in my business, my tips as well as let them know what I have to offer to them, so they know where to contact me when they do need a virtual assistant.
What is the best advice you have received recently?
One of the best advice I have ever received is to position yourself with someone who has gone the path that you are on, you do not want to be like them, but learn from their mistakes so that you can be the better version of yourself.
What advice would you give to other entrepreneurs?
I would say that from the beginning of your business, outsource those tasks that are taking you away from your business. What do I mean? Let’s say you are on Instagram and you know how to create a meme to be posted on your social media, this is really not what you should be focusing on, because every minute that you spend on tasks that are taking you away from your business is another minute you are losing money or a client for your business.
What is your favorite business tool or resource?
My favorite tool that I would have to say is LastPass. When working with numerous clients and browsing the Internet, it can be time-consuming to remember every password. So I use this platform to store my passwords for clients and myself.
What social media outlets do you use? List them below.
Instagram @julivaglobal
Twitter @JuliVAglobal
Facebook www.facebook.com/JuliVAglobal
Website www.julivaglobal.com
Hashtags #ladypreneurs #entrepreneur #fashionistaVA #virtualassistant #fashionistas
What is a good article or book you have read recently?
I read recently, “100 Ways to Motivate Yourself” by Steve Chandler. I am learning each day that when things don’t go as planned, it is your mindset that determines the outcome in how you respond to the situation.
What are you currently learning about for your business or looking for help with?
I am learning new programs in my business. I mean you have to always learn new systems, keep updated on trends, because there will be times when you are offering service “A” and tomorrow it might not be needed in the industry that I am in.
What are your goals for the next few months and how are you striving to achieve them?
My goals are offering training programs for those clients who are more DIY. I am also expanding my skill set and services so that I can offer the top quality services that I know my clients crave.
Are you currently running any promos/contests/giveaways that you would like our readers to know about?
I am actually promoting my new service for custom PDF’s – this can be used as a checklist and free guide to be linked to your preferred autoresponder.
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Trecia says
Awesome read. Julian is awesome 🙂
Juli says
Thank you so much Trecia!
Sanee says
Julian you are amazing – keep up the awesome work you are doing
Juli says
Thank you so much Sanee! I appreciate it.