VA News & Articles

World-renowned Stephen Covey proclaims "Time management" is really a misnomer - the challenge is not to manage time, but to manage ourselves.”  This compelling statement is a break in reality especially for those of us transitioning from corporate America where time management is part of the standard curriculum for any professional.  As a virtual assistant (VA), we are Project Managers juggling multiple clients.  If we include ourselves (and our time) as a project to manage, will we be more productive?  I argue the answer is a resounding YES!   In the SmartEntrepreneur article at http://www.smartentrepreneur.net/articles-on-time-management.html, the author suggests that business owners should break out work orders into smaller, manageable tasks.  If VA’s use the model suggested, the effort to produce work products is predictable, and thus, our time, will be more manageable and managed better.

 

Kimberly Ball

GOGO Virtual Assistant | Owner

http://www.gogovirtualasst.com

 

When you're writing articles, do you ever wonder if anyone is going to read them?  More importantly, do you wonder if it's even going to get to your target audience?  Article marketing has the potential of increasing your business' credibility as well as attracting new clients.  

One of the most popular article submission sites is, EzineArticles.com.  Granted, EzineArticles.com is a beast, but posting your articles there is great for receiving incoming links to tell Google and other search engines that you're important.  On the flip side, you have to be constantly sending people to eZineArticles.com to check out your content to get the visibility or it needs to be one of the top articles in a category, which can be easier said than done.

Here are three proven ways to help you get your articles directly in front of target audience today:

    1.    Raving Fans - Include your reprint articles on your site and gladly invite your readers to publish them with your bio.  There's no one more perfect to spread the word about you and your services than your already "raving" fans!  
    2.    Referrals - Give your articles to your affiliates and referral resources that want to earn your referral bonuses.  Help them convert your prospects into profits for all parties involved.  VAClassroom does this very well!  Anytime they are announcing a new class or some type of "special", they provide a template article so that the affiliates can add this to their site with their very own affiliate code and link.  Take the hard work out of it for affiliates and referral resources!  
    3.    Guest Blog - Partner with someone credible that already has access to your target audience.  For example, if your target audience are small to medium-sized business owners, partner with a business coach by offering them excellent, relevant content to put on their site.  Place your content directly in front of your target audience!  If your content is good enough and you offer what they need, you'll start to get some calls from your "target" audience.

As Virtual Assistants, implement these steps, tweak and do it again, then, suggest these steps to your clients to help them grow their business and get in front of their target audience.  

Whether you choose to use these steps or stick with simple article marketing, the most important thing is to remain consistent in creating relevant and compelling content often if you're planning to move forward.

About the Author: Paula Belyeu is the owner of Integrity Virtual Solutions primarily offering web design maintenance and management.  She is currently studying Web Design and Development at Full Sail University.

I shamelessly stole this post title from the article you need to go read at Wired.com. Mostly because it's my favorite line from the whole article.

For the last few years people have been buzzing about how much social media costs businesses in lost productivity.  Wired is, based on new research, making a case for how much money social media can make businesses.

Social media offers a constantly-updating stream of inspirational tidbits and momentary distractions. The latter is how social media got its bad rap, but research indicates creative types need the distraction to help them think in new ways.

Check it out here.  

After a lot of trial and error with different products, tools, books, and software every VA finds a few favorites.  You know, products or services that you consider essential and tell everyone about when they ask what you use...

You decide it can't hurt to make a little money since you'd endorse them either way, right? You sign up for an affiliate link.

Now what?

If you're an active blogger, or read people who are, you know there's been an ethical debate going on amongst bloggers for years regarding affiliate links, sponsored blog posts, reviews , etc. The debate got hotter than ever when the FTC announced new disclosure rules last year. 

Not sure how to be an affiliate or offer an honest review without running afoul of the rules or people's sensibilities? 

Check out Brian Clark's article at Copyblogger, "How to Turn Affiliate Marketing Disclosure Into a Selling Point."

He's got a lot of great points and ideas for how to make your affiliate disclsure WORK for you as well as some history on the issue.

I own my own business, which means one of the (many) hats I wear is that of salesperson. If I don't go out there and sell my services, who will? Which, for me, kind of sucks because I've never been a salesy kinda gal. I'm pretty good at inside sales--when the leads come to me I can close, but hunting down people and convincing them they need me is not my bag.

Which was my long-winded way of explaining why I had NO CLUE that there are nine steps in the sales cycle. Or what they were. I'm still fuzzy on the details and might even have to do some independent research on the *shudder* science of sales, but this article at accountingweb has at least introduced me to the process.

And, from my non-salesy perspective, made it seem a little easier. I'm already active in social media personally, and plan to get more active on behalf of my business in 2010. (You are planning for next year while it's slow, right?!) The article above talks about how businesses can use social media to shorten the sales cycle, meaning more time spent working. Anything that reduces the time I have to spend selling myself to the world makes me happy. Maybe it'll help you, too.

About The Author: Dyanna Larson is the woman behind the pen at Ink Think, a freelance editorial firm that specializes in writing (and ghostwriting) for businesses.

I want you to take a moment to look around you.  See what you've accomplished with your business, how it has grown and changed since you first set your feet on the path to entrepreneurship.Be excited and proud.

Now turn around and walk away for a while. If you can't do it now because the holidays are not a slow time for you or your clients, make plans now to get way when you can. Yes, it's hard to walk away. Yes, you will probably lose some money while you're gone, but you'll lose more if you work yourself to death.

Don't take my word for it though. The Wall Street Journal agrees.  As an added bonus, the article even mentions that business owners can hire a VA to cover for them so they can take off.

About the Author: Dy Larson is the writer-editor behind the pen at Ink Think.

What a virtual assistant does and why we're a smart choice is often a pain to explain to people unfamiliar with the concept.  Good news!

Joann Yates at the Sun Microsystems' blog, "News, Advice, Case Studies for Startups" wrote a tidy, succinct, and user friendly article you can point people toward called, "Virtual Assistants Save Entrepreneurs Time and Money." The information is good and it might even help you think up a simpler way to explain the benefits of hiring a VA to prospective clients.

About the Author: Dy Larson is the writer-editor behind the pen at Ink Think.

If you are a web savvy business owner and don't know who Scott Ginsberg is then you may not be as savvy as you think. Scott Ginsberg, aka The Nametag Guy, is well known for, well, for being The Nametag Guy.

His blog is always full of interesting advice for business owners and people who dream of starting their own business.  Tuesday he posted a thought-provoking aritcle called Don’t Start a Business Until You Read These Nine Facts. It's a little esoteric at times and a bit in your face at times--that means he uses the occasional bad word :-) -- and not for everyone, but the underlying points he's making are solid.

About the Author: Dy Larson is the writer-editor behind the pen at Ink Think.

We are looking for some members who are willing to blog from time to time about interesting articles, news, etc. pertaining to the VA industry. Must be a TexVAL member and you can add on a 2 sentence blurb about yourself at the end. Interested? Email candy@texval.com