Setting Holiday Hours for Your Virtual Assistant Business

As a Virtual Assistant, once of my biggest challenges has been remembering to give myself regular time off throughout the year.

When I began my VA business, I was even guilty of working up to seven days a week. My reason, although not very sound, was, "The internet never sleeps, so how can I?" I had this idea that if I looked away from my computer screen for a nanosecond I might miss out on an opportunity I could never get back.

You can imagine how long it took until I completely burned out, and I was ready to throw my laptop and all my Virtual Assistant clients out the window!

Since that moment of crisis has passed, I've been pretty good at giving myself at least the weekends off. And I know it's been a healthy schedule change for me. I'm much more creative and more energized when I come back to work after a relaxing weekend away from the computer.

Something I haven't done as faithfully is give myself scheduled holidays - large blocks of time to get out of town, or just spend on things not business-related. I know it's important to set aside a few weeks each year to spend with my family. When I worked outside the home, it was those few weeks each year that made my job bearable.

But since I've been working at home, something has always held me back from giving myself regular vacations. I worry...

What if a client has an emergency and her business falls apart because she can't find me?

What if I miss out on a new client because I didn't get back to her in time, and she finds someone who responded more quickly?

What if my website has a technical problem or gets hacked when I'm not paying attention?

All these and myriad other concerns race through my mind whenever I think about taking a significant block of time off. But these year, I'm putting those worries aside and giving myself the holiday I need. I know when I come back, my business, myself, and all my clients will be much better for it.

Here is how I'm handling these nagging concerns.

Client emergencies. Are my clients' businesses really going to fall apart because I'll be unavailable to them for two weeks? In all honesty, I'm not THAT important. I'm giving them all a head's up that I'm going to be offline for some family time, so we can address any concerns before my vacation starts. But other than that, I think my online world might be just fine without me for 10 days or so.

New clients. It is possible that I might miss out on a new opportunity while I'm away. But if they're looking for someone to help them ASAP, is that person really a good fit for me? My ideal client plans ahead and takes her time considering whether I'm the ideal VA for her. I'm more interested in taking the time to build strong relationships than taking on a bunch of new clients I'm not 100% sure about.

I'll add an autoresponder to my email so potential clients will know I'm on vacation and will reply as soon as I come back. And if they can't wait until then, I'll know I haven't missed out on anything at all.

Techical problems. These are a little harder to escape. If I ran a brick and mortar business, I would have to have the building checked while I was away to make sure no one broke in, or that the plumbing didn't break. So, I'm going to pop by my websites and blogs during my vacation and make sure everything is still standing.

I'll be by a computer during my entire time off, so it won't be a problem to do so. If I was going to be traveling, I would just hire another Virtual Assistant to look after those things for me.

I'm really looking forward to my holiday this year! I hope these thoughts have inspired you to plan a vacation for yourself too. You know you deserve it. And although you'll be missed, the internet will go on without you!

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

Is the Virtual Business Startup System All You Need to Start a Virtual Assistant Business?

Recently, a local woman emailed me about starting a Virtual Assistant business part time. She had a question about the Virtual Business Startup System:

Will the VBSS give me all the information I need to start a Virtual Assistant business?

I purchased the VBSS when it first came out over 4 years ago and even then it was everything it promised to be, and more. A lot of goodies and extra business tools and resources have been added to it since its debut.

But going back to four years ago, I had been trying for a year to get a Virtual Assistant business up and running on my own. I ran smack into obstacle after obstacle:

• What services should I offer?
• What should I charge?
• How do I write a business plan?
• How will I get my first customer online?

I had run a home business before, but it turned out that starting an online business was surprisingly different than anything I had previously done.

The first thing I appreciated about the system was that it really was everything it promised to be. I had invested a lot of money in this, so naturally I was skeptical. I was going to hold Tawnya Sutherland to her money back guarantee if it wasn't everything she said it was....

But once I looked through all the templates, coupons, and oodles of information she had packed into that box, I knew I had nothing to worry about it. It was everything she had said it would be, and more.

Another important thing the system did for me was help me pinpoint which VA services I could offer right now, and which I could leave along for now and offer at a later date.

Here I had been thinking I had to cram all the knowledge I could into my already overloaded brain before I could call myself a VA! Not true, I discovered. I could start right then, with the skills I did have, and add the rest as they developed over time.

Besides that, the biggest help it provided was the website templates, the website hosting package and the domain registration for my first website. I had to know a little bit of HTML to get my spanking new website just the way I wanted it, but that was something I wanted to learn anyways. (And about that first VA website I built from a template - even my hubby's web savvy friends said it was pretty spiffy.)

And then came the test of how robust this program truly is.

Shortly after I purchased the system and set up my VA business, I was invited to attend a networking lunch with other VAs in my area. Yikes!

I was so nervous. I didn't even have my first client yet. From visiting the other VAs' websites and reading their bios, I knew that most of them had years of experience.

What would they think of me... a brand new VA who built her VA business out of a box?

To my surprise, and my relief, I fit right in! Because of all the information packed into the VBSS , as well as the conversations I had participated in at VAnetworking (membership comes included with the VBSS), I looked and talked just like one of them.

In fact, my first client came out of that meeting, as a referral from another VA.

Will the VBSS give you everything you need to start your VA business?

Only you can answer that. But for me, the answer is yes. Definitely yes!

The thriving VA business I proudly own today has grown from the solid foundation I built when I decided to purchas the Virtual Business Startup System.

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 Convert Articles into Audio Recordings

Here is a nifty way to help your clients get more exposure from content they've already written: Convert it into audio! Courtney Chowing has written an easy to follow procedure for converting written content into audio. While she writes specifically about PLR, this technique can be applied to any written content.

Courtney recommends using Audacity, an open-source software for recording and editing sounds. It's very easy to figure out... even for a non-techie like me... but if you're going to be doing a lot of recording, you should consider investing in a good microphone. This is the one I've been using, and I've been happy with the sound. I just position the microphone a bit below my mouth when I talk so I don't sound like Darth Vader. Although... that would probably impress the kids.

Convert Your PLR into Audio by Courtney Chowning

When purchasing PLR, or private label rights, content you are not limited to just using that content for writing purposes. You can use it for audio as well. By recording the PLR content you can offer your readers something new and really catch their attention.

To record your PLR content all you need is a PLR article, computer microphone, and the free program Audacity. Audacity will allow you to record and edit your audio file. Before you start recording your audio file you should practice a couple times. You don't want to sound like you are reading from a script. You want your speech to be clear and to sound friendly and welcoming.

The audio you can create can be used in a number of different situations. You can add it to your blog as a blog post, add into an existing podcast, use the audio as your podcast, offer it as a freebie for your mailing list, etc. If you create a series of audio on a particular subject you could even sell the audios as an information product. The list could really go on and on. The point is that by using audio files you can add a new and exciting element to your blog or online business.

Creating audio files is just one example of using PLR content in a form other than writing. You can even use your chosen PLR content in a video. The concept is the same as using the PLR content for an audio but you are recording an image of yourself speaking instead of just your voice.

By re-purposing the PLR content you purchase you are making the most out of the money spent and also adding value to your blog or online business. Purchasing PLR content can help grow your business in more than one way.



Courtney Chowning is a Christian entrepreneur who runs a Christian PLR site and affiliate program, http://christianmomplr.com. She also blogs at http://courtneyspeaks.com about putting God first in your blog and online business.

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

Setting Up Your Virtual Assistant Newsletter

For your Virtual Assistant business, a regular newsletter can be one of your most valuable marketing tools. Your newsletter gives you a way to keep in touch with people who are interested in your services or products, but are not yet ready to become a customer. And for current customers or clients, your newsletter gives you an easy and affordable way to keep them updated with your business news and sell them even more products or services.

For my own businesses, regular newsletters have been invaluable for educating members, building relationships with potential clients, and even making sales from affiliate products.

When you're first setting up your newsletter, there are basically three newsletter formats you can choose from. Here's a brief summary.

An HTML newsletter. These are the pretty newsletters you get that are nicely formatted and include pictures or graphics. They are created in HTML code, but you don't necessarily need to be a coder to create them. If you want to send out HTML newsletters you can use a newsletter service that offers HTML templates you can customize, like Constant Contact or AWeber. Or you can hire another virtual assistant to create a template for you to customize for each issue.

A text newsletter. These are the newsletters you get that don't really look like newsletters; they look like regular emails. These are easy to create... all you have to do is type in the text. While text newsletters aren't as pretty as HTML newsletters, they are easier to read for some people, depending on how they pick up their email. Plus, these look like messages from friends, which could mean more people actually read them.

A PDF newsletter. These are created in a Portable Document Format (PDF) and uploaded to your website. Then you send out a link to the newsletter. You will need a program that creates PDF documents to send out your newsletter this way. If you're graphically inclined, or work with another virtual assistant who is, you can do a lot of nice formatting with these. Also, it's one way to send a print newsletter without the cost of printing. Your subscribers can just print it out for themselves. Or save paper and read it online. :-)

One thing to remember with PDF newsletters is that it's nice to include a friendly note in the email you send out to announce your newsletter is ready. An email with just a link saying, "Hi, here's your newsletter," could easily be ignored by your subscribers on a busy email day.

Which Newsletter Format is Right for Your Virtual Assistant Biz?

For one thing, it depends on which you're most comfortable using. If you don't know any HTML and you're not prepared to hire someone for help, you might not want to start out with an HTML newsletter.

Do a little digging and see what other businesses are sending out to your target market. That will give you some insight into what your subscribers like to get and what they're used to receiving.

Finally, choose a format you'll be willing to work with on a regular basis. Can't stand the monotony of a black and white text email? You probably won't look forward to putting your newsletter together each month or each week if you don't like looking at it. Choose a format you will send out regularly so you can stay in touch with your valued subscribers.

Whatever format you do choose, remember it's not set in stone. As your Virtual Assistant business grows and your skills develop, it's natural that your newsletter will evolve too. If you start out with a text newsletter, you can redesign and change to an HTML format when you're more skilled. Or if you start out with a PDF version and want to simplify later on, you can always revamp and move to a text newsletter.

The most important thing is that you actually do start a newsletter - it's one of the best business building tools there is. The rest will fall into place over time.

Speaking of newsletters, you can subscribe to mine over at http://CassidarInk.com

Do you have a newsletter? Please share it below! Which format do you use?

Do You Need a Virtual Assistant Newsletter?

Virtual Assistants (VAs) just starting out with a new business have a lot of questions to answer...

How will you make money? (Will you ever make money?)
Do you need a website? (Yes, you do. Welcome to the virtual world!)
Who will you be a Virtual Assistant for? (That's called knowing your niche.)

And...

Do you REALLY need a newsletter? (And the follow up question to that is... Who's going to read your newsletter?)

No matter what type of services your offering, or which niche you want to serve, it would be helpful for you to have a newsletter.

For one thing, a newsletter or an ezine people can subscribe to gives you a way to keep in touch with people who are interested in your services, but are not ready to hire you just yet.

And once you do have customers or clients, your newsletter gives you a way to keep them updated with your news and to keep you top of mind. The easiest person to sell to is someone who's already purchased from you.

Even if you don't have any subscribers, there are still worthwhile reasons to start a newsletter now. Posting your archived newsletters or e-zines on your website is one way to add new content regularly, and potential clients might be interested in reading your previous issues. No one but you needs to know they were never sent out to actual subscribers!

To get subscribers for your newsletter, you can begin writing articles on your area of expertise and posting them in forums, article directories, and popular websites for your target market. In your author's resource box, include a link to the sign up page for your newsletter and invite the reader to subscribe.

One place where you can learn more about writing articles and getting newsletter subscribers is at my article marketing forum. It's free to join, and I'd love to see you there!