7 Traffic-Building Avenues for Repurposing Your Web Content
Recently, I decided to simplify my life! For the last couple years, I have been blogging, doing podcasts, shooting videos, writing ebooks and ecourses, but did not give a lot of thought to the time-saving concept of “RE-PURPOSING”. I would typically write all original content and never considered how I might transfer my blog posts into an ebook, podcast, video or Squidoo Lens. I am glad to say I have been officially liberated of my former less than productive ways and have started to repurpose my web content through 7 different avenues!
Now, you may have caught onto this a lot earlier than myself and may already be a “Re-purposing Guru”, but here are 7 ways or avenues to consider….
1. 7 Twitter Tips: You might select a particular topic that you know would peak the interest of your fellow “peeps” and create 7 value-added tips. The beauty of Twitter is that hopefully your twitter pals will reply to your tips or even pass them to others creating a nice viral effect. It is important to build your tips with keyword-rich content for SEO purposes.
2. 7 Part Blog Series - A blog post series is a great way to provide a fresh influx of content built around the specific keywords you are targeting. Let’s say you decide to write a blog post series on Virtual Assistant Training and Certifications - this essentially could equate to 7 opportunities to get listed by Google for such keywords as Virtual Assistant Training.
3. 7 Articles for EzineArticles.com - While I know there are many other article directories, EzineArticles.com is the “grand-daddy” of them all. It is important to reformat and mix up your blog post content in order to not be flagged as having “duplicate content” by Google. The other cool thing about EzineArticles is that you can now sign up to have your articles automatically posted through their Twitter account - another ideal way to mass distribute your content.
4. Free 7-Part Ecourse - You might create a freebie 7-Part ecourse that you can giveaway on your blog or website as an incentive for your audience to join your list. This is a common practice, but super effective! I would recommend getting a nice book image or graphic to promote the free ecourse on your blog.
5. 7 Part Podcast (audio) Series - It is always effective to re-purpose written content into an audio or video format. In a podcast, you can expand on the 7 points, provide more practical illustrations and really personalize it more which gives it a life of it’s own. You could certainly offer this as an incentive to build your list. I would recommend syndicating this podcast through such channels as Itunes.
6. 7 Short You-Tube Video - I would highly recommend taking your web content and converting it into a video series. You might choose to set-up “screencast” information surrounding the 7 tips or you could present it in person. YouTube videos are great for traffic building! Personally, I find that YouTube videos are listed much faster over other forms of content. For example; during our pre-launch campaign for VAClassroom, we created 4-5 videos based around particular keywords. Within a month, two of our videos were listed in the top 20 listings for two top keywords in Google.
7. 7 Tips via Squidoo or Hubpages - Social content sharing sites like Squidoo and Hubpages are just perfect for your repurposed content as they are known to be quickly listed in the Search Engines and can generate some nice traffic for you!
So there you have it, 7 fabulous ways for repurposing your web content and saving you a TON of time!
Do you really need a Virtual Assistant Certification?
Is there really value in having some sort of Virtual Assistant Certification? Would this VA Certification lead to better clients, better work opportunities and better money? At the end of the day, do you really need it?
While I am sure there are some varying opinions and answers to this question, since this is MY BLOG, you have the distinct privilege (or NOT:)) of hearing my 2 cents on the topic of Virtual Assistant Certification.
First of all, I do NOT think anyone NEEDS a VA Certification to build a thriving, profitable Virtual Assistance Business. While there are success stories on both sides of the fence, I do know and work with a number of great Professional Virtual Assistants that are not certified. On the flip side, there are great VAs whose participation in certain training certification programs served as an ideal launching pad for their Virtual Assistant careers.
I think the important element here is not that you have a multitude of certifications (eventhough that can be beneficial), but that you are a “PASSIONATE LEARNER” and committed to continually improving and enhancing your existing skill sets. A couple Virtual Assistants I work with don’t have specific VA Certifications, but they have attended a ton of skill-based webinars, conferences, coaching series and read many ebooks, newsletters and blogs to keep their skills sharp and knowledge as current as can be! The key factor here is to NEVER stop learning and to invest time and money into regular Professional Development!
So, do you need a Virtual Assistant Certification to be successful? No, probably not! But, the interesting thing is that MOST people (Not all) still like to get certifications or designations behind their name. While our Virtual Assistant Training Center, VAClassroom, is not an Accredited Training Program with any State Education Board, many of our members still love to get the Internet Marketing VA Certified Logo that they can showcase on their sites and share with prospective clients! It validates the new services they are offering and provides clients whom are looking for these services with more confidence that they can deliver quality work.
Intrinsically speaking… I think Certifications or designations do give us a sense of accomplishment and recognition. I have a number of Virtual Business friends that hang their certifications and degrees on the wall of their home offices. Is it to impress their clients? Well, probably not, considering none come to their office:). Those certifications represents a marker of accomplishment and validates the work they are doing.
My oldest daughter is now in the first grade. When she comes home with a certificate from school, her face is beaming and she is thrilled to show me what she had accomplished. You might be saying.. “But, Craig come on…… This is just a child, we are adults and don’t really need certificates to feel accomplished and good about ourselves!” Really - do you think that is true? Again, this is my own “un-tested” theory that most people simply like to receive certifications - I still do:)
The well known Marketing Training Firm, Marketing Sherpa offers three day skill-training workshops in such areas as Email Marketing. At the end of the training time they provide a flashy Certificate of Completion. For those working in this field, this paper represents another accomplishment that further validates the work they do for clients in this area and will likely give them an additional competitive edge.
So, while you likely don’t NEED a Virtual Assistant Certification, or a blog design certification, or a Affiliate Manager Certification, or a Web Analytics Certification or whatever type of certification that relates to your field in order to experience good success, I think intrinsically we still like to receive them and do believe that they provide a tangible representation of our own Professional and Personal Development.
I would love to get your feedback on this one. Am I out to lunch? Do you agree with this - please share!
Train to be a Three Dimensional Virtual Assistant
I was recently reflecting on my previous educational pathway. I did 6 years of University education - 4 for my undergrad and two graduate. While those years were “life-transforming” and matured me as a person, I have to say that I did not necessarily acquire those “hard skills” that directly translated well to work! Of course, I did my graduate studies in Counselling and those skills will likely be put to good use when my three girls become teenagers:)
Now, I look at my training regime over the last 5 years (as an Internet Busines Owner) which has included a regular dose of ebooks, webinars, coaching programs, online communities and conferences. I have in-turn been able to hone my “hard skills” at a fairly rapid rate!
Now, in considering your own Virtual Assistant Practice, how are you currently developing your skills and knowledge? Are you investing regular time during the week to train, learn and grow?
The bigger question…. Are you training to be a Three Dimensional Virtual Assistant (or Entrepreneur for that matter)?
Here are three dimensions of learning to consider as you seek to grow your Virtual Business to new heights…
1. Dimension 1: “Hard Skills Training”
There are certain “Hard Skills” that your clients are requiring you to have to help them take their businesses to the next level! These might be skills in:
- Teleclass and Webinar Coordination
- Shopping Cart Set-up
- Email List Management
- Social Networking Set-up and Profile management
- Affiliate Management
The list goes on…… As you blink, there are new skills and services being added to this list - the industry is moving “crazy fast” and it is important to build a plan for continously developing your “Hard Skills” for your business. Of course, our training center, VAClassroom, specializes in “hard skills” training particularly in the area of Internet Marketing. But, there are other great programs out there. I have been really impressed with the Skills Training offered by Cindy Greenway and Tina Forsyth in their Hot Skills VA Training Program. There are lots of great avenues to hone your skills - the important thing is to make room in your schedule for this kind of continual learning.
Dimension #2: Networking / Marketing Training
In this dimension, you learn new techniques for networking with clients, increasing the traffic and exposure to your business website, building relationships with ideal clients in Social networks and other online communities. While you might already have a “Marketing Plan” in place for your Virtual Assistant practice, it is important to continue to incorporate and test out new strategies for better connecting with your clients and making your business known on the web! This kind of training may involve digesting Internet Marketing ebooks and taking webinars and other marketing training through such avenues as MarketingExperiments and of course the VAClassroom Training Program. Wow that is two plugs for our program in one blog post - that is borderline scandalous:)
The bottom line is that “the one who markets the best wins” (most of the time), so you want to be regularly implementing innovative strategies for promoting your Virtual Assistant Business.
Dimension #3: Self Training
Do you know who is the hardest person on the face of the earth to lead and manage? Any guesses?????
YOU!
Self Leadership is one of the most crucial skills to develop for any Entrepreneur! Self Leadership might refer to how you manage crisis, stress, your daily schedule, your prioirities, your commitments, your productivity, your relationships with others, your LIFE! The reality is that if your life is in chaos, then it will inevitably have an impact on your success as a Virtual Business Owner.
This is an area that I actually allot a fair amount of time for training. I read books on productivity and self leadership to help me to be more effective in my work life and personal life and be able to strike that harmonious balance between the two! For example; I read “Getting Things Done” by Management Consultant, David Allen a while ago to help me further enhance my productivity and reduce my stress levels - it helped!
The three dimensional Virtual Assistant and Entrepreneur for that matter will be highly committed and disciplined in developing their hard skills, marketing know-how, and most importantly learning how to lead themselves in a more effective and healthy way.
This is how I structure my training regime - I am slowly but surely morphing into a three dimensional business owner. How about you?
Create a Live Blogging Event with CoveritLive.com
Isn’t it truly amazing to see how fast Internet Technology moves? Just when you think you have mastered a particular technology or skill, a new one pops up!
Well, I have been following the whole new phenomenon of “Live Blogging” as of late and have been brainstorming ways that I can incorporate this into my own business endeavors.
For those of you new to this concept, “Live Blogging” is simply offering ”live coverage” of a particular event you are running via an “Instant Message” style web application loaded on to your blog. Let’s say you are attending a particular Internet Business Conference and would like to broadcast live commentary to your Blog readers of your experience and what you are learning, then you might want to take advantage of a tool like “Coveritlive.com”
CoveritLive’s Web-based software allows you to publish your commentary on your own event or another event you might be attending in real time just like Instant Message. They also offer “one-click” publishing for uploading polls, videos, pictures and audio clips. For example; you might use an “UltraFlip Camera” at an event to shoot some video that you can then quickly upload on you blog through their “Media Uploader” tool.
In addition to offering interactive polls to your audience on the fly, you can also bring in a “panel” of experts that can provide commentary on this event as it is unfolding. How cool is that? It also offers a “Instant Replay” feature for those readers that missed the live blog session.
CoveritLive is a free application and very easy to integrate! You simply set-up the event via their user-friendly interface and cut and paste the script into your respective blog post and you are off to the races!
Watch for my first live blogging event coming to you shortly! Maybe I wil live blog the finale of “Americas Got Talent”:)
Help Your Clients Reach the Top of the Search Engines with Google Local Search
I took at little blogging hiatus over the past week to bang off a few key projects - phew - close to finished. Anyways I am back!
A few days ago, in our VAClassroom Members Forum, one of our members posted this question:
My new client has a question that I know one of you can answer. He is an independent insurance agent in Dallas. When you google “Dallas Insurance” the top listing is a map of Dallas and above it it says “Local Business Results for Insurance Near Dallas, TX” along with ten insurance agents and their locations on the map. I’ve seen similar maps when googling other things in Houston. How can he be listed in those top ten? Is it simply a search engine ranking thing, or do those ten people pay big bucks to be on that map? I’d like to help him do it.
Great Question!
To be honest, this one initially stumped me - How do those businesses get listed over others for local business search like “Insurance companies in Dallas, Texas”? Well, after some research and a chat with one of my SEO buddies, I found the answer.
For those of you Virtual Assistants who are working with Brick and Mortar clients, this is a great tip to help them increase their Search Engine Exposure as well as online and offline traffic to their business.
I found a great blog post that explained the whole process much better than I could so take a read of the post and wow your clients by getting them top placement in Google for local business searches:
How to Get to the Top of Google Listings
Google Tools - A Productivity Gem
I know many of you probably have a Gmail account and may use Google Alerts and track your RSS feeds with Google Reader. But are you leveraging the wide array of Google tools to maximize your productivity?
I am currently having a “love affair” with Google tools as I find that the more I incorporate the web apps into my daily work activities, the more organized and productive I am. Here is why I am loving Google these days…
I am tracking my work emails with a Gmail account and have actually added my other work emails via the POP tool into Google Mail to consolidate all my mail activity into one location.
I am then using Google Calendar to track my schedule, meetings, and urgent time-sensitive tasks. Google Calendar has a cool feature that delivers email alerts at 5am in the morning with your scheduled appointments and activities. From a multi-tasking standpoint, I like that I can be writing an email and then quickly jump into Google Calendar to update my schedule.
I then track all my spreadsheets and work documents with Google Docs, which again is nicely integrated into the Gmail Interface. I have all the VAs and contractors I work with use Google docs which enables us to quickly share and collaborate on documents.
Not to mention, you can track all RSS feeds with Google Reader, which makes it easy to review existing feeds and add new ones..
Now, I know there are many other great productivity tools and web apps on the market, but my personal opinion is that it is hard to match up against the integrated, user-friendly and easy to access elements of Google Tools.
In short, Google Tools ROCKS!
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:)
The Olympics and your Virtual Assistance Business
Okay, I have been glued to the Olympics over the last week and it is pouring over into my blog:) I have to say that the Olympics and watching the many amazing athletes have really fired me up about my business and maximizing the potential of what I am doing with VAClassroom.
To close off the week, I want to leave you with a great post from a Small Biz Trends titled:
Olympics for Small Business Owners
In the post, Dr. Susan Reid outlines 15 Ways the Olympics exemplify success for small business owners like yourself. I am a BIG FAN of #7: “Stay the Course”. When I started my first Internet Business, these three words were SO important in the early start-up days. My wife and I would constantly say to each “Just, Stay the Course”, everytime we faced adversity or challenge in our business pursuits.
The Olympic Athletes have really inspired me to achieve excellence in EVERYTHING I do including parenting, marriage and of course my Virtual Business.
Enjoy the closing ceremonies tomorrow everyone!
50 Twitter ideas for your Business
Over the past week, I have had a number of interesting conversations on the “business value” of Twitter. Again, I was probably one of those “Twitter” naysayers initially as I truly thought it was quite trivial and a total time drag! I am now happy to say I am a Twitter convert and see the huge business and networking potential with this fast growing social media channel.
In dialoguing with my VAClassroom members and other colleagues, there are certainly a whole variety of opinions and thoughts on Twitter such as:
“Twitter is a waste of time - who wants to hear what someone else is having for lunch?”
“Twitter is a place for me to dialogue and share ideas with my VA peers”
“Do I really want to tell people “What I am doing”?”
“Twitter is a fabulous to tool for strategically building rapport and relationship with prospective clients”.
“Twitter and my incessant beeps via my Tweetdeck app are driving me crazy”
“Twitter is a place where I can be real with my peers and clients - it is authentic and casual”
“I find Twitter a great “seed planter” for my business as it quickly connects me with potential JV partners and clients..”
Those are just of the few of the comments I have received….
Now, Twitter like Facebook is one of those tools that can seriously hinder your productivity and focus if you allow it too! While some people prefer to just share random thoughts and dialogue back and forth with their twitter pals throughout the day, I personally find that it can become a distraction. If was a betting man, I would say that Social media apps like “Twitter and Facebook” have likely affected employee productivity:)
But in saying all that, I believe Twitter is a serious force to be reckon with when it comes to building authentic relationships with key business contacts and clients and is dynamite for networking yourself and your business!
I came across a very worthwhile list of Twitter Ideas for your business at Chris Brogan’s Blog titled:
50 Ideas on Using Twitter for your Business
Some of his ideas I really like such as:
“Instead of answering the question, “What are you doing”, answer the question “What has your attention” - that seems to lend himself to more business-oriented approach to Twitter.
“Ask Questions - Twitter is great for getting opinions” - I have already found this useful in doing quick surveys and gather pertinent data for projects I am working on.
“Twitter brings great minds together and gives you daily opportunities to learn” - great point.
Chris also says to “Talk about Non-Business topics as well” - While I agree with him, I think this (like Facebook Fun Walls) can be a slippery slope! It is easy to lose an hour quickly by chatting on Facebook or tweeting back and forth. You just need to weigh out the time cost that this might have towards your work priorities. Again, this is fine balance that is not always easy to strike!
Is Your Virtual Assistant Glass Half Empty or Half Full?
Now, I am not looking to start a “Fire Storm” in the VA industry, but more to stimulate some productive discussion - there is my disclaimer:)
I recently reviewed a Press Release from a Virtual Assistant Association (I will not mention names) that was promoting a 2008 survey for the Virtual Assistant Industry. Here is an excerpt from the first part of the Press Release:
“Virtual Assistants are fed up. They’ve had it with inaccurate media portrayals and reporters who don’t get the facts right. They’re sick of exploitive industry outsiders who don’t understand the Virtual Assistance business misinforming their marketplace. They’re tired of constantly having to explain the difference between an employee and an independent service provider. And they’re having their say about it all by participating in this year’s third annual Virtual Assistant Industry Survey.”
Since many of you are Professional Virtual Assistants, I would be interested to hear if you share the above sentiment as this particular industry leader. Please send me all your comments and feedback!
Let me give you my own 2 cents for what it is worth:)
While I can appreciate the frustrations that some VAs may feel at the media’s misrepresentation or misunderstanding of the VA industry, I am not sure if this kind of negative undertone is the most productive way of positively educating media reps and the business world. While the survey is very well done, I think the promotion of the survey through this Press Release presents a somewhat hostile perspective, which I don’t believe is necessary.
Yes, the media needs to be more educated on the varied roles and responsibilties of today’s Virtual Assistants, but I believe the growing publicity of the Virtual Assistant industry is a great thing! Sometimes even less than accurate publicity can bode well for an relatively new industry as it will bring further awareness and expand the dialogue and interest.
I know some VAs have felt cheapened by Tim Ferriss’ portrayal of the VA in The Four Hour Work Week, but let me tell you…. this book has been HUGE in bringing further light and attention to the VA industry. It has awakened many island enterpreneurs who now realize their business and life could be that much more successful if they were to hire VAs…
The bottom line is that the concept of a Virtual Assistant is still a new thing to a lot of people and it is our job to properly educate them on indisputable benefits of hiring specialist VAs to perform a whole variety of pertinent tasks.
On a personal level, when I decided to leave my corporate job and jump into the Internet realm many moons ago, I received a lot of “interesting looks” and misunderstanding about what I would be doing working on the Internet:) You might laugh at this now but it shows how far we have come in 6-7 years. During the early years, I constantly found myself having to explain and educate people on what I do!
Anyways, I am absolutely convinced there has never been a better time to be a Professional Virtual Assistant then right now as more businesses are outsourcing, more people are becoming familiarized with the VA industry and the Internet Biz continues to grow at a rapid pace. These are great days, so I think we need to keep a positive perspective even when misunderstandings or misrepresentations come our way!
I would love to hear your thoughts and comments - agree with me, disagree? Please share.
