Join VAClassroom at the OIVAC International Virtual Assistants Conference

I am not sure how many Virtual Conferences you have attended in the past, but I have been to a few and it is actually pretty cool to network with collegues, listen to great speakers and gather some excellent resources right from the comfort of your own office or home!

Now, you might have already marked it on your calendar, but the Online International Virtual Assistants Convention (OIVAC) officially kicks off on May 15th at 8am (EST). The three day Virtual Conference is jammed pack with some great seminars (from 8-midnight daily) and valuable networking opportunities for your business.  I think you can still register for some of the seminars. The cost is $25 per seminar and they sell a variety of packages as well.

VAClassroom will have an exhibitor’s booth at the Virtual Conference, so be sure to stop by to chat and learn more about what we have going on over the next week – some exciting stuff!

A Virtual Assistant Case Study

I want to share a case study with you that clearly shows the huge value that Virtual Assistants can play in any Internet Business. This particular case study details a woman I hired while working with a mid-sized Internet company a few years ago. She had developed some niche skills in a number of areas such as Affiliate Marketing, Ad Campaign Management as well as Web Analytics Reporting. The company I worked for eventually experienced some significant down-sizing; however, this particular Virtual Assistant’s contract was retained primarily due to her versatility and understanding in these niche areas. Check out the YouTube Video below.

VAClassroom Social Media Teleseminar Event

We are excited to tell you about the upcoming teleseminar event at VAClassroom.com:

“How Virtual Assistants Can Profit from the Social Media Explosion in 2008 and Beyond!”

As mentioned in a previous post, one of the fastest growing areas on the Net right now is the exploding Social Media Movement. Internet businesses are very enthusiastic about leveraging the potential of many top social media channels such as Facebook, YouTube, Digg and LinkedIn, but find it difficult to muster up enough hours in a day to perform all the necessary Social Media Marketing activities.

Talk about a huge “in-demand” niche for Virtual Assistants!

This is precisely what we will be covering in the upcoming 1 hour teleseminar event at VAClassroom slated for May 19th at 6pm PST (9pm EST).

This FREE teleseminar will essentially be a mini-course based on one of the courses offered from our soon to be released VAClassroom Training Center!

For more details on the Social Media Teleseminar, visit the page below and sign-up to receive reminder alerts:

VAClassroom Social Media Teleseminar Event

We look forward to seeing you there!

The Niche Opportunities for Virtual Assistants in the Fast Growing Social Media Landscape

Over the last 18 months, I have become an incurable learner on the exploding Social Media Movement and the profound impact it can have for Internet Business Owners like myself. I have digested blog posts, articles, webinars and even wrote a couple of my own articles pertaining to Social Media. (Check out my SiteProNews Article, “Is Social Media Marketing really worth your time and effort?”).  My overwhelming conclusion is that Social Media Marketing is a MUST for all business owners in order to realize their full potential in 2008 and beyond!

We are currently seeing a major shift in thinking among Internet Businesses pertaining to Social Media. In 2007, businesses were asking the question (with skepticism): “Can Social Media Marketing really do anything for my business? Is there any value in hanging out in Facebook groups, commenting on blogs, networking in Linked.com and sharing my videos in YouTube? I think that question has been effectively answered by many of the Industry experts who have openly endorsed Social Media Marketing as a powerful business building channel.

The real question Internet Businesses are asking now is: “Okay, we see that Social Media Marketing is a GOOD thing, but how the heck do we find the time to actually carry out all these important Social Media Marketing activities????

The answer……Virtual Assistants who have tapped in to this exploding Social Media Niche. There are Virtual Assistants who are becoming specialists in editing, producing and syndicating videos to all the major video-sharing sites. There are others who are Facebook experts who know the “ins and outs” on building industry-specific groups, business facebook pages and even setting up and managing Pay Per Click Facebook campaigns.

There is even the whole emerging trend of “Presence Managers” where businesses hire a Virtual Assistant to represent or even be them in the various social networks they are targeting. Now, there are some ethical issues with that one, but a growing area for sure!

Given that Social Media is continuing to experience explosive growth, there are no shortage of opportunities for Virtual Assistants to tap into this niche.

So, with my collective passion for Social Media and Virtual Assistants, I have decided to run a teleseminar that might interest you, titled:

“How Virtual Assistants can profit from the Social Media Explosion in 2008″. 

This will essentially be a “mini-lesson” taken in part from the upcoming release of the Internet Marketing VA Training Program at VAClassroom.com.  Also on the call, we will be making an important announcement and special offer regarding the launch of VAClassroom.com, so certainly worth checking out

Please stay tuned to this blog over the next day or so as I will provide some more concrete details on how you can get signed up for this important teleseminar!

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 “Time Tracking” Challenge for Virtual Assistants

Over the past couple weeks, we have received many responses to our question (on the optin form at VAClassroom), “What is the greatest challenge facing your Virtual Assistant Business today?” We will be reviewing these common challenges in the next few posts to come.

A couple subscribers admitted that one of their ongoing challenges is effectively tracking time for the different clients they work with. You might be thinking… tracking time is a piece of cake – just wear a watch, use a stop clock and you should be fine…

Yes, it may seem simple, but with short Instant messenger chats, calls on your cell phone, quick email questions from clients, the tracking of time can start to become a little murky, especially if you are a busy VA with multiple clients and projects on the go simultaneously! I know with the VAs I work with, I will often “Skype” them a quick question and have a little chat – they need to keep track of these little chats, calls, emails that they do on a daily basis for many different clients.

Well, here are three ideas to help manage this time tracking challenge…

1. I would recommend being upfront with your clients on your minimum time intervals for any task or inpromptu question they may have. In other words, you might set a minimum time interval of 10 minutes (or whatever you decide), so if you have a quick skype chat with a client, you will bill them at a minimum of 10 minutes of work. Again, it is important to be clear on this with client’s upfront so they don’t think you are padding the invoice:).

In the name of building long-term relationships with clients, you might also consider not charging for that occassional quick chat – that could go a long way to keeping a happy client as along as it does not become too frequent!

2. Another strategy for managing the time tracking issue is to shut off MSN, Skype, Cell Phones, PDAs when you are working on a specific client’s project in order to make your time tracking a little more cut and dry. I know this is easier said than done at times, but do you best to focus on one project or task at a time – this will help to maximize your productivity as well.

3. Invest in a Time Tracking Solution. There are a number of cool time tracking applications you can use to keep track of clients’ works on a minute by minute basis. I personally like FreshBooks as it also offers the billing and payment features for managing your clients invoices and payments.

FreshBooks enables you to track time across specific client tasks and projects as well as tracking the time of any staff you may have working on the same project. This is particularly useful for Multi-VA firms. I also like the accountability piece in which you can provide your client access to your Freshbooks account so they can monitor their budget and project activities. I think this adds a level of professionalism and credibility to your business efforts.

If you haven’t already, be sure to sign up for our “VA Business PowerPack Contest” at VAClassroom.com as we have included a one year subscription to Freshbooks!

Virtual Assistants “Lessons Learned” -Interview #1

I want to introduce a new interview series we are launching called : “Virtual Assistants – Lessons Learned“. This series will feature experienced Virtual Assistants discussing their current successes, challenges and the lessons they have learned along their Virtual Journey thus far.

Now, I don’t know about you, but I never get tired of listening to industry peers share some of their successes, failures and lessons they have been taught. I have personally been involved in Internet Marketing for the past five years and I love to listen to webinars or podcasts from other marketers sharing their stories – some of the best “ah hah” moments I had in my business came from hearing others talk about your experiences and challenges!

So, without further adieu, I want to introduce our first Interview with the founder of UltimateBizAssistant.com, Frances Palaschuk. Frances has been working in her Virtual Assistant business for less than one year, but has been able to quickly build a thriving business due to a couple key strategies she discusses in this interview. So, take a listen to the below interview and please leave all your comments and feedback – we love to hear from you!

Virtual Assistant Interview 1

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!

What is a Internet Marketing VA?

Well, if you had  already had an opportunity to view our 26 minute preview video, you will likely know the answer to this question by now! For those that have not yet seen the video, an Intenet Marketing VA is a niche specialization for a Virtual Assistant that encompasses a variety of crucial support tasks for a company’s web marketing endeavors.

The cool thing about the Virtual Assistant industry right now is there are all sort of avenues to provide “in demand” specialist services that will distinguish yourself from the growing base of VAs joining this virtual labour force! 

So, if you haven’t already, take 25 minutes and view the below video that outlines what an Internet Marketing VA is and also previews the upcoming certification program to be offered by VAClassroom here shortly.

Internet Marketing VA Preview Video

Please do send us your comments, thoughts and questions on this video when you have a moment!

Okay, before I sign off here, I want to give you a good sense of what you can expect by tuning into this blog over the next couple weeks…

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

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

Ten Marketing Strategies for your Virtual Assistant Business

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

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

As promised, we want to pass along an informative ebook today that will significantly boost the marketing efforts for any new or existing Virtual Assistant business.

FREE 26 Page PDF Ebook – 10 Sure-Fire Strategies for Marketing your VA Business

We would love to receive all your feedback and thoughts on this ebook and any other marketing strategies you think should make this top 10 list (or at least an honorable mention). Just pass along your comments here at this blog post.

Be sure to subscribe and check back regularly at this blog over the next couple weeks as we will be discussing some interesting things you won’t want to miss!

Digital Work Search Strategies