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

Free Virtual Assistant Training - Be a Virtual Assistant Intern

No need to spend a small fortune on learning all the skills you need to be a successful virtual assistant. Angela Wills over at Internet Profit Planning has a much better idea. She's looking for a virtual assistant intern to learn a smörgåsbord of internet marketing techniques, beginning in January.

This could be an amazing opportunity for the right person, and it's also a reminder of how valuable virtual assistants really are. Even virtual assistants need virtual assistants!

It also sounds like there's only one intern position available, so in case you're not the winner, consider asking another VA you respect if you could intern for her. She may welcome the opportunity for some free assistance, and it's probably the best VA training there is.

Starting a Forum to Promote Your Business? Three Things You Need to Know

Starting an online forum could be a great way to get targeted traffic to your virtual assistant website, and to connect with your target market. Then again, it might not be...

I found this informative article about starting about the "dark side" of launching a forum. A forum still might be an excellent idea for your business, but be sure you know what you're getting into before you jump!

Three Key Elements You Should Know Before Starting A Forum by S McIntyre

I can assure you starting a forum are not as easy as one make think. Before you start your forum, here are three key elements you need to know.

Goal. What kind of forum are you building? Is it an advertising forum where anyone can come and promote their opportunities or is it a community forum where people can network, learn, and share? If it's the latter, you will need a lot more planning.

Time. It takes a lot of devotion, effort and energy. You can't start a forum and expect it to run itself. That won't happen until you start the groundwork and even then don't expect miracles. To develop a viable community forum it can take months and even years.

Patience. Not only will you be spending a lot of time creating it, but when you open its door and a few dozens have trickled in will you feel you have failed? What if these few dozens turn out be lurkers/readers only? You will need to create threads and peak people's interest or get them to respond to your posts. You want to start discussions and hope it takes the domino effect. You want them to contribute and start discussions on their own. It needs to be promoted constantly and consistently if you want the traffic and people to come. After all, you didn't create it so you can talk to yourself.

You will need to train your moderators. Yes, eventually you will need moderators because...

"If you build it, it will come." Yes it will! As a matter of fact they will come in droves...spam bots and human spammers that are. Not exactly the type of members you would like to have, right? You will want your moderators to know what is not acceptable, training your mods how to move/delete/merge posts, ban, etc. Tip: Don't wait for the spam bots...install a hack to curb the bots before they get the chance to take over you and your forum.

Hard work aside, having a community forum is fun and it's a wonderful way to be interactive with many people around the world. It's a valuable and excellent marketing and learning tool that if used properly can be successful for everyone involved.



S McIntyre owns Work At Home Space, a free work at home resource offering telecommuting jobs, daily job leads, articles, business resources and other work at home related issues. You can also visit her blog Healthy Perspectives, featuring an array of health topics, nutrition, fitness and recipes for maintaining a healthy and well-balanced lifestyle.

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

Getting Beyond Yes - Getting Prospects to Take Action

Sometimes, it's not just about getting a potential client to say yes. Sometimes they know they need your services and they want what you're selling... they just have trouble getting around to taking the first step.

For example, I've heard many virtual assistants complain about clients who have gone so far as to sign the contract, but they've never gotten around to taking action, whether it be send you the files you need to get to work, or scheduling a phone call to discuss exactly what projects they need help with. Since most VA's only charge for work that is done, that means you're not reaping the profits you could (and should) be.

I think the answer might be to make it as easy as possible for clients to take action, and take the next step towards working with you.

Here's a really good example that came to my inbox last week. I'm on the mailing list of a local charity. They were looking for people to support a new initiative by writing letters of support to our city council. I fully support the work this charity does, and if they had simply asked me to write a letter, I would have said yes, added it to my to-do list, and then, probably have never gotten around to actually writing it. Not due to lack of interest, you understand, but there are many more pressing things on that list.

Fortunately for this particular charity, they understood how busy I am, so they made it really easy for me to participate. In the email, they included a link to a sample letter that I can add my name to, fill in any extra notes I want to add, and just print and drop in the mail box. How easy! They did all the work for me, and all I had to do was print, so of course I took action right away.

That's just one example of how an organization can make it easy for people to do what you want you want them to. That example may not work for you, but the concept behind it will!

You got the client to say yes, now make it just as easy for them to take action.

Not Too Late to Skyrocket Your Christmas Sales

Two weeks to go, but your website can still produce a pretty profit this holiday season.

If your Christmas sales aren’t where you hoped they’d be – or even if they are – you can still skyrocket your online sales.

It’s all about the content on your website. At this time of year, Internet users are searching for Christmas gifts and ideas. If your content is relevant to what they’re looking for, it’s a pretty good bet you’ll have more traffic, which should lead to more sales.

Here are some of suggestions to make the most of the remaining holiday shopping season.

AdSense Sites- If your site displays Google AdSense ads, you may have seen your revenue drop over the past few weeks, depending on your niche. To put that profit back in your pocket, consider adding some Christmas content to your website or blog. When AdSense crawls your new content it will add Christmas related ads that your visitors are more likely to click on at this time of year.

You don’t need to spend hours creating the Christmas content. Look for quality Private Label Rights articles or simply use free reprint Christmas articles from an article directory.

Affiliate Sites – Do you make money by selling affiliate products? Post reviews of the products people are looking for this Christmas. You can write your own or find free reprint product reviews in article directories. Find reviews on products that can be purchased at Amazon and post your affiliate link to the product along with the review.

Sell More of Your Own Product - If you create and sell your own product, an easy way to increase your sales before Christmas is by writing and submitting articles about your product and submitting it to reputable article directories. By submitting your article to an online directory instead of only publishing it on your own site, search engines and human shoppers will find it more quickly. In the resource box of the article, include an active link to your website where your readers can purchase your product.

You shouldn’t openly promote your products in the articles you write, but you should use the article to presell your product. For example, if you make tie dyed scarves, you could write about how to choose the right scarf for a Christmas gift, or about how to accessorize with a tie dyed scarf. Win your readers’ trust first by giving them the information they need; when they click through to your website, then you can sell them.

If you don’t have time to create more of your product for last minute Christmas sales, you shouldn’t let that stop you from trying to fit in more holiday sales. Your customer just needs something to put under the tree Christmas morning. If you don’t have time to get the product to them, send them a certificate or something saying your product is on its way.”

Visit http://www.wahm-articles.com for more creative ideas on how to sell your products online, and to find free reprint articles you can use in your website and blog.