The Power of Online Video Marketing for Local Businesses!

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.

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!

Check out the below video, where I demonstrate how we generated a Top 10 Google Result in less than 48 hours!

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:

• With the proliferation of the mobile web, online videos are being watched everywhere and anywhere.
• Online Video is the #1 weapon for igniting top rankings in the local search listings.
• Online Video spreads faster than any other marketing medium on the web today. Just ask Susan Boyle!!

Given the rapid growth of online video, combined with the local business owner’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 Online Video Marketing Specialist Training Program 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.

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 – a match made in marketing heaven!

If you have any questions or comments about Online Video Marketing, please write us a note in the comment box below. You can check out all the details on the Online Video Marketing Specialist Course here.

The VAClassroom 2010 Christmas Special is Here!

While December can often be one of the busiest months of the year, at VAClassroom we also believe it is a great time to refocus and get equipped and ready for an amazing new year in your business.

So, with that being said, we are excited to announce the VAClassroom 2010 Christmas Special, which will give you an opportunity to access our most popular training programs at a special discount ONLY available in December.

Check out the below 2-minute holiday message and a snapshot of the available training courses included in this year’s Christmas Special:

Start 2011 off with a bang and a whole new set of skills!

If you have any questions on this holiday special, please post them in the comment section below. You can check out all the details on the 2010 Christmas Special here.

The Many Faces of WordPress

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 in the world, used on millions of sites and seen by tens of millions of people every day.

Indeed, for some, the advent of this powerful web platform was life changing. This video by Glenda Watson Hyatt describes how using WordPress has given her a voice and brought new employment opportunities:

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 Showcase 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.

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 Ryan Deiss launched a brand new product at Facebook Evolution using the WordPress template, Optimize Press.

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 “Product Launches Powered by WordPress” Clinic 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 – 3pm (PST). Here is a quick overview of a few of the topics we will be covering in this informative session:

•    Selecting the BEST WordPress templates and themes to create squeeze pages and product sales pages.

•    Integrating Powerhouse Plugins for a complete product launch, including sales pages, testimonials, product countdowns and content sharing.

•    Creating compelling videos for your WordPress squeeze / sales page process.

•    Building a powerful WordPress mini-site to strategically use during the pre-launch process.

•    Integrating the right Social Media Plugins to socialize your product launch campaign.

•    Setting up eye-catching optin forms and integrating autoresponder software.

•    Adding common CSS snippets to enhance your Squeeze/Sales Page templates.

•    Keyword Research and SEO tips for getting your WordPress sites found on Google.

•    And so much more!!

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. Check out the new WordPress Clinic Here.

Five Tips for Simplifying Your Business Systems and Processes

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 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.”

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?

Well, here are some quick tips for simplifying your business systems and processes:

1. Write a list of all the tasks you do more than once – According to Pam Ivey, 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.
2. Talk to a mentor or a “Systems Chick” like Kristi Pavlik, creator of www.systemschick.com – 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.
3. Put together a manual with templates and checklists – 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.
4. Find the best productivity tools for your business – 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. FreshBooks is an example of a great online invoicing, time tracking and billing software that can meet the needs of many types of virtual businesses.
5. Sign up for our newest VAClassroom Training Program, the “Virtual Assistant Business Success Blueprint” course – 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!

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!

If you have any other suggestions that have worked for you, please comment below.

The Worst Product Launches in History

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 some really bad product launches that provide us Virtual Assistants and online business owners with some pretty powerful lessons on what not to do.

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.

The below video creatively summarizes how Gap responded to the Social Media community and finally reached their decision to pull the new logo:

A blog post entitled “The Gap: Defensive vs. Proactive Social Media Strategy” gives an insightful opinion of what the company may have done wrong here:

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.

In another blog post, the same author, Greg Sterling, goes so far as to call this incident “Gap’s New Coke Moment.”

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.

By now you’ve probably thought of a few more marketing failures, but here are some we’ve retrieved from the annals of history:

•    Heinz EZ Squirt Ketchup – colored ketchup products that eventually included green, purple, pink, orange, teal and blue, introduced in October 2000 and discontinued in January 2006.

•    Windows Vista – 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.

•    Crystal Pepsi – a colorless caffeine-free soft drink made by PepsiCo from 1992 to 1993 and marketed as a “clear alternative to normal colas.”

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.

For this reason we have launched our fourth major certification at VAClassroom: “The Product Launch Support Specialist Program“. 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!

For more details or to register for this innovative training, check it out at:

http://www.vaclassroom.com/product-launch-specialist

And as food for thought, we’ll leave you with a quote from Yum! Brands Chairman David C. Novak, the creator of the Crystal Pepsi concept:

It was a tremendous learning experience. I still think it’s the best idea I ever had, and the worst executed. A lot of times as a leader you think, “They don’t get it; they don’t see my vision.” People were saying we should stop and address some issues along the way, and they were right. It would have been nice if I’d made sure the product tasted good. Once you have a great idea and you blow it, you don’t get a chance to resurrect it.

A Day in the Life of a VAClassroom Product Launch

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 roller coaster involved in an online product launch when our new VAClassroom Membership Center and updated website went live!

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.

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 Facebook Page to let everyone know things were back to normal again:

Hey, if you were trying to access our VAClassroom Site this morning and couldn’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!

Groundwork laid before the launch was also very important. As Ali Brown writes in her article, “Follow 5 Steps to a Powerful Product Launch,” 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.

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:

•    New video on our home page – We are very excited about our new video featuring both VAClassroom co-founders, Craig and Kelly Cannings. You can check it out here:

•    New “My Training” layout – Students logging into their online training center will see a simpler layout in the “My Training” area with new tabs for certifications, courses and clinics.

•    New FAQs on our Support Page – 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.

•    New Membership Home Page and Additional Features – 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.

•    The addition of a FREE membership and Paid Annual Premium Version – If you haven’t already signed up for a VAClassroom membership and would like to do so, check out our home page, 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.

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!

It’s Here – VAClassroom’s Facebook Technology Readiness Clinic!

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 600 million mark, business owners are enthusiastic about the potential this social network has for growing the visibility and presence of their company online.

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 blog post, 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.

Check out the below video, where we introduce our groundbreaking Facebook Tech Skills and Tactics Clinic:

Again, here are the topics we will cover in this highly relevant one-time training opportunity:

Skill #1: Strategies for selecting and implementing the right Facebook Social Plugins for your blog or website

Skill #2: Preparation tactics for the NEW Facebook Changes

Skill #3: Integrating Facebook Connect to a blog or website

Skill #4: Understanding IFrames

Skill #5: Setting up Facebook Insights for your website

Join us for this live, interactive half-day clinic 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!

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.

Mastering the Art of Email List Building.

In keeping with this week’s theme of “Continual Learning,” we wanted to touch on Email List Building, an important Internet Marketing skill that requires Virtual Assistants and Online Professionals to keep up to date and informed of the latest trends and skills.

Despite the fact that other marketing channels like Social Marketing and Video Marketing have gained prominence, Email Marketing is here to stay for the foreseeable future and will continue to thrive because it is still the top converting marketing activity and is very easy to deliver and test.

However, it’s important to take note of how this type of marketing has changed and evolved in 2010 so that you can form an appropriate strategy. It’s now a very different animal from the traditional brand of Email Marketing that was used in the past. Most importantly, the new Email Marketing 2.0 is 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.

In the blog post “Email Marketing 2.0 Explained,” Tyler Garns from Infusionsoft compares traditional Email Marketing 1.0 with the new Email Marketing 2.0 and says that Email Marketing 1.0 is like a bad sales rep:

“A bad sales rep will typically memorize the spiel and “data dump” on the prospect regardless of what the prospect says, regardless of the person’s body language and regardless of any buying signals. They are robotic and sell much less because of their rigidness and inability to adapt the message for different people.”

On the other hand, he says the new Email Marketing 2.0 is like a good sales rep:

“A good sales rep, on the other hand, will listen (a lot) and adapt the message to the prospect’s needs. Good sales reps sell significantly more because they are always able to share something relevant to the prospect. They listen, adapt, and share the right message for every individual prospect every time.”

So, given those differences, how do you master the art of Email List Building so that you can create a targeted list and start to build relationships and trust? Here are some simple tips to get you started:

•    Brainstorm the type of audience you want on your list.

•    Develop a free offer that would entice that audience to subscribe and make sure your landing page is optimized with the right keywords that are relevant to the offer.

•    Develop valuable follow-up content that would benefit the audience and help build relationships with them (i.e. emails with lists, tips or strategies they can use in their business).

•    Figure out where to promote or display your free offer and opt-in box (i.e. post in Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Blog posts, Squidoo Lenses, Hubpages, targeted forums and industry websites).

•    Promote a free web event using event tools in LinkedIn, Facebook or other Social Networks.

•   Publish relevant articles with a call to action and a link to your free offer in the author resource box.

•    Identify the right email program for your campaign, one that will allow you to adapt autoresponders to suit your subscribers’ needs and responses.

We cover this topic in more detail in our Internet Marketing Specialist 2010 training program because it is such an important skill for Virtual Assistants to know. Remember that the important thing is to speak to the needs of your target audience and share high-quality content so that they benefit from your email communications and become part of a valued community of subscribers.

Developing that trust and relationship will help you build a niche audience that will stay tuned in to your communications and remain loyal customers as time goes by – a mutually beneficial relationship for you both!! In the new Email Marketing 2.0 world, you can even say that Email List Building becomes social too!!

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

Is Your Website or Blog Perfectly Optimized?

Do you ever watch those home renovation shows on TV, the ones where someone is having trouble selling their home and needs some help? Often there’s nothing wrong with the house itself, just an important design element missing. A team of experts is called in and, voila, the house gets noticed and sells! The home owners are amazed and anxious to learn the skills those experts used to make such a difference.

In your work, do you wish you could optimize your website or blog so that it attracts more attention? Are your clients anxious to optimize theirs too? The initial SEO work begins in the HTML, and consequently clients are now, more than ever, requiring their Virtual Assistants to have some level of HTML knowledge and skills. For some, that’s exciting… for others, worrisome. ;-)

SEOmoz has put together an excellent blog post that summarizes best practices for “Perfecting Keyword Targeting & On-Page Optimization.” They provide a diagram of the “perfectly” optimized page and list all the elements that contribute to its ranking. Many of these elements are quite technical and require a good knowledge of HTML.

Below is a list of the important elements to optimize in on your webpage:

•    Keyword Targeted URL
•    Page Title
•    Meta Description
•    H1 Headline
•   Image File Name
•    Webpage Body Content
•    Internal links

Now, if you’re starting to break into a cold sweat at the thought of tackling such technical aspects, you’re not alone. HTML is a very important task and one that requires specialized training in order to do it well. For that reason, we recently offered a special 3-hour HTML Training for Internet Marketing Success Clinic. The Clinic was taught by our very own VAClassroom Faculty Member, Christina Greenway, who helped demystify HTML and unpacked the important skills you need for your business and your clients.

So there’s no need to call in a team of experts to optimize your website or blog! With some HTML training, you can make Google stand up and take notice, and that’s as good as a “Sold “ sign on the front lawn!

Social Media Outsourcing: A Wise Choice

They say that timing is everything, and often success comes from recognizing the right opportunity at the right time. This is especially true in the ever changing Internet landscape. A recent Industry Report released by Michael A. Stelzner, founder of SocialMediaExaminer.com, reveals some untapped potential that bodes well for those with Social Media Marketing skills. We’d highly recommend downloading and reading the full report from the website, but for now check out this quick video summary:

When we read the report, we were struck by the following statistic:

“Social media outsourcing underemployed: Only 14% of businesses are outsourcing any aspect of their social media marketing.”

This was fascinating because on the other hand, it’s clear that an increase in benefits is directly proportional to the amount of time spent on Social Media Marketing. Here are some of the benefits that were reported:

•    Helped close business
•    Generated exposure for business
•    Resulted in new business partnerships
•    Generated qualified leads
•    Reduced overall marketing expenses
•    Helped business rise in the search rankings
•    Increased traffic/subscribers/opt-in list

However, since the concept of Social Media outsourcing is still relatively new, and many marketers are still new to Social Media Marketing itself, the report predicts it may be another year before businesses embrace the idea of seeking outside assistance.

But with at least 67% of marketers planning to increase their use of blogs, Facebook, video/YouTube, Twitter and LinkedIn, the tide is definitely going to turn. How else will business owners juggle everything they need to do and still devote enough time to Social Media Marketing?

So what kinds of things will businesses need help with as they ramp up their Social Media activities?

Here are some of the important roles an outsourced Social Marketing Specialist can fill:

•    Social Media Coach (very important)
•    Social Media Community Manager (set up and optimize system)
•    Company Representative (manage customer relations)
•    Social Media Eyes & Ears for Your Clients (SM Monitoring)

Most importantly, businesses need a proper Social Media Strategy, and there will be amazing client opportunities coming available for Virtual Assistants who can perform the following tasks:

•    Create a clear and measurable social media strategy (#1 priority)
•    Research & identify the right social networks
•    Build social networking presence
•    Manage & optimize social networking presence
•    Measure results of social networking activities

So if you have Social Media Marketing skills like these, get ready to catch the next wave in this very popular and profitable niche! Keep your skills current and up to date, and you’ll be in the ideal position when more and more businesses quickly realize they need to outsource their Social Media activities! In our newly updated Social Marketing 2010 course, we provide cutting-edge training to equip Virtual Assistants to deliver the key services clients desperately need and will be asking for in the near future.

Choosing the Right Venue for Your Virtual Events.

Often times we’ve discussed the growing importance of Virtual Events and the undeniable fact that they’re quickly replacing offline meetings as a more economical and environmentally friendly option. But how do you choose the right Virtual Venue for your big event?

Just as you would investigate conference rooms, hotels or restaurants before booking an offline meeting, it’s important to investigate different types of Virtual Venues so that you can choose the one that’s most appropriate for the type of event you’re hosting.

One of our VAClassroom graduates, Carlana Charles, recently published a blog post entitled “Virtual Events – Why They are Hit” and featured a video that explains the different options that are available:

Let’s look more closely at the four options discussed here and see which types of events are best suited to them:

•    Webinars –Since these are typically one-way, from the speaker to the audience with little audience interaction, they work best for online teaching sessions or workshops. We’ve used Yugma or GoToWebinar in the past, which also offer the option of connecting participants via a phone line, VoIP or an online chat box.

•    Internet Live TV – This venue works great for presenting dynamic talk shows, presentations or interviews, the types of shows you would normally broadcast on television. In this case, Ustream or Livestream is used, and the presenter has a webcam on themselves and a camera on other presenters.

•   Internet Live Radio – This is a good option for events that require or invite audience participation, as people can call in live and interact with the presenter via a tool like Blog Talk Radio. Another advantage is that they are syndicated and can be listened to and subscribed to long after the event has taken place.

•    Teleseminars – Since these involve mainly audio, they work best for conference calls or group coaching sessions. Usually there is a certain period of time devoted to a presentation, followed by a question and answer session. Often online handouts will be given out for participants to refer to during the presentation. In this case, tools like GoToMeeting or Skype can be used to facilitate the event.

So there you have it – four popular Virtual Event venues to choose from! There are many factors to consider, but as the tools become more streamlined, the choices are becoming easier to make, and the emergence of Virtual Event Specialists has provided business owners with a valuable resource to draw on when planning their big events.

What Virtual Venues have worked for you or your clients in the past? We’d love to hear your thoughts on this topic!

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!

5 Reasons Virtual Events Services are the Ideal Niche for Virtual Assistants in 2009!

My oldest daughter is a PLANNER through and through. When we go on family trips or out to run errands, she likes to know the exact plan of what are are going to do, how many stops we’re going to make, who we are going see – she wants all the details! I often tell her that she will make a fabulous Event Planner when she gets older!

As I look at the massive growth in Virtual Events and declining participation in offline events and conferences (in part due to the current economic situation), I think I will be directing her to pursue a career as a “Virtual Event Planner or Specialist” instead!

The Virtual Events field is one of those industries that has grown in leaps and bounds despite the economic slowdown we are experiencing! Here are five reasons why Virtual Events are becoming so popular (and why now is the best time for Virtual Assistants to tap into this profitable niche):

1. Virtual Events are VERY Cost Effective.

A few years ago, there was a time where webinar solutions were super expensive and really only designed for big business. Well, times have changed. Take GoToWebinar for example… you can run an unlimited number of web events and have up to 1000 participants for just $99/month. For this reason alone, businesses are naturally shifting to virtual events over the more expensive route of offline events and conferences.

2. Virtual Events Reach a Global Audience.

It is evident that only so many people can fly in to attend an offline conference, but with virtual events, there is a much greater capacity to reach a larger, worldwide audience! This can lead to increased exposure and potentially a greater return on investment for the virtual events.

3. Virtual Events Increase Exposure.

The cool thing about Virtual Events is that they enable you to increase exposure for you and/or your client’s business on a consistent basis. Virtual Events are recorded and can be re-listened to by a whole new audience who is accessing your event at a later date. I know I am still receiving feedback from webinars I did almost two years ago – gotta like the long-term exposure of virtual events!

4. Virtual Events Save Time and Maximize Productivity.

By avoiding the travel time required for offline conferences, virtual events can significantly reduce the time commitment involved and allow you to keep on top of your priority tasks. Think of Event Organizers… Can you imagine the time they would save by running events virtually? I am not suggesting there is not a good place for offline events as I certainly like attending some when I can, but the reality is that more businesses are gravitating towards using virtual events as a means to better connect with a larger target audience on a more consistent basis.

5. Virtual Events Can Be Highly Interactive.

Thanks to Social Media and interactive web technology, event participants can socialize and interact with one another in a cool web environment. You gotta love Twitter Hashtags as a great way to join the conversation during a virtual event (as well as an offline event). With the interactive nature of virtual event technology (such as UStream, BlogTalkRadio and GoToWebinar), participants still receive the offline benefit of connecting with others and sharing ideas.

It is evident that more businesses would like to set-up virtual events, but either lack the expertise or time to pull it off. This is where a great opportunity exists for those Virtual Assistants and Online Professionals who would like to position themselves as a “Virtual Event Specialist” – the timing couldn’t be better!

Check out this free upcoming event we have going on at VAClassroom with myself and Virtual Event Specialist, Michelle Schoen titled,

“Building a Profitable Niche as a Virtual Event Specialist (Even in a Down Economy).”

Also, please share your comments on this new virtual event niche? What have you heard from your clients? Do you see this as a great opportunity for Virtual Professionals?Also, what types of virtual events do you most enjoy? I would love to get feedback on this!

The Fast Growing Business of Blogging!

Just the other day, I was reading some stats on the WordPress site and was blown away by the massive growth of  WordPress Blogs over the last 24 months!

Here are some 2008 stats shared by the WordPress founder, Matt Mullenweg:

• Page Views grew from 1.5 million to 6.5 million per month
• 2 million new blogs created for the year
• 35 million new blog posts in 2008

In January 2009 alone there were 372,519 WP blogs created!

It is clear that not only is blogging growing at a rapid rate, but it is also evolving in some new and exciting ways.  This excerpt from WordPress.com puts it best:

Blogging is growing both in the US and especially internationally. Tens of thousands of new WordPress blogs are created every day – by regular bloggers, companies, large media publishers, and many others. In addition, we seeing a trend that’s potentially even bigger than blogging: Publishers are starting to use WordPress as a platform to create all kinds of sites beyond blogs – large and small company sites, online magazines, social networks, travel sites, scrapbooking sites, contact managers, startups, multimedia archives, video sites, sports sites.

Isn’t this cool? Ten of thousands of blogs being created DAILY! Businesses are using blogging technology to create company websites, social networks, video sites, membership sites and so much more.

The sad reality is that a good portion of these blog sites won’t last more than a year as they are lacking some key success strategies and tools for optimizing and marketing their blogs.

This is ONE of the key reasons we have created our newest mini-course called, Blog Marketing Tips, Tools & Tactics.  We want to provide blogsite owners as well as Virtual Assistants (who operate and manage blog sites) with some advanced marketing and optimization strategies for increasing blog traffic and visibility.

There are excellent opportunities right now for Virtual Assistants and Online Professionals to offer “in-demand” blog marketing services to this fast growing base of blogsite owners.

Our newest blog marketing training program starts on August 10th. Check it out!

Become a Twitter Rockstar for Your Clients

One of the common questions I receive from many Virtual Assistants is “Should I Twitter For My Clients”? This is an interesting one and actually a very popular outsourced service right now!

There are a couple ways to approach this with your clients. I shared a few “Twitter Tips” in this video that you might find helpful – check it out!

Six Keys to Building a Thriving Virtual Assistant Practice in 2009

Happy New Year! I definitely took a long hiatus from my blog, but have re-charged my creative batteries and am officially ready to go!

I have had the privilege of working with a whole variety of Virtual Assistants over a number of years and have been able to assess the particular traits or characteristics that make some of them  very successful. As we head into a New Year full of much promise here are six keys to building a thriving Virtual Assistant Practice in 2009:

KEY #1 – Be Active in Social Networking – I continue to hear great testimonies of some of our VAClassroom students finding new ideal clients through such popular Social Networks as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. They are building their network with a target audience and are finding opportunities emerge through these connections! So, one of the keys to sustaining a Thriving Virtual Assistance practice in 2009 is to become a “Master Networker” in the key social networks, forums, groups and online communities!

KEY #2 – Build a Compelling Web Presence - I have also had the opportunity to review many different VA websites and I noticed that some of them still do not market themselves super well. The page sometimes is super text heavy, with no multimedia or compelling images. As an Internet Business Owner (who currently works with 4 VAs), I love coming to site that has a YouTube Video, compelling graphics, an optin box to a free PDF guide, Twitter & Facebook Badges and possibly a blog. This shows me that this business is cutting edge and savvy! So, here’s a test….

Go to your website right now and ask yourself: “If I was a prospective client, would I be drawn to my website?” Now is the best time of year to make changes!

KEY #3 – Participate in Blogging and Social Media Content Sharing - Many of you who are blogging right now know the value of being of thought leader in the VA industry and building credibility with your prospective client base – not to mention the great SEO value of regularly updating your blog! The key with your blog is to create content that would be relevant to your target client audience. For example; I saw a PDF guide that a VA was offering called “101 Reasons to Use a Virtual Assistant in 2009″ – this was great and relevant content for small busineses, which certainly could pave the way to new client opportunities!

It is imperative to build your traffic and web presence through sharing content in such sites as HubPages, Squidoo and EzineArticles. This again positions you as a thought leader and drives traffic and Search Engine results back to your website!

KEY #4 – Establish a Clear Business Niche - As you know, the Virtual Assistant role is constantly in flux and means many different things to different people. Many VAs are bloggers, web-designers, social media marketers, bookkeepers, event planners, PR specialists and so much more! The most successful VAs have been able to establish the right niche at the right time to create the best opportunities for their business. For example; businesses are screaming for VAs with Social Media Marketing expertise, which is why we recently launched our Social Media Marketing Specialist Training Program.

Also, it is important to identify the niche audience you are targeting. Is your ideal client audience, Real-Estate Agents, Business Coaches, Women Entrepreneurs, Internet Marketer, Ecommerce Sites etc..?

KEY #5 – Proactive Marketing Strategies – I always love the saying “The squeaky wheel gets the grease”! Translation: A Pro-active Virtual Assistant will create the best opportunities for their business! As you know, the clients may find you on Social Networks or via your website, which is great, but for the most part, you will need to go out there and connect with your ideal client audience in creative ways. For example; One of our VAClassroom Students mentioned that she was putting on workshops for small business associations in her local area on “The Power of Social Media Marketing”. Well, this served as an excellent avenue for her to position herself as an authority and build some new client opportunities.

KEY #6 – Highly Committed to Continual Learning – Of all the industries I have be apart of in my career, none has moved faster than the Internet Business. New technology and web trends are evolving at a rapid pace and 6 months is like 5-10 years in another industry! It is paramount that you are actively pursuing learning and training opportunities in your niche to ensure that you remain on the cutting edge and at the top of your game in 2009.

So, there you have it…. Six keys to building a thriving Virtual Assistant business in the New Year!

I am sure there are other “Keys” and would love to hear yours!

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?