Stay the Course When Adversity Visits Your Virtual Business!

In my own Entrepreneur Journey, I can honestly say that the road has been paved with rewards, new freedoms and great joy, but also times of despair and discouragement! The reality is that everything in your business does not always go well. There are times when you might be struggling to find your next client and just trying to keep your virtual business afloat. Well, if it is of any comfort to you, I have been there - other successful Internet Entrepreneurs can also attest to the great adversities they experienced in getting their business moving in the right direction. I am not sure if you follow Yaro Starak's Entrepreneur Journey Blog, but I came across a post from a few months back that really spoke to me about the importance of being persistent, staying the course and not giving up in the midst of struggles and adversity. We need to accept that setbacks are simply apart of the Entrepreneurs Journey and not to be overly surprised when they do unexpectedly surface. Well, be encouraged by this post and don't give up when the going get's tough - you will be glad you stayed the course! How to Remain Productive When You Feel Like Giving Up

A Social Media Widget to add to your Virtual Assistant Toolbox.

As I have discussed in previous posts, Social Media Marketing is a rapidly growing niche for Virtual Assistants to tap into. Some Virtual Assistants are positioning themselves as Social Network Specialists for busy clients who want to leverage the power of Social Media, but simply do not have the time. I came across this cool social media widget on Internet Girl Fridays' Virtual Assistant website. This particular Social Media Widget enables you to present all your social network profiles in own location on your website or blog. While this widget is great for showcasing your many Social Network Profiles, I do think it would be ideal for those of you who are seeking to add Social Network Profile Set-Up and Management services to your VA portfolio. It could serve as a nice marketing tool to prospective clients interested in expanding their exposure and business presence through the Social Networks. You would be able to showcase the quality profiles you have set-up for your own business and in turn give them a taste of what they could expect if they were to hire you to set-up and manage their online Social Profiles. Again, most businesses simply do not have the time to effectively manage and update their Social Network Profiles, so a most excellent "in-demand" service for a Virtual Assistant!

Summize.com - A great tool for Finding New Virtual Assistant Clients!

I don't know about you, but I love Web 2.0 and Social Media! There is never a shortage of cool social media applications and tools to simplify your life as a Virtual Assistant! In the VAClassroom Forum, one of our members mentioned Summize, a cool new tool for searching the conversations in Twitter. I have to confess.... Initially it took me some time to warm up to Twitter - I initially thought it was a total time drag and would take time away from my pertinent business actvities. I thought, "Do people actually really care what I am doing right now?" It seemed kind of trivial, but as I have closely observed a number of Twitterers over the last while, I now see how Twitter can be used to share and view relevant content and connect the Twitter audience to your blog and website. Summize has peaked my interest in Twitter even further as this social search engine allows you to search the Twitter conversations by specific keywords. My keyword specific searches in Summize pointed out a whole bunch of interesting Twitterers that would be worthwhile following. Not only that, Summize can help you track new prospective VA Clients! For example; check out the below results from the search term "Virtual Assistant" : Take a look at the 2nd, 5th and 6th twitter post - they are all related to hiring a Virtual Assistant. The last guy specifically says "Looking for a Virtual Assistant. Any suggestions are welcome". I don't know about you, but I would classify that as a HOT CLIENT LEAD!! So, not only does Summize enhance your Internet research efforts, but also serves as a great resource for connecting with new VA Clients - how cool is that?

Are You Managing Your Client's Online Reputation?

A few weeks ago, during the pre-launch of VAClassroom.com, I received a Google Alert regarding a forum post pertaining to our new training center. I followed the forum thread closely and while the comments were not negative or critical, they were based on assumptions and misinformation. Fortunately, one of the Virtual Assistants I work with was apart of the forum and was able to provide some accurate information about VAClassroom. This is a good example of Online Reputation Management. The beauty of the Internet and Social Networking is that we can easily find out what users are saying are about our products and services. Prior to the Internet and the information age, companies were more "in the darK" on consumer feedback. Now, I can set-up my Google Alerts to track any web posts pertaining to my domains or related topics and can quickly respond and dialogue with users talking about our products and services. Online Reputation Management is an "in-demand" tasks for Virtual Assistants today. I have a industry friend who runs a high-volume ecommerce site and recently contacted me to see if I had a Virtual Assistant that could handle their Online Reputation Management tasks (20 hours per week) - I actually just posted that position in our VAClassroom Members Site. This particular client does 1000s of sales on a monthly basis and needs to regularly dialogue with prospective consumers to ensure that they have accurate information about their products and services. The last thing any web company wants is a false rumor or misinformation being spread about that adversely affects consumer perception. So, this might be an "in-demand" task to consider adding to your VA service offerings. The tasks basically involve tracking online reputation via Google Alerts as well as through applicable Social Shopping and Ecommerce sites and providing accurate information about your client's products and services.