Virtual Assistant Pricing
June 24, 2009 | 1 Comment
One of the most difficult things for any business person to do is to price your products and services accurately.
You do not want to price your virtual assistant services too low, and miss out on bigger profits.
You do not want to price your virtaul assistant services too high, and have trouble finding clients.
Here are some ideas for pricing to help you find a middle ground.
- Have higher prices but give discounts if clients buy blocks of time in advance.
- Set your virtual assistant pricing based on a % of profit you would like to make, after your costs and basic time value. Imagine you are an employee - what do you want to make as a profit, after your base wage, for your virtual assistant business?
- Charge different rates for different skills.
- Charge a higher priority rate. (rush job)
- Start low to reward clients that give you a shot the first year in business, and raise your virtual assistant pricing every year for new clients until you find the ideal rate.
- Don’t sell your hours, sell your services. This way, the better you get at your job the more per hour you make, because you are more efficient.
These are just some of the ways you can consider pricing your virtual assistant services.
Guest Post: Anatomy of Social Media Marketing Success
June 23, 2009 | Leave a Comment
This article is a guest post by Crystal Thies - Visit Her blog Here
Many people often ask me exactly how does social media/virtual marketing work? Why is everyone saying it’s so great? It made me realize that I needed to sit down and diagram it out to make it easier to understand. The diagram below this article is the result.
A client/friend recently had a tele-seminar on the “Anatomy of Leadership.” While we were talking, she asked me about how important an email list was to her marketing plan. Of course, I answered that it was crucial – but then an analogy hit me that really made the importance clear. I shared with her that the email list is essentially the circulatory system/blood of your marketing efforts. It is what caries people to all of the different components of your social media marketing plan. Further, if you are using your email list effectively, you are actively encouraging your readers to forward the message on to others they know, which constantly brings “new blood” into your social media system. This method of email marketing is called “viral marketing” for just that reason – it allows your exposure to grow exponentially unlike any other communications method.
So that got me thinking…from an anatomy standpoint, how would I describe the rest of the key components in a social media marketing plan? Here’s what I came up with. Please share with me in the comments section if the analogies help you!
Website = Heart
Your website is the heart of the operation. It is the digital identity of you/your business on the internet. The goal of the whole system is to drive traffic to your website because that’s where you offer your services/products and it is the door to doing business with you.
Your website also has a sign up for your email list. The two intrinsically work together. Think about it…a beating heart with no blood to pump does little good, and neither does blood without a beating heart. Further, the two have to be in relative size to each other. If you are low on blood, the heart has to beat faster and faster to keep it moving. Eventually it will not be able to keep up that pace and will die. Having a strong blood stream without a strong, beating heart causes the blood to stagnate (it can’t get oxygen) and it too will die. Having a strong website with a weak email list causes the same phenomenon. Initially, the email list will drive some traffic, but without new subscribers to keep the traffic going, it will become insignificant – new people aren’t finding you and you drop off the radar of search engines. Equally, if you have a strong email list and weak website, your subscribers will get bored and possibly even frustrated by not having new content to see on your website and they will begin to unsubscribe. Bottom line – if one is missing or not working, the body is dead.
Blog = Stomach
I liken a blog to our stomach. We have to “feed” our blog new content. The blog then breaks down the content and turns it into things like loyal followers (people who regularly read your blog), happy search engines (search engines love new content and good keywords), greater credibility, and increased traffic to your website – just as our stomachs break down our food into the essential nutrients our body needs. The quality of what we feed our blog is as important as the quality of food we eat. A blog full of sales pitches, blatant self promotion and teasers is similar to a diet of fast food and empty calories – not only does it not help, it also causes significant damage. You have to feed your blog quality content – you have to genuinely share your knowledge, experience and expertise. Essentially, you have to give away some “stuff” that you may be used to charging for. It may sound counter-intuitive, but it really does convert into paying customers. It’s like giving a thisty person a small glass of water – it helps them a little, but if they want to get to the faucet, they have to pay admission. Oh yeah, and you have to feed your blog regularly or it will starve!
Your blog relates to the rest of the plan in the following ways:
- It links back to your website if it is a separate domain, which drives traffic to your website (search engines like incoming links so having a blog and website linking to each other helps).
- It has a sign up for your email list to help build it larger (new blood – yea!).
- You promote your new blog posts on your social networks – which drives traffic back to your blog and back to your website. It also builds links to your blog (more new blood – yea, yea!).
- Good SEO (search engine optimization) in the form of actively including the keywords/tags used most often by people searching on your topic will drive natural traffic from search engines – people who may have never heard of you before (even more new blood – yea, yea, yea!).
Social Networks = Hands, Mouth, Ears, and Eyes
It’s a bit more difficult to nail down one specific organ that is representative of social networks because they are so multi-functional. Social networks are a lot like our hands because connecting is one of the main functions – we grab onto new contacts and hold onto existing contacts. They are our mouth because they are forums to share our message and tell others about who we are and what we do. Lastly, they are our eyes and ears because if you are active you will definitely get feedback – particularly if you’re doing things wrong (bad social network ettiquette).
Social networks relate to the rest of the plan in the following ways:
- They are used to promote both your website and blog, which drives traffic.
- They are a source of links back to the blog and website.
- You create new connections who can join your email list – either through a direct request or by visiting your website or blog and signing up.
Email = Blood
Just a few last words about the role of the email list…To be effective, email marketing has to be targeted and customized to different segments of the list. Subscribers on your list will come and go because of reasons that have nothing to do with you. However, if you start to see noticeable trends in either direction, it could be an indicator that something is going very well or very wrong.
So, that’s the clearest way I can come up with to explain the phenomenon that is social media marketing. If something isn’t clear for you or you have more questions, please feel free to leave them in the comments section and I’ll answer as soon as possible!
Internet Marketing - Time is not on your side
June 1, 2009 | 1 Comment
If you are trying to build an Internet Marketing business, you can spend a year of two doing everything yourself and eventually get to a comfortable place where your income can support you.
Or, you can understand that time is very important and you can focus on your highest values, and outsource Internet marketing activities to virtual assistants while you do the things that will make you the most successful.
In the beginning, that is going to mean that you are making less, or possibly even losing money. No one likes that.
However, since the Internet scales and gets better with more content, more links and more websites, you can build a nice sized income quicker if you do the right things and outsource those tasks that can easily be done by other people.
Submit your virtual assistant request to our network - it is free. Find out if someone is out there that can help you be more successful faster. Finding a trusted virtual assistant that can help you will change your business for the better.
Freelance Web Writer
May 26, 2009 | Leave a Comment
Is a virtual assistant the same thing as a freelance web writer?
Probably no, but maybe.
When you decide it is time to hire a web writer, you need to think about what kind of writer you need. The fact that it is on the web may or may not be important.
A freelance web writer might be good at writing for SEO or for Landing Pages.
But maybe you need a technical writer and it does not matter that it is on the web.
Or maybe you just need a blog writer to keep your blog fresh. Then a Virtual Assistant is a great option.
The fact is, you need to know what you want to accomplish with your writing project. I guarantee that there is someone out there somewhere that is a great freelance web writer with the skills you need, but finding them depends on knowing what the skill set is before you start looking.
Make Money as a Virtual Assistant
May 18, 2009 | Leave a Comment
If you want to make money as a virtual assistant, you have to consider a few things.
One - what skills do you bring to the table and who needs assistance with those skills?
Two - Do enough people need help with that set of tasks?
We chose to specialize in helping people become Virtual Marketing Assistants because there is a huge demand for the service. The client may not always be looking for Virtual Marketing Assistant - they may be looking for a blog writer, an affiliate manager, a social media manager, an online PR specialist - the list goes on and on.
The point is, if you want to make money as a virtual assistant you need to have some specialized skills that are in demand and you have to know what your prospects are out searching for.
I assure you, the average business owner does not have time to do 10% of what they could do to produce better results online. Your job is to convince them that it is worth doing, and that you are the virtual specialist that can get it done for them.
Affiliate Marketing Virtual Assistant
May 7, 2009 | 1 Comment
If there is one thing that every virtual assistant should know, it is Affiliate Marketing.
Here are the reasons:
- By learning affiliate marketing, a virtual assistant can offer better internet marketing services to prospective clients.
- Affiliate marketing helps a virtual assistant generate income when they do not have any virtual assistant clients. Although make sales your first priority.
- Affiliate Marketing teaches you great technical skills like setting up websites and blogs, search engine optimization and how to write a sales letter or review. These are all valuable skills that are desirable virtual assistant skills.
- Low start up - a business selling affiliate products has nearly no start up fee. At most, I would suggest a place to host many websites cheaply and an auto responder to automate selling and reselling. Those are the only two things that you really need early on or you will regret it later.
As you get better at these skills, you will be able to offer affiliate manager services which many successful internet marketing companies need.
Start a Virtual Assistant Business
April 30, 2009 | 1 Comment
Do you want to start a virtual assistant business?
I am going to tell you a big secret here.
People do not hire virtual assistants.
If you are thinking that simply telling everyone you are a virtual assistant is going to get you virtual assistant projects, you are in for a world of disappointment.
People buy solutions to problems they have.
So what is more likely to be the case:
1) Business owner is sitting around thinking: “I need to hire someone to sit at their home computer all day.”
2) Business owner thinks: “I would like to do more blog article marketing. I know a business blog will generate more leads but I do not have time to do it. I need someone to write articles for me.”
When you are selling yourself as an assistant, you are selling in the hopes of #1 - very unlikely. When you sell a specific, high value solution as in #2 you are far more likely to make a sale.
For that reason, no one should just be saying they are a virtual assistant. Be the specific solution that people need and enjoy easier sales because prospects really understand what you have to offer.
Virtual Assistant Income
April 9, 2009 | 3 Comments
I frequently write about how important it is for a Virtual Assistant to Specialize.
It increases your value and it increased a potential client’s understanding of what you do.
Buzzoodle just launched a new program that is perfect for Virtual Assistants. Not something they need to buy necessarily, but something they need to add to their product list and use to increase their Virtual Assistant Income.
Buzzoodle Inbound Lead Generation has a high value for clients.
Many clients want the product, but do not have time to write regularly with it.
That is why a Virtual Assistant who wants to increase his or her income should join our Buzzoodle Reseller Program (FREE) and sell the product to a prospect, along with their writing services. The Virtual Assistant will earn $600 to $1,200 on the sale in the first 12 months and be able to do billable work for the client.
This model already works as I am hiring writers out of this network to do some of the writing for clients.
Virtual Assistant Frustration
March 21, 2009 | 1 Comment
A Virtual Assistant can be the source of frustration for a business owner or the main remedy for frustration.
Business Owners and Managers hire a virtual assistant to free up their time and make their life easier. If they hire a bad virtual assistant, they will spend more time trying to communicate the project than to just do the work themselves.
As a virtual assistant, you have to understand this. They are not buying your hours - they are buying dependability, relief and less frustration. If you are not making the business owner’s life easier, you are not doing your job.
And if you think it is the owners fault, you have not been in business long enough. People are hard to work for - period. Be prepaed for this. Have a process and make sure that all your clients understand the process up front. While the process may not be as flexible as some people would like, it greatly reduces the frustration for everyone because all parties know what to expect.
As a virtual assistant, your #1 product is the reduction of frustration. If you are not doing that, you are not getting the job done.
Your Virtual Assistant Website
March 5, 2009 | 1 Comment
Your Virtual Assistant Website must have these 7 things to get found and be effective.
- A Virtual Assistant Website must have very clear contact information. Name, Phone Number, Email
- Your Virtual Assistant Website must have a blog to demonstrate your writing ability and help people get to know you.
- Virtual Assistant Websites need to have examples of past projects you have completed to help visitors visualize how you can help them.
- A good Virtual Assistant Website is going to have testimonials on it, or link to your LinkedIn profile that has testimonials on it.
- Your Virtual Assistant Website needs to have good inbound links to it to help you rank better in search engines.
- Virtual Assistant websites should have industries you have experience with and specific skills you excel at.
- And lastly, it is not enough to tell people you are a virtual assistant. You must set up a web page that tells exactly how a client engages you and interacts with you. Are you available hourly or only on retainer? How long of a delay is there for new requests? Etc. Etc.
Virtual Assistant Success
February 21, 2009 | 3 Comments
Virtual Assistants 9.5 times out of 10 are people. People vary as much as anything when it comes to quality, reliability and performance. Here are a few tips to make your experience with a virtual assistant better.
- Pay a living wage - Do not try to talk down a Virtual Assistant in price much. If they are too high for your budget, find someone else. I do not know many people that are happy and do a good job after a pay cut, and if you convince the virtual assitant to work for a lower rate, that is exactly what you are doing.
- Give Clear Directions to your Virtual Assistant - Even if the Virtual Assistant has worked on your kind of project before, give clear directions and examples of what you want as an outcome.
- Package Tasks - Set specific, small tasks with limited hours to complete. Always take the time to assess the work. If a Virtual Assistant never hears feedback, they will think they are doing an excellent job. If you want to see some improvements it is up to you to let them know.
Virtual Assistant Success is possible, but remember they are people that are just trying to figure out what it is you want and complete it in a way that makes you happy and makes the virtual assistant money.
Virtual Assistant Jobs Available
February 13, 2009 | Leave a Comment
Members: Are you logging in to see the virtual assistant jobs available?
This is just a note to the existing members. I am getting complaints that no one is bidding on the Virtual Assistant Jobs that are getting posted.
I know that generally we like to see jobs that are a minimum of $500 per month, and it is a hassle to bid on smaller projects. However, the one that recently complained to me is $300 per month and seems like it would be steady and grow over time.
I know many of you are only looking for big Virtual Assistant Jobs. What do we need to do to address the issue of the smaller jobs that come through? I hate to see opportunities slip by.
I could require a minimum budget on projects…. $500 for example. But then we would get many fewer virtual marketing assistant job requests. Would you rather have fewer or would you rather keep your options open?
Small Virtual Assistant Jobs
Even though I tell you that you should only get virtual assistant jobs that pay a steady retainer and are big enough to do a good job with, I also want to remind you that many people want to test the waters with a virtual assistant and if you have the time, it may be worth doing the smaller virtual assistant project to demonstrate your value. That does not mean take any small virtual assistant job that comes along, but assess it for potential and even have that discussion with the client up front.
Big Virtual Assistant Jobs
One the other hand, I have seen some huge opportunities ($3,000 per month) seem great but then dry up quickly when the client did not get immediate value from the investment. The big amount looks great, but make sure you will be able to achieve the goals of the virtual assistant job spec and make sure they understand what the outcome is.
When choosing a virtual assistant job, be careful, be selective but also be sure to follow up with the people if the project is even in the ball part of what you want and can do. It never hurts to talk with the potential virtual assistant client or at least drop them an email.
Why You Need a Blog Writer
February 7, 2009 | 1 Comment
If you are a successful small business owner and you do not have a blog writer, you are missing out on ranking better in search engines and getting more sales leads. A blog writer will post content more frequently for you and will target your audience.
If you use a business blogging platform your blog will be a powerful sales and lead conversion center. The hardest part of this strategy is consistent, target writing. If you combine your blog articles, key employee blog writing and a contracted blog writer, you can produce amazing results.
Not only is it possible to rank extremely high in search engines for your keyword target, but it is also possible to convert your visitors to leads if you focus on the business outcome you want.
Google looks at the freshness of a site and the frequency of how often it changes to rate how they will rank it. This, along with keywords, formatting and links will help you capture high ranking and great results organically.
Are you worried about those other factors? They are all automated in an professional business blog system other than linking.
You need a blog writer to keep your business blog up to date and to ensure that your effort does not get stale or outdated.
What Are Blogs For?
February 3, 2009 | Leave a Comment
Remember that old song by Missing Persons - What are words for, when no one listens, what are words for….
Probably not - I had eclectic taste.
But that is a good question for blogs. What are blogs for? When no one reads them…. what are blogs for?
Of course, people do read them. But not the way you would think.
Few blogs become centers for thought leadership. Most blogs become a place to get to know a person or company - and they become search engine lead generators.
I consider the video in Virtual Buzz Assistant about how to write blog posts to get the best search engine results the most important lesson in the training. You might now agree, but if you are a virtual assistant and part of your job is blog writing, it is essential. Increased traffic to the blog is a clear measure of your value. It is nice to have some solid metrics to point to on your value.
Blogs are for search engine traffic. Some few become centers of their industry, but a realistic, SEO approach to your blog will give you the more likely return on investment.
Virtual Assistant Internet Marketing
January 31, 2009 | 1 Comment
An Internet Marketing Virtual Assistant is the best way to be effective at Internet Marketing when you are on a budget.
The reality is, Internet Marketing is time intensive and there are many tasks that can be outsourced to a virtual assistant to improve your Interent Marketing effort while giving you more free time.
Here is a list of some of the Internet Marketing Tasks a Virtual Assistant can do:
- Virtual Assistant Internet Marketing Task #1 - Write Blog Posts every week to keep your blog current.
- Virtual Assistant Internet Marketing Task #2 - Answer emails and delete spam to free you up.
- Virtual Assistant Internet Marketing Task #3 - Update Websites, Blogs and Wikis
- Virtual Assistant Internet Marketing Task #4 - Manage your affiliate program.
- Virtual Assistant Internet Marketing Task #5 - Online PR, such as contacting bloggers, news media and sending press releases.
- Virtual Assistant Internet Marketing Task #6 - Manage your Adword campaign.
These are just some of the many Internet Marketing Tasks a Virtual Assistant can do for you to free up your time while helping you get better online results
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