VA Newsday

Google has quietly launched a new feature: search for blogs on any topic. The company announced the new type of search in a weekly round-up of search updates last week, and respected SEO blogger Bill Slawski argues that the launch may be related to a new Google patent. This has the potential to be a wildly useful service. How many of you have had…

photo credit: Andres Rueda Videos are great departure from standard text content because they are dynamic and are capable of keeping the attention of Internet surfers with short attention spans. Remember that some folks like to listen to, some like to see, and some like to read information, so it’s important to add in multimedia

Guest post by Trevor Turnbull Many of us spend a considerable amount of time researching and implementing strategies to grow our networks and build relationships online. And, I’m sure most people would agree that building an online network can be a very rewarding experience, both personally and professionally. If you are anything like me,…

Remember when you couldn’t figure out where July went? Well, now it’s September. Summer is indeed coming to a close, but to help soften the blow, ReadWriteWeb has compiled a list of four essential technology conferences for small business owners and professionals coming up this month. These events are US-only, but if you know of any…

Faced with the multitude of scheduling apps that are available — including Tungle.me, ScheduleOnce, TimeBridge, Doodle, among many others — TimeTrade has been updating its product range in order to stay competitive. Recently the company announced several major changes to its TimeDriver product, including a rebranding.

What’s the best way to do one-time or recurring billing for your online business? That’s an important question for the growing legion of independent service providers transitioning countless business transactions onto the web. That which is most popular may not be the best, but it’s a good place to start looking. Popular online invoicing service…

When it comes to email marketing, the answer is almost always, “It depends.” You ask: What’s a good open rate? What should I write on my opt-in form? What works best as an incentive?

What is a Multi-Virtual Assistant Business? This has been, for me and other VAs that I know who have used this model, one of the fastest ways to increase your income quickly. The main reason that this helps you build income is because for every hour your assistant or team is billing time for you,

This week, I had a conversation with a client. Even though she made 5-figures on her virtual event, she was bummed out because after calculating her expenses, she would only pocket about 10% of her revenues. She’s the most cheeriest person I’ve ever met, but her email was dripping with unhappiness. She defined her virtual event

Seems so many people focus on the dream of “passive revenue” and “making money while you sleep” – which is of course a lovely thing. But this is only part of the story when it comes to building a business – there are actually 3 types of income generation and to build a balanced business

For those who run an online business or use e-mail marketing as part of their marketing strategy, using analytical tools is important because how else are you going to know if you are on track and meeting your marketing goals? Or how are you supposed to know if your e-mail campaigns are working?

When the new “make phone calls from Gmail” service was announced, I wasn’t expecting to see it any time soon in Google Apps. However, when I logged into one of my Google Apps accounts last night, the new option to “Call Phone” appeared under Chat.

The internet used to be devoid of multimedia. Websites were built around text; animation and color were provided by images, and audio was the limit of interactivity. The Geocities-era web may have met its end some time in the late 1990s, but its design principles and legacy quite surprisingly live on in the way we Article by Andrea…

Today I take some of my own medicine. As you may know, I am an audiophile. And recently I’ve been preaching to folks about how to repurpose their content and incorporate more audio and video in their marketing mix. Typically, my suggestion goes something like this,”You know, you can simply use your written blog post

Dunbar’s Number, the theory that most people can maintain at most 150 stable interpersonal relationships, faces an unusual challenge in the time of social media. You may have more people than that add you as a follower on Twitter every month, week or maybe, every day. Half or more are robots, spammers or robot spammers. What do you do when…

Twitter lists are a beautiful thing, a great way to gather together expert opinion on any topic. If you thought Twitter’s own search was bad at retrieving archival conversations, though, is archival search of Twitter lists too much to dream of? It may not be anymore, thanks to a startup called Nsyght. Nsyght has been around for a few years now,…

Facebook launched its mobile location feature last week, called Places, and just as the company deserves – there was intense scrutiny of the new feature’s privacy settings. It turns out that you can check-in friends as being at the same location you are in. That’s a new and perhaps counter-intuitive bit of social engineering. People have been…

After having coached many virtual assistants, including multi-VA business owners, it has come to my attention that everyone has a way that they prefer the multi-VA business to be setup. No Client Contact This business model is usually setup when you have a team behind you but your clients don’t know who they are, don’t

Everyone wants to replicate Apple’s smash hit, instant cool, stand-in-line-overnight success when it comes time to roll out a product or stage an event. Plenty of companies attempt this by imitating Apple, copying its sleek design or attempting to maximize hype using secrecy. Not surprisingly, that turns out to be hard to do – so the marketing…

Earlier this morning, we reported that Google was testing a web-based telephony service inside Gmail. As it turns out, Google actually just officially announced this feature. If you are a Gmail user in the U.S., you can now make free Web-based phone calls to any phone in the U.S. and Canada right from the Gmail interface. You can also make…

Are you an OBM, VA or other online support professional who is looking for new clients? Then allow me to give you a bit of “homework” – this is something that I ask of the gals in my Online Business Manager Mentorship program (if their business isn’t yet full.) Respond to any RFP (request for proposal) that

Since it launched late last year, social email marketing tool Flowtown has gained over 15,000 customers, most of which are small businesses, with its unique combination of email and social analytics. The startup showed it might be onto something yesterday when it announced it raised $750,000 in seed funding from a group of well-known angel…

It’s been a crazy summer … and to be honest, I’m quite looking forward to getting back ‘to normal’ — as normal as it can be in the life of a virtual support professional! Tina and I couldn’t help but want to share details with you about 2 calls next week that all virtual support professionals

My insight into Twitter etiquette isn’t anything earth-shattering, but as the 140-character microblogging platform has become a daily tool for just about all of us, we’ve developed a loose set of norms when it comes to how we conduct ourselves on the service.

If there’s one thing every entrepreneur realizes before launching a new venture, it’s that one of the most important steps toward success is getting your name out there. If you’re new to the startup game and don’t have a reputation upon which to announce a new company, public relations (PR) is likely at the forefront of your mind as you build your…

This is a post from IttyBiz columnist, Johnny B. Truant. Let’s try a fun little mental experiment. Think of your favorite people to follow: The big guys and girls, the ones you look to as mentors and the ones who are where you’d like to be. To put a finer point on it, I’m talking Related Posts SEO: Don’t Get Caught With…

Facebook has made some BIG changes recently, changes that could affect your business whether you currently use facebook or not! They’ve made a fundamental shift in how it can be used for small business, in fact it’s now possible to integrate facebook into your marketing plan without so much as a facebook account! These changes FREE Upcoming…

It’s now possible to make and receive phone calls to the U.S. and Canada at no charge directly from Gmail’s web interface. I’ve been testing the new service, and so far, I’m very happy with it. As always, Google is rolling out the new service gradually.

You’ve got a new email! Holy smokes am I going to get pinged a lot if I turn on the newly announced Gmail and Google Calendar push notifications on the Google Mobile iPhone app. Google just announced the new feature and it’s a logical one, but it also seems like a throw-back to a simpler time when push notification for any and every email made…

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

Michael Port & Scott Stratten sat down to talk about what’s wrong with the current telesummit model. Even I learned something from my 2 buds. It’s the reason why I’m hosting Telesummit Refresh in Atlanta, November 3-5, 2010. Details will go live on August 11th. In the meantime, watch Michael & Scott. After you view