Starting a Travel Business - A Fun Niche for Your Virtual Business

Some virtual assistants are exploring new territory... by helping their clients see the world! If you're thinking of offering travel services in your virtual assistant business, here are some tips from WAHM Articles author Mindy Benkert.

A Guide to Starting a Travel Business

Do you like to travel and see the world? Would you like to help other people discover new countries, languages and cultures. When you start a travel business you will get to help other people with their travel plans, travel at discounted prices and earn a great income. Working as a travel consultant doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to work in an office. In fact, you can start own travel business at home.

How Do You Get Started?

There are multiple companies that offer travel business opportunities. They will usually set you up with your own travel website, travel agent id and extensive marketing tools to help you get started. Without partnering with an established company it will be very difficult to get your big break and find clients. Make sure you do your research before choosing a company to affiliate with. Search for information and reviews, and contact agents currently working with the company. Once you have decided on the right company, you will be able to market yourself as selling their services, and people will trust the name brand that represent.

Read the rest of the article...

Why You Need a Blog for Your Virtual Business

Are you still wondering how you can use a blog to make your business happen? Alice Seba has put together a quick guide called “The Bloggin’ Expert: Be The Go To Guy or Gal in Your Market”

Click here to read Alice’s post, and to get your own copy. This free pdf download is a MUST read for any virtual business owner who wants to be known as the expert in her field. (That sounds like you, doesn't it? )

How to Increase Your Sales BEFORE You Launch Your Product or Service

By: Alicia Forest

If you're following the marketing & product funnel business model that I teach, you're likely getting good sales from every offer you're making to your market. If you'd like to increase those sales numbers, however, there are several strategies you can implement to do so, starting with before you even put your product, program, or service out there.

So, if you want to increase your sales BEFORE you launch your product or service, the following are some of the most effective ways to do just that. Click here to read the rest of the article...

How To Have a Virtual Assistant Website Built the Cheap Way

Normally, if you want to have professional designers custom build your site, you must be prepared to dish out at least a few hundred dollars.

But, all this can change if you know where to find the best deals and the best designs for the lowest price. Here's a rough guide:

First, you must understand that it costs more to have established companies design websites for you. Have you ever seen those advertisements in newspaper classified ad sections that offer a 5-page website at $500? These companies are established companies with physical locations, therefore they have to increase the amount they charge to pay off some overheads: office rent, designer's wages, advertising costs and so on.

Therefore, it would be wise to use a virtual assistant! As you already know, VAs often work from home so they do not have high operating costs like a company does. On the other hand, a VA will be able to design images with quality similar to (or better than!) those of designers from big companies.

However, choose your VA with care. The best way to find the right VA for your project would be to go to VANetworking. There you can post your RFP (request for proposal) and get hundreds of talented virtual assistants to bid on your project, so you will get the best deal. On top of that, you will be able to choose the designers based on their experience, past transactions and ratings, so your value for money is secured.

Another route you can take is to purchase the Virtual Business Startup System. It comes with several beautiful, easy to use templates, perfectly suited for a virtual assistant. They're easy to edit wth the help of WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) programs such as Microsoft Frontpage, Macromedia Dreamweaver and so on.

4 Sure-Fire Ways to Explode Your Service Based Business & Gain New Clients

By: Mindy Benkert

Promoting your service based business can be done in the same way that you would promote a product. Though there are obvious differences, you can still use the same techniques to achieve the desired results.

The first step to marketing your service is to determine your unique selling point; this is what will set you apart from your competition. You need to give your clients a reason to choose your service over anyone else’s. Once you’ve done this, it will be become the focal point of your promotional strategies.

Your USP could be a money-back guarantee on your services, or perhaps you offer a discounted rate for clients who sign on with you for a certain amount of time. It can be any number of things, but when you decide what your USP is, use it to brand yourself and make you stand out from the crowd.

The next step is to start promoting and here’s how you can do that:

Click here to read the rest of the article.

Your Virtual Assistant Website - Why You Need a Site Map

A site map is often considered redundant in the process of building a website, and that is true... if you made a site map just for the sake of having one. This article highlights the importance of having a well constructed site map, so you will be able to tailor your own site map to suit your own needs.

1) Navigation

A site map literally acts as a map of your site. If your visitors browse your site and get lost between the thousands of pages, they can always refer back to your site map to see where they are, and navigate through your pages with the ease.

2) Conveys your website's theme

When your visitors load your site map, they will get the gist of your site within a very short amount of time. They can get the "big picture" of what your site is all about at one glance, without reading through each page. You will be saving your visitors' time and keep their attention.

3) Website optimization

When you create a site map, you are actually creating a single page which contains links to every single page on your site. Imagine what happens when search engine robots hit this page -- they will follow the links on the site map and every single page of your site gets indexed by search engines! It is also for this purpose that a link to the site map has to be placed prominently on the front page of your website.

4) Organization and relevance

A site map gives you a bird's eye view of your site structure, and whenever you need to add new content or new sections, you will be able to take the existing hierarchy into consideration just by glancing at the site map. As a result, you will have a perfectly organized site with everything sorted according to their relevance.

From the above reasons, it is most important to implement a site map for website projects with a considerable size. Through this way, you will be able to keep your website easily accessible and neatly organized for everyone.

A Virtual Assistant's Work Day - Tips on Getting Up Early

Ask almost any Virtual Assistant how she (or he) manages her day, and she'll probably tell you she gets up and starts her business day before the rest of her family rises. That gives her a chance to read over any new work that came in overnight and plan her day.

I see a big difference in my own workday when I make myself get up before the kids, and before my clients start their days. If I give myself that extra time to prepare, I'm much more relaxed throughout the day, and get a lot more done.

The trouble is though, I'm not naturally an early riser. Even though I see the benefits of getting up early, I don't like to do it! If you're like me, the following article has some helpful tips on getting up early.

Tips on Getting Up Early by Amber Bishop

Getting up early is one of the secret weapons of the super successful. The saying goes “Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise” - Ben Franklin. The reality is most people are not willing to do the work it takes to learn how to get up early. It is a skill or trait that can be learned and not a genetic disposition that some people are born with. In the following few paragraphs I will outline how you too can learn to be an early riser.

The first ingredient for successfully waking up early, is determining that you are going to do it. Your mind set in this has a lot to do with the outcome. But that is not all. There are some tips you can use to trick your body into cooperating with you. Like we stated before this is a skill that can be learned just like anything else, so we need to provide our body or our muscles some memory that allows it to act without thinking. Think about training for this event like you would a marathon. In time it will be second nature. As a home schooling, work at home mom with three young children, I have to wake early before the family to get prepared for our day. For years I had this goal in mind, but never had the reason to do it, until I started home schooling our children. It was at this point I realized for my own health as a person, I needed to create some space for me, and waking up early was the way I was going to get it.

Choose the determined time you would like to wake up. Then take about a week to work your way down to that time. If you are used to getting up at 7:00 don’t jump to 5:00 the very first day. Walk yourself down in half hour increments. Make sure you set your alarm clock across the room from your bed. That will force you to get up and actually turn it off. Once you are up, go directly to the bathroom and start brushing your teeth. This is where muscle memory comes in. Take a day or two and spend about a half hour at some point in the day, other than first thing in the morning and set your alarm. Lie down in bed, and wait for the alarm to go off. Once it goes off, get out of bed directly, shut it off and go to the bathroom and brush your teeth. Do this 4 or 5 times in a row for a few days and then see how easy it will be to wake at your early morning goal. You have provided your muscles with some memory.

Another helpful ally would be a friend who will get up early with you. See if you have any other friend in your circle that has the same goal. Use the mutual goal as a way to hold each other accountable. Start working out together first thing in the morning, or setting a time to IM about the things you want to accomplish on any given day. It always helps in the beginning of adding anything new into your life, to have a partner to help you along the way.

Once you have implemented you early morning routine, there is no need to go to bed super early. Just allow yourself to go to sleep when you feel tired, nothing more and nothing less. This way your body’s internal clock will begin to regulate itself and you will find yourself waking at the prescribed time without the need for an alarm clock.

Lastly, think of all of the wonderful things you will be able to accomplish in those few morning hours before the world is awake. Maybe you will begin to exercise again, or for the first time even. Possibly your business will begin to expand and take off, you will be more organized and understand why people are always saying that they accomplish more in those few hours in the morning then most people do all day.



Amber Bishop is the co-founder of http://www.smartmoms-smartbusiness.com and http://www.smartmoms.freeforums.org online resources for work at home moms. She is also the owner of http://www.homeschool-diva.com She stays home and home schools her three children will building a successful home based business.

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

Procrastination: What Have You Been Putting Off?

by Sherri Frost

What is it you know you must do and have been putting off? Whatever it is will weigh on your mind until it gets done. Is it something to move your business forward? Maybe it’s something that you need to do for your family. You know what it is. For me, it’s my taxes! No, I still haven’t filed my taxes this year. Once again, procrastination has reared its ugly head and I got an extension. Of course it still needs to be done.

I know, once it’s done, that I will instantly feel better. The cloud will lift and I will feel energized. So why don’t I take action now? Sometimes we wait for someone else to do it. Sometimes we wait until it gets so bad we can’t stand it anymore. Then we get in a mad frenzy, running around trying to get it done at the last minute.

To make things happen, we must take action. Actually, we are always taking action. Napping in a hammock is an action. Is it the one that will get the results you want? Be willing to take the action that will be the most useful in getting what you want.

Do you find yourself checking your email one more time or getting another cup of coffee? There are different reasons we don’t get moving. What is your real reason? Stop and give it some thought. Is it that you don’t know how? Is it that you don’t want to? It may be that there are fears holding you back.

Sometimes the fear of success holds us back. With success comes increased responsibility. What if we can’t handle it? Sometimes it’s the fear of failure. The uncomfortable feeling of self-doubt shows up and we say ‘Why even bother?’

The hardest part is to just get started. Once we do, we usually find that it isn’t as bad as we thought it would be. My son used to spend half an hour complaining about taking out the trash and then only five minutes actually taking out the trash. If it’s something you can delegate, then do so.

Begin with the end in mind and make it a priority! Instead of thinking of all the tedious steps it will take, think about what it will feel like to have the job completed. Once you get it done you know you will feel a tremendous sense of accomplishment. Set yourself up for success by focusing on that feeling.

To keep doing the same thing and expecting a different result is just plain crazy. Sometimes we need to stretch out of our comfort zone by trying something different. Once you get started, the momentum will grow and with your renewed focus, you will recognize the opportunities as they come along.

Your Assignment to get past procrastination:
What are the three things you must do today? Write your top three priorities on a post-it note and keep it in your wallet. What are the action steps you must take to make it happen? Keeping it close at hand will help you focus on it throughout the day.

Work out a system that works for you. Why struggle? My clients generally find that having a system helps get things done. The system must work for you and your schedule. Make it a no-brainer that is easy to follow, one step at a time.

Celebrate the successes! Acknowledge each little success as they happen and you will begin to feel the pride and sense of accomplishment that comes with it.

Don’t put it off anymore! No more excuses!


Sherri Frost, is a Success Coach with Pro Power Services, Inc. in Parkland, Florida, http://www.ProPowerNow.com. Sherri is also on the leadership panel for Mommy Mentors Women’s Business Mastermind Group, http://www.mommymentors.com/. Mommy Mentors is a resource for all mothers to find support, inspiration and information, both in business and life. Sherri can be reached at sherri@propowernow.com.

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

Time Management for Virtual Assistants

You help your clients manage their time better, but what about your own? :) Tammy Embrich offers some suggestions in the following article.

Work At Home Time Management by Tammy Embrich

Are you finding lack of time for your online business becoming more and more evident?

Are you finding it more difficult reserving well-needed time for your children and family?

Well, you are not alone. All too often, many home based business owners (unintentionally) fail to prioritize their time efficiently. I think time is about the most valuable and limited resource that we have.

Balancing our personal and professional lives is indeed quite a challenge. This important task can be accomplished by taking a look at some significant small steps.

Goals

What are your business and professional goals?

Turn your dreams and intentions into reasonable, achievable goals by writing each goal down beginning with the most important and ending with the least important.

Purchase a special journal all your own for this purpose. Keep this journal close by, on your desk at all times.Write down what you want to achieve yearly, quarterly, monthly, weekly and daily. Plan long projects by breaking them down into bite-sized pieces and dedicating so much time each day for achieving your goals.

Put Together A Work Routine Schedule And Stick With It

Keep A Business Daily Planner On Your Desk. Prioritize your home business according to specific deadlines. Make a note of tasks that need to be completed daily.

For example: Make a note to do your website updates on Mondays, Make important phone calls on Tuesdays, Do your business research on Wednesdays, and so on.

Carve out a reasonable schedule for yourself and base it around your business needs and goals. The most important thing about a schedule is of course sticking to it. Staying focused and consistent is the key element to achieving success in any home business.

Make Time For Yourself And Your Family

This is the most important issue home based business owners face today. You must reserve special time for yourself and for your family. If you don't make time for yourself, you run the risk of business burn out. You need time to yourself to feel refreshed, energized, and ready to tackle the next task that needs completing.

Take at least one half hour to a full hour each day solely for yourself. Take a walk, take a drive, take a nap, read a good book, watch a good movie or favorite program, schedule lunch with a friend. This is so important to you and also your business If you have children at home, you need to also involve them in this important time.

Take your little ones to the park, the zoo, out for lunch, anything...just as long as you take this special time just for you and your children. Always take time out for that special bedtime story, helping with homework, making that special breakfast, or just talking and cuddling. Isn't this the main reason for deciding to work from home...staying home with your kids and spending quality time with them?

Always schedule specific times with your kids, and also with yourself....this will help avoid getting over-stressed and over- worked with your home based business. Children like routine. You will also find that following a routine schedule will make you more productive and successful with your business.



Article written by: Tammy Embrich

Tammy Embrich is an Internet Marketer and is the
Owner of: http://www.onestopwebemployment.com/
And Owner of: http://www.real-wah-jobs.com/

Tammy's two WAH websites focus on free telecommute job leads and more.


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

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.

Virtual Assistants - How to Stay Focused In Your Home Office

If you're a virtual assistant, balancing managing a household, looking after the kids, and taking care of your clients, you can feel pulled in several directions at once! The following article has some good advice.

Staying Focused in your WAHM Office by Barbara Ryan

You all know the drill, you sit down to get some work done and within minutes your engrossed in non-business emails or checking the previous days website traffic stats. Next thing you know, an hour has passed and the kids are up. You’ve gotten little to nothing done and now there are diapers to change, sippy cups to fill, and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to make.

Getting your work done on a daily basis means staying focused. How do you stay focused?

Set a work schedule, write it down, and stick to it.
Determine when you can work most efficiently when the kids are in school, napping, or a time of day when they can play well independently. Most likely, it will be a combination of the three.

Limit email and stats checking.
Check business emails at scheduled times and determine this based on the importance of email to your business. Limit checking personal emails to specific times after your work is done or when you need a mental break from working. Check stats only once per day.

Get caller ID.
Yes, screen your calls. You are working and should not be answering calls you know take up your precious work time un-necessarily. Let friends and family know you schedule and that they should not call during these times.

Working from home can be very challenging. Balancing being a mom, a wife, and a business owner is no easy task. Staying focused and keeping a schedule will help run a more productive and successful business, get more done, and have more free time with the kids, which was the whole point of working from home to begin with, wasn’t it?



Barbara Ryan is publisher and co-editor of Mom2Mom Magazine , an online magazine 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://www.wahm-articles.com

Want to Be a Resume Writer? 3 Easy Steps To Writing an Effective Resume

A popular service for Virtual Assistants is resume writing. Here are some tips to help you prepare for this exciting niche.

An effectively written resume is the perfect tool to achieve the objective of securing an interview. In short, it’s an advertisement matching your client's skills to the employer’s needs. An "OK" resume may win your client a personal interview, but a strong resume will increase his or her chances of landing the job.

An effective resume should clearly indicate how your client will positively affect the company’s bottom line. Companies look for specific skill sets for every position. You need to look closely at the job requirements, and then emphasize those very skills in the resume you write for your client.

Keep It Short

Keep the resume short and easy to comprehend - after all, your client will give a detailed explanation of it during the personal interview. Employers have to go through many resumes to find the ones they find interesting, so make yours stand out from the crowd.

A typical employer is likely to spend little more than half a minute on each resume. That’s why perfecting your client's resume is a must; it should be short, eye catching and promising enough to get them to call your client.

Clearly State Your Client's Objectives

The objective is the ‘goal statement’ - it should be brief, but strong enough to keep the reader interested in reading further. Objectives should be written from the employers’ perspective, detailing how your client's past experience, skills, and educational qualifications will benefit their organization.

Highlight Your Client's Skills

Broadly outline your client's skills. Keeping it brief will enable you to put his or her strongest points first. Include soft skills like effective communication, being a team player, and leadership qualities. Also include technical skills, mentioning how he or she acquired them.

Highlight your client's functional area of expertise. Mention any special skills and certifications earned. All computer skills are important, as they indicate how versatile your client. However, list skills sets in the order that meets profile of the position your client is seeking.

Any accomplishments that you mention should be supported with documentation. Your client should be prepared to bring proof of anything contained in his or her resume if he is granted a personal interview.

Finally, many resume and cover latter templates are available. If you use a template, don't just copy and paste your information into the "insert here" spaces. Instead, allow the templates to guide and inspire you toward your own great masterpiece... and your client's new career.

5 Easy Ways to Always Give Your Niche Something New

by Alicia Forest

"Do I always have to come up with something new?"

This is a question I get asked often by my private clients, and the answer is a resounding YES, if you want to continue to grow your business.

Besides boring your target market after awhile, you'd get bored, too, so yes, you want to breath some life into your business by consistently coming up with new offers. This helps keep your list interested, and it helps you stay cutting edge in your market.

Here are 5 easy ways for getting and staying hot in your market:

1. Be recognized...

Start showing up - in-person and/or virtually - at events that are offered for your target market. Throw your own events. Be seen on discussion lists and popular blogs where your target market hangs out. Join the conversation, offer your valuable insights and comments, ask good questions and give good answers. Joint venture with your colleagues and double your efforts with half the work. Join associations made up of your peers and volunteer to be on a committee or head up a project. There are loads of ways to build your recognition in your market. Pick a couple and start doing them NOW.

2. Be open to offering other's products...

If you've hit a creative low point, there's always the option of offering someone else's product to your list. It's still new and fresh material to them and a new offer for you to make. Make a list of five of your colleagues who each have a product offering that complements what it is that you do and start building a relationship with them now (if you don't have one already), so when you want to offer thier product, they've gotten to know you and your business a bit so they may be more willing to say yes to that kind of strategic alliance.

3. Be more 'servicable'...

Take a fresh look at your service offerings. Write down what they look like currently on one sheet of paper, including all the features and benefits. One a separate sheet of paper, write down how you'd like your services to look, including all the features and benefits. You might be surprised to find a real difference. Based on what you discover, consider repackaging your current offerings in a way that better suits you and your clients.

4. Be trendy...

Enter the conversation already going on in your client's mind to spark new ideas. What are they reading, seeing on TV, involved in right now in their world? What current event or newsy item or popular TV show can you tie into your sales copy for your offerings that will keep it fresh and make stand out in an already crowded marketplace?

5. Be occasion-oriented

Tie a promotion into a holiday or special occasion. There's hardly a week that goes by these days that doesn't have some sort of celebration attached to it. Or you could make up your own. For example, January (New Year's) and September (Back-to-School) are great months for launching new products, programs, or services that allow the client to do, be and have better.

If you want to keep your clients and customers, keep them interested. Always be offering them something new, either in the way of a new product, program or services tailored to their wants or by tweaking your current offerings to keep them fresh and make them stand out in an already crowded marketplace.



Alicia M Forest, MBA, Multiple Streams Queen & CoachT, founder of ClientAbundance.com and creator of 21 Easy & Essential Steps to Online Success SystemT, teaches 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 abundance in your business, visit http://www.ClientAbundance.com.

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

Resume Writing Service - Questions to Ask Your Client Before You Begin to Write

Here are some of the questions I ask my clients to help me write a resume that will help them with the perfect job. Feel free to use them, or change them for your own needs!

1. Personal Information

Ask the client for his or her First Name, Last Name, and Email.
Does he want his email address on his resume?

You'll also need Telephone, Street Address, City, Province / State, Postal Code / Zip Code.

Ask the client what her Career objective is. What type of jobs will she be applying for? What is her ideal position?

2. Education

Beginning with the most recent school or training program your client attended, get the following information: Name of schools or programs, cities, province/state, years attended, awards received, were honors received.

3. Miscellaneous

Here you need to ask your client about his computer skills, licenses, volunteer activities, awards, other interests.

4. Work Experience

Finally, you'll need to interview your client about her work experience. Beginning with the client's most recent job, document the following information for each of your client's employers:

Employer Name
Type of Company:
City
State/Country
Date Started
Date Ended
If you supervised, number of people you supervised
Job Title
Tell us about your employer (including size of company, number of employees, list of products/ services and its place in the marketplace.
Where/ how do you fit into the company?
Day-to-day responsibilities
Special achievements – what did you accomplish while you were in this position?

5. Cover Letter

Does your client need a cover letter to accompany the resume? Would she like a generic cover letter, or is she applying to a specific company?

If she's applying to a specific company, you'll need the following information:

Company Name
Address
City
Province
Postal Code
Position applied for

Good luck to you, and your new resume writing client!

Starting a Virtual Assistant Business While Keeping Your Day Job

You may be ready to start a virtual assistant business, but not able to give up your current pay cheque.

You don’t want to give notice before you have a steady income from your new enterprise. Just letting your boss get a hint that you’re starting a business and you may not have that cushion while you build your client base.

How do you quietly build a virtual assistant business keeping your current job?

The first step is simply not mentioning it. Your co-workers may be your friends, but that’s not a guarantee that they’ll keep their mouths shut. Wait until you’ve actually handed over your letter of resignation to pass around the good news.

You also need to make the effort to be discrete. Don’t interview prospective virtual assistant clients at work, and direct any email about your business to an account separate from your work email. Prospective clients can recognize a work email address and will doubt your professionalism. Your work email is also subject to review by your employer, depending on where you work.

You should be careful about scheduling face-to-face business appointments. While you may have to take time off of work for a meeting, you should ask for personal time off, rather than trying to lie about the reason you won’t be in. Additionally, if you suddenly need to take off several days closely spaced together, your boss may become suspicious. It’s worthwhile to try to schedule all of your meetings and interviews on one day or to time them during your lunch hour or normal time away from work.

Another obvious interview error is showing up to work in your suit or nice clothes, if your work place is generally more relaxed. This sort of change in your behavior can quickly clue your employer in to your strategy.

If you are found out, the only thing that you can really do is own up to the fact. If you claim innocence, and then quit a week or two later, you’ll have burned an important bridge. Your current employer may become a future client or reference. If you burn that bridge, your employer is less likely to give you any sort of references, no matter how good your previous work was.

You may manage to build your new virtual assistant practice with no one the wiser, though. You should keep quiet about that fact during the resignation process, and make every effort to be polite about the matter, in order to maintain a good relationship with your former employer.

Preparing for a Client Interview: "What's Your Greatest Weakness?"

Client interviews are already stressful enough without the potential client asking point blank, “What’s your greatest weakness?”

There is no easy way out – but understand that the very nature of this question is designed to catch you off-guard. Don’t fall for it.

Go In Prepared

Preparation is the key to successful job interviewing. Know as much about the company, their products and their people as you can before the interview begins. That way, your potential client will have fewer chances to make you uneasy during the interview process.

They will probe you with various questions to find out what your weaknesses are. Do not try to bluff your way out of difficult questions. It will only give the impression that you will resort to cheating when you are put under pressure.

Answer Straight And To The Point

Some interviewers still like to ask the question “What’s your greatest weakness?” during an interview. You can answer this question by either stating a wea"wkness that you encountered during a previous contract and how you overcame it, or you could reveal a weakness not at all related to your business.

Don’t say that you do not have any weaknesses, because after all, you are human. This is the quickest way to torpedo your chances. Rather, you should use the approach of converting your weakness into a strength. You will sound confident and resourceful if you are able to recognize your own weaknesses and find strategies to overcome them.

Being prepared for this question before each client interview is the key to succeeding. Try to turn negatives into positives. You will impress your prospect with your adaptability if you handle this question well.

Keep Potential Clients Coming Back to Your Virtual Assistant Website

The success of your virtual assistant website will depend on returning visitors. Returning visitors are easier to convert into paying clients because the more often they return to a site, the more they will grow to trust you and your site. As visitors return to your site and again, you will slowly gain credibility with them, and they will be easier to convert into paying clients.

Here are some ways you can keep potential clients coming back for more:

1) Start a forum, chatroom or shoutbox

When you start a forum, chatroom or shoutbox, you are giving your visitors a place to voice their opinions and interact with their peers, and with you. As conversations build up, a sense of community will also follow and your visitors will come back to your site every day.

Starting a forum doesn't have to cost a lot. FreeForums.org offers free forum hosting and is easy to get started with.

2) Start a blog

Keep an online journal, or blog, on your site and keep it updated with latest news about yourself, your business, and information of interest to your target market. Human beings are curious creatures and they will keep their eyes glued to the monitor if you post fresh news frequently. You will also build up your credibility as you are proving to them that there is also a real life person behind the website.

You can set up a blog for free at http://www.blogger.com and find free and affordable Blogger templates at Designed by Lara.

3) Carry out polls or surveys

Polls and surveys are other forms of interaction that you should definitely consider adding to your site. They provide a quick way for visitors to voice their opinions and to get involved in your website. Be sure to publish polls or surveys that are strongly relevant to the target market of your website to keep them interested to find out about the results.

Survey Monkey is another free, easy-to-use program. It offers a lot of flexibility in creating surveys to get the answers you need.

4) Offer puzzles, quizzes, games and prizes

Just imagine how many office workers procrastinate at work every day, and you will be able to gauge how many people will keep visiting your site if you provide a very interesting or addicting way of entertainment. You can also hold competitions to award the high score winner to keep people trying continuously to earn the prize.

5) Update frequently with fresh content

Update your site frequently with fresh content so that every time your visitors come back, they will have something to read on your site. This is the most effective method of attracting returning visitors. No one will want to browse a site that nv, so keep your site updated with fresh bites!

You don't need to spend a lot of time writing content. You can look for quality reprint articles from an article directory such as WAHM Articles.

Your Virtual Assistant Website - 5 Important Rules

When it comes to designing your virtual assistant website, pay extra attention to every minute detail to make sure your new site optimally serves its purpose. Here are five important rules of thumb to observe to make sure your virtual assistant website performs well.

1) Do not use splash pages

Splash pages are the first pages you see when you arrive at a website. They normally have a very beautiful image with words like "welcome" or "click here to enter". In fact, they are just that -- pretty vases with no real purpose.

Don't give your visitors have a reason to click the "back" button before they even see your content! Give them the value of your site up front without the splash page.

2) Do not use excessive banner advertisements

Even the least net savvy people have learned to ignore banner advertisements, so you could be wasting valuable website real estate if you use them. Instead, provide more valuable content and weave relevant affiliate links into your content. Let your visitors feel that they want to buy instead of pushed to buy.

3) Have a simple and clear navigation

You need to provide a simple and very straightforward navigation menu so that even the most inexperienced user will know how to find what she's looking for. Stay away from complicated Flash based menus or multi-tiered dropdown menus. If your visitors don't know how to navigate, they will leave your site.

4) Give your user a clear indication of where he is

When visitors are deeply engrossed in browsing your site, you will want to make sure they know which part of the site they are in at that moment. That way, they will be able to browse relevant information or navigate to any section of the site easily. Don't confuse your visitors. Confusion means "abandon ship"!

5) Avoid using audio on your site

If your visitor is going to stay a long time at your site, reading your content, you will want to make sure they're not annoyed by some audio looping on and on on your website. If you insist on adding audio, make sure they have some control over it -- volume or muting controls would work fine.

I created my first virtual assistant website from a template that came with Virtual Business Startup System. The system comes with several ready-made website templates to choose from, all professionally designed, easy to use, and well-suited for a successful virtual assistant business. It also comes with a year of free website hosting. Setting up your first website can't get any easier than that!

How a Virtual Assistant Forum Can Help You Build Your Opt-in List

The most common reason why virtual business owners fail to make money with their opt-in lists is that they dove right in. They chose a topic they thought could be quite popular and would earn them money, but just because you write people from your list doesn’t mean they are going to instantly purchase from you.

For those who have started an opt-in list and have failed, here is some advice for rejuvenating your failed venture.

For those who are starting out, here are two quick and easy ways to build a profitable opt-in list.

1. Get your customers to trust you and your products first. Just launching an opt-in list will not will not make you an expert and a believable seller.

Instead, write and publish many articles before you start an opt-in list. Write about topics you know well and have expertise in. Visit forums to gain knowledge about your customers and their wants and needs, and then target those wants and needs.

2. While you're visiting forums, offer your expert advice and recommendations. When you feel that people trust you, you will be able to start your own opt-in list. You can build a base with other forum users by inviting them to join your list. Friends are always good customers. Put up a link to your site in your forum signature so that can see what your business is all about.

The truth is, the money will only come in when consumers and subscribers believe and trust in you. They want a product or service that is a good exchange for their money. People are not going to buy something that you recommend, if they don’t know you.

A good place to start networking and building your Virtual Assistant opt-in list is VA Networking. It's the "hottest, friendliest, informative, educational and resourceful network for VAs" and a great place to meet other virtual assistants, potential clients, and start to build your opt-in list.

Build Your Mailing List by Writing Articles

You’ve probably heard the saying, “The money is in the list.” To make money online, you need to have a list of people who are interested in your virtual assistant business and who want you to keep in regular contact with them.

That makes sense, but when you're a new virtual assistant, how can you build a mailing list quickly and easily?

One of the best ways to build your list is by writing and submitting articles online.

To use this technique, simply write and submit articles on your topic of expertise to popular article directories where ezine publishers and readers are looking for the information you provide.

This is called article marketing, and it’s a very valuable tool; you are actually proving your worth and demonstrating your expertise through the articles you write.

Article marketing can help build your mailing list too.

In your resource box (also called the author’s bio) which you submit with each article, include a brief detail about yourself and your business, along with an active link to your website.

If you want to focus on building your list with your articles, the link in your resource box should be to your mailing list’s landing page. Then you can capture your visitor’s name and email address, which will in turn help you build your mailing list at no cost.

If your articles are well-written and worth sharing, ezine publishers and bloggers will republish your articles together with your resource box for their readers and subscribers, so even more potential subscribers will be exposed to your article.

WAHM Articles’ author Terri Seymour uses this technique very effectively. Here is the resource box she includes with each of her articles:

Terri Seymour has several years online experience and has helped many people start their own business. Visit her site at www.seymourproducts.com for help, resources, support and more. Seymour Products also offers resell ebooks for $1 each, free affiliate programs and a free weekly ezine. mailto:subscribe@seymourproducts.com

Each of Terri's articles provides informative and well-written content that publishers and readers value, so you’ll find her articles reprinted on many websites and blogs.

You can start building your own list today by writing and submitting your articles to trusted article submission sites such as WAHM Articles or Ezine Articles.

Friday Freebie - Online Business Tips and Resources

I like to celebrate Fridays by sharing free books I've found over the past week. This week it's The Smart Moms Guide to Business. It's full of business tips, home business ideas, and detailed descriptions of the most popular direct sales companies. Be sure to look for the information on WAHM Articles and how writing and submitting articles can help ANY business grow online. :)

Click on the cover to get your free copy.

Virtual Business Niche Idea – File Conversions

A service many virtual business owners need is file converting documents into pdf format.

If you don't have a PDF converter tool, here's a link to a free one.

Choosing a Ready-Made Logo for Your Virtual Business

There's lots to think about when you're starting a new virtual business. Here's a good article about how to make it a little easier by choosing a ready-made logo.

But, if you're thinking about buying the Virtual Business Startup System, you don't need to worry about a logo at all. The system comes with several ready-made logos to choose from, all professionally designed and well-suited for a successful virtual assistant business.

The Advantages of Choosing a Ready-Made Logo by Laura Humphries

Let's face it. Starting a new business is no easy task. From legal considerations to financial planning, new business owners have a lot to worry about.

One of the most important steps a new business owner must take, and perhaps one of the most overlooked, is choosing a company logo that is visually compelling and speaks the language of your business. Having a great company logo is the first step to successful business branding.

If you are starting a new business, consider choosing a ready-made logo to save time and money, without sacrificing quality or design.

Some advantages of choosing a ready-made logo:

Choices: One of the best aspects of purchasing a ready-made logo is the amount of choices a new business owner has in terms of logo design. It's easy to find what you are looking for: Simply browse specific logo categories to find the design that is right for your business. Most companies that offer ready-made logo design give you the opportunity to customize your logo with different fonts, colors and backgrounds. Turnaround time is usually within a few business days, as where commissioned logo design can take up to weeks, especially if you are unsure of what you are looking for.

Pricing: Another fantastic aspect of choosing a ready-made logo is how inexpensive it is to get what you want and what you need. Prices for ready-made logo designs usually range from just $100-200 dollars. In comparison, prices for commissioned logos usually range from $250 and up. Most professional design firms offering ready-made logos will also include complete copyrights transfer upon purchase of your logo.

Professional designs: Most ready-made logo design firms offer professional quality designs as well as years of design experience. Make sure that when purchasing a ready-made logo, you have access to the appropriate professional file formats, including .EPS, .JPG, .GIF, .WMF and .BMP. Having your logo in a number of different file formats will ensure the proper usage of your logo in regards to print media, the Web, etc. So if you are thinking about starting a business, or have just started one, a professional ready-made logo may be the path to getting your business off to a great start.



Article courtesy of Sweet Daisy Cards.

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

How to Measure Your Results and Focus on What Really Works

Angela Wills at Internet Profit Planning recently posted that, after reviewing where her new clients are coming from, she has decided to focus less on her blog and more on the sites that were actually working for her.

She asks her readers a good question: Are you working too hard at something that's not working out?

Her blog post also reminded me of a recent article by Alicia Forest about how to measuring results for your business.

How can you know what's working if you don't know how to measure your results?

Here's the full article by Alice: Measure Your Results for Faster, Easier and More Success

And here's the original blog post that inspired me today.