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

Are Your Outgoing Links on the Right Side of the Law?

Since we're talking about the importance of links...

A few years ago, I took a course in managing web content for small business websites. One of the recommendations was that, whenever you link to an outside page, it's polite to request permission from the website's owner.

I don't know many people who follow that advice, and I hardly ever do either - unless it's to start building a relationship with the owner of that website.

But, did you know, that some of your outbound links may not be legal? Here's a good article that explains what could be an illegal link.

And a few days ago I was writing about Tawyna Sutherland, the creator of the Virtual Business Startup System. I was at her site the other day, and I found this page that explains link popularity better than I ever could. Enjoy!

Oh yeah, and if you want to take a closer look at Tawnya's Virtual Business Startup System, here's the link for that too.

Your Most Valuable Virtual Business Resource

You already know what your most valuable Virtual Assistant Resource is, don't you?

I didn't take care of mine today, and now I'm running low.

It's TIME!

What I try to do is plan my day before I log on to my computer, so I know what I have to get done, and don't get caught up surfing, or chatting in forums, or tweeting on twitter...

That's one of my favorite things about the Virtual Business Startup System. Tawnya Sutherland, the creator of the system, is a super-successful VA, so she knows exactly how valuable your time is. Everyday is broken into "tasks" for you to do, which helps keep you focused and on time... so you don't run out like I just did!

Wanted - Your Best Virtual Assistant Articles

Do you have an article about starting a virtual assistant business, or advice for someone who wants to provide services from home?

You can submit virtual assistant articles at WAHM Articles. We republish the best ones here, at the Virtual Assistant Resources blog.

Contractor or Freelancer - Both Can Work for a Virtual Assistant

When I was initially researching the Virtual Assistant industry, I asked some experienced VAs if they saw themselves as freelancers or contractors. Most of the responses I received said they saw themselves as both, or either, depending on circumstances.

If you're having trouble winning your first Virtual Assistant contract, you may want to consider freelancing as a way to jumpstart your business.

GoFreelance is a freelance work exchange site that connects freelances with potential employers. It could be the fast track to making the right connections for your VA business.

Look Who's Talking... About You and Your Clients!

I was just running through my Google Alerts earlier this afternoon, and feeling really encouraged by some of the nice things people on the Web are saying about my article directory, WAHM-Articles.

Want to know who's talking about you? Google Alerts are an easy way to keep track, plus they keep you up to date on the latest happenings in your industry. You can sign up at http://www.google.com/alerts and choose the types of alerts you need.

Search terms you should definitely subscribe to include:

• your clients' business names (so you can tell them who's talking about them too!)
  
• your clients' industries
• your own name
• your business name
• your niche
• any other topics that are relevant to your business

Google Alerts can:

• tell you who's talking about you (and what they're saying!)
• show who's reprinting your articles and press releases
• help you keep up with the latest information in the Virtual Assistant industry
• help you stay current on happenings in your niche
• help you impress your clients by knowing the latest news in their industries too
• help you send you well-time press releases
• respond quickly to anyone who is speaking negatively about your or your business.

You can sign up here: http://www.google.com/alerts

Virtual Business Niche Idea – Article and Directory Submissions

More and more online business owners are recognizing the importance of submitting to article directories and website directories. This is a legitimate and effective way to build an online presence and credibility. The problem is, though, it can take a lot of time to submit articles and website information to all these directories.

The Niche: You can submit articles and website descriptions to relevant directories for clients.

Research Required: Before you offer a submission service, you will need to create a list of sites to submit to.

You should list the name of the site, the URL, a description of what content the site will publish (i.e. only certain types of listings, or all types?) You can find these by doing some Internet research of your own. You may also need to sign up for an account before you can submit.

Four major article directories you want to include are:

EzineArticles.com
Isnare.com
IdeaMarketers.com
GoArticles.com

Software You Need: Submissions can be done by hand, but it is very time-consuming. You will find it much more profitable to acquire a software submission program.

Here are some programs you may want to look at:

RoboForm
Article Submitter
Article Announcer


Skills Check: You should be able to write site descriptions (unless your clients will be doing that part themselves). You must know how to submit content to various article and web directories.

What You Can Charge: Prices vary, but you can charge around $45 an hour for submitting to article and web directories. What you charge should depend on your target market and what they are willing to pay for this service.

Potential Clients: Clients for this niche will be website owners and online business owners who want to establish more credibility on the Internet, and gain more traffic for their websites.

How to Sell This Service: To sell a submission service to prospective clients, you may need to educate them on the value of links created by article and website directories.

Focus on the benefits this service provides. For example, it can take hours to submit to directories by hand. You save them time and by submitting for them, and money because you’re paying for the software yourself and can do more submissions per hour than VAs who submit by hand.

You will also increase your clients’ profits because these links will ultimately mean higher rankings in the Search Engines and increased traffic to their websites.

Santa Can Stuff Your Stocking with Higher Profits This Christmas

For the virtual business owner who wishes Santa could stuff her stocking with more customers and higher profits, there just might be a way to make that Christmas wish come true.

Here's a Work at Home Mom’s Christmas Wish List by Barbara Ryan. The included links are mine, to make Santa's online shopping even easier:

Every year in the late fall it happens to me. Family and friends ask the question, “What do you want for Christmas?” I am usually asked for a list and I always struggle to come up with things. There are things I want and need, but they are not always things other people can get for me.

This year though, I am thinking outside the box and am going a different route. I am going to ask for business related things, or at least, money for them. Much better than just random things I don’t really need. Ask for products or services that will help you take your business to the next level.

Think about all the all the services out there that a mom entrepreneur could use.

• Money towards big ticket items like a new laptop
• Media or publicity services
• Business books
• Ebooks related to your business
• Coaching services
• Business software
• Mentoring or Mastermind group
• Monthly PLR membership
• Ghostwriting, copywriting, or press release writing services
• Menu Planning subscription service (because who has time to think of what to make for dinner!

Do you want to write a book? Ask for Book School. Planning on creating an information product? Ask for Information Product Sweetie Course. Looking into becoming a podcaster? Ask for Shoestring Radio or Podcasting Intensive.

Come up with a list of business products and services that you would love to have, but just are not quite ready to spend the money on and put them on the list. That way, in the new year, instead of adding to the bath products and kitchen gadgets in your drawers, you can grow your business and reach your goals.

Barbara Ryan is publisher and co-editor of Mom2Mom Lounge , an online magazine and blog written by moms for moms. Barbara is also owner and designer of Cherish Collages, a custom Photo Collage Design business developed from the love of a digital photography hobby.

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

Plan Now for a Profitable 2008

The year is almost over. Are you ready to experience a great 2008 in your virtual assistant business?

Setting goals and planning how to achieve them is essential to the growth and success of your business. In fact, it’s impossible to be successful without them. Your goals define success for your business and give you a plan you can follow to achieve that success.

If you haven’t set goals before, planning all your business activities for the year ahead can feel intimidating. You may wonder how you can possibly know today what you should be doing a full year from now.

Below, you’ll find an easy way to set goals for the upcoming year and learn how to make a plan to achieve those goals.


Goals should be SMART

Before you begin your own goal-setting, remember that good goals are SMART. There are a few variations of what the acronym SMART stands for, but here is the definition I use:

S – Specific
M – Measurable
A - Attainable
R – Realistic
T – Time bound (completed by a set time)

Any goal you set should have these qualities.


List your goals

First of all, envision what your virtual assistant business will look like by the end of the next several months. What will you have achieved?

Write down everything you want to accomplish by the end of the year. Make sure every goal you write is SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time bound).

This list can include anything you want to achieve, such as how much money you want to make per month by next December, how many articles you want to write, how many new clients you will have, which projects you want to have completed, etc.


Make a chart for the year

Next, divide the upcoming year into quarters (January to March, April to June, July to September and October to December) and make a chart for each quarter.

Give each chart five columns with headings that read something like this:

Goal – In this column you will write your specific goal

Measurement – How the goal will be measured

Steps – Here you will list the exact steps you need to take to achieve this goal

Date for completion – Date by which you will have reached your goal

Date completed – The actual date you reach your goal


Charting your goals

Now, return to your list of goals. For every goal on your list:

A. Decide in which quarter you will complete the goal. Write the goal down on the appropriate chart in the “Goal” column.

B. In the "Measurement" column, describe how you’ll measure the goal. Ask yourself, “How will I know when I’ve reached my goal?” For example, one my goals is to write a book about article marketing for small business. I will know I’ve reached my goal when the book is published.

C. Under “Steps,” list the steps you need to take to complete the goal. When Ruth and I set our goals for 2008, one of my business partner's goals was to put an audio recording of a story on her website. The steps she needs to take to complete that goal look something like this:

1. Write story to be recorded
2. Rehearse reading story aloud
3. Record story
4. E-mail recording to Denise to publish on website

While you're listing the steps that lead toward your goal, you might realize you don't know all the steps involved in reaching a certain goal, or that you lack information you need to complete a goal. In that case, consider adding a relevant course or reading a book on the subject to your list of goals.

D. Finally, choose a completion date for the goal and write it down in the appropriate column. Remember to be realistic in setting a completion date. It needs to be attainable or you’ll become frustrated and achieve nothing instead.


Managing Larger Goals

After writing out the steps to your goal, you may discover that a large goal, such as making a certain monthly income by next December, requires that several smaller goals are met first, such as building a bigger subscriber list, offering more products, getting more website traffic, etc. Add any additional goals you discover to your chart where appropriate.


Putting Your Plan into Action

When you’ve followed these steps for each goal, you will have set your goals for
2008 and planned how you will achieve each one of them by the end of the year.

But, even the best plan won’t help you if you don’t take action.

To keep you on track, you may want to plan your year in more detail and break your goals down further into monthly, weekly, or even daily goals, depending on how you like to work. For example, if I want to write 100 articles by the end of next year, I can break that down to the goal of writing 2 articles a week, or writing one article every three days.

Review your goals regularly throughout the year. Make sure your current goals are still desirable, and add new ones if necessary

Follow the plan you’ve just set and you’re on the way to a profitable and happy new year.

Virtual Assistant Resources on Squidoo

I finally got my lens up for virtual assistant resources! It's brand new and needs some work, so keep checking back!