10 Ways Showing Gratitude Now Can Increase Your Future Income

by Alicia Forest

As we head into the season of giving, now is a great time to show appreciation to your clients and customers. Taking the time to give thanks to your clients will set you apart, increase loyalty, improve retention, inspire more sales, and deepen relationships that last long after the initial sale.

Here are 10 easy ways you can say thank you to your clients:

1. Greeting Cards

My husband often teases me that I should own stock in Hallmark for the amount of money I spend a year on cards. I love to send cards, for a specific reason or for no reason at all.

For business, you've probably heard of SendOutCards (and no, I'm not an affiliate or a distributor). I get a lot of cards this way, from colleagues, and it definitely deepens the relationship for me. And it is a super-easy way for you to do that with your customers too.

2. Personal Notes

I love to send personal notes too. I have specially designed notecards that I send when I just want to connect with someone after a particularly powerful coaching call, when someone makes an investment in Platinum, when I've made a special connection with someone in person, or when a client just needs a little cheer.

3. Invitations

One of the things you can do for your top clients is to invite them to a special event just for them. It can be a lunch or dinner at an event you'll all be at, or carve out a portion of your own live event to spend time just with them.

You can also invite them to special teleseminar or webinar where you offer them free content just for being your top clients.

4. Small Gifts

Flowers, books, a mug, or something more specific are all thoughtful gifts for clients. They can be sent for certain occasions or just because (that's actually my favorite way to send a gift).

5. Gift Cards

These days you can get gift cards for almost any product or service. Some companies, like Starbucks, offer having your logo or business name imprinted on them. Other ideas besides coffee include restaurants, movies, bookstores, office supplies and online vendors like Amazon.

6. Referral and Affiliate Rewards

Even if your referral or affiliate programs offer a commission on each referral, sending a personalized note along with it will go further in encouraging your network to continue to promote your offers into the future.

7. Reverse Referrals

Whenever appropriate, refer your clients and customers to others whom they will benefit from. Making this a part of the way you run your business will come back to you ten-fold as it shows the Universe your belief in abundance.

8. Customer Appreciation Days

Pick one day a year to designate as a Customer Appreciation Day to celebrate your clients. Make a special offer only to them and make a lasting impression.

9. Host Events

Host a gathering at the next event where your clients and customers are likely to gather. A Tweetup is a popular way to connect with both current and prospective clients and they are super-simple to set up and cost you nothing but a bit of time. You can also hold a virtual event anytime you want to bring your clients and customers together.

10. Life Events

Weddings, baby showers, major moves, book contracts, big speaking gigs, TV spots, or any other major event warrants an acknowledgment. A nice card or personal note, or even a quick phone call, will make you memorable for sure.



Alicia M Forest, MBA, 6-Figure Business Breakthrough Mentor, teaches self-employed professionals how to attract more clients, create profit-making products and services, make more sales, and ultimately live the life they desire and deserve. For FREE tips on how to create wild abundance in your business, visit http://www.ClientAbundance.com

Article Source: http://www.wahm-articles.com

Marketing 101 for Virtual Assistants

One of my clients recently told me she was giving up on her business because she just didn't feel good about promoting herself.

No, no, no, no, no! And no! That is NOT what marketing is.

Marketing is talking to other people about THEMSELVES. Well, that's not all there is to it, but basically that's it.

You're also gonna need a plan . Ivette Muller has put together a simple marketing plan that any new Virtual Assistant can follow.

Marketing 101: Have a Plan by Ivette Muller

One of the very fundamental keys to success is marketing is having a plan. You have to know where you are going to determine if you have gotten there, or what you need to do to get there.

In order to have a good marketing plan, you need to know who your target audience is. I have been in some form of direct sales for over 10 years and almost all companies give you a list of everyone and anyone you can sell the products to. They say that everyone can be a customer and give you all the great reasons you should show them your product.

While it is true that almost anyone with a pulse can be customer, that doesn't provide a solid foundation for your marketing efforts. You need to pick one or two target audiences to get started. Once you do that, your target audience will naturally lead you to other potential customers through referrals and guests at their home parties.

No matter what home-based business you choose, you need to know who you are talking to. Who do you want to help with your product or services? Who do you want to share the opportunity with? Who do you want to interact with? Who is your ideal client?

Knowing this information will help you plan your marketing endeavors and your presentations. Remember, presenting your product or service is not a one size fits all approach. That's why knowing your target audience is critical to your marketing success.

Here are 5 steps to get you started on your marketing plan:

1. Pick your target audience - while the information above goes into detail about why you need to pick your target audience, you also need to know how to pick your target audience. You need to be really specific, for example: WAHM, age 25-35, participates in social media. The reason you need to be specific is that it will help you choose your marketing endeavors more wisely. If this was your target audience, you wouldn't place an ad in your local paper - you would advertise on one of the social networks where your ideal customer or client is hanging out.

2. What are your specific goals? It's good to know that you want more sales, leads or recruits. But what exactly is your goal? Do you want $10,000 in sales over the next three months? How about 100 leads in 2 months? Or, 2 recruits in one month? Getting this specific helps you evaluate your performance and gives you ideas on how to change and improve for the next time.

3. What is your promotional vehicle? Decide what your primary focus of advertising and marketing will be. Then, assign some kind of code so that when people contact you, they can give you that code which will tell you how they heard about you. For example, if you place an ad on a website, you could put the code on the ad itself.

4. How will you track? Tracking is a necessary task to determine your effectiveness in marketing. By assigning a code to your advertisements, it will allow you to track where sales, leads and recruits are coming from, as well as allow you to accurately calculate the ROI (return on investment) for that advertisement.

5. What is your budget? Set a budget in advance and stick to it. It is so easy to go over your budget in advertising and marketing expenses when you get caught up in the momentum. That's why tracking is critical to your success so that you can stop advertising or purchasing marketing tools if they are not working. Just because it works for someone else, doesn't mean it's the right thing for you to do.

If you haven't had a detailed marketing plan before, now is a great time to start! Make 2010 the year to pull your marketing efforts together for one productive and profitable year!



Ivette Muller is a proud corporate mom dropout who has enjoyed transitioning her skills as a successful work at home mom. Ivette wants to help others fulfill their dreams of being a WAHM. Visit her website at http://www.wahmbahm.com for business advice and work at home opportunities and, http://www.remembergreetingcards.com/ivette, to learn how to start a profitable custom greeting card and gift, home-based business.

Article Source: http://www.wahm-articles.com

Turn Your Business Card into a Business Weapon

Do you have a business card for your Virtual Assistant business? Most of my networking is done online, but once in a while I meet someone who asks for a card. I've learned to keep them with me at all times. You never know where your next customer will come from!

Here's another tip I recently learned about giving out your business card: Never give your card to someone who hasn't asked for it first. Have you ever been to a networking event where everyone passes out those cards? How many of those cards do you actually keep?

Business cards are expensive, so you'll save yourself money (and the recipient time from having to recycle it!) if you only give it out to those who really want it. Wait until they ask. ;-)

I designed my own cards with a template in the Virtual Business Startup System, then had them professionally printed.

Colleen Davis has some more good ideas for printing your cards and the most effective ways to use them.

How To Turn A Business Card Into A Business Weapon by Colleen Davis

Business card printing is not merely a tool in introducing yourself to other people. No sir. In truth, custom business cards can be turned into a very powerful business weapon that will help your career as well as your business to achieve success. To transform your business card into a business weapon though, you must first do a few important changes into your business card strategy.

1. The right weapon for the right job: Now you may not know this but business cards can be geared in different ways depending on your objective. There are advertising business cards for sales product promotions, corporate business cards for deals with colleagues and of course there are also personal business cards for friends and family. You will need to determine which business card is exactly what you need. This will define how your business card will be designed, and how it will succeed with your objectives. So choose the one that should get you nearest to your goal.

2. Good quality equals good results: Another tip that should turn your business card into a potent weapon is to use good quality materials in the production. Expensive textured paper, with a glossy sheen and smudge free inks are quite impressive. People will respect such quality with ease and that should give you better results in business deals and with social business networking itself. So as you can see, with the advantage of high quality, business cards can be quite effective at convincing people of the sincerity and the power of your business deal.

3. Continuing innovation: You must also know that weapons are always changing and people are always trying to come up with some innovations on existing ones. The same is true with business cards. You must continue changing and recreating your business card design, so that they will always look new and fresh. Try new materials, new formats and new techniques to make sure that your business cards can take advantage of the prevailing sense of style. You should also try to update yourself with prevailing design trends so that you can apply them to the design as well. This should maintain the competitiveness of your business card so that it can still remain as a potent weapon at all times.

4. Use it or lose it: Finally, the best way to turn your business cards into a business weapon is basically to use it. You must not let your business cards remain lying on your desk, car or your house. Always try to give it away to probable business contacts, investors and customers as well. If you do not distribute them and use them, then there is little point really in making them. So use your color business cards or you will loose them as you business weapon.

That should be all the information you need to turn your simple business cards into powerful weapons of trade. Use the weapon wisely once you make it. There are a lot of opportunities and problems connected with it. Good Luck!

Article Source: http://www.wahm-articles.com

For more information, you can visit this page on business card printing and custom business cards

How to Gain Client Trust for Your Virtual Assistant Business

For the past year, I've been learning how to outsource many of my own routine tasks.

I say "learning how" because I've discovered that outsourcing is not as easy as I've frequently told my own clients it is.

For example, I contracted a Virtual Assistant to look after one of my email accounts for my WAHM article directory. From a Virtual Assistant's perspective, it's a no-brainer. These particular emails don't need my personal touch and they distract me from my revenue-producing activities.

But the thing is, I LIKE adding the personal touch. I LIKE meeting the people who are using my article directory. However, my bank account tells me I can no longer afford to dilly dally over email messages that make me feel good without making me money. (My VA now puts them into a monthly report for me, so I can still get that yummy feeling without wasting my time.)

The other thing I've discovered is that it's a lot harder than I expected to find people I can trust to help with my business.

So many service providers have literally vanished on me this past year, I am almost ready to join the chorus of many other entrepreneurs I've met, singing the "Never Hire a Virtual Assistant Again" song. Except, I know for a fact these incidents are the exception to the rule.

Since you're still reading this, I'm quite sure you don't fall into that group. And you're probably wondering what you can do to make it easier for potential clients to trust you.

Well, I can tell you one thing that always helps. I've started using this technique as well, and it really does help convert inquiries into customers.

Don't be afraid to give information away for free. I'm not talking about giving away the farm, or sharing your expert knowledge with just any Joe.

Here's an example of what I mean.When I go to someone for help, I've discovered the people who really are interested in helping me will tell me the steps I can take to solve my problem on my own. They will then offer to help me, or do it for me, if I would like.

This does two things:

1. It convinces me they know what they're doing.

2. It convinces me that they could do a better job than I would.

But most importantly, it helps me believe they are sincerely interested in helping me meet my goals.

How do you help your clients learn to trust you?

My Personal Best (and Worst) of 2008

2008 has been quite a rollercoaster year for my Virtual Assistant business! At the beginning of the year, I still considered myself on sabbatical from the VA business I launched in 2005, and I wasn't even sure when I would be ready to return to work.

The end of 2008 finds me with an exciting year behind me.

• I'm involved again as a member and volunteer at VAnetworking.com, the very best place for successful and aspiring VAs online.
  
• I have amazing new clients, exciting new ideas of what a virtual assistant business can look like, (no more cookie cutter websites and businesses for me!)
• I'm a lot smarter and I have a much better sense of my direction than I did 10 or 11 months ago.
  

I also began this year with a renewed desire to treat my business like a "real" business. No more playing around and staying in the safe zone. I decided if this was ever going to become the business I want, I would have to be willing to invest real money, make strong commitments. I was ready to take risks - when I made mistakes, I wanted them to be big, but my successes would be even bigger.

This month, I'm taking some time to reflect on what I've done, what worked well, what was a miserable failure, and where I want to be by this time next year.

Over the next several days, I'll be sharing my best and worst moments of 2008 with you here. But before I start spilling all mine, I'd like to ask you about yours!

Here are some of the questions I've been asking myself. How would you answer them? If you'd like to share your answers below, I'd love to read them. I think we can all learn from each others' experiences.

What was your best decision?

What was your biggest mistake?

Best money spent?

Worst time waster?

What do you want to differently in 2009?

Do You Need More Virtual Assistant Clients?

These days, who doesn't?

This week I received an email from Cristina Favreau. She's a successful business coach, and also, a really cool person to know. :)

Cristina is currently running a special on her one-on-one coaching program, specifically created to help you get more clients.

If having more clients sounds good to you right about now, you're invited to go check it out.

I haven't worked with Cristina, but I have gotten to know her over the past few years.She's one of those people I've grown to trust and admire.

If her coaching program sounds like something you need right now, I highly encourage you to take advantage of this limited time offer. It's really an amazing deal, at an opportune time!

Here's the link again to this great offer!

Maintaining Your Momentum This Summer

Each summer I expect business to slow down... and it's not necessarily the industry I'm in. I think it's because every summer I slow down a little bit myself.

This year, though, I'm committing to maintaining my momentum, and maybe even kicking things up a notch.

I just accepted the Article Traffic Challenge to write 90 articles (or more) in 90 days. I'm a good article writer, and I know article marketing's the best way to help grow your business - but when the weather's this nice, I need a little extra incentive.

Take a look, and see if you're if you're up for this challenge too.

5 Tips for Your Next Brochure Printing

There are some things you shouldn't try to do on your own, unless you have the right equipment and experience.

One of those things, for me, is printing my own brochures. When I started my VA business a few years ago, I wanted to do it as inexpensively as possible, so I tried printing my own marketing materials.

Well, why not?

I own a higher-end printer, and it's easy to find brochure paper, postcards, and business cards you can print yourself. I'm not a designer, by my Virtual Business Startup System came with professional-looking templates I could use.

Lesson learned: You can save more money by doing it right the first time.

The VBSS templates were a great idea, and I still use them, but I would have been much smarter to have the designs printed professionally - which is what I ended up doing. I would have saved a lot of colored ink, wear and tear on my printer, tears and tantrums, and money wasted on specialty papers... most of which are still sitting, unused, in my office.

Here are 5 more tips to help you get it right for your next brochure printing.

5 Tips for Your Next Brochure Printing by Colleen Davis

A brochure is an essential tool for every businessperson. As old fashioned as they may seem, they still work. A well designed brochure printing, when handed to the right people (in the right amounts) can still generate a generous increase in sales. Here are some general guidelines for making a great brochure:

1. Keep it Simple

Many people try to pack too much stuff into their brochure printing. The only thing accomplished by packing a ton of information into one brochure is that the reader is overwhelmed and gives up on it completely. Unless that is what you want, you should remember to keep things simple. Decide on the one of two main points that you want your customers to know, and focus on those in your brochure printing.

2. Use Color

Nothing screams “cheap” like a black and white brochure. Using color on your brochures is not expensive, and you should never neglect it. Customers are far more likely to pay attention to a color brochure than a boring black and white one. That is because they will take a company that springs for color far more seriously.

3. Use Good Information

In your brochure printing, tell your customers something that will interest them. Do not bury them with facts about your company, or with tall tales about why your company is the best. Throw in some tidbits of information that will attract them, and keep them from utter boredom. Customers are bombarded every day with promotional material, so you have to find a way to stand out.

4. Use All of Your Available Space

Be careful not to waste any space on your brochure. That means plenty of opportunity to input your design ideas and include a good amount of enticing information. Just remember to keep it simple. Just because you can include more information does not mean you should overwhelm your readers with too much information.

5. Give Them to the Right People

The most important aspect of any brochure printing is giving them to the correct people. A poorly distributed brochure is worthless; not to mention a waste of money. You must know who your target customers are. Then, you have to get them in their hands. Figure out areas where your target customers are somewhat concentrated, and spend some time in that area handing out brochure. You can also mail them directly to your target customers if you know their contact information. However you do it, make sure you don’t waste too many brochures on people who will not use your services anyway.

Brochures can still generate a good deal of revenue for your business, if you design them properly and distribute them correctly.


For more information, you can visit this page on brochure printing


Article Source: http://www.wahm-articles.com

Get Almost $100 in Bonuses Just for Starting Your VA Business Now!

I'm ready to give you more than $90 in free bonuses... just for doing something you want to do anyways.

If you're serious about being a successful VA, working from home and having more control over your life, but you don't want to waste your time or your money getting started, you really need the Virtual Business Startup System.

This is the system I used it to set up my first VA business, and I believe you CAN be ready to hit the ground running in 30 days if you follow the steps closely.

But I'd like to help you get started even faster.

If you purchase the VBBS through any link on this blog, I'll throw in more than $90 of helpful bonuses that will save you even more time and money,

Here's what you'll get:

Bonus #1: Lifetime listing in my Virtual Assistant Directory ($17 value) You can list your new business in up to two categories, and have up to 25 words to describe your business.

Bonus #2: One year Classified Ad at WAHM Articles ($40 value)

Bonus #3: VA PLR Content - Fill up your new website with ready-to-go content ($9.95 value) It's easy to customize for your target market.

Bonus #4: A high-quality ghostwritten article ($25 value) to help you educate your potential clients about your new business. You can use this article ANY way you want - submit it to directories, use it on your website, include it in your marketing kit. It's all yours.

If you're ready to get going on that home business you always wanted, here's the link again to the VBBS.

Once you've made your purchase, please send me a copy of your receipt, or whatever you have to verify your purchase. You can always reach me at contact@wahm-articles.com. Then I'll set you up with your almost $100 in free bonuses!

How to Convince Potential Clients They NEED Your Virtual Assistance

It's a common complaint among Virtual Assistants who are trying to break into a new target market:

"I know they need my help, but how can I convince THEM?"

There's another word for that. It's called "marketing." And it doesn't have to be scary, or hard.

I like to think of marketing as "educating" my target market. They don't know they need you because they haven't learned how much better their lives would be with you around.

Here are some easy ways to convince your target market that they're lost without you. Or at least, that you could make their lives a whole lot simpler.

1. Case Studies. Write up real-life examples of how you, or other VAs, have helped businesses like theirs. Be specific. Describe what the business was like before and after. Use real numbers (i.e. money saved, hours saved). Then post the case-studies on your website, in your marketing materials, or even in your newsletter.

2. Be the Expert. Achieve expert status with your target market by writing reports and articles they WANT to read. Here is an article that explains exactly how to do that, and why it helps.

3. Give Them a Second Opinion. Sometimes it can help to show your target market you're not the only one thinking they'd be better of with your help. It's OK to give them information written by another author, as long as it's written for your target market AND makes your own position stronger.

Here are some informational articles that might help you convince potential clients that they really do need you after all. These are reprint articles, so you can publish them on your website, newsletter, or marketing materials as long as you include the author's resource box. If you publish them online, please also include an active link to the author's resource box.

Delegating - How to Leverage Other People's Skills for Maximum Return

I'm a Work at Home Mom; Do I Need a Virtual Assistant?

The Benefits to Entrepreneurs and Small Businesses to Outsource to a Virtual Office or Assistant

Increase Your Bottom Line by Hiring Help

Virtual Assistants: 4 Ways to Get More Clients Today!

If you're a Virtual Assistant, you know that the one thing that is your lifeblood, the one thing that keeps your income steady, is finding clients. Luckily, there are several ways to keep a steady stream of clients coming in through your door.

Here are just a few:

1. Advertise in Ezines. There are online newsletters everywhere that accept advertising. The key here is to purchase advertising in publications that reach your target market and to create your ad to showcase your expertise. Don't try to be everything to everyone or you won't attract clients.

Ad Example of what Not to Do: Hire me to lighten your workload. I can do everything that you don't want to do. Let's talk!

Ad Example of what works: Are you ready to get more leads to your business? I will handle your ezine advertising campaign for you. No more searching for targeted ezines, no more writing and tracking your ads. I'll handle it all it all. My clients experience a boost in subscribers after I complete my ezine advertising campaigns that will pay for my services. Check out my website for testimonials and free tips.

2. Write and Submit Articles. The key here is to stay on topic. Don't write and submit articles about health or pet care. Present a problem in your article and solve it. Make sure your author bio is very compelling to attract potential clients.

3. Network where *successful* people hang out. A huge mistake that VA's make is to hang out on forums where there are other people struggling to make money. Instead, join a membership site for your target market and you'll find yourself in the "inner circle."

4. Advertise at Shelancers.com. One of the easiest ways to get your name in front of business owners looking for help is to advertise on Shelancers.com. Again, it is crucial that you list your specialty in order to stand out from the other providers. But, if you can find a problem that business owners face, and offer to handle it for them, you'll attract loyal clients who will continue to work with you.

Finding Local Clients for Your Virtual Assistant Business

I mentioned that finding local clients for your Virtual Assistant business is sometimes easier than finding them online. Here are a few ways you can find local clients for your Virtual Assistant business.

• Use decals that promote your business on your car
• Get a premium listing in your local phone book
• Post your services to Craig's list
• Does your city have a Welcome Wagon for new businesses? See if you can include your business information or a promo item.
• Run an ad in your local newspaper.
• Propose your services to real estate agents, law firms, financial services and other small businesses in your area.

Why You Shouldn't Buy Your Mailing List

So, I'm still a little annoyed at the Virtual Assistants who have been sending me unsolicited email. Unfortunately, I've deleted everything they sent me, but the next time they contact me, I'll be replying and asking if I could please be removed from their mailing lists - especially since I never wanted to be on them in the first place!

Yes, I understand that it's hard to get a new Virtual Assistant business going. The money might be "in the list," but getting that list can be a lot of work!

Buying a mailing list might look like an easy shortcut, but trust me, it probably isn't. When you buy a list, you never know how those names got on there. Much better to build up trust with potential clients and give them a good reason to want to be on your list.

Sure, it's a challenge, but if you wanted easy, you'd back to your office job, not start your own enterprise from scratch!

Here's a really good article about the problems with buying your list. The article isn't about Virtual Assistants, but the concepts still apply.

Annoying Email Marketing from Virtual Assistants

I'm getting some disturbing emails from Virtual Assistants, and I sincerely hope this isn't the beginning of a trend. My personal email address has magically ended up on a few Virtual Assistants' email lists. And when I get these emails, there is no option for me to unsubscribe myself.

This bothers me a lot - because not only is it annoying - it undermines the credibility many VA's have worked so hard to build for themselves and for their industry. I suspect these particular VA's purchased mailing lists with my email on it, instead of building their own.

If you're going to buy a list, make sure you know how the names got on the list in the first place. Make sure the names on that list actually want your emails.

If you're going to promote your business via email marketing, always tell your recipients how they can unsubscribe from your list, in every email you send out.

A newsletter program like AWeber or Ezine Director will automatically include an unsub link for you. AWeber is very affordable and offers a free trial period. Ezine Director has a free option while you're growing your list. So, there's really no excuse for not including one, and it's quite rude not to.

I regularly outsource work to other Virtual Assistants, and anyone who sends me unwanted email is immediately crossed off my list of possibilities.

Hire a Ghostwriter to Make Your Website Go Cha-ching

Hire a ghostwriter? You?

But you're a good writer. Besides, is that even legal?

You bet it is - and even the best writers sometimes depend on ghostwriters to help them out.

Below you'll find a few ways a Virtual Assistant can use a ghostwriter, and a Virtual Assistant freebie you won't want to miss out on.

First of all, here's how a VA can use a ghostwriter to generate more revenue from his or her website:

• To create an eCourse for potential clients
• To write an eBook that promotes your business
• To write an eBook you can sell for a profit (when you use a ghostwriter, all the rights are yours, so you can do whatever you want with the results.)
• To submit articles to directories to drive traffic to your website
• To outsource some of your overflow
• To add valuable content to your website so your visitors keep coming back

Today on the WAHM Articles blog I'm giving away free copies of the eBook, Ghostwriters from the Inside Out, and you'll find a valuable discount if you're ready to try a ghostwriter - with minimal risk to you.

The book is totally free - I don't even ask for your email address. The discount is for subscribers of the WA blog only, but it's easy to subscribe (look on the top, right-hand side) and you may unsubscribe at any time. Click here to get your own copy of Ghostwriters from the Inside Out and to find your discount.

Article Marketing for Virtual Assistants

So, are you ready to get your name and your Virtual Assistant business in front of hundreds (if not thousands) of people who are looking for exactly what you have to offer?

What are you waiting for?

Article marketing is one of the very best ways there is to position yourself as an expert in your field, and earn credibility and visibility for your Virtual Assistant business.

When online business owners talk about article marketing, they're usually referring to writing an article on your area of expertise and then submitting it to various article directories around the Internet.

At the end of each article you write is a short bio that tells who you are, what you do, and includes an active link to your website. This information is included every time someone reprints your article.

The idea behind article marketing is that other website owners will reprint your article in exchange for keeping your bio and the link to your website intact. It’s a win-win situation for the article author and the publisher. The publisher gets great content, and you, the author, get more exposure for your website.

To be effective, your article needs to be highly informative and relevant to your target market. Give your readers the information they're looking for, otherwise you'll be wasting everyone's time. Supply real answers to your market's burning questions – but don't give away all your tips and secrets! At the end of the article, you want to leave your reader wanting more so she'll gladly click the link in your bio to get it.

If you don't have time to write articles, or if you just don't like writing, you can always hire a ghostwriter to write articles for you. Outsourcing your writing is a very common and completely legitimate practice for small (and big) business owners. If you're thinking about working with a ghostwriter, you can see my writing services on WAHM Articles.


Once you have your article in hand, article directories are a really good place to begin your article marketing campaign. Most directories have frequent visitors who are always looking for new, quality content. As well, the article directory owner will market her directory, and your articles along with it.

But, article marketing isn't limited to submitting articles to directories. In fact, investing a little more energy and creativity in your article marketing can get you even better results.

Article Marketing Begins at Home. Your article marketing strategy should include publishing your articles on your own website for your visitors to find. New visitors will come back regularly if they know you consistently provide updated, useful content. With each visit, the chance that they will become customers increases. Sending out your new articles to your opt-in list is another form of article marketing.

Niche Directories. Instead of submitting your next article to all the article directories you can find, look for niche directories that would attract your target market. For example, if your target market includes small business moms, submit them to directories that specialize in topics of interest to moms, like WAHM Articles. Doing this little bit of research will increase the likelihood of your target market finding and reading your articles.

Offer Exclusive Articles. When you find one of your articles reprinted on a site that's popular with your target market, contact the publisher and see if you could write an article for them that you wouldn't publish anywhere else. Most publishers love original content when they can get it, and will usually give your article prominent placement in return for writing an article just for their site.

Take it Offline. Article marketing isn't limited to online publishers. Look for local print publications that would appeal to your target market. Contact the publishers to see if they would like to publish one of your articles in return for including your by-line.

Don't limit yourself to just one form of article marketing for your home business. Every business and every target market is different. Try to combine a few of the above strategies to see what works best for yours.

Using Twitter to Find New Clients

I haven't done a lot of social networking, but I'm really enjoying Twitter.

Twitter is a service that lets you stay in touch with friends, colleagues, and clients, and helps you find more.

It helps you stay connected by your responses to a very simple question: "What are you doing?"

It's important that you and your potential clients get along well, and "following" each other on Twitter is an easy way to see what the other person is like.

You can find people to follow by searching for users by keywords. For example, my target market is work-at-home-moms, so I search for "work at home mom" or the acronym "WAHM."

When you begin to follow someone, they receive a notification that they have a new follower. Most of the time, they'll start to follow you too.

By the way, I follow most of the people who follow me... unless they just post their links and have nothing real to say. You're welcome to follow me by clicking here.

If you want to know more, here are five reasons why Twitter is an essential social media tool.

The Best Virtual Assistant Directory

Listing your VA business in directories is a good way to start getting the word out about your new biz.

VA Networking has the largest and most up-to-date directory of Virtual Assistant websites online worldwide.

You need to create an account before you submit yours. You can do that here.

Are You on the Insider Pages? Free Advertising for Your Business

I just discovered a handy (and free) resource to help you market your new Virtual Assistant business.

Insider Pages works like an online Yellow Pages directory, but it's written by your friends!

Some advantages to updating your listing on Insider Pages:

• you decide what visitors see when they're looking for information on your business
• customers can post reviews of your business
• you can manage your online reputation by posting responses to the reviews
• expert Search Engine Optimization provided for free
• your business listings on Insider Pages' partner sites are automatically updated for you

Click here to claim your free online listing. Unfortunately for me, though, it looks like an Insider Pages listing is only available for American businesses.

A FREE Internet Marketing Resource You Can't Afford to Miss

A lot of people struggling to build an online businesses think they have to learn how to figure out search engine algorithms, create extensive pay-per-click campaigns and write hard-hitting sales copy before they'll start making any money. In other words, they THINK they have to learn and do a bunch of technical stuff before they can find success.

Well, those are all good tools to build your online businesses, but my friend, Alice Seba, has been using another tool to build hers and she's sharing her very best strategies…at no charge.

If you don't know Alice, she is one of the most generous people you'll ever meet and she has built a profitable business around the principle of giving and being nice to people. That’s why I wasn't surprised when she announced this freebie offer.

Her "Internet Marketing Sweetie System" shows you, in very specific ways, to:

• increase your website traffic
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It's nice to know nice guys and gals can get ahead in their online business. Check it out and get your instant access here.