6 Reasons Your Clients Should Invest More In Internet Marketing During a Recession
I probably shouldn’t be using the “R” word in my title as it tends to get people a little jumpy, but inevitably that is the obvious direction we are going in light of the current economic crisis.
Typically during recessions or financially difficult times, businesses cut advertising and marketing dollars and wait out the storm until they can resume business as normal. But interestingly enough, it is being forecasted that businesses will be investing more time and money into Internet Marketing during a potential recession as it is more cost-effective and measurable than traditional ad channels. Typically Internet Marketing efforts require more of your time and less of your money over other types of advertising.
I have been loving the blog, HubSpot as of late and just read a great post pertaining to this issue:
Six Reasons to Invest In Internet Marketing During the Recession
In the blog post, they cite a study by emarketer that reveals the shift in spending to Internet Marketing over traditional channels.
Many of you are working with “Brick and Mortar” clients that likely do some offline advertising. This is the perfect opportunity for you to enlighten them as to the power and cost-effectiveness of Internet Marketing activities over offline ad channels. Further to that, this might also be the perfect opportunity for you to look at our Internet Marketing VA Training Course at VAClassroom in order to sharpen your Internet Marketing know-how during a time when Internet Marketing investment is only continuing to grow……Even during a “R_____N” (Didn’t want to say the word again:)
Is Your Virtual Assistant Glass Half Empty or Half Full?
Now, I am not looking to start a “Fire Storm” in the VA industry, but more to stimulate some productive discussion - there is my disclaimer:)
I recently reviewed a Press Release from a Virtual Assistant Association (I will not mention names) that was promoting a 2008 survey for the Virtual Assistant Industry. Here is an excerpt from the first part of the Press Release:
“Virtual Assistants are fed up. They’ve had it with inaccurate media portrayals and reporters who don’t get the facts right. They’re sick of exploitive industry outsiders who don’t understand the Virtual Assistance business misinforming their marketplace. They’re tired of constantly having to explain the difference between an employee and an independent service provider. And they’re having their say about it all by participating in this year’s third annual Virtual Assistant Industry Survey.”
Since many of you are Professional Virtual Assistants, I would be interested to hear if you share the above sentiment as this particular industry leader. Please send me all your comments and feedback!
Let me give you my own 2 cents for what it is worth:)
While I can appreciate the frustrations that some VAs may feel at the media’s misrepresentation or misunderstanding of the VA industry, I am not sure if this kind of negative undertone is the most productive way of positively educating media reps and the business world. While the survey is very well done, I think the promotion of the survey through this Press Release presents a somewhat hostile perspective, which I don’t believe is necessary.
Yes, the media needs to be more educated on the varied roles and responsibilties of today’s Virtual Assistants, but I believe the growing publicity of the Virtual Assistant industry is a great thing! Sometimes even less than accurate publicity can bode well for an relatively new industry as it will bring further awareness and expand the dialogue and interest.
I know some VAs have felt cheapened by Tim Ferriss’ portrayal of the VA in The Four Hour Work Week, but let me tell you…. this book has been HUGE in bringing further light and attention to the VA industry. It has awakened many island enterpreneurs who now realize their business and life could be that much more successful if they were to hire VAs…
The bottom line is that the concept of a Virtual Assistant is still a new thing to a lot of people and it is our job to properly educate them on indisputable benefits of hiring specialist VAs to perform a whole variety of pertinent tasks.
On a personal level, when I decided to leave my corporate job and jump into the Internet realm many moons ago, I received a lot of “interesting looks” and misunderstanding about what I would be doing working on the Internet:) You might laugh at this now but it shows how far we have come in 6-7 years. During the early years, I constantly found myself having to explain and educate people on what I do!
Anyways, I am absolutely convinced there has never been a better time to be a Professional Virtual Assistant then right now as more businesses are outsourcing, more people are becoming familiarized with the VA industry and the Internet Biz continues to grow at a rapid pace. These are great days, so I think we need to keep a positive perspective even when misunderstandings or misrepresentations come our way!
I would love to hear your thoughts and comments - agree with me, disagree? Please share.
Going For Gold in your Virtual Assistant Business
I don’t know about you, but I have been engrossed in the Olympics over the past few days and have just been awestruck by the amazing displays of athleticism, perseverance and drive!
Now, since I am likely not going to be training for a Olympic Triathalon or the 200 Butterfly any time soon, I started thinking about what I can learn from these amazing athletes that translates to my Internet Business. Well, a lot actually…..
In listening to many interviews with the Gold Medal Olympians, there were four common reasons they cited that they believed helped them to achieve their Olympic Dreams. Here are four essential elements you will need to consistently “Win Gold” in your Virtual Assistant Business:
1. Set Clear and Measurable Goals for Your Virtual Business
These Gold Medalists were CERTAIN about their goals - they knew what specific time they would need to achieve in order to break a record and ultimately secure themselves at the top of the podium!
How clear and measurable are your goals for your Virtual Assistant Business right now? Are they realistic? Do they help you to stay focussed on the priorities and tasks you need to accomplish on a day to day basis. Are they measurable? This last one is key. One of your goals might be to “Increase Your Client Base This Year”. This is a great goal, but it is not specific or measurable. A specific goal might look like this:
“Increase My Client Base to 10 new clients and $25000 more billable hours in 2008″
That is a measurable goal! I know for myself that I have four specific goals for my business that shape and define my priorities and tasks each and every day. Without those goals, I would be like a “Ship without a Rudder”, with no clear sense of where I am going.
A “Gold Medal” Virtual Assistants sets clear, specific and measurable goals!
2. Establish Consistent Training Patterns.
The Gold Medalists interviewed all spoke to the rigourous training regimes they endured over the past four years to help prepare them for this Olympic Event. You think of a swimmer like Michael Phelps. Sure, he is sheer Genetic Perfection for swimming with his Long Torso, flexible body, huge flipper-like feet and 6′7 wing span - But, that is not the sole reason he consistently finishes first. It is direct result of a systematic and consistent training program over the last four years that has prepared him for greatness!
Similarly with your business, it is imperative to build in regular training/learning times in your daily, weekly and monthly schedules. One of the traps of running your own Virtual Business is that you get so consumed with the day to day tasks of the biz, that you fail to spend any quality time on learning new skills and technology, investing in professional development and trying to stay current in your industry. If you don’t discipline yourself to learning new things, you will be left behind!
In order to ensure that you remain as current and equipped as possible, you need to create a block of time possibly each week where you shut off all your work and you simply read ebooks, articles or blog posts, listen to webinars and take online courses. As a Virtual Assistant, I would recommend taking a look at our training programs at VAClassroom as this will keep you that much more current and competitive in a fast-growing Virtual Assistance Industry!
I normally will take a 3 hour block each week to catch up on my reading, learning new skills and listening to podcasts and webinars. I try to do whatever it takes to ensure that I am using the most current tools to build my business to the next level!
A Gold Medal Virtual Assistant is a relentless and consistent learner!
3. Persevere, Persevere and then Persevere some more!
The successful Olympians adopt a “No Quit” attitude and persevere through the good times and trials of their Olympic career. All successful Olympians at one point in their career had to overcome some obstacles that blocked their way to Olympic stardom.
Now I have discussed this topic before, but I cannot stress enough the important role that perseverence and endurance play in building a successful business. Many of you have been through those times where there are virtually no clients and little revenues coming through the door and it is so easy to just pack in the business. It is during these times when you need to take stock of why your started this business in the first place and what are those goals you are trying to accomplish. This will motivate you and help you to exhaust all avenues to building your client base and income opportunities.
It is important to recognize that obstacles, challenges and adversity are a natural part of the journey towards Gold Medal Winning Performances! Don’t give up! Be sure to not miss the “little successes” that are happening in your business during those difficult days. Today, you might have met two new prospective clients in a Facebook group - that is a small victory as this could ultimately lead to two new clients!
A Gold Medal Virtual Assistant has an extraordinary level of sticktuitiveness!
4. Find a Mentor, Coach or Friend that will Support You In Your Business Endeavors.
In all the interviews I watch with these Gold Medal Winning Athletes, the common thread was having a supportive family, coach, friend or mentor that was “in their corner” and encouraging them to achieve their dreams at against all odds! I listened to the Gold Medal Winning Gymnast from the United States today talk about the pivotal role her Dad and coach played in helping her to achieve her Olympic dreams!
We ALL need find someone that will be a consistent source of encouragement and wisdom for our businesses. It can be a lonely place working in a Virtual Business to start with, but not having any mentor or major supporter can make it that much more difficult!
So, there you have it, four elements to achieving Gold Medal Success in your business!
Where do I find Virtual Assistant Clients?
A couple days ago, I ran a seminar at VANetworking on how Virtual Assistants can create a powerful new niche as a Social Marketing VA. One of the questions that was posed by a participant was “How do I find the businesses that will be interested in these Social Marketing Services?” Good Question….
Well, one of my comments was that you need to go to where your most ideal clients hang out on the web - that is a good starting point. The follow-up question is: “Where do they hangout?” Well, I am going to get into all this in a post series I am starting this week, but I found a great place to start….
BMighty came out with the “Best Blogs for Smaller Businesses” - they list 10 popular, high volume blogs that cover topics for SMBs (small/medium businesses) such as business tools, productivity, business management, technology etc…
Let me tell you…. The small biz audience that are reading these blogs are EXACTLY the type of clients hiring Virtual Assistants like crazy right now. I would highly recommend adding these blogs to your RSS reader and join the conversation on topics that matter to your prospective clients. This is a great opportunity to share relevant information and potentially talk about Virtual Assistance in a natural way. These blogs have covered Virtual Assistant-related topics and given the VA buzz we are seeing right now, they will likely continue to discuss the value of outsourcing and delegating small biz tasks to VAs like yourself.
Look for more on the all important topic of finding ideal Virtual Assistant clients this week!
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!
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.
Facebook Payday - A Great Resource for Facebook Marketing Virtual Assistants
As many of you know, we did a teleseminar last week titled, “How Virtual Assistants Can Profit from the Social Media Explosion in 2008″. This teleseminar event was very well attended and we are still receiving great feedback and questions which is cool! You can access a recording of the event through our VAClassroom Membership Site.
One of the topics I discussed in this teleseminar was the rapidly growing opportunities for Web Savvy Virtual Assistants to position themselves as Facebook Marketing VAs. We discussed the different services you might offer clients seeking to leverage this channel such as:
- Setting up and managing Facebook profiles.
- Coordinating Facebook Events.
- Moderating and participating in targeted Facebook groups.
- Inviting and adding new business friends for your clients.
- Creating and managing Facebook business pages for your clients.
The list goes on…..
One of the advanced services we discussed involved implementing and managing Facebook Pay Per Click Ad campaigns which are becoming increasingly popular. A handful of Internet business owners are generating some excellent profits through this channel.
A Business Collegue of mine, Peter Koning, has just launched an ebook and membership site called Facebook Payday. I have had a chance to review some of this resource and it is very impressive. The ebook will provide you with some of the skills and knowledge required to set-up and manage successful PPC ad campaign through Facebook.
If you are seeking to grow a Facebook Marketing niche for your business then Facebook Payday is definitely worth checking out!
A Virtual Assistant Case Study
I want to share a case study with you that clearly shows the huge value that Virtual Assistants can play in any Internet Business. This particular case study details a woman I hired while working with a mid-sized Internet company a few years ago. She had developed some niche skills in a number of areas such as Affiliate Marketing, Ad Campaign Management as well as Web Analytics Reporting. The company I worked for eventually experienced some significant down-sizing; however, this particular Virtual Assistant’s contract was retained primarily due to her versatility and understanding in these niche areas. Check out the YouTube Video below.
The Niche Opportunities for Virtual Assistants in the Fast Growing Social Media Landscape
Over the last 18 months, I have become an incurable learner on the exploding Social Media Movement and the profound impact it can have for Internet Business Owners like myself. I have digested blog posts, articles, webinars and even wrote a couple of my own articles pertaining to Social Media. (Check out my SiteProNews Article, “Is Social Media Marketing really worth your time and effort?”). My overwhelming conclusion is that Social Media Marketing is a MUST for all business owners in order to realize their full potential in 2008 and beyond!
We are currently seeing a major shift in thinking among Internet Businesses pertaining to Social Media. In 2007, businesses were asking the question (with skepticism): “Can Social Media Marketing really do anything for my business? Is there any value in hanging out in Facebook groups, commenting on blogs, networking in Linked.com and sharing my videos in YouTube? I think that question has been effectively answered by many of the Industry experts who have openly endorsed Social Media Marketing as a powerful business building channel.
The real question Internet Businesses are asking now is: “Okay, we see that Social Media Marketing is a GOOD thing, but how the heck do we find the time to actually carry out all these important Social Media Marketing activities????
The answer……Virtual Assistants who have tapped in to this exploding Social Media Niche. There are Virtual Assistants who are becoming specialists in editing, producing and syndicating videos to all the major video-sharing sites. There are others who are Facebook experts who know the “ins and outs” on building industry-specific groups, business facebook pages and even setting up and managing Pay Per Click Facebook campaigns.
There is even the whole emerging trend of “Presence Managers” where businesses hire a Virtual Assistant to represent or even be them in the various social networks they are targeting. Now, there are some ethical issues with that one, but a growing area for sure!
Given that Social Media is continuing to experience explosive growth, there are no shortage of opportunities for Virtual Assistants to tap into this niche.
So, with my collective passion for Social Media and Virtual Assistants, I have decided to run a teleseminar that might interest you, titled:
“How Virtual Assistants can profit from the Social Media Explosion in 2008″.
This will essentially be a “mini-lesson” taken in part from the upcoming release of the Internet Marketing VA Training Program at VAClassroom.com. Also on the call, we will be making an important announcement and special offer regarding the launch of VAClassroom.com, so certainly worth checking out
Please stay tuned to this blog over the next day or so as I will provide some more concrete details on how you can get signed up for this important teleseminar!
