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	<title>VAClassroom Training Blog &#187; Virtual Assistant Training</title>
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		<title>Top Three Tips for Handling High-Maintenance Clients</title>
		<link>http://vaclassroomblog.com/top-three-tips-for-handling-high-maintenance-clients?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=top-three-tips-for-handling-high-maintenance-clients</link>
		<comments>http://vaclassroomblog.com/top-three-tips-for-handling-high-maintenance-clients#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 20 Apr 2011 19:24:08 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Craig</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Virtual Assistant Training]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Virtual Business Practices]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[difficult clients]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[high-maintenance clients]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[online business owners]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[project management skills]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Virtual Assistants]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://vaclassroomblog.com/?p=921</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Last week in our VAClassroom event, a question arose on how to deal with &#8220;Draining Clients&#8221;. I am sure we can all relate at one time or another to those clients who •    Relentlessly invade our time and space •    Assume they are our only client and should demand our immediate attention •    Skype us [...]<p><a href="http://vaclassroomblog.com/top-three-tips-for-handling-high-maintenance-clients">Top Three Tips for Handling High-Maintenance Clients</a> is a post from: <a href="http://vaclassroomblog.com">VAClassroom Training Blog</a></p>
]]></description>
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			<a href="http://api.tweetmeme.com/share?url=http%3A%2F%2Fvaclassroomblog.com%2Ftop-three-tips-for-handling-high-maintenance-clients"><br />
				<img src="http://api.tweetmeme.com/imagebutton.gif?url=http%3A%2F%2Fvaclassroomblog.com%2Ftop-three-tips-for-handling-high-maintenance-clients&amp;source=VAClassroom&amp;style=normal&amp;service=bit.ly&amp;b=2" height="61" width="50" /><br />
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<p><a href="http://vaclassroomblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/drama.jpg" ><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-924" title="Handling High-Maintenance Clients" src="http://vaclassroomblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/drama.jpg" alt="" width="104" height="96" /></a>Last week in our VAClassroom event, a question arose on how to deal with &#8220;Draining Clients&#8221;. I am sure we can all relate at one time or another to those clients who</p>
<p><em> </em><strong>•    Relentlessly invade our time and space<br />
 •    Assume they are our only client and should demand our immediate attention<br />
 •    Skype us late at night for an urgent demand the next morning<br />
 •    Are highly disorganized and &#8220;fly by the seat of their pants&#8221; all the time<br />
 •    Want us to be available full-time but are only willing to pay us part-time.</strong></p>
<p>I could build a much bigger list, but I will stop there. Have you experienced those types of clients recently? Are they causing you great anxiety and sleepless nights? If so, what can we do to effectively and tactfully manage these high-maintenance clients?</p>
<p>Here are a couple helpful tips to consider&#8230;  <strong> </strong></p>
<p><strong>1. Be honest with the client. </strong>Sometimes, clients are not actually aware of how they are behaving with you until you have a candid conversation with them. In talking with them, I would lead with the positive. Let them know the things that you enjoy about the work, but then be honest about those areas that need to be improved. These conversations are not always easy, but what is the alternative &#8211; more stress and sleepless nights?</p>
<p><strong> 2. Set clear communication boundaries with the client.</strong> This should be done from Day 1 (ideally), but let the client know the best ways that they can communicate with you and also clearly outline the times you are NOT available. If you hate the relentless Skyping, then present a more attractive communication alternative to them. It is important to let them know that you have other clients and that quick turnarounds on urgent projects will not always happen. You might consider setting a standard communication turnaround time that they can expect. For example, let them know you will always respond to their emails within a 24-hour period unless it is on the weekend. Setting healthy boundaries with your clients will liberate you. Yes, you run the risk of losing those &#8220;ultra-demanding&#8221; clients, but that might not be a bad thing.</p>
<p><strong> 3. If you have been honest with the client and reset new boundaries and the client continues their &#8220;old ways&#8221;, then it might be time to have that difficult conversation and &#8220;disinvite&#8221; them from your client list.</strong></p>
<p><strong>Important Note: </strong>In this challenging economy, it might not be financially viable to simply &#8220;fire&#8221; your client, so my suggestion would be to ramp up your marketing efforts and seek to find a client (sooner than later) that will fill the spot of this difficult client. Once you have that in place, then you can fire him or her!</p>
<p>Of course, the best way to deal with difficult clients is to avoid getting involved with them in the first place. This can be tricky, but the blog post “<a href="http://freelancefolder.com/how-to-spot-difficult-clients-before-signing-a-contract/"  target="_blank">How to Spot Difficult Clients before Signing a Contract</a>” first of all recommends listening to your gut:</p>
<p><em>Malcolm Gladwell wrote in his book, </em><em><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Blink</span>, that “your mind takes about two seconds to jump to a series of conclusions” about people or situations.</em></p>
<p><em>So, don’t discount that ‘iffy’ feeling you get when you first start discussing a project with a client. That ‘feeling’ is your gut telling you to pay attention. If you get that uneasy feeling, jot down why you feel that way and see if they add up to a strong reason NOT to take the project.</em></p>
<p>This post also goes on to list a few easy-to-spot red flags you can look for during initial discussions with a client that can help determine his or her “potential for difficulty”.</p>
<p>In our upcoming <a href="http://www.vaclassroom.com/project-management-skills/"  target="_blank">Project Management Skills clinic</a>, we will continue to address the issue of client relationships head on and discuss some communication strategies for managing projects if you do find yourself working with a difficult client.</p>
<p>In the meantime, though, we hope the above tips have been helpful in giving you some tools for handling high-maintenance clients. If you have any questions or advice from your experience as a Virtual Assistant or online business owner, please share your thoughts in the comment box below or on our <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.facebook.com/vaclassroom"  target="_blank">VAClassroom Facebook Page</a>.</p>
<iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Fvaclassroomblog.com%2Ftop-three-tips-for-handling-high-maintenance-clients&amp;layout=standard&amp;show_faces=true&amp;width=450&amp;action=like&amp;font=arial&amp;colorscheme=light" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowTransparency="true" style="border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height:80px"></iframe><p><a href="http://vaclassroomblog.com/top-three-tips-for-handling-high-maintenance-clients">Top Three Tips for Handling High-Maintenance Clients</a> is a post from: <a href="http://vaclassroomblog.com">VAClassroom Training Blog</a></p>
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		<title>YouTube, Facebook and Google – The Golden Marketing Triangle for Any Type of Business</title>
		<link>http://vaclassroomblog.com/youtube-facebook-and-google-%e2%80%93-the-golden-marketing-triangle-for-any-type-of-business?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=youtube-facebook-and-google-%25e2%2580%2593-the-golden-marketing-triangle-for-any-type-of-business</link>
		<comments>http://vaclassroomblog.com/youtube-facebook-and-google-%e2%80%93-the-golden-marketing-triangle-for-any-type-of-business#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 21 Mar 2011 02:23:57 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jena K</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Cool Internet tools]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Latest News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Virtual Assistant Training]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[local business]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Online Business]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Online Professionals]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Social Media Marketing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Social Networking]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Virtual Assistants]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Virtual Assistants Training]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://vaclassroomblog.com/?p=903</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Remember the Yellow Pages… you know, those thick yellow books with phone numbers and ads in them? In your virtual business activities, have you used one lately to actually find a phone number, or are they more likely to be used as a coaster for your cup of coffee or a paperweight for your desk? [...]<p><a href="http://vaclassroomblog.com/youtube-facebook-and-google-%e2%80%93-the-golden-marketing-triangle-for-any-type-of-business">YouTube, Facebook and Google – The Golden Marketing Triangle for Any Type of Business</a> is a post from: <a href="http://vaclassroomblog.com">VAClassroom Training Blog</a></p>
]]></description>
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<p>Remember the Yellow Pages… you know, those thick yellow books with phone numbers and ads in them? In your virtual business activities, have you used one lately to actually find a phone number, or are they more likely to be used as a coaster for your cup of coffee or a paperweight for your desk?</p>
<p>These days, more and more people are moving online, a trend that could soon make the Yellow Pages obsolete. A December 2010 report from the Pew Research Center titled “<a href="http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1831/generations-online-2010"  target="_blank">Generations Online in 2010</a>” lists certain key Internet activities that are becoming more uniformly popular across all age groups:</p>
<p><em> •    Email<br />
 •    Search Engine use<br />
 •    Seeking health information<br />
 •    Getting news<br />
 •    Buying products<br />
 •    Making travel reservations or purchases<br />
 •    Doing online banking<br />
 •    Looking for religious information<br />
 •    Rating products, services, or people<br />
 •    Making online charitable donations<br />
 •    Downloading podcasts</em></p>
<p>And what does this recent trend mean? Well, with Internet activities increasing among both younger and older adults, a lot of the people who would traditionally thumb through the Yellow Pages to find information about businesses could now be searching for this info online through sites like YouTube, Facebook and Google.</p>
<p>This creates an exciting opportunity for businesses to capitalize on. Check out the below video, where we talk about these three sites, the Golden Marketing Triangle for any type of business:</p>
<p>
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</p>
<p>So, times are changing, and both online and local businesses could surely benefit by changing their marketing strategies from the yellow phone book to the golden triangle.</p>
<p>And as final food for thought, consider the increasing power of a local marketing strategy. A blog post by Econsultancy.com, titled “<a href="http://econsultancy.com/us/blog/7276-why-you-should-have-a-hyperlocal-facebook-strategy"  target="_blank">Why You should have a hyperlocal Facebook Strategy</a>,” discusses their research on <em>Starbucks Facebook pages and their engagement rate (ER) &#8211; how much fans engage, and response rate (RR) &#8211; how much the pages responds, in three months from November 2010 &#8211; January 2011</em>. Here, measurements show that Facebook users are engaging on average three to four times more with local than global Facebook pages, with the local pages typically growing on average twice as fast as global communities.</p>
<p>Over the past year, there has also been a huge increase in the use of popular local social networking tools such as Twitter, Foursquare, Groupon and Yelp as local businesses are realizing the potential of leveraging this social medium to bridge the gap between the online world and offline customers.</p>
<p>Amazingly, for only a fraction of the cost of a Yellow Pages listing, these tools can quickly and easily boost a business’s brand recognition, stimulate meaningful connections with a target audience, build a loyal following and ultimately ignite a business’s customer base and revenue.</p>
<p>What are your thoughts on this? As a Virtual Assistant or online professional, do you see ways you could integrate this golden marketing triangle into the services you currently offer local or online business clients? Do you see an increase in the number of local businesses marketing online in your community? Please share your thoughts in the comment box below.</p>
<iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Fvaclassroomblog.com%2Fyoutube-facebook-and-google-%25e2%2580%2593-the-golden-marketing-triangle-for-any-type-of-business&amp;layout=standard&amp;show_faces=true&amp;width=450&amp;action=like&amp;font=arial&amp;colorscheme=light" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowTransparency="true" style="border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height:80px"></iframe><p><a href="http://vaclassroomblog.com/youtube-facebook-and-google-%e2%80%93-the-golden-marketing-triangle-for-any-type-of-business">YouTube, Facebook and Google – The Golden Marketing Triangle for Any Type of Business</a> is a post from: <a href="http://vaclassroomblog.com">VAClassroom Training Blog</a></p>
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		<title>25 Top Marketing Strategies for Reaching New Clients (Part 1: Offline Activities)</title>
		<link>http://vaclassroomblog.com/25-top-marketing-strategies-for-reaching-new-clients-part-1-offline-activities?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=25-top-marketing-strategies-for-reaching-new-clients-part-1-offline-activities</link>
		<comments>http://vaclassroomblog.com/25-top-marketing-strategies-for-reaching-new-clients-part-1-offline-activities#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 16 Mar 2011 15:00:45 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Craig</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Virtual Assistant Training]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Virtual Business Practices]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[marketing strategies]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[new clients]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[offline]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[online business owners]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Social Media Marketing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Virtual Assistants]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Virtual Business]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://vaclassroomblog.com/?p=884</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[In this current economic climate, many Virtual Assistants and online business owners have experienced the highs and lows in their businesses over the past couple years. In fact, you yourself may have cycled from a time of abundance with great &#8220;high-value&#8221; clients to a drought where you have struggled to fill retainer clients that you [...]<p><a href="http://vaclassroomblog.com/25-top-marketing-strategies-for-reaching-new-clients-part-1-offline-activities">25 Top Marketing Strategies for Reaching New Clients (Part 1: Offline Activities)</a> is a post from: <a href="http://vaclassroomblog.com">VAClassroom Training Blog</a></p>
]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="tweetmeme_button" style="float: right; margin-left: 10px;">
			<a href="http://api.tweetmeme.com/share?url=http%3A%2F%2Fvaclassroomblog.com%2F25-top-marketing-strategies-for-reaching-new-clients-part-1-offline-activities"><br />
				<img src="http://api.tweetmeme.com/imagebutton.gif?url=http%3A%2F%2Fvaclassroomblog.com%2F25-top-marketing-strategies-for-reaching-new-clients-part-1-offline-activities&amp;source=VAClassroom&amp;style=normal&amp;service=bit.ly&amp;b=2" height="61" width="50" /><br />
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<p><a href="http://vaclassroomblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/megaphone.jpg" ><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-886" title="Reaching out to new clients" src="http://vaclassroomblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/megaphone.jpg" alt="" width="225" height="225" /></a>In this current economic climate, many Virtual Assistants and online business owners have experienced the highs and lows in their businesses over the past couple years. In fact, you yourself may have cycled from a time of abundance with great &#8220;high-value&#8221; clients to a drought where you have struggled to fill retainer clients that you may have lost for one reason or another. The ebbs and flows of a virtual business can cause a lot of stress.</p>
<p>During these times, it’s important to evaluate your virtual business activities and ask yourself some key questions:</p>
<p><strong>•    What marketing strategies are you currently using to connect with new clients? <br />
 •    What strategies or activities have been successful for you? What has not gone well? </strong></p>
<p>As we’re focusing on virtual business marketing this week, we’d like to take some time to share some top marketing strategies for reaching new clients. In our free event on March 17, “<a href="http://www.vaclassroom.com/MembersLoginPage.aspx"  target="_blank">Virtual Business Marketing Makeover in One Hour</a>,” one of the things we’ll be talking about is the fact that you must market every single day even if you have enough clients now. So, to start off our list, here are the first seven tips for how you can consistently market your business and connect with new and potential clients through offline activities.</p>
<p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Offline Activities</span>:</strong></p>
<p><strong>1. Join or start a business networking group in your local area</strong> – This activity can actually happen both online and offline. Through <a href="http://www.meetup.com/"  target="_blank">Meetups</a>, <a href="http://tweetvite.com/"  target="_blank">Tweetups</a>, Chamber of Commerce or Local Business Associations, you can connect with like-minded individuals for collaboration purposes or to get connected with your target client audience.</p>
<p><strong>2. Do a presentation for a local business group or association (i.e. local hospitality association, real estate association, small business owners)</strong> – For example, you could do a social media presentation that demonstrates how restaurants can use social media to draw in more customers. In a previous blog post, &#8220;<a href="http://vaclassroomblog.com/social-media-goes-local-in-2010"  target="_blank">Social Media Goes Local in 2010</a>,&#8221; we talked about how restaurant owner Joe Sorge uses Twitter to engage with customers.</p>
<p><strong>3. Attend a business fair/conference in your local region</strong> – These conferences and fairs are a great way to have face-to-face encounters with people who might potentially hire VAs.<br />
 <strong>4. Host a local event in your area (e.g. Social Media for Hospitality Businesses)</strong> – This activity requires some planning and maybe a bit of a budget, but it can be very effective as a form of networking.<br />
 <strong>5. Research and target local business clients with a one-on-one presentation</strong> – You could visit certain restaurants or spas you want to target to see how they could use social media to grow their businesses.</p>
<p><strong>6. Publish an article in a local newspaper or trade magazine</strong> – This activity requires a certain level of writing skills, but can be very effective in giving your business more visibility.</p>
<p><strong>7. Send targeted mail-outs to business lists through an association like the Chamber of Commerce</strong> – This is not the number one strategy we’d recommend because it isn’t very measurable, but it could definitely lead to multiple client opportunities in the local business community.</p>
<p>Stay tuned for our next post, where we will talk about tips for marketing your business through online activities (our favorite kind of strategies here at <a href="http://www.vaclassroom.com/"  target="_blank">VAClassroom</a> :).</p>
<p>And in the meantime, let us know if you have any questions or comments about these offline marketing strategies. Have you used any in the past and found them successful? Please drop us a comment in the box below!</p>
<iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Fvaclassroomblog.com%2F25-top-marketing-strategies-for-reaching-new-clients-part-1-offline-activities&amp;layout=standard&amp;show_faces=true&amp;width=450&amp;action=like&amp;font=arial&amp;colorscheme=light" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowTransparency="true" style="border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height:80px"></iframe><p><a href="http://vaclassroomblog.com/25-top-marketing-strategies-for-reaching-new-clients-part-1-offline-activities">25 Top Marketing Strategies for Reaching New Clients (Part 1: Offline Activities)</a> is a post from: <a href="http://vaclassroomblog.com">VAClassroom Training Blog</a></p>
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		<title>The Power of Online Video Marketing for Local Businesses!</title>
		<link>http://vaclassroomblog.com/the-power-of-online-video-marketing-for-local-businesses?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=the-power-of-online-video-marketing-for-local-businesses</link>
		<comments>http://vaclassroomblog.com/the-power-of-online-video-marketing-for-local-businesses#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 02 Mar 2011 20:09:39 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Craig</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Cool Internet tools]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Latest News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Virtual Assistant Training]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[local business]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Local Search Marketing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Online Professionals]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Online Video]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Online Video Marketing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Virtual Assistants]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://vaclassroomblog.com/?p=876</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[As many of you know, at the beginning of 2011, I hosted a “Predictions Event” in which I shared my STRONG conviction that one of the hottest client areas for your business in the next 12 months would be the LOCAL Business Community! The reality is that the average local business owner has become increasingly [...]<p><a href="http://vaclassroomblog.com/the-power-of-online-video-marketing-for-local-businesses">The Power of Online Video Marketing for Local Businesses!</a> is a post from: <a href="http://vaclassroomblog.com">VAClassroom Training Blog</a></p>
]]></description>
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<p>As many of you know, at the beginning of 2011, I hosted a “Predictions Event” in which I shared my STRONG conviction that one of the hottest client areas for your business in the next 12 months would be the LOCAL Business Community! The reality is that the average local business owner has become increasingly dissatisfied with the diminishing return they are seeing on more expensive traditional advertising channels like radio, television and print media.</p>
<p>In my opinion, Local Search Marketing, Facebook Marketing and Video Marketing Services make up the most relevant and dynamic marketing trio for any local business across any industry. While we all know that Facebook had a massive growth year in 2010, so did Online Video and YouTube!</p>
<p>Check out the below video, where I demonstrate how we generated a Top 10 Google Result in less than 48 hours!</p>
<p>
<object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="425" height="350" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"><param name="src" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/G4-76cQ-Qto " /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="350" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/G4-76cQ-Qto "></embed></object>
</p>
<p>While the statistics quoted in the video alone should be a compelling enough reason to catch the attention of the average business owner, there are so many other clear-cut benefits why local businesses are increasingly excited about integrating online video into their overall marketing strategy:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong> With the proliferation of the mobile web, online videos are being watched everywhere and anywhere. </strong></li>
<li><strong>Online Video is the #1 weapon for igniting top rankings in the local search listings. </strong></li>
<li><strong>Online Video spreads faster than any other marketing medium on the web today. Just ask Susan Boyle!! </strong></li>
</ul>
<p>Given the rapid growth of online video, combined with the local business owner&#8217;s fast-growing interest in this medium, there is a great need for Virtual Assistants and online professionals to develop and expand their Online Video Marketing skills and service packages. It is for this reason that we have unveiled our first official <a href="http://www.vaclassroom.com/online-video-marketing"  target="_blank">Online Video Marketing Specialist Training Program</a> so that Virtual Professionals can offer cost-effective web marketing solutions that will ignite exposure, traffic and results for potential clients in their local communities.</p>
<p>The great thing about online video marketing is that it can be easily integrated into any existing Social Media services you are currently offering. As an example, for the average business owner, two of the absolutely smartest ways to build their brand and credibility on the web is to create a Facebook Page and launch an online video marketing campaign &#8211; a match made in marketing heaven!</p>
<p>If you have any questions or comments about Online Video Marketing, please write us a note in the comment box below. <a href="http://www.vaclassroom.com/online-video-marketing"  target="_blank">You can check out all the details on the Online Video Marketing Specialist Course here</a>.</p>
<iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Fvaclassroomblog.com%2Fthe-power-of-online-video-marketing-for-local-businesses&amp;layout=standard&amp;show_faces=true&amp;width=450&amp;action=like&amp;font=arial&amp;colorscheme=light" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowTransparency="true" style="border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height:80px"></iframe><p><a href="http://vaclassroomblog.com/the-power-of-online-video-marketing-for-local-businesses">The Power of Online Video Marketing for Local Businesses!</a> is a post from: <a href="http://vaclassroomblog.com">VAClassroom Training Blog</a></p>
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		<title>How to Get Started with Google Places for Business</title>
		<link>http://vaclassroomblog.com/how-to-get-started-with-google-places-for-business?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=how-to-get-started-with-google-places-for-business</link>
		<comments>http://vaclassroomblog.com/how-to-get-started-with-google-places-for-business#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 17 Jan 2011 20:35:10 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Craig</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Cool Internet tools]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Latest News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Niche Virtual Assistants]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Virtual Assistant Training]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Google]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Google Local Search]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Google Places]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[local business]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[online business owners]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Virtual Assistants]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Virtual Assistants Training]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://vaclassroomblog.com/?p=858</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[If you attended our VAClassroom event last week, you’ll know that there’s a ton of buzz going on around Google Places for Business. This tool is positioned to be a Game Changer when it comes to location-based social networks and directories. Why thumb through the Yellow Pages when with the click of a mouse you [...]<p><a href="http://vaclassroomblog.com/how-to-get-started-with-google-places-for-business">How to Get Started with Google Places for Business</a> is a post from: <a href="http://vaclassroomblog.com">VAClassroom Training Blog</a></p>
]]></description>
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<p>If you attended our VAClassroom event last week, you’ll know that there’s a ton of buzz going on around <a rel="nofollow" href="http://places.google.com/business"  target="_blank">Google Places for Business</a>. This tool is positioned to be a <em>Game Changer</em> when it comes to location-based social networks and directories. Why thumb through the Yellow Pages when with the click of a mouse you can uncover even more detailed information about local brick and mortar businesses?</p>
<p>Now, an interesting question popped up during our event—whether or not an Internet-based business with no fixed address or a Virtual Assistant’s business with a private home address could use Google Places. It appears they can too, and here’s a video that explains how Service Areas can be used to refine a listing:</p>
<p>
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</p>
<p>But as a Virtual Assistant or online business owner, the best way to leverage Google Places is to partner with local brick and mortar business owners because they’re the ones who will most benefit from this service. But before you get started with Google Places, you’ll want to ask the following questions:<strong><br />
 •    How do I create a well-optimized Google Places page for my local clients?</strong></p>
<p><strong> •    What strategies do I utilize to ensure the best chance of getting top listings in Google Places (1st page of Google)?</strong></p>
<p><strong> •    What are the best types of clients to target initially?</strong></p>
<p><strong> •    How can I build up online reviews for a client?</strong></p>
<p><strong> •    How do I structure the service and set my rates?</strong></p>
<p><strong> •    What other specific services (social media) can be bundled here?</strong></p>
<p>Google Places and Local Search have the potential of being a very profitable service niche in 2011 for Virtual Assistant businesses, as it will have mass appeal across all types of industries and has excellent potential to boost income that is not based on billable hourly work (flat rates and maintenance packages). That’s why we are also going to be offering a <a href="http://www.vaclassroom.com/local-search-clinic/"  target="_blank">Google Places Mastery clinic</a> that will take place on January 26th to unpack the important strategies needed to effectively leverage Google Places for local brick and mortar business owners. For more information on this exciting new training opportunity, check it out at the link below:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.vaclassroom.com/local-search-clinic/"  target="_blank">http://www.vaclassroom.com/local-search-clinic/</a></p>
<p>One final thought—Google recently announced the unveiling of a <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.google.com/places/"  target="_blank">Google Places with Hotpot</a> iPhone app, adding to their growing arsenal of Google Places apps for mobile users. Here’s what the official <a rel="nofollow" href="http://googlemobile.blogspot.com/2011/01/now-available-google-places-with-hotpot.html"  target="_blank">Google Mobile Blog</a> says about it:</p>
<p><em>It can be pretty rewarding to discover a new place you love, but we also realize that there are some experiences you just can’t wait to share. So Places makes it super simple to rate a place with your iPhone while you’re there. Just fire up the app and hit “Rate now.” It will use your location to guess your current place and let you post a Hotpot review right from your phone. But it’s not just about getting to say what you think—the more you rate places, the more you’re sharing about your tastes and the more we can give you personally tailored recommendations.<br />
 </em></p>
<p><em></em> So imagine the possibilities when Google Places and other local directories are paired up with not only a location-based recommendation engine like Hotpot, but also other social platforms like a Facebook Page, <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.facebook.com/places/"  target="_blank">Facebook Places</a>, YouTube channel and other location-based social networks—you have the makings of a local marketing masterpiece!</p>
<p>Do you know any brick and mortar businesses in your area that could benefit from a Google Places listing? Do you have any ideas for how you could integrate Google Places into your current Virtual Assistant service offerings? Please share your comments below!</p>
<iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Fvaclassroomblog.com%2Fhow-to-get-started-with-google-places-for-business&amp;layout=standard&amp;show_faces=true&amp;width=450&amp;action=like&amp;font=arial&amp;colorscheme=light" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowTransparency="true" style="border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height:80px"></iframe><p><a href="http://vaclassroomblog.com/how-to-get-started-with-google-places-for-business">How to Get Started with Google Places for Business</a> is a post from: <a href="http://vaclassroomblog.com">VAClassroom Training Blog</a></p>
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		<title>The Many Faces of WordPress</title>
		<link>http://vaclassroomblog.com/the-many-faces-of-wordpress?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=the-many-faces-of-wordpress</link>
		<comments>http://vaclassroomblog.com/the-many-faces-of-wordpress#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 01 Dec 2010 18:09:06 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jena K</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Latest News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[VAClassroom.com]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Virtual Assistant Training]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Blogging Tools]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Online Business]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Online Product Launches]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Product Launch training]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Virtual Assistants]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[WordPress]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://vaclassroomblog.com/?p=812</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[A deep thought for today – the history of WordPress in a nutshell: WordPress started in 2003 with a single bit of code to enhance the typography of everyday writing and with fewer users than you can count on your fingers and toes. Since then it has grown to be the largest self-hosted blogging tool [...]<p><a href="http://vaclassroomblog.com/the-many-faces-of-wordpress">The Many Faces of WordPress</a> is a post from: <a href="http://vaclassroomblog.com">VAClassroom Training Blog</a></p>
]]></description>
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<p>A deep thought for today – the <a href="http://wordpress.org/about/"  target="_blank">history of WordPress</a> in a nutshell:</p>
<p><em>WordPress started in 2003 with a single bit of code to enhance the typography of everyday writing and with fewer users than you can count on your fingers and toes. Since then it has grown to be the largest self-hosted blogging tool in the world, used on millions of sites and seen by tens of millions of people every day. </em></p>
<p>Indeed, for some, the advent of this powerful web platform was life changing. This video by <a href="http://www.doitmyselfblog.com/"  target="_blank">Glenda Watson Hyatt</a> describes how using WordPress has given her a voice and brought new employment opportunities:</p>
<p>
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</p>
<p>And now it’s no secret that WordPress has become the most popular web platform among entrepreneurs and small businesses today. On the WordPress site, you can even see a whole <a href="http://wordpress.org/showcase/"  target="_blank">Showcase</a> featuring the many websites that have been built using WordPress functionality. In the past, WordPress may have been seen as a platform for delivering blogs, but with new technology and lots of innovative plugins, WordPress can also serve as a platform for systems like Content Management, Social Networking and Ecommerce.</p>
<p>Even some high-profile Internet Entrepreneurs, including Ryan Deiss have been powering their latest online product launches with WordPress. They have been using this platform to build their list, share content, and socialize with their audience. This week we saw a perfect example when popular Information Marketer <a href="http://drivingtraffic.com/"  target="_blank">Ryan Deiss</a> launched a brand new product at <a href="http://www.fbevolution.com"  target="_blank">Facebook Evolution</a> using the WordPress template, <a href="http://www.optimizepress.com/"  target="_blank">Optimize Press</a>.</p>
<p>Here at VAClassroom we’ve been watching these trends, and we know this is a niche that could prove very profitable for the Virtual Assistant and online business community, so we’ve created a new “<a href="http://www.vaclassroom.com/wordpress-marketing-clinic/"  target="_blank">Product Launches Powered by WordPress” Clinic</a> that will provide a compelling case as to why businesses should seriously consider WordPress as their preferred choice for product launches. On December 8th, we are offering an exciting opportunity for Virtual Assistants to enhance their WordPress skills and specifically discover the templates, plugins and tactics for being able to launch any type of product using WordPress. This live 3-hour clinic is scheduled for Wednesday, December 8th from 12pm &#8211; 3pm (PST). Here is a quick overview of a few of the topics we will be covering in this informative session:</p>
<ul>
</ul>
<p><strong>•    Selecting the BEST WordPress templates and themes to create squeeze pages and product sales pages. </strong></p>
<p><strong> •    Integrating Powerhouse Plugins for a complete product launch, including sales pages, testimonials, product countdowns and content sharing. </strong></p>
<p><strong> •    Creating compelling videos for your WordPress squeeze / sales page process. </strong></p>
<p><strong> •    Building a powerful WordPress mini-site to strategically use during the pre-launch process. </strong></p>
<p><strong> •    Integrating the right Social Media Plugins to socialize your product launch campaign. </strong></p>
<p><strong> •    Setting up eye-catching optin forms and integrating autoresponder software. </strong></p>
<p><strong> •    Adding common CSS snippets to enhance your Squeeze/Sales Page templates. </strong></p>
<p><strong> •    Keyword Research and SEO tips for getting your WordPress sites found on Google. </strong></p>
<p><strong> •    And so much more!!</strong></p>
<ul>
</ul>
<p>If you are looking to expand your services and opportunities in 2011, this clinic will certainly help you to carve out a nice WordPress niche for your business! If you have any questions about this program, please submit your comments below. <a href="http://www.vaclassroom.com/wordpress-marketing-clinic/"  target="_blank">Check out the new WordPress Clinic Here.</a></p>
<iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Fvaclassroomblog.com%2Fthe-many-faces-of-wordpress&amp;layout=standard&amp;show_faces=true&amp;width=450&amp;action=like&amp;font=arial&amp;colorscheme=light" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowTransparency="true" style="border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height:80px"></iframe><p><a href="http://vaclassroomblog.com/the-many-faces-of-wordpress">The Many Faces of WordPress</a> is a post from: <a href="http://vaclassroomblog.com">VAClassroom Training Blog</a></p>
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		<title>Five Tips for Simplifying Your Business Systems and Processes</title>
		<link>http://vaclassroomblog.com/five-tips-for-simplifying-your-business-systems-and-processes?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=five-tips-for-simplifying-your-business-systems-and-processes</link>
		<comments>http://vaclassroomblog.com/five-tips-for-simplifying-your-business-systems-and-processes#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 22 Nov 2010 05:40:24 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jena K</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Productivity Tools]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Virtual Assistant Training]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Virtual Business Practices]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Online Business]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Online Professionals]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Small Business Productivity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[systems and processes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Virtual Assistants]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://vaclassroomblog.com/?p=805</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[A recent CTV report gave Canadians promising news last week. It described how a group of researchers in Ontario discovered a way to shave 20 minutes off the 90-minute time period it usually takes to get heart attack patients into surgery. The report says that one of the key changes involves allowing paramedics to speak [...]<p><a href="http://vaclassroomblog.com/five-tips-for-simplifying-your-business-systems-and-processes">Five Tips for Simplifying Your Business Systems and Processes</a> is a post from: <a href="http://vaclassroomblog.com">VAClassroom Training Blog</a></p>
]]></description>
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				<img src="http://api.tweetmeme.com/imagebutton.gif?url=http%3A%2F%2Fvaclassroomblog.com%2Ffive-tips-for-simplifying-your-business-systems-and-processes&amp;source=VAClassroom&amp;style=normal&amp;service=bit.ly&amp;b=2" height="61" width="50" /><br />
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<p><a href="http://vaclassroomblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/Puzzle-pieces.jpg" ><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-807" title="Puzzle-pieces" src="http://vaclassroomblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/Puzzle-pieces.jpg" alt="" width="236" height="213" /></a>A recent <a href="http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/TopStories/20101115/heart-attack-fast-treatment-101115/"  target="_blank">CTV report</a> gave Canadians promising news last week. It described how a group of researchers in Ontario discovered a way to shave 20 minutes off the 90-minute time period it usually takes to get heart attack patients into surgery.</p>
<p>The report says that one of the key changes involves allowing paramedics to speak directly to the cardiologist on call at the hospital and then letting the patient completely bypass the emergency department and proceed directly to the procedure room. Dr. Sheldon Cheskes, the medical director of the Sunnybrook Osler Center for Prehospital Care, who led the research, explained that they now bypass anything that causes delays in the system. According to Cheskes, “From a mortality point of view, our mortality rate before we started our program was about 6.5 per cent. Our mortality currently is 2.1 per cent, which is a huge, significant increase.”</p>
<p>So what does this have to do with online business? Well, the life of a business often depends on the efficiency of its systems and processes too, and building a simpler yet stronger foundation can breathe new life and vigor into your work as a Virtual Assistant or online professional. For example, are you spending an excessive amount of time billing and invoicing when you could be out there networking and meeting new clients? Do you have a system for handling your clients’ tasks, or do you have to backtrack every time and try to remember how you did the same thing before?</p>
<p>Well, here are some quick tips for simplifying your business systems and processes:</p>
<ol>
<li> <strong>Write a list of all the tasks you do more than once</strong> – According to <a href="http://www.pamivey.com/"  target="_blank">Pam Ivey</a>, six-figure Virtual Assistant Extraordinaire, everything you do more than once should have a system created around it, so start by determining which tasks need a system and which ones can be handled on a case-by-case basis.</li>
<li> <strong>Talk to a mentor or a “Systems Chick” like Kristi Pavlik, creator of <a href="http://www.systemschick.com/"  target="_blank">www.systemschick.com</a></strong> &#8211; If you don’t enjoy outlining systems and processes, it is possible to find others who do, so don’t hesitate to find an expert who will sit down with you and figure out how to streamline your activities.</li>
<li> <strong>Put together a manual with templates and checklists</strong> – For tasks like responding to new RFPs, responding to FAQs or providing welcome packages to new clients, it helps to create a resource that allows you to quickly build customized content. Not only does it speed up these processes, but it also allows you to hand over your business activities to someone else if you need to take time off.</li>
<li> <strong>Find the best productivity tools for your business </strong>– Especially for activities like time tracking, invoicing and billing, it is imperative that you find a tool that works best for you and allows you to perform these tasks quickly and accurately. <a href="http://www.freshbooks.com/"  target="_blank">FreshBooks</a> is an example of a great online invoicing, time tracking and billing software that can meet the needs of many types of virtual businesses.</li>
<li> <strong>Sign up for our newest VAClassroom Training Program, the <a href="http://www.vaclassroom.com/virtual-assistant-blueprint/"  target="_blank">“Virtual Assistant Business Success Blueprint” course</a></strong> &#8211; We are thrilled to have partnered with Pam Ivey to bring you this innovative new program, which is designed to help you develop the right systems, tools and templates for quickly growing your business heading into 2011. This program is ideally suited to both newbies as well as existing VAs who would like to improve and enhance their business systems and marketing strategies. It is both a start-up and a business-building program!</li>
</ol>
<p>We hope these tips will help give you a plan of attack so you can grow a thriving and successful online business. With the right systems in place, your work as a Virtual Assistant or online professional will become much more enjoyable, and you may even free yourself up to take some much-needed time off!</p>
<p>If you have any other suggestions that have worked for you, please comment below.</p>
<iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Fvaclassroomblog.com%2Ffive-tips-for-simplifying-your-business-systems-and-processes&amp;layout=standard&amp;show_faces=true&amp;width=450&amp;action=like&amp;font=arial&amp;colorscheme=light" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowTransparency="true" style="border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height:80px"></iframe><p><a href="http://vaclassroomblog.com/five-tips-for-simplifying-your-business-systems-and-processes">Five Tips for Simplifying Your Business Systems and Processes</a> is a post from: <a href="http://vaclassroomblog.com">VAClassroom Training Blog</a></p>
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		<title>The Worst Product Launches in History</title>
		<link>http://vaclassroomblog.com/the-worst-product-launches-in-history?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=the-worst-product-launches-in-history</link>
		<comments>http://vaclassroomblog.com/the-worst-product-launches-in-history#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 08 Nov 2010 16:01:03 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jena K</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Latest News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Virtual Assistant Training]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[online business owners]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Online Product Launches]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Social Media Marketing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[VAClassroom.com]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Virtual Assistants]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://vaclassroomblog.com/?p=787</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[William Shakespeare said, “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet,” meaning that it doesn’t matter what something is called, only what something is. In marketing, this often holds true, as history shows us time and time again. In our own lifetime we have seen some amazingly popular brands attach their names to [...]<p><a href="http://vaclassroomblog.com/the-worst-product-launches-in-history">The Worst Product Launches in History</a> is a post from: <a href="http://vaclassroomblog.com">VAClassroom Training Blog</a></p>
]]></description>
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<p>William Shakespeare said, “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet,” meaning that it doesn’t matter what something is called, only what something is. In marketing, this often holds true, as history shows us time and time again.</p>
<p>In our own lifetime we have seen some amazingly popular brands attach their names to some really bad product launches that provide us Virtual Assistants and online business owners with some pretty powerful lessons on what not to do.</p>
<p>For starters, you may have noticed the clothing retailer Gap’s recent attempt to update their image. On October 6, 2010, they debuted a new logo on their website and did away with the blue box that had become synonymous with their brand. Throughout the Social Media community, there was a huge public outcry against the new logo, prompting Gap to return to its original blue box logo only a week later on October 12.</p>
<p>The below video creatively summarizes how Gap responded to the Social Media community and finally reached their decision to pull the new logo:</p>
<p>
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<p>A blog post entitled “<a href="http://www.screenwerk.com/2010/10/08/the-gap-defensive-vs-proactive-social-media-strategy/"  target="_blank">The Gap: Defensive vs. Proactive Social Media Strategy</a>” gives an insightful opinion of what the company may have done wrong here:</p>
<p><em>Its logo-creation process and the subsequent reaction reflects the transition from the previous era to the new one we’re in now. The logo was developed “internally” and “top-down.” It would have been better for the Gap to solicit input on a new logo proactively before rolling one out. But use of the “old” process put the company on the defensive, though it has been very good about communicating around the new design — after the fact.</em></p>
<p>In another blog post, the same author, Greg Sterling, goes so far as to call this incident “<a href="http://www.screenwerk.com/2010/10/12/gaps-new-coke-moment-old-logo-back/"  target="_blank">Gap’s New Coke Moment</a>.”</p>
<p>Remember New Coke? What a mistake! This hugely unpopular reformulation of Coca-Cola was introduced in April 1985 and then discontinued only three months later after a major outpouring of negative feedback from consumers. It was the first time in recent history that a company rolled back a big product in response to public outcry.</p>
<p>By now you’ve probably thought of a few more marketing failures, but here are some we’ve retrieved from the annals of history:</p>
<p>•    <a rel="nofollow" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ketchup"  target="_blank"><strong>Heinz EZ Squirt Ketchup</strong></a> – colored ketchup products that eventually included green, purple, pink, orange, teal and blue, introduced in October 2000 and discontinued in January 2006.</p>
<p>•    <a rel="nofollow" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Vista"  target="_blank"><strong>Windows Vista</strong></a> – Microsoft operating system released on January 30, 2007, that became the target of much criticism and negative press, making many PC users turn to Macs for solace.</p>
<p>•    <a rel="nofollow" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crystal_Pepsi"  target="_blank"><strong>Crystal Pepsi</strong></a> – a colorless caffeine-free soft drink made by PepsiCo from 1992 to 1993 and marketed as a “clear alternative to normal colas.”</p>
<p>We could call these some of the worst product launches in history for many reasons, but for Virtual Assistants and online business owners, one of the MAJOR stumbling blocks for Online Product launches is no strategy or proper system in place! This is why so many new businesses are in desperate need of someone to support them in building the right strategy and system for their product launches.</p>
<p>For this reason we have launched our fourth major certification at VAClassroom: &#8220;<a href="http://www.vaclassroom.com/product-launch-specialist/"  target="_blank">The Product Launch Support Specialist Program</a>&#8220;. This cutting-edge training program will equip Virtual Assistants with the skills, tools and resources to effectively set up and launch all types of products on the web for themselves and their clients! The Certification Program starts on November 15th!</p>
<p>For more details or to register for this innovative training, check it out at:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.vaclassroom.com/product-launch-specialist/"  target="_blank">http://www.vaclassroom.com/product-launch-specialist</a></p>
<p>And as food for thought, we’ll leave you with a quote from Yum! Brands Chairman David C. Novak, the creator of the <a rel="nofollow" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crystal_Pepsi"  target="_blank">Crystal Pepsi</a> concept:</p>
<p><em>It was a tremendous learning experience. I still think it&#8217;s the best idea I ever had, and the worst executed. A lot of times as a leader you think, &#8220;They don&#8217;t get it; they don&#8217;t see my vision.&#8221; People were saying we should stop and address some issues along the way, and they were right. It would have been nice if I&#8217;d made sure the product tasted good. Once you have a great idea and you blow it, you don&#8217;t get a chance to resurrect it.</em></p>
<iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Fvaclassroomblog.com%2Fthe-worst-product-launches-in-history&amp;layout=standard&amp;show_faces=true&amp;width=450&amp;action=like&amp;font=arial&amp;colorscheme=light" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowTransparency="true" style="border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height:80px"></iframe><p><a href="http://vaclassroomblog.com/the-worst-product-launches-in-history">The Worst Product Launches in History</a> is a post from: <a href="http://vaclassroomblog.com">VAClassroom Training Blog</a></p>
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		<title>A Day in the Life of a VAClassroom Product Launch</title>
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		<pubDate>Mon, 25 Oct 2010 05:51:01 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jena K</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Latest News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[VAClassroom.com]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Virtual Assistant Training]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Internet Marketing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[online business owners]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[online product launch]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Social Media Marketing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[VAClassroom]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Virtual Assistants]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[virtual professionals]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://vaclassroomblog.com/?p=780</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Wow, what a week it’s been! Between improving our Membership Center and preparing for our upcoming Spanish Channel launch, things have been hopping around here at VAClassroom! On top of that, we are gearing up to release our fourth certification program, the Product Launch Support Specialist Certification. Well, last Thursday we experienced first-hand the emotional [...]<p><a href="http://vaclassroomblog.com/a-day-in-the-life-of-a-vaclassroom-product-launch">A Day in the Life of a VAClassroom Product Launch</a> is a post from: <a href="http://vaclassroomblog.com">VAClassroom Training Blog</a></p>
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<p>Wow, what a week it’s been! Between improving our Membership Center and preparing for our upcoming Spanish Channel launch, things have been hopping around here at <a href="http://www.vaclassroom.com/"  target="_blank">VAClassroom</a>! On top of that, we are gearing up to release our fourth certification program, the Product Launch Support Specialist Certification. Well, last Thursday we experienced first-hand the emotional roller coaster involved in an online product launch when our new VAClassroom Membership Center and updated website went live!</p>
<p>As many Virtual Assistants and online business owners know, launching a new product online can be very stressful.  No matter how much you prepare for complications, unexpected things always pop up. This launch went relatively smoothly for us, with the exception of some minor hiccups that were quickly resolved, including a brief outage that was thankfully much shorter than the Great Facebook Outage of 2010.</p>
<p>For us, though, the important thing was to communicate with people and let them know what’s up. For example, we posted this on our <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.facebook.com/vaclassroom?v=app_7146470109"  target="_blank">Facebook Page</a> to let everyone know things were back to normal again:</p>
<p><em>Hey, if you were trying to access our VAClassroom Site this morning and couldn&#8217;t, we had an outage, but it is back up again! Hey, our turn-around time was even better than Facebook:-) Of course they do a have few more members than we do!</em></p>
<p>Groundwork laid before the launch was also very important. As Ali Brown writes in her article, “<a href="http://www.womenentrepreneur.com/2010/06/follow-5-steps-to-a-powerful-product-launch.html"  target="_blank">Follow 5 Steps to a Powerful Product Launch</a>,” a key strategy to a successful product launch is building up demand by communicating with customers through low-cost or no-cost Internet Marketing tools like e-mail newsletters, social media, group calls or teleseminars. Therefore, leading up to the launch, we made sure we outlined some of the upcoming changes in our Monthly Newsletter and Monthly Members Event.</p>
<p>So now that it’s up and running, we’d like to highlight some of the exciting changes you’ll see on our updated VAClassroom.com website:</p>
<p>•    <strong>New video on our <a href="http://www.vaclassroom.com/"  target="_blank">home page</a></strong> – We are very excited about our new video featuring both VAClassroom co-founders, Craig and Kelly Cannings. You can check it out here:</p>
<p>
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<p>•    <strong>New “My Training” layout</strong> – Students logging into their online training center will see a simpler layout in the &#8220;My Training” area with new tabs for certifications, courses and clinics.</p>
<p>•    <strong>New FAQs on our <a href="http://www.vaclassroom.com/Support.aspx"  target="_blank">Support Page</a></strong> – Before submitting a Support Request, you can now take a look at our list of FAQs as most likely we have provided an answer to your question. If your question is not answered, you can simply scroll down and send us a message. We will add your question to our FAQs and get back to you within 24 hours.</p>
<p>•    <strong>New Membership Home Page and Additional Features</strong> – Our current VAClassroom members will notice a more streamlined home page when they log in to their “My Training” Portal. We have also added some additional features like Success Case Studies, “Take Ten” Demos and Special Reports.</p>
<p>•    <strong>The addition of a FREE membership and Paid Annual Premium Version</strong> – If you haven’t already signed up for a VAClassroom membership and would like to do so, check out our <a href="http://www.vaclassroom.com/"  target="_blank">home page</a>, where we outline the features of both our FREE and Premium Memberships. You can choose which membership best suits your needs and access it right from this page.</p>
<p>We are very excited about these changes and how they can help us better serve the needs of Virtual Assistants and online business owners heading into 2011. If you haven’t already done so, please check out our website and let us know what you think of the new features. We’re here to serve you, so we’d love your feedback!</p>
<iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Fvaclassroomblog.com%2Fa-day-in-the-life-of-a-vaclassroom-product-launch&amp;layout=standard&amp;show_faces=true&amp;width=450&amp;action=like&amp;font=arial&amp;colorscheme=light" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowTransparency="true" style="border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height:80px"></iframe><p><a href="http://vaclassroomblog.com/a-day-in-the-life-of-a-vaclassroom-product-launch">A Day in the Life of a VAClassroom Product Launch</a> is a post from: <a href="http://vaclassroomblog.com">VAClassroom Training Blog</a></p>
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		<title>It’s Here – VAClassroom’s Facebook Technology Readiness Clinic!</title>
		<link>http://vaclassroomblog.com/it%e2%80%99s-here-%e2%80%93-vaclassroom%e2%80%99s-facebook-technology-readiness-clinic?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=it%25e2%2580%2599s-here-%25e2%2580%2593-vaclassroom%25e2%2580%2599s-facebook-technology-readiness-clinic</link>
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		<pubDate>Thu, 07 Oct 2010 06:46:20 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jena K</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Latest News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Niche Virtual Assistants]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[VAClassroom.com]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[Facebook]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[online business owners]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Virtual Assistants]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://vaclassroomblog.com/?p=762</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[We’d like to share a few exciting details about our upcoming VAClassroom Facebook Tech Skills and Tactics Clinic. In today’s web world, Facebook has quickly become one of the most prolific brand building and marketing channels for virtually any type of business online today. As Facebook membership continues to grow and reach well beyond the [...]<p><a href="http://vaclassroomblog.com/it%e2%80%99s-here-%e2%80%93-vaclassroom%e2%80%99s-facebook-technology-readiness-clinic">It’s Here – VAClassroom’s Facebook Technology Readiness Clinic!</a> is a post from: <a href="http://vaclassroomblog.com">VAClassroom Training Blog</a></p>
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<p>We’d like to share a few exciting details about our upcoming <a href="http://www.vaclassroom.com/facebook-connect-clinic/"  target="_blank">VAClassroom Facebook Tech Skills and Tactics Clinic</a>. In today’s web world, <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.facebook.com/"  target="_blank">Facebook</a> has quickly become one of the most prolific brand building and marketing channels for virtually any type of business online today. As Facebook membership continues to grow and reach well beyond the 600 million mark, business owners are enthusiastic about the potential this social network has for growing the visibility and presence of their company online.</p>
<p>However, keeping up with Facebook’s continuously evolving changes and advancements in technology proves to be a challenge for a lot of Virtual Assistants and online business owners seeking to leverage this powerful social network. As we discussed in a previous <a href="http://vaclassroomblog.com/facebook-for-business-%E2%80%93-a-lovehate-relationship"  target="_blank">blog post</a>, there have been a few key changes and announcements from Facebook that have had a huge effect on Facebook Pages. Well, we here at VAClassroom have a reputation for being “Trend Spotters”, and so we made sure we created a course that will equip you with the technical knowledge, skills and tools to successfully navigate these changes and build a compelling Facebook presence for you and your clients.</p>
<p>Check out the below video, where we introduce our groundbreaking <a href="http://www.vaclassroom.com/facebook-connect-clinic/"  target="_blank">Facebook Tech Skills and Tactics Clinic</a>:</p>
<p>
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<p>Again, here are the topics we will cover in this highly relevant one-time training opportunity:</p>
<p><strong>Skill #1:</strong> Strategies for selecting and implementing the right Facebook Social Plugins for your blog or website</p>
<p><strong>Skill #2</strong>: Preparation tactics for the NEW Facebook Changes</p>
<p><strong>Skill #3:</strong> Integrating Facebook Connect to a blog or website</p>
<p><strong>Skill #4</strong>: Understanding IFrames</p>
<p><strong>Skill #5:</strong> Setting up Facebook Insights for your website</p>
<p>Join us for this live, interactive half-day <a href="http://www.vaclassroom.com/facebook-connect-clinic/"  target="_blank">clinic</a> coming up on Wednesday, October 13 from 12pm – 3pm PDT (3pm – 6pm EDT). The technological shifts and advancements at Facebook have created a unique and profitable opportunity for you to be your clients’ Facebook Technology Advisor. They will need you to help them properly address the new changes that will be coming at the beginning of 2011, and we will make sure you have all the skills you need to do that!</p>
<iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Fvaclassroomblog.com%2Fit%25e2%2580%2599s-here-%25e2%2580%2593-vaclassroom%25e2%2580%2599s-facebook-technology-readiness-clinic&amp;layout=standard&amp;show_faces=true&amp;width=450&amp;action=like&amp;font=arial&amp;colorscheme=light" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowTransparency="true" style="border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height:80px"></iframe><p><a href="http://vaclassroomblog.com/it%e2%80%99s-here-%e2%80%93-vaclassroom%e2%80%99s-facebook-technology-readiness-clinic">It’s Here – VAClassroom’s Facebook Technology Readiness Clinic!</a> is a post from: <a href="http://vaclassroomblog.com">VAClassroom Training Blog</a></p>
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