Five Common Mistakes to Avoid When Writing Online Newsletters

Do you subscribe to any Online Newsletters? As Virtual Assistants and online business owners, we often talk about Email Marketing from our perspective, but often it’s helpful to turn the tables and look at it from a subscriber’s perspective.

In an earlier blog post, “Mastering the Art of Email List Building,” we discussed the new Email Marketing 2.0 system and how it’s about adding value and building relationships, loyalty and trust with a niche group of subscribers rather than direct selling and building a huge generalized list of subscribers.

Infusionsoft CEO and Co-founder, Clate Mask, gives a terrific definition of this innovative marketing system:

This way of approaching Email Marketing has implications for the communications we send out to our email list and certain expectations that can turn people away or attract them to our business. So, given that definition, what would make you unsubscribe from an Online Newsletter?

The blog posts “5 Reasons Why No One Is Reading Your Email Newsletter” and “Email Newsletter Do’s and Don’t” have some great advice.

We did some thinking too, and here are the five common mistakes that might make us unsubscribe from an Online Newsletter:

1.    Boring, irrelevant content – There’s nothing worse than wasting time reading a newsletter that has no value or practical application to your business. Life is too busy for that, so be sure to provide your subscribers with valuable high-quality content that means something to them.

2.    Too many graphics – If there are too many large graphics, the images may be blocked by an email server or may be too difficult to load for people with slower Internet connections. Next stop – the Unsubscribe link!

3.   Inconsistent communication – Be sure to set a consistent schedule for your newsletter. If you call it a “monthly newsletter” but miss a few months here or there, people will begin to wonder if you’re serious or may even just forget about you.

4.    Too many ads or promotions – Even if you have a great product that you’re eager to sell, don’t be too heavy-handed with your promotions. Also, be sure to promote products that are appropriate for your target audience and that will be useful to them and their business.

5.    No options to provide feedback – As a way of building trust, it’s important to always encourage feedback and interaction somewhere in your newsletter. It’s frustrating to receive an old-style Email 1.0 newsletter that sounds like it was sent by a used car salesman who has no interest in anyone’s opinions or concerns.

So the next time you’re writing an Online Newsletter, step out of the Virtual Assistant shoes for a moment and take a look at your Email Marketing from the subscribers’ perspective. If you wouldn’t subscribe to your newsletter, chances are they wouldn’t either.

Now tell us your opinion! What mistakes do you notice in some Online Newsletters, and how do you think they affect a business’s relationship with its subscribers?

The Power of Article Writing in a Web 2.0 World

Does article writing still have a place in this new interactive Web 2.0 world? It’s a question many Virtual Professionals and online business owners may be asking themselves as Social Media Marketing and Video Marketing gain prominence.

Well, we would argue that article writing does have a place and that it is still a prolific marketing channel in this Social Media Arena. Here are some of the key reasons why:

• Increases brand visibility and interest.

• Establishes authority and thought leadership.

• Ignites SEO potency (Tons of backlinks).

• Creates opportunity for your content to go viral.

• Generates targeted website traffic and sales.

As an illustration, check out this case study described in “Article Marketing – An Hour A Week To Web 2.0 Success!”

Here the author reports how spending 45 minutes writing three articles (targeted to his sites and online products) yielded the following results one week after being uploaded to a professional online article submission service:

• 55 pages indexed and live in Google showing his resell rights article

• 43 pages indexed and live in Google showing his Article Marketing article

• 51 pages indexed and live in Google showing his Affiliate Marketing article
He summarizes the results this way:

“That's 149 more places for people to run into my name and solid info from me online, 149 more links back to my sites, each capable of attracting tightly-targeted traffic to my salespages and affiliate marketing pre-sell pages. For one hour's work, total. That's the immediate benefit to article marketing - almost instant spidering by the search engines, and a number of new profit conduits set up aimed at your payment button or affiliate links.”

In addition to uploading your articles to online submission sites like EzineArticles.com, you can use Social Media channels to further maximize the exposure of your content. Here are some common ways of doing that:

• Use the EzineArticles.com Bookmarking feature.

• Schedule article tweets in HootSuite. (Send it out 2-3 times.)

• Share your article in targeted social network groups and forums. (Facebook, LinkedIn, Ning)

• Include the article link in a relevant blog post.

• Submit your article to other general and niche social bookmarking sites. (Digg, Delicious)
We cover this in more detail in our Internet Marketing Specialist 2010 course since it is such a crucial step in harnessing the power of Social Media to mass-distribute your articles.

And when you’re writing, always remember the Golden Rule of Article Marketing: CONTENT IS KING! The credibility and influence of your Virtual Business will grow if you consistently provide valuable content that is directed towards your target audience.

Now we’d like to hear your thoughts! Have you used articles to promote your Virtual Business? Do you feel Article Marketing is still an effective marketing channel in the Web 2.0 world?

Social Networking Management: A Comparison of HootSuite, TweetDeck and Seesmic.

As a Virtual Assistant or Online Business Owner in general, do you find it difficult to manage your Social Networking activities? If so, you’re not alone. With the emergence and growing prominence of Social Media Marketing, it can be overwhelming to keep everything organized and ensure that your activities are well timed and effective.

For this reason, some cool tools have been created to help Marketers get the most out of their Social Networking and save a lot of time and frustration. The most popular ones are HootSuite.com, TweetDeck.com and Seesmic.com, and we’d like to show you a little comparison of them so that you can decide which one would work best for you.

First of all, check out this video showing how their dashboards can be used to manage Twitter activities:

Thankfully, though they began as Twitter clients, these tools have in some cases also begun to integrate multiple social networks, a great improvement as Social Marketing activities are certainly not limited to Twitter.

Below is a comparison of some of the more distinguishing features of HootSuite, TweetDeck and Seesmic:

HootSuite:

•    Entirely web-based
•    Manages multiple social networks
•    Tracks link statistics
•    Tabbed layout for different accounts
•    Schedules tweets and status updates
•    Built-in URL shortener

TweetDeck:

•    Has Desktop, iPhone and iPad browsers
•    Manages multiple social networks
•    Ability to customize tweets with groups, columns, saved searches and automatic updates
•    Schedules tweets

Seesmic:

•    Has web-based, Desktop and Mobile applications for iPhone, iPod Touch, Android and Blackberry
•    Manages multiple social networks
•    Ability to customize columns and save searches
•    Ability to personalize the application

Paul Sutton’s blog post “TweetDeck v Seesmic v HootSuite: Which is the Most Awesome Twitter Client?” has a great analysis of the big three and concludes that “HootSuite is best for those who need to manage several distinct accounts, and anyone who wants integrated statistical link reporting. It’s also very useful as a tweet scheduler in its own right due to the integrated URL shortening. Seesmic, on the other hand, is best for everyday management of Twitter accounts and engaging in conversations, making it easy to keep on top of timelines with its clear views and unobtrusive but effective notifications.”

In terms of TweetDeck, however, Sutton feels it has some good features, but “the white on black interface is hard on the eyes and is stylized to the expense of usability, and the column functionality is limited, especially when compared to that of Seesmic.”

Tastes may vary, though, so check them out and see which one works best for you in your Social Networking and Virtual Assistance services. If you already have a favorite, please comment below and let us know which tool you like and how it has helped you and your clients!

Harnessing the Power of Free Information Products in Your Virtual Assistant Business

Recently we held our fourth Summer Skill Camp session for Virtual Assistants on “Leveraging the Power of Free Information Products to Attract and Win New Clients.” In today’s Web 2.0 world, a revolutionary new business model has developed that uses Free Information Products to build community, brand exposure, and lucrative results in an authentic way. This is in contrast to the old model, where free products had strings attached and were all about generating a sale.

Nowadays, Free Information Products serve to build connections, add value, grow brand influence and thought leadership in a way that can ultimately lead to new clients, all the while increasing the credibility of a business.

A July 2009 Reader’s Digest article, “Chris Anderson on the Meaning of Free,” talks about Anderson’s book Free: The Future of a Radical Price. In his book, Anderson describes how the comedy group Monty Python were frustrated by seeing low-quality pirated versions of their sketches posted on YouTube, so they created their own YouTube channel and posted their own free higher-quality versions, letting fans know that complete DVD versions of the sketches were available for purchase. Amazingly, sales of Monty Python DVDs rose by 23,000 percent.

Anderson explains:

"Free worked, and worked brilliantly … People are making lots of money charging nothing. Not nothing for everything, but nothing for enough that we have essentially created a country-sized economy around the price of $0.00."

But what form do Free Information Products take, and as a Virtual Assistant, how do you know which ones would be suitable to offer on your site?

Here are some examples of products you can offer:

•    White Papers, Special PDF Reports, eBooks

•    MP3 Audio Interview Series

•    Screencast Presentations

•    Pre-recorded Tele-Events (with Transcript)

•    Email tips series

•    Visual Slide Show Presentations

•    Online Newsletters

•    eCourses

And how do you know which ones to choose?

Think carefully about your online business and decide which of these products would provide the most value to your target audience, which ones could serve as a solution to any problems they might be having.

Once you have created your Free Information Product, be sure to position it for mass distribution through multiple social networks so that it gains as much exposure as possible and reaches your target audience through a wide variety of channels.

You’ll see that providing this valuable information for free will help establish you as a thought leader, a mentor, and ultimately build the credibility of your business, potentially leading to the addition of new ideal clients. Remember: the most valuable gift you have to offer your clients is yourself.

What do you think? Has providing Free Information products led to increased sales in your virtual business? As a Virtual Assistant or business owner, how do you maintain a balance between providing free and paid products and services?

Please share your comments below.

Seven Ways to Have an Ultra Productive Summer for Your Virtual Business.

Before we begin, we just want to apologize to our readers “down under” for yet another reference to summer when you are experiencing the cold of winter right now. In many parts of Canada, summer is so short, we just love to talk about it while we can!

One of the things we’re talking about right now is how to stay productive in our online businesses during the summer months. When the weather turns warm and the kids are out of school, it’s tempting to want to sit back, relax and put work on hold for awhile. That’s definitely a healthy thing to do in order to be refreshed and rejuvenated; however, as Virtual Assistants, often we are unable to take a lot of time off from our work and need a way to stay motivated and productive even when the sun is shining and the neighbors are outside barbecuing.

Here are a few simple tips to help you have a productive summer:

1. Try to establish office hours for yourself that will still allow you to participate in fun activities with your friends and family. (Often the anticipation of an event will make you use your time effectively.)

2. Don’t burn the candle at both ends. (While making time for friends and family, do remember to leave yourself enough time to finish your work and get a good night’s sleep – one of the biggest thieves of productivity is lack of sleep.)

3. Get some fresh air. (Take advantage of warm summer weather and go for a walk or take your kids to the playground – refreshing for both the mind and body.)

4. Give your office a makeover. (Clear any clutter that could be distracting you and create a pleasant space to work in – maybe even treat yourself to a vase of fresh flowers.)

5. When you’re feeling distracted or unmotivated, use that time to try out some new reading materials pertaining to your industry (i.e. blogs, eBooks, ezines, or a new book from Amazon.com).

6. Connect with colleagues and fellow Virtual Assistants. (Keep each other inspired by talking via Skype, telephone, Social Networking or even Meetup groups.)

7. Enrol in a training program like the VAClassroom Summer Skill Camp and set a goal to learn some great business-building skills by the end of the summer!

We’re keeping ourselves productive here at VAClassroom by continuing to develop top-notch training opportunities for you during the summer months, and we’re excited that our very first Summer Skill Camp for Virtual Assistants and Online Professionals will be starting in just one week!

How do you keep yourself productive during the summer? We’d love to hear any tips or advice you have!

Continual Learning - The Key to Developing a Thriving Virtual Assistant Business in 2010

I (Jena) finally got an iPod this year. What an improvement! Up until then I had been using a Discman, and it was the funny looks people were giving me on the bus that led me to believe I wasn’t carrying the hippest piece of technology.

Then there was my computer operating system. In 2007 I proudly updated it from Windows 98 to Windows XP… then discovered that XP had been released in about 2001 and was soon going to be replaced by Windows Vista.

With my love for science fiction, you’d think I’d be motivated to stay apprised of all the newest developments in technology. I mean how can you watch “Star Trek: The Next Generation” and not be interested in the future?

But without proper education and continual learning, it’s easy to get left behind, and this put me at a disadvantage in my personal life and especially in my business. I had neglected to stay on top of current trends in technology and was missing out on advances in functionality and even computer security. Perhaps it would have been wiser to spend a little more time reading Mashable.com and less time watching Capt. Jean-Luc Picard and his crew.

All professionals, from dentists to accountants, need to keep their skills current, but if you are a Virtual Assistant or Online Professional, you need to be an “incurable learner” in order to be successful in this fast-moving Internet Landscape. It is way too easy to get left behind in an online industry that moves at lightning speed.

Here are some of the things savvy Virtual Assistants must pay attention to so that they can develop a thriving business in 2010:

•    Technology trends – e.g. Innovations in SmartPhone technology are creating an irresistible platform for mobile marketing.
•    Internet Marketing trends – e.g. Video marketing is gaining prominence over traditional marketing methods.
•    Social Media trends – e.g. Twitter use for marketing purposes is increasing.
•    Productivity tools – e.g. Tools like Freshbooks and SmartSheet provide cutting-edge functionality that greatly enhances productivity.

Mashable.com is one excellent resource for keeping tabs on what’s happening in the world of Social Media and beyond. For example, a recent article called “We Might All be Watching Videos by 2015 [STATS],” discusses findings from the Pew Internet Project. Interestingly, this research reveals that 52% of the American population is watching videos online, the equivalent of 69% of all Internet-connected American adults. No wonder marketers are starting to leverage the power of video more and more!

Reading reports like this is a good way to stay informed of the latest trends, but it’s also important to receive training in the latest tools and strategies so that you can apply them in your business. We are always thrilled to hear how our VAClassroom students’ businesses start to take off when they acquire in-demand skills and have clients pounding on their doors.

Below are some places where you can search for topics related to your online industry so you can hone your skills:

•    Do a search through Google Blog Search.
•    Browse through eBooks.com.
•    Search through Ezine directories like EzineArticles.com.

•    Keep an open account at Amazon.com.

•    And, of course, new training courses and clinics through VAClassroom!

The Internet you see today can change in a heartbeat, so Virtual Assistants and other online service providers must cultivate an insatiable appetite for knowledge and a commitment to continual learning. This will pave the way for new levels of success in your career so that you can wow your clients with your skills and ability to nimbly ride the next wave in online business. Then they’ll know you’re not “stuck in the ‘80s.”

Well, that’s it for today – time to play Pong on my Atari Flashback game console!

What? An Xbox 360? When did they come out with that? :-D

6 Attributes of a Great Affiliate Manager

Have you included Affiliate Marketing in the overall strategy for your business or your clients’? If so, you are leveraging one powerful channel for widening your exposure and generating sales. However, this strategy is destined to fail without a great Affiliate Manager at the helm. If your Affiliate program isn’t being managed effectively, it’ll sink like the Titanic!

But what attributes should you be looking for in an Affiliate Manager? Below are some of the important skills and qualities this key team member should possess:

1.    Good Interpersonal Skills – An Affiliate Manager should be a “people person,” willing and able to provide assistance when needed and to interact with affiliates to keep them informed and encouraged. According to the blog post Characteristics of the Proper Affiliate Marketing Manager, “affiliate managers are the face of any company when they go to different conferences and anywhere else where there is contact with their potential affiliates.”

2.    Knowledge of the Business – A great Affiliate Manager has a good grasp of the product being sold and the ultimate goals of the company. This is essential when networking with potential affiliates and also in targeting affiliates who are the right fit for the company.

3.    Knowledge of HTML – It is essential that an Affiliate Manager know HTML so that they can assist affiliates with links and code. The blog post Common mistakes with hiring an in house Affiliate Manager puts it this way: “If your Manager cannot guide them through placing html or altering it, even basic html, then guess what, they are useless to that Affiliate and that Affiliate will move on to your competitor who can create and place their links with and for them.”

4.    Consistent Communication – It is essential to keep affiliates motivated and engaged, and a great Affiliate Manager will have the creativity and consistency to produce monthly newsletters, special incentives and contests, special product discounts, new banners, updated marketing materials and periodic web events to teach affiliates how to improve their sales.

5.    Ability to create Affiliate Broadcasts that are simple and that include tweets, Facebook updates, blog posts, etc. for communication – Your Affiliate marketing campaign will be much more successful if your affiliates are provided with a good variety of targeted content to promote your brand and products. A great Affiliate Manager will be able to create Affiliate Broadcasts that are concise and include all the important elements needed for the affiliate’s communications.

6.    Ability to teach Affiliates how to use Social Media to promote their Affiliate link – There’s no doubt that Social Media has become one of the most effective advertising channels around, so it’s imperative that an Affiliate Manager is well-versed and active in Social Media and can guide affiliates through this complicated landscape so that they can promote their Affiliate link. Recruiting an Affiliate Manager with Social Media Marketing skills is a wise move for any business!

These are just a few of the attributes that make a great Affiliate Manager, and the list could go on and on. Because building a thriving Affiliate Program is key to the success of any online business, we devote more time to this topic in our newly updated Internet Marketing 2010 course.

What attributes do you look for in an Affiliate Manager? Please share your comments below.

A Podcasting Lesson from a Galaxy Far, Far Away

Remember the scene in the movie Star Wars IV: A New Hope where Obi-Wan Kenobi views a holographic recording that was downloaded into a droid named R2-D2?

Princess Leia had used the droid’s recording and downloading software to hide plans for the Galactic Empire’s Death Star (a space station capable of destroying an entire planet) and to create a message begging Obi-Wan to help her by taking the plans to her father so he could analyze them.

This scene seems like the stuff of science fiction, but is it really that far off from what we’re capable of today? With the advent of smartphones and iPods, we too can download and transmit important information at the touch of a button.

Although as a Virtual Assistant you may not be on a mission to save a whole planet from annihilation at the hands of Darth Vader, you might still be looking for new channels to communicate important information to the world about your clients’ businesses. One effective option is podcasting.

Check out this great video, “Podcasting in Plain English,” explaining the convenience and power of this new communication tool:

The implications for marketing are powerful and undeniable. For a low cost, businesses can build their brand and gain more visibility with podcasting than they had before using traditional media and email marketing. With more and more people buying iPhones and iPods, there is great potential to reach a large target audience of customers downloading and subscribing to their favorite podcasts.

To help you gain skills in this area and leverage podcasting as a successful marketing tool, we are offering a brand new mini-course – Podcast Marketing Success Strategies, taught by Andrea Kalli, one of our talented VAClassroom Faculty Members, who specializes in podcasting and video marketing. Grads of this innovative program will be equipped with the most up-to-date skills and tools needed to effectively set up, produce and promote podcasts for businesses.

Move over, George Lucas. You don’t need R2-D2 to get your messages across in this exciting new world of Mobile Media… The right skills and tools are right at your fingertips!

Niche Social Networks: Catch the Next Wave in Business Networking

For the past few years, Social Networking has become increasingly important for businesses. So many valuable connections can be made online that would be more difficult to forge in the real world, making these social networks a great place to collaborate and share ideas and feedback between clients, customers and colleagues.

However, as Seth Godin explains in the below video, this social networking needs to be authentic to be effective:

One way to foster a greater sense of community and authenticity is through the creation of Private or Niche Social Networks. Such networks can be moderated with privacy controls that can lead to greater transparency and communication between members, while at the same time keeping sensitive information confidential and off the more public networks like Facebook and MySpace.

There are many different platforms that can be used to create Niche Social Networks, but one of the most popular is Ning.com. According to the article “Ning now supports 2 million social networks, touches up branding”,
Ning now has 41 million members across its two million networks and has added one million new communities since April of last year. These communities, populated by likeminded individuals discussing particular interests, are great for developing a company’s personal brand. The interaction and communication that happens there can have a huge impact on the success of online businesses.

In particular, Ning’s features make it a great platform for VA’s to design Private Social Networks for their clients. Below are some of the features that enhance networks designed for business:

•    Freedom to use your own branding and visual design
•    Unique profiles for each member
•    Ability to moderate members before they join and moderate photos, videos, groups, chat and events before they’re posted
•    Real-time chat between members
•    Discussion forum where forum topic creation can either be limited by you or opened up to all members
•    Ning apps like WordPress, Yelp Map and Ustream.tv to further customize your network

Given the tremendous popularity of Facebook and Twitter, it’s evident that social networking has gone mainstream. Now with the emergence of Private Social Networks, VAs and their clients have even more opportunities to leverage this trend and develop a custom network with a vibrant focused community centered around their brand.

In this way, you can create a boardroom that stretches from one corner of the world to the other, and there’s no limit to what this meeting of the minds can accomplish!

Meetup Groups - Bringing your Virtual World into the Real World!

Here are a few telling signs that you may need more offline social interaction in your life:

•    You start talking to the computer like it’s a real person.
•    Webinars are the social highlight of your week.
•    You call your pajamas your “work clothes.”
•    You’re so starved for human contact you go to the grocery store just to have real people to talk to.

•   The only way you know what the weather is like is by watching the Weather Channel.

These are extreme examples, but can you relate to a similar experience? While working from home as a virtual assistant or online professional provides great flexibility and convenience, it can sometimes be a little lonely. That’s why it’s crucial to have social outlets and a way of connecting with people who understand your profession and can support you in what you do.

Meetup groups are a great way to have offline events where VAs can meet socially and professionally with like-minded people in their industry to give each other moral support and help each other grow, build skills, and connect with clients.

These events can be organized through Meetup.com, a website that allows you to become a host of a Meetup group and plan offline events for members. For example, Ana Lucia Novak is the organizer of the Silicon Valley Virtual Assistant “sm” Meetup group, made up of local San Francisco Bay Area/Peninsula Virtual Assistants who live and work in Silicon Valley. These members meet once a month and have the opportunity to hear local speakers share their expertise about topics like Social Media Marketing, web design, virtual assistants and small business management.

Marit Fox, a member of this Meetup group, comments on the benefits of these monthly meetings:

“We are individual business owners that work solo. Frequently, our only outside communication is with clients. Connecting with peers within the industry gives me an opportunity to talk about things I deal with in running my business or in the work I am doing. I know my peers can relate and that has a lot of value. We may work alone but we are not in business alone. ”

So the next time you find yourself feeling isolated or looking for a way to network and meet potential clients, check out Meetup.com and see if there’s a group near you. If there isn’t, consider starting one up yourself. The Meetup.com website makes it very easy to create a group with a step-by-step process. A great starting point could be to connect with fellow Virtual Assistants through a social network like our VAClassroom Social Marketing Club and find out who lives in your local area.

Getting connected "in person" with like-minded colleagues might just be what the doctor ordered for your virtual business!

Should Virtual Assistants (Who are WAHMS) Market Themselves as WAHMS?

Last night I was watching a very thought provoking (and potentially controversial) video from the WAHM blog site, YummyMummy! Scott Stratten from un-marketing.com offered a interesting tip and challenge for Work at Home Moms.

He shared that WAHMS should NOT market themselves to their clients as a WAHM, but rather as a skilled and savvy business owner! He felt that promoting your WAHM status on your site would not serve any real purpose in building your business, unless of course your target audience is WAHMS! From a Virtual Assistant perspective, he felt it might not look favorable to a new client to think of kids hanging off of you while you complete his/her pertinent project!!

From my perspective, while I don't think you need to hide the fact that you are a WAHM with your clients, I don't believe it needs to be emphasized on your site or blog. Now your role as a WAHM might come more into play in your interactions with your peers and those moms who aspire to work from home in Twitter and other Social Networks.

Again, this is coming from a WAHD's perspective who understands the freedom and flexbiility of working from home. I can also talk more about it at VAClassroom since a good percentage of my target audience is in fact WAHMs!

The many Virtual Assistants and Online Professionals I know definitely market their skills and experience first and not necessarily their role as a WAHM (or WAHD for that matter).

So, take a watch of this video at the YummyMommy site - I would love to get your thoughts and feedback on this interesting topic!

Planning For The Unplanned In Your Virtual Assistant Business

For those that follow my blog, you probably noticed that I have been "Missing in Action" for over a week! Well my life went into a temporary "tail spin" early last week as I needed to fly back to Canada to attend to an urgent matter. Needless to say, all my priorities and important business activities were shelved for the week!

Have you ever had one of those weeks, where you had a full plate of work priorities, tasks and deadlines only to have them to swept by the wayside as a result of an emergency or sickness?

Well, after this week, I realized that I have never really given a lot of thought to "Planning for the Unplanned". As a Solopreneur, I have built my business around "me" and so when emergencies happen, work tends to not get done as I have not put in place the proper contingency plans!

So, the million dollar question.... How can you truly plan for those "unforseen events" in your life so that your virtual business stays on track?

Well, after processing this one a bit.... here are a few principles or ideas to consider when "Planning for the Unplanned":

1. Find a "Delegation Buddy".

For those of you that own a Virtual Assistance practice, it is good to align yourself with another virtual business owner who offers some similar services as yourself so that you can "scratch each other's back" when those unplanned events surface in your lives. Yes, you might lose some earnings during that time, but the important thing is to continue to maintain a high quality service for your clients.

A "Delegation Buddy" might also come in handy during those fast-growth times in your business when your client base and projects are growing like crazy.

2. Define your Weekly Priorities.

A few weeks ago, we hosted an event with Freshbooks CEO, Mike McDerment titled, "Virtual Nirvana - How To Remain Inspired and Productive When You Work Alone". In this webinar, Mike talked about the principle of laying out your weekly priorities on Sunday Evening before the week gets going. You want to clearly define what work activities are most important and MUST get done this week. I usually like to break my work tasks up into "Must Do" and "May Do" lists. The May Do would be great to get to, but not imperative that they get done that week.

Let's say an emergency hits you on Monday (as it did with me last week)...By knowing those priorities that must get done, this helps you to know the minimum that you need to accomplish or possibly delegate to someone else. Of course, there will be times where this is not possible and you need to be honest with your clients that that the project deadlines just have to be pushed back temporarily.

3. Prep your "Emergency Email".

Now, this might come across a bit "anal-retentive", but you might want to go as far as prepping a "generic email" that basically says an "Urgent Matter" has arisen and that you will be out of the office for a specified period of time. Believe me, when a crisis or urgent matter hits you, it is hard to think and it is nice to have an email template in place to you can just copy and paste to your clients. Something to think about...

At the end of the day, emergencies and urgent matters will happen in your life, so you want to be prepared and ask yourself: "How would I keep my business moving in the right direction if I suddenly needed to step away for a week or so?"

These are things we just don't think about until unforseen circumstances surface in our life.

Food for thought....

Is The "Virtual Assistant" Title Really That Important Anyways?

In a "reflective moment", I was recently processing much of the dialogue spurred on by Erin Blaske's thought provoking post last week: The Future of the Virtual Assistance Industry - An Open Conversation I think these kind of discussions are great for helping you to further evaluate how you want to be known in your business. Here are a few final thoughts for what it is worth.... I know there is much discussion pertaining to the "true" definition of a Virtual Assistant. But, is the Virtual Assistant title or ANY title for that matter really important to the overall success of your business - I would say NO! I remember attending my Grad Reunion a number of years ago and fielding the common question, "What do you do?" The natural inclination for most of us might be to give your title: "I am the CEO of VAClassroom.com (Well my wife is actually:)) or I am an Internet Marketing Specialist. I think as humans, we feel the need to label ourselves as if it gives us a higher level of recognition or something. What I have come to realize on a personal level is that is does not matter what title I have in my career, but MORE importantly, what I accomplish, the integrity by which I run my business and ultimately how I positively impact others! So, if you were to ask me what I do right now, I would not say I am the CEO of VAClassroom.... I would say that I help Virtual Assistants develop new skills to grow successful VA businesses. You see, I would rather not be known for the title or position I have held but rather for what I have done or accomplished that has helped or impacted others! So my point here is that you may want to be known by your clients, not as a "Virtual Assistant", but rather as: "That person that helped them skillfully set-up and manage all their webinar and teleclasses" "That person that coordinated all their business travel plans" "That person that effectively managed all their outsourced projects." "That Person that helped them expand their business presence in the Social Networks" The list goes on.... It is the skills that you bring to the table that will be mentioned and referred on by your clients to others. "Hey, I know a great person that can set-up and manage all your email auto-responder campaigns". The important thing here is the excellence you bring to the services you provide and the integrity by which you do it! That is the hallmark of a successful "Virtual Assistant" or whatever you want to call yourself - it really doesn't matter! I also really like this "Personal Branding" expert`s commentary on the topic of a job title here: Your Personal Brand Statement is NOT a Job Title. Just a few random thoughts percolating in my brain today:)

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

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

The Value of a Word Press Blog Site for Virtual Assistants

Here is another business challenge posted by one of our VAClassroom subscribers last week: "Ongoing difficulties in website maintenance and updates" There are a few primary benefits for choosing a Word Press Blog over a standard site for your Virtual Assistant business:

• Google (and other major SEs) LOVE blogs as you will most definitely see faster exposure in the Search Engines then over a regular static site. Of course, it is essential to continually add new and relevant content to your blog site to keep your Search Engine listings strong. 
• Blogs can position you as an authority and enable you to publish content in your areas of interest or expertise. For example, ou might write blog posts on productivity tips, time-saving business tools, or creating a stress-free work life. Internet Business Owners like myself might find these posts appealing. So, the key to a successful blog is to write content that appeals to the audience you target.
• Blog is an ideal avenue for connecting with prospective clients. The beauty of blogging is facilitating two-way communication with your audience as they share feedback and comments on your blog posts. That allows valuable dialogue and a natural way to connect with prospective clients who may be interested in your specific skills and services.

Also, there are now some very compelling and cool blog designs and formats to chose from. Check out this blog site design from the company that will actually be doing the design for VAClassroom Contest winner. http://menwithpens.ca If you are "in the dark" regarding the VAClassroom Contest, just visit VAClassroom.com to sign-up and get all the details!  

Is the future bleak for Virtual Assistants in North America?

I want to feature another business challenge put forth by one of our subscribers: The growing challenge of offshore competition This has become a topic of interest across a number of blogs, so I thought I would attempt to tackle this one myself! I am not sure if you have accounts at Elance or Guru, but it is a known fact that Western Virtual Assistants ( residing US, Canada, UK, Australia etc....) are competing against $2-$5/hour VAs in such countries as India and the Phillipines.  It is also a known fact that more and more companies are starting to outsource internationally in order to cut costs and grow their profits. So in light of these trends, what is to become of Virtual Assistants in places like North America, UK and Australia - will they simply not be able to compete in this new global marketplace? I am sure this concern has crossed the mind of many VAs especially if they are browsing Virtual Assistant profiles in Elance and Guru. Well, there is HOPE and let me tell you why... The Virtual Assistant industry while technically founded in 1995 (by Christine Durst) is still a relatively new industry. Stats have estimated there are currently about 20,000 Virtual Assistants working worldwide. However, that is a very small number considering the increasing amounts of small and medium sized businesses seeking to hire Virtual Assistants over the next couple years.  It is estimated that by 2009, 80% of all small and medium businesses will have a web-presence and be marketing online - that is over 20 million companies! Many of these companies will be building Virtual Teams in order to manage their business and online efforts. It is predicted that there won't actually be enough Virtual Assistants to meet the demand! Furthermore, based on my own experience in outsourcing internationally and in-country, there will always be certain tasks that are better suited to a western Virtual Assistant. For example; in a previous company I worked with, we had hired a Virtual Assistant to research, recruit and manage affiliate partner relationships. This individual was required to keep regular North American hours and converse on the phone with partners. We would not have outsourced this virtual position internationally. There are many more examples. The reality is that there will always be a certain part of the business population that prefers a more local virtual presence as opposed to offshore VAs. So, while outsourcing offshore is on the rise, so is the potential client base VAs can market to! Secondly, there are oodles of opportunities for Virtual Assistants to establish in-demand niches and become specialists in such areas as Blogging, Social Media, Shopping Cart Set-up, Autoresponder management and so much more! I firmly believe that those Virtual Assistants who continue to adapt their business and tap into new "in-demand" niches will thrive even in the midst of growing offshore competition.  Personally, I would much rather hire a "Specialist VA"  at a higher hourly rate to accomplish a particular task as they will likely take less time and be more proficient. Michael Russer, author of The Obsolete Employee, says "...To be consistently successful as a VA, one needs to specialize rather than run ragged trying to be everything to everyone." This is key - the important piece is to know what tasks are in demand and what to specialize in. There is a BIG market for VA Specialists - Blogger VAs, Social Media VAs, Online Event Planner VAs, Affilate Marketing VAs... the list goes on. Finally, there is an unprecendented number of networking opportunities for Virtual Assistants to connect with their target audience through such sites as Linkedin.com, Facebook Groups, Ryze and so much more. This is networking on steroids! Those virtual assistants that consistently tap into these many targeted networking channels online and build a rapport with the small/medium business community will position themselves well for a steady stream of new clients and income opportunities. Futhermore, it is essential that Virtual Assistants also educate local businesses on the immense value of hiring virtual staff. There is certainly good value in connecting with local business associations to raise awareness as well. I firmly believe that if you can market and network well, you will never have a shortage of work, irregardless of the offshore outsourcing trends. This is a very interesting topic - please join the discussion! I would be interested to get your own personal take and feedback on the whole offshore Virtual Assistant trend.      

The Intrinsic Qualities of a Successful Internet (Virtual) Business Owner

In my previous post, we talked about the wonderful freedoms of being a Virtual Business Owner. While we have certainly enjoyed many freedoms, there have also been a good share of challenges and "gut-check" moments that have stretched my skills and intestinal fortitude beyond what I thought was possible. I am always fascinated by the rise and fall of Internet Start-up companies and why some succeeed and others fail. The same applies for Virtual Assistant Business Owners - why do some VAs seem to experience a continual dose of growth and success in their business where as other flounder and float along? Well, there are certainly many reasons for this, but today I want to specifically look at a few of the intrinsic qualities or elements that are commonly held by successful Internet (Virtual) Business Owners. (Again, there are ALWAYS exceptions to the rules, but this is what I have seen based on my own observations and experiences). 1. A Significant Purpose For those embarking on the volatile journey of starting an Internet Business (Virtual Assistant Business), I believe there has be a highly significant purpose, motivation or expected outcome for starting this new business. Without a clear purpose or motivation driving the Internet Entrepreneur, I believe that when the "storms hit", they will be more likely to crumble, then the entrepreneur that has a clear purpose that defines what they are doing. For example; your purpose might be tied to the new found freedoms and opportunities a Virtual Assistant Business might have for you and and family. You might see this Internet opportunity as providing some financial stability in your current situation. A significant purpose whatever that might be will give you what you need to successfully navigate the stormy waters that often comes with new Internet Businesses. Again, with no significant purpose, I think the endeavor is more likely to falter. (IMHO!) Now, here’s an interesting debate…..Is the desire to be filthy rich and famous a significant purpose that drives the succesful Internet Entepreneur? While I am sure that some Internet Business Owners have been driven to success solely by their ambition for wealth and fame, no doubt…. I personally don’t classify the ambition for wealth as a significant purpose. Furthermore, I think that many Internet Entrepreneurs with that sole focus of making money may not effectively handle the stormy waters when they come, as they won’t have any significant purpose that propels them to rise above their adversity. Again, people might disagree with me on this, but that is my perspective and experience. 2. An Extraordinary Portion of "Sticktuitiveness". Now, this certainly can be tied to #1, but from my own experiences, I believe the successful Internet Entrepreneur has an extra measure of perseverence (sticktuitiveness) to overcome the obstacles that can often come with starting a new virtual business. "I give up" is not really apart of their vocabulary and they seem to actually have the ability to increase their focus and intensity when the going gets tough. I am an avid sport fan and love watching athletes that have the rare ability to elevate their game to new heights when faced with adversity. If you have ever watched Tiger Woods go into the 4th round behind at a major PGA event, you will see a mental toughness and focus like very few people have as he single handedly propels himself to the winner circle. Similarly, I believe that successful Internet Entrepreneurs have an extra measure of mental toughness and focus to effectively manage the set-backs, disappointments and everyday adversity they experience in their businesses. 3. Clear Recognition that Pitfalls are a part of the Journey. A successful Internet Business Owner does not have a "pie in the sky" mentality, but is realistic about the inevitable pitfalls that will come along the journey. For many, their ability to overcome some of the big pitfalls or setbacks has served as a springboard, catipulting them towards great success. I know from my own experience, the set-backs we have overcame in early days of our first Internet Business were real milestones and "defining moments" in our journey. It is important to keep clear mental notes of the little and big victories you experience in the early months and years of your Virtual Business as they will help to sustain you during future set-backs and disappointments. 4. Ability to Adapt on the fly. A successful Internet Business Owner needs to be pliable like clay and easily adapt to new challenges, changes and opportunites in a rapidly evolving Internet Landscape. This rings true for the Virtual Assistant industry as the needs of your Internet Clients continue to evolve at rapids rates and you need to continually learn new skills in order to remain competitive! 5. Adopting a Internet Business Champion So, what do I mean by that? Well, from my own perspective, I believe that Virtual Business Owner needs at least one person that champions their business endeavor. This person will be their #1 encourager, supporter and regular supplier of "reality checks." For myself, this person is my wife. I certainly have a share of family and friends that have been hugely supportive, but my wife has been the stabilizing force and champion for our business endeavors especially during a few of the dark days. While some entrepreneurs maybe so independent they don’t require a "Champion", I think the average person needs a sounding board or individual they trust that will give the encouragement and support they need to endure some of the difficult times. I can honestly say that without my "Internet Business Champion", I am not sure I would have been able to overcome a few of the obstacles we experienced! So, those are just a few of the Intrinsic elements that make up a successful Internet Business Owner. I am sure there are many more and I would love to hear from you as to some of the other qualities and characteristics that should be added to this list.

The Freedoms of Virtual Business

Check out our video on some of the freedoms we are currently enjoying in our Virtual Business. Send us your thoughts!