VAClassroom Listed as One of the Top Websites for 2008!

Well, in business it is always nice to finish a year on a positive note! We have so enjoyed working with the 42 VAClassroom students who have been plowing through our live Social Marketing Specialist Training Program over the last 6 weeks. The Training program has exceeded our expectations and we have been super pleased with all the feedback received thus far. Also, we were honored today to be listed with such reputable websites as Copyblogger.com and Stompernet.com as part of Andrea Kalli's Top Websites for 2008 Thanks Andrea - much appreciated! As we close out December, I will be sharing a few of my predictions for 2009 as it relates to Blogging, Social Media and the Virtual Assistance industry, so stay tuned!

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!

Obstacles Virtual Assistants Face While Working Alone

As many of you know, we are running a "much anticipated" webinar event tomorrow (Thursday, August 7th at 2pm EST) with Freshbooks CEO, Mike McDerment titled: "Virtual Nirvana: How to remain inspired and productive when you work alone." Over the past week or so, we have been asking Virtual Assistants about the obstacles they are currently facing as Solopreneurs and have received some very interesting responses such as..... - Concerns over getting new clients (a very common one). - Learning to put plans on paper rather than “Flying by the seat of my pants”. - Time Management issues – when I am “at home” , I am not at the office and feel like I need to be always working (Common work/life balance issue) - Challenges getting my name out there. - Challenges deciding where to focus my marketing efforts and sticking to it. - Struggles in filtering the noise with all the things I need to do for the business. - Confidence in abilities (new Virtual Assistant). - Isolation, distractions within my home office. - Feeling that my virtual work intrudes on my spouse, my home – hard to get away from work, spend more time working than enjoying life. - Challenge keeping track of “To dos” and priorities. - Worry too much about client work (Should I have done this , Are they going to be happy with this etc – mind never slows down...). - Take on too much and then get overwhelmed. - Keeping motivated Can you relate to any of these obstacles? I sure can! I have been working as a Virtual Business Owner and have had to certainly overcome a few of these obstacles in the past few years. We have taken all the feedback we have received and have incorporated it into tomorrow's webinar to make it as relevant as possible. We also want to make the event as interactive as possible, so bring your questions! Oh, one last thing... Freshbooks will be providing a $25 discount coupon code to all participants on the call towards one of their small business billing software packages. PLUS, we will be giving away one "Pure Digital Flip" camcorder sometime during the call. Here is the link to our webinar page - hope to see you there! VAClassroom Event Page

VAClassroom Teleseminar for Virtual Assistants, Solopreneurs and Small Business Owners

I just wanted to let you know of an exciting free webinar event we are hosting at VAClassroom on Thursday August 7th at 2pm (EST) of this week. I have to say that I am unusually excited about this event! Let me tell you why... My friends at Freshbooks have graciously loaned their CEO Mike McDerment to us for an hour so he can share some powerful insights on: "Virtual Nirvana: How to Remain Productive and Inspired When You Work Alone." You see, Mike is a serial Entrepreneur who has already led two successful Internet start-ups before his roaring success with Freshbooks.com. When he first started out he was not as fortunate to have the talented staff he now has with Freshbooks - he was a "Lone Ranger." Mike has experienced firsthand the "Good, Bad, and Ugly" of working as a Virtual Solopreneur, like many of you! Our intent with this webinar is to help re-charge your Virtual Business batteries and keep you engaged and passionate about the work you do! Now, Mike and his Team at Freshbooks.com have graciously offered a $25 discount coupon on their small business billing packages for every participant on the call, which is awesome. Also, our team at VAClassroom will be giving away a "Pure Digital Flip Camcorder" to one of the webinar participants on the call, so be sure to stick around until the end! I own The Flip and have used it for all my videos on YouTube - excellent tool! To claim one of the 300 spots for this webinar event, just sign-up at the below link: http://www.vaclassroom.com/teleseminar.aspx Also, you will be able to access this event via the web at: http://www.vaclassroom.com/instantteleseminar.com This is going to be a great event and we look forward to seeing you there!

The Power of Video Marketing for Virtual Assistants

Happy Canada Day! Yes, "I AM CANADIAN" (Molson Beer Commerical Reference) and singing the "True, North, Strong and Free" from beautiful and ridiculously hot Phoenix! Yesterday, I ran a teleseminar event to my VAClassroom Members titled: "Marketing your VA Business in a Web 2.0 World". We spent some time discussing the power of Video Marketing and the sheer potential it has for rapidly increasing website traffic and improving search listings. I had mentioned to the group that I had recently noticed that very few Virtual Assistants actually include Video on their websites nor have posted to YouTube. Now, I am sure some of you do, but I still think you would make up a small percentage. I posed the question to yesterday's group "Why are most Virtual Assistants not including Video in their marketing efforts?" Does it have to do with simply not having the right equipment to produce the videos or is there a "fear factor" involved here? Is there a hesitation to jump in front of the camera for fear of looking silly or not presenting yourself very well? Would you fall into this category? I have produced many YouTube Videos in my home office, back yard, park, coffee shop, hotel room and I have to say that I always feel a little wierd initially when doing the videos, but thanks to the editing power of Sony Vegas Movie Studio, I am able to clear my stutters, stammers and "duh" moments and actually produce a quality video. Creating videos is kind of like "public speaking" - the more you do it, the more natural you become. The first couple you might feel like a deer caught in headlights, but it gets easier!! The bottom line though is that Video marketing is way too powerful and effective to not include in your overall marketing strategies. Over the last few months, I have produced a number of YouTube Videos and continue to see targeted traffic and improved search listings for VAClassroom as a result. Let me show you.... If you go to YouTube and search for "Virtual Assistant", you will see that VAClassroom has the number 8 spot on that list. If you type in Virtual Assistant Training, I have videos holding down the #3,5 and 6 spots, which again bring traffic to our site. Finally, if you type in "Virtual Assistant Certification", you will see that we have spots 1 & 2. Again, these videos are sending targeted traffic back to VAClassroom. To elaborate further, if you go to Google and type in "Virtual Assistant Certification", we are not on the first page, but our YouTube video holds the 18th & 19th spot on the 2nd page of search results out of a total of 3.8 million search listings for this keyword. Now, these videos have had strong link building implications for VAClassroom.com. If you do a Google search for "Virtual Assistant Training", VAClassroom currently holds the 13th spot out of 387,000 listings. Now, it is very important to note that we only launched VAClassroom less than 2 months ago and we are already seeing some good natural search traffic which is great. Now, I must say that Video Marketing has certainly played a key role in some of our early success and can have the same impact for your VA websites! The other comment is that I have not seen too many VA websites that include a "Welcome Video" on their homepage. Again, this is an ideal opportunity to provide a personalized introduction to every prospective client hitting your page. People like to look at people, so it is just smart marketing to include a creative introduction video right on your home page that will further compliment your existing web copy. I would recommend using easyflv to add your videos to your website - very userfriendly! Again, you probably can tell that I am super pumped about Video marketing primarily due to the profound impact it has had on my traffic and search listings. There is no better time to incorporate Video into your overall marketing strategy then right now!

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

VAClassroom.com is opening the doors early!

As many of know, we have been talking about the VAClassroom niche training center we will be launching shortly....Well, the talking is over! At 10pm (EST) (May 19th), we opened the doors a little early so our VAClassroom subscribers and teleseminar participants could take advantage of a special offer that will save them $100 per year! The response has been good and we look forward to building a vibrant, interactive training center that will help VAs like yourself take their businesses to new heights in 2008. The other day, I was thinking about the amount of hours we had invested in the VACLassroom project and I think it would be close to about 1000 - phew!! Anyways, we are glad that we can now bring our comprehensive VA Training Center to you today. Since our special offer is only running until 11:59 pm (PST) on Wednesday (May 21st), I wanted to give our blog readers an opportunity to check out VAClassroom and lock in at the lower discounted rate as well. Here is our special offer page: http://www.vaclassroom.com/special Until next time....

Join VAClassroom at the OIVAC International Virtual Assistants Conference

I am not sure how many Virtual Conferences you have attended in the past, but I have been to a few and it is actually pretty cool to network with collegues, listen to great speakers and gather some excellent resources right from the comfort of your own office or home! Now, you might have already marked it on your calendar, but the Online International Virtual Assistants Convention (OIVAC) officially kicks off on May 15th at 8am (EST). The three day Virtual Conference is jammed pack with some great seminars (from 8-midnight daily) and valuable networking opportunities for your business.  I think you can still register for some of the seminars. The cost is $25 per seminar and they sell a variety of packages as well. VAClassroom will have an exhibitor's booth at the Virtual Conference, so be sure to stop by to chat and learn more about what we have going on over the next week - some exciting stuff!

VAClassroom Social Media Teleseminar Event

We are excited to tell you about the upcoming teleseminar event at VAClassroom.com: "How Virtual Assistants Can Profit from the Social Media Explosion in 2008 and Beyond!" As mentioned in a previous post, one of the fastest growing areas on the Net right now is the exploding Social Media Movement. Internet businesses are very enthusiastic about leveraging the potential of many top social media channels such as Facebook, YouTube, Digg and LinkedIn, but find it difficult to muster up enough hours in a day to perform all the necessary Social Media Marketing activities. Talk about a huge "in-demand" niche for Virtual Assistants! This is precisely what we will be covering in the upcoming 1 hour teleseminar event at VAClassroom slated for May 19th at 6pm PST (9pm EST). This FREE teleseminar will essentially be a mini-course based on one of the courses offered from our soon to be released VAClassroom Training Center! For more details on the Social Media Teleseminar, visit the page below and sign-up to receive reminder alerts: VAClassroom Social Media Teleseminar Event We look forward to seeing you there!

5 Reasons I Love Online Learning!

I should begin this post with a disclaimer.... I am not anti-traditional learning, but rather pro web-based learning!! I have had the privilege of being able to spend a number of years at traditional University completing my Bachelor's Degree as well as doing some Post Graduate studies. My experience at University without a doubt taught me alot and shaped who I am today.  However, now looking back, the one thing that I question is the many required courses I took that provided minimal or no skills or knowledge that I was able to practically use in the workforce! Can you relate? Have you ever taken a course only to find out that you actually didn't gain any marketable skills that would translate to real work opportunities? I think about the financial investment for my schooling and the reality that only a small percentage of the courses really provided transferable skills to work. Needless to say, I am rather pumped about the exciting shifts we are seeing in online education. Let me tell you 5 Reasons I LOVE Online Learning... 1. Online Learning is MORE current! It is a known fact that many post-secondary curriculums do not evolve rapidly from year to year. I recall purchasing my share of $100 "new edition" textbooks that really had the same content as the year before - hmmm. In an online learning model, the content is fluid and easily changeable to keep as current and relevant as possible. Just think of the "Internet Business" many of us are involved in.  This industry has evolved at such a rapid pace that traditional education models simply would not work. However, Web-based learning models are more fluid and can be changed on the fly in order to address new demands! 2. Online Learning is MORE flexible! I personally appreciate the self-directed, learn at your pace model that many online learning portals offer. 3. Online learning is MORE cost-effective! I think of the many free and low-cost webinars that have provided me with an abundance of tools and knowledge that I am currently using in my business! I purchased a few higher cost industry specific web courses, but the tuition prices still did not even come close to what you would pay currently at many post-secondary institutes. 4. Online Learning is MORE skills-focused! Years ago, I think credentials were more important to Employers and Businesses then they are now (except of course if you are Google - they like Stanford Grads:) ).  Internet Businesses in particular are looking for people that have the skills to do the job! The traditional university model is "Knowledge-based" as opposed to "Skill-based" which has been to the detriment of many graduates who left University with few transferable work skills. The online learning opportunities I have been personally involved with have been much more skill-based and relevant to the industry I currently work in. 5. Online Learning is MORE interactive! You might be thinking... Craig, how can online learning be more interactive then face-to-face classroom interaction. Well, many online learning models currently offer online discussion forums, live chat, ongoing Q&As with instructors. As well, online learning enables you to collaborate with a larger group of people at once. In traditional settings, you really can't have a group much bigger then 4 or 5 as someone eventually gets lost in the shuffle. With an Online Learning Model, you can be talking with many different people from different parts of the world simulateneously which is cool! At VAClassroom, we have rigorously studied online learning models over the past year to identify those elements that would make the most effective learning environment. We are excited to "open our virtual doors" to a new online learning environment for Virtual Assistants coming up in the middle of May - more details to follow. But I do have to say, that given my own experiences with traditional education, I am much more militant about offering courses that actually provide tangible skills that you will be able to take and apply to your Virtual Assistant business - this is key!

What is a Internet Marketing VA?

Well, if you had  already had an opportunity to view our 26 minute preview video, you will likely know the answer to this question by now! For those that have not yet seen the video, an Intenet Marketing VA is a niche specialization for a Virtual Assistant that encompasses a variety of crucial support tasks for a company's web marketing endeavors. The cool thing about the Virtual Assistant industry right now is there are all sort of avenues to provide "in demand" specialist services that will distinguish yourself from the growing base of VAs joining this virtual labour force!  So, if you haven't already, take 25 minutes and view the below video that outlines what an Internet Marketing VA is and also previews the upcoming certification program to be offered by VAClassroom here shortly. Internet Marketing VA Preview Video Please do send us your comments, thoughts and questions on this video when you have a moment! Okay, before I sign off here, I want to give you a good sense of what you can expect by tuning into this blog over the next couple weeks...

We will be providing some important content that will add value to your new or existing Virtual Assistance business such as:

• Key Interviews with Business Owners who regularly hire Virtual Assistants as well as experienced Virtual Assistants talking about their "lessons learned".
• Informative Videos with myself and others!
• Key updates and information pertaining to the upcoming launch of our Training and Job Center for Virtual Assistants.
• More details on the Internet Marketing VA Certification.
• Special Announcements on our VA Business Power Pack and some other giveaways we have planned - stay tuned!

   

Ten Marketing Strategies for your Virtual Assistant Business

Hi everyone and welcome to our inaugural first post of the VAClassroom Blog!

If you haven't already, then make sure you've signed up at VAClassroom to get notified of important updates and news including a 26 minute preview video we made on our upcoming Virtual Assistant Training and Job Center.

As promised, we want to pass along an informative ebook today that will significantly boost the marketing efforts for any new or existing Virtual Assistant business. FREE 26 Page PDF Ebook - 10 Sure-Fire Strategies for Marketing your VA Business We would love to receive all your feedback and thoughts on this ebook and any other marketing strategies you think should make this top 10 list (or at least an honorable mention). Just pass along your comments here at this blog post. Be sure to subscribe and check back regularly at this blog over the next couple weeks as we will be discussing some interesting things you won't want to miss! Digital Work Search Strategies