Specialized Communication Channels

November 20, 2008 | 1 Comment

Serious Internet Marketers needs to be aware of Specialized Communication Channels.

That is a general term to help you think about what you are trying to achieve in todays Internet Marketing environmant.

Virtual Assistants that have chosen to specialize in Internet Marketing cannot just sit back and do the tasks assigned to them.  They need to be developing their own specialized communication channels.  The reasons virtual marketing assistants want to do that is:

  1. Experience Building Communication Channels
  2. Experience Maintaining Communication Channels
  3. Resale Value - Once you develop a strong channel, you can sell advertising or affiliate products.
  4. Lead Source - You will find clients from a good communication channel

Most of what internet marketing is can be thought of as communication channels.  Here are some examples that I use or have used.

These are just some of the examples of specialized communication channels.  You need to develop your own in order to understand the tools and help clients better.  (Not this exact list, these are just more common things I use)

Several things are missing from the list:  Social Bookmarks and Photo Sharing Sites I consider too weak to be considered communication channels, but I could be wrong in some cases where there is a lot of interaction and people actively follow other people.  Also, this does not include search engine strategies or advertising.  Those are hugely important to Internet Marketing as well.

Nearly everything in the above list of specialized communication channels is free or very low cost.  There is no reason not to develop good habits of building these channels for yourself, and eventually helping clients build them as well.

Posted by Ron McDaniel | Filed Under Blog 

Open Source Software Virtual Assistant

November 19, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Computer rigeneriamoci

Why does every Open Source Software effort need a Virtual Assistant?

Usually I write about how virtual assistants can use open source software to their advantage.  Today I want to write about how open source software developers can use virtual assistants to their advantage.

Let’s face it.  Open source software developers are technical.  They love technology and are passionate about what they do.  They probably do not get too excited about documentation, testing and promoting the open source software.

Since Open Source means they have a limited (or no) budget, they often have to do everything through volunteers.

Simply by adding a donate button, a group of open source developers could hire a Virtual Assistant that could help their effort get noticed.  Here are some of the things a virtual assistant could do to aid an opensource software project.

  1. Open Source Software testing
  2. Open Source Software Documentation
  3. Website Design
  4. Demo Management
  5. Open Source Online Community Management
  6. Donation Solicitation
  7. Promotion via Social Networks and Media
  8. Write white papers on how your open source software saves money
  9. Open Source Software Project Coordination

I am sure there are more ways a virtual assistant can help an open source software development effort.  The point is that you are far more likely to succeed if you have someone focusing on the tasks that they excel at and leave the other tasks to an expert virtual assistant.

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Posted by Ron McDaniel | Filed Under Blog 

Project Manager Assistant

November 19, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Managing projects well is a complex job.  The best way to manage a project well is to have the project manager focus on their core skills and have a project manager assistant do the mundane tasks and daily management that needs done to be sure that everything is being coordinated and is on schedule.

For example, if you are doing Internet Marketing yourself you have no chance to really do a good job of managing your internet marketing projects, doing SEO, managing your PPC campaigns, writing quality content every day and any number of other tasks that need done.

That is why you need to use a Virtual Buzz Assistant as a Project Manager Assistant.

This does not mean that you hire one person to do all the tasks and manage themselves as well.  That is not practical.

Instead, hire a really good, experienced virtual assistant that has a talent and understanding of Internet Marketing and is highly organized.

Then ask them do do some of the tasks that are in their core competency and hire and manage other virtual assistants, blog writers, SEO specialists and anyone else you need for your Internet marketing project.  This trusted Project Manager Assistant then becomes the person that drives the project forward each day.  They are also responsible for reporting progress and problems to you before they escalate.

Ultimately, this is a great way to get the best results from outsourcing your internet marketing.  Trust me, I have tried to outsource portions before and I often spend more time managing and training people than  I want.  That is why one virtual assistant project manager - acting as your project assistant - will help you get much better results, keep your time freed up and be focused on the project’s success.

Posted by Ron McDaniel | Filed Under Blog 

Virtual Assistant Business Plan

November 15, 2008 | 1 Comment

How to write a Virtual Assistant Business Plan

If you want to write a virtual assistant business plan, begin with a good business plan template.  I do not suggest the software that is out there, because there are many free resources that will get you a fast start.  Go to www.docstoc.com and find a business plan template that you like.

Virtual Assistant Business Plan Tip #1

It is important to plan your virtual assistant business.  However, I have never seen planning generate a penny of income.  Do not spend weeks or months with your business plan.  Instead, do some research and set some goals.  Then understand that your business plan will continually need to be modified as you learn more about the business.

Virtual Assistant Business Plan Tip #2

Your Virtual Assistant financial projections should be based on facts, or you need to start out with a realistic financial projection.  For example, if you have never sold your services before, projecting 5 new clients next month is not realistic.  5 leads might be.

Does that mean that 5 clients is impossible?  No.  Just not realistic because you have not done it before and experience with selling your services does improve your odds on getting clients.

Virtual Assistant Business Plan Tip #3

Business Plan Monthly Projections are supposed to be used.  That means, the first week of every month schedule time to update your projections and revise your future projections if it is clear you are not going to hit your number - or if you are going to exceed your numbers.

Virtual Assistant Business Plan Tip #4

In your virtual assistant business plan, have a section that clearly explains your plan if you get too busy.  Are you just going to stop taking clients, are you going to hire someone or are you going to outsource some of the work?

Virtual Assistant Business Plan Tip #5

Don’t get lost in the research.  Business plans are a generic document that can be used for retail, consulting and any other type of business.  While it is great to go see what your successful competition is doing, you are really not competing directly with them so much as you are trying to carve out your own special niche and differentiate yourself.

The virtual assistant business plan tip that is the most important is that your business is all about making money and making you happy.  That means you need to focus on ways to create income, and the income must be substantial enough to cover your expenses and make you feel good about the work you are doing.  This is a huge deal.  I spent years in business losing money the first time.  You keep telling yourself the story that you are growing a business and it is necessary to lose money at first.  That is only the case if you believe the story.

Write a business plan that is realistic and makes you happy.  That may mean that you are only working with three clients at a time, but you make a good income and they value your work.  That is a far better business plan vs one that projects selling your services to half of China.

For a thirty day guide to everything you need for your virtual assistant business planning and launch, download the free eBook - Start a Virtual Assistant Business.

Posted by Ron McDaniel | Filed Under Blog 

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 

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 Blog Writer

October 4, 2008 | Leave a Comment

A Virtual Assistant Blog Writer is one of the best things your business can do with a virtual assistant.

However, blog writing skills are as diverse as hiring someone that is in construction.

Do you need a handyman to repair your railing?  Or do you need a crew to build your garage?

Your blog writing is just as diverse.  Before you start shopping for a Virtual Assistant Blog Writer, begin by understanding what your goals are.  Here are some possible goals for a business blog.

  1. Provide news and industry information - people come back frequently to the blog.
  2. Get great search engine traffic for your keywords and generate leads.
  3. Lock down additional slots in search engines to control your brand identity better.
  4. Create buzz and linking to the blog with great link bait articles.

All four of these are good goals, and they can all happen to some extent, but it is a lot of work to do these things well.  For example, if you want good keyword written blog posts, you need to do research, measure the results you get and maybe do minor rewrites over time to improve performance.

Writing a good link bait article could take days of research and writing.  You would not expect a cheap blog writer to be able to produce that kind of article.

Know your Blog Writing Goals

To get the most out of hiring a virtual assistant that is a blog copywriter, you need to understand what the goals are and craft your interview questions accordingly.  Here are some sample questions.

  1. What tools do you use to do keyword research before writing a blog post?
  2. What is your strategy for writing headlines?
  3. Show me some examples of link bait you have written.  (You can then measure the number of links to that page to see how successful it is)
  4. Send me a link to a post you wrote that had target keywords and tell me what those keywords are.
  5. How do you handle writers block?
  6. How do you work?  If I want 10 blog posts per month, how would you produce them?

These blog writer interview questions are going to eliminate 90% or more of the applicants (unless they are trying to BS you) because most blog writers are not writing with a clear strategy and do not know how to do many of these things effectively.  They see blog writing as just writing a few paragraphs to keep the blog current.  That is fine if you are not expecting much out of the blog, but you can get better results with a blog writing strategy and serious writing with a trained professional.

Once you hire a good virtual assistant blog writer, be sure to pay them well and treat them very well.  While there are lots of virtual assistants available, getting one that is a good blog copywriter that can produce great results is very special.

Posted by Ron McDaniel | Filed Under Blog 

Make Money with a Virtual Assistant

October 2, 2008 | 1 Comment

Many people dream of being a Virtual Assistant and working from home.  It is a great job, if you do not mind wearing the many hats of an entrepreneur.  But to make money as a virtual assistant, you need to think of yourself as more than a virtual assistant.

The problem I have always had with the term virtual assistant is that it is so vague.  Business owners often cannot grasp how to use a virtual assistant.  The virtual assistants do not help when they tell them they will do a bunch of things.  That just seems like they will try to do anything but are probably not good at anything.

To make real money as a virtual assistant, you need to focus on developing special, high value skills and selling yourself as a virtual specialist.  That is why we started the Virtual Buzz Network.  Our virtual assistants hone their virtual internet marketing skills and offer a variety of high value services that are very specific, have measurable goals and save the business owner time.

Here is a list of the more common virtual marketing assistant skills.

  1. Blog writing
  2. Copy Writing
  3. Article Publishing
  4. Online Advocacy and PR
  5. Community Management
  6. Adwords Management
  7. eNewsletter Writing and Publishing
  8. Social Bookmarketing

Now you may think this is a small list of skills, but consider this as a sample project for a company.

  1. Your company wants to create leads for small business owners of your industry.
  2. You build a ning community and customize it with a virtual assistant.
  3. You set up a blog and do keyword research - you begin writing daily to attract your target audience.
  4. On the blog, you offer the visitors free access to your private community when they sign up for your newsletter.
  5. Traffic is now coming to your blog from search engines, social media, twitter and adwords.  You are getting 5-10 new people signing up per day.
  6. You use the email and the community to educate people on the advantages of your product, and also give away all kinds of free content.
  7. 1% of people buy from you eventually.  Approximately one new customer every 10 days.  As all your efforts keep growing, word of mouth and search engines increase the rate of subscribers.  The second year it is a new customer every 5 days.  As long as you keep working on it, you continue to get better and better results.

This is just a ficticious example, but accurately demonstrates a solid strategy.  You’d have some expense in blog hosting and email marketing tools, but it is minor.  Your virtual assistant would do everything above to ensure that you would keep selling in your normal channels and not have to spend excessive time on the internet marketing side.

Now doesn’t that make a lot of sense?

Posted by Ron McDaniel | Filed Under Blog 

Marketing Outcomes

September 20, 2008 | Leave a Comment

One of the things that is different between a Virtual Assistant and a Virtual Buzz Assistant is the focus on Marketing Outcomes.

For a traditional virtual assistant, customer satisfaction might be measured in how well you completed the task and if it was done in a reasonable amount of time.

For and Internet Marketing Virtual Assistant, you have much more specific marketing metrics you are trying to influence.  Here are some marketing outcome measurements:

  • Did my blog post produce search engine results?
  • How profitable are the adword campaigns you are overseeing?
  • Did my blog post get linked to?
  • Did my emails produce sales or website visitors?
  • Did my article submission get used in many newsletters?  How many?
  • Did my participation in online communities produce traffic?
  • How many new newsletter subscribers have I generated?
  • How many inbound links have I helped generate?
  • How much traffic has the social bookmarking effort added?

Ultimately, you have to set specific, measurable and realistic marketing outcomes you are measuring.  That said, you also have to work closely with a client to make sure you have the same marketing vision.  Many small business owners want to set up a blog and have traffic the next day.  That is not going to happen.

Begin with a marketing baseline

As a virtual internet marketing assistant, you are usually tying your perfomance to the outcome, not to the task.  Your cliet has to understand that the internet is just like any other marketing.  Occasionally you might get lucky and hit a home run, but mostly it is about consistant effort and building your visibility, audience and brand recognition.

Before a virtual internet marketing professional starts working with a client, they need to document the baseline.  If you are averaging 10 visitors per day, trying to get 1,000 per day the next month is not really practical.  Instead, you may want to increase to 300 per day by the end of the year.  It does not sound as magical and flashy - but it is a goal that could be achieved.

Internet Marketing for your Client

One huge point that you have to make to many clients is that traffic might not be as important as they think.  If 10 people per day are visiting their website, and no one ever buys from them or contacts them, what do they think will happen with a 1,000 visitors?  Nothing.

Your client should think of every customer that clicks into his website just like he would think of every customer that walks into the door of his physical store front.  Each one is treated well, even if they are just browsing that day.

When your client  has a website that gets results, then it becomes an issue of traffic.  If it is getting results, he will be willing to buy leads, spend on advertising and hire virtual internet marketing assistants to do social media on your behalf.

While a traditional virtual assistant is doing a simple exchange of time on tasks for pay, the virtual buzz assistant is taking on additional responsibility to achieve marketing outcomes that justify the expense a client is incuring.  If you can achieve great markting outcomes, you are gaining a customer for life.

Posted by Ron McDaniel | Filed Under Blog 

Virtual Assistant

September 18, 2008 | 2 Comments

20px|Windows Live Logo Windows Live Writer

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 Office Tips

September 16, 2008 | 1 Comment

Untidy desk

10 Virtual Office Tips for those of you that work at home.

  1. Set up your virtual office in a quiet place.  Far from sirens and crying kids, if possible.
  2. Get a comfortable chair.  You will be spending a lot of time in it.
  3. Set up different areas for different things in your virtual at-home office.  I keep a clean, need desk to work from and a messier area for files, bills, etc.
  4. Use as many hosted software solutions as possible and still make back ups often - see virtual office tools
  5. Avoid home office distractions like having a TV in the room.
  6. Use the library, Panaras or Starbucks to get out of your virtual home office occasionally.
  7. Set clear goals working from your home office.  I still use a paper notebook to write out tasks and cross them off as I go along.  Otherwise I would miss things or might not be as motivated.
  8. Use Technology to your advantage and to make your life easier.
  9. Don’t let a home office make you feel like you are always at work.  It is easy to work morning, noon and night since you are always in your virtual office and essentially at work.
  10. Take your fair deductions - You have to talk to a tax specialist on this one, but let your business pay its fair share of utilities, maintenance and other expenses.  Trust me, if you get an office you would be paying a lot more.

What did we forget?  Use the comments below and add your virtual office tips.

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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 

Virtual Website Design Firms

September 12, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Icon from Nuvola icon theme for KDE 3.x.

If you have a website design firm you probably do not think you need a virtual buzz assistant on staff.  You already know everything about technology, and nothing else is all that important.

Well let me give you some advice based on my experience.  I started out a website design and custom technology consulting firm.  We set up great tools for people.  Really great.

But more than 80% of the people thought they were spending too much money and not getting enough value.  Not because of the tools, I said they were great.  It was because normal users do not take the time and effort needed to put good tools, websites and blogs to use.  Then they do not produce results (through no fault of your own) they still blame you.

Let me give you a better idea:

  1. Hire a Virtual Buzz Assistant.  Have them work a little each day helping you with blogging, answering support tickets, doing online advocacy.
  2. Sell additional Virtual Marketing services to your clients.  Don’t try to do it yourself.  You techies can’t spell.  Hire a virtual buzz assistant.  Now your web design firm is getting more marketing and you are subcontracting out services (for a profit) that will make your clients more happy.
  3. Set expectations up front.  Virtual Buzz Assistants will help you close the sale because you can tell a client that they should produce regular content to get good web results, and you have just the person that can help them.

When you are looking at the success of a website, there are many important elements.  Good design will make your feel happy on day one, but good, steady content creation will make you feel happy in the long run.

If you are a Virtual Assistant reading this, think about approaching local web design firms and offering your services.  A couple clients like that could keep you more than busy.

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Posted by Ron McDaniel | Filed Under Blog 

Hire a Virtual Assistant

September 6, 2008 | Leave a Comment

If you want to hire a virtual assistant for anything, there are some specific things to consider in advance.

The number one problem people have when hiring a virtual assistant is when they hire them, they have unrealistic expectations.  Let me explain.

If someone is really good at all the aspects of internet marketing, they can generate a lot of income for themselves.  A LOT.

If you are hiring a virtual assistant that will help you with virtual internet marketing tasks, you are not hiring someone that is good at making $100,000+ per year on the web.  If they were that good, do you think they would want to work for you?

Virtual Assistants, whether Internet Marketing or otherwise, are a valuable part of a puzzle that you are putting together.  They are not your high-priced consultant that will tell you everything you need to know.  They are often happy to specialize in on or two areas and make a decent income working from home.

If you have the patience to plan, experiment and measure results, you can hire a virtual assistant and get better results faster.  If you are just looking for someone to figure out what you need and do it for you, plan to hire an experienced consultant or plan to fail.  Virtual Assistants need clear tasks and expectations.  And they need input from you.

You should hire a virtual assistant to help you execute your plan.  You should have a clear idea what the steps are that the virtual assistant can repeat to get you the results you want.

Also, if you hire a virtual assistant, don’t expect one person to meet all your needs.  Hire particular tasks for particular specialists and build a virtual assistant team that works like an engine to achieve your outcomes.

Posted by Ron McDaniel | Filed Under Blog 

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