Virtual Assistants should be MAD!

November 14, 2008 | 8 Comments

The problem with a trend becoming popular is that everyone starts doing it.

For example, I liked Shakira before she ever did an English song.  Years before.  With Hips Don’t Lie how can anyone not like her?  I am just a part of the masses now.

Virtual Assistants have been around for a long time.  However, with the The 4-Hour Workweek, hiring virtual assistants became in vogue.  The company specifically mentioned in that best selling book became so busy that they could not handle the rush to hire their services and lost a lot of opportunities.

Now I see a trend for Virtual Assistants, and if you are one of the pre-4 hours work week virtual assistants, you should be mad as hell.  (Although maybe not, since you cannot do anything about it.)

Everyone is a virtual assistant.

Here are just a few of the careers of people that I know that are calling themselves virtual assistants but still doing the other work as well.

  • Business Consultants
  • Life Coaches
  • Business Coaches
  • Freelance Writers
  • Internet Marketers
  • Graphic Designers
  • Web Designers
  • Accountants/Book keepers

I am sure the list is much bigger, but you get the idea.  If you are a Virtual Assistant and that is all you do, you are now competing with everyone.  You might ask yourself WHY?

The answer is simple.  Virtual Assistants are people that work remotely and help businesses or people achieve particular goals by completing specific tasks.  Many activities can be done virtually, including most of the jobs I mentioned above.

The reason that people are calling themselves virtual assistants is because it is a gateway into a client.  In Internet marketing, we know that a client that is willing to pay $10 today has a good chance of paying $100 tomorrow.  So a business consultant or coach may begin by assisting a client with a few tasks, all the while offering valuable advice.  Later, that client may chose to upgrade and become a coaching client.

For this same reason, general Virtual Assistants should specialize and up-sell their specialized skills.  For example, a virtual assistant might do general tasks at $25 an hour, but charge $50 an hour for copyrighting or website design.

Oddly enough, a VA that has specialized skills will find it easier to sell their services as well.  Sure, not everyone will need the specialized skill, but when someone does, it is much easier to get that work.  Think about it from the client perspective.

Client: Do you do Internet Marketing?

VA: Sure, we do everything.

- Yeah, I am going to hire this VA.  NOT!

Client: Do you do Internet Marketing?

VA: Absolutely.  That is my specialty.  I help people with adword management and conversion analysis.  I am also quit good at SEO (Search engine optimization).  I do not design HTML, but I have a partner that does that.

- Wow, that VA has got her act together.  And yes, I will pay her much more per hour than the generalist.

So let me propose something.  The term Virtual Assistant is dead.  It is as general as saying you are a Worker.  Imagine someone asking what you do and you replying, “I am a worker.  I work.  I do whatever I am told.”

The good news is you just have to become good at something by focusing on it for a while.  Here we do Internet Marketing and call the virtual assistants Virtual Buzz Assistants.  You could also do accounting, technology, design, sales support - there are a ton of things.  But don’t try to do them all.

Posted by Ron McDaniel | Filed Under Blog 

Virtual Assistant Job Postings

November 9, 2008 | 2 Comments

This builds on the Virtual Assistant Jobs article.

How do you improve your chance of getting a virtual assistant job that you see on a virtual assistant job posting?  These tips for getting the job are valid for the virtual buzz assistant network job postings as well as virtual assistant job postings at places like odesk.com, guru.com and elance.com.

Tips for Rocking Virtual Assistant Job Postings

  1. Watch for opportunities every day and contact people right away.
  2. If you have a phone number, call them and discuss what their needs are.
  3. Focus on the client’s need and how you will meet them in the call and email.
  4. Find virtual assistant job opportunities that are great fits for your specialization.
  5. Follow up quickly.  If you send a proposal, make sure you follow up to see if they got it and if they have questions.
  6. Use testimonials from past clients.
  7. Have professional contracts prepared.
  8. Have a system for managing projects and let them know how the system works before you ever close the deal.  This builds confidence in your professionalism.
  9. Have a blog to demonstrate your skills in writing and other tasks.
  10. When talking about a past project, word it in such a way that you say, “When I was helping xyz grow his business, we …”
  11. Talk 20% - 30% of the time.
  12. Ask good questions.
  13. Know how to look for someone that has unrealistic expectations and decline to work with them.
  14. Have a system that you follow daily for checking for new Virtual Assistant Job Opportunities among the places that post virtual assistant job postings.
    Example: a) Log into Virtual Buzz Assistant Network and Check Job/Project Postings.  b) Search oDesk.com and bid on at least one project daily.  c)  If you are technical, look for opportunities as a more technical virtual assistant on guru.com each day.
  15. Have professional profiles online like LinkedIn.
  16. Have a clean and professional website.  Do not make things blink, multi-colors, etc.
  17. Write and communicate with the intention to get the client and make money.  This is not a personal call/email.
  18. Follow up when you do not get a project and offer to help if the person selected does not work out.  Keep in touch if you have built a relationship with the person and look for future opportunities with them.
  19. Do not respond to virtual assistant job postings that are asking for people to do unethical things, like fake reviews or spam message boards.
  20. Be confident about your offer, your pricing and your results.
  21. Do not put the burden on the client to take the next step.  After a conversation, say…”I will send you the contract with this outlined.  All you need to do is review it, sign it and send the charge card information and we will get it scheduled….”  Or something like that.  Clients hire a virtual assistant so that they have less work, not more.
  22. Send support materials.  If you are waiting on a project to close, go find some articles of other companies in the potential client’s industry that are doing similar things and send them the link along with a note saying, “Thought this might interest you….”
  23. Stay engaged until you get a yes or a no.
  24. Put a reasonable deadline/expiration date in your proposal.

To get better results when responding to a virtual assistant job posting, you must understand that the job posting is not for a virtual assistant to fill a vacant virtual seat that the client has.  It is because they need help executing their plan and building their business.  If you approach the client as if you are interested in helping them solve problems and execute thier plan, then you are going to get a lot more clients from the virtual assistant job postings and make a lot more money.

Join the Virtual Buzz Assistant Network to access members-only project requests

Posted by Ron McDaniel | Filed Under Blog 

10 Reasons Virtual Assistant Projects Fail

November 6, 2008 | 5 Comments

Sultan Mahmud Bridge, Kuala Terengganu (DSC_0810)

I’d love to say that most of the time Virtual Assistants are a great buy.  The fact is, it is a lot like hiring a normal employee.  You get better at it over time.  You learn what to look for and what to ask.  And you eventually realize that you have to manage them, not just tell them what to do and hope it turns out OK.

Here are the 10 top reasons a project with a virtual assistant will fail:

  1. Poor definition of tasks the Virtual Assistant must do.
  2. Hiring the VA for a big project without first doing a small project to test the Virtual Assistant.
  3. Not setting clear outcomes that you expect from a group of tasks.
  4. Hiring the cheapest Virtual Assistant.
  5. Not monitoring progress and setting milestones.
  6. Having unrealistic expectations of the outcome (especially with internet marketing)
  7. Hiring a virtual assistant that tries to do too many different things - they will not be very proficient at any.
  8. Failure to cut project quickly.  If things are not going well and you are spending more time with the virtual assistant than it would take to just do it yourself, cancel the project and move on.
  9. Assumptions - Failure to carefully explain each thing will doom your project.  Assume nothing and document everything.
  10. Forgetting about the VA over time and not giving them encouragement.  It is easy to forget they are out there doing tasks for you and they may not stay enthusiastic if you do not connect with them occasionally.

Really all of these items can be summed up into this.  You need to carefully hire, train and manage a virtual assistant if you expect them to preform well for you.  And if you do not succeed with the first one you try, don’t give up.  Assess what went wrong and hire a virtual assistant that is better the next time.

Posted by Ron McDaniel | Filed Under Blog 

Internet Marketing Assistant

October 24, 2008 | 2 Comments

Internet Marketing Assistants are in hot demand.  The problem is, everyone thinks of themselves as an Internet Marketing Assistant even though they are not offering anything that is special or highly skilled.  Read this post about hiring internet marketing assistants from oDesk.

John Cow is a good group of Internet Marketing Experts and they are desparate for some quality help.  The problem is, finding quality help amoung the multitude of people claiming to be internet marketing assistants is difficult.

The fact is, once you get really good, you make more money doing the marketing for yourself.  So to find a good internet marketing assistant, you need to find someone that is experienced, but not so good that they do not need the work.

Another solution is to hire different assistants for different tasks.  For example, instead of hirning an internet marketing assistant, you may want to hire several people and each specializes in one task.

  • Blog Writing
  • Online Advocacy
  • Online Contest Manager
  • Editing
  • Social Bookmarking
  • Newsletter Management
  • Help Desk

These are just some of the ideas.  If you hire individuals to run one area well, then it is easier to assess their skills and less likely they will become good at overall internet marketing and start doing things for themselves.

Posted by Ron McDaniel | Filed Under Blog 

Virtual Assistant

September 18, 2008 | 2 Comments

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What is a Virtual Assistant and how is that differnet from a Virtual Buzz Assistant?

Virtual Assistants are people that work Virtually and assist you with tasks.

I started this network because I saw so many virtual assistant sites advertising a laundry list of things they would do.  Website Development, Search Engine Optimization, Blog Writing….

The fact is, if you are hiring a traditional virtual assistant to do these kinds of marketing tasks, you are probably not getting a good value.  There are all different levels of skills with these kinds of internet marketing skills, and a virtual assistant that is willing to book your airline ticket, do data entry and order flowers for you is unlikely to be really good in internet marketing as well.  It just requires too much experience and constant learning to do those things well among other things.

So, if you would like to hire a virtual assistant that does general tasks, that is great and there are lots of places to do that.  If you are interested in hiring a Virtual Assistant that is Internet Marketing Savvy, you need to know what you are looking for and submit your project here.

A Virtual Buzz Assistant is very different.  They often do their own internet marketing and continually sharpen their skills by selling their own products or affiliate products.  They watch videos and read information on how to be a more effective blog writer, buzz marketing expert, etc.

A Virtual Buzz Assistant also will usually turn down those tasks that are more general.  They are focused on becoming the best Internet Marketing Professional that they can be.  That is why they will charge a higher hourly rate as well - because they provide more specialized skills.

Keep in mind that there are some similarities of a Virtual Assistant, an Executive Assistant and a Virtual Buzz Assistant.  You would not hire the Executive Assistant and ask them to be the CEO.  They assist the CEO.

You should not hire a virtual assistant and put them in charge of hiring.  However, you might hire one so sort through resumes and look for particular criteria.

And you should not hire a Virtual Buzz Assistant to write your buzz marketing plan.  They help you do the tasks to make your plan successful, but you have to have at least a simple plan with goals to begin with.

Virtual Assistants, whether doing internet marketing or other tasks, can be a very effective way to grow your organization.  But remember that you are in charge of strategy and you have to develop the working relationship, not just tell them to go create internet buzz for you.

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Posted by Ron McDaniel | Filed Under Blog 

Virtual Assistant Lifestyle

September 16, 2008 | Leave a Comment

City of Virginia Beach

Does working at home the hours you want sound appealing?

The Virtual Assistant Lifestyle is great, but it is not for everyone.  Here is a list of virtual assistant lifestyle benefits and another list with virtual assistant lifestyle drawbacks.

Virtual Assistnat Lifestyle Benefits

  • Work from home
  • Flexible Hours
  • Tax Benefits of having your own business
  • Work for clients you want
  • Earn more than many entry level jobs - see virtual assistant salaries
  • Develop skills that can make you a better marketer and lead to you having passive revenue.

Virtual Assistant Lifestyle Drawbacks

  • It is easier for a client to not continue a virtual assistant contract than it is for an employer to fire an employee.
  • No benefits
  • No guarantee of hours
  • You need to do a lot of business management for yourself
  • You have to be able to sell your services
  • You have to spend your own time sharpening your skills.

Being a Virtual Assistant is excellent as a second income that you can grow slowly.  If you are really good, a company will often try to cut a deal with you that could lead to long term stability.  If it is your primary income, you really need to have a team that you use.  Only by developing a bigger book of clients can you hope to have some form of dependability with your virtual assistant business.

The Virtual Assistant Lifestyle is excellent, but you have to plan ahead and be realistic.

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Posted by Ron McDaniel | Filed Under Blog 

Using Virtual Assistants to Grow a Marketing Agency

September 4, 2008 | 1 Comment

Flower

I had lunch today with a friend that runs a successful PR and Marketing Agency.  We were discussing how to use Virtual Assistants to grow her agency.

Here is the primary issue.  When you get clients, you could put them with a virtual assistant, but that is risky because you do not know their skill set or dependability.  So you end up fitting those tasks into your full time staff’s schedules, even though it would be more profitable if you knew the Virtual Assistant could do the job.

So what is the solution to effectively growing your marketing agency with virtual assistants?  Simple.

  1. Hire them on a small monthly retainer to market your marketing agency.  This way you have an existing relationship in place and you know the quality of work.
  2. Communicate in advance when new opportunities are upcoming.  Make sure you know if they have the time to take on additional hours.
  3. Get them accustom to your culture and expectations.  Be tough in these small projects, so they do not think you will be easy to work with on client work.

If you just do those things, you can have one or even a few virtual assistants waiting to take on additional work when the need arises.  Plus you will be doing a better job of marketing your marketing agency.

This approach will keep you lean and help you scale to meet fluctuating demand.

Posted by Ron McDaniel | Filed Under Blog 

Virtual Assistant Network

September 2, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Another Swatch Irony, in colour, from a differ...

How do you assess the value a virtual assistant network provides and how do you know if the VA network is worth paying for?

Here are some tips to help you think about whether to pay for membership in a Virtual Assistant Network.

  1. First assess your own needs. What do you want out of the network?  For example, you would not want to join the Virtual Buzz Assistant Network if you are just looking for basic information on becoming a virtual executive assistant.
  2. Assess value to needs - How much is a solution to your need worth?  In our case, is becoming an Internet Marketing Assistant worth $99 per month?  Depends on your goals.
  3. Job Leads - A Virtual Assistant Network will probably not provide you with 100% of your work.  Instead, figure out how many new clients per year you would need to be happy with the network.  Networks are usually only going to provide leads, and your ability to offer a service and close the deal will be critical.  Some of our Virtual Assistants have reported making a profit within the first month, but some have never gotten a virtual assistant job.
  4. Commitment - Is the Virtual Assistant Network trapping you into a long term commitment?  Do they require monthly payments that you cannot cancel?  We allow people to cancel any time and offer a $9 trial membership that is good for 7 days.
  5. Virtual Assistant Network Cost - Money and Time - If you invest your money and time into the network will it help you grow your organization?  What are the key values they give you to grow your Virtual Assistant Business?

You might think I am all about talking you into joining a Virtual Assistant Network.  I am, if you are serious about growing your virtual assistant business.  But it is an investment and if you are just going to dabble, you should stick to the free virtual assistant message boards out there.

You  should join our Virtual Assistant Network only if you understand that long-term, you will be a better asset to your clients and worth more because of your Internet Marketing skills.  It does not happen overnight, and you have to learn by doing marketing for yourself as well.  But it is a great long-term investment in your Virtual Assistant Business.

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Posted by Ron McDaniel | Filed Under Blog 

How to Promote a Blog

September 1, 2008 | 1 Comment

A blog can go a long way promoting itself if you are putting out GREAT articles.  However, it takes a long time to get someone to discover you and building an audience.  So this article is How To Promote a Blog, assuming you already are producing good articles.

If you are a really good writer, I would suggest you hire a Virtual Buzz Assistant to do most of these activities for you.  The reason is that producing great information regularly on your blog is your number one goal.  If you do not do that you can generate traffic but you cannot capture an audience that cares about what you have to say.

Part 1: How to Promote a Blog Online?

There are so many ways to promote your blog online that I can only give you some of the more well known options here.

You can promote your blog with:

  1. Article Marketing - Write and submit articles to eZineArticles.com
  2. Blog Commenting - Write good comments on some good blogs, not spam lots of blogs.
  3. Add your blog in your email signature.
  4. Participate in online groups that have the audience that would find your blog interesting.
  5. Publish and reference your blog articles as part of broader resources in sites like Work.com, Squidoo.com, Hubpages.com, etc.
  6. Add clear ways to subscribe with email or RSS.  Getting people to come back is much easier.
  7. Do keyword research and write blog article that people are searching for.
  8. Add a link from your website to your blog.
  9. Syndicate your blog in sites like Tumblr.com, FaceBook, Twitter

Part 2: How to Promote a Blog Offline?

  1. Go to local events and meet people.  If they are interested in your blog topic, invite them to read.
  2. Have your blog listed on your business card or on its own business card.
  3. Send postcards or greeting cards to promote your blog - Targeted, not mass mailing.
  4. Promote your blog within invoices and mailings to existing customers
  5. Promote your blog with a bumper sticker on your car with your blog URL.
  6. Make sure local media knows about your blog so you are seen as a local expert.  This could land you in print.
  7. Join or start a local bloggers group, where other bloggers come and share ideas and experience.  They often become readers as well.

If you are wondering how to promote your blog, this is just the most obvious ways.  You want to think in terms of one reader at a time and not get caught up in trying to get thousands.  For example, I frequently get bursts of 100’s of extra visitors via StumbleUpon.com, but they just stumbled upon the blog and are not likely to become a long term reader.  One person that is going to keep coming back has far more value to me.

Lastly, you can see that promoting a blog is a lot of work.  If you are trying to do everything, you have a long hill to climb.  Consider outsourcing some of the writing and some of the promotion.  It is free to submit your project here at this site and get quotes on help.

Posted by Ron McDaniel | Filed Under Blog 

Virtual Management

August 30, 2008 | 1 Comment

corner tiles

Why am I writing about Virtual Management when this is a virtual assistant blog?

Well, if you have ever had a really skilled virtual assistant, you know that they can actually manage a big part of your business.  In fact, once you have tried them out, why not call them your virtual management team?

A virtual assistant only becomes part of your virtual management team if they are actually managing an aspect of your company and reporting back to you.  Lets look at a few options where a talented virtual assistant could actually be a virtual manager.

  1. Virtual Manager of Google AdWords and Online Advertising
    Manage all ads, keywords and track cost and results for every single expenditure.
  2. Virtual Manager of Online Customer Relations
    Management of customer relations.  They see support emails, get info@ requests and search the web for people that are talking about your organization - and respond if appropriate.
  3. Virtual Manager of Internet Publishing
    Your Internet Publishing Editor is the management person in charge of getting your articles out on time and following your schedule.
  4. Virtual Manager of Virtual Assistant Team
    If you have several virtual assistants doing regular tasks for you, then it is time to hire virtual management to manage your virtual assistants.
  5. Accountability Boss
    OK, call me crazy, but maybe you need virtual management to manage you.  They keep your calendar up to date and hold you to your goals.
  6. Virtual Marketing Manager
    For many smaller organizations, having a virtual marketing manager is the next best thing to having a full time employee or working with an expensive marketing agency.

The only things that make someone a virtual manager instead of a virtual assistant is the desire to take on more responsibility, be highly organized and clear on outcomes.  A virtual management position can be in the future of any virtual assistant.

Posted by Ron McDaniel | Filed Under Blog 

Social Media Manager

August 29, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Virtual reality uses multimedia content. Appli...

A Virtual Buzz Assistant can easily also be called a Social Media Manager.

Here are the differences

  1. A Social Media Manager works full time and explores all kinds of avenues for developing relationships and information online.  A Virtual Buzz Assistant focuses on the specific social media tasks as defined by the client.
  2. A Social Media Manager can handle complaints, bad reviews or negative comments.  A Virtual Buzz Assistant will point these items out to the client and the client should address them.
  3. Social Media Managers are doing many social networking tasks.  Virtual Buzz Assistants focus on a few high value tasks and leave experimentation up to the client.
  4. Social Media Managers need to be able to create great original content about the organization.  A Virtual Buzz Assistant might create content, but rarely are they the main messenger of the organization.
  5. A Social Media Manager monitors the web for information EVERY DAY.  A Virtual Buzz Assistant can do that, but rarely do clients schedule enough hours to include that service.
  6. If you employ a social media manager, they are going to be going to all kinds of conferences and group meetings, because those online relationships actually get stronger when you meet people in person.  A Virtual Buzz Assistant can do that for you, but I am thinking you will not want to send a VA.

This post is not to say that Social Media Managers are better than Virtual Buzz Assistants.  It is simply a budget issue.  If you cannot afford a full time social media manager then a Virtual Buzz Assistant, with some great involvement from you, is the next best thing.

Go here to read a great example of what a Social Media Manager would do?

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Posted by Ron McDaniel | Filed Under Blog 

Virtual Assistance with Internet Marketing

August 26, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Morning Light

Virtual assistance with Internet Marketing just makes sense.  Can you get any more virtual than Internet Marketing?

First, how do you request virtual assistance that will be effective?

  1. Begin with a limited request.  Don’t make a long term commitment until you have tested out the virtual assistance quality of service.
  2. Do not pay a fee to make your request.  There are lots of places to request access for virtual assistance.  For example, here at the virtual Buzz Assistant network you can post your request for free and work directly with the service provider of your choice.
  3. Clearly define the assistance you need.  The advantage of working with a virtual assistant is that it is MUCH cheaper than hiring a marketing firm.  But you have to know what you want as far as virtual assistance goes.  The more clear you are on the marketing tasks, the more effective you can be with assessing the value you are getting back.
  4. Hire someone that can provide virtual assistance that has the background to help you succeed.  Our virtual assistants get Internet Marketing training in the network, so they can be of the highest value to you.
  5. Respect your service provider.  Do not ask for unreasonable things.  They need to make a living too, and if they turn out to give you great assistance, you do not want them to go get a job because the pay was too low.  Find something that works for both of you.

The advantages of virtual assistance are:

  • lower cost
  • short term commitment
  • no equipment, utilities, benefits
  • contractors that want to keep you as a client
  • less administration

Seeking virtual assistance with Internet marketing, as well as many other business activities will help you keep costs low and build relationships that are more valuable and better focused on outcomes.

Posted by Ron McDaniel | Filed Under Blog 

Marketing Your Book on the Internet

August 25, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Authors with upcoming books or newly released books are a great candidate to hire a Virtual Buzz Assistant.  Here are some tips on how to utilize this great resource to get your book into more hands.

  1. A virtual Buzz Assistant can contact influential people and ask them to review the book.
  2. A VA can help organize a virtual book tour.
  3. A VA can help organize an in-person book tour.
  4. A VA can ask bloggers to review sample chapters of books.
  5. A Virtual Assistant can solicit reviews on amazon.
  6. A Virtual Buzz Assistant can read your book and then help write your blog to keep fresh content out there.
  7. A Virtual Assistant can build a squidoo lens about your book.
  8. An assistant can help you organize testimonials for your website and markting.
  9. If your book gets you consulting, your VBA can help you find people to send a free copy of your book to.
  10. Your Virtual Assistant can answer questions about the book.
  11. The Virtual Buzz Assistant can help you expand your online profile on sites like LinkedIn, Plaxo, Facebook, MySpace and more.
  12. Article marketing is a great way to create interest and the “find out more” can point to your website, blog or place to purchase the book.
  13. Your virtual marketing assistant can make sure your book is listed in online directories.
  14. Many virtual assistants know how to modify a webpage or blog post to get better search engine positioning.
  15. Your virtual buzz assistant can participate in forums and create relationships with people that care about your topic.
  16. Virtual assistants can market your book directly to book clubs and online reading groups.
  17. A virtual assistant can help you write and publish your enewsletter.
  18. Virtual Assistants can also help you grow your list of subscribers.
  19. VA’s can also help you write white papers or case studies that people must sign up for to get.
  20. And most importantly, your Virtual Buzz Assistant can promote this book and help you run your business while you get busy on that next book.

Hiring a virtual assistant is easy, and it is free to submit your project request.  The virtual buzz assistant network has members that have experience promoting books on the internet and they get the training to be effective with internet marketing techniques that work very well with may types of books.

Posted by Ron McDaniel | Filed Under Blog 

Virtual Buzz with Virtual Assistants

August 25, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Bassin d'Arcachon France : 5

You can create a lot of buzz with your employees via great customer service and great products.  But how do you create virtual buzz on the internet without distracting your employees?

Virtual Assistants can easily be trained to create virtual buzz on the web for you one a regular basis.  Not getting exactly what you want?  Great, move on and try another.  It is not like they are employees - and they know that.  Virtual Buzz Assistants want to keep you happy long term and perform better because of it.

Here are some Virtual Buzz Tasks that a Virtual Assistant can do for you.

  1. Blog Writing
  2. Blog Commenting
  3. Blog Management
  4. Website Updates
  5. Affiliate Management and Recruiting
  6. eBook Writing
  7. White Paper Research and Writing
  8. Contest Management and Promotion
  9. Online Advocacy
  10. Profile Management
  11. Social Network Management
  12. Press Release writing and submission
  13. Article Marketing
  14. SEO
  15. eNewsletter writing and publishing
  16. Link Building
  17. Video development
  18. Directory listings
  19. Social Network Expansion
  20. email followups
  21. CRM Management
  22. JV Development

There are more, but if you did all of these, wow, you would be well known on the web.  You can create all the virtual buzz you want with a virtual assistant.  Just don’t expect to have sales leads gushing in after only a few weeks.  These strategies take time.

Posted by Ron McDaniel | Filed Under Blog 

Virtual Assistants – Recession Busters?

August 23, 2008 | 1 Comment

If your business is experiencing a slow down and you are cutting back, you should know a few things.

    1. There will be less competition now for people that were spending a lot on SEO and web development. This is a perfect time to start building a higher web profile.
    2. Rates are down – Many new people are becoming virtual assistants because of being downsized. You may be able to get a really great rate on a virtual assistant to write for you while you focus on sales.
    3. Downsizing may be good – Even if you do not have to let people go, it may be a good time to cut positions that are not paying for themselves and hire virtual assistants and contractors to fill those positions on an as-needed basis.
    4. Don’t just hire virtual assistants. Maybe the economic slowdown means it is time to become a virtual company. Imagine less utilities, no lease and a write off for your home office.
    5. Monthly Performance Concerns – A contractor or virtual assistant is going to be concerned each month with demonstrating value because they want to have more work next month, and maybe even some referrals. Many employees expect to have a job until they find out otherwise.

    When you hire a virtual assistant, you should pay as much attention defining their tasks and training them as you would an employee in your organization. If you do that, you are going to reap big cost savings and get more work done.

    During a time of recession it is also a great time to strengthen your position on the web and gain market share and search engine dominance.

    Posted by Ron McDaniel | Filed Under Blog 

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