"Ring - Come On Ring. I sent the letters out over a week ago. My web site is up and running and I've marketed everywhere. Why Aren't You Ringing! I know, I'll go away from you and then you'll ring. Okay, I'm doing something else, I'm not even thinking of you, now RING."

We've all been there. Anxiously waiting on top of the phone, breaded breath, for that client to call. We've done our homework. We've got the speech fully prepared on what to say once they call. Now if they would only call. "Ring - Come On Ring."

Staying motivated can be a difficult task. With each passing hour, your self-confidence plummets and soon you doubt why you decided to start a business in the first place. The thought of begging for your old job back becomes even more appealing. You're already thinking of how you can explain to family and friends why the business couldn't succeed in today's economy. But now is not the time to give up. Remember-FAILURE IS NOT AN OPTION!!

Here's are some steps to keep your power:

First, don't sit ideally by waiting for the phone to ring. Keep busy creating new marketing ideas. Plan B should already in full force and effect.

Be creative. Energize yourself with the creation of a dynamite brochure. Design a new mailing piece that conveys exactly the benefits you can offer your clients. Re-read that marketing letter you just sent and fine-tune it. Look over your website. How can you approve upon it to better convey the benefits of your business?

Search for new places that you can promote your business. Spending time online doing research is important for establishing your VA business. Make new connections with other VAs and organizations. Find places to exchange links. Don't be shy. You should be very confident in your abilities and eager to share that with others.

Read, read, read. Learn anything and everything you can on starting a business and a VA business in general. Let others show you how they've done it. Take full advantage of the Internet as well. Find chats and message boards and talk with others. Find out how they survived the storm.

Start fresh daily with a renewed determination that you are going to make this work. Visualize yourself addressing that new client with your new leather briefcase in hand, portfolio neatly prepared, and the confidence that you can make a difference in their business. They need you and you're going to show them exactly just how much.

Finally, you need to believe in yourself under all circumstances. Write down why you know this business is going to work. Write down again how you plan to make it happen.

With the right attitude, appropriate skills, extensive research, and sheer determination, you can and will succeed. That phone will ring -- and ring -- and ring. And with each ring, you'll be grateful that you believed in yourself enough to make it happen.

Diana Ennen is the author of numerous books including Virtual Assistant: the Series, Become a Highly Successful, Sought After VA, Words From Home, Start, Run and Profit from a Home-Based Word Processing Business & the Home Office Recovery Plan. She specializes in publicity and book marketing and is president of Virtual Word Publishing http://www.virtualwordpublishing.com and http://www.Publicity-VA.com. Articles are free to be reprinted as long as the author's bio remains intact.