Honey, I Ran Over My Laptop!
Well, it is Friday and I thought I would finish the week off with a story that might amuse you or possibly horrify you. All events in this story are in fact TRUE!
Have you ever had one of those days where you find yourself a step below “ROCK BOTTOM”? I had one of those days about year ago. I was one week away from launching a brand new web business and had ton of things flowing through my mind in preparation for the big launch (At least, that is my excuse now:))
One fateful Friday night, we were visiting with my in-laws at their house and I had brought my laptop along to give them a tour of our new website. Just as we were about to head home, I remembered we needed to pack a couple boxes into the back of our van. Now, I had my laptop bag over my shoulder as I was carrying a rather heavy box. It was dark and I placed my laptop bag on the ground so I could open the rear door of our Van and load the box. I then went into the house to grab one more box, loaded it and shut the Van door. Now can pick up what I am missing at this point?
I jumped in the van, started in up, kicked it in reverse (to head home) and started to back up………
Then I heard THE NOISE!! It was a gut-wrenching sound - CLUNK! My wife immediately yelled “STOP, I think you hit a cat or something”. As I was opening the door to go to back to see what I hit, a VERY dark and horrifying thought filled my mind……..
I JUST RAN OVER MY LAPTOP - AHHHHH!
Now, remember, I am one week away from launching a new business and ALL my plans and important docs/ files are on this laptop. The first question you probably have: “Did you back it up?” YES, I had about a week prior, but had loaded some important docs on it in the last couple days.
My wife came around the back of the van to have a look. She kept saying…. “I can’t believe you ran over your laptop”.
After a minor meltdown, I collected myself, put things into perspective and headed home!
Now, here’s the principle…….Don’t run over your laptop - it is not fun!
No, but seriously…. here is the principle….. In your Business, you WILL face adversity and set-backs that temporarily discourage or even crush you! It is OKAY to have a minor meltdown at that moment - totally natural. But after your meltdown, the next response is the one that matters! Are you going to give up? Not a chance! It is not the point of adversity that defines you or determines your future outcome, it is how to choose to respond to the adversity that matters!
Interestingly enough…. I took my “pancake” laptop to my computer guy and surprisingly he was able to recover my hard drive:) Buy Toshiba - they apparently can handle being run over by a 1 ton van!
I remember saying to my wife after I had run over the laptop - “Let’s keep this between the two of us”! Well, only a VERY small group have ever heard this story, but I was having a vulnerable moment today and thought I broadcast it over the NET:)
Enjoy your weekend and be sure back up your computers!
7 Traffic-Building Avenues for Repurposing Your Web Content
Recently, I decided to simplify my life! For the last couple years, I have been blogging, doing podcasts, shooting videos, writing ebooks and ecourses, but did not give a lot of thought to the time-saving concept of “RE-PURPOSING”. I would typically write all original content and never considered how I might transfer my blog posts into an ebook, podcast, video or Squidoo Lens. I am glad to say I have been officially liberated of my former less than productive ways and have started to repurpose my web content through 7 different avenues!
Now, you may have caught onto this a lot earlier than myself and may already be a “Re-purposing Guru”, but here are 7 ways or avenues to consider….
1. 7 Twitter Tips: You might select a particular topic that you know would peak the interest of your fellow “peeps” and create 7 value-added tips. The beauty of Twitter is that hopefully your twitter pals will reply to your tips or even pass them to others creating a nice viral effect. It is important to build your tips with keyword-rich content for SEO purposes.
2. 7 Part Blog Series - A blog post series is a great way to provide a fresh influx of content built around the specific keywords you are targeting. Let’s say you decide to write a blog post series on Virtual Assistant Training and Certifications - this essentially could equate to 7 opportunities to get listed by Google for such keywords as Virtual Assistant Training.
3. 7 Articles for EzineArticles.com - While I know there are many other article directories, EzineArticles.com is the “grand-daddy” of them all. It is important to reformat and mix up your blog post content in order to not be flagged as having “duplicate content” by Google. The other cool thing about EzineArticles is that you can now sign up to have your articles automatically posted through their Twitter account - another ideal way to mass distribute your content.
4. Free 7-Part Ecourse - You might create a freebie 7-Part ecourse that you can giveaway on your blog or website as an incentive for your audience to join your list. This is a common practice, but super effective! I would recommend getting a nice book image or graphic to promote the free ecourse on your blog.
5. 7 Part Podcast (audio) Series - It is always effective to re-purpose written content into an audio or video format. In a podcast, you can expand on the 7 points, provide more practical illustrations and really personalize it more which gives it a life of it’s own. You could certainly offer this as an incentive to build your list. I would recommend syndicating this podcast through such channels as Itunes.
6. 7 Short You-Tube Video - I would highly recommend taking your web content and converting it into a video series. You might choose to set-up “screencast” information surrounding the 7 tips or you could present it in person. YouTube videos are great for traffic building! Personally, I find that YouTube videos are listed much faster over other forms of content. For example; during our pre-launch campaign for VAClassroom, we created 4-5 videos based around particular keywords. Within a month, two of our videos were listed in the top 20 listings for two top keywords in Google.
7. 7 Tips via Squidoo or Hubpages - Social content sharing sites like Squidoo and Hubpages are just perfect for your repurposed content as they are known to be quickly listed in the Search Engines and can generate some nice traffic for you!
So there you have it, 7 fabulous ways for repurposing your web content and saving you a TON of time!
Do you really need a Virtual Assistant Certification?
Is there really value in having some sort of Virtual Assistant Certification? Would this VA Certification lead to better clients, better work opportunities and better money? At the end of the day, do you really need it?
While I am sure there are some varying opinions and answers to this question, since this is MY BLOG, you have the distinct privilege (or NOT:)) of hearing my 2 cents on the topic of Virtual Assistant Certification.
First of all, I do NOT think anyone NEEDS a VA Certification to build a thriving, profitable Virtual Assistance Business. While there are success stories on both sides of the fence, I do know and work with a number of great Professional Virtual Assistants that are not certified. On the flip side, there are great VAs whose participation in certain training certification programs served as an ideal launching pad for their Virtual Assistant careers.
I think the important element here is not that you have a multitude of certifications (eventhough that can be beneficial), but that you are a “PASSIONATE LEARNER” and committed to continually improving and enhancing your existing skill sets. A couple Virtual Assistants I work with don’t have specific VA Certifications, but they have attended a ton of skill-based webinars, conferences, coaching series and read many ebooks, newsletters and blogs to keep their skills sharp and knowledge as current as can be! The key factor here is to NEVER stop learning and to invest time and money into regular Professional Development!
So, do you need a Virtual Assistant Certification to be successful? No, probably not! But, the interesting thing is that MOST people (Not all) still like to get certifications or designations behind their name. While our Virtual Assistant Training Center, VAClassroom, is not an Accredited Training Program with any State Education Board, many of our members still love to get the Internet Marketing VA Certified Logo that they can showcase on their sites and share with prospective clients! It validates the new services they are offering and provides clients whom are looking for these services with more confidence that they can deliver quality work.
Intrinsically speaking… I think Certifications or designations do give us a sense of accomplishment and recognition. I have a number of Virtual Business friends that hang their certifications and degrees on the wall of their home offices. Is it to impress their clients? Well, probably not, considering none come to their office:). Those certifications represents a marker of accomplishment and validates the work they are doing.
My oldest daughter is now in the first grade. When she comes home with a certificate from school, her face is beaming and she is thrilled to show me what she had accomplished. You might be saying.. “But, Craig come on…… This is just a child, we are adults and don’t really need certificates to feel accomplished and good about ourselves!” Really - do you think that is true? Again, this is my own “un-tested” theory that most people simply like to receive certifications - I still do:)
The well known Marketing Training Firm, Marketing Sherpa offers three day skill-training workshops in such areas as Email Marketing. At the end of the training time they provide a flashy Certificate of Completion. For those working in this field, this paper represents another accomplishment that further validates the work they do for clients in this area and will likely give them an additional competitive edge.
So, while you likely don’t NEED a Virtual Assistant Certification, or a blog design certification, or a Affiliate Manager Certification, or a Web Analytics Certification or whatever type of certification that relates to your field in order to experience good success, I think intrinsically we still like to receive them and do believe that they provide a tangible representation of our own Professional and Personal Development.
I would love to get your feedback on this one. Am I out to lunch? Do you agree with this - please share!
Train to be a Three Dimensional Virtual Assistant
I was recently reflecting on my previous educational pathway. I did 6 years of University education - 4 for my undergrad and two graduate. While those years were “life-transforming” and matured me as a person, I have to say that I did not necessarily acquire those “hard skills” that directly translated well to work! Of course, I did my graduate studies in Counselling and those skills will likely be put to good use when my three girls become teenagers:)
Now, I look at my training regime over the last 5 years (as an Internet Busines Owner) which has included a regular dose of ebooks, webinars, coaching programs, online communities and conferences. I have in-turn been able to hone my “hard skills” at a fairly rapid rate!
Now, in considering your own Virtual Assistant Practice, how are you currently developing your skills and knowledge? Are you investing regular time during the week to train, learn and grow?
The bigger question…. Are you training to be a Three Dimensional Virtual Assistant (or Entrepreneur for that matter)?
Here are three dimensions of learning to consider as you seek to grow your Virtual Business to new heights…
1. Dimension 1: “Hard Skills Training”
There are certain “Hard Skills” that your clients are requiring you to have to help them take their businesses to the next level! These might be skills in:
- Teleclass and Webinar Coordination
- Shopping Cart Set-up
- Email List Management
- Social Networking Set-up and Profile management
- Affiliate Management
The list goes on…… As you blink, there are new skills and services being added to this list - the industry is moving “crazy fast” and it is important to build a plan for continously developing your “Hard Skills” for your business. Of course, our training center, VAClassroom, specializes in “hard skills” training particularly in the area of Internet Marketing. But, there are other great programs out there. I have been really impressed with the Skills Training offered by Cindy Greenway and Tina Forsyth in their Hot Skills VA Training Program. There are lots of great avenues to hone your skills - the important thing is to make room in your schedule for this kind of continual learning.
Dimension #2: Networking / Marketing Training
In this dimension, you learn new techniques for networking with clients, increasing the traffic and exposure to your business website, building relationships with ideal clients in Social networks and other online communities. While you might already have a “Marketing Plan” in place for your Virtual Assistant practice, it is important to continue to incorporate and test out new strategies for better connecting with your clients and making your business known on the web! This kind of training may involve digesting Internet Marketing ebooks and taking webinars and other marketing training through such avenues as MarketingExperiments and of course the VAClassroom Training Program. Wow that is two plugs for our program in one blog post - that is borderline scandalous:)
The bottom line is that “the one who markets the best wins” (most of the time), so you want to be regularly implementing innovative strategies for promoting your Virtual Assistant Business.
Dimension #3: Self Training
Do you know who is the hardest person on the face of the earth to lead and manage? Any guesses?????
YOU!
Self Leadership is one of the most crucial skills to develop for any Entrepreneur! Self Leadership might refer to how you manage crisis, stress, your daily schedule, your prioirities, your commitments, your productivity, your relationships with others, your LIFE! The reality is that if your life is in chaos, then it will inevitably have an impact on your success as a Virtual Business Owner.
This is an area that I actually allot a fair amount of time for training. I read books on productivity and self leadership to help me to be more effective in my work life and personal life and be able to strike that harmonious balance between the two! For example; I read “Getting Things Done” by Management Consultant, David Allen a while ago to help me further enhance my productivity and reduce my stress levels - it helped!
The three dimensional Virtual Assistant and Entrepreneur for that matter will be highly committed and disciplined in developing their hard skills, marketing know-how, and most importantly learning how to lead themselves in a more effective and healthy way.
This is how I structure my training regime - I am slowly but surely morphing into a three dimensional business owner. How about you?
Create a Live Blogging Event with CoveritLive.com
Isn’t it truly amazing to see how fast Internet Technology moves? Just when you think you have mastered a particular technology or skill, a new one pops up!
Well, I have been following the whole new phenomenon of “Live Blogging” as of late and have been brainstorming ways that I can incorporate this into my own business endeavors.
For those of you new to this concept, “Live Blogging” is simply offering ”live coverage” of a particular event you are running via an “Instant Message” style web application loaded on to your blog. Let’s say you are attending a particular Internet Business Conference and would like to broadcast live commentary to your Blog readers of your experience and what you are learning, then you might want to take advantage of a tool like “Coveritlive.com”
CoveritLive’s Web-based software allows you to publish your commentary on your own event or another event you might be attending in real time just like Instant Message. They also offer “one-click” publishing for uploading polls, videos, pictures and audio clips. For example; you might use an “UltraFlip Camera” at an event to shoot some video that you can then quickly upload on you blog through their “Media Uploader” tool.
In addition to offering interactive polls to your audience on the fly, you can also bring in a “panel” of experts that can provide commentary on this event as it is unfolding. How cool is that? It also offers a “Instant Replay” feature for those readers that missed the live blog session.
CoveritLive is a free application and very easy to integrate! You simply set-up the event via their user-friendly interface and cut and paste the script into your respective blog post and you are off to the races!
Watch for my first live blogging event coming to you shortly! Maybe I wil live blog the finale of “Americas Got Talent”:)
Help Your Clients Reach the Top of the Search Engines with Google Local Search
I took at little blogging hiatus over the past week to bang off a few key projects - phew - close to finished. Anyways I am back!
A few days ago, in our VAClassroom Members Forum, one of our members posted this question:
My new client has a question that I know one of you can answer. He is an independent insurance agent in Dallas. When you google “Dallas Insurance” the top listing is a map of Dallas and above it it says “Local Business Results for Insurance Near Dallas, TX” along with ten insurance agents and their locations on the map. I’ve seen similar maps when googling other things in Houston. How can he be listed in those top ten? Is it simply a search engine ranking thing, or do those ten people pay big bucks to be on that map? I’d like to help him do it.
Great Question!
To be honest, this one initially stumped me - How do those businesses get listed over others for local business search like “Insurance companies in Dallas, Texas”? Well, after some research and a chat with one of my SEO buddies, I found the answer.
For those of you Virtual Assistants who are working with Brick and Mortar clients, this is a great tip to help them increase their Search Engine Exposure as well as online and offline traffic to their business.
I found a great blog post that explained the whole process much better than I could so take a read of the post and wow your clients by getting them top placement in Google for local business searches:
How to Get to the Top of Google Listings
Google Tools - A Productivity Gem
I know many of you probably have a Gmail account and may use Google Alerts and track your RSS feeds with Google Reader. But are you leveraging the wide array of Google tools to maximize your productivity?
I am currently having a “love affair” with Google tools as I find that the more I incorporate the web apps into my daily work activities, the more organized and productive I am. Here is why I am loving Google these days…
I am tracking my work emails with a Gmail account and have actually added my other work emails via the POP tool into Google Mail to consolidate all my mail activity into one location.
I am then using Google Calendar to track my schedule, meetings, and urgent time-sensitive tasks. Google Calendar has a cool feature that delivers email alerts at 5am in the morning with your scheduled appointments and activities. From a multi-tasking standpoint, I like that I can be writing an email and then quickly jump into Google Calendar to update my schedule.
I then track all my spreadsheets and work documents with Google Docs, which again is nicely integrated into the Gmail Interface. I have all the VAs and contractors I work with use Google docs which enables us to quickly share and collaborate on documents.
Not to mention, you can track all RSS feeds with Google Reader, which makes it easy to review existing feeds and add new ones..
Now, I know there are many other great productivity tools and web apps on the market, but my personal opinion is that it is hard to match up against the integrated, user-friendly and easy to access elements of Google Tools.
In short, Google Tools ROCKS!
