VA Newsday

Finding time for scheduling and planning can be difficult . I was witness to a very interesting group discussion recently, in which the words scheduling and planning were pivotal.  It quickly became clear that for many in the group, the word that they chose was key in determining how they responded to the task they were presenting themselves with. [...]

Hundreds of Virtual Assistants joined us for the 1st Virtually Successful Telesummit preview call on Wednesday. Our next call is scheduled for Wednesday, March 31st at 12pm Pacific (3pm Eastern). We’re going to do something that has never been done. There’s been a lot of talk about…

Photoshop is one of those extremely versatile programs that can be used by beginners just dabbling, or professionals who create graphics for a living. Whichever group you fit into, one thing is true about Photoshop: It’s a deep program, and there’s a lot to learn. Even the most experienced Photoshop users are regularly learning new ways to do things with the application. [...]

For many of us, starting a business isn’t an all or nothing situation, at least not initially. Many times, it’s a case of trying to get all of your ducks in a row and some income flowing in before leaving your full-time job. And if you’ve been in that situation, you know how stressful (and tiring) it can be. The biggest challenge is time. When you work a regular job and start a business at the same time, you can essentially be working two full-time jobs. [...]

With the advent of smartphones and iPods, we too can download and transmit important information at the touch of a button. Although as a Virtual Assistant you may not be on a mission to save a whole planet from annihilation at the hands of Darth Vader, you might still be looking for new channels to communicate important information to the world about your clients’ businesses. One effective option is podcasting. Check out this great video, “Podcasting in Plain English,” explaining the convenience and power of this new communication tool: [...]

In the past month or so, I’ve been relatively quiet on my blog and on social media, as I’ve been very busy putting together my brand new blogsite development and support service packages . After years of working with VAs, Coaches and other Solopreneurs, there’s a clear pattern of what web services these kinds of businesses need in order to make the most of their online presence, not only for marketing and visibility, but also for easy maintenance and low “cost of ownership”.  With that in mind, I’ve come up with four package options – each designed to address the needs of the beginner blogger to the established coaching practice with infoproducts and support staff… [...]

Just a few months ago, New Year’s resolutions were the highlight of many email marketing conversations. With the best intentions, businesses set out to grow their lists by the thousands and send more targeted, relevant messages. They made lists and reviewed last year’s figures, invigorated by the new year and certain that they could increase click through rates and ROI by leaps and bounds. Perhaps you even set lofty goals for your own campaign, only to be sidetracked by more pressing issues. [...]

Dealing with the accounting aspect of your business is a necessary “evil” of being an entrepreneur.  Whether or not you are a “numbers” person, keeping accurate records, billing your clients and paying your taxes are tasks that you will need to handle regularly in order to stay profitable. These weekly processes can be simple if you set up a system to handle them.  What is a system? It is simply a matter of documentation.  [...]

(from Mashable.com)  We used to only be digitally connected via computer for part of the day, but today’s hand-held devices enable a “constantly connected” lifestyle. This presents huge benefits, and its share of challenges. An important question to ask yourself is: Are you going to be constantly overwhelmed by “Stress 2.0,” or can you successfully translate this lifestyle into “Wisdom 2.0?” [...]

Inspired, heart-centered entrepreneurs like us are often kept dizzy and overwhelmed by our own creativity . It’s a case of too many choices, too little time. With all the projects, tasks and activities involved in marketing and growing a fun, profitable business, it’s all too easy to find yourself worn out at the end of the day without having many tangible results (like income) to show for it. As I hear from clients all the time, that usually means money is going out faster than it’s coming in. We can’t have that! The antidote to this troublesome situation is knowing which projects and activities to pursue and which to ignore (or put on hold). Not all business endeavors are created equal.

Join us for our monthly Austin area virtual assistant meetup. Please visit our website for time/place/registration. This is FREE to attend. More info at http://www.meetup.com/AustinVAs/

My e-mail wasn’t delivering me any messages from Basecamp. My latest broadcast went out without the ‘name’ code in it. I spelled a word incorrectly in my latest blog post and it went out to my 345,600 Twitter followers (I don’t really have that many followers by the way)

On March 30, 2010 at 8pm ET, Delaware Valley Virtual Assistants Association (DVVAA) will be hosting a free webinar, “Vlogging 101 for Coaches & VAs”.  Presented by Candy Beauchamp of Off Assist, this webinar will spotlight the advantages of video blogging.
Just as there are alot of reasons to start a regular blog, there are many reasons to start a Vlog.  In all cases, you must have something [...]

New clients are very important to the growth of your business. Successful business owners spend hours of their time marketing their services and getting new business. Often businesses fail because they put in a ton of work towards getting new clients but yield poor results. To get great results you have to know what you want. Having a clear direction for your business will PULL clients to you. This is a simple analogy, but an apt one. Think of your business as a car on a trip. You are moving from Boise to Los Angeles. You can probably make it to Los Angeles without a map, but you will take wrong turns, waste time, waste gas, and get frustrated.

As Virtual Assistants, we tend to be really good at creating lists.  We create to-do lists for ourselves, our clients, our families, the housekeeper, etc.    These lists are created as a method for getting things done.  But,  how often do you go back and review your lists to see if “what” you’re doing is yielding the right results?  In other words, is how you’re spending your time supporting or detracting from the life and business you want to create? If perhaps you aren’t making the money you want to make, or you’re working with clients who drain your energy, or you find yourself working far more hours than you’d like, it’s time to step back, take an honest, objective look at your VA practice and decide what adjustments need to be made.  Just as you would create an action plan for your clients, you need to create one for yourself.  The first step is to answer this question, “Are you making these 3 common mistakes?” Tweet This! Share this on Facebook Share this on Linkedin Digg this! Share this on Reddit Share this on Technorati Stumble upon something good? Share it on StumbleUpon Subscribe to the comments for this post?

It was National Procrastination Week (March 1 – 7, 2010) so it’s a good time as busy entrepreneurs to think about how to conquer procrastination. When you work at home it’s so easy to procrastinate. Why? Because you’re always busy.

Free virtual event open to all virtual assistants and aspiring virtual assistants.

When most of us are little, we have an imagination that just won’t quit A long time ago, not withstanding any of today’s stereotypes or political correctness, the boys would play “cowboys and Indians” or “cops and robbers”; the girls might play “dress-up” or “movie star”, or take on the guise of “Florence Nightingale” their

To someone who has not thought of Facebook beyond keeping their family or friends informed of their latest adventures it is hard to comprehend how social media networks like Facebook or Twitter can possibly help their business. It is also very easy to become overwhelmed when faced with the daunting task creating an online presence for your business. I like to break things into small pieces and creating a social media campaign can easily be done by taking one step at a time. Determine what you wish to accomplish. Do you want to create a client list of 250 people who subscribe to your blog?  Do you wish to increase your sales by 25%?  This is probably the most important step so be very clear as to what your objectives are. Who are you targeting? Know who your target market is and why you are reaching out to them.  For example you may be a Virtual Assistant who specializes in providing services to insurance agents. They will be your target audience.  You also may target others who provide the same services you do so you can share ideas, concerns, advice, etc.  Know where your target audience hangs out and how to find them.

If your marketing campaign just isn’t working, or you’re just getting started, take a long look at what you’re trying to do. Is it exciting? Is it eye catching? Is it unique? If not, you’re campaign is likely too bland to get anywhere. It used to be that simply advertising your business

Here’s a little pet peeve of mine… leaving a Voicemail with no message other than your name and to please call you. Rarely do I return those phone calls. Almost to a one, these folks end up wanting far more from me than I can provide them with in an unscheduled telephone conversation. Every once in a very great while, I’ll make an exception and phone back one of these mystery callers.

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

Free virtual event open to all virtual assistants and aspiring virtual assistants. You do not have to be an IVAA member to participate.

Kate Lister, the author of “ Undress for Success ,” has come up with some impressive figures when it comes to the amount of money that could be saved by switching U.S.

I get the question “will social media work for my business?” a lot. For the purposes of this post, I should clarify that the term “social media” doesn’t just refer to the big sites like Facebook or Twitter. It applies to anything interactive that takes place online—including blogs, message boards, video and more. Not every business will benefit from the same exact sites and tools. That being said, it seems there is still a lot of S.M.S. disease going around

In a recent post we showed you how to easily ask subscribers for feedback by including a rating scale in your emails. Using an innovative rating scale sets you apart from your competitors and shows subscribers that you are thinking outside of the box – that you really care about what they want. It allows you to creatively request opinions from readers and build your email marketing campaign, making it more specific, relevant and well-received by your subscribers. But what do you with the information once it is collected? Divide and Conquer Once you have subscriber responses, you can easily segment your list and send targeted messages to subscribers that will benefit most from your information (which ultimately leads to a greater return on your investment). You know that no matter what response your subscribers give on your scale, they at least have an interest in your email because: They opened your message They read it through to the point of seeing your rating scale They were compelled to rate your message A Practical Example For example, let’s look at The Friendly Plumber, a plumbing service that sends a monthly newsletter to customers who have used the service in the past. They most recently sent a message with handy tips for clogged drains and asked subscribers to rate their satisfaction at the end of the email. Now, the number of subscribers who voted is evident in the total number of clicks for the message on the Broadcast Totals report. Plumbing is a personal business

We may have a different idea of service, a product that has more benefits, a specialty or niche that we know better than anyone else… Whatever sets you and your business apart from others is crucial for you to identify and communicate. Why? Imagine one of your potential clients looking

I work with a lot of virtual professionals (VPs)  on a variety of different web projects. Most of my VP clients have their own team of other VAs/VPs that provide a range of services for their clients

With all the buzz surrounding social media, RSS, video and every other online outlet… one standby that gets taken for granted is good ol’ email. We all use it (and some of us love it), but it also can be a source of enormous frustration that can eat up a lot of the workday. Much of inbox-related angst is easily avoided with a few simple changes in what you use for email and how you process it.  In no particular order, here’s my “Top-Ten” tips for helping email help you… 1.

Time management can be interpreted in several ways. But it is commonly understood as proper allocation of time in terms of maximizing it by accomplishing more tasks. It could be applied to a lot of situations, whether in business, school, home and basically everywhere that requires something to get done within a certain period of

How many times have you stared at a blank computer screen or a blank piece of paper just waiting for the words to come? One of my favourite tasks to provide for my clients is my writing services, but I am often asked what types of things I would write for my clients. Here are just 10 of the writing services I am asked to provide: Business Letters Are you introducing a new sale or product or looking to let your clients in on an upcoming promotion?